Matthew Costello - Rage

Without light he’d be hard to see. And if anyone did spot him, hopefully they wouldn’t at first be able to tell him from one of the scrambling Enforcers.

He started running.

To the prison building… and a massive shaft that pumped out exhaust from the kitchens below.

But the shaft was quiet at the moment, and if the plans were right, it provided a hole that led into the belly of this building.

Raine looked over his shoulder and saw Enforcers by the fence, guns lowered but on alert. Other Enforcers had to be heading to the generator on the carrier.

If there were power backups, nobody had thrown the switch yet-or maybe they were dedicated to the complex’s vital, internal systems.

He turned on the headlamp Elizabeth had given him and climbed into the exhaust shaft.

It went down, then horizontal, wending its way deeper into the building.

He moved as quietly as he could, the space too tight for anything more than a crawl. And when he hit a part that led straight down, he wedged his legs and arms against the sides and painfully inched his way downward.

Back and forth, like navigating a maze, every now and then hearing sounds outside the shaft, knowing from the plans that he was cutting through the Enforcers’ barracks.

Hoping they were all outside dealing with the crisis.

A few feet down, his arms and shoulders gave out and he slipped for a few frightening seconds. He pressed his legs to the sides and stopped the fall.

But this also produced a loud scratching sound. He paused, waiting to hear if this tight air shaft was about to be his final resting place.

Nothing.

A breath, then he went farther down.

When he hit bottom-when the shaft turned flat-that would be where the cells were.

If the layout that Elizabeth had was accurate.

It had been up to this point. But if it wasn’t… who knew where he’d end up.

His feet touched bottom and he had just enough room to bring his head down and start crawling forward.

Now to find an opening, some place where the shaft could be kicked out and he could get out of the shaft.

He didn’t let himself think that he’d gotten into the Capital.

But he couldn’t help but think: How the hell will I get out?

Farther along, he came to a square panel in the shaft, his headlamp picking up the screws that held it in place. It didn’t look large enough for him to crawl through.

But it looked like the only option.

He dug out a knife from his pack and went to work on the screws, the pointed end of the knife chewing up the metal head of the screws as much as it unscrewed them.

But taking his time, slowing a bit so he didn’t completely strip the screws, he got them out.

When the last screw fell to the floor of the shaft, he gave the panel a nudge.

It could be pushed free.

But where was he? Who might be there to see the panel fall out?

Surprise!

One thing he knew, one change to the plan: there was no way-if he did find Marshall-they would be able to get out this way.

Might as well just surrender.

Checking that he had a handgun in a side pocket, he wriggled the backpack free and nudged it down to his feet. His pack would have to trail behind him if he had any hope of getting out. He’d have to perform a circus trick to do it, pulling the pack along with his feet as he fell.

He thought of turning the headlamp off.

No, he thought. Better to leave it on. Could be a useful distraction.

If someone is down there waiting for me.

All right then, he thought. Time to go.

He gave the metal panel a firm push and it popped free, flying out, followed by him rapidly crawling through the newly made opening.

He tumbled to the floor.

Raine’s hands broke his fall, the pack landing on his body. He quickly rolled and sprung to his feet.

To see: cells. The corridor dark.

The right place. Jeez, the prison. He did it.

Then, a voice.

“Hey, who’s there? Hold on.”

The headlamp rendered Raine the only bright spot in the blackness, but it also shot out a light that let him see-and made it difficult for anyone looking at him.

Such as the Enforcer holding a rifle standing in front of him, the light in his eyes.

Raine pulled out his gun. No time to worry if the Enforcer had anyone with him. He fired three quick shots, the sound echoing in the narrow corridor.

The Enforcer went down.

And then Raine heard an unexpected voice. A familiar voice.

A female voice.

He moved down the row of cells, whipping his headlamp left and right.

Coming to a cell holding Loosum Hagar.

“Loosum? How the hell did you-”

“I’ll save the story for later, Raine. Go get that Enforcer’s keys and get me out of here. Whatever took out the power, it won’t stay down for long.”

Raine ran back for the keys and returned to the cell, letting Loosum out.

“Thanks for the rescue,” she said. “Didn’t know you cared.”

“Afraid I’m not here for you,” he said unapologetically. “Is there someone else down here?”

Could the Authority have taken Marshall, begun the process of breaking him down in the middle of the night? Could the Resistance leader be dead already?

“There’s someone down the other end. Looked like a bloody mess when they brought him back last time.”

Raine ran there. A man was curled on the floor of a cell. The headlamp picked up the dried splotches of blood. The man’s lips were cracked, bloody as well. He had been well worked over.

But he lifted his head up when he saw someone there, then opened his eyes.

Raine thought: Good… he can move.

“Captain John Marshall?”

“Yes.” Despite his battered state, the man sat up, blinking at Raine. “Is it time? Already?”

“Captain, I’m Lieutenant Nicholas Raine.” Then, as he had done dozens of times before-and because it seemed right-he added: “Reporting for duty.”

And he saluted.

Loosum ran up to Raine as he got Marshall’s cell open.

“We got to get moving. As long as we have this darkness, we have to take advantage of it.”

On cue: the lights in the corridor flickered, then came on.

“Shit.” He turned to Marshall. “ That changes things. You okay to move, Captain?”

Marshall nodded. “Yeah. Got a gun for me?”

“One for me, too,” Loosum added.

He handed the shotgun to Loosum and the rifle to Marshall. He’d make do with the handguns for now.

“Come on,” Loosum said.

Raine gave her a look. “Hold on.” He looked at Marshall. “Captain, one more thing. I brought a hard drive. From the Dead City. Lassard has cracked the Ark override code. It’s on there. But we need to-”

Marshall shook his head as if trying to understand what the hell Raine was talking about.

Then a half smile. “God, yes. Have to get into their system. That means we’re not quite ready to leave. Good thing everyone must be outside looking for you.”

“We’re not leaving?” Loosum rolled her eyes.

“There’s a terminal… down there.” Marshall pointed up the hall. “It’s gotta be tied into the central computer. If we can dump what you got on their computer system, that should do it.”

Marshall started walking, limping even as he tried to hurry.

Raine shot a look at Loosum, both of them seeing that escaping with the captain wasn’t going to be easy even without the detour.

But Marshall marched ahead, ignoring his pain, and got to the terminal.

Raine heard voices from above.

Someone has got to come down here, sooner or later.

“Give it to me,” Marshall said. Raine dug out the drive. Marshall tilted it back and forth, seeing where he could connect it to the terminal.

“Okay. We got to get that cover off.”