Evolution (8 page)

“So what, we’re just going to
leave
her there?”

Samuel didn’t answer, him and his sister pulling me into the trees. Rather than fight them, I started running. As much as I hated it, they were right. I wasn’t going to cause them to die, too.

Die
. Is that what was going to happen to Anna? No. Her fate would be worse than death. She was going to be enslaved, worked to the bone with little food or rest. And if her master was cruel, or perverse, then her fate would be much worse.

I turned back. I wasn’t leaving her.

“No, you don’t...” Makara said.

“She’s alive. I know she is.”

“We’ll come back for her!” Samuel said. “We can’t do that if we die here. Now come on, get your ass moving!”

Telling myself Samuel was right, I kept running. All the training in Skyhome had done me good. I had no problem keeping up with Samuel and Makara. Such wouldn’t have been the case two months ago.

Behind, our pursuers chased us into the forest. We entered the first of the trees, pushing our way past brambles and underbrush, putting as much distance between ourselves and our hunters. Fueled by shock, grief, and pain, I pushed myself on. For what, I didn’t know. I wanted to run the other direction and get to Anna.

Why hadn’t I listened to Makara when we came upon her in the net? If we had done what she said and immediately had gone after Anna, we could have saved her. If Samuel and I had kept running, we might have gotten to her in time.

I couldn’t blame myself for long, however. A bullet whizzed past my ear, hitting a nearby tree.

“Keep moving,” Samuel said, between breaths.

I could hear the men shouting from behind. They were on foot, now, having abandoned the horses.

The land began sloping upward. Mixed in with the dense vegetation were rocks and boulders. As we hoofed it up the incline, the trees began to thin. My lungs were bursting for air. Behind, I could see shapes chasing after us. We couldn’t keep this up for long.

“They’ll see us up here,” Makara said, pausing a moment. “We need a place to hide.”

Samuel pointed. “There.”

Against the side of the slope was an opening, deep and dark, moonlight reflecting off the rock surrounding it. The last thing I wanted to do was go underground. Not only did I have a
lot
of bad memories of things that had happened underground, it would take us further away from Anna. The more time that passed, the worse her chances got.

“We need to go in there, Alex,” Samuel said. “It’s the only way.”

“Fine,” I said. “But we’re going back to the town tomorrow.”

Samuel said nothing as we headed for the cave’s opening. The men weren’t far behind – they would be in view of us in seconds.

We climbed inside, sliding down a steep slope into the dark opening. The air was dank and moist. When the slope evened out, I scuttled up, glancing up at the cave’s opening. We had probably slid down fifty feet. Within the darkness, I heard an underground stream gurgling. I heard Samuel’s pockets rustle as he searched for a flashlight. From ahead, I could hear the trickling of the stream.

Samuel’s flashlight clicked on, its pillar of light scanning the cave. The cavern was a huge, both tall and wide. I could see the stream before us. It flowed down and away. The water had probably filtered through the ground from the recent rain. The air was cool, with an earthy smell. Nothing smelled rotted or Blighted, which probably meant there were no virus-infected monsters down here. Or at least, that’s what I hoped.

“We’ll follow the stream,” Samuel decided. “Once it’s safe, we’ll follow it back out.”

“What if they follow us in here?” Makara asked.

Samuel didn’t answer for a moment. “I doubt they have flashlights. It seems they don’t have as much technology as we do. But if they do, we’ll hear them coming.”

Samuel walked ahead, splashing into the water. We followed him. I glanced back toward the cave entrance. No one was there. Hopefully, they hadn’t seen us come in.

As I waded into the stream, its coldness chilled my skin and made my muscles go numb. As I stepped out onto the other side, I rushed up the stream’s bank to keep up with Samuel’s pool of light. Above, stalactites glittered with both minerals and condensation. It was eerily beautiful, but it had no impact on me. My mind was somewhere else, thinking about the girl I couldn’t save.

