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  “You think you’re fit to lead these kids?” His British accent is stronger when he whispers for some reason. “That you can take them to safety?”

  Reid rolls his eyes at Marcus’s attempt at an adult scowl. “Whatever. I think I’ve made it pretty plain I want no part in it.”

  Why is Marcus trembling? Why does he seem so angry? Reid almost asks. Almost. It’s more fun watching his rage make him into an idiot.

  “Don’t think I’m not aware of what you’re doing. Undermining me. Hanging around back here, waiting for something to happen so you can swoop in and save everyone.” There is something in Marcus’s face that triggers a realization in Reid. Whatever kind of life Marcus lived, no matter what he did or tried, he was never good enough. It’s written all over him so plainly Reid is silent for a long moment.

  When he finally answers, Marcus is almost in a frenzy of self-righteous fury.

  “Think what you want,” Reid says. “Your choice. But let’s get one thing clear.” Reid is on his feet, Marcus backing away from him, sullen look replacing his simmering anger. “If you betray even one of these kids, I’ll kill you. And I’m not just saying that, Marcus. I will kill you. Got it?”

  Reid is surprised he means it. That he would be able. But he knows he is, now. The hunters have taught him well. He will kill to survive and to protect if he has to. But he has no desire to lead any longer.

  The truth of all of it is in Reid’s face. He watches Marcus process it, the flight of fear that passes across his face until, at last, Marcus nods and turns away. Reid stifles a chuckle with a cough when Marcus’s grand exit is ruined when he trips over a kid and has to catch himself against the wall to keep from falling.

  “Watch it.” He snarls at the boy on the way by who curls in on himself like he’s expecting a blow.

  Marcus has a lot to answer for. When they are free.

  It doesn’t take Marcus long to reach the front of the line again. “Everybody up!” His anger is in his voice, taken out on the kids around him. They don’t even groan this time, just rise to their feet and wait, heads and shoulders bent as though they carried the weight of the stone above them on their small backs.

  Again it is hard to hold his tongue and again Reid argues himself into quiet. He stays in the back, and when he comes parallel to the bulb he begins his familiar counting all over. The roll of numbers through his mind is comforting for some reason.

  He’s so caught up in counting he doesn’t realize Leila is beside him until he feels her hand on his arm. Reid looks at her and for the first time sees what’s really in her eyes.

  Compassion. Fear. Need. They brim with moisture she dashes away, impatience written all over her face.

  “We need you,” she whispers. “Reid, please. You have to take charge.”

  He has an irrational desire to stop in his tracks and hug her and stroke her filthy hair and tell her everything is going to be okay. Kiss her even, maybe. But it only lasts for a flicker of time and when it is gone his heart constricts around it so tightly it's as if it never happened.

  “Marcus seems to be doing a fine job.” Reid hadn’t meant so much sarcasm to come out, or bitterness, but it’s there, hanging between them. Leila’s hand drops away.

  “None of this is your fault. Or mine. Or Drew’s.” He reacts to that, like she punched him in the stomach. But before he can say anything she pushes on. “We’re just doing the best we can with what they left us with.” She looks at him again, stumbles as she does. He instantly catches her, supports her, lets her go. She smiles at him a little, so much pain in it he wonders if he will ever forgive himself.

  If he survives to try, that is.

  He wants to help her, to do what he can to ease her pain. It’s important, he knows that, Drew would have wanted him to keep watching over Leila and Milo. Would have hated knowing Marcus is in charge. Reid can almost hear Drew whispering to him to go kick Marcus’s ass and take over.

  But, instead, Reid breaks her heart and his own and banishes his friend’s voice all with one sentence.

  “First chance I get, I’m leaving you all behind.”

  Leila flinches from him, the grief in her eyes long enough for him to absorb it and what he’s done before she shuts down completely and pulls away.

  “Coward.” The word slaps him across the face as if she’d hit him physically. Without looking back, she strides ahead, weaving through the trudging kids and rejoins Marcus in the lead. Reid watches her go, at war inside himself. He sees Marcus mutter something to her and she shakes her head, violently, hand rising to her face. Tears, he’s sure of it. Marcus glances back at him.

