The Tunnel War

by Kevin George

  “Lava!” she yelled, pointing toward flowing liquid fire, fighting the urge to squirm. The heat and sulfuric stench grew increasingly intense. Emma kept waiting for the Sky Person to bank and fly in the opposite direction. When it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “You’re heading straight toward it!”

  “Straight over it!” Love called back.

  As if seeing the crumbling tunnel and flowing lava wasn’t bad enough, what Emma spotted just before the lava flow made her stomach truly sink. People were running, One citizens slower than those in the tunnel ahead, fleeing from the lava but stumbling breathlessly and not moving quickly enough. She didn’t want to consider how many people had already lost the race. The first person she witnessed bursting into flame immediately made her think about Artie’s mother; the next few people made her want to close her eyes, but she didn’t. Instead, she watched burst after burst of flame and knew those wouldn’t be the only people being burned alive today.

  When they flew over the lava, the heat rising straight up became unbearable. Emma tried to turn her face away but couldn’t avoid her skin from stinging. She glanced back and saw the area where the Uptons had been was now covered with lava; in that same glance, she saw the lava catch up to one of the white monsters, which didn’t even turn as the lava overtook it. Ahead, more of the tunnel was collapsing and the only relief from the heat was Love flapping his wing’s harder and faster, speeding dangerously between the falling debris, creating enough wind to cool Emma down.

  She opened her mouth to ask where they were going, but her lungs burned. She couldn’t choke out more than a gasp. The stench was almost as unbearable. Most of One’s entrance had crumbled and the lava in that area was halfway to the tunnel ceiling, but Love sped in that direction, ignoring Emma as she shook her head over and over. Certain they would be engulfed in lava, Emma started to close her eyes when Love suddenly curled his wings in, wrapping them tightly around them both. For a moment, all noise sounded muffled, all of Emma’s worries and fears wrapped up. She felt an unexpected moment of safety.

  When Love’s wings spread open again, the heat hit them harder than before. All of One shined so brightly that Emma had to squint. One’s entire ground floor was covered in orange, pockmarked in black scorch marks. The buildings and temples were aflame and sizzling, not that she had much time to look at them. Love flew toward the clouds of steam filling the ceiling, passing high above the dozens of steppes, all of them covered with streaming lava. Not a single sign of life remained.

  Sweat poured off Emma’s body. Despite the pain of feeling like she was being cooked alive—not to mention her clothes starting to singe—Emma fought to remain still in the Sky Person’s arms. Love continued to fly around falling debris, though his reaction times were slowing down. They came closer and closer to being struck. Emma tried to look toward the palace, but too much steam covered the former home of the once mighty Jonas family. She only saw flashes of orange bursts among the steam, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open for longer than a few seconds.

  She started to ask the Sky Person where they were going but exploded into a coughing fit and started to slip from his grasp. Love clutched tighter and aimed for One’s far left wall, where they soared a dozen feet above the steppe’s ramp, which now served as a slide to disperse lava throughout the City Below. Love suddenly cut to the side, speeding into the lone tunnel connected to the ramp.

  The tunnel’s tight confines held as much steam as lava, making it hard for Emma to see more than two feet in front of them. Lava bubbles burst a few feet beneath them, spattering them with tiny sprays of liquid fire. Emma wanted to scream out in pain, but she didn’t have the breath to do so. The only indication that Love was bothered by the lava and heat and stench was when he tightened his grip around her waist, making it harder for Emma to breathe.

  “Let. . . me. . . go,” Emma whispered, but the Sky Person either didn’t hear or didn’t do as she said.

  Most of the steam cleared and the temperatures became less torturous as the tunnel opened up to the Quarantined Zone. Lava still covered the floor—and the bright white hallways were now scarred with countless black scorch marks—but Emma could finally see again without her eyes feeling like they might melt. She gasped down a few breaths of noxious air but nearly choked as the QZ began to crumble around them. They passed above a metal cart now aflame and soared to the end of the hallway. The elevator door had melted open and was the Sky Person’s apparent destination. When they were a few feet from entering it, a blur flashed in the opening, the elevator cart plunging past, the sound of crashing, twisted metal ringing louder than the lava’s sizzling.

