“No more,” Maya said. “If any of you take a step forward, I’ll break her arm in half.”
No one in the group moved. They stood still, only a few whispers breaking the silence.
“This guy is coming with us,” Maya said, gesturing to Jack. “Let us leave, and this ends here. No more violence.”
“Let them have the freak if they want him,” the woman said. “He’s nothing but a conspiracy-theory whack-job.”
The people stepped aside, allowing Jack to rise and move toward Maya and Reno. Jack trudged forward, his hands clutched his ribs as he winced with every breath. He stumbled into Reno, who put his arm around the man to keep him from falling to the ground.
“You’ve got the lunatic,” the woman said. “Now let me go.”
Maya gave the woman’s arm one last turn before pushing her away. The woman cried out as she was shoved forward, coming to a stop and shaking out her arm as she stared at Maya through bared teeth.
“We’re all in this together,” Maya said.
The woman snarled. “But only the strong will survive.”
Maya stared at the woman and shook her head, before joining Reno and Jack. She backed away beside them for a few steps, watching the group until she was satisfied they were going to be left alone. Then, she turned around and took Jack’s other arm, walking away and into the night.
22
“Stop,” Jack said. “We have to stop.”
After what felt like a much longer distance, they’d made it a half-mile down the road from where the beating had taken place. Maya and Reno, each with one of Jack’s arms around their neck, walked off the side of the road and helped him down. Maya put her hands on her hips and caught her breath.
“Man, what were you doing out here?” Reno asked Jack. “I thought you were heading home?”
Jack shrugged, but even this small movement stretched his stomach muscles and caused him to grimace. “I wasn’t going to be able to make it all the way back alone, so I was trying to recruit people. Guess they didn’t want to believe the truth about the dome.”
“Yeah, I figured it was that conspiracy theory shit that got you in trouble,” said Reno.
“You can’t go around talking about an alien invasion,” said Maya. “People are going to think you’ve lost your mind.”
Jack grimaced. He opened his mouth and then shut it quickly.
“I understand.”
Maya sat down next to Jack, and he smiled at her.
“Thanks. I owe you.”
“I would’ve stood up for anyone in that situation. It wasn’t a fair fight.”
“Well, I appreciate it. And you’ve proven yourself to be a good person, so I’d like to share something with you. Something that could get us out of here.”
Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a small journal of handwritten pages. The bookmark in the middle was a folded piece of paper, which he looked at and then handed to Maya.
“What is this? How can you get us out from under the dome?” Maya asked, accepting the paper and unfolding it.
Maya reached for Sean’s Zippo, which she had shoved into her pocket after setting his couch on fire. She flicked it on and looked at the sheet of paper Jack had handed her.
“It’s a map,” she said, glancing up to Reno.
It was a map of Nashville. Other than some red lines drawn with marker and a few random notes, though, it didn’t appear to be anything she hadn’t seen before.
“It’s Nashville,” Reno said, sitting down on the other side of Maya and looking at the paper. “So what?”
“It’s not just the streets of Nashville,” Jack said, pointing at the crumpled map. “Those red lines—they’re tunnels. They run underneath the city. I found out about them a few years ago and started doing my own research.”
“Tunnels?” Maya asked. “I’ve never heard of any tunnels beneath Nashville.”
“That’s because they don’t exist,” Reno said.
“You can believe that if you want,” Jack said, leaning forward to make eye contact with Reno before looking at the map again. “I know you think I’m some lunatic prepper. But, I can assure you that those tunnels are there. And they might be your ticket out of the city.” He focused on Maya now. “To your family.”
Maya studied the map. Aliens still seemed like a stretch, but tunnels felt much more believable.
“How likely is it that the dome is only covering the surface?” Maya asked. “Do you think we’d be able to go under it through one of these tunnels?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” Jack said. “Some folks started digging at the base of the dome early on, but they gave up when they realized it extended down into the ground. But the tunnels are deeper and I don’t think we can assume the dome goes that deep.”
Maya looked at Reno. “What if these are really here? This could be my chance at getting to Aiden and Laura.”
Reno drew in a deep breath, adding a sigh. Then he shrugged. “It’s not like things are safe on the surface. I guess it’s worth a shot.”
Maya looked at the map again, smiling as her eyes traced over the lines Jack had drawn.
“Where can we enter the tunnels?” Reno asked.
Jack leaned in, pointed to a star he’d drawn on the map and describing the tunnel entrance as best as he could remember. They could get there within the hour, assuming they didn’t run into any more gangs.
“Thank you so much for this,” Maya said, smiling at Jack.
“You saved my life. Twice. It’s the least I can do.”
“Are you coming with us?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “I plan on heading down into those tunnels eventually, but I’ve got a few things to take care of first.”
Maya waited for a more specific explanation, but Jack didn’t provide one.
“I’ve got that map memorized, so don’t worry about taking it. You need it, but I don’t.”
“Are you sure you don’t need us?” Reno asked. “You took some shots.”
Jack smirked and then turned to Maya. “Get to your kids. Get through those tunnels if you can.”
Maya looked at the map once more before folding it up and putting it into her pocket.
“Thanks, Jack.”
“You’re welcome. Now, go.”
23
Maya and Reno walked most of the way to the tunnel entrance before finding a place to rest for the evening. The night had come on fast, and the darkness beneath the dome felt thick, almost soupy. The sky above the Nashville skyline glowed with a dull orange and Maya wondered how long it would be before power beneath the dome was cut. She felt like it was the conversation she and Reno had talked around while heading toward the tunnels.
“There’s no point in getting there tonight,” Reno said. “Let’s get some rest and wait until morning when the sun’s out, and then we should have an easier time locating the entrance.”
He’s right. You’ll get to your kids. Don’t worry. Stop and rest.
“All right,” she said. “We should probably conserve the batteries in the penlight anyway.” She handed it to Reno and he shoved it into his back pocket. “And put this in your sock, if you can. We should each have a weapon.”
Reno took the buck knife that Maya had taken from Sean’s and slid it inside of his boot.
They found an unlocked, abandoned car on the side of the road. Maya couldn’t quite figure out what people had been thinking when they’d left their cars. Hadn’t they considered what would happen when the dome was removed?
Unless they thought it won’t be.
Reno climbed into the passenger side and reclined the seat, giving Maya the back. The old Buick reeked of cigarette smoke and dirty diapers, but they’d be out of sight and could lock the doors.