Freed by Holly Hook

Author:Holly Hook [Hook, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781530764273
Google: qwoOkAEACAAJ
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2016-04-05T23:00:00+00:00

* * * * *

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Weslie asks.

We're surrounded. Dozens of bare feet slap the floor around us, even though our captors remain in the darkness. Les leads us right into one of the Swiss cheese caves in the wall. Travis keeps the lantern high, keeping our ring of light as big as possible.

I keep my hand linked with Shawn's. Weslie walks close to me now. The cave closes around us and black stone and red streaks grow closer. We're headed away from the river and into some isolated area. I don't like this.

“I don't know,” I say. We have weapons, but there are more of these people than there are us. “I'm not sure what else to do.”

We're stuck down here unless these people can give us a hand.

And they won't do it for free.

Pit walks beside me, rubbing against my legs to remind me that he's there. What if these people want him? He's a good warning system against monsters and they might realize that. Or what if they want something we can't deliver?

Either way, the price will be high.

The cave splits and Les leads us into another cavern. And another. He's leading us through a whole network of twists and turns. Curves. Caves that seem to curl in on themselves. We're going to get lost. Maybe that's what Les wants, for us to be dependent on him to get us out of here. I hear footsteps ahead of us. Footsteps behind us. These people have us surrounded and we're still trapped in our safe bubble of light, holding them back. Les keeps his back to us, which is brave considering we have a gun, an axe, and dynamite. But I don't want to hurt this man. He must hate the Society as much as we do. And these people know the way out of here, even if they can never go back to the surface. They might even know where there's another gateway to Earth.

Another cavern. Another tunnel, curving in on the last. Are we going through the same ones over and over? There's no Flamestone here. It's all dug out, leaving grooves. These people have depleted it. My stomach starts to tie in knots. I don't remember the way back to the river. This man is leading us to wherever their territory is down here.

“Where are we going, Les?” I ask.

“To our meeting place. We have to have a safe place far back from the river. There's a giant worm that stalks around there sometimes. You're lucky that you didn't run into it. It's eaten five of us in the past few years, including a child who was just digging out some Flamestone.”

My chest constricts. I can't imagine a kid facing that giant monstrosity. No adult should have to do it, either.

“That's horrible,” Shawn says. “I'm sorry.”

Les dares a glance back. He squints in the light. “That's how it is down here,” he says. “There's nothing but survival. That's all. All of us were like you until we met the Flamestone Society.

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