Rowan pointed to one of the vents. “You can go out, but you can’t come back in. It’s a way of pumping out the bad air, and not letting more bad back in.”
She frowned, staring at the large dark mouth of the tunnels. “Is it really so bad out there?”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “I won’t lie to you. It’s like nothing you’ll have experienced here in the city.” He left his hand there, and she felt that sensation in his touch once more, a warmth she hadn’t known before. When he took his hand away, she felt strangely disappointed.
“So what now?” she asked.
“We go through the tunnels. My inside contact hasn’t checked in with me, so we need to find a different way out. You can operate TWRs right?” He pronounced it like “twirs.”
She nodded.
“Okay, then.” He went first, choosing a particular tunnel. When they reached the entrance, she saw that it extended much farther than she’d thought. The concrete wall must have been at least a thousand feet thick. The tunnel stretched on into inky blackness. She took out her headlamp and switched it on. It didn’t even begin to penetrate the gloom.
Rowan looked at her. “Ready?”
She frowned. “This is the only place I’ve ever known . . .”
He nodded.
She bit her lip. “Let’s go.”
“There’s a barrier here at the entrance,” he said in a hushed tone. “It’s a semi-permeable membrane. But a shield protects it. You’ll have to take down the shield first.”
On the wall next to the entrance, she saw a theta wave receiver. Concentrating, she sent a message to the membrane shield to disengage. When she felt it turn off in her mind, she said, “Okay. It’s down.”
He went in front, entering the tunnel and moving quickly through the darkness. She turned as they passed through the shield controls and turned it back on. Then she caught up with Rowan, keeping close, her headlamp’s beam bouncing off the curved walls. The cement beneath glistened with damp, and about hundred feet in the air grew chilly.
She walked behind him, watching his back, the satchel moving against his side. His muscular frame moved with a kind of grace. Now a mildewy smell filled her nostrils, and she fought off another sneeze. When she felt like they’d walked a mile in the darkness, Rowan slowed in front of her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“There’s another barrier here in the middle, another shielded membrane.” He stopped to face her. Her beam shone on his handsome face, set jaw, and powerful blue eyes. “Something worse than death awaits you if you stay in the city, but I want you to be certain. Are you sure you want to leave?”
She gave him a quiet stare.
“I, for one, think you should. But it’s got to be your choice.”
And some choice it was. If she stayed, the Repurposers would wipe her mind, and the asteroid would wipe out more than that. But out there, she’d be vulnerable to a world of dangers she’d never even dreamed about.
She studied Rowan’s face in the shadows, then gave a resounding, “I’m ready.” They moved forward through the stifling air. “I feel light-headed,” she told him.
“It’s all the CO2. It’s really concentrated down here.”
As they moved deeper into the tunnel, she felt her lungs gasping for a decent breath.
“We’re almost there,” he reassured her. “The air will be better on the other side.”
Her vision began to tunnel, and the air grew even more dank and foul. Her side started to burn, as if she’d been running. She saw the TWR for the second membrane and sent a signal for its shield to come down.
“It’s down,” she confirmed.
They walked to the other side. Her ears popped as cooler air filled her waiting lungs. She ordered the membrane to activate again.
They walked a few more feet. “There’s additional security here,” Rowan told her. “A field beyond the membrane incinerates anything that moves through. Watch.” He removed a food cube wrapper from his satchel and threw it back the way they’d come. She saw it freeze midair, with blue volts swarming over it. Then it was gone, leaving nothing but a tiny puff of smoke. “Same thing with organic material, so don’t go back that way.”
He started moving again, and she followed him. “Where did you get in?”
He glanced at her over his shoulder. “My inside man opened a spot along the perimeter. But it’ll be closed by now. He can’t risk keeping it open for long.”
An entirely new scent reached her. “What’s that?”
“What?”
“That smell.”
He grinned back at her, that contagious smile that made her stomach light. “Rain.”
She raised her brow. “Rain?” She knew the city collected its rainwater in huge tanks outside the atmospheric shield. She also knew they maintained large desalinization tanks that pulled water from the nearby ocean. Not that she’d ever seen the ocean, no matter how near it was. And rain? She’d always been fascinated, wondered what it would be like to be outside, where water fell freely from the sky.
“I’ve never been in the rain.” She felt herself smile. The gesture felt strange, strained, something she’d only done a couple times in her life. It was a small smile, short of showing her teeth, but she felt the corners of her mouth turn up. It almost hurt.
“Hey, keep that attitude! A lot of people can’t stand the rain. It gets to them.” He regarded her with kind eyes. “You know, you’re pretty refreshing. Unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I think you’re going to make it out here.”
He started moving again, navigating the tunnel as if he’d been in it countless times.
“Just how many times have you broken into the city?” she asked.
His laugh was a rueful sound. “Too many to count. Been coming here since