  His smirk is worse than her calling Reid a coward.

  Reid sinks into his own pain and almost runs into the back of one of the kids before he shakes himself loose of his hazy funk and notices they have stopped. He forces himself to pay attention to what’s happening up ahead. It takes his troubled mind a few seconds to realize there isn’t just one tunnel ahead any longer but two. At first he is as stunned by the development as the rest of them but soon grows impatient as they mill around, their fear growing by the second.

  Marcus, naturally, does nothing to make them feel any better. He looks as troubled as they do. When he catches Reid watching him, however, his face stiffens up and he turns, as though choosing a path at random, and walks on.

  Reid can see some of the kids glancing down the second tunnel and does so himself on the way by. There is no way of knowing if they are going the right way. They are honestly identical. Still, Reid isn’t letting Marcus off the hook. There is a simple way of finding out but if he can’t figure it out for himself, Reid isn’t about to help him.

  It’s not long before they reach another crossroads. Marcus forges ahead without stopping. Rather than easing the tension in the pack it seems to make it worse. By the time they encounter the third split and Marcus makes another arbitrary decision, the kids are buzzing softly behind him.

  Reid sees the dead end when the rest of them do and smirks to himself. Really, there is nothing funny about it. They are trapped underground, no food, no water, lost. It’s the furthest from funny he’s ever had, aside from being hunted above. And yet, there is something about the absurdity that tweaks his sense of humor.

  Marcus is scowling when he storms past Reid who steps aside and lets everyone go. Leila won’t meet his eyes and Milo looks so furious with him Reid just stays out of the way. He trails them back to the previous crossing and rolls his eyes when Marcus stomps off down the other trail.

  Surely the arrogant jerk must know by now that they have to have a plan? Reid sighs deeply and follows anyway.

  Another branch, another choice, another dead end. By the time Cole whispers something to Marcus, pointing at his wrist, he is so wound up he snaps at the skinny kid so loudly everyone hears him. In fact, Reid is sure the sound carries all the way back to the sealed exit and the forest above.

  “Did I ask your opinion?”

  Cole shrinks back and this time Reid can’t help himself. He slides his way to the front and places himself between the scrawny boy and the furious Marcus. His chocolate eyes burn holes in Reid but instead of starting a fight, Reid just laughs at him.

  Marcus is so shocked at first, his jaw drops. By the time he’s gathered his anger around him again, it’s too late. Reid has everyone’s attention.

  “Maybe a break is a good idea. What do you think, Cole?”

  The boy barely nods, blue eyes wide, and smiles at Reid a little. Damn, he has to stop letting these kids get to him.

  Everyone sits immediately, groaning and whispering their fear into the air. Everyone but Reid and Marcus.

  “I’m in charge here.” The words are lucky to make it past Marcus’s clenched teeth. “And I say when we rest and when we move.” The mutters stop, attention fixed but the fear increases.

  “Not until you stop leading us in circles.” Reid crosses his arms over his chest. “Or are you somehow using psychic ability to tell you
where all the dead ends are?”

  Someone snickers behind Reid but it is choked off. Still, everyone heard it, including Marcus. A thick vein stands out on the guy’s forehead and he looks like he’s about to explode.

  “Reid is right.” Leila is beside him without a sound. “We need to stop wandering around like we know where we’re going and find a better way to do this.”

  Marcus cools a little and Reid wonders what kind of influence the pale girl has over him. Another trickle of jealousy escapes, germinating in his heart. Reid doesn’t have time for it but it doesn’t seem to matter.

  When he speaks his voice is rough because of it but at least it’s aimed at Marcus. Reid doesn’t want to alienate Leila any further than he already has. “Are you going to listen to her or keep being a jerk?”

  Maybe not the best thing to say. Another snicker behind Reid and this time it’s joined by a couple of others. Marcus snarls at Reid, almost ready to attack but still holding back. Reid finds himself wondering just what it’s going to take.

  “Fine,” Marcus practically spits his words out. “Let’s see you do better.”

