Above them, the siren still beeped and beeped and beeped.
Dean stood frozen. His hand still holding the gun where Ryley’s head used to be.
“Oh, Jesus,” Darla said. “Oh...oh...oh...”
“There was no other way,” Dean whispered. He spun to Darla. “There was no other way.” His eyes were wide and wild.
She nodded. “Yeah. No other way. He was going...to kill me...”
“I killed him,” he said.
“Yeah.” She looked away and wiped her hands on her pants. Ryley’s blood smeared across her palms. “Dean, there was no other way. One more second and I would be dead. You did what you had to do...”
“I killed him,” Dean said again and he dropped the gun to the floor and sunk to the carpet, looking at the man’s lifeless body, the blood still spreading outward across the industrial carpet.
“Let’s go,” Darla said and she took back her gun from Ryley’s hand. It was then she noticed she was shaking. She tried to calm herself, but she couldn’t. “Let’s just get out of here.”
“Back up to the surface?” Dean asked.
Darla nodded. “Something bad is going to happen here. Let’s just go. We know the way. Grab his keys and let’s go.”
Reaching down, Dean grabbed the keys. He took the radio, and they started back out down the hall—the incessant beep as the background music to their escape. When they reached the hallway, they opened the door and stumbled forward to the elevators. They pushed the button and waited. It arrived without fanfare.
“Hurry, hurry,” Dean said.
The elevator stopped. The doors opened. It took Dean a second to realize that they had not traveled to the floor they had wanted; they had stopped early. Dean pushed the button again and jiggled Ryley’s override keys, but the elevator didn’t budge. He swore and kicked the side, but still it didn’t move.
“Come on,” Darla said and she tugged Dean’s arm and pulled him off the elevator. They rushed out on to the new floor. It looked exactly like the floor they had just come from, like a carnival fun maze. Grabbing a knob, they ran into a new hallway, and it was also identical to the one below. She stepped backward and spun.
There was a second elevator. She pushed the button, but nothing happened.
“Do they know we’re here? Did they stop the elevators?” Dean asked.
“Let’s hide until we know,” Darla commanded and she raced back down the hallway. Slowing down their pace until they realized that the hallway was a dead-end. Darla turned to walk back toward the elevator.
“What the hell is this place?” Dean called, out of breath.
Darla slid to the floor and tucked her knees up tight.
The radio crackled and Dean jumped.
A man’s voice came on this time. “Blair, do you copy?”
“I’m here,” the woman said.
“We have activity in a Clearance Level 1 area.”
The girl they called Blair got back on the radio. “Could it be Private Ryley?”
“Could be. I just wanted you to know. Elevator analysis says someone went to Floor B. We set the elevator shut-down sequence after that, so I have no idea where the person could be now.”
“That’s the Kings’ and Salvants’ floor? Which pod door was triggered?”
“Pod 6, Ma’am.”
The radio went quiet. Darla could hear her own labored breathing. She closed her eyes and banged her head three times against the wall behind her: soft, but angry thuds. Dean took his hand and rested it on top of her head.
“Stop,” he whispered. “They don’t know about us.”
“Can you check it out?” Blair asked on the radio.
The guy clicked back on. “Ms. Truman, Ma’am, we’re all set here. All residents of Copia are accounted for in the Center. We’re on time for our operation.”
“But...if it was Ryley,” she said.
“We don’t have an extra person to supply you for checking it out. But if you want to look yourself, Ma’am, we have ten minutes before evacuation.”
There was a pause. Then the girl said, “I’ll go to Pod 6. I’ll take my dad’s direct elevator. Turn back on the power and I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
“Copy that.” The radio broadcast was cut.
Darla exhaled and she rocked forward and stood up quickly. With determination she moved back down the hall. “We have to get to the top...now,” she said and she jogged back the way they came. Their elevator was still waiting for them and they jiggled the override keys; the doors shut, and this time the elevator began to climb. They moved steadily upward. Back to the floor where they first found Ryley, back to the hallway that led to their escape.
Dean put a comforting arm around Darla’s shoulders and embraced her.
She let out a small sob and then she looked to the ceiling, attempting to regain control. “We failed,” she said. “He’s not here. He’s not even here.”
“We didn’t fail,” Dean answered. “Teddy’s alive...” he paused, overcome with emotion. “We know he’s okay. And we’ll find him...that’s not a failure...”
“We’re leaving here without him. That, to me, is a failure.”
“The Islands. We’ll find him...you hear me...we will find him...”
“This was a shitshow. How can we take on an even bigger place with more security...especially after they see what we did?” Darla asked, her eyes wide.
Dean shrugged. “We just will.”
The radio crackled again.
A man said, “We are in place. All guards are ready. Officer Dylan...can you confirm you have eyes on Grant?”
The name caused Darla’s veins to run cold, and she spun and pointed at the radio. Dean held the walkie-talkie out like it had suddenly turned scalding hot and he stared at it. He thrust it out at her and shook it, wordlessly.
“I can confirm,” came a voice. “Grant is visible.”
“Oh my God,” Dean breathed.
Darla smiled and cried and jumped. Her hair flew and she clapped with wild excitement. “It’s him! Dean, oh, Dean!” She wrapped her arms around her friend and hugged him tightly.
“Shhhh,” Dean said and he put the radio to his ear, Darla leaned close, her arms around him.
“Good. Keep an eye on him,” the man on the radio said.
“Where are they?” Darla asked. “Oh, Dean! He’s here...” and she broke into an uninhibited grin.
From somewhere else underground within the giant metal dome, the man on the walkie-talkie said, “With eyes on Grant...and Copia secluded, I believe we are go. All officers...that is a confirmed launch. Launch. Launch.”
“We head to the tunnel,” Dean said. “There’s only one exit. We wait there until we know what’s going on.”
Darla nodded. She looked at the array of buttons; the only one lit was the one for the top level. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Grant was here. Somewhere in this crazy subterranean city, Dean’s son was alive and well.
After a brief radio silence, they heard Blair’s screams wail at them through the speaker. “Help! Help! Can anyone hear me?” Her voice was shaky, like she was running.
“Sorry, Blair....can’t really discuss now...in the middle...” a rushed voice replied.
“Can you confirm we are all accounted for?” Blair screamed. “Confirm! Confirm!”
“I can confirm,” came the man’s voice. “All Copia. All guards. Grant. And your damn dog. Get up here, Blair. Five minutes.”
“Then we have intruders. I repeat. I repeat. We have intruders. Private Ryley’s been shot. We are not alone down here!”
CHAPTER TWENTY