I squinted up at the figure. The light made it hard to focus, and I couldn’t make out his features, but he seemed angry. Like I’d just insulted his mother- or indeed, dug up his mothers grave and danced on the corpse.
“Just passing through. I’ll leave now.” I said. Maybe it was cowardly, backing down without a fight, but I really didn’t care. No point getting into a fight when I didn’t need to, especially when he was so much bigger than me, almost filling the doorframe. Not the kind of person you’d want to be on the wrong side of, and if leaving all the stuff I’d picked up was what it took to get out of this, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But he didn’t accept that.
“You’re going nowhere. Even if I wanted to let you out, you’d probably tip the Geckos off to our position- If you haven’t already!” No wonder he was so pissed off- as far as he was concerned, I’d just signed his death warrant. I’d met people like him before- they stayed put, didn’t let anyone else in or out. The ones who made a nuclear bunker to prepare for 2012 and kept it afterwards, just in case. They didn’t last long, but the mentality somehow survived. ‘If I keep this little corner mine, and keep it to myself, I’ll survive’. Generally best to keep out of their way. Except it seemed he wouldn’t let me out.
“What are you gonna do with me then? I’m really curious, if you won’t let me out, what will you do?” Maybe sarcasm wasn’t the best way out of this, but I needed to let out some frustration, and I didn’t think it would make my situation any worse.
“Follow me, and keep your mouth shut, you little bastard. I know someone who may have a job for you.” It seemed ominous, but definitely beat the alternatives- either a fight, or staying in that cellar. I followed, my survival instincts screaming at me to get out, get away. He bent in the darkness, and pulled something up. A trapdoor. Wonderful. My sense of claustrophobia returned full force- just as I was getting used to the cellar, to not knowing where everything was, he expected me to go underground, into an even darker tunnel, trapped in a small enclosed space. Still, I had no choice, and bent down, crawling into the suffocating darkness.
I can’t remember much of the journey. Banging my head on the low ceiling, having to crawl at some points. Wanting to run away but all too aware of how I’d be lost down here, with no light. It was terrible even with a light, so I stayed close to him, terrified that he would move faster than me, leave me alone, the walls closing in, suffocating in the darkness, all alone. On the top ten worst things that happened to me, it was near the top, and this is speaking as someone who lived through the apocalypse.
Eventually, the tunnels widened out, and I realised I was in a larger, more developed tunnel. There was an incredible stench, of rotten faeces. I finally figured out where I was. “The sewer,” I breathed, disbelieving. It seemed like something out of a bad novel, People hiding from the lizardmen of London town in the sewers, but I guess it made sense. The surface was covered in lizardmen, but here, in the dark. The stench meant they couldn’t really sniff them out, and the sewers were just clichéd enough that no-one would seriously investigate them. It was a shithole though- literally. Everything was damp, and the stench was everywhere.
The man- I’ll refer to him as ‘Bob’ from now. Never did get his real name. Bob carried on down the tunnel, seemingly knowing where he needed to go. Probably went this way a lot- even if he did get followed, they probably wouldn’t find the trapdoor- with batteries low, they didn’t carry torches- and even if they did, they wouldn’t know his destination- he’d be able to lose them in the darkness. An elegant system.
Then I turned a corner, following Bob, and I realised that there was a lot more to this than I first thought. There was an entire town down here, lit by candles and lanterns, with a shanty-town look about it, but still, there was a town. I’d never thought that any settlements could form anymore without being torn down, but it seems I was wrong- the people here looked… established, like they’d been around a long time. Bob carried on, leading me to this person he knew, and once again I considered running, hiding. It was how I’d survived so far, but now my curiosity was piqued. I needed to know more.
I followed him down the rabbit hole.
Gadgeteers 