Chapter 12: The Ashes and the Echo
December 29, 2016 – The Underworld
The darkness of the tunnel was no longer a refuge. It was a tomb, and we were the ghosts fleeing our own funeral. The sounds of the Oasis dying above us—the screams, the roar of the fire, the final, terrible silence—chased us through the pipes, a symphony of our failure.
Ngozi was catatonic, her small hand limp in mine, led along like a doll. Mama moved like an automaton, her face a mask of shock, her tears cutting clean lines through the grime on her cheeks. Dr. Adisa stumbled behind us, his breath a constant, panicked wheeze. I led this procession of the damned, the weight of their lives, and the ghosts of the ones we'd lost, crushing me with every step.
Papa. On his knees. The dark stain spreading.
Ade.His roar of defiance, swallowed by the chaos.
I had left them.The thought was a physical sickness. I had closed the hatch on my brother. I had run.
"He gave us a chance," Mama whispered, her voice raw, as if reading the guilt etched into my soul. "Your father and your brother… they bought this chance with their blood. We cannot waste it."
Her words were meant to strengthen me, but they only made the burden heavier. Their blood was on my hands now. This mission was no longer Dr. Adisa's; it was theirs. A debt I had to repay.
The New Map
We walked for hours, guided by the fading beam of my flashlight and Uche's map. The industrial tunnels gave way to older, brick-lined sewers, then to wider storm drains. We were moving beneath the heart of the city, a river of grief flowing through the intestines of the dead world above.
We found a small maintenance alcove, dry and hidden from the main flow. It was here we collapsed. We shared a single bottle of water and a can of beans, our first meal in this new, bleaker existence. The food tasted like ashes.
"The university," I said, my voice echoing flatly in the small space. "How do we get in?"
Dr. Adisa, jolted from his own stupor, blinked. "The Physics building. There is a basement access. A delivery bay for the sensitive equipment. It should be… it should be close to the main drain that runs under the campus."
He pointed a trembling finger at the map. "Here. If we can reach this junction, we can surface less than a hundred meters from the bay."
"And the creatures?" Mama asked, her arm tight around Ngozi.
"The Convergence will be strong there," Adisa admitted, unable to meet her eyes. "The barrier is thin. They will be… numerous. But they are creatures of the Crimson Hour. In our world, during our day, they are slower. More physical. They can be avoided."
Slower. Not safe. Avoided. Not defeated. The qualifications did little to inspire hope.
As we prepared to move on, a sound froze us. Not the scuttling of rats or the drip of water. Voices. Human voices, echoing from a connecting tunnel up ahead.
We doused the light and pressed ourselves into the shadows, hearts hammering. A beam of light swept past our alcove.
"…scouts confirmed it. The Oasis is gone. Wiped out by the Akudama."
"Idiots. They were a useful resource. Courier's letting his pride get the better of him."
"The intel suggests a small group escaped through the tunnels. They have the scientist."
The voices belonged to two men. Their tone was professional, military. Their footsteps were heavy, booted.
"The order is to retrieve the asset at all costs. If we can't get him, we deny the Akudama. Terminate with extreme prejudice."
"Understood. Sweep and clear. They can't have gotten far."
Their lights and footsteps faded down a different branch of the tunnel. We stayed in the darkness, barely breathing. The Akudama wanted to weaponize the end of the world. The Execution Division wanted to bury it, and anyone who knew about it.
We were not just fugitives from criminals. We were now targets of the last vestige of law, carrying a secret so dangerous that both sides would kill to possess or destroy it.
There was no going back. There was no safe haven. The only direction left was forward, through the nest of monsters, towards the machine that broke the world. We were no longer a family trying to survive. We were a spark, carried on the wind of a coming storm, heading for the gunpowder keg.
Papa's sacrifice, Ade's last stand… they had bought us more than just a head start. They had bought us a purpose. We would reach the university. We would seal the rift.
Or we would die trying. It was the only choice left.