Free Evolution by Kyle West Page A

couldn’t save.
    I felt numbness creep over me that nothing to do with the cold water or cool air. I thought of Anna, bound in darkness and alone, all because I wasn’t fast enough to save her. I hated myself, and knew I could never forgive myself as long as the thought that she was still alive haunted me. It was unbearable to think about my failure and what Anna would have to go through because of me.
    I resolved at that moment, no matter what Samuel or Makara decided, that I was going after her.
    ***
    A n hour later, we were still walking. The cavern went on and on. Finally, Samuel came to a stop, clicking off the flashlight.
    “We’ll hold up here.”
    The darkness was now absolute. Rather than being afraid of it, I felt safe in it. Nothing could attack me here. Only...
    “We know the way back, right?” Makara asked.
    “There’s just two directions in this place: up, and down,” Samuel said.
    “What about Anna?”
    No one said anything for a moment.
    “We’ll go back once we get some rest,” Samuel said. “Scope out the town, see if there is a way in.”
    “And how are we supposed to do that?” Makara asked.
    “We’ll think of something,” I said. “We can’t abandon Anna like this.”
    “I agree,” Samuel said. “But I will give it no more than a day. If there are too many guards, we will have to move on.” Samuel paused a moment. “I’m sorry, Alex. The mission comes first.”
    “How can you say that? She’s one of us. We leave no one behind.”
    “I understand that,” Samuel said. “But you saw how many guards they have. I won’t risk everyone on a suicide mission.”
    “There has to be another way in.”
    “We’ll do what we can,” Samuel said. “I can promise no more than that.”
    I wanted to yell at him, and just barely held myself back.
    “I wonder how they found us to begin with,” Makara said.
    “I don’t know,” Samuel said. “But we’re lucky to even be alive. It’s a miracle we weren’t all captured.”
    No one said anything more. I heard someone sit on the ground beside me. The stream which we had followed trickled to our side.
    We had nothing to our names. Our gear had all been left behind in our rush to escape, and had likely been looted by now. All I had were the clothes on my back and my Beretta. It was like I had gone back to square one.
    As I lay down on the cold, hard rock and closed my eyes, my only concern was how to rescue Anna.
    I had to think of something by tomorrow, or she was going to be gone for good.
    ***
    L ater, we awoke. All there was to do was get up and start heading back. Samuel clicked his flashlight back on, and we followed the stream back to the surface. Soon, we were greeted with a bright spot of light in the distance – the entrance to the cave. The light illumined our surroundings, revealing stalactites and stalagmites once hidden in the darker regions. Parts of the stream veered off in separate directions, gathering in crystalline pools.
    We crouched low as we climbed up the mouth of the cave. Peeking out, it was early dawn – far earlier than I expected. The morning air was crisp and cool. The dim light was blinding after the total darkness of the cavern.
    Gathered below the cave’s mouth was a circle of five men, sleeping around a fire down to the coals. One of them was awake, warming his hands by the fire. He looked up. His eyes widened.
    “Now,” Samuel said.
    We burst out of the cave, guns blazing. The man screamed as our bullets ripped into him, sending him sprawling to the earth. The other men jolted up, reaching for their guns – but two more were felled before they could even get shots off.
    The other two ran for cover. Makara picked one off before he could find shelter, while the last man disappeared behind a boulder.
    “Put the gun away, and we will spare your life,” Samuel shouted.
    The man threw the gun aside, coming out from around the boulder with hands raised and eyes wide. He fell on his knees,