City of Light (Outcast 1)

nbsp; Penny eventually woke and almost instantly said, “It’s dawn.”

I raised an eyebrow. I knew it was nearly dawn because my DNA was sensitive to the coming and going of the sun, but it was rare to find a shifter similarly attuned. Not when they were this deep underground, anyway.

“Yes, it is.” I rose from my chair. “Would you like some breakfast?”

She shook her head. “We need to take Jonas to Nuri.”

My gaze flicked to the readouts. He’d definitely gone downhill over the last couple of hours, but he wasn’t at death’s door just yet. “Penny,” I said, as gently as I could. “You need to eat. You won’t be any help to Jonas if you make yourself sick.”

“No!” Her voice was strident, angry, and again that darkness flashed briefly in her eyes.

I frowned, my gaze flicking to the ghosts. They didn’t seem alarmed. “Okay, we’ll go. But I need to get some supplies first, just to make sure we’re safe.”

She nodded and almost instantly calmed down. I spun on my heel, leaving her in the company of the ghosts as I made my way to a secondary gun cache two levels down. I grabbed several automatics and a couple of clips, and hid them all under a long, hooded trench that I’d stolen from Central last winter. I thought briefly about altering my appearance, but decided against it. It took a lot of energy to initiate a shift, though once achieved it was easy enough to maintain as long as I ate sensibly and slept properly. But right now, it was probably more prudent to save my strength for whatever might await in Chaos. Besides, if what I’d seen on the surface a month ago was any indication, my black-and-white-striped hair would be deemed rather mild.

I headed to medical supplies to collect an airchair. Though there was no way known I could take it into Chaos—doing so would be nothing short of issuing an invitation to be attacked—I could at least use it until we reached the bunker’s South Siding exit. The less distance I had to carry the shifter, the better.

Penny hadn’t moved when I got back. She simply sat on the bed staring at Jonas. Maybe she was willing him to live or something.

I detached him from the bed’s sensors, then carefully lifted him up and placed him on the chair. Once I’d strapped him in, I glanced at Penny. “Ready to go?”

She nodded, her little face solemn as she jumped off the bed. The ghosts swirled around, excited and happy that we were once again moving. It wouldn’t last—not when they realized we were not only heading back up to the surface, but going out.

“Bear, lead the way.”

He hummed contentedly and did as bidden, guiding us through the myriad tunnels. As we neared the exit, the tunnel became strewn with the rubble and debris that had drifted in over the years thanks to the overflow from the nearby drains. The air was a putrid mix of humanity, rotting rubbish, and the muddy scent of the trickle of water that was still known as the Barra River. Like many things in this world of ours, its course had been forever altered when the bombs had been unleashed.

The thick steel grate covering the exit came into sight, and the green light flashing to one side indicated the outer system was still in full security mode. Thankfully, the laser net protected only the dome itself, and, with any luck, the museum staff would blame the system going briefly offline on a computer glitch, as they had in the past.

I powered down the airchair, then walked around to the control box and quickly typed in the twelve-digit code. This tunnel had been designed as a means of escape and, as such, didn’t have scanner facilities. I’d never bothered upgrading the old gateway simply because few people ventured down this part of the Barra—it was too close to one of the rifts.

The grate slid noisily open. Penny lunged forward, but I grabbed her, holding her back.

“Hush,” I said, as she opened her mouth to protest. “Wait until we know it’s safe.”

She pouted. I ignored her and listened to the sounds of a city stirring to life, sorting through the layers, trying to find anything that might indicate someone was close. There was nothing.

“Okay,” I said and released her.

She ran out but stopped several feet away from the entrance, sucking in the air as if desperate to fill her lungs. I snorted softly. It didn’t smell that bad underground.

I glanced back at the ghosts. “Keep this entrance safe for me. I’ll be back by sunset.”

Hands patted me good-bye—although both Cat and Bear were already outside, waiting. They’d always been more adventurous than the younger ones, preferring to be with me whenever possible rather than stay in the home that was also their tomb. I wasn’t entirely sure whether it was due to our deeper connection, or whether it was simply a matter of their being older than the rest. Either way, I was always happy to have their company.

I dragged Jonas off the chair, then walked out of our sanctuary. Once the grate had closed, I turned and looked around.

Sunrise tinted the sky with rose and lavender, and the scent of rain was still in the air. It would be brilliant if it did rain again, because the inhabitants of Central and Chaos would be too busy scurrying for cover to worry about the three of us. It also meant there would be less chance of our being seen returning.

Central’s metal drawbridge was still raised against the night, and the nearby rail siding was filled with pods that were shadowed and silent. No one would be close to them until the sun had fully risen. Humanity had become very fearful of darkness—and with good reason.

My gaze went to Chaos, and a shudder went through me. Even in full sunlight it was a place of shadows; in the half-light of a dawn barely risen, it rose forbiddingly above me, a grimy, gritty mass that blighted the metal to which it clung.

I glanced down at Penny. “Where does this Nuri live?”

“In Chaos,” she answered.

“Where in Chaos? It’s a big place.” And not someplace I wanted to wander about aimlessly. Humans and shifters might now live together in relative peace, even in habitats like Chaos, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a dangerous place for strangers to venture.