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  He sets the pace. It’s a tough one, but he refuses to be in the dark any longer than they need to be. As soon as his foot passes over the last rim of light, his heart heaves in fear. Reid grips his rock tighter, free hand wrapped in the front of Milo’s shirt. He can feel Leila’s fingers tighten on the front of his own.

  It won’t be long and they will be back in the light. He keeps telling himself that as the darkness goes on and on. He finds himself counting steps again, as the black envelops him and squeezes him tight.

  There should be a bulb by now. He’s sure of it. Someone whimpers behind him and he knows he’s not the only one counting. Reid runs on, dragging them with him, two hands pulling against the back pockets of his pants. There is nothing but the black and their breathing, growing louder and sharper as they struggle for air. Reid knows the little ones won’t be able to keep up much longer and feels someone stumble, tug against him, almost throwing him off balance only to recover.

  More black. A second bulb has gone by, he knows it. And his soul despairs. He has led them into the dark and they will never escape it. For all he knows they have passed the tunnel to the way out by now, missing it in the dark, this one only sending them deeper and deeper underground.

  Someone grunts. “Wall.” Marcus. They have drifted sideways then, in their run. The panting is heavier, the cries of the weakest soft squeaks of protest through tortured lungs. Even Reid is faltering, ready to stop. He has to stop, they need to catch their breath but he doesn’t dare.

  As they run he feels it. Something waits for them in the black, paces them. Is counting on them giving up. It is ready when they do, to pounce, to kill and to feed. Reid’s panic pushes his feet forward, drags the ones who cling to him along, forces them to keep running while the thing in the darkness breathes in his face.

  He is sure he hears it laugh.

  This time it’s Milo who cries out, running into Reid. “Wall!” The boy stumbles, trips, almost falls. It’s only by sheer will that Reid keeps him up by the grip on his shirt, dragging Milo along.

  White sparkles appear around the edges of Reid’s vision, fed by lack of oxygen and panic. He groans, knowing this is the end, that none of them can run any further.

  When he sees the light ahead, he is sure he is imagining it at first. That single glowing bulb, a flickering beacon calling them on. The kids cry out so he knows they see it too. With one last push of energy they surge forward as one, over the lip of the black and into the light.

  The pack collapses together, gasping for breath, overcome with emotion. Most of them weep, Reid among them, while he turns and glares into the darkness and dares the thing that hovers to come out into the light and face him.

  There is nothing. Only his imagination and his fear. And yet, Reid is sure if they had stopped, they would be dead, if only from their own terror.

  He lets them rest for a while before prodding them back to their feet. When they head out they are actually in better humor than they have been, as though this small victory over the dark has given them some measure of joy.

  Even Cole and Milo who so recently let their tempers get the better of them joke and laugh at little at each other as they go.

  Reid notices a large gap coming up at the end of the tunnel and slows. Cole and Milo are in the middle of giggling and don’t see it until Reid gives them both a good-natured shove and points.

  “Something ahead,” he says, turning his face so the sound travels to the kids in the rear.

  The fear returns, so sharply it’s like a knife blade cutting all of them. They defeated the black once. But the thought of doing it again makes Reid weak. The pack slows, matching his pace. He finally gestures for them to stop and moves up on his own.

  Not the darkness this time. But something new. The tunnel comes to an abrupt end, opening into a large, empty cavern. It’s still man-made, the edges carved, not made by nature, but it’s a nice change from the endless maze. It is as dimly lit as the rest of the mine, with single bulbs continuing with frustrating regularity along the circular walls. There is just enough to see a cage of some kind directly across from him.

  When Reid finally realizes what he’s looking at, he can’t decide if he should be thrilled or terrified.

  Milo breaths a low whistle beside him. “Is that an elevator?”

  Cole, all antagonism gone, grins. “Looks like one.” He steps out but Reid flings one arm across the boy’s chest, bringing him to an abrupt halt.

  “Let me go first,” he says. “Just in case.”

