by Ike Hamill
After Timothy, their luck improved. They rescued three people who were fit and capable once they were pulled from the wall.
“Tell us what happened,” Jacob said. They had found a stretch of tunnel with nobody entombed. Their quiet footsteps felt lonely in the narrow tunnels. He was looking for a way to occupy their attention until they discovered the next person.
“We came here to meet, like we were supposed to,” Kurt said.
“He was already here when I got here. He had started a fire for some reason. The air was thick with smoke,” Stella said.
“Who?” Jacob asked.
She glanced at Jacob and raised her eyebrows. The look suggested that she had never met anyone so stupid. “Luke started the fire. As more people arrived, he said that he had a special message for everyone.”
“He rigged the doors,” Kurt said.
“That’s right,” Stella said. “All the doors slammed shut.”
Jacob looked around at the other people they had rescued. One man looked confused. The others were nodding along with Stella’s story.
“The fire burned low and whispers went around that all the oxygen was going to run out. We asked Luke to open the doors again. We said we just wanted to make sure that nobody else was stuck outside. He told us that the outside world was dead. That’s when he summoned the snake.”
“Hey, guys?” Brook called. She was crouching down at a section of wall they had already passed. Everyone was on the lookout for loose bricks, but they were looking at eye level. Brook pointed her light close to the floor.
Jacob knelt next to her and looked. The gaps were only obvious when he looked at them directly. He waved Harper over to look.
“Isaac,” Brook said. “Bring your knife over here.”
He had a skinny knife that worked best to wedge between loose bricks to pry them apart.
While Isaac worked his blade into the space, Penny kept Stella talking.
“How many of you were there at the fire?” Penny asked.
“All of us here,” Stella said, looking around. “Plus Timothy, of course.”
“Edna,” Kurt said.
“Yes, her too,” Stella said.
Back at the wall, Isaac wasn’t getting anywhere. “I think they’re stuck from behind maybe,” he said.
“I can see empty space behind them, I think,” Brook said.
“Let me try,” Jacob said. He lowered himself to the floor. With his heel, he kicked at one of the bricks in the center. One corner moved back a few centimeters. Encouraged, he kicked harder at the other side.
“Maybe that was it,” Stella said. “Everyone here, Timothy, and Edna.”
“So we’re just looking for one more person?” Penny asked.
“I suppose so,” Stella said.
“And what did you mean about him summoning the snake. What did he do?” Penny asked.
The brick gave way and Jacob’s foot pushed it into the wall. Brook leaned in with her light, but it didn’t really reveal anything. The light disappeared into the brick-shaped hole.
“See if Edna is in there,” Penny said.
Jacob reached towards the hole. Harper grabbed his arm and looked at him.
“Be careful,” she whispered.
Jacob gave her a nod. He reached forward slowly and put his fingers through the hole so he could grip the brick just below the one he had punched through. Brook shined her light on the process. When he had his fingers on it, Jacob tugged. It resisted at first, but then whatever was holding it broke free. Jacob pulled the thing and their window into the wall increased by the size of one brick. He put it aside and reached for the next one.
When he pulled at the third brick, mortar and dust began to sift down from the wall.
“It’s unstable,” Isaac said.
Jacob scooted back, away from the hole. The others pressed against the opposite wall. Once it started, it only took a second for the bricks to fall. As they tumbled to the floor, people backed away farther, looking up at the arched ceiling. Penny put her hands on the wall behind her, as if she could stop it from zippering open and collapsing around them.
The hole grew as bricks fell. It finally stabilized when the bricks just below the margin of the arch held their ground. One more brick fell and the dust began to clear. There was a dirt tunnel in the lower half of the wall. It was round, and about a meter in diameter.
Brook pointed her light into the hole. The tunnel sloped downward at a slight angle.
“Edna?” Stella called. Her voice echoed.
Penny put a finger to her lips to shush the woman. She spread her arms to gather everyone together. When she spoke, she kept her voice low, like there was something in the new tunnel that might hear her. “Let’s keep looking for Edna. I don’t think she’s in there.”
Penny led the way. Brook, Harper, and Jacob brought up the rear. They walked backwards, keeping close watch on the dirt tunnel just beyond the pile of bricks. When they were far enough away that Brook’s light barely reached the hole, they heard a sound and stopped.
As they listened, something hissed in the darkness.
They glanced at each other and then backed up fast to catch up with the others. After another hiss, when the hole was finally out of range of their sight, they heard bricks rubbing against each other as something moved over them.
Chapter 35
{Following}
“THEY STOPPED HERE, BUT they didn’t stay here,” Elijah said.
Madelyn looked at the building. In the starlight, the painted eyes seemed like they were searching in the night. They stared straight out at nothing.
“So let’s keep following your nose,” Madelyn said.
He shook his head. “It takes a while to track. We should find out if the people inside know where Jacob went. That will be faster.”
Madelyn shrugged. She followed Elijah as he circled the building. Sometimes, the clues he used were perfectly obvious. Madelyn had no trouble picking up Jacob’s scent at the rear entrance of the old bakery. Her nephew had left the nervous odor of his sweat. Other times, the trail Elijah followed was like magic. She had no idea what was guiding him.
