by Blair Drake
He was reluctant at first, but Reese knew he was way out of his league and he needed to come clean with Endel. “I’m not exactly sure. We were about halfway over the bridge and—”
“And you used your energy.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I didn’t know anything was there. I didn’t know how far we had left to go. It didn’t seem like anyone was there and I thought it would be faster if I could at least see how far we had left and it all looked foggy in the dark.”
“And?”
“And then this thing was there. I don’t even know what to call it. It was weird, and had metal arms and feet, and it was wearing like a long jacket or something like it was a pirate or a royal guard or something.”
“He was.”
“He. You mean it actually has a gender? Like it’s a guy?”
“It’s a Citengam. He’s not unlike you except that he has the ability to not only attract energy, but to repel it. But since you survived, you apparently bested it.”
“You don’t sound so happy about that.”
“It poses a problem. You’re going to have to be more careful. Now that this incident happened, people are jumpy. They know a strangeling is around. You have to stay hidden as much as possible. I thought I made that clear.”
“I know. But,” he said, hesitating, “we’re hungry.”
There was silence for a few seconds. “Are you asking for permission to go eat at a restaurant? Because if you are, forget it.”
Reese didn’t know why, but he always felt small whenever he talked to Endel. He’d just met the man. Even though Endel was at least a foot shorter than Reese was, with just a few short words, he managed to make Reese feel like an idiot.
“So what happens when we starve?”
He glanced over at Raven who frowned at him. He shrugged.
After a long pause, Endel said, “You made it over the bridge. Where are you holed up?”
“It was the first door we found when we walked into the city. High up on the platform. But we crawled into a smaller tunnel inside the tunnel just to be safe.”
“Raven’s idea?”
It was a dig because of the mistakes he’d made last night, but Reese wouldn’t play into Endel’s goading.
“Mine. She told me there were other tunnels in case we got company.”
He wasn’t sure if Endel believed him, especially after another long pause. But Reese didn’t care.
“Good thinking,” he finally said. “But you can’t stay there forever. Those smaller tunnels are just access points. They don’t run the length of the city like the main tunnels do.”
“So what do I do?”
“There’s a baker who makes fresh bread every morning. He’s not too far from that first stairway in that section of the city. He’s your best bet. He’s a greedy old bugger. He likes to wait until the last possible moment to put his goods out in the display cases so the early buyers think it’s the freshest. But truth is, he’s up all night baking. It’s not fresher than any other shop in the city square. But he watches the street and when the first set of people come out of their homes, he starts filling his cases. That’s when you make your move.”
“But you said not to go—”
“Don’t interrupt me, yungin’. You listen!”
Reese shrunk back against the concrete wall and ignored the confused look Raven cast him.
“He puts his bread out in a cart by the door first just as he’s opening the shop. He does this so the smell of bread will suddenly fill the entire area as people who head out to work start walking the streets. Then he goes back in and rearranges his display case with other baked goods. It’s when his back is turned that you’ll make your move. The hard part of it is making sure no one sees you.”
“Where is this baker?”
“If you’re anywhere near where you said you are, you’re going to be able to smell the bread soon. Get out of the access tunnel and wait by the main tunnel door. That smell comes up fast as soon as the baker opens his shop. As soon as you do, head down to the bakery. It should be on the west side of the city, right on the main drag. It’s dangerous. I won’t lie to you. It’s not a good place for a yungin’ to be, especially after last night’s incident. People will be talking. You’ll have to be quick, and you’ll have to go alone. Raven cannot go with you.”
Reese glanced at Raven, and saw her eyes widened with fear. She couldn’t hear Endel, but it was if she could read Reese’s reaction to his words.
“Endel, she’s not going to agree to this.”
“Agree to what?” Raven asked, pushing his blazer off her body, and tugging at his shirt.
“She has no choice,” Endel insisted. “She’s not as fast as you are. You said you were a runner. Then show your running skill. You’re going to need it to be able to get in there, get something to eat and get out. You know where you are. You know where she will be. If the baker or anyone else does see you, they won’t follow you in there if you make it to the tunnel first. If they catch you on the city grounds, it’s over. They will try to run you down.”
“Run me down how?”
The sound through the talisman became distorted for a second. “For such a smart boy, you ask a lot of stupid questions.”
Reese rolled his eyes. “You know, you really should stop calling me stupid.”
“That’s up to you.”
“What about water? Where do we get that?”
“Take care of the bread first. And only one loaf. Your downfall will be getting greedy. I know you’re hungry, and when you’re hungry you make mistakes. You can’t do that. One loaf is enough for the both of you for now. Anything more is dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“If you’re found with so much as a piece of crust on you, that’s evidence enough that you stole food. You shouldn’t be there. You already know that. And pretty soon, they’ll know it too.”
“What about later?”
“Be in the moment. That’s all you need to worry about.”
