Reclamation Read online

  I couldn't wait to see open sky and inhale air that wasn't tainted with the stench of death and blood again.

  Cade's fingers were strong in mine as we hurried down the street to the small hotel we'd spent last night in. Though the street was desolate, there were still random things like shoes, purses, bikes and strollers left behind by those that had been taken. There was even a doll, missing an eye and soaked in blood, lying on the curb. Vehicles were parked on the side of the road but few congested the streets as driving had been banned shortly before The Freezing had occurred.

  I could almost feel the life that had once flowed through here, the people that had once packed the restaurants, bars, museums and hair salons. Almost hear the laughter that had been forever silenced. Now, the once beautiful and proud city would forever be haunted by those who had been ruthlessly slaughtered here.

  Chapter 2

  I dug my heels in like a stubborn dog refusing to go back inside. My heart lurched and kicked as I swallowed heavily and forced myself to breathe. I could barely get any air into my chest as my lungs seemed determined not to work.

  "Bethany." Cade's hands were firm on my upper arms as he held me. "Listen to me Bethy; you do not have to do this. We can find another way around."

  "We'd have to double back..."

  "You and me," Cade harshly interrupted Lloyd and silenced the Private with a withering glare that would have made men twice the size of Lloyd take a step back. I gave Lloyd credit for holding his ground, but he didn't speak again. "The two of us will find a way around."

  "Be reasonable Cade," Darnell muttered.

  Cade shot him a fulminating look as his jaw clenched and a muscle in his cheek jumped. I closed my eyes and grappled to regain control of my body. I hated this inner betrayal, hated this intense physical reaction that still had a hold over me. I opened my eyes to focus on Cade's face as he leaned closer to me. His breath was warm against my face, his hands strong on my arms as he rubbed them reassuringly. I knew he would go out of his way to avoid this tunnel for me if I asked him to.

  "Listen..."

  "That's enough Lloyd." This time it was Aiden who interrupted Lloyd as he stepped closer to us. He may not be exactly trusting of Cade and me right now but he wasn't going to force me into that tunnel either.

  I took a deep breath. They would do this for me, they would both go around and then Abby, Bret, Jenna and possibly Molly would most likely follow. The group would become even more divided. That couldn't happen; it simply could not be allowed to happen. Our numbers were already small enough and I couldn't let them become even smaller simply because I was afraid.

  Or what if they all decided to come with us and someone was lost? I couldn't take the chance of anyone being hurt because I couldn't shake the persistent phobia that had haunted me ever since I'd been trapped within the wreckage of that ruined vehicle with my dying father.

  "I... I can do this," I choked out. I saw the doubt and hesitance in Cade's eyes and I gushed on before he could argue with me. "I can Cade. I made it through that pipe I can make it through this."

  It was true I had made it through that pipe in the dump, barely. But the pipe had been smaller, it had stunk and been filled with slime, and those things had been right behind us. This tunnel was much larger with plenty of room to move about. I kept trying to focus on those thoughts, rather than thoughts of being stuck underground, trapped between those concrete walls and unable to see daylight or breathe fresh air. If I focused on those thoughts I would never make it inside.

  "I'll be fine," I said, trying to believe it even when I didn't.

  "Bethany once we get in there..."

  "I know." I couldn't hear him say the words, I could think them, but I couldn't hear him say that there would be no return. "Don't."

  His eyes were filled with unease but he grasped hold of my cheeks and kissed me ardently. My toes curled and for a second I was able to forget about the tunnel as he encompassed my entire world. "I'll get you through," he whispered when he pulled away.

  I managed a feeble smile and a small nod. "I know."

  His thumbs caressed my face as he studied me before turning away. He kept his strong fingers interlaced with mine as he quickly nodded to Aiden. Aiden hesitated before turning away and entering the gloomy tunnel. I kept my eyes on my feet as I became focused on the oversized sneakers I'd recently traded my old, holey pair for.

