The Tunnels
T he speed by which I’m jumping over the fissure and back is mind boggling, even to me. It’s like I’m in a spontaneous flow of mind. Something is happening to me. I can feel it. It’s as if I know I can save everyone. It’s as if I know who I am, finally.
I don’t resist the feeling. I don’t even give in to the rush of adrenaline and fear inside me. And I don’t try to understand the world around me. It’s not the past. It’s not the future. It’s the moment right now that counts.
“Alice, please!” Tom begs.
I dismiss him.
“Come on, Constance. It’s your turn,” I tell her. “Half of the Mushroomers have crossed over.”
“No, I’m last, Alice,” she insists. “I need to stay here and organize them with the Dude, so things flow nicely.”
“You don’t have to do this,” I say. “You came to help us and did what you came for.”
“I came to save lives, Alice. Just keep doing what you are doing.”
In a hesitant moment, I’m afraid if I don’t pull her over to the other side, I’ll end up losing her like the March. But the thought vanishes into air when another Mushroomer clings to me as we jump.
“Five minutes to go.” the Dude shouts over.
“That means about ten,” I argue. “Remember we’re at the end of the asylum, in a place they won’t find easily. We might have an advantage of a few minutes more.”
“I wouldn’t count on that,” the Dude says. “You still have to open the door to the river. Once you do, the water will flow in. It’s not going to be easy swimming through that without being hit back into the fissure.”
“You never told me this,” I say from the other side, having crossed another Mushroomer over.
“It’s war, Alice. There are always casualties. Not all of us are going to make it tonight. We’re doing our best.”
I don’t even have time to process what he’s just told me. Another Mushroomer on my back. Another jump.
“So the water will rush back into the asylum?” Constance says. “This is a plus. It will block the police, if not kill them.”
“Yes, that’s the plan,” the Dude says. “They don’t know we have a way out through a secret door leading to the River. Even if they figure it out, they’ll be too late. I have boats waiting for us up there.”
“Boats?” I shout against the noise of panic and the water in the distance. “Who are you?”
“I’m the Dude.”
“She means who sent you?” Constance giggles in the middle of all of this.
“Let’s talk about that later,” the Dude says.
But then Constance’s look at the Dude exposes her. She knows him. She knows who he is.
“Constance!” I say in the middle of my jump. “You know who he is?”
Constance shrugs. “Of course, not.”
“Constance, you’re lying. Good girls don’t lie!”
“Seriously.” She scowls at me. “I’m not a good girl, Alice. I’m a kickass girl. Much bigger difference.”
“Forget about it, at least for now,” the Dude says, helping line up the Mushroomers. “Are we set on letting the water in?”
“No, we’re not!” I say.
“Why not?” Constance asks.
“We should close this door leading back to the asylum so the water stays in the tunnel,” I say.
“Why? I don’t understand?” Constance is furious. “This will kill the police hunting us.”
“But it will also kill the Pillar.”
“The Pillar is dead already, Alice. The Pillar will either be caught or will burn with the asylum if he leaves the chair,” Constance says.
“Besides, the future predicted you will kill him. So ordering us to leave the door open will do that,” the Dude says. “It’s fate, Alice. There is nothing you can do.”
I take a moment to find the right answer inside me. I’m not sure why I suddenly don’t want to be the reason for the Pillar’s death, especially after he killed Jack. But I just don’t. He just came back and is sacrificing himself on that chair for us. I’m too confused to assess the situation logically, so I’m going with my gut feeling.
“Listen to me, both of you,” I tell them. “We’re not going to kill the Pillar. And by the way; the hell with fate.”