by Dan Dillard
Robbie and Amy slowly sat up and looked around.
“It got him,” Amy said, less out of breath than the others.
“We’ve…got to go back…and find him.”
“Zack, you’re crazy,” Robbie said, then took a huge gulp of air. “You’re totally bananas.”
“It’s our fault he was out there,” Zack said.
The others looked at him in shock and horror, shaking their heads in disagreement and then looking as if maybe he was right.
“We have to at least try,” Zack said.
Amy and Robbie continued to shake their heads, frowning. Zack screwed his face up, on the verge of tears, angry and scared.
“What if it was you, Amy? What if it was me? You’d go look right? You’d try to help? You’d want someone to come and help, right?”
She looked at the ground.
“I’d call the cops,” Robbie said.
Zack looked at him. The look was shameful, disappointed in his new friend. He looked back at Amy, then Robbie again.
“Yes officer, we were going to go down in the sewer to look for the Tootheater when a ghost came out of the cemetery and took our friend Alex,” Zack said.
“We should call his parents,” Robbie said.
“What are they gonna do to a ghost? Hi Mr. and Mrs. King. We snuck out this morning and took Alex with us. He got taken by the Tootheater. Have a nice day,” Zack said.
“Then we won’t tell them it was a ghost. We’ll say a crazy man came and grabbed him,” Robbie said.
“Maybe,” Zack said.
A few seconds went by before Amy pulled two handfuls of grass out of Robbie’s front lawn and tossed them at the boys. “Well, what the hell are we gonna do?” she said.
Zack chewed on the question for a moment, his sister and new friend watching with anxiety.
“I don’t know. But we only have until 5:30 to do it.”
Zack checked his watch. It was just after 8:00 am.
“I don’t understand one thing,” Amy said.
Both boys looked at her.
“We saw Alex put his tooth on the manhole cover. Just like Robbie. Why did the Tootheater take him?”
Robbie’s face turned pale again, further accenting the bright red spots on his cheeks. He bit his lower lip and whimpered.
“I mean, if you leave your teeth, he’s not supposed to come get you, right?” Amy said.
“He’s a monster,” Zack said. “I’m not sure he follows rules.”
“Oh crap,” Robbie whispered. “Oh crap, oh crap,” he said a little louder. “Oh crap!” Robbie blurted. “This is my fault. It’s all my fault. It’s my fault. Oh crap.”
Amy and Zack stared at him, eyes wide.
“Huh?” Zack said.
“We’ve gotta go find him. It’s all my fault.”
Robbie repeated those words, and a tear rolled down his cheek. His voice quaked.
“How is it your fault?” Amy asked, grabbing Robbie by the shoulders and shaking him.
“The other night...before I c-came to your h-house to spend the n-night the first t-time. I went by and g-got my t-tooth back. I wanted the f-five bucks for my g-guitar. I must’ve...”
“Grabbed the wrong tooth,” Amy and Zack said in unison, interrupting Robbie’s shaky explanation.
“Dumb and stupid. Just like I say all…the…time.”
She smacked Robbie on the shoulder, back and forth. SMACK SMACK SMACK. Zack stopped her by grabbing her hands.
“Amy, come on. We walked right by him. He could’ve taken any of us. He grabbed Alex because he was the slowest. This is not Robbie’s fault.”
Robbie stood up and continued to breathe heavy. He paced back and forth. Suddenly he stopped pacing and his face lit up.
“Call him. You have your phone right? Maybe he just turned a different way,” Robbie said.
Amy nodded furiously and Zack pulled out his phone and pushed buttons until it started ringing. The others watched him intently. He activated the speaker and they all listened as it rang once... twice...three...four...five... six times.
“Crap. Oh crap,” Robbie said. “He’s a goner. We gotta go find him.”
Zack nodded. Amy folded her arms and shook her head, staring at the ground.
“Where should we start?” Robbie said.
Zack’s eyes narrowed and he stared into space.
“I know where,” he said.
Amy and Robbie stared at him, and it was obvious they didn’t want to hear the answer.
