Submerged: The Labyrinth, Book 2, page 4
“Could be the rain.” Frankie shrugged. “Maybe it’s—”
She faltered as they both heard a strange sound—a gaseous sort of belching noise.
“The fuck was that?” Frankie whispered.
The injured occupant cried out again, her voice much closer now.
“Hello?” Bloom began to crawl through the debris until he’d reached the edge of the hole in the floor. He perched there, balancing precariously on the balls of his feet. “Just hang on. We’re coming.”
Overhead, the roof groaned again. Frankie glanced up at it, and saw water streaming through the holes. Thunder boomed. She followed the water’s descent, down into the crack in the floor. Then she realized that there was something long and white inside the fissure.
And it moved.
“Bloom? Get the fuck out of there!”
“I can see her,” he called over his shoulder. “It’s a woman. She’s pinned!”
The white thing quivered, glistening in the darkness.
“Bloom, there’s something down there with you! Get the hell—”
A giant worm, three feet in diameter and of an indeterminate length, erupted from the hole in the floor. It rose into the air, swaying back and forth like a snake. Screaming, Frankie stumbled backward. The worm lunged, opening its mouth to reveal a gaping, toothless maw. Pale slime dripped from the orifice.
“Holy shit,” Bloom yelled, scrambling backward in a sort of reverse crabwalk. “Look at the size of that thing!”
The worm turned, attracted by his shout. Undulating with a loud squelch, it writhed out of the fissure and slithered toward him with a speed belying its monstrous bulk.
SARAH HEARD Bloom and Frankie’s screams from her spot beneath the tree. Instinctively, she stood up and started toward the wreckage of the house, but the little girl clung to her tightly, holding her in place. The child stood stock still, as if frozen. She made no sound.
“It’s okay,” Sarah soothed, trying to keep the panic she felt out of her voice. “It’s all going to be okay.”
The little girl moaned and began to tremble. Her cheek was pressed against Sarah’s abdomen, but her gaze was locked on something behind them. Slowly, Sarah glanced over her shoulder.
And screamed.
She recognized the segmented horror all too well, and could only gape in stunned shock as a giant worm wriggled out of an open storm drain, and loomed over a man on a bicycle. The rider skidded on the wet pavement, crashing his bike. The tire popped and the front rim crumpled. The cyclist sprawled on his back, hands thrown up protectively as the creature seized his legs with its toothless, yawning mouth and dragged him toward the drain.
Sarah picked up the little girl and turned to run, but found four more worms closing in on them, squirming through the wet streets.
The rain continued to fall.
A STENCH BEGAN to permeate the town—a smell like chlorine and dead fish and stale ammonia that seemed to steadily worsen.
The Exit wrinkled his nose. “What is that? A gas leak?”
“That’s the worms,” Teddy warned. “You can smell them before you see them, usually. Watch out. They could be anywhere.”
“Are you sure?” Tony asked.
The old man nodded. “Trust me. You don’t forget that stink. I used to smell it in my dreams.”
“He’s right,” Henry confirmed. “It’s them for sure. I never wanted to smell them things again.”
“Come on.” Swallowing hard, Teddy nodded at the fog enshrouded shoreline. The ocean, sand and boardwalk were lost beneath the haze. He trotted off unsteadily.
Shaking his head, Tony hurried after him.
“LeHorn,” the Exit panted. “Wait a minute.”
The other magus stopped, gasping for breath. Henry paused, as well. Ahead of them, Tony and Teddy disappeared into the mist.
“What’s wrong?” LeHorn asked.
“Think about this,” the Exit replied. “If Teddy and Henry are correct, then this is the work of Behemoth.”
“Right.” LeHorn nodded.
The Exit pointed at the sky. “But Behemoth can’t do that. This rain is caused by Leviathan using the Labyrinth to open a doorway into the Great Deep. This level is being absorbed by it as we speak.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I am. Leviathan and Behemoth are working together, just like they did on Teddy, Sarah and Henry’s world. We are facing two members of the Thirteen, not one. And both of them have armies of minions at their disposal.”
