Tunnels 04, Closer

one of his handguns as he and Drake climbed through the jagged opening. They both dropped into low crouches, listening and checking the harbor either side of them. No one was in evidence. With a hand signal, Drake directed Eddie to search one end of the quay while he took the other.
    Drake came across the launch where it had been dragged from the water and, close to it, a military kitbag and two holdalls. He was working through the contents of one of these holdalls, finding cans of the aerosol he'd given Will to repel the monkey-spiders, some military food rations, and a bundle of flares, when he became aware of Eddie beside him.
    "All clear," the man said, then glanced over his shoulder at the rapidly flowing river in the darkness. "So this is the way down to Elliott?"
    Drake didn't answer the Limiter, instead raising the holdall so that he could see it. "Whoever's come up from the fallout shelter, they've left a lot of kit behind. But where's Chester?" Drake posed.
    "Somewhere he feels safe?" Eddie suggested. "You thought he might go to London, so perhaps he's on his way there?"
    "Maybe, but he'll know your mob will be waiting for him the moment he pops up. And he has no way of contacting me except for messages on the remote server."
    "Well, you know the boy," Eddie put in.
    "I do, but it also depends who's with him -- if it's Will, then they might have chanced returning to Highfield together. Chester -- by himself -- would be far more cautious. No, I reckon he might have just dug himself in somewhere not too far from here."
    Eddie pointed one of his thin white fingers upwards. "So we should canvass the buildings," he suggested, "and keep an eye out for any tracks."
    Drake nodded, his expression one of concern. "But if he left here a week or two ago, then the weather will have removed all trace of them," he said.

10

    "Ah, there you are. Come and see this," Dr. Burrows shouted. Will had just emerged from the shade of the trees, and was ambling over to where his father was working at a makeshift trestle table by the base of the pyramid.
    Glancing up from the skull in his hands, Dr. Burrows only looked at his son when he was almost at the table. "What happened to your hair?" he asked. "Someone try to scalp you?"
    "Elliott cut it for me," Will replied indignantly. He scratched his rather short hair and a few tufts came away in his hand. "Actually, it was rather painful because her knife isn't very sharp." He glanced back at the trees. "She's cutting hers now -- must be something to do with this place or the sun or something, but her hair grows so much faster than mine. I swear it's as much as a centimeter a day. Maybe it's a Styx th--"
    "This is fascinating," Dr. Burrows interrupted, as if he hadn't been listening to a word his son had been saying. He put the skull in a space he'd cleared on the cluttered tabletop. Will saw that there were three skulls in total, lined up in a row.
    "Where did you get these?" Will asked.
    Dr. Burrows fanned his fingers so he could touch both the top of the skull he'd just been examining and the one next to it. "This pair was in a small compartment toward the top of the pyramid. I dislodge a cover stone with an inscription on it, with translates roughly as Origins . They were both inside."
    "In a small compartment?" Will said. "You didn't tell me. Where was I when you found them?"
    "You were off with your hairdressing pal," Dr. Burrows replied caustically.
    "Was I?" Will asked, frowning. He had a pretty good idea which day it must have been, but resented the fact that his father was trying to make him feel guilty. Will devoted nearly all his time to helping his father, and he felt he deserved a break every now and then.
    "Yes, she was showing you her hidey-hole or something. You remember -- it was a memorable occasion she claimed that the trees were watching her," Dr. Burrows replied disinterestedly, then his whole demeanor transformed as he lowered his hand onto the third skull. It was sun-bleached and very white. "And this fellow is from the trio impaled on the stakes."
    "Dad! You shouldn't have moved it!" Will exclaimed. "They were there for a reason It doesn't feel right that you've messed around with them."
    "Don't you go getting all superstitious on me," Dr. Burrows retorted. Will could see his father's eyes were sparkling with excitement, and decided not to push the matter any further. It was obvious Dr. Burrows thought he was on to something, and Will knew he wasn't going to