The Black Tide (Outcast 3)

I’m fine—

Tell that to someone who doesn’t know better, he bit back. Slow down now.

I returned my attention to where we were going and saw that we’d almost reached the cavern. I braked gently, gave Jonas time to clamber out, and then hit the accelerator and drove into the open area. One thing was immediately clear—this was no storage area but rather a full-blown work site. There was a constant stream of trucks moving in and out of the tunnel directly ahead, all of them obviously automated given none were equipped with cabins. The conveyer belt was on the right side of the cavern, and was a massive metal thing that was at least four meters wide and had to be responsible for at least some of the vibrations we were feeling. The belt disappeared up into the mountain and ran at a high enough speed that much of the debris bounced around wildly—only the sloping sides of the supports kept much of it on the belt. Beyond the conveyor were a series of buildings that I presumed were shelters for the men and the monitoring equipment.

To the right of the other tunnel entrance was a row of what looked like drill bits for the borer and, given the sheer size and weight of the things, they obviously didn’t bring them here through the vampire tunnels. And that meant there had to be another entrance.

The truck’s appearance didn’t immediately gain the attention of the four people standing in the various areas of the cavern, but when I kept on going, that quickly changed. I directed the truck toward the next tunnel, and then switched it over to full auto and doubled its speed. The truck gathered momentum as it rolled on, neatly avoiding the various loaders as it moved into the tunnel’s mouth. I slid the driver window down and, when the shadows had closed in enough that I was able to take particle form, swept out of the cabin and back into the rear of the vehicle. I shifted shape again, picked up Penny’s body, and then reclaimed the shadows.

Carrying another person in particle form was never an easy thing to do, even when at full strength, and pain instantly began to throb through me. I ignored it and raced back up the tunnel as fast as I dared, but I’d barely reached the bright cavern when my strength gave out. I twisted around as I fell, not wanting to use Penny as a buffer between the ground and me even though she was dead, and hit hard. For several seconds I could barely breathe, and there were a multitude of stars dancing in front of my eyes.

Feet appeared in my line of vision. I somehow found the strength to roll away from Penny and grab my gun, but thankfully, it was Jonas rather than one of the guards.

“Seriously,” he said. “Could you not simply have stopped the truck to retrieve Penny? It would have been a whole lot easier.”

“Easy isn’t something I apparently do.” I pushed upright. “Besides, I’m hoping the truck will gather enough speed to incapacitate the borer if it happens to hit it.”

He swung his pack around, dug out a medical kit, and then offered me a spray-on sealer. “That knife wound has opened up.”

I tugged up my blood-soaked undershirt, sprayed the stuff on, and then tossed the empty can away. The sealer stung like blazes but that was better than losing any more blood. My head was spinning enough as it was.

I finally reached the top of the conveyor, Bear said. It leads outside.

If it had taken him all this time to hit the end of it, then we were far deeper underground than I’d initially presumed. Does it dump its cargo in the forest or within the city?

Neither, though I can see the wall’s remnants in the distance. It appears to be an abandoned, open pit mine.

Any guards or security evident? Jonas asked.

No, but there are automatic trucks distributing the soil waste. Bear paused. There’s dust rising in the distance—I think vehicles are approaching.

“What’s the bet that’s Dream’s people?” Jonas walked over to Penny and picked her up. “We’d better get out of here, and fast.”

“The only way to do that is to ride the conveyor,” I said, “and that could get dangerous given the amount of rock and soil that’ll be following us up. It’ll crush us at the other end if

we don’t move out of its way fast enough.”

“Yes, but we’ve no other choice.”

That was true. I followed him across the room. The conveyor soared above the two of us, rattling and shaking as it transported the continuing dumps of rubble upward into darkness. There wasn’t even the faintest glimmer of sunlight visible—the quarry and freedom were still a very long way away. I swept my gaze around the nearby buildings and constructs, and spotted a walkway that arched over the entire width of the belt. “That’s probably our best jumping-on point.”

Jonas nodded and led the way across. We climbed the three-story staircase then stepped out onto the platform. There were no railings to hold on to, and the whole thing swayed rather alarmingly. I stopped in the middle and looked down. The belt raced past, its speed scary. If either of us survived this, it was going to be a miracle.

“I have no intention of dying on this thing,” Jonas said. “And every intention of making it to Central, not only to give Penny a decent burial, but to stop the bitch responsible for all this.”

I had the very same intention, but that didn’t make the thought of jumping off this platform onto that conveyor any less daunting. I swallowed heavily and glanced at the pairs of trucks delivering the waste in almost rhythmic sequence. After a moment, I realized there was a couple of seconds break between each load as the pairs maneuvered in and out of position—and that brief moment gave us an empty belt to jump onto.

“On my mark,” I said, watching the trucks and the conveyer belt through narrowed eyes. “Go—”

We jumped as one. I hit the belt upright and in the middle of two rubble loads but both the incline and the speed of the thing had me stumbling backward. I crashed into the pile of rock and dirt and then threw myself forward to avoid several bouncing rocks. One hit my calf hard enough to bruise, but the other missed. I’d barely pushed up onto my hands and knees when a wave of pain hit me.

It wasn’t mine. It was Jonas’s.

I quickly swung around. He was lying on the other side of the belt, face ashen and teeth gritted as he tried to realign a leg that was twisted up behind him. Even in the growing darkness I could see the gleam of bone. I swore and scrambled over to him, dodging the rocks and dirt that were bouncing back from the pile of rubble in front of us.

“You need to straighten it.” His words were little more than a wheeze of agony. “I can’t shift to heal until you do.”

I moved into position and then met his gaze. Sweat poured down his face and his eyes were ablaze with pain. “Ready?”