Chapter 30 - Walk of Knowledge #2
I startle and gasp, remembering I’m not alone, blinking at Mack, who is standing before me with a metal flask in his hand. “Wow, you were lost in some deep thoughts there.” Despite his young face, a deeper level of understanding shines behind his cerulean eyes.
I pull Galen’s jumper sleeves over my hands, trying to ignore all the loose threads around the cuffs. “This silence doesn’t sit well with everything that’s going on in my mind. It only makes my thoughts scream louder.”
His face gleams with sweat and dirt, and I guess mine doesn’t look any fresher. I can no longer ignore my hair stuck to my cheeks and the revolting feeling of clammy skin and dirty hands.
Mack shrugs and offers me the flask, “You’re scared. I get it.”
I truly am. I have been for days, but hearing someone who doesn’t know me at all say it aloud makes it real. And—in a twisted way—natural.
I push my hair off my face. “How long have we been walking for?” I ask, nodding a thank you, and accepting the flask from his hand. The water is lukewarm, but I’m so thirsty I don’t care as it dribbles down my chin, soaking the collar of my jumper.
“Roughly an hour. Maybe longer. Time still gets all messed up down here. And then there’s you.”
“Care to explain?” I rub my chin dry with the back of my hand.
I try to give him all the benefit of all the doubt before I decide whether he’s a pro at choosing the wrong words at the wrong time, or just someone with a mouth faster than his brain.
Mack lifts a shoulder, then drops it. “You’re slow.” He pinches his chin as if rethinking it and adds, “Slow-ish. You don’t know these tunnels. Don’t worry. No need to feel guilty.”
“I’m not…” Oh my, this one is something else…
I inhale all the sarcastic comments that cross my mind, take another sip of water, which makes my lips twitch as I press them together to keep the liquid down before swallowing. “Is this not the only tunnel?” I ask, handing him back the empty bottle.
“How do you think we move around the cities and villages without being constantly targeted by them?” Mack points at the tunnel ceiling with the flask before turning it upside down and tossing it away when no more liquid comes out.
He opens his arms, noticing my puzzled look. “There are no sources of water in the tunnels. Why should I carry the extra weight?”
The space around us is indeed dotted with small piles of old flasks and black boxes similar to the one Tabitha used to scan the perimeter.
“I see,” I say before crossing my arms over my chest, grabbing at the sides of my jumper and pulling it over my head.
My voice is muffled by the fabric when I comment without weighing the effect of my words.
“How do you cope? Surviving in hiding, moving through dirty tunnels filled with rubbish. Is it really worth it? I mean, you’re not even a Harvester…
” When I toss the jumper away, my skin breathes with relief, until humidity starts coating my arms and neck.
When I think I cannot get more uncomfortable, Mack inches closer, scanning my face. “What’s rubbish for you may be a treasure for someone in need. And—that was all the water I had left. You’re welcome!” he states, leaving me speechless.
Until he flicks my nose. “They’re leaving us behind. Come on.” A laugh that sounds like he has not a worry in life, and he’s off, as I battle the dense mud to lift my feet.
I follow Mack and the rest of the group, reduced to dark silhouettes in the distance, for what feels like another hour, pushing through tiredness and thirst. But when the path abruptly bends to the right, I let out a relieved whimper; the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel has never been so bright.
Tabitha, standing under a pillar of light filtering in from a small opening above us, waits for everyone to regroup around her before saying, “We’re almost there. Merya, radio the others, please. We need the gate open in fifteen, not a minute later.”
Mack stares at me, arms crossed. “Heart above your knees, or you’ll faint.”
“Is there anything you don’t know?” I ask, still struggling to breathe, but slowly straightening myself up.
Despite sweat and dirt, Mack seems to nestle an everlasting ball of energy within him. But I’m glad to see I’m not the only one battling fatigue after our long walk.
Jyn’s wrinkles stretch deeper as if his skin has lost all its moisture. Tabitha’s warm skin tone has turned dull, and the white of her eyes is a web of bloody filaments.
Her hand shakes slightly when she detaches a radio from her belt and passes it to Merya, “I told them to be ready on channel two. Just send the message and get off the channel before they can intercept you.”
Merya’s face is a portrait of urgency. Her jaw clenched, her skin so stretched, when she white-knuckles the radio from Tabitha and rigidly bobs a yes before heading for the point where the light intensifies.
We all wait, holding our breath. Not sure what to expect, I mirror the others and remain immobile, with my eyes fixed on Merya, as she plays around with the transmitter’s switches. Crackling noises fill the air like wood in the fire, but soon the noises turn into distant voices.
While Merya whispers into the radio, someone approaches me with unsteady steps. Galen clears his throat, and I turn to see his hand stretching towards me, gesturing to follow him to a spot away from the rest of the group.
Jyn intercepts us and nods as if to grant permission, “Stay where you can see us. When Merya gives the signal, we only have ten minutes to reach the gate.”
“I know. It will only take a moment,” Galen replies flatly.
His face has regained some of its usual colour, but it’s hard to say in the weak light of the tunnel. Besides, his voice is grave, weighed down by recent events and whatever secret he is keeping from me.