  Reid already has a plan. His reluctance returns, especially when he sees them all watching him. He’s really put his foot in it now and has to follow through.

  “Cole.” The boy is right there. “Milo.” He answers the summons, if a little slowly. “Pick one other kid to go with you. Milo, I want you to go back to the original break and check that other tunnel. Watch?” Reid holds his hand out. Marcus finally strips it off and throws it at Reid who catches it easily. He hands it back to Cole. “Cole, you take your watch and go into the other tunnel. Give yourself five minutes. Milo, you stay at the entrance. And you,” Reid points at the skinny girl Cole chose, “go with Cole. If you come to any more breaks, you go down the other one. Count bulbs.” Of course, brilliant. He knows they are at regular intervals. “Go for ten then stop and turn around. If you meet with another tunnel, stop and turn around. If you hit a dead end, make sure you keep track of where you found it. Leila,” Reid turns to her, “we need some kind of way to mark what’s open and what’s a cave-in.” She nods slowly, brow furrowed as she thinks. “Okay, go.”

  Milo, Cole and the girl dash off back the way they came. “The rest of us rest for another minute, then we do the same here. Check this tunnel, three at a time, find the branches and the dead ends counting light bulbs.”

  Everyone is nodding and Leila is whispering with a boy who gestures a lot with his hands. Marcus is sulking off to one side with his arms crossed over his chest but Reid ignores him, especially when Leila gestures for him to join her.

  “This is Alex,” she says. “He has an idea.”

  “Chalk.” The boy holds up a chunk of white stone in his hands. “We can make maps on the walls as we go.” He makes a big X, the flaking stuff leaving a clear mark behind. When the kid turns back, he is grinning. “See?”

  Reid grins back and wonders how it can be so easy to fall back into this place of caring about people after he swore he was done with it. “Great.” He feels the powdery rock when Alex proudly drops it in his hand. “Good job, kiddo.”

  Alex beams while Leila hugs him to her with one arm.

  Reid hands it back. “You keep track for us,” he says. “Official path marker. Okay?”

  Alex’s head bobs, grin still in place and stays there even when Milo, Cole and the girl come trotting back.

  “That was quick.” Marcus’s snarl gets Reid’s attention. “So much for your great idea. They didn’t even do it.”

  “We did.” Milo is panting a little as he sprawls on the ground and catches his breath. “Just didn’t have to go far.”

  “Dead end,” the girl says. Megan. Reid is pretty sure her name is Megan.

  “Nice work, you guys.” Reid stares Marcus down. “Now we all move on together.”

  They are a happier group as they forge onward but Reid allows himself to fall back to the rear again when they do, letting Marcus take the lead once more. Leila shoots him a questioning look but he waves her on. This time he pays attention to their back trail. He’s sure they are alone down here. Positive. Still. If they miss a tunnel or decide to go one way when they should have gone the other and miss something… Reid can’t let that happen. Besides, Marcus doesn’t seem willing to be a follower even now.

  Alex dutifully marches beside Reid, his large chunk of limestone clutched in his hands like it’s a gift. For all Reid knows, that’s exactly what it is.

  ***

  Chapter Three

  They all hear the trickling sound together and it makes every one of them freeze. Reid’s mouth instantly starts to water, his terrible thirst almost strong enough to turn him into a desperate animal.

  Almost.

  Instead, he waits with as much patience as he can muster while the rest of the kids surge forward, stumbling over each other, shoving and pushing to get to the water. Reid is disgusted that Marcus is the first in line and refuses to share when the source of the water glitters into view up ahead. The kids crowd around behind him while he sticks his face into the vertical stream and drinks as it tumbles from the ceiling and into a small pool on the side of the trail. Some of the kids manage to sprawl at his feet and scoop handfuls from the pool but they don’t last long. Reid sees them spit the stuff out and back off. But it’s obviously clean from the source or Marcus wouldn’t still be taking up the whole thing for himself.

