Page 71 of Minding the Minotaur
Fuck.
I look around desperately. In the distance I can detect the black, looming shape of a dome. It must be Sparkle City. Could I get her there?
I immediately dismiss the idea.
Sparkle wouldn’t be safe for either of us,even if I knew how the fuck to get into the damned place without a portal cape.
They’d shoot me down. Vaporize me. That would be it for both of us.
But somehow,somewhere,I have to get her treatment. Urgently.
Shit, shit, shit. Why did I agree to climb up here?
What part of being up here has rendered her unconscious? The air, the light, the sights and sounds? I have no fucking idea.
I turn my back on the beauty I’ve beheld. The things I’ve dreamed of so often, the sound of the birds and insects, the sweet nectar of the air, and the promise of freedom on the horizon.
Because without Sammy, none of this means a fucking thing.
I would reside forever in the dark tunnels of the Labyrinth just to have her back.
These thoughts all run through my head as I feverishly haul her limp form onto my back. Somehow, I make my way down the rock wall to the lake with her over my shoulders. I lay her down and check on her—yes, she’s still breathing, but it is so light it barely moves her chest.
I low pitifully, and the sound echoes through the cave.
I have only one choice. I must retrace my steps back along the Labyrinth.
Back the way we came.
And hope to the gods and the goddess that someone in the Labyrinth can save her.
I don’t know how long I’ve been running. Time becomes meaningless when everything you have in you, every muscleand sinew, every pounding footstep you take, is focused on saving the one you love.
Exhaustion blurs my vision. I stumble once or twice, barely able to see my way in this part of the Labyrinth. It’s a long stretch of nothingness, and I keep looking ahead to make sure I don’t run into a curve in the tunnel.
I don’t know how much longer I can carry Sammy; she is getting heavier as I get more fatigued. How will I get her home?
But I can’t stop. I pause every fifteen minutes to check that she is breathing, and am relieved to find that she is, but alarmed that I still cannot even get a glimmer of recognition when I say her name. She is deeply unconscious.
I round a bend and realize we’re coming to the lift shaft that takes workers to the lower levels. I can see the lighting increasing. There has to be some action here, even if it’s not change of shift yet. As I get closer, relief floods my exhausted body when I spot a truck parked by the lift shaft. No doubt waiting to go down to the lower levels. Heart pounding, I pick up the pace, and as I get closer, I realize Kazmo is sitting in the driver’s seat.
I bellow his name with all my remaining strength.
Kazmo is talking on his radio system, damn him, but he looks up finally. His eyes widen, and his features shift into lion as he takes in the sorry sight of me with Sammy limp over my shoulder.
In seconds, he’s out of the truck and racing toward us.
“Fucking hell, what happened to her?” he shouts.
“She breathed Earth air,” I gasp out of parched lips.
“How?”
“Please don’t make me explain,” I beg hoarsely. “Just help. She needs urgent attention.”
“Where to—the clinic, or hospital?”
I hesitate. Our hospital is full of injured workers from the lower levels. It’s a rough place, with rudimentary care. I don’twant Sammy in there. But the clinic is owned by humans, and everything in my gut tells me it’s not a safe place to take Sammy either, though I do trust Peg, the nurse.
