He had a beautiful, deep voice that carried well even in the confined space. After a pause, he started to sing:
“Born in darkness, bred in stone,
In the depths we learned to breathe,
But the light calls us home,
And our hearts refuse to grieve.
Crawl through fear, climb toward sky,
Every step breaks yesterday,
Every breath a battle cry,
Every scar shows us the way.
Let the earth hold tight,
Let the shadows cling and call,
We are stronger than the darkness,
We break free or not at all.
Freedom waits beyond this tunnel,
Home is something we can’t see,
But we’ll claim it when we’re fearless?—
We shall find it, we’ll be free.”
His voice filled the tunnel, rich and haunting. Desta joined on the second verse, her voice higher and sweeter. Then Kaid. And finally me, my raspy voice threading through theirs as the song came to a close.
The tunnel stretched on. We sang as we crawled toward freedom, toward hope, toward whatever waited for us in the world beyond the mines.
We crawledout of the last leg of the tunnel one by one, emerging into a tiny extraction room I’d carved out months ago.
Desta came through after me and collapsed onto her back, chest heaving, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Kaid came next and pulled her up. The second Rogue was through, he let out a shaky laugh, bordering on hysterical.
“Shit, we made it,” he whispered. “We actually made it.”
“Don’t celebrate yet.” Desta was grinning, though.
We looked up at the wall ladder, metal rungs leading to the surface. I’d placed every one myself over months of secret trips. Bringing the team all the way here to build it would’ve been slower. With my abilities, I could do it alone, and faster.
“I’ll check it first.” I looked up at the ladder. “If it’s not dark yet, we wait a few more hours here.”
“The sky’s always overcast anyway, but we need more cover.” Rogue’s voice carried understanding.
I nodded. “I’ve been up before, scoped out theirpatrols. Once we’re out, we’ll be behind the watch tower and past the fences.”
“How far did you go?” Desta asked, her practical mind already working ahead.
“Not far enough,” I admitted. “I don’t know the wasteland layout beyond the map. Couldn’t risk going farther and blowing our one chance.”
My friends sucked in sharp breaths. Freedom so close made everyone nervous.