Lucy

by Chris Coppel

  As the dogs stared at the tunnel wall, they noticed that the bright eyes of the rats seemed to be fading, as the furry outline of their bodies became more distinct.

  “It’s getting brighter,” Hans exclaimed.

  “And windier,” Angel added, as she tried to control the flapping of her long, droopy ears.

  “We know,” said the rat. “It’s expected!”

  “What’s expected?” Lucy asked, sensing great unease.

  “What’s about to happen!” the rat replied. “But it’s expected, so there’s no problem.”

  The tunnel was brightening rapidly now. Lucy looked back down the way they’d come and saw Fat Man and Champ silhouetted in the grey light. The biped looked totally petrified and was trying to drag the Boxer backwards out of the tunnel.

  “This is preposterous,” Hans snapped. “Something is definitely wrong. The wind is stronger. The light is brighter and . . . listen to that sound. Will you lot please tell us what’s going on?” He had to raise his voice slightly to be heard above the grinding, squeaking, metallic and groaning sounds that were filling the tunnel.

  The dogs could now see the rats clearly in the growing light. There were hundreds of them, perched on wooden supports and cables that ran along the tunnel walls. They were large, just as Rex had said. Maybe not cat size, but certainly as big as rabbits. They each had long, thin, tails which hung down behind them making it near impossible to judge which belonged to which rat. As the rats stared down at the anxious dogs, Lucy noticed that they were all smiling, with their yellow teeth exposed.

  The lead rat was a slightly lighter shade from the rest, who all seemed to be a uniform dark grey. He stared at the five dogs with expressionless eyes, then in a voice that sounded almost bored, said. “I can’t begin to tell you how crucial it is that you lie down.”

  “Why?” Rex shouted back at him above the increasing din.

  Suddenly all the rats, every single one of them stood up and glared down the tunnel towards the source of the light and sound.

  “You know,” Lucy said nervously, shouting at the others. “Maybe they’re right. Perhaps we should lie down.”

  “In this mess?” Angel exclaimed in a shrill voice.

  “Yes!” Lucy yelled back. “And quickly!”

  “Why?” Rex looked at her uncertainly.

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  Begrudgingly, the five dogs stretched out on the dirty ground below the level of the three metal strips. The rats nodded their approval of the canine’s new position as the tunnel suddenly grew much brighter, and the noise level doubled. Lucy raised her head to see what was going on and saw that they were, in fact, awfully close to a bend in the tunnel and that something was approaching. Even before she could alert the others, a brilliant, blinding light appeared at the curve.

  “Oh, my heavens!” she exclaimed, as she flattened herself to the floor.

  Angel gave her a puzzled look just as the world directly above their heads erupted in a thunderous explosion of sparks and grinding metal. The air was literally sucked from their bodies as the dark entity above them tore by at astonishing speed. The dogs kept their heads pinned to the ground as the thing sent showers of soot over their already soiled coats.

  Lucy had never been so scared in her life. She wished that whatever it was would go away and leave them alone. Then, as she tried to cover her ears with her paws to shut out the deafening noise, it ended.

  She just had time to raise her head and watch as a glowing red light on the thing’s rear, grew smaller as it speeded away. Whatever it was, it rounded a corner and vanished from sight. The tunnel was again thrown into total darkness.

  As the dogs lay there in shock, trying to recover from their recent ordeal, they could hear their own frightened panting.

  “Is it gone?” Angel was the first to speak. Her voice was little more than a squeak.

  “Oh, yes,” the lead rat announced. “As expected.”

  Rex got to his feet, and with a look of severe annoyance on his face, approached the tunnel wall. He placed his muzzle only inches from the lead rat’s glowing eyes and slowly revealed his savage looking teeth as he spoke.

  “Is there anything else . . . expected that we should know about?” His sarcasm and anger were very clear.

  “Hard to say really. What’s interesting for us might not be for you,” the rat replied.

  “Let’s just pretend that everything interests us. That way we won’t be disappointed.”

  “Alright . . . let me think . . . oh yes . . . well . . . It’s time for us to eat,” The lead rat announced casually.

  “That’s hardly of interest!” Rex stated.

  “Oh, I don’t know.” the whiney voice responded. “You may be mildly interested in learning just exactly what we plan to eat.”

  “Why should we be?” Rex asked with growing impatience.

  “Rex!” Lucy whispered in the darkness somewhere behind him.

  “What!” his voice had an angry edge to it.

  “Move away from the wall,” she insisted.

  “Why would I want to do that?”

  “Just do it!”

  “But . . .”

  “Now!” she commanded.

  Rex moved back to the group and was about to speak when the dogs heard some movement on the tunnel walls. Suddenly thousands of yellow eyes snapped open, all staring at the five dogs.

  “I think you’d be very interested in knowing what we’re planning to eat!” The lead rat stated in an excited squeal that sent shivers up the canines’ spines.

  “Perhaps we should be going,” Lucy said with feigned calmness.

  “No, I don’t think so,” the rat replied. “Do you?”

  The entire tunnel filled with rat voices all replying in unison. “No!”

  “Run!” Lucy screamed.

