Page 80 of The Souls Harvest
Tabitha places a hand on my shoulder. “You and Galen are up next. Once in the open, follow the others. I’ll meet you back at the base.”
I’m not sure if she’s talking to me, because I don’t even know what thebaseis.
Galen responds for both of us, “Where are you going?”
Tabs sucks on her teeth, grabbing his shoulders. In the narrow space of the tunnel, she looks taller than when I met her on the shore. “Someone has to retrieve the pod. We can’t leave it there. If they get to it, even if it’s unable to travel, their engineers could find a way to crack the codes. They could use it to gain access to our bases. We can’t risk more losses,” Tabitha says.
Galen shakes himself free of her grip. “I reckon the bastards that ambushed Sof and me on the roof have already found other ways to enter the area. Pod or not, the Chapter is fucked. Someone clearly betrayed us from the inside. We lost the island—”
“I don’t give a blessed fuck about the Chapter,” she slaps her hands on her hips. “And when did you become so cynical?” Paindarkens Tabitha’s eyes.
“It’s either that or crying over those we’ve lost forever…”
I grab the rung at the bottom of my ladder and start climbing, focusing on its rough texture as I try to get away from the tension rising between Galen and Tabitha.
“Get on that rope.” Tabs grunts through her teeth.
I look down, if only to receive permission to go myself, but I witness the scene of a fight ready to explode.
Tabs’s nostrils flare slightly, and her jaw tenses as if she’s fighting back her urge to argue. Galen’s back is rigid, his shoulders clenched, hands in tight fists at his sides.
When I glance up, I see Merya and Mack squatting by the edge of the hole, also observing the scene, with their mouths open.
A tall black silhouette stands behind them, head concealed by a helmet. It is probably talking to the siblings because they are nodding their heads as if confirming something.
Tabitha finally seems to realise she has an audience, and she assumes a more relaxed stance, letting go of the tension on her lips and face. “I’ll be back before morning. Now, please, get on the rope. I needyouat the base.”
Galen’s body reacts to her promise. His hands open, fingers stretching along his thighs. I don’t wait for him to turn around. It is not my place to question his attitude. I would, were this the man I knew up until two days ago. But…he is—and he is also something else.
Every muscle in my body complains as I restart my climb. Themoment my skin stretches around the rope, caked in dirt and mud, all the scratches and grazes reopen, stinging like hell. Blood stains the rope, but the fast-approaching light above me keeps me going. Soft rays flicker through Merya’s fingers as she leans over the opening, offering me her hand.
I give one last push, eager to see the sun again and experience what the new daymay bring.
Chapter 31 - Octopus at War
July
Igroan as my entire skeleton aches, imploring me to stop and give up, when I grab Merya’s hand.
She easily hauls me up, but the same exhaustion that slows me down shows on her face.
I clamber out of the tunnel as if waking up from a centuries-long slumber. I squint, holding my hand to my forehead, my eyes slowly adjusting to the light, as concerned whispers fill my ears.
The light that has guided me towards the exit is nothing but a square floodlight positioned right atop the tunnel mouth. It is small, but as powerful as the restorative sunlight my body has lately been craving.
Instead—my hope deflates at the sight of a starless sky, dark and silent. The moon is hard to spot, shielded behind black clouds. The air is still, although invisible veins of cold rise from the ground and wrap around my bare arms. I brace myself, regretting the jumper I abandoned in the tunnel. My vision blurs with hunger and fatigue—
“Mind your step,” Merya warns, grabbing me bythe elbows.
“I’m fine; I can walk alone,” I whisper.
I don’t want to disturb the silence around us, and I slowly take some tentative steps on foreign, uneven ground mostly made of pebbles.
I’m not the only one who thinks staying quiet is the best choice. Merya nods and gestures me to rejoin Jyn, Mack and the other person in black, who are standing a few feet away from us in an open field of low grass—empty if not for a building that must have once been majestic and sturdy, had not a significant disaster destroyed a good part of it. Its metal skeleton is half exposed, rusty and sad, desperately clinging to what’s left of the white boulders that were once its shiny skin.
I give Merya another look, tempted to wait, to ensure Galen makes it out of the tunnel, instead of going after Tabitha. But the rest of the group's impatient stance tells me I don’t have time, and I’d better hurry towards the building.
Merya slowly takes my hands to stop me from picking at the skin of my thumbs. “I’m not going anywhere without him, but you need to reach the others now,” she mutters. “Remember, we only have a small window before this place becomes visible on the radars.”
