The Mountain

by Kevin George

  Olly nodded and took a step closer to her.

  “Did you see anything when the door was open?” he asked. “Did you see Emma?”

  “Only smoke, cold smoke,” Liv said, her eyes flitting from her son to the door and then back again. “I don’t think there’s a lab in there.”

  “Did you see the scientist?” Olly asked. Liv shook her head. “Then they must’ve gone their separate ways.”

  Liv had trouble focusing for longer than a few seconds, but one question cut through the haze filling her mind. “Then what could be so important about this place that the Sky Person came here instead?”

  “I don’t know,” Olly said with a frown, “but if Emma isn’t here, we don’t need to stay and risk getting caught. We have to look elsewhere.”

  Olly looked up and down both ends of the hallway, uncertain which way to go. Knowing the answer wouldn’t magically come to him, he picked a direction and ran. Liv looked at the metal door a final time and squawked before extending her wings and taking off toward her son.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Martha Weller no sooner accused Sally and the Swarm of murder than several dozen Tunnelers streamed out of the vehicles. As the newcomers encircled them, holding their makeshift weapons at the ready, Sally looked from person to person, recognizing none of the faces glaring angrily—and slightly confusedly—at them. James took a step toward the newcomers—undoubtedly ready to abandon the Swarm—but Sally’s hand clamped onto his arm.

  Whispers of “Those are the Sky People?” spread among the Tunnelers. They was met by squawks from the bravest of the Swarm and nervous chirping from the most frightened of them. Several Tunnelers broke away from the others and rushed toward the corpses shrouded in snow. Their subsequent cries told Sally all she needed to know about the dead being loved ones of the living.

  “We found them like this a few minutes ago,” Sally said. “We had no idea who they were or who did this to them.”

  “Liar,” a Tunneler snapped.

  “They’re murderous Sky People, just like in the stories passed down for generations,” another Tunneler said.

  Feathers bristled among the Swarm. Sally sensed more than one Aviary spreading his or her wings into attack position. She’d seen what the Swarm could do to a single human, but she wasn’t quite sure they’d be as vicious without Quinn leading them. Besides, she wished for no bloodshed. The circle of Tunnelers began to inch closer to the Swarm, the tips of their weapons moments from reaching Sally and her friends. Sally held a hand up to the Swarm to keep them calm, while holding the other up to the Tunnelers’ apparent leader.

  “Please, Mrs. Weller, these are not the Sky People of ancient tales,” Sally insisted. “They are kind and good and would never do something like this. They’ve suffered as much in their lives as the citizens of the City Below have.”

  Martha Weller whistled, higher and shriller than the wind, her signal stopping the Tunnelers’ advancement. She eyed Sally closely.

  “The burns on your face,” Martha said, taking a small step closer. “Those were made by lava?”

  Sally nodded. “In The Fifth, which is where I grew up. I escaped the city in the vehicle meant for Artie Peters and your daughter.”

  Even among the howling blizzard winds, everyone heard Martha Weller’s gasp. Her legs appeared to buckle, though Sally wasn’t sure if The Third’s leader had merely stepped in an area of unforgiving snow.

  “You know what happened to Emma?”

  Sally shook her head. The hope on Martha’s face disappeared, her eyes narrowing. She looked more closely at the dead.

  “Liv and Irving and those in the lead vehicle?” Martha called out to the Tunnelers still kneeled over their dead loved ones. A few rushed to the vehicle in front not riddled with bullet holes and announced it was empty. The accusation returned to Martha’s eyes as she glared at Sally. “What happened to them?”

  Sally shook her head. “I don’t know, honestly. We’ve seen nobody else. . . at least nobody else on the ground.”

  “We don’t believe you,” cried one of the grieving Tunnelers. “We’ve heard about Sky People eating their victims. That’s probably what they did to them.”

