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I limped past Sam, headed back to the nest.
It was home, and probably where the monster went to lick its wounds. I was done hiding and creeping in the dark. The Devil knew we were here; time to face it head on. Of course, Sam completely disagreed.
He grabbed my arm, stopping my limp-march. Before I could protest he pulled me into a side tunnel, one that sloped upward so it was, thank heaven, relatively dry. We kept going until it curved around, the main tunnel out of sight. This far in, the lights were still intact, blinking like the line had been damaged at some point.
“Are you out of your mind?” he whispered. “You saw what it did to Jake, to your dad. How can you possibly think you’d survive a face to face with it?”
“Because if it wanted the kids dead, they’d be dead by now.” Or eaten. Okay—shoved that one right out of my head before it could take hold. Though it would probably take on a life of its own later. The downside of a vivid imagination. “And someone, or something, sent that video of the first kid. The Devil wanted attention. Well, it got exactly that.”
“Okay, but let’s be a little more cautious. There’s no need to go storming in when we can check things out first, see if we can find an advantage. Any advantage,” he muttered.
“Right.” The adrenaline from Dad’s attack faded, and my temporary sense of invincibility went with it. “Forget what I just said. It was the need for revenge talking.”
He flashed a smile. A real smile. “Been there.” He glanced at my feet. “Can I make a suggestion?”
“I’m not going to like it, am I?”
“Definitely not. Your boots are—loud.”
“You mean ugly and obnoxious?” And full of water. I let out a sigh. “Fine. But I’m going to need your help.”
He set our duffle bags on the cement floor, then helped me sit, pulling the boot off my good foot first. Water came gushing out. I rolled off the dripping sock, figuring barefoot would be better than sloshing around in cold, wet microfiber. I didn’t think my miracle moisture-wicking socks could wick away this much moisture.
The second boot hurt, every single inch of the way. Once Sam got it off, I hugged my leg, my ankle on fire. He carefully eased my sock down, and sucked in his breath. My ankle was swollen to twice its size, bulging against the ace bandage. The bruises looked black in the flickering, sickly light.
“Can you walk on that?”
“I’ll run if I have to.” I let out a breath, slowly straightened my leg. My ankle practically screamed at me. “Or maybe not.”
“You should stay—” He cut himself off, grabbing the wall.
“Sam?”
“Okay—just lost my balance. Give me your hand.”
I did. His skin felt clammy; mine probably did, too. The water down here was cold, and seemed to feel colder the longer we slogged through it. He pulled me to my feet, and leaned against the wall. I touched his arm, startled to find him shaking.
“Sam.” He looked like he did the other day at school. Just before he had collapsed. “Sam—”
I caught him as his knees gave out, and he knocked us both to the cement floor, landing on top of me. Impact left me breathless, but I recovered quickly enough to feel the difference in the skin under my fingers. He shuddered against me, every muscle clenched.
“Sam—”
“No,” he whispered. “No—” The whisper escalated to a hoarse gasp.
I gripped his waist, braced myself to roll him off me. I froze when his eyes stared into mine, and started to change.
The clear grey-blue turned icy, primal. His pupils grew, black and furious. Those frightening, animal eyes stared down at me, mesmerized me.
He hauled me up and I let out a harsh gasp when he slammed me against the wall. “Alex,” he whispered, his low voice coming out a growl. “Run.”
Without warning the fingers digging into my arms turned lethal. Claws pierced through my hoodie, my shirt—he snatched them away just as the sharp tips brushed my skin.
“Sam—”
“Run!” I stumbled backward, but I couldn’t leave him. Not like this. “Alex, please—”
He doubled, dropping to his hands and knees. Muscles bulged, and his t-shirt split at the seams. His ragged breathing turned into panting, and I pressed against the wall when hair started to sprout from his skin.
“Sam...”
His head flew up, and his lips curled back from teeth that had grown longer, pointed. His panting became pained yips as his nose stretched, and his cheekbones widened, the cracking sound of his bones shifting the most horrific thing I’d ever heard.
I didn’t want to see anymore, but I stayed. For Sam. For some reason, I thought being here would help anchor what was still human in him.
“Sam.” I forced myself to push off the wall, kneel down close to him. Those primal, inhuman eyes watched me, an icy grey-blue in a face that no longer resembled Sam. “I’m here. Stay with me, Sam. I need you to stay with me.”
“Alex.” My name came out as a low snarl. “Go.”
I swallowed. “Not a chance.”
He barked at me. Literally barked. “Go!” The word changed to a howl that echoed through the tunnel. If the monster didn’t know where we were, it knew now. He lowered his head, panting and grunting, his newly formed claws scrabbling against the cement floor. “Won’t—remember—”
“You will. Jake told me he remembered things when he changed. You can fight this, Sam. Please,” I closed my hand over his, ready to be clawed at the very least. He went still. “Fight it, Sam.”
After an endless minute he jerked free, crawling away from me. He left the shredded remains of his shoes and socks behind, clawed, hairy feet sliding over the cement. The seams of his jeans ripped with every movement, and with a horror that froze me, I watched him finish his transformation.
Seven plus feet of grey fur and sharp claws rose in front of me. I couldn’t move. I wasn’t sure I was still breathing. He looked terrifying and magnificent, his eyes glowing in the darkness. One claw reached for me, a low growl rumbling out of him. It reminded me of Jake—and snapped the paralysis.
With a shout, I scrambled to my feet and ran down the tunnel, ignoring the screaming from my ankle. My heart pounded so hard I expected it to burst right through my ribcage, and so loud I couldn’t hear anything behind me. I risked a glance over my shoulder, turning back in time to see the lip of the tunnel entrance. Just before I tripped over it.
The snarl echoing behind me was enough to push me back to my feet.
Clutching the wall of the main tunnel, which was pitch black, I pulled the small flashlight out of my pocket and flipped it on. I limped forward, and took the closest, driest tunnel. The more noise I made, the easier it would be for Sam to track me.
My limp-run slowed to a limping walk pretty quickly. My ankle shrieked every time I put weight on it. And I had no idea where I was. Sam had the map. Abandoning the kids twisted my stomach, but I had nothing—no direction, no weapons, and a furious, freshly minted monster at my back. I kept going simply to put distance between us.
The tunnel took a sharp turn. And dead ended.
“No—” I stomped down my panic and searched the far wall. The beam found a ladder bolted into the wall, similar to the one that led down here.
I grabbed the ladder, put my right foot on the lowest rung before I turned off my flashlight and stuck it inside my hoodie. Taking a deep breath, braced for the inevitable pain, I pushed up. My ankle didn’t disappoint.
The climb took forever, my left foot not cooperating at all. But I used the leverage of my arms to compensate, and only had a couple of heart stopping slips by the time I reached the top.
Wrapping my left arm around the top rung, I dug out my flashlight, turned it on with the beam pointing down, carefully inched it up. The first thing the sliver of beam caught was the back of a sagging, wood building. With a sigh, I leaned my head against the ladder. I was in Hyattown.