Chapter 16: Escape, Part 3

Alex strapped her backpack to the front of her with the blow torch on top and wedged herself between the large rock wall and the wall below their vent. Jack followed her example and they inched their way down to the bottom floor.

Her right arm ached as she used it to crawl little by little down the framework. When they finally reached the bottom, Jack staggered behind as Alex walked gingerly between the walls. She counted her steps and stopped suddenly. Jack bumped into her. Alex listened with her ear against the wall, hearing footsteps and voices on the other side. Leather armor creaked faintly from one of the guards on the other side. She strained to hear their voices.

"That guy can really go."

"He seriously has the best job. Can you imagine two days with the best women in the city?"

"That has got to rub him raw. How do they get him to stay like that?"

"Drugs, but the hangover's gonna be a bitch."

The voices faded with the footsteps. Alex proceeded cutting a hole into the wall with the blow torch until it was big enough to get Jack's broad shoulders through. She slipped through the narrow crack easily and lifted the bags through. Jack followed but got wedged in the hole. Alex slid her hand between his chest and the wall to flatten out his shirt. He exhaled and pushed the rest of the way through. She put a pack on his back, slipped her pack over her shoulder, and grabbed his hand. It felt large and cold. He grinned stupidly.

Alex walked lightly, but Jack's feet drug as they went, the toxins still holding him tightly. Her right arm throbbed from the spider bite. Alex glided down the tunnels with Jack in tow, pulling him along as he stumbled. She tried her best to support him when the path was wide enough for them both.

Twitch. Footsteps.

Alex stopped. Jack bumped into her pushing her forward and into the next hallway. Two guards coming down the hallway spotted her. She froze. The guards paused then saw Jack. Their hands went to the hilts of their swords. Alex whipped out her sonic pistol, hoping it would work at this depth, and fired. The end of the barrel opened up into a satellite dish and it shot a silent high note. The pressure wave slammed into the guards. One doubled over and vomited. The other guard looked down at his companion, leaving her pistol enough time to recharge by draining the energy out of her. She fired again and he went down.

Jack leaned against her shoulder. He was running out of steam. She hauled him after her and down the next hallway. Her ears picked up voices and footsteps behind her where the fallen guards lay.

Alex started running with Jack stumbling behind her. She made her way towards the lava pits. Around the next corner, two guards leaning against the wall jumped in surprise at her sudden arrival. Her pistol took them down quickly. Jack's breathing was labored now. Only a few more turns and they would be there.

They made it to the chamber with the train. It sat at the top of a rock wall. Alex took Jack's bag roughly from his hands and chucked the bags one at a time to the top.

She grabbed Jack's bearded cheeks and pulled his face close to look at her. "Jack, you've got to focus. I can't do this for you. Climb up there and get in that train."

Jack nodded with a semiserious face and threw himself at the rock wall. Alex helped him find hand holds and encouraged him to keep climbing. She paced at the bottom as he slowly made his way up. Her heart thumped in her chest. Alex wasn't sure how much time she'd have to get up herself, but someone had to watch the door while he climbed. At least she was sober.

Jack slipped and a rattle of rocks fell down the wall. Her heart jumped as he hung by a hand, the other flailing. Grabbing fiercely at the rock, he finally found a new hand hold and resumed climbing. Only two meters left.

Footfalls echoed outside their tunnel. Alex readied her pistol in her aching right hand, standing square and firm, and faced the crevice. Her left hand flipped a knife up into her palm.

A group of guards entered the cave outside theirs. Alex could see the torchlight reflect off the buckles on their armor.

"Over here!" a guard called from the cave.

As soon as he was in view, she fired her sonic pistol and he fell. The other two guards stepped over him and approached the crack in the wall. Alex waited just inside. One metal helmet poked through. She stuck it with the butt of her pistol causing it to ring as the guard fell to the ground.

The other guard pushed his sword through first. She pinned it to the side of the entrance with her boot and struck out with her knife. He was quick and jumped back, leaving his sword behind. Alex crouched and he matched her stance preparing to wrestle her down. She finished counting to five in her head and fired her gun. The guard fell, unconscious.

The guard with the helmet had recovered. He came at her from behind. She dodged the sword and spun around. He grinned dangerously and slashed at her. Alex jumped back close to a wall as he cornered her. She let her knife fly. It struck in his throat. His grin turned to shock and his sword clattered to the floor. Blood spurted out as he grasped at the knife. Alex grabbed the hilt of her blade and kicked him off it. His warm, sticky blood trickled down from the hilt and on to her hand. She shook it off and slid it, and her sonic pistol, into the pockets of her leather jacket.

Alex slipped back through the crack and climbed quickly up the stone wall. Other guards filed in and wedged their way through the crevice. They started climbing behind her. One sat back and drew an arrow. She heard the draw string and prepared to jump sideways. From above, a weak fireball released and drove into the man. Jack reached down and hoisted her up by an arm. He stumbled back before she could get her footing and they fell to the rocky ground, just missing another arrow. She landed on top of Jack, knocking the breath out of him.

"Thanks," she said, her hand running through his thick brown hair.

He smiled, looking a little like he was going to vomit. She rolled off him and on to her feet. After pulling her gun out again, she shot one man off the wall. The train whirred, its lively circuits ready, snapped to life. The engine floated above the steel rails. Weylin stood at the door, beckoning them in with frantic waving hands. She shoved Jack towards him, counting to five in her head again. Once she reached it, she fired at another guard on the wall. The ground level was full of guards now, each of them squeezing into the room from the hole in the wall. She spun and raced to the door, banging it shut behind her.

"Move this thing!" she commanded.

Weylin pushed a lever and the train glided forward slowly into the dark tunnel.

Alex helped Jack down on to the red velvet couch. Weylin had set a bucket up next to it to catch any leftover rooart. Jack made good use of it, that familiar pink color made another appearance, making her own stomach turn. If Alex ever drank another pink drink, it would be too soon. She rubbed his back and pulled his hair back as he vomited.

The inside of the train smelled stale, but was pretty clean for being hundreds of years old. Weylin must have worked hard to freshen it up. This section was filled with buttons and controls with two chairs at the console. Windows covered most of the walls after a meter high. Jack just barely had to duck to miss the ceiling when he was standing. To the right of the couch, a door led back to the engineer's cabin.

The train pushed onward and upward, tilting them back into their seats. Its headlight illuminated the darkness revealing the silver magnetic iron rails.

"Are we moving fast enough to get away?" she asked.

"We're doing 15 km/h according to this meter. These tunnels are really steep and we are going to have to use power carefully until we get to the surface and recharge."

"I'm surprised it still works after this long."

"Me too. Hey, are you bleeding?" He gestured to her hand.

"Well that's from the guard with the helmet. And that is from the other guy. Oh and I got this nasty spider bite."

"Was it a Garlock?"

"I don't know, it was a big gross spider." Alex shuddered.

"Probably wasn't. Those things are really rare. They're pretty delicious if prepared correctly."

"That is so disgusting." She grimaced.

"They disappeared over the last ten cycles when some teenagers found out that they can make you fight better. They all went crazy though." Weylin turned his chair back around to the controls.

Alex took her jacket off and grabbed a rag and water. Jack had finished expelling the contents of his stomach. She rolled him back up on the couch and set his head on her lap. After wiping the vomit from his beard, she covered him with her jacket.

"Here, drink as much water as you can." Alex offered him her canteen. He denied it, turning his head to puke in the bucket between her feet. She ran her fingers through his soft still damp hair and patted him on the shoulder, then leaned her head back against the velvet padding. Her arm throbbed as she sighed. They did it. They made it out of there alright. She might see Lexi yet.