“There are also some smaller access tunnels,” Charlie said. “They link the twelve tunnels together. But they’re really only wide enough to crawl through.”
“Which the z’s are really good at,” said Finnegan.
Josh tried to make sense of everything he was being told. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem, but the Z was making it hard to analyze everything clearly. Hatches, he thought. Access tunnels. Flood chambers. Individually the words made sense, but when he tried to put them all together, things got a little fuzzy.
“So you’re saying that the z’s could be anywhere,” he said finally. “Got it. Let’s go torching.”
Without waiting for the others, he pushed ahead through the water. His eyes quickly adapted to the darkness, another benefit of taking the Z. He watched the shadows carefully for signs of movement but saw nothing.
After about a hundred yards they came to a wall that prevented them from going forward. A circular door about six feet across and made of thick steel was set into the center of the wall.
“This is the first hatch door,” Bess said, shining her light on the door. “See that lever on the right?”
Josh looked where her beam was pointing and saw a rectangular box about a foot high affixed to the wall beside the door. A metal rod extended from it at an angle.
“When you pull the lever, it activates the chains that raise and lower the door,” said Bess. She reached for it. “Be ready to shoot if there’s anything inside.”
Josh and the others stood back, their flamethrowers held out in front of them, as Bess pulled the rod down. There was a grinding sound as the heavy door rose straight up into the ceiling.
Josh stepped through the opening and found himself in a square chamber approximately fifteen feet on each side. From the doorway, steps led down from the tunnel to the room’s floor. On the opposite side of the room another set of steps went up to a hatch door that was partially open. The room was filled with water that left only three steps exposed.
“Doesn’t look like there are any meatbags in here,” said Josh, shining his light around. He walked down the steps and into the partially flooded chamber. When his feet touched the floor, the water was just above his waist. As he waded across the room, he noticed a ladder affixed to the wall on his left. It led to a hole in the ceiling, and he guessed it was the escape shaft Bess had mentioned.
“Where are the access tunnels you talked about?” he asked Bess. “I don’t see any other ways in or out.”
“They’re below water level right now,” Bess said. “It’s different in each room. You just have to look everywhere.”
They made their way to the other side of the chamber and ducked beneath the partially opened hatch door to reenter the tunnel. The next stretch was as empty as the first, and Josh found himself getting bored.
“The other team better not get all the z’s,” he complained.
“Don’t worry,” Finnegan said. “You’ll get your share.”
When they reached the second chamber and found it empty, Josh was annoyed. “This is a waste of time,” he said as he surveyed the room. “We might as well go back.”
All of a sudden a loud clanking sound filled the room, and the hatch door behind them crashed closed, falling from the ceiling as the chains rattled violently. They all swirled around and stared at it.
“How did that happen?” Bess yelled. She looked at Finnegan, who was standing closest to the control box, but he shook his head.
“It wasn’t me,” he said, showing her that he was holding his flamethrower with both hands.
“Somebody had to have touched something,” Bess insisted. “The hatches don’t just—”
She was cut off as the water exploded upward. Three zombies rose from the bottom, screeching as they clawed at the air.
“Meatbags!” Josh yelled. “Torch them!”
One of the zombies—a man in a tattered suit—lunged at Josh. With no room to use his flamethrower, Josh used it as a club instead, butting the man in the chest with it so that he staggered back and fell into the water.
The other two zombies—an old woman with gray hair and a boy in a scouting uniform—were trying to get up the stairs to where Finnegan was standing. He aimed his flamethrower at them and pulled the trigger. The two z’s burst into flame, but Charlie had to dive sideways to avoid being hit as well. When she came up she was sputtering.
“Finnegan, you idiot!” she yelled as the flaming zombies swirled around her.
The man who had attacked Josh was back on his feet. This time Josh did flame him, but even on fire he kept coming. In fact, the three z’s had somehow managed to get between the four Torchers and the tunnel door.
“This way!” Finnegan yelled, sloshing through the water toward the opposite door.
The four of them made it into the next section of tunnel as the burning zombies stumbled after them. One of them—the scout—fell into the water, causing a cloud of hissing steam to rise around him. The other two continued on, moaning.
“Out of the way!” Charlie shouted, pulling on the lever sticking from the hatch-door control box.
Nothing happened. Charlie pulled again. There was a grinding sound, as if the gears were trying to work, but still the door didn’t budge.
“Keep going,” Bess ordered, turning and heading further into the tunnel.
“What about the z’s?” Josh asked as they jogged along.
“They’ll burn out,” said Bess. “Don’t worry about them. Worry about the ones we can’t see.”
“It’s like they were herding us,” said Charlie. “Like they’d set a trap to get us to go this way.”
“Please,” Finnegan sneered. “They’re not that smart. They’re not any kind of smart.”
“Then who shut the hatch door?” Charlie snapped back.
“It was an accident,” said Finnegan.
“Whatever it was, we can’t go back that way,” Bess reminded them. “We’ll have to use one of the escape shafts.”
“We’ve never done that,” said Charlie.
“There’s a first time for everything,” Bess said, grinning.
Josh’s head ached. His sense of smell had grown stronger, and the odors of rusting steel, stagnant water, and now the stench of the burning zombies filled his nose. His heart was beating more quickly, and there was a ringing in his ears.
They burst into the third chamber, which was empty like the first.
“I don’t like this,” said Finnegan as they waded through the room. “I really don’t like this. We should go back.”
“Not until we complete the mission,” Bess insisted. “There’s one more chamber and then the final part of the tunnel. Then we’re out of here.”
They were halfway down the fourth length of tunnel when they heard the grating of metal on metal behind them. Finnegan, turning around, shone his light into the darkness. The beam illuminated a shut hatch door.
Finnegan ran toward the door. “Who did that?” he shouted.
“Finnegan! Get back here!” Bess’s voice was forceful, but Josh sensed fear in it as well.
Finnegan stopped and stared at the hatch door for a moment before going to the control lever and pulling it. Nothing happened. When Finnegan turned around, his face was a mask of panic.
“Now do you think they aren’t smart enough?” Charlie asked.
Finnegan walked back to them, shaking his head. “No,” he said. “There’s no way. They can’t do this.”
Josh heard himself laugh. “What are you guys afraid of?” he said. “They’re just cybots. You’re acting like they’re really trying to kill us.”
For a moment he thought he saw Finnegan and Bess exchange a look, then Bess was all business. “Josh is right. But we still want to complete the mission. The fourth flood chamber is up ahead. We’ll sweep it, check out the tunnel beyond it, and finish up. I’m sure Clatter set this all up to test us. Nobody panic, all right?”