Underworld (10 page)

‘I'll eat how much I want,' Axel said, refusing to take orders.

Fiona refused to take orders too, but she handled it differently. ‘Actually, I was just about to suggest that myself. One sandwich. Right?'

They ate quietly. Axel and Liam sat far from the rest of them, and for all his shouting, Axel did only eat one sandwich, Zesh noted.

Angie sat beside Mr Marks, wiping his face, and wetting his lips with some of her water. She's thoughtful, Zesh thought, and she hadn't panicked half as much as he expected. She looked up, caught him watching her, and she blushed.

Oh no, please don't let her think I fancy her. He looked away quickly, straight into the amused eyes of Fiona.

She grinned. He knew exactly what she was thinking. All she said was, ‘Wish I had a fag.'

Zesh was just about to give her another lecture on smoking when suddenly, there was that eerie silence again. He got to his feet. Looked up at the roof. Did the stones seem looser now? Were they beginning to move again? He felt dizzy looking up, but when he looked at
the rest of them they had followed his eyes and were gazing up too.

‘It's moving again,' Liam said, taking a step back.

It was. Little bits of debris tumbled down, followed by a few small stones.

Then nothing, except that silence.

‘Somebody help me with Mr Marks,' Zesh said. Only Fiona and Angie stepped forward. ‘Let's get out of here,' he said.

Axel stood as if he was hypnotised. ‘Thought you said moving on was a bad idea. Thought you were always right.'

For a moment Zesh ignored him. He was too busy trying to pull, haul, lift the dead weight of the teacher, struggling to move him into one of the tunnels. ‘I was right then,' he muttered angily,' ‘and I'm right now too. We can't stay here.'

Already the rumble was beginning, a distant rumble, like thunder many miles away. But it wasn't thunder, it was an avalanche of rock hanging over them, ready to break free any second now.

‘Run for it!' Zesh ordered them.

But before they could move, the lights went out.

Angie's scream pierced Liam's eardrums. At least it sounded like Angie. He couldn't see anything. Total darkness. He wanted to scream himself. Only one beam of light ribboned the cave, like a searchlight in an air raid. Axel's. The light on his helmet reflecting his panic as it swung around them all.

Zesh's face, his eyes wide, shouting, ‘Get out of here!'

Fiona, her teeth chattering.

Angie, who couldn't stop screaming.

‘Shut it! Shut it!' Axel was yelling at her, but his voice was almost a scream too.

Suddenly the beam flashed on Liam, so bright he covered his eyes. ‘Put your light on!' Axel shouted.

Liam fumbled for the switch while Axel's light swung up to the roof. The rocks above them were straining. ‘I'm out of here!'

Zesh shouted at him, ‘Help us with Mr Marks!'

Axel swore at him. ‘Leave him!'

Even in that panicked moment, his words stunned them all. Angie stopped screaming.

‘We're not leaving him.' It was Fiona who came forward. Her face, caught in Liam's light, was as pale as a ghost. ‘Help us!' she said.

Liam ran to her automatically, hardly thinking. Expecting any second for a thunder of rock to come down on them.

‘Which tunnel?' Axel shouted, but Liam felt he was talking to himself, not asking. His light flashing from one tunnel to another.

‘That one,' Zesh said, and he pointed to one that sloped down. ‘Mr Marks said, we go down to get to the sea.'

They half dragged, half carried the teacher. Axel unhitched the iron chain that barred their way to the tunnel and stood at the entrance. He made no move to help them. But he didn't want to go on by himself. Was that why he waited? Bet it was, Liam thought. Not such a hard man now, eh Axel?

The teacher was moaning now, trying even through his unconsciousness to help them. Groaning in agony with every move.

Angie was gasping with fear, but she was helping too.

‘Come on. Quick!' Liam saw in the gleam of his lamp Axel's frightened eyes looking up. Liam followed his gaze and his beam too swung up to the roof.

At that same second, like a dam bursting, the rocks exploded. The noise was like another explosion. Angie screamed again. This time so did Fiona.

They lifted the teacher. Where did they get the strength? Fear gave them the strength, Liam was thinking. Was he thinking at all? All he knew was that he didn't want to die.

