Project Purity stared languid and heavy jutting from the far horizon. It was closer than it seemed. James pointed toward it and kept talking about what they would find and what had once been. Dylan scanned the horizon, soft peaks of nearby hills and anything he could find to watch. The whole area was barren and still, but that might change at any moment.
"We've already been there James. There's no need to act as a tour guide."
A couple of the other researchers grumbled but Dylan couldn't make out the words. James looked at Dr. Li and shook his head with an incredulous grin.
"It's simply overwhelming to look around and see us all headed back after all these years. I must be doing it for my own benefit."
Dylan glanced over the building and its curves. He remembered seeing this place in the distance, but he never knew what it was. The roof was just visible from the uppermost deck of Rivet City. He glanced over the dead plain at a mirelurk wandering in the distance. It didn't seem to have noticed them and then lumbered away over a hill.
"Some portions of the facility were damaged but with the passing of time that is too be expected. It's only natural decay for the most part but that won't impact our work. Most of the equipment is still in functioning order and what little is not we can easily repair. There were super mutants there before, but Ian cleared them out so we shouldn't have to worry about them."
Dylan glanced at Ian walking toward the middle front of the group and could only wonder why he was doing this. He didn't have any information about the purpose of Project Purity, or Ian's relationship to James. None of it made very much sense to watch him pacing along with the group of scientists. Peter appeared beside Dylan and tapped him on the shoulder.
"There's something ahead."
"Where?"
"Look at the building."
"Is that it?"
"There's something moving."
"Yeah, I see it."
"Good."
"Hey, everyone. Stop."
"What's going on?"
"Peter might have spotted something. Wait here while we check it out."
The group fell to a stop and Dylan continued with Peter. They crossed over a few hills then stopped crouched at the peak of one and stared out ahead at the tangled facility.
"Mutants..."
"That's what I thought."
"It's going to make things tough."
"Yeah."
They returned to the others and Dylan told them about the infestation.
"You said that Ian took care of that."
"They must have come back since he was there."
"We can't work in a facility full of those monsters."
"We don't have to."
"Let's go back. This is ridiculous."
"You never said we'd get killed over this."
"Nobody is going to get killed."
"Calm down."
"I'm not going to stay if there are mutants."
"There won't be any mutants. We'll get it cleared."
"None of us know how to fight and we don't have questions."
"I'll go in and take care of it again."
"And you two go with him. Make sure the place is safe."
"But if all three go then we'll just be sitting out here defenseless."
"I have a gun and I know how to use it. We'll be safe out here. You three just go in and take care of this."
Dylan looked at Peter and then they headed off. Ian met them a few yards ahead of the group and they continued toward the facility, cautious. Dylan watched the area and glanced back once at the impatient researchers.
"Tell us about the layout of this place."
Dylan glanced wide and stared at what he could make out of the place ahead.
"Outside there are several layers of walkways and ramps. Inside there are a few rooms of a ground floor, then a large basement area. It's dark and cramped down there."
"Perfect. I brought some grenades that we might have to use in there."
Dylan scanned the surrounding area but there was nothing visible.
"What was it like when you were last inside."
"The machines were intact, but messy and contaminated. The mutants were set up inside but loose and disorganized. It wasn't difficult to push through and clear them out."
Dylan watched Ian's face from the other side as he responded and caught Peter doing the same. He seemed normal now but Dylan couldn't let the suspicion get away. They stopped speaking as they neared the facility and began to prepare for the upcoming conflict. Dylan looked around but didn't spot anything yet. He checked his clip and patted the pistol hanging at his hip. The rough scar on his chest rubbed strange against the inside of his shirt.
"A few over there. Three. Headed this way but they don't see us yet."
Dylan followed Peter's outstretched finger and nodded.
"Make it quick then take their position."
"I'll take the left most one."
"I've got right."
"Okay."
They stopped to take aim and Peter counted down quickly under his breath. They fired as one and then ran over to take the mutants' position. They weren't quite inside the facility yet but would be very soon.
As they set foot near the mutants' bodies Ian turned around.
"Two more."
He fired and that mutant fell as Peter raised his weapon and took out the other. They ran forward and slipped up near to the building.
"We need to get around to the back."
"Three coming this way."
Dylan fired and killed one. The others toppled in sprays of strange blood but he didn't see who fired. They ran forward and halfway around the building then Peter killed a mutant taken off guard. They waited in that place for a minute but no more super mutants appeared. Ian led them around to the entrance and they all reloaded before heading inside.
