22

Kai lay on his back in the mud watching the stars dance across his vision. Breathing hurt. Getting out of this hole was not impossible, but the pain in his shoulder and ribs made him nervous to try again. If he’d been higher when he fell, he’d be a broken bag of bones right now.

Tau—Jesus, if Evazee was right—He could help. But for the fact that he was more silent now than before Kai had met him face-to-face. He wouldn’t show up and he probably wasn’t listening, but Kai spoke to him anyway. “Do you want to give me some clues here, please? That serum distribution isn’t waiting for me to get out of here.”

Kai groaned as he lay there in the sludge, cold slowly knotting his back. He felt the bulge in his pocket. The injection full of Affinity serum. His belly twisted at the thought, but it was an option.

~*~

Evazee sloshed along, stepping slow then fast, hoping to keep her movement irregular enough to avoid waking the worms. But the water was cold and it cramped her muscles. It lapped at her armpits, splashing her face if she moved too fast. In the distance, she saw a rough, wooden platform. The stilt houses must be close. Getting out of this water couldn’t happen soon enough. It might be close enough to make a dash for. Steeling herself, she waded fast, focusing on reaching her goal.

Bubbles rose from the sand beneath her feet. Evazee slowed slightly to see if the bubbles stopped, but they increased until it felt like a a pot of boiling water around her. High pitched shrieking started up from behind. The worms.

Throwing off caution, Evazee ran. The thigh-high water slowed her and her frozen muscles didn’t want to co-operate.

Gurgling, the water sucked her backwards, a tide going out too strong to resist. It dragged Evazee along, pulled her off her feet. Icy cold stole her breath and she fought to keep her head above the surface. She tumbled sideways and screamed underwater. The bubbles rose as a cavernous mouth opened up over her. She was being sucked into a sandworm. Panic blistered through her veins and she scrambled frantically. This was a big one. Its mouth closed over her, the churning water stilled and she floated in the eerie blackness of a cave.

Her mind darted wildly. This couldn’t be happening. A deep wave, a convulsion, started at one end of the worm, working its way to the front. A tidal wave of swamp water carried Evazee on its crest. Dim light flooded over her as the worm reared up, it’s skin translucent. She fell on the backbone of a waterfall from the thing’s foul gut, only to ride the wave deeper into its belly once more. Over and over, each time it bucked and reared, Evazee was thrown forward and back. A scream fought its way out, and she clamped her jaw hard to keep it in.

~*~

Icy sludge slipped through Kai’s veins like venom. Shouldn’t have done this. But it was too late. Short of bleeding out, there was no way to remove serum from one’s veins. This was his rodeo bull to ride now, and he just hoped he’d be alive by the end of it.

His eyelids weighed a baby elephant each, but he forced them open and wished he hadn’t. The walls of the well had turned see-through, and he could see water beyond the glass, though it was tinged luminous purple. He rubbed his fingers along the wall, feeling the shape of stones that had been there seconds before. This wasn’t glass, but rather something like tough old jelly. Not quite slimy, but close enough to make his belly heave.

The ground below his feet was visible through the murky water, shifting with the odd tides in the river water. A bubble popped through the sand and scurried to the surface, quickly rising beyond where Kai could see. The blue sky overhead was now greasy green, turgid and brooding.

Another bubble popped out of the sand below his feet and face-planted on the bottom of the tube. It scurried to the side and slipped out to rise to freedom. More bubbles. There were so many, Kai’s head spun. He sat down quick before he fell over. The water churned all around and his heart pounded.

Water droplets on his skin. Was it raining? A sudden torrent drenched him and he shot to his feet in shock at the cold. Something solid smashed down on top of him and pain spasmed through his back.

Whatever it was, it had arms and legs and was screaming loud enough to curdle his blood.

~*~

A ring of teeth gnashed further down the worm’s throat, slicing inwards with the sound of a thousand swords. The teeth moved as the worm did, in and out as the body constricted and stretched.

Evazee grabbed for a handhold, but the inside of the thing’s mouth was a smooth, slippery wall. The worm constricted, and the teeth pulled close together, blocking off the throat. It raised up and bucked, depositing Evazee onto the meshed teeth.

Her mind spun. This could not be happening. She imagined getting to Heaven. Welcome! How did you die? Well, I was eaten by a giant freaky worm. And you?

