“No. Go get ready. I won’t be long. Didn’t you just say I could take care of myself?”
“Not fair, Rosa. I don’t like you using my words against me,” he said with a wary smile.
“Too bad,” I said as I walked to the door. He grabbed my hand and we walked together, our hands straining as we went through the door and moved in opposite directions. Our fingers parted and he gave me one last, checking look. “Don’t be long,” he said in low growl that made me shiver.
He fell into line with the others. I waited until he was out of sight and hurried towards the big metal door by our cabin.
I sprinted, my lungs burning. I imagined someone was chasing me, that something was biting at my heels, and it made me run faster. I passed dark opening after dark opening. The rooms that had been filled with the noise of people talking, the smells of food cooking or coffee brewing, were now hollow, empty caverns, the doors swinging on their hinges from rushed exits. This place was even more tomblike than it had been before.
I got to the door and started turning the cogs, but it was extremely hard to open. I touched the metal; it was ice cold and stuck to my hand. It was frozen shut. I hoped Apella was already down there with Orlando. I shouldn’t have left him alone.
As I was considering abandoning the door and turning around, the ground shook violently.
Not just a small shake. It rumbled, groaned, and threw me off my feet so I was hanging off the door handle, wondering which way was up and which way was down. I heard a woman scream and a man shouting words I couldn’t quite make out. It all churned up together and came out a chorus of terror. But there was no damage that I could see. No rocks falling, no vast cracks in the ceiling. I stupidly decided to continue. I gave the door the biggest shove I could, only managing to open it a crack, but it was enough to squeeze my small frame through. The snow was up to my waist and I pushed through it as quickly as I could, my white suit keeping me camouflaged and very warm.
The cabin was right there. I could see it. Just the gaping eyes of the windows showed in the snow.
Four more steps.
I heard a mechanical whirring sound, metal clashing with rock, flinty chinking. The kind of sound that makes your hair stand on end and your teeth ache, like fingernails on a blackboard.
I couldn’t see where it was coming from at first. My eyes scanned the nearby hills, searching for the origin. It didn’t take me long to see the cloud of dirt and blackened smoke on the hill opposite. Three metal blades attached to a cylinder were glinting against the snow. It was burrowing its way into the hill, like a metallic flower retreating to the earth.
I entered the cabin and grabbed Hessa’s old capsule, feeling a swell of affection for the rough-made pack. I slung it on my back and ran towards the door in the hill, pulling myself through the snow as best I could. Desperately trying to find the edge of the door, I patted the dripping ice with my bare hands. I didn’t shut it but the light, falling snow had hidden the crack. I kept looking behind me. There were no choppers. All I could hear was the clattering and clanking of metal on rock. Then it stopped abruptly. The forest breathed a sigh of relief—way too soon.
It wasn’t slow; there was no build up. It was quiet and then there was so much noise… I couldn’t find myself in it. My body shook, my brain squished and vibrated. I covered my ears but it invaded my head, a ringing, resounding, booming racket. The ground shifted and, thankfully, so did the door. I turned to the hill opposite, but it wasn’t there. It had collapsed in on itself like a sucked-out eggshell. It was nothing but rubble. The carcass showed the intricate steel frame that had held it together all these years. The twisted, broken metal looked frail and delicate, like it had been cut out of balsa. I searched the rest of the view—several other hills had been blown apart all in a line. Two more to go and we would be next.
They’d found us.
I had no time to stare. I wasn’t even sure if I should go back in, but that’s where everyone else was. That’s where Joseph and Orry were. I had no choice.
I squeezed through the door and ran, darting in and around fallen pieces of ceiling and shattered light globes. As I approached our room, I looked up and saw three stories clear above me from a giant hole in the ceiling. The shift in the earth was causing our mound to collapse. Looking left and right, I clambered over a fallen rock, only to hear a moan coming from under the debris. I pulled the mangled metal and coils of wire away, my hand getting shredded by broken glass, and found half a person. The woman’s torso was all I could see. Her legs gone, squashed under the giant, black rock. Her face was covered in dirt. I swallowed hard and swept it away from her face. She pursed her lips and let out a small sigh. Her airways clogged with dirt and rubble, she coughed. I found her hand. It was cold, the life leaving it. I was breathing so fast, my eyes darting around, trying to find something that would help. I couldn’t leave her here. I searched frantically for the rest of her. I put my shoulder to the rock and tried to push it over but it wouldn’t move. I let out a sharp cry in frustration. Her hand gripped me tightly, perfect fingernails digging into my wrist.
“Tell them I did my duty,” she said, her eyes rolling around like she was selecting the words from the air. “Tell them,” she insisted, gripping me even tighter.
I nodded, tears making my vision blurry. She coughed again. Her body lurched and convulsed once and then she was still, shock making my own body still.
But I needed to run.
I wiped my face with the back of my arm, sweeping dust into my eyes. I looked back and watched her body disappear into the wreckage as more of the ceiling rained down on her. Just the small bump of her tightly pinned hair protruded from the chaos. Is that what happens in death? Your body returns to the earth, or molds into whatever you die with?
The ground shook again, the remaining ceiling collapsed, and she was buried. No time. They would be here soon.
I ran down the hallway. The ground lurched and jolted under my feet. I pushed through the dark halls, occasionally seeing flashes of light behind me that lit up the hall for seconds at a time like a camera flash. I swung myself down the ladder, skipping most of the rungs and landing on my feet unevenly, pain shooting through my heels. There was a single stream of light coming from the door. I could hear them yelling as I approached. Joseph’s voice was the loudest. “I’m not leaving without her,” he shouted. Dogs barked excitedly.
I burst through the doors and was confronted with panicked pairs of eyes. Joseph ran to me, tripping over ropes and nearly knocking me over. “Damn it, Rosa.” His hands were shaking but he pulled me to him so tightly that I could barely breathe. I leaned back and looked at him. “I’m ok, but there was a woman… she’s gone. I mean, squashed. Oh God.” I covered my face with my hands to hide my embarrassment at that terrible announcement.
“Mila,” Matthew uttered quietly, holding a charm that hung around his neck to his lips and closing his eyes.
“Mila,” they all said in unison, each holding something similar up and copying Matthew’s actions. They didn’t seem that upset. It was like they had expected it or maybe they had accepted it already. I didn’t have time to contemplate their weird behavior just then.
I threw the capsule on the floor, trying to shake the dead woman’s face from my mind.
Apella was already settled in a sled, her arms folded neatly in her lap like she was about to go on a scenic tour. Alexei handed me Orry and slid in behind her. One of the survivors stood behind them. All the sleds were pointed directly at the wall, the dogs hooked up, jumping and straining at their harnesses. I didn’t understand what was happening. How could we ride out of here? We were underground. I laughed loudly at the idea of us all speeding directly into the wall at full pace. Splat! Everyone stared at me for a second. I was deaf from the blast. My ‘loudly’ was booming.