Kasey took out her own flashlight, a tiny keychain number with a high intensity beam, and shone it along the wall. “How did you know we could get down here through the manhole?” she asked Bones.
“Casebook: Paranormal did a show down here not too long ago. They contacted the spirit of a German soldier who died in a secret bunker.”
“Really? What did he say?”
“I don’t know. He spoke German.”
Kasey sighed. “You don’t buy into that stuff, do you? Ghosts, I mean.”
“Let’s just say I don’t dismiss things out of hand just because they don’t seem likely.”
“Down here, I can almost believe it.” Kasey shivered and rubbed her arms. “It seems like the kind of place a ghost would hang out.”
“The Empire of the Dead,” Greg said. “At least, that’s what the sign above the front entrance reads. Saw it in National Geographic.”
They all turned and looked up when the scrape of metal on stone pierced the veil of silence.
“Here they come,” Bones said. “Let’s move.”
They hurried along the tunnel, moving as quietly as possible and keeping an ear out for the sounds of pursuit. They passed a pillar of stacked boulders that appeared to be supporting the ceiling.
“It’s best if you don’t touch anything,” Bones whispered. “Sections of these tunnels have collapsed in the past, sometimes taking entire houses with them.”
“So glad you brought us down here.” Kasey looked up at the ceiling as if might fall on them at any moment.
They went right at the first fork in the tunnel and followed it around a series of curves. Along the way they passed occasional holes big enough for a man to wriggle through, had he sufficient determination. Maybe as a last resort, Bones thought. He didn’t want to find himself trapped down here, so finding an exit topped his list. They rounded a sharp curve and Bones stopped short, throwing out his arms to hold Greg and Kasey back. Before them, a pit barred their way.
“That’s a long way down,” Greg remarked as Bones shone his light into its depths.
“Yeah, I forgot. Lot of wells and pits in the floors.”
“Any other potentially fatal details you forgot to tell us about?” Kasey thumped him on the chest.
Bones scratched his head. “Nothing fatal, but if we’re unlucky, the tunnels might flood with sewage.”
Kasey bit off a retort. The sound of running feet echoed through the chamber. The Dominion was closing in on them.
“We can’t cross here.” Greg turned around. His eyes scanned the dark passageway behind them.
“I saw a side passage back there,” Bones said. “Come on.”
A few paces back around the corner, they found a dark hole in the wall just below waist height. Bones shone his MagLite inside, revealing another, smaller tunnel. Kasey wriggled in first and Greg squeezed through behind her.
“Get in here,” Greg whispered.
Bones considered the narrow opening. “I’ll never fit.”
“We’ll pull you through.” Kasey held out her hand.
“And get me stuck like Winnie the Pooh in the honey tree? No thanks.” The footsteps came louder now and he saw the faint flicker of a flashlight beam. “I’ll be okay. You two stay hidden. If we get separated, go on without me.”
Before they could argue, he turned out his light and felt his way back around the corner to the edge of the pit, where he pressed against the wall and listened to the sound of the Dominion’s approach.
Footfalls. Heavy breathing. Closer and closer.
This had better work, Bones thought.
A beam of light slashed through the darkness and then someone cried out in surprise. The man stopped at the edge of the precipice, just as Bones had. In that instant, Bones struck.
It wasn’t the stuff of action movies or heroic epics. Instead, he kicked the man in the backside with all his might. That was all it took to send the Dominion’s agent plummeting down into the darkness, his cries ending with the wet splat of flesh hitting stone at terminal velocity.
Bones paused, listening for more pursuers, but heard none.
“You guys can come out now.” He spoke in a conversational tone, but it sounded like a shout in the stillness.
Kasey wormed her way out of the passageway and tried, in vain, to brush the grime from her clothing. “What happened?”
“I kicked his ass.”
“Whatever. So, do we head back to the car, or do you think the chopper’s still hovering around?”
“I doubt it, but I’ll bet they’ve disabled our car and maybe even set someone to watch it.” Greg knuckled the small of his back. “I’m too old for spelunking.”
“Walking is good for that,” Bones said. “Let’s find a way out.”
They retraced their steps, making it back to the first fork in the tunnel they’d encountered, before trouble found them again. Someone called out to them in French and shone a light in their direction.
“The police patrol this place regularly,” Greg whispered.
Just then, a shot rang out, the bullet zinging off the tunnel wall.
“That’s not the police!” Kasey took off running, with Bones and Greg bringing up the rear.
“You didn’t manage to relieve that last guy of his weapon, did you?” Greg huffed.
Bones held out his empty hands in reply.
“Whoa!” Kasey froze and shone her light all around the room they had just entered.
The walls were lined with bones. Layers upon layers of skeletal remains were stacked to the ceiling, broken every meter or so with a ring of skulls, their eyeless sockets casting dark gazes on all who entered.
Bones ran a hand over one of the skulls and it came away covered in a fine coating of bone dust. He rubbed his fingers together, feeling the fine powder. “I wish we had time to look around, but I don’t think that’s a good idea. Sounds like our friend’s getting closer.”
They took off again. Chamber upon chamber of dry bones and leering skulls flashed by in a blur. Here and there, the floor fell away in a yawing chasm or dark pool. They hurdled the smaller ones and rounded the larger, all the while hoping the man chasing them would stumble, but he kept coming.
By the time they came to the intersection of two passageways, Bones found himself thoroughly disoriented.
“We should split up,” Greg said. “Kasey, give Bones the crystal skull.”
Kasey handed it over without a word of protest, and Bones tucked it into his jacket.
“It’s our turn to play decoy. You just get the skull out of here, and don’t even think about trying to rescue us if we get into trouble.”
“No way, dude.”
“It’s our job. Now go.” Greg gave Bones a gentle shove to set him in motion.
Bones took the tunnel to the left, cursing Greg under his breath. There were times when running away from danger was the right thing to do, but not when friends were in danger. He had to admit, though, Greg was right. It was imperative that they keep the skull away from the Dominion.
He kept his eyes peeled for the iron rungs that would indicate a way back up to the surface. So far, he hadn’t seen a single one. He soon left the ossuary behind, and found himself back in old quarry tunnels. The darkness seemed to sharpen his other senses, and he caught a whiff of the rank smell of sewage. Nice.
The tunnel began to narrow and occasionally he was forced to duck to avoid a low section of ceiling. Beneath his feet, the tunnel floor grew rough and uneven. This must be one of the older sections, which meant the probability of finding a shaft leading up to the surface was small. He’d have to double back.
The thought evaporated at the sound of someone approaching. Apparently, Greg and Kasey hadn’t managed to draw the Dominion’s agent off his trail. That made him feel better. Now, the entire burden was on his shoulders — just the way he liked it.