The Workmen

Chapter 12

Keira had no idea what was worse, being chased by a mob of gravity defying mini Dwellers or smelling raw sewage while trudging through the darkness. Either way, the situation sucked eggs. The only positive she could focus in on was Lewy. Once the two of them had caught their breath, he took her hand in his and led them both further into the dark unknown.

The bright red blush that spread from her cheeks to the rest of her face made her thankful for the pitch black. Keira felt so ridiculous. Here they were, fighting for survival, and she was getting flustered over a boy holding her hand. She needed to get a grip. More attention needed to be put into not tripping over something beneath the water. A face full of the city's remains could kill a rat.

The pair walked for hours, each one trying to keep their mind on the task at hand. Lewy took them this way and that, navigating through the sewer as if he knew it by heart. Not once did he hesitate in his decisions. At first, Keira chalked it up to the voice's guidance, but something was telling her that all of the twists and turns were from memory.

"Lewy, do you know where we're going?"

"Back up to the surface. There's no way I'm staying the night down here." Keira rolled her eyes at his obvious answer. "It shouldn't take much longer."

"Yes, but where?"

"There's another manhole near the city wall. We'll come out in an alley behind one of the guard posts."

"Why do I get the feeling you have done this before?"

He took another turn. "Maybe that's because I have."

Keira scrunched up her nose. "I thought one trip down here was bad enough."

Lewy chuckled. "Believe me, it wasn't by choice."

The comment buzzed in the young girl's brain. Did the voice tell him to do it? What am I thinking? Of course it did. Who else would be giving Lewy orders? "So, why the city wall?"

"I would have thought that was obvious." Lewy paused as he swerved around something unseen. "We have to get out of the city."

Keira stopped so fast she jerked his arm. Leave the city? They couldn't leave the city. Sure there were killer creatures after them, but The Dunes were a sure fire death sentence. No one survives the desert on foot, and even if they had some means of transportation, they were still at risk of being skinned alive by the horrible sand storms that swept across the land. Voice or no voice, the venture seemed impossible.

"Have you lost your mind? The Dunes aren't safe."

"Oh yeah, opposed to what, Worran City?"

She could feel Lewy looking at her as if she were stupid. "At least in here we have places to hide, some form of shelter. Out there we are totally defenseless. All we'd be doing is trading one danger for another."

"Exactly," Lewy exclaimed, sloshing dirty water as he moved closer to her. "If we move fast enough, we can stay ahead of the storms. Out there it's near impossible for a Dweller to catch us by surprise so shelter isn't necessary. We have a better chance out there than we do roaming around the city's borders."

Keira stood in the darkness having a major inner debate. The city was her home. She, like most of her fellow citizens, had never been outside its stone walls. The closest she had ever come was when Stele took her to see their parents off. The medical services of her father were needed in Ediw, and her mother had graciously volunteered to go as representative for Worran City's Elders. Their trip outside of the city didn't end well, so why on Earth would Lewy's little plan not end in disaster?

The whole idea sent shivers up her spine, but not as much as the thought of going one on one with a Dweller.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized how right Lewy was. Surviving the elements was less of a risk than staying within the confines of the city. Stele wasn't in Worran anyway. Whether that meant that she was alive or dead, Keira didn't know. All she was sure of was the sinking feeling in her stomach that kept saying her sister was long gone.