He sighs. “Will you at least let me go first?”
“A gentleman always lets a lady go first.” I push out of my seat and lead the way onto the concrete deck.
There are bloodstains and burn marks on the floor. I don’t even know what could have left the divots in the concrete, and I don’t think I want to.
“Nobody’s here,” Asher whispers from behind me.
I scan the room, wishing I could have the clear vision I experienced every time I’ve had to protect myself. “Yes, but something happened here.”
“Obviously,” someone says behind me, and I whirl around, my heart flying into my throat.
Gavin stands just inside the submersible, rubbing the back of his neck. “Damn it, Evie. Did you really have to knock me out?”
I open my mouth to apologize, but Asher beats me to it. “You should know better than anyone that she didn’t mean to. Besides, if you hadn’t attacked me like a maniac, she wouldn’t have had to subdue you.”
“‘Subdue’? Fancy word for coldcock.” Gavin glares at him, then turns his attention to the room. He shudders and gets that wild look in his eyes again. I swallow and worry that he’s going to do something to Asher again, but he takes a deep breath and his eyes focus. He looks around, zeroing in on the doors. “Looks like someone did some clean up.” He turns his attention to me, his eyes traveling up and down my body. “How are you feeling? Anything different?”
I assess myself, then shake my head. “Everything feels the same.”
He gives Asher a smug look, even though it’s easy to see the worry lines spreading across his brow. “See? Nothing has changed. Now let’s get the hell out of here before Mother figures out we’re back.”
He takes a step back into the sub, but Asher says, “Nice try. We have to find someone to fix Evie.”
“No one here can help her. Everyone here is trained to hurt her,” Gavin points out. He shifts slightly to one foot and almost instantly transfers his weight back.
“Someone here has to know something about nanos. They wouldn’t keep using them if no one here knew how to make them work or fix them if they malfunctioned.” Asher tilts his head to the side, his expression saying, “Just try to argue with me.”
Gavin stares daggers at him and I’m terrified they’re going to get into it again.
“Come on, Gavin. We made it this far,” I say. “We can’t quit now.” And I have no plans of doing so either.
He crosses his arms over his chest. “We need to go back.”
Asher looks at me, then shrugs. “Then go. No one is stopping you.” Then he turns back to the door. “Come on, Evie, let’s go find some help.”
Gavin still has his arms crossed, but he’s watching me now, his eyes pleading with me. I look back to Asher, who has his hand on the door, then back to Gavin.
I let out a breath and give Gavin a look of apology. “I have to.” It tears me up inside to do it, but I go to Asher, who opens the door and glances around quickly before stepping into the hall. Second-guessing and regretting every step I take away from Gavin, I follow Asher into the hallway.
My mind whirls with déjà vu, but I can’t remember what exactly is familiar about it. Other than it reminds me a bit of that strange complex Asher and I got lost in, back in the Outlands. My body tingles a bit as I wait for some kind of panic attack, but when nothing happens, I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding.
“Where to?” Asher’s voice echoes. There are only two options, but it’s pitch-dark one way and the other dead-ends several meters up ahead.
“I guess this way.” I start moving down the pitch-dark hallway.
Asher follows, and we’re a ways down the hall when we hear a door open. Because of the echoes it’s hard to tell where the door is, but when we hear footsteps, we push ourselves tight against the wall and try to breathe as shallowly as possible.
The footsteps tread slowly, and a light flicks on to our left—the way we came from—but I can’t see who’s holding it. I hope it’s Gavin, but I doubt it. Where would he have gotten a light?
The light sweeps from side to side as it continues forward and my heart pumps furiously. I wonder if anyone else can hear it. I’m afraid to move, but if we stay where we are we’ll be caught for sure.
Finally, I decide I have to move. I slide my foot out, then move my body to join it.
The light immediately swings in my direction and shines in my face, blinding me. “Evie?” Gavin says, the same relief I feel in his voice.