The worm bucked hard. A torrent of swampy water gushed from the worm’s belly with a force that toppled Evazee head over heels. Fresh air washed over her and she fell. Panic flashed through her, and she grabbed for something—anything—to hold onto. But her fingers closed on nothing but wet air. She fell.

A scream built in her belly, and she came down hard, slamming into something solid that buckled at the impact. A torrential dump of water crashed down, and Evazee gasped for breath.

Whatever she’d landed on pushed her off, and she rolled on the floor, coming to a stop against a wall made of jelly. She watched the worm move away. Then she breathed.

“Evazee, is that really you?”

She pushed back her soggy hair, and there was Kai, as drenched as she was, his eyes wide with a touch of panic. No, there was something more. Something dark.

“What is that thing? It’s hideous.”

Evazee did a quick body check. Everything hurt, nothing seemed broken. “That blasted worm nearly ate me.” All at once, she wanted to scream, punch something, and sob her heart out. They were at the bottom of a deep jelly tube with see-through walls, somewhere in the swamps of Benan.

“Hey, come here.” Kai crawled over to her and pulled her to his chest. It was an awkward angle, and her arm poked him in the ribs, but she needed arms after slimy worm insides. Kai seemed to be at a loss for words, and she didn’t blame him. They were both shivering from cold after their unintentional shower.

Kai pushed her away, holding onto her arms as if she might run away if he didn’t. “How did you get here? Why? And that worm?”

“Testing arch. The priests sent me to look for their boys. Kai, we have to get back. They are going to...” She couldn’t say it. “They’ve got Runt, Peta, Paintbrush...the little ones who are too small to fight back.” Panic knotted her throat. Breathing was hard.

“I’ve been trying to get out, haven’t quite nailed it just yet. What is that worm-thing? Do you think it’s coming back?”

Evazee shivered and crossed her arms. “Mutated from living in poisonous, mushroom infused water. Zulu told me. My best guess is that it’s dumped us here to rot. A tastier snack than fresh, I suppose. How do we get out before it comes back?”

“Well, that’s a tricky thing. There is a way, but it probably means falling to our deaths.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Look. Let me show you.” Kai kicked three drawers, and they popped open, quivering. “One can climb out on those, but they go so high, a fall would break bones.”

Evazee prodded the squooshy drawer with a reluctant finger. It wobbled at her touch. “Other than looking too bendy, I don’t see what the problem is.” The drawers snapped shut with a shlurp. “Oh, I see.”

“There’s something else too. Each drawer holds an amulet like Runt’s. I feel like we should take them out. Look here.” He fiddled in his pocket and pulled out a charm. “I think this might be Zulu’s.”

Evazee took the heavy object from Kai and turned it over, feeling the jagged groove that slashed through the surface. “This is his scar. No doubt.”

“The only problem is, taking them out could literally kill us.” Kai leaned back on the jelly wall, scratching his chin.

“Not if we work together and time it right.”

“Aaah, Zee. Ever the optimist. We would die. Honestly. Even with this jelly goo, a fall from that high would do bad things.”

Evazee felt warmth from her amulet against her skin. “Kai, we have to do this. I’m pretty sure these amulets belong to Zulu’s boys. Imagine being able to hand them their freedom? We could take away the hold that the priests have over them. It’s all right here at our fingertips.”

“Or we could die trying. That would be fun too.” Sarcasm laced his words like arsenic.

Evazee frowned at Kai. He didn’t sound normal at all. “Listen, Boy, when did you get so sour?” She reached over and pulled his eyelid up. There was a greenish tinge to the whites of his eyes. “What did you do?”

He pulled away from her hand. “Zee, this whole thing is worse than you could ever imagine. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. They are lacing everything with dark Affinity serum. Everything. Even toilet paper. We don’t stand a chance. There is no way to stop this.”

“So I’m assuming you picked up green eyeballs from seeing all this toxic stuff.”

“It gets worse. This latest batch of serum? It doesn’t wear off. It’s designed to be permanent. Once it’s in you, that’s it. Forever.”

Evazee heard Kai, but his words wouldn’t settle in her head. “I don’t know about that. Surely there must be a way? Anyway. What is going on with your eyes?”

He slipped his hand into his pocket. Evazee could see him fiddling with something. What was he about to show her? But he kept his hand tucked away and shrugged. “Trick of the light, I suppose. I’m glad you’re here.”