D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

“Fine. What do we do once we’re on top?”

Mark shrugged. “Beats me. The map only gets us to here. After that we wing it.”

I turned to Elli and said, “Stay down here on the platform. We’ll call for you to come up.”

Elli nodded and backed away from the ladder. “Ready?” Mark asked.

I hitched the two guns up onto my shoulder and nodded. Mark scrambled right up the ladder. I followed close behind. In no time he was at the top. I leaned back and looked up to see the circular outline of the manhole cover. Mark waved for me to look away. I waved back for him to keep going and not worry about me. He shrugged and raised a hand up to the circle. Manhole covers are heavy to begin with, and if this thing was covered with dirt, it must have weighed a ton. I saw Mark strain to push with one hand. It barely budged. He had to use both hands, which wasn’t easy while balancing on a ladder. He climbed up one rung higher so he could use his legs as well. Yet again, I was amazed at how much my friend had changed. He was now a powerful, confident guy. I hoped he was powerful enough to get us the heck out of there. I was about to climb up, to see if I could help, when I felt the first trickle of dirt fall in my eyes. I looked away, and not a second too soon because Mark had the cover in motion and a load of dirt hit me on my head. I saw Elli on the platform, looking up. She had to step back to avoid getting hit with the dirt shower. The sound of metal raking across metal meant that Mark was pushing the cover aside. More dirt fell on my head, but I didn’t care. I wanted out of there. Fast. If there were any dados hanging around, we were in the worst possible position.

The scraping stopped and so did the cascade of dirt. I took a chance and looked up, to see a crescent of gray sky. Mark didn’t waste time admiring the sight. He popped his head up and did a quick three-sixty around.

“Bring her up,” he whispered down to me.

I looked down to Elli and motioned for her to climb. By the time I looked back up, Mark was already gone. I climbed quickly and squeezed myself through the sliver of an opening. Mark was right next to me, on his belly, his head near the open manhole.

“Stay down,” he whispered. “It’s clear, but who knows for how long?”

I scrambled out and got down on the ground next to Mark. The whole world looked gray, mostly because of the early-morning light that comes before the warm rays of the sun sneak over the horizon. We were in a wide alley between two high walls that ran parallel to each other. One, I realized, was the outer wall of the Ravinian fortress. It towered high over us like a skyscraper. I guessed that we were a couple hundred yards back from the front wall where the huge doors were. This wall had no doors. Or windows. Or anything. It was a sheer, stone facade that looked more like a giant dam than a wall. About thirty yards across from the fortress was the wall of another building. This wasn’t anywhere near as tall. I’d say it was about four stories high. But it was still pretty huge. We were maybe fifty yards from the front of this building, but it stretched back the other way for several hundred more. I looked at the massive building, then to Mark.

He nodded. He knew what I was thinking.

“Yeah,” he whispered. “The factory.”

The best news was that there wasn’t a dado in sight. We had made it through what Mark thought was the riskiest part of the trip. I had no doubt there would be plenty of risks ahead to make up for it.

Elli poked her head up out of the hole. Mark and I quickly helped her out. After she was safely up, we struggled to push the manhole back into place and brushed dirt over it to hide our tracks. The ground between the walls was nothing but dirt, which made it easy to rebury the cover. We made sure to spread the dirt around enough to disguise the manhole. If somebody was looking for it, they’d probably find it. But if a random dado walked by, I was confident they wouldn’t uncover anything. The whole time we were disguising the manhole I was thinking how there was no way we’d be able to use it to get out of there. Especially if we had to find it in a hurry. When it was time to get back to the city, we were going to have to find another route.

Mark was already scanning the building, looking for a way in. There were no windows in this wall either. No way to get a quick peek inside. It looked to me like the little brother of the much larger Ravinian conclave across from it. There was a set of double doors near the front of the building. Next to the doors was a metal ladder that ran up to the roof. We didn’t need to discuss it. This was where we had to go. I looked to Elli. She nodded that she was okay, but her eyes were wild. She was scared. I was afraid that she was barely holding it together.

I motioned for Mark to go first. He jumped up and scampered to the wall of the factory and the double doors. I held Elli’s arm and helped her run after him. My other hand was on the straps of the two rifles. I’d have preferred to have one of them pointed and ready, but I couldn’t do that, hold the other strap, and guide Elli all at the same time. I had to trust that if a shot needed to be taken quickly, Mark would take it.

We got to the door in seconds. Mark tried it. It was locked.

“I guess that would have been too easy,” he said with a shrug.

He tried to force it open. No go. I looked at the ladder.

“We could climb, or we could head around the corner of this building to look for another door. I’m thinking that the longer we spend sneaking around, the better chance we’ll be seen.”

Mark didn’t wait for any other opinions. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and climbed the ladder.

“One more climb,” I said to Elli with a weak smile.

She went right after Mark. I was last in line. Climbing this ladder was hairier than any of the others. For one, we were totally exposed. Anybody coming by would spot us in a nanosecond. It was scary, too. Underground it was safe and closed. Out here we clung to the side of a building with nothing around us but air. We probably would have been hurt just as badly if we had fallen when we were down below, but being out in the open made this seem much more dangerous. I guess it’s like the difference between walking a tightrope that’s two inches off the ground… or thirty feet up. I made a point of not looking down.

We made it to the top with no problem. When I reached the lip and stepped onto the flat roof, I gasped. I actually gasped. The building was huge. Seeing one side wall didn’t give the full perspective. Up on top we could see the whole thing, and there was a lot to see. The roof was completely flat, broken up by various air ducts and skylights that dotted the surface. From the front corner we could pretty much see to the far side. It was a long way away. The building was probably twice as long as it was wide. It was an enormous, sprawling structure.

“You could make a whole lot of helicopters here,” I pointed out.

“I guess you need a lot to hunt down seventy thousand people,” Mark added.

“Let’s go see,” I said, and jogged off.

We were totally exposed up there, but what else could we do? I ran toward the closest skylight, hoping it would give us access. The glass window looked like a small greenhouse structure on top of the flat roof. I got there first and peered down for my first look inside.

Sure enough, there were several rows of gleaming black, brand-spanking-new helicopters lined up, ready to fly. Each had rocket launchers in front. These choppers were assault weapons, no doubt about it.

Elli and Mark joined me and looked down.

“Wow,” Mark exclaimed. “Armed for bear, too.”

“It’s monstrous,” Elli gasped, numb.

A few feet beyond the skylight, I spotted a hatch with a handle. I grabbed the metal loop and pulled. The hatch opened.