An hour passed slowly, then Ryan gave a soft whistle and the companions froze, pulling their weapons ready. There was a shape in the shadows ahead of them twice as large as the crab.
He waited a few moments, listening for any noises, but only the crackling torches could be heard. Holding out his palm to the others, he closed it into a fist, then raised one finger. They nodded in understanding. Alone, Ryan proceeded carefully along the wall of the tunnel and found an ordinary concrete barricade blocking the end of the passageway. The yellow-and-black-striped slab barred further progress. Holding the torch at an angle, Ryan extended it over the waist-high barrier. In the reddish light, he saw a ledge beyond, a slope of raw unfinished rock leading into pitch darkness. It was an easy walk; no problem there. However, nothing could be seen above or below. The tunnel might have well stopped at the end of the world.
A movement from behind made him spin, and Krysty came from the shadows.
“Kill that torch,” she whispered urgently. “They’ll see you.”
Dropping the torch behind the concrete barrier, Ryan stomped out the flames. Darkness filled the tunnel.
“Can you hear them?” she asked, only a vague form beside him. “Talking, laughing, a couple having sex, a child crying. It’s a whole ville down there.”
“Blues?” Ryan asked, straining to see. As his eyes slowly got accustomed to the lack of light, he began to make out shapes and forms below. A soft ethereal glow permeated the gloom.
On the bottom of the cavern, columns of rock rose in an irregular pattern like a wild forest of stone trees. Amid the vertical outcroppings were rows of huts and corrals full of something that moved. A low wall surrounded the underground ville.
Having seen enough, Ryan took her arm and they returned to the others.
“Kill that torch!” he whispered. “We found a ville.”
Promptly, Doc dropped the torch and stamped out the flames.
Softly, Krysty added, “Can’t tell whether it’s norms or muties down there, but they have houses, a wall and some kind of animal penned for food.”
“How see without torch?” Jak asked curiously. “Campfires?”
“There’s a soft glow coming from the walls of the cavern,” Ryan replied. He paused for a moment, listening for any sounds, then continued. “It’s not much, just barely enough to see.”
“Sounds worth a recce,” J.B. said, hovering over the weakening light of the extinguished torch. “We can jack some of their cattle at the very least.”
As the last few embers of the torch died, the darkness in the tunnel approached Stygian levels. “Krysty, you better stay here with the torches in case we need a guide home,” Ryan decided. “And prepare some of the wooden arrows with oil and rags to use as an emergency flare.”
“Consider it done,” Krysty said, bolstering her revolver. She had split her .38 ammo with Mildred so each woman had three rounds, but that was enough for this job. Besides, she was the logical choice. The redhead could hear better than any of the others, and often could sense things happening, or about to happen. There was no explanation for the ability, it was just something she could do. Same as her mother.
“Take,” Jak said, passing her the crossbow and quiver. “Got knives. Just as silent.”
The redhead slung the quiver and held the crossbow in both hands, testing its balance. “Thanks.”
Then J.B. handed her a glass bottle. “Just in case,” he said with meaning. The Armorer hated thinning his supply, but only suicides went into a hot spot without backup or an escape route.
“Arrows and knives only,” Ryan stated, working the slide on his silenced 9 mm SIG-Sauer pistol. “We’re doing a quiet recce. Only here to steal weps and food. No chilling unless necessary. Anybody get separated from the rest of us, or run into trouble, come straight back here. I’ll take point with J.B. Mildred, cover the rear with the crossbow.”
Taking positions, the companions exited the tunnel and waited until they could dimly see the subterranean ville below.
“Looks like a natural cavern,” he said, doing a sweep with his binocs. “Hundreds of sides tunnels. Damn place is a warren of holes. Might be easy to get lost. Floor seems to be covered with lots of stalactites stalagmites. Whichever. I never could remember which is which.”