"Get ready. It's a straight shot at first so we'll have to be quick."
"Stay careful. Don't get us killed in there."
"Just keep moving."
Peter wrenched the door open and they pushed through. The tunnel was bleak and empty, but silent. Dylan lagged a step then caught Peter's eye over Ian's shoulder. Peter nodded back and they continued around the corner.
The room beyond was littered with rubble and mostly dark. Three super mutants appeared suddenly and they dropped in place to fire. As one fell Peter nudged himself behidn a bit of rubble and lay small. Dylan found some cover for himself while Ian moved ahead in small darts of movement. Two more mutants appeared carrying rifles that looked like toothpicks in their brawny arms. Ian killed one and Peter killed the other.
"There's a split here, between the basement and central room."
Two more super mutants ran up the stairs and Dylan killed the second. Ian rushed across and pulled open a door, then disappeared within. Dylan hissed over at him but he was gone and there was another trio of mutants appearing up the stairs. In the other room Ian fought something and then it was quiet. He reappeared and took a spot of cover by the stairs, waved them over.
"Don't be stupid. You're not the only one here."
"Any flashlights?"
Peter produced one and they headed down the stairs, moving ready and careful. They moved as a group and efficiently while the stairway grew more narrow and dark. They killed five mutants which either appeared alone or in a pair and toppled immediately back through darkness as three rifles reacted.
They entered a set of rooms far below and were set upon by mutants from all directions. The onslaught pressed them back into a spartan bedroom but there they were able to keep the creatures at bay. There wasn't much time to prepare before each mutant stormed into the room or into sight. Ian stopped firing and just stared around at the room then off into darkness. His weapon fell a few degrees and then rested on his outstretched knee.
"What the fuck are you doing?"
Another mutant entered the room but Ian didn't react. Dylan and Peter killed it while he just looked up and his face did not move. Peter guarded the door while Dylan turned on him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Don't pull this shit now. We need to get out of here alive."
Ian's eyes came back into focus after Dylan stopped speaking but he didn't say anything.
"I don't hear anything else out there."
"You think that's it?"
Peter edged out into the darkness and then bellowed into it. He backed a step away slowly and raised his weapon. Nothing else appeared and that seemed to determine it all. They left the room and started heading back upstairs. Dylan kept an eye on Ian but there was no further event and no other mutants. They left the place and began to head back to the researchers.
It was easier to move by night. The world stayed empty. The real struggle came to be finding their way by the stars and faint horizon. Even perfect humans were not safe from each other in the wasteland. They moved slowly and hid themselves away by daylight. The darkness was huge around and it forced visibly to murky figures. They spoke softly, or they did not speak at all.
They moved carefully over the hills, stayed low to prevent a silhouette on the filtering soft air. The group arranged itself as usual and traded sparse, weary whispers. The night was reaching its end. Willow and Carter led the way, speaking of plans and dangers. Tony, Mathews and Sara walked close behind and gazed out across the world, hardly speaking except for Sara's occasional remark. Behind them Amata marched along with Maxon supporting her throbbing leg and Jimmy keeping close. Greta and Carol, then Charon took the rear, and they hardly spoke at all while moving.
"I don't know if it's getting better. The pain is more vague, but it's throbbing all the way up to my head."
"It might not get better on its own, but we'll find a stimpack somewhere."
"Bright circle..."
"Yeah. Sorry again to make you carry me like this."
"I'm sorry you got shot. It's either this or leave you, so don't worry about that. We'll find something. If not medicine then it could be material for another stretcher."
"Shiny... far away..."
"That'd make things difficult, staying careful like this."
"We'd make it through."
"I'm just hoping for that stimpack. Next fight we're in I can't imagine I'll be much help."
"We'll figure that out when we get there."
"Bright eyeball..."
"What are you talking about?"
"Thing..."
"What thing?"
"Yeah, is it something a... oh..."
"I think, are you talking about the moon."
"White circle."
"It's very bright."
"Yeah, I just wish we could admire it from indoors."
"Don't we all..."
Mathews shook his head with a sour laugh and then gestured over to the mountains.
"If this thing with Roy doesn't work out, I'd say we should go duck against one of them."
"Well we have to make Roy kick us out first."
"Little circles..."
"They're called stars big guy, and yeah... The hope is that works out but we've got to think about it too. You remember when Roy was in Underworld?"
"Yeah, you've got something there."
