The Regenerates (18 page)

“That’s brilliant!” said Ven. He couldn’t believe their luck.

“Make sure you have your identity papers before you get into Crion, though,” said Tanner.

“They just started that new system where they screen everyone’s papers before they enter. Getting back out isn’t a problem, but getting in is.”

Ven and Kayn exchanged glances. Cor and Crion didn’t exactly have a cordial relationship. Several hostile incidents had taken place between the two cities back when Kayn’s father was Grand Magistrate.

“Oh,” said Ven. “In case we don’t have papers, is there any other way we can get into Crion?”

“You don’t have identity papers? What are you people, nomadic?” said Conner.

At this point Ven felt it was unfair to hide so much information. “Actually…we’re refugees from Cor. Cor and Crion have been fighting for so long that I don’t think we’re going to get papers.”

Tanner raised his eyebrows and let out a long whistle. “Cor? I’ve never heard of refugees coming from there. You travelled all the way here from Cor?”

“Yeah.”

“You actually escaped alive? That’s crazy!” said Conner. “Those guys are messed up, huh?”

Ven didn’t dare look at Kayn. Was this really how the outside world saw them?

“About that way in,” said Tanner. “I’m assuming you smuggled yourselves out of Cor illegally. So I’m sure you won’t mind me saying that the only way for you to get into Crion without papers is to smuggle yourselves in.”

“We’re listening,” said Coralie.

“There’s a large, underground mining tunnel that’s been abandoned for years. It passes under Lamparth as well as under Crion, and goes on till it reaches Muran. The path from Crion to Muran has caved in, but the one from here to Crion is still clear. But there’s a reason the few people who know about it don’t dare enter. Not that they would need to, anyway, since most of us have identity papers. The point is, it’s been out of use for so long that it’s become a haven for dangerous beasts.”

They looked at each other. Ven was still virtually useless in a fight. He wondered if Coralie at least knew how to use a pistol or a blaster, since her father used to create prototypes. Ven gripped his pocket tightly.
If I have to, I have a water canister in my satchel. I’ll just do it…

“We’ll go,” said Kayn. “Thank you for your help.”

“Are you sure about that?” said Conner. “It’s really dangerous. There were even talks in town about demolishing the entrance so no one would stumble in by accident and get killed.”

“We’ll be alright,” said Kayn. “We’ve had to face dangerous beasts before. It’s crucial that we get that map from Crion.”

Ven felt it best not to remind him that they hadn’t fared so well the last time. “Oh,” he said as a thought suddenly struck him. “How are we supposed to see down there?”

“The tunnels are lit by a special chemical ectoplasm that reacts to heat and movement,” said Tanner. “As long as no one is down there, it’ll stay dark. The minute you take the elevator down and start walkin’ around, the tunnels will light up. That ectoplasm is corrosive, though, so don’t let it touch your skin if the tubelights break.”

Ven and Coralie smiled at each other. Everything seemed to be working out.

“Thanks.” Ven looked at Tanner. “We’re going to need one more favor, though. We need a place to stay tonight.”

“Fine with me,” said Tanner. “But it’ll cost you a bit more.”

Coralie groaned.

“You people really are cheap, you know that?” said Ven, as Conner laughed nervously.

That night, Conner led them down to his living quarters in the basement floors of the towering metal building.

“It’s no luxury mansion, but I can’t complain,” said Conner. “All I’ve got are couches, though, so you’ll have to make do. I think Tanner lent a room to your tall buddy, meaning you two will have to share.”

“What will you do?” said Ven.

“I barely sleep. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be around. Got some people to meet in town after midnight.”

Conner left Ven and Coralie to themselves. Ven walked over to one of the couches and ran a finger over it, picking up a thick layer of dust. “This is…gross.”

He felt a painful blow to his head. Ven cried out and turned to see Coralie with her fist raised. “Ow! Coralie, what the hell?”

“Give it to me.” She held out her palm and gave him a stony look. “The Vigor in your pocket. Hand it over.”

Ven stood there.

“Yeah, I heard you.” Coralie told him. “I was right behind the shelf when you and that weirdo were talking. I’m not an idiot, Ven. What’s wrong with you?”