  I was aware when we stepped into the tunnel as the air temperature dropped a good ten degrees and the smell brought forth memories of my damp cellar in the summertime. My heart rate accelerated but if I kept my gaze down I could almost pretend that I wasn't standing within a giant concrete tube with water flowing above me.

  Cade directed me with subtle pulls and tugs on my hand as his body against mine moved me toward the left or right. It's not so bad, I told myself. It's just darker that's all, that's the only difference. My eyes weren't nearly as good as Cade's in the night, but they had improved over the past few months either from his blood or from the fact we were almost nocturnal now. Either way, I was able to pick out subtle differences in the asphalt I was focused upon.

  "Lights." Darnell's whisper caused my head to instinctively come up. I immediately regretted the action. I brought my head back down, but not before the dim glow of the flashlights illuminated the walls around us. I was tempted to glance back at the front of the tunnel, I knew I would still be able to see the fading daylight, but I couldn't bring myself to move. It may be the last of the day I'd see for awhile, but I was too busy focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and not falling apart, to look back.

  Coward, I ridiculed myself. Childish, broken, coward!

  Tears brimmed in my eyes as I took a deep breath and forced my head up. The shadows that played over the walls gave the tunnel an even creepier feel that it did not need. Though there was no fog, there was an almost misty quality to the air that caused my skin to crawl and the air to shimmer oddly.

  It wasn't the misty air that held my attention though but the amount of vehicles clustered within. There were more vehicles stretching into the tunnel than I'd seen in months. They were bunched in the middle of the road and lined the sides of the walls. My mouth parted as I looked at all of the vehicles before turning to look behind me. There were a few cars stretching back to the opening, but it wasn't until here that they became thicker and more congested. We were going to have to zigzag through and climb over them in order to get out.

  "What is this?" I squeaked.

  Cade shook his head as he studied the confines of the tunnel. My claustrophobia was briefly buried under my growing confusion and uncertainty as we scrambled through the vehicles. Cade helped me climb onto the hood of a car as we reached an area that was completely blocked. Like a plucked guitar string, his body vibrated with tension as he landed next to me on the other side of the car. The fact that he was so unsettled by this new development did little to ease my anxiety as there was little that ruffled Cade.

  I pulled Abby closer to me and held her against my side. Her doe brown eyes were wide as she wordlessly gazed up at me. My hand entwined with her small one as Cade moved before us unflinchingly.

  "Wait." Darnell pulled up. He shifted his rifle and grasped it in both hands before him as his mocha eyes surveyed the crowded tunnel. His deep coffee colored skin gleamed in the flashlight beams as he crept forward. Beads of sweat had broken out across his forehead and trickled down his cheeks. He had recently shaved his head completely bald which emphasized his high cheekbones, narrow chin and handsome features. Years of being a soldier had honed his body into that of a well built killing machine, one that we all looked to for leadership.

  "Everyone get your weapons ready." I squeezed Abby's hand and reluctantly released it to pull my pistol free of my waistband. "Do not fire unless you have something to hit. Ricocheting bullets are just as deadly," Darnell ordered gruffly.

  I could sense Cade's displeasure as he watched Abby and I. He liked this even less than any
of us, but what choice did we have? To double back now would take too much time and there was nothing to go back to. As of now there was no threat here, only haphazard cars.

  Another fifty feet into the tunnel things began to change even more. Whereas the cars had seemed to have a certain order to them before there was no such order now. They were haphazard and askew, and appeared to be waiting for their final crushing at a junkyard. I gazed in incredulity at the vehicles tossed here and there, the shattered windows, and the twisted metal remains. Abby was shaking as she pressed closer to me and gawked at the wreckage.

  It didn't take a genius to know what had caused this much carnage and destruction. The octopus/jellyfish/tick/crab monster things that the aliens had unleashed upon us had obviously been through here. Though it had to have been some of the smaller ones; the larger ones, the ones full of human blood, wouldn't have fit through the tunnel. It didn't matter the size though as they were all deadly, and the small ones had developed the uncanny ability to mimic a human being.

