Numbers Ignite (17 page)

“Sound the alarm.” She gulped a breath or two, then managed to speak. “A full NORA squadron just landed. They’ve found us.”

Within minutes the tunnels were complete chaos. Women in dresses and men in pressed slacks held screaming children as they sprinted for their homes, pushing their way through the packed tunnels.

“I think they already know,” I shouted to Coltrane over the noise. “Why sound the alarm?”

“It means we’re evacuating,” he yelled back. “Rather than hiding in our homes, we grab our supplies and meet in the emergency shelter.”

When we finally got to Coltrane’s dwelling, he ran inside. Seconds later an alarm sounded—a high-pitched tone that echoed down the hard rock hallways. The people crowding the tunnels started scrambling even faster, panicked. Bodies pushed by. Sobbing mixed in with the siren’s wailing.

I came to a stop in front of the dwelling. NORA had come back with troops. That meant either they knew I was here or they knew there was a settlement underground. Neither one boded well for us. All the supplies in the world wouldn’t help me now. Why hadn’t I told Lillibeth no and left when I had the chance?

I couldn’t save myself now. But I could save these people, and that meant I had to get up there. Now.

“Amy,” Coltrane’s voice came through the divider. “Come grab a pack. We need to hurry and get to the shelter.”

“Actually,” I said, moving the curtain to follow. “There’s a change of—”

A low voice at my shoulder stopped me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

I turned in time to see a kitchen knife plunging toward my stomach.

I leaped aside, redirecting the blade, and settled into fighting stance.

Maxim stepped back, then narrowed his eyes. “Definitely trained. I wonder if Lillibeth also knew that you’re a soldier.”

I kept my eye on the knife. It was slightly serrated, but not very long. “Put that down. There’s no time for this.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Are you coming willingly, or should I hold this to your throat?”

“You’re going to evacuate with the rest of them. I’m going up, but I’m doing it alone.”

He adjusted the knife in his hand. “And let you run off the first chance you get? I don’t think so.”

I rolled my eyes. “If I go by myself, I’ll tell them there’s nobody down here. They won’t believe that if you come along. Now get out of my way.”

“Amy?” Coltrane called from inside. “I need you to carry a few things.” He swept the divider aside and took a step out. He didn’t see Maxim until it was too late.

Maxim turned on him. He plunged the knife into Coltrane’s upper arm. Coltrane gave a choked yell and stumbled backward, hitting the side of the doorway. Maxim pulled the knife out and held it to the younger boy’s throat. Coltrane froze.

“Let’s try this again,” Maxim told me. “You’re coming with me, girlie, and you’re doing it now.”

Coltrane stared at me in horror.

I walked slowly over to him, my hands up. “Fine. I’ll go with you. Just don’t hurt Coltrane.”

Maxim smiled and lowered the knife. Coltrane straightened, cradling his injured arm. Blood soaked through the sleeve. I tried to keep my face impassive as I approached. Maxim’s knife thrust into Coltrane’s arm had been wild, uncontrolled. The guy had no idea what he was doing. I stopped, keeping my palms forward and my eyes on the knife.

Maxim took a step toward me. I struck then, knocking his hand aside. I’d intended to dislodge and retrieve the knife, but it went flying and hit the wall. Maxim’s face darkened, and he lunged for the blade, but I threw my leg out to trip him. He landed hard on his stomach and rolled over, his gaze murderous.

I didn’t give him time to think. A tight fist to his nose yielded a sickening crunch. He gasped, throwing his hands immediately to his face, and sank to the floor again, lying on his back.

I hiked the dress up and grabbed the knife, holding it toward him it before Maxim could get any ideas. “Hurt Coltrane again, and I’m coming for you.”

Maxim’s eyes were fixed on the blade. After a moment he nodded, still clasping his nose, blood trickling between his fingers.

Coltrane still stared at me. “What
are
you?”

I took his hand and pulled him back into his dwelling. In the hallway behind us, Maxim grunted. A moment later, heavy footsteps pattered away. Good. I tossed the knife onto the bed and wiped my bloody hands absently on the dress.

Coltrane stared at my hands, then tore his gaze away. He eased himself onto the bed, then lifted his sleeve to examine the wound.

“Let me see,” I said.

“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “That was little more than a glorified butter knife. I just need some painkiller. Once I get to my mom, she can stitch it up.”

“I’ll get it. How do I get into your mom’s medicine cabinet?”

“In her—her pillowcase,” he managed, trying to unbutton his shirt. Dark blood soaked most of his sleeve. His shirt was definitely ruined, the one he’d washed and ironed and saved for what was supposed to be the biggest night of his life. Finally he grasped the collar and, with a mighty heave, ripped the shirt apart. He eased it off and then tossed it on the floor. “It’s a round piece of metal.”

I retrieved it and trotted back in. “How does it work?”

“Run it against the lock,” Coltrane said, his voice more steady now that the shock had passed. Color was already returning to his cheeks.

The lock clicked when I touched the magnet to the cabinet door. The small metal door swung open. I dug through the bottles until I found one labeled “Pain,” then swiped a clean syringe from the bottom shelf.

