Tunnels 02, Deeper

blue, and a few with no color at all. Their matte surfaces glinted dully, like old cough drops.
    "I bet that's gold, and I reckon those stones could be rubies, emeralds, and sapphires... and even diamonds," Will said with bated breath. "Isn't this just incredible?"
    "Yeah," Chester replied, without conviction.
    "I must take a picture of this."
    "Can't we just get out of here?" Chester urged as Will shrugged off his rucksack and extricated his camera from it. Then Chester noticed Will was extending a hand toward the braceleted wrist.
    "Just what do you think you're doing, Will"
    "I need to move this slightly," Will said, "for a better shot."
    "Will!"
    But Will wasn't listening. He had taken hold of the bracelet between his thumb and forefinger and was gently rotating it.
    "Don't, Will! Will, c'mon! You know you shouldn't..."
    The whole body quaked and then simply collapsed to the floor, throwing up a plume of dust.
    "Oops!" Will said.
    "Yeah, oops! That's great! Just great!" Chester gulped as they both took a hasty step backward. "Look at what you've done!"
    As the cloud settled, Will peered shamefacedly at the small mound of bones and grayish ash before him -- it resembled a pile of old branches and twigs left over from a bonfire. The body had simply disintegrated.
    "Sorry," he said to it. With a shiver, he realized he still had the bracelet in his fingers; he dropped it on top of the heap.
    Any thoughts of taking pictures now abandoned, Will squatted down by his pack to put away his camera. He had just secured the side pocket when he noticed he'd picked up some dust on his hands in the process. Right away he began to inspect the ground on which he and Chester now stood. Making a face, Will quickly stood up and wiped his hands on his pants.
    They were treading on several inches of dust and bone fragments from decomposed cadavers.
    They were tramping in the remains of many dead bodies.
    "Let's go back a bit," Will suggested, not wanting to upset Chester even more. "Away from these."
    "Works for me," Chester answered gratefully, without inquiring why. "This is all way creepy."
    They both stepped back a distance, pausing as Will regarded the silent ranks against the walls.
    "Thousands of them must be buried here. Generations," he said thoughtfully.
    "We should really--"
    Chester stopped in mid-sentence, and Will reluctantly tore his eyes from the mummified corpses to focus on his friend's anxious face.
    "Did you see where Cal went?" Chester asked.
    "No," Will said, immediately concerned.
    They raced back into the central chamber, paused to peer into its corners, then edged around so they could see the far end, past the flame, which once again was beginning to hiss loudly and stretch its wispy apex toward the roof.
    "There he is!" Will exclaimed in relief as he spotted the lone figure making its way determinedly into a distant corner. "Why does he never stay put?"
    "You know, I've only known your brother for... what... forty-eight hours, and I have to tell you I've already had enough of him," Chester complained, watching Will's reaction carefully to see if he was offended.
    But Will didn't seem to mind in the slightest.
    "Maybe we could tether him to something?" Chester smiled wryly.
    Will hesitated for a second. "Look, we'd better go after him. He must have found something... maybe another way out," he said, starting after his brother. Chester glanced sidelong into the chamber containing the massed ranks of bodies. "Good idea," he muttered and, giving an involuntary groan, took off after Will.
    They ran at a trot, giving the flame a wide berth as it peaked at its full height again and radiated its intense heat. They could just about see Cal as he left the farthermost reaches of the central chamber and passed under a large, roughly hewn archway. They followed him through this and found themselves on an area of ground the size of a soccer field, with a high canopy above it. Cal had his back to them and was clearly looking at something.
    "You can't keep running off by yourself," Will reprimanded him.
    "It's a river," Cal said, oblivious to his brother's irritation.
    Before them was a broad channel, the water sweeping quickly past and throwing up a fine, warm spray. They could feel it on their faces even from the bank.
    "Hey! Look there!" Cal directed Will and Chester.
    Jutting out over the water was a pier some sixty feet in length. It was constructed from rusting metal girders, which looked irregular and handmade.