Worlds Collide: Sunset Rising, Book Two

by McEachern, S. M.

  “We’ve done nothing to you,” Naoki said.

  “I disagree. We’ve given you protection and you repay us by stealing our cattle and hiding traitors.”

  “We didn’t steal your cattle. We traded. Your people were sick with influenza and the satchel of herbs we left behind held the cure.”

  “We don’t need your damn heathen concoctions. Look around you, boy. Don’t you recognize power when you see it?” Anderson demanded.

  Naoki drew his lip back in a sneer.

  “They have no idea how powerful we are, so let them go,” Jack said. “You have me and the girl. Make the trade.”

  Anderson looked at one of the soldiers and gave a curt nod. As the two hostages were pushed toward our group, a few soldiers went to the back of a jeep and heaved cloth sacks over their shoulders. Without ceremony, they dumped the sacks on the ground by our feet.

  “General Powell sends his regards,” Anderson said, kicking the bags. “This is your last warning.”

  The sacks were damp with blood. In horror I realized these were the other two hostages. A twisted scream erupted from Naoki. Before I even saw his hand move, a knife lodged itself in Anderson’s chest.

  “Run!” Jack yelled as he grabbed the gun from the stunned officer standing next to Anderson.

  An arrow whistled through the air and hit one of the soldiers standing beside the hostages. The other soldier ran for cover. A bullet from an unseen shooter ricocheted off the hard, dry ground close to my feet, sending up a spray of dust.

  The hostages were out in the open, hands bound behind their backs, not knowing which way to turn for cover.

  “Go for the trees!” I told them, pointing.

  A swarm of arrows came flying out the forest, arced in mid-air, and then raced toward the ground. Soldiers scattered, taking cover under the jeeps.

  Pushing the hostages into action, I urged them out of the range of the arrows. Crouching behind a boulder, I undid their binds. A bullet whipped past us, too close for comfort. I scanned the horizon, looking for the shooter, but I didn’t see anyone. As I searched, a spray of bullets tore into the jeep closest to Jack. A soldier jumped him from behind and they both went down on the ground. My breath stopped as I watched, hoping he hadn’t been hit by a bullet or arrow. But Jack was still moving and getting the upper hand.

  Two soldiers were on Naoki. As one seized him from behind, Naoki used him as leverage to drive both his feet into the chest of the other soldier. When his feet touched the ground, he bent and flipped the soldier holding him over his head. He unsheathed his knife. I turned away.

  Despite the chaos going on all around me, the sound of more vehicles registered.

  “More are coming,” I told the hostages.

  “Come on,” said one of them.

  But he didn’t head for the trees. Instead, he crossed the battlefield. I followed, yelling for Jack to come with us. The soldier he had engaged was lying motionless on the ground. Two more soldiers were working their way out from under the jeep. Naoki did something to the soldier he was battling and the man just dropped.

  Jack ran toward me, grabbing my hand. “Naoki!” he yelled as we went.

  The two hostages were moving fast and we ran hard to catch up. My lungs screamed for more oxygen, but the sound of gunfire and Jack’s grip kept me going. Ahead of us I saw the meadow come to an abrupt end. With a sinking feeling, I realized we were trapped. I didn’t need to look back to know we were being chased. We didn’t have time to climb down a mountain.

  The hostages kept running at full speed, despite the fact they were running out of land. Maybe they had a hiding place up ahead. As a bullet whipped past us, Jack sped up, pulling me along with him.

  Then the hostages disappeared…right off the edge.

  Jack didn’t slow down. I tried to pull back, but his grip tightened.

  “NO!” I screamed as we raced to the edge.

  And then we were airborne.

  Jack tried to maintain his grip on my hand, but we were torn apart the minute our feet left the safety of the ground. Below me water rushed down the mountain, sending up a spray as it curled around rocks. One thought popped into my head: I didn’t know how to swim.

  I hit the water feet first and was completely submerged into the cold, murky depths. Panic told me to start clawing my way back to the surface. I kicked my legs wildly and raised my arms toward the light and pulled harder. The river didn’t stop for me, continuing its race down the mountain, dragging me along with it.

  When I broke the surface, I gulped for air. Despite the sun glaring down at my unprotected eyes, I saw a rock jutting out of the water ahead of me. I used my feet to propel me away from it.

  Water washed over my face, choking me. Desperately, I rolled onto my stomach in an attempt to keep afloat. I tried to find Jack, but all I could see was the river ending.

  How could it just end?

  As I was hurled over the edge, my body dropped like a stone. Water rained down on me as I went. I screamed, but the roar of the waterfall overpowered any sound I could make. Then I was plunged back into the cold, silent, watery world.

  I assumed I would bob to the surface, as I did the first time I hit the water, but the current swirled around me, holding me down. I opened my eyes and searched the murky depths for a ray of light to tell me the direction of the surface. I wasn’t sure which way was up, but it must be above me. That would make sense. Kicking my legs and moving my arms, I tried to get to the surface.

  The urge to breathe was overwhelming. Too late, I realized that my screaming on the way down had pushed most of the air out of my lungs.

