Tunnels 02, Deeper

kill us. That's the sort of thieving scum they are."
    "I don't think so," Chester replied indignantly, frowning.
    "Well, what was all that about out there, then?" Will indicated the corridor with a jab of his thumb.
    "I reckon they're rebels of some sort, at war with the Styx," Chester said defensively. "You know, freedom fighters ."
    "Yeah, right."
    "They could be," Chester maintained, then looked less certain. "Why don't you ask them, Will?"
    "Why don't you ask them yourself?" Will snapped.
    He was getting more and more furious. Coming on top of Cal's accident, the traumatic way in which they had been grabbed was really the last straw. He fell into a brooding silence and began to formulate a plan of action in which they would fight their way out and make a run for it. He was just about to inform Chester what he thought their next move should be when Drake appeared at the threshold. He leaned against the doorjamb, eating something. It was Will's favorite -- a Milky Way. He and Cal had bought several candy bars in the Topsoil supermarket, and he'd been carefully saving them for a special occasion.
    "What are these?" Drake asked, indicating a pair of dun-colored rocks the size of large marbles, which he was cradling in the palm of his hand. He shook them as though they were dice, and then closed his hand and began to grind them, one against the other.
    "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Will told Drake.
    "Why not?"
    "It's bad for your eyesight," Will said, the corners of his lips curling with the hint of a vindictive smirk as the man continued to rattle the stone together. They were the remaining node stones that Tam had given Will, and Drake had evidently found them in Will's backpack. If broken, they became incandescent, releasing a blinding white light. "They'll go off in your face," Will warned.
    Drake glanced at Will, unsure whether the boy was being serious. However, taking a large bite of the Milky Way bar, he now held the stones still as he continued to examine them.
    Will was incensed. "Enjoying that, are you?" he fumed.
    "Yes," Drake answered unequivocally, tucking the last of the chocolate into his mouth. "Look at it as a small price to pay for rescuing you."
    "And that gives you the right to help yourself to my things, does it?" Will rose to his feet, his arms bunched at his sides, his face rigid with anger. 'Besides, we didn't need to be rescued ."
    "Oh, really?" Drake responded casually, his mouth still full. "Look at the two of you. You're a mess."
    "We were doing just fine before you came along," Will retorted.
    "Oh, really. So, tell me, what happened to this Cal you mentioned? I don't see him anywhere." Drake shot his eyes around the room, then raised his eyebrows quizzically. "Where's he hiding, I wonder."
    "My brother... he... he..." Will started belligerently, but suddenly all the bluster deserted him and he slumped back down onto the bed.
    "He's dead," Chester spoke up.
    "How?" Drake asked, swallowing the last of the candy bar.
    "There was this cave... and..." Will's voice faltered.
    "What sort of cave?" Drake asked immediately, his voice deadly serious.
    Chester took over. "It smelled sort of sweet and there were strange plant things... They bit him or something, and then all this stuff--"
    "A sugar trap," Drake interrupted, moving in from the doorway and looking quickly from one boy to the other. "And what did you do? You didn't just leave him there?"
    "He wasn't breathing," Chester said.
    "He died," Will added disconsolately.
    "Where and when was this?" Drake pressed them.
    Will and Chester shot glances at each other.
    "Come on," Drake urged.
    "Two or so days ago... I suppose," Will said.
    "Yes, it was by the first canal we came to," Chester confirmed.
    "Then there may still be a chance," Drake said, moving toward the doorway. "A slim one."
    "What do you mean?" Will asked.
    "We have to go," Drake snapped.
    "Huh?" Will gasped, not able to comprehend what he was hearing.
    But Drake was already striding purposefully down the corridor. "Follow me! We'll need to take some rations," he yelled back to them. Elliott! Saddle up! Break out the weapons!"
    He halted by their backpacks, where all their belongings had been stacked into ordered piles.
    "Take that, that, and that," Drake pointed at the various piles of food. "Should be enough. We'll carry some extra water. Elliott! Water!" he shouted as he turned to them. They were standing rather dumbly as they watched him, confused as to what exactly they