  The others didn’t need any other prompting and broke into a mad dash back along the tunnel. They weren’t in the least bit concerned about Fat Man or Champ. Anything those two could dole out was insignificant compared to becoming lunch for a thousand rodents.

  As they ran at full speed away from the infested walls, they heard the spine-chilling sound of rat laughter as it echoed after them. They finally rounded a long curve and could see the end of the tunnel before them. They felt a huge relief as the first particles of light began infiltrating the darkness.

  They charged by the spot where they last saw Fat Man and the Boxer but could see no sign of either of them.

  “Do you think that horrible thing got them?” Angel asked with a mixture of horror and disgust.

  “Yes,” Lester said with complete certainty.

  The others turned to face him, curious as to his conviction that their two foes had been taken by the giant metal beast. As they looked at Lester he bent over and picked up something between his teeth. The others all felt a chill pass through them as they stared at the leash & collar that had, until very recently, belonged to Champ.

  “It’s odd,” Angel said. “But I actually feel slightly sad.”

  They all quietly nodded their understanding of the Spaniel’s emotion.

  Lucy was the first to speak. “May I suggest that we do our mourning once we’re out of this place? I’d prefer to have a little more distance between myself and those rats.”

  She didn’t have to push very hard. The mere mention of the yellow-eyed rodents was enough to get the others instantly back on their feet as they resumed their mad dash towards the tunnel’s end.

  They covered the distance quickly and had to blink their eyes repeatedly as they burst out into the brightly lit chamber from which they’d escaped only a short time earlier.

  The descent from the ledge to the lower ground turned out to have been far easier than the reverse. After a few very unsuccessful, and ungainly attempts to reach the higher lev
el, they found a system.

  Basically, they used Hans as a step. Due to his bulkier body size, he proved perfect for the job. He leant himself against the side of the wall below the ledge and allowed each animal to leap on his back, one at a time, then step up onto the higher ground.

  Various bipeds stood staring at, what to them, must have been a peculiar sight as the dogs scaled the formidable wall. Even Angel made it, though Lucy had to nose her rump up onto Hans’ back as the Spaniel kept slipping off.

  Lucy was the last to go and tried extremely hard to put as little weight on her friend’s back as possible. Once up, the dogs looked down to Hans for him to make his move. He stepped back and jumped at the wall. His front paws just touched the rim of the platform then he tumbled back to the ground. He made the attempt a couple more times but with similar results.

  He was becoming visibly frustrated, but somehow kept smiling through it all.

  They all felt the strange wind at the same moment. Coming from somewhere within the tunnel, it sent shivers through the five animals. Hans tried the jump again, this time without the smile. His front paws brushed the lip of the platforms edge but got no further. The dogs then heard the sound. It was the same as before; metallic and powerful. Lucy looked to the mouth of the tunnel and saw that the blackness had been replaced with a grey glow as the beast approached them.

  “Hans you’ve got to get out of there!” she urged her friend. “You’ve got to jump like you’ve never jumped before!”

  Hans nodded up at her then took a few careful steps backwards as his eyes darted back to the tunnel and the approaching creature. With a deep swallow, he charged the wall.

  It was a great jump, and he got his paws a good distance up and onto the platform but again, he began to slide backwards.

  Lucy looked into her friend’s panicked eyes as they darted back and forth between the tunnel with its approaching terrors and the faces of the dogs already safe on the ledge above.

  Suddenly a pair of human arms reached down and grabbed Hans by his front legs and hoisted him up and out of danger. As he was lowered to the safety of the platform, all the animals looked towards the saviour of their friend.

  The squat and angry features of the woman stared menacingly back at them as she reached down and took a firm hold of Hans by the scruff of his neck. With her other hand, Squat Lady produced the dart gun she he’d aimed at them only a few days earlier.

  At that moment, the beast exploded from the tunnel with a squeal of metal and a loud exhale of its foul and evil breath.

  Lucy turned to face the emerging creature and was utterly astonished to see before her, a harmless looking, shiny metal conveyance that was partially filled with a variety of bipeds who all appeared completely relaxed within its interior. All along the length of the thing, doorways seemed to suddenly appear, allowing humans to both enter and exit the thing.

  She never knew what came over her that day, but Lucy suddenly felt possessed by an anger such as she had never thought possible.

  She’d finally just had enough.

  Squat Lady was levelling her pistol at Rex, who was to her the most obvious target due to his size and ferocity. Lucy used the moment to lunge at the female biped. She drew back her lips to reveal her full arsenal of sharp teeth that she’d been trained to never use on any human, and with a sense of devout pleasure, sank them into the pistol-wielding arm.

  The female screamed as Lucy kept her jaws firmly closed around the pudgy flesh. She had to balance herself on her hind legs as the human tried to spin away from her attacker.

  Hans used the distraction to twist his heavy bulk out of her grasp and leap out of her way. Rex then stepped forward and sank his teeth into the spinning biped’s ankle.

  The reaction was spectacular. The human shrieked and howled as she tried to free her arm and leg from the two, firm sets of canine teeth.

  Just as the other dogs made a move to join in the fun, a loud whistle pierced the air. From the far end of the chamber, a dozen or so policemen had appeared. As one of them continued blowing urgently into his whistle, the others ran towards the melee.

