Mech

Chapter 5: Going Down

"I never told my dad I loved him.." muttered Ian.

We trudged through the nasty sewer mostly complied of the waste that comes out of the evapo-bar machines and God knows what else. He was walking beside me, staring straight ahead. By this time he picked up his brother's trait of wiping all your emotions away. Men must have a switch or something that just turns emotions off (I read that in a book once).

"Never told my dad that either," I replied, "I didn't have the time. I reckon these days there ain't much time for anything anymore, though."

Ian sighed, "That's so true..it hurts.."

I felt something slimy in my sock and realized the mooshy stuff we were walking in got over the edges of my boots. You should have seen the face I made, that's pure comedy. All I wanted in this world were two things: Soap and Pen Ink, which just so happened to be the rarest items imaginable. Any other kid would put a pony or a doll or a trampoline on their wish list, and for some an iPhone 65c, but now none of that stuff mattered. God what I'd give for a shower that didn't involve leaning over a bucket of water and using your shirt as a washcloth, wringing it out with your hair and standing near an air vent to dry off. I want fluffy towels, shower heads with adjustable temperature, mirrors and soft bath robes. Hell, toilet paper would be nice too. Don't get me started. We use old phonebooks and things for that. I'll spare you the details.

Jason stopped the group by a ladder and climbed it, lifting up the sewer cover and peering outside. Mitzi traded his rifle for her pistol and he slowly crawled out of the sewer. A few moments later, he motioned for us to follow. We ended up in some kind of worker town, not as big as a city, but still a little creepy. The streets were littered with trash, shop windows had been busted out and vandalized, and tons of transportation tracks lined the skies. Little cart-robots would wheel materials all over the towns and cities via aerial tracks, sometimes they went underground as well, but typically they were in the sky. A lot of people, I heard, would rig these carts and turn them into their own transportation, used them to get from place to place really fast, and did city runs using them. That's not how Joshua and Uncle Jeb did it, but I heard them often consider trying the method out. These rails weren't as popular on the first level, that's why they were skeptical. For it to work, there would have to be a lot of them, that way if a track got blocked one could hop to another one and keep going.

I noticed a few of them had broken, a few carts were piled up beneath the twisted metal track. Jason traded Mitzi back for the rifle and motioned for us to be quiet and follow. We walked down the eery street, eyes darting in all directions looking for any and all signs of danger. A cart came zooming across a track above us and scared me, but I clasped my hand across my mouth to stop a scream from escaping. Mitzi took my hand and kept me going. I didn't like this, the town was too...empty. After a few minutes of silence and caution, Max finally spoke up.

"Guys, there's nothing here." He said in a normal voice, which seamed like the loudest thing for miles.

"Shhh!" Jason retorted, "Stay quiet, moron!"

Max rolled his eyes, "If there was anything here, it would have found us already. I think we're fine..Micah, tell him." He looked at me, and I was surprised he trusted me so much that he would think I'd just jump right along with him.

However, I couldn't shake the feeling that he was right, "Maybe..I mean, its possible.. I haven't heard or seen a thing, usually the Cycoffs make at least a little noise.."

"See? We're fine.." Max said.

Jason looked around, listened, then turned back, "For now..but this won't last, it never does... Alright, start looking for supplies, everyone go in groups. Ian, come on, Max go with Kelly, and Mitzi stay with Micah. Find anything worth having and meet back here as soon as you can. Gunshots mean come back immediately, okay?"