The Pack

by LM. Preston

  Manny started to squirm. “Oh, heck no! I’m not going in that hole. Dude, how are we going to walk in there?” Manny yelled out.

  “Can I remind you that you volunteered for this, you little weasel? If you can’t remember, I can gladly take you out of your misery and save us a lot of trouble by throwing you to Monev when we are done with you,” Mitch spat out.

  Valens dug in his jacket. “Look, we don’t have time for threats. I came prepared thinking we would have this problem. I have a cooling device, but I don’t know how long it will last, so we are going to have to move on this quick.”

  Hedi yelled from the back, “Hate to be a party pooper, but we’ve got to get in there fast. Our pathway is disappearing, and we’ll all be fried toast or discovered if we don’t get in there now!”

  “I’ll go first. Let’s get going. I see Manny’s about to get burned if we don’t move forward, like now.” Shamira said hurriedly with a slight grin at the sight of Anthony holding Manny over a soon activated mine while the boy squirmed uselessly.

  “I’ve got two coolant devices. Shamira, you take this one, and I’ll pull up the rear with the second. Let’s go. I started the coolant. You have about six feet of leeway. I don’t know how long it will last,” Valens said.

  Manny peered over the edge of the opening. “Uh, I ain’t going in there. That place is dark and probably stinks, especially from the smell of burning flesh.”

  “Sorry, Manny, I don’t have any glasses for you. But we all can see and will guide you. Trust us. We know what we’re doing,” Valens said as Shamira shook her head at his offer for eye specs to see in the dark hole.

  Chapter 28

  Shamira dropped down several feet into the dark manhole that held the piping. She sprayed the pipe below her before she landed, swiping the coolant so it cooled enough for her to move forward. Darkness surrounded her, and she quickly moved ahead, not taking the time to look around. She moved swiftly to make room for the others. Her enhanced eyesight easily adjusted to the darkness and gave the area around her a bright green hue. The piping under her was cool, but she noticed that ahead of her, heated steam rose from the untreated piping. This is not going to be any fun either.

  “Oh, this ain’t so bad. You want me to go in the front? I’m a real good lookout,” Manny interjected from above.

  They all ignored him. Anthony slapped him on the back of the head before he dropped him into the hole. Shamira realized Manny was behind her. Valens dropped down behind Manny and nodded to her, then winked as he gave her the thumbs up to move forward. She ignored the tingle within her belly at his flirt and turned to move forward. She glanced down and realized there were several layers of black steamy piping.

  She took a deep breath and secured her legs around the pipe that was several feet wide. Shamira looked up at the ground above her and realized that several feet above her were solid rock and dirt. The piping went on for miles below, and she saw smooth barrier walls of separation that looked like silver. She leaned forward in order to better grasp the pipe and prepare to cool the path ahead of them. Sweat built on her forehead. She moved forward.

  “Ugh! Help!” Manny yelped out.

  She quickly squeezed her knees tightly on the pipe and reached behind her to steady him as he started to slip. “Look, put your arms around my waist and hold on tight. Don’t squirm or scream out, understand?” she whispered sternly at him.

  Mitch called out angrily, “One more slip, and I’ll throw him off. I swear it, Shamira! I’m sick of him. I didn’t come all this way to save my sister for some jackass to mess it up.” Mitch reached around Valens to hit Manny on the arm.

  When Manny jerked his arm away, he started to slip again but held tightly to Shamira’s suit without complaint. She knew Manny had grit since he was the only one of them that couldn’t see what was around him. He didn’t cower from the hit and shook it off quickly.

  Manny exclaimed, “Hey, the pipe is getting warmer. Can somebody do something, like now?”

  Shamira cooled the path in front of her and pulled him along. Looking up, she pushed her sight ahead. Finally her sight revealed the location of the underground holding cells. She didn’t have time for a scan to see how many kids moved about, but she was relieved they didn’t have much further to go. She smiled, knowing that finally, they would get in, and she would get David. Determined to get there quickly, she rushed forward while cooling the pipe ahead of her. Everyone moved quickly and silently. She was glad Manny now held firmly to her without a fight.

