Chapter 82: Going Underground
Meanwhile, inside the tunnel, Joachim had died of his injuries, and the Hat Lady was badly injured and knocked unconscious. Hamish had also been injured in the collapse, but he was able to make his way to the Hat Lady. He picked her up and carried her to a vehicle. He placed her gently in the front seat.
‘I have to get Joachim,’ said Hamish to the Hat Lady. ‘I’ll be back soon.’
The Hat Lady tried to speak, but she was unable to. Her face expressed deep distress and anxiety, but Hamish did not respond to it.
Hamish pushed some rubble aside. He saw Joachim’s arm protruding out from under some rubble. It did not take him long to realise he had died. However, he still wanted to move his body.
Suddenly, Tiberius grabbed Hamish from behind. He slammed him hard against the rubble. This caused his head to split open.
‘It’s been so long,’ said Tiberius. ‘I’ve really missed you.’
‘You’re completely insane,’ said Hamish as he spluttered blood.
‘That really cuts me deep,’ replied Tiberius as he kicked Hamish. ‘I thought you respected and admired me.’
Hamish started laughing.
Tiberius continued to kick him. Then he pulled out a knife. ‘Any last words, loser?’ chuckled Tiberius as he pressed the knife against Hamish’s throat.
‘Go! Go! Go!’ shouted Hamish.
Tiberius looked up; he saw the vehicle further down the tunnel.
The Hat Lady pressed a button on the vehicle, and it began to move.
Tiberius rapidly got to his feet and began sprinting towards the vehicle. The vehicle sped off down the tunnel. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion behind Tiberius. Bits of rubble slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.
Meanwhile in Cellrebrum, Demadrian had rescued two more survivors who had been trapped inside buildings. He had brought them back to the tunnel. He did not encounter any enforcers. He had tossed Duffo’s damaged helmet near a destroyed building.
All the enforcers had gathered outside the city wall.
‘What now?’ asked a senior enforcer. ‘The Head Enforcer isn’t even here.’
‘They have just ordered an artillery strike in Carrington,’ said the commander of the artillery team. ‘I suggest we do the same.’
‘What about the Head Enforcer?’ asked the senior enforcer in a concerned voice.
‘Tragic fatality of war,’ replied the commander of the artillery team with a slight grin on his face.
He picked up his handset. ‘Let them have it,’ he shouted as he glared at the concerned senior enforcer. ‘Turn this place to ash.’
Dozens of rockets were launched.
Demadrian approached Duffo, Timothy, and Hadrian. ‘Take him to City Five,’ Demadrian said to Timothy as he pointed to Duffo. ‘Dad, there is a cryogenic pod waiting for you.’
‘Son, what is this all about?’ asked Hadrian.
‘Several of us have agreed to be frozen and to be woken up in the future,’ said Demadrian.
‘That’s not for me,’ said Hadrian as a tear rolled down his face. ‘I want to spend the rest of my days with your mother. Let me go to her.’
Demadrian looked down at the ground for a few moments, and then he looked back up at Hadrian and said, ‘If that’s what you want.’
‘Who is he to you?’ asked Hadrian as he looked at Duffo.
Demadrian looked down at Duffo, and then he looked up at Hadrian and said, ‘He’s my son.’
‘You should bring him into the future,’ said Hadrian. ‘He won’t be safe here after what he has done.’
‘You gave me the keyboard,’ said Duffo in a slow tone.
‘Yeah, I did,’ said Demadrian as he reached down and touched Duffo’s arm. ‘And you gave me a heart. I never fought so hard for anyone until I met you and your mother.’
Hadrian put his arm around Demadrian, and the three of them embraced.
Several minutes later, Demadrian handed Hadrian a map of the underground network.
‘This is where Mum is,’ said Demadrian as he pointed to an underground city. ‘It’s not far from Carrington. This tunnel will take you there.’
‘Thank you, son,’ said Hadrian with a slight smile. ‘I’m proud of you. I really am.’
‘Dad, we were all wrong about you,’ said Demadrian. ‘You are the bravest of us all. You are the true hero of this family. No one has sacrificed more.’
‘I couldn’t live like that anymore,’ said Hadrian. ‘I needed to fulfil my role.’
Demadrian nodded.
Hadrian got in a vehicle and drove off down the tunnel.
Demadrian helped Duffo to his feet. ‘We have quite a walk to the next vehicle station,’ said Demadrian. ‘When we get there, I’ll explain what you need to do.’
Duffo nodded.
After around an hour of bombardment, there was nothing left of Carrington City. In an even shorter time, Cellrebrum was completely destroyed. However, it was only a quarter of the size of Carrington City.
Ebirb had now joined the enforcers outside of Carrington City.
‘You bastards killed hundreds of my enforcers,’ shouted Ebirb at the commander of the artillery team.
‘Stop complaining! Tiberius is dead, and you’re not,’ said the commander of the artillery team.
‘I’ll have you. All of you swinging by your necks,’ shouted Ebirb as he angrily swung around, waving his hand at all the senior enforcers.
A senior enforcer picked up his radio handset. ‘It’s done. He’s dead,’ he said into the handset.
The enforcer paused to hear the response.
‘No, he’s still alive,’ replied the senior enforcer. ‘Do you want him terminated too?’
He paused again and then pulled out his gun and pointed it at Ebirb.
‘Fuck you!’ shouted Ebirb.
The senior enforcer shot him in the head.
Several hours later, the vehicle the Hat Lady was in continued down the tunnel. She was going in and out of consciousness as she tried to steer the vehicle. Eventually, the vehicle hit against the wall. This caused it to spin out of control. This caused the Hat Lady to fall out of it before it flipped on its side.
The Hat Lady lay on her back, unable to move. She stared up at the ceiling of the tunnel.
