Chapter Thirteen

 

The vibration of jackhammers deep in the earth reached Xylos from his perch. He stood in a cubby against the wall, hidden from all except the most observant. Botan stood by the hole occasionally monitoring the oxygen lines, an automatic weapon held tightly against his chest.

Xylos kept his amber on alert. They were near the wastelands, the deep canyons and caverns that held dangers more fearsome than the other clans. Their location was near an ancient underground lake, bringing cooler air than normally existed. The mine was in a spot that had many exits, making setting up defensive measures more difficult.

He checked the handheld monitor for the sensors placed around the area. The meters were dark. Xylos lifted his walkie-talkie.

"How's the walkabout?"

A crackle was followed by Kuma's voice. "Nothing out here. Quiet as a tomb. We're headed past the lake and swinging by your location in a few."

"Let's keep it that way. Going to grab a drink."

Botan motioned to his hidden location that he'd heard his request and was acknowledging it. As a stone-less soldado, his senses were entirely ordinary, but the wide cavern made it easy to keep watch on the sight lines, and besides, Kuma and Deacon were almost back. Their regular patrols made sure no person or critter larger than a cave cricket was getting near the mine.

"I'm falling asleep," said Botan with a wry grin. "This guard duty is as boring as your sex life."

"Grab an energy drink," said Xylos as he reached into a bag for a water bottle. "I ain't getting my guts ripped out because you fell asleep."

"What does it matter? I don’t have an amber. You can hear much better than I can. I could take a nap and it wouldn't matter," said Botan.

As Xylos dug the bottle out of the bag, a gold necklace with a pendant slipped out of his shirt, dangling around his neck.

"Nice," said Botan, wagging his eyebrows. "I bet you got that hitting one of the Drops city stores."

Xylos tucked it away. "Shut up, Botan. We're not supposed to talk about that."

"Fuck, man. Everyone knows. It's not like it's a secret that we've been hitting the Drops’ businesses. Even they know, but they can't do a damn thing about it." He held out his hand and made a fist. "Squeezing their necks until they run out of oxygen."

"Another reason to stay alert. We're not far from their territory."

"They wouldn't dare," said Botan with a shrug. "It's one thing to scrap in the light where it doesn't matter, but if they attack us, it'd break the peace and the alliance would have to help us eliminate them."

Xylos put a hand on the younger clan member's shoulder. "Botan. With all due respect, you've never been in a scrap. Until you've gotten your blades wet, or fired even a single bullet in anger or fear, you should shut the fuck up."

"At least I wasn't hiding in a grease trap when the Invasion happened," said Botan.

"That isn't the insult you think it is, my young friend. When the shadows wake, you do what you can to survive."

Further conversation was cut short when one of the sensors gave them a warning beep. Xylos immediately expanded his amber, listening for signs of intruders at the various entry spots. He put his hand on his walkie-talkie while he listened for secondary warnings.

"It's the western—"

"Shut up," whispered Xylos as he pulled out a single blade, keeping his other hand on the radio.

Another beep from the western sensors sent his heart rate soaring. A third had Xylos toggling the radio.

"Might have something incoming. Would appreciate it if you hightailed it back."

"Will do. On our way," replied Kuma's voice.

Xylos could believe that three beeps might have been caused by a roaming tunnel rat looking for food, but a fourth indicated something larger was headed their direction.

"Get them out of the hole," said Xylos as he crept forward to get out of the dome of light to where his amber vision would help him scout the western entrance. Keeping the blade in his left hand, he pulled a pistol with his right and shifted over until he was against the wall of the cavern. The stone sweated and a fuzzy green fungus grew in patches. Xylos leaned over, trying to get a good view of the archway that led to their cavern.

Behind him, Botan called into the hole for the miners to climb up the scaffolding. Xylos wanted to check on Kuma's progress, hoping it was soon because he was getting a bad feeling. The beeping from the monitor back at the hole was growing more insistent. Straining ahead with his amber, he tried to figure out what was triggering the sensors.

He saw something along the ground, moving between the rocks. Its low profile made it hard to discern if it was a threat or a wandering critter in search of food.

Xylos checked back to see Botan edging towards a perpendicular exit with his rifle pointed forward. The angle made it hard to tell if anything was coming from that direction, and he had his own issues to worry about. His amber revealed that something was ahead in the rocks.

The cocking of a gun had Xylos looking back again. Botan was halfway across the cave, aiming his weapon into the darkness. Xylos wanted to yell for him to get back but he didn't want to give away his position.

The scratching of claws on stone had Xylos returning his attention ahead of him. He saw something move, and lifted his pistol. A squat creature lunged out of the shadows and Xylos squeezed the trigger, the report echoing in his ears. He hit the creature solidly and ran forward to find it was a dead tunnel rat. A big one. Probably fifty pounds, but not the threat he'd expected.

Xylos exhaled and called back to Botan. "All clear here, man. It was a fucking tunnel rat."

When he checked back he couldn't see his clanmate. Botan was nowhere in sight. Xylos bounded across the rocks, reaching the last place he'd seen him. The exit that Botan had been approaching came alive with movement, shadows exploding with fast-moving creatures. Xylos unloaded his clip as the shadows threatened to overwhelm him.