Chapter Forty-One

 

The boxes of explosives sat in a neat pile near the rock wall, covered in pale crickets crawling over the containers. Choo-Choo knocked them off with his hand, flicking the larger ones into the air.

"How the fuck are we going to carry all this?" he asked Vasilisa.

"It's not all explosives. She filled it with other stuff in case anyone peeked into the boxes," she said.

"There's four of us. We should be able to haul it just fine," said Yara, nodding to Tick, who was stroking Koro's back as she was wrapped around his neck.

After disassembling the boxes, removing the explosives and triggering mechanisms, then carefully situating them into their backpacks, the four of them started moving.

"Tick on point. Everyone keep your sensing on high, and for shadows' sake, try not to get into a firefight if we run into a patrol. If someone gets a lucky shot, we're going to be paste on the walls."

The passages were surprisingly quiet. Usually they had to avoid patrols after Koro spotted them, but they made their way to the old Razor tunnel without incident.

"Where is everyone?" asked Yara once they were safely in the tunnel.

"Maybe they're at the Terreno for the semifinals today," said Tick.

"I don't think so," said Choo-Choo, shaking his head. "I wonder if this has anything to do with Camina's missing trainees."

The implications brought a heavy mood to the group. Choo-Choo couldn't figure out where they were going, but it seemed bad, either way. The level tunnel made travel quicker than normal, though it still took a few hours. They climbed through the hatch into a fungus-lit cavern. Moving through the Undercity had never bothered Choo-Choo, but after the escape from the excavation site last time, he had a new appreciation for the shadows.

"We're about a half hour away. Keep your weapons ready and your senses on high," he said, reconfirming his blades with a touch.

"Stop right there! Hands up!" came a voice from twenty feet behind them.

The dim light revealed a young man with a big gun clasped between two quivering hands. His hair was matted on the side, suggesting he might have been sleeping, which was why they hadn't sensed him when they came out of the tunnel. His Alliance uniform was dirty and the front was tied incorrectly.

"Hey, man," said Choo-Choo, raising his arms. "We're bringing supplies to the site. No need to point that at us."

The guard screwed up his face. "No. You're not supposed to be here. They stationed me here to keep an eye on this hatch and they said anyone who comes through it is against us."

Choo-Choo cocked a smile. "You got it all wrong, man. No one told us about that. We thought it'd be easier to move through the tunnel rather than the normal routes. We're part of Lee's crew."

"No you ain't," he said. "I heard about you two from the others. I thought you were dead, but I guess they were wrong. I'm gonna take you back and let Titus' men deal with you."

Choo-Choo thought about throwing a blade, but the curved fighting ones weren't the best at range.

"I wouldn't do that," said Yara from his left. She said it low and mean. The guard trained his gun on her, the shaking growing more pronounced. "Look. They left you out here by yourself. And look at your hands. You can barely hold that gun level. Maybe you get one of us, but if you shoot, you're a dead man. We're faster than you. Better if you put down the gun and we'll tie you up and put you in the tunnel until we can retrieve you later. It'll suck, but at least you'll be alive."

"What? Why would you say that?" asked the guard, shifting his weapon.

"Because you're out of your element," said Yara. "You look like a nice kid who got excited about the idea of becoming a waku, but now you're hiding in a cavern without a clue of how dangerous it is to fall asleep."

"I didn't fall asleep!"

"Either way. You know you shouldn't be here, but you're too afraid to leave now that you have a few stones. They probably told you they'd hunt you down and skin you alive if you left."

A sob slipped out of the kid's lips. He barely looked fifteen. If he'd been born in the shadows, he'd be a fit, fighting machine, but the kids they brought in from the light were only skilled in petty crime and drug sales.

"How about we—"

The flutter of wings was the only warning. Koro sunk her fangs into the kid's neck. The gun exploded, the bright flash temporarily blinding before he dropped to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

"Emilio..."

His heart sunk when he saw the darkness spreading across his sister's chest. A dark hole went through the strap of her backpack and into her shoulder. He caught her as she sunk to her knees.

"No, no, no," he said, pressing his hand over the wound as he slipped the pack off. "Fuck."