"What does he mean by that?"
"He can get pretty disagreeable when he's pissed."
"And he's always pissed about something."
"So he might not let us stay?"
"Don't know. Last time I saw the guy was a couple years ago. Had some trade from his place so we know he's still out there, but can't be certain what's been going on."
"Might be changed, might have moved away."
"Little little circles..."
"Hey do you hear that?"
"Roy's a mercurial guy, that's all there is to it. We'll just have to find out when we get there."
Tony stopped walking.
"There's something moving around here."
Mathews turned and then hissed up to Willow and Carter.
"Hey, wait a minute. Do you hear that?"
They stopped as a couple shots cut through the night aimless, then somebody howled with sheer animal delight.
"Surprise!"
Willow and Carter backpedaled while the others searched out a defensible position. Two raiders charged over the hill with others running closely behind.
"Stay close to me. We'll fight together."
A grenade fell and burst into the night. It was too far way to kill anyone but Amata and Maxon collapsed away from the blast. When they managed to get back up Amata saw the group splintered and struggling. Where they had been about to converge, Carol and Charon were fighting alone with Greta isolated a few yards away.
Sara fought close with a raider, using the length of her rifle to counter his heavy bat. Every shape was blurred under darkness, and identities only became apparent from small flashes of realization. The raider knocked her gun aside then slammed the bat into her stomach. A second impact knocked the rifle away before Tony appeared and shot the man from behind. Willow stepped over and helped Sara back to her feet, but she was still obviously weak and disoriented.
Two raiders set upon Amata and Maxon, hooting with joy and then began firing. They managed to drop away to the other side of a hill and slid down over the rough gravel. Amata slipped a few feet away from Maxon but rolled over and managed to get her shotgun out of its holster. The night spun around with darkness and faint moonlight. A raider appeared over the hill and she pulled the trigger. Amata struggled onto one knee then pulled the trigger again. Her body screamed from the wound and the imagery faded with moments but she couldn't stop.
Amata collapsed to the side but Maxon caught her and they struggled to their feet. A raider lay slack collapsed at the peak of the hill. They climbed back up together and stopped at the edge. Somewhere ahead Amata caught a glimpse of Willow fighting hard. She slammed the butt of her gun against a raider's face then fired on him and twisted around to shoot another halfway to the left.
The noise and darkness were very disorientating. It was very difficult to keep her bearings inside an ocean of nondescript rolling hills. Everything was the same except for occasional muzzle flashes or rushing silhouetted figures. She stayed close to Maxon, who kept looking around with a stern look on his face, though his eyes were large and white under reflective moonlight.
"Let's help Willow and the others."
"Yeah, let's go."
Maxon paused a moment and shot at a raider before they started down the hill. Over the next hill Amata caught a glimpse of Jimmy fighting along one of the other ghouls, though she couldn't tell who. A raider appeared with a knife and a jagged grin nearly upon Maxon already but Amata twisted her shotgun around and the shell toppled him into darkness.
They met with Willow who had backed herself with the others against an overhanging cliff. She greeted them with a curt nod then started to scan the night again. Two more raiders appeared but were quickly shot. Sara sat to the side half folded over but she stayed alert and held her gun ready.
After these last two there was silence. Nothing else appeared but they waited in that silence for several minutes. Willow called into the night at first with a hoarse whisper, then louder.
"Hey, are you guys still out there?"
Carter shouted back after a few seconds.
"You see anything?"
"It's clear from my angle."
"Same here. Wait there, we'll come to you."
The others broke from a group of shadows and headed over, still wary of the surrounding area.
"Is anyone dead?"
"Sara's hurt, nothing worse."
"Right, somebody patch her up. Who's here?"
Willow turned around and did a head count while Greta knelt over to dress Sara's wound. After a few moments Willow grimaced.
"Missing two. Mathews and the mutant."
"Jimmy."
"Yeah, forgot it."
"They probably just got turned around from all of that."
"Wouldn't be hard in that mess."
"You get the rest of this together, I'll go look for them."
"I'll go with you."
"Yeah, alright."
Tony and Carter walked away from the group and climbed up a nearby hill. They passed out of sight, but their voices carried back and through the night. The shouting carried on for a couple minutes but there was no response. Carter growled something ugly as they returned.
"It's too damn dark to find them out there."
Sara sat up and moaned at the pain.
"We're not gonna leave them out there are we?"
"No. We won't go on without them."
"They might be dead, you know?"