  With deep reluctance, the dogs released their hold on Squat Lady as they tried to find some avenue of escape from the charging, uniformed bipeds.

  “Follow me!” Lucy shouted as she leapt through one of the openings of the metallic conveyance. The others followed instantly, seeing no other choice at hand.

  As the last of them leapt into the silver beast, its doors, as if by magic, slid shut behind them. The Squat Lady lunged after them. She managed to poke the end of the dart gun between the closing portals and tried to pry them open. The dogs cowered on the opposite side of the brightly lit interior, as the female began to succeed in forcing the doors open.

  That’s when the strangest thing happened. A male biped dressed immaculately in a dark suit, rose from his seat and went to the doorway. The dogs assumed that he was about to help the woman and began edging away from the activity.

  To their utter astonishment, the human grabbed the end of the weapon and pulled it out of the Squat Lady’s grasp. Then as if that were not enough, he used the weapon to tap on the female’s clutching fingers until they released the sliding doors. As soon as the doors closed, the dogs felt themselves moving and watched in rapt fascination as the irate face of Squat Lady, and the concerned expressions of the policemen, all seemed to slide by them with ever increasing speed. Within seconds, they were gone from sight as the conveyance entered a tunnel.

  That’s when the lights went out.

  CHAPTER 25

  In fact, the lights were only out for less than a second, but it was long enough to truly terrify the already anxious canines.

  Once the lights stopped their flickering and settled back to their harsh, but stable brightness, Lucy had a good opportunity to examine the biped that had saved them. The human stepped over to the dogs without even the slightest sense of fear. He dropped to his knees without any thought for his clean and neatly pressed clothing. He reached out a hand and held it politely under Lucy’s nose so that she could evaluate his scent.

  Her mother had been a fine instructor when it came to the sometimes tricky challenge of categorising a human’s scent. It wasn’t easy, especially as most humans seemed to go out of their way to conceal their personal odour whenever possible. Between the soaps, oils and perfumes, it was indeed quite a challenge to trace a human’s original smell beneath the camouflage.

  In this instance however, Lucy was able to locate the true scent very easily, as the biped used little to conceal his odour other than a mild, natural-smelling soap. Beneath that was him. Gentle, patient, calm and without any fear that she could detect.

  She lowered her head and allowed the human to stroke her. It felt wonderful, and for a moment, catapulted Lucy’s memory back to the safe and gentle sensations of the cottage and her man’s affectionate touch. She looked into the human’s eyes and saw the same type of caring and intelligence within them.

  “So, what’s your story, you lot?” The human spoke in a gentle tone. “On the run, are you? Well, I have no idea what you’ve done, but looking at you, I can’t somehow believe it’s that bad.” As he spoke, he continued to stroke her head.

  The entire group, biped, and all, suddenly lurched forward as the transport applied its brakes and began to slow down. The dogs became instantly wary and even Lucy pulled away from the gentle touch of the kind man.

  The biped seemed very understanding, as he rose back to his feet grabbing a metal pole for support. He smiled down at the dogs, but especially at Lucy.

  “I have to get off here,” he said, apologetically. “Take care of yourselves.”

  The conveyance suddenly burst out of the tunnel and back into, what to the dogs, looked like the same chamber they’d started from. They could see the same lights and posters. It was very confusing until Angel pointed out that though
similar, it was in fact different in subtle ways.

  As the transport came to a complete stop and the doors slid open, the dogs stared nervously out, looking for Squat Lady or indeed anyone who meant to do them harm. The kind biped gave each animal a brief, but friendly pat then walked through the doors and onto the platform. The dogs decided that they preferred to stay where they were, having no wish to encounter Squat Lady again so soon.

  As they anxiously waited for the doors to slide shut, Lucy watched the nice human male as he turned from the platform and produced the dart gun from his jacket pocket. Almost ceremoniously, he deposited it into a waste bin then, with a brief wave, turned away and vanished from their sight up a flight of stairs. The doors then slid shut.

  They felt the ground under them jolt as the vehicle began to move again and immediately pick up speed.

  Lester was the first to notice that, posted above them, were drawings and names just like the ones they’d seen back at the initial underground chamber. Lester soon managed to read the names that were printed above each stop and then locate the same on the drawings. He was able to work out where they were and amazingly, where they were going. It was very impressive to the others.

  He located St. Paul’s name and calculated how many more stops they had to go before actually reaching it. The others found such a theory a little far-fetched. As the doors slid open at what Lester insisted would be the correct stop, they were stunned as the lettering before them did indeed seem to back up the Doberman’s claim. They stepped out into the tiled chamber, and with every nerve-ending in their bodies ringing with energy, they waited to be pounced upon at any moment. Nothing happened. Other than a few startled glances from passing bipeds, they were able to continue on, unhindered.

  Rex gathered the group together, and with a voice filled with leadership and strength, spoke to the others. “I think the most important thing at this point is to get back above ground. We need to find a way out.”

  “How about over there?” Lester voiced smugly as he gestured to a large, illuminated sign on which was clearly printed . . . WAY OUT.