Recently in Chapter 15 Category

Jonathan's body crumpled to the floor on impact. I couldn't help but look at his bloodied body. As if to confirm the possibility of his death, the parachute collapsed on top of him, hiding him from view.

Then Anna said the words I had been hoping for.

"They're both still alive, I can feel them!" she cried.

I let out a huge sigh of relief. Sienna grabbed Anna's hand and started running toward Jonathan.

"You two check on Michael, we'll handle Jon!" she told us.

I glanced at Tobias, we took off for Michael. Once we reached his body, Michael turned his head and looked at us. Overall he seemed rather unscathed, except for a growing puddle of a dark, smelly liquid under him.

"My… batteries… resorting to life… support only… tell… Jon…" he said faintly, before he went silent.

"That didn't sound good," Tobias said.

"You always say that," I responded.

I carefully rolled Michael onto his back, and took a look at where he was leaking. His shirt was torn up, and he seemed to be leaking from the hidden panel in his back.

"Is this battery acid?" I asked Tobias.

"It could be, I don't know."

I looked over where Jonathan had landed. Sienna was working intently on him, but I could see he was moving now.

"You stay here with Michael, in case he wakes up. I'm going to tell Jon," I said.

I bee-lined it over to Jonathan. Jonathan looked up at me, and smiled a bit, before wincing as Sienna pushed on his leg.

"Jon, Michael's hurt. He mentioned something about his batteries, and being on life support."

"Son of a bitch," was all he could say. He moved to get up, but Sienna held him down.

"Don't get excited, you can't walk with your legs like this. Let me finish!" she instructed him.

"He could be dying right now!" he responded, furious.

"You won't be much good to him if you start internally bleeding!" she replied, just as furious.

Jonathan turned his head to look straight at Sienna, and just looked deep in her eyes for a moment.

"Alright, alright! We'll help you. Just take it slow," she offered, defeated.

I wrapped his left arm around my shoulders, while Sienna did the same on the other side. We slowly lifted him up.

"Agh! Ow! Shit, shit!" he cried, obviously in pain.

"I told you! Your left tibia is shattered! Don't put any weight on that leg or you might break the fibula too!" Sienna yelled at him.

We slowly hobbled over to Michael. As we crossed the street, I started looking around. I hadn't given it much thought, but we had made a LOT of noise. It wouldn't take long for the rest of the military to locate us, as a dark cloud of smoke and flame continued to rise from the building above.

"He hasn't moved since," Tobias said, as he helped us place Jon on the ground softly.

Jonathan looked over Michael's broken and battered backside. He touched the rust-colored liquid that lay in a puddle on the street, and sniffed it.

"It's battery acid. Which means, if he's on life support, he doesn't have long to live. We need to get him on some mains power, and fast." Jonathan said sternly.

"That's good, because it looks like the world caught up with us," Tobias said, pointing to the people rushing out of a late-night restaurant down the street.

"How are we going to get out of here though? Jon's in no condition to run, and we can't carry Michael out of here!" Sienna said exasperated.

"Jon, make yourself some crutches, and make up a stretcher for Michael. I'll intercept those people and buy us some time," Tobias said.

Jon nodded, and reached beside him to begin creating some crutches out of the ground. Anna tugged at my arm as Tobias ran off to talk to the restaurant people.

"The army is coming, Yuki! They're not far!" she informed us.

It became clear that we were in for some serious trouble now. Jonathan finished his crutches and started working on the wheeled stretcher. I glanced at Tobias, who seemed to be distracting the mob of people who were being overly curious. However, just before I turned my head back, I saw someone point towards us. Tobias motioned heavily, although I couldn't hear what he was saying.

However, it was obvious that whatever he said, they didn't buy. Tobias turned around and took off towards us.

"Get moving! They saw Jon!" he yelled.

"Saw Jon?" I thought to myself. So what?

Then I looked back at him, and it dawned on me. He's forming a stretcher out of concrete with his own bare hands. Of course they're going to freak out!

Jon finished up the stretcher. Although it was barely more than a slab of metal on wheels, it was enough.

At first Sienna and I tried to pick Michael up, but he was just too heavy. I waved at Tobias to hurry up and helped Jon to his feet. Meanwhile, Anna was holding her head and trying to figure out how close the military was now.

Tobias finally made it back, although the mob of people were close behind. He grabbed Michael at the arms, I grabbed him at the legs, while Sienna wrapped her arms around his midsection. After a couple of tries, we managed to get him on top of the stretcher. Tobias grabbed the stretcher, and started pushing Michael, while reading his notebook.

"Come on, this way! We need to get underground again!" he said breathlessly.

"They're almost here!" Anna cried, pointing to the direction they were coming from.

I looked down the road to see two armored cars and police turning the bend. The mob stopped chasing, instead pointing us out to the military. If I could, I would have slapped every one of them.

