Linked

Thirty-six : Gone

"Run!" Mom shouts. Silence is no longer a necessity. We follow close behind as she leads us through the rabbit warren of left turns and right turns and long straight passageways. Lamps flicker like strobe lighting as we fly through the refuge. The echo of our footsteps surround us, panicked thumping that mimics my heartbeat. I can hear the officer from the Authority Bureau. His feet stamp barely a beat behind ours.

"Here!" Mom pants, sliding to a stop by the metal door marked with a faded white cross. Corin and I tumble in and she pivots around, slamming it behind her. "Go! Through the other door!"

We do as we are told, crossing past Zeth's desk with his stethoscope curled on top. I don't have time to feel sadness, or regret, because mom shoves me from behind at a sudden hammering sound. The officer is at the Medic Room door.

"I locked it," mom explains briskly, "but I'm sure it won't take long to smash open. It's an old lock. This whole place is old."

The three of us scuttle into the tiny room, mom pulling the door shut. It scrapes on the concrete floor with a grating sound. As it clicks into place, we turn to face three round metal hatches set into the wall. The hatches are fitted about waist-height. Their surfaces are smooth - like giant dinner plates. If you didn't know what they were, you'd assume they were simply strange decorations. Mom darts forward and pushes on the leftmost circle with her palms flat. She leans all of her weight into it. There's a click, and she pulls back. We all know there's supposed to be a glass-roofed capsule sliding out but instead we are met with an empty tray. I peer forward to stare into the hole in the wall. Darkness swallows up a parallel pair of thin, straight tracks.

"Where's the cart?" Corin whispers, crossing his arms tightly.

"Doesn't matter - there's more," Mom replies. "Benna, try the middle one. Quick." The hammering outside the Medic Room intensifies. I scramble to do as I'm told, ignoring the pulling in my limbs wanting me to remain with Corin.

While she shoves the empty tray back into place, I press my palms to the hatch in the middle. The coldness of it surprises me - and the rough texture of raised bumps my eyes hadn't noticed in the dim light. I push. It almost feels too solid to budge - then it gives. I trip over my own boots in time with the click. Corin pulls me out of the way as the capsule emerges. My hands shake - I think I'm going to be sick, the taste of it sears my mouth - this is all too much, too fast. I wish it was possible to press pause and take a moment to collect my thoughts and catch my breath.

But there's no time. No time at all. A massive crashing reverberates around our tiny space. The Medic Room door has been destroyed. The officer is on his way. What if he has more officers with him?

"Benna, get in the cart," Corin's words shoot out like bullets. Before I can move, or reply, he's grabbing me by the waist, lifting me over the edge. I never realised how strong he is. I land in the narrow capsule with a thump, sliding a bit on the steel seating. Shuffling forward, I make room for Corin. One hand on the rim of the cart supporting his weight, he hoists up and over and crashes down behind me.

Fists thunder against the door separating us from the Medic Room - it quivers in its frame.

"Mom, get in! Quickly!"

"I'm sorry," she says, leaning to kiss my forehead with paper-dry lips, even though my hair is slicked with sweat from the sudden running. "Oh, sweetheart, I wish we had more time - " She kisses me again, and again, as the booming on the door intensifies. "I love you, Benna darling - Corin, please hold her."

Corin nods, jaw tight. He grabs me as I realise what's going on, and I scream, trying to scramble back out of the cart but it's too late - mom slams the glass lid over us and Corin has trapped me within the folds of his body and mom is mouthing "I'm sorry", but she doesn't look sorry - she looks determined, and fierce, and her dark eyes are aglow with that shine of adventure I thought she had lost.