Wonderer's Wish World 2: Evolutionary Rebirth

Journey into the Tunnels

Day: 24

Time: 4:15AM

Location: The Basement, Death-Tastin' Desert

"What?!"

Ben marched over, standing by Karre as he looked down into the trunk of the vehicle. Clearly, he didn't like what he saw.

"I don't... it had been right here," he huffed, glaring down into the vehicle while crossing his arms. "No one else was here, and the trunk hadn't been opened until now... who the hell did this?"

"You weren't watching it?" Karre asked, and Ben flushed, despite the fact that it probably hadn't been an accusation.

"I... not all the time," he admitted. "But I know no one else was here. I'm certain of that."

They both trailed off, looking into the back of the vehicle, matching troubled expressions painting both their features.

"It's just like our other food," Greg observed, now once again holding Frog. "It was there, and then it wasn't, like a magic trick! Quick, everyone check behind your ears!"

Ben looked to Greg, understanding flooding through him as his eyes widened.

"Right..." he said, softly, seeming to be speaking mostly to himself. "This has happened before... where we don't know how the food disappeared or why..."

"It could be bandits," Gregory suggested, then, at Ben's reproachful look, he added, "Or something a bit more... unnatural."

"We don't know if those creatures are unnatural," Hilda cut in, speaking with the kind of voice that implied she'd said this before, many times. "According to legends, The Rot has been around far longer than humans have, so it'd be wrong for us to say if its natural or not."

"Right," Gregory hissed, in the tone of voice that implied he'd heard this many, many times before. "Fine. Whatever."

"Are we going out to find... more food?" Molly asked hesitantly, sounding a bit apprehensive. "I'm not sure that's a good-."

"No," Ben said firmly. "We're not."

Darius looked at him, surprised. "Really? But you said-."

"I know what I said," Ben said, sounding tired. "And that doesn't matter anymore. It seems we're being followed by some sort of thief. With a lack of knowledge about what it is we're dealing with or why it's stealing from us, we'll have to try to move on, and get away."

"Good idea," Karre said, shivering. He looked around at the dark walls around them, seemingly nervous.

Greg pumped a tiny fist into the air. "All aboard!"

Karre was at the wheel again, and Darius imagined that he would be at the wheel for much of the duration of... whatever this was. He was guiding the vehicle through the hanger, taking seemingly random twists and turns as he brought the vehicle around to some sort of destination. Darius wasn't sure how he knew where he was going, as everything looked the same to him. But soon, Karre edged the vehicle towards the open yawning of as tunnel, curved and looming above them, the darkness of that somehow more absolute than the darkness in the tunnel. The sight made Darius shiver; it felt as if they were going into some sort of creature...

As they went into the tunnel, Karre flipped the headlights on, which helped, a little, but the headlights only went so far, illuminating a couple feet in front of them and then stopping, as if the darkness was pushing back against the intrusion. How long had it been, Darius wondered, since these tunnels had last seen light.