It didn’t take long for David to get to the main drainage canal. Once, it had been a simple dirt canal, but as the city had grown around it, it had been paved in concrete so that the rush of water during the rainy season couldn’t undermine the businesses and roads that paralleled the canal.

“Okay,” David said as he pulled his car to the side of the road. “We’ve got just a little while…” The sun was sinking below the horizon, a few clouds turning blood red as its rays struck them.

This time, they had good flashlights, from the back of the car. David checked his bracelet. “No unusual aetheric energies…”

“Uh-huh,” Mari held her neutralizer out. It was active, the wide-mouthed barrel moving as Mari pointed it down at the bottom of the canal.

“Looking for something to shoot?”

“We are going into a drainage canal,” Mari snapped. “Do you know what lives in drainage canals? CHUDS! Giant ants! Creatures from beyond space and time!”

“And you’re going to shoot them with something that doesn’t hurt anything other than AEs.”

“They might have sensitive skin!”

“You have a disturbing love of finding reasons to use your raygun,” David finally said.

“Why would I need a reason?” Mari asked. “I have a raygun, which I have not been able to shoot nearly enough.”

“Right,” David said. “Well, for now, focus on your flashlight. I bet it’s more likely we’ll run into snakes than we will monsters.”

“Right,” Mari said. She checked her flashlight. “Full charge and full batteries!”

“Good.” David went to the gate that led to the service ramp that maintenance vehicles took down into the canal. It was only loosely locked, and it was easy enough to pull it aside so that he and Mari could get past it.

“David, what about the car?” Mari asked.

“We won’t be down long enough for it to be a problem,” David said. “And if we end up having to run for our lives, I want it close.”

“Good point.” Mari glanced back at the car and then down to the canal. The bottom was already falling into darkness, the little trickle of water running in it reflecting the light from the dimming sky. At the bottom of the ramp, David turned the flashlight on, directing its bright beam across the area. There were a few piles of trash, old tables, and chairs that had been tossed into the canal or washed into it by the rains. In some places, enough soil had collected so that bushes and even a few small trees formed islands of green among the dirt and concrete.

Creepy. Just like Them. I wonder when the giant ants are gonna show up? Mari wondered if they should go get some flamethrowers.

“And here we are,” David said, pointing to the opening of the drainage tunnel. It was a rectangular gap in the side of the canal, the yawning void pitch-black.

Mari flashed her light around the opening. “I… look, are those footprints?” she pointed.

David stared at the impressions in the dirt. “Yeah… Boots?”

“Not that big,” Mari said. She put her foot in the impression. “About as big as mine…”

“So probably not a worker.” David frowned. He directed his beam into the tunnel, but there was nothing as far as they could see. Just the concrete walls, dirt covered floor, and a few roots dangling from the ceiling.

“Maybe they… just waited for us to leave and took off the other way?” Mari asked.

“Maybe,” David shook his head. “But let’s find out. It’s not like we have to worry about a storm right now.”

“Yeah, but if we get eaten, I’m blaming you,” Mari said.

“Fine,” David said. “Just don’t piss it off by shooting it.”

“You’re no fun,” Mari pouted, but kept the neutralizer ready in her free hand, her other hand holding the flashlight.

“But I’m right,” David pointed out. “Let’s go. We don’t have all night.”

Mari nodded, and the two teens walked into the dark tunnel, their flashlights stabbing into the murk ahead of them. The dirt wasn’t a thick layer, puddles of water showing that the tunnel wasn’t always empty of water.

Okay… Mari frowned, looking around. There was nothing here to see, but someone could see them from a long way off. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea…

“I…” There was a beeping sound from their wristbands. Mari looked down. “The aetheric levels are going up,” She said. “1.5…”

“Still low enough to be safe,” David told his friend.

“Yeah, but high enough to be worrisome,” Mari looked around. “We’re halfway under the—”

Then David made a sudden gesture. “Turn off your light!” he said.

“Okay.” Mari snapped her light off and then stared into the darkness. Why is… She could see it. Something glowing ahead.

“How did you…”

“When we had our lights pointed down at the floor, I thought I saw something…” David gestured. “Let’s check it out.”

Maybe we should be quiet. Except if someone was up there, they’d have seen their lights a long time before Mari and David could see them. Mari really hoped they weren’t interrupting some gang’s meeting.

As they walked forward, Mari realized that the light was coming down from the roof. A pile of rubble on the ground was painted by the soft-orange light. There was a…

“A grill?” Mari whispered. She looked up at the hole. “Someone punched a hole through a drainage grill?”

“Shh…” David said. He handed Mari his flashlight, looked around, and then reached up and gripped the sides of the hole and pulled himself through.

Mari waited, getting more and more nervous. Finally, she heard David’s voice. “It’s safe.” He looked through the hole and held out his hand. “C’mon.”

Mari reached up, and David hauled her up and through the hole. Mari looked around when she landed on her feet.

They were in what looked like an old warehouse. Dusty boxes and boarded up windows made it plain that whoever owned the warehouse didn’t use it anymore.

But someone was.

“What’s that?” Mari asked, staring at the gleaming crystal that was suspended in a little case, painting the room in orange light.

“Not a normal light,” David said. “Look at this stuff…” There were cans of food piled in one corner, most of them opened… oddly. A pot sat over a spot on the floor that had been charred black by some great heat, while maps and compasses were spread out on the floor, with strange symbols drawn on them.

“Not an AE…” David said.

“Nope. Look, the school…” Mari gestured at the school. It was circled with lots of symbols, a line being drawn from it to downtown. There were other symbols on the map. Mari stared. “The junkyard, there’s a symbol there.”

“Yeah,” David said. “So, who did this?” He gestured. “None of this looks like something anyone around here would do…”

“Good point,” Mari said. “Look what there isn’t.”

“Isn’t…” David nodded. “Yeah, with the exception of that,” he pointed at a laptop computer that had been messily dismembered, “there’s nothing electronic here. I think—”

They both fell silent. Mari looked over at the gap in the floor. The gap that now showed a brighter light, one that was growing in intensity.

Someone else was coming down the drainage tunnel.

“Hide,” David said.

Yeah. You got that right, Mari thought.

Because whatever was coming down the tunnel had also blocked their escape route.