Shai Soi

Chapter 33

There it is,  Nathaniel said.

We were lying stomach down on a hill overlooking an abandoned factory. I stayed completely still as Nathaniel peeked out from behind a thick bushel of thorns. I was covered from head to toe in loud, soggy, mushy red riverbank mud, and every time I moved it made a sucking sound that made me cringe. We had used the river as cover, moving upstream as salmon. It wasn't until we ran out of water, and I had tumbled down a slick riverbed when we realized the river had been redirected. The new stream bubbled past the broken down warehouse and curved around its far side. Why there was a broken down warehouse in the middle of the woods, I didn't know. But the stream...

Nathaniel and I shared a look. Did the Numah government know how the river's energy interrupts shai's ability to communicate? And if so how?

I could feel these concerns bouncing around in Nathaniel's head, but I didn't comment on it. Our concern right now was the building and how to get into it.

I can smell them but I can't sense them, Nathaniel said. His green eyes glowed with the early dawn light almost with a gleam of their own. It must be that river.

Do you think that was by design?

He grimaced. That cute dimple formed above his right eyebrow, but his lips turned down. For some reason, I found myself being upset. Those shouldn't go together. Why are you staring at me?

I shook myself. Now was not the time to get distracted. My parents were in that building- alive. I didn't need shara  to know that. I was so close. I blew a loose strand of hair from my face. It fell right back into place. I just wanted to make sure you're ready.

Of course I'm ready. Are you?  His incandescent eyes zoned in on my hair. His cold fingers brushed the strand behind my ear. A chill trickled down my spine, and it had nothing to do with the early morning air.

I sucked in a shaky breath. As I'll ever be.

His gaze was intense. I found myself shivering and he put a chilly hand on my shoulder as if to comfort me. Ever since that café fiasco there'd been tension, even with the excitement of finding the shai. Nathaniel forgot all of that and stared directly into my eyes. Are you sure?

I heard the rest of his thought: ...because I don't want you to get hurt.

Yes. I'm tired of  going home to an empty house.

With his eyes downcast, Nathaniel nodded. Okay. Let's go.

We slithered down the hill as rattlesnakes. My miniscule muscles clenching and relaxing to send me over the ground. I subconsciously wondered if this is what Chris Hemsworth felt like with all those abs. We saw no one at the door but Nathaniel warned me to wait.

What?

If someone is here there should be footprints.

It had rained recently, but an corrugated metal overhang prevent the entrance from getting wet. Even still, there were no footprints to be seen leading into the building. There are no footprints Nathaniel.

All but one, look. He flickered his tongue at a gutter. The steady drip drip drip of rain trickled from the opening. At first I didn't see what he was pointed out but then I saw how the water maneuvered around a raised clump of mud. The heel of a boot. Why would there only be half of one here?

Nathaniel stood up, the reptilian muscles working overtime to hoist him around the gutter. He slithered onto the overhang. I stayed put watching the water dribble around the footprint and trace the side of the dry dirt. Why would it trace it if it was the same level as the water? I inched over the ground to rest my head above the mud. A cool current breezed over my scales.

Wait, look, this has been recently constructed. This over hang wasn't part of the original factory. Here come look-

Nathaniel?

His diamond head appeared over the edge. Yeah?

The water's going around it. There's a current smoothing the dirt out. I think it's the way in. I continued observing the area, my heat sensing vision detecting cooler planks of wood around the boarded up doorway. However, my eyes caught on a nail a darker color than the others. It poked out of the wood ever so slightly and shimmered with metal not as rusted as the other iron nails. 

It's a platform.

What? Nathaniel slithered up beside me. I pointed out the inconsistent heat signatures of the wood and nail and how the water avoided the dry patch of dirt.

I think that nail activates the platform. And it goes down. Where else would the air current be coming from?  We'll just push the nail and-

Nathaniel shifted into a lime green gecko. No, if there's no Numah coming down this thing then they'll know something's up. Let's go through the wind channel. Maybe then we can get some where. With that he wriggled under the door jam and disappeared. I shifted and was about to follow him when a searing pain exploded between my shoulder blades. My chest filled with a mix of anger and excitement. The strong urge to run made my legs jerk.

Bec? Nathaniel's green nose poked out from the door jam. 

Y-yeah, I'm coming.

I squeezed into the crack, the gravel scratching against my soft underbelly. I was right. The small breeze drifted from a small AC unit fitted into a niche. Two tunnels lead off to either side. Nathaniel turned right towards the sound of the river. If the Numah government did know about water's currents blocking the shai  from communicating, then that's were they'd be imprisoned. They skittered off, Nathaniel's shara popping with excitement. Even though I was itching with the desire to free my parents, I couldn't help notice a small ember seemed to press into my back the closer we got.

No matter how many steps we took to free our people, I simply couldn't shake the feeling that we were headed for our own imprisonment.