Tunnels 03, Freefall

Topsoilers, I suppose you might want to know a bit about the medicines they use, don't you think, Chester?"
    "Yeah, silly question," his friend conceded.

17

    Elliott responded immediately to the antibiotics, and it was quite something when she opened her eyes three days later and was able to hold a conversation with the boys. They'd put her in what had to be the Captain's cabin, judging by the slightly wider bunk, the oak desk and chair, and the framed photographs of submarines and battleships that adorned the walls.
    Although she was still very groggy, the boys propped her up with rolled blankets, and it was a minor miracle to watch her as she drank some water unaided. Their spirits buoyed by her recovery, Will and Chester began to tell her everything that had happened since the moment they'd fallen down the Pore, but it was rather a lot for her to absorb in her weakened state. Her attention seemed to wander as she just gazed around the cabin, so they decided she'd had enough excitement for the time being and should be left to rest.
    A day later she was awake and Chester was sitting with her when Rebecca flitted past the doorway on her way down the gangway.
    "Who the hell was that?" Elliott demanded.
    "The Rebecca twin," Chester said. "Don't you remember we told you she turned up at--?"
    "She's a Styx!" Elliott shrieked. "No! No, not here! Don't let her in here with us!"
    Will heard the shouting from the bridge and came running in. By the time he arrived, Elliott was hyperventilating and quite beside herself. Chester was holding her, trying to calm her down.
    "What happened?" Will asked. "Why's she like this?"
    "She saw Rebecca, and just went loopy. She doesn't seem to remember anything we told her yesterday," Chester said, as Elliott simply sagged in his arms, falling back into deep slumber.
    Rebecca appeared at the door.
    "Haven't you done enough already?" Chester snapped at her.
    "This is to be expected," Rebecca declared. "Because her temperature was high for so long, it's like her brain has been in a slow cooker... it's only natural that she's acting a bit weird."
    "So there's nothing to be worried about?" Will shot back at her.
    "No, I wouldn't say so, although we don't know yet whether there's any lasting damage from the fever. But I checked her pupils and the dilation response is normal, and her glands are down."
    "You did?" Will asked.
    Rebecca nodded. "And as far as I could tell there's no residual inflammation of any of her major organs. We need to keep her on a steady dose of antibiotics, and just let her settle down over the next week."
    "You sound just like a flipping doctor," Chester said, but Will could tell he was grateful that Rebecca seemed to know what she was talking about.
    "We can't stay for another week," Martha said, stepping out from behind Rebecca. "There's the minor matter of food and water. I can just about keep our water supply topped up from the spring outside, but we need more food."
    This came as no real surprise. Except for Elliott, the rest of them were already on reduced rations. Martha was doing her best to make their stocks last, and they hadn't found anything on the submarine, other than some sweets stuffed into the toes of a pair of trainers in one of the lockers.
    And because the Brights presented such a danger, Martha wouldn't let any of them put as much as a foot outside the submarine, not for any reason. Every so often she asked Will or Chester to man the hatch while she went off to the nearby spring to fill the canteens with fresh water, protecting herself from the Brights with smoldering sprigs of Aniseed Fire. And for an hour every day she'd prop the hatch open to allow some fresh air to circulate into the submarine, but she was always there guarding it with her crossbow. At all other times she insisted that it be kept shut, with the wheel turned so that it was locked down tight.
    No one said anything, looking at each other for a decision until Martha spoke again. "There's always the cat."
    "We can't let him go outside to hunt for us -- won't the Brights get him?" Will asked immediately.
    Chester inclined his head a little as he spoke. "Will, I don't think that's what she means."
    "The only way we can get through another week is if we eat the cat," Martha confirmed.
    "Eat Bartleby?" Will choked, although he wasn't sure if she really meant it. "Not a bloody chance!"
    "Then we have no alternative but to go back to the WolfCaves... or the shack," Martha said.
    Will