The Hollow (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 2) (8 page)

“He’s in pain.
Can’t someone help him?”

Christophe
shakes his head. “We’ll just wait until it stops.”

“How can you see
with those sunglasses? It’s so dark in here.” My muscles twitch from the
exertion. Christophe and I wait. The moaning is less intense than moments ago,
but it hasn’t stopped. It’s more like crying.

“The sunglasses
don’t stop me from seeing light, if that’s what you think.”

“Isn’t that the
purpose of sunglasses?”

“It is, but
these are actually for seeing, not blocking light. I just like them dark.”

I try to
understand, but I don’t know what to say.

“These eyes
don’t see,” He taps the glasses. “I’m blind.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t
believe me.” His grin is sincere. I haven’t seen him smile yet. His teeth are
perfectly straight and all the same size. They are white. A contrast to his
light brown skin. I’m forgetting my initial purpose for being down here. We
need to get to Leland.

“I didn’t say I
didn’t believe you.”

“Without these,
I can’t see anything at all.”

“But I don’t
understand. How do you get around so well?”

Christophe takes
off his glasses and his eyes are closed. He opens them. It takes a minute. At
first I don’t notice anything until he moves in closer to my face. Even in this
low light, his eyes are a color blue so light, they are almost white. And they
are almost fixed, like there’s no depth to them. As he gets even closer, I can
see a flash of something deep within. A memory or spark of something knowing.
There is something so familiar about Christophe’s eyes.

“I can’t see
without the glasses. These eyes are just for show. It’s the glasses that let me
see the world around me, allowing me to interpret things.” He takes my
artificial hand and places the glasses in it. I am able to feel that they are
ultralight. I move it closer to my face. There is a small, flat camera on the
inside center of each lens. I can see everything in front of me.

“But how does
this help you see if your eyes don’t work,” I ask.

He turns his
head to the side and points behind his ear. It’s dark where we stand and I
almost can’t see anything. He shines his palm light on a small, circular socket.

“And the other,”
he says, turning the other way. He picks up my fake hand and moves it up to his
head. My fingers touch the socket and I get a little jolt of electricity. I
pull my hand away.

“The sunglasses
transmit a signal to these ports and they connect to an implant in my brain.”

Like my arm.

“We should go.
You have to get to Leland.”

“Have you been
chipped?” I ask. We move out of the shadows.

He shakes his
head. “Triangular plates holding millions of electrodes attach to my visual
cortex. They are connected to the terminals sticking out of my skull.”

“How did they
get into your skull?” I already know the answer.

“They drilled
holes of course, and then implanted the plates and ports.”

“So if your
brain hasn’t been chipped, how does it work to help you see?”

“Actually, I
need my brain in order for it to work properly. Each electrode touches
different parts of my brain and it triggers my visual field with flashes. Since
my brain has no trouble transforming the flashes into images, I haven’t had a
problem figuring out what I’m looking at.”

I instinctively
cover my chest with my arms.

“X-ray
capabilities is one of my future tests. I don’t have it now, though.”

I let my arms
fall back down to my sides. He’s cute.

“So as long as
you have on the glasses, you get images transmitted to your brain through those
spots behind your ears.”

“Yes, but I need
the camera on the glasses to do that.”

“So right now
you can’t see a thing.” I stare at the back of his head.

“Correct.”

“Then how do you
know where we’re going?” I follow him. He’s quickened his pace and my legs feel
strong enough for me to be able to keep up.

“I may not be
able to see, but I can hear the change in air where it travels down the hall
and the way sound bounces off the walls. A longer bounce and the walls are
farther away. Right now the tunnel is getting narrow. He’s right. It’s amazing.

“Are we almost
there? Jenny mentioned digging out. Do you have a way out?”

Christophe
stops. He holds up his hand and I stand still. Footsteps come from up ahead.

“C’mon, Rose,”
he takes my hand, turning in the opposite direction. “Let’s get you back to
your room. You’re frozen through.”

I admit, I’m a
bit chilly. My shirt is so thin that it doesn’t do much in the way of climate
control. “I can’t,” I whisper. “I have to get the message to Leland—”

The footsteps
get closer and I still can’t see anything.

“Shh.” Christophe
puts one hand to his lips and the other to mine. They are cool and he smells
like the earth.

“Hello down
there!”

“Leland!” I
exclaim. Christophe drops my hand.

