The Surface is a Graveyard

The tunnel stretched endlessly before them, the narrow passage dimly illuminated by the flickering lights overhead. Their footsteps echoed against the walls, mingling with the distant drip of water. Alexei led the group with grim determination, keeping his pace steady, though every muscle in his body screamed for rest. Behind him, Dmitri hobbled along, his steps uneven but determined, while Mira and Luca kept a close eye on their surroundings. Anya trailed behind, ever watchful.

“We’re cutting it close,” Mira muttered, glancing down at her tablet as they moved. “If they reset their systems fast enough, they’ll be back on our trail soon.”

“They’re already looking,” Anya added from the rear. Her voice was low, calm, but there was no mistaking the edge beneath her words. “You can feel it in the air.”

Luca swallowed hard, his eyes darting nervously between the shadows. He hated the darkness down here, the feeling of being hunted. Every step they took felt like it could be their last.

Alexei's jaw tightened. “We’ll make it. They don’t know these tunnels as well as we do.”

Dmitri let out a dry chuckle. “Let’s hope you’re right about that.”

Mira’s fingers flew over the screen of her tablet, tapping into an old schematic of the sewage system. “There’s an access point about 300 meters ahead. We can surface there, but… the exit’s in the middle of a regime-occupied zone. We’ll have to be quick.”

Alexei’s brow furrowed. “We don’t have a choice. We can’t stay down here. We need to reach the surface before their tracking dogs get any closer.”

Luca shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the dogs. His stomach churned at the thought of those creatures—monsters, really—closing in on them. The stories he’d heard as a child, whispers in the night, about the regime’s relentless hunters seemed all too real now.

“How do we even get through them up there?” Luca asked, his voice tight with worry. “If the regime’s soldiers are patrolling that area, we’re sitting ducks the moment we surface.”

“We’ll do what we always do,” Anya said, her tone flat but confident. “We’ll improvise.”

“That’s not much of a plan,” Luca muttered under his breath.

Anya shot him a sideways glance, her lips curling into a faint smirk. “Welcome to the rebellion, kid.”

Alexei held up a hand, signaling them to stop as they approached a rusted, metal ladder embedded into the wall. “This is it,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He looked up at the metal grate above them, where faint, muffled sounds of the surface could be heard. The distant hum of vehicles, the clatter of boots on concrete—signs of a world still moving, even as they fought for their lives beneath it.

Mira crouched down beside Dmitri, giving his wound another quick check. “How’s the pain?”

Dmitri’s face was drawn, beads of sweat lining his forehead, but he waved her off with a gruff nod. “I’ve had worse.”

“You’re a terrible liar,” Mira said, her voice softer now, as if speaking any louder would invite the enemy right to them.

Dmitri shrugged. “But I’m good at it.”

Alexei’s eyes scanned the group, taking in each of their faces. They were tired, bruised, and battered, but they weren’t broken. Not yet. His gaze lingered on Luca, who stood close to the ladder, his hand gripping the rung tightly. The kid had spirit, but fear was eating away at him. Alexei understood. He’d been where Luca was once—young, idealistic, driven by a belief in something better. Now that belief was tempered with the harsh reality of survival.

“Luca,” Alexei said quietly, stepping closer to him, “I need you to stay sharp. I know this is hard, but we’re almost through.”

Luca met his gaze, uncertainty flickering in his eyes. “Do you really believe that? That we’ll make it?”

Alexei hesitated for only a second before nodding. “Yes. We’ve been through worse. And we’re still here.”

Luca swallowed, giving a slow nod. “Okay… okay. I’ll keep it together.”

“We need to surface now,” Anya interjected, her tone more urgent. She was already checking her weapon, her movements quick and practiced. “If they’ve figured out where we went, they’ll send reinforcements.”

Alexei moved to the ladder and began climbing, his muscles aching with every movement. The others followed closely, with Dmitri taking up the rear, his injury slowing him down but not stopping him. When Alexei reached the top, he carefully pushed the grate upward, peering out into the street.

The scene above was eerily quiet. The street was littered with debris, remnants of buildings long destroyed in bombings, but there were no soldiers in sight. Only the distant hum of regime vehicles echoed through the still air.