‘Did I do you proud?’ she said as she struggled to breathe.
She lay there for several more hours. She moved in and out of moments of self-reflection and life-reflection and odd and somewhat realistic-feeling dreams. She thought she heard a noise. She turned her head in the direction of the noise. Her vision had become blurred. She saw a figure in the distance. It was slowly descending from the ceiling of the tunnel. A few moments later, another figure descended from the ceiling of the tunnel. The figures slowly moved towards her.
As they came closer, the Hat Lady recognised the first figure as NB14564. He looked as he did when they escaped the orphanage. She soon recognised the second figure as Joan. They stopped several meters away from her. The Hat Lady desperately tried to pull herself towards them.
‘Is it time?’ the Hat Lady asked NB14564.
‘It is time, but it is not your time,’ replied NB14564.
‘What does that mean?’ asked the Hat Lady in a slurred tone as she desperately struggled to lift her head.
‘It is time for you to give me a name,’ replied NB14564.
‘Then you, me,’ said the Hat Lady.
NB14564 nodded.
‘I name you Kovu,’ said the Hat Lady. ‘You have guided me through my darkest times.’
‘Kovu,’ said Joan, gently nodding.
Kovu kneeled down in front of the Hat Lady. He put his arm around her. He lifted her head up and looked into her blue eyes.
‘Noosa, Noosa, you’re Noosa,’ he said in a startled voice.
To the Hat Lady, his voice did not sound startled. It was reassuring. She finally had a name. She received it in the only way that she felt was possible.
Her injuries had distorted her reality. The ghosts of Kovu and Joan had not visited her. It was Hadrian.
He was on his way to the underground city to find his wife. He had come across the Hat Lady lying on the ground. He went over to help. In doing so, he saw her blue eyes. He knew she was the baby he gave up to the orphanage. He could not forget her eyes.
Hadrian picked her up and placed her inside his vehicle. He immediately attended to her injuries with the available first aid equipment from their two vehicles. Her physical injuries were not serious. The worst appeared to be a head injury from the fall. She suffered the most from mental exhaustion. Her body was struggling to recover from that exhaustion. This deterioration was strange to Hadrian.
Hadrian looked through documents he found in the Hat Lady’s vehicle. He found details about the location of her designated cryogenic pod.
He walked back to his vehicle; the Hat Lady had woken up.
‘How are you feeling?’ asked Hadrian.
‘Awful, but also great,’ she said in an exhausted voice.
‘Great, the painkillers must be kicking in,’ said Hadrian as he got in the vehicle. ‘I’m going to take you on a journey to another world.’
‘He’s Kovu. I’m Noosa,’ said Noosa as she clenched her hands together.
They drove off in the direction of the location of Noosa’s dedicated chamber.
An hour later, they arrived. Noosa had started singing.
‘Maybe I gave you too many painkillers,’ chuckled Hadrian.
‘If I’m going to be frozen for a billion years, I want to be comfortable,’ said Noosa in a slurred tone. ‘I want to wear my favourite dress.’
‘Knock yourself out,’ said Hadrian as he walked away to give Noosa some privacy to change.
Hadrian waited ten minutes, and then he returned to check on Noosa. She had passed out before fully changing.
Meanwhile, Demadrian and Duffo had arrived at the chamber that had been designated to Hadrian.
‘I’m scared,’ said Duffo in a nervous tone as he looked at the cryogenic pod. ‘Please don’t make me go in there.’
‘After what you have done, it’s too dangerous for you to go to the underground cities,’ said Demadrian firmly. ‘It’s too dangerous for us to let you back up top.’
Duffo sighed as he looked at the pod. ‘This is still more than I deserve,’ he said as he looked back at Demadrian.
‘I can’t condemn you,’ said Demadrian. ‘I would have been no different had I been in your position. Now, hop in. I promise you this is safe.’
Duffo nodded and climbed into the pod.
‘See you on the other side,’ said Demadrian as the glass door closed on the pod.
Demadrian stood back and watched as Duffo froze.
Hadrian and Noosa had arrived at Location 1. Noosa was still going in and out of consciousness.
‘This is it!’ said Hadrian as he helped Noosa into the chamber. ‘This was designed by the oldest civilisation Jenna could find. Hence, labelled as Loop One.’
Noosa just grinned and nodded as Hadrian activated the pod. Hadrian then carried Noosa over to the pod. He was unable to lift her up into position. Therefore, he grabbed a chair. He climbed up on the chair and raised Noosa up into position. She was still a little floppy, but eventually he was able to get her into the correct position.
He climbed off the chair and walked over to the control panel. He activated the doors to the pod. A few seconds later, the pod doors slowly closed. Within a few minutes, the freezing process began. Hadrian climbed back on the chair to observe her for the last time.
‘Farewell, Noosa,’ said Hadrian softly. ‘I hope you have a bright future ahead of you.’
Hadrian pulled out the document Jenna had prepared. He placed it on the side table on the other side of the room. He watched the pod for a few more minutes. He wiped a tear from his eyes. A strange warmness had come over him. Then he headed out of the chamber.
Meanwhile, under Carrington, Tiberius had regained consciousness after the collapse of the tunnel. He had made his way over to Hamish’s vehicle. Inside, he rummaged through several documents. Among them, he found a map of the tunnel network. Highlighted on the map was the chamber and pod designated for Hamish.
‘Traitors above and enemies below,’ said Tiberius to himself in a gruff tone. ‘What am I to do?’
Sapien Loop: End of an Era
Sapien Loop: Frozen in Time is the sequel to the book Sapien Loop: End of an Era. Sapien Loop: End of an Era is available on Amazon, in collection series on my @spectrumecons account, and in individual chapters in my @captainhive account.
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