GOING UNDERGROUND [2]

Sam grinned and disappeared. Two minutes later, he was back, preceded by the circular shining disc of a heavy-duty flashlight. 'Quiet as the grave up there,' he said, and again flashed his teeth in a grin. 'Guess I shouldn't say that either, huh?'

He shone the flashlight into the hole, revealing a circular stone tube like the inside of a well, with walls covered in green-black slime. Despite the light, it was too dark for them to see all the way to the bottom. Iron rungs were set into the wall, and Sam dropped to his knees, reached down, and gripped the first one to test how strong it was. 'Seems OK,' he said.

He went first, stopping every now and then to shine the beam of the flashlight down into the darkness. It was awkward descending with their weapons, especially as the rungs were slippery with slime, but they managed somehow. The deeper they went, the colder it became, the air heavy with the stench of rotting vegetation. Eventually, Purna said, 'I hear water.'

Her voice echoed hollowly off the walls. When the echoes had died away, they all heard the sound of rushing water below. They continued their descent, the sound getting louder, until at last Sam called, 'We're nearly there.'

'What can you see?' Purna asked.

'Moving water. Not much else. Wait, there's a kind of ridge at the side, like a raised path. Looks kind of narrow.'

'But passable?'

'Yeah, I think so.' A minute later, they were standing at the bottom of the ladder, catching their breath. They were standing in a square stone tunnel on a slippery, wet, narrow sidewalk, beside which oil-black water flowed like a river, glittering and rippling under the flashlight beam.

The tunnel stretched straight and unbroken in both directions. Pointing against the flow, Sam said, 'I guess we go this way?'

Purna nodded, and they started to walk, their feet splatting in puddles of water. 'It don't smell like sewage,' said Sam.

'I don't think it is,' said Purna, 'but I wouldn't wash your face in it.'

'I'm not sure it's supposed to be flooded like this,' said Xian Mei. 'It could be because of rising sea levels. There are lots of internal waterways and swamplands on Banoi and they all link to the ocean. These tunnels may have just taken some of that extra water on board.'

'You mean this is seawater?' said Sam.

Xian Mei shrugged. 'Well, that's my theory.'

'Damn,' Sam said. 'Shoulda brought my fishing rod.'

Walking along in single file, they lapsed into silence, the flashlight beam slithering and jerking ahead of them. Passing another of the vertical shafts which linked the disused sewer tunnels to the surface, Xian Mei said, 'There are five buildings between the supermarket and the police station, so the sixth shaft we come to should be the one we want.'

They walked on, passing another shaft and then another. Suddenly Sam stopped. 'What's wrong?' Purna asked.

'Thought I saw something in the water.'

'Like what?'

'I dunno. Something surfaced, then went back under with a splash.'

'A fish?'

'Maybe. Or perhaps just a log or something.'

'I wouldn't worry,' said Purna. 'I don't think the infected can swim.'

Sam nodded, and was about to set off again when something erupted from the water a few meters ahead of them. In the flashlight beam, he saw a pair of wide-open jaws edged with pointed teeth, and an enormous grey-pink gullet.

Purna had shoved Sam aside and fired both shotgun barrels into the elongated mouth before he had registered it was a crocodile. The bullets tore into it, shredding its tongue and the underside of its upper jaw, turning the inside of its pink mouth a sudden and startling red.

The massive creature – at least five meters long from snout to tail – twisted in mid-air, like a vast fish caught in a net, so close to them that Sam could have reached out and touched its ridged prehistoric hide. Then it crashed back down into the water, sending up a wave that surged over the narrow sidewalk and drenched them from head to toe.

Sam watched as the creature submerged, slipping beneath the now-churning black water like an enemy submarine. He was both awestruck and more terrified than he had ever been in his life. For a few seconds, he could neither move nor speak.

Then Purna shoved him in the back. 'Get going,' she said.

Sam forced his legs into action, stumbling ahead of her. 'Is it dead? Did you kill it?' Xian Mei panted from the rear of the group.

'No idea,' replied Purna. 'And I'm not hanging around to find out.'

By the time they reached the sixth shaft, they were still shaking with shock and a raw, primal terror that the creature might attack again.