Prodigy Returns (book 3)

Chapter Nineteen

There was still plenty of bunker left to explore, but it was getting late in the day.

"We can always come back to this place," Kyodin said, "I'm pretty sure it's not going anywhere, but we should return home before it gets dark. There's no sense spending another night out here if we don't have to."

"I agree," Alex said. "But you make it sound like there's some kind of evil that comes out at night."

"There's definitely a lot of evil lurking around at night, but it has more to do with when I'm expected back. My hunting trips usually last no more than a couple days. If I don't show up soon, father will get worried."

"With all this technology, you have no way to communicate with him or your camp?" Alex asked.

"No, unfortunately not at this range."

Leaving the safe room, they proceeded to walk down the long corridor back to the main area. Alex was a few steps behind and noticed some blinking red dots on Kyodin's arm. Curious about what they meant, she asked about them. Kyodin only needed a second to look at the dots before stopping dead in his tracks.

"What is it?" Alex asked.

Kyodin had yet to answer. Remaining silent, they heard a noise in the distance.

"What was that?" Alex whispered.

"I'm not sure, but there's lots of them," Kyodin finally replied. "They're surrounding us."

Kyodin removed his blaster and held it waist high with both hands. The light was a hindrance since it made them a glowing target for whatever was hunting them.

"Alex, I'm going to use my night vision," Kyodin said, "but I need to cut the lights. Are you okay with that?"

"Do whatever you have to do," Alex replied, "I trust you."

Kyodin activated his mask and it slid over his face, then he turned off his light. The entire underground colony went completely dark, but through his mask, Kyodin could see the tunnels illuminate with an indigo hue. Now standing in utter darkness, Alex was still unsure what was surrounding them. With such little knowledge of the potential threats of this planet, she was left with her imagination.

All was quiet, but then without warning, a beam of energy blasted out of Kyodin's gun and rocketed down the hallway. The pulse of electricity travelled at nearly the speed of light and connected with its intended target, causing an explosion that rumbled the ancient ruins.

"We have to get out of here," Kyodin insisted, grabbing Alex by the hand and running with her toward the flaming wreckage.

By now, Alex's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and were not ready for the flash of light from Kyodin's blaster. Her vision was blurred as she was having a hard time focusing. Running with her brother, she was relying heavily on him for sight. As they passed the burning heap in the middle of the hallway, Alex could not quite focus on it to see what it was.

"What was that?" she asked again.

"Scouts," Kyodin said casually, as if Alex would immediately understand the reference. "We have a short window to get out of here before the rest swarm."

"Who?" Alex said in frustration, "Kyodin, what are you talking about?"

"I didn't want to worry you before, Alex, but for your safety you should know that we humans are not the apex species on this planet."

"Then what is?" Alex asked.

"The machines."