  Reid doesn’t wait for them to agree. Instead, he strides out into the middle of the chamber, stops and waits. His whole body tingles a warning, his overactive mind certain he is being watched, targeted. But when five seconds pass and nothing happens, then ten, he begins to relax.

  Reid spins on his heel and gestures for the kids to come out. They do in a rush, spilling into the large room, spreading out like they’ve craved the space their entire ordeal underground.

  The elevator door is a cross hatch of steel, a cage as Reid’s mind told him in the first place. He pulls open the door, making a face as it creaks loudly, the sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. Inside is a simple panel with two buttons. There are arrows etched in them, faded but still visible.

  “Up and down,” Cole observes.

  “Duh,” Milo says. Both grin at each other like it’s funny and they weren’t at each other’s throats just minutes ago.

  Reid steps inside and looks up. The ceiling is the same cage grating, showing the shaft above. It is faintly lit, more flickering light bulbs. He will be so happy to see the sun, the moon even. Anything but the constant baffling illumination they’ve lived with.

  “Could be a trap,” Milo says.

  “Could be.” Reid sighs. Aside from back tracking to the tunnel where they left the trapped hunter, they have no other choice.

  “It’s not very big.” Cole looks up too, then at Reid. “Might fit nine or ten of us.”

  Two trips, then. Reid nods and steps out. “Listen up.” They do, of course. Their need to spread out is gone as they crowd around, looking at the lift. “This is our best shot. Up should mean outside.” They sigh in relief at his words, like the very mention of escape is enough. “But we have to split into groups.”

  Fear, their old friend. It shines from them, triggering his guilt. But there is nothing he can do.

  “This is nuts,” Marcus says, pushing forward. “Leaving the mine is a death sentence. They’ll be waiting for us out there.”

  “And staying isn’t?” Reid is too tired to fight.

  “We’ve had more luck down here than we have in the forest.” Marcus looks around as though expecting support but he’s burned too many bridges.

  “Since when did you think being down here was a good idea?” Milo’s attitude hits Marcus like a blow. “Seems to me somebody here was bitching about it not too long ago.”

  Reid doesn’t encourage his young friend but refuses to stop him, either. Payback feels too good for that.

  “This is our best chance,” Reid says, putting it to them. “We have no other choices.”

  “Maybe if you hadn’t blown up our only escape route.” It’s muttered softly, Reid is sure not meant to be heard but he does hear, they all do, and amid the gasps from the other kids that Marcus would dare, Reid doesn’t think, only acts.

  The first punch takes Marcus on the point of his chin and sends him flying backward to land on his back in the dirt. Reid is on top of him, punching him, the pain in his hands so bad he can’t land another solid blow but his fury as hot as it had been with Joel.

  Hands pull him away before he can do much physical harm but the emotional damage is done. The kids are crying softly again, hopelessness taking over. Reid cradles his aching hands against his chest and spits at Marcus as he pulls himself to his feet.

  “Drew gave his life,” Reid lunges forward, Marcus flinching from him, “to save us.” Reid spits again, this time to the side, bile in the bac
k of his throat, his grief rising in answer to the emotional turmoil around him. “So you just shut the fuck up about that.”

  Reid staggers around, back to Marcus, not caring anymore.

  “Ten in the first group,” he says. And points out a bunch at random. At eight he turns to Leila. “You,” he says, spinning on Milo, “and you.”

  They immediately protest. Reid cuts them off with a sharp chop of his hand and instantly wishes he hadn’t. The pain is horrible. “I need you two up there, taking care of the others while the rest of us follow.”

  Leila reaches for him but he steps back. “How do you know I’m doing you a favor?” A laugh escapes him, bitter and harsh. “Just go. Now. Before something else happens.”

  Reid closes the door on them, hearing the soft creaks and groans from the cage as it takes their weight.

  Leila’s fingers slide through the cage and Reid touches them. “We’ll be waiting for you,” she says.

  “See you soon.” Reid nods at Milo who presses the up button.