Vasilisa's eyes were unfocused as a headlamp shone in her face. "I'm not going to die, am I?"

"Get the fucking first aid kit," he told Yara, but she was already handing it over. "Why can't one of us have an opal? Why?" Then to his sister, "You're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay."

Her shirt was soaked. Blood was coming out of the wound fast. Yara wadded up gauze, which he shoved into the hole on the front and back of her shoulder. He had no idea how much blood she'd lost already, but his hands were covered.

"You can't die, Vasy. Mami would kill me. And then it would break her heart and then it'd only be me left. You can't die. You just can't."

Her chin sunk towards her chest as her eyes threatened to close. He pressed his hand against her forehead, pushing it up.

"No sleeping. Stay with me. You have to stay awake."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but you do," he said as Yara wrapped bandages around his sister's shoulder, holding the gauze in the holes. The material immediately darkened from blood.

"More, wrap more," he told Yara.

"That's all the bandages."

"Cut that asshole's shirt then. He doesn't need it."

Using the dead guard's shirt, they applied additional bandages to the wound.

"It's slowed, but I don’t know if she has internal bleeding or not," he said.

"Use your amber," said Yara.

He'd never tried to analyze a gunshot wound. He pressed his hands against her shoulder, keeping them there even as she winced. The body was a confusing place of unfamiliar sounds, overridden by the thudding of her heart. He listened for a long minute before pulling away.

"I couldn't hear anything. I don't know if that's good or bad."

"I'm feeling better," said Vasilisa weakly.

"You look like shit," he told her. "Pale as Leesa's white ass."

"What do we do now?" asked Tick, frowning.

"We have to take her back so Pandora can heal her with the opal."

"She might not even be available. She's still in the tournament, hopefully," said Yara.

"I'm fine," said Vasilisa with half-lidded eyes. "Go. Blow up some shit. I'll wait here and you can take me back."

"I can't do that, Vasy."

"You have to," said Vasilisa. "There's not enough time to take me and then come all the way back. It was hard enough sneaking out of the Terreno through those old passages. You might not be able to make it in, and especially not with me. I can't crawl very good right now."

"Vasy..."

"You know I'm right, older brother. If I was a waku and we were on a mission, you'd leave me. The only reason you're not is because I'm your sister."

He grimaced, but couldn't bring himself to agree.

"She's right," said Yara. "I'm sorry. But she is. We can't bring her back and cause a distraction."

"I could take her back and you two could go on," said Choo-Choo.

"I'll be fine, Emilio. I'm feeling better already. Just move me to that dead guy's spot and I'll stay here until you get back," said Vasilisa with a forced smile.

"You're not lying to me? You're not just saying this so I'll leave?"

His heart was bouncing around in his chest.

"Emilio...go..."

"We should listen to her," said Yara. "Pan can heal her when we get back. Another hour or two isn't going to be fatal. And you might not even have access to Pan if we went back now. She'll probably be in the second match of the day by then."

"Tick?" he asked angrily.

"You won't be mad if I'm wrong, will you?"

"Tick, just tell me your fucking opinion."

The diminutive waku swallowed. "I agree with them. We have to go now. Without a distraction, Titus and some of the others will be at the ceremony. We have to thin their numbers or we'll never get a good shot at Dominion."

Choo-Choo closed his eyes. He could hear his mother screaming at him for letting Vasilisa die just like his older sister. For the first time in his life, he regretted ever being a waku. He wondered what it would be like to live in the city with his family alive and happy, not covered in blood in the darkness.

"Emilio, you have to go," said Vasilisa firmly.

She looked him in the eye as she pushed him away.

"Let me move you first." He picked her up, cradling her to his chest as he relocated his sister to the matted sleeping bag behind a rocky crenellation. He kissed her on the forehead after he set her down.

"I'll be fine. Just kick ass and hurry back. I'd really like to visit Mami with you. See her smile when we both walk in the door."

Choo-Choo rose to his feet hesitantly. It was hard to take steps away from his sister in her condition. What if she wasn't alive when he came back? Could he ever forgive himself? He didn't think so. He'd burn the world down if that happened.