Beneath the Fallen City (The Omni Towers, #1)

Chapter One Kayla knew she was in trouble the moment her foot touched the ground. Feeling the floor give way beneath her boots, she tucked in her arms, forcing her body to relax in order to minimize the impact. She crashed through the floor, bringing building debris with her. Landing hard on a lower level of the ruins with a loud thump, a cloud of dust obscured her vision. A rough voice sounded from the earpiece attached to her helmet. “What the hell’s going on down there? I’ll kick your a*s if you damaged any artifacts.” Kayla shifted slightly. Thankfully, this level appeared stable. She moved her limbs to gauge the extent of her injuries. Nothing broken, just my pride. She’d have plenty of bruises tomorrow, and she was sure she’d never hear the end of it. “Floor collapse in Sector Twelve. I’m fine, Leo. Thanks for asking.” She rolled her eyes at his lack of concern. There was a moment of static before the angry voice came back over the frequency. “You’re supposed to be in Sector Four. Sector Twelve is still being mapped.” Kayla recognized her spotter’s calmer tone when he interrupted Leo’s impending tirade. “Leo, this is Veridian. We detected Carl’s team on another frequency. It sounded like they were headed toward Sector Four. We thought it best to avoid them.” “Dammit,” Leo swore. “They weren’t supposed to be back in that area for another few days. We’re working off bad information. Get out of that hole and get your asses back to camp. I don’t have time for this shit.” “Understood,” Veridian replied. “Kayla, are you secure?” She grimaced and glanced around the room, her helmet light shining through the dust as it settled. “Not yet. Let me get into position. You’ll need to lower the cable and harness about five meters.” Kayla paused, and then added, “I hope you’ve got some hydrating packs. I’m parched.” She flipped open her wristband and switched channels on her commlink. Trusting Veridian would remember the code phrase indicating she wanted to speak with him on an unmonitored channel, she said, “Tell Leo the gear is jammed. I need at least ten minutes. If Carl’s crew is working this area again, I don’t know when we’ll be able to come back. Let me see what I can scavenge.” Veridian huffed in exasperation, but he agreed. “Try to make it five, Kayla. Your vitals are out of sync, and Leo’s monitoring from camp. He sounds pissed.” “That’s nothing new,” Kayla muttered and switched back to the main channel before flipping her wristband unit closed. She rolled over and got into a crawling position, wincing from the pain. Once she was confident the floor would support her, she stood and took a better look around the room. The abandoned apartment building was several hundred years old. Neglect and the elements had taken their toll. Faded wallpaper peeled from the walls, and a thick layer of dust coated the floor. Most of the furniture had either been scavenged or had rotted over the years. It was easy to get disoriented in the ruins with the sloping floors, partially collapsed walls, and extensive structural damage. One of the tricks she’d learned over the years was to reconcile the current scene with the echoes of the past. Kayla closed her eyes for a moment and visualized the way the room used to be. In her mind, she saw a large bedroom with an ornate bed against the wall in front of her. A low bookcase sat on the far wall with two overstuffed chairs. A strange painting hung over the bookcase and seemed to beckon her. On the opposite side of the room was a dresser with a large mirror where she imagined a woman modeling a silly-looking hat. She shook her head to clear the realistic image from her mind. Keep it together, Kayla. It’s only your imagination. Even so, she trusted her instincts. Veridian often joked that the ruins spoke to her. In a sense, she guessed it was true. Her instincts never let her down. Moving across the room, she focused on the dilapidated painting hanging over the bookcase. The painting was unsalvageable, rotted and covered with mildew. Something about it had drawn her attention though. Kayla pulled the painting off the wall and set it on the floor. With gloved hands, she ran her fingers over the surface vacated by the painting and bit back a grin as she felt a niche in the wall. Pulling open the false wall, she stared at an old metal safe. It was tempting and probably faster to force it open or even pull it out of its resting place, but there was no way she’d risk damaging the structural elements further. The whole building was little better than a death trap. Fortunately, she’d been trained by one of the best. Kayla opened her backpack and withdrew a long, wand-like instrument that also doubled as a handheld drill. With her other hand, she pressed her frequency detector against the door to the safe. Drilling a small hole, she then jimmied the cylinder inside the locking mechanism. Watching the detector’s display, she moved the wand until she heard a click. Tucking the tools back into her toolkit, she opened the door. Ignoring the worthless stocks, bonds, and other papers piled in the safe, she pulled out a small box tucked in the back. Kayla flipped open the lid of the box. A ruby necklace and a pair of earrings, along with several other valuable pieces of jewelry, winked at her under the light from her helmet. Not bad. On occasion, she’d found weapons or ammunition. Those that could be salvaged were more usable to her camp, but jewelry could be traded for other supplies. She stuffed the box into her backpack before turning back to the safe. Rifling through the papers, Kayla discovered a small cloth pouch. She opened it and shook the contents out into her gloved palm. A small green sculpture of a strange-looking creature with a long snout and a pair of wings sat in the palm of her hand. It was slightly larger than the length of her