He gripped his pocket tightly. “What? I’m not giving you anything. It’s my decision. What does it matter, anyway? There’s hardly anything in it. He barely gave me a teaspoon.”

Coralie pulled up a metal chair from nearby and motioned for Ven to take a seat on the couch across from her. He sighed irritably and sat down.

“I know why you took it from him. But that’s really not the answer, and you know it.”

“I couldn’t do
anything,
Coralie, don’t you get it?” he said. “You said it yourself, that was a really close call. I could be dead right now, thanks to Kayn. You don’t get how awful it feels, being constantly afraid and useless. I don’t ever want to be in that situation again, understand? Someone has just given me a potential solution, and I’m going to take it.”

“Alright,” said Coralie. “I understand how you’re feeling, Ven. I do. But let’s say you do try out whatever little he gave you. What happens when you run out? Do you feel better, then? What happens when you become desperate for more and start seeking it out? Then before you know it, you’ll feel ten times weaker than before, and your body will become dependent on it for strength…” She had a fiery look in her eyes as she reached out and took his hand, letting their fingers interlock. “Please don’t,” she said. “You don’t need it, and it will
not
help you. You can become strong without it.”

Ven took his hand from hers. What was her problem? It wasn’t
that
big of a deal. He had no intention of turning into Conner any time soon. He knew what he was doing, so why didn’t she trust him?

“I obviously can’t force you to do anything,” said Coralie, “but I can sure as hell tell you what’s on my mind. What you do after that is up to you.”

Ven loosened his grip on his pocket. What if Coralie was right, and he did become dependent on it? But all he wanted was to become a little stronger. He wasn’t doing it to fight in brawls or earn money. What was wrong with that?

“So.” Coralie crossed her arms. “What’s it gonna be?”

“I’m keeping it,” said Ven.

Coralie scoffed. “Fine. If that’s your choice.” She didn’t look angry, but she quickly got up from the metal chair and lay down on the couch at the end of the room, keeping her back to him. “Let’s get some sleep. We need to be well rested.”

Trying his best to ignore the pulling sensation in his gut that said she was right, he rested his head on his satchel and closed his eyes.

Against a large red sandstone cliff was an entrance to a mining tunnel. It was beginning to crumble, and was partially blocked by rubble.

“Looks like someone already tried to block it off,” said Kayn.

Tanner had led them a short distance outside Lamparth. The surrounding area was a dry, sandy wasteland.

“You should still be able to make it through, though,” said Tanner. “We just need to move some of this out of the way.”

Kayn, Ven and Coralie helped him lift some of the collapsed stone barrier off of the entrance until they could climb over it.

“Thanks for your help,” said Ven.

“Be careful,” said Tanner. “If you stay hidden, you may be able to avoid confronting whatever is down there.”

Ven took a deep breath and together, they stepped over the rubble and into the darkness.

I
t took their eyes a moment to adjust. The tunnel was dark and damp, and the walls were moist. It was larger than they had expected. The top was so high that it strained their necks to look up. Old, rusting mining carts lay lopsided at the edge of the tracks. Long, snakelike tubelights lined the tunnel walls and emitted a bright green light, illuminating their path as they walked.

Tanner had told them to turn left every time they hit a corner. If they did so, they should eventually reach a lift elevator that would take them up to a metal factory on the edge of downtown Crion.

“I thought you had to avoid Crion,” said Ven to Kayn as they walked through the tunnel, being careful not to trip on the rubble covering the floor.

“Yes, I know,” said Kayn. “There’s nothing we can do. I’ll just have to blend in. Besides, according to that ignorant news woman back in Renneth, my photograph hasn’t been released, so that’s one less thing to worry about.”

“It’s not just him who has to blend in,” said Coralie, looking directly at Ven and pretending Kayn wasn’t there. To Ven’s relief, she didn’t look or sound upset about last night. “Cor and Crion are enemies. None of us are safe there.”

Kayn snorted.

They made their way through the winding maze of tunnels until they came to a halt at a very solid wall. The green tubelights fizzed.

“What’s going on? Did we make a wrong turn somewhere?” said Ven.

“This doesn’t make sense,” said Coralie. “He said we just have to keep turning left and that’s exactly what we’ve been doing.”