Chapter 8
Raven looked at Reese, and her horrified expression shattered his resolve. What was Endel thinking? What on earth would compel her to stay in this tunnel alone not knowing if he’d ever be coming back for her? He’d been the one to pull her out of the relative safety of the fringes of the city. And now he was asking her to stay put, and trust him. Stay put in a bunker that had absolute no security, no food, no water, and if those mechanical creatures showed up again, no way out.
“I don’t care what Endel said,” Raven insisted. “He’s not here. And I’m not staying here by myself. Not with all those, those, whatever they are maybe still out there. How do we know all of them fell into that hole when the bridge collapsed? What if there are more, and one of them finds me here? What do you expect me to do?”
“I’m going to try to get some food as quick as I can. Then I’ll be right back.” He weighed his words as best he could in a way that they wouldn’t insult her. “Raven, I was a jock. A track star. I’m pretty good.”
He felt almost embarrassed saying it that way. It made him sound like he was full of himself, and maybe at times he was. Reese knew he could run. He had a way of leaving everyone in the dust behind him. The best way for them to get some food was for him to go alone.
But Reese could tell by the smirk on Raven’s face that she wasn’t buying it.
“I’m being serious,” he said.
“You’re full of yourself.”
He shrugged. “That, too. I can’t argue with that. But it’s also true.”
Her shoulders slumped as she leaned against the wall looking past him down the dark hole of a tunnel. They’d climbed down from the smaller tunnel and were now standing by the metal doorway that led to the city. She’d insisted on coming this far with him. Endel had wanted her to stay in the access tunnel, but she’d flat out refused. Now he realized his one concession in letting her get this far was so she could argue with Reese about not staying behind.
She looked him square in th
e face. “You know nothing about me, Reese. What makes you think that I’m not as fast as you are, or that I couldn’t go in and out of that bakery faster than you?”
His jaw dropped as he began to argue, but then he stopped. “I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
“Except Endel said you weren’t.”
Although she kept her chin lifted in defiance, the slight bend of her shoulders gave her disappointment away. “He said that?”
He nodded, although it didn’t give him any pleasure.
“I don’t want to stay here by myself, Reese.”
“I know. But you’ve been by yourself for long time. How long, you never said. Quite frankly, I’m a little afraid to ask because I don’t want to think about the possibility that I could be stuck down here that long, or longer. I want to get the hell out of here as much as you do. As much as being at school, and at home sucked, I still want to go back because at least back there I can be me. I get who I am. Down here, everything and everyone is so crazy.”
“Not everyone,” she said quietly. “I’m not crazy.”
“I didn’t mean you.”
“It sure sounded like it.”
He sighed. “We need food, Raven. My stomach is growling, and at the very least if I don’t put something in it, it’s going to give us away. I can get pretty grouchy when I’m hungry. My stomach is like a demon.”
Her lips slowly lifted to a slight grin. “I don’t think being hungry is all it takes.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks a lot. Is that your way of telling me I’m an asshole?”
“No more than any other guy I’ve ever known.”
It was the first time Raven had mentioned knowing anyone other than Endel, and the first time he’d even thought about her having a life outside these walls. But now he wondered what her life had been like before she’d come here. Did she have a boyfriend she’d left behind? Had she been serious with someone?
He hadn’t expected the sudden irritation to skitter up his spine. But when it did, he understood what it was. Jealousy. Reese hated being jealous. There was no reason to be. Raven was just a girl he’d met in a tunnel. Big deal.
Okay, so Raven was pretty. Beautiful even. And she had guts. Reese had to give her that. If he spent too much time thinking about it, not that he had a whole lot of time to do that sort of thing given their situation, he’d have to admit he enjoyed being with her more than any of the other girls he had met at school.
Reese had plenty of friends at the Cliffs. Some were girls. They were fun to be around, and joke with. This thing with Raven was different. Reese admired Raven for the strength he wasn’t sure she even knew she had. But he could see it in her. How else could she have survived by herself in a tunnel of concrete on the fringes of a city filled with people that she knew were out to hurt her unless she didn’t have an incredible amount of strength?
It suddenly occurred to Reese that perhaps this journey would be a whole lot worse for him if Raven wasn’t here. Yeah, he might have been able to get through the city quicker. But would he have made it? Or want to do it alone?
He had friends. Jasper was is best friend. But Reese liked to think he didn’t need anyone. Right now he needed Raven. And he knew that she needed him to make it to the portal. Otherwise, she would have left long ago. She didn’t know what was out there any more than he did. But she had a whole lot more experience ducking into corners and staying hidden. And she’d survived this long all on her own.
Reese didn’t want to think about the others who’d gone out looking for the portal and didn’t make it. Endel said they’d been cocky. Well, Reese had a whole lot of that, too. But it would get him killed just as easily as this stupid magnetic power that he still couldn’t control.
“Did you hear that,” Raven asked.
He’d spaced out and hadn’t been paying attention. “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Ssh.”
Reese remained still, trying to silence his mind and his hand that he just realized he’d been tapping on the cold concrete wall.
Nothing.
Raven smiled. “It’s drops. There’s water somewhere. He looked above them and didn’t see any pipes. He’d done the same thing last night when they crawled into the tunnel because he’d been glad there was no water that would somehow be sparked by his energy and electrocute them.
