“Please Gabe, you know I’m scared in the dark. Please, turn on the light.”
Gabe flicked the lighter back into life. The flame was one third its original height, and not yellow, like it had been. Now, it was blue. It cast very little light in the long, narrow tunnel.
From somewhere ahead came a continuous whooshing sound: cool air being forced down an air hole. It was hot by the time it traveled two miles through the earth and it condensed, making the walls wet and the tunnel humid and steamy.
“Bodge, listen to me. This lighter’s almost out of gas, and we need to save the other for emergencies. You understand?”
Bodge shook his head and stared at his swollen ankle.
“What I’m saying is, once this lighter runs out of gas, we’ll have to walk in the dark, because we need to save the other for when we really need it. Emerging seeds, remember?”
“I don’t wanna walk in the dark.”
“So get up. Come on. Let’s go.”
Bodge only let his head drop. Gabe heard sniffles, and sat down next to him.
“I know you’re frightened. I am, too. But if you don’t get up, I’ll have to leave you behind, and I don’t want to do that. We promised we were going to be brave.”
In the low light, he saw Bodge nod. He got to his feet and offered his hand.
Bodge didn’t take it. Instead, he fiddled with the end of the rope that was coiled around his waist. “Is it dangerous in the Water Chamber?”
He pondered the question. Bodge looked up, their eyes meeting. There was silence between them, just the steady whoosh of air ahead, the dim light like a strand connecting them.
The Water Chamber was almost as dangerous as the Gypsum Chamber, but for different reasons. The smallest of the SUICs chambers, at fifty meters across, it was a natural low point where water collected.
Gabe had come through it when he’d been looking for escape. He’d been lost in the darkness, wandering, sometimes crawling, through the maze of tunnels. At potential weak points in the SUIC, the World Alliance had braced the ceilings using timber arches. Gang had removed much of the timber, using it as framing for Leader’s white walls. This had led to localized collapses in several spots on the approach to the Water Chamber.
The only way he’d found it the first time around was by following the water that trickled along the ground, but he’d had to double back on himself several times when he came to tunnels blocked by debris. When eventually he’d reached it, he was more afraid than he’d ever been in his life, but he’d been able to stand upright. It was one of the few places beyond the Cotton Cave that a man could. More than once, as he’d stepped into the sauna that was the Water Chamber, he’d come close to stepping into a crevasse. He’d gone toward the lake at the chamber’s rear, at one point slipping several feet into a hole and only just managing to arrest his fall.
All around him, he’d heard the patter and squeaking of rats. Hundreds of them, gone there to drink. Himself parched, he’d knelt beside the water and put in a hand to scoop some up to wash his face. The water was almost at boiling point, but he didn’t care. When he’d dipped both hands in to rinse his face a second time, a dead rat had drifted into them and he’d screamed. Despite knowing the water was filthy, he’d lowered his face toward it to drink, and something else had bumped into him.
A human body.
He’d scrabbled back, away from the water’s edge, but he hadn’t screamed. No, he hadn’t screamed that time, because he’d been past the point where screaming was adequate.
He’d noticed the rancid stink of decaying flesh then, and spotted more corpses in the water, dark floating islands. The rats were feeding on them, leaning out over the water’s edge to snag their next meal and falling in, where they either drowned or boiled.
He’d been overcome suddenly, leaning forward to vomit into the water. While he’d been bent forward, a rat had run across his back toward the body, and he’d got out of there then, as quickly as he could. He’d known he was ready to lie down and die in that moment, but not there, not in that place.
Now, he thought about the men floating in that water. Had they gone there desperately searching for water, only to be poisoned by it? Had they taken their own lives by jumping into it?
Whichever it was, he wasn’t looking forward to being back there. At least this time they would have light. That would help them avoid the crevasses, and stop the rats from swarming over them. He didn’t have to look at the water, at the floating corpses, or the rats straining to get their next meal. He would have to make sure Bodge didn’t look, either. They would only need to be in there a couple of minutes. Only for as long as it took to get to the other side.
Even that was too long, but it had to be done. They had to make it through to the other side. When they did, they’d be just over one mile from the Cotton Cave.
“Gabe? Are you okay, Gabe?”
“Huh? Yeah, I’m okay.”
“You didn’t answer what I asked you. Is it dangerous, like the other place the Crossmen helped us get through?”
“Everywhere is dangerous if you’re not careful. But we will be, won’t we?” He’d regained his composure. “We’ll get moving now, so we make sure we still have light when we get there.”
“Okay, because we’re partners, right?” Bodge stood.
“You bet. Now come on, let’s go.”
They began walking again, keeping their backs to the wall as they passed the air hole to avoid getting burned by the gushing air.
Once they were past – Bodge still hobbling, Gabe wiping stinging sweat from his eyes – they slowed. The ceilings were lower here, and as they continued they first had to crouch, then crawl. As he began to wonder if they’d followed a dead end, the tunnel opened out.
“We haven’t heard any more splosions, have we?”
“No, Bodge, we haven’t.”
“Is that good?”
“It is. We don’t want to hear explosions, because they’re the most dangerous thing of all down here.”
