by Isa Marks
He had thrown his cards on the table, he was not allowed to share that much classified information, or any classified information at all for that matter. His honesty had just taken over.
“You can not tell anyone, he added quickly, if people find out there will be riots and looting.”
She was impressed that he had trusted her with that information. It was a huge risk he had taken. She stepped towards him and kissed him.
“So, ehm, we’re good?” he stammered.
She nodded. “But maybe we should finish that list, before Doc wonders what’s keeping us so long.”
CHAPTER 12
RECONNAISSANCE
“Damn it Daryl, it has been long enough,” Cathy said.
The lack of sleep wasn’t helping. Daryl, Cathy and Jake took turns keeping watch. It gave them all a chance to sleep at night, but at the same time it still kept them all sleep deprived. Except for Moon who was playing with some pebbles in the corner of their hideout.
“We need to get them out!” she continued.
“Cat, we need a plan first, you know that. If we get them out now, where do we take them? We have nowhere to go, no way out. We have no way to keep them safe from the guards. And there will be many guards that come looking for their missing slaves. They seem organized, they know the routes, we don’t. They probably have a system in place for these situations. There is no way we can take out that many guards and disappear.”
“Not yet,” Jake added. “I could hit them on the head with a light toy if I had one, or . . .” Cathy and Daryl both looked his way, suggesting he should stay out of it. He put his hands in the air, joining the little girl and her pebble game.
“Getting them out now is not a plan, it will only get everyone in more trouble,” Daryl continued. He seemed frustrated by Cathy’s impatience and lack of vision. He tried to regain his composure before continuing.
“I want to get them out as well Cat, but we need facts first. We might have figured out the color combinations on the map, but we have no idea what a lot of these other things mean. We should check if any of the tunnels on the outer edges leads to an exit. And we need to be sure if all the others are here and where they are at different times.”
Cathy knew he was referring to Murphy. She hadn’t seen him in the Field, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there, with the others. But Daryl’s words made sense, as they usually did. It calmed her down, but she wanted to get out of here so badly.
She just wished that dam hadn’t broke and it was just another quiet day at the village. Sometimes she just wished she could be a little girl again, without all these responsibilities. But then again that wouldn’t get them anywhere. If she wanted to find her brother she’d have to take action and act responsibly.
“I have an idea,” she said, “let’s call it a reconnaissance mission. I’ll meet the others in the Field and gather information. I’ll find out how many of them there are, and what their routines are. Where they go after they leave, how many guards there are, things like that. Daryl, maybe you can try to find out if any of these other outer tunnels lead to an exit?”
It was a good idea, but he had no idea if he could trust her after what happened in the Field last time.
“I realize what I did was stupid and I am sorry I put us all at risk. I’ll just talk to them, nothing more, no heroic rescue missions or anything, I promise. We’ll meet back here tonight and exchange our findings.” She looked in his eyes and saw his hesitation. “Jake can keep an eye on me from the tunnel,” she added reluctantly.
“I’d love to, Cat,” Jake intervened.
“My name is Cathy,” she said, giving him a strict look.
Daryl was glad she finally sounded more like her normal, controlled self again. He hadn’t known that she had an impulsive side to her, like what she had done in the Field. But then again he wasn’t that surprised, he knew it ran in her family.
“That sounds like a plan,” Daryl said.
◆◆◆
It was another wet day in the Field. Faye’s mood had returned to the same somber depressed state as normal that morning, although it was a little bit better than usual. What had come over her yesterday? Her memory was blurry. This morning none of them had touched their food, and she started to remember again, it was drugged. Or so they thought, better not risk it, especially today. Finding out Cathy and Daryl were still out there changed everything. They had a real chance of escaping now, at least a better chance than before.
They stood waiting in line in front of the field, their pockets stuffed with the drugged food. They didn’t want to leave it behind in case the guards checked the dorms and found it.
“How’s your back?” said the boy they had nicknamed ‘seaweed guy’.
“The second day is always worse,” she said, rubbing her hand over one of the sore spots.
She passed the row of guards, who had hit her with their batons the day before and kept her head down. Faye and the others chose places nearest to the west side, keeping a constant eye on the tunnel exit.
This far out in the Field placed her almost out of sight of the guards and supervisors. She took out one of the old soy plants, roots and all. Dropping in a new young soy cutting created an excellent opportunity to dispose of the contents in her pocket.
“Do you think it will affect the plants?” she whispered to seaweed guy. He followed her example and filled up the hole he had just created with the remains of yesterday’s dinner.
“I don’t care,” he said. “If you are right we’ll be long gone by then. If they come back for us, that is.”
“When,” she said. “When they come back for us, not if.”
It was hard to concentrate on the job. She craved for some food right now, so much so that it felt like she was being eaten from the inside. She should have picked a different place on the field, somewhere near the edible crops. Maybe if she was very careful there’d be a way to slip something in her mouth without the supervisors noticing. Those thoughts quickly faded when she saw movement near the tunnel exit.
