Arrival: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller

23

Maya and Reno walked most of the way to the tunnel entrance before finding a place to rest for the evening. The night had come on fast, and the darkness beneath the dome felt thick, almost soupy. The sky above the Nashville skyline glowed with a dull orange and Maya wondered how long it would be before power beneath the dome was cut. She felt like it was the conversation she and Reno had talked around while heading toward the tunnels.

“There’s no point in getting there tonight,” Reno said. “Let’s get some rest and wait until morning when the sun’s out, and then we should have an easier time locating the entrance.”

He’s right. You’ll get to your kids. Don’t worry. Stop and rest.

“All right,” she said. “We should probably conserve the batteries in the penlight anyway.” She handed it to Reno and he shoved it into his back pocket. “And put this in your sock, if you can. We should each have a weapon.”

Reno took the buck knife that Maya had taken from Sean’s and slid it inside of his boot.

They found an unlocked, abandoned car on the side of the road. Maya couldn’t quite figure out what people had been thinking when they’d left their cars. Hadn’t they considered what would happen when the dome was removed?

Unless they thought it won’t be.

Reno climbed into the passenger side and reclined the seat, giving Maya the back. The old Buick reeked of cigarette smoke and dirty diapers, but they’d be out of sight and could lock the doors.

Stretched out as much as she could be, she closed her eyes. Her muscles ached. And yet, all she could think about were her kids. She’d mentally blocked out the fact that she’d shot a man and gotten into a fight—things that would have been incomprehensible to her only a few days ago. Now, Maya just wanted to see Aiden and Laura, or at least know they were safe.

“Quite the day,” Reno said as he stared out the windshield.

“I’d rather not talk about it.”

“I understand.”

Maya saw Reno’s face tighten and his fingers fidgeted. When he didn’t speak again, she prompted him. “What?” she asked.

“I want to ask you a question.”

“One, Reno. Then I want to forget what happened today.”

“Where did you learn how to fight like that?”

“I’ve told you I’ve been a member of a dojo for a long time.”

“Yeah, but, and I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but I always thought you meant a kick-boxing class at the Y or something. I didn’t know you were that serious.”

“Well, now you know I take it a little more serious than that,” she said, more curtly than she had intended.

Throughout the chaos of her divorce, Maya had never missed her Jiu-Jitsu class. It had remained her only outlet to get her away from the sour, downward spiral of the relationship. She’d tried other things like running, yoga, and meditation, but none of that had worked. None of those activities had been able to take her mind off of her failing marriage. But Jiu-Jitsu had helped clear her head and vent her frustrations in a healthy way. She’d even branched out and begun training in derivatives of Jiu-Jitsu, including several months of sword training in Aikido.

“You believe Jack, don’t you?” Reno asked after another moment.

“I don’t know if I believe every word he says. The alien stuff sounds delusional. But the tunnels don’t seem far-fetched. We are in the South. Tunnels weren’t that uncommon during the Civil War—Underground Railroad and such.”

For the first time in their entire relationship, Maya was hit with the fact that Reno’s ancestry was different than hers, and she suddenly felt awkward mentioning slavery, and then angry at herself for not understanding why she felt awkward.

“According to that map, the tunnels go beyond the edge of the dome,” she said to cover the sudden confusion she felt.

“But the question you asked Jack is valid. What if we run into the wall of the dome underground?”

Maya shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is, I’m desperate to get to my kids. I’ll go underground if I have to.”

“I know.”

“And I know I’ve said this already, but thanks for sticking with me. I think others would have bailed by now.”

“Then they aren’t friends.”

Maya smiled and leaned up to put a hand on Reno’s shoulder. He put his hand over hers and tapped lightly.

“Goodnight, Maya.”

“Night.”

Maya checked the locks on the doors one last time before rolling onto her side and attempting to get some sleep. The humid air trapped inside the car would be the price she’d willingly pay to sleep with even a shred of security. She closed her eyes, pictured Aiden and Laura, and dozed off.

Maya floated in and out of several dreams until the morning sun began to heat the side of her face. She rolled over, and woke suddenly when she didn’t see Reno in the passenger seat. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes, she saw him perched on the guardrail with his back to the road. He turned around upon hearing her door open.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said, smiling.

Maya yawned as she stretched, and then walked over to sit down next to Reno. She wasn’t sure if the previous day’s altercations or the Buick were responsible for her muscle cramps, but at least she felt somewhat refreshed. She pulled her phone from her pocket to check the time and to see if she had service. Maybe the dome had miraculously disappeared overnight?

She pressed the home button but got nothing. Then she held down the power button and the red battery flashed on the screen.

“Damnit,” she said.

“You forgot to shut your phone off, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

Reno pulled out his and held it up, powering it on. He waited for his phone to power on, and then frowned. “Still no service. Remind me to check again. I’m down to 15% battery, so I’ve gotta shut it back off.”

Maya pulled out the map. Now, in the sunlight, she was better able to look closely at Jack’s markings. He might have seemed disturbed, but the level of detail he’d put into the map impressed her. Notes had been written and lines drawn in different colors—some more faded than others. The man had been working on the map for a long time. And for whatever reason, he had given it to her. She’d saved him twice, but it still seemed strange that Jack had handed this over to her so casually.

“You ready to get going?” Reno asked, standing above her now.

“Yeah.”

He reached down, offering her a hand and pulling Maya to her feet.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. You know where we’re going?”

Maya pointed to a place on the map. “According to this, if we head this way for about half a mile, we should be standing at the opening of a tunnel. I wish we had more than this single penlight, even though it’s got a bright LED bulb.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we’re going to walk into a sporting goods store and buy more,” Reno said. “Let’s go. I’m ready to get off these damn streets.”

Maya sighed, hoping they’d fair better below the city than they had within it.