  This time, Sally couldn’t calm the squawks from Lump and the others. Martha did nothing to quell the anger from her group. James fell to his knees, holding up his hands in surrender, but Sally stepped forward despite the tips of several spears being shaken inches from her face. Lump called out her name, but she promised him she’d be okay, that this was all a big misunderstanding and that the two groups needed each other.

  “Why would we want anything from you?” Martha spat.

  Beside her, William Weller reached for his wife’s arm. “Maybe we should listen to what she has to—”

  Martha snapped him a glare, instantly quieting him.

  “Please, Chad Upton and I survived the Nothingness together,” Sally said. “Our two groups might be able to do the same for each other.”

  “What happened to Chad?” William asked.

  Sally glanced back at James, who stared down at the snow, finally keeping his mouth shut. For a moment, she was tempted to tell the Wellers the entire truth.

  “We became separated soon after reaching the surface,” Sally said. “Long before I met these amazing Aviaries. I hope he’s out here, somewhere.”

  Sally worried her answer might be too vague, but one of the Tunnelers stepped forward and lowered her weapon, nodding.

  “I do recognize her,” the Tunneler said. “I was with Irving the day we saw their vehicle driving through the tunnels. We helped clear their path to Above.”

  “But now he’s not here and she is,” another Tunneler said, his voice oozing suspicion.

  Before Sally could defend herself, Lump flapped his misshapen wings, hovering a few inches above the snow. Others in the Swarm did the same, more than half the group forming a perimeter around Sally.

  “These are the Sky People we feared for so many years?” a Tunneler called out. “Doesn’t look like they can hover more than a few inches off the ground let alone fly high into the clouds.”

  “Please,” Sally begged. “Insults aren’t necessary. If we fight among each other, none of us will ever—”

  She spotted movement near the back of a larger parked vehicle. She didn’t know why her eyes found the hobbled young man, but she watched him approach with great interest. Martha snapped at the young man to return to the truck, but he ignored her orders and pushed between the Tunnelers, all while looking in Sally’s direction. It wasn’t until he came closer that Sally realized his eyes were looking to the side of her.

  “Uncle?” asked Henry Jonas.

  Sally looked toward James at the same time Martha turned to Henry.

  “You know him?” Martha asked.

  The exchange eased tension from both sides, who collectively watched James stand as Henry hobbled closer. James stared at the boy, his eyebrows lowering.

  “Louis’s boy?” James asked. “You look just like him when he was your age.”

  “Louis’s brother?” Henry asked. “You look just like him when he was your age, too. My grandfather and father told me I had an uncle that was sent out into the white world, but I never figured you were alive.” The young man didn’t exactly look excited to see a relative, nor did he appear impressed as his eyes moved to the Swarm behind his uncle. “How did you end up with this group?”

  James made a show of slowly looking from one dirty Tunneler face to another. “I could ask you the same about ending up with that group.”

  “We’re on our way to The Mountain in the hopes of finding survival,” Henry said.

  “As are we,” James said.

  “Mothers,” Lump called out. “We go there for mothers.”

  The hardened expression on Martha’s face began to crack and tension eased from both sides.

  “Neither one of us will survive the Nothingness if we destroy each other here and now,” James said. “Those from T
he Mountain must’ve done this to your people, and they’ll do it to us if we’re not careful.”

  Though neither side particularly liked their options, they agreed to band together for the final leg of their journey. The Tunnelers piled back into their vehicles while James and Sally climbed aboard their snowmobile. Together, the two groups followed faint tracks leading toward The Mountain’s alcove. Sally had hoped to make less of an announced approach, but they encountered nobody before reaching the large blast door separating them from the hangar. Tunnelers and Swarmers alike pounded on the heavy metal door, all to no avail.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  At first, Chad dismissed the dull metallic thudding as normal sounds of The Mountain, the noise barely penetrating the mask he still wore. But as he stood near the bottom of the stairwell, contemplating his next move, the pounding became stronger and more frantic. He soon found himself rushing down the steps, across the hangar and to the button controlling the hangar door. He’d only pressed it minutes earlier on the command of the head of security, but she was apparently dead and Chad was in charge, free to do whatever he pleased.

