Chapter 2
In the blackness of my room, I untangled from the heap and stood. A wave of dizziness hit, spinning me back onto the ground. Pressing my fingers to my temple, I touched a tender spot covered with a sticky wetness—blood. I probably had a concussion.
Unable to trust my legs, I crawled, shoving aside debris as I moved toward the door. Or so I hoped. In the darkness, direction was hard to determine.
My hand touched a round dome, and I picked up my exploring helmet with a cry of triumph. Funny how the small things become important in an emergency. I donned the helmet, toggling on the light.
I’d been going the wrong way and the room was a mess—no surprise.
A thick glass splinter jutted from my right forearm—a surprise since it didn’t hurt.
Of course once I stared at the blood welling from the wound, pain shot up my arm.
Basic first aid instructions that I’d learned when I lived in the care facility replayed in my mind. I left the glass in place.
The crushed innards of the vampire box crunched beneath me as I reached the door. Despite my refusal to use the box, the damn thing had still gotten my blood via the glass shard.
I stumbled through the door and illuminated another disaster area. The sitting room appeared as if a giant had upended all the furniture. I checked Lamont’s bedroom. It mirrored mine, but at least she wasn’t trapped under debris.
The sudden understanding that whatever had shaken Inside had most likely caused major injuries and maybe death, cleared the confused fog from my mind in a microsecond.
Energized, I wove through the carnage of the apartment.
Ignoring the disaster area that used to be her office and exam room, I reached the patient area.
I swept the light around the broken beds. Emek waved a bloody hand from underneath a pile. Digging through the debris, I uncovered him.
“What happened?” he asked.
“No idea. Are you injured?”
“I woke up on the floor.”
“Any pain?”
“Don’t think so.”
I righted a bed, returned the mattress and helped Emek lie down. A groan sounded across the room. I followed it to the other patient. She had a gash on her cheek, but I couldn’t find any other injuries.
“Is Doctor Lamont all right?” she asked.
“I haven’t seen her,” I said.
“She was right here before…”
What to call it? The Big Shake? Then the thought of Lamont being one of the casualties sent panic, fear and…grief?...shooting through my heart. It triggered another horrible possibility—Riley. He could be hurt or worse.
My first impulse was to run to his apartment and check on him, but he could be anywhere.
The ten hour shifts had ceased after the rebellion and no other schedule had replaced it yet.
Once I settled my out of control pulse, I decided to stay here.
Riley knew my location. He would come to me. If he could.
I searched the infirmary and found Lamont unconscious and bleeding from a nasty gouge on her head. Something like relief flowed through me, but, if asked, I would deny it. After I hefted her into a bed and bandaged her wound, I worked to get ready for the inevitable arrival of the injured.
As I rushed to clean up, redlights came on.
I skidded to a stop. Redlights? That was new.
And creepy. I’d never seen them before or even heard stories from the old timers.
In Inside, bluelights stayed on for sleeping or in temporarily unoccupied areas.
Daylights brightened occupied rooms and work places.
Bluelights stayed in places like the Gap between levels, and closed rooms. In the Expanse, there was a couple rows of bluelights, marking the walls.
I switched off my light and removed the helmet. The eerie red glow gave enough illumination to see, which meant I had little to no time before my “guests” showed up.
At first, they trickled in, coming in pairs or by themselves, seeking medical treatment.
The trickle transformed into a stream then a deluge.
I recruited those who had carried friends.
We divided the injured into three groups—bad, really bad, and dire.
The first two groups were taken next door to Quad A3—a common area. The last stayed in the main infirmary.
Then the emergencies arrived. Panicked, I flipped the switch that called Doctor Sanchia even though I knew he would be swamped with his own problems up on level four. I tore through the piles on the floor under the supply cabinets, searching for smelling salts to wake Lamont.
When I found them, I broke the package open and waved it under her nose.
She jerked and opened her eyes. “Trella? What—”
Her confusion cleared as I rushed to explain. By the time I finished, she was on her feet and issuing orders. Every able-bodied person was pressed into service. She took one look at the glass shard in my arm and yanked it out.
“Wrap it for now. We’ll deal with it later,” she said.
