Tunnels 02, Deeper

worse as a result.
    For starters there was Chester, dragged into this terrifying mess because, out of the goodness of his heart, he'd offered to help Will search for his father. Then there was Tam, who had lost his life defending him in the EternalCity. And he couldn't forget Tam's men: Imago, Jack, and the others, who were probably on the run right now. All because of him. The burden was way too much to bear. No , he tried to convince himself, this can't all be on me. It can't be.
    A commotion coming from the letterbox opening distracted Will from his tortured thoughts. He saw Drake racing away from the sugar trap, white particles scattering from his head and shoulders like a sprinkling of confetti. He was carrying Cal's limp body. Chester climbed out behind him.
    Drake paused for the briefest instant to shake off his mask, then resumed his mad dash, heading directly for the canal.
    "Come on," Elliott said to Will as he stood watching dumbly.
    The trio followed Drake, pale particles swirling in his wake. But he didn't stop once he'd reached the canal. He hurtled from the bank, straight into the dark river, with a huge splash. Water closed over him, until both he and Cal were totally submerged.
    Will and Chester stood on the bank, watching. As the water became calm again, there was only a clutch of air bubbles to mark the spot where Drake had jumped in. Will glanced at Chester.
    "What's he doing?"
    "Dunno." Chester shrugged.
    "Did you see Cal?"
    "Not really," Chester replied.
    There was a small splash as if, far below, the water was being agitated. Small ripples spread out from the turbulence, then the surface becalmed again. Seconds passed.
    Still staring blankly into the canal, Chester spoke in a despondent voice. "He looked pretty dead to me, but I couldn't really see."
    "You didn't go into the cavern?"
    "Drake made me wait outside. He moved inside it very slowly... I suppose he was trying not to set the things off. But then he came out run--"
    He stopped speaking as Drake's head broke the surface. The man bobbed up, drawing several deep breaths. They couldn't see Cal's body: Drake kept it underwater. With a few one-armed strokes, he swam to the side, where he braced a shoulder against the crumbling stone bank. He raised Cal out of the water so the upper half of the boy's torso was visible and shook him savagely. Cal's head whipped from side to side as if it might detach altogether from his shoulders. Then Drake stopped, holding Cal still as he peered at his face.
    "Shine your lanterns on him," he ordered.
    Will and Chester did as they were told. The face was horrible to look at: deathly blue and speckled all over with raised white blotches. There didn't seem to be the smallest sign of life. Nothing. Will began to despair again. His brother was dead and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.
    Then Drake shook the boy again and slapped him hard across the face.
    Will and Chester both heard a gasp.
    Cal's head twitched. He took a tiny breath, and then coughed weakly.
    "Thank goodness, thank goodness," Chester was saying over and over again. He and Will looked at each other, wide-eyed with disbelief. Will just shook his head, dumbfounded. This was beyond his wildest dreams -- his brother, before his very eyes, seemed to have returned from the dead.
    Cal took a couple more wheezy breaths, then coughed again, stronger this time. Then he was coughing nonstop, his throat rasping as though he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. His head jerked around on his shoulders in a spasm and he was violently sick. "C'mon, boy! Good," Drake said, holding him. "That's it!"
    He hoisted Cal up as far as he could.
    "Take him," he told them. Will and Chester each grabbed Cal under the arms and dragged him out onto the bank.
    "No, don't lay him down!" Elliott said. "Get him on his feet. Get his shirt off. Walk him around, keep him moving. It'll work the poisons out."
    As they stripped the shirt off his body, they saw Cal's blue-tinged skin in all its glory. Its surface was peppered with raised white welts. His flame-red eyes were open, and his mouth moved in wordless shapes. One on either side, Will and Chester walked the diminutive figure in quick circles. Cal's head rolled loosely as they went, but he was unable to shuffle even a step under his own steam.
    Drake had climbed out of the canal and was squatting on its bank as Elliott scanned the horizon with her rifle scope.
    But Will's and Chester's efforts didn't seem to