Cadence

by Wilson, Dianne J. ;

  “There can’t be too many more to come down.” Evazee glanced across the room but gave up on attempting a head count. The lights were dim down here.

  “Someone’s arguing up top. You should go see.” Bree tilted her head towards the trapdoor.

  Evazee knew better than to argue with the redhead.

  Zulu and his brother were going at each other at the top of the stairs.

  “What’s going on?”

  Zulu was so furious that there was a red tinge to his dark skin. “Number One is being stubborn.”

  Boety pointed at Zulu but spoke directly to Evazee. “And he’s not being logical.”

  “Guys, surely there isn’t time for this?”

  Boety held up his hands as if he knew nothing, “Someone has to stay out to close and hide the flappy door. Otherwise? Men find everybody.” His eyes went vacant and his voice hollowed. “They’re here.”

  Zulu butted in with a finger in Boety’s face. “I told you to go down. I’ll do the door.”

  Boety twisted as if he were going to walk down the stairs and comply. At the last minute, he yelled, “Move, Zulu’s friend!” He swung backwards, hooking Zulu’s legs out from under him. Zulu tipped forwards and rolled head-first down the stairs like a human bowling ball.

  Evazee stood, torn.

  But Boety grinned at her and shut the trapdoor in her face.

  The sound of scraping came from over her head. This kid had spunk. Not too many self-preservation brain cells, but definitely guts.

  Bree was perched on Zulu’s back at the bottom of the stairs. The big man raged, trying to get up to get back to his brother. The fall didn’t seem to have done him any harm.

  “It’s too late, Zulu. Your brother is clever like you. He is small and quick. Maybe they won’t catch him.”

  “It should have been me.”

  “Well, it’s not. Help me get this lot settled in. Help them understand that they have to be quieter than they’ve ever been be—”

  Zulu held a hand to her lips and pointed above. Footsteps on the wooden floor above.

  Evazee’s heart pounded so loud she thought they might hear.

  Zulu’s boys stood, one at each group, ready for anything.

  Deep male voices spoke in a language she didn’t understand.

  Zulu tilted his head to the side, straining to hear.

  “They’re searching the building.”

  The OS kids sat on the floor, dotted in groups between the piles of boxes. They sat as still as statues, the gravity of the situation must have got through to them. Evazee stayed close to Zulu, waiting for an indication of how long they’d be down here.

  “They’re going to stay until we show up.” Zulu hung his head, rubbing his eyes.

  “What?” Evazee’s fear squeezed out into that single word. “We can’t keep these kids down here and quiet for much longer.”

  Zulu nodded. “There has to be another way out.”

  “I’ll check the storm water drain. Maybe the water is low enough for us to get out that way.”

  Evazee eased herself down the stairs and stepped between all the people sitting squished together on the floor. A few of them had to move for her to get to the trapdoor. Between them, they hauled back the heavy lid. The sounds of water sloshing below echoed up the short tunnel. Someone shone a light, and Evazee sighed. Water filled the tunnel. If they all had scuba equipment, getting out that way would be great. But they didn’t, and there was no way they would be leaving this basement through these tunnels.

  Evazee tugged on her ponytail. Maybe the sharp pain in her scalp would help her think. She studied the contents of the room. There could even be a doorway behind one of the boxes. They’d never know because they couldn’t see it. She hated the feeling of being trapped like this, with the possibility of discovery getting bigger each moment they spent down here.

  There was only one thing for it. They had to examine every centimetre of this room, without making any noise. She pulled Zulu down to whisper in his ear.

  “Ask your boys to look for a doorway. We have to get out of here.”

  Zulu nodded and picked his way between the groups of people on the floor. One at a time he made his way to each of his boys and whispered in their ears. The slow, measured steps of someone on guard duty thudded through the floor at regular intervals.

  Every time they crossed the trapdoor, Evazee’s heart pounded. Zulu tripped and came down on his knee with a loud thunk. The footsteps paused then grew louder. The walker was coming back.