  Everyone stopped moving as Darnell, Lloyd, Bret and Mick moved cautiously toward the next bend in the tunnel. Cade's nostrils flared with his inhalations, he glanced rapidly at our surroundings as the four of them disappeared from view. I found myself unable to breathe as I awaited gunfire or screams of death. I took a deep breath as Bret returned and gestured for us to come forward to join them.

  The next bend in the tunnel didn't reveal any less destruction. It did, however, offer an exit ramp that led to somewhere else in the city. In front of the exit was a large gap with mutilated cars shoved to both sides of it. These vehicles appeared to have already gone through the crusher as they were twisted to the point that they were almost unrecognizable.

  "What happened?" Abby breathed.

  "Someone tried to use the cars to block the ramp so that nothing could enter the tunnel from above," Cade answered. He pressed closer to me, his head tilted back to study the ceiling. A chill of trepidation coursed through me as I tilted my head back too. I was petrified I would see one of those things hanging above us waiting to pounce. Relief coursed through me when I discovered nothing but concrete and shadows.

  I turned back to the mangled vehicles as my throat went dry. "People tried to blockade themselves within the tunnel," I croaked.

  I couldn't wrap my mind around such a notion. They had tried to keep themselves safe within these concrete walls, beneath the ground, trapped like rats. They'd had no hope if those things ever managed to get in here, which they apparently had.

  "They must have repeatedly gone above to steal cars; they had to have been down here for awhile before they were discovered," Cade answered.

  "They could still be down here," Molly whispered. She seemed more frightened by that notion than the one that they were all dead as her gaze flitted over the tunnel and she took a step closer to Aiden.

  I had to admit that the idea of running into anyone that had been living down here for the past couple of months wasn't that appealing to me either. "Those things broke through though," Abby breathed.

  "They did," Cade agreed flatly. "There are other things that could still be down here, besides survivors."

  I hated this tunnel more and more with every passing second. Whatever had been so awful up above seemed to have seeped into this underground world of shadows and destruction. I didn't plan to stay down here for one minute longer than we had to, but they had spent weeks, if not months, living beneath the earth and skulking through these tunnels like rats.

  Cade took a step closer to me. "I don't smell death," he stated.

  My head turned toward him as I inhaled deeply. The air was dank and reeked of mildew, gas, oil and something musky and feral, like rodents or other wild animals, but there was no cloying odor of decay within the tunnel. I imagined that within these confines the scent would be overpowering and sickening.

  "You're right," Lloyd said.

  "Do you think they survived?" Abby asked hopefully.

  "Maybe," Cade murmured.

  There was something he wasn't saying, something bothering him as he took a step closer to me and Abby. I wanted to ask him what was wrong but I bit my tongue. If he thought it was safe to say it out loud, he would. Instead he slipped a knife from its holster and flipped it into his free hand. Even with my newfound grace I would have sliced myself open if I'd attempted such a thing, but he did it with easy confidence and an elegance that was mesmerizing.

  My hand shook on the pistol before I took a deep breath and steadied myself.

  "Should we try going up?" Bret asked as he studied the ruined blockade before the exit ramp. Somehow, perhaps with pulleys and ropes, it appeared that the survivors had at one point stacked the cars on top of each other. Those things had come down that ramp and torn through the barricade with enough force to scatter the cars like a bomb had exploded beneath them.

  I was eager to get out of this tunnel, but I was less than thrilled with the prospect of going up that exit ramp. Death awaited us up there I was certain of it. "I don't think that's a good idea," Bishop's gray eyes were large and troubled behind his Lennon style glasses as he studied the ramp.

  Abby began to shake against me as her hand wrapped around my arm. "I agree," I said.

