Maggie. “Take a revolver. Keep sharp, there are nasty beasties out there.”
“Sweetheart, you’re coming too, take this.” Devon held out a lantern for her.
She hurried over and took hold of the handle. “Good girl.”
Adam handled the door and they rushed out into the pounding rain and shrieking wind. Lexi dared a look back as she ran with the others. It was another metal monster, only bigger and lumpier than Old Tom’s flying one.
They hurried into a door hidden by plants. Once again, Adam opened the door and closed it after they went through. Maggie helped to light Lexi’s lantern to reveal a round corridor with the same smooth, white surface that Lexi remembered from her home.
“Let’s go,” Devon said.
The corridor went on for a long time before spilling out into an open space. Lexi’s lantern fought against the darkness, but it gobbled up the light before the flickering illumination could reach the walls.
“Where to?” Maggie asked. “We’ve been all over this place.”
“Yeah, well that beacon means we missed something. If Adam hadn’t picked up that distress signal from the transport, we would’ve stayed until we found it,” Devon said. He took a deep breath. “Let’s go back to the upper level.”
He led the way with Lexi next to him to provide light. They came to a set of metal stairs and climbed. Lexi’s sandals made little noise but the others wore heavy boots and clanked as they walked. A distant noise came from behind her–something thudding against something else. The others didn’t seem to notice; maybe they didn’t hear it. More likely, they know it’s nothing to worry about; they’re clever people and wouldn’t want me bothering them. She stayed disciplined and kept quiet.
An opening to another white corridor was near the top of the stairs, and Devon directed them into it.
“Shouldn’t we try someplace new?” Adam asked.
“I have a theory,” Devon said.
Up ahead, Lexi saw a dim light. Her heart trembled as she imagined what might be waiting for them. The lantern in her hand stayed steady despite her fear; she’d been given a chore.
When they reached the end, she saw the light came from little dimly glowing glass panels near the top of the wall. Not counting the hall they exited, two corridors led away from the empty room. The chamber appeared to measure about the same as a dwelling’s living space, but there were no furnishings of any kind. Lexi didn’t like it, why would nobody be living in a shelter like this with the rains providing so much water?
“Where to, esteemed leader?” Maggie asked. Lexi caught the disrespectful tone in the woman’s voice. She had used that tone once with her father, and he had made her pay dearly for it. Any man in her clan-hold would be furious if a woman addressed him like that.
To Lexi’s amazement, Devon didn’t react. Instead, he pointed to a small opening near the top of a wall. “There’s some light coming from that, so there has to be something in there.”
Lexi saw Adam give her a sidelong glance. “You’re thinking the day-sider is skinny enough to fit?”
“See,” Devon said, “you’re not as stupid as you look.”
He turned to Lexi, “Put down the lantern, Sweetheart, you’re going to do something for me.”
She did as he said, and he took out a piece of paper from a pocket. “You’re looking for a round door about this big,” he made a circle with his hands, “and colored red with this,” he pointed to the symbol on the paper, “on it. Got it?”
She nodded.
“Good girl.” He turned to Adam. “Help me get her up there.”
Lexi moved over to the wall and peered up at the dim light coming from the small hole. The thought of squeezing into a small space didn’t seem so bad–no worse than a hiding spot–but, this looked really narrow. She jumped when Devon came up behind her and placed his hands on her waist. “Up you go.”
The two men gave her a boost. One of them ran a hand under her skirt as he gave her a foothold.
“Look at those legs,” Devon said. “If she gets the power-core for us, I might be willing to take a hit on our profits.”
Lexi scrambled into the opening, just managing to fit through. A narrow shaft let away, thankfully lit by dim lights.
“Maggie, stay here with the girl.” She heard Devon command from behind her, his voice sounding faint. “Adam and I might as well check out the rest of this level while she’s in there.”
“Hey, what was that sound?” Adam asked.
“It was nothing. What? Are you afraid of ghosts now?” Devon replied.
Lexi heard a bang on the wall behind her. “Hey Sweetheart, we don’t have forever here. Get crawling.”
