Underland(50)

Still, the place wasn’t bare. Off to one side stood an old wood-burning stove, and a few crates sat around an old card table. She looked up and saw holes in the roof and a metal ladder running up the inside of the building.

Probably not quite as secure as they needed it to be.

“Well, it will get there.” Den clapped his hands and eyed the place excitedly.

Zeke immediately went for the ladder and started to climb the interior wall of the old grain bin. Someone before had added steel crossbeams and wood floors for more usable living space on one side of the silo. Ropes hung across the space with lights dangling from them. It seemed Zeke was aiming to crawl to the light that had burnt out. He shimmied down the pole and reached for the old bulb.

Den went back outside, returned with his duffel, and dropped it on the floor. Dust rose up into the air.

Kira tried to fan away the dirt cloud and sneezed. It burned, but thankfully, she didn’t see any blood.

“What now?” She rubbed her boot across the dry ground and discovered actual cement underneath all the dirt. The silo just needed a lot of sweeping and mopping. But what was Den going to do with this place? Did he intend for them to stay long?

“Nothing right now. Just stay here while I get some supplies and see if we’ve been followed.”

She just nodded, relieved that she had time to get some rest. Once the stress-induced adrenaline wore off, Kira’s exhaustion slammed back into her. She moved to lean against a wall.

The silo door close behind them. Kira stared at the door, knowing freedom wasn’t very far away. It almost gave her hope for a minute.

Zeke seemed preoccupied with walking across the beams. He enjoyed the dangerous balancing act with such grace that she was jealous at his acrobatic ability. He turned, jumped up to another beam, and pulled himself up another level.

Kira wanted to breathe air that hadn’t been trapped in this vault for months. She casually made her way to the silo door and reached for the metal handle. Something large dropped in front of her and blocked her. She jumped.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Zeke said stiffly. Wasn’t he just as anxious as she was to leave the prison?

“Do you ever think about running? Really breaking free? Wouldn’t it be great to just leave—both of us? We’d just need to get these off.” She held up her band.

“And go where exactly?”

“Home. My home.” The words felt hollow out loud. Home should refer to somewhere warm, loving, a place where she felt safe and secure. She didn’t have one of those. Her childhood home was gone, and all she had left were the streets of Portland. If she got away, where would she go?

Zeke laughed. “Back to the surface? Do you really think my kind is welcome there? Once someone sees me go berserk, it’s all over.”

Is that what he called it—berserk?

“Your doctors would dissect me, study me, and regenerate me until I resembled nothing more than the walking corpses in your movies. It’s happened before to others. That’s no life for me up there.”

“And this is death for me down here. I have as much chance of survival down here as you do up there. I don’t belong.” She tried to push past him, but Zeke grabbed her wrist.

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you go. It’s too dangerous out there with Dip on your tail.”

Kira pulled her arm from his grasp and huffed. “Maybe I’d like those chances better than to stay here as a prisoner.”

Zeke narrowed his eyes. “You could stay and help with our plans. After all, you know nothing of what we’re trying to do.”

“Your plans?” she pondered the words. Suddenly, it all made sense. “Den knew you before the slave market didn’t he?”

“Yes, I was sent there as punishment for a crime. But Den and I go way back, and we planned for him to buy me. Now our goal is to compete—to get to the Labyrinth.”

“Why were you imprisoned there in the first place?”

Zeke’s mouth lifted into a mischievous smile. “For trying to break into the Labyrinth. I got caught."

She couldn’t believe it. “What’s the big deal about the Labyrinth?”

He got a far-off look in his eyes. “I think the answers are inside.”

“Answers to what?”

He became really quiet, and she knew she probably needed to let it drop. “So why’d you protect me in the courtyard?”

“You needed help.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“And why’d you helped me cross the finish line?”

“Den asked me to help you cross, although you did pretty well on your own. You had 50-1 odds. We’re team Den.”

“Sound like Team Zen to me.”

“What’s a Zen?”

“What I’m calling your bromance. Den combined with Zeke. Or you could be team Deke.”

Zeke actually laughed. It was warm, freeing, and she smiled.

When Zeke stopped laughing he became serious for a moment. “He’s not a saint, you know. You don’t know him like I do. Just…try to make the best of it. Being team Zeken is…bigger than us.”

“Now that’s just dumb.” Kira snorted at his attempt to combine all three names. As dumb as the name was, it sounded right to be a part of something.