Free Resistance (Earth Evolution Series Book 2) by KD Jones Page B

then they tend to underestimate me.”
    “Is that how you got away? Do you know who took you and what they wanted?”
    “The guys that took me are from down here in one of the tribes. But they were being paid to do it by a man from Dome 28. It’s the dome two cities over from here. He has been trading with the tribe people for a while now, hoping to garner enough money and power to become a dome leader.”
    “That’s not how the dome system is set up.”
    Rachel shrugged. “That’s what I tried to tell him, but he seems to think that he can buy his way to the top.” She stood up and helped Kyle as he swayed to get to his feet.
    “Sorry I knocked you down. I couldn’t see well in the dark and panicked.”
    “It’s okay. Just don’t tell anyone that you knocked me out. I can just hear my brothers and father telling me I must be weak to let a girl knock me down.”
    She tried not to giggle but it slipped out. That only infuriated him.
    “Laughing right now is not helping.”
    She laughed even harder. She stopped when he winced. “Sorry. Why are you still in so much pain? I thought the patch would help.”
    “It has helped a lot, but as the swelling goes down there is still some pain involved.”
    “Do you need another patch?” Rachel reached down to the medical packet and pulled out another patch. He took it from her but instead of putting it on him, he put it on the side of her cheek where there was swelling and bruising. She felt an immediate relief to her pain. “Why?”
    He gently rubbed her other cheek with his fingertips. It was so light but the touch seemed to reach down to her very soul.
    “No one should ever hurt something so beautiful.” His voice faded as he stared at her lips.
    “Kyle…” she whispered, reaching up with both hands to grasp his wrist.
    He released her but she could see the reluctance on his face. He looked around at the room they were in. “What is this place?”
    “It’s like a small engineering office. Some of the subway maintenance people would use it like an office of sorts, I guess. Maggie would know better than me.”
    He stumbled, trying to make his way to the door. “How long have we been here?”
    She reached out and caught his elbow to steady him. “I’m not really sure. The men chasing us came back this way a few minutes ago. They tried the door but couldn’t get in. I’m afraid they may come back with something to open the door. We need to leave before they get back.”
    She watched as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out the pieces of his communicator.
    “Do you think you can fix it?” she asked.
    He started putting some of the pieces together. Then he frowned. “It’s missing something.” He turned it on and they heard scratchy sounds. “The long-range chip isn’t working.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It will work, but it has a lot of interference. We need to be closer to my campsite where we have a long-range receiver.” He looked around in frustration. “Is there another way out?”
    “Yeah, over there is a door to a stairwell that goes down to a level just below the subway. It’s where all the piping for water, power, and sewer are run. We might be able to use that to travel back to the main tribe area and hopefully find another control room to come back up in.”
    He nodded. “That’s the best we got.” He limped over to the door and opened it up. The stairway was kind of steep. He took a step and almost fell. Rachel reached out and caught him around the waist.
    “Let me help before you fall on your head.”
    He growled something about not being helpless. But he leaned on her as they slowly made their way down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom, they were both sweating from the effort.
    “Thanks.” He grumbled under his breath.
    “You would do the same for me. Thank you for coming for me. If I had to be here on my own, I would be scared shitless.”
    “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for,” he told