  Reid helps a few kids knocked down in the stampede and sees Leila doing the same. He makes it to Marcus, gently forcing kids aside, and yanks him back as hard as he can. Marcus spins around, face wet, eyes furious, but Reid has had enough. He grips Marcus by both upper arms and swings him physically around, slamming him into the opposite wall.

  “Wait your turn,” Reid says.

  Marcus glowers at him, hand lifting to wipe at his face.

  “I was done anyway.” It takes all the patience Reid has left to keep from punching him in the face. Only the sound of squabbling behind him forces him to abandon Marcus and see to the kids.

  Savages, that is. He wades through them as they fight each other for water and stands beside the thin waterfall, feeling moisture on his skin as it tumbles happily over the rocks, spraying him with the excess. The kids groan while his own thirst is almost his undoing.

  “Take turns. Those most in need first. Megan.” Reid gestures her forward. She looks like she can’t believe her good fortune but freezes up. Milo gives her a good natured shove from behind. She looks up at Reid with relief and thanks in her eyes before plunging her face into the water.

  He lets her drink for a ten count then gently pulls her free. “There’s lots,” he says. “You’ll get another turn.”

  She grins, nods, wipes her face on her sleeve. And hugs him around his waist so hard it takes his breath away before dodging off.

  “Cole.” The skinny boy’s blue eyes light up but he shakes his head. “Alex needs it more than me. I had water yesterday and I know he’s been longer.”

  Reid wants to hug the boy. Everyone relaxes instantly, like his willingness to sacrifice makes it all okay. “Fine,” Reid says. “Alex. But Cole, you’re after him. No excuses.”

  The rest of the watering goes smoothly and quickly, so much so Reid doesn’t have to police it after Alex pulls himself away on his own. It’s not long before everyone has had a turn and only Reid and Leila stand next to the waterfall.

  “You next,” he says.

  “No, you.” Is that a smile? Reid finds himself smiling back.

  “Just have a drink, would you?”

  She does, one hand squeezing his arm in thanks as she moves past.

  And then she is done and he is drinking and his throat thanks him while his stomach groans, his whole body begging for more.

  He pulls back, knowing he has to stop. His first experience over-drinking in the forest above proved to him he has to take it slow. He can hear someone groaning and knows it’s Marcus, but has absolutely no sympathy.


  “Next round. This time, drink your fill.”

  They do. It takes a while. Reid wishes they were camels and could carry enough with them to keep them going for days. He fills the meager water bottle and stuffs it in his pocket, knowing it’s barely a mouthful each until it will be empty again but at least it’s something.

  They all wait around for Marcus after he pukes up his stolen water, gets his breath back and returns to the stream. By the time he is back on his feet, everyone is impatient to get going.

  Reid gestures for Marcus to lead the way. He does without a word, shoulders hunched forward, head down. The rest of the kids are changed, however. Soft chatter fills the tunnel, even the odd laugh. The brief respite and the water has filled them up, given them hope again. Reid knows their hope is short-lived, that none of them may survive to get out. But he makes sure he has Alex keep track of where the waterfall is just in case they need to find it again. A long shot, considering, but one Reid needs to keep in reserve anyway.

  At the next break in the passage, Reid catches a hint of fresh air. His nose strains for more of it but it is gone as fast as it came. After a moment he is sure he imagined it, though part of him hopes the explorers will come back and tell them they found an exit. That would be bad, and Reid knows it. There’s no way they are past the fence yet. They haven’t come far enough. Besides, they’ve been traveling down deeper underground since they found the stream, the descent sometimes so steep they are forced to hang onto the rough walls to make to the bottom of the grades safely.

  The rest of their day continues the way it began, exploring side tunnels, some of which are blocked off, some that have branches of their own. No one asks Marcus what he thinks anymore despite the fact he still marches at their lead. Instead, all eyes swing back at Reid every time a new path shows up.

  He knows it’s silly to keep playing this game but he can’t help himself. Maybe it’s still his reluctance or maybe it’s a vindictive streak against Marcus, knowing how uncomfortable this must be making him but for whatever reason, Reid remains at the back of the pack and only nods when they stop to look at him like that.