I felt numbness creep over me that nothing to do with the cold water or cool air. I thought of Anna, bound in darkness and alone, all because I wasn’t fast enough to save her. I hated myself, and knew I could never forgive myself as long as the thought that she was still alive haunted me. It was unbearable to think about my failure and what Anna would have to go through because of me.

I resolved at that moment, no matter what Samuel or Makara decided, that I was going after her.

***

A
n hour later, we were still walking. The cavern went on and on. Finally, Samuel came to a stop, clicking off the flashlight.

“We’ll hold up here.”

The darkness was now absolute. Rather than being afraid of it, I felt safe in it. Nothing could attack me here. Only...

“We know the way back, right?” Makara asked.

“There’s just two directions in this place: up, and down,” Samuel said.

“What about Anna?”

No one said anything for a moment.

“We’ll go back once we get some rest,” Samuel said. “Scope out the town, see if there is a way in.”

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Makara asked.

“We’ll think of something,” I said. “We can’t abandon Anna like this.”

“I agree,” Samuel said. “But I will give it no more than a day. If there are too many guards, we will have to move on.” Samuel paused a moment. “I’m sorry, Alex. The mission comes first.”

“How can you say that? She’s one of us. We leave
no one
behind.”

“I understand that,” Samuel said. “But you saw how many guards they have. I won’t risk everyone on a suicide mission.”

“There has to be another way in.”

“We’ll do what we can,” Samuel said. “I can promise no more than that.”

I wanted to yell at him, and just barely held myself back.

“I wonder how they found us to begin with,” Makara said.

“I don’t know,” Samuel said. “But we’re lucky to even be alive. It’s a miracle we weren’t all captured.”

No one said anything more. I heard someone sit on the ground beside me. The stream which we had followed trickled to our side.

We had nothing to our names. Our gear had all been left behind in our rush to escape, and had likely been looted by now. All I had were the clothes on my back and my Beretta. It was like I had gone back to square one.

As I lay down on the cold, hard rock and closed my eyes, my only concern was how to rescue Anna.

I had to think of something by tomorrow, or she was going to be gone for good.

***

L
ater, we awoke. All there was to do was get up and start heading back. Samuel clicked his flashlight back on, and we followed the stream back to the surface. Soon, we were greeted with a bright spot of light in the distance – the entrance to the cave. The light illumined our surroundings, revealing stalactites and stalagmites once hidden in the darker regions. Parts of the stream veered off in separate directions, gathering in crystalline pools.

We crouched low as we climbed up the mouth of the cave. Peeking out, it was early dawn – far earlier than I expected. The morning air was crisp and cool. The dim light was blinding after the total darkness of the cavern.

Gathered below the cave’s mouth was a circle of five men, sleeping around a fire down to the coals. One of them was awake, warming his hands by the fire. He looked up. His eyes widened.

“Now,” Samuel said.

We burst out of the cave, guns blazing. The man screamed as our bullets ripped into him, sending him sprawling to the earth. The other men jolted up, reaching for their guns – but two more were felled before they could even get shots off.

The other two ran for cover. Makara picked one off before he could find shelter, while the last man disappeared behind a boulder.

“Put the gun away, and we will spare your life,” Samuel shouted.

The man threw the gun aside, coming out from around the boulder with hands raised and eyes wide. He fell on his knees, whimpering.

Makara walked ahead, holding out her handgun. “Shut up.”

She shot him. The man fell backward to the earth.

Samuel shrugged. We looted their bodies, finding some ammo and this crumbly, yellow bread that tasted like corn. We also found some roasted white meat. Though both the meat and “cornbread” were dry, they tasted good. We drank from some canteens we found. Mine was filled with water that had a sweet, spicy flavor to it. The canteen had probably been filled with some sort of alcoholic drink – perhaps rum – before it was used for water. We found a nearby knapsack, loading it with ammo and leftover food. Samuel hoisted the pack onto his shoulder, and set off down the slope in the direction of the settlement.

“We are going back, then?” I said.

Samuel nodded. “It won’t hurt to take a look. Don’t get your hopes up. If I feel like it’s impossible to get in, then we’re heading to Nova Roma – with or without Anna.”

