“Did everyone just decide to get a life all of a sudden?” he grumbled.
Shrugging, he grabbed a bag and started to pack his things. A few changes of clothes for his time at Amber’s, his canteen and a rusted pocket knife he’d been hanging onto for the last few years. When he was done, he slung the tote over his shoulder and grabbed his toothbrush from the bathroom.
There was sudden bump outside of Daniel’s room and he paused. Another bang sounded like someone had kicked the counter and he let out his breath and laughed.
“Trevor, you idiot,” he said. “You didn’t hear me calling you? Can’t believe you’ve been in the restroom this whole time. Where’s Chloe?”
Daniel headed for the door but turned back to grab his toothpaste. When it wasn’t there he groaned and shook his head.
“I swear, if you don’t stop stealing shit from my room,” he growled then spun around and headed back to Trevor’s room.
The place was a mess as usual. His blanket was thrown on the ground, clothes and mismatched pairs of shoes were everywhere. It was amazing that he could have so much stuff in such a small area.
Growing up, Trevor had always been the neat freak between them. Coordinated clothes, perfectly placed hair, and everything in the spot it belonged. Only in the last few years had he stopped caring but who could blame him? The world he knew was gone and the things that mattered didn’t even exist any longer.
“Yo!” Daniel called as he tapped on the bathroom door. “You done in there? Because I’m coming in.”
Daniel pushed the door open and froze. Struggling for air, he collapsed into the sink. Trembling, he tried to balance himself, but his body wouldn’t listen. His legs faltered beneath him and his arms could hardly hold onto the counter.
“No!” he cried out. “No! No!”
In front of him, his brother’s limp body hung from a climbing rope affixed to a metal beam in the ceiling. He swayed slightly back and forth, his bloodshot eyes, staring blankly ahead. It was like looking into the face of a familiar stranger.
The world suddenly twisted away and Daniel screamed until his vocal chords burned. For a moment, he was lost, he was paralyzed by terror and in panic he looked around the room for help. He didn’t know what to do but he had to do something.
Daniel blinked and slapped himself in the face as his senses started to return. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife then stepped onto the side of the bathtub. With a quick swing, he sliced through the rope and grabbed Trevor’s body with the other hand, falling to the ground with him.
Rolling him onto his back, Daniel pulled the rope from around his brother’s neck and shook him from side to side. “Trevor! Come on, Trevor wake up,” he groaned as tears poured from his eyes and splattered to the ground.
Trevor’s face was lax, he could’ve been sleeping…he could’ve been doing anything besides dying on the bathroom floor. Daniel cradled him in his arms and rocked back and forth, pressing his forehead against his brother’s. A lifetime of memories flashed in front of him, a lifetime that he refused to let go. He couldn’t accept that it was over.
“Trevor!” he screamed until his voice broke.
Wiping tears away, he laid Trevor down and tilted his head back. He placed his hand on top of the other one and as he started CPR, he noticed the note, duct taped across Trevor’s chest.
“Sorry. I hope you can understand. There is no tomorrow for me.”
CHAPTER 6
TURNING THE PAGE
The tap of heels across the tile floor had an ominous cadence. It was like seconds ticking off a clock, like the metronome of life rushing forward, barreling over anything in its way. There was no stopping it, no way to avoid the inevitable, so Daniel took a deep breath and sat up.
Chloe shivered in his arms and he squeezed her tighter before looking down the hall. Cynthia was walking toward them with her head lowered and her glasses slightly askew. She stopped in front of the bench and cleared her throat.
“He’s in a coma,” she said lowly. “But he’s lucky to be alive.”
“A coma?” Daniel echoed. “Does, does that mean he’s going to live?”
Cynthia took her glasses off and wiped tears from her face then nodded. “I…I just don’t know what the damage will be like. There’s no way to know how much time passed before you found him.”
“A minute or two maybe. I heard him in there. I just, I didn’t know what he was doing. I should’ve found him earlier.”
“You saved his life, Daniel. If he pulls through this, it’s because of you.”
“So, how long will he be in a coma?”
“Could be hours…could be weeks, hard to know. You two should go get some rest. There’s plenty of available rooms down here. Craig will be rounding everyone up in the morning to discuss where we go from here and you can come see me after for an update on your brother.”
“I can’t leave him.”
“Daniel there’s nothing you can do. He’s in good hands and his status isn’t going to change tonight. Take care of yourself for now.”
Cynthia patted him on the shoulder then headed back into the clinic. Daniel stared after her and took a deep sigh of relief, finding a bit of optimism in her words. The last two hours had been a nightmare and he clung to the silver lining, especially now that he was left with the grim reality that his brother tried to kill himself.
Since Sherry and the others died Trevor hadn’t been the same. Their years underground slowly weathered him, but Sherry’s death was the final straw. Daniel felt to blame for not noticing it, for thinking that Trevor was fine and just needed space. He should’ve been a better brother.
“Daniel!” a familiar voice called from behind him.
He turned his head slowly and forced a weak smile. “Amber.”
“Oh my God. I just heard what happened. Is Trevor gonna be okay?”