  The matter seemed to be settled as Darnell and Lloyd moved ahead again to scout the tunnel with the rest of us steadily following behind. It was a good ten minutes before we came across the obstruction in the tunnel. My heart sank as I stared at the jumbled pile before us. The bottom layer was made up of at least ten to fifteen cars. Some of the vehicles had been tipped on their sides while others were completely upside down. On top of them had been heaped bikes, sinks, toilets, bed frames and mattresses. Twisted pieces of metal, rebar, and steel beams rounded out the assortment of materials comprising the makeshift wall.

  "What the...?" Aiden's voice trailed off.

  "We're going to have to dig our way through." Darnell didn't look at all pleased by the notion.

  "What's on the other side though?" Molly asked.

  I crept closer to the mound of junk. It had taken them awhile to do this, and then they had abandoned it. But why had they left? Why had they done this? Where had they gone and what was on the other side?

  I took a step away from the mounded rubble and doubled back to the bend in the tunnel. A sudden thought occurred to me as I peered around the corner. "What if it wasn't people that built the barricades? What if it was them? What if they built it to keep people from using the tunnel as an escape route?"

  They all stared at me for awhile before turning back to the pile. "You think those creatures would be capable of doing this?" Jenna inquired.

  I looked toward Cade for an answer but he was keenly studying the pile with his hand resting against a beam. "I think they're capable of anything," I answered.

  "That they are, but they didn't do this," Cade informed us as he stepped away from the pile. "It was built by humans; there are dirty handprints on some of these things, and footprints all over the ground." He flashed his light over the old prints that marked the floor, and some of the materials in the pile that had handprints on them. "It's going to take awhile to dig through all of this."

  "Are we sure we want to?" Molly wrapped her hand around Aiden's arm as she stepped closer to him. I quirked an eyebrow at my brother; I'd noticed that they had been spending a lot more time together recently but Aiden hadn't said anything about it yet, and until she touched him just now I'd thought they were only friends. Maybe they still were, but the gesture seemed entirely too intimate to simply be one shared between friends.

  "We'll make a small hole and I'll climb through first," Cade volunteered.

  "Cade..."

  He shook his head to cut off my protest. The idea of him going through first was enough to make me want to hurl, not when we didn't know what he was going to be climbing into. He may be stronger than the rest of us, faster and deadlier, but he wasn't immortal.

  "Give me a hand," Cade said.

  A
iden shot me a glance but nodded his agreement. Bret and Lloyd joined Cade and Aiden while Darnell, Mick, and Frank fell back to the curve with me. I listened to the small grunts and muffled curses as they worked to dig a hole through the mound of materials. Metal clacked and clanged and grated on my nerves as I watched the tunnel with a growing sense of urgency.

  "Think we're there," Aiden muttered after what seemed like countless hours but was probably only two.

  I took a deep breath to steady my nerves before turning around. My heart was in my throat as Cade took off his rifle. "You have to take a gun," I insisted. I didn't realize I'd been walking toward him until I was standing before him with my pistol extended. He grasped hold of my hand and caressed it before he took the gun from me and handed me his rifle. "Be careful."

  He flashed his dazzling smile that never failed to melt my heart. "Always." His cavalier attitude did little to ease the knot of anxiety growing in my chest. "I'll be fine."

  He kissed me quickly before disappearing into the small hole they had carved through the rubble.

  Chapter 3

  I anxiously peered into the hole as I watched Cade squirm his way through it. I kept the flashlight focused on him until he disappeared. My breath was trapped in my chest as I waited for some sign that he was alive and well. Aiden's head was bent close to mine as he tapped his foot. I could feel his breath as it heaved in and out of him. His honey hued hair, so similar to mine in color, was longer than I'd ever seen it as it hung about his handsome, angular face in sweat dampened curls.

  The light flashed off of Cade's face as he reappeared on the other side. He slipped back into the hole and made his way toward us. I stepped aside when he reached the end and pulled himself free from the hole. Some of the color had faded from his face and his lips were pursed as he reclaimed his rifle from me.