"I don't want to make any assumptions."
"They probably have an outpost around here."
"Who?"
"The raiders."
"Who else?'
"Yeah."
"That's comforting."
"We'll have to be on the lookout when we leave here."
"Not without Mathews."
"We're not leaving without them."
"No wait. Listen. I can't imagine they have many soldiers hanging around, especially just waiting back at the base. Why don't we check it out. Might have supplies and it'd be a decent place to wait while we look for the others."
"What if there are more waiting there?"
"We check it out from a couple hills away and if it's empty we move in, if not we back off."
"Tony, I think that's the first good idea I've heard from you this whole time."
"Glad you appreciate it."
"Let's go find out."
Willow helped Sara up and they climbed away up the next hill. They Carter paused there to look around and the rest followed. He gestured toward something and Willow nodded, then they started off again. They headed toward a deep collection of shadow. With each step it manifested into a ramshackle building. They stopped at a distance and watched it again before moving in.
The group broke apart to search the small, interconnected huts. Most of what they found was disgusting junk, but through that was some useful equipment: a few weapons and food, rags and blankets for bandages. They dragged everything they found out front and went through it slowly. Amata's leg wasn't bleeding anymore so they didn't need to change the bandage yet, but Greta and Carol replaced Sara's while they had the chance.
While they were consolidating the take, Mathews and Jimmy appeared out of the night. They didn't say anything, but Mathews limped over and then collapsed onto a set of ragged wooden steps. Everyone looked at him and then over at Jimmy for a long while without speaking.
"Fuckers pushed us off. Just glad I wasn't alone."
He laughed then leaned back and closed his eyes with that thick dark grin on his face.
"Are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine. Just tired."
Mathews didn't move his head to speak. After a minute the rest of them got back to organizing the supplies.
"Hey I found one."
"What?"
"A stimpack."
"Just one?"
"Yeah."
"Hey Sara..."
"How are you feeling?"
"Just banged up. Give it to Amata. It's my turn to be carried."
She laughed then coughed.
Greta handed the syringe over to Maxon, who brought it to Amata. She waited a second then took it from him.
"Thanks Sara."
"Don't worry about it."
"Anywhere special to put it?"
"Anywhere it'll go in."
"Okay then..."
Amata set the needle against her leg and it was cold. The wound throbbed a few more times before she managed to push the sharp point in. The metal felt unnatural inside of her skin and still cold. She forced the plunger down slowly and the medicine crawled away into her body. The flesh seemed dead from that, and heavy.
For a moment it seemed nothing would happen, but then a heavy deep ache emerged near the wound. The flesh squirmed slowly and then the needle fell out, slid from the wound and dropped from her hand into the dirt. Amata closed her fingers tight around the tough hole in her leg and the flesh wriggled slowly beneath her fingers, ballooned out where there had been a space of hard blood. Her stomach felt empty suddenly and she just then noticed some sweat leaking down her brow.
Maxon handed her a piece of dry meat and she stuffed some of it into her mouth. The others were passing bits of food around. Jimmy sat next to them and looked around slowly. Mathews sat on the other side of him and the rest stretched around in a circle. Voices spread at a low mumble. They ate quickly then packed the rest of it and started off again.
The path further west was clear and level. They didn't move very quickly, but the night was empty. Clouds gathered overhead and covered over the stars and moon. They moved slower through thick darkness, searching for good paths. After a moment of tapping drops it began to rain heavily.
"That's too many surprises for one night."
"This is great. We gotta stop."
"Where are we going to stay?"
"I can't see shit."
"We could keep going. Maybe it'll pass."
"Fuck you, this is gonna wash us away."
"Do you see anywhere we could get out of this?"
"Anyone?"
"Let's go back."
"To the raiders' huts?"
"Yeah. We can put up a guard and get out of this shit."
"Fuck this, let's go."
"We'd better be careful."
"About what?"
"We might just turn into raiders ourselves if we keep sleeping in their holes."
"Very funny Sara."
"Which was is it?"
"It's in the hills."
"Do you see that?"
"Get inside."
"Where are you?"
"Christ, this place is small."
"Come on everyone get in."
"We need to set a couple guards then split up."
"I'll take first watch. I won't be able to sleep with these bruises anyway."
"Yeah, I'll stay up too. The rest of you had better get to sleep."
Empty dead earth spread out in every direction. The others had been visible ahead over hills but were hidden for this moment. The air was thick grey and silent as they stamped along. Ian looked at the sky and its ruffled streaks spread away.
