The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) (11 page)

To forestall any of the
complaints that were about to be brought up, judging by the
expressions on some of their faces, she said that she would take the
first watch and that Justin would take the second. Justin nodded as
she glanced at him.

“
Okay,
eat, get some sleep. We'll keep a look out.”

“
Thanks
Maria. You too, Justin,” Yolanda said loudly. The others chimed
in as well. Both Justin and Maria just smiled.

Justin got back up and
moved back to sit by Aaron. As he settled himself down on the sand,
Aaron handed him half a mango. “Here you go, Just,” he
said with a grin. And then, sounding more serious, Aaron said quietly
“If you get tired on your watch, wake me up and I'll take a
turn. You need as much rest as we do. More in fact, considering what
you've been through today.”

Justin offered his thanks
but privately doubted that he'd wake up his friend. Something about
this place made him more than a little uneasy. Maybe it was the lack
of sound, or the fact that they seemed to be going in circles. Or
even the fact that they hadn't seen anyone who could be the person
that needed the monkey's harvested fruit.

He ate the mango, lay
back against the wall and closed his eyes, convinced that he wouldn't
be able to get any sleep.

With a start, he sat up
and squinted at Maria as she gently shook his shoulder.

“
Sorry
to wake you, Justin,” she whispered. “But I can't keep my
eyes open much longer.”

Justin began to move and
then realized that Aaron's head had slid over in his sleep and was
resting on his shoulder. He smiled affectionately at his friend,
gently pushed him over so that he rested firmly against the wall and
then stood up slowly.

He stretched and rubbed
his eyes. “Get some sleep, Maria,” he whispered. “I'll
keep watch.”

She gave him a grateful
smile, slid down to sit between Dominic and Julia and immediately
closed her eyes.

Justin looked around.
Nothing had changed and everyone seemed to be asleep. He wandered
down the hallway to the next junction and looked up and down the
other halls. No sign of movement, just the same disturbed paths in
the deep sand that covered the ground. He stopped and listened.
Nothing. Nothing but his own quiet breathing. Justin shook his head
in frustration. What was the point of this place?

He walked back to the
group and continued on to the intersection they had already passed
through. Still no sound or movement. He just did not understand. They
had seen no other rooms beyond the original one that led from the
lower level. There were no images or carvings on the walls, which
Justin knew was unusual in Sanctuary. The old Titans had seemed to
love decoration and covered most of their walls with it.

There weren't even the
communications nodes that appeared regularly on all the other walls
that Justin had seen in the complex. What was this place for?

He crouched down and
smoothed out an area on the sandy floor. Then, trying to remember the
various twists and turns that had led them to this point, he traced
their path through the maybe six or seven intersections that had
brought them to this spot.

When he was pretty sure
that his map was accurate, Justin sat back on his heels and looked at
the whole thing. If the map was right, it looked like the entire
level so far was made of walls and corridors. No rooms, at least not
yet. No water, no plants, no signs of others. What was the point?

He crouched there, almost
grinding his teeth in frustration. The level below had been used to
grow food. The one below that was simply an abandoned space. But this
level? Someone ate the food that was harvested. Someone made these
vague paths in the sand. Who was it and why?

Justin stood up and wiped
his face. It was so hot in here. Now that he was standing and had a
different perspective on his map, he studied it once more. Then he
clapped a hand to his forehead. Of course! Justin, you're a moron, he
thought to himself. It's a maze! It's a damned maze.

He shook his head,
totally baffled. Why a maze? For some kind of weird Titan games? A
test maybe? And why cover the floors with sand? And make it so bloody
hot? Lots of questions, he thought, but no obvious answers.

Standing there, lost in
thought as he stared at his map, Justin began sniffing the air. There
were the occasional little gusts of hot air along the corridors, but
none of the group had paid much attention to them. Now that he was
alone and it was quiet though, Justin felt the movement of the air,
except this time there came a smell along with it.

He made a grimace of
disgust. What was that? It had a sour, sweaty element to it mixed
with an animal musk that was somehow familiar to Justin. Where had he
smelled that scent before? He leaned against the wall and tried to
remember.

Ah, that was it! When he
was very young, Justin's parents had treated him to a day in the
country. Some farm had had a petting area where Justin was thrilled
to get close to the farm animals. Sheep, cows, horses; he was allowed
to pet them and feel how soft their coats were. It had been very
exciting. But it was the smell he was remembering now. That heavy,
animal scent was very strong on that far away summer's day.

Justin wiped his forehead
again. It had been very hot that day as well, he remembered. He
looked around. Where was the smell coming from? A quick glance back
at the group of sleepers showed him that they still hadn't moved, so
he turned and cautiously began to follow the currents of air that
were carrying the odor.

He turned left into a
short hallway, then right at the next junction. The smell was still
there, but it wasn't getting any stronger. He stopped again. Wait,
what was that sound? Justin backed up quickly against the nearest
wall, leaning hard against it. Was the sound coming through the wall?

He heard a creak like
leather being stretched and a faint jingling sound. And a dull, slow
rhythmic thudding, like heavy footfalls. He listened intently, barely
breathing. Was there a metallic sound, like the monkey-bot had made?
No, nothing like that. Whatever or whoever was making this noise, he
doubted that it was a machine.

The sound slowly faded,
as did the smells on the faint current of air. He relaxed slowly,
letting out his breath and realized that his heart had been pounding
fiercely. He ducked his head and wiped his face on his sleeve.
Justin's mouth was as dry as the sand around him and he wanted to get
back, eat a mango for some moisture. Maybe the others would wake up
soon.