“The manhole. We’ve gotta go inside.”
CHAPTER 14
Robbie, Zack and Amy arrived at the old train overpass, staring down at the manhole cover as if it was an ancient relic, something magical and foreboding. They parked their bikes on the side of the road and Zack pulled the pry-bar from his backpack. The heavy tool made a TONG-TONG sound when he knelt next to the cover and tapped on it. He pushed the flat end under the lip of the rusty disc and pried it upward. It took all three of them to get the cover upright, all their fingers turning white as they first held it vertical, then rolled it to the side and let it drop. It wobbled down like a gigantic spinning quarter, making an awful racket and finally settling on the ground next to them. The trio stared down into the hole.
“You two are dumb and stupid,” Amy said.
“You’ve mentioned that,” Zack replied.
“What do we do now?” Robbie asked.
“I dunno. But if I get eaten, I’m gonna be really pissed at both of you,” Amy said.
They lay on their bellies and peered into the dark hole for a while, gathering courage. From beneath, you would only have seen their heads hanging over the hole. Zack sat up and pulled his cell phone out.
“I’m going to try calling him one more time,” he said.
He dialed the number again, while the other two stared into the black. The sun rose higher into the sky, casting the shadow of the overpass on top of them. A faint ringing sound emanated from the hole. It echoed as if coming from deep within the tunnels.
“Is that?” Amy said.
Robbie turned his head, straining to hear.
“No answer,” Zack said, pocketing his phone.
“Call again! Call again,” Amy said.
Zack pulled his phone and dialed again. Then he lay next to the others and listened. After a moment, the ringing started up again.
“Oh shit,” Amy said.
Zack disconnected the phone call, and the ringing stopped. His face was frozen in disbelief. Robbie sat up, mouth hanging open to his chest.
“We’ve got to go in,” Zack said.
He pulled on a pair of work gloves from inside his backpack and looked at the others who regarded him with amused curiosity. Amy shook her head and stuck her foot into the unknown, stepping on an old metal ladder. Robbie followed, Zack was last. They left the lid open.
“Should we close it?” Amy said.
“No. We can see the sunlight. It’ll help us find it again.”
“I’ve got GPS,” Robbie said.
He pulled a cell phone from his pocket and pressed a button or two. Zack looked up at the opening, at the bright circle of sky overhead. He looked around at the metal pipes, the wet bricks and concrete on the walls.
“I don’t think it’ll work down here.”
Robbie frowned. “Nope. Plus my battery is almost dead.”
“Great. Nice thinkin’ dork,” Amy said.
“Shut up,” Robbie said.
“Ick,” Amy said, stomping her foot. “Just ick. It’s nasty down here, and it smells like…like poop.”
“Like farts,” Robbie said.
“Like something crawled in here and died,” Zack said.
Robbie smiled. “I kinda like it.”
Zack studied the area. Old flickering work lights lined the tunnel ceilings. Many if not most of the bulbs were burnt out, but enough remained lit that they could see once their eyes grew accustomed. Zack pulled out his flashlight.
It wa
s small, but bright, and had a hand crank to charge the internal battery. The beam cut through the humid air and illuminated wherever he pointed. Concrete paths stretched alongside the drainage system and led east and west in opposite directions from the spot where they stood. Fouled water trickled from every crack. The whole place looked and smelled diseased.
“Which way?” Robbie said, looking left, then right.
“You still have a signal?” Amy said to Zack.
He nodded, pulled off one of the gloves and dialed his phone again. The ringing sounded in the distance to the West, answering their question, but there was another noise as well. It was a faint scratching, scuffing sound and it made Zack’s skin crawl. Of all the creatures on Earth, he thought the worst kind must have lived in that sewer. Filthy things.
Amy’s brow furrowed as she stared into the distance. She couldn’t see anything in the dim glow from the overhead lights. She pulled a similar flashlight from her backpack, only hers was purple, and cranked it a few times before she pressed its power button.
“What is it?” Zack said.
“Dunno,” Amy replied, still concerned.