  Still, he hesitated to push the button. The last group of ‘intruders’ had been killed by Mountain guards, except for Irving, Prince Oliver and his mother. Chad assumed the pounding was being done by more Tunnelers, but as much as he wanted to let them in, he was worried about those that had been slaughtered, worried that the other Tunnelers wouldn’t know who he was and would blame him for the murders. The last thing he wanted was to survive months on the surface only to be killed by people who’d helped him get there in the first place.

  As Chad pondered what to do next, the pounding grew louder, and he heard faint screams from outside. He couldn’t very well condemn them to frozen deaths by leaving the door closed, but he didn’t know how he could—

  His walkie-talkie crackled, the sound startling him.

  “Moretti, come in,” the voice said.

  Worried the other guards already knew about the new arrivals—and that they’d insist on sending more forces to the hangar to fight them off—Chad realized now was the time to channel the strength and anger of the guard he was impersonating.

  “I told you before and I’ll tell you again: lock the prisoners up until I figure out what to do with them,” he snapped.

  The next sound from the walkie exploded so loudly that Chad nearly dropped the small device. It didn’t take him long to identify the sound of a Sky Person’s shriek and realize the person on the other end wasn’t a mere guard.

  “Big things are happening in The Mountain, and if you want to survive long enough to see the results, you’ll do your job to keep the safety,” said a lilting, yet firm, female voice.

  Chad didn’t know to whom the voice belonged, but he did know better than to argue with anything she said. “Copy that, ma’am,” he said, keeping his response brief for fear the metallic banging would be heard through the transmission.

  “One of the prisoners was used as a test subject for our new Aviary Blast,” the woman said. “The tests went awry and now this woman is on the loose and threatening the well-being of the Descendant just brought here.”

  Chad cringed at the thought of a humans being tested on, but he couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Prince Oliver facing imminent danger.

  “Oliver Jonas deserves whatever punishment he receives,” Chad said.

  The moment the words left his mouth, Chad felt a rush of heat in his face, worried he’d said too much. The lingering silence that followed didn’t help assuage those fears.

  “The boy you speak of is a prisoner that escaped. He’s not the Descendant,” the woman said with an edge to her voice that was impossible to miss. “In fact, he’s with the failed test subject, and they’ve threatened to go after the girl. . . the true Descendant.”

  Common sense told Chad to agree to whatever order he received, but curiosity—and the spark of hope that came with it—couldn’t keep him silent.

  “The girl?”

  “Are you still hiding in the hangar?” the voice asked. Chad shook his head, about to deny it, but the voice didn’t give him a chance to respond. “You need to get to the labs now to protect the girl, to protect. . . what’s her name again?”

  At first, Chad thought the woman might be asking him for the answer, though he’d already made it clear he didn’t know what was going on. But the line remained open and beyond the strange squawking in the background, a normal voice spoke a word that made Chad’s blood turn to ice. He stared down at the walkie, his body suddenly numb, certain he hadn’t correctly.

  “Emma,” the woman confirmed.

  Several seconds of silence slipped by before Chad took his next breath. In an instant, he realized his purpose for being in The Mountain. He started toward the stairwell again, swallowing hard to clear the lump rising in the back of his throat.

  “Where’s Emma. . . the Descendant being held?”

  “Weren’t you listening?” the woman snapped. “In the main lab.”

  “And which level is that on?” Chad asked without thinking.

  Another extended moment of silence passed, during which time he realized the error of his question. He was beyond the point of caring about his own self-preservation, but he reminded himself Emma might not survive if he didn’t.

  “I’ve heard questions of your competency, but now I’m beginning to understand why,” the woman said.

  “Yes, I’ve been in the hangar too long,” Chad answered, trying to match the woman’s annoyance. “But now I’m going to protect the Descendant before Oliver can reach her. Are you going to tell me where to find her or not?”

