Silo

Chapter 7

We'd been sitting here for the past hour, miserable. Huddled into the tree line, and our asses completely soaked by the slush the sky insisted on dropping, each minute felt like an eternity. We'd seen tracks going in; we were just waiting for them to come back out.

"Jesus Christ, it's cold out here," Keith said as he dug through his backpack for a third pair of socks. The first two had holes in them, but so long as he positioned this third layer on his hands correctly, no piece of skin would go uncovered.

"Quiet," Evan whispered. With a wave of his hand, he gestured to a hatch I hadn't even seen, the faint glint of light indicating that it was open.

The first of six boys climbed out, a pack slung over his shoulder, an extra pair of boots hanging from the strap. I couldn't see his face, the light was too dim and my eyes too heavy from lack of sleep. Snagging the binoculars from Keith's hand, I trained them on his waist, looking for any sign of a weapon tucked into his jeans, his belt, maybe even his boots. He looked completely unarmed, not so much as a cap gun to ward off insects.

The five guys behind him made up for what he lacked. They were loaded to the hilt, each one carrying an impressive arsenal. Part of me wanted to leave the girl for another day, follow these jackals into the woods and see what the hell they were up to. But coming face to face with them would be suicide. My lone rifle and rusty knife would be no match for their armory.

I handed the binoculars back to Keith just as the last guy emerged. Too lazy to pull my fingers back out of my gloves, I motioned for Keith to check him out.

Keith did as I asked, laughing and shaking his head in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What? Is he armed?" I asked, reaching for the binoculars.

Keith just shook his head and tossed them back into his pack. "Nope, but he's got all he needs to take you down."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothing, let's move," Keith said and stood up, not bothering to look back at us as he took his first step toward the hatch . . . toward the girl buried sixty feet below the earth.

I didn't waste any energy arguing with Keith; I didn't have time. From the amount of gear they were carrying, I doubted that group of kids would be back anytime soon. But, I wasn't taking any chances. Get in and get out - that's what we needed to do. Screw the supplies and the cache of weapons. After seeing those seven emerge from the hatch, we'd be lucky to keep ourselves alive, let alone the girl.

"Seven in, seven out," Keith said as he cracked the hatch and prepared to jump down.

Grabbing a hold of his arm, I yanked him to a stop, forcing him to look at me. I'd be damned if I was going to let him go all cowboy on us and drop his over-confident ass down that hole only to be met by half the deranged town. "There could be more down there. We go in armed and silent."

He nodded once and pulled a knife from his boot. With the handle tightly secured between his teeth, he disappeared into the darkness. A curt whistle indicated all was clear, and I followed him down, my eyes struggling to adjust to the darkness as my body reeled from the stench yet again.

Evan came down the ladder last, his hand shaking around the pistol I'd handed him. We both knew the disconcerting truth; no amount of planning could ensure our safety.

I paused just before pulling aside the heavy, steel door, wondering what the hell I was doing . . . why I was adding a sick, broken girl to my already dysfunctional brood. It didn't make sense, but something in my gut told me no amount of rationalizing mattered.

"You good?" Evan asked, and I nodded, grabbed onto what I knew was the right thing to do and slid the door open.

A sliver of light pierced through the haze inside. A muffled gasp, shuffling, and the sound of labored breathing cut into the silence. I held the rifle out in front of me, prepared to shoot without hesitation if anything other than that girl emerged from the shadows.