As I neared my destination, I shot a quick glance over my shoulder. The giant had returned to his marching.
I was in the clear.
Letting out a deep sigh, I looked at the ground. I saw plastic tubs full of silverware and chipped plates, piles of unused blankets, and stacks of dog-eared paperback books.
I expanded my search, casting my eyes over the immediate area, seeing more tubs, empty water bottles, a decorative sheet hanging from the wall, stacks of cans…
My eyes shifted back to the sheet on the wall. Besides graffiti, the layup yard lacked decorations of any kind. So why was a single sheet hanging there?
I walked over to it. Something that sounded like white noise caused my ears to perk. I listened to it for a few moments. Then I pulled the sheet aside.
The mouth of a corridor yawned before me.
I stepped into it, let the sheet fall back into place, and found myself in a cramped makeshift area. Turning on my flashlight, I examined the roughly shaped walls and ceiling. The numerous marks and gouges looked manmade and fairly recent.
Shifting my light forward, I headed into the tunnel, descending steeply into the ground. As I walked, the white noise deepened and grew in volume. The tunnel expanded as well, growing wider and wider.
Suddenly, the ground disappeared beneath my foot. Bone chilling water engulfed my leg, threatening to drag it away. Immediately, I yanked it out of the current. Stepping back, I shifted my beam toward the water.
What I saw took my breath away. It lacked romance and style but there was no mistaking the water that rushed through the small cavern.
It was a river.
An underground river.
My heart pounded as I knelt down and jammed my arm into the water. I stretched as far as I could, but the bottom eluded me. Although bested by urban development long ago, the river had survived and perhaps even thrived deep underground.
Shifting positions, I flattened myself next to the waterway. I couldn’t measure it completely, but the stream seemed wide and deep. Then images of Kolen flooded my mind. It didn’t take much imagination to picture an alligator floating nearby. I jerked my arm from the water.
As I stood up, my beam reflected off something in the corner of the cavern. Leaning down, I discovered an empty water bottle wedged into the bedrock. Unless I missed my guess, the colony used the river as a water source.
Some enterprising person had dug out the tunnel to access it. But who? Ghost? Providing a supply of fresh water might explain the intense loyalty his people seemed to feel toward him.
Picking up the bottle, I scooped it into the water and filled it to the brim. Then I capped it and stuck it inside my satchel.
As I turned to leave, I swiftly organized the relevant events in my brain.
Fred Jenson, the mysterious homeless man, pawning a bar of Nazi gold.
The alligator attacks.
The strange disease afflicting the colony.
I wasn’t sure about the first event, but the river was definitely at the physical center of the other two events. I shifted the facts around and reorganized them again. But no matter which way I looked at them, I kept coming back to one inescapable conclusion.
Something besides the alligator was flowing through the river.
Something that hadn’t been there a few weeks earlier.
Something deadly.
Chapter 22
As I pulled back the sheet that separated the tunnel from the layup yard, I saw something disturbing.
Very disturbing.
Five people from the colony stood in a semicircle, surrounding me. One by one, they crossed their arms and adopted defiant looks. The giant stepped forward.
But before he could reach me, a hand touched his side. He paused to glare at me. Then he stepped out of the way.
Ghost walked past him and stopped directly in front of me. “I thought I told you to leave.”
“It must’ve slipped my mind.”
“I doubt that.”
“When did you notice me anyways?”
Ghost patted the giant on the shoulder. “Fritz here recognized you from the moment you entered our home. He summoned the rest of us.”
I eyed the giant. “Pretty cowardly, Fritz. What’s the matter? Couldn’t handle me by yourself?”
He didn’t say a word. But the glare etched across his face spoke volumes about his feelings for me.
Ghost cleared his throat. “Listen to me very carefully. I don’t like you. My people don’t like you. The only reason you’re still alive is because I haven’t given the order to kill you yet. Do you understand?”
I shrugged. “Sure.”