Alexei gestured for the others to climb up, one by one, as he kept watch. Once they were all standing on the surface, they quickly moved into the cover of a crumbling wall, crouching low as they scanned the area.

“What’s the plan?” Anya asked, her voice low but focused.

“We need to get to the edge of this sector,” Alexei replied. “If we can make it past their patrol lines, we’ll head toward the old underground railways. That’s where our contact is waiting.”

“And if they spot us before then?” Mira asked, her gaze flicking nervously toward the far end of the street, where shadows seemed to shift ominously.

“Then we’ll deal with it,” Alexei said, though his tone carried more weight than certainty. He glanced over at Dmitri, who leaned heavily against a broken column, his face pale. “You all right?”

Dmitri nodded weakly. “Just… give me a minute.”

Mira’s brows knitted together in concern. “You’re not going to make it to the underground in this condition. We need to find somewhere safe for you to rest, at least long enough for me to patch you up properly.”

“There’s no time,” Dmitri muttered. “We need to keep moving.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Alexei said, though the uncertainty of their situation gnawed at him. “We’ll find shelter if we have to.”

Luca shifted uneasily. “What if the patrols sweep through here while we’re resting? We’ll be trapped.”

Anya looked around, her sharp eyes scanning the horizon. “We won’t rest for long. But we’ll need to move smartly. Any wrong move and it’s over.”

Just as Alexei was about to speak, the sound of distant barking reached their ears. The blood drained from his face.

The dogs.

“They’re getting closer,” Anya said, her voice tightening with urgency.

Alexei cursed under his breath. “We need to move. Now.”

The group moved swiftly, keeping low as they weaved through the wreckage of the old city streets. Every second felt like an eternity, the barking growing louder in the distance. They had to stay ahead of the regime’s hunters—just a little farther, and they might make it to safety.

They reached an old, partially collapsed building, its roof caved in and walls cracked from years of neglect. Alexei motioned for the group to take cover inside, using the shadows to shield themselves from any prying eyes. The building’s interior was dark, filled with dust and rubble, but it was shelter.

“We can’t stay here long,” Alexei whispered as they crouched near what remained of a window, the sound of the dogs haunting the air outside. “We wait for a gap in the patrols, then we make a break for the outskirts.”

Dmitri groaned softly, leaning his head back against the wall. “Can’t wait to see how that plays out.”

Mira knelt beside him, already pulling out her medical supplies. “You’re in bad shape, Dmitri. You need real medical attention.”

Dmitri gave her a weak smile. “Never thought I’d die in a place like this.”

“You’re not going to die,” Mira said firmly, her voice betraying the worry beneath her steady hands.

Anya, standing at the door with her knife at the ready, kept her gaze locked on the street outside. “We should move as soon as the dogs pass. If they catch our scent…”

Alexei nodded. “We’ll move once we’re clear. Stay low, stay quiet. No mistakes.”

As they waited, the barking grew louder, closer. Luca’s hands trembled slightly as he gripped his gun, his eyes wide with fear. His breath came in shallow gasps, his body tense as a coiled spring.

“They’re close,” Luca whispered, his voice shaking. “What if they find us?”

“They won’t,” Alexei said quietly, placing a hand on Luca’s shoulder to steady him. “We’ll make it through this. Just stay calm.”

The barking was almost on top of them now, and Alexei could hear the heavy footfalls of the regime’s soldiers moving through the street outside. He held his breath, praying they wouldn’t be discovered. Time seemed to stretch, every second feeling like an eternity as they waited in the darkness.

Then, the sound began to fade. The dogs moved past them, their handlers speaking in low voices as they continued their search down the street.

Anya’s voice was barely a whisper. “Now.”

They slipped out of the building, moving like shadows in the night. The city was a graveyard around them, a hollow shell of what it had once been. But for Alexei and his team, it was their only chance at survival.

As they darted through the ruined streets, the weight of the mission pressed down on them harder than ever. They were fighting for something bigger than themselves, something that seemed impossible to achieve. But they couldn’t stop now.

Not when they were so close.