Cole doubled over and gasped for air. The shuffles of Zach’s feet fell in line behind him. Root was already here, standing tall and on the lookout. They had arrived at the old shoveler’s barracks after careful tracing through some back tunnels that Cole used to work in, back when he was at level 6. Level 6 was one of the least utilized levels, and most shovelers moved on quickly. He was hoping with the short memories of most, that those tunnels would be clear, which, to their luck, they were.
They stood now, hunched in the archway of a tunnel exit that emptied near the back of the barracks, where the supplies were kept. A few boxes and crates were stacked high which hid them from sight, but also made it difficult to see what was happening inside the barracks.
“I’m going in for a better look.” Root gave a quick glance to Cole and Zach before jogging up to the crates.
Zach leaned in and whispered. “He’s a little crazy, right?”
Cole didn’t disagree, but someone had to scope out the area; better him than someone else, he thought. He didn’t reply to Zach and instead just shrugged and kept his eyes on Root.
The journey to the barracks from the top room was longer than Cole had expected. He guessed it took over an hour, but he had no way of knowing. Without his regular schedule and routine, his internal clock was deficient. He didn’t even know if it was the same day as his rescue from jail, or if that was yesterday, or two days ago. He didn’t remember when he first let his countdown hit 0. He wasn’t sure how long it had been since he realized he was determined to free the town from their machine enslavement. All he could remember now was that he had to do it, and it started with figuring out what these outsiders were doing in town. He hoped there would be answers, but Root’s body language gave him concern. Root tried to shuffle around crates, even standing on one at one point, but it didn’t seem like he could see much of anything.
“What happens if they like, don’t want to talk?” Zach asked.
Cole broke his attention from Root and turned. “I don’t know any more than you do, Zach. We’ll just… figure it out, okay?”
“Sorry, geez. Just curious if you had a plan.”
“My only plan right now is to figure out what the hell is going on. And to do that, we need Root to do some recon. That’s the plan.”
Zach put his hands in the air and inched backward as Cole’s attention went back to Root, still sneaking around the boxes. He wasn’t sure why he had come across so angry. Was he angry? He wasn’t sure. He let a giant sigh escape his lips as he watched Root duck around another crate.
Zach’s question stuck in his mind like a splinter. He had to bring up the worst-case scenario, didn’t he? If the outsiders didn’t want to talk, well, they didn’t have much say in the matter. He supposed they would be killed. Cole had thought about it, of course, but didn’t want his mind to wander too far off. If the outsiders shared the same mission of bringing down the town, they’d be interested in talking. Wouldn’t they? Cole stared at the ceiling and looked away just as Root flashed off to the side. Cole’s head snapped back to Zach.
“What happened?”
Zach gulped. “It looks like he… jumped. Or… got pulled…” His voice weakened and trailed off, and his face turned a little whiter.
“Well, which one was it?” Cole’s attention swiveled between Zach and where Root was supposed to be. Zach didn’t reply. “Which one, Zach?”
“I don’t know!” He said.
Cole huffed and pounded the wall with his fist. He muttered under his breath.
“Should we… go after him?” Zach asked after a moment of contemplation.
“I don’t know,” Cole replied. “Let me think for a second.”
A second passed before Root appeared back by the crates.
“Hey. Look,” Zach said, tugging at the back of Cole’s shirt. “Root! Hey!”
As Cole looked up, he saw Root by the crates, followed by a man with a gun pointed squarely at them.