“Hello down
there! Hello hello,” Leland tries to make his voice sound like an echo and we
smile. I really like Christophe’s smile.

Leland takes my
hands and almost drops the new one.

“Wow!” He
exclaims, looking my new arm over. I smile. In a way, proud, like I fit in.

“Where’ve you
been?” Christophe asks, taking off his glasses.

“With Tithonus,”
Leland answers still holding my hands.

“Jenny told me
to tell you now’s the time to go. You need to finish digging.”

“I know,” Leland
says. “Tithonus said the same thing. Even without his eyes, he still sees the
future.”

“And the
moaning?” Christophe asks.

“One of them was
passing from one state to another—” Leland starts.

“Passing?” I
ask.

“Deceasing,”
Leland answers. I can’t imagine. I’ve never had to. I’ve never known anyone who
has
passed
before.

I trail behind
Leland down the right tunnel toward the center of their underground space. I’m
scared to see what’s going on.

Leland stops and
I almost bump into him.

“So what’s the
story, Leland? What did Tithonus tell you?” Christophe has stopped, too. We’re
almost to the center of the underground. My heart thumps in my chest.

“The story? I
didn’t hear it from Tithonus, but the gist I heard from Delia who heard from
Jenny is that,” Leland takes a deep breath in. “Aegis has been discovered and
raided.”

“What? What does that mean?” I am
incredulous. Leland can’t answer fast enough. Instead he hurries down the rest
of the tunnel through a doorway that leads to the center. I hadn’t noticed this
before.

I can’t bring
myself to look at these disconnected humans lying about. They pay me no
attention, not even as I step over and around them. There are too many of them
today to count.

“What about
Tithonus? Where was that moaning coming from before?” I ask. The stone Tithonus
was seated upon last time is unoccupied. He’s the only one who may have any
answers.

“Over there,”
Christophe turns his head to an indent in the wall. His glasses are back on.

Tithonus is seated
on the ground, cradling a crumpled body whose head is in his lap.

“Rose. Rose.
Rosamund,” Tithonus looks up at me. He lifts a hand, beckoning me over without
another sound.

I leave Leland
and Christophe. I can feel their gaze as I cross over to the old man. Tithonus
takes my real hand and pulls me down. I pull back.

“What’s wrong
with him?” I ask, afraid to get any closer to the young zombie. There are two
indents on either side of his head and his face is drawn, cheeks sunken, eyes
closed. His body is emaciated and frail, his shirt has been removed showing off
his ribcage. His breathing is so shallow it’s almost not breathing and he
exhales in tiny puffs.

Tithonus lets me
go and returns his hand to the forehead of the disappeared in his lap.

“He is ill.”
Tithonus states.

“Ill from what?”
I ask.
From the drugs? From the experiments? Is this what deceasing looks
like?

“It is his
time,” Tithonus tells me. “We all must pass eventually.”

Tithonus’s hand
hovers above the mouth of the disappeared, then he closes it.

“He is deceased.
His soul is gone.” He states. “He must be removed.”

“Is that why
you’ve been brought here? To help them?” I don’t know what I should be feeling.
I’m angry that people have been so disregarded, but sad, too. The body is limp
as Christophe and Leland pick it up from Tithonus’s lap. Eyes still open, they
are glazed over with a pasty film. Christophe, his glasses back on, closes the disappeared’s
eyes and he and Leland carry it away. They lower it into something out of my
line of sight.

I lean down to
help Tithonus up. His body is frail. I hold his wrist and support his elbow
with my new arm. It is surprisingly gentle.

“Jenny gave me a
message,” I whisper to Tithonus. No one else is around. His arm coils around
mine. His back is hunched over and we move slowly to the stones at the edge of
the small pool.

“She said to
tell Leland now is the time to get out. To dig out. Does Leland have a way
out?”

Tithonus slows
to a stop. His body shifts as he looks up. He turns his head down one of the
dark corridors. He walks me forward, away from all of the other disappeared.
They haven’t moved. Do they even know what just happened? We’ve turned toward
the entranceway of one of the tunnels. One of the spokes.

“What? What’s
down there?” We stand and stare. Tithonus’s head is back down. He doesn’t
answer.

Finally, he
speaks, “That is your way out.”

“What? Down
there?” I don’t see anything other than another dark tunnel.