  A rustling sound came from a corner behind Evazee. It made her think of camping. As she turned around, she could see why. One of Zulu’s boys had pulled aside a large canvas sheet. Behind it stood an open arch carved from ancient stone, cracked and dirty. A sliver of unease shot through Evazee. A stone arch seemed so out of place.

  The footsteps had stopped right over the trapdoor. Two hard stamps made the door bounce. The hairs on Evazee’s arms stood on end. One more stamp. Her knees turned to water. Scuffling and scratching. A shout. They’d been discovered.

  Zulu pointed at the arch and held up his hands silently asking for Evazee’s opinion. More scuffling above. They were out of time.

  Evazee waved her hands, shooing them towards the arch. Zulu stood up tall and stuck an arm in the air. Across the room his boys stood to their feet, their gazes trained on Zulu as an orchestra would on a conductor. His hands flew in a complicated series of gestures. Then they dropped to his sides, and each of his boys stuck an arm up.

  Zulu’s arm swung towards the arch, dark muscles bulging under his skin. As one, the boys turned to their groups, gathered them close, and made for the opening. Those closest stepped in first. Evazee’s stomach churned. They had no idea where it would take them, but they couldn’t stay.

  Bree wiggled through the mass of bodies, pressing through to Evazee with thunder on her face. She hauled herself up the stairs and grabbed Evazee’s arm. “Do you know what that is?” She hissed between clenched teeth. “Take a good look.”

  “A doorway.” Evazee stared at the arch. It flickered grey light as each person stepped through. A wash of cold flooded over Evazee, and she swallowed hard.

  “You’ve seen one of these before, haven’t you? You know exactly what it is and what it does.” Bree’s mouth pulled in a thin white line.

  Not a doorway.

  A testing arch.

  15

  “He’s a snake and a traitor. I knew it from the start.” Zap paced. Two steps, turn, two steps, turn.

  Ruaan sighed in the dark. “Do you think there’s anything to eat in here? We’ve been stuck here for hours.”

  The silence in the room made Kai’s ears buzz, broken only by Zap’s footsteps and the faint rumblings of Ruaan’s belly. They’d walked the vast chamber flat, searched every inch for another way out. The only door in was locked tight and unbreakable. Kai had tried speaking to Tau, but it didn’t seem like Tau hung out in places like this.

  “I should never have dragged you two into this. Trusting Elden was a gamble that didn’t pay off. I’m sorry.” Kai fumbled for Elden’s bag in the dark. He felt the rough canvas and dragged it closer. As he lifted it, all the contents slipped out and crashed to the floor. Four glowing tubes fell out too, giving off enough faint light for Kai to see the amulets they’d collected all spilled on the floor.

  “Hey, what are those?” Ruaan bent down and reached towards a tube.

  “Don’t touch that!” Zap yelled. “Don’t you recognise it?”

  “I saw Elden pack those in.” Kai reached for one and held it between the tips of his fingers. “Dark Affinity serum. I don’t know what his intention was with these. We didn’t really discuss plans. He just told me to come and I did.” Kai scooped up all the things on the floor and shoved them back in the bag. “I would have expected an alarm to go off by now or something.” He unclipped the navigation device from the top of the pillar which had sunk back down onto the floor.

  Kai opened the b
ag to stare at the glowing injections. The idea forming made his stomach flip, yet it seemed to be their last option. “Guys, we need to get back to the OS as soon as possible. At the moment, we could be left here for a long time. What if we tried the injections?” He braced himself for the backlash.

  Zap stopped pacing, and Kai was glad for the dark that hid whatever Zap’s face was doing. It wouldn’t be pretty.

  “I’m not even going to answer that. Do you seriously want that stuff in your veins? I think you must have bashed your head and forgotten what it was like.” Zap clucked his tongue.

  Before Kai could answer, Ruaan spoke. “It’s a terrible idea. But it could be our only choice. Besides, it’s one injection. It won’t affect us forever. Just long enough to get out of here.”

  “Exactly. We need to get back. We can’t hang around forever. This is the only way.” Kai sounded a thousand times more convinced than he felt.