She saw the same brown clothes she had seen in the Field the day before.
“It must be Cathy. What should I do?” she said.
The guy next to her shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Faye hadn’t thought this far ahead. She couldn’t just walk off the field towards the tunnel, that would alert the supervisors. Should she wait for Cathy to come to her?
“What is she doing?” he said.
Faye looked at Cathy who waved at her. It looked like she gestured her to stay put, followed by her holding up two hands, or ten fingers, moving them towards her two times?
“Twenty? Twenty what?”
Cathy pointed to the brightly illuminated numbers above the main tunnel.
“Twenty . . . Twenty minutes?” Faye mumbled.
Of course, in twenty minutes there should be a change of guards. It would open up a window leaving them unsupervised, especially as far out in the field as they were. It took the supervisors at least ten minutes to get to the entrance, their backs would be turned to them. It was perfect.
Faye watched the clock, waiting for the numbers to change. The last five glances had all given her the same answer, still twelve minutes on the clock. The more she looked at it, the more time seemed to crawl. Maybe the clock was broken, she considered multiple times, but eventually the number would switch. One minute closer to the goal.
A buzzer sounded and the supervisor turned around with military precision. He started to make his way to the entrance, along the same route they always took.
Cathy crawled out of the tunnel, hiding behind the last row of plants. She slowly made her way forward, causing as little disruption in the field as possible. Accidentally touching the low leaves could cause a major wave in the upper parts of the plants, drawing attention of supervisors or guards. Or it could distract other workers, causing a ripple effect, making the supervisors suspicious. Caution meant time, and it took her a couple of minutes to get
close enough to Faye, who had stayed right where she was. After all Cathy had motioned for her to stay put. The supervisor was still walking away from them. They could see his back just over a quarter of the way to the entrance.
“Cathy,” Faye said softly. “It’s really you.”
Cathy smiled. She was glad to see Faye again. They had been such close friends when they were younger. But there was also a sense of tension and disappointment in her expression.
“Is something wrong?” Faye asked.
“Where’s Murphy, where’s my brother? Is he here, with you?”
She had recognized the five others working closest to Faye, they had been in Adrien and Murphy’s team, but there was no sign of him.
“I don’t know,” Faye answered. “We haven’t seen him after they locked us up.
They exchanged information. Cathy tried to understand why Adrien had been working with the guards. And she learned about the group’s time in isolation, the route to the dorms and the drugged food. Faye was relieved to hear Daryl, Jake and the little girl were still alive. And they had a map! It was a lot to stuff into that short amount of time.
The guard was three quarters along his way, the clock had started over and now said fifty-three. That meant seven minutes had passed already and in three the new supervisor would head their way.
“We will get you out soon, but we need a plan first,” Cathy concluded her sentence before turning around and starting her way back to the tunnel.
Faye stood there in silence, and stared ahead somewhat defeated.
“If . . .” she heard the guy next to her say.
“When,” Faye said, frustrated. “They will come back for us, you heard her.”
◆◆◆
Doc was sitting behind his desk, almost invisible behind the piles of papers and files that had grown even higher. “Yes, yes,” he mumbled to himself, he was so focused on his project he hadn’t even noticed them come into his office.
They watched the old man dig through a pile of stuff, like he knew where he could find what he was looking for in all this chaos. Classical music played loudly from the speakers and he shuffled between the piles as if he was doing some kind of dance. The situation looked rather peculiar, in a funny kind of way. He must have had some order to this mess, because in a matter of time he pulled out a specific diagram and seemed very content.
“Ahum,” Teagan said as loud as possible, trying to control his laughter and announce their presence without giving the old man a heart attack.
“You’re still here?” Doc yelled surprised, trying to drown out the music.
“See, he didn’t miss us for a bit,” Teagan said to Cecilia. “We have the things you asked for,” he shouted back to the old man.
“Good, good, take it to the lab, and make him look a bit more presentable will you. You do know how to shave right? Are you old enough for that? I expect us to give a presentation soon if this version works out. You know how they feel about appearance.”
A presentation? He had no idea what Doctor Miller was talking about. Teagan had read all the files and had not seen much progress in the trials so far. And definitely not one major enough to give a presentation to the big boss. He knew, better than most, that it was not a good idea to waste his time with something that had no potential.
“Take these things too.” Doc pointed to a variety of different colored vials on the table in front of him. Teagan, with his hands already full, juggled what he was holding, trying to pick up the vials between his fingers. They left the office and headed for the lab.
“I think I have a major breakthrough, we should test immediately,” Doc rambled on, even though they were already out the door.
Cecilia helped Teagan carry half of the things they had collected. Teagan pushed the button with his knee, opening the heavy lab door automatically. He entered the lab, juggling things to avoid dropping them. He paid extra attention to the vials, they looked fragile.
Cecilia hadn’t been able to set a foot beyond the doorstep. She stood there, frozen in place, until the door hit her in the back when it automatically closed. It startled her, and that wasn’t the only thing that did. Right in front of her a guy was strapped to the table.
