Britta Stonefoot's Arc

Chapter 5 of 5

Britta pressed her cut palm to the wall and drew another line. Her blood smelled sharp in the cold air. Then she heard it. Down the left tunnel, something breathed. Slow. Wet. It dragged closer, and each breath came faster, as if it had caught a scent. Her scent. She backed against the stone. Both other tunnels were too far. She had nowhere to run. A square shape stepped out of the right tunnel. It walked on human legs in red sneakers. It was a toilet, with a striped cap and green slime dripping from its mouth. Its brown eyes fixed on her. Britta did not scream only because her throat closed up. "You're bleeding," the toilet said. His voice was flat and plain. "That's what it smells. Blood comes up the pipes too. Then the thing that isn't happy follows it." "What are you?" Britta whispered. "Flush Gordon. I follow the pipes." He tilted his tank toward the left tunnel. The breathing was louder now. "That one's close. You can't outrun it. You have to drop the ceiling on it." "I can't. I have no light. No tools." Britta's hands were empty and shaking. Flush reached into his bowl. He pulled out a bow and an arrow, both pink and glowing with a soft light. Water dripped off them. "Came up last night. From below. I kept it." He held them out. "You know how these work?" Britta stared. She had fired a glowing arrow once, at a ceiling, and it had brought the stone down. "Yes," she said. "I've done it." She took the bow. It was lighter than the last one. The breathing turned into a low growl. Something pale filled the mouth of the left tunnel, tall and wet, its head scraping the roof. It had no eyes. It swung toward the smell of her blood. "Aim up," Flush said. "Where the crack runs." He pointed one finger at a dark seam in the ceiling above the tunnel mouth. Britta set the arrow. She pulled the string back to her ear. Her cut palm burned on the grip. The beast lunged. She let go. The arrow flew straight and struck the seam. Pink light burst across the stone. A crack split the roof with a snap. Then the whole ceiling of the left tunnel came down. Rock crashed onto the beast. It shrieked once and vanished under the pile. Dust rolled over Britta and stung her eyes. When the dust settled, the left tunnel was gone. A wall of broken stone sealed it shut. The breathing had stopped. Britta lowered the bow. Two tunnels remained now, not three. She looked at her blood line on the wall. It marked a fork that no longer existed. "You sealed it," Flush said. He picked a wet wipe off his arm and flicked it away. "Now you're stuck on this side too."