“It’s all set,”
Leland is behind us, inhaling and exhaling with gusto, completely out of
breath. He picks up where he left off. Christophe is by his side, he doesn’t
seem as exhausted. “Apparently, Rose had been under surveillance for some time.”

I walk with
Tithonus back to the stone seat.

“But why?” I
ask. “It can’t just be about my genetic code.”

“Jenny thinks
she overheard that someone inside Aegis gave the coordinates away when Rose got
there.” Delia stands behind us. We all turn. She continues, “The Hollow knows
Jenny was your tutor and that your father works for the Imperial Bead. The same
person who gave away Aegis must have given away Jenny as well. Someone inside
Aegis was from The Hollow.”

JJ and Patience.

“What does that
mean? Is Jenny in danger?” I ask, helping Tithonus to a seat.

“That means Dr.
Flint and Rejuvenation Industries know they are being investigated. Jenny’s one
step ahead of them, but this may be our only opportunity for escape,” Delia
tells us. “If they’re preoccupied with the Imperial–”

Delia stops
talking. More footsteps. Dragging footsteps. They shuffle. Two more disappeared.
They take a laundry bin from one of the other spokes. Naked legs of the
deceased stick out of the bin. This must be the body Leland and Christophe
removed. The bin is pushed slowly down the tunnel and I’m surprised that there
isn’t an attendant. I’m glad for it. Someone must know by now that I’m not
where I’m supposed to be.

“Dr. Flint knows
how long they have before they expire. She sends others down to collect,” Delia
offers.

“And then what?”
I think of the morgue.

“The
incinerator,” Leland says. I shiver. “If they know the Imperial Bead is onto
them, then we could all be in very big trouble.”

“Why?” I ask.

“If they’re
being investigated,” Leland begins. “They’ll have to get rid of us. Either
private sale, they traffic us out of here, or—”

“Or what?” I try
not to panic.
Will I be sold?

“Or they kill
us, Roz. They can’t have us discussing the true Rejuvenation Industries and
what goes on here with anyone from the Imperial Bead. We all know too much.
Once the parts they’ve removed make it to open market, Dr. Flint will have to
defend the human testing she’s been doing all this time. Her investors will be
sure to have dropped out by this point.”

“So what do we
do?” I turn to Delia. She seems to have the answers. Tithonus has moved from
his seat and is gone.
Has Jenny come down for him? Why didn’t she tell me
she was here?

“We have to get
out of here,” Christophe says. “Leland, how much farther on the tunnel?”

“The tunnel down
there?” I point to where Tithonus showed me.

“Yes, but how do
you know—” Leland doesn’t finish. He brightens the light on his wrist and I
follow him down the tunnel. A few feet in, there is a door in the wall. Hewn of
wood, it is flush with the large limestones. A small latch sticks out of the
center of the wall. Leland pulls on it and the door creaks open partway.

“Is that a way
out?” I ask.

“It could be
with a bit more work,” Leland flashes his light inside. Christophe stands far
enough back and doesn’t look at us. I can’t see far because it’s still too
dark, but the walls seem to have collapsed in. Two twins are digging out the
sides of the tunnel, pushing dirt out of the way of beams that hold up the low
ceiling in sections like an underground mine.

“Who are they?
Where does it lead?” I ask.

“Archer and
Alex. They’re helping dig.” Leland states. Neither of them looks back, nor do
they stop digging.

“We think it
used to go to the chapel, but that’s long gone.” Christophe adds. “We think it
may have already been a way in and out of the hospital before The Hollow got a
hold of it.”

“Once it
collapsed, someone started digging. We’ve just been finishing the job,” Leland finishes,
looking around him.

“How far does it
go?” I try to imagine.

“It used to go
all the way out, until the end caved in. We had installed some support beams
and were taking shifts digging. If there were more of us, it would go faster.”

A deafening shot
rings out and a scream pierces the air.
Am I hallucinating again?

“Jenny!” I cry
out, though I don’t know why.

“We have to get
out of here now, Leland.” Delia says.

He reaches down
for an old aluminum bedpan, dented and rusted. Christophe grabs a piece of
something that looks like it could’ve been attached to a wheelchair or
examination table. A footrest, maybe.

“Let’s get the
door the rest of the way open,” Christophe says.

“It won’t budge,
it’s stuck.” Leland steps back, out of the entrance.

Leland kicks
another bedpan. It clanks against the floor and other metal detritus. Sound
bounces around the cavernous space.