Zesh threw himself deep into the tunnel, hauling the teacher with him. Liam rolled in and fell against Fiona. She dragged a hysterical Angie behind her. The rocks rained down. It was as if the cave outside had come alive.

‘It's never going to stop!' Angie screamed the words out, clamping her hands over her ears.

She was right. It was never going to stop.

Axel was jumping about like a wild man. ‘It's all his fault! He should never have taken us here!'

Zesh was quiet, as if he couldn't believe this was all really happening.

As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The last rocks hurtled on to the chamber floor, debris crashed
and trickled, and then all was quiet. Liam waited for a moment, then he shone his light back into the chamber. But there was no chamber now. There was no path leading to the entrance. This fall had blocked everything. There was no chance of anyone breaking their way into them from there. They would need more than dynamite now.

‘We really are trapped,' Liam said to Zesh.

Zesh didn't say anything for a while, a long while. No one did. Not even Axel. He was slumped in a corner, his head in his hands. Zesh's voice was quiet when he did speak. ‘There is a way out. Mr Marks told us.' He looked at Liam. His face was ghostly in the glow of his lamp. Blackness all around him. This is like a horror film, Liam was thinking, and now we're all going to be picked off one by one.

‘These tunnels lead to the sea.'

Axel jumped to his feet. ‘And do you know which one leads to the sea?' He waved his hands around at the tunnels, one, two, three, four, that led from this one. ‘We'll get lost.'

Zesh shrugged that off. ‘We don't have any choice now. We have to move on. We'll follow the most used path. Right?'

‘We should leave markers in case we have to find our way back.' This was Fiona. ‘Mr Marks told us we should do that. And I saw it in a film once on telly. Never thought I'd have to actually do it myself.' She giggled. She actually giggled. ‘And they say television's bad for you.'

Axel stood above the teacher. ‘We're not taking him.'

Zesh was shaking his head. ‘We can't just leave him here.'

Fiona stood and faced Axel defiantly. ‘Look, I know it's everybody's dream, to get their own back on a teacher, but talk sense. He would die.'

Axel lifted his shoulders in a shrug. ‘So?'

‘We're taking him,' Zesh said.

‘Well he's no' holding me back. It's his fault we're here.'

‘Shut up, Axel,' Fiona said. She threw herself on the ground. She looked just about ready to cry. Her lip quivered, but she held it in. Angie was crying softly, clutching Mr Marks's hand. Zesh just looked sick.

I've never seen any of them like this, Liam thought, ready to scream. We're in terrible trouble. How are we going to get out of here?

Fiona didn't know for how long they were sitting there. Too long. She was shaking inside, scared of the dark, of
the dark corners. Scared of what might happen. Refused to think that far ahead.

She could hear Zesh drawing in long breaths, Angie sobbing softly. She fumbled for the switch on her lamp. Its beam flashed on Liam, standing at the far side of the tunnel, hugging himself. He was useless, she thought. He could do nothing, always waiting around for someone to tell him what to do. Axel was looking for an easy escape. She hated to admit it, but she could only rely on Zesh. Zesh! Arrogant zonking Zesh. But arrogant or not, he was at least trustworthy, which was more than she could say for Liam or Axel. Sir zonking Lancelot. She tried to think where they could go. Down. Mr Marks's words echoed in her brain. Down to the sea. The sea cave. They had to find it. Had to!

They were all so quiet, all thinking their own thoughts.

Move. Fiona realised she was breathing as hard as Zesh. She wanted to ask him what to do, but she'd never ask anyone that. She knew as much as he did. She would ask no one.

‘We can't stay here,' she heard herself say. ‘We have to find this sea cave.'

Axel spat out the words. ‘Right, then, lead on MacDuff.'

‘If we come up against a wall, we come back, go down the next tunnel. That's why we leave the markers. Isn't it, Zesh?' Angie looked at Zesh, appealing.

But Angie had figured all that out by herself. Fiona watched her. She looked like a bloated frightened fish with tears streaming down her cheeks.

‘I say we dump the teacher!' Axel snarled.

Fiona sighed. Why did he always have to act like a punk. Even now.

‘I'm no' carrying him.' She noticed that his hands were balled tightly into fists. Axel was afraid, she thought. But then, weren't they all?