  Emma expected the Sky Person to turn around, but Love flapped a final time, accelerating them toward the fiery opening. Before she could close her eyes to their inevitable doom, the Sky Person’s wings curled over them again. In the safe cocoon of feathers, Emma heard Love’s muffled groans of pain. She didn’t realize he’d been suffering as much as she’d been. Emma’s body suddenly turned upright and when Love opened his wings, they felt a welcomed relief from the blazing heat.

  The Sky Person flapped his wings over and over. Emma’s stomach dipped as they shot straight up through the elevator shaft. It reminded her of the ventilation shaft she’d climbed when taking her first—and only—trip Above, a moment that seemed to happen forever ago. The temperatures dropped and the sulfuric stench faded. The shaft walls appeared strong, but they soon began to shake as well, large sections breaking apart, plunging toward them from above. Love flew from side to side, smashing into the walls several times to avoid being hit, jarring them so violently that he nearly lost his grip on Emma.

  An explosion echoed far beneath them, quiet at first but growing in intensity, causing the shaft to break apart faster. Emma glanced down at the darkness, seeing more destruction plunging below, when she spotted a faint orange glow growing brighter and brighter, lava rushing up the length of the shaft. She looked up to warn the Sky Person when a small rock struck her between the eyes. Her vision flashed to black and all tension left her body, though she remained conscious and cognizant of the pain spreading through her head. She didn’t have long to focus on it, though.

  The top of the elevator shaft appeared up ahead, the elevator door Above being shaken open just enough to let a dim beam of light in. Love’s wings folded over them and he turned suddenly, a jarring bump immediately followed by the sound of twisting metal. Love grunted but when he opened his wings, they found themselves in another darkened tunnel, not unlike the one leading to the QZ. But this one wasn’t nearly as long and they soon felt a blast of cold and saw bright white light just ahead. . .

  Deep rumbling started anew, and the tunnel walls shook around them, dropping more rocky debris. Emma squinted, trying to see what waited ahead, but blood—her own blood—dripped into her eyes. Everything she saw was a blur, even as they soared toward the light. She heard crashing glass just before they reached the bright whiteness. She caught a glimpse of a greenish glow as they flew through a large hole in the ceiling of a glass hallway connected to the tunnel.

  Cold air hit her like a ton of falling rock and the pain in her head seemed to explode, causing her vision to go black even before she squeezed her eyes shut. Emma didn’t have the chance to appreciate being Above again. She passed out moments before they soared high into the freezing cold of the Great Blue Above. . .

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  Julietta took a final glance back to see Henry’s head finally push through the mound of snow. She didn’t know whether that sight made her relieved or panicked. Either way, Henry called out her name, his voice groaning, dazed but angry. He crawled out of the mound as the ground shook harder and more snow fell on the ground around him.

  The sound of shattering glass turned Julietta’s eyes Dome-ward, but the giant structure appeared intact. The same couldn’t be said for the glass hallways criss-crossing the beast enclosures. Fences rattled and the ground
rocked up and down, tossing Julietta off her feet several times. The beasts roared in panic and fright and Julietta felt awful that she couldn’t help them. When she reached one of the hallways—dodging the crumbling glass as she scampered her way through—she realized she could do something to help the beasts she was supposed to be caring for.

  Each time she passed one of their airlocks, she stopped long enough to type in the access codes, opening the doors to their enclosures. Julietta didn’t know where she expected the beasts to go—and she knew there was a chance they could get to her—but they seemed to be the least of her problems now. Besides, several large sections of fence seemed to explode out of the ground.

  “Get back here!”

  Henry’s voice was low and deep, as much a snarl as a scream, and closer than Julietta expected. She glanced back to see him hobbling in the hallway behind her, his hair and pelt covered in snow, his eyes focused completely on her rather than the destruction happening around them. Julietta nearly rushed past another airlock but stopped when she realized Henry was far back enough for her to punch in another passcode. Several beasts paced on the other side of the airlock.

