The Sphinx Project (28 page)

"Kayla," Matt's voice interrupted my thoughts. "We don't have time for this. We have to go."

"Just like your mother, always running away." Sharnee sneered at him.

"Just get the keys," he warned me. The woman held one up, an ornate key that matched the locks below. Before I could tell what she was doing, she had slipped it into her mouth and swallowed it.

"You'd better have another, because if that's the only one, I'll personally cut your stomach open and pull it out."

For the first time since we'd arrived, the woman showed an expression that might pass for fear. "There's no point. By the time you do, they'll all be here. You can't escape."

"Want to bet?" I asked, leaping the desk and punching her square in the stomach. I jumped back as she doubled over in her seat. She leaned forward between her knees and vomited all over her shoes.

I tore the silk scarf from her neck and, covering my hand, used it to pick out the key. The bitter stench of bile made me retch. I scrunched it into a ball within the fabric and shoved the entire thing into my vest.

"They've done a fly-over but can't land. I don't know why. You've got to hurry up and get out now!"
Mouse urged.

Sharnee leaned forward, coughing and gagging. A fine spray of blood splattered the floor in front of her.

I skimmed my hands over her pockets and pulled another ring of keys from one of them. Because of her, Briana would never leave this place, so neither would she.

"What walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon but falls asleep before evening?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Me. You're a true Greek sphinx, treacherous and merciless. It doesn't matter that I've answered your riddle. I'll never leave this room again," she said. It seemed to take a lot of effort to speak. "Remember what I said. Things aren't how they seem."

I backed away from the doctor, knowing she was right. At the threshold, I repositioned my arm and sent half a dozen bullets into the giant glass tank.

As I turned to leave, I saw the terror on her face. The snake, twice as large as normal, unwound itself from where it had been relaxing in its cage. It was pissed. I shut the door and told Mouse to lock it. No remorse or regret dogged at my heels as I descended the steps, just grim satisfaction.

The buzzer on my watch sounded to alert us to the fact that it was now two minutes to midnight. A moment later, a rumbling began deep below us, crawling outward at a scary pace.

"Mouse, clear them all out!" I ordered. This wasn't supposed to happen! Hadn't we dealt with enough of this?

We sprinted downstairs again, not slowing for the corner. I drew the disgusting key from the silk as we entered the room. I unlocked Nicole's door first and Nike went straight to work on her bindings. As soon as Sarah's cell was open, Matt was beside me, loosening the straps.

In no time at all, they were free again and we were running. The mountain shook behind us and I could hear horrifying cracks. We passed the corridor where we'd found the children and kept sprinting.

"You need to get out,
now!" Mouse shouted over the radio, panic invading her tone.

I didn't answer, merely lowering my head and pushing forward. I hurdled over numerous fallen bodies but saw nothing that indicated any living people still inside.

When we finally escaped the buildings, I holstered my guns. Uncaring of the events going on around us, I threw myself at Nicole, wrapping my arms around her. The warmth of her body seeped into mine as relief enveloped me. I had her.

"Come on," Matt said softly, rubbing a hand over my back. "There'll be plenty of time for you two to catch up later."

We found the mercenaries and the children huddled together in one great group. They stood in the biggest clearing they could find between the crumbling mountain and the falling trees. Some lab techs were there, support workers who weren't responsible for committing any atrocities.

A huge boulder bounced down the mountainside. It slammed into the building, embedding itself in the concrete. A small avalanche of pebbles and debris skittered down the slope behind it.

The tiny girl, the first one I'd unlocked, caught sight of me and sprinted toward us. As she reached me, I grasped her hand, swinging her onto my shoulders without stopping.

"We need to get out of here!" Matt yelled. The rumbling continued. "They have back-up on the way."

Each of the men collected a child, settling them onto their shoulders or backs in a way that allowed them easy access to their weapons should they be required. Matt, Nicole, Mouse and Nike took hold of guns, positioning themselves around the group.