LeHorn frowned in consideration. When he responded, his tone was low. “Then, what do we do?”
“You are an opener, and I am a closer, but doors work two ways.”
LeHorn shook his head. Droplets of water flew from his beard. “I don’t follow you, Mendez...I mean Exit. What’s your point?”
“We need to split up. You focus on banishing Behemoth to the Void. I’ll begin preparations for doing the same to Leviathan, and closing the portal before this world is destroyed.”
“I don’t know.” LeHorn hesitated. “I’m not saying you’re wrong, but let’s talk about it with the others before we go splitting up.”
“We don’t have time to vote and debate.”
“And this isn’t a dictatorship,” LeHorn snapped. “Let’s catch up with Teddy and Tony. Then we’ll discuss it together.”
Turning, he lunged into the fog. The mist swirled around him, concealing him from sight. Henry started to go after him, but the Exit stopped the youth by reaching out and catching his arm.
“Do you want to save this world, boy?”
Henry stared at him, wide-eyed. “Yes, sir.”
“And do you want to get revenge on the entity that destroyed your world?”
Henry nodded adamantly. “Oh, definitely.”
“Good.” The Exit smiled. “Then come with me. I’m going to need your help.”
TEDDY AND TONY couldn’t see the boardwalk, but they knew they had reached it when they heard the wooden planks beneath their feet. They stopped to catch their breath. The rain beat down upon them. The wind shifted, blowing the spray directly into their faces.
“The screaming’s stopped,” Tony whispered.
Teddy gulped air and nodded.
“I don’t hear the ocean,” Tony said. “But we must be near it, right?”
“I reckon.”
The fog swirled, tossed by the wind.
Tony glanced behind them. “Where the fuck are the others?”
“I don’t know. I thought they were right behind us.” He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out for them. “Henry? LeHorn? Mendez?”
“Exit,” Tony reminded him.
“Oh, right. Exit! Where y’all at?”
“Here,” LeHorn called, but he sounded far away. The rest of his response faded out as they stood listening.
“It’s the fog,” Teddy explained. “I remember now. It has this weird dampening effect on sound.”
“This fucking wind probably isn’t helping either,” Tony replied.
“This seems…” Teddy paused. “I don’t know. Different somehow. The process is stronger or maybe faster.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t rightly know for sure. It’s like things are happening quicker this time, than they did on my world.”
“Well, if Leviathan and Behemoth have done this to other Earths, then it stands to reason they’ve had some fucking practice, right?”
Teddy shrugged. “Maybe. Although I don’t much cotton to the implications that brings up.”
The wind shifted direction again, pushing the fog and rain away from them. As the mist cleared, both men gaped.
“I think we found the one dry spot in all of Indonesia,” Tony said.
Out beyond the sodden beach, the ocean had disappeared. Where there should have been waves churning and breaking, there was only more sand—and darkness on the horizon. Fish flopped helplessly, suffocating in the air. But they weren’t the only things that moved. All along the shoreline, massive worms tunneled and burrowed, gobbling up the dying fish like obscene vacuum cleaners.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Tony spat. “Those are the worms you guys were talking about?”
Teddy nodded, weeping. His expression was pained and frustrated.
“Still think it was a good idea to rush out of Sarah’s place unarmed?”
“No,” Teddy admitted. “And there’s no need to rub it in. I reckon I was wrong.”
Shuddering, Tony pointed at the far-off horizon. “What’s that moving out there? That big dark shadow?”
Teddy squinted, and then held one hand over his brow. He peered, sneezed, and then looked again. Suddenly, his eyes grew wide.
“That’s the ocean,” he said. “It’s coming back.”
“The hell...?”
“It’s a tsunami, Tony!”
Tony glanced at the horizon and then back to Teddy. He shook his head.
Teddy nodded, his expression terrified.
Then they heard it—a steady, concussive rumble, as if an avalanche had come to life and was barreling across the landscape. They stood gaping as the darkness raced closer and closer, consuming everything in its path.
Tony’s shoulders sank. “Oh, fuck me running.”