Teagan had started arranging the things on one of the lab’s desks, his back towards her. She put the things she was carrying next to him. That would keep him busy for a while. At least long enough for her to confirm her suspicions.
She approached the table, knowing she had to be careful. His arms were even narrower than usual. His hair was long, longer than she remembered. But she knew those eyes, that were deep in their sockets.
He was staring at the ceiling, as if he was in trance. Black circles surrounded his eyes. The nights without sleep had taken their toll.
“Murphy,” she whispered. His eyes blinked, and he turned his attention to the familiar voice.
“Cecilia?”
CHAPTER 13
GRAY SUIT
Daryl moved carefully through the green zone, making his way to the laundry room. He figured his dirty clothes made him look like an escaped worker, and if he wanted to make it through this mountain unseen he had a better chance if he looked like one of them.
Over the past weeks he had been observing several of the gray and green area tunnels on the bottom level. The yellow and red areas he had considered too dangerous. Observing the laundry room had been one of his priorities. He had written down the routines of the girls by the exact minute. From an early age he had become accustomed to telling the time by the position of the sun, that was one of the perks of growing up on the outside. It had taken him a lot of effort to get used to the darkness, and the inability to tell whether it was day or night inside the dark mountain.
These people seemed to have no problem with it, they did everything on the clock. Having a clock in every room and above every tunnel entrance helped coordinate that structure they had been taught growing up. Their routines were the same every day. They almost became part of the machines they operated.
Daryl checked his list. The machines would go into centrifuge mode in a minute and the girls would leave. That gave him a little time to snoop around. They didn’t come back until the sound of the washing machine stopped , so he didn’t expect them to do it now either. He heard the rumbling of machines behind the door, this had to be it. He waited until the girls left, which was as he had predicted exactly on the full hour. Four had gone in and four came out, the room had to be empty.
Large machines covered the entire wall from left to right, top to bottom. The custom made cabinet enabled them to stack the machines three high. The noise in the room was unbearable, and the rotating of the drums made the cabinet shake, which made it look like the entire wall moved. He closed the door, hoping the noise hadn’t drawn attention and went on checking the rooms connected to this one.
The next room had wires running all the way across the top of the room. He made his way through the uniforms hanging from them, neatly sorted by color. He felt the wet fabric sweep across his arms. He had observed the situation from the end of the tunnel, but never saw the inside of these rooms before. He had hoped to go in and out quickly, but it took more time than he expected to find what he was looking for. He walked to the door on the far wall. It opened up into a large room filled with ironing tables, presses and folding machines with clinical blue covers. It felt almost like a medical room to him, if he hadn’t known better. The machines were turned off but he could still feel the moist of the steam in the air.
The sides of the walls were filled with cabinets that stored neat piles of folded clothes. He took a set of camouflage pattern pants and a sand colored shirt. There weren’t any jackets, he wondered if it would raise questions if he wouldn’t wear one. He grabbed one of the caps and a matching tool belt from the shelf next to him as he left the room. The toolbelt even had a flashlight attached to it.
“Well, Jake will be happy about that,” he mumbled. “Let’s hope he earned it by keeping the
girls safe while I’m gone.”
He quickly made his way back to the gray zone to change and hide his own clothes in a safe spot he had found a while back.
The military clothes felt awkward, different from the ones he used to wear. He never liked the uniform thing to begin with. He hoped he hadn’t forgotten anything essential. He had memorized the map so he probably wouldn’t need it, but had brought it just in case. It was quite a big place after all, and the deviations were hard to remember. Today’s focus was on finding an exit.
His feeling told him his best chance would be on the middle level. The entire bottom level seemed to be a working floor, and he didn’t expect an exit on the prison side. The top level would lead them through the cold snowy mountain terrain. If he were to design a place like this he’d focus on making an emergency exit on the level where most people lived.
Daryl knew there was a connection between the levels nearby. It went from the gray zone directly into the yellow zone above. It was a risk he had to take. He gathered his courage and stepped from the dark into the illuminated tunnel, pretending to walk there every day. Immediately two people walked up to him. He wondered whether he had made an obvious mistake. He held his breath as they came closer. The two stopped and saluted him. He mirrored their moves and the two continued on their way without looking back. Daryl let out a deep sigh. What the hell was he getting himself into?
He had figured out most of the colors on the map. Green, orange, red for low, middle and high crowded areas. Combinations such as yellow and green indicated a combination of both. Yellow being usually not very busy during the day, and green meaning mostly empty in the evenings. The gray areas seemed abandoned, turned off from the electric grid. Maybe they had once been part of the Bunker, but it looked like they had not been in use for a very long time.
He made his way from the yellow zone to the safer green zone of the middle level, searching along the outer edges for exits. Nothing on the map seemed to indicate exits though. Either they were left out of the map, or they did not exist at all. That didn’t stop him from checking every tunnel. Every single one of them ended in storage rooms, dead ends, or lead back to the main tunnel.
