Page 101 of Reset

“An entrance.” La Fosse pointed to the boards that were placed side by side, covering the stone floor. “We look under here.”

Together, Ryan and the kid moved the planks, leaning them against the tunnel wall. Beneath them was a dark gaping hole about four feet wide and at least twelve deep. Someone had fitted a couple of Glue-in U-bolts to the soft rock between the levels, and a climber’s rope was dangling from them by a carabiner. The rope had been knotted at points to make it easier to use as a ladder. From the looks of it, the same people had embedded some randomly placed rungs for climbers to hold on to, if needed.

“We have a winner,” Dimitri said. “Rock paper scissors to see who goes first?”

Ryan was already lowering himself to his belly, feet dangling into the hole.

“Guess Ryan wins,” Dimitri said.

Holding the rough rope, he lowered himself down into the tunnel beneath them. Flashing his light in both directions, he checked for signs of Sarah or the cave-in. There was nothing, so he anchored the rope for the others to climb down.

Once they were all at the bottom, Lake turned to La Fosse. “Which way?”

Pit boy wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “Uh…”

“Get the map out,” Dimitri ordered.

“There is nothing on the map for directions in this tunnel. I am not lying,” The Pit whined.

“Let me see.” Lake held out his hand, and La Fosse quickly passed it over. “This map is a mess. It’s a miracle we even made it here in the first place. We’ll just have to choose a direction and see where it leads.”

“Wait. Gimme a second here.” Ryan held up his hands for silence as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

“Uh, Ryan,” Dimitri said. “Is this really the time to pray?”

“Shh,” Ryan hissed as he tried to tap into his freaky gift.

A map of the tunnels he’d been through appeared in his mind, like a 3D model he could spin to look at from every angle. It showed the different levels and entrances to passageways he hadn’t taken, as well as faint outlines of things he knew were there but hadn’t actually seen—like the Metro. He waited, getting a feel for the map in relation to where they were standing.

Opening his eyes, Ryan pointed down the tunnel. “It’s that way.”

“You sure?”

Ryan couldn’t blame Dimitri for being skeptical. “Yeah, I’m sure. Tracker training.”

“This seems a little extra for standard army training,” Dimitri said.

“Yeah, it’s a coma thing.” Ryan shrugged, deciding there was no point in hiding the crazy. “I see maps in my head now.”

They started jogging down the tunnel in the direction he’d indicated. Dimitri kept shooting him curious looks, while Lake seemed to take the situation in his stride.

“Is this like a Rain Man thing?” Dimitri said.

Ryan rolled his eyes at him. “Megan is really rubbing off on you, you know that?”

“Ray-man! That’s what I’m calling you now. We gotta think of a way to monetize this new skill of yours. Maybe we could blindfold you and spin you like a bottle, then take bets on whether you know which way you’re facing at the end of it.”

Ryan let him know what he thought of that idea using sign language.

Dimitri was unfazed. “Does your woo-woo mapping system tell you how far it is to Sarah?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Soon. They had to find her soon. Right?

Dimitri clasped his shoulder. “It’s cool, Ryan, we’ll get her.”

All he could do was nod as his stomach churned and exhaustion nipped at the edges of his consciousness.

The tunnel didn’t go in a straight line. It was as though the people who’d made it were either drunk or confused. Either way, there seemed no rhyme or reason to the layout.