TOMBS STREET

“RUN!” A man screamed from the handheld transceiver Angelo was holding. “THEY’VE DETECTED MOTION, THEY’RE AFTER YOU!”

Sean picked Emma up and immediately sprinted following Angelo who was leading the way. They were in the dark, abandoned sewers by the city for half an hour of walking and was now running for their lives.

“Turn left!” The voice continued. “You’ll see three paths ahead, take the one with the number 3 on top then further ahead you’ll need to turn right and up the ladder to the manhole that will lead ya’ll on Tombs Street then hide by the red brick building beside the church until I say it’s safe to get out.”

“Roger that, cuz!” Angelo said as he pushed a button and turned left then ran towards tunnel number three.

Sean ran beside him. “You sure it’s safe to get back up there. They’re patrolling almost everywhere.”

“Not Tombs Street,” Angelo said as they went further to the right. “There are four neighborhoods in the city that were abandoned for reasons unknown and were rarely patrolled. The Havocs had mapped out most of the inner Sectors so don’t worry, Marco knows what he’s doing.” He winked at him in the dark, the only lights were their dimmed cellphone lights.

“The Havocs?” Sean asked.

“Our organization’s name,” Angelo said and then cursed loudly. “I’ve done it! I said it out loud! Ugh!” He checked the radio just in case he was heard, and saw the red button blinking meant that his mic was off. They saw the metal ladder on the corner and stopped in front of it. Angelo clasped the cold, metal rung and glanced back at Sean, who put down Emma on the wet pavement.

“Ew, it’s mushy,” Emma said, shivering and took Sean’s hand. Angelo held up his light to Sean’s face as Sean instinctively put his palm up for cover.

“What the,” Sean said, squinting. “Angelo, climb up already. There’s no time.”

“It’s supposed to be a secret, Sean,” Angelo said quietly as he slowly put his phone down. “I wasn’t allowed to speak about it. I swear, it came out of my mouth so fast. I’m so stupid. Don’t tell anyone, Sean.” Then he looked at Emma. “Dear Emma, please.”

Emma frowned, shrugged and held a thumbs up.

“Who would we tell, Angelo?” Sean said. “It’s just the three of us here.”

“No, no you don’t understand, man. If my cousins found out that you knew ‘bout it ‘cause of me, they’ll kill me for sure. No more Angelo in the future.”

“Alright, alright,” Sean sighed. “We promise we won’t tell anyone but unless you want the cops capturing us and then torturing us until we spill out our darkest secrets, you might want to start climbing now because I’m hearing footsteps behind us.”

Angelo jerked up and heard the distant sounds of steps and some voices from the tunnels. He swiftly climbed up, Emma and Sean following below him. He pushed up the round metal cover, soft light streaming down the sewer. It was drizzling outside – light raindrops falling at them.

As they all reached the top, Angelo pushed the lid in place. They ran out the damped alley way to a deserted street – trash were strewn the cement floor.

“There’s the pizza house,” Angelo said pointing at an old, red bricked building, the sign almost unreadable. “We go the back door.”

Sean nodded and held Emma’s hand tightly as they crossed the street, to the church’s front yard and into the back of the building. No one seemed to have followed them yet. Angelo led the siblings to the back of the building and pushed open a broken door. They entered a dusty kitchen where several ovens lined the walls and two huge fridges on the corner where a narrow stairs in the middle of it led upstairs.

“Let’s go up,” Sean said. “The locks on this door is broken and hiding might be safer up there.”

“I’m scared, Sean,” Emma said, hiding behind him. “It’s darker up there.”

Angelo looked at Emma then glanced at the dark stairway. He quickly ran to the stairs and climbed up three steps, opened his phone and maxed up its light then he turned it upwards, shedding a bright light to the corridor above.

“Look, Emma,” Angelo said glancing back at her. “It’s not dark anymore." He continued in a deep, dramatic voice: "I hold in me the sun to light your way, princess Emma. Let us go." 

