The Forsaken

from the structure, forming an oddly impassible barrier.
    We pause when we reach the pipes, standing a few paces away. I hear whooshing noises, like there’s air or water passing through them. I gaze up. The pipes rise about twenty feet into the air at their highest peak.
    To get past these pipes, we’re going to have to slide our stiff, wounded bodies through small gaps between some of them, and then climb up others—all the while evading occasional jets of cold air from the pipes’ valves.
    I’d take Sisyphus’s task over this, I think desperately.
    I imagine if I could get a bird’s-eye view, the layout of the pipes might make more sense, but from my perspective it almost looks like they’ve grown organically across the landscape. They spread out at different angles, forming a surreal obstacle course.
    “What if we get trapped here?” Rika asks. “Stuck between the pipes?”
    “Then we’re going to die,” I hear James murmur, sounding resigned.
    “Shut your face!” Gadya snaps. “If it wasn’t for Minister Harka and the rest of you loonies, we wouldn’t even be in this place.”
    “Quit fighting,” I break in, swallowing my fear. “I’ve been studying the pipes. If we get stuck, we can follow one back to the silver building and then keep looking for another way through the maze.”
    “Exactly,” David says. “We just gotta be careful. Don’t touch the pipes with your bare flesh.”
    Gadya and I nod, although Rika still looks terrified. James just stands there until he finally nods wanly too. He’s just blindly following our orders now instead of the Monk’s.
    I look up, nervously checking the sky for feelers.
    “Let’s go,” Markus says.
    As a group, we step over the first small duct and cautiously enter the maze of pipes.
    There are pipes behind, in front of us, and running over our heads. We duck and crouch to get under them in places. Most are freezing, but I can feel intense heat coming off a few of them.
    We make good progress at first, despite our injuries and the temperature. I’m in the lead, narrowly ahead of Gadya and David. I’m starting to think we’ll be through this maze in another minute or so.
    Of course, right then I reach a pipe that I can’t circumvent.
    It’s huge, about eight feet in diameter, and crusted in places with frost and jagged icicles. Gadya and David crawl out from under the pipe behind me, and we all gaze up at the pipe blocking our way.
    There’s no way to pass underneath it because it’s resting right on the ground. And we can’t walk sideways along it because other pipes descend from above and block the path.
    Rika, Markus, and James emerge behind us.
    I’m still staring at the pipe. “I guess we have to climb over it? Even if we don’t know what’s on the other side.”
    “Agreed,” Gadya says.
    “I can help everyone up,” Markus declares. “But who’s gonna help me?”
    “Once the last person’s on top of the pipe, they can lean down and pull you up,” David points out. “It’s not gonna be easy, though.”
    Markus nods. He moves closer to the pipe and kneels, making a cradle for someone’s foot. I step forward first. It was my idea to climb over the pipe. I’m willing to be the one to face whatever’s on the other side.
    “Put your foot in my hands and I’ll hoist you up,” Markus instructs. I do what he says. One frozen boot goes into his hand. The other lodges on the side of the pipe, as do my hands. The pipe is freezing, but my gloves and clothes protect my skin.
    For a second, I sway there awkwardly. Then I lean forward, clawing my way onto the top of the pipe as Markus pushes my boot up with his hands. I feel the icy thrumming pipe beneath me, the cold instantly penetrating my jacket.
    Once I get on top, I try to peer around from my new vantage point, but all I see are more pipes and buildings stretching ahead of us. My stomach sinks. It looks impassable.
    I glance back at the curved silver building and see that there might be a way back around to it, if we can get over this pipe and then squeeze under a couple of thinner pipes to our left. We could huddle and regroup there.
    I hear Gadya yell, “Hurry up, Alenna!” I look down at the patch of ground I’ll be landing on, and I get into a squat. It’s just icy concrete at the bottom, and I’m going to be coming down hard.
    Here goes nothing. I take a breath and then I jump, pushing off from the pipe with the soles of my feet.
    I hit the ground, stagger, and