The Pack (27 page)

“Get a grip or you'll get us all killed. Take it slow and stay steady, you hear?” Shamira commanded. Her patience was slipping, and she reached back to grab Manny's arm to steady him.

Manny forged forward and didn't realize she had stopped. His surge frontward pushed Shamira into the active mines ahead of her.

“What the hell!” Mitch yelled.

Shamira breathed in deeply as she fell forward. She quickly placed her hands strategically between the active mines directly in front of her. Her patience with Manny disintegrated, and she glanced back to see that Valens held Manny by his shirt so he wouldn't fall forward on her. She took a deep breath and mumbled, “I knew I should have left him behind.”

“Hey, I heard that. I can hold my own. Hmph,” Manny argued.

Valens swore, and Manny's shirt ripped, leaving him to tumble onto Shamira's back and slide off to the side to pass over an active mine. In an instant, Shamira heard the beep underground that set off the mine and sent a wide laser light from under the red packed ground and up into the air. She acted speedily and grabbed his shirt, then threw him behind her at a waiting Valens, who caught him. Still, she slipped, which caused her shoulder to set off the mine on the
opposite side of their path.

“Shamira. Watch it!” Valens yelled out when he tried to stop her slip. With a flash, she felt the fire and heat emitted from the mine she had activated. She moved quickly out of the way, but not before the shoulder of her suit and the bottom of her glove was burned through. Pain hit, and the direct and heated pain of the burn started to anger her. She quickly jumped up and back out of the laser path, pushing the pain deep within. It settled into a throbbing ache as she refocused on her determination to save her brother.

Frustrated, Sharmira grunted. “Hedi, we need to speed this up. Give us one minute to cover the quarter-mile path ahead. Can everyone keep up with that?” She glared at Manny.

“Yep, I can do it, but that's all. It'll set off the entire system if it's more than that. At the count of three, take off, Shamira, and we'll be close beside you. Oh, and one more thing, no wider than three people. We need to travel close,” Hedi replied.

“Just great. Who is watching the shrimp? Don't even ask me to do it,” Mitch said angrily.

“I'll carry him. He definitely doesn't weigh much,” Anthony said.

“Hello, guys, I can hold my own. I don't need to be carried,” Manny whined.

“Shut up and let Anthony carry you! We don't have any more room for mistakes,” Shamira forced out, annoyed.

She heard a muffled complaint from Manny's lips followed by
some sort of rebellious grunt as he realized he was outnumbered and conceded.

Anthony cleared his throat. “The shrimp is quiet and secured. Ready when you are.”

She smiled, because, knowing Anthony, he had found a funny way to subdue Manny. Lucky for Manny, Mitch didn't decide to help. Mitch had much less humor.

“Let's move. We're running out of time,” Shamira said as she signaled Hedi to start the countdown.

“On three… two… one… go!” Hedi said, and Shamira took off.

She looked ahead and saw the path before her of deactivated mines moving in sync. They came together to lead in the direction of the manhole that held the underground heating grids and pipes for Mars. The path cleared, and she listened to the sound behind her to make sure her team remained safe. She heard a complaining Manny and then the sound of a slap.

“I'm being abused here!” Manny yelled.

Then she heard a directed slap and another muffled compliant from him. She figured Anthony probably covered his mouth. She smiled and shook her head. She really had to get used to working with others. It was hard not to lose patience and control with Manny's distractions. She supposed the others were similar to her in survival training, but this Manny hadn't been trained, and it showed.

The manhole was close ahead, and her excitement at the impending confrontation sent tingles up her back. Mouthfuls of air
came fast. She heard the others feet hit the ground in determined pursuit of the next barrier. Quickly, she slid to a stop, and Valens came forth to dislodge the top of the manhole for them to go inside.

Immediately, she felt blazing heat as it came from the hole when Valens and Mitch removed the top.

Manny started to squirm. “Oh, heck no! I'm not going in that hole. Dude, how are we going to walk in there?” Manny yelled out.