“Oh, thank Mother,” I say, wrapping my arms around him in a strangle hold as he steps next to me.
“I’d rather not, actually,” he says, but he holds me just as tightly. The stuff in his hands presses painfully into my back, but I don’t care.
“You stayed,” I say, my voice muffled by his chest.
He pushes me away a little and tilts my chin up with his finger. “I won’t ever leave you again.”
“Promise?” I ask.
“Promise.” He smiles, but before I can smile back he’s kissing me. My stomach flips and my heart trips, but I kiss him back, breathing in his scent like air and holding on to him as if my life depends on it. And it might just. I don’t think I could handle it if he were gone again. Thinking he was dead had just about killed me, too.
Behind me, Asher clears his throat and regretfully I peel myself from Gavin, but I wrap my hand around his forearm. I’m not letting him go again, either.
“Where did you find that?” Asher cuts in, gesturing to the light in Gavin’s hand.
“It’s from before. We needed it the last time we were here because the Enforcers cut off the power so the murderous monsters running around the Sector would have an easier time killing us. Thankfully we had plasma and machine guns.” He shoves something at Asher. “I left them in the submersible. I guess it’s a good thing, too. If I can’t persuade you not to go, at least I can try to offer some kind of protection.”
“What is this?” Asher stares at the silver contraption in his hand.
“It’s a gun, dipshit. It’s called a Reising and it’s fully automatic. You do know how to work a gun, don’t you? I’m all out of knives.”
“Knives?” Asher asks. I’m a bit perplexed myself.
“I figured with all your backstabbing experience a knife would be your weapon of choice, right?”
Asher makes this sound in his throat and I step between the two of them, trying to prevent another fight. This isn’t the time or the place.
“Great! We have weapons. Let’s keep moving, shall we?”
At first no one moves, and then Asher puts a hand on my shoulder. “Lead the way. I’ll be right behind you.”
Gavin snorts. “Typical. Hiding behind someone.” He slings the Reising over his shoulder by the strap and palms the smaller one, holding it and the flashlight in the same hand and taking my hand with the other, before he starts walking, leaving Asher to follow or not.
Gavin
The Sector is so quiet it’s almost creepier than the first time we were here. It’s hard to believe that it is the same place. But I don’t drop my guard. I’m sure those … things are still here somewhere and the minute I turn in the wrong direction they’re going to jump out and claw my face off.
I don’t want to be here. What I really want to do is grab Evie in a football hold and run straight back to the submarine. But Evie is nothing if not stubborn, and with Asher feeding her stubbornness, there’s no way I would win. So it’s on to plan B. Which … I haven’t quite figured out yet. Being here makes it almost impossible to think.
The dark is playing tricks on my mind. There are times that I’m positive something is right next to me, so close it could breathe on me, but when I flash the light, there’s nothing there. And then there’s the horrible creaking sounds. It reminds me of when I used to climb around the old wrecked warships as a kid. The sound was unnerving when I heard it then; it’s even more terrifying now. It’s making me jumpy, and my nerves are so tight
I’m afraid they’re going to snap at any minute.
We turn down another corridor and I pause, trying to remember which way to go to get to the elevators. I focus on bringing up the map I have in my head from when I was here last, and I’m concentrating so hard I don’t see what I’m walking into until my foot catches on something and I land with my nose just inches from something that smells incredibly disgusting. Evie tugs on me to help me up, asking if I’m okay. I quickly shove to my feet, thinking the worst of what I almost landed in. A body. Part of a body? Something worse? I don’t want to look at whatever it is but I know I don’t have a choice.
I expect to see blood and body parts, like last time. But what I see when I shine the light down totally confuses me. It’s definitely a puddle of something, but it’s a greenish color instead of red.
“What’s wrong?” Evie asks.
“I almost fell in something weird.” I squat down to examine it and she does the same, placing a hand on my thigh when she teeters a bit. She reaches out, but I grab her wrist. “Don’t,” I say. “Who knows what this stuff is.”
