Tunnels 03, Freefall

differently. It also occurred to him that he'd suddenly developed a fear of heights, just like Cal. But it quickly became apparent it was neither of those things. It was something else altogether. The voice in his head had become an impulse, which was so overpowering Will was barely able to resist it.
    AS if he was outside his own body and calmly looking on, Will had a vivid picture of himself carrying out the act. From this third person perspective, stripped of all feeling, of all emotion, chucking himself over the brink made such perfect sense. It would be the answer to everything, a clean end to so much unhappiness and uncertainty. Still frozen on the net, Will battled the impulse, frantically trying to oppose it.
    "Stop it, you idiot!" he pleaded through his tightly-drawn lips. He had no idea what was happening to him. As the contest raged inside his head, his whole body was shaking. The urge was assuming control of his limbs, making them move, and he was slowly but surely turning back towards the abyss. But Will still seemed to have some say in the matter and kept his hands clenched -- they were grasping the net so hard they hurt, but at least they were anchoring him in place. At least he still seemed to be able to do something to stop this madness.
    "For God's sake!" he screamed at himself, shaking even more than ever. All of a sudden, he thought of Chester waiting for him below. Whether it was this or because he'd won the raging contest in his head, he found his limbs were under his control and responding to him again. He released his grip on the net and crawled back to the ledge in a frantic hurry, terrified that his victory was only temporary.
    He kept crawling for some distance before he allowed himself to get gingerly to his feet. He was drenched in a cold sweat, and very frightened indeed. He couldn't understand what had come over him -- never before had he been subject to such an irrational impulse as that, an impulse to take his own life.

    * * * * *

    Below, Chester had been mopping Elliott's face with one of his spare shirts. Then, as he moistened her lips with a little water, she mumbled something. He nearly dropped the canteen. Her eyes were half open and she was trying to speak.
    "Elliott," Chester said, taking hold of her hand.
    She was still attempting to say something, but her voice was so weak it was barely audible.
    "Don't try to talk. Everything's okay -- you just need to rest," he said as reassuringly as he could, but she screwed her mouth up as if she was angry. "What is it?" he asked.
    Then her eyes slid shut as she lost consciousness again.
    Just then Will ambled through the curtain of falling water and into the cave.
    "Elliott woke up for a second... she said a few words," Chester told him.
    "That's good," Will replied listlessly.
    "Then she just blacked out again," Chester said. He noticed the change that had come over his friend. "Will, you don't look so good yourself. Was it awful... with Cal?"
    Will was moving as if he was absolutely drained and about to drop.
    "Elliott will be all right, Chester. She's tough," Will replied, sidestepping his friend's question. "We'll fix up her arm," he said, as he delved into Cal's rucksack. He lobbed the water bladder to Chester, followed by a packet of peanuts. "Better add these to our food stores," he said, then staggered over to the wall and slid down against it.
    Bartleby wandered in through the waterfall and glanced at each of the boys in turn with his morose eyes, as if to make sure neither of them was Cal. He shook the droplets of water from his sagging skin, then made straight for Will, curling up beside him with his huge head resting on his thigh. Will absently rubbed the cat's massive forehead -- it was the first time that Chester had seen him show any real affection towards the animal.
    "You didn't answer me," Chester said. "About Cal?"
    "I saw to him," his friend replied inexpressively, before he closed his eyes with a long sigh, leaving Chester the only one awake.

3

    As he turned a corner and into a cavern, Drake held still as he spotted a single soldier.
    "Damn!" he mouthed, quietly pulling back into the tunnel again.
    From the grey-green uniform, Drake recognized that the soldier was Styx Division. It wasn't routine for these men to be deployed in the Deeps, their principal role being to patrol the borders of the Colony and keep an eye on the EternalCity. But in the past month, he told himself, nothing had been routine . Not only