I filled it as I’d seen Lillibeth do. “I’m not sure where to inject this.”

He eyed the syringe. “My shoulder. Here, I’ll do it.” He took it and plunged it just above his wound, wincing. After a moment, he pulled it away and handed it back to me, then took the roll of bandages I offered and began wrapping it around his bicep.

I stood there, uncertain what to do. I needed to get to the surface, but I didn’t dare leave him here alone. This wasn’t exactly the good-bye I’d imagined.

Coltrane finished off the roll and studied my face, his jaw tight with anger. “You didn’t answer my question. What are you really? Is that what they taught you to do in NORA? Smash peoples’ noses in?”

“Of course not. I was trained—” I stopped, realizing that explaining my time in the empress’s special forces unit probably wasn’t a good idea. “I never wanted to hurt anyone.”

“Whatever.” He stood. “I’m going to the defense lab. Time to test out my project. I don’t care what you do. Just—don’t do anything stupid.” With that, he strode out.

I imagined a dozen men and boys retrieving their contraptions, excited and afraid at the prospect of actually using them. They were probably the ones who would face any NORA soldiers who broke in. A line of unarmed, hopeful inventors against an army.

An army I’d brought to them.

My eyes fell to the medicine cabinet, its door still open. Dozens of identical brown bottles were lined up in neat rows, all labeled with a careful hand. Lillibeth was prepared for anything.
Spanish Flu. Rabies. Viper Antivenom. Scorpion Bite
.
I scanned the words carefully, then stopped on a bottle at the very back. There were two, actually, and they both said the same thing:
Rattlesnake Antivenom.

I took one out and read it again, confused. Lillibeth said a rattlesnake had bitten me and that I’d used the last of the antivenom. But she had two full vials here.

An unsettled feeling filled my stomach, then anger. No, not anger. Pure, undefiled rage. Another quick scan of the labels failed to turn up a single tube of nutrition pills. I slammed the medicine cabinet door closed, not caring if it locked, and swiped the only baglight in the room. The golden light around me shifted with the movement.

Then I stalked out the door.

The vent in the EPIC bunker in NORA had been tall and narrow, with handholds strategically placed to make climbing easy. The architects had obviously intended it to be an emergency exit if necessary.

The underground settlers, though, had no such contingencies. Their ventilation shaft was short and wide. Giant fans and thick filters filled almost the entire space. There was barely enough room to get around them if I plastered myself against the edge, ducked my head, and slid by. The fans were loud and powerful, and after squeezing past the second fan, I learned to squint to prevent the blinding dirt from activating my tear ducts. It was hard to decide which was worse—not being able to see, or the heavy dust coating the inside of my nose and throat. The only good thing was that it gradually ascended upward. If it had gone straight down, there was no way I could have climbed it intact. Especially in a dress. Why hadn’t I changed my clothes?

“Idiot,” I muttered for the tenth time. “I had to believe her.” I sank my boot into something soft, then yanked it away, grateful for the thickness of the soles. Most of the dead animals in here were hard, but some were relatively fresh. The stench was nearly overpowering. To my relief, the golden baglight I’d stolen from the dwelling had already started to dim. There was very little in these ducts I wanted to see.

I lifted my dress to step over another unrecognizable lump of fur. Maxim and Coltrane thought I was leaving to save them. I’d intended to do just that, and I knew that was the right thing.

But Lillibeth had lied to me. She’d manipulated me, using me just like Dresden and Konnor and Mills. It didn’t matter where I went—they were all the same. Or maybe I was the problem. I was too trusting. Maxim had accused me of wanting to run the moment I escaped. The entire settlement probably expected that. I was a digit, after all, incapable of kindness.

The last section of the vent went nearly horizontal, and I could see the gentle white glow of moonlight ahead. I paused at the opening and let the cool desert air soothe my aching lungs before climbing out. It felt so good to stand up straight.

The vent ended on a slight hill. When I turned around, though, the vent opening wasn’t there. All I saw was a flat section of dirt. These settlers were serious about their camouflage tech. That also explained all the dead animals. I wiped my boots on the ground again for good measure, then looked around—and instantly flattened myself on the ground.

In the distance, NORA soldiers swarmed the desert like hundreds of angry ants. The abandoned town stood in the distance, barely visible in the night. A circle of lights, aircraft, and vehicles stood just outside it, circling something I couldn’t quite see. The north exit.

I squinted and counted the choppers, tiny reflective lumps in the darkness. Fourteen or fifteen. It was impossible to count the troops. The soldiers clustered together as if waiting for something. There was no question now that they knew people lived underground. The only thing I didn’t know was whether they thought I was still down there.

A core of hot anger sat in my belly, refusing to be extinguished. I paused to consider my next move, then realized I’d already made my decision. It had been decided the moment Lillibeth uttered her lying words.

I tossed the baglight back toward the hill, and it disappeared behind the camouflage tech. Then I hiked the dress up to my knees, turned toward the mountains, and ran.