From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in The Dissonance Series

Outside the Dome

The team jogs quickly and quietly through the tunnel. It's about a mile from the lab to the edge of the bubble. We find the stairway and the door on the other side, just as Vega described. Wyler leads, and the rest of the team follows, making our way out of the tunnel and onto the other side of the glass dome. I climb up through the exit with anxious excitement, breathing in the air of this planet for the first time. I feel alive in a way I haven't since we arrived.

It's dark, with only the stars to guide us, and they don't provide much light. Vega instructed us to not use flashlights or we'd be spotted, but ensured us that we would be able to find our way. As I step onto the ground I see why. The surface lights up with every footprint, like that night at the celebration, providing a moment's worth of light, right before it disappears, erasing itself and our path.

"Our time is limited," I say, taking charge. I'm the one who insisted on them joining me on this mission, so it's only right that I should lead. "We should split up."

"I'll go with you," Cerelia insists, and I nod, agreeing with the decision. I enjoy working with Cerelia. She's quiet and efficient.

"I'll take Coven and Sidonie with me," Wyler states, and a huge smile stretches across Sidonie's face at the idea of being somewhat alone in the dark with Wyler. I haven't spoken to Wyler since I snapped at him yesterday. I feel bad. I want to make things better, but there's no time for that right now. I'll have to wait until we get back.

"Okay. Let's meet back here in 30 minutes. Agreed?" The team nods and we go our separate ways.

Cerelia and I comb the land, looking for anything that might help us to better understand this place. We take samples of the soil and rocks. I use a device to capture information about the composition of the air, to be analyzed later in the lab. When I've gathered all that I can find, I decide to examine one last thing. I make my way towards the wall. From the roof of Environettix's headquarters, it almost looked as if one could possibly find a way to climb it, but up close, its immensity becomes clear. I run my hands along the surface, examining the material used to build it, searching for possible weaknesses, assessing its exact height, looking for an opening, a way out. There has to be a way to get beyond the wall, into the void, but all I see is one giant continuous concrete structure.

I try to find a foothold, to see if it's possible to scale the wall, but then my watch beeps, alerting me that we need to make our way back to the door in five minutes.

"Ever," Cerelia shouts. "We need to go."

"Just a minute," I reply. Something peeking out from underneath the wall catches my attention. I creep closer, trying to make it out in the dark. It's difficult to see in the blackness, but then I have an idea. I lift my leg and slam my foot down on the ground, creating a halo of light.

I see it now: the tentacles of something alive and green, snaking its way underground from the other side of the wall, trying to break through the concrete. It's a plant, growing widely, making its way along the interior edge the wall. How is this possible? There's no light source out here. It's pitch black.

"Amazing," I say aloud to myself. This is it, I think: life surviving despite the harsh conditions, finding a way to grow and thrive, breaking free from the constraints trying to stop it, to hold it back. If there's a way for this to survive, then maybe there's a way for us to as well.

"Ever, we really need to..." Cerelia begins to scold me for taking too long, but before she can finish her sentence, she's cut off by a high-pitched screeching noise. Cerelia turns, calm and steady as ever, but I can sense her alarm. We look at one another, an unspoken question passing between us.

"Maybe it's one of the others coming to get us" I say, but in my periphery, I see something move quickly, too quickly to be human. "What was that?" I ask, heart pulsing in my chest. I'm on so little sleep. My eyes must be playing tricks on me. Cerelia doesn't respond. Her eyes are alert, searching the area.