That didn’t bode well. He looked at Demon. “Check the other cells. If they drugged him before dumping him down here, but he’s not making noise, he could have overdosed and not made it. Daleyzaand I will handle Ka-Bar.” He switched his focus to her. “We need to find the ladder.”
She began shining her light along the edges of the cavern. “Got it.”
Along the wall was a crude ladder made of what looked like pallet pieces. She dragged it down toward Steel, who was working on opening the hatch.
Demon had wandered down several more oubliettes before he finally called out. “I’ve got him. Can’t tell if he’s alive or not.”
“Midas, we have Ka-Bar and Waters, but we need transport assistance if you can spare it.”
He came over the line, but the signal was choppy. “… TB… out of there?—”
“Midas, you’re breaking up.”
Silence met them on the line.
“I don’t like that,” Demon uttered.
“Me either. No time to worry about why it is though.”
He popped the bars open on their hinges, and together, Steel and Daleyza slid the ladder down into the narrow shaft.
“What kinds of injuries do you have? Can you climb out on your own, or do you need help?” he called down.
“My left arm is fucked up. Pretty sure it’s broken, but I can make it.”
Ka-Bar shifted himself around and began to figure out how to climb the primitive ladder with only one good arm. It was very unsteady, so Steel put his weight behind the top rails.
“Daleyza. In my pack, there’s a small bottle of water. Grab that.”
While Ka-Bar grunted and fought his way up the ladder, Demon threw his pack on the ground and began breaking into the oubliette three hatches down. He was calling down to the man, but there was no response.
As soon as Ka-Bar was within arm’s reach, he called to Daleyza. “Belleza, come here and hold the ladder for me on this side.”
She scurried to grasp the far rail so he could anchor himself onthe other side and reach with his free arm to help his friend the final few feet up and out of his prison. Once Ka-Bar sat on the edge, his legs dangling into the hole, she handed him the water.
“Daleyza?” His voice was all gravel and rasp. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I look forward to hearing it, but it can wait until we’re out of here.”
Demon appeared out of the gloom and did a quick assessment of his condition. “How long were you down there?”
“Couple days. The other guy was brought down shortly after me.”
Now that he was on the same level as they were, it was easier to see him. Wearing a button-down shirt that had seen better days, a pair of dress pants, and dress shoes, he looked like he’d been in a natural disaster that destroyed an office building. His blond hair, cut into a too-long crew cut, was standing up in some places and mashed down in others. He had a bad gash through his eyebrow that should have been stitched up immediately, but would now scar and forever bisect the brow.
He was covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, but he was clenching his teeth to keep them from chattering. “Other than the arm and the cut above your eye, anything else going on?”
“Withdrawals,” Ka-Bar gritted out through chattering teeth.
Demon continued his quick exam as they talked. “When did they start and how often?”
“Started a day or two after they snatched me. Injected me like clockwork. They gave me my last hit, then threw me into that pit. Probably three days ago? Don’t know for sure.”
“When was the last time you ate or had anything to drink?”
“Longer than we’ve been down here. They brought us here, and we never saw them again.”