‘I wonder if we could make some kind of stretcher out of the frame of his rucksack?' Zesh began taking it off the teacher. ‘We might be able to carry him better.'

Fiona watched him as he took the frame apart and worked at it. When it was finished, it wasn't much of a stretcher, more like a pull-along sled, but it did make lifting him easier for them.

Fiona wondered why Zesh was so quiet. Was he scared? He'd never admit to that, but he had every right to be. They all had. Liam stood beside Axel. What a wimp! Even here, in this place, he was still afraid to go against him.

She turned to Angie and spoke to her sharply. She couldn't help herself. The fat girl was stupid and annoying. Why did she have to keep on sobbing? That wasn't helping anybody.

‘Here, give us a hand. If we've got to pull him, we will.'

Zesh looked around the tunnels, trying to decide which one to choose. It was Axel who spoke. ‘That one,' he said. He pointed. ‘The sea's in that direction.'

‘How do you know that?' Zesh asked him.

Axel shrugged. He pointed above. ‘When we came in the entrance, the Doon was away ahead, and to the left of us.' Then he said again with assurance, ‘The sea's in that direction.' He stepped inside the tunnel first. ‘Right, come on then.' His voice was shaking. Behind the bold words and the anger, he was scared.

They were all scared, Fiona thought. Will we ever get out of here? And inside, she began to shake.

Here he was, trailing behind Axel again. Nothing ever changed, did it? Even down here, trapped and scared, Liam was doing what everyone expected. Following. He was mad at himself, but too afraid to do anything to change things.

Axel had refused to help with Mr Marks, making it a real struggle for them to half drag, half carry his limp body in the makeshift stretcher through the caves. Instead, he was striding ahead, his beam of light forging a path for them through the darkness. It might have looked as if he was the leader, but deep down he knew, perhaps they all knew, that Zesh was in charge.

Were they going the right way? Liam didn't even want to think about that. Because the wrong way might lead them to …!

‘Hey, how about a song!' he shouted. His voice sounded shaky and frightened. But anything was better than thinking. He had a feeling they all felt the same, for they immediately agreed.

‘Good idea, Liam.' He might have known fat Angie would sound enthusiastic. If she mentioned once more she was a Girl Guide, he would scream.

‘What'll we sing?' Zesh asked. His voice sounded breathless, and again Liam remembered the inhaler.

‘Away and zonk yourself. I'm not singing camp fire songs.'

‘You canny sing anyway.' Axel turned and burst into the conversation. ‘I've heard you. Remember, Fiona? Karaoke at the school disco?'

Liam suddenly laughed. So did Zesh. They all remembered now. Fiona giving her all at the microphone, belting out a Spice Girls' song, then being pelted with sandwiches and cakes when she finished.

She remembered too. ‘That wasn't my fault. The equipment was out of tune.'

That sent them all off laughing again. All except Angie. She wouldn't remember. She'd only come to the school recently. She was a bit of a mystery, was Angie. She hadn't made any friends – unless she genuinely
believed Fiona was her friend. No one really knew anything about her. Liam swung his light on her face, and she blinked and held her hand in front of the light

‘You want me to start?' she said, and before anyone could stop her she began to sing.

They had been treated, or tortured, depending on your thinking, by Angie's singing once before. On that hill walk just a few days ago. Just a few days ago? It seemed a lifetime away now. But when she began to sing Liam still couldn't believe it. Angie sang like an opera singer. In a high soprano voice. Very posh. She belted out, ‘When you walk through a storm …'

Liam caught Fiona in his light. Her mouth was wide open. She stuck out her tongue and pretended to cut her throat.

Axel screeched out. ‘Is that supposed to cheer us up! That's awful. Who do you think you are, Pavarotti? Just because you're built like him.'

That suddenly sent them all into fits of laughter.

Angie was cut off just as she was urging them not to be afraid of the dark. Liam was amazed, not so much by Angie's singing, as by the fact that Axel actually knew who Pavarotti was.

‘What are you all laughing at?' Angie asked innocently.

Zesh laid down Mr Marks. He was laughing so much, not just at Axel's joke but at Angie's singing, and it was making him even more breathless. He was covering up his weakness with that laughter. Didn't want anybody to know. Especially didn't want Axel to know.