“Are you all ready?” Hunter asked. Tohoak looked over at Lacy and Kyle and exchanged nods.
“Yes,” she replied. They stood in front of the camp’s main entrance. Hunter gave them all an even look.
“Stick together. If you get separated get back to camp as fast as you can. It’s too risky to be by yourself. Watch out for each other and don’t get lost. The city is a very big and very dangerous place,” he said before leading the way out of camp. Kydlin walked by his side leaving Tohoak, Lacy, and Kyle to follow behind. The sun had just set, but its red glow still hung on the edge of the horizon. The city lights were a bright yellow and white creating an odd contrast between the colors.
“Keep your heads down,” Kydlin suggested as they entered the city. Hunter pulled the hood of his brown jacket up to cover his face. Tohoak looked around curiously. There were more people walking the sidewalk then she would have thought at this time. In the back of her mind she wondered how many of them were Decimators and how many were the Unabilitied. There was no sure way to tell. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest with excitement and fear. She followed Hunter’s orders and kept close to Lacy and Kyle. They seemed more relaxed, but were still alert and ready. It felt slightly unfair that they had gone on more patrols than Tig giving them an edge of awareness. She quickly banished her jealousy, feeling bad that she was angry at her friends for something that wasn’t their choice.
“We’re almost there,” Kydlin informed them after a good time of walking through the streets. Tohoak had lost track of the time, but was sure they had been walking for over forty minutes. Immediately she realized that on her own she would never be able to find the Protector’s camp again. The last time she had thoroughly explored the city had been when she was nine. Now nothing looked familiar. Her eyes tried to remember every detail of the buildings they passed, from bright neon signs to shifty looking thrift shops. Giving up on memorizing where they were, she looked forward and caught Hunter watching her. He kept his eyes with her for a moment before looking ahead again. His expression had been hard to read, but in his eyes Tohoak was sure she could see worry.
They were nearing the other edge of the city and she could see trees ahead. Then she saw where they were heading. If Hunter hadn’t told her where to look for it before they left her eyes would’ve gone right over the slight dip in the ground ahead. This is what their scouts had found: another opening to the Decimator’s labyrinth. The scouts had reported seeing Decimators carrying in large boxes into this opening. Hunter was sure it was something important and that’s why they were here. They needed to find out exactly what those boxes held before the Decimators could get the jump on them.
“Keep close and stay quiet,” Hunter whispered looking back at them, “The Decimators usually have at least two guards at each opening to their camp. We need to take them down without alerting any of the others. Understand?” everyone nodded. He continued forward then closed his eyes. His power was one of sensing. That was what made him such a brilliant fighter. He could sense almost everything around him. It was better than sight and time seemed to slow ever so slightly when he used his power. Even though he could use his power with his eyes open he gained a much better scope of things with them closed.
“Two guards,” he confirmed quietly, “Kydlin,” he nodded for her to help him. As their eyes met they shared a silent conversation then they both disappeared into the hole. Tohoak held her breath anxiously then heard two short grunts and Hunter was waving for them to come in. Kyle motioned for the girls to enter first then he followed. Inside, the tunnel branched off in several different ways. It was dim, the only light coming from torches on the walls. Kydlin was tying the guards up, putting gags in their mouths in case they woke up. Most of the tunnel seemed to be made of dirt, but further on Tohoak thought she could see metal and concrete mixed into the ground and roof.
“Follow me,” Hunter ordered when Kydlin had finished binding the guards. He started forward without another word. Tohoak felt her nerves rise and she exchanged a look with Kyle and Lacy. The tunnel system truly seemed to be a form of catacombs. Some tunnels led downwards while some sloped upwards or just kept going straight, but either way there were plenty of them. Hunter seemed to know where he was going and Tohoak hoped they didn’t head too far into the system. To her relief they weren’t.
“It should be just up here,” Hunter said as they reached another area where several tunnels connected. Before they could continue on though, voices echoed through the tunnels. Decimators were heading their way. “Stick together and if we get separated get back to camp,” Hunter said quickly. It was hard to tell which tunnel the voices were coming from so they had to blindly guess where to hide. Hunter and Kydlin ducked into a tunnel to the right disappearing into the shadows. Tohoak was going to follow them, but realized the voices were almost on top of them now and in the time to cross the room to their tunnel the Decimators would be in the room.
In her moment of indecision someone grabbed her hand from behind and yanked her into a tunnel. She spun around to face Kyle. He put his finger to his lips in a signal to be quiet. Lacy was by his side keeping close to the wall of the tunnel. Tohoak nodded and moved closer to the side of the tunnel. The Decimators had entered the intersection of tunnels. There were seven of them, all middle age. They wore serious faces and were talking about a man named Kane.
“I could kill Kane!” one snarled his hands balled into fist.
“He pushes us too hard,” agreed another. The biggest man in the groups whirled around on the other two.
“He’s your superior and it would do you well to learn that,” he snapped in a deep gravelly voice. The other two went silent immediately and the rest lowered their heads. Tohoak was slightly intrigued by their conversation. Had Hunter ever heard of this Kane person? She didn’t have time to think about it anymore as the group started toward the tunnel Kyle, Lacy, and she were in. Lacy pulled her further against the wall and Kyle joined her side. They were outnumbered and not as experienced. This group could easily destroy them. Kyle tensed beside her, balling his fist in preparation for a fight. Before the group set foot in the tunnel though they heard Hunter say something.
Almost instantly the men whirled around and started for Hunter and Kydlin’s tunnel. Tohoak looked at Kyle and Lacy. They couldn’t let Hunter and Kydlin take on this group alone. “Let’s give these guys a distraction,” Lacy whispered almost as if she had read Tohoak’s mind. Kyle murmured an agreement. Without another word they shot out of the tunnel. The group gave surprised shouts of rage and excitement. Tohoak prayed Hunter and Kydlin stayed hidden. They wouldn’t have much time until the whole base was crawling with Decimators, but they could still get the mission done while Lacy, Kyle, and she distracted the Decimators.
“What are you kiddies doing here?” one of the men jeered. Tohoak could see Hunter half in the light half in the shadow behind them. She looked at him hopeful that he would understand that Kydlin and he needed to stay hidden. His face was tight with a mixture of anger and worry and Tohoak thought he was about to reveal himself. She couldn’t let that happen. So she did exactly what he had been telling them not to do the whole night. “Split up!” she yelled at Kyle and Lacy. All three of them took off running down opposite tunnels.
“Get them,” the big man growled calmly.