Chapter 287: Red Planet Part 3

"Anyone hurt?" I move through the others, searching for injuries. But everyone seems relatively unharmed, if not overwhelmingly exhausted. I stop by Werzo and Qippert, scanning them. "Everyone okay?"

"Are you?" Reid clutches my elbow.

I nod through my own breathlessness and glance to the slain pile of Vermix. There must be close to fifty. Maybe more. I turn to Maddox. "Is that all of them?"

"There are no more Vermix in the tunnels," he confirms. "Some continue to roam the surface, but they will not make their way down any time soon. If you wish to do it, now would be the time."

"Do what?" Jace asks.

"Retrieve Jothkore's body," Reid says without missing a beat. He offers me a soft look before turning to the others. "How are we going to do this?"

"I guess we should carry him," Booker says.

"I'll help," Jace offers.

"Me too," Able adds.

"Then we should probably get started," Walker heads away from the corpses and the boys begin to follow.