  I raised my arms and flapped again, propelling myself forward. What little oxygen was left in my lungs escaped. I pulled through the water again. My arms felt like they had weights attached. I kicked my legs.

  Reflexively, I breathed in.

  Instead of the oxygen my body was desperately seeking, water burned its way down my throat and into my lungs. My brain told my legs to move, to keep heading toward the surface, but all of my muscles felt weak. Relaxed. They didn’t want to move. I didn’t have control over my body anymore. With a jolt, I realized I was dying.

  Regret pressed in on me heavier than the water filling my lungs. I wasn’t ready to go yet. The Pit still needed me…and I still needed Jack. An image of his face popped into my head. I willed my limbs to move, to find the surface, but they wouldn’t budge.

  I felt strangely peaceful as I floated in my weightless world, the image of Jack becoming a happy memory.

  I closed my eyes.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Something heavy on my chest dragged me back into the real world. Water travelled up my throat, preventing me from taking the breath my body so badly craved. Hands turned my head as it poured from my mouth. I tried to gasp for air, but all I could do was choke.

  “Breathe!” someone yelled at me. More water escaped my body. Finally, I drew a long, deep breath. “Oh, thank God!” Jack said.

  He cradled my head against his chest as I learned how to breathe again. We were in a cave—the roar of water loud in the enclosed space. A curtain of water covering the entrance beat down into a shallow pool.

  “I don’t know how to swim,” I said. My voice sounded hoarse.

  Jack tried to smile but failed. “I know that now.” He pressed his lips against my forehead. “I lost my grip when we jumped. I tried to get back to you, but the current was too strong.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “Naoki was right behind us. He pulled you out.” Jack gave the man a nod of appreciation.

  I followed his gaze. Naoki and the two hostages were staring at me.

  “Thank you,” I said.

&nb
sp; “I’m the one who should be thanking you. Those soldiers would’ve killed them if you hadn’t given yourself up,” Naoki said.

  “Are they okay?” I asked.

  “They’re just scared, right?” Naoki asked the pair. They nodded, their eyes wide and round. They couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen years old.

  A head surfacing in the shallow pool caught everyone’s attention. It was Jin-Sook. She paused for a moment, looking at our ragged group. As her eyes fell upon the two hostages, her bottom lip quivered. I remembered she said Diego’s brother was one of the ones taken and I guessed he wasn’t here.

  She waded out of the pool. “Sunny, are you okay?”

  “She doesn’t know how to swim,” Naoki said.

  Great. I was the only one who almost drowned during our spectacular getaway from the bourge. Embarrassment speeded my recovery. I pushed out of Jack’s arms and stood on wobbling legs.

  “I’m fine,” I said. Jack drew himself up beside me, putting his arm around me. I appreciated the support.

  Jack looked at Jin-Sook. “How far away are they?”

  “Not far. We should stay here until they clear out of the area,” Jin said.

  “And where exactly is ‘here’?” asked Jack. He pointed to the waterfall curtain. “Is that the only way out?”

  “Without a torch it is,” Naoki said. “There’s an entrance to the caverns over there.” He pointed to the back of the cave.

  My interest was piqued. “Caverns?” I left the steadying comfort of Jack’s arm to make my way toward the back.

  “Where are you going?” Jack asked me.

  It was a good-sized entrance and the faintest ray of light shone through. “This is a way out.”

  “No it’s not,” Jin said. “There are several kilometers—maybe even hundreds—of caverns.”

  “If we follow the light, we’ll find a way out,” I said.

  Jack came up behind me, peering at the hole over my shoulder. “What light?”

  I turned my head to look at him, a smirk playing about my lips. “I forgot. You’re blind in the dark.”

  The rest of the group joined us and we all stared at the dark hole.

  “I’m with Jack—I don’t see any light,” Naoki said.

  I surveyed the group, taking in their squinty eyes and dubious expressions. I had always assumed it was just the bourge who were blind.

  “Well, I’m not going back into the river, so for me this is the only way out. Are you coming?”

  “Um…You sure about this?” he whispered.

  “Yep.”

  “Sunny, I know you can see well in the dark, but it’s a maze in there. You’ll never find your way out,” Jin-Sook pleaded.

  “I think we’re safer down here than up there with soldiers looking for us,” I said, and entered the cavern. I reached for Jack’s hand and he held mine tight. “It’s not that dark in here.”

  “I disagree,” Jack said, peering into the darkness.

  “Wait!” Jin-Sook called.

  We stopped and looked back.

  “If she can find her way through there, it is safer,” Jin-Sook said, to Naoki.

  “No one can find their way through there without a torch,” Naoki said.

  “I know she can see in the dark, I’m just worried about getting lost in the maze,” Jin said.

  “I’ll mark a path back to here,” I said.

  Naoki paused, looking at the trembling teenagers, and then back at Jin-Sook. “We’ll go a little way with them, but if she stumbles even once, we turn back.”

