Chapter 202 Inside the tunnel
Kevan’s POV
The trap door creaked when we finally forced it open.
Mark had already cleared the room upstairs. Dead quiet now except for boots shifting on concrete and the faint hum of generators somewhere deeper in the compound. The smell of gunpowder and blood still hung in the air, thick enough to taste.
I crouched beside the opening and shined my flashlight down into the darkness. Stone steps disappeared into a narrow tunnel below.
“Well,” I muttered. “Would you look at that.” Mark leaned over my shoulder, his arms were crossed. “Hidden escape route. That man really did think of everything.” He shook his head.
“Yeah,” I said dryly. “Real thoughtful of him.” I straightened and glanced at the men behind me.
“Alright boys,” I said. “Let’s see where our friend ran off to.”
A couple of them chuckled under their breath. Everyone else just checked their weapons.
The air that drifted up from the tunnel was cool and damp. This passage hadn’t been built yesterday. Which meant Clarence had been planning for this day long before we showed up. That freaking figures.
I swung my rifle forward and stepped onto the first stone step. “Stay tight,” I said over my shoulder. “And watch the walls.”
“Do you think that there is traps down here?” one of the guys asked as he paused briefly.
“With Clarence?” I snorted. “What do you think?” That shut him up.
We moved down the steps slowly. Our boots were scraping against old stone, the only sound echoing through the narrow shaft.
At the bottom, the staircase opened into a long tunnel carved through packed dirt and reinforced with wooden beams. My flashlight beam stretched down the passage. The passageway was long. Too long.
“Well that’s comforting,” I muttered.
Mark came down behind me and scanned the walls.
“Recently used,” he said.
I crouched and ran my fingers across the dirt floor. There was tracks and boot marks. And there was lot of them.
“They came through here,” I said. “More than just Clarence.”
“How many?” I shrugged. “Enough. Definitely more than just him.” That meant his beta, gamma, and whoever else he trusted enough to run with him. Smart move.
I stood and motioned forward. “Let’s move.” I said as we continued on our way.
The tunnel swallowed the sound of our footsteps as we advanced. The beams overhead creaked every now and then, dust drifting down when someone brushed the walls.
Every few feet my light swept across the ground, checking for pressure plates, wires, anything out of place.
Clarence wasn’t stupid. A man like that never leaves a path unguarded.
About thirty yards in, one of the guys behind me muttered. “Hold up.” We froze instantly. He crouched beside the wall and pointed his light.
There was a very thin wire. Damn, it was barely visible. “He planted a trip line,” he said.
I leaned closer. “Good catch. You just saved our asses.” I smiled and patted his back.
I followed the wire with my eyes. I spotted the small charge tucked into a wooden brace. It wasn’t big enough to collapse the tunnel. Just enough to take a few of us out.
I shook my head. “Petty bastard.” I muttered under my breath.
Mark clipped the wire carefully with his knife. The tension eased.
“Keep your eyes open,” I said. “If that’s the first one, there’ll be more.” And there were. Two more traps before we hit the halfway point. Clarence had spaced them perfectly. Not to kill everyone. Just to slow us down. To delay us. To buy himself time.
I almost laughed. “He knew we’d find this place,” I said.
Mark glanced at me. “You think so?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. “This whole thing? It’s a head start. Nothing more.” We kept moving. The tunnel stretched on for what felt like forever. Branches split off occasionally, narrow side passages that looked like storage alcoves or secondary exits. We cleared each one quickly.
They were all empty. No supplies, no bodies, nothing. That meant they hadn’t stopped. They ran straight through. Eventually the air changed. It was getting fresher. Cool breeze was brushing across my face.
I slowed and raised a hand. “The end is right up here.” I said as I pointed in front of us.
The tunnel sloped upward slightly before opening into another staircase carved into the dirt. Natural light filtered faintly from above. One of the men pushed open the metal hatch at the top. Daylight poured down. We climbed out one by one into the woods. Tall trees surrounded the clearing. Thick brush. Perfect cover. I stepped away from the opening and scanned the ground.
Boot prints again. Leading toward a dirt road about fifty yards out. I walked over and crouched. There they were. Tire tracks. They were not fresh. But clear enough.
I exhaled slowly. “Well,” I said.
Mark came up beside me. “They’re gone.”
“Yeah,” I said as I studied the tracks for another moment before standing.
“The vehicles were waiting,” Mark said.
“Of course they were.” Clarence hadn’t run blindly into the woods.
He had a plan. A clean exit. And enough time to use it.
One of the men kicked the dirt in frustration. “Damn it.”
I turned back toward the tunnel entrance. “This wasn’t about stopping us,” I said. “It was about slowing us.”
Mark nodded. “And it worked.”
I rolled my shoulders and glanced down the road where the tracks disappeared. Clarence had hours on us now. Maybe more. Which meant wherever he was going, he was already there.
I sighed. “Well boys,” I said, slinging my rifle over my shoulder.
“Looks like the hunt just got a lot more interesting.”
Behind me, one of the guys muttered,
“Think he planned this long?”
I smirked. “Buddy, Clarence’s been planning this since the day he built that compound.”
I looked once more at the empty road. Then back at my team. “Let’s head back to the palace,” I said. “Coban and Caden are gonna love this news.”
No one laughed. And honestly? Neither did I.