“Can I remind you that you volunteered for this, you little weasel? If you can't remember, I can gladly take you out of your misery and save us a lot of trouble by throwing you to Monev when we are done with you,” Mitch spat out.

Valens dug in his jacket. “Look, we don't have time for threats. I came prepared thinking we would have this problem. I have a cooling device, but I don't know how long it will last, so we are going to have to move on this quick.”

Hedi yelled from the back, “Hate to be a party pooper, but we've got to get in there fast. Our pathway is disappearing, and we'll all be fried toast or discovered if we don't get in there now!”

“I'll go first. Let's get going. I see Manny's about to get burned if we don't move forward, like now.” Shamira said hurriedly with a slight grin at the sight of Anthony holding Manny over a soon activated mine while the boy squirmed uselessly.

“I've got two coolant devices. Shamira, you take this one, and I'll pull up the rear with the second. Let's go. I started the coolant. You have about six feet of leeway. I don't know how long it will last,”
Valens said.

Manny peered over the edge of the opening. “Uh, I ain't going in there. That place is dark and probably stinks, especially from the smell of burning flesh.”

“Sorry, Manny, I don't have any glasses for you. But we all can see and will guide you. Trust us. We know what we're doing,” Valens said as Shamira shook her head at his offer for eye specs to see in the dark hole.

Shamira dropped down several feet into the dark manhole that held the piping. She sprayed the pipe below her before she landed, swiping the coolant so it cooled enough for her to move forward. Darkness surrounded her, and she quickly moved ahead, not taking the time to look around. She moved swiftly to make room for the others. Her enhanced eyesight easily adjusted to the darkness and gave the area around her a bright green hue. The piping under her was cool, but she noticed that ahead of her, heated steam rose
from the untreated piping.
This is not going to be any fun either
.

“Oh, this ain't so bad. You want me to go in the front? I'm a real good lookout,” Manny interjected from above.

They all ignored him. Anthony slapped him on the back of the head before he dropped him into the hole. Shamira realized Manny was behind her. Valens dropped down behind Manny and nodded to her, then winked as he gave her the thumbs up to move forward. She ignored the tingle within her belly at his flirt and turned to move forward. She glanced down and realized there were several layers of black steamy piping.

She took a deep breath and secured her legs around the pipe that was several feet wide. Shamira looked up at the ground above her and realized that several feet above her were solid rock and dirt. The piping went on for miles below, and she saw smooth barrier walls of separation that looked like silver. She leaned forward in order to better grasp the pipe and prepare to cool the path ahead of them. Sweat built on her forehead. She moved forward.

“Ugh! Help!” Manny yelped out.

She quickly squeezed her knees tightly on the pipe and reached behind her to steady him as he started to slip. “Look, put your arms around my waist and hold on tight. Don't squirm or scream out, understand?” she whispered sternly at him.

Mitch called out angrily, “One more slip, and I'll throw him off. I swear it, Shamira! I'm sick of him. I didn't come all this way to save my sister for some jackass to mess it up.” Mitch reached around
Valens to hit Manny on the arm.

When Manny jerked his arm away, he started to slip again but held tightly to Shamira's suit without complaint. She knew Manny had grit since he was the only one of them that couldn't see what was around him. He didn't cower from the hit and shook it off quickly.

Manny exclaimed, “Hey, the pipe is getting warmer. Can somebody do something, like now?”

Shamira cooled the path in front of her and pulled him along. Looking up, she pushed her sight ahead. Finally her sight revealed the location of the underground holding cells. She didn't have time for a scan to see how many kids moved about, but she was relieved they didn't have much further to go. She smiled, knowing that finally, they would get in, and she would get David. Determined to get there quickly, she rushed forward while cooling the pipe ahead of her. Everyone moved quickly and silently. She was glad Manny now held firmly to her without a fight.

At last
. They'd made it to the floor just beneath the underground prison where the child prisoners slept.