We ran as fast as we could, with Tobias leading the pack. Jonathan did his best to keep up, with Sienna and Anna staying at his side. I followed behind, watching to see what the military might try.

Tobias took us to the closest underground entrance. Sienna kicked the gate open, and lo and behold, there was an elevator.

"Well isn't that convenient?" I said.

Tobias punched the button, and the doors opened immediately. Once we crammed inside, Tobias hit a button on the panel, and the doors slid shut. However, just as they closed, there was a gunshot. I heard the bullet hit the backside of the elevator.

"Aah!" Anna screamed, grabbing her right ear.

More guns fired at the elevator, making distinctive pinging sounds against the door. But it wasn't seconds later we began moving down.

Sienna pushed me to the side and looked at Anna's ear. She was trying to do her best not to cry, but it was obvious that she wanted to. Sienna pulled Anna's hands away from her ear, and surveyed the hit. It was bleeding, but it seemed to have only nicked her earlobe. Sienna placed her hands on the ear, and not moments later the ear completely healed.

"It's okay, you're fine now," Sienna reassured her.

"Thank you, Sienna," Anna said, sniffling.

"Well, now you can brag to your friends that you've taken a bullet!" Jon remarked.

Sienna slapped him in the back of the head.

"Ow, okay, sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood!"

It didn't take long before we reached the bottom. The doors slid open, and we rushed out. Tobias once again took the lead, and we ran down this open walkway. It was rather unnerving, as we were still hundreds of feet above the bottom of the underground city. The floor was comprised of a frosted glass, but it did little to reduce the feeling of vertigo. I instinctively reached for my wakizashi for reassurance, only to remember that it was gone.

Dim signs above us seemed to indicate another tram station was up ahead, but I couldn't see it. Tobias had pulled out a lighter and was reading his notebook again, while Sienna took over pushing Michael. I looked at Jon, who was visibly in pain and tired.

"You know Jon, you could probably sit on the stretcher if you want," I offered.

He just shook his head and kept hobbling along.

We hurried along as fast as we could manage, constantly checking for any sign of the military. After about a quarter mile of walking, we came upon the tram. Tobias stopped and turned around to face us. He closed his notebook, and raised his lighter up to his face, which wore a rather grim look.

"We have a choice to make. Michael needs power. This tram station has power, so we can connect him here. But if we stay here, there is a good chance that the military will catch up to us. The other option is to take the tram now, and hope Michael's life support holds out until we arrive at the other end."

There was a moment of silence while we looked at each other in the glow of the lighter. None of us wanted to make the decision. It took a while, but Jonathan soon spoke up.

"I think… that if he was able to talk to us, he'd tell us to keep going."

Tobias nodded, "I agree. While we might be taking a greater risk to his life, we put everyone in danger by remaining where we are."

I didn't like the idea at all, and I was about to protest, when Anna walked over to Michael and began to feel his forehead.

"He's… scared. Alone… I feel trapped, and cold. It's… a terrible feeling," She said softly.

"We can't leave him like this. I'd never be able to forgive myself if he died while we were trying to run away." I insisted.

Sienna grabbed my hand as she stood next to me.

"I'm with Yukari. He's in this condition because he tried to save us. He kept that helicopter flying. The least we can do is to make sure he lives to see the outside again!" Sienna added.

The men looked at each other and sighed. Tobias grabbed the stretcher and took us to what seemed to be an old ticket window. He left the stretcher there, while him and Jonathan went around. A few moments later, Tobias's head popped up from behind the ticket counter, with a wire in hand. Jonathan hobbled back around, and grabbed the wire from Tobias.

"The voltage is low, but it should be enough to get him online," Jon said while reforming the wire.

Once he was finished, he flipped open Michael's back, and inserted the wire. Tobias jumped over the counter and helped Jon roll Michael onto his side.

Suddenly there was a flashing light, and then a beep. A few seconds later, an unfamiliar computerized voice emanated from Michael's mouth.

"POST CHECK COMPLETE. Initiating full spectrum diagnostic. Core system is functioning. Power system is critically damaged. Motor and balance system is damaged. Adaptive electronics are functioning. Sensual input is functioning. Life support system is functional. Diagnostic complete, attempting repairs to motor and balance. Motor and balance system is operational but at reduced functionality. Attempting repairs to power system. Primary and secondary power systems are critically damaged. Combined power capacity reduced to 7%. Life support power system is operational but at reduced functionality. Power capacity reduced to 13%. Rerouting all available power to life support. Bootup complete, passing system control to organic interface."

Everything went silent again, but then I began to see his eyes fluttering.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he spoke, in a whisper.

"Michael, we're all here," Sienna said, holding his hand.

"I can't see… almost all of my power is being redirected to recharge the life support battery." He explained.

"It's okay, we're alright. We made it out okay. We're in the underground, by another tram station. We were worried you might die!" Sienna told him.

"Not… quite. I still had another 472 seconds left!" he said, chuckling.

