The Extinction Trials(24)

“Is it safe to take the suit off?” Blair asked, her voice quiet.

Maya and Cara shared a glance. The doctor merely shrugged and said, “Just take the helmet off for now. Alister seems fine.”

The older man laughed. “Nothing like being a sacrificial lab animal who is then used by other sacrificial lab animals. I feel so special.”

“You are special,” Cara said.

Alister closed his eyes and nodded dramatically. “Your words give me reason to live, doctor, if only to be your disposable signal bird.”

“You volunteered.”

“Hey,” Will said, “I’ve got something.”

“Please tell me you’ve discovered that this is all a bad dream,” Alister muttered.

“It’s a video,” Will said.

“What is?” Maya asked.

“The file marked Escape Hatch. It’s a video. I thought it was, but it wouldn’t play.”

“How’d you fix it?” Maya asked.

“Renamed it, then re-encoded it.” He rotated the tablet to the group. “Want to see it?”





Chapter Twenty





At the beginning of his career, Owen had spent a lot of time in firesuits. First, in training, and then, in fires.

The first time he had donned the suit, he had known that he had found his one true calling. Inside the suit, a sense of serenity had descended upon him. It was as though the constant background noise of his mind had gone quiet, leaving only his true self and the work before him. In the case of firefighting, that work was mostly carrying people out of harm’s way. And he liked that. He liked the way it made him feel.

In the passageway beyond the airlock, wearing the environmental suit, he felt that sensation again—for the first time in a long time. And it felt just as good. That was strange. Here, in a time when everything had fallen apart, he felt more at home than he had in ages. He was doing work that mattered, work he was especially qualified for. He was glad it was him out here, wearing the suit, taking the risk—and not one of the others.

Here and now, his mind was quiet, focused only on the task at hand: discovering what was outside.

As he marched up the rocky path, he was careful on the loose ground beneath his feet. A fall—and a rip in the suit—could be deadly.

Gently, Owen panned his helmet back and forth, allowing the lamps to rake over the walls and floor, looking for any clues about where he was—or who might be waiting outside the cave. He found only rock and dirt.

The wind whistled in the passageway. The soft howl outside the airlock grew stronger as Owen climbed. The tunnel turned, and as he rounded the corner, the howl grew louder.

Out of habit, he wanted to activate his radio and check in with Maya, as he might have done with his team if he were out on a call. But they had decided that radio silence was prudent.

He wasn’t even sure if the suit radio would reach from the cave opening back to the station, and even if it did, broadcasting would give away their position to anyone listening. It was a risk they couldn’t take. Not yet. They needed to know more.

So, Owen walked in silence, making another turn in the passage, watching as the faint light ahead grew brighter. To Owen’s surprise, it seemed to flicker every now and then, not unlike the emergency strobe light in the station. Out here, however, the pulsing light seemed to follow no pattern. What was it? A searchlight of some kind? A beacon that was also losing its power?

The mystery made him hasten his pace. Soon, he was pumping his legs up the incline. With each step, the wind grew stronger. Owen heard—and felt—a gentle gust that made him slow slightly, careful not to lose his balance.

He expected the tunnel to grow wider as he neared the exit. Instead, it narrowed.

The passage made an abrupt right turn, and around that bend, Owen glimpsed the exit and the soft glow of filtered sunlight shining through. The cave entrance was partially covered with rocks stacked up like a makeshift grave. The wind blew through the opening forcefully, tugging at his suit. He leaned forward, steadying himself as he marched to the rocks and began moving them aside. As he worked, rain lashed into the cave, carried by the wind, drenching the suit and stones, causing several to slip from Owen’s grip.

He was panting by the time he had cleared the last rock. He peered out, taking stock, but saw only thick fog and sheets of rain and wind.

One thing was certain: Bryce had told the truth about there being a storm. But was it deadly? Or was it something else in the air that had killed the older man?

Owen realized then what had caused the light’s pulsing effect: the storm and the fog. It drifted past the cave entrance in sheets, blotting out the sun and letting it through in a random pattern.

The cloud of fog shifted, revealing massive trees clustered near the cave opening. They were thick and dark, with limbs that stretched out and merged with each other as though they were a group of people clamoring together to withstand the storm, their own resilience magnified by their shared strength.

Owen wasn’t exactly a tree expert, but he didn’t recall any species quite like what he saw. The dark, massive trunks reminded him of something prehistoric, of a world untouched by humans. And so was the ground: he found no signs of roads or civilization of any sort.

He saw only trees ahead, shrouded by fog, and rock to his left and right and behind him. It was clear now that he had exited at the side of a mountain. The ground ahead descended sharply.