The people inside the eyeball house were clear though. In fact, Madelyn could almost recognize one of the people through the walls.
Elijah rapped gently on the back door before letting himself in. Madelyn followed.
They found an older woman in the kitchen. She held a candle in a metal stand. As the light met Elijah’s face the woman gave them a flat smile and nod as a greeting.
“Hello, Addison,” Elijah said.
Madelyn finally put a name to her senses. “Where’s Logan?” she asked.
The woman pointed.
They followed her up the stairs and found Amelia sitting at Logan’s bedside. The tall man’s feet were hanging off the end of the bed. A loose sheet covered him. There was a spot of blood in the center.
“What happened?” Madelyn asked.
“Giant spider,” Amelia said. She shrunk away from Madelyn, but didn’t run this time.
Madelyn looked at her and then moved around to crouch next to Logan. He opened his eyes when she took his hand.
Logan pushed himself up a little when he recognized her.
“You look terrible,” Logan said.
“You should talk,” Madelyn said. “You’re as pale as a waxworm.”
“Your neck is all stretched out. I had a dream that you tried to eat us,” Logan said.
Madelyn glanced at Amelia. “I didn’t try to eat you. You guys just ran when I tried to talk to you.”
Logan nodded. “I remember now. You came through the wall like a ghost.”
“Over the wall,” Madelyn said. She turned to Amelia and then the woman with the candle. “What does he need? What can we do to help?”
“He’ll be okay,” the woman said. “He just needs time to recover. We cut out the venom and his flesh needs time to heal itself.”
Madelyn looked to Amelia. “Where’s my nephe
w?”
Amelia cleared her throat but didn’t respond.
“You can tell us,” Elijah said. “We want to help them.”
Amelia considered this for a second before she finally spoke. “They’re going to the rally points, trying to rescue people. The steam tunnels between the school buildings is the next one.”
Elijah nodded.
Madelyn turned back to Logan. “I’m going to come check on you as soon as we make sure those other fools are safe, okay?” She patted his hand.
Logan smiled at her as his eyes drifted shut again.
Madelyn rose and left the room with Elijah and the woman holding the candle. Back on the first floor, Elijah turned to Addison.
“What do you really think?” he asked.
“I’m no healer,” Addison said. “I did what I could.”
“Would it help if…” Elijah started to ask.
Addison shook her head. “That takes too much energy to receive. The youngsters said that all the healers are in hiding. If you find one, send them over. Otherwise, I think we’ve done what we can.”
Elijah nodded. He took Madelyn’s hand and pulled her towards the door. She resisted.
“Come on, Mac. Let’s make sure that Jacob is safe.”
With that, she relented.
Chapter 36
{Flight}
THEY STOOD AT ANOTHER intersection.
“This way,” Penny said. She pointed with her light.
“No!” Stella said. “That leads deeper.”
“What do you mean?” Isaac asked. “There is no deeper. These tunnels just connect the two buildings. How could there be anything deeper?”
Kurt shook his head. “You don’t understand. Luke made these tunnels into a maze. You’ll get lost in here.”
“That’s impossible,” Isaac said.
“How do you explain this?” Penny asked. She pointed her light around. Tunnels went in all four directions.
“I don’t know,” Isaac said, “but if we keep going straight we’re bound to hit one building or the other. They wouldn’t just have tunnels leading to nowhere.”
“Follow the pipes,” Jacob said, pointing up. “That big pipe only goes this direction. It must lead somewhere, right?”
“The pipes could be part of his trickery,” Kurt said.
Jacob frowned.
“He’s right,” Penny said. “We follow pipes. Anyone who doesn’t want to do that can stay here and find out what that sound is.”
Harper looked over her shoulder. They hadn’t heard it in a while, but she had no doubt that if they stayed in the same place it would come back.
Penny got them moving again. Harper stayed in back with Brook. She was more comfortable when she could watch the rear to be sure that nothing was sneaking up on them.
After a short length of tunnel, Penny stopped again. The group caught up and saw why. They stood at the edge of a circle of soot.
“This is where he had the fire,” Stella said.
“Really?” Jacob asked with a frown. “I wouldn’t have guessed that.”
Penny shot him a look and then turned to Stella. “Which way out?”
“It should be right up here,” Stella said. She pointed up one of the tunnels. The pipes overhead agreed. The biggest pipes were going in the same direction.
The group moved quickly.
Brook’s light caught something in the shadows. It was a twinkle of purple that disappeared when she aimed her light at it. She and Harper glanced at each other. They stopped when they heard the hiss. The deep sound dropped to a rumble.
“Keep together,” Jacob said.
“No!” Stella yelled from the head of the group.
Brook and Harper turned to see the issue. Stella had gone ahead and was slapping her hands against a brick wall.
“Take it easy,” Jacob said. “We’ll get through.”
“What’s the problem?” Harper asked. She figured it out as soon as the words left her mouth. The brick wall didn’t belong there. It was blocking the exit.
