"Blackheads?" Chester asked.
"Styx — that's one of the names the Colonists call them behind their backs," Will explained.
"Oh, right," Chester said. "Well, anyway, I'm never going back to that foul place again. Not on your life!" he added firmly to Cal.
Cal didn't respond, instead putting on his backpack as Will picked up the other one by its straps, testing its weight. It was heavy, stuffed to the brim with their equipment and the extra food and light orbs. He lifted it onto his back, wincing as the strap dug into his injured shoulder. The poultice Imago had applied to the wound had done wonders, but any pressure was still incredibly painful. Will tried to adjust the rucksack so that most of the weight was on his good shoulder, and they set off.
Before long, Cal sped onward at a fast trot, leaving Will and Chester to watch his bobbing silhouette advance into the murky gloom. The two of them strolled between the enormous metal girders of the train tracks. There was so much they wanted to say to each other, but now that they were alone, it was as if neither knew where to begin. Finally Will cleared his throat.
"We've got some catching up to do," he said awkwardly. "Stuff happened — crazy stuff — while you were in the Hold."
Will began to speak about his family, his biological family, whom he had met for the first time in the Colony, and what life had been like with them. Then he recounted how he and Uncle Tam had planned Chester's escape. "It was awful when it went wrong. I just couldn't believe it when I saw Rebecca was with the St—"
"That little brat!" Chester exploded. "Didn't you ever think there was something seriously wrong with her? All those years you were growing up together?"
"Well, I thought she was a bit strange, but then I thought all sisters were like that," Will said.
"A bit strange?" Chester repeated. "She's a certifiable nut-case. You must have known she wasn't your real sister."
"No, how could I? I… I didn’t even know I was adopted or where I'd come from."
"Don't you remember when your parents first brought you home?" Chester said, sounding a little amazed.
"No," Will replied thoughtfully. "I would have been about four, I suppose. Do you remember much from when you were that old?
Chester made a noise as if he wasn't wholly convinced, but Will went on with the chain of events. Trudging along beside him, Chester listened intently. Will finally came to the discussion with Imago, when he and Cal had had to decide whether they were going to return Topsoil or travel down into the Deeps.
Chester nodded.
"And that's how we came to be on the Miners' Train with you," Will finished, reaching the end of the story.
"Well, I'm glad you did." His friend smiled.
"I couldn't leave you behind," Will said. "I had to make sure you were OK. That's the least I—
Will's voice broke. He was attempting to articulate his emotions, his remorse, for everything Chester had been put through.
"They beat me, you know," Chester said abruptly.
"Huh?"
"After they caught me again," he said, so quietly that Will could hardly hear him. "They threw me back in the Hold and whacked me with clubs… tons of times," he continued. "Rebecca would come to watch."
"Oh, no," Will mumbled.
They were both silent for a few paces as they picked their way over the massive railroad ties.
"Did they hurt you badly?" Will eventually asked, dreading the answer.
Chester didn't reply right away. "They were really angry with us… with you mostly. They were shouting about you a lot as they hit me, saying you'd made them look like fools." Chester cleared his throat weakly and swallowed. His speech became confused. "It was… I… they…" He took in a sharp breath. "The beatings never went that far, and all I could think was that there was something much worse in store for me." He paused as he wiped his nose. "Then this old Styx sentenced me to Banishment, which was even more frightening. I was so scared, I completely fell apart." Chester's gaze dropped to the ground, as if he'd done something to be ashamed of.
He continued, a tone of the coldest controlled fury creeping into his voice. "You know, Will, if I could have, I would have killed them… the Styx. I wanted to, so much. They're evil… all of them. I would have killed them, even Rebecca." He stared at Will with such intensity that Will shivered — he was seeing a side of Chester he hadn't known existed.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Chester."
But something equally important occurred to Chester, deflecting his thoughts. He stopped short, teetering on the spot, as if he'd been slapped in the face. "What you were saying about the Styx and their… what are they called… their people on the surface?"
"Agents," Will helped him.
"Yes… their agents…" He narrowed his eyes. "Even if I could get back above ground again, I couldn't go home, could I?"
Will stood before him, not knowing what to say.
"If I did, my mum and dad would be abducted, like that family you mentioned, the Watkinses. The dirty, rotten Styx wouldn't just be after me. They'd grab my parents and turn them into slaves, or murder them, wouldn't they?"
Will could only return Chester's stare, but that was enough.
"And what could I do? If I tried to warn Mum and Dad, or even the police, do you think they'd believe me? They'd think I'd lost my mind or something." His head sagged forward and he sighed. "All the time I was locked up in the Hold, all I thought about was you and me getting home. I just wanted to go home. It kept me going for all those months." He broke into a cough, which might have masked a sob — Will couldn't tell. Chester grasped Will's arm and stared straight into his eyes. His expression was one of the deepest despair. "I'm never going to see daylight again, am I?"
Will remained silent.
"One way or another, we're stuck down here for good, aren't we? There's nowhere for us to go, not now. Will, what are we going to do?" Chester said.
"I'm so sorry," Will said again in a strangled voice.
Cal's excited cries echoed from up ahead. "Hey!" he was calling repeatedly.
"No!" Will yelled back in frustration. "Not now!" He waved his light in a gesture of irritation. He needed more time with his friend. "Just wait!"
"Found something!" Cal hollered even more loudly, either not hearing Will's response or choosing to ignore it.
Chester glanced to where the younger boy was and declared, "It'd better not be the station. I am not going to get caught again." He took a step forward along the tracks.
"Hold up, Chester," Will started, "hang on a second. I want to say something."
Chester's eyes were still red-rimmed with fatigue. As they stood there, Will fidgeted with the light orb in his hands, and from its illumination Chester could easily read the turmoil in his friend's filth-covered face.
"I know exactly what you're going to say," he said. "It's not your fault."
"But it is!" Will cried. "It is my fault… I didn't mean to get you into all this. You've got a real family, but… I've… I've got no one to go back to. I've got nothing to lose."
Chester tried to reply, reaching a hand forward, but his friend went on, growing more incoherent as he attempted to give voice to the emotions and regrets that had been knocking around in his head for the past months.
"I never should have gotten you into this… you were just helping me…"
"Look… " Chester said, trying to calm his friend.
"My dad will be able to fix everything, but if we don't find him… I —"