  Somewhere an electric motor hums to life. The elevator jerks upward, drawing a collective scream from the kids inside before settling into a slow and ponderous rise to the top. Reid steps under it, eyes locked on Leila’s for as long as possible, her looking down at him through the grate in the floor.

  They listen in silence there on the bottom for a long time, waiting for the grinding and groaning to come to an end. When it does, they all sigh in relief, even Reid. After another eternity that is only a few minutes, the sounds start up again, the chain and cable that supports the cage reversing direction.

  Reid looks away and sees Marcus glaring at him. It takes everything he has left not to flip the guy off.

  There is someone in the elevator. Reid panics a moment, wondering if something happened but it is only Milo who waves down at him. The cage settles back on the ground and the boy shoves the door open with another protest of angry metal.

  “All aboard,” he says. “Last trip.”

  “What’s up there?” Reid asks as he helps kids get on ahead of him.

  “Not much,” Milo says. “Two tunnels. The others are exploring.”

  Reid scowls but before he can protest, Milo shrugs. “Leila’s in charge,” he says. “You shouldn’t have sent her if you didn’t want them looking around.”

  Reid grins at him. “Fair enough.”

  He is about to board the cage when Marcus shoves past him, forcing kids aside, to stand next to the buttons. Reid doesn’t say anything, just turns and looks behind him, some instinct triggering his need to check his back.

  And sees something glitter. He almost ignores it but can’t, his curiosity winning over good sense.

  “Hang on,” he says, jogging at an angle across the room.

  “Let’s go!” Marcus sounds like he’s in charge or something. Reid ignores him and crouches in the dirt. He digs with his fingers around the shiny object and pulls it free.

  A knife. He can’t believe it. It’s a small weapon, the folding kind, the blade only as long as his palm, but it’s the first one he’s had since he lost the hunting knife when Joel set him up. The blade is shiny despite being buried and Reid wonders where it came from.

  He straightens and flips it closed, working the hinge a few times to kick out the dirt. Reid grins down at it.

  His first bit of luck in a while. Reid slides it into his back pocket and turns to go back to the elevator when he hears Milo scream his name. Reid freezes, spins to where the boy is pointing.

  A hunter stands at the tunnel entrance, staring right at him.

  ***

  Chapter Ten

  Reid doesn’t stop, doesn’t think.

  Reid runs.

  It seems like he’s caught the hunter by surprise. It doesn’t move for a tense heartbeat, giving Reid the chance to gain more distance. But he knows he has no chance of outrunning it, none at all, not when it has only a little more ground to cover than he does.

  That fact doesn’t stop him from running. He sees the hunter move at last out of the corner of his eye even through his absolute focus is on the gaping elevator door. His feet make almost no sound on the hard-packed dirt floor, lungs heaving for one more ounce of air. His body feels like it’s flying he’s moving so fast, pouring every ounce of energy he has into that race to safety.

  It’s right there, the elevator. Reid reaches out with his fingertips, so close he can feel the humming vibration of the electric motor, see clearly the desperate faces of his friends. Reid is amazed. He’s going to make it. How, he has no idea, but in that last second before the hunter catches him he knows it’s true. His heart leaps as he does, straight for the opening.

  Only to have the cage door slammed in his face. Reid skids to a halt but is too late, too committed to the lunge, his whole body slamming against the wire mesh, rebounding from the impact. Marcus spares an instant to meet Reid’s eyes before backing away and punching the up button. Reid can hear Milo screaming, Cole’s desperate shrieks as both of them dive for the door, but there is nothing they can do. The cage is rising and the door is jammed shut.

  Reid is so shocked to be left behind he almost forgets the reason he was running in the first place. He hears a spit of hissing laughter behind him and spins to faces the hunter. It has come to a halt not far away, a giant grin on its face, horrible teeth showing. Its silver eyes flicker upward at the retreating, screaming kids before fixing on him again. This time when it laughs, Reid’s anger breaks through his rigid fear. It’s laughing at him. Because his friends left him behind.