Robbie led the way, walking a few steps ahead of them. The two flashlight beams were joined by his surprisingly bright cell phone LED. The ringing stopped. All three came to a halt.
“Zack?” Amy said.
Her voice was thin, frightened.
“I just lost the signal. The call must have disconnected,” he said.
Amy exhaled and the three started walking again. The tunnel turned fifty yards away and there was no other path they could take unless they turned around. At the end, they turned north, and followed a tunnel that was much wider than the original. From there, they saw tributaries or branches that led east and west from each side of the main tunnel.
“Where do we start?” Robbie said.
“We’ll stick to this main one for now,” Zack replied. “If we don’t find Alex, we can double back.”
They walked a little further, passing one side tunnel, then another, and another. A scraping sound caused all three to jump. Flashlights went in three directions.
“What was that?” Robbie said.
“I dunno,” Zack answered.
“Shh. I see something,” Amy whispered.
She trained her flashlight low, toward the end of the western tunnel where she watched intently. The boys matched her gaze. Something shuffled, a shadow, something dark and low to the ground. Robbie gasped, and the thing at the end of the tunnel turned its head toward them. Two green eyes glowed in the beam from the flashlight. Then two more, and then two more.
“What are they?” Zack said, turning his flashlight on them.
Robbie added his light to the mix and three animals materialized.
“They’re just rats,” Robbie said.
Something hissed at their feet, and the kids jumped. Robbie looked down to find another rat there, small and filthy, looking up at them. It lunged at his sneaker and snapped its yellow teeth together, but he sidestepped the attack and then kicked it into the river of sludge in the center of the tunnel. It squealed when his foot made contact and after landing in the grimy water it swam to safety on the other side.
“See? Just rats,” Robbie said.
A horrible growling noise rumbled from the eastern tunnel, like the low roar of a small engine.
“Amy...did you hear that?” Zack said.
“Yup,” Amy replied.
The word came out like a squeak.
Slowly, the three raised their lights to the eastern tunnel and more glowing green eyes met them. Larger eyes on larger rats.
Two freakishly, world-record large rats stared back at them. As-yet-undiscovered-species large. Big-as-mid-sized-dogs-with-gleaming-yellow-rat-fangs-and-fat-bald-tails large. One snapped its mouth in their direction, the other jumped over its partner and batted a clawed paw at them.
The kids tried to back away, but Zack turned to face not three, but dozens of other rats in the western tunnel. Then more rats, including the one Robbie kicked, swam across the sludge river and approached from the south, leaving them only one way to go. The biggest one snapped at them again.
“Ahhh!” Zack shouted.
Robbie took off in front of the others and the three flashlights bobbed up and down in a syncopated rhythm. The biggest rat splashed into the water, crossed to their side and was on their heels with its mate close behind. Dozens of smaller rats followed, and more still began spilling out of the side tunnels. A beastly rat jumped out, twenty yards in front of the kids, and charged them. Zack, Amy and Robbie switched sides, trying to avoid the vermin, and ducked down another side tunnel to the east. The rats followed, gaining ground.
“You just had to kick that stupid rat!” Amy shouted.
Robbie sprinted at full speed and passed them.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he repeated, running out of breath.
He struggled with his pack as he ran, reaching in and pulling out one of the Roman candles. Reaching the dead end of the corridor, he turned and quickly struck the flint on one of his father’s Zippo lighters which brought it to life.
“Robbie! What are you doing?” Zack said.
“Get behind me!” Robbie shouted.
The rats slowed their chase to a stalking pace, large ones in the front and the smaller, average sized members, bubbling around them. There had to be hundreds. The three mutants growled in their giant, unnatural way. Robbie met the fuse with the fire and it sparked, sizzling quickly. He closed his eyes as it launched a fireball down the tunnel, which lit up the walls in a green circle as it travelled. The first flaming orb landed in the water, as did the second one, which was red. They bubbled and sank until the metal fuel burned out. The rats lurched, watching the lights, then homed back in on the children.
The largest rat leaped, gnashing its hideous teeth at the third explosion as it caromed off the wall just over the animal’s head. The whole pack moved toward the kids, squeaking and growling.