Emma brightened up a bit and nodded slowly and Sean smiled, shaking his head as they climbed up, Angelo following behind while holding his phone over his head. The corridor was as narrow as the stairs so the three had to walk in a single file and there was only one door at the end of the hall.

As soon as they reached the door, Sean turned the knob and slowly opened it but got stuck, he pushed hard with his shoulder but it bumped into something heavy. Someone grumbled on the other side, and Sean stepped back, his heart beating fast.

“Someone’s in there,” Sean said quietly, as Emma clasped his arm tightly and Angelo quickly dimming his phone light. He then directed it towards the floor inside the room while the door was slightly ajar. Nothing. 

“Oww,” the voice from the room grumbled, his voice slurred. “My head…”

Sean gasped, Emma whimpered and Angelo cursed, dropping his phone. “Go back,” Sean said, picking up Emma. “Run back down!”

Angelo quickly picked up his phone, almost stumbling and Sean pushing him as they ran immediately the narrow hallway back downstairs. The door creaked open and Emma, who was facing back, shrieked as she saw the huge, shadowy figure coming out of the room.

“Boogeyman!” Emma screamed, hiding her face in his brother’s shoulder.

Angelo screamed and ran madly outside, Sean and Emma just behind him and then just before they turned the corner towards the church, they heard police car sirens down the road. Sean cursed and went back running behind the red bricked building. He kept glancing at the door but no one came out. Angelo ran the other side and was in the back of the church. They looked at each other, panting. The drizzle had already stopped, the sky was dim - the color of a dead oyster.

Their hearts pounded in their chest, the cars past the buildings. There were only two patrolling at that time. Sean glanced at his watch, it read 15:47. They must reach the signal tower before curfew. Even abandoned places like this gets checked thoroughly after the alarm. They only have three hours left and they were not even halfway away.

Angelo crossed the street, he was already talking to Marco. Sean faced the direction of the broken door of the pizza building.

“Cops are still near our perimeter,” Angelo said. “We can’t move yet.”

“Can’t we go back down the sewers?” Sean replied. “We need to get moving, it’ll be more difficult at night especially after curfew.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout that. I know a way through the train tunnels. It’s undetected and I know the schedule and habits of them soldiers.” Then he continued whispering: “Me and Gio likes to wander out and spy at them. We even play pranks at them sometimes.” He snickered.

Sean raised a brow, still looking warily at the door. Suddenly it swung open and Angelo and Emma shrieked. A small smoke came out first then a huge figure walked out, hunching. Sean and Angelo stepped back, ready to run at any moment. It was a man. He was bulky and his eyes were covered by his dirty, long blond hair that was all over the place. The three youngsters find it odd that he was wearing a pink apron despite being shirtless and wore a ragged jeans. He looked like he needed a shower.

He growled, puff of smoke coming from the cigarette in his mouth. “Hey, dipshits,” the man said, leaning on the doorway. “Which one of you banged that door to my head, huh?” He rubbed the back of his head, teeth gritting.

Sean and Angelo looked at each other and Emma held her brother tightly. “We’re sorry, sir,” Sean said nervously. “We didn’t know someone still lives here. We apologize for intruding and hurting you.” He signaled for Angelo to go and he nodded, his mouth agape. As they walked the patchy grass, the man stood up straight and went back inside. Seconds before they passed the patches to the cement floor, an arrow came flying in front of Angelo’s face and hit a tree close them.

“Whoa!” Angelo said, his heart pounding. “Wha-where-how?”

The three looked back, their mouths hanging open, their hearts pounded at their chests as they saw the blond man holding a bow, few arrows clumsily tucked in the front pocket of his apron. He loaded another arrow and aimed at Angelo’s face.

“One more step and I won’t miss next time,” the man said, his hair was now brushed out of his face. His eyes were deep blue and very angry. “Get back inside or die. Choose wisely.”