There’s a split-second delay. Then the second and third go off.

The shock wave hits like a building collapsing. My feet bowl from under me, even in the lee of the access tunnel. I go deaf and blind. Superheated dust fills my mouth and nostrils. Overhead panels crash. Alarms blare. The central shaft collapses in sections on all three sides.

I’m clinging to one of Manning’s fire boots. He has gone down too. I’ve forgotten Rachel completely. My only thought is, as during the warrant service, Hang on to that shotgun!

The corrugated floor writhes beneath me. It’s the back-suck from the initial concussion. I’m being swept. The air that has been pushed in by the tunnel weapons’ triple blast now roars back in the opposite direction—out.

MANNING

Dewey! Can you hear me?

Manning pulls me by the collar back into the incline tunnel.

By increments, the central shaft clears.

Instancer stands there.

Soot-black from sole to crown.

But unfazed.

Grinning.

LEVEL EIGHT

A steel stairwell descends from the blasted atrium. Ben-David has plunged down. Instancer follows.

GEOTHERMAL AREA

NO ENTRY

Alarms blare. Emergency sprinklers gush from overhead. Foam fire retardant blasts from wide-mouth nozzles along the walls.

Manning grabs me.

MANNING

The Zombie Killer!

I press it into his hands.

LEVEL NINE

Manning vanishes down the stairwell.

Am I a coward? Every cell is screaming, Run! Climb! Get outta here!

I can feel the earth’s core beneath me. It rumbles like a nuclear reactor. The soles of my feet, despite the flame boots, burn as if I’m standing on a hot iron.

What is that sound?

Magma?

The geothermal core?

I descend the stairwell. Its bottom is a sheltered cell.

My heart fails me.

I can’t take another step.

I peer, shielding my eyes with the oversized, Mylar-faced flame gloves.

Level Nine is a domed arena, the size of a wrestling ring. Its floor is sizzling corrugated tin. You can see the magma glow beneath it.

Ben-David crouches in a defensive stance on the far side. An alcove no bigger than a coffin protects him. He wears a flame suit with boots and gloves. He’s holding a helmet up to protect his face.

Instancer stands in the center of the ring, facing Manning, who has stepped from the stairwell. A space of ten feet separates them.

I hear a sound from above.

Rachel.

She half tumbles down the ladder well. In flame boots but with no suit, no gloves, no helmet. I realize I’d lost track of her. I curse my heedlessness. I lunge at her.

She wrestles against me.

RACHEL

Where’s the gun?

We both turn toward Manning.

He clutches the Zombie Killer.

Instancer faces him. Smoke rises from his shirt and trousers.

Manning steps forward. His clothes are smoldering too.

MANNING

You can fall.

INSTANCER

What?

MANNING

Motherfucker, you can fall.