Teaser
September 2nd, 2053
Distant machine gun fire echoed through the woodland as fifteen year old Lily Sloane tried to evade her pursuers. According to the news broadcasts, the war was over. The Eastern Coalition had surrendered to the Allies less than two hours ago. She knew that it would be a long time before things were back to normal, if they ever would be. She was the last of the five girls who had escaped into the woods from the internment camp, the last survivor. That gunfire had been her best friend being shot to death, the scream reverberated in her skull and she knew that it would haunt her for decades to come, if she lived long enough to escape. There was a clearing up ahead that would provide her with a vantage point from which to see her pursuers, but they might also be able to see her—it was a risk she would have to take. Lily pulled her backpack from her shoulder and rifled through it, hoping to find the gun that she stole from a guard during her escape.
Tucking it into her jeans, she threw the backpack into a thicket and ran for the clearing. She had known that this was her destination all along, had been dreaming of it for years. Beneath this clearing was an extensive network of caves from the old Montana mining days and she had told about them by her parents before war broke out. Now if only she could find an entrance. Her friends had told her stories of why the mine had been shut down, but she never believed any of it. There was nothing down there but salvation, a hiding place from the men who had nothing better to do but hunt her for sport and then have her as their spoils. It suddenly dawned on her that the woodlands had gone quiet and she soon realised why. A buzzing overhead heralded the approach of a flitter, armed drones that fired on anything that registered on their heat sensors. She had seen animals gunned down. There was nowhere for her to run so she dived for a small depression in the ground, hoping that it would mask her heat.
As soon as she hit the depression, it collapsed under her and sent her tumbling down some kind of shaft. Lily Sloane had found her entrance to the cave network. She twisted her ankle when she hit the hard ground and cried out in pain. After the dizziness passed, she hauled herself up and looked around. Taking the small penlight from her pocket, she played it across the walls and noticed unusual symbols etched into the stone. She walked from one cavern to another, seeing more of the unusual symbols until she reached a cavern bigger than any of the others. It was huge and seemed to go on for ever, but her penlight was too small to make the light reach far. Lily leaned against the wall and breathed deeply.
‘Who are you?’ a voice asked and Lily whirled around and around, looking for the person it belonged to. ‘What are you doing in my cave?’
She pouted. ‘It’s not your cave. I’ve been trying to get here for years.’
‘I found it first, it’s my cave.’
‘Who are you?’ Lily asked.
‘I asked you first. Tell me your name and I’ll tell you mine.’
‘Lily, Lily Sloane. I’m from Washington DC,’ she replied, using the penlight to locate the male voice.
‘It’s gone,’ the voice said. ‘My friends called me Zef.’
‘I know; I saw the nuke hit the city.’
‘Why did you come to Montana, Lily Sloane?’
‘My parents were born here, they told me about a network of caves that would be safe for me,’ Lily told him and found his face with her light.
‘What happened?’ he asked and didn’t even move.
‘I was caught by a patrol and they herded me into an internment camp.’
‘That must have been some time ago.’
‘Three years ago, I escaped last week.’
‘With several others? I’ve heard the gunfire for days.’
‘I’m the last,’ she said and collapsed to the floor.
‘The war’s over, you know.’
‘So, I have nowhere to go.’
Zef came out from the shadows and put his arm round her. ‘You can stay here with me. Let me show you my hideout.’
‘Alright, but don’t try anything. I’ll shoot you.’
‘No problem, I plan on living for a long time yet. I have big plans.’
‘What kind of plans?’
‘You’ll see when I show you my hideout.’
They walked through more caverns, all large enough for three people side by side, and Zef helped Lily limp the entire route.
‘Where are we?’
‘About two klicks from the clearing.’
‘I’m thirsty.’
‘A few more metres and you can have all the water you can drink.’
‘It’s not contaminated?’
‘Nope, comes from a spring deep underground, and untouched by all the radiation.’
They entered a cavern covered by a torn drape and Lily stopped, almost stumbling. ‘Wow, what is that?’ she asked, pointing to a large hollow disc propped up against the cave wall.’
‘I have no idea, but there are strange symbols all over the walls in here, and in several other caverns.’
‘I saw them, what do they mean?’
‘I have no idea, but I found something else too.’
‘What?’ asked Lily, unable to peel her eyes away from the thing.
‘Other symbols, all in groups of seven in three chambers off this one, hundreds of groupings. And the same symbols are on the disc too.’
‘How long have you been down here?’
‘Since the war started.’
‘It’s been over for ten years.’
‘I know, this will be my life’s work.’
‘I need a drink,’ Lily declared. ‘Then we’ll get started.’
Zef smiled and led her to the well. ‘I’ll go and get some grub, the woodland provides for me, for us.’
Lily smiled and for the first time in years, felt truly happy. She stared at the great big disc and knew that Zef was right, someday everyone would know what they discovered here.
To be continued...
