Ruth Silver - Aberrant

“Try?” he asked curiously. I felt his eyes staring at me. “How do people try?”

I didn’t answer his question. My cheeks flushed at the implication of what I was saying. I glanced down at our feet and the trail ahead of us. “That’s a story for another day.” I changed our conversation directing it back to him. “You still haven’t told me what I’m carrying,” I gestured toward my pack.

Joshua smiled. “Aside from a few bottles of water, your pack has some snacks and a journal.”

“A journal?” I asked curiously. “For me to what, write down my most intimate and private thoughts?” I bantered.

Joshua glanced at me with a bright grin. “You really don’t know?” He was pleased to be the one telling me of his find. “Your father had a journal hidden in the cellar. I found it earlier behind a loose brick when Mom insisted I bring the backpacks down in the cellar. I shoved it inside. I thought you might want it.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, unsure I knew words to express my gratitude. I had nothing from my home, nothing to remember my old life by. I could no longer leave flowers on my father’s grave, a yearly tradition on the anniversary of his death. This would have to be enough, my life preserver keeping me afloat.

“I know,” he breathed, reaching for my hand. I willingly took it, giving his a gentle squeeze. I felt a shudder course through my body as we walked faster wanting nothing more than to reach the other side of the tunnel, seeking freedom.

My legs were sore, but I ignored the pain. Joshua had me pause to open my pack. He pulled out a blueberry muffin and granola bar. “Pick one,” he offered as I snatched up the muffin and unwrapped it from cellophane. He zipped my bag and we continued to walk, eating and talking. Neither of us wanted to waste any time stopping. My legs were burning, but we had to keep moving. By now, a search party of guards must be looking for me. They had probably already searched our house and my mother’s home. It was only a matter of time until they found the cellar door and tunnel. My stomach grumbled as I finished the snack and dropped the trash. Joshua kept walking, refusing to let anything slow him down. I knew he was tired – I could see the worn expression as he tried to stay tough. I linked our arms together. “Almost there,” I attempted a smile.

“Really?” His eyes glanced around, scoping out a door or an exit. There was nothing.

“I have no idea.” I laughed softly. “Just hoping as much. We’ve been walking for hours,” I emphasized. How much further could the tunnels lead? The tunnel suddenly made a sharp curve. Not only were we heading away from town, but we had also started heading south. “What do you make of those?” I asked, catching sight of something fixed to the wall every hundred or so feet. They were small and seemingly insignificant, but it still made me curious.

“No idea.” Joshua shook his head. It was too dark to really see much in the tunnel, aside from straight ahead. Even with the lantern the tunnel was dark.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw a flicker and a flash. Realizing the tunnel lights had been turned on, my eyes burned for a moment. The unknown objects were lighting sensors that lit up our path as we continued walking south. I glanced back, watching as the lights behind us faded off every hundred feet. As another light flipped on, the one furthest back shut off. It must have been a mechanism to preserve power. The lantern flickered and sputtered out. Dead. “Dumb luck?” I smiled weakly at Joshua.

He gave my hand a hard squeeze as we continued into the tunnel. “I think the Rebel Alliance knows we’re coming. By now, word should have reached wherever they live that we’ve left Genesis and need their help.”

“I’ll have to thank them.” I smiled, relieved for the illuminated path. I stopped momentarily to drop the lantern to the ground since we no longer needed it. “I’m glad you came with me,” I whispered.

Joshua grinned, pulling back slightly. “Like I would have had it any other way?”

I leaned my forehead against his. “You could have stayed in Genesis with your family.”

“You are my family now,” he reminded me with a gentle kiss to the tip of my nose. “We need to keep moving.” I nodded faintly, knowing he was right. Until we reached our destination we couldn’t stop. Every second we rested was a moment we could not waste. We needed all the time we could get to escape.

“You hear that?” I gasped certain of the sound of voices. Maybe I was losing my mind from lack of sleep but I was sure I heard noises coming from up ahead.

Joshua didn’t answer, straining to hear what I heard. A moment passed, and I stalled as a shadow cast over the walls. And then I saw a woman slowly walking toward us. I really hoped whoever she was happened to be with the Rebel Alliance – it was all I could think of.

“Olivia, Joshua?” The tall, thin blonde woman approached us.

I hesitated to answer, but felt I had no choice except to confess who we were. “Yes, that’s us.” A moment of trepidation and fear coursed through me. Could it possibly be a trick? Someone discovered our destination and wanted to cut us off on the way?

“We didn’t expect you until at least tomorrow.” She gestured for us to follow her. “You’ve made incredible timing. You mustn’t have stopped at all. We’re making sleeping arrangements for you as we speak. I thought I would lead you the rest of the way.”

“Appreciated.” Joshua nodded, following behind me as the tunnel narrowed.

“You know who we are, but I didn’t catch your name,” I remarked, following behind her. She was several inches taller than me, but even more so, I noticed her well-defined muscles.

“Scarlet,” she replied over her shoulder. “Come on.” She continued to lead us through the tunnel for about half a mile until we reached a fork. The tunnel dumped us out under some type of shelter. Clearly people had taken all three options – footprints made it unclear which was the right way to go. “Follow me,” Scarlet gestured as we took the fork to the far right.

I was grateful Scarlet had found us when she had. I didn’t think I’d have taken the right direction without guidance. I couldn’t help but ask, “Where do the other two tunnels lead?”

She paused for a long moment before answering us. “Different sectors.” She let that hang in the air, and although I had a thousand questions at this point, I had a feeling she had no interest in answering any of them.

I could hear Joshua breathing heavily, and I knew he must have been tired. I was exhausted. “How much longer is it?” I asked.

“Considering how far you two have traveled already, not far. The compound isn’t completely underground,” she smiled. “We just have to reach the surface, which is quite a hike up.”

“Great,” I tried to add as much enthusiasm as I could, but I found it hard considering we hadn’t slowed down in hours.

Scarlet smiled glancing back, “Aside from the part about it being uphill, we’re almost done. Just don’t die on me, okay?”

A nervous laugh escaped my lips, confused by her words. Die on her? She had a strange sense of humor. “Right. Got it.” I pushed myself uphill. I focused on her feet, following each step she took and put one foot in front of the other. It was no wonder they sent Scarlet to find us. She was definitely in good shape. “Do you come through the tunnels a lot?”

Scarlet didn’t turn around to answer my question. “What do you consider a lot?” She gave a shrug. “We use them when we need to.” I gasped for air, breathing loudly as I struggled with the incline. “Maybe another twenty minutes,” Scarlet encouraged us. I focused my attention on the ground, watching the path as I climbed the final hundred feet behind the blonde. Then sunlight came into view. I grimaced, my eyes tearing from the bright light outside. “There’s no door on this side?” That surprised me.