  Reid backs into the gap the rising cage leaves behind and risks a look up. Milo and Cole are still calling his name, the other kids sobbing, while Marcus simply stares down through the slats with no expression on his face.

  One shot. The hunter’s laughter fades but its smile remains. It moves slowly forward, the arrogant strut of a hunting cat, knowing it has Reid, that he is trapped. And he is, he knows it, but only if he misses. And he doesn’t intend to miss.

  Just as the cage passes out of his reach, Reid leaps up and hooks his hands in the bottom grate. The elevator sways, kids shrieking in fear as the mechanism groans. Reid pulls his legs up as the hunter realizes his intentions. It snarls and comes for him. Reid hooks his sneakers around the edge of the elevator, clinging with his hands and feet, pressing his body against the bottom of the grate, hoping it is enough.

  It has to be enough. It can’t end like this, betrayed by Marcus, with Cole’s face only inches away, Milo’s tears dripping onto Reid’s cheek. Their fingers wriggle through the slats, grip his while Reid hears the grunt of the hunter as it leaps for him.

  The claws pass beneath him and all he feels is the rush of air.

  His hands are on fire, his body quitting on him even as he begs it not to. Reid looks down, sees he is finally out of reach and lets his legs drop. He groans softly to himself, begging his fingers to hold while he stares down into the receding silver eyes below.

  “Hang on.” Cole sobs above him, fingers pressing to Reid’s. “We’re almost there, don’t let go.”

  Reid pants in short gasps of air, doing his best but knowing he won’t last. He looks up, wishes he hadn’t as two desperate pairs of eyes gaze down at him.

  “We’re so close,” Milo whispers. “Dude, hold on, okay? Hold on.”

  “What do we do at the top?” Cole spins on Milo. “How do we get him up?”

  “I don’t know!” Milo snaps back. “You’re the freaking genius!”

  Reid’s gaze shifts, meets Marcus’s as the two argue and Reid’s hands tell him to quit. He knows if it weren’t for those dark eyes challenging him from above, Reid would let them.

  Something dark eases past the rising cage. Reid’s eyes flash to it and relief is almost too much.

  “Shut up,” he gasps at the arguing boys. “I have an idea.”

  It’s an opening, rapidly retreating. Reid takes the one shot he has and jumps.

  He has a terrified moment where he thinks he
’s over shot the mark even while he is landing on his chest with a whoosh of air onto a skinny ledge, a tunnel leading away from it deeper into the dark.

  Reid’s hands scream in agony and he rocks there a moment, clutching them to his chest and sobbing for air.

  “Reid!” Cole shouts down as the elevator continues to rise.

  “Send it back down when you’re off.” Reid leans out and looks up, panting, in pain but alive and very grateful. “I’ll jump on top.”

  He sees Cole’s thumbs up and tearful smile and then the elevator is too high for him to make out anything else.

  Reid crouches on the ledge and lets his hands recover. He examines the bite the creature left behind, just happy there is no sign of infection, though he has no idea why not. The other, the broken hand, is a throbbing mess. Reid pulls out the knife he found and cuts a strip from his pant leg, using it to wrap the broken bones as tightly as he can. He pauses as he hears the elevator come to a halt, the vibrating cables on the far side of the tunnel shuddering and falling still. The whine of the electric motor cycles off at the same time, leaving Reid in the quiet.

  Reid considers the cables as he uses his teeth and wounded hand to wrap the broken one, doing only a fair job of it. But he is sure his hands won’t last on the thin and harsh wire, let alone the slippery links of chain. Not to mention they are on the other side of the shaft. He could probably leap that far, it’s not too long a jump, but even if is lucky enough to catch them and hold himself up, and then climb them, he’s left with the same problem as before, with no way of accessing the exit.

  All thoughts of taking action leave him as he tries to tighten the bandage. He is panting and sweating from the pain by the time he’s done but his hand is at least supported.

  Reid listens, waiting for the sound of the motor. It’s been a while since he heard it come to a halt but only now notices. At the same time he feels a breeze against his back and his panic rises like a wave.