Asher peers over her shoulder. “Yeah, it could be acid or something. We wouldn’t want you to lose a finger.”
She yanks her hand away and I peer at him over my shoulder. “Really, Asher? Really? Do you just say every little thing that pops into your head?”
“Not everything.”
Even though I can’t really see him in the dark, the smirk in his voice is obvious and it sets my teeth on edge.
“Well, the next time you want to open your mouth, use that tiny thing in your head that passes for a brain, will ya?”
“I think you’re confusing my brain with your—”
“Enough!” Evie says, and the heat of her gaze burns my face. “Can you two just pretend to get along until we get back to the Surface? Please.”
We both mumble “Sorry,” but I’m sure we both know she’s asking for too much.
“What do you think this is?” I can feel her watching me again, so I’m pretty sure she’s talking to me.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to touch it.”
“Does it really matter, guys? I mean, it’s green goo. So what? Let’s just keep going so we can get somewhere there’s light,” Asher says.
“What’s the matter? Afraid of the dark?” I say, smiling.
“Gavin,” Evie warns. “Asher’s right. Let’s keep moving.” She places her hand on my thigh again to push herself up.
I stand and hop over the puddle, before turning to shine the light on it so Evie can see her way around. As soon as she’s over, I turn around and start walking away, keeping her hand in mine.
“Hey!” Asher says. “What about me? I don’t want to step in that stuff.”
I pretend not to hear him and keep going. A few seconds later I smile when I hear, “Ugh! Gross!” Music to my ears.
But then, Asher says, “Uh. Guys? I’m stuck.”
I laugh as I turn back around to see him pulling on the leg that’s supposedly stuck in the puddle. “Seriously, Asher? Now’s not the time to pull that shit. Stop kidding around.”
He looks up at me and I don’t see the glint of amusement in his eyes, I see anxiousness. “I’m not joking. It’s really stuck.”
“Really?” I stare closer at his arms pulling on his legs. He’s definitely straining to yank his foot out.
Releasing Evie, I bend down and start tugging too, but it’s really stuck. No matter how hard I pull, it doesn’t even budge. Then I realize something that sends chills down my spine. The muck is actually creeping up his shoe.
“Take your shoe off. Take it off now,” I shout, yanking at his laces now instead of his leg.
He starts pulling at them, too, and for a minute we’re battling each other for the laces until we finally get them loose enough for him to wrench his foot from the shoe. The three of us share a glance, but can only stare in horror as his entire shoe is consumed.
“What. The. Hell?” Asher says, still staring at the spot his shoe was.
“I have no flippin’ clue,” I say, more shaken than I want to admit.
“Those were my favorite shoes.” Asher rips off the other shoe and throws it at the crap. It floats on the surface for a minute before it too sinks. “Damn it.”
Evie grabs my hand and tugs on it. “We should get away from here.” Her voice is soft, but I can hear the nerves underneath and her hand is sweating. She’s never shown her nerves this much. She really must be scared. If she can keep going, as scared as she is, so can I.
I nod and start forward again.
We continue walking, every so often running into more puddles. We’re careful to avoid them, each of us working with the others to make sure everyone makes it over them, especially the larger ones. And especially Asher. It’s bad enough he has to walk around barefoot; we don’t need him to lose them, too. The puddles are strange, though. It’s too dark, even with the flashlight, to see them completely, but I’ve never seen liquid pool in the shapes that these are collecting in. There’s no sign of a source, so we ignore them as much as possible and keep going.
It’s entirely too quiet again, the only sounds the scrape of our shoes against the concrete, that odd groaning sound, and Asher’s occasional mutterings about me purposely getting us lost. And while it’s definitely not purposeful, I have to admit we probably are. Lost, that is. I’d only traveled this way once, and we’d gotten a little distracted running for our lives from the insane cannibals. It’s a wee bit hard to remember where to turn.
