Free Season Of Decay (The Decaying World Saga Book 2) by Michael W. Garza

stood at the edge of the table looking around the room. Mia ran his comment through her head a few times before she found her voice.
    “How?” she asked.
    “I can climb down the pit, topside,” he said.
    The idea was a ridiculous one and Mia knew it. The pit, or the cavernous gorge, exposed by the explosion of the compound’s security system, dropped several stories down through hive six to the former cage that was used to house Canaan’s slave workers. The moaning howls that still cried up from the massive opening hinted at the dead and possibly infected still thriving in the dark depths.
    “How?” she asked again.
    “A number of platforms that line the shaft are still intact,” he said. “I’ll climb down to one of the landings that still opens up into the hive.”
    The landings were sporadically placed around the wall of the cavern. Mia and Rowan used them to aid in their escape from the depths of Canaan. Following the detonation of the security system and the formation of the tribal council, it was all but decided that hive six would be left closed off permanently. The small amount of detail they’d gained about the makeup of the hive from the former residents didn’t promise enough reward to outweigh the risk of exploration. Mia felt a moment of hope followed by a moment of clarity.
    “You’ll get yourself killed.”
    He stared at her.
    “Not if I’m smart about it,” he said. “We have a good idea of where they are.”
    “Where they were,” Asher corrected. “After the explosion, they would have had to get out of that passage or any of the rooms on that hall.” He glanced at Mia then around the table. “If they could get out at all.”
    Mia knew what everyone else was thinking. There was a good chance the kids were already dead. If the explosion didn’t kill them, it surely would have trapped them and marked them as easy bait for the dead not wiped out in the blast. Pain rose up from her jaw and spread across the side of her face before she realized she was grinding her teeth.
    She wanted to collect her thoughts. She wanted to give herself time to come up with a plan that wouldn’t put anyone else at risk. Mia knew what Sara would say to her if they could speak in private. The tribal council had to consider what was best for the tribe. Asher cut through her internal deliberation.
    “I’ll go with Rowan.”
    The collective air was sucked out of the room. Several of the council members objected all at once. Rowan joined in with their protest although Mia guessed his motives were more personal than the others. Asher waited until the noise died down before continuing.
    “We can send a good-sized crew into hive five to be safe,” he said. “We still have diagrams for most of the levels. All they need to do is locate the generators and set up a safe perimeter between the breach and the generator core station.”
    “You don’t need to be a part of that team?” Sara asked.
    He shook his head.
    “No. Once they locate it, I’ll gather up the remaining engineers and we’ll get to work.”
    Hinnick shook his head.
    “That doesn’t give you the right to go running off with him on some wild chase.”
    Mia had to bite her lip to keep herself from shouting back at him. The man’s disregard for the safety of the kids tore at her gut.
    “Just because you don’t need to be there until we can locate the generators,” Hinnick continued, “doesn’t mean you should go get yourself killed before you have a chance to work on them.”
    The comment was enough to silence the room. Mia watched a grin flash across Rowan’s face then disappear before anyone else noticed it. She knew Rowan had no interest in teaming up with Asher, but the thought of him going down into that pit alone was too much for her. She spit out a half-concocted plan.
    “We’ll ask for volunteers,” she said. “Surely there are others who would see the value in searching for some of our children.” She stressed the words our