Final Truth

Chapter 26: Terror in the Tunnels

Cassia's point of view:

A scream begins to form, the hollow of air beginning at my stomach and traveling up my esophagus to release its piercing noise.

However, I can't make a sound.

Everything happens in split-second intervals, the events merging until sounds mix together in nothing but a strange, unintelligible noise as terror takes over my body.

"Run," I manage to hear Cade say as Will starts shouting at his guards for something.

My hand still locked with Cade's, I jump from the ladder and take him with me, sending us both crashing to the floor and scrambling to our feet as we run inside the door.

I kick it shut and lock it just as the bullets start raining down behind us.

"They found us! Run!" I scream, my voice reaching an impossibly high pitch in fear.

Evelyn and her family are the first to react, racing out of the room and into the deeper tunnels that span outward. Kyle is the next, grabbing Susan's hand and pulling her after the family.

Adam bolts out of his chair so quickly that it falls behind him, frantically closing the box of powers and locking it. His fingers shake in the process.

The clatter of men coming down the ladder occurs only seconds after this, and the sound of them slamming the end of their guns against the other side of the door soon follows.

Adam quickly thrusts the box into my hands and ushers both Cade and I out where everyone else fled.

"They'll be expecting to find the box with me, so take it and run. Get as far away from the rest of us as you can. Use the box if it comes to it," Adam orders when we get out of the main room.

Two tunnels face all of us, one to our right and one to our left.

"The family, Susan, and Kyle took the one on the left. I'll catch up with them, I can figure this place out. You two, just keep safe," Adam insists before rushing into the left tunnel.

Cade pushes me forward into the right one, our heels digging into the ground in a sprint as the noise of the police breaking the door down unfolds in the room behind us.

We run forward as far as the tunnel goes before more begin to intersect it, taking random left turns and right turns until it's nearly impossible to trace where we just came from if we tried in this maze of a bunker system. Our only light is burning torches along the walls.

This goes on for what feels like an eternity until we reach a sudden dead end, nearly smacking into the wall in the dim light.

"Cade..." I trail off, feeling sick to my stomach as he starts panting from the running.

I know there's no way those men could possibly know where we are in this place, but every sound makes me feel like they're right behind me.

"Come on," I tell him, tightening my hand in his and taking this tunnel back until we come to a previous intersection and choose another way.

So many criss-crosses.

That strategy works for another minute or two before we come to another dead end, the air thick with heavy dust as we look around frantically for another way. We try backtracking once again and end up taking two, four, six different tunnels we hadn't gone down until trying to retrace our steps becomes impossible.

It doesn't matter though, for each one leads us to a dead end.

"Here," Cade whispers through heavy breathing, sinking to the ground to sit while pulling me into him. "I think we lost them. Just...stay here for a while," he gets out, and my own heaving chest seems to validate his reason to stop moving.