Victernus - Chapter 26
Namara found his group of friends
sitting at the entrance to the tunnels. Gala was with them, holding hands with
Athius, and the others were sitting against the walls. Around them was a large
stone gateway that was carved with words of warning, saying that it was
dangerous to go back up. Beyond it were a series of tunnels and stairs that
climbed upwards in a long spiral. The forest of palm trees was behind them, and
the loud screeches of the creatures inside echoed out towards the tunnel.
Mahalia checked her watch and asked,
"Hey Namara, did you do it?"
He nodded, "The power has been out
for a while now. The lights in the city are down. I didn't see anyone on their
way out though..."
She sighed and stood up, coming
closer to him, "Yeah, that's what I expected... It's been over an hour, and
still, nobody has shown up except for Gala here." As she neared, she asked, "What's
that on your face?"
Namara brought his hand to it and
heard the faint, calm voices again. He dodged, "It's nothing important... Just
know that the power is out, and Lynn isn't coming back."
While they were speaking, they saw a
small group of Selanians coming towards them. Mahalia waved to them, and they
waved back. She smiled, "Oh, some people decided to come after all! I guess
some people are still in there after all this time..." Before she could finish
her sentence, she felt the ground vibrating slightly. She asked, "Do you feel
that?"
Athius stood up, pulling Gala up
with him. He warned, "Guys, I think there's a sweeper nearby. They send them
out from the lab every now and then... They're very dangerous."
Namara felt a vague memory returning
to him. His ears and his tail twitched as the vibrating increased in power. He ordered,
"Go into the tunnels. I'll wait for the Selanians."
Athius paused and then took his
rifle off, handing it to Namara. "This has a flashlight - you can use it when
they get here"
He nodded and took it, "Thanks."
Mahalia agreed with his plan and
directed their group inside. Theo, Kyon, Athius and Gala followed her into the
stony tunnels. She activated the light on her rifle so that they could see. She
called back out, "Stay as long as you can - we'll wait for you at the top!" and
then started jogging.
He acknowledged her silently and
then waved his hand to the Selanians, motioning for them to come urgently. He
called out with his mind, Please hurry!
There's a sweeper coming!
When the group started running, the
sweeper emerged from the palm trees near Namara - and it headed straight for
him. The light on the front of it shined down at him brightly. He ran his hand
through the fur on his head, took one more glance at the group, and then ran
inside the tunnel. Darn it, they were too
late!
As he backed into the tunnel, the
sweeper continued its approach. It entered slowly, cutting the group off from
their escape. The vibrations worsened as they boomed forward into the tunnel.
Small cracks formed on the ceiling, grooving into each other and getting
larger. He pointed his rifle at the sweeper and fired, but the blast
disintegrated before it managed to come in contact with it. Growling, he threw
the rifle down and ran the opposite way, heading up the tunnels. Great... just great. More people I can't save.
The vibrations lessened as he loped
up the tunnels, and it ceased completely when he heard rocks crashing down
where the sweeper was. A small blast of wind shot past him. The path was
blocked off. He stopped and looked back in the darkness. What humanity had
become was now sealed off in a giant tomb. There was no escape, and there was
no going back. He sighed. Not only were they sealed, but so was his past. The
thought, to him, was sobering.
After a few minutes, he turned back
to the path and ran. The ground was moist and the air was stuffy. He could
smell the traces of his friends, but he could not hear them yet. The only sounds
that filtered into his powerful ears were of his breathing, his footsteps, and
his heartbeat.
The corridors stretched only short
distances, and the stairs were long and steep. He remembered that he hadn't
come through this way - and then he wondered about exactly how he made it down
in the first place. He only remembered waking up in the lab. For some reason
unknown to him, he couldn't remember what happened. There was something he
remembered seeing, but for some reason, he couldn't visualize it with clarity.
Before his thoughts overwhelmed him,
he felt the air getting warmer and far fresher than it was before. The feeling
cleared his mind and sparked a new kind of excitement within him. He ran
faster, on all fours, up the next set of stairs. When he got to the top, he saw
his friends waiting for him outside of a big, empty chamber. One last corridor
stood at the end. He could see the bright light of the sun shining down just
outside of it. Smiling, he jogged out and felt the sun on his fur again. He
grinned, "We did it, guys!"
The others were sitting around a
small courtyard, resting from their journey in a dreamy-like state. The ruins
of Washington D.C. were around them, but they were okay. Mahalia was sitting on
an old metal bench that faced one of the broken buildings, and she said, "Yeah...
we did."
Namara went down a few steps and
then came to the bench on his right. New thoughts rushed into his mind as he
spoke excitedly, "That's it! We can live freely now. There are so many things we
can do, too! And there's no one else here..." He turned to Athius, who was
sitting on a bench with Gala on the other side. "What do you think?"
Athius laughed, "I don't know! This
feels kind of awesome."
He smiled and focused on Theo and
Kyon, who were lying on the ground, bathing in the sun. Theo got to his feet
and said, "Well, we shouldn't rest here long - there's a bit more we have to do
first."
Namara agreed, "Yeah, there's a lot...
I'm assuming you don't want to stay near one of these cities? I certainly don't."
Theo chuckled and shook his head, "I
had something else in mind."
His ears pointed forward and showed
his curiosity as he asked, "Well, what is it?"
Theo glanced towards the ruins,
looking for a certain building. He smiled, "Just follow me... I'll show you. Come
on, guys." He started walking through the rubble and past the trees that had
sprouted up in the street.
Namara looked at Mahalia and tilted
his head. He asked, "Is this related to that project he was working on?"
She stood up and beckoned Athius and
Gala to come. "I don't know, but I think it might be safe to think so. He spent
a lot of time working on it."
"I guess we'll see what it is when we get there..." Namara
waited for Athius and Gala and then walked behind them, beside Mahalia. He
watched the trees sway in the light breeze and followed the group across the
broken paths. In the roads, smashed hovercars were sprawled out on the ground.
He noticed that it was very similar to how Denver was when he woke up from
stasis. Thoughts of the stories that would be told of this time surfaced, and
he couldn't help but feel glad that he made it through. After he put his arm
around Mahalia's shoulders, he joined his friends in drifting off to his own
dreamy wonderings.