“Now, I want answers. If you provide them, everything will be fine. If you don’t, then we’re going to have problems. Do you understand that?”
I nodded.
“Why did you come back here? Aren’t you afraid of the infection?”
“You’re not infected. At least, I don’t think you are. I need to run some tests to be sure.”
“Yesterday, you were looking for someone who tried to pawn a gold bar.” He gave me a suspicious look. “Now, you claim to be studying our sickness. Which one is it?”
I decided to level with him. “Both. A few weeks back, a homeless man named Fred Jenson attempted to pawn a gold bar dating back to World War II. He was last seen escaping into a nearby subway station. My employer sent out search teams to find him. One of those teams vanished under mysterious circumstances. I was hired to find the team and if possible, Jenson as well. I don’t know anything about Jenson yet but I believe the team’s disappearance is related to the problems your colony is experiencing.”
“Keep talking.”
“It’s the river. I think it’s poisoned.”
He frowned. “Is that right?”
“Late last night, my partner and I found four bodies. Two of them belonged to the search team. I think the other two are the people you lost recently. Peter and Mary.”
He clenched his fists. “You’re lying.”
“I wish I was. But like it or not, something killed them in the Lexington Avenue tunnel and dragged them through a series of natural crevices into the sewer system. And then, that something ate them.”
Whispers and murmurs started to circulate among the others. But one hard look from Ghost shut them up again.
He turned back to face me. “If that’s the case, then what exactly ate them?”
“I found a tooth. An alligator tooth.”
The colony members burst into frantic whispers and discussions. Ghost gave them another hard look, but this time, they didn’t stop.
Annoyed, he wheeled around again. “Alligators in the sewers? That’s just an urban legend.”
“First, it’s not confined to the sewers. At the very least, the gator was capable of accessing the subway system. And second, it’s not impossible. It’s reality.”
“How would a gator get down here anyway?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters right now is that it appears to be snacking on people. And that means one of two things. First, we might be dealing with an alligator that’s developed a taste for human flesh. Or second, the alligator turned to humans after an interruption in its food supply.”
“Food supply? What food supply? There’s no food in these tunnels.”
“But there is food in the river,” I replied. “Up until a few weeks ago, I think the alligator survived on fish from the waterway. Then something happened to the water. Something big. In the aftermath, the fish were poisoned. The gator’s food supply dried up. So, it ventured out into other tunnels, searching for sustenance.”
“And you think that whatever poisoned the fish also poisoned us?”
“It makes sense. After all, your colony uses the river as a water source.”
“What’s the poison?”
“If I had to guess, I’d bet on industrial waste. But without testing, it’s impossible to know for sure.”
I took the bottle I’d found in the tunnel out of my satchel. “That’s why I gathered this water. I’m going to take it back to the surface and get it tested.”
“Give me the bottle.”
“Why?”
“Just give me the bottle.”
I handed it to him.
He unscrewed the top. Before I could stop him, he poured the liquid down his throat. Afterward, he tossed it on the ground. “It tastes fine to me.”
“You don’t understand. Just because you can’t taste poison doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
“No, you don’t understand. I’ve had enough of your lies. Now, get out of my yard. And this time, stay away. If you come back, I won’t be responsible for what happens to you.”
“There’s an alligator loose around here.” My fists shook with anger. “And your water’s most likely poisoned. You need to take your colony and get out of these tunnels before you’re all dead.”
“We’re not going anywhere.”
“My employer’s wealthy and connected. He can fix everything. We’ll bring in the CDC. We’ll evacuate all of you to a private hospital where you can undergo tests and receive treatment.
Ghost got in my face. “I already told you, we’re not going anywhere.”
Fury burned within me. Reaching out, I grabbed him by the shirt collar. “Damn it, Ghost, your people are sick. If they stay here, they’ll die.”
He pushed me away. “We’re not leaving.”
“Stop drinking the water then. Let the toxins flush their way out of your systems.”
“No.”
