Page 27 of Marc
The first thing I found was a portable lantern. My dad told me they’d often had blackouts because the power hadn’t been steady in the early days after the invasion. It probably wouldn’t work, but I tapped it anyway. To my surprise, it lit up.
“Yes.” I held it up. It showed benches covered in electrical wires and smashed parts. Most of the stuff around here was in pieces and covered in a heavy layer of dust and cobwebs.
I stepped on something, and almost turned my ankle. I crouched down to pick it up.
It was a pretty turquoise dice.
“Oh, I think this is Uncle Noah’s. This must have been his lab.” Noah had been the main tech guru who’d kept Blue Mountain Base running. He still collected dice to this day. “I don’t see any comms unit.”
I wracked my brain, trying to recall the old map of Blue Mountain Base that I’d obsessively studied as a kid. I bit my lip, trying to think where the infirmary was.
“Come on.” I slid my arm around Marc again, holding the lantern up with the other.
We managed a slow hobble down the corridor.
“Colbie…” His voice was raspy. “I need a break.”
“Okay.” I leaned him against the wall and watched him sag. I bit my lip. He was looking worse. “I think the infirmary is close by.”
If it was still intact.
He dragged a hand over his face and nodded. “I’m ready.”
He wasn’t ready. He looked even paler than before.
We moved down the hall again. Ahead was a pile of rubble where the ceiling had partially collapsed. I thought again of the people who’d sheltered here. Who’d made it a home in the middle of chaos.
They hadn’t given up. I wouldn’t, either.
We skirted the rubble and then took a right. The rooms along this corridor were all in shambles. A section of the wall looked like it had been eaten away by something. I knew that raptor weapons had held acidic poison.
“I think the infirmary is close. I know it had a backup power supply. Maybe it’s still functional?”
He just grunted.
It was a long shot. I prayed we could find comms as well, and contact someone to come and get us.
The corridor opened up, and this section appeared less damaged. The light glinted off a sign.
Infirmary.
Yes. My heart leaped. “Marc, there it is!”
We hobbled over to the door and I touched the control.
Nothing happened. Unsurprising, but a girl could hope.
Leaning against the wall, I set the lantern down, then gripped the door in the middle and pushed. I grunted, using all my strength.
“Come on, you piece of…” The doors opened an inch. I wedged my arm inside, then pushed and shoved. Soon, it was open enough that we could slip through.
I sensed Marc looking at me and I glanced up. Even though he was pale and in pain, I could see he was fighting a smile.
“Fierce,” he murmured.
“Motivated.” I grabbed the lantern, shoved it through the gap, and set it on the floor. The space inside was coated in dust. There were bunks, some overturned, and some things were smashed, but it looked like other items were undamaged.
“Come on, big guy.” I helped Marc inside.
