The corridor beyond was much broader and lit with solar-powered lamps. She was beneath the compound now, working her way toward the rooms where the children would be waiting. She could no longer hear the sounds of battle and therefore had no indication of how much time remained to her. She would have to hurry.
She followed the corridor for several hundred yards, ignoring the branching passageways and closed doors to either side. The safe room, where the children would be hidden, was ahead, buried another level down, protected by heavy steel doors and traps designed to collapse the passageway. She knew them all, and she knew how to avoid them. The demons and the once-men would not be so lucky, but in the end it wouldn’t be enough to save the children and their protectors. It never was.
“Angel!”
She stopped abruptly as a woman’s form emerged from the shadows ahead.
‘Are they all right?” Angel asked.
Helen Rice nodded. Small, slight and full of energy, she was the leader of those who had promised to help when the day to do so arrived. Angel had met with Helen last week, warning her that it would happen soon. “We have them all together in the safe room. Almost two hundred children and a dozen women and men to shepherd them. A few others are there, too, the ones who won’t allow it. I couldn’t do anything about them until you came.”
Angel started ahead once more, taking Helen’s arm and turning her about.
“They won’t be a problem. But we have to hurry. The once-men are breaking through. They’ll be down here soon.”
“Where are the children from the other compounds?” Helen asked, breathing hard as they practically ran down this small, dark corridor that was deliberately disguised to look as if it lacked any importance at all. “Did you get them all out?”
“Most.” She tried not to think about the ones she hadn’t, the ones she’d lost. “As many as I could. It wasn’t easy. They’re hidden up in the hills north, waiting for us.”
Helen shook her head. “I can’t believe this is happening. I tell myself it is, know for a fact it is, and I still can’t believe it. Sweet Heaven!”
They went down a set of steps and along a second corridor that ended at a steel wall with a metal keypad recessed into its surface. Helen punched a sequence of numbers on the pad, and a set of hidden locks released.
Angel pushed against the wall, which swung open far enough to allow them passage. The women stepped through into bright light and eerie silence.
Dozens of children sat cross-legged around makeshift tables on a concrete floor. The smaller children were drawing and working with puzzles. The older ones were reading. A few not quite old enough to fight at the walls or work in the nursing stations were helping the adults supervise. No one was talking in a regular tone of voice; everyone was whispering. Frightened eyes glanced up as Angel and Helen appeared through the door, fixing quickly on the former with her strange black staff.
A small clutch of women came forward, faces drawn, eyes filled with fear.
They knew.
“Is it time?” one asked.
“What do we do?” asked another.
Helen reached for the closest and squeezed her arm reassuringly.
“Gather them in their safety groups and put one older child or one adult with each group. Remind them they are not to speak or make any sounds at all once we leave this room.”
Those addressed broke away, spreading out across the room and summoning the children to their feet. But now a different woman came charging over, her face flushed and angry, her hands gesturing wildly. “No, no, no!” she cried out, coming right up against Helen and gripping the smaller woman by her shoulders.
“What do you think you’re doing? You can’t take these children out of here!”
She swung around on Angel. “This is your fault. You’ve caused nothing but trouble with your scare tactics and false prophecies! I’m sick of it! Who do you think you are? These aren’t your children! You can’t just come in here and take them away!”
She was furious, and now she was joined by several others, all of them looking as if they meant to attack her if she even moved toward the children.
Angel held her ground. “The gates are about to collapse under the weight of the attack. The enemy will be inside in minutes. When that happens, all chance of escape will be cut off. You will be sealed inside. Eventually, you will be found. You know what will happen then.”
“I know what you say will happen! Anyway, I don’t believe you!
You’d do anything to get those children!”
“I would do anything to save them, yes.” Angel kept her voice even, her gaze level.
“Get out of here! Leave us alone! We’re safe right where we are!
Our men will protect us from those creatures outside!”