"Look at that," Ronny said. "Damn thing sank right into the ground. Spot must be muddy." Steve shined the flashlight on the spot. "It looks dry."
"Then why'd the ground give in so much?"
"Maybe their tunnel goes all the way out here."
"No way." Ronny shook his head. "There's no fucking way those three wimps dug all the way out here. Reiser' s a fat piece of shit. Graco might weigh a buck oh five, soaking wet. The two of them couldn 't do ten pushups if their lives depended on it. And Smeltzer didn't dig it himself.
I'm telling you, the ground must be soft from rain or something." Afraid to disagree, Steve cast a nervous glance upward and noticed that the storm clouds were growing denser and darker. They looked swollen, heavy, as if they were about to fall out of the sky. He kept it to himself, rather than risk another round of ridicule from his friends.
Ronny started humming Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law" and Jason accompanied him on air guitar. Both of them whipped their heads back and forth, their long hair flying like windtossed straw.
They reached the rear of the shed and made sure they were still alone. Satisfied that they were the cemetery' s only occupants, Ronny motioned to Steve. All three of them were excited now at the prospect of getting back at their three enemies, and any individual misgivings they had vanished. Steve showed them the loose boards. Quickly and as quietly as possible, they worked the nails free and then clambered inside. Steve shined the flashlight around the interior. All three wrinkled their noses in disgust.
"Jesus Christ," Ronny whispered. "What the hell is that?"
"I don't know," Steve said, "but it's worse now than it was today. I noticed it when I found the hole, but it's stronger now."
Jason gagged. "Smells like something died. Man, that's foul."
"So where's the entrance?" Ronny pinched his nose shut and his voice sounded funny. Steve trained the flashlight's beam over the pile of wood. "Under there."
"Give me the light," Ronny ordered. Then, after Steve complied, "You guys pull those boards up."
Steve and Jason did as commanded, grunting with the effort. Then they stepped back from the edge. With the plywood out of the way, the nauseating stench grew even thicker. Ronny shined the light down into the hole. Darkness stared back at them.
"How deep is it?" he asked.
Steve shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't go down inside."
"Well, go now, stupid. We ain't got all night. Gotta make sure you're home before it rains. Don't want you melting or anything."
Moving with obvious reluctance, Steve stepped toward the tunnel entrance, leaned out over the opening, and looked down inside. He snorted, and then spit. The wad of phlegm and saliva vanished into the darkness.
"Didn't hear it hit bottom." He grinned. "Maybe it's a bottomless pit, like in Raiders of the Lost Ark."
Ronny didn' t say anything. His glare was enough to prod Steve into action. Steve turned around, knelt on the dirt floor, and lowered his legs into the hole. Then he inched himself backward. His waist was even with the floor, then his chest. His fingers clutched at the ground, clawing for purchase. Then his chin was even with the ground and still his feet hadn 't touched bottom.
Ronnie shined the light directly into his eyes. "Anything?"
"No…" Blinking, Steve raised a hand to shield his face from the bright beam, forgetting that both his hands were digging into the dirt, holding him aloft. With a yelp, he slipped. His fingers left deep trenches in the floor. He vanished from sight. His screams were followed by a muffled thump.
"Holy shit." Jason ran to the edge and peered over. Chuckling, Ronny joined him. Steve stared back up at them from approximately ten feet below. His face and hands were covered in dirt. He brushed soil from his hair.
"You asshole, Ronny. Why'd you do that?"
"I'm gonna kick your ass when I get down there if you call me an asshole again."
"Sorry, dude. But that wasn't right, man. I could have broken my leg or something."
"Fuck you, crybaby. What do you see?"
Steve shook the rest of the dirt from his hair and then peered into the darkness.
"Not much. Looks like it goes both ways. The smell is definitely coming from down here, though. God, it makes me want to puke."
"Maybe they're pissing down there," Jason suggested. "Shitting, so they ain't got to run home when they need to go."
"The walls are slimy," Steve called. "There's some kind of… goo. What is this shit?
It's sick."
Ronny shook his head in disgust. "Do you see their stash or anything?"
"No. You've got the flashlight, man."
Without warning, Ronny tossed the flashlight down to him. Instead of catching it, Steve threw his hands over his head to protect himself. The flashlight thudded onto the tunnel floor. The beam went out.
"Shit! Pick it up, man."
Plunged into total darkness, Steve knelt and frantically felt around for the flashlight. The hardpacked dirt on the tunnel' s floor felt slimy, too. His fingers brushed across the flashlight and he turned it back on, but nothing happened.
"It's broke," he called. "Get me out of here. I can't see shit, and it stinks."
"Because you're under a graveyard." Jason giggled.
"Come on, dudes. Pull me up."
They heard his hand flailing around in the darkness, slapping at the moist, earthen sides of the pit.
"Goddamn it," Ronny muttered. "Do I have to do everything myself? All we're supposed to do is trash three geeks' stupid clubhouse. Get them back for what they did to my bike. That ' s it. And now look at us. You guys would fuck up a wet dream. I swear to fucking Christ, sometimes I feel like Boss Hawg, surrounded by a bunch of idiots." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette lighter. Handing it to Jason, he said, "Go help him."
Swallowing Hard, Jason turned and lowered himself into the pit.
"Look out below."
Steve called up, "What? It's hard to hear down here."
"Move out of the way, dipshit."
Feet dangling into empty space, Jason let go and dropped to the bottom, landing in a crouch. He sprang to his feet, brushed himself off, and then thumbed the lighter wheel. He sighed in relief at the sight of the orange flame. The brief darkness had seemed like a solid thing. Next to him, Steve was visibly grateful as well.
"Coming down."
Ronny landed with a grunt. The floor squelched beneath his feet. The flame on the lighter wavered, then resumed. The three teens glanced around. They stood in the center of a tunnel, running roughly in the direction of the cemetery 's lower half, where the older graves were, and in the direction they'd come from, towards Farmer Jones' s pasture. The walls were smooth. The floor was smooth, too, although piles of soil lay scattered along it debris left behind from the digging. The passage was roughly circular, wide enough to walk single file, and varied in height. Their heads brushed against the ceiling, but none of them had to crouch or slump forward.
"This is fucking disgusting." Ronny wiped slime from his hair with his fingers, then flung it away. It dripped from his fingertips like translucent mucous. "What the hell is this shit?"
"Snail snot?" Jason suggested.
Steve and Ronny blinked at him.
"Snail snot?" Ronny snickered. "That would have to be one big fucking snail." Steve covered his mouth and nose with his hand, trying in vain to block out the stench. He immediately pulled it away. The traces of slime left on his hand smelled even worse than the air. "So what now?"
The lighter was growing hot. Wincing, Jason switched it to his other hand and sucked the tip of his burned thumb.
"Well," Ronny said, no longer bothering to whisper. His voice echoed in the subterranean chamber. "Their clubhouse has to be in one of these two directions. You go that way," he pointed toward the old graveyard, "and Jason, you go the other way."