  “Go back to the Dome!” Julietta called back to Henry.

  But Henry kept hobbling forward, even as the airlock clicked open and the beasts turned in its direction. Julietta ran, trying to ignore Henry’s yells for her to come back, yells that accomplished little more than getting the beasts’ attention. Certain Henry was on a collision course with the beasts—and not wanting to be responsible for any more deaths—Julietta slowed down and considered turning back to calm the beasts heading for the hallway. But another round of shaking led to more cracking glass, more of the hallway collapsing under the weight of snowy roofs, more frigid wind blowing into an area that had once been a safe haven from the outside elements. It also led to one thought repeating itself in Julietta’s mind.

  I need to get out of here now.

  The beasts growled as the ground quaked more intensely, but Henry kept yelling Julietta’s name. He didn’t seem to notice the beasts until he stood directly in front of an open airlock, a beast just on the other side. Julietta tried not to look back but couldn’t stop herself. Henry froze, knowing it was too late to avoid a confrontation, when an explosion of steam suddenly shot out of the ground, missing the beast by mere feet. The beast stopped and turned toward the steam, growling at it, just before another burst of steam exploded a few feet in the other direction. Instinctively, the beast backed up until realizing the airlock might be safer. With Henry frozen in place, the beast lumbered toward him, nearly reaching the airlock when another burst propelled it skyward. The beast landed atop the hallway’s splintered ceiling, the cracks quickly spreading until the glass shattered and the beast hit down.

  Julietta ran. Henry did the same. She didn’t look back again. Moments later, she reached the barracks, which were in complete shambles. The bunks rattled and everything not bolted into place had fallen over. The floor shook as much as the ground outside. The green glass separating the barracks from the Hunters’ enclosure was splintering. The Hunter beasts sensed the glass about to break and swiped their giant paws at it. Julietta wanted nothing more than to run away from the barracks and never look back, but her bag of supplies was somewhere on the far side of the bunks.

  She climbed over and through the maze of twisted and fallen metal, sometimes safely away from the glass, other times pressed tightly against it. Julietta tried to hum to the beasts, but they either didn’t hear or sensed the way her voice quivered. A part of her wanted to abandon the bag and head straight for the Nothingness. The bag’s contents held barely enough supplies to give her a few extra days of survival, but she needed all the help she could get.

  She sighed in relief upon reaching the far end of the room, where she pulled the bag from beneath a pile of fallen bunks. But when a huge section of glass wall finally gave out, the first of the Hunters stuck its head through the hole and gave a mighty roar. Julietta slung the bag over her shoulder and traversed the debris again, the beast’s eyes watching her the entire time as it tried to push through the rest of the glass. As Julietta squirmed past the beast, it snapped in her direction, its teeth coming up short by less than a foot. She was so relieved to make it back to the barracks’ small hallway that she barely noticed the sound of cracking wood as the outer wall splintered around her.

  She rushed to the end of the hallway and turned the handle, but the door didn’t budge. She pushed harder and harder, over and over, throwing herself into the door until she was certain her shoulder would pop out of its socket. But the doorframe was bent and continued to stop her from pushing through. The walls around her bowed and several sections of hallway burst, shooting splinters of wood everywhere, several of them slicing her face.

  “You aren’t going anywhere!” an angry voice huffed behind her.

  Henry stood at the end of the hallway, staring at her with glassy eyes, his head matted with equal parts snow and blood.

  “Please, we both have to leave,” Julietta said. “Everything is breaking apart. If we don’t get out now, we’ll be buried alive.” More glass shattered in the bunk room and another beastly roar filled the hall. “Or worse.”

  Henry’s brow furrowed and he blinked hard. “But the Dome has been ruled by someone in my family for—”

  “Look around!” Julietta snapped. “You can’t rule over piles of broken glass, splintered wood and fallen fence.”

  Henry turned one way and then the other, slowly taking in his surroundings. When he looked back at Julietta, the haze was gone from his eyes, which had gone wide. He nodded, wincing as he gently touched the blood on his scalp.

  “What can I do?”

