The Forsaken

Rika. Not the girl who’s been so kind to me. Who counseled me after Liam’s death. Who probably has the biggest heart of anyone in the village. And, as one of Veidman’s fail-safes, also probably knows more about this city than me and Gadya combined.
    “We don’t have a choice!” I yell at Gadya. “We’ve gotta help her!”
    For a second, I think Gadya’s going to bail on me and stagger off, squeezing under the pipes to get away. But then her eyes narrow and she yells, “Let’s go for it!”
    We both race forward and leap up at the pipe again. By now, the feelers are overhead. I expect their mechanical limbs to wrap around my torso at any second. I won’t have the energy to fight this time. But for some reason that doesn’t happen—maybe because it’s too hard for the tentacles to get a good angle between the pipes.
    Rika is sobbing hysterically. Gadya gets a foothold on some ice and manages to climb all the way back onto the pipe, despite her ankle. She grabs one of Rika’s hands. I reach up, trying to grab the other one, but it’s too high.
    Gadya starts pulling Rika forward onto our side. We’re being battered by the noise and wind of the rotors. Tentacles finally start slamming down and slapping against the pipes.
    I get hold of the arm of Rika’s jacket, and Gadya and I start pulling her over the edge of the pipe. The world contracts to my immediate surroundings as I tune out the noise of the feelers.
    But then they start descending all at once.
    I manage to grab Rika and pull her down to the ground at the last second, falling next to her with a thump. Two tentacles lash out at the pipe, inches away from us. Rika panics and tries to get up, but I press her head down. “Don’t move!” I yell. “Not yet!” I feel wind whip above my hair as another tentacle whisks past, probing for flesh.
    I look up at the pipe and realize that Gadya is still stuck up there from trying to rescue Rika. She’s sprawled across the pipe as a feeler hovers directly above her, the wind from its blades ruffling her hair. I see that the second feeler is just a hundred yards away, moving with horrifying speed and accuracy.
    The feeler above the pipe spirals upward for a moment, like it’s trying to see the big picture. I know we can’t stay here. It’ll figure out how to get all of us within seconds, despite the pipes.
    “Ready?” I whisper at Rika. “We’re gonna have to run!” She doesn’t answer. But I know she heard me. Time has run out. I glance back at Gadya, catching her eyes. She knows what she has to do.
    I burst up, lunging forward, and Rika follows, leaping up from the icy concrete alongside me. I hear Gadya fling herself off the pipe and down onto the ground. I spin around. She’s a few paces behind us, gasping and limping.
    “Go!” she yells. “Under the pipes!”
    We race for the nearest ones and slide beneath them, slithering through the narrow space under the cold tubes. The tentacles are just a few feet above us, slamming against the pipes and making them rattle.
    “We gotta get to the building and find shelter,” I gasp. “I think there’s a door ahead. I’m not sure.” Another tentacle whips past above us. I don’t know what’s going to happen to the boys.
    Then we’re on our feet again, running.
    I scramble under another pipe, and when I reemerge, I finally see the doorway unobstructed. It’s a large white hatch about a hundred feet ahead in the side of the curved silver building. Tentacles start descending again, their whirring noises loud as they slice through the air like swords. One glances off my shoulder, almost knocking me off balance. I shriek and zigzag.
    I can hear Markus and David screaming in the distance, doing battle against the other feelers, trying to buy us time.
    I run and slip on patches of ice, attempting to avoid the feeler hovering above us. It seems like its tentacles are everywhere. We leap and stagger over pipes, trying to reach the hatch in the wall. It resembles a door for some kind of airlock.
    Of course it won’t be unlocked, I realize. Why would it be? I doubt the people who control this island would be so careless. And if it’s not unlocked, we’re all going to die. The only thing that gives me hope is that this entire city is in total disrepair and seems abandoned. Maybe the hatch will just open right up, like the door to some empty tenement back in the UNA. And if it isn’t too cold in this part of the building, we can run inside and