She turned her attention ahead and saw that the shaft opened into something a good distance away. The passage squeezed around her too tight to crawl, so she wriggled forward like a snake.
It opened into a very small room, not even tall enough to stand in. Wires, cables, and lights covered the walls. Old Tom would have liked this room. No, she shouldn’t think about him, that would only make her sad and she had orders to follow. She needed to be disciplined and get her work done like Devon had told her to.
What would happen if I didn’t obey him? The thought tantalized her, a little thrill traveling up her spine. No, there was something about Devon that reminded her of her father; he’d make her pay. Maggie will help me run away and I’ll never have to worry about my father or Devon again; she’s not afraid of him.
Lexi hunted around the little space and spotted it, a round red door with the symbols Devon had showed her. Excited by her find, she struggled to turn around, she needed to go back and tell them. Her knee banged into something followed by a hiss. The red door had opened, and she saw a handle behind it.
Biting her lip, she tried to decide what to do. She felt sure they’d want the thing with the handle, and she didn’t like the idea of wriggling back again. With a hard yank, the object came free and the lights blinked off.
“What happened?” She heard Maggie’s voice travel down the shaft.
“I’m coming back!” Lexi yelled.
In the darkness, she examined the object she’d pulled out. It felt like a cold, hard cylinder about the length of her forearm, but twice as thick. She pushed the heavy thing in front of her as she wriggled through the narrow way toward the flickering light of the lantern.
Halfway there, she heard a scream followed by two sharp cracks. Gun shots. The sounds were followed by thumps, one more scream, and ripping noises. In the distance, she heard a man yelling Maggie’s name.
Lexi stayed frozen in the tight space, trying not to breathe. Something bad is happening and Maggie is in trouble. She gathered her courage and struggled forward as quickly as she could; Maggie might need help.
Another crack echoed; this one further away. A man screamed.
This time Lexi didn’t stop. She pushed the heavy object ahead of her until she reached the end. Now she had a problem; there wasn’t enough space to move herself past the cylinder, but she didn’t want to drop it to the floor and make a loud noise. She took a strong grip on the handle and scooted forward, holding onto the cylinder as she pushed it out the opening.
The weight hurt her arm but she managed to get far enough forward to see into the room. Near the opening, the lantern still flickered where Lexi had set it on the floor. In the dim light, she saw fresh, red blood glistening. She pushed out a little further and the sight made her gasp. What used to be Maggie lay in a heap of mangled clothing and shredded flesh. Startled, she slipped and the heavy cylinder pulled her down.
Bang! The object slammed into the floor below, followed by Lexi. For a moment, the room swayed as she recovered from the impact.
Rapid, padding steps came from one of the hallways leading away from the room. The pain in her shoulders and head vanished, driven out by her thumping heart. She sprang to her feet and snatched the lantern before sprinting to the passage that
led to the stairs.
At the end of the corridor, she turned back to see sleek muscle, fangs, and eyes that glowed in the flame’s light. Lexi hurled the lantern to the floor of the passage with all her strength. Oil and fire burst out from the impact to fill the narrow space. Without looking back, she pelted down the stairway to the big open room, the way lit by the fire above. Errant flames had caught her skirt and she ripped it off when she reached the bottom of the stairs. More loud cracks echoed from behind her, but she ignored it.
Lexi surveyed the dark space and saw a pale circle of light in the distance. The door we came in from. It’s open.
She rushed toward the light, able to run easier with the skirt gone. In a blind panic, she sprinted down the round corridor toward the sound of the storm outside. The smell of wet air filled her senses as she sucked down breath.
Rain slashed down from the sky as she burst into the outdoors. The dim outline of the great metal machine loomed in the damp gloom, and Lexi surged forward on a last burst of adrenaline. She threw the levers of the door and clamored inside before quickly securing it again. Though she wanted nothing more than to collapse in relief, her mind hadn’t stopped working. Adam closed the door when we went in there. That thing figured out how to open it.
Lexi threw open the chest that she had seen Old Tom’s rifle in. She worked herself as far back from the door as she could and still have a good line of sight. Old Tom’s instructions came back to her