Paphos

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Carolina raced down the ramps, zigzagging her way down and ignoring Orlean’s demands to stop.  Her feet barely touched the platform beneath her as she ran.  The last slope finally dropped her on ground and she hid along the deliberate, round wall of the testing cell…  Carolina shook that thought from her head.  She didn’t know if it was a testing cell or not, or at least she didn’t want to know.  She didn’t want these memories that kept popping up.  She was on the ground floor now and looked up at all the rooms above, a collection of entrances and viewing windows. 

She could hear the commotion going on inside the structure, the cell rooms where the exo-suit was held.  Carolina held her head this time.  She didn’t know what it was, why would she think that?  And before she had time to shake the foggy thoughts away, part of the building exploded.   

Pushing its way through the rubble, the exo-suit came out of the wall like a bulldozer.  Carolina closed her eyes.  It had the suit now... she fought the memories this time, thinking of something else, anything else.  Dmitry caught her eye, she saw him on the other side, sprinting.  He scrambled to a low hanging platform and ascended, clearly afraid for his life.  Carolina took a couple of cautious steps towards the building, thinking it better for her to hide as well.  She refused to look at the creature, or the suit, however her mind thought of it, even though part of her wanted to.  From the corner of her eye she saw it take in its surroundings.  She felt one of those foggy memories coming on, and she shut her eyes.

She opened her eyes to the sound of the creature latching on to the platforms suspended above.  It had left her alone, if it even knew she was there.  For a moment she saw Orlean and Athen up there, and she hoped the creature didn’t come across them, but something moving in the building drew her attention back.  Aware of the thrashing above her, Carolina delicately approached the burning structure.  There were a few destroyed walls along the perimeter, all of them billowing smoke. 

“Daddy?”

Austin’s face appeared at the gaping wall.  “Carolina?!” he cried in disbelief before a coughing fit took over.  Carolina pushed past the smoke and climbed inside through the hole in the wall.  She was small enough to get in at will, whereas Austin had only just now gotten himself unstuck.  She recognized this room, though she had never been in here before.  It was an exam room, with green walls and gray ceilings.

“You shouldn’t be here, baby girl,” Austin said when she climbed in.  “Get back out there right now, it’s not safe in here,” he ordered.  He would not let her die of smoke inhalation, if the flames didn’t get them all first.

“I had to find you,” she said, eyes on him, oblivious to the flames engulfing the far side of the room.  It was a moment that held them both, with Austin forgetting about the heat and smoke long enough to give her a hug the likes of which they had never shared.

“You need to go, now, and you need to stay clear of that big creature,” he said, kneeling to her level.  “I’ll find a way out.”

“I’m not leaving,” she said, covering her mouth.  The smoke was thickening.

“Go!  Now!  Wait for me on the other side!”

“Dad, you won’t fit!”

“Carolina…,” he said, struggling with what he was beginning to think meant goodbye. 

Carolina looked down at the floor, large green tiles from end to end.  She was looking for something, the source of a breeze.  Smoke bathed her, the fire would consume them before much longer.  She crawled on her hands and knees, along the wall, feeling for something.