by J. N. Chaney
Chunks of the ceiling continued to fall around us. I pushed myself back, closer to the wall. When the noise finally subsided, an air of silence fell over the passageway.
“Jace!” Freddie yelled from the other side of the door. “Captain, can you hear me?!”
“I’m here! Stay—” I immediately started coughing from the dust, covering my mouth with my sleeve. It took me a moment to settle down. “Stay back!”
“Mother!” cried Karin. “Mother, are you okay?!”
I leaned forward, trying to find Abby or Lucia. I blindly searched with my hands, touching a large chunk of ceiling.
“…Jace…?” I heard a faint voice say.
“Abby? Keep talking,” I told her.
“Where are you? Why can’t I see anything?” she asked.
I followed her voice, crawling over rocks and debris before finally touching her arm. She clutched my wrist and slowly sat up. “Are you okay?” I asked, quickly.
“I-I think so,” she said, but I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. She would need a moment to collect herself.
“Stay still,” I said, running my hands down her body, searching for….well, I wasn’t sure. Blood, wounds, a piece of metal sticking out of her stomach. Anything that might be a problem. My thoughts raced in a hundred different directions. I felt panic in my chest, a swell of heat in my cheeks.
But there was nothing. No sign of injury that I could find. A sudden wash of relief came over me as I realized she was okay. Thank the gods I didn’t believe in.
“Wait here, alright?” I said to her, taking her hands and placing them in her lap. “Don’t move.”
“Okay,” she muttered, still disorientated.
I eased myself off Abby and began moving closer to the larger pile of rocks. “Lucia?” I said, listening for a response. After a brief pause, I continued along the floor.
A muffled yelp came from far away, probably from the other side of this small avalanche. The Boneclaws were likely either dead or injured. I was sure they’d find a way to break through, but not yet. Not with half the tunnel collapsed like this.
“Ugh…” muttered a soft voice from somewhere in the dust cloud, which had already begun to settle.
I followed the sound, edging my way closer. “Lucia?” I asked. “Can you hear me?”
“T-Tokalo,” she whispered.
I was finally able to see movement through the dust, and I found a hand reaching out of the rubble. It was Lucia, half buried, her staff resting beside her.
I scrambled closer, quickly noticing the smell as I neared. Blood, and it was all over her neck and arm, dripping onto the floor. I tried not to show my concern. “There you are,” I said.
She licked her lips, blood pooling out of her mouth. “Takalo bento sin,” she said.
“I don’t understand,” I said, turning to the door behind us. “I found Lucia, but she’s speaking in another language!”
There was a long pause. “Karin says the translator is out of range,” answered Fred.
“Dolo,” muttered Lucia. She reached for her pocket, pulling out a device. It was yet another translator, I realized. Lucia touched the center of it, causing the machine to light up. She brought it towards me. “Here.”
“That’s better,” I said. “You understand what I’m saying now?”
She gave me a slight, shaking nod.
“Good,” I told her, placing the device in my pocket. “Try to stay still. We’ll get you out of here.”
“N-No time,” she muttered. “You need to go.”
Abby was moving behind us. She was back on her feet again, finally out of whatever shock the explosion had put her in. “Lucia?” she asked, coming up beside me. She started to say something, but stopped, probably seeing the state of the old woman.
“We’re not leaving,” I said.
“The Boneclaws will move the stone. They…they always do,” Lucia whispered.
“There’s plenty of time before that happens,” I said.
She shook her head, but then coughed. Blood sprayed from her lips. “M-My staff,” she said, reaching blindly beside her.
I grabbed the weapon and brought it closer to her. “Here,” I said.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“Jace, how are we going to get her out of here?” asked Abby. “The door is sealed.”
“The other passage,” said Lucia. “Go that way.”
“What’s down there?” I asked.
“The only…” her voice began to drift. Her eyes closed a little, like she was falling asleep, and she snapped them open again. “The only way out.”
“Hey, lady, you gotta stay awake, okay?” I said.
“Karin,” she said, softly.
“She’s in the next room. You’ll see her in a few minutes,” I said.
I wrapped my hands around a piece of debris, which had fallen on the old woman’s belly. I pulled, surprised by the weight, but managed to toss it behind me with a loud thud.
Lucia tensed as I removed several smaller pieces from her legs. “We need to get going,” Abigail said, looking up at the wall of rubble between us and the animals.
I could hear the scratching from the other side. The Boneclaws were already moving again. I guessed they hadn’t actually started their burrowing yet, but it probably wouldn’t be long. Gods knew what they were waiting for, but I didn’t want to sit around to find out.
“Karin, Freddie, you hearing me?” I barked. “Any word on getting that door open?”
“We’re still working on it,” said Dressler. “Karin’s codes aren’t working, so I’m trying to disengage the lock manually.”
“Well?” I asked. “How’s that going?”
“Not well,” she said, flatly. “The system locks down in the event of an emergency. It will take some time to get this open.”
More scratches. Stronger and louder than before.
“We don’t have time,” said Abigail.