  Chad stopped on the bottom step, wondering if he’d overplayed his hand. But when the woman’s voice returned, she followed a veiled threat about “Moretti’s future well-being” with the information Chad needed.

  “On my way,” Chad said.

  “Keep her alive long enough so the rest of her bone marrow can be drained,” the woman said. “Command as many other guards as you need to keep her safe. Nothing must stop us from getting what we need from her.”

  Chad shivered. As much as he hated to admit it, he understood that Prince Oliver wasn’t the same level of threat as the rest of this place. He leapt up the first two steps before the distant banging grabbed his attention again. With the threat of guards coming to disrupt his rescue of Emma, an idea to distract the guards suddenly came to his mind, one that found him rushing back down to the hangar rather than up the stairs. . .

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  “Maybe there’s a better solution than this?” James asked, his sigh producing a cloud of steam.

  If the others heard him, they gave no indication. Instead, Swarmers and Tunnelers alike continued to pound against the blast door. When the Swarm tired, a few of them huddled together, chirping with fright as they breathed deeply. The humans fared even worse, many of them coughing from a mixture of fatigue and frigid temperatures as the cold wind whipped in the alcove, their hands quickly growing numb as their futile attempt to open the door proved less and less likely to succeed. When the humans became too cold, they rotated in and out of their vehicles to gain warmth, with fresh Tunnelers coming out to pound on the door.

  “The two of you are welcome to warm up if you’d like,” William Weller told Sally and James before he scurried back into his vehicle.

  James started toward the vehicle but stopped when he saw Sally’s glare. She remained near the Swarm, taking her turn at the door, watching as Martha Weller never once returned to her vehicle to escape the freezing conditions. The sanctuary of those vehicles didn’t last long. Soon after the first of the vehicles malfunctioned, another did the same, the orange glow dimming within its tubes, the lava slowing and stopping and hardening into black rock, causing sections of glass tube to splinter.

  Tunnelers streamed out of the vehicles, their frightened, freezing cries convincing the others to pound harder on the blast door. Paige leapt from a cargo h
old, her legs plunging nearly a foot deep in the snow. She stepped her way out and reached up for Mia, lifting the girl from the back. In Mia’s arms, Baby Ryo was bundled tightly in Tunneler rags and held close to her chest. Neither child was dressed properly for such cold, and it wasn’t long before the newborn’s cries echoed within the alcove. Several Swarmers chirped nervously while others fluttered their wings and pounded their feathered hands even harder against the door. Nobody needed to mention aloud how dire their situation had become, but the crying baby—undoubtedly suffering greater agony with every second exposed to the cold—served as a constant reminder.

  Lump hobbled away from the door and approached the children, ignoring the stares of the Tunnelers. Paige tried to step between the large Swarmer and the two kids, but Lump proceeded to extend his oversized wing and wrap all three humans in his warmth. The only lingering distrust between the groups came from Martha and Isaac, who stared at Henry and James with utter disdain—and utter distrust of any and all Jonases—as nephew and uncle spoke of the futility of their situation.

  “We have to try another way before it’s too late,” James said loudly enough for everyone to hear. When the eyes of several Swarmers and Tunnelers turned to him, James pointed high into The Mountain disappearing within the clouds. “The ledge. There’s no door blocking the entrance up there?”

  Desperate squawks erupted from the Swarm, many of whom attacked the metallic door with newfound fervor. As James approached the Swarm, the group turned its collective back on him.

  “I know not all of you are capable of flying so high, but I implore those of you that can do it to try,” James said. “If I could do it, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

  Henry joined his uncle’s side, as did several other Tunnelers, all of them looking for the Swarm to become their saviors. When none responded beyond nervous chirps, Henry began to yell and threaten them, his words having as little effect as his uncle’s had.

  “You may not care about human lives, but we’ll all die if you don’t find a way into The Mountain and open this door,” Henry said.