  At last. They’d made it to the floor just beneath the underground prison where the child prisoners slept.

  “Valens, I need a device to cut through this. Looks like it’s about three feet of rock separating us. I hope what you have is quiet,” Shamira said while she looked above her. She noticed quite a few little bodies roaming the cell above. After she counted, she realized most of the kids must be in the mines.

  Valens called out, “Here, Manny, give this to Shamira. Be careful! It’s the only one I have. Shamira, you have to start a small hole and then slowly move in a circular motion so the rock melts and has time to cool to smoothness. Otherwise, you’ll have some melted rock drop down on the pipes, and that’s not a good thing.” He gave the handheld device to Manny.

  She glanced behind and noticed that Manny held the device as if his life depended on it. In that moment, Manny reminded her of David, and she regained her patience for him and smiled at him with thanks. His eyes widened in appreciation. She handed him the coolant, and he took it gladly.

  “Keep it cool, but use it sparingly. We have to make it last,” Shamira whispered to him.

  “Valens, give the others permission to prepare for attack. It should only take me a short while to cut through,” she called back. She started to cut through the rock above her.

  Time passed fast. The device worked well at melting and pushing excess rock to a smooth surface on the sides of the hole. She continued to work quickly while she slowly widened the hole above her, and then she saw it. Several of the children became aware of the faint noise of the cuts through the rock. Some leaned their heads to the floor to listen to the faintly muted ring of the beam.

  “Valens, the kids can hear this. Do you have a silencer? I don’t want them to alert the guards. They’re starting to gather around where I’m cutting. I can’t cut anymore without hurting someone. Right now it’s only large enough for Manny to fit through,” she said, frustrated by the small hole she made.

  “Sorry, no silencer. We have another problem too. We’re running out of coolant. There’s only enough for about twenty minutes,” Valens said calmly.

  “Friggin’ great,” she replied.

  “You can hoist me up there, and I can widen the hole for you. I’m sure the kids up there will help me. From what I remember when I was captured, they all wanted freedom and were a close group,” Manny said.

  “Looks like that’s a plan. C’mon, climb up on my shoulders,” Shamira said. Manny quickly obliged her. She stretched a little to adjust to Manny’s slight weight while he adeptly crawled onto her shoulders. Then she balanced him on her shoulders and held onto his ankles.

  “This is good. The small tunnel you made has dents where I can put my feet. It won’t take me long,” Manny said.

  “Good. Take the cutting device and cut the few inches through, and then the rest of us will come up, okay?” She patted his leg when he hoisted himself up through the tunnel.

  “You better tell him to work fast. Our time is running out here. My second coolant is so low I have to shake it to get the coolant out,” Valens said. He tried to speak calmly, but she could sense the slight tremble in his voice.

  “Manny, please be quick. Our time is running out,” Shamira yelled up at him.

  “That’s fine. I’m breaking through now,” he replied.

  She looked past him to see that the kids in the cell above him had spread out from the area where he cut. Some of them appeared to walk around the area like they
didn’t notice the slight hum of the device Manny used.

  “Damn! Move up. It’s heating up back here,” Anthony said, irritated.

  Shamira felt Valens move in closely behind her. He put his head within a breath of her shoulder in order get a close look at Manny up above.

  “Good. It look like he’s in,” Valens said, and she shivered a little at his close proximity.

  “Let’s hope the clumsy shrimp will come through,” said Anthony.

  “If he doesn’t, we’ll all fry,” added Kurt.

  “I’ll go up first to get them ready. You tell everyone to start the attacks. Seems to me we’re going to have to fight our way out of their holding cells,” she replied.

  “All is clear. Come on up,” Manny yelled down. Valens gave her a push as he firmly gripped her thighs just below her behind.

  “Watch where you put your hands, Valens,” she warned.

  “Oh, I’m watching alright,” he added with a naughty smile.