“Yeah,” Teddy gasped. “Running is about all we can do...and I reckon that ain’t gonna be enough.”
Roaring, the ocean churned towards them.
5
F rankie stared in horror as Bloom scrambled backward, retreating deeper into the groaning wreckage as the worm sped after him. He glanced around, frantically looking for a weapon. The worm closed the distance between them. He crouched, reaching for a fallen lamp, but the worm hissed and sprang. Bloom recoiled, smacking the back of his head against a sagging timber. He fell to the floor, and the worm bore down on him.
“Hey!” Frankie bent over, grabbed a sodden book from a puddle of water, and threw it at the creature. The projectile landed futilely against the monster’s thick, segmented hide, and then splashed back down, but the action got the beast’s attention. The worm turned towards her.
Bloom groaned. “F-frankie?”
“On your feet, soldier!” She took two steps backward as the worm swayed indecisively. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He paused, felt the back of his head, and then grunted. “My head’s bleeding, but scalp wounds do that. It doesn’t feel too deep.”
“Come on, motherfucker. Crawl over this way.”
“I can’t.”
“Not you, Bloom. I’m talking to the worm!”
The creature turned to Bloom, and then back to Frankie again, as if eavesdropping on their conversation. Then, with another gaseous belch, it lurched toward her.
“Get the mom and get out of here,” Frankie yelled. “I’m gonna lead this thing outside!”
“Frankie! What are you—?”
“Just do it!”
The worm slithered over the wreckage, splashing through the deepening pools of rainwater, and once again opened its mouth. The stench wafting from that slime-filled orifice was revolting. Frankie stared into the toothless maw, and shuddered.
“This is way worse than zombies.”
She turned and fled, and the worm gave chase.
OUT IN THE STREET, Sarah struggled to move as the little girl clung tighter to her. The closest worm finished eating the helpless man, leaving his bicycle lying in the street. Sarah shuddered as she watched a human-sized lump slide along inside the creature’s length. It reminded her of a snake swallowing a mouse.
The other four worms closed in on them, cutting off any hope of escape. Thunder boomed, and lightning flashed across the sky.
Sarah knelt, hugging the girl close to her chest so that the child wouldn’t see their doom approaching. Tears streamed down her cheeks, mixing with the rain.
“It will be okay,” Sarah murmured. She knew the girl didn’t understand her, but she hoped her tone would soothe her regardless. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
The five worms wriggled closer, squelching and hissing. Two of them rose up, hovering above her.
“Oh God...” Sarah closed her eyes.
“Hey motherfuckers!”
Sarah opened her eyes again and gasped as Frankie ran past, pursued by a sixth worm. The other creatures whipped around, attracted by the commotion. Four of them joined the pursuit. The fifth—the one who had gobbled the man on the bike—hesitated. Perhaps it was sluggish from its meal, or maybe it just saw easier prey in Sarah and the child.
“Go on,” she muttered. “Get out of here.”
As Sarah watched, Frankie turned a corner and disappeared. The worms followed.
Spluttering, the straggler swayed back and forth above Sarah and the girl. The cloying stench made Sarah retch. Her stomach roiled. The creature hissed. Taking a deep breath, Sarah stood up slowly and grabbed the girl’s hand. Then, with a tug, she ran.
Screaming, the girl fled with her, little legs pumping. Sarah gripped her hand tightly, directing them toward the ruined house that Frankie and Bloom had gone inside. She heard the worm giving chase, but didn’t turn around to look at it. If they could reach the structure, she reasoned, maybe they could hide inside—gain access to a room and close the door so the creature couldn’t reach them. Maybe Bloom would still be in there. Maybe he could help them.
Sarah shouted triumphantly as they reached the curb. The sagging ruins were within reach. Then the girl yanked her hand so hard that Sarah was nearly pulled off her feet.
Stumbling, she turned...and screamed.
Sarah clung to a severed arm, the stump bloody and raw where it had been torn from the child’s socket. The rest of the little girl slid down the worm’s throat. Horrifically, the child’s feet kicked and wriggled. Then, the beast closed its mouth and swallowed.