“You think the Crossmen that helped us made the others stop digging up?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I think they’re probably just digging up somewhere else.”
It was strange, very strange, that they’d heard no explosions lately. He was certain the Rebels couldn’t have made it farther than them and killed multiple Gang members or persuaded them into their way of thinking.
No, what he thought was that Leader had probably identified certain areas of the SUIC to target, and concentrated his men in those areas. Earlier, he’d wondered if they might target one of the chambers and rig some sort of rope and pulley system to hoist men up to the highest point in the SUIC. Now, thinking about it, he wasn’t sure it would make much difference.
They had two miles of rock and earth to get through, rock and earth with explosive devices embedded in it, and starting a few hundred feet closer to the surface was unlikely to make any difference to their task.
Leader wasn’t stupid. Maybe he thought the bombs were more likely to be concentrated above the naturally-formed chambers and was avoiding them accordingly.
That was certainly the case in the Gypsum Chamber, although he supposed it would be pointless to send men to dig through its ceiling. The heat would kill them long before the bombs did.
The Water Chamber was a much better candidate, if Gang could stand being so close to so much decomposing flesh. It was hot and steamy there though, not conditions ideal for digging.
“Keep your ears open, Bodge. Not just for digging or explosions, but for any sign of Gang. The closer we get to the Water Chamber, the more chance we have of bumping into them.”
“I’m more scared of the Water Chamber than the Crossmen.”
“Me too, but we’ve got to go through. You know that, don’t you?”
Bodge nodded. “You think Thompson and the other Crossmen are good guys?”
“Probably not, buddy.”
“They coulda hurt us, but they di
dn’t.”
“Yes, I know, but I think that’s because they were thinking of themselves, not us.”
“What do you mean, Gabe?”
“Maybe they think, if we reach the Cotton Cave and tell people about their plan, more will join them and their fight.”
“Will they?”
“I don’t think so. You know how those men got to be part of Gang, don’t you?”
“No.”
“They had to prove Gang came first, and they did that by killing someone who wasn’t Gang. Mostly, that meant someone living in the Cotton Cave. That was how it worked, when I was there.”
“I don’t want to go there if they kill the people.”
“Soames made a deal with Leader, and they stopped. They don’t do that anymore.”
Maybe they did. Maybe the old rumors were right: they killed Regulars for meat. He didn’t think so. He thought they did it for sport.
“So, no Crossmen are good guys?”
“No.”
“Not even the ones who want to kill Leader?”
“No. As much as I’d be happy if Leader was gone, it would mean someone else was in charge.”
“Like Thompson?”
“Maybe, and Thompson doesn’t have a deal to let the Cotton Cave live in peace. If leadership changes, then everything else will change too. Even if it doesn’t, if Leader wins their war, Soames is dead. Leader doesn’t have to keep his deal anymore.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to the Cotton Cave.”
Bodge looked sad. His dreams of a better life in the Cotton Cave were being spoiled by what Gabe was telling him. He wondered whether to reveal his plan, but decided against it. He didn’t want to raise his hopes. He knew it was a long shot. If he revealed it to Bodge, he would have to tell him that, too. Bodge was already scared, already doubting his chances of a better future, but he continued to trust Gabe. If he didn’t, Gabe thought he would stop, give up, and if he did that, he might as well be dead.
“It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
“Not if they hurt us.”
“They won’t.” Gabe stopped, and Bodge did the same. He reached up and placed a hand on Bodge’s shoulder. “I promise, everything will be okay for us.”
Bodge nodded, but Gabe knew the chances of them getting out of the SUIC were slim, and the chances of them getting killed were high.
He pictured the wide-open space around the SUIC entrance. The blazing lights that burned like suns above, making it impossible to hide in the open landscape. It was deliberately open, so the guards could see anyone who made it out of the hole. Not that anyone ever had.
If Gabe and Bodge stuck their heads out of that hole, they wouldn’t ask questions. They would take their lives in an instant to stop the threat and send a strong message back down into the hole into the bargain.
The integrity of the SUIC was the most important thing to the humans. Any revolt by the subhumans would be swiftly, and mercilessly, dealt with.
Just what the hell was he doing? Leading Bodge to his death most likely, after promising to look after him. But what other option did he have?
Chances were, it was die down here, or die trying to get out. His mind was made up. He would rather die trying.
IT WAS ANOTHER HOUR before the lighter died for good.
When it happened, Bodge said, “Gabe”, in a voice that sounded like wonderment. Like he’d seen something that took his breath away.
“You’re okay.”
It was funny how darkness made a person feel exposed. They’d been talking normally until the veil of black came down. Now, Gabe was whispering. It was probably a good thing: they’d become complacent. They were not hearing digging, or explosions, or anything really, other than the steady hiss, every so often, of air whooshing through the inlet holes.
They stood completely still. Bodge reached out and found Gabe’s hand.
He almost went against his better judgment, almost pulled out the other lighter to calm Bodge, whose breath came in short, staccato-like bursts of exhalation. But the darkness, their stillness, brought Gabe’s hearing up, like turning a volume knob on a stereo, and he heard something a few tunnels ahead.
