myself to take charge. To shut them up in any manner possible. Disregarding what they said in order to calmly control the situation.
But no assessment was necessary. They had decided to warn us, a warning they delivered in muted tones but with urgency. A warning that skittered down my spine and set alarm bells off inside my head.
They are coming.
As soon as Calvin had translated Nirbhay’s words, all the creepy crawlies had chimed in, backing him up. Unanimously agreeing to help us.
Although, as they’d clearly trapped the trappers, maybe this was all still part of the act.
I couldn’t tell. They weren’t any enemy I’d ever come up against. Wánměi is not exactly full of deformed, under-nourished children.
“Who’s coming?” a Cardinal demanded, as the panic still swirled around us.
“It’s a trap,” Lena advised steadily, making it obvious that she’d come to the same conclusion as me. She stood up, hand still clasped in Nirhbay’s, face set, body in liquid-like motion. She was always such a joy to watch move. Like a dancer with lethal abilities. I watched as she checked her own laser gun, attached to her upper thigh, and then her eyes found me.
“Very clever,” I murmured, checking my gun too. “But if it’s u-Pol they forgot one thing.”
“And that is?” Beck demanded.
“Never work with children or animals,” I muttered, powering up my gun and letting the whine of electronics punctuate that statement.
“Movement aboveground,” Calvin advised through the earpieces. The fact he was including us again meant things had turned south pretty quickly. Until he’d started translating the kids’ words, he’d been ominously silent in Alan’s and my ears.
I wasn’t sure I was entirely happy about the change up. But with an unknown threat approaching, a terrain we weren’t familiar with, and creepy crawlies as our only allies, I’d take any help I could get.
“Let’s go,” I announced. “I’d rather be on the move than standing here when they breach The Underground.”
“And if these children are leading us into a dead-end where the u-Pol are waiting?” Beck asked, all snark and then some.
“Then you better be ready,” Alan muttered, shouldering past the Cardinal, his own laser gun fired up and waiting.
The kids knew the layout, had obviously covered this ground a time or two before. They scampered over debris, ducked under low lying fallen beams, skirted more dangerous areas; basically provided a crash course in underground survival techniques.
I watched as Lena took it all in. Each move they made. Each compensated for injury. They may have looked like something out of a horror movie, but they didn’t let it slow them down one bit.
Which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, because the speed in which they were travelling meant something.
“Who’s up there, Calvin?” I muttered, scraping my hand against a rough rock wall and feeling skin peel. I flexed my fingers once I’d gotten my balance back, but the sting of whatever coated the wall down here set my teeth on edge. How far were we from those no-go areas of Lunnon?
“Night has fallen, it is difficult to see anything on satellite imagery,” the Shiloh answered.
As far as plans went, this one sucked beyond all comprehension. I shook my head, angry at myself for allowing us to get caught in such a predicament and, I’ll admit, angry at Lena for getting herself into such a situation. Again.
This was not going to end well.
We needed backup, but as all the Cardinals were down here with Lena, and the only person I trusted back at the base was Si, that left just one conclusion. And Lena was not gonna like it.
“Lena,” I whispered as we came to a brief pause at a difficult to navigate section.
Her stunning blue eyes swung towards me. In the dim glow of our torches they shined, lighting up this shit-hole better than a Christmas Tree. She arched her brow, but didn’t speak. Like a true professional, she
But no assessment was necessary. They had decided to warn us, a warning they delivered in muted tones but with urgency. A warning that skittered down my spine and set alarm bells off inside my head.
They are coming.
As soon as Calvin had translated Nirbhay’s words, all the creepy crawlies had chimed in, backing him up. Unanimously agreeing to help us.
Although, as they’d clearly trapped the trappers, maybe this was all still part of the act.
I couldn’t tell. They weren’t any enemy I’d ever come up against. Wánměi is not exactly full of deformed, under-nourished children.
“Who’s coming?” a Cardinal demanded, as the panic still swirled around us.
“It’s a trap,” Lena advised steadily, making it obvious that she’d come to the same conclusion as me. She stood up, hand still clasped in Nirhbay’s, face set, body in liquid-like motion. She was always such a joy to watch move. Like a dancer with lethal abilities. I watched as she checked her own laser gun, attached to her upper thigh, and then her eyes found me.
“Very clever,” I murmured, checking my gun too. “But if it’s u-Pol they forgot one thing.”
“And that is?” Beck demanded.
“Never work with children or animals,” I muttered, powering up my gun and letting the whine of electronics punctuate that statement.
“Movement aboveground,” Calvin advised through the earpieces. The fact he was including us again meant things had turned south pretty quickly. Until he’d started translating the kids’ words, he’d been ominously silent in Alan’s and my ears.
I wasn’t sure I was entirely happy about the change up. But with an unknown threat approaching, a terrain we weren’t familiar with, and creepy crawlies as our only allies, I’d take any help I could get.
“Let’s go,” I announced. “I’d rather be on the move than standing here when they breach The Underground.”
“And if these children are leading us into a dead-end where the u-Pol are waiting?” Beck asked, all snark and then some.
“Then you better be ready,” Alan muttered, shouldering past the Cardinal, his own laser gun fired up and waiting.
The kids knew the layout, had obviously covered this ground a time or two before. They scampered over debris, ducked under low lying fallen beams, skirted more dangerous areas; basically provided a crash course in underground survival techniques.
I watched as Lena took it all in. Each move they made. Each compensated for injury. They may have looked like something out of a horror movie, but they didn’t let it slow them down one bit.
Which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, because the speed in which they were travelling meant something.
“Who’s up there, Calvin?” I muttered, scraping my hand against a rough rock wall and feeling skin peel. I flexed my fingers once I’d gotten my balance back, but the sting of whatever coated the wall down here set my teeth on edge. How far were we from those no-go areas of Lunnon?
“Night has fallen, it is difficult to see anything on satellite imagery,” the Shiloh answered.
As far as plans went, this one sucked beyond all comprehension. I shook my head, angry at myself for allowing us to get caught in such a predicament and, I’ll admit, angry at Lena for getting herself into such a situation. Again.
This was not going to end well.
We needed backup, but as all the Cardinals were down here with Lena, and the only person I trusted back at the base was Si, that left just one conclusion. And Lena was not gonna like it.
“Lena,” I whispered as we came to a brief pause at a difficult to navigate section.
Her stunning blue eyes swung towards me. In the dim glow of our torches they shined, lighting up this shit-hole better than a Christmas Tree. She arched her brow, but didn’t speak. Like a true professional, she
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