It was the best I could hope for right now. I just needed to think of something – anything – that could save her. The problem was, I had zero idea on how to do that.

Makara said nothing. She had been so against Anna when she had first joined us. I wondered if she felt the same way now. Anna was now a part of our team, along for the ride when she had, at first, only been our guide to the Great Blight. She had saved the mission countless times, and it was wrong to leave her behind without any sort of plan to go after her. I didn’t care what anyone said, or how rational they made it sound.

We followed Samuel down the slope. In the distance, smoke rose in lazy circles from within the trees. That was the location of the settlement. In the misty morning light, I could make out the wooden shapes of shops and houses surrounded by the circular palisade wall.

Somewhere in all that was Anna.

“Hang on, Anna,” I said. “We’re coming.”

A
nother hour passed, and we were in the outer stands of trees, scanning the wall of the town. It looked damn near impenetrable. The entire town was situated in a large meadow, and clearings filled with farms surrounded it. On the farms worked hundreds upon hundreds of slaves, growing crops. A road cut through the farms, entering the city by a gate, upon either side of which were two lofty guard towers. The road left the settlement’s other side, veering off and curving into the forest.

That’s the gate Anna had entered, and the one we had been chased out of. They were the only two entrances we could see. In addition, several guards sat upon the three guard towers built into the walls that curved between each of the two gates, making a total of ten guard towers. Each tower had at least one guard in it.

Obviously, the Empire took security very seriously.

“Yeah,” Makara said, “doesn’t look like we’re busting in that place.”

“There
has
to be a way,” I said. “We’re just not thinking hard enough.”

No one answered me, which was a bit discouraging.

“Would a disguise work?” I asked.

“Where would we get said disguise?” Makara asked.

I pointed toward one of the workers on the field. “Maybe he’ll let us borrow his.”

“Run out in the open and ambush a helpless slave?” Makara sniffed. “No thanks.”

“We could start a fire,” I said.

“Arson’s always a win in my book,” Makara said.

I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not.

“A fire would force them out of the town, if it spreads enough,” Samuel said. “That might mean Anna, too.”

“She would still be under protection, though,” Makara said. “Besides, we might end up hurting her.”

“If we wait until nightfall, sneaking in might be easier,” I said.

“Maybe,” Samuel said. “But they probably have that place guarded 24/7.” He paused. “I wonder what they’re keeping in there that’s so important.”

We looked at the settlement longer, watching a caravan of camels leave by the north gate. When twelve camels had left, surrounded by guards and robed merchants, the gates closed once more.

“Not open to any sort of traffic, even in the daytime,” Samuel said. “They
always
keep the gates closed. Either that’s normal, or they are on lockdown for some reason.”

I looked at Samuel. “Because of us?”

Samuel nodded. “Maybe. They probably thought we were escaped slaves. Or spies from Raider Bluff.”

“That’s right,” Makara said. “We’re technically at war with them.”

“What would spies from Raider Bluff be doing in this Podunk town?” I asked. “Wouldn’t we be in Nova Roma?”

“This place is on the way there,” Samuel said. He pointed toward the road leading out from the left gate. “Follow that road far enough southeast, you’ll end up in Nova Roma. Follow it the other way, it goes all the way up the Mexican coast, through a series of towns for over a thousand miles. Who knows? It might eventually arrive at Raider Bluff itself.”

It seemed mind-boggling that a place like the Nova Roman Empire could exist, thirty years after the fall of Ragnarok. Augustus was obviously both a very well-organized and powerful man. It was hard to see how Raider Bluff could stand a chance against him.

My thoughts turned back to rescuing Anna. Just staring at that town, I couldn’t let her go – not without trying
something
.

“I don’t think we can break in,” Makara said. “We came here, we searched it out...there is literally nothing we can do.”

My heart sunk. Makara was right. How would we break into that place?

Then, I got an idea.

“The
Odin
!” I said.

Makara and Samuel looked at each other, confused.

“Alex, they’ll see that thing from a mile away. There’s no chance.”

“Not if we fly it high enough.”

“What are you saying?”