Hypermutant

Chapter 11 | The Sunken City of Nuratna

A figure thunders through the tree line just as a sheet of metal and dirt domes overhead. The ground continues to crumble beneath us and I struggle to stay upright. "Stay close," Vram advises just before I lose my balance and crash onto him. A sharp hot current whips up my arm as he shoves me away. "But do-on't touch me," he adds in a sharp breath. "Ya bu'oi?"

I make a noise to let him know I'm still alive. Vram continues pulling metal out of the ground. Up ahead, I can hear the hum as the electric currents try to break through the thickening dome of metal and dirt.

We slow and the thumping and humming grows closer. Vram groans in the darkness and the sizzling resumes. I fumble around for something—anything—that could help. I pull out the DMo from my pocket and examine the darkened red screen and the fingerprint scanner at the bottom. I press my thumb against it, and the DMo beeps. It turns to a deep blue and bright cubes and lines pop up from the screen. A small pulsating dot indicates how deep we are into the soil.

I pause. Around us is nothing but unhighlighted tunnels and blacked out buildings—abandoned or irradiated and inhabitable.

There's a thump from above and Vram moans, his boots crunching on the shifting dirt. We've stopped moving.

I turn my device on him as his knees hit the ground. The sizzling intensifies, and I cringe at the darkening spots on his skin. Probable death is better than definite death.

"If you could get us a few draeken lower," I tell Vram, "there's another tunnel not too far from here." With his eyes closed against the pain, I fix my gaze on the map and try my best to give him directions.

Glinting metal spills from Vram's belt and onto the ground. It disappears into the dirt. The ground quakes and tilts before we start to descend again. Vram's relieved breath is audible through the soil's crunch. His face as taut as his muscles, he fights to keep his concentration intact.

I look down at the DMo. We're making progress towards the tunnel. Vram finally opens his eyes and leans in to look at the map. The dirt box shifts and we stagger as it takes a turn and redirects its path. This time when Vram grabs my elbow to pull me upright, it tingles but doesn't hurt.

"Almost there," he says, his voice raspy. Metal twists itself through the wall of dirt and stone. Finally, the makeshift lift stops and the hole widens. Beyond it is darkness with a tint of blue-green.

I climb out and into darkness first, and Vram follows swiftly after. He makes a circulating motion with his palm. The hole shrinks back up and disappears, replaced by glimmering debris. The rumbling of the dirt elevator continues until it fades away to nothing.

A false landing. Henara. Even if the letri expects it, he'll have enough trouble finding us in the mess of dirt and metal Vram left in his wake.

Vram lets out a long breath. Straightening up, he presses his finger to his ear. "Nym-phia?" He clears his throat when his voice cracks. "Nymphia, reko'tu." A pause. "Nymphia, reko'tu." Nothing.

I gulp, spotting something on his neck. "Vram," I start but he ignores me and starts pacing back and forth.

"Coohle? Lloris? Taq?"

"Vram," I repeat.

"Mierrakka—Anybody," he shouts, running a hand through his hair so roughly most of it pops out of the rings of metal. "Is anybody there?"

"Vram!" He finally stops and looks at me. His eyes shine with worry but my focus is on the trail of red. I motion to his ear, where the earpiece still resides. "You're bleeding."

He stops and tries to pull the device from his ear. There's an audible pop and crackle. Wincing, he rips the thing out, swearing as he crushes the bloodied device under his boot. "They're all down," he whispers, pressing his sleeve to his ear to soak up the blood. "At least I think that's what the squad was trying to tell me before that letri barokku fried the damn OiChu."