“Valens, I need a device to cut through this. Looks like it's about three feet of rock separating us. I hope what you have is quiet,” Shamira said while she looked above her. She noticed quite a few little bodies roaming the cell above. After she counted, she realized most of the kids must be in the mines.

Valens called out, “Here, Manny, give this to Shamira. Be careful! It's the only one I have. Shamira, you have to start a small
hole and then slowly move in a circular motion so the rock melts and has time to cool to smoothness. Otherwise, you'll have some melted rock drop down on the pipes, and that's not a good thing.” He gave the handheld device to Manny.

She glanced behind and noticed that Manny held the device as if his life depended on it. In that moment, Manny reminded her of David, and she regained her patience for him and smiled at him with thanks. His eyes widened in appreciation. She handed him the coolant, and he took it gladly.

“Keep it cool, but use it sparingly. We have to make it last,” Shamira whispered to him.

“Valens, give the others permission to prepare for attack. It should only take me a short while to cut through,” she called back. She started to cut through the rock above her.

Time passed fast. The device worked well at melting and pushing excess rock to a smooth surface on the sides of the hole. She continued to work quickly while she slowly widened the hole above her, and then she saw it. Several of the children became aware of the faint noise of the cuts through the rock. Some leaned their heads to the floor to listen to the faintly muted ring of the beam.

“Valens, the kids can hear this. Do you have a silencer? I don't want them to alert the guards. They're starting to gather around where I'm cutting. I can't cut anymore without hurting someone. Right now it's only large enough for Manny to fit through,” she said, frustrated by the small hole she made.

“Sorry, no silencer. We have another problem too. We're running out of coolant. There's only enough for about twenty minutes,” Valens said calmly.

“Friggin' great,” she replied.

“You can hoist me up there, and I can widen the hole for you. I'm sure the kids up there will help me. From what I remember when I was captured, they all wanted freedom and were a close group,” Manny said.

“Looks like that's a plan. C'mon, climb up on my shoulders,” Shamira said. Manny quickly obliged her. She stretched a little to adjust to Manny's slight weight while he adeptly crawled onto her shoulders. Then she balanced him on her shoulders and held onto his ankles.

“This is good. The small tunnel you made has dents where I can put my feet. It won't take me long,” Manny said.

“Good. Take the cutting device and cut the few inches through, and then the rest of us will come up, okay?” She patted his leg when he hoisted himself up through the tunnel.

“You better tell him to work fast. Our time is running out here. My second coolant is so low I have to shake it to get the coolant out,” Valens said. He tried to speak calmly, but she could sense the slight tremble in his voice.

“Manny, please be quick. Our time is running out,” Shamira yelled up at him.

“That's fine. I'm breaking through now,” he replied.

She looked past him to see that the kids in the cell above him had spread out from the area where he cut. Some of them appeared to walk around the area like they didn't notice the slight
hum
of the device Manny used.

“Damn! Move up. It's heating up back here,” Anthony said, irritated.

Shamira felt Valens move in closely behind her. He put his head within a breath of her shoulder in order get a close look at Manny up above.

“Good. It look like he's in,” Valens said, and she shivered a little at his close proximity.

“Let's hope the clumsy shrimp will come through,” said Anthony.

“If he doesn't, we'll all fry,” added Kurt.

“I'll go up first to get them ready. You tell everyone to start the attacks. Seems to me we're going to have to fight our way out of their holding cells,” she replied.

“All is clear. Come on up,” Manny yelled down. Valens gave her a push as he firmly gripped her thighs just below her behind.

“Watch where you put your hands, Valens,” she warned.

“Oh, I'm watching alright,” he added with a naughty smile.

“Cut that crap out! We're in danger here,” Mitch added and pushed on Valens' back.

Shamira shook off the slight jerk in movement and jumped up and secured her feet within the makeshift tunnel. She quickly moved,
and Valens and the others were right behind her with Anthony in the rear.

“My tail is burned. Damn, this hurts,” Anthony complained.

“You weren't the only one that got burned, you big baby! Shut up and stop complaining. We're about to try out these new suits Valens made for us,” Hedi added.