by Darrell Pitt
Chapter Thirty – Six
I’m not fast enough.
If I were faster I could have thrown up a barrier, but because I’m not –
The bullet hits her.
Anna rebounds against the wall. She tries to stay on her feet, but gravity drags her to the floor. At the same time Twelve disappears from the doorway and the sound of his footsteps recede up the narrow corridor. I kneel next to Anna, taking her hand. I am reminded of when I woke up in the hotel room with Doctor Richards on the floor. History is repeating itself.
Ferdy’s small hand touches Anna’s forehead as she tries to speak.
“The average resting pulse of a human is sixty to ninety beats per minute,” he says softly. “Doctor Anna is a friend.”
I try to staunch the bleeding. “Anna. I’ll get help.”
But no sooner are the words out of my mouth than a blast erupts down the passageway behind us. I instantly throw up a shield to protect us from the worst of it. Dust flies everywhere. Cracks appear in the walls. The lights go out and for a long moment I think the whole structure is about to cave in around us.
Finally the noise subsides and we’re left in complete and total darkness. No matter what my powers may be, there’s no way I can navigate out of a black hole a hundred feet underground.
The light bulb flickers back on. Faintly. I stare at it, daring it to die out.
It fades once, but returns to life, casting a faint yellow glow around the cell.
I’m still trying to stop the blood flow from Anna’s chest, but it’s like trying to plug a hole in a dam with a pebble. I look down into her face. She is pale. She’s lost a lot of blood. I’m not sure even a doctor could save her.
“You have to escape The Agency,” she urges. “It’s…”
“Just hold on. I’ll get us…”
“It’s too late for me. Take Ferdy.” She swallows hard as a spasm of pain works through her body. “We didn’t know…the children…wrong, but I never realized…”
“Anna…”
Her eyes open wide. “You should know…you have…”
She struggles to speak.
“…a brother…”
The silence closes in around us. Ferdy strokes her face, murmuring details about chemical compounds and how Anna was his friend. This is how it all started. A small room. A dying person. Enigmatic words.
I have a brother.
I shake my head. Now is not the time to think about such things. I’m not sure how much air we have left remaining in this small chamber. We need to get out of here.
If we can get out.
“Ferdy?” I look up at the other door. “Where does that lead?”
Ferdy is still holding Anna’s hand. “Rigor mortis sets in approximately three hours after death –”
“Ferdy? Listen to me –”
“– and lasts approximately twelve hours.” He looks at the door. “Ferdy doesn’t know.”
I press my face against the metal bars. I can feel cold air, but I don’t feel a breeze. Glancing back to the other door, all I can see is fallen rock and debris. That way is completely impassable. I focus on the door and push it out of its hinges. It falls to the floor beyond with a crash.
A sea of darkness lies beyond the chamber. Ferdy is suddenly by my side. He presses his head against my shoulder.
“Do you know where this leads?” I ask.
“We are only a hundred feet from the ocean,” he says. “Jellyfish have no heart or brain.”
“Okay. That’s handy to know.”
A light suddenly flicks on, illuminating the inky blackness. Ferdy has a flashlight. Thank God for small miracles. I take it from him and shine it around the interior. At first it looks like things have gone from bad to worse. We’re standing in some sort of naturally occurring cave. The ceiling at the back seems to gradually slope down to the floor.
There is a pile of rocks and debris to our left. I hold onto Ferdy’s arm while we examine the debris. If I was expecting a secret tunnel or an elevator leading upward, I’m very sadly mistaken. There’s nothing back here.
A tiny ping interrupts the silence.
I look back to the rear of the cave where the ceiling meets the floor. It is as smooth as glass.
Water.
“Ferdy. Is that a pool?” I ask.
“The speed of light is two hundred and ninety-nine –”
“Yeah, that’s great, but is –. Oh, never mind.”
I kneel down and touch my hand to the liquid. It is dead cold to the touch. Tasting it, my hopes rise when I taste –
“Salt,” I say. “Ferdy, this is salt water.”
“We are only one hundred feet from the ocean,” Ferdy says.
Holy hell.
This is what Ferdy has been trying to tell me.
“Is this an underground river? Does it lead to the ocean?”
“David Blane broke the world record when he held his breath for seventeen minutes and four seconds –”
“Hopefully we won’t have to break his record.”
I turn off the flashlight. At first all I can see is dark, but after several seconds I’m aware of a faint glow coming from the back of the still lake. I turn the flashlight back on.
“Ferdy?” I get down on my knees and look into his face. “You understand what we have to do? We have to swim through the water to the other side. Can you swim?”
“The world record for backstroke is –”
“Can you swim?”
“The deepest part of the Earth’s oceans is the Marianas Trench –”
“That’s great.” I let out a deep sigh. “Ferdy. We have to get out of here. I’m going to swim through under the water till I reach the ocean. You have to hold onto my belt. With your other hand I need you to light the way. Hopefully the flashlight will hold out. Do you understand?”
“The deepest part of the trench –” He stops. “Ferdy understands.”
I stare into his eyes. I hope he does. I think he’s autistic, but it’s a special type of autism where he has unlimited amounts of knowledge. He needs to understand that he cannot let go of me in the water. If he does, I’ll probably never find him again. For that matter, if the flashlight should fail we’ll drown in the dark or if I can’t hold my breath long enough –
I latch his hand onto the back of my belt and explain to him again what I’m going to do. He still seems to look straight through me, but he nods occasionally as I speak. Finally I step into the water and he obediently follows me into the cold, clear fluid. We walk until it rises to my waist.
“We need to take deep breaths, Ferdy. Do you understand?”
He nods.
“We’re going to take three deep breaths and then we’ll dive in. We’re going to swim until we reach the ocean on the other side. Okay?”
“Okay,” he says. “Pictichromis diadema are a type of fish.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” We take another step into the water. “Take a deep breath. That’s it. And number two. Yes. And now…three!”
The black water closes in around us.