“And we’re not waiting,” I said. I took the old woman’s hand. “I hope you’re ready to get out of here, lady.”
“Where are we going?” asked Abby.
I glanced at the other doorway, the only path left to take. “Karin, where’s this other tunnel lead?”
A short pause. “That’s where the plants are,” Karin answered. “There’s a tunnel that can take you out to the surface, but it’s not easy to get to…and it’s very dangerous.”
“We’ll have to take our chances. Meet us up top and bring a stretcher!” I looked down at Lucia. “Time to go, lady.”
“D-Don’t be stupid,” she said. “Leave me here and—”
“Shut up,” I said, pulling her up and wrapping her arm around my neck. “Ain’t none of us dyin’ today.”
Eleven
Abigail and I carried Lucia as we raced down the darkened corridor, getting as far away from the Boneclaws as possible. Behind us, I could hear rocks and debris tumbling over as the animals dug into the fallen wall. They’d make their way through soon enough and there would be little we could do to slow them.
We rounded a corner and came to a stop when I found another hole in the wall. I assumed that, like the others, this one had also been created by the animals. That meant they could be anywhere in here, not just behind, but all around this area. I cursed under my breath, but pressed on anyway, determined to find a way out.
A minute later, we came to a platform in a large warehouse. I shined my light around, discovering quickly that the room opened up into a massive tunnel with two lanes large enough for vehicles to traverse, like an underground highway of sorts. There were no other paths but this one, so we pressed on, heading deeper in.
Lucia wheezed and coughed as we went. I kept looking at her face, only to see blood dripping from her mouth and nose. “We’ll set you down in a few,” I told her. “Hang in there, alright?”
She answered with another cough, but it was good enough. With her staff strapped to my back, Abigail and I wrapped her arms around ou
r shoulders and carried her between us. The whole process made the journey slower, but I wasn’t about to leave her to die of her wounds in a cave or mauled to death by a bunch of bloodthirsty animals. I’d sooner shoot her myself than let that happen.
I noticed the tunnel we were walking through was longer than the others, taking us further away from the previous area. I tapped my ear, trying to open a channel. “Siggy, can you hear me?”
No response. I wasn’t even getting a broken voice on the other end. We must have been too far away from the last repeater, and I didn’t have any more to place. There was only one left, and Freddie had it.
Not that I minded. He needed it to complete the mission. Siggy would have to hack in to the system and shutdown the signal. That was more important than anything. If the Union or the Sarkonians came through that slip tunnel and heard that woman speaking, talking about Earth, we’d all be screwed.
I’d have to make do with what I had. No help from anybody. Only me, a nun, and a broken old woman.
Whatever. I’d done more with less before.
“How far does this tunnel go?” Abigail asked, after only a few minutes.
“Looks like a while,” I said. “Karin mentioned that this direction would take us to another compound. Probably one of the other facilities Janus mentioned.”
“Other facilities?” Abigail asked.
“He said there were three of them,” I explained. “One for each of the major research projects they were working on before this whole place collapsed and went apocalyptic.”
“I remember,” Abby said. “One for fusion cores, one for fauna, and one—”
“For Boneclaws,” I finished. “At least, that’s what they ended up with.”
We continued through the giant tunnel, carrying the old woman between us. We kept passing openings in the wall where the animals had broken through from adjacent passages. I kept thinking that we were going to get ambushed at any moment, but it never happened, and the Boneclaws from before didn’t seem to be following. Maybe they had a harder time breaking through the rubble than I thought or maybe they’d focused their attention on getting through the door to Freddie and the others.
For now, all I could do was keep going. I’d just have to hope that the others had found their own way out.
* * *
The tunnel led into another warehouse, similar in design to the first. There were pallets and broken equipment scattered all throughout the area, but I could already see the door on the other side, and it was closed. Locked, too, by the look of the nearby screen.
I touched my hand to the wall, once we had reached it, and the device activated. My tattoos glowed with a soft blue in response, and I entered the same code I had seen Lucia use.
2-0-1-1-9
The door cracked open, and the warm air beyond struck me. It smelled…strange, like the ground after a long storm.
I ignored it. “Inside, come on,” I ordered.
Abigail and I shuffled into the next room and closed the door behind us, locking it.
My pad illuminated the space before us. It was another connecting corridor, but very different from the others. The walls were covered in…vines?
Abigail eased the old woman to the floor. “Hold on a second,” she said, going to look at the vines. “What is this about?”
“They look like plants,” I said.
“Obviously,” she said, not hiding her tone. “What do you think caused this to happen?”
“Is that a serious question?” I asked.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” she asked.
“The last area had literal monsters in it, all because a bunch of idiot scientists got cocky,” I told her. “I’d bet a thousand creds that’s exactly what happened here, too.”
“The chances of both experiments getting out of hand seems unlikely,” she said.
I shrugged. “Maybe when the Boneclaws broke out, this place went to shit, too. Without anyone to manage the plants, they probably just got out of hand.”
Abigail stared at me. “I guess that would make sense.”