They were still a couple of miles away from the Water Chamber, so this was something else, or someone else.
“Bodge, I can’t turn on the other light. I think I hear something, around one of these corners.”
“Is it Crossmen?”
“Probably. Let’s head toward it, but take it nice and slow. Okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
They crept along the tunnel, Gabe trailing a hand along the wall to see where it ended and another began, tapping his foot ahead of him every few steps, searching for holes.
As they reached a turn, the sound of digging and voices became clearer. He pulled at Bodge’s shoulder, and he leaned down in the darkness to let Gabe whisper into his ear.
“I think they’re just around this corner. When we reach the end, I’ll squeeze your hand twice, like this.” He gave two quick pumps on Bodge’s hand. “When I do that, stop, and don’t say a word. Okay?”
Instead of answering, Bodge replicated the double-hand-squeeze signal to show he understood, almost crushing the bones in Gabe’s hand into the bargain.
They moved slowly, listening to the voices in the darkness. He couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it sounded like there were several of them, and yet he could hear digging now, despite the conversation.
He’d wondered whether Leader had concentrated men in specific parts of the SUIC, whether he’d had his men identify spots they thought were promising candidates to dig. Places where they thought there might not be bombs. This sounded like a yes to that question.
They reached the corner. He felt the wall under his right hand disappear and gave two quick squeezes on Bodge’s hand. Bodge halted instantly and crouched, making himself as small as possible.
He listened to the voices, trying to count how many there were. He thought four. Still, the sound of rock chipping against rock continued above, so he figured there must be five or six men here, taking turns at digging.
Abruptly, the digging stopped. A minute later, two new voices joined the conversation.
“This is stupid.”
“You calling Leader stupid?”
“No, but we’re never gonna dig through two miles of rock. It’d take a hundred years.”
“Maybe it will, but that’s what we were sent here to do, so we gotta do it until we get told otherwise. And there’s only one man can tell us otherwise.”
“Oh yeah? So why aren’t you doing it, instead of sitting there yakking while we risk getting ourselves blown to bits?”
“I’ll take my turn.”
“You bet you will. I’m ready for a rest. And another thing: If you’re so gung-ho on Leader’s instructions, you should be digging your own hole, instead of muscling in on ours.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, you two. We agreed it’s safer this way. If there’s an explosion up in the hole, it will likely only take two of us out.”
“Russian roulette.”
“I know, but it gives us a chance of surviving long enough for Leader to realize it’s not going to work, to tell us to stop.”
“He won’t ever do that.”
“How do you know, Sixty-Two? You don’t think he’s gonna let all his men get killed, do you?”
“That would be crazy. He’d have no followers. No Gang.”
“Exactly, so let’s just take our time, and maybe we’ll all get out of this alive.”
Gabe inched forward and peeped around the corner. He saw burning lamps, constructed from cotton wrapped around rocks, and in their glow, six men sitting in a circle in front of a pile of rubble. They’d formed a kind of collective, going against Leader’s instruction to dig in twos.
That alone was likely to get them in serious, perhaps even fatal, trouble. They were working on the assumption that, once enough men died
, Leader would call off the dig, give up.
Whichever of them had called it madness had been right: it probably would take one hundred years to chip through two miles of rock, even without the bombs interrupting.
He tried to recall whether he’d taken any other routes around this part of the SUIC, and came up empty. They couldn’t fight these men. Bodge wouldn’t fight. It would be Gabe versus six, and he didn’t like those odds.
He stood, wondering what to do. He didn’t think Leader was about to stop the digging, and they couldn’t wait around for them to blow themselves up. All it would take would be one of them to come around the corner looking for privacy to urinate, and they would be discovered. And six men meant lots of urinating. The tunnel Bodge and he stood in reeked of it. He had to figure something out, quickly.
Even if they could stay, wait for them to detonate a bomb, he didn’t want to be near any blast. The whole tunnel could come down.
Voices came from behind Bodge. Light flared, and he saw Thompson leading the group of Rebels toward them.
“Well, look what we have here.” Thompson clapped Bodge on the shoulder, knocking him into Gabe. “I thought you guys would be long gone.”
A shout came from around the corner. “Who’s there? Show yourselves.”
Thompson looked at Gabe, gave a what-you-gonna-do shrug, and led his band of Rebels around the corner, Gabe and Bodge trailing behind them.
The four men who’d been sitting were now on their feet. Two had climbed back up into the hole. They hadn’t heard the commotion below, or if they had, they were ignoring it. The dull thud and chip and scrape of rock on rock went on unabated above. Gabe looked at the gaping black maw of the hole that started at shoulder height and shivered. It was like looking into the mouth of some great beast.
He pulled Bodge to the rear of the group as one of the men approached. “I see you’re Gang, but I don’t see you digging. You Buriers?”
Thompson held his hands out to the sides. “You see any dead bodies? Funny, because I don’t see you digging either.”
He stood tall, asserting himself – his presence, his alphaness – in the tunnel which, although it widened into an almost-circular opening, was cramped with so many people jostling for space. The scent of body odor and urine was overpowering.
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