Ashley, Nick, and Jenna - Upper Tunnels
The tunnel was quieter now.
Ashley led the way, flashlight beam cutting through the dark. Behind her, Nick kept one hand on Jenna's elbow, guiding her over the uneven floor. The collapse that had swallowed Jimmy and Caitlyn was a hundred yards behind them, sealed shut by tons of rocks.
"You keep doing that," Jenna said.
"Doing what?" Nick asked.
"Guiding me like I'm going to fall."
"You might."
"I've survived this long without a keeper."
Nick snorted. "Barely. Remember the gas station?"
Jenna went quiet for a moment. Then, softly: "I remember."
Ashley glanced back, her expression softening. The gas station was where they'd found Jenna. She was huddled in the storage room, sobbing, her husband's body torn apart just outside. She hadn't spoken for two days.
Nick's hand dropped from her elbow. "Sorry. I didn't mean-"
"It's fine." Jenna's voice was steady. "I'm not that person anymore."
They walked in silence for a while. The air was cooler up here, drier. No sign of the pale ones. No sign of anything
"You think they're okay?" Jenna asked.
Nick was quiet for a moment. "Jimmy's alive. He always has a plan B."
Ashley didn't answer. She just kept walking, her jaw tight.
They had been walking for maybe twenty minutes when Ashley stopped.
"Listen."
They stood still. The cave was silent. Then, faint and far below, a muffled scream.
Caitlyn.
Nick's hand tightened on his shotgun. "That came from underneath us."
"I know." Ashley pressed her ear to the rock. The scream cut off. Then, distant but unmistakable: Jimmy's voice. "Get off her!"
"They're fighting something," Jenna said.
"Or someone found them." Nick looked at the floor, then at the walls. "There has to be a way down."
Ashley pulled back, her jaw tight. "Jimmy said not to try breaking through. He said it could collapse the whole thing."
"Jimmy says a lot of things." Nick was already moving, scanning the rock face. "Doesn't mean he's always right."
"He was right about the pale ones. He was right about the cave."
"And he was wrong about Marcus." Nick turned to face her. "Sometimes you have to take a risk."
Jenna stepped between them. "Both of you, stop. Fighting isn't going to find them."
Ashley and Nick held each other's gaze for a long moment. Then Ashley looked away.
"Fine," she said. "We look for a way down. But we do it smart. No heroics."
Nick nodded. "Deal."
They moved faster, scanning the walls for any crack or opening that might lead downward. The tunnel sloped gently upward here. Wrong direction. Ashley turned down a side passage that angled back the way they'd come, toward the collapse.
"This way," she said.
The side passage was narrow, forcing them single file. It sloped downward, rough and steep. Loose rocks slid under their boots.
"I hate caves," Jenna muttered.
"You never told me that," Nick said.
"I hate them more every time I mention it."
Ashley stopped. "There."
A vertical shaft dropped into darkness, maybe three feet wide. Rusted iron rungs were bolted into the stone. A maintenance ladder, old, probably pre-outbreak. A cold draft rose from below, carrying a faint metallic smell and, very faintly, the sound of footsteps.
"HELIX," Ashley said. "This has to be connected to the lower levels."
"Or it's a maintenance shaft that goes nowhere," Nick said, peering down. "Only one way to find out."
He tested the top rung. It held. He put his weight on it.
"I'll go first," he said.
"No." Ashley grabbed his arm. "I will. If anything happens, you're strong enough to pull me back up."
Nick looked like he wanted to argue. Then he nodded. "Fine. But if you fall, We're coming down after you."
"Then don't let me fall."
Ashley swung herself onto the ladder and began to climb down.
The rungs were cold and slick with condensation. Ashley moved slowly, testing each one before putting her full weight. Above her, Nick's flashlight beam followed. Below, nothing but darkness and the rising draft.
"How's it look?" Nick called down.
"Dark. Slick. Smells like rust and old air."
"Helpful."
"Shut up and climb."
Nick started down, moving carefully. Jenna followed last, her movements more tentative.
"I really hate this," Jenna said, her voice echoing in the shaft.
"You're doing fine," Nick said.
"I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to the ladder."
The ladder groaned but held.
Ten feet down. Twenty. Thirty. Forty.
Ashley heard voices. Not close, but somewhere below and ahead. Jimmy's voice, low and steady. Caitlyn's voice, weak. She couldn't make out words, but the tone was familiar. Jimmy was calming her, talking her through it.
"I hear them," Ashley whispered.
"How far?" Nick asked.
"Close. Maybe fifty feet below and ahead."
"Keep going."
She climbed faster.
The shaft ended at a rough opening into a narrow tunnel. The same lower tunnel where Jimmy and Caitlyn had fallen. Ashley dropped the last few feet, landing hard. Her ankle twisted slightly, but she didn't care.
Nick landed beside her a moment later, his boots crunching on loose rock. Jenna came last, Nick catching her around the waist and setting her down gently.
"Thanks," she said.
"Anytime."
Ashley spun, flashlight sweeping.
No one. But the tunnel continued ahead, and she could hear faint footsteps and the low murmur of Jimmy's voice. They were close.