“Robbie, what the hell?” Amy shouted.
“I’m trying. I’m trying!” he said.
The fifth and final shot from the Roman candle connected. It hit the biggest rat right in between its shoulders and caught its oily fur on fire. The animal let out a horrendous squeal and lunged to one side, then the other, biting at the ball of fire on its back and trying to shake it off. Other rats nearby also caught fire, including the other two monsters. They struggled and rolled and rubbed their backs against the bricks.
Zack saw the opportunity for escape and grabbed his sister’s arm. “Come on!” he shouted and ran toward the mob of animals.
He hugged the left side of the tunnel to avoid the largest ones and plowed through the littler creatures like a Heisman Trophy winning running back, stepping on several of them in the process. Robbie followed. Hundreds of smaller rats scampered after the kids, surrounding them by the time they had reached the end of the tunnel. They climbed and rolled over top of each other and looked more like boiling liquid than a mass of living creatures. The rats were too thick to step in, and had too many teeth. The kids had gotten out of one corner, but backed themselves into another. Robbie fumbled the second Roman candle from his bag.
The three larger rats appeared again and smoke billowed off of their scalded hides, filling the air with a horrible stench. Their eyes bulged and their teeth clacked together as they approached and red embers of still smoldering fur glowed on their backs.
Zack, Amy and Robbie’s feet slid on the slime covered floor as the children scrambling to get a solid hold. Robbie held his weapon up like a magic wand, his eyes darting from animal to animal. He lit the fuse and stuck his arm out straight, watching and aiming more carefully the second time. Zack’s eyes widened and he smacked Robbie on the back.
“What?” Robbie said.
“This might be a bad idea. Isn’t sewer gas flammable?”
Robbie looked at Zack, then Amy, still holding the Roman Candle. “Too
late,” he said. A charge shot out, bounced off the wall and stuck to one of the larger rats. It roared in pain. Again and again the fireballs bounced out and lit the smaller rats, each landing on the pile of nasty vermin, each adding to the size of the fire. The creatures’ skin sizzled and popped, killing several, and all the while, the flames grew.
The fire began to wick off of the rats’ fur and a hissing sound grew as the air was sucked from the tunnel. Zack grabbed Robbie’s arm and pulled him back, tackling Amy onto her back in the process diving onto the slimy concrete floor as the flames ignited gases in the air and chunks of exploded rat covered the walls, the floor and the kids.
Amy sat up, wiping burnt guts and fur from her eyes and face. “Why did we come down here again?” she said.
“Ghosts?” Robbie said, dazed.
“Alex,” Zack said. “We came down here to find Alex.”
Amy frowned and balled up her fists. She stood up. When Robbie stood, she wiped her face on the front of his shirt. “Hey,” he said.
“You took the wrong tooth. It shoulda been you down here,” she said.
“Amy,” Zack said.
“Well it’s true. And we don’t even know him.”
Robbie looked at the ground, noticeably hurt. Then he turned away.
“Amy,” Zack repeated.
“I wanna go home,” she said.
“What’s that?” Robbie said.
“Not again,” Zack and Amy chorused.
Robbie pointed at an object at the dead end of the tunnel, opposite of the pile of dead rat. It appeared blue in his cell phone light.
“It looks like...” he started, then paused as Amy raised her flashlight.
It was a backpack. It lay on its side, blue with yellow straps, and a cartoon image of Wolverine in the center.
“Xmen,” Zack said.
They rushed over to it, and Zack nudged it with his foot. The pack rolled over, revealing inch high letters in black magic marker: ALEX KING.
“Alex,” Zack said.
Covered in slime, grungy with dirt and bits of burnt animal dripping from them, the three left. Zack carried the extra pack.
“Al....ex!” Zack called.
“Shut up,” Robbie said. “You want more of those things to come after us?”
“I think you burned ‘em all up,” Amy said.
Robbie smiled, puffing his chest out.
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Don’t get a big head, dork,” Amy said.
They walked on, back to the center tunnel.
“Alex!” Zack called again.