He turned and retraced
his steps to the first intersection. He had turned right here, hadn't
he? The sand was disturbed in all directions and he couldn't tell.
Yeah, it was right. He headed off in that direction, then stood at
the next junction. Now left? Wait, no, it must be right. Or was it?
He stood there, almost dizzy in the heat. Oh crap, he thought. I got
turned around somehow.

Think, Justin, think!
Which way? He was retracing his steps in his mind when he heard
something. It sounded like a muffled yell. Justin turned in the
direction it seemed to come from. One of the group? Aaron? There was
another one! Without thinking, he ran down the hallway that seemed to
lead the right way. At the end, he turned in what he thought was the
right direction and continued to run. I'm coming! he thought, not
daring to yell. Another turn. Yes! There was his map on the sand.
With an immense sense of relief he ran toward the group and then
skidded to a stop, almost falling on the slippery sand. Everyone was
gone.

Justin
stood there and stared at the empty corridor. Maybe he was in the
wrong place? No, there were several pieces of fruit scattered around
in the sand. And he could see where the others had been leaning
against the walls as they slept. He walked over and crouched down,
grabbing a bit of cloth sticking out of the sand. Aaron's jacket.
He'd been using it as a makeshift pillow rolled up behind his head.

Justin
picked up the jacket, shook the sand out of it and smoothed it
gently. Aaron, he thought. He looked around again. What happened?
Where did they go? Remembering the faint cries, it was obvious that
they were taken by someone. But who? And how many? There had been
seven healthy teens here. None of us are big and strong, he thought,
but we are all quick, all Titan tough. What the hell happened?

You
left, a voice inside him said. That's what happened. You were on
guard duty, watching over them and you left. That's why they got
taken. That's why Aaron could be hurt now, or worse.

Shut
up, he told himself fiercely. I know I screwed up. I know! And now I
have to fix this, somehow. But how? There were no sounds now, no
smells. Just him, standing in the middle of a maze panting and
sweating. If only I could get a bigger picture, he thought. See the
whole area around me. It might help to figure out where to go. He
realized that stumbling around blindly was not going to help the
others or himself.

Justin
looked up at the walls. Twenty feet high, at least. Now, if I could
climb up there, he thought, I would get a good view of the place. And
while he wasn't as good a climber as Richard, he certainly was okay.
The problem was that the walls were mirror smooth. No flaws, no
carvings, nothing to grab on to. But maybe some other wall would hold
more promise. He'd keep a look out.

In
the meantime, Justin realized that standing here wasn't helping
anyone. He was still full of self recrimination and shame. And he
winced when he thought of what Dominic would have to say about him
deserting his post. But never mind that now. It was time to move.

Justin
buttoned up Aaron's jacket and tied the arms together. Then he
stuffed all the scattered fruit into the makeshift bag and quickly
ate a mango for energy and moisture. Then he headed off down the
corridor, took a left for no particular reason, and started to walk.

He
listened carefully as he cautiously made his way down each hallway.
Every path looked the same as the last but Justin tried to use a
pattern to perhaps reach the edge of the level.

Right
turn, left turn, right turn, left turn. He figured that this would
lead him in a fairly straight direction. It made sense, but the maze
wasn't very cooperative.

The
corridors differed in length and a right turn might take him only a
few steps while the next left turn would lead him down a long hallway
of maybe thirty steps. And the angles weren't exactly the same
either. A left turn might be a ninety degree turn, or it might only
be a gentle turn of forty-five degrees. It all varied and Justin knew
that he wasn't really walking in a constant direction. But what other
choice was there?

After
perhaps fifteen minutes of cautious travel, he stopped for a
breather. He had heard no sounds, smelled no smells and had no
indication of where his friends could possibly be. He leaned against
a wall and looked up at the distant ceiling. Cold, indifferent white
lights shone down on him. If we make it out of here, he thought
hopelessly, how many more levels do we have to climb? How far to
safety, if there is any safety up there. Are they still alive? Mrs.
Mallon, Mr. Fitzgerald, Norm, Gerry, the rest? Maybe they had beaten
back the rebel Titans. Maybe they're looking for us right now, Justin
thought. But it was only a desperate wish. He didn't believe it
really. His situation was too dire, his spirits too low to believe
that they could count on anyone but themselves. He shook his head.
Here and now, Justin, he thought. Live in the here and now. Get them
back, get Aaron back and worry about the future tomorrow.

He
squared his shoulders and wiped off his sweaty face. Let's get on
with it, he thought with renewed determination. And he headed off
once again.

After
only a few minutes of walking though, Justin came across something
new. In the middle of a corridor, almost buried in the sand, was a
banana peel! He reached down, pulled it out of the sand and shook it
off. It was still moist on the inside. Justin stared at the peel in
confusion. What the hell?

Thanks
to the heat and his fatigue, it took Justin a moment to make the
connection. The others! One of them must have dropped this here. But
then he thought, why? They wouldn't have known he would come down
this hallway, would they? But maybe, maybe they had been dropping
other stuff as they were carried or pushed or whatever, and he had
simply been in the wrong corridors.

He
knew it was a desperate, grasping at straws idea, but he could not
think of another reason for this peel to just be sitting here at
random. Okay guys, he thought, I'm trusting in you to show me the
way. He continued down the hallway, his eyes fixed on the ground,
hoping that he was right.