I stared at him for a moment. Then, I turned my attention to the others. “You don’t have to listen to him,” I said loudly. “You can come with me if you want. I’ll take you to the surface, find help for you.”
No one budged.
Ghost flashed me a triumphant look. “We’re a family. And nothing you do is going to tear us apart. Now, leave.”
I forced my way out of the semicircle and walked out of the layup yard. Why’d I even bother trying to help him and his colony? All it had brought me were threats and aggravation.
Halfway out of the area, I snuck a glimpse to the side. During my previous visit, I hadn’t gotten a chance to examine the living situation. But now that it lay sprawled out before me, I knew I’d never forget it.
A couple of men and women, clearly emaciated, sat in small circles, sipping water from dirty plastic bottles and gnawing on bits of garbage. Little boys and girls, their eyes dull and lifeless, sat on ripped and tattered mattress pads and sleeping bags. They played quietly, without energy. I felt ill just looking at them.
As I walked out of the layup yard, I considered my next move. I could return to the surface and seek out Chase and Beverly. I could relay my suspicions about the river.
But Beverly’s threat still rang loudly in my mind. And without hard evidence, I doubted they’d listen to me. Even if they did, it would take time to find them, convince them, and organize a rescue effort.
Time I didn’t have.
Time the colony didn’t have.
But I didn’t have a choice. The colony needed help, whether they wanted it or not. And I was the only one who could give it to them.
Chapter 23
Upon returning to the subway tunnels, I noticed a troubling development. The thin layer of water that covered the track bed had doubled over the last hour. Since it was only ankle deep, I wasn’t in danger of drowning anytime soon. However, since it covered the third rail, it was more than deep enough to kill me.
I didn’t know for sure if electricity still fed into the third rail, but I didn’t want to find out the hard way. Looking around, I spotted thin concrete ledges on both sides of the tunnel. They were shoulder-high and stretched outward as far as I could see.
I clambered onto the nearest ledge. As I steadied myself, I started to wonder if I was making a mistake.
But I couldn’t force the colony to stop drinking from the river. And I didn’t have enough evidence to convince Chase of my theory. As I saw it, that left me with one move.
I needed to find proof.
And to do that, I needed to access the river. If I could find another route to it, I could empty one of my bottles of store-bought water and gather a sample. Then I could take the stuff to Chase to get it tested.
It seemed like a reasonable strategy. I’d gotten a good look at the river’s direction during my visit. I also held an image of Viele’s map in my memory.
Then again, although I could trace the river’s course in my head, only certain parts of it would be reachable from existing tunnels. And the chances of actually accessing the waterways seemed remote at best.
Halting, I closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and held it, forcing everything out of my mind.
As my questions and doubts faded away, an image of the Viele map formed in my head. First, I saw the green expanse, layered with small rocks and wavy lines. Next, other lines traced up and down the map, forming a grid of city blocks. Finally, thin, curvy blue lines materialized. Those were the lines that mattered the most. They represented Manhattan’s original waterways.
Three streams stood out above the others. They originated in a small section of midtown. From their separate origins, they flowed southeast before combining into one stream. That stream drifted farther southeast before pouring into the East River.
I recalled the locations of every subway tunnel in the area. Unfortunately, there were only four overlapping points with the waterways. Two of those points were positioned along the Lexington Avenue Line. The third point was a small stretch of the IRT Flushing Line, specifically the tunnel between Grand Central Terminal and Fifth Avenue. The final point was the area encompassed by the 42
nd
Street Shuttle Line.
Since I was already in the appropriate tunnel, I started by checking the two spots on the IRT Lexington Avenue line. As I walked to the first point on my mental map, I swung my flashlight beam across the expanse. The tunnel looked totally ordinary. Tall metal pillars, buried within a thick concrete wall, separated two sets of tracks while simultaneously supporting the ceiling. Letters and symbols, painted white, stood as a small memorial to the sandhogs, or underground construction workers, who once operated in the area. On the opposite side of the tunnel, my flashlight illuminated a row of rusty pipes that lined the wall.