Chromium

11.3

First draft

"Shit!" Dia repeated, one, two, three times, unable to stop herself from cursing as the entire freaking mine was crashing down around her ears.

She was lost but didn't even try to read the map as she raced through the mine. She felt heavy, the fatigue making her slow, but the fear of being buried alive lent her wings. When the rocks started tumbling down, she ducked, rolled on the floor and even crawled---everything to escape from that graveyard. Her clothes were dirty and torn, her hands bloody and her whole body full of cuts but she kept going. Then, all of a sudden, the lights went out.

"No fucking way!"She shouted to no one, just in case someone was watching her from above.

Oddly enough, it worked.

She could see, though that Microvision thing wasn't working as well as before. She turned left, right, then left again, dodging the rocks falling from the ceiling until she saw a glow.

A passage!

Dia ran, barely avoiding a huge boulder almost as big as the Umbra's shuttle, and jumped. The passage closed behind her, a cloud of dust rising as the mine collapsed for good. She breathed hard, closing her eyes as she sat down. Her heart was still drumming and had no intention of slowing down. Maybe her own body couldn't believe she actually made it, leaving that death trap in one piece.

To think I used to complain about fatigue duty.

That made her smile. She slowly opened her eyes to look around. The tunnel was dark, but as expected, she could see the rails. She heard the sound of steps, slowly approaching her, and her smile broadened when she saw those familiar uniforms.

She was actually happy to see the Spice Lord's goons.

Her legs weren't working at the moment, so she just shouted, "Over here!" and waited. However, as the guards got closer, it soon became apparent there was something wrong with them. There were too many of them. There were dozens, maybe hundreds of people.

They were uncoordinated, their posture a bit hunched as they wobbled toward her. They seemed confused, sometimes walking upright like human beings, and other times on all four as beasts. Dia slowly stood up, nibbling on her bottom lip as she leaned forward, trying to take a look at their faces. Then she covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to gasp. Their faces were vaguely human but deformed, a feral grin distorting their features. Their lips were smeared with blood, and reddish drool was leaking out of their mouths. It seemed they were in the early stage of the mutation.

"No." She whispered, refusing to believe it.

Then one of them snarled at her, and there was no doubt anymore. Junkies. An entire horde of them.

Dia warily backed away, trying not to spook them. She had just made a step back when the junkie closest to her charged. She turned around, but it was faster than her and took a bite at her shoulder. She screamed and elbowed him, shaking it away. She kept running, but she was way too slow. She had used up too much energy. 

They'd almost reached her when Dia turned the corner and saw something. It was semitransparent but thick and solid like a wall, almost like some sort of membrane extending vertically. No, not a wall, but a shield.

That's why the Umbra needed those generators.

The barrier of energy went all the way to the ceiling. Dia could see four people standing on the other side of it. Real guards.

"Lower the shield!" She shouted, desperately trying to run faster.   She could hear them, breathing on her neck.  

"What the hell..."Someone mumbled, but she was too busy to pay attention to him.