Davin took great care to not make a sound. His head moved side to side as his eyes searched the dark corridor. There was nothing. There was supposed to be guards all around him, three to the front and three covering the rear but they were all gone now.
He delved into his memory and watched as two of them collapsed, one on either side of him. At first he thought they had passed out from the lack of oxygen. It was a logical thing to think considering they were traversing the quarantined section of the city and the area didn’t have any ventilation. Then blood rushed from long lateral gashes across the soldiers chests. Davin had looked away but the memory was burned into his mind. There was no way to forget the death of the soldiers.
Davin closed his eyes then and didn’t see the third and fourth men die, but he heard the tearing of clothing and flesh, the breaking of bones and the crash of bodies against stone.
“Boy, quick, follow us.” Two soldiers remained, they might be able to save him. Davin felt something grasp his shoulder and his eyes instinctively opened. The squad leader was staring down at him. He read the name on the vest, Maven. Maven nodded and grasp Davin’s white-gloved hand and pulled him to his feet. He didn’t remember sitting down.
“This way.” Maven ordered. The second soldier ran behind them, his head swiveling and his feet dancing along the stone with grace as he watched every direction at the same time for what had killed his comrades and friends. Davin ran through corridors and rooms on the heels of Maven. Wishing they would find safety. After a few minutes their pace slowed and he could hear the two soldiers breathing hard.
The three of them had stopped at a ninety degree bend in a corridor where both men could watch either corridor with Davin behind them in the corner. Maven pulled a map from his left rear pocket and glanced at it for just a moment before handing it to Davin.
“Hold onto this for me boy.”
Davin folded the map and slid it into the pack on his back. They continued down the corridor and entered what seemed to be a personal quarters for someone long passed. It wasn’t much different from his quarters, except the items which should have receded into the walls were all open. Clothes were strewn about the bed and hanging out of drawers and various materials Davin couldn’t identify were left on the desk in an unorganized fashion. Whom ever the occupant of this room was, they were a slob.
The room held two closed doors on the opposite wall of the one they entered The two soldiers positioned themselves to watch all three of them. Davin pulled his left glove off and began looking around the room for anything of importance he could pull memories from. Tap-tap-tap-tap. All three pairs of eyes and ears whipped around to the origin of the sound. Tap-tap-tap-tap. They were louder this time.
“Close that door Stanely.” Maven raised his weapon and prepared himself as Stanely lowered his and rushed to close the door. The hairs on the back of Davin’s neck stood up and a cold shiver ran through his veins. The door’s bolt clicked into place and all was silent. The waited for the length of two heartbeats before they let out a sigh.
“I have no desire…” His words caught in his throat as metal shrieked tore through the silence. A second later he fell forward slamming his face against the stone floor with a crack. A dozen spikes protruded from the door, shining red with blood. Davin’s eyes went wide.
“We need to move.” Maven darted for Davin and pulled him through the next door into yet another corridor. This one was short though and was lined with small cubby-holes. As they ran, they could hear the quick succession of taps behind them, like nails drumming in anticipation.
Mile 29 