Catching the Hero

Chapter Eighteen: Inferno

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Chapter Eighteen: Inferno

The vibrations came to a stop not far from the Transport Room. The atmosphere was suddenly very silent, as if it was anticipating the next few seconds, and I held my breath as I waited for something to happen. Ryder was just as stiff as I was, the hard angles of him pressing into me as he leaned up in preparation for whatever was coming.

Suddenly, as if he’d heard something I hadn’t, Ryder quickly gripped my waist and yanked me around, sending my back into the ground. His hand covered my mouth to quiet my yelp as he rapidly switched our positions and hunched down, before a screeching, ripping sound assaulted my ears and blinding light hit me. The other side of the Transport Room was torn away and thrown into the tunnel, and something burning fell into what was left of the room and nearly set my hair on fire.

Ryder recovered before me and abruptly shouted a curse. Wrapping an arm around me, he used his other hand to propel us over the side of the elevator and raced away from it, half-carrying me until something searing blazed from behind us. The explosion knocked me off my feet and sent me tumbling onto the cement floor of the tunnel, discombobulated and weary. I heard Ryder hit the ground beside me, and he quickly forced me to duck my head down as debris flew over our heads, still burning and erupting around us.

Even when the embers seemed to have died down, I waited on my stomach, my hair protecting my face, and watched Ryder begin to glance up. Though I wanted to, I didn’t move when I saw his eyes widen at whatever was left of the Transport Room, and he looked down at me with concerned eyes and quickly asserted that I was okay before he stood. He offered a hand to help me up, and a moment later I saw the charred remains of the track for the Room. There was nearly nothing left.

“What happened?” I breathed.

Ryder scowled at the mess. “I don’t know. But whoever did this is long gone.”

I hesitantly freed myself from his grip and walked to the rubble. Bending down, I picked up a small metal device; it appeared to be the explosive apparatus, judging by the charred hole at one of its ends, and it looked vaguely familiar to me. I racked my brain for a memory of where I’d seen this, before it suddenly hit me.

“Ryder,” I called. “This is exactly like the bomb that blew up that building. The one we found a few weeks ago.”

I gasped quietly when it sparked me, and drew one of my hands away and shook it slightly. The chrome bird looked nearly the same as the other had, save for a few of its minor details. It zapped me again, this time making me nearly drop it before another hand came into view and caught it, its owner not even flinching when the electricity shocked him. His hand rested on my shoulder and he muttered, “Be careful, please, it could still be active. I don’t want you to lose anything essential.”

I let him take the bird from me and look at it closely, before he looked up and glanced both ways down the tunnel. He frowned, his attractive features furrowing, and said, “Do you know where we are?”

“Vaguely. It’s a thirty mile distance between the Center and where we just were. I think we’re a bit more than halfway between.”

Ryder sighed and ran a hand through his hair, and something about that tiny action ran a spark of recognition through me. It was such a familiar motion… where had I seen it before? Before I could ponder it, he spoke.

“I guess we have to start moving then, if we want to get anywhere by lunchtime.”

I nodded, “Yeah, you’re right--.”

I cut myself off and ran to the wall of the tunnel, my eyes widening. A small piece of black, intricately designed leather was plastered to the wall, the two holes in it catching my attention immediately.