We moved briskly, taking the long route around the trees to avoid falling branches and logs. The children were crying and screaming with seemingly endless energy. I was thankful the little girl with her hands wrapped under my chin sat silently upon my shoulders. Her cool, bare fingers lightly tripped along my chin, tickling slightly as they skimmed my jaw. She fiddled with the little flyaway pieces of hair that had come undone from my bun, seemingly oblivious to everything going on around us.

As we passed the lake, a loud, cracking noise rang around the valley, bouncing from the mountainsides while the vibrations created a buzzing in my ears. I covered my ears with my hands. The little girl copied my example.

Turning my head to look up at her, I paused, watching in amazement. Snow cascaded down the mountainside. It coated the building that had looked so out of place in powdery whiteness, hiding it completely from view.

I turned back to the path, only to see steam spouting through cracks in the lake. The cracking ice had bubbles surging from the gaps. It thawed so quickly the smooth surface receded before my eyes, leaving angry gurgling waves that, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out where they were coming from.

The bubbles grew bigger, the steam gushing faster and faster until it was hard to see where the steam and water separated. It looked as though the whole lake had turned into a geyser. All of a sudden, the lake seemed to give an extra burst of heat and sent its entire contents rocketing into the air in one great ball of vapor. The heat radiated out, crawling over us.

The bottom of the lake lay bare of water. Aquatic plants that had been frozen in the cold of winter shivered. The heat penetrated them even further, radiating from the dry lakebed. The edges of the plants curled in on themselves as they withered, water sapped from their cells.

The rumbling grew louder momentarily before another crack sounded. Unlike the first, it didn't jump out of nowhere. This time, it grumbled along and, the earth that moments ago had been covered with ice, split apart.

Dried dirt separated and a lethargic gurgling began. The temperature around us grew warmer and warmer and I watched as the swell of golden-yellow magma rose from the crack. The air shimmered, heat radiating off it in waves.

"Run!" The molten rock surged upwards. It gained speed, the crack widened and more magma flowed freely from the crack. It leaked out, filling the lake with liquid gold.

The ground below rocked us side to side as we attempted to scramble over fallen logs and skidded on the still icy path. A ripping sound tore through the air. Another crack opened not far behind us. The lava surged immediately from the gap, creating smoke as it sizzled fallen trees and melted the slush and snow without even touching it.

One of the men fell, tripping over a branch protruding from the ground. He seemed to go down like a ton of bricks. His grasp on his assault rifle prevented him from extending his arms or protecting the young boy on his back. The little girl on my shoulders stopped me from being able to do anything. Mouse saw, though, and increased her speed. She managed to catch the little guy as he soared over the merc's head.

She flipped the toddler onto her back. Nicole and Nike grasped the fallen man between them, bringing him to his feet on the move before letting him go once he was balanced again.

We jogged for as long as we could, but after some time the mercenaries grew tired and weak. Those with food shared it between us, and we rearranged the children so everyone could keep going. Those who hadn't been carrying one already took their turn and those who needed it could take some time without the extra load to try and recover a bit.

I could see the magma. I could smell it too. We seemed to be moving at a fast enough pace that it wasn't quite close enough to be dangerous. Eventually we began going uphill again. The stench of sulfur and rotten eggs dwindled. A heavy gust of wind flew into our faces, blowing one of the men from his feet.

I let out a sigh as we crested the hill to see the cars waiting, but the relief was only temporary. The tiny brook had thawed and swollen, filling the banks with rushing water. It reached halfway up the hillside we were standing on, more than five times higher than it was earlier.

As the wind stilled, tiny droplets of water fell from angry clouds that swirled around the sky, blocking any light the sun or moon might have provided. I pulled the small LED head lamp from a loop on my belt and slipped it over my head, switching it on.

Even if I didn't need that much light, it was comforting and it would help the other men too. Most of them were now producing their own flashlights. Some had the lights on a band around their head like mine. Some used them attached to the barrels of their weapons. Others wore them strapped around their arms.