thumb, carved from a mineral she didn’t recognize. She shook her head in resignation. You people should have paid more attention to survival rather than collecting stupid trinkets. Veridian spoke over her headset again, an undertone of urgency in his voice. “Kayla, time’s up. We’ve got company. I’ve got three bikes incoming on the radar. They’ve got trader camp signatures. ETA is about three minutes. Get up here now.” “Dammit,” Kayla swore as she unscrewed the false bottom of her frequency detector. She’d never make it to the surface in time, but she wasn’t about to walk away empty-handed either. She pushed the small carving inside, snatched the jewelry box from her backpack, and dumped out the contents. Shoving most of the jewelry inside the secret compartment, she closed the opening. She unzipped her jacket and stuffed the ruby necklace into her shirt before tossing the empty box in a pile of debris in the corner. Kayla zipped up her jacket and made her way back to where she had crashed through the floor. Climbing into the harness, she hit the indicator button to let Veridian know she was secure. “Ready, V. Pull me up.” The engine came to life, and the cable harness slowly lifted her out of the ruins, giving her a chance to evaluate the depth of the building. Kayla had been scavenging several levels down, and she suspected there were at least a few more levels below her. Something big is down here. I can feel it. A hand reached out to help her the moment she passed through the roof of the building. She gripped the offered hand and pulled herself the rest of the way out of the ruins. When she saw the owner of the hand and realized it wasn’t Veridian, she yanked hers back as if burned. “You lousy, blood-sucking, rat-dicked bastard,” she spat as she pulled off her helmet. Tossing back her dark hair, she glared at the man standing in front of her. Veridian was standing a short distance away, and he shrugged as though to say there wasn’t much he could do. She should have come up to the surface sooner. “Ah, Kayla, still as charming as ever,” Carl replied, his voice smooth. “We intercepted your transmission earlier. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise when I heard you and Veridian were in Sector Twelve. I thought it might be a good idea to take a short trip to see what you’ve been up to.” Kayla scowled at the man. Easily over six feet in height, he towered over her much shorter frame. If she had to guess, she’d estimate his age to be several years older than her, maybe somewhere in his mid-twenties. His shoulders were broad, and his muscles were well defined in tribute to the time he spent navigating the ruins. His long, dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and accentuated his incredible face. Dark, penetrating brown eyes focused on her, and his lips twitched into a teasing smirk. Like Kayla, he wore the special UV-protective pants and jacket to shield himself from the harsh sun. The world had changed since the last war, and the environmental conditions were deadly without several protective measures. Even now, they stood under a portable UV guard that encompassed the area where Kayla and Veridian had been scavenging. As good-looking as he was, Carl was a pain in the a*s. It didn’t help that she’d mistakenly thought he was a ruin rat when they first met. Of course, he hadn’t been in a hurry to clear up the misconception either. If Kayla had clubbed him over the head with her wrench instead of flirting with him, she would have saved herself months of irritation. Instead, he kept showing up at different scavenging sites as an unwelcome reminder of their first meeting. Never mind that he seemed to get an almost perverse pleasure at cutting into their earnings. Yeah, if he weren’t so damn pretty, I would have clocked him months ago. The thought was still tempting. Determination in her movements, Kayla dropped her pack on the ground and unhooked the harness. She might not have her wrench handy, but her fists would do well enough. When she yanked off her gloves and started to take a step toward him, Veridian made a small, pained noise. His look of warning stopped her in her tracks. She pursed her lips and let out a long exhale. Okay, so maybe wiping the smug expression off the trader’s face wasn’t the best way to handle the situation. As though sensing her thoughts, Veridian gave her a slight nod of approval before packing up the metal cabling and the rest of the equipment. In an effort to calm herself, Kayla reached for a hydrating pack and took a long drink before turning back to the uninvited guests. As usual, Carl wasn’t alone. He had brought two of his lackeys with him, Cruncher and Elyot. Cruncher was a short, stocky character with a knack for electronics. Kayla had admired his skill on more than one occasion when he’d dropped off deliveries to their camp. He was a former ruin rat himself, which was why she’d thought Carl had been the same. She never believed a trader would sully himself enough to visit a ruin rat camp. Elyot was fairly new to Carl’s crew, and she didn’t know much about him. He had sandy-blond hair and a wiry build, leading her to believe he was one of Carl’s scavengers. It didn’t matter. She didn’t have much interest in traders or their crews. They were a necessary evil. Nothing more. Kayla wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Nothing better to do than listen in on other people’s conversations?” Carl smiled. “I have to protect my interests, don’t I? You two are scavenging in a claimed sector.” “You must be mistaken. We came here to tour some ruins and see the sights.” “I see.” He gestured to Cruncher, and the large man picked up Kayla’s discarded pack. He pulled out her frequency detector and other tools, giving them a cursory glance before putting them aside. Cruncher shook his head to indicate it was empty. “It’s only her equipment, Boss.”