The Hollow (Rose of the Dawn Series Book 2) by Ily Maguire

up.
    “I may not be
able to see, but I can hear the change in air where it travels down the hall
and the way sound bounces off the walls. A longer bounce and the walls are
farther away. Right now the tunnel is getting narrow. He’s right. It’s amazing.
    “Are we almost
there? Jenny mentioned digging out. Do you have a way out?”
    Christophe
stops. He holds up his hand and I stand still. Footsteps come from up ahead.
    “C’mon, Rose,”
he takes my hand, turning in the opposite direction. “Let’s get you back to
your room. You’re frozen through.”
    I admit, I’m a
bit chilly. My shirt is so thin that it doesn’t do much in the way of climate
control. “I can’t,” I whisper. “I have to get the message to Leland—”
    The footsteps
get closer and I still can’t see anything.
    “Shh.” Christophe
puts one hand to his lips and the other to mine. They are cool and he smells
like the earth.
    “Hello down
there!”
    “Leland!” I
exclaim. Christophe drops my hand.
    “Hello down
there! Hello hello,” Leland tries to make his voice sound like an echo and we
smile. I really like Christophe’s smile.
    Leland takes my
hands and almost drops the new one.
    “Wow!” He
exclaims, looking my new arm over. I smile. In a way, proud, like I fit in.
    “Where’ve you
been?” Christophe asks, taking off his glasses.
    “With Tithonus,”
Leland answers still holding my hands.
    “Jenny told me
to tell you now’s the time to go. You need to finish digging.”
    “I know,” Leland
says. “Tithonus said the same thing. Even without his eyes, he still sees the
future.”
    “And the
moaning?” Christophe asks.
    “One of them was
passing from one state to another—” Leland starts.
    “Passing?” I
ask.
    “Deceasing,”
Leland answers. I can’t imagine. I’ve never had to. I’ve never known anyone who
has passed before.
    I trail behind
Leland down the right tunnel toward the center of their underground space. I’m
scared to see what’s going on.
    Leland stops and
I almost bump into him.
    “So what’s the
story, Leland? What did Tithonus tell you?” Christophe has stopped, too. We’re
almost to the center of the underground. My heart thumps in my chest.
    “The story? I
didn’t hear it from Tithonus, but the gist I heard from Delia who heard from
Jenny is that,” Leland takes a deep breath in. “Aegis has been discovered and
raided.”

13
    “What? What does that mean?” I am
incredulous. Leland can’t answer fast enough. Instead he hurries down the rest
of the tunnel through a doorway that leads to the center. I hadn’t noticed this
before.
    I can’t bring
myself to look at these disconnected humans lying about. They pay me no
attention, not even as I step over and around them. There are too many of them
today to count.
    “What about
Tithonus? Where was that moaning coming from before?” I ask. The stone Tithonus
was seated upon last time is unoccupied. He’s the only one who may have any
answers.
    “Over there,”
Christophe turns his head to an indent in the wall. His glasses are back on.
    Tithonus is seated
on the ground, cradling a crumpled body whose head is in his lap.
    “Rose. Rose.
Rosamund,” Tithonus looks up at me. He lifts a hand, beckoning me over without
another sound.
    I leave Leland
and Christophe. I can feel their gaze as I cross over to the old man. Tithonus
takes my real hand and pulls me down. I pull back.
    “What’s wrong
with him?” I ask, afraid to get any closer to the young zombie. There are two
indents on either side of his head and his face is drawn, cheeks sunken, eyes
closed. His body is emaciated and frail, his shirt has been removed showing off
his ribcage. His breathing is so shallow it’s almost not breathing and he
exhales in tiny puffs.
    Tithonus lets me
go and returns his hand to the forehead of the disappeared in his lap.
    “He is ill.”
Tithonus states.
    “Ill from what?”
I ask. From the drugs? From the experiments? Is this what deceasing