When The World Ended, I Stole Tomorrow

Chapter 7: Mountain Tomb

Get your hands away from that panel.

Ronan's voice was loud and sharp like a whip. He moved fast, grabbing Elias by the collar of his jacket and throwing him against the wall.

Elias hit the wall hard, gasping for air. He rubbed the back of his head. Are you crazy? he said, still trying to catch his breath. I was just trying to open the lock. We have been standing here for twenty minutes.

If you had plugged your computer into that port, the guns in the ceiling would have started shooting, and we would have been dead, Ronan said, looking up at the ceiling. This is not a place, Elias. This is an area with strong security. If something goes wrong, it does not just sound an alarm. It kills.

Ronan stood up slowly, holding his head. He was in a lot of pain. He was trying to remember the layout of the security system. He could not. He knew there were guns. He did not know how to turn them off.

Elias looked at Ronan. Asked, Are you okay? You look like you are going to pass out.

I am fine Ronan said, even though he was not. He looked at the metal door in front of them. The keypad next to it was old and broken.

We need to get in tonight, Ronan said quietly. The bad guys will find us if we stay out here. If they catch us, we will die.

So how do we get in? Elias asked, looking at the keypad. I cannot hack a system that is not working. We need to turn on the power. The switch is on the other side of the door. It is a problem.

Ronan looked at the door. He was an engineer. He did not have the tools he needed. He reached into his pocket. Found a small, heavy piece of metal.

The metal was still warm. It was glowing.

Ronan Elias said, taking a step back. What is that? That is not something the military uses. It looks like it is alive.

It is a key Ronan said, walking towards the keypad.

He did not know if it would work. He had to try. He put the metal into the keypad. Something big happened.

The keypad. The air was filled with a bright purple light. The sound was very loud, like metal screaming.

Oh my god Elias said, looking at the door. It is opening.

It was not just the door. A voice was speaking from the ceiling. It was not a voice.

Warning, it said. Something is wrong. We need to get out of here.

Red lights started flashing. The air was filled with a bad smell.

What did you do? Elias shouted, looking at the vents in the ceiling. The gas is coming out.

Ronan said, Hold your breath.

Elias was already coughing; his eyes were red. We are trapped, he said. The door is not open enough.

Ronan looked at the door. He pushed hard. It did not move.

He had to think. He dropped to his knees. Put his hands into the small space between the doors.

He found a metal piece, and he pulled hard. His arms were strong. The metal was very heavy.

Ronan, you cannot do that Elias said, coughing. You will hurt yourself.

Ronan did not listen. He. Pulled until the metal moved. The doors opened a bit.

Move, Ronan. They both went through the opening.

The doors closed behind them with a noise.

Ronan was on the floor, breathing hard. His hands were bleeding.

Elias was coughing; his face was white.

You are a monster Elias said, looking at Ronan. You knew that key would cause trouble. You used it anyway. You do not care if we live or die.

Ronan slowly pushed himself up to a kneeling position, wiping the blood from his torn knuckles onto his jacket. If Ronan did not use the rifle, they would be dead on the side of that door, he said coldly. Ronan did not bring Elias here to be comfortable. Ronan brought Elias here to survive.

He stood up, grabbing his dropped rifle and finally looked at the subterranean space they had just entered.

The words died in Ronan's throat.

They were standing on a suspended catwalk overlooking the vehicle bay of the Blackwood Silo. The Blackwood Silo space was supposed to be empty, filled with old military transports and decaying concrete.

The Blackwood Silo was not empty.

The massive hangar was brightly lit by rows of high-intensity halogen work lights that had been recently installed. There was heavy excavation equipment, thick power cables and scaffolding over the floor.

Someone had been living at the Blackwood Silo. Working at the Blackwood Silo.

In the absolute center of the bay, suspended by thick industrial crane hooks, was a colossal metallic ring, easily forty feet in diameter. The ring was heavily scarred, covered in jagged purple runes like the blast doors, but the center of the ring was entirely hollow.

The ring was a Covenant Slipgate. The Covenant Slipgate was a tear engine used to transport armies across timelines.

Before Ronan could process the impossibility of the Covenant Slipgate's existence this early in the timeline, the heavy metal door of a command tent on the hangar floor swung open.

Three figures walked out onto the floodlit floor. Two were armored Vance Group mercenaries carrying advanced high-tech pulse rifles that had not even been invented in Ronan's previous timeline yet.

It was the third figure that made Ronan's heart completely stop.

Standing between the mercenaries, wearing a white tactical coat and holding a tablet displaying the Blackwood Silos telemetry data, was Clara.

Clara looked up at the catwalk, her eyes locking directly onto Ronan's. Clara did not look surprised. Clara did not look terrified. Clara simply smiled. A calculated smirk that sent a chill straight to Ronan's marrow.

You're late, Ronan, " Clara's voice echoed through the Blackwood Silos PA system, entirely in control. We've been waiting for Ronan to open the door.