She hurried beside him and grabbed the sides of his face. Leaning forward, she kissed him then pressed her head against his and took a deep breath.
“He’s in a coma,” Daniel mumbled. “We won’t know much else tonight.”
Amber covered her mouth and straightened up. “I’m so sorry.”
Frowning, Daniel stood up and grabbed Amber with his free hand. With his other arm wrapped around Chloe, he slowly started toward the room.
~~***~~
Craig took a deep breath and leaned his head back. He folded his hands across the table then stood up and turned to face MJ. She was staring at him like she was waiting for him to say something that would put her mind at ease. Her hair was tousled, her shoulders slumped and her eyes jittered slightly as she tapped her finger against her leg.
“This has obviously complicated things,” Craig started.
“That’s one way to put it, so much for being diplomatic,” MJ replied.
“I just mean logistically we’re gonna lose two. Not to mention, we should’ve had you guys up there already. I don’t wanna be insensitive, but our problems haven’t changed. We either figure this out or we all might as well hang ourselves.”
MJ winced at his words then turned toward the door as it swung open. Thomas entered with Jacob on his heels. His face was pale and the bags beneath his eyes only told half of the story.
“They’re starting to show up,” Thomas announced. “There’s a lot of talk, a lot of questions about what we’re doing.”
“Okay,” Craig replied. Let’s get this over with.”
Thomas nodded then propped the door open. One by one the residents started to pile in and took seats around the long, rectangular table. Alistair and his mom, Daniel and Amber, everyone from the egg was in attendance. It was the first time everyone had been together in the same place in over a year. Once the room was full, Craig raised his hands and cleared his throat.
“A lot has gone on in the last two days. I know many of you have questions, so we can start with that.”
As soon as he finished hands shot up across the room. Craig tried to hide h
is displeasure and straightened his back then pointed to the closest person.
“I heard we’re sending a team to the surface,” the scraggy-faced man said. “Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s true. We’ll be ascending shortly and the team will be on their way.”
“Why?” a woman from the back of the room shouted.
“We need to find out if there’s any place up there that’s livable. We need to test the air, soil, water.”
“Ain’t that why we sent the drones? Why are we sending people now?”
Craig glanced at MJ before responding. She shook her head then frowned. He turned back to the mob and shrugged.
“Look, I’m gonna shoot straight with you,” Craig started. “Multiple systems have already begun to fail. This place was never made for us to stay in as long as we have. If we don’t find something on the surface, our outlook isn’t good.”
“So…so you’re saying we’re all gonna die?”
“I’m saying we need to get this thing up to operating level and get a team on the surface. Every minute we waste discussing it is a minute closer to death.”
Everyone quieted down and hands fell as people whispered to one another. Suddenly, Daniel stood up from the back and walked toward the front of the room. A sea of eyes watched his every step as they chased him with chatter. The rumors had already begun.
“I need to talk to you,” Daniel said as he got closer to Craig.
“Okay,” Craig replied then turned back to the group. “We need to lock the facility down. We’ll be moving up to operating depth in an hour, so make your preparations.”
Grumbling, the crowd started to thin. They slowly rose from their seats and went their separate ways until only a few people were left. The stragglers talked amongst themselves, ignoring what was going on in the front of the room.
“I’m going,” Daniel said when Craig turned back to him.
“What?”
“I’m still going. I’m going topside with the group.”
“Daniel, your brother is in a coma. You need to be here, you need to get your head right.”
“My head is right. He tried to kill himself. That’s what this place did to him. If he’s gonna wake up, he has to have something else, something better. If I can help find that, I need to.”
Craig tightened his jaw. He understood how Daniel felt more than most, but empathy wasn’t his job. “Daniel, I can’t let you do that. I know how you feel, but you need to be here for your brother when he wakes up. You need to be here for your sister.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes and bit his lip as he turned to leave. “It wasn’t a request, Craig. I’m going.”
~~***~~
“Back off the thrust a bit,” Max ordered.
Jacob pulled the lever toward him slightly then glanced at Max. He nodded as the sound of the drill slowed. They needed to be careful, any mistakes could leave them buried underground.
“What’s our depth?” Craig asked.
“Hundred meters to go. We don’t want to go any higher than sixty. The pods can get you the rest of the way.”
Max and a few others were sitting up in the control station, piloting the massive machine. Everyone else was buckled into jump seats in an adjacent room. The mood was sullen and the forest of worried faces could hardly contain their fear.
The entire structure rumbled and shook as they slowly crept through the rock and soil. The sound of the machine ripping through the earth was terrifying, it brought flashbacks of a time they’d all tried to forget.
“Revolutions on the drill are spiking,” Jacob said as he tapped his finger on the dial.
“I told you to back off the thrust.”
“I did!”
Max swiveled his chair around and glanced at the control board. The needle that measured drill RPM’s was bouncing off the redline. Alarms and warning sirens squawked like crows and the lights flickered and dimmed.
Craig focused his eyes, stretching his neck to see the gauges. “What’s going on?” he asked nervously.
“I don’t know!” Max snapped.
