To Be A Champion

Chapter 31: Live From The Underground

Casper staggers back, coughing raggedly. "So not just out of shape," He hacks, dropping to his knees. "Oh, God!"

His skin is losing color, eyes rolling into the back of his head as he convulses. I can only stare in shock, my mind snapping into action when Janine finally speaks.

"Everybody, get back!" She barks. "He's turning V-Type!"

"Oh, God," Shona says, her hand clasped over her mouth as fungus starts foaming out of Casper's.

"We have to get out of here," Nicole states as if it isn't obvious. "Come on. Deeper into the caves. Colonel, lean on me if you need to. Just run!"

"Five," Moonchild says, eyes wide and desperate. "Five, you need to run!"

Sam's hold moves from my arm to my hand, surprisingly not letting me go. We race off, leaving Casper as he wheezes and coughs. Not even two minutes later, the sound turns to a dead snarl, the sound that is distinctly V-Type.

It's a sound I haven't heard in over a month since we arrived in the Far Hebrides.

It's just as terrifying as it's always been.

I was stupid to assume it was the mind control drug instead of the accelerant. This place was a research facility for the fungus! I should have known it would have been Moonchild's accelerant.

I look around to see what else she might have to say, but she's gone. Of course, she knows nothing of this place, only was able to recognize the signs of the accelerant before I did. She would only stay if she could be of use, if she could give me something to help me, and as a result, her, stay alive. She wouldn't know anything about this place. Everything she knew about Van Ark was through Sigrid. I doubt Sigrid would have told her much about this place, even if she did apparently tell Van Ark enough that he and his scientists could get their hands on some of her projects.

"Oh, God. Poor Casper," Sam says minutes later, his hand still in mine. "One minute, he's one and us, and the next..." He looks at me, his eyes showing his fear and pain. "I never get used to that."

It hurts when I swallow. "Me neither."

If he hadn't pushed Janine out of the way–if one of us, the accelerant would have exploded on us instead of him. We would have been fine. We aren't infected.

If we had protected our own instead of relying on him to, he'd still be alive.

"And you know how fast those V-types are," Sam continues. "He won't be far behind us."

Janine coughs dryly. "Miss Edwards, I'm having trouble focusing. Am I correct that those are cave paintings on the tunnel wall?"

"Aye," Shona answers before Nicole can. Her brown eyes narrow at the unending circle symbol of the isles and the one that looks like people dancing on a hilltop. "I recognize the style. They're symbols drawn by the first islander, the ancients of this archipelago."

"You seem well-informed," I say, and she looks at me as if I'm stupid.

"This is my home," She clips. "But my mum was also a mythologist. Moved here to study the isle and its past. That's how she met my dad. She used to love Mor's myths and legends. Dad always says keeping hold of our history keeps her memory alive."

I practically feel the anxiety rolling off Sam when he speaks. "Uh, guys, there's fungus patches on the wall opposite to the paintings. And also on the floor in the corners. It looks like it's sort of shifting in this direction like it's slowly growing towards us."

"The fungus has shown intelligence and adaptability in large quantities," Janine replies. "There's a great deal in this tunnel. It may be reaching out, hoping to infect more of us. Stay away from the walls."