Tunnels 04, Closer

the journey back Topsoil. Just like the last time he'd used the telephone, he heard a few crackles and bursts of white noise in response, but otherwise there was nothing to confirm the call had gotten through.
    Despite what the Rebecca twins had said on top of the pyramid, Will then tried his mother's mobile phone. Although he couldn't tell whether it was still connected, he left her a short message.
    "Calls made," he announced when he'd finished and replaced the receiver. It may have all been a complete waste of time, but at that very moment he wasn't exactly spoilt for options. Of course, he and Elliott could return down the inclined seam, but they'd merely end up in the land of the Brights again. And then what? Try to make it across to Martha's shack, and spend the rest of their days eating spider meat?
    "Maybe I should try to build a boat," Will mused to himself. As he thought about it, that didn't seem like such a far-fetched idea. There were enough materials to work with around the place, and even a full machine shop in one of the outhouses on the quayside. "Yep, maybe make a boat," Will decided. As he exited the radio operator's booth, he noticed he'd left the main blast door open. He went over and pushed it shut. After the incident with the rats, he wasn't going to take any chances.
    He headed to the main dormitory area and in the midst of the bunk beds, he came to the table where his father had gathered together all the documents and paperwork he'd been able to find in the place. The detailed survey plan of the fallout shelter and the surrounding area that Dr. Burrows had left there was still spread open. And on top of this were a stack of equipment manuals, and a dog-eared paperback.
    Will picked it up to read the title of the book, ' Ice Station Zebra ,' he said. Then he studied the contour photograph on the cover, which looked as though it was a scene from a film. In it there was a submarine poking up through the ice pack.
    "The submarine we found was real ," Will mumbled, holding the book closer so he could see the men in parkas, who were posing around the conning tower with guns in their hands. The men appeared so heroic and sure of themselves. Will made a humph noise and tossed the book back onto the table. He had no idea what a hero was any more, and he certainly didn't need to read about fictional ones.
    Although it was out of character -- he'd never once offered to help with any form of cleaning in his Highfield days -- he then set to work on the kitchen. He swept up all the shredded packets and rubbish left by the rats and, wearing a pair of rubber gloves he'd taken from the quartermaster's stores, threw it in a dustbin, which he dragged to the generator outbuilding.
    As he inspected what was left in the kitchen, he found that the rats had gnawed their way inside most of the crates stacked against the wall and devoured their contents. But there were a few at the top that hadn't been breached, and to his delight these contained quite a number of the crackers in green foil packets, and also boxes of rations, each with a chocolate bar inside. Most of these bars were completely inedible, but as he proceeded to work his way through the boxes, he was finding the odd one in which the chocolate tasted all right. And Will's favorite from his last visit -- pineapple chunks in syrup -- had also been spared from the hungry rodents because it was canned.
    "So I've got all the corned beef and bickies for the main course and, for pudding, pineapple chunks and chocolate. Life isn't so bad," he sighed, trying his best to convince himself.
    But as he weighed one of the rectangular cans of corned beef in his hand, then began to check for signs of corrosion along its seals, his mind wasn't on what he was doing. He was half listening for Elliott, wondering when she was going to come back to the shelter.
    And wondering if she was really as discontented as she appeared because she was stranded in this place with him.

    * * * * *

    Beside Mrs. Burrows on the back seat of the Range Rover, Chester was so exhausted that he fell into a deep slumber almost immediately after Drake turned the key in the ignition. Mrs. Burrows' eyes were shut, but she seemed to still be awake -- her arm was over the back of the seat and she was stroking Colly. Laid out in the rear of the vehicle, the Hunter's steady purring was audible over the sound of the car engine.
    They were making their way out of central London when Mr. Rawls, in the