  While we waited for the group to join us, I squatted and rummaged through the stones on the cave floor until I found a drawing rock. As kids, we always used stones to write on the walls of the Pit. I must have written my name down there at least a hundred times—most often alongside Reyes’s.

  When I finished, I took Jack by the hand and instructed the group to hang on tight to each other. One of the young hostages took Jack’s other hand, and on down the line it went, with Naoki taking the end position. As we set out into the cavern, I was painfully aware that I was the only one who could see. When we came to a fork in the path, I carved another marker and scanned the line to make sure everyone was present before I continued.

  “This way,” I said, keeping left.

  “Are you sure?” Jack whispered.

  “Trust me.”

  “We no longer have a choice,” Naoki called from the back.

  A faint sound echoed through the cave, bringing us all to a halt.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  Naoki and Jin drew their knives.

  “Bears den in the caverns,” said one of the hostages.

  “That didn’t sound like a bear,” Jin-Sook said. “Besides, it’s too early for them to den. Winter is still months away.”

  “It wasn’t a bear,” Jack said. “It was familiar and I don’t know what bears sound like.”

  “You’re right, it was familiar,” I said, although I couldn’t actually identify it. I lowered my voice to a whisper. “Do you think the bourge are down here?”

  “Maybe,” Jack said. “If they are, they’ll need lights and you’ll see them coming. Whatever that was, it sounded a long way off.”

  “Let’s keep moving,” I said.

  “I’m scared,” the other hostage whimpered.

  “There’s nothing to be afraid of—” I paused, realizing I didn’t know her name. In all the confusion, there hadn’t been time. “My name is Sunny and this is Jack. I don’t know your names.”

  “I’m Chesa,” she said. Her voice wobbled. I prayed she wasn’t about to become hysterical.

  “Jae-Son,” the other said.

  “I think you guys have been extremely brave. You’re safe down here, away from those bad men,” I said, trying to reassure them.

  “The bad men?” Jae-Son repeated sarcastically. “You think we’re two?”

  I almost gave myself a head smack. He was only a few years younger than I was. “Sorry. I was just trying to calm everyone down.”

  “Personally, I’d rather be taking my chances up top with the bad men. I can’t see them coming down here,” Naoki said.

  “I’m having second thoughts too,” Jin chimed in.

  The confined hallway we travelled eventually grew into a larger cavern. Stalactites cascaded into tapered points from the high domed ceiling and a shaft of light turned a small pool into a shimmering turquoise.

  “It’s beautiful,” I breathed.

  “What’s beautiful?” asked Jack.

  “The view.”

  “I can’t see the view.”

  “Are you kidding? Daylight is pouring in.”

  “You mean that tiny little hole way up there?” Jin asked. “Is that the light you saw a few kilometers back?” There was a note of disbelief in her tone, edged with panic.

  “Yeah, I think it is,” I said.

  “It’s too small and too high up.” Naoki said, exasperated. “We need to go back.”

  “But there’s more light coming from over there.” I pointed before I realized they couldn’t see where I was pointing. I dropped my hand. “Come on.”

  As I led the group toward the next ray of light, my foot hit something. It rolled ahead of me a few feet, making noise as it went.

  “What was that?” asked Jack.

  I stooped to pick it up. “It’s an apple,” I said, confused. I scanned every corner of the cave. I didn’t see anyone.

  “It probably washed down here in a storm,” Jin said. “The valley is old farmland. There are lots of apple trees around.”


  I dropped the fruit and it rolled to rest against the cavern wall. Maybe some of the little rodents I had seen scurrying around would appreciate the meal. I continued toward the light.

  The path became steep, but luckily it was dry and walking was easy. “Where are we going to go once we’re out of here?” I asked Jack.

  “Maybe back to the cave if no one has found it yet. I want a place to hide for a few hours to dry out this pistol and my tablet.”

  “What’s a tablet?” Naoki asked.

  “A computer,” Jack said.

  “You have a computer? And it works?” Naoki exclaimed.

  “Well, it was working before I went for a swim.”

  “Do we need it?” I asked. The cave was getting a lot brighter. I was sure this would lead to a way out.

  “I downloaded a bunch of stuff from the main computer before we had to run. The schematics for the tagging system, communications, the power grid, everything.”

  “Hey, I can see a little bit,” Jin said.

  “Me too,” Chesa said with relief.

  “Finally. I’m wishing I had my sunglasses. It’s going to be bright out there,” I said.

  “Mine are in my pocket,” Jack said.

  The way out was a narrow tunnel that we had to crawl through. We emerged into a rocky area. I put on Jack’s glasses, glad to have some protection.

  Naoki was already climbing up a nearby outcrop and the rest of us followed. At the top, we lay on our stomachs, staying low and out of sight. From our position, we had a fairly good view of the surrounding area.

  “That high peak over there,” Jack said, pointing, “is the Dome. The cave we holed up in and the range are east of it.”

  “The cave is really close to the range. Do you think it's a good idea to go back there?” I asked.

  “I’d like to find those two men who aren’t tagged. Maybe we can team up with them,” he said.

  “Terran and Flint?” I asked. He nodded.