A man had moved up next to Stella. He pounded on the bricks with his fists.
“This wasn’t here before,” he said. “Who put it up? How is cement already dried?”
Penny and Isaac were trying to find a place to work his blade between the bricks.
“Forget it!” Jacob yelled. “We know which is the main tunnel now. Let’s go to the other exit.”
“Are you sure?” Harper asked. “Maybe we should try to break through.”
Several arguments broke out in the group.
“Hey,” Brook said. The discussions continued until she said it much louder. “Hey!”
One by one, they turned to see what she was yelling about. Brook pointed with her light. As it slithered into the edge of her light, the scales reflected purple. When the thing stopped, it was black. It hissed at them and then sent out its black tongue to taste the air.
Jacob took Harper’s hand.
“That can’t be the same one,” Isaac said.
The snake was enormous compared to what had emerged from Luke’s belly.
“It can’t be,” Jacob agreed.
“Who has a gun?” Penny asked.
Nobody answered.
Isaac moved forward with his knife. Several people maneuvered high and low to point their flashlights at the snake. The snake’s head lifted from the tunnel floor as it eyed Isaac. The thing was big enough to swallow him whole. They could only see the head—the rest of the body disappeared into the shadows.
“Break down this wall,” Jacob said. He lowered his shoulder and ran at the bricks. The wall didn’t budge as he hit. Jacob backed up and kicked at it. A couple of other people joined his attack, but the wall was solid.
“Get back!” someone yelled.
Jacob turned to see the snake strike.
It lunged forward toward’s Isaac’s hand. He swung the knife and missed the serpent. The snake coiled back and Isaac adjusted his grip.
The snake’s tongue darted out, like it was trying to come to a decision. The standoff didn’t last long. The snake struck again and Isaac swung his knife. The knife didn’t hit, but the snake did. It grabbed Isaac’s arm and jerked him back towards the darkness. Harper screamed and rushed forward with her own knife. She managed to bury it in the snake’s neck. When she pulled back to stab again, the snake flashed purple and was gone.
Isaac was silent until the snake disappeared into the darkness. As the thing dragged him away, they heard his voice echo in the tunnels.
Jacob moved up next to Harper.
“We’re going after him,” she said.
“Of course,” Jacob said.
# # # # #
Between the three of them, they had two knives and one flashlight.
Brook led the way with the light. She followed the trail of black blood—the snake was dripping from Harper’s wound. Behind them, they heard Penny and the survivors trying to break down the brick wall. That sound faded quickly as they turned a corner and followed the snake into the tunnels that shouldn’t have existed.
“What’s the game here?” Jacob asked. “What’s it trying to do?”
“We might have reached the point where it’s simply trying to kill us,” Harper said.
Brook turned another corner.
She came to an abrupt stop. Luke was standing there in the dark, blocking the tunnel. His shirt was still pulled away from his belly and the wrap had fallen away. Brook’s light was pointed at the shiny pink scar where the snake had emerged. She raised the beam and they looked into his vacant eyes.
Brook pointed her light back at the floor. The trail of black blood went directly between Luke’s feet.
“Out of the way,” Jacob said.
Luke didn’t move or respond.
Jacob advanced. Holding his knife at the ready, Jacob pushed Luke to the side while Brook and Harper moved around them. The man’s eyes never registered them, but his hand came up and tried to grab Jacob’s.
&nb
sp; Jacob pulled back from the contact.
“Come on,” Brook said before she directed her light away from Luke.
The three of them resumed the search.
When Brook’s light caught the flash of the tail disappearing around a corner, they started to run.
Chapter 37
{Refuge}
SCARLETT TRIPPED OVER SOME unseen obstacle and fell to her hands and knees. She wiped sweat and tears from her face. She was too tired to be ashamed at herself.
Just like before, as soon as she stopped she heard the bear grunting and growling behind her. Scarlett clawed her way back to her feet and made them move forward again. She stumbled back into a run and pointed herself at the light. It appeared much closer now. The terrain dipped and trees blocked her view.
Scarlett sobbed and wanted to give up.
When the image of her brother popped into her head, Scarlett clenched her jaw and evened out her stride. Until he was avenged, she would never give up. There had to be a way to defeat the bear. With that done, she could go back and verify that Niren and Caleb were dead. Their flesh would be burned and their bones scattered—then she would rest.
Scarlett looked back and slowed.
In the distance, the bear’s shape blotted out part of the sky.
Scarlett broke through the trees and saw the source of the light. It was on the tower of the school. There were tunnels below there. She could go in one building and use the tunnels to sneak to the other. That would give her a chance to figure out what to do about the bear. Scarlett sprinted for the entrance.
# # # # #
She ran down the stairs. The bear growled as it emerged from the woods and started across the clearing. Scarlett slipped through the door and pulled it shut behind herself. She doubted that the huge animal could fit down the outside stairwell, but didn’t doubt that it could dig. An animal that big shouldn’t be underestimated—especially a bear. Once they caught a scent, a bear didn’t give up. Scarlett had dealt with them before.
