A Darkness Absolute (Rockton 2)

"You okay with that?"

"I will be after I double-check the perimeter."

He chuckles. "Good idea."

He makes his way along the walls, ensuring we didn't miss an opening. I crawl to the back passage and push my head and shoulders through.

I call, "It's not big enough for a bear or cat. We're--"

A voice echoes through the passage. I hesitate, thinking it's my own. But the voice comes again, and it's definitely not mine.

I withdraw quickly and whisper, "Listen."

He pokes his head in. After a moment, he pulls back, swearing under his breath.

"I'm not imagining it, then," I say.

"No. Guess we're making a moonlight trek to Rockton after all."

He's right. Even if it's only settlers, we can't take a chance. Time to pack and go.

As I roll up my blankets, the voice comes again, and this time I catch "Hello?" It sounds like a woman.

I motion to Anders that I'm going to crawl farther along that passage. He nods. The voice is too far away to be an immediate danger.

I reach a turn and shimmy around it, which requires a move Petra calls "humping the wall." In other words, rolling onto my side and, well, making that particular motion to wriggle around a ninety-degree angle. The moment I turn the corner, I can distinguish words.

"Hello?" she calls. "I heard voices. Please, if you can hear me, please, I need..."

The rest trails off. I lie on the floor, listening and considering. Then I shimmy past that corner again and back all the way out.

"It's a woman," I say. "She heard us talking, and I think she's calling for help."

"Shit." Anders rubs a hand over his face.

"Have the hostiles ever lured people in like that? As a trap?"

"Not since I've been here. But there's always a first time."

I echo his curses.

"Either way," he says, "we might not even be able to get to her. I say we see how close we can get and assess the situation."

FOUR

First, Anders struggles to hump the curve. Then we hit a squeeze even I don't dare try. We back up and resume packing to leave, but I still hear that voice, and even if I can't make out the words, my imagination fills them in.

"There was a passage off the one we came in through," I say.

"You want to give it a try?"

"I'm a chump, right?"

He smiles. "Then we both are, 'cause I was just going to suggest we try to find another way before we give up."

"It's probably a trap."

"Yep."