“You’re crazy. I don’t hear anything,” he said.
Raven nodded her head. “It’s water. I used to hear it when I was in the tunnel at the other end of the city. There are springs all around here, and those springs feed into aqueducts that supply the city with water. I can find it. I can do that while you’re looking for food.”
Reese shook his head quickly. “Endel was adamant that you were to stay put while I went and got the food. I’m going to be quick. I’ll be back before you know it. And when I’m back we can go look for the water.”
Raven leaned back and bounced her head lightly against the concrete wall with frustration. “Are you always this stubborn?”
“I could say the same thing about you. You’re supposed to be—”
“Listening to you? Hey, I did pretty well on my own for a long time. You don’t have to lecture me about listening. I took instructions from Endel, and that’s what kept me alive this long.”
“Then listen to him now. Stay put. I’ll be back. I promise you I’ll be back so quick that you practically won’t even know that I was gone at all.”
She stared at him for a long moment. “You’d better come back. I don’t want to be here by myself.”
He spoke with more confidence than he felt. “I’ll be back. Even if it kills me.”
What he’d said was ridiculous and he could tell immediately it was the wrong thing to say when he saw the look on her face.
“It can kill you. Just remember that.”
There were still very few lights on in the city when Reese emerged from the tunnel, which gave him a false sense of security. He could stay a hidden to a degree. But as he learned last night, that could change in an instant.
Heart pounding, he listened for signs of movement around him. No one was in the walkway. There was no one walking down the stairs. From what Reese could see on the street below, only a handful of people, most likely workers, were milling about.
He was going to have to risk it now. The smell of bread grew stronger as he moved away from the wall and stood at the top of the steps, just as Endel had said it would. As he ran his energy naturally flowed through him and ever since he’d come to the underground tunnel city his energy flowed so much stronger.
He heard the loud noise of what sounded like wheels rolling over the concrete floor below him and then the spitting of sand and gravel as the wheels took grip of the ground. Years of grinding and squeaky metal parts protested under the weight of whatever it was inside the carts.
Before Reese moved any further, he trained his eyes on the road below. There were people pushing carts down the center street. The main stairway in the city was empty. That meant that other than the people pushing those carts, he was alone. For now.
As he took the first few steps down, he scanned the area for the bakery. West side, Endel had said. He couldn’t figure out which was west or east or north or south. He couldn’t very well rely on just his nose to get him there. Or could he? The smell got stronger as he made his way down the stairs. He tried not to move too quickly so he wouldn’t attract attention. His stomach grumbled as the smell of fresh baked goods increased.
The closer he got to the bottom of the stairs, the more the light increased. It was a double-edged sword. He could see better, but he was also exposed. When he finally got to the landing closest to the bottom of the stairs, he paused and looked around. There were more people in the street now. But they were still moving with purpose, most likely going to work or already working in some capacity. But he still couldn’t see signs of a bakery or baked goods out in the square.
Reese fisted his hand
as frustration and hunger coiled through him. There was so much he didn’t know and so much that could trip him up. Endel had said there were minefields, and now he knew why. Last night was a prime example of how badly he could fail. He couldn’t let that happen again, especially when there was still so much road ahead of them, and so many more minefields they had to get through before they reached the portal.
He caught a whiff of something strong. A door swung open, and the sound of a man whistling filled the air, along with the strong scent of something sweet. Yes. That had to be the bakery. He couldn’t see the front door yet, so he took the remaining steps down to the street and then looked around quickly.
When he got to the street, he took each steady breath and walked as casually as he could. If he ran too fast, someone would notice him. Even an overworked cart pusher could be his undoing. He had to blend in as if he belonged there and had a purpose just like the rest of them.
And if he ran too fast he wasn’t sure he’d be able to squash any excess energy that flowed through him because of the urgency to get something to eat. He’d have to risk it only when he reached the bakery.
As he walked, he kept his eyes forward, not wanting to bring attention to himself and not wanting to seem as if he was paranoid. The scent of food grew stronger, tickling his nose and making his stomach growl louder. Panic seized him, but only for a moment. It would do no good to turn back now out of fear. He’d made it this far and no one was paying him any attention. He had to go the distance.
There was an empty wooden basket in a pile of other baskets on the side of the road where he’d emerged from the stairway. Reese casually picked up one of the baskets and hoisted it to his shoulder. At this height, it would be hard for anyone on the ground to see that it was empty. People who were still in the higher grounds might look down and discover the basket was just a prop. But could they do anything about it at this distance? And if anyone asked him, he could just say he was carrying it to another location to pick up goods of some kind for his boss.
He had his cover. Now to make sure he didn’t blow the rest of this gig. He suddenly began getting strange looks from people opening their shop doors and setting up goods on the sidewalk. Reese wondered if they’d heard of the strange creatures on the bridge and the destruction they’d left there last night. How could they? Everyone had been asleep when it had happened and those same people were just getting up now.
