Chapter 11: My heroes

I have a buffer of written work now so updates should be slightly more regular pending grad school panic and/or malaise.

They gang is on Luna now and I hope that I have done okay at describing it. I still haven't read Fairest. Let me know what you think!

Cinder consulted the map in her head. "The opening to the tunnel system should be close now." She said.

Wolf scanned their surroundings and pointed at an opening in the ground with stairs leading down. "There." He said.

"Really? I don't see it." Thorne quipped, smiling.

Wolf and Cinder both gave him a look, then shared one of their own. They made their way down the tunnel and Iko nudged Thorne.

"I guess they're not in the mood for jokes." She said. "They're going down some stairs now."

Thorne shrugged and turned to face a couple different directions. "So which way." He asked.

Iko faced him in the right direction. "Straight ahead." She said. "Do you want some help?"

"No thanks." Thorne said waving his walking stick in the air.

"Don't slow us down!" Cinder called from the entrance. Her tone wasn't as serious as her words though.

"Wouldn't think of it." Said Thorne grinning.

Cinder looked back out over the abandoned Lunar city as Thorne made his way over. The Rampion was no longer visible, but the building with cascading turrets that they had landed next to was. The city was a day's walk from Artemisia and provided the perfect place to land a space ship without detection.

She was still worried that they would have been seen landing, but Cress was positive that at least no surveillance had caught them. Kai had been nervous as they said good bye too. She had kissed him with a fierce denial that they might not see each other again (number 21 her brain had logged) and he had held her like he was clinging to a desperate hope.

Her heart thumped just thinking of it.

"Hey Cinder, don't slow us down!" Thorne called up to her. She hadn't noticed him pass her on the stairs.

She hurried down and turned on the flashlight in her finger after noting that none of the underground lights in the tunnel were working. She and Wolf took the lead with Thorne and Iko close behind. No one talked as they walked through the dank tunnels. They smelled of mildew and something else that Cinder assumed was regolith. I chalky, iron smell that clung to her throat.

This tunnel was mostly clear of debris and they made their way down the main line with good time. As they approached what Cinder's blueprint showed to be an intersection of all the main tunnels they heard a clamor ahead of them. Cinder looked at Wolf who was concentrating on the noise.

"It's gunfire." He said.

Cinder nodded. "Wolf and I will go ahead, you and Thorne stay here." She said to Iko.

"But Cinder-" Iko started.

Cinder and Wolf were already sprinting toward the noise though and she didn't hear whatever else Iko was going to say. As they ran, Cinder reached out and took control of Wolf. She was able to do it almost seamlessly after all of their practices.

Cinder held her gun ready as they came on the fighters. She instantly recognized Jacin with his blonde hair. He was backed against a wall and firing at three Lunar soldiers. She sent Wolf to attack the one closest to Jacin as she fired at another.

Cinder scanned the sprawling tunnels, unnerved by the many entrances ripe for ambush. She allowed Wolf's instincts to lead the attacks he made. His will had stopped becoming as subdued as they had practiced. She often felt like she knew what he wanted to do and he had said that he was able to remember things he did under her control more clearly too.

Jacin was out of ammunition but Wolf had the first soldier down. Cinder fired at her mark again –trying not to wince when she hit him in the neck and he crumpled to the flow –as Wolf rushed the last soldier. Jacin ran to Cinder's side and she handed him an extra handgun.

A new soldier came running out of one of the tunnels and tackled Wolf to the floor. Two more soldiers followed the first, armed with guns. It was four against three now plus the two Lunar soldiers on the ground.

A bullet zipped past her head and caught the soldier on top of Wolf in the back. Wolf was able to push him off and regain his feet.

"Did I get him?" Thorne asked behind her.

"What the hell Thorne?" Cinder yelled. She turned and saw Iko aiming Thorne's gun hand.

"Hi Cinder!" Iko said, re-aligning Thorne's hand. "Shoot!" She added and Thorne pulled the trigger.

A shot pinged off the back of Cinder's metal leg. She spun around and fired back at a soldier charging her.

"Shoot!" Iko shouted

Thorne missed the soldier but caused him to change direction. He ran towards Jacin but the blonde was ready and shot him in the shoulder.

Wolf caught a soldier by the neck and smashed him into a wall.

One of the remaining soldiers shouted something and the operatives still able to withdrew down a side tunnel. Cinder ran after them, but quickly returned. "It looks like they're really retreating." She said.

Jacin was examining one of the downed soldiers. He stood, shot him in the head, and holstered his gun.

"Are you alright?" Cinder asked him.

"Yes, I don't know how much longer I could have held them off though." Jacin said.

"Good thing we showed up." Iko said.

"Right in the nick of time." Thorne said grinning.

"My heroes." Jacin deadpanned.

"Where are Scarlet and Winter?" Cinder asked.

"I told them to run when the soldiers found us." Jacin said.

Wolf nodded in approval at the self-sacrifice, though his brow knit together in worry.

"It was just a few minutes before you guys showed up, they can't be far." Jacin said.

"Which way did they go?" Cinder asked.

Jacin frowned. "I think, into that one. He said pointing at a tunnel branching back near the one towards the way the Cinder's group had come through.

"How many different ways are there here?" Thorne asked.

"Eight." Iko told him. "It looks like there's information written to the side." She wandered toward the tunnel that Jacin had indicated and Thorne followed her.

Cinder looked around the intersection and then into space as she focused on her netscreen. Some of the tunnels dead ended, either as storage for the trains or because of cave ins. Others wound in an intricate pattern of effective connection. "If your right about which tunnel Scarlet and Winter went down," she said to Jacin, "Then the soldiers can take a few connections and head them off."

Wolf gritted his teeth and Jacin frowned.

"We might still catch them first if we follow them or we can try doubling back a different way that might be faster..." She mused.

A loud rumbling sounded above them. Wolf looked up and Cinder followed his gaze to see cracks forming in the ceiling.

"It's going to-" He started to say but already chunks had started to fall from the ceiling. Cinder saw Iko grab Thorne and squeeze them both into a crevice in the wall.

Cinder grabbed Wolf's arm and pulled him back as a chunk of ceiling fell where he had been.

"Come on!" She yelled.

"We have to get them!" He shouted.

"Wolf!" Cinder yelled.

Mentally cursing, Cinder took control of Wolf. She began running after Jacin forcing Wolf to stay right with them. His own will was against it, but the shock of the falling rocks had rattled him enough that it wasn't a struggle.

Suddenly the noise stopped and the air was still. Cinder releasing Wolf from her control as she turned back to look at the rubble.

The tunnel was completely sealed with debris.

Wolf glared at her. "You said you would only control me in fights. When there might be others trying to take over me."

"I'm sorry. They took cover." Cinder told him.

Wolf shook his head. "They could be trapped!"

"Well, you could be dead!" Cinder snapped. "I'm sorry I forced you but staying wouldn't have done anything to help them and actually I'm not sorry because I'm not going to just watch you die Wolf."

"We need to move." Jacin said, his voice insistent. "We have to find Winter and Scarlet before the soldiers do."

Wolf closed his eyes and sighed. "He's right." He admitted.

When he opened his eyes they were a murky, muddy brown and Cinder worried she might have damaged some of the trust she had gained from Wolf over the past weeks.