  “The door,” Julietta said, slamming herself into it again, each jolt more painful than the last. Without warning, Henry sprinted forward. Julietta barely moved out of the way as he collided with the door, which finally pushed open a few inches. Together, they crashed into it time and time again until it opened enough for them to squeeze out.

  But not all was safe in the White Nothingness. The pristine snowy surface was now cracked all over the place, some sections covered in high mounds, others with large holes. The ground continued to shake and geysers of steam exploded sporadically. Still, Julietta didn’t hesitate to stomp her way forward, pulling away from Henry as he tried to grab at her arm.

  “But we can’t leave,” he said in a panic.

  “I’m not going to die within your walls,” Julietta said. “Neither should you.”

  She didn’t try to convince him any further. Instead, she hurried forward, finding better footing with each step, eventually working her way into a light jog as the ground swayed up and down. She was so focused on what was happening in front of her that she didn’t look back to see if Henry still followed. Despite her concentration, she couldn’t avoid being tossed into the snow several times. Geysers continued to explode around her, some larger than others, creating sinkholes that she took wide paths to avoid.

  A loud crash in the distance finally convinced her to look back. The ground undulated and so did the Dome, the unnatural motion causing large sections of its green glass to shatter and fall away. The outer wall had collapsed. Several beasts were carefully approaching, stepping on the shaking wooden structure before recoiling onto the snow. Julietta doubted it would be long before they got over that fear. Fear had also spurred Henry to run. He was much closer than she’d expected, a fact that might’ve made her nervous if not for the world collapsing around them both.

  A small burst of steam shot out of the ground directly in front of Julietta. She turned away at the last moment, a movement so sudden that her ankle twisted painfully and she collapsed to the snow. Julietta scurried to her feet—telling herself there was no time for injuries—but her ankle felt weak when she tried to put weight on it. She remained on her feet and pushed forward, but every shake of the ground knocking her down.

  The supply pack felt heavier on her shoulders a
nd she loosened the straps, hoping for the tiniest relief. The next time she stumbled, the pack fell off and skittered down a small crest in the snow. Julietta tried to crawl after it, but a blur of white movement scampered toward it first. Julietta’s first thought was ‘beast’ until she realized the blur was way too small. Henry reached the pack and slung it over his shoulder, hurrying farther into the Nothingness without glancing back.

  “But it’s mine!” Julietta called out, her voice lost among the harsh winds as a snowstorm rolled in. She tried to catch up, but Henry moved too quickly and soon disappeared into the snowfall. Julietta hoped the snow would provide her cover from the beasts.

  The thought of the beasts made her look back. The snow hadn’t gotten too heavy to stop her from seeing the Dome. It continued to sway until the ground gave way beneath it, seeming to slowly swallow the massive structure. She thought of all the poor teenagers—and the cruel ones, too—stuck inside, clueless without their leader, the ground swallowing them and the beasts alike. But it was something shooting out of the ground that got Julietta’s attention, a blur of movement that rose high above the Dome and toward the clouds.

  She thought of her rescue within the Dome, thought of the Sky Person that had saved her and Paige. She had no doubt this was the same Sky Person, who’d gone Below without ever returning. Not only did the Sky Person spread his wings wide and fly away from the destruction, he appeared to be carrying another person. . . a woman. Julietta hoped it was Paige—about whom she’d worried for months—but when they flew overhead, Julietta could tell it was someone else, someone unconscious and possibly dead.

  “Help! Down here!” she yelled, waving her arms.

  But it was too late. The Sky Person either didn’t hear or didn’t care and was soon gone. Julietta kept hobbling ahead, her ankle throbbing, pain sapping her of energy. The ground continued to shake but lessened over time, as did the number of steam bursts. She thought she’d gotten clear of the worst danger when the ground dipped beneath her feet. Julietta fell face-first and slid backwards before digging her feet into the snow. She pushed her way forward on hands and knees, the ground behind her sinking deeper, the hill in front of her becoming steeper. Every time she crawled a few feet forward, she slid another foot back. Her energy quickly waned. For the briefest moment, she considered giving up and letting gravity take over, but she didn’t look back to see how far the hill dropped.