Episode 5

Connor nudged her, and Miah bristled at the contact. Don’t touch me, she wanted to mutter. She clenched her teeth and stepped into the locker, bumping right into Ben who had turned around in the small inner space to see if she was coming. “Whoa,” he said as Miah took a step back, giving a sigh in recovery and then blinking in the light in her eyes. He turned his flashlight toward Connor and stated, “This is the way, through the storm sewers. I think they were constructed so that if the huge aquariums upstairs broke, the water that flooded the building could drain through here.”

Miah muttered a “cool” and glanced back toward the door of the room. Connor nodded to Ben and stepped into the tunnel. Miah turned back silently, and the two of them followed Ben.

The walls felt like cement, and the floor seemed dry enough, but it showed green spots as if it had once been slippery with lichen and growth. Miah watched her feet to make sure she didn’t trip over any uneven edges; she could see nothing but what the flashlight illuminated. Suddenly she wondered what would happen if the flashlight died… Would we be left in the dark? How would we get back? What if—? Pushing the thought aside with a shudder, she kept walking.

The dark passageway had a few openings leading off the main, but Ben did not turn. The openings were black, their emptiness stretching out to grab her as she walked past. Miah wondered how far it would go on; she couldn’t see an end, and its contorted course made it impossible to tell how far they had come. What would I do if I got lost down here?

“How far are we going?” she asked, looking to Ben worriedly.

Connor answered her in a low voice. “Soon.”

Miah shrugged it off and continued on, hoping they would reach it soon, wherever “it” was.

Finally, Ben slowed his pace and began checking each branching passageway with his flashlight; the gaps in the light startled Miah. He seemed to be counting something. He finally ducked down one to the left, and she and Connor followed wordlessly. He opened a trapdoor in the ceiling and climbed up easily; there were almost unnoticeable hand- and foot-holds in the wall he used to push himself up. Ben reached a hand down to Miah once he was through, and she climbed up after him. Connor followed.

Miah climbed into a surprisingly well-furnished room. Obviously it had been constructed out of what the builders could carry down the tunnels in the storm sewers, but it had a few folding chairs, a carpet on the floor, some wooden cabinets and shelves, an old kerosene-powered refrigerator, and several lamps, which also ran on kerosene. Oh yeah, I guess there’s no power down here, she thought. Looking up at the ceiling, she wondered how many feet of rock and dirt were pushing down on that room from the surface and shivered.

Ben walked into one of the two doorways covered by curtains, and then checked in the other as well.

“No one’s here,” he said decidedly.

Connor sighed in relief and sat down in a chair. “Finally.” He clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back.

Miah stood awkwardly beside the trapdoor, and then closed it gently. She didn’t like the feeling of a black hole that anything could pull her down into.

She walked over to Ben and looked him in the eye. “So, you said you’d explain things once we were safe; now tell me, what’s going on?”