"Damn it!"

True to his word, Zhirkov hadn't spoken a single word in English since they had been cut off from the rest. For the sixteenth time they ran into a dead end. For the sixteenth time Zhirkov cursed, and Turana closed her eyes in frustration. They had been trying to find their way to the centre of the maze for the last hour, but the right tunnels were closed off every time they got close. It was like Lewis had said—someone was intentionally keeping them away.

"We need to split up," Turana murmured to herself, but just loud enough for Zhirkov to hear.

"Which would be exactly what this jerk wants," he replied. 'Jerk' wasn't the accurate translation for the Prussian word he used, but it was the more usable term. "You should know that."

"It is our only option. They can only close one tunnel at a go, so I say we take the chance."

Zhirkov sighed.
"Let's go then."

"Wait." Turana held up a hand. "They could herd us exactly where they want us. Into an ambush or a trap. So we have to be fast."

"I can be fast." Zhirkov shrugged.

"Fast enough not to get snapped in half by a moving steel wall?"

He responded by setting off at a sprint and just as Turana expected, the wall started coming down immediately. He ducked and got through in time, then crouched and shouted at Turana,
"What are you staring at? Go!"

He pointed towards the other tunnel, or rather the slowly closing exit at the other end.

Once Turana started running, she didn't stop, or slow down. There were several close calls; a few of times where she was forced to slide or roll to get through. She appreciated just how good the original had been as she moved. Fitness and agility levels were maximum, including how quickly she was able to solve problems. This was an obstacle course, and as she ran Turana had to keep in mind the fast growing zigzag directions she had taken, and which ones she had to take to get to the right place.

Whoever was trying to stop her was unaware that the longer she ran, the easier it became for her.
Learn, Adapt, Conquer. Turana could do this all day.

The tunnels couldn't go on forever through. Already she could see the dirt fading as they got farther away from the reach of humanity. There were cables and pipes clearly running towards a particular direction, and soon enough Turana found the first mini-station.

She backtracked and decided that maybe she could do something with it. The top wasn't to hard to pry open. The inside wasn't really complex, just a basic step-down generator. The voltage had been increased so it could travel the long distance, and these little stations would gradually reduce it so the central one wouldn't burst into flames from the power surge. All she had to do was remove the safeguards that lowered the amount of voltage flowing. Turana could very well work out the more technical details, but time wasn't an ally in this fight. She backed away and fired a single shot into the power box.

The lights went off for a second, and then turned on again. With this particular circuit broken, the power would have been rerouted to another tunnel. That tunnel would be her next target.

***
"We're actually trying to be quiet Artemis. Stop dragging your shoes."

"When do I get to hit anything?" Artemis complained, but she did cease to make the awful noise with her feet.

"You won't get to hit anything if you get hit first," Lewis told her.

Artemis rolled her eyes.
"I spent three years surviving on my own in a nuclear wasteland. I think I know how to take care if myself."

Impressive.

Lewis, as much as it bothered him that he couldn't ask any further than Artemis said, didn't push for answers. These people, he had been told, were some of those that hadn't been killed by the explosions or the radiation that had ravaged the Amazon territory. They didn't say how they did it, but Lewis was hoping Artemis could spill some secrets none of the others wanted to. She had already shown signs of having a loose tongue, but apparently she also had a loose shooting hand.

"I'm surprised you even made it, considering the way you act."

Artemis turned and gave Lewis a most innocent pout. She flipped a tiny throwing knife in her preferred left hand.
"Whatever do you mean?"

The insane speed and accuracy of the young woman before him warned him to back off. His inquisitive instincts just drew him closer to her, till he was whispering to her.
"I see you. The real you," he said.
"You're scared but you do a damn good job of hiding it. I don't know what horrors you faced out there, but there are actual people here to help you. You're not alone."

Artemis crossed her arms in defiance. The rest of the group was a few paces ahead now, owing to the two standing still. Lukas and ET were currently leading the way.
"So you're a psychiatrist now?"

"A journalist actually," Lewis chuckled. "But as of now, a friend. I've known you only a few days, but you stood up for me when the others wanted me dead."

"That's cause you were our best chance of a way out of these tunnels. The others weren't really smart enough to see it." Artemis started walking, albeit slowly, and Lewis followed pace beside her.
"You know I've never actually seen the sun for almost a year?"

Lewis' silence prompted her to go on.
"The surface of Amazon was not survivable. So we stayed under, in our bunker. We didn't know about these subway tunnels then."

"A bunker huh? You knew the missiles were coming?" Lewis asked.

"I didn't. My dad did though, since he was part of the government. The fools knew! And they kept it to themselves." Artemis waved her hands angrily and the knife whizzed rather too close to Lewis' face. He drew away just a bit but within earshot.

"They booked space in bunkers and decided to save only their families and their friends. And those that could afford it."

"Surely such an announcement would have caused nation wide chaos. With the war going on, perhaps they were afraid to make things worse." Lewis offered.

"Or they were selfish. They were safe. We were safe," she corrected herself. "And we didn't care what happened to anyone else."

"Is your father one of them?" Lewis motioned to the people moving ahead.

"The bunker had been designed for thirty people to averagely survive for about three years. There were at least fifty of us." Artemis explained. "After a year of mindless consumption, we realised that perhaps we would have to stay below longer than we anticipated. But it was too late."

"You ran out of resources," Lewis murmured.

"We ran out of humanity," Artemis countered. "The little we had left anyway. There were those that wanted to stay in the bunker until someone, anyone contacted us. Others wanted to take the risk of finding a way out."

"People took sides."

Artemis took a while to speak, and Lewis thought perhaps he had lost her.

"It was a bloody awful shame. The only reason we are here is because the others didn't. They had to die, so we could make it."

She looked so frail as she spoke. Broken. Tired. Lewis now finally took notice of the state she was in. Her skin looked dry and feverish, her cheeks were so flushed that she could pass for healthy, but what little flesh she still had was melting away, leaving just bones and sharp angles behind.

"Well that's all in the past Artemis," Lewis said softly. "You're here now, aren't you? You've made it this far, so you're going to make it all the way." Lewis paused, and then added. "I promise."

Artemis shook her head.
"Don't make promises you can't keep Lewis."

*****
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