Sobbing, Sarah dropped the arm and fled toward the house. When she reached it, she ducked down and hurried inside.
The worm rushed after her, and Sarah imagined that she could hear the little girl screaming inside of it.
“RUNNING’S NOT GONNA DO SHIT,” Tony gasped as he and Teddy fled inland. “We’ve got to get to high ground.”
Teddy nodded, panting. “I couldn’t have outrun a tsunami even in my youth.”
Behind them, the rolling darkness continued to roar. Again, Tony thought that it sounded more like a living thing than it did the ocean. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw that the surge had now reached the actual beach, scooping up sand and worms alike, and churning them in its midst like clothes in a washing machine. A few abandoned boats rode atop the waves. The air stank of mud, brine, fish and seaweed.
“LeHorn,” Teddy shouted again. “Henry!”
“Forget about it,” Tony said. “They’re probably doing the same thing we are.”
A worm emerged from the ground in an explosion of mud and rocks about one hundred yards away from them. It thrust its head from the hole and opened its mouth to the sky. Then it turned toward them and squealed. Tony grabbed Teddy’s arm and led them in another direction.
“There!” He pointed at a tall apartment building, looming over the other structures around it. “That’s six or seven stories high.”
Teddy shook his head. His complexion was ashen, and his eyes looked sunken and hollow. “I can’t make it, Tony. I’m done. Go on without me.”
Lightning flashed overhead, turning everything momentarily blue. With the change in illumination, Tony got a better look at the onrushing tide. His eyes widened even further. The tsunami was staggering in its scope and size.
“Fuck that.” Tony reached out and squeezed the old man’s shoulder, hard. “You beat these things once before, old man. Now come on!”
He ran for the apartment building, glancing over his shoulder to verify that the old man was following. Teddy limped along behind him. Tony struggled to slow his pace so that his companion could keep up with him. The fear-driven urge to leave him behind was strong. Other people dashed screaming through the streets, desperate and panicked. More worms rampaged through the streets, as well, chasing down prey and wriggling through sewers and car windows and the doorways of houses.
The first edges of the tidal surge reached them. Blackish-brown water tugged at their feet and ankles. Teddy nearly tripped. Tony turned back to help him, but the old man latched onto a car to steady himself.
“You okay?”
Teddy waved him onward. Tony plunged back through the street, squinting against the raindrops lashing his face. The water continued to rise, reaching their knees, and sucking at their legs. Oil and chemicals swirled atop the surface—a sickly rainbow of toxins. Tony shuddered as a dead worm floated past, buoyed by the current. The thing was nearly the size of a horse.
Reaching their destination, Tony jumped up a short set of concrete stairs that led to a pair of ornate double doors. The flood grew louder behind him, and the rushing waters crawled up the stairs. He tried the knob, but the doors didn’t open.
“They’re locked!”
Emerging from the floodwater, Teddy tried to respond, but his words were lost in the roar.
Grimacing, Tony slammed into the double doors with his shoulder. Then he backed up and did it again.
“Come on! Come on you motherfucking—”
The doors crashed open, and he tumbled inside, nearly losing his balance. Teddy reached out to steady him, and Tony noticed that the old man was trembling.
“Stay with me, Teddy. We’re not giving up now.”
Swallowing, Teddy nodded again.
Tony shoved the door shut behind them, but he’d damaged the bolt and the strike plate when he’d forced them open, and they refused to lock. Each time he got them shut, the water pushed them open again. Turning away, he led Teddy through a small, dingy lobby and then to a flight of stairs on the right. As they started up the stairs, both men glanced behind them. More water rushed into the building, swamping the floor. They hurried upward, and the surge followed. Tony urged his companion along, trying to encourage him. If Teddy heard, he gave no indication. His pallor had grown even paler, and his chest hitched spasmodically.
When they reached the third-floor landing, Tony paused, allowing Teddy to catch his breath. Both men peered over the railing. The water had risen halfway to the second floor. It churned with garbage and debris.