The hours blurred together. It seemed complete and utter chaos was but a moment away, yet somehow Lamont kept us on track. I sewed stitches until my fingers turned numb. Set bones until my arms ached. The bandage around my forearm dripped blood, but I had no idea if it was mine or not.
At one point a mechanical voice boomed. Everyone froze for a second as an announcement played. “Citizens of Inside, please do not panic.”
Too late.
“All life support systems are fully operational,” it continued.
“Please remain at your posts. Those off-duty, please remain in your barracks and apartments. Anyone with medical experience is asked to report to the infirmaries on levels four, three and two. More information will be relayed when available.”
We all stared at each other for a moment.
Who was speaking, the computer or one of the Committee members?
Before the rebellion, only the Travas had made announcements.
Just like the redlights, the mechanical voice was another new surprise.
This week was just full of them. Then activity resumed and I gave up keeping track of anything.
But all through the frantic hours, bits and pieces of what had happen started to emerge.
From half caught conversations and comments, I learned the power plant had caused the Big Shake.
The plant occupied Quadrant C on all four levels.
And the most severely injured were from Sectors B, F, and a few from E.
All shared a wall with Quad C. Which explained why the infirmary—Sector B3—had been in such disarray.
At some point, the daylights returned, which meant we had power again. Eventually, the flow of patients eased to a dribbled. I filled a tray with glasses of water and handed them out. A numb exhaustion had soaked into me, muting my emotions and slowing my reactions.
For the first time since the…accident, I saw faces. Before I had focused on the injuries. But now I searched for those I recognized.
Half of me was relieved not to see Riley among them, but the other half was terrified that his lifeless body was in the pile on level one, waiting to be fed to Chomper.
Other horrible scenarios danced through my tired mind.
His body hadn’t been discovered yet. He clung to life in level four’s infirmary.
He was trapped, pinned under a heavy piece of machinery.
I reached for another glass, but my tray was empty. Staring at the ripple pattern on the metal, I tried to remember what I should do as I swayed. Strong hands grabbed my shoulders from behind and guided me to my room. The bed had been cleared and the hands encouraged me to lie down.
My weak protests were ignored. Unable to resist, I collapsed onto the mattress and through a slit in my heavy eyelids, I saw Doctor Lamont. She pulled a blanket over me. And the touch of her lips on my forehead was my last memory.
Familiar voices woke me. They argued. I tried to produce the energy to care, failed, and rolled over to return to sleep.
But my mind wouldn’t cooperate. It mulled and tugged until it plucked the proper memory from the depths, exposing it in a series of images.
The Big Shake. The injured. Beds filled with people. Blood everywhere.
I lurched to my feet and ran from my room. My sudden exit surprised the two people on the other side of my door. Not caring that I almost knocked Lamont down, I flung myself into Riley’s arms.
He squeezed me as I clung to him. Questions poured from my mouth. “Are you alright? Where have you been? What happened?”
“I’m fine. I’ve been helping Doctor Sanchia. Logan—”
I pulled back. “Is he…” The word stuck in my throat.
“He’ll be all right.” Riley swept my sleep-tousled hair from my eyes. “He looks better than you.” He rubbed his thumb lightly over the cut on my forehead. “This needs a few stitches. Want me to sew you up?”
I studied his face and realized he was half serious. “Doctor Sanchia let you suture wounds?”
“He didn’t have much choice. We were swamped with people.” Riley feigned nonchalance, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s just a needle and thread. I’ve repaired rips in Sheepy before so I was more than qualified.” Humor sparked in his blue eyes.
My mouth formed an automatic smile whenever I thought of Sheepy and his mother. The stuffed animal family had a special place in my heart. “I hope Sheepy and Mama Sheepy weren’t damaged.”
“They’re fine. I checked on them before coming here. I do have my priorities straight,” he teased.
I swatted him on the shoulder and he winced. Yanking his collar down, I exposed a fist-sized purple bruise.
He peeled my fingers from his shirt. “It’s okay. No broken bones.”
“How did you get hurt?” I asked.
“I was inspecting the wiring on level five with Logan and the floor just heaved, tossing us across the room. He hit his head, but it’s a minor concussion.”
“Heaved?”
“An explosion happened in the power plant and we stood directly above it,” he said.
“Does anyone know what set it off?”