Chapter 17

“Oh, I suppose you need a ride back now?” she said angrily, “Can we not just rest a while?”

“We need to get back and--”

Moja interjected. “She’s right, Jazun.” He looked at her in surprise. “Driving takes concentration, and I’m sure she could use a rest... after all you have put her through today.”

“Me!?” he said, appalled by the accusation.

“Four hours, and then we leave,” Moja instructed. “Andie, if we may, I will gladly pay you if we can stay a short while. Then I promise, we will take our leave.”

Andie expressed reluctance at the idea, but Lena could tell his character would not allow him to refuse guests.

“Ok, four hours. And Moja, I am glad to see you, but I hope we never have to cross paths again. It’s dangerous for you to have come here,” Andie hung his head, “Every day, I fear they’ll figure out where I am.”

Moja thanked Andie for the hospitality. He turned out the light so that they all may be able to get a short rest. Andie showed Lena to the bedroom in the back of the container. There, a small restroom was attached where he allowed her to shower as well. For this, she would remain ever grateful. When she was clean and dressed, she returned to the bedroom to find he had stripped the sheets. New, fresh blankets were laid out for her.

Lena lay restless, the events of the day running through her mind. The corpse in the tunnel. The android patrol chasing her and Jazun through the alleys of Vogt.

At last she drifted. Her mind wandered the valley between waking and slumber. The world around her grew silent, and her body succumbed to the motionless void. Her breathing slowed, and her eyes moved behind heavy eyelids. A dreamy essence consumed her consciousness.

BANG BANG BANG

Lena jolted awake. Her heart pounded inside her chest. Had she actually heard the sound, or was it simply the product of a vivid dream? She looked around the room, but it was still dark. A moment later she heard scrambled movement outside of the bedroom. Were Jazun and Moja already awake? How long had she been asleep? She was unsure if she even had even fallen asleep.

BANG BANG BANG

She jumped at the terrible noise, and let out a short, startled scream. It came from the other room. Someone was pounding violently on the heavy metal door.

An angry voice came, but Lena could not make anything out. It was still outside of Andie’s house. The bedroom door flung open. Jazun entered in a flurry.

“Lena, get up, we gotta get out of here.” He kept his voice hushed, but insistent. The concern in his expression sent a hot shudder through her body.

“What’s going on?” Her voice was worried and shaky. She was still drowsily processing the events around her.

“We need to go, now!”

Andie entered the bedroom in a hurry. He turned and locked the door behind him. He rushed over to a closet and opened its folding door. The room was still dark, but Lena could see him rummaging through his belongings on the closet floor. She rolled off the bed and grabbed her bag.

“Where’s Moja?” she asked

Instead of answering, Jazun briskly asked her, “Do you have everything?”

“I--yes, I think. What’s going on, Jazun?”

“Patrols. Followed us here. We have to leave.”

Andie was fully inside the closet. “Got it,” he said. He had removed a panel from the back wall, exposing a tunnel just large enough to crawl through.

“What’s--where is Moja?”

More angry shouting came from the outside.

Jazun grabbed Lena sternly by both shoulders. He looked directly into her eyes. “Listen. Patrol androids are outside the door. They’re going to come in here. If we don’t get out, they will take all of us, or possibly kill us on sight.”

Lena stared back at him in fear, processing what he had just told her.

“Come on, let’s go!” Andie called sharply. He was crouched next to the hole in the wall.

CRASH. CRASH.

The door was being forced in. A deafening noise came from the front room. Jazun need say no more. Lena rushed to the hole. Inside, a narrow crawl space continued on for no more than ten meters. Jazun followed directly behind her. Andie was the last to enter, closing the closet door and securing the panel to the tunnel entrance behind him.

Lena came to the end of the tunnel. She emerged from the crawlspace about a meter above the ground. It opened to a large, square tunnel that stretched on in either direction. They were back in the drainage system. Thankfully, overhead lights glowed dully.

She breathed heavily in panic, waiting on Jazun and Andie to appear behind her. Jazun came from the darkness, finding his footing. Lena could still hear the sound of Andie’s house being destroyed by invaders.

CRASH. BANG.

“Where is she!?” Lena asked him, demanding an answer.

Jazun’s face expressed torn grief. “We have to…”

Lena covered her mouth with trembling hands, realizing what was happening.

Andie emerged, looking just as shaken. He straightened and pointed a direction down the tunnel. “This way,” he directed.

The trio rushed into the passage, overcome with their sorrow.