Chapter 3: The Leader
Elara chose water.
She dove deep as blue mild erupted overhead, converting the flow to liquid crystal. The creature's agonizing scream reverberated throughout her body. When she resurfaced, both the discern and the monster had vanished, leaving only ripples and questions.
That changed three days ago.
She was now crouching behind an overturned truck, peering through the scope of her newly acquired gun toward the damaged storefront of a pharmacy. The rifle had been a fortuitous find, but ammunition was still short, with only 5 valuable rounds remaining.
Her palms traced a strange burn line on her palm where the water had shined. It created a sample that resembled the claw marks inside the subway, but smaller and more exact. It tingled occasionally, as if to warn.
It tingled now.
Motion flickered among the pharmacy's shadows. She counted two human-shaped figures, but this meant nothing anymore. They proceeded deliberately, inspecting shelves meticulously. Scavengers, like her, or something worse?
Her chest constricted. If the antibiotics she wanted weren't already taken, they might be toward the rear of the pharmacy counter. Despite her best attempts, the infection in her leg wound continued to grow, turning the pores and skin furious red.
A third figure stood in the doorway, towering and broad-shouldered. Even from this distance, his presence piqued intrigue. He moved like a predator, assessing angles and securing escapes. Army schooling, or something like.
The burn mark pulsated.
The man iced over, his head snapping in her direction. Not conceivable - she was well-hidden, downwind, and silent.
He raised his hand. Something glinted on his palm.
An identical burn mark.
Her surprise almost got her killed. The chittering started at the rear of her, uncomfortably close. She pivoted, her rifle ready, as one of the floor monsters approached the car. Its extended limbs coil like springs, ready to pounce.
The rifle's file broke the morning silence. There are four rounds left.
The beast dropped, but its death cry provided solutions. More chittering from several directions. Too many.
"Run!" the person's voice echoed down the street. "This manner!"
Accept as true with remained a luxury she could not afford, but options were limited. Elara rushed towards the drugstore as other animals emerged from their hiding places. The tall guy supplied the protective hearth with practiced efficiency, each shot hitting its target.
She sprang through a damaged window. Glass crunched under her boots. The man grabbed her arm and dragged her behind a shelf unit as animals crowded the door.
"Kael," he said truthfully, releasing her arm. "you've got a go out method?"
"working on it." Her gaze raced around the pharmacy, observing the locations of the opposing scavengers: a girl with close-cropped gray hair guarding the lower back door and a younger man inspecting home windows.
"Rhett, status?" Kael referred to as.
"Five minutes until the horde arrives," the younger man replied. "Sound carried."
"Lauren?"
"The back door is compromised," the girl reported. "they're circling around."
Kael turned to face Elara. "Tell me your name. You led them here; you helped us get out."
The charge stung, but he was not wrong. She wiped off the hurt thrill and focused. The burn spot tingled more intensely, almost painfully. She put her palm against the wall, acting on intuition.
Blue mild spiderwebbed from the touch site, creating recognizable patterns. A map of the building's construction appeared in her thoughts, including something unexpected.
"Basement get admission to," she said. "behind the counter. Connects to preservation tunnels."
Kael maintained an unbiased expression, but his buddies exchanged laden glances.
"Much like the others," Lauren mumbled.
Before Elara could ask what that meant, the front home windows blasted inwards. Creatures flowed through like a terrible tide.
"pass!" Kael shoved her toward the counter as his squad set up the masking hearth.
The cellar door first stuck, but eventually gave to their combined electricity. They sank into darkness while horrible cries filled the drugstore above. The burn marks on each of their arms provide enough light to navigate through, leading them farther beneath.
"You have solutions," Kael commented as they ran. "I have questions. Let's start with how you learned about the tunnels."
"Trade," Elara replied. "answers for solutions. Beginning with what Lauren intended by using 'the others.'"
A chorus of chittering resonated across the tunnel behind them. Getting closer.
"Deal," Kael replied. "However, we must first survive. Follow my lead, be silent, and do not make me regret this."
They emerged in a larger tunnel. More burn traces adorned the partitions, which pulsated with dim mild. Lauren and Rhett moved with practiced efficiency, checking corners and keeping formation.
"Your group," Elara inquired. "army?"
"A number of us." Others... specialized education. The marks chose us, just like they did you."
The burn on her palm flared in reaction.
"right here." Kael came to a halt at a junction and pressed his hand in a specific pattern. A section of the wall creaked open, revealing a concealed passageway.
They proceeded swiftly. The wall closed behind them just as the monsters approached the crossroads. Their enraged howls penetrated the barrier, gradually diminishing.
The concealed passage led to a converted preservation room. Emergency lights cast warm light over temporary living quarters like cots, elements, and weaponry. A suitable retreat.
More significantly, scientific supplies. Antibiotics.
"Welcome to Haven Station," Kael announced. "temporary lodging until we determine out what you are."
"What i'm?"
"The marks do not choose at random," Lauren interjected. "Is everyone here?" We are all part of something bigger. Something that started before..." She made a vague gesture upward.
"Before the sector went quiet," Rhett concluded.
Elara's head throbbed. Extra remembrance fragments appeared, including needles, blue lights, and voices talking "genetic markers" and "compatibility."
"Relaxation," Kael demanded. "Get those wounds treated. "Then we communicate."
"And if I do not like the verbal exchange?"
He grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "The marks led you here for a reason. Walking might not change that. "Agree with me; I attempted."
As if to accentuate his point, both of their palms pumped in tandem. A whole new sample was generated, more sophisticated than previously. During that moment of connection, Elara imprinted a vision on Kael's mind: a chamber deep underground, filled with antique technology and glowing symbols.
And in that chamber, solutions to who she had definitely become into. What she was destined to become.
The vision stopped, leaving her with a dreadful realization: she had seen this chamber previously. She'd helped build it.
"Get some relaxation," Kael said again, observing her expression. "the following day, we hunt bigger monsters than the ones upstairs."
Something shouted in response from deep underneath, shaking dust from the ceiling and causing their palm marks to glow like trapped stars.
The quest, it regarded, had already begun.