Awake

Chapter Twenty-Nine - Blueberries, Lock Picks and Boy Scouts

"When do we go?" Carmen asked Ashley, who had been stationed to supervise them.

"Soon," Ashley glanced at her watch. "Soon. Natalia said at fifteen seconds exactly."

"Natalia has taken control very smoothly," Carmen commented, admiringly. "The girl has a talent."

"You won't die, will you?" Ashley asked, suddenly. "I mean, you will come back? Won't you?"

Carmen blinked at her, startled. "I should think so. What could possibly kill me? Subterra's not exactly full of wild beasts and poisonous plants."

"Other people might," Ashley looked serious. "Or you might fall off something. There could be anything up there. Creatures kept over from before..."

"I will survive," Carmen promised her. "I will come back. Everything will be alright."

Ashley nodded agreeably. "I thought so. I just had to check."

To Carmen's surprise, the girl wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly. Carmen hesitated, then hugged back, Ashley's head fitting neatly under her chin.

"Hey," Carmen kissed her russet hair automatically. "Don't worry. It'll be fine."

Nigs cleared his throat loudly. "Six seconds till time."

Ashley stepped back. "Good luck! You're going to need it."

"Thanks a lot," Carmen grinned. "That's really encouraging."

"And it's time!" Nigs crowed, sparking into life.

Carmen shifted the weight of her backpack on her shoulders, waved a final goodbye, and turned to sprint after him down the empty corridor ahead.

  Nobody had told them what the diversion plan was. Probably, it was best they didn't know. Their job was to get to the mysterious door and through it without being stopped. Anything else was secondary, no questions asked.

  The corridors passed them by soundlessly, without even a door to set them apart from one another. They were eerily identical and Carmen had a sudden stomach-churning vision of running down passages like this forever: white, featureless, softly rounded, glowing with electric light. Until time ended.

"Right," Nigs said, his voice perfectly even. "Then straight on."

They matched strides effortlessly, pacing themselves. It wasn't a long run but who knew what waited? There was something satisfying about running like that anyway: their footfalls and their breaths in time with one another, both confident in the knowledge that they could keep it up for hours. It made Carmen smile to know she was out in the world again, doing something, feeling strong.

"I assume that's it," Nigs said, eventually, as they slowed to a walk. "It being the only door we've seen for a long time."