Dark Future Read Online Free Page A

hillside. After a few shaky steps, he pulled me into a crouch alongside him. A flare of light broke the darkness blinding me for a second. When my vision cleared, I saw the florescent stick he used to illuminate a small dark tunnel. The harsh blue light played havoc with his features throwing them into shadowy contrast, all but one, the piercing blueness of his eyes.
    “Did anyone else survive? Are all of your bodyguards dead?” He had pushed a pair of night vision goggles on top of his head and rubbed his face, smearing dirt and sweat across his brow.
    Bodyguards? “No,” I shook my head, “no one else.”
    “What do you mean no one else? As in you are out here by yourself?”
    I nodded, hoping it was the correct response. I desperately wished I knew which response was.
    “What the hell kind of irresponsible goddess are you to come out here all alone?” he growled as his hand gripped my wrist.
    If his voice was harsh before, then it had just dropped to a whole other level. Even with the sweat on my skin, I felt chilled. What was it about his question that made me nervous? His tone? His actions? Didn’t matter; I followed my gut a Cowe“nd did a favorite diversion tactic and asked one of my own. “Who are you? Where are you taking me?”
    I tried to keep my tone light and ignored the way his hand ground my ulna and radius together.
    His fingers snapped open as if my skin burned to the touch. He moved back a fraction of an inch; his eyes narrowed into slits.
    “Why do you ask questions you should know the answer to?” His voice hinted at hesitation, as if he was afraid of my reply.
    Something about my response had changed him. His suspicion rose between us like a physical barrier, brick by thick brick trapping me in. Well, he wasn’t the only one. His questions scared the crap out of me. Why would I know who he is and where we were going? Yeah, I trusted him alright—about as much as I did a Rottweiler, in a locked room with a steak tied around my neck. I put my hand up in a gesture of peace. “Listen, I appreciate you saving me back there, but I’m not going anywhere without a little information.”
    There, I did it. I took matters firmly in hand.
    With the merest of shrugs, he side-stepped and pushed me aside. Then placed the glow stick in his mouth and crawled into the dark cave on the side of the hill.
    I stood gaping in disbelief as he vanished into a mountain. Oops, my bad, I hadn’t realized the conversation was over.
    My desire to follow through the coffin-like hole was neck and neck with working a double shift in the emergency room on New Year’s Eve. But as I watched the light get fainter and fainter, the pendulum swung in the opposite direction. I sure didn’t want to be left in the dark and with whatever the hell had been chasing us.
    “Hey!” I shouted. Desperation threw my voice into a higher pitch. “Wait for me.”
    No answer. It was either the arrogant jerk or the monster. I made my choice and crawled after the florescent glow.
    Soon the tunnel widened enough for me to stand. I’d lost track of the moving glow stick, but decided there was only one direction—forward. I rounded a corner and saw a bright light, an opening, glowing comfortingly in the dark. I rushed forward.
    The tunnel led to a large cavernous room. The walls were made of dirt and rock as if a large mountain had been hollowed out. Other tunnels led off into the distance, larger tha Ce, re n the one I’d come from, more like hallways. Computer equipment on dented metal tables and large screens dominated the front of the room. Machine guns lined the walls, and something I’d seen used as a grenade launcher in an action movie took up space in the back.
    To the side of me, I caught a glimpse of the only splash of color among the multitude of grays and browns. A set of red metal doors were off to the side, guarded by five men with guns, barring the entrance or exit to whatever was behind those doors.
    The sound of guns being