  “Cut that crap out! We’re in danger here,” Mitch added and pushed on Valens’ back.

  Shamira shook off the slight jerk in movement and jumped up and secured her feet within the makeshift tunnel. She quickly moved, and Valens and the others were right behind her with Anthony in the rear.

  “My tail is burned. Damn, this hurts,” Anthony complained.

  “You weren’t the only one that got burned, you big baby! Shut up and stop complaining. We’re about to try out these new suits Valens made for us,” Hedi added.

  Chapter 29

  Shamira climbed up and out of the makeshift tunnel to get into the underground cell. She moved quickly and climbed out on her knees so she wouldn’t alert the guards. Kids gathered around her and spoke softly, immediately understanding the danger if they spoke too loudly to alert the guards. The others quickly came up behind her, and Shamira took a moment to look around the holding cell.

  The smell in the cell reminded her of burning metal and was so overpowering that she coughed. The cell was carved out of the rock within the volcano and had silver crystals within the rock. She assessed the room to see if there were any other possible ways out besides the cell door. Then she pushed her sight beyond the barriers of the room to see the structure beyond the cell.

  One of the kids put their hand up to their mouth to motion for her to be silent. She nodded and smiled in thanks. The others stayed low also so their height wouldn’t give them away while they, too, searched the room. In the dim light of the cell, she frantically looked for David but couldn’t find him. Then she looked around for Mina, Valens’ sister and didn’t see her either. She motioned for the kids to come to her and gave a signal to her team to investigate the area further.

  Shamira looked into the cluster of unkempt kids. “Do you know where they took a boy named David? He has brown hair. Or a girl named Mina? Anyone?”

  All of the kids were dirty, and various kids had bruises, scratches, and cuts over the exposed areas on their frail bodies. She simmered with anger at the thought of what David and these kids had endured.

  “Are you here to save us?” a girl that looked to be about seven years old asked meekly.

  “Yes, we are. Do you trust us?” she asked the girl.

  “I trust you. We have hoped for so long. The guard took the boy David this morning, and the girl named Mina is a small one. She’s still in the mines. My name is Taren, and I’m happy you are here,” the little girl said, and tears fell from her eyes.

  Shamira motioned for her team to come closer. They all complied—even Manny, who now had a goofy grin on his face in hopes of a show of appreciation.

  “Manny, you did great. Now, it seems like the only way out of here is through that cell door. I looked past the door, and the place is swarming with guards. There are only two other cell areas, but there is no one in them. We’re going to have to fight our way out. The exit on the next level is going to be even harder to secure, but we can do it. Hedi, I need you to find an opening during our assault on the guards and take the kids out to Dion. Valens, your sister is in the mines, and the guards took my brother,” she said and looked at them for their response.

  Mitch whispered, “I found my sister here and Anthony’s brother! We trust Hedi enough to know they’re safe with her. We’re in on the assault and saving your brother and Valens’ sister.”

  Anthony nodded in agreement. Shamira noticed the sheer happiness on Mitch’s face when he hugged the blond haired girl close to his side. The looked up at him with adoration and love.

  “I appreciate your sacrifice for us, guys,” she said.

  Valens squatted in the middle of the kids. “Okay, do any of you know how to get the guards’ attention so we can get them to open the door?”

  “Um, they will come in if we fight. They don’t like us to hurt each other. They say we are more useful alive while we’re small enough to do the mining,” Taren added.

  Shamira asked, “Well, if that is so, how did you get those bruises and cuts?”

  Taren whispered, “It’s what happens when we do the mining. We pick the dream until our hands bleed. They wrap them so we can mine again. If we don’t meet our quotas, we get hit, but only on the face, because we need the rest of our bodies for mining. If we do well, we get to eat.” Taren confirmed how cruel Monev was to its captives.

  “Can you all start a pretend fight for us when I give you the signal? We need to get them to open the door,” Shamira asked and gently rubbed the girl’s arm as she put her thumb up on her other hand.