Eventually, with more luck than anything else, when we turn yet another corner—I’m sure we didn’t turn this much last time—I see a tiny bit of light peeking around a corner.
I rush forward, reaching behind me to grab Evie’s hand and tug so she’ll follow me. As unrealistic as I know this is, my mind begs for the light because light equals safety. Her feet drag a little until she sees why I’m rushing. She speeds up a bit and I don’t feel so much like I’m dragging her behind me.
“Hey! Wait up!” Asher calls from behind us, but we ignore him. I stop only when I get into the light. The hallway looks just like I remember it. Long, and empty. Concrete walls with the occasional door. Every so often down the hall there are more piles of gunk, and their shapes are starting to click in my head. They almost look like bodies, or parts of bodies, but I’m almost positive my memories of this damned place are making me imagine it, like when you see shapes in the clouds. This makes me especially grateful for the light.
I follow down the corridors with the lights working until finally I see a set of elevator banks. I rush to the button and press it, then press it again a few seconds later. Then again. Over and over again, until Evie places her hand on mine, stopping me.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
Inside the shafts the car clangs and bangs as it gets pulled up. My mind flashes on those monsters from the last time. I shudder as I remember how the whole hallway had been filled with blood. Sprays of it on the walls, dripping from the ceiling. And a carpet of bodies strewn across the floor. It dawns on me that I should be more careful. Just because, so far, we haven’t seen hide nor hair of them, doesn’t mean they aren’t waiting. An elevator would be just the place to hide.
I usher Evie and Asher back to wait behind a corner, where I watch for the elevator to arrive while they both stare at me like I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I have. I’ve never been more terrified in my life.
Asher shoves past me. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
I grab him and yank him back. “Stay still,” I hiss. “Those things could be in there.”
Evie and Asher exchange a look and he wrinkles his nose. “You’ve lost it, dude. We haven’t seen anyone in the entire time we’ve been here. There’s no one here.”
He steps forward again, and I snatch him back, shoving him to the wall so hard his head smashes against it. He yelps.
“Gavin!” Evie says, tugging on my arm.
I ignore her, shoving
Asher into the wall again. “Damn it, Asher. Just flippin’ listen to me for once. You’re going to get us killed.”
He scowls at me and rubs his head, but doesn’t say anything. When the doors finally slide open and no one steps out, I palm the plasma gun and double-check to make sure it’s loaded before stepping out into the hall.
It’s a relief to see there’s nothing in there. Not even any of the green goo. I signal for the others to come, and while Asher glowers at me when he gets to me, he gets into the elevator without saying a word. I ignore the concerned looks Evie keeps shooting me and press the button for the bottom floor. I’m pretty sure that’s where the Tube station is anyway. I can’t really remember where we’d started from when we were here before. I just know it was a relatively long elevator ride. But it’s not like we can’t start at the bottom and work our way up until we find the right floor if I’m wrong.
Snakes roll around in my stomach as my nerves act up. I really don’t want to go back to the other side of Elysium. It makes the most sense to go there, but I don’t know how we’re going to get past the turrets and cameras. Even if we’re not shot, the cameras will catch our every move. Evie might have been able to delete us from the targeting systems last time, but it seems unlikely Mother hasn’t had her little trick undone by now. And there’s no way Evie can get us back in the system now. Not without her memories.
We’ll just have to use those maintenance tunnels again and hope we don’t set off any of the turrets as we run from the Tube to the tunnel. Of course, the problem with that is, Evie has no memory of how to break the security on the doors. Maybe it’ll come to her. Maybe just being in the area will spark some of her memories.
The way she’s looking around like she’s never seen an elevator before, I don’t hold out much hope for that.
When we’re finally about to hit the bottom level, I step in front of Evie and hold the plasma gun out in front of me. This is where our luck runs out. I’m sure of it. Evie makes a frustrated noise, but doesn’t argue. Behind me Asher cocks the Reising, and steps up next to me.
Revelations (The Elysium Chronicles) Page 20