There was a sudden bang and the walls shuddered like a bell. The egg listed to the side then a panel exploded from the wall and shot across the room, slamming into the opposite wall.
Max reached across the control panel and yanked the lever all the way back. A grinding noise screeched then a loud mechanical clunk rang out. Wires sparked and black acrid smoke spilled from a torn hose.
“Hang on!” Max yelled.
The egg pitched then rolled and lurched upward. Jacob was nearly thrown from his seat, but the harness snagged him backward. Max scrambled to bring the machine under control, but nothing was working.
“Controls are dead!” Max shouted angrily.
Another explosion blew apart a piece of the control panel and he was knocked backward as the blast spat frayed pieces of plastic in his face. Gasping, he spared a glance over his shoulder. Something else broke apart and Craig let out a moan. With a whoosh, the lights shut off, casting the entire facility into darkness.
CHAPTER 7
FORCED HAND
Blood trickled down Max’s face as he blinked away the pain. A red emergency light flickered above him and moans of confusion and agony echoed from the other room.
Air escaped the outer shell with an ominous hiss, alerting him to the immediate danger. Fighting through blurred vision, Max shut off the power to the drill and started running diagnostics. They were losing air and if he didn’t’ fix it soon the entire structure would implode on itself.
“Jacob!” Max called out. “You okay? I’m gonna need your help.”
Jacob stared at the cracked screen in front of him, mouth hanging open, and his fingers wrapped around a metal lever like it was a lifeline.
“Jacob!”
Blinking, he shook his head and turned to face Max. “I’m here…I’m here,” he mumbled.
“Good, we’ve got work to do. Craig, can you flip the auxiliary switch on the back wall?”
Craig made a grumbling noise then chuckled. “That’s gonna be a problem,” he said in a casual tone.
“What?” Max turned around and gawked.
A footlong shard of metal was stabbed through Craig’s thigh, impaling him to the seat. The jagged sheet glistened in red as blood dripped into a puddle underneath him.
“Shit!” Max growled. “Jacob, find Cynthia and send her in here. Check on the others as well.”
Jacob blinked at Craig then unbuckled his seat and staggered to a stand. He took a deep breath and rushed off toward the other room after flipping a large gray switch on the wall. Wires crackled above his head, showering him with sparks and he shielded his face as he hurried through the door.
“Whoa!” Jacob barked.
Alistair and MJ sped around the corner and nearly ran him over. They charged into the room, stopping short to take in the devastation.
“Craig!” MJ shouted and hurried to his side.
“How can I help?” Alistair asked.
“We’re leaking air,” Max replied. “I have to locate the leak and close it off. I’ll need you to make sure the area is empty and seal off the bulkheads.”
Alistair nodded.
“You’re losing a lot of blood,” MJ said in a shaky voice.
“It’s fine. Scoop some off the floor for me and pour it back in.”
“That’s not funny. This is serious.”
Craig frowned and tried to hide his pain. He’d lost color in his skin and he could feel his strength draining, but refused to show it. Swallowing, he forced a smile and grabbed MJ’s hand.
“I’ll be okay,” he mumbled.
“Alistair, the first-floor substation and west wing barracks,” Max directed.
“Got it,” Alistair replied and took off as fast as he could run.
A few minutes later Jacob returned with Cynthia. She had a med kit strapped to her back and blood-stained hands. She stumbled into the room, her mouth gaping but her eyes were focused
.
“What the hell happened in there?” Max asked.
“Bloody nose, everybody is fine,” she replied then dropped beside Craig and looked at his wound with a puzzled expression.
“Max,” Alistair’s voice crackled through the speaker on the control panel.
“I’m here,” Max replied. What’s the status?”
“I’ve closed everything off and I’m heading back. Go ahead and divert air from that section.”
“Great! Hurry and be safe.”
Max turned to the control and typed in a series of commands. Vents to the different sections closed and the alerts cleared from the screen. But another alarm popped up and Max banged his fists against the desk and jumped to his feet. “Fuck!” he growled.
“We’ve gotta get him to the clinic,” Cynthia blurted out. “MJ, do you think you can remove the bolts from the seat. We’ll have to take it all with him.”
“Wait!” Max shouted.
“We don’t have time, Max. He’s bleeding out.”
“We have to run the drill again.”
“What?” Craig growled. “Are you fucking crazy?”
“That explosion, it must’ve broken the exhaust vents.”
“So what? That drill nearly tore apart the ship!”
“So, we’re still two hundred feet underground between packed dirt and rock in an air tight shell, filling with toxic gas. If we don’t’ surface and vent these gases we’ll all be dead in twenty minutes.”
“Can we even make it to the surface in twenty minutes?”
“We’re gonna fucking try. Jacob make sure everyone is buckled in.”
Jacob ran back to the other room as MJ strapped herself into the seat beside Craig and took his hand. Cynthia sat down beside her, tears of despair rolling down her cheeks as power returned to the drill.
Alistair made it back to the room just in time. He stopped at the door and stared toward Max. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“No time to explain. Buckle up, we have to move.”
Alistair looked back and forth across the room. “I’m going back with my family.”
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 88