She starts sobbing and I draw back in alarm as she clutches her chest, her wheezing sharpening, quickening, sending her into a panicked state as she curls up onto her side on the ground. I pull my tail back, ready to turn to get Julia, but hesitate and chance hauling the young female back into my embrace, taking her with me. Her crying deepens but she does not fight me as I quickly return to the others.
My eyes move over the two males as I come upon them with speed. “You must run or be left behind,” I growl out. I look for Julia, but do not spot her around any of the nearby trees or bushes. “She is lossssing her breath,” I warn, speeding past them.
Where is Julia?
Quinton rushes to my side. One look at Olivia has him cursing. “Shit. Go!” He runs alongside me for a few paces, branches slapping against him. “She’s going to die if she doesn’t get to a doctor!”
I thrash my tail in frustration, picking up speed.
“Go!” he shouts, tripping. “It could be her lungs.”
I race for the encampment without looking back.
TWENTY-TWO
TRAPPED
Julia
Thud,thud, thud!
Something, and that something being the Boa, attacks the other side of the door.Thud, thud, thud, thud!The large industrial door shudders, the violent banging against it making me jerk with each subsequent pounding sound.
“Let me innnn!”I hear the Boa say through the racket of his wild barragement.
The hair rises on the back of my neck as I hold my aim, waiting for it all to end, praying the door continues to hold.
The door does, and eventually, after what seems like a short eternity, the sounds fade as the Boa gives up.
Silence begins to ring in my ears. After a few more minutes, I am sure the only banging I’m hearing is my heart slamming back and forth inside my chest. Hoping the Boa has wandered off for now, I release my rifle, let it go limp under my arm, and grab my flashlight off the ground.
As my pulse calms, I think about Krellix, Olivia, and the others. I hope they’re okay.
Glancing around, I find myself on the central landing of a cornered staircase leading deeper into the ground. Considering the industrial door one final time, I walk down the last few steps to discover a wide hallway with a series of cold, dark rooms. Giant machines that look like they could be generators line the walls, but they’re so old I can’t really tell what they were once used for. Eyeing the faded signs on the walls and the piping across the ceiling, I wonder if Krellix knows about this place.
I decide against it, reminded of the stories of Shelby’s and Celeste’s own journeys underground within the boundaries of the facility. And Krellix being partially involved. Also, the dust and dirt is so thick, my boots are leaving footprints behind me; I’m the first to pass through in a long time. Peering at all of the large, intact equipment, I think I might be the first person to pass through here since Earth’s destruction.
I cross my arms. The air is chillier down here than it is above. I hesitate and glance back at the stairs, wondering if I should turn back and wait by the door—or maybe check outside and see if the Boa is gone.
No. No chance he’s given up that easily.
Instead, I keep walking, discovering a set of double-wide doors that looks like the one I came in through, just twice as big.Maybe there’s another way out of here…
I start to search for a map on one of the walls as I walk to the keycard machine next to the double-doors. Pulling out the card, I tentatively line it up and swipe it through. The industrial doors click, the latch unlocking, and I twist the handle. Opening the left door, I peek into the dark room on the other side. Seeing nothing more than open space, I push the door the rest of the way open and walk through.
Immediately on the other side, I find myself on a landing over a large stairwell going further underground.
I descend the stairs two at a time. Enough time has passed that Krellix is probably aware that I’m no longer with him. He’ll come for me and he’ll find the Boa instead. He won’t be ready. If I can find a different way out of here than the way I came in, we’ll both be safer and maybe I can prevent an encounter I really don’t want to happen.
When I reach the hall at the bottom, I pick up my pace and start jogging. It’s so long I’m starting to question whether I should turn back and take my chances getting past the Boa anyway. But then I turn the corner and another set of double-wide doors appears.
Unlike the last ones, these are large and white, and twice as thick. Also unlike the last ones, they’re wide open.
Darkness spills out before me into what feels like an even larger room on the other side. Cold air and a strange, pervasive chemical musk tickles my nose. I lift my mask back over my face, cringing away from the polluted scent. Like wet soil and something overly sweet, the smell quickly grows unpleasant.
I blink against the darkness, squinting past the shadows where the little light I have bleeds into the room. Trying to see as far into the space as I can, I slide my flashlight over the heavy shadows. Coming upon nothing but more darkness beyond, I slowly step through the doors.
Yet another landing. I walk further into the room and beam the light outward, waiting for something—a wall at least—to appear.