They stared at the bare wall.

“I guess we have to turn back. Maybe we did miss it,” said Ven.

They turned around and started to retrace their steps. Eventually, they ended up in a large atrium they were sure hadn’t been there before. Wooden planks acted as bridges across the various platforms above them, each connected to a rusted ladder. Disoriented, Ven looked around the atrium for another exit. One of them was the one they had just come from, and at the opposite end of the room was another, smaller entrance, blackened by coal.

“Did we pass through that one earlier?”

“I don’t think so.” Coralie looked around. “I don’t remember this atrium at all.”

“Should we head that way? We’re already lost. Let’s just pick one entrance we haven’t gone through and keep turning left,”

“This is ridiculous,” said Kayn.

“You’re more than welcome to lead the way, then,” said Coralie coolly.

“Speaking to me, are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“There must be something satisfying about pretending I don’t exist,” said Kayn.

“I’m pretending you don’t exist because I wish you were dead. That’s that.”

Ven looked the other way so Kayn couldn’t see his silent fit of laughter.

“And yet if I did in fact die, neither of you could go home.”

“Do you have a point you’d like to make?” Coralie snapped at him.

“Not at all. Just thought I’d point out some factual information.”

“Fascinating.”

“Would you both shut up?” said Ven, now exasperated. “For goodness’ sake. I don’t want to be down here for very long. Can we please just keep going?”

For the next little while, none of them said a word. It made no sense whatsoever, but this route seemed to be taking them in the right direction. They had reached several left turns without a single dead end. With each few feet they walked, the ectoplasmic tubelights lit up, then darkened behind them as they passed. After what felt like forever, they found themselves faced with a glorious sight: an old, rickety elevator system.

“Thank goodness!” said Coralie. They climbed onto the creaking platform and fiddled with the control system. Moments later, the platform began to rise upwards. After a few minutes, the elevator finally stopped. They stepped off the platform, walked around the corner and saw…

Instead of a metal factory, they were on another level of tunnels.

“What the hell is going on?” exclaimed Ven.

Coralie banged her head against the wall of the tunnel. “Maybe it goes higher.” She looked up the elevator shaft but they had reached the top.

Ven’s heart raced. What if they remained stuck down here for days? How long would they survive without food and water? “Maybe if we repeat the same route, we’ll get to another elevator that will take us up more.”

“Alright,” said Kayn. “Let’s just keep going.”

Once more, they perused the tunnels, turning left at every corner. Suddenly, a strange noise stopped them in their tracks.

“Can you hear that?” said Ven.

An unfamiliar scratching noise was echoing across the tunnel walls. It slowly began to get louder and louder. They froze and slowly backed up towards the elevator. Kayn took out his blaster. Ven did the same and handed a pistol to Coralie, just as a monstrous, insect-like creature appeared with a crash around the corner, sending debris flying everywhere. They shielded their faces but were knocked off their feet. The creature’s pincers clicked dangerously and it reared its hundreds of pointed legs. Stretching out beside its sharp pincers was a long, lethal-looking stinger that shot out at them. They dodged and rolled on the ground.

“Shoot it!” screamed Kayn, trying to dive behind a mining cart to get a better aim. Ven shot the pistol wildly in the creature’s direction. While some of bullets hit their mark, most missed and zoomed right past it.

“Don’t waste your bullets, you idiot!”

Suddenly, the creature let out a bellowing screech. Slime began to ooze from a wound in its side. Coralie had climbed up onto a viewing platform and aimed at its thin middle. It spun around, trying to find its attacker. Its eyes fell on Coralie, who immediately dashed for the metal ladder and down off the platform. The creature was quicker. Its pincers lunged, caught Coralie’s pant leg and began pulling her down.

“Coralie!”

Ven aimed his pistol and fired at its head this time, remembering their battle with the bandits. When that didn’t seem to work, he picked up a large piece of rubble and flung it with all the strength he could muster. The creature blinked, but moments later it returned to dragging Coralie by her leg down the platform. She tried to twist around and aim the pistol again but it sent a striking blow at her arm. She screamed as it ripped her sleeve, leaving a painful red welt.