James looked up as they stepped over the crest. His gun was out and hanging by his side. Dr. Li motioned to the others and then turned to them.
"Is it clear now?"
"We cleaned it out."
"How do we know you didn't miss something in there?"
"Daniel... They've checked through the facility."
"I'm not saying that they didn't, just they might have missed something."
"We didn't. That made enough noise to draw out anything we didn't walk over."
"We're going. If you don't trust them on this then you can go back to Rivet City. The rest of us are headed in now."
Daniel shook his head and grimaced, but the group started moving again. It didn't take long to near Project Purity. They passed around to the side and dead mutants lay across the path. Some pieces of the outer wall were crumbling away and scattered bullet holes added to this layer of decay.
"This isn't quite the way I've remembered everything."
"Are you certain about that Madison? I remember us pushing through quite a bit of conflict back in the day."
"It's been twenty goddamn years you two. Everything is falling apart."
They reached the rear of the building and climbed inside past destruction and death. They headed straight for the central room without further comment on the scattered hulking corpses. Once inside the scientists fanned out to examine the workings of that room. Ian watched them survey the equipment and watched the guards stand about awkwardly in the middle of this proceeding.
The scientists worked quickly, assessing different panels and machines and relaying complicated information without pausing to breathe or think. A few pieces of equipment had been ruined by mutants but they were eventually deemed disposable to the process. Mostly they were amazed by how the other equipment had managed to last. Daniel complained about working with such degraded material but James and Dr. Li insisted that they must get it working again.
James stood by working at one of the terminals and taking moments to speak over his shoulder. Sometimes he bellowed information or directions, but mostly he spoke to Ian a few feet away.
"Have you learned yet what the original intention was?"
"No, I haven't managed to figure it out."
"Clean water. That was the goal, to provide a source of pure water to the wasteland."
Ian looked around slowly at the equipment littered about.
"Is it really that difficult?"
James laughed and shook his head.
"Oh it's difficult. Radiation from the war has contaminated nearly all of the world's water. There are small reserves of clean water but no method of producing it."
"Huh, that sounds like a tough problem."
"It is. The concept is simple but the fact is that the water is radioactive and we need to find a way to treat it so as to remove that entirely."
"Could you really do that?"
"I've always believed it's possible. We just need to find the right process."
"That's amazing. I never thought it could ever be done. I just assumed the world would have to remain that way."
"Most people do. That's the problem, that you only know the world you're born into. We figured out while reading about the past. Free clean water has always been an important factor to society, but it seems to have disappeared from the world as a concept since the war."
"It's hard to imagine."
"There has been so much sickness and infirmity caused by the general pollution of water. A clean source would presumably cure that."
"Sickness from the water... I guess there's no way to get around drinking it, but with this..."
"That's exactly the point. This world is growing up sick without a chance to escape that. There is no available alternative, but when our project is successful there will be a resurgence of health. Nobody will need to fight for clean water."
"That'll be a great step. Perhaps the greatest since the war."
"That's what I've always thought. This work is to important to go unfinished. Even when I was forced away, I continued to work out ideas for it alone. There was no other way."
Ian stepped back and watched them converse without opening his mouth. James' eyes were growing wide to discuss the subject and Peter's seemed much the same. The air buzzed between them with this idea and it was just gratifying to hear the full story of this idea. For so long Ian had known of this place without imagining its intention.
"Hey James, are you seeing this?"
"What?"
"The power current is fluctuating and I haven't been able to access docks two or three."
"There must be some damage below."
"That would explain it, but godammit this is going to take too long."
"We can't do any real work until we get this stuff back on line."
"It's going to take too long for me to run around and fix this shit myself."
"Okay let's try this. Daniel, you work with the guards to take care of the mechanical issues. Take a radio. Janice, close any auxiliary channels and redirect the power to what we're using now. We'll try to get things back in working order while you're gone."
Daniel motioned to Dylan then Peter and Ian before heading for the door. James handed Ian another radio and then started working over the terminal again. Once outside of the central room, Daniel mumbled something under his breath then looked around.
"Okay there's some work up here to be done. You come with me and the other two go downstairs. He gave you a radio, right? Okay, I'll call you with some directions when you're below. Don't fuck this up."
Ian and Peter headed for the stairs and climbed down. It grew dark quickly, though a few dim lights had been turned on. They didn't talk while descending, but both put a hand on their guns and stared intently into the darkness. The radio cut quickly into voice.