The rain swelled, too, the fine pitter-patter growing to plump drops. I glanced behind us to find the glow of the liquid fire creeping closer. We were surrounded. The lava on one side, while the river below us continued to grow even more monstrous than it already was with the help of the pouring rain. If it were to keep getting larger, it would likely consume the cars, leaving us with no way out of here.

Glancing between the men, I took inventory of what was available to us. We all had ropes but needed somewhere to tie them. There were no trees on this side of the bank that we could possibly anchor them to. There was a huge tree in the center of the river, which had been right next to the creek earlier, but that was of no use if we couldn't get there.

Sighing, I lifted the toddler from my shoulders, passing her to one of the men. He looked at me as if I was absurd. I stripped my equipment and wound several lengths of rope around my waist. I took three steps back before dragging in three deep breaths.

I let my instincts take over as that strange part of me assessed the distance, trajectory, speed and wind strength, giving my body the formula to perform my next movements. I dashed forward, pushing off from the crest of the hill.

I flew through the air, but at the very last moment the wind picked up and I slammed into the branch I'd been aiming to land on. It pushed the air out of my lungs and I clung to the slippery branch as I fought to regain it.

When I could breathe properly again, I hauled myself up to sit across the limb.

I tied one end of the longest length of rope to the trunk of the tree before tying the other end loosely onto the other ropes still encircling my waist. I climbed around the tree, holding tightly to the branches until I reached the other side.

Once again, I slid into the tactical part of my brain, analyzing all of the factors before leaping to the ground on the other side of the raging waters. I unwrapped the rope from its place at my waist and tied it around the base of a large gnarled tree stump. I wound it tight to make sure it would hold. I let it take my weight, allowing myself to hang below it. I pulled myself along, testing the strength of the rope to make sure it would hold the others as they took their turns.

It held and I reached the tree safely. Once again I tied rope to the tree, another two long lengths, before leaping to the bank with the others again. Nicole, Nike and I took hold of one of them; Sarah, Matt and Mouse grabbed the other, creating two bridges for the men to scuttle along under.

We all held on so more than one could go at a time. Each man in turn tied a child to his stomach and shuffled along, gripping the rope with their hands and crossed ankles.

As they crawled to the other side of the water, I watched the levels of the now-rushing river rise higher and higher. What had earlier waited far below the rope line was now within easy reach if one were to simply stretch a hand out. The falling rain was melting the snow and ice of the mountains, sending it searching for the easiest route to the bottom of the hill.

Nike and I each took the end of one of the ropes, allowing the others to crawl along the lines one at a time. The other girls were exhausted and were beginning to show it, and although Matt was strong, he wouldn't be able to leap the entire distance.

When everyone else had reached the tree, we both took the leap. I landed exactly where I'd been aiming for earlier. Ignoring the second rope, we took another jump to land on the other bank.

Running my gaze over the cars again, I realized there were fewer than before. One was now missing. Matt had already noticed and was pulling open one of the car doors.

"They're gone," he said as I reached his side. "The drivers left."

"At least we have the cars."

"I guess so," he muttered.

We assigned a driver to each car and made sure to load them as evenly as possible. As we drove off, the rumbling and shaking seemed to decrease, only to rise again when we stopped for some reason or another.

The trip was slow-going, more so than any of our car journeys so far. Vehicles were left abandoned in the road and debris was scattered everywhere. I sat next to Matt in the front seat, with the little girl on my lap and another one sitting in the foot well in front of me.

Matt's hand held mine again as he drove with the other on the steering wheel. Three men had squeezed into the back seat with half a dozen children squirming in their laps. I didn't like that Nicole had been allocated to another car. I didn't want to let her out of my sight.

We saw very few people on the way back to Albany. When we did reach the suburbs, the buildings were absolutely destroyed. Houses had been uprooted or were left in crumbled heaps on the ground. The streets were soaked, some still flooded. Great winds howled between the buildings on either side, and the streets had cracked, allowing soil liquefaction to squeeze to the surface.