“We can squeeze
through, it’s fine,” Delia grabs Leland’s hand and pushes him through first.
“How far did you have left to go?” She asks before Christophe makes her go in
next.

“There isn’t any
time to talk.” Christophe interrupts before Leland can answer. “My glasses will
be uploaded soon, if they haven’t been already.”

“Not far,”
Leland calls from inside. “The soil is soft. We saw daylight. Roz, you come
through next.”

“Give me a pan,
I can help dig.” I turn back as Christophe helps me through the door. I hold
out my artificial arm and Christophe puts a dented desk drawer into my hand. My
fingers grasp it, clutching it tight.

I follow the
rest into the makeshift tunnel. Archer and Alex have gone ahead. The walls are
narrow and mostly dirt and rubble. I reach up, the ceiling crumbles, too.

“Christophe?” I
stop and call back. I look over my shoulder and he stands behind, still in the
doorway. “You’re coming, too, aren’t you?”

He shakes his
head.

“Wait, why not?”
I don’t know how far up everyone is. I can’t see a thing ahead.

“They’ll know every
move you make with me in tow. I’m going to go back and check on Jenny. And
Tithonus.”

“Will you be
careful?” I turn completely around and head back to the door. It’s still so
dark.

He nods.

I put my hands
up on his shoulder and he leans down.

I kiss his
cheek.

“Please be
safe,” I say and he clutches both of my hands. I feel something like pressure
radiate through my shoulder. The shoulder attached to the bionic arm.

Christophe
closes the door behind me, plunging me into total darkness. It’s unnerving how
much space there is at the beginning of the tunnel and I think I would do
better if I could feel the walls around me. Delia grabs my hand and pulls me
forward. I move as fast as I can behind her without tripping.

“You back there,
Roz?” Leland calls. His is the only light up ahead.

“I’m here!” The
walls are closing in. I’m getting claustrophobic. “How much farther?” The
ceiling has gotten lower and I’m now bent over, my back grazing the ceiling.

“It caved in
just up ahead,” Leland’s voice is only a few feet ahead. He’s out of breath
again. I can see Delia, she is almost illuminating.

I blink to get
some water to my eyes. They’re drying out with all this dirt.

Then all of the
sudden it goes quiet and gets dark. I can’t see at all. “Leland? Leland!” I call.
He doesn’t answer. From somewhere around me I hear crying. Sobbing. The air is
stuffy and hot. Sweat beads on my forehead. I take a deep breath in, but I
can’t catch it. I want to cough, but my throat is sore. My lungs are raw.

I drop down onto
all fours. Something touches my face, my back, my legs.

I heave and
throw up. I cover it over with dirt. Roots course through the walls around me,
moving and winding in tangles above, moving closer and closer to me.
Why is
this happening again? What am I seeing? Is it even real?

My heart pulses
blood, throbbing through my vessels. It flows in my ears and I can hear its
beat.

“Roz, are you
okay?” Leland’s hand on my head shakes me out of my hallucination. The roots
recede back into the walls and I look up. Delia stands behind him.

“I-I don’t know—”
I answer as best I can.

“Take a deep
breath in. Slowly. Make sure it gets all the way down,” he tells me. I do as he
says and I’m able to catch it. The cool air swirls around my rib cage. I get up
with Leland’s help. He holds my hand as we move forward. “You okay now?”

“I am.” Holding
his hand, I let him lead me.

“Why have we
stopped? What’s wrong? Delia?” He calls up ahead. His light streams on ahead,
but he blocks my view so I can’t see anything.

“Archer and Alex
are digging,” Delia answers. “It gets a bit tight up ahead as they push dirt
out of the way.”

The air is still
heavy, but I no longer feel closed in. I don’t hear the sobbing anymore,
either. Leland hands me over to Delia. She holds my wrist as Leland squeezes past
her to the front of the line. I put my other hand on top of Delia’s.

“We’re. Almost.
There.” Leland puffs.

Within seconds,
the walls of dirt fall away and we are flooded with light. I squint. Without
climbing anywhere, we are outside, almost above ground. I take in the deepest
breath I can, gasping for air, exhaling all the toxins from The Hollow. This
air is clean and fresh, filling up my lungs. Crisp.

“Who’s gonna go
first?” Leland’s voice is ecstatic. Birds chip and the sound of wind blowing
the leaves around is loud. Almost too loud.