Fortune’s expression was one of shame at having to leave him behind. ‘I am sorry, Mr Fisher. I am so very sorry.’ He bowed his head to him, then looked back at Eddie and Paris. With bullets still screaming down the tunnel, he couldn’t cross the junction to reach them. ‘I will see you outside. I hope.’
‘So do I,’ Eddie replied. ‘Fight to the end, Fortune.’
‘Bonne chance, mon ami,’ came the reply, then with a last sad glance at Fisher, he disappeared into the darkened passage.
‘Take the Doc and get moving,’ Eddie ordered Rivero and Paris. They picked up Ziff and set off as the Englishman returned to the junction. ‘All right, you fuckwits,’ he growled, switching his rifle to full auto, ‘have some of this!’
He thrust the AK around the corner and pulled the trigger, sweeping it across the tunnel in a final blaze of fire. Screams echoed from above as bullets ripped into the Insekt Posse’s leading ranks. A clack as the bolt closed on an empty chamber, but Eddie had counted his remaining shots and already dropped the rifle to scurry after his companions—
The walls behind him shattered under a furious onslaught of fire. Even retreating, he was still in danger as ricocheting bullet fragments shrilled after him. He ducked as low as he could and scrambled around the corner.
The shooting stopped as the militia realised he had discarded his weapon. The horrible chant resumed as they ran to catch their now-defenceless prey—
‘Fuck you!’ Fisher yelled, opening up with his own rifle. ‘Yeah, fuck you, you motherfuckers!’ More screams as he cut down the leading attackers. The gun ran dry; he threw it away and fumbled for Fortune’s weapon. ‘Cut off my hand? I’ll cut off your fucking balls, you bunch of—’
He brought up the AK, getting off a shot that blew away half the face of a man rushing at him — only for another behind him to open fire. Two rounds hit the American’s shoulder, slamming him to the floor. Blood spouting from the wounds, he lay helpless as the Insekt Posse swarmed around the corner and threw themselves over the rock. Machetes hacked viciously at him, his final scream almost drowned out by demented howls of triumph.
25
The sound echoed down the passages below. Lydia froze. ‘Oh God! Steven!’
‘We can’t stop!’ Nina told her. ‘Howie, help her.’
‘Come on, Lids. Come on,’ Howie said, taking the New Zealander’s hand. Numbed, she followed him.
The whole tunnel was now reverberating as the Imashamir absorbed ever more energy through the breached lead sarcophagus. Nina’s light revealed another turn ahead. She rounded it. The passage sloped more steeply — and she felt a distinct breeze on her face. ‘Wait, wait a second,’ she told Lydia and Howie as she flicked off the torch. They dropped into darkness… but below, a dim glow was visible. ‘I can see daylight!’ she cried, hurrying downwards. ‘We’re almost out!’
The others picked up the pace behind her. ‘Nina! How far?’ Eddie shouted from the rear.
‘Almost there!’ she replied. One last crooked bend in the passage would bring her to its end. She rounded it, finally able to stand upright. Cut stone was replaced by raw rock. Squinting into the near-blinding daylight, she ran through the opening—
And lurched to a panicked stop as her eyes adjusted just in time to reveal what awaited her.
The drainage tunnel emerged from the promontory above the river — close to a hundred feet over the turgid water. ‘Oh, crap!’
Lydia almost ran into her. ‘Whoa!’ gasped Howie as he pulled her back. ‘Not good!’
‘No kidding,’ said Nina. The drop was near-vertical; probably climbable, given time, but that was a commodity they didn’t have. Nothing to her left but an inhospitable rock wall — but on the right—
‘This way!’ she said, sidestepping on to a narrow ledge.
‘Are you out of your mind?’ Lydia squealed. ‘It’s like — an inch wide!’
‘One inch is better than none!’ The New Zealander was underestimating, but not by much. Even with her heels against the wall, Nina’s toes overhung the edge. She moved along it as quickly as she dared. ‘We can do it — come on!’
‘But what if it stops around the cliff?’
‘Then we got thirty feet farther than we would have!’
A brick-sized chunk of stone clattered down from above and smashed on the outflow’s edge. Howie hurriedly passed Lydia and started after Nina. ‘No offence, but I’m gonna go for it even if you’re not,’ he said, gripping the slim laptop tightly with one hand as the other groped along the cliff face.
Rivero and Paris brought Ziff into the daylight. ‘Hey, where’d the others go — oh,’ the cameraman said in dismay. ‘How the hell are we gonna carry David along there?’
‘You… you’re not,’ Ziff said weakly. ‘Leave me. Please. Save yourselves…’
Eddie arrived behind them. ‘We’re not leaving anyone else,’ he said firmly. ‘Paris, Lydia, get your arses along that ledge. Jay, you an’ me’ll take him. And leave that bloody camera!’
‘No way,’ Rivero insisted. ‘It’s made it this far, and it’s still recording.’
‘Well, the last thing it ever records might be you falling off a fucking cliff — and taking me and the Doc with you!’
‘Jay, I’ll take it,’ Lydia said, to their surprise. ‘Hey, I’m already carrying all my audio gear and the backups.’ She glanced at her backpack. ‘Might as well complete the set.’
‘Professionals,’ Eddie sighed as Rivero handed her the Sony. ‘They’re all the bloody same…’
He waited for her to get clear, then with the cameraman leading, started to carry Ziff along the new path. The subterranean rumble became more evident as his back pressed against the rock. He dropped his chin to keep falling grit out of his eyes — but knew it would not be long before larger debris started to cascade down the cliff.
And there was another threat almost upon them. The Insekt Posse’s echoing shouts grew louder. ‘Jay, we need to move faster!’ he warned.
‘I’m going as quick as I can!’ Rivero replied through gritted teeth. The bulky man’s injured back was scraping along the rock wall.
‘I’m telling you… leave me…’ Ziff whispered. He was barely able to hold his head upright, the hand held to his stomach now drenched in blood.
‘Not going to happen,’ growled Eddie. ‘Stay with us, Doc.’
Ahead, Nina edged around an outcropping. The huge boulder rising from the river came into sight — and between it and the cliff, until now hidden from view, was a steep, narrow slope. It looked as if it would intersect the path linking the ruined city and the river…
A jolt almost pitched her over the edge. She threw herself back against the rock wall, only to feel the entire escarpment trembling. It wasn’t an earthquake’s aftershock, though — rather, the precursor. The Mother of the Shamir was waking from her long sleep.
And she was angry.
Howie yelped as a dry waterfall of stones and dust fell past him. ‘Holy shit!’
‘Keep going!’ Nina cried as she moved on. ‘If we can reach that path down there, we can get to the boats!’
‘If we can reach it!’ said Lydia. ‘The whole bloody cliff’s going to collapse!’
Eddie glanced back at a shout from the drainage outflow. The first of the Insekt Posse appeared. He saw the Yorkshireman and smiled evilly as he raised his gun—
An explosive bang came from above him as rock sheared from the crumbling cliff.
The African looked up — and was crushed flat by a hunk of stone the size of a car. Gore splattered out from beneath it.