The Golgotha Initiative

Chapter 14: Ave

I am not Maria. I am the girl this boy knows. He is weak and tired, but he holds me tightly and does not say anything and does not let go.

I'm sorry I broke your arm.

I'm sorry I don't remember you.

Please keep holding me.

Even when Baahir makes us walk forwards, he does not let go. We hold hands but it is not enough so our arms press against each other, tightly, the way they did that warm day with the waving grass and-

I can't remember. But I will, eventually. We will leave here and I will have an eventually with this boy.

The other group- Caleb, Sensei, Little Sister- is not at the elevator when the boy and I arrive. We scoot corpses aside and sit on the floor, waiting. I put my head on his shoulder.

"We have to go!" Baahir grabs our arms and yanks us up. I hear it too, then- people in the corridor, marching. There are four exits but the sound comes from all of them.

I scramble to the elevator. Logan helps me pry the door open and we throw ourselves inside. The car isn't here, so we grab on to the cable and cling tight.

"What about the others?" Logan whispers.

"What about us?" Baahir asks.

There are muffled gasps from outside and the sound of vomit. Then shuffling, and then there is silence. They are guarding the elevator while they search the rest of this level.

The shaft descends into abysmal darkness. It is a long way down, and my muscles are strong, but they are beginning to cramp. Baahir, a paperworking agent rather than a trained ninja, trembles against the cold cable.

"Here." Logan grabs Baahir's arm to support him. The older man gasps and shakes his head.

"I can't... we have to get... elevator..."

"We can't get to the elevator," Logan hisses. It's impossible to see where it is, in this darkness.

"What's down there?" I stare down into the void.

"This is hardly a good time for a blueprint run down!" I have never seen Baahir afraid before. In the dimness, I can barely see him at all, but the cable is still shaking.

"The most important levels are lower down, aren't they? Kyle said Compass protects secrets by shoving them deeper underground."

Baahir grunts. "Yes. Databases... advanced technology... important people. Director Charles is... probably down... there."

"So if we blew them up. That would be bad for Compass."

"Ave, what are you thinking?"

His voice is so deep and kind. It nestles around Ave like the word is a precious gift.

"We knew they would lock down the main entrance to North by the time we got up there, so we brought explosive to bust out the roof."

Baahir shakes his head, quivering, eyes closed. "You... want to send explosives down...  the elevator shaft. We can't. They're not... strong."

"They're strong enough to break through North's roof," Logan offers. "That's got to be several tons of cement and steel."

"I mean... they're too strong. We... could die from... the heat."

Logan frowns. He's almost completely supporting Baahir by this point. Someone outside the shaft bumps against it, and I grit my teeth, clenching tighter to the cable.

"The heat doesn't matter," I say. "If we used the explosives we'd be dead anyway because we wouldn't be able to break through the roof."

"So we need a new option," Logan says.
I press my cheek against his hands. The cable rubs against my forehead, but I ignore it, because all I want to do is soak up my eventually with Logan. It isn't going to last much longer.

"No," I sigh. "There are no other options. We need to use the explosives."

"Ave-chan, we were just talking about how that will kill- oh."

I nod against his fingers.

"Ave, no! We can't die for this! There has to be something else."

"What else?" Baahir asks. "Either Compass finds us, or we fall down the shaft."

"We could leave the shaft. Try to fight-"

Baahir interrupts. "One at a time, slowly pulling the doors open? At least if we use the explosives, we deal Compass a serious blow. No pun intended."

"Ave- we can't. I can't lose you again-"

I love this feeling, of his hand beneath my cheek. I hate how scared he sounds. "You won't. We'll die together."

"That's not what I wanted."

"Me either." Wherever we go after death, I hope there are baby ducks. "The explosives are in my pack."

"I'll get them." Using his legs and one hand to cling to Logan, Baahir fumbles in the dark until he pulls out the vial of explosive gas Kyle and Jamari stole from Compass. All it has to do is drop.
"On three," Baahir says, "we'll all let go. One."

"I love you, Ave," Logan says. "Two."

"I love you too." In the dark, I twist around the cable until our cheeks find each other and our lips meet. For a moment, I live in eventually.

Logan

Then Ave says,

"Three."