Chapter 5.17

I offered my hand to the girl, and this time she took it with both hands and leant on me as much as she could like she wasn't used to walking. Her eyes peered up at me ceaselessly without even looking where she was going. I wondered if she saw the fight. We hurried to the sewer, and I saw Theos head pop out of it and quietly beaconing us to hurry up. She didn't say anything when she saw the state I was in, but I was sure she was leaving that for later. I passed her the girl first, her Shadow jumped onto her shoulders as she descended, but she refused to take her eyes off me even if it meant stumbling. Submerged in the darkness, I had no doubt that she was still staring. I went next, then Sargent pulled the manhole into place above our heads. For a moment we were in complete darkness, then Theo twisted her torch and instructed the other children to do the same. Theo organised them into pairs, and gave each pair a torch, she told them they were responsible for their pair not getting lost until they were out of the tunnels. Despite the situation, it made me smile to see how she'd taken charge of the kids- in a firm but also gentle manner.

The tunnel was wide, but there was only a narrow path at either side; in the middle was a trench filled with sewage water. The smell was bad, much like the stale shit smell that Theo introduced us to this morning, but everywhere. It made the air thick, like just breathing it in made you feel dirty. The pathway was wet (even the walls were) and slightly slimy so I could understand how she'd managed to lose her footing. It just made me that fraction more careful with my footing.

Theo took the lead she had the map in one hand and her torch in the other; she read the map while walking but she must have remembered the way from this morning because she only had to stop twice to get her bearings. Sargent was somewhere in the middle, and I took the tail end, still carrying the girl. Despite her zeal, she was physically weak, apparently more so than the others. She started to relax a little and I asked her to take my torch, so it was easier to carry her. Her shadow followed us along next to us, it was the first shadow I'd come across who didn't seem afraid of Shadow. Rex and the other kids' shadows at various stages of stability were wary or outright hostile at first sight of Shadow. I was a little happy that the small fella didn't seem to mind him. It was hard to see him clearly in the dark, but it appeared to be a fox-like creature, it had a slim body, a bushy tail and trotted as it walked.

After a while, I think I got used to the smell, but soon we had other things to worry about. About halfway, Theo suddenly stopped in her tracks, causing the rest of us to pile up behind her. I couldn't see her from the back, the torches were tiny prim pricks of light, that were only good enough see right in front of us. The atmosphere turned tense, and confusion spread rapidly as I heard Theo hiss "turn off your lights!", and the kids grappled to turn them off. One by one we were plunged into darkness. I could hear some of them trying not to cry, there was some sniffling, and then Theo hissed "Against the wall! Quiet!"

There was desperation in her voice, and I knew something had gone wrong. So, we pressed ourselves against the slippery walls ignoring how the wet slime that stunk of shit and algae, soaked into our clothes and stuck to our skin. We waited, trying to calm our racing hearts. The danger was invisible, and I think it made them more frightened. We heard a sound- a buzzing. It was so faint at first, I thought that it was all in my head. But then it got louder… And closer. We pressed ourselves further into the walls. Then out of the darkness thin red light beams hit the ceiling and the walls, moving around as it was feeling the shape and texture. When the sound was almost on top of us, I was just about able to see what it was. Hovering a few feet above the water, was a drone. About the size of a dinner plate, with multiple spinning blades springing from its top, and many little red lasers that scanned its surroundings. It was slow, so even in the dim light, I managed to see two large guns protruding from its belly.

Garlantia may not have had the manpower to scout the sewers, but they certainly had the technology to do it. We waited until the noise faded into nothing, and then some more. We moved cautiously after that; slower and quieter than before. We were behind schedule but we reached the exit point just as the sun-kissed the horizon. We were tired, on edge and sick of the smell of sewage, by the time Theo whispers "This is it!" and climbs her way up the ladder. She struggles with the lid, her muscles tired and straining. We wait, our feet shuffling nervously. Then she eases the lid up, just a fraction at first, and peers out onto the street… And then puts it back into place. She hesitates before climbing back down. Something was wrong. I made my way to the front, still carrying the girl in my arms, (they'd long since gone numb, I think my arms were just stuck in that position).

"What's wrong?" I whisper. The kids were getting restless behind me.

"The truck's not there anymore!" she hissed with a confused expression. I could feel panic start to worm its way into her.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?"

"I'm sure." I could see the outline of her head nodding.

"Bella must have moved it for some reason. I can take a look with Shadow."

She nodded, "Be quick. The sun is rising, and they'll probably be looking for us soon."

"I'm going to have to put you down now. My friend Theo will look after you." I say to the girl, although she doesn't indicate any response. I ease her onto the floor, and her feet buckle slightly. She grabs the wall for support. "I'll be back soon." I added.

The ladder was coated with a thick layer of cold slime, like the walls, I ignored how it stuck to the palms of my hands as I climbed the rings. At the top, the lid is heavy, and my first few attempts at lifting it fails, so Shadow reached up behind me and easily lifted it out of place. I gingerly poke my head up from the hole in the ground. New light is working it way onto the street, I surveyed as much as I could before climbing out.

Visibility was poor but I couldn't see the truck in either of the three intersections. Shadow carefully slid the lid back into place. It was eerily quiet, not even the morning birds sang.

We first checked the road that Bella first parked on, I followed it around and checked the side streets that led onto it, but all the streets were deserted, most of them completely impassable for a truck that size, given the discarded cars and belongings that littered the streets. I traced my way back, doing the same in all three directions. The sun had risen by then and I started to think she'd been caught, or she'd left us. What do we do? Did we have a plan B? Did waiting to come to get her killed? My mind raced while Shadow seemed to wander off on his own back down the first part of the intersection. Curiosity got the better of me and I followed him. There was something on the tip of my tongue, something I couldn't quite remember that meant something of significance when I saw it the first time… I retraced my steps… why was my brain screaming at me that there was something important down that path? Something I missed. Maybe I saw something of Bella's from the truck? I paid extra attention to the scattered belongings on the floor, but there was nothing.

Time was running out… Then I noticed it- one of the buildings had an underground car park. Slowly, we crept through the entrance, my eyes scanning the mishmash of scattered vehicles, some of them were still parked, but some of them were on their way out, clustered around the other end of the compound, their windows smashed, presumably at some point during the invasion. The smell of petrol remained, even though none of the cars had moved in weeks. The underground lighting was still functional, so there was weak yellow light illuminating the cars. Our truck was discarded between two spaces as if it had been left there in a hurry. We peered into an empty truck; Bella's rucksack was in the passenger seat but there was no sign of Bella.

I opened the truck door, to find a small knife pointed at my head.