From Darkness Comes - Book 2 in The Dissonance Series

The Death Sprint

Using our grappling hooks, we make our way over the enormous wall that protects the dome from the outside world. My feet land hard on the ground. I look up. For a moment I forget why we're on this mission. For a moment, my breath is taken away by what lies before me: a planet undiscovered. Nothing about it is beautiful in the traditional sense, yet it's breathtaking. Its beauty lies in the unknown. It makes me realize how minuscule we are in this great big universe. The fact that Environettix thinks they can control this place and mold it to what they want it to be, seems even more absurd now that I am beyond the perceived safety of the dome.

My moment of wonderment is ended abruptly by a shrill noise in the distance. The creatures. They might not know of our location yet, but they're out there: waiting. My hand instinctively moves toward the knife strapped to the side of my leg.

"We better get going," Kelly states.

We begin walking, searching the area for threats, before moving into formation at a jogging pace. Coven leads. Kelly and I flank him on either side in a triangle formation, keeping an eye out for unwanted visitors. Thanks to the intel that Kelly and his team have gathered, we know a general direction in which to head. There should be a place to rest, about halfway to our destination. Intel says that it's abandoned. We can only hope our intel is correct.

Thanks to our Mod status, we're able to maintain a steady pace and are making excellent time, although it's hard to have any true sense of time without the approaching sunrise. I much prefer the dark though over the simulated sunlight in the dome. It never felt real. It served as a constant reminder that we'd never again feel the warmth of the actual sun on our skin.

Kelly and Coven have already needed to use one oxygen bottle each while my lungs maintain optimal performance. I pull to the lead and let them fall behind in the wing positions. Every footstep produces a ring of light around it, illuminating our path through the dark, just like the ground in the dome. In some ways it's helpful, but it is also dangerous: alerting our predators to our location. The ring of light dissipates quickly after each step, but not quick enough to hide our location from the watchful eyes of bloodthirsty creatures of the night.

We keep up the pace for many hours. The people we left behind in the dome are most likely awake by now, but we don't know for sure. The bubble is long sense out of view. I should be scared, but instead I feel a sense of calm being away from that cage, away from Cassius Tarquin's reach, if only temporarily. I wonder if my brother is awake yet, if they've discovered what we've done, if they are on our trail, if Cassius will be expecting our arrival before we even get there? Running through the abyss leaves too much time to consider hypotheticals.

I fall into a rhythm, one foot after the next. I focus on my breathing, trying to block out unwanted thoughts of what might be happening, or God forbid, what already happened, to Wyler. I don't let myself think about what might happen if we don't get to him in time or if we don't make it to him at all.

I'm deep into my running trance, when I realize that it's quiet, too quiet. I've been so focused that I haven't thought to check and see if Kelly and Coven are behind me. There's no time to stop. I glance over my shoulder to my right and see Coven, jogging at a steady pace, his eyes are to the ground, focused on his steps. He looks tired. It might be time for another oxygen bottle. I look to my left to see if Kelly is the same, but Kelly isn't there. My head turns on a swivel, looking around but I can't find him. I come to a screeching halt. Coven, not expecting me to stop so suddenly, nearly topples over trying to slow himself down. His breathing drags.

I turn around to see Kelly standing about 10 yards back. He's looking at something, head up toward the horizon, back the way we came. I look to Coven, who just shrugs his shoulders, leaning over, resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. I take a few steps forward, trying to figure out what Kelly is looking at, and then I see it. Dust clouds. Enormous ones. Swirling towards us.