I fanned my hand at her. “Anyway, since this door’s still standing, I’m betting those animals haven’t bothered with this place yet. We’re probably safe.”
“Unless they’re using more of their own tunnels.”
“We’ll keep an eye out,” I said, then nodded to Lucia. “Hey, lady, you doing alright?”
“Worry about yourself,” said Lucia before letting out a rough cough. “I’m fine.”
“Sure, you are,” I muttered, picking her legs back up.
Abigail took her by the arms and we lifted her and kept going.
The vines on the wall grew thicker and more dense as we walked deeper into the facility. I spotted a small patch of roots cracking through the floor in the corner. The plants must have been inside the walls and floors, all throughout this compound.
I wondered how deep and expansive these plants were. Had they completely surrounded this facility? It seemed that way. The only question I had was how they’d grown so much without any sunlight to draw from.
I was no scientist. I didn’t have the experience or the knowledge to understand what any of this meant or how this had happened. My best guess was that a scientist developed something that could survive in the dark. Hell, maybe these things adapted on their own, since it had been a few thousand years.
But at the end of the day, none of it mattered. Right now, I had to focus on getting out of this place and back to the surface. My questions would have to wait.
We managed to get through two rooms before we finally found a barrier. The door to the next area had been overrun with vines, thick as the wall itself. I didn’t have a machete on me, and I didn’t expect my gun would do the job, either.
I tried to pull the plants apart, but they wouldn’t budge. They were stiff and tightly bound. “Shit,” I said, not knowing what to do.
“Don’t you have a knife?” asked Abigail.
“Sure,” I said, pulling out a small ten-centimeter blade. “But I don’t think this will be enough. We’ll be here for hours, cutting our way through.”
“It’s better than doing nothing,” she answered.
Lucia looked up with her tired eyes. “Use the staff.”
I glanced down at the old woman as she lay there, cradled between us. “The staff?” I asked. “I don’t know how to use that thing.”
“You have the marks,” she explained. “Point and fire.”
Abigail twisted her lips. “Is that a good idea? The last time that weapon was used, it brought down the ceiling.”
“The boy can handle it,” said Lucia.
I motioned with my chin to the back corner of the room, telling Abigail to move away from the door. We sat Lucia down, and I took a few steps back, grabbing the staff with both my hands and taking my position in front of the door, halfway across the room.
“Are you sure about this?” asked Abigail.
My tattoos glowed as soon as I wrapped my fingers around the weapon. Instantly, a small light near the trigger illuminated and dimmed. I took aim, already prepared for the knockback, and squeezed the trigger. A blast of energy exploded from the staff, hitting the door dead-center with a thunderous noise so loud I thought for sure the room would come down on us.
But when the dust settled a moment later, all of us were fine and the path was clear.
I looked at Abigail. “Does that answer your question?” I asked, placing the staff on my back and walking over to Lucia. I looked down at her. “And don’t call me boy again, grandma, unless you want me to leave you here.”
She smiled at me. “I like the attitude,” she said, then looked at Abigail. “Lucky for you, he’s too young for me.”
Abby blinked. “W-What does that mean?”
* * *
We had to stop after a while. The old woman had started bleeding again and that required some attention.
Abigail handled it. She had enough experience with bandages to tempor
arily relieve the problem, but it wouldn’t be enough for the long-term.
“I just need to rest,” Lucia told us. “Please, stop and let me sleep.”
We’d made it to an area with hardly any plants. It seemed like a decent place to stop, at least for a few hours. We could give the old woman time to rest while the two of us figured out what to do.
I checked the doors, securing each of them in case any Boneclaws decided to drop in. The locks still worked, thankfully, and since none of us planned on making a lot of noise, I didn’t expect any visitors to come this way.
For now, we seemed to be safe, although I certainly wasn’t about to let my guard down.
“I’m cold,” said Lucia, once she was lying down.
I removed my coat and placed it across her chest. “That’ll do you fine,” I said.
She nodded, closing her eyes.
I sat against the wall, near one of the doors. Lucia was on the other side, already fast-asleep. She must have been exhausted, despite the sassy attitude. Tough little lady, I thought.
Abby came and sat beside me. We had the pad resting a meter away, filling the old room with a dim glow. It allowed me to see her face, soft light reflecting off her cheek.
“Think you’ll be able to sleep?” I asked.
“Not yet. I need to wind down first,” she answered, looking at the floor in front of her. “Do you think she’ll make it?”
“Lucia?” I asked, glancing over at the old woman, who by now was lightly snoring. “Sure. She’s a tough one.”
“Maybe,” she said. “I just don’t want her to die because…because of us.”
“She’ll be fine, Abby,” I responded, trying to reassure her, but not quite knowing how.
She leaned against me, placing her head on my shoulder. I jerked at first, surprised, but settled and relaxed after a second. She’s never done that before, I thought.
I let my eyes fall on her hair. It glistened in the dim glow, still beautiful despite the amount of trouble we’d found ourselves in.
How had I ended up in this place, here with this woman? I’d always been alone, always tired and sick of people. I never wanted a crew or to be involved with someone else’s problems.
