The Colony: Descent by Michaelbrent Collings Page B

.”
    “I went around the
side of the plane.  She was there.  She was… not her anymore.”  He put a hand
on Aaron.
    Aaron puckered his
lips, then nodded.  “It’s what she wanted.”  He looked away, looking up and
down the storm drain tunnel.  “We should –“  He cut off suddenly.  Looked back
at Christopher.  “What were you doing on the side of the plane?”
    Christopher’s mouth
rounded into a geometrically perfect circle of surprise.  He bolted toward the
opening he had just come through.  Reached up.
    Something thumped.
An explosion.
    Then louder.  Closer.
    Ken couldn’t feel
the water below him.  But he felt the ground leap up below them all.  It sent
him rocketing into the ceiling.  Or maybe it was the ceiling that was punching
its way down, slamming into the survivors.
    Ken thought he saw
something slip through the storm drain opening.
    Zombie.
    Then his head
collided with something hard.
    The darkness
cocooned him.  Enfolded him.
    Took him away.

  46
     
     
    Ken woke up and
didn’t know how long he’d been asleep.
    He couldn’t see
anything.  His eyes were open – he was fairly certain of it – but all was dark.
    Still
underground.  The storm tunnel.
    His back was wet. 
He thought it was probably blood.
    I’m bleeding
out.  This is it .
    Then he realized
that the fluid was flowing too fast to be coming from him.  He was shivering,
too.  Wet, cold.  He might not bleed out after all, but he couldn’t move.  So
he’d either drown if the water level rose any higher or just die of
hypothermia.
    How long does it
take to freeze to death?
    He tried to
remember.  Not that it would do much good, since he had no control over his
body.
    Still, his mind dug
into memory.  It is the nature of human beings to assert control, even where
the control is only over their own minds.  Even where the control offers no
real hope.  Even where the control is only an illusion.
    The world was
ending, Ken was dying, and he focused everything he had left on remembering
what hypothermia would do.
    The hapkido studio
he’d gone to for years invited first responders in from time to time to talk
about emergency procedures – first aid, what to do in case of a fire, things
like that.  The master teacher believed self-defense was more than kicking and
punching, it was learning how to put out a grease fire, knowing where the
closest police stations were located.
    One of the people
had been a paramedic who talked briefly about what to do if caught outside in
the snow.
    And just like that,
Ken’s mind clicked to that moment.  “Hypothermia takes a while to set in,” said
the paramedic, a kid who looked like he was barely out of high school, complete
with acne scars and the wiry body of a still-developing young man.  But he
spoke with ease and confidence.  “The military has done studies showing people
can be outside in freezing temperatures wearing next to nothing and be all
right as long as they keep moving.”
    The man looked at
the group, grinning a wide, good-natured grin.  Ken realized the paramedic was
probably dead now.
    “Of course, that’s
if you’re outside.  You fall into cold water, or you’re injured, chances go
down.  A lot.  So don’t do that.”
    The class laughed.
    Ken didn’t laugh. 
Not then, not now.  He shivered.  The black around him seemed to grow heavier. 
He didn’t think the water was rising, but he didn’t know for sure: he realized
he couldn’t feel it any more.  He was just numb.
    Then a wave of heat
swept over him.  He was still cold, still freezing , but he felt hot as
well.
    A part of him
wondered how that was possible.
    Another part of him
knew he was sick.  Infected from his wounds, from the water, from the dirt and
grime.
    Dying.
    He tried to call
for help in the darkness.  Couldn’t.
    No one was there.
    After everything
that had happened, all he had gone through, he wasn’t even going to be able to
die with his family.
    Were they