Chapter 17

Newt and Face looked at each other, waiting for something to happen. She looked around at the nearby buildings, expecting one of them to move or open up or crash to the ground. Nothing.

"We should go back to the mansion," Newt proposed.

"Yes, we should," Face murmured as she gazed to the west, watching a line of sand puffs leading further away towards the end of the city.

On the other side of the City, Thomas and the scavenger crew were inside an old school when an alarm roared through the City, followed by an earthquake.

"Get under a table!" Ronny yelled and took shelter under a door frame.

Ceiling lights that were already hanging by threads, fell to the ground. There was a loud crack, and then a side wall completely crumbled in. One of the boys was hit by a ceiling light as he ran to a table, and a few got wounded by rubble. Thomas and Ronny rounded up the boys and sent them outside to wait while they gathered everyone up.

And then the Quake and alarm stopped. Minho, who was also in the scavenger crew, helped carry the three injured boys out to the schoolyard. Ronny took a count and they set off back to the mansion.

By the time that Face and Newt reached the Mansion, a few of the kids stood under the building. Anna saw Face approach and ran to meet her in the middle.

"What happened?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, what happened here?"

"We heard an alarm and then the building swayed a little and then the power went out and the alarm and motion stopped. There was a loud clang sound underneath the building and when we came down, the loading door was gone." Anna pointed to the spot where the metal floor used to be and in its place was a giant dark hole.

"Has anyone checked what's down there?" Newt asked as they approached the open square.

"We're not allowed to go anywhere without light," Anna stated exasperatedly.

"Do you have a flashlight?" Newt asked, nonplussed.

"Still not allowed to," Anna snapped.

"Anna, you said the power went out?" Face interrupted.

"Yeah."

Thomas, Ronny, and the crew rounded a corner and raced to the building.

"Anna, please get the medical kit," Ronny instructed as they got closer, Anna saw the injured and went up to get her bag. Thomas was the first to reach them and went to stand next to Face and Newt as they looked down into the darkness.

"What happened?" Thomas whispered. "Did you do this?"

Face didn't answer, but he could tell she was responsible.

Thomas took his backpack and grabbed a handful of marbles, tossed them into the hole, and waited for them to flare. It dropped very far before touching the ground and lighting up. They could still see nothing.

"Hey, here's that symbol again," Newt exclaimed and crouched down. "Face?" he tried to get her attention when she didn't hear him.

She snapped out of her daze and got closer just as he put his fingers on the corners of the symbol.

The tile clicked in just like the other one and returned to the surface. They waited.

"What are we waiting for?" Minho asked as he looked at the three hunkered on the ground. A whistle sounded from deep within the hole and metal started clinking and jingling. They took a step away from the hole, thinking that a Griever was on its way. They braced themselves and then a blue light went on inside as the metal sounds ceased. Face stepped forward and laid eyes on a metal staircase leading into a brightly lit space.

Face stepped closer and was stopped by Newt, Thomas, and Ronnie's protests. Thomas and Newt grabbed her arms to hold her back.

"What?" Face frowned, "It's open."

"Doesn't mean you have to go in," Ronny stated.

"There's a light down there, if there was a threat, we would have heard it." Face pulled free from their grip and stepped closer again. "Besides, if anyone must go down, let it be me."

She stepped onto the stairs and slowly descended, Newt and Thomas staying close behind. As she stepped onto the floor, more lights switched on in a ripple effect down a long passage.

"What do you see?" they called from above the stairs. She didn't answer and Thomas started down the stairs too, Newt at his heels.

They stepped off the stairs and onto a smooth cement platform. The hallway was devoid of any furniture and merely appeared like a basement parking lot.

Next to the stretched platform, stood a polished novel train.

"What the hell is a train doing here?" Newt exclaimed.

"Must be from before," Thomas wondered.

Face walked closer to the train and inspected it through the windows. She pressed on the door's button and the lights went on inside as the door opened.

"Face, no," Newt warned as she stepped onto the train. She turned and frowned at him, stepping deeper into the train and walking down the passage.

"She'll be the death of me," Newt complained to Thomas as they followed her into the train.

"She'll be the death of all of us if she keeps this up," Thomas added.

Face walked through the compartment and slipped through the door to the adjoining compartment.

Newt ran closer and stopped her in her tracks, "Would you stop, please. We don't know what's down here. Let's not walk blindly into trouble."

Face rolled her eyes and walked back to the compartment door. She slammed her hand on a map and continued on her way. There was a layout of the train and the track it would follow on the wall. Newt tried to memorize the chart as Thomas followed Face. They ended up in the small control car, looking through the front window into the dark abyss of the tunnel.

"Where does it lead?" Thomas asked.

"West." Face scanned the small space.

"What is west from here?"

"I have no idea."