20

A sudden sliver of light from the floor broke through the darkness. A trapdoor. They’d been following Bree blindly through underground passages, strangely dark in this city of light.

Zulu slipped in next to Bree and took the ring from her, hoisting the trapdoor higher.

“Come guys, this way. Bree dropped to the floor and wiggled through the gap. Evazee paled at the thought of where they were going. For whatever reason, they were still stuck in the testing arch, and they’d stay that way until they stumbled on the test and passed it. That thought resolved it all for her, and she dropped to her knees and slid on her rear towards the opening. Bree grabbed her legs and pulled her through, guiding her feet safely to solid ground. In a short time, the others had followed and the trapdoor had been lowered.

The room they found themselves in was small and dusty. Evazee sneezed and scrubbed at her nose with the back of her hand. “How do you know about this place?”

“Let’s just say I don’t need much sleep, and the after-curfew patrols seldom venture below.” Bree’s eyes sparkled; a creature back in her natural habitat. “No time to waste. We’ve got to put some distance between us and...” she pointed up and in the vague direction of everything outside of the trapdoor.

They squeezed through a doorway that led out of the tiny room into a narrow passage lit by the stones in the floor.

“This way. Come on. Don’t be slow.”

They followed the tiny passage as it curved and twisted, leading them down. Evazee guessed that they were heading deeper underground. “Where are you taking us?”

Bree didn’t answer other than to hold a finger to her lips. They trudged on in silence. The roof of the tunnel angled down, making it impossible to walk upright. Evazee’s lower back tweaked in a spasm that she couldn’t stretch out without bumping her head. She couldn’t imagine how Zulu felt. Sharp pain shot through her spine. The air grew stuffy. Trapped. She wanted to ask how much longer, but she’d get no answer. Just breathe. In, out. Repeat.

They rounded a bend and the stench of rotting fish slammed into her, an almost solid wall of odour. Evazee choked and blocked her nose. Just as she thought her heart might pack up, the passage ended. The opening at the end was blocked off with a metal grate. Wind blew in from outside, carrying the smell in with it. By the look of it, the grate had been around for a long time, rusted and buckled. If that thing didn’t open...

Bree slammed her fist into the metal three times in quick succession, causing a mini rust-shower. A scurry of activity on the other side made Evazee’s heart pound. Were these people like the shack-dwellers?

The grate moved to the side, and they tumbled out the end of the tunnel. It was a long drop from the mouth of the passage to the rocky ground below. Evazee landed with a bump and toppled sideways. Her feet stung from the impact. She shook them out and shivered, rolling herself upright and back onto her feet. Grey gloom pressed in around her and over it all, the choking stench. This was nothing like the soft light of the city they’d just come from.

A company waited for them, not dressed in the standard shift that all the city dwellers wore, but remnants of regular clothes, dirty and old. They stood shoulder to shoulder, arms folded, casual but tightly wound. Evazee hardly dared breathe for fear of setting them off. Behind them stretched the cause of the choking smell. A rubbish dump that went on as far as Evazee could see.

Bree stood silent with her hands hooked behind her back, feet spread—a warrior’s rest stance. She’d stripped off the city shift as she left the tunnel and looked every inch a fighter in leather pants and a tank top.

The guy in the middle eyed the newcomers up and down. He carried himself with a rugged confidence that singled him out as the leader of this bunch. “Why’re you here?”

Bree shifted on her feet. “They won’t use the marked products.”

One of the others pointed to Evazee. “That one’s marked. She shouldn’t be here.”

Evazee’s neck flushed hot, and she fought to stop her hand going to her neck. It was easy to forget that she’d been branded like some show cow. She would do anything to get rid of that cursed mark. Shame and anger sparked through her. Who was he to assume that the mark had anything to do with where her loyalty lay? Her chin raised and she stared at him, half wishing he would say something else for which she could take him down.

Evazee stepped forward to defend herself. The leader turned towards her, and she did a double-take. Something flashed silvery on his forehead. Drawn by curiosity that nullified any fear or good manners, she stepped closer. This man was marked. Not with the twisted snakes of Shasta’s folk, but with the same type of imprint that she mourned the loss of.

A slow smile tugged at her mouth. Before she could say anything, a wind from behind picked up. A slow spin that sped up and tugged them off their feet. They were being taken back through the testing arch.

Back to Zulu’s people.

~*~

Zap pulled the OS van into its parking spot in the underground garage area. In spite of being hungry, Ruaan had whistled and hummed to himself all the way home from the Crux. Zap threw him an annoyed glance before turning back to Kai. “I dunno, man. That all seemed too easy. For such a hi-tech place with all the security bells and whistles, don’t you think we would have been stopped along the way?”

Kai shrugged. “Sometimes these things can get too organised for their own good. You remember that time we were sent to detention, but nobody showed up because each teacher thought the other was supposed to be doing it? Kinda like that.” He slapped the steering wheel and spun around to Ruaan. “Why are you so happy? What’s up with that?”

Ruaan grinned at him and patted the bump under his T-shirt. He slid out of the van and shut the door with his foot.

If Zap had to frown any harder, his face would crack. “That detention was unfair anyway. I wasn’t supposed to be involved in all that.” He thumbed towards Ruaan. “Do you think getting his amulet back has turned him into Mr. Sunshine?” He shut and locked his door.

Kai pocketed the keys. “It’s possible, but the amulet Runt had nearly wrecked her.” The up arrow on the lift button glowed orange in the dim light. Kai chose the floor they wanted and shut the lift door.

“As always, you’re missing the point entirely. All I’m saying—”

Ruaan stopped whistling, long enough to say, “The amulet she had wasn’t hers. Obviously, it would be bad for her.” He patted his chest once more. “This one? It’s all mine. I’ve never felt this content.” He picked up the tune he’d been whistling mid-phrase.

The lift bumped to a stop, and the doors slid apart. Ruaan’s whistling stopped, and he tapped them both on the shoulder. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

Kai felt it then too, a thick heaviness in the air that pressed on his chest and made him feel like he was choking. “Come on, let’s go see.”

The place seemed deserted. They searched every level and found nobody. “The only place we haven’t checked is the basement. Maybe they left a clue.”

The trapdoor swung back easily, and they climbed down the stairs and smack into the middle of a group of waiting people who looked a lot like Zulu.