He guides me towards a niche in the wall, where the dense stream of mud has dried out to a more concrete path, and where our steps resound louder.
I fit inside the hollow without needing to bend, but Galen has to lower his head.
“Was there a door here?” I ask, running my hand over what’s left of the metal hinges on one side of the niche.
He nods and stares at the phantom door as if remembering something. “This was the entrance to a secondary tunnel, but it was destroyed years ago, during an attack.” His hand follows mine along the edge of the entrance, brushing it lightly.
“The people who tried to kill us above ground?” I study his face, searching for a single detail that would remind me of the Galen I used to know, but his jaw his clenched, and his eyes are full of memories he’s never shared with me.
“Those were not Herionos,” he mutters.
“How do you— ”
He looks me straight in the eyes, and I shrink. His face is filled with knowledge—and a shadow that scares me.
His hand moves away from mine, and he traces the empty frame of the arch with his fingertips. “Another time,” - he cuts me short - “I need you to promise me that whatever you see, whoever you meet once we’re back above ground, you will not overreact.”
“Overreact? After everything we’ve just been through?” I exclaim with a hint of a smile. “A bit too late for that, don’t you think?” I make to move to rejoin the others, but Galen steps in front of me.
“Just promise you will keep an open mind and count to ten before saying anything.”
I cock my head to one side, examining his face. “You should teach that to Mack.”
“I’m serious…”
“To five?”
He allows himself a quick smirk and exhales, defeated. “Fine. Just remember, they don’t know you—yet. We’re equal here, but we’ve survived by codes and rules.”
We. I promised an open mind starting now, despite how odd it is to listen to Galen refer to a life he could have never had while being with me in Libera.
An open mind, starting with letting go of my doubts.
An alarmed whistle breaks us apart.
“That’s the signal. Go!” he prompts.
I start running towards the column of light, with Galen following right behind, and I halt right before my face can hit Tabitha’s back.
Agitated footsteps scurry above us, and Galen pushes me out of the way before a shower of little stones and debris rains down from the hole. Above us, disembodied voices whisper orders.
Silence reigns again, and Tabs gives us a quick look to ensure we’re all fine. “Get ready to climb,” she orders with a stern nod.
Three rope ladders descend from the hole in the ceiling, thick and lined with wooden rungs.
“Jyn—you, Mack and Merya go first. Help Galen once you’re up there.” While Tabitha speaks, Jyn is already a couple of steps up on his rope. The siblings follow him, dangling from the other ladders at his sides.
They’ve done this before. They’re climbing effortlessly, no matter the arsenal they’re carrying on their bodies.
I look up where someone, also wearing a helmet, is leaning over the edge of the hole and pulling the ropes towards them to speed up the ascent.
Tabitha places a hand on my shoulder. “You and Galen are up next. Once in the open, follow the others. I’ll meet you back at the base.”
I’m not sure if she’s talking to me, because I don’t even know what the base is.
Galen responds for both of us, “Where are you going?”
Tabs sucks on her teeth, grabbing his shoulders.
In the narrow space of the tunnel, she looks taller than when I met her on the shore.
“Someone has to retrieve the pod. We can’t leave it there.
If they get to it, even if it’s unable to travel, their engineers could find a way to crack the codes.
They could use it to gain access to our bases.
We can’t risk more losses,” Tabitha says.
Galen shakes himself free of her grip. “I reckon the bastards that ambushed Sof and me on the roof have already found other ways to enter the area. Pod or not, the Chapter is fucked. Someone clearly betrayed us from the inside. We lost the island—”
“I don’t give a blessed fuck about the Chapter,” she slaps her hands on her hips. “And when did you become so cynical?” Pain darkens Tabitha’s eyes.
“It’s either that or crying over those we’ve lost forever…”
I grab the rung at the bottom of my ladder and start climbing, focusing on its rough texture as I try to get away from the tension rising between Galen and Tabitha.
“Get on that rope.” Tabs grunts through her teeth.
I look down, if only to receive permission to go myself, but I witness the scene of a fight ready to explode.
Tabs’s nostrils flare slightly, and her jaw tenses as if she’s fighting back her urge to argue. Galen’s back is rigid, his shoulders clenched, hands in tight fists at his sides.
When I glance up, I see Merya and Mack squatting by the edge of the hole, also observing the scene, with their mouths open.
A tall black silhouette stands behind them, head concealed by a helmet. It is probably talking to the siblings because they are nodding their heads as if confirming something.
Tabitha finally seems to realise she has an audience, and she assumes a more relaxed stance, letting go of the tension on her lips and face. “I’ll be back before morning. Now, please, get on the rope. I need you at the base.”
Galen’s body reacts to her promise. His hands open, fingers stretching along his thighs. I don’t wait for him to turn around. It is not my place to question his attitude. I would, were this the man I knew up until two days ago. But…he is—and he is also something else.
Every muscle in my body complains as I restart my climb.
The moment my skin stretches around the rope, caked in dirt and mud, all the scratches and grazes reopen, stinging like hell.
Blood stains the rope, but the fast-approaching light above me keeps me going.
Soft rays flicker through Merya’s fingers as she leans over the opening, offering me her hand.
I give one last push, eager to see the sun again and experience what the new day may bring.