A Collection of Ruins

Chapter 10 - The Miracle Mile (Tess)

Tess

The alarm had been shut off, and an eerie silence hung over the tunnels. The lights were all flickering, casting deformed shadows onto the rounded walls, which I kept mistaking for people.

"They must have tampered with the power." Jev muttered. "Luckily the alarm would've alerted everyone to the danger, but even we haven't managed to escape."

Blaine made a noise of agreement. "I doubt anyone has reached the escape tunnel yet."

I raised my eyebrows. "There's an escape tunnel?"

Dibsie scoffed. "Of course there is! Where did you think we were running to?"

"Where does the escape tunnel lead?" I asked.

"Well, there's two of them." Blaine told me. "The first leads to the central Met."

"That's not the one we're taking right? That wouldn't be escaping at all!" I said, astounded.

Blaine laughed. "Of course not."

"So where does the second escape tunnel lead?"

Jev met Blaine's eyes, and it seemed as if they were having a silent discussion, deciding whether to tell me or not.

Eventually, Jev sighed. "Sterilis."

My eyes widened.

Jev turned to Blaine. "It'll be a gamble, but I say we take the route through the dining hall. It's the most active area, so I imagine that's where they would have struck first. If we're lucky, the enemy will be scare or non-existent. Which will be handy, considering all our dead weight." With his head, he motioned towards the back of our group - me, Matt, and Olivia, who was still hand-cuffed.

Blaine nodded. "It'll certainly be a gamble, but strategically, it's our best option."

Jev nodded. "Right then, let's move out."

He stuck his head around the corner of the tunnel, before motioning for us to follow him. We moved quickly but quietly. There was a haunting chill in the air. I had to resist the urge to shiver.

I was struggling to keep up with Blaine and Dibsie - I didn't want to drop as far back as Matt and Olivia - when Jev dropped back and grabbed my wrist.

"Don't go getting lost." He growled.

I nodded, letting him pull me to the front.

"Jev," I said softly, "why does one of the escape tunnels lead to the central Met?

He looked down at me, his eyes calculating. "Even we Rebels have things we need to escape from."

"Like what?" I asked. "And why escape to the middle of the Met? Isn't that-"

I was cut off by Jev's hand being thrown across my mouth, and my body being thrown to the floor. He took a pocket knife from his pants, slicing open the palm of his hand. He smothered the blood over my shirt-front, followed by my forehead and the corner of my mouth.

"You're dead, okay? No noise. Try not to breathe." He told me, before looking at the others. "We're all dead. You have seven seconds to make it look convincing."

The rest of our squad dropped to the floor, and Jev threw his body across my torso, pulling my hair across my face, simultaneously coating it with blood.

"You in particular need to be unrecognisable." He told me, dropping his head after smearing his face and waist with blood. He cut a hole in the side of his shirt, and the front of mine, then was still.