  “You two are prize idiots. I can’t believe what I’m hearing from you. Of the three of us, I’m the one who has seen this stuff developed in the lab. I’ve watched them destroy the boundaries to twist things out of shape to make this stuff effective. With every sane cell in my brain, I’m begging you. Don’t do this.”

  Dread washed over Kai. Despite Zap’s impassioned plea, he was beginning to think this was the only way. The thought of forcing this on his friend curdled his gut.

  ~*~

  Stepping into a testing arch without being pumped full of serum was like stepping into an oven and sticking a finger in an open electricity socket all at once. Heat flashed through Evazee, making sweat break out across her forehead. For a moment, the pain was so intense she thought she’d burn up on the spot, but she kept walking anyway.

  The heat left and with it, her strength. She doubled over, hands on her knees, and focussed on breathing with lungs that felt seared.

  “Friend-Evazee, the others—”

  A hook of emotion in Zulu’s voice drew Evazee upright. She blinked through blinding light, trying to figure out where they were and what Zulu was trying to say.

  “They’re not here.”

  “What?” Evazee spun around. The archway had brought them out in the slums outside the OS. Lopsided shacks tilted at crazy angles, stretching into distance as far as she could see.

  Bree lay on her side in the dirt, clutching her damaged arm and whimpering with her eyes shut tight. Next to her huddled another small bundle with her black hair poking out the sides. Paintbrush.

  “Is that it?” Evazee rubbed her eyes and spun around. She ran to Bree and put her hand on her friend’s back. “Are you hurt?”

  Paintbrush rolled onto her back and stretched out, thrashing as if she were dreaming of ants. As far as Evazee could tell, it was just the four of them. She’d watched the others walk through the arch. If they’d come out close by, there was no way of knowing.

  People were coming out of their shacks, shielding their eyes as if the sun was shining for the first time in months.

  “Friend-Evazee, these people are staring at you.” Zulu was crouched down as if trying to be as small as possible.

  Evazee laughed and patted his shoulder. “No, dear Zulu-friend. You are the star attraction here. You are quite an intimidating sight, you know.”

  He backed off a few steps, glanced around and shook his head. “Nope. All you.”

  A little boy ran out from one of the shacks and straight past Zulu. He didn’t bat an eye at the two on the ground but came right up to Evazee and stood at her feet, neck craning to look up at her.

  He reached out to touch her, stopped just short and snatched his hand away. “Are you an angel?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Sam. You look like an angel.”

  “Have you ever seen an angel, Sam?” Evazee couldn’t help grinning at the little boy whose face glowed as he looked at her.

  “Uh-huh.” He nodded with his smile growing wider. “You!”

  “Sam! Come back here now.” An old woman leaning on a stick stood at the doorway of a shack that looked like it might collapse if someone breathed too hard.

  Heat flashed through Evazee, so quick it took her breath away. Her palms tingled like the candy that pops when you put it on your tongue.

  “But Nana, she’s—”

  “Now. Quickly.”

  Sam’s face crumpled, but he backed away with his eyes fixed on Evazee. At the last minute, he spun away and ran to his Nana.

  She shooed him inside and settled back onto her stick, glaring at Evazee through squinty eyes.

  Evazee was just wondering if she should go speak to the old lady, when she disappeared inside and slammed the door behind her hard enough to make her whole shack quiver.

  Bree groaned, and Evazee reached down to pull her to a sit. As their skin connected, Bree yelped.

  “What did you do to me?” Bree stared at her good hand, flexing her fingers.

  Paintbrush rolled over and stuck her head on Bree’s lap. Her arms slipped around Bree, and she smiled before drifting back to sleep.

  Bree sat awkwardly, her damaged hand across her chest. With Paintbrush on her lap, she overbalanced and nearly fell. Her hands flung out to catch herself, and Evazee gasped.

  “Look at your hand. Not your good one, the other one.”

  Bree held up her damaged hand. The skin pulsed with light. “I’m getting feeling back. What did you do?”

  Zulu tapped Evazee on the shoulder. She looked around to see what he wanted and panicked. Slum dwellers surrounded them, shuffling closer. Their faces were grim.

