The Radcliffe Asylum
“D o you still have to carry the March with you?” Tom rages at me for slowing them down.
“Shut up, Tom,” I say. “The March goes with me everywhere, until I bury him properly.”
“Hey.” The Dude suddenly shows up from rescuing the Mushroomers. “Let me take care of him.”
It’s not the right time to question him on who he is or why he is doing this. The time left is too short, I don’t even know how short.
“The Mushroomers need your help,” the Dude argues. “There is a fissure in the tunnel outside. They need someone to jump them across. I think your None Fu will help.”
I hand him the March’s corpse. “He is your responsibility,” I say. “If you fail to bring him along, I’ll kill you.”
“Whoa.” The Dude takes the March. “Whatever you say, boss.”
“Come on, Alice,” Constance insists. “We need to go.”
Tom has already gone ahead among the Mushroomers. As I reach the door, I see tens of them in the tunnel, standing before the fissure. A couple have managed the jump and crossed over. Another jumped but got hit by the rushing water from the other side — which doesn’t reach us but is beginning to fill up the fissure in between. The rest are waiting for me, afraid to make the jump.
“Okay.” I step up. “I’ll have to help them one by one to do this. I need you to be as fast as possible so we can cross as many as we can.”
“Can I be first, Alice?” Tom asks nervously.
“No.” Constance stops him. “You’re last. You’re always going to be last. Understood?”
“What about the water on the other side?” I ask the Dude.
“It’s lessening now. Once we cross over it will be of no threat. The police seem to think it will slow us down, but now they don’t have enough of the water to flush into the tunnel.”
“But the water must be blocking other tunnels. How are we going to escape?”
“Our escape door is right there.” He points at a side door, right after the fissure. “It might not look like a door, but once we cross over, I’ll show you how to open it. You have to knock six times on six different spots.”
“Okay?” I shrug my shoulders, already helping a Mushroomer on and getting ready to jump. “Why is this door so different? The police will still ambush us when get outside.”
“No, Alice,” the Dude says. “This door is a secret. They can’t find us, because it opens to the river. Don’t worry, it’s a short swim up.”