"One of you head down to the bottom. By the pools there will be a fusebox. Best to check that first. If you look around there should be a set of heavy doors. I'll get some power down there so you can get those open, then there will be a terminal and some machinery inside. Radio back when you're through and I'll give you some more directions."
They split there with Peter heading below and Ian peering through the dim lights to find that set of doors. The first time he tried they didn't open, but then a couple dead lights turned on and the doors creaked into motion. Ian called back as he looked over the machines and single panel. Daniel read over a few codes which he entered and then described three knobs to turn in order.
"Now head lower. In the basement you'll find a large machine aside in its own room. That's the floor control pump and I need you to turn it off."
"What about Peter? He's already down there?"
"He's coming back up to get some replacement fuses. Just hurry so we can get this thing working."
Ian headed back into the main area and found his way to the stairs. He started down and was surprised as Peter passed him quickly. The look on his face was strange but it disappeared. Ian found the machine that Daniel described and pulled a heavy lever to power it down. That freed some power and the intercom system turned on with a harsh snap.
"Okay we're close. Come up while he's replacing those fuses. There's something else up here."
Ian left the room and found the stairs again. He met Peter again in passing but this time they stopped.
"The intercom is working now."
"Yeah, it just came up a couple of minutes ago."
"It sounds like we're going to get this thing working soon."
"Yeah."
"Even knowing it's empty down here, doesn't do much for the atmosphere."
"Dylan doesn't trust you, but you've probably figured that out. He's not very subtle."
Ian was taken off guard by this statement and took a moment before responding.
"What about you?"
"He warned me before we left, of you and your father. I haven't decided yet. I'm going to keep an eye out, but that shouldn't worry you. If you don't try anything, we won't have any trouble."
"Thanks for the trust."
"Don't betray it and everything will work out fine."
Peter passed him on the stairs and headed back into darkness below. Ian waited a moment after he left then shook it off and kept moving upward. Once he reached the ground floor, Daniel motioned him toward a slight tunnel mouth opening in the disheveled floor.
"Climb down through here and clear the blockage. With that done and the fuses changed we should be ready to work. From what James has been saying since... I'm starting to think this might work. He did manage to figure out a lot of our problems while he disappeared. Just get down there and get this working so we can test it."
Ian climbed down slowly into the darkness. Water sloshed around his boots.
"I'm going to seal you in, but there is another exit into the basement."
"Do you have a flashlight?"
"Yeah, just a minute."
Daniel disappeared for a minute then came back and handed one down. He shut the door without another word and screwed it shut. Ian stayed for a minute in the pitch darkness and waited. The tide of shadows coalesced into that figure in his mind, but it didn't mean anything. He had seen it one before the injury and thought of it since. There was a man in the darkness below Megaton, but it didn't matter now, not yet. Ian turned the flashlight on and swept all of that away.
"There's a valve somewhere ahead that will drain all of that water."
He pushed forward through darkness and the water rose around his boots. After a while marching on it poured over the edges and slipped between his toes. He slipped forward several feet and tumbled in the water but found his footing again and grabbed at the wall. The air filled with reverberations of running water and it pounded inside of Ian's head. Every movement echoed back to him and the tunnel was painfully confining.
Finally Ian managed to find the valve, nearly passed it in the darkness. He twisted it with much difficulty and then the water started to drain away underfoot. His shoulder ached from the effort.
"Okay, the water is draining. I'm heading back."
Ian started to walk along with the rushing black water. The tunnel ahead was dark even with the flashlight. He walked for a few minutes but there was no response, so he called again. Ian stopped in the darkness and listened carefully. Some event fell in the distance but he could barely hear it over the resounding rush of water.
"Something is happening."
This time it was Dylan calling back. There was noise behind his voice but nothing the radio would produce.
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"
For a long time there was no answer, so Ian started moving again. It could have been seconds, then Dylan's voice reappeared suddenly as a shout. Ian couldn't understand the first segment, but then it returned clipped and brutal.
"Get back here. We need you."
Ian radioed back again but there was no answer. He rushed on with the draining water. Darkness swung around dizzyingly with the swaying flashlight. His feet slipped against the slick, uneven surface. Ian fell against the side of the tunnel and struck his shoulder jarringly, but he scrambled back to his feet and hurried on. The pain throbbed back into his mind but there was another loud noise. He nearly lost his balance but maintained it and listened hard for any hint of the conflict.