inFAMOUS: Winter Solstice

Chapter 6

Nix and I made our way through the underground tunnels beneath the city. Although there was no snow or ice blanketing the inside, it was just as cold in there as it was on the outside.

The catacombs began at the church and ended up at the fort on the other side of town. They were just as old as New Marais itself, used for smuggling any kind of thing you can think of-whiskey and beer back in the days of the Prohibition and escaped slaves for the Underground Railroad.

The air was cold and musty, making it harder to breathe than it already had been. The only light we had to guide us was the two flashlights we had grabbed from the draw in the kitchen. We could see sprinkles of dust and dirt fall from the ceiling into the old rusted rails creaked under the weight of our steps. Rats and spiders scurried along the floors and walls, disturbed by our intrusion into their dark and quiet sanctuary.

" You sure you know your way around down here," asked Nix. Her voice careened down the corridor and back again, sounding like there were five more of her whispering from far behind and ahead of us.

"Yeah. Cole and I came down here a couple times several years ago back when he was just getting into the urban exploration thing. We found all sorts of cool crap down here, like old guns and money. We even found a crate of smuggled moonshine. Well...what was left of it anyway."

"And the generator?"

"That too."

Within only a few minutes of walking, I was able to lead Nix into the generator room. It had been hidden behind two large wooden doors that must have been installed in the late 1800s judging by how rotted out the wood was.

The inside was a different story than the rest of the tunnel system. This was a room that had been used as storage. There was an antique dumbwaiter in the back lead to the town somewhere. Cole and I never did find out where, but I assume it went to a place that was meant to house many people like a hotel or hospital.

Where ever it led, there was a leak into the outside that let in all the snow. The room was sprinkled with white frost, making a mound by the lift and declining to the rest of the room.

In the center was the master generator that the others branched off of. Thankfully it hadn't been frozen like the others. However, it was buried beneath several feet plus a few inches of snow, disrupting its normal functions.

"My lady," said I, turning to Nix. "If you would kindly do the honors..."

"Yeah, yeah." She shoved past me to without one care for reciprocating my act. Sometimes she was the life of the party and others she was a total stick in the mud. "Let's just defrost this thing already. I'm sick of all this snow and cold."

For what we both hoped was the last time, Nix gathered her powers into her hands and laid a thin layer of oil onto the snow. Then, with a simple flick of her wrist, the black slick instantly burst into flames. For a few brief seconds the warm enough to be the hottest place within fifty miles. If the situation hadn't been so dire I could have settled down right there and enjoyed the warmth until the storm blew over. But there were others just as cold as I was out there. Cole was counting on me to do my part to save them.

Now all I could do was wait for him to come to attend to his part.

Minutes passed by quicker than Nix and I realized as we stayed in the room trying to keep ourselves warm. Soon enough half of an hour had passed. We were both starting to worry something had happened to Cole.

I could see the small hints of frost glinting on the cage of the generator. We were running out of time.

I slid my hand into my pocket and took out my phone. I pressed the button on the side and waited for the beep.