  Evazee knew what she had to do. “Look after these two, Zulu. I’ll be back soon.”

  Without thinking too deeply, Evazee followed the urging in her gut and ran across the dusty space to the shack where Sam lived with his Nana. She knocked on the makeshift door carefully, not wanting to risk sending the entire structure toppling.

  “Go away.” Sam’s Nana’s voice was old and brittle.

  Evazee waved Zulu over. “Do you think you could make this shack more stable?”

  His gaze flicked across the rusted metal sheets, balanced on each other to make the shelter. “Yebo.”

  “We’d like to make your house stronger. Can we do that?”

  The makeshift door opened a fraction. “I don’t know, can you?”

  Evazee thumbed towards Elden. “He can.”

  “What cost?”

  Evazee hesitated. There was no doubt in her mind that asking for nothing would get a no. “Something to drink. We’re not fussy.”

  “Very well. Come on in.”

  ~*~

  “I’m sorry Zap. There is no other way. I’ll do what I have to do, and you’ll go along with it.”

  Zap stepped away from him, finger poking towards Kai’s face. “Are you bullying me?”

  Ruaan pushed them apart. “I say we keep going. Look. Something just lit up in the distance. It might be a door.” He didn’t wait for them but strode off into the gloom with his eyes glowing.

  Zap sniffed, a deep, smug sniff, crammed full of I-told-you-so.

  The relief that washed through Kai outweighed his urge to punch Zap in his smug face. Anything was better than having to pump his friend full of dark Affinity serum.

  Ruaan jogged faster than Kai thought was possible. His thighs burned with the effort of keeping up. Each step covered three hexagons below his feet. Each hexagon represented a column packed with countless amulets, each amulet holding a life in bondage. Stuck, not able to break free.

  The further they ran, the more Kai’s belly soured. He ran out of fingers and toes to count how many sections were represented.

  They reached Ruaan’s door. A panel of buttons ran down the side and Ruaan pushed one with an arrow pointing downwards. The doors drew back with a hiss and opened up to a rectangular cubicle, a lift.

  The panel of buttons inside the lift was huge, with buttons numbered from zero all the way to one hundred. Ruaan shut the doors and shrugged his shoulders at t
hem.

  “Which one?”

  A fine sheen of sweat covered Kai’s body. He told himself it was from the run, but he knew the truth. A hundred floors below the surface? Might as well be buried alive. “Try one down. That should be good.” His voice came out high and squeaky.

  Zap was bouncing on his toes. “C’mon man. A hundred floors and you want to go one down?” He glanced across at Kai and must’ve seen something in Kai’s expression to change his mind. “OK, fine. What about just five?”

  Ruaan nodded and punched the five.

  The lift glided smoothly, slipped past four floors. Beyond the glass doors on each level stretched a room further than what Kai could see, the floors all covered in hexagons like the one they’d just left.

  They reached the fifth level down and came to a halt with a gentle bump. A group of security guards clustered around the door, weapons drawn.

  “Don’t open!” Kai yelled too late. The lift doors slid open. Kai hit the close button, nearly trapping the front guard’s fingers. He pulled back with a yell and slammed his fists into the door as the lift dropped out of his reach.

  Zap clutched his toe, hopping around on one leg.

  The 100th floor button glowed. Kai pointed. “What did you do?”

  Zap toppled sideways into Ruaan, still rubbing his toe. “I panicked and kicked. The 100 button was just there where my toe landed. It’s not my fault.”

  Kai stared through the door as level after level slipped past them, each floor the same as the others; hexagon-laced, stretching far beyond where he could see. “Guys, are you seeing this? Do you think they’re all full?” His legs turned to jelly as his mind twisted around what he was seeing.

  The lift picked up speed as it dropped, and they slammed to a halt at floor 100 with a jolt that knocked them off their feet. The lift door swooshed open.

  Kai saw boots, cringed as something hard smacked into his skull, and watched the ground zoom closer.

  16

  The woman’s tiny home was hardly big enough to fit another two people. Zulu hovered, hunched over with his chin on his chest to fit in.