Chapter 47

  "Everyone good?" Adam asked, keeping his voice low, eyes on the ceiling.

  "I'm alright,” Samantha croaked, sounding like she'd spent the last few hours chain-smoking. "I think I've decided I'd rather be shot again than drown. That was awful."

  Natalie took a second before answering, staring at Samantha. "I think he cracked a rib. It hurts to breathe, but I'll make it."

  "You're starting to make a habit of getting yourself captured." Adam turned in surprise to see Hector grinning. He scooted forward and revealed the silvery tip of a knife sticking out from between his fingers. "And it looks like it's up to me to save your ass again."

  Adam blinked at Hector, momentarily at a loss. "You were faking?"

  Hector wiggled his head back and forth. "Mostly. I was pretty loopy for a minute, but it wore off fast. I thought you knew, that's why you kept him talking."

  Adam, Natalie and Samantha exchanged looks and Hector laughed. He slid next to Adam and started to work the knife against the tape. "I guess I gave you too much credit. You were actually just trying to piss the guy off."

  "How did you manage to keep the knife? I was trying to figure out how to burn through the ropes without setting my hands on fire." Samantha shivered, huddling closer to Natalie.

  "Are you okay? I mean... not okay, but..." Natalie leaned her head against Samantha's.

  "Not even close. But escape now, breakdown later," Samantha said.

  Adam winced, barely feeling the knife bite into his palm as Hector split the tape and started working on the rope. "Shit, sorry. I can't see what I'm doing."

  "Who are you?"

  The unfamiliar voice made Adam tense and the knife pricked his hand again.

  Adam turned his head to the woman. "I'm Adam, Stephen's friend from work. You're Jessica, right?"

  He watched a series of emotions flash across the woman's face one at a time, almost too fast see. She finally settled on a mix of suspicion and sadness, letting her eyes fall back to the floor. "Oh. Yeah. It looks like you got his text."

  Adam nodded. "We came to check on you. I guess we didn't do a great job."

  She didn't answer and her eyes stayed fixed on the floor.

  He felt the rope around his wrists start to loosen, feeling flooding back into his fingers along with a sensation like TV static. He grit his teeth, flexing his hands slowly. "Where is Stephen?"

  She leaned back and banged her head on the pipe, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "Gone. They fed him to those things when he wouldn't help them take other people."

  Adam felt his spirits rise and plummet at the same time. He'd hoped Amir had been lying, but knowing he was made him a little proud of his friend. "I'm sorry. Look, I know must have been through a lot, but do you know how they figured out to start sacrificing people? I mean, how long have you been down here?"

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Jessica stared at him until his skin crawled, feeling like her eyes were boring into him. "The first night we saw one of them grab our neighbor and drag him into the hole. It didn't come back the next day. Stephen mentioned it to Amir and Amir decided to experiment."

  She swallowed and cleared her throat. "I don't know how long I’ve been down here. It's hard to tell. How long has it been since he sent you the text?"

  "Five days, give or take,” Adam said, feeling the ropes give. He pulled his hands into his lap, rubbing them together as the feeling returned.

  She shut her eyes, her lip trembling slightly in the dim light. "Then that long. He made Stephen send that text. Amir said if anyone showed up, we'd be okay."

  Adam felt a pang of irrational guilt. He knew it wasn't his fault, but the statement made him feel more responsible for Stephen's fate. "We're going to get you out of here. My friend Natalie is a paramedic, she can make sure you and the baby are okay."

  Jessica opened her eyes, heavy tears leaking down her cheeks. "There's no baby... Amir took care of that."

  Natalie hissed through her teeth. "I'm so so-"

  "No. Just... No." Jessica shook her head. "Just help me do something about it."

  Natalie nodded.

  Adam spent the next several minutes removing their bonds, pausing when he heard footsteps above. When he finally cut Jessica free, she stared at her hands as if she didn't recognize them.

  "Okay, now what?" Natalie asked, rubbing her hands together and glancing at Jessica, then at Adam. "Not to be a downer, but we're still trapped in a basement. They have at least two guns, and your psychotic coworker can drown people by pointing at them. We'll need a really good plan to get out of this without at least one of us ending up dead."

  Adam handed the knife back to Hector. "Is there any other way out of the basement?"

  "No. Just the stairs," Jessica said.

  "That limits our options,” Adam admitted, slowly scanning the room and noticing just how barren the basement was. "Is there anything we can use down here?"

  Jessica just shook her head.

  "Alright." Adam considered their situation, mentally ticking off the various hurdles. The stairs, the shotgun, Natalie's gun, and Amir's power. He thought they were fucked. "Sam, do you think you can stop a bullet?"

  "It didn't go so well last time,” Samantha said, dropping a hand to her stomach. "Maybe if I'm ready for it. What's on your mind?"

  "You are not thinking of using her as a shield." Natalie's tone made it clear it wasn't a question.

  Adam held his hand up, shaking his head. "No. She won't be the one standing in front. That'll be me. My idea, my risk." Adam wasn't sure if it was bravery or desperation steeling him, but he went with it.

  Natalie looked skeptical. "Do you actually have a plan?"

  Adam made a so-so motion. "More like an idea. Hector, can you do the thing you did when we met you at The Pagegrinder?"

  "Sure," Hector said, looking up the stairs. "I just hope there's more to it than 'try not to get shot' afterward."

  "I'm sorry. I don't understand." Jessica looked small, as if trying to fold into herself while hugging her knees to her chest.

  "We... I'm not really sure how to explain it but-"

  "Just show her," Samantha said, cutting in.

  "Okay…" Adam held his hands up and concentrated, feeling the power respond to his summons as it coursed down his arms and into his hands. An arc of power leapt from one to the other, crackling into the wall with a shower of sparks. "Shit, sorry."

  Jessica skittered back, her eyes wide and frightened. "Oh God... "

  "It's a little harder than it looks,” Adam said, trying to think of a better way to explain, but Natalie put her hand on his arm and he closed his mouth.

  Samantha held her hand out, palm up and closed her eyes. A marble sized globe of molten fire hovered above her hand, bathing her face in its reddish glow. She closed her hand into a fist and the orb disappeared. "Honestly, we're all still learning."

  "I see." Jessica held her head in her hands, curly hair pulled back against her scalp. "I guess with monsters and the end of the world, why not? Why not..."

  "What’s my part? What do you need me to do?" Natalie asked.

  Adam forced a grin that he didn't feel. "I need you to keep me from bleeding out when things go sideways and they shoot me in the ass."

  "I... can do that." The smirk Natalie offered didn't reach her eyes.