  Taren hugged Shamira. “Anything. I’ll do anything you ask.”

  Shamira returned Taren’s hug and motioned for the others to take attack positions. She went over to the door and crouched down on the opposite side of the door jam. Valens was beside her, and the others flanked the wall and corners of the room. She gave the signal to Taren, and the kids started to argue and roll around the floor. They yelled and cheered on the fighters.

  Shamira peered through the wall and saw that the noise attracted the interest of several of the guards, just as Taren had said it would. One largely built guard punched a shorter one on the arm and gave him the signal as if it were the shorter guard’s turn to check on the captives. Shamira gave the signal to the others to let them know a guard was on the way. A rush of anticipation came. She felt every hair on her neck stand up to signal her state of awareness.

  The guard unlocked the cell door and hesitated before he peered in. The kids that fought on the floor increased their efforts to imitate a true brawl. The cheers from the kids got louder in order to get the guard’s attention. Shamira prepared herself for her assault and smiled at finally being able to make someone pay for how Monev hurt these kids.

  Short and well built, the guard walked into the room, unsuspecting of the danger. Shamira took the opportunity to land a front-kick to the guard’s cheek. It landed with such power that his head hit the metal door, which dazed him in preparation for her next assault. She immediately bent her knee to knock him forward with the kick of her heel. The force of the kick knocked him out cold as his head slammed against the stone floor of the cell. She took a quick look behind her and confirmed that Hedi held the kids at bay while she led her team into the hallway to finish the attack on the remaining guards that stood between them and the exit out of the complex.

  Guards flanked them on both sides, too many to count. Her team started to fire, and the guards fell, but not without a fight. They returned the firepower, and Shamira worked hard to stay clear of it. Then, seeing an opportunity to clear out the barrier of guards, she unleashed her power, and her body charged with electricity at her release of adrenaline.

  Her vision held a red hue as she felt a hot river of power flood her system. She ran forward and attacked the largest guard in front of her, not giving him time to fire his weapon. Her fist connected to his nose, and it broke instantly as he was thrown back into several guards that stood behind him, causing them to fall. Her suit deflected the firepower and without thought, sh
e kicked, hit, and broke the bones of numerous guards that were focusing their fights solely on her.

  The onslaught of the Mons defenses thundered toward her as she grabbed the closet victim that challenged her and rammed his head into her knee, causing him to fall in a convulsing heap on the floor beside her. With each punch, kick, and challenger, her strength grew, and her body heated to the point where she felt on fire.

  The barrier ahead of them was blocked by the guards that remained, and she smiled at them knowing this was their end. The beast within her was callous and cold, and its only directive was its mission to defend and protect. Burning with heat and ready for attack, she ran into a sea of adversaries. The firepower initiated by the guards bounced off her suit during her assault.

  During her angered haze, she heard Valens yell out. Anthony confirmed to Mitch that a stray bullet had hit him. Without thought or question, Shamira increased her onslaught and grabbed the large guard in front of her that had fired the shot that hit Valens. Fire pulsed in her veins, and she punched him over and over again, and threw him to the floor as she charged on the remaining guards. With each punch and kick, the victims fell and convulsed like their bodies were on fire with electricity.

  She looked around and saw a scattering of felled and twitching bodies and realized there was no one left to attack. Looking behind her, she saw her team and the others staring at her in shock. Her eyes landed on Valens as she realized he’d taken off his form-fitting protective hood and blood trickled through his fingers at the wound caused by the attack.

  “I’m okay, Shamira. It’s just a scratch,” Valens yelled out to her.

  At Valens’ nod, she kicked in the door riddled with holes from the battle.

  “Is it me, or did she just let go of a can of whip-shod on them?” Manny asked and then laughed. He instantly crouched when Anthony slapped the back of his head.

  “Shut up before I do that to you, squirt. Hey, Valens, do I have that power filled shock juice in my suit like she does in hers?” Anthony added as Mitch snickered. Then they followed Kurt and Valens out of the cell.