Michael may have found his previous situation to be funny but I didn't. I glared at Jon and Tobias, making sure that they knew damn well that if Sienna and I hadn't stood up for him, he wouldn't have made it.

"Michael, we can't stay here for long. The military isn't far from here. How much time will it take for you to recover so that we can jump on that tram?" Tobias said worriedly.

"Five minutes will give me about an hour on life support. The battery is damaged, so waiting any longer is pointless."

"An hour should give us just enough time to get out of the dome. I hope." Tobias calculated.

We had Anna take a seat and concentrate on detecting the military. Tobias managed to find the light switches for the terminal, and we were greeted with our first illuminated view of the underground city proper. It was readily apparent the state of disarray the underground city had been left in. Towering buildings rose deep from within the earth, crumbling and crisscrossed with cables. Numerous platforms were hanging between the buildings, acting as walkways.

It seemed as if the original inhabitants built the city higher and higher, while leaving the deeper recesses to degrade. It was not difficult to make out that the upper portions of the city were in much better condition. However, even with that distinction, it was difficult to believe that this used to be City Eternal, a clean and prosperous city as the one just above our heads. I could make out small encampments on the platforms, with empty cots, pots and pans. Trash littered the walkways, and pieces of buildings lay strewn across them.

There were also a few faint signs of life down here. Bugs of all types thrived in the musky environment, but oddly enough, I had spotted two hawks already. Rats could be seen scattering about in the distance, avoiding the light. Even more surprising was the discovery of lights below. While we had seen them last time, I didn't actually see anyone down there. I could make out one person now, who seemed to be keeping a close eye on us. I guess that the sudden illumination of the terminal was like a shining star in this artificial cave.

As we waited for Michael to recharge, Sienna attempted to better heal Jon's wounds. She managed to piece together his shattered leg, but without proper medical equipment it was still fragile. Tobias and Michael spent the time planning our escape.

Michael was able to tap into the CARMEL network and find us a new way out. It was decided that even attempting to go back the way we came would be suicide. Instead we would take a higher route. Once we arrive at the end of the tram line, we would need to climb up many stairs and ladders, until we reached the ventilation shafts. Then we would need to somehow stop one of the fans and follow the shaft, through the particulate filter, and breach the dome's shell to finally escape outside.

Of course, all that planning seemed solid enough, but there was one logical flaw that the two of them were apparently unaware of.

"And how exactly do you plan on climbing those stairs and ladders? We're certainly not capable of pulling you up all of that." I pointed out.

"Well, I can make it with some crutches, but as for Michael…"

"I'll have to walk up," he said.

"Uhm, forgive my ignorance, but how do you plan on doing that?"

"My batteries have about 3% charge. If Jon powers me up when we reach the stairs, I can wring out the last bit of power and walk up." He explained.

"That plan couldn't possibly fail!" I said sarcastically.

"Well if you come up with any better ideas you let me know."

I was attempting humor with the remark, but I was really masking my fear. His plan was incredibly risky, and if it fails, we could be in serious trouble. None of us were prepared to leave Michael behind in the event something happened to him, and yet this plan could leave us with no choice.

"Are we ready to go?" Tobias said, nervously.

I walked over to Anna. She was deep in concentration, trying to keep track of the army above. I tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Where are they?" I asked.

"They're getting closer. I'm having trouble keeping track of them. They split up into two groups."

I glanced back at Tobias, who nodded.

"Let's get the hell out of here, then," Tobias called to everyone.

Michael powered down, and Jonathan propped himself onto his crutches. He seemed to be in less pain after Sienna worked on him some more. Tobias and I wheeled Michael onto the tram, while Anna and Sienna turned off the lights. Jonathan flicked a few switches on the tram's dashboard, and the tram came to life. Sienna and Anna came scurrying back, and jumped on, as Jonathan moved us out of the station.

Once again we were moving, at a great speed. The tram whipped between outcroppings from the ceiling, and the tops of buildings below. We passed by station after station, even some inside of buildings. As the stations sped by, I could sometimes make out evidence of recent activity, but not a soul around. I was somewhat comforted by that fact. I'd had enough surprises for one day.

As before, it took us a few minutes to travel. Anna seemed to have given up tracking the military, and was nestled close to Sienna at the back of the tram. Sienna seemed to be experiencing another headache, a result of all the healing she had done. Jon and Tobias were going over the route in Tobias's notebook. I was most concerned about Michael, who laid as still as a statue on the stretcher.

All those fears and concerns disappeared, however, as we approached the final station.

"The station, it's lit up!" I yelled to Jon, trying to be heard over the rushing wind.

"Yeah, I can see that, thanks Miss Obvious!" he yelled back. "Anna?"

Anna looked up, and nodded fervently. "It's those soldiers!"

"Turn the tram around! Find another way out!" Sienna called from the back.

Jonathan carefully hobbled over to the dashboard, and pressed a few keys. He then slammed his palm on the screen in anger.

"They've locked us out! There's nothing I can do!"