"This way," she whispered.
They moved quickly, staying low. The tunnel twisted, then opened into a wider space. A staging area. Crates. A terminal. And fresh blood on the floor.
"Someone was hurt," Jenna said, kneeling by the blood. "Not too long ago. It's still tacky."
"Jimmy or Caitlyn," Nick said.
Ashley spotted arrows scratched into the wall. Jimmy's marks. They led to the right.
"Follow the arrows," she said.
They ran.
The tunnel narrowed again, then opened into a small room. A HELIX security checkpoint. A desk, a dark computer terminal, a filing cabinet. On the wall, a faded sign: PERSONNEL RECORDS - AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY.
"Wait," Jenna said, stopping. "Look."
A folder lay open on the desk. Dust had settled on it, but the papers inside were still legible. Jenna picked it up, scanning the first page.
Her face went pale.
"What is it?" Nick asked.
Jenna didn't answer. She was staring at a photograph. Her own face, younger, but unmistakably her. Beside it, a barcode and a string of numbers. And at the top of the page, a single word: CLONE.
"I'm a clone," Jenna whispered.
Nick stepped beside her, looking over the folder. His jaw tightened. "HELIX."
Ashley stood still. She remembered her own discovery. The same nausea, the same disbelief. She didn't need to say anything. They all remembered.
Jenna's hands shook. "My husband... the gas station... none of it was real."
"It was real to you," Ashley said quietly. "That's what matters."
Jenna looked at her. "How do you live with it?"
"One day at a time." Ashley paused. "You know what the worst part is? No memories before high school. Nothing. Just... blank. I don't remember being a child. I don't remember my parents."
"So that's..." Jenna started.
"That's the clone marker," Ashley said. "No past before HELIX made us. Jimmy and I met in high school. That part is real. Our first memories together are there. But before that? I have nothing."
Jenna stared at the folder again. "I don't remember anything before high school either. I thought... I thought I'd just blocked it out. After what happened to my husband."
Ashley shook her head. "It's not blocking. It's absence. There's nothing there to remember."
Nick put his arm around Jenna. "You're still you. You're still the woman I love."
Jenna leaned into him, trembling. Then she took a breath, closed the folder, and set it back on the desk.
"Okay," she said. "Let's go find them."
The tunnel sloped downward, then leveled out. Emergency lights flickered overhead. Then the passage ended at a massive steel door with a wheel in the center. A keypad glowed faintly.
The door was already open.
Through the gap, Ashley could see Jimmy standing just beyond, Caitlyn in his arms. His back was partially to them. They hadn't noticed the group yet.
Jimmy's voice was low, tired.
"But we don't know where the others are. Ashley, Nick, Jenna. They could be above us, below us, or on the complete other side of the mountain." He glanced back at the dark hallway they'd come from. "We can wait here for them. Or we can go in alone."
Caitlyn's head rested on his shoulder. She was pale, her arm bandaged. Her voice was weak but steady.
"Waiting means Mercer has more time. Or he runs, if he's even in there."
"Going in alone means we might not come out. And with your arm..."
Caitlyn looked down at the bandage. The bleeding had slowed, but she could still feel the bite. A throbbing, burning reminder.
"I don't know how much time I have. If I'm going to turn... I'd rather turn trying to finish this than sitting in a dark hallway waiting to die."
Jimmy's chest ached. He wanted to argue. He wanted to tell her she wasn't going to turn. But he didn't know that. He couldn't promise that.
Before he could respond, a boot scraped on concrete behind him.
Jimmy spun, rifle half-raised, then stopped.
Nick stood in the doorway, Ashley and Jenna behind him.
"You're not going in alone," Nick said.
Jimmy started at them. How did you-"
"Shaft. Ladder. Arrows. Nick stepped forward. "You thought we'd let you have all the fun?"
Ashley moved to Jimmy's other side. "She's burning up. Did she get bit?"
"A pale one." Jimmy gently set Caitlyn down and pulled Ashley off to the side. "It got her arm. But she's not turning, at least not yet. It's been a while. I don't know why she's not turning."
Jenna walked over to Caitlyn, examining the wound. "We need to clean this, and bring her fever down." She turned to look at Jimmy and Ashley.
Nick looked at Jimmy. "You need to go end this."
Jimmy hesitated. "I can't leave her."
"You're not leaving her." Nick gently picked up Caitlyn. She was light and trembling. "I've got her. I'll hold her. Jenna and Ashley will tend to her wounds."
Caitlyn's eyes fluttered "Dad..."
"I'll be back." He touched her cheek. "I promise."
Ashley already had her medical kit open, pulling out antiseptic and bandages. Jenna found a canteen and a cloth, pressing it to Caitlyn's forehead.
"Go," Ashley said without looking up. "We'll keep her safe."
Jimmy looked at them. Nick holding Caitlyn like she was his own, Ashley and Jenna working together, quiet and focused. His family.
He turned to the open door, the darkness beyond, the distant hum of machines.
"Don't let her die," he said.
"She'll be okay," Nick replied.
Jimmy raised his rifle and stepped through the door. Alone.