Empty Echoes

Drowning

Chapter Nineteen:

Drowning

The tunnels varied in size. There were no parts that branched off in different directions, but at times the roof was so low that they had to duck, or the walls so close together that they had to go through sideways. It was dark, too. Somehow, impossibly, darker than the corridors had been.

They walked for a long time. Limped, really. Felt the walls with blind fingers, stumbled over rocks and potholes. Echo's heart ticked in his ears. It was the only audible noise, apart from their laboured breathing and the constant dripping of water.

Abruptly, Kaze came to a stop, and Echo stumbled right into him, almost causing them to fall over. He kept his balance by pure chance, hand latching onto a rock jutting out of the wall and dislodging it, leaving it to shatter on the floor.

"What is it?" he asked, desperately trying to keep his raspy voice low.

"Crap," muttered Kaze, voice a hushed whisper, terror rising in his tone, "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap."

"Kaze?" said Echo, fear causing his heart to tick faster, "What- What's wrong?"

"It's ended," Kaze said, "Dammit, it's a deadend."

"W-What?" Echo stuttered, his hands starting to tremble, a lump forming in his throat, "B-But... he- he said this was the way out."

In answer, Kaze yelled a swear word, causing Echo to flinch violently. Kaze's leg lashed out in a fit of rage to kick the wall- only to go right through.

He gasped, almost falling over backwards, and quickly brought back his leg. There was a short silence, Echo staring at the direction he knew Kaze was in (it was so dark they couldn't even see each other), frozen in place.

Then, so suddenly that he gasped, Kaze crouched down, forcing Echo with him. He heard Kaze rummaging around the floor, pushing away the fragments of the rock that had been lodged out of place. There was stillness, then a brief silence.

"It's just low," said Kaze. He gave a small, relieved laugh. "We can squeeze through."

Echo let out a long breath, a pained smile tugging at his lips. Kaze shifted, unconsciously pulling Echo closer to his side.

"Think you can crawl under?" he asked. Echo licked his lips, nodding. Then, realising Kaze couldn't see him, spoke.

"Yeah. I've got this."

He couldn't see it, but he was sure Kaze was smiling. He patted him on the back. "Okay, good. I'll go first, okay? Don't follow until I tell you to."

Silently, Echo nodded, stopping not a moment later when he realised- once again- that Kaze couldn't see him. He squeezed him on the shoulder, then his touch vanished. Echo could hear him scrambling against the ground, then squeezing through the gap, shoes scraping against the rough rock that was the floor.

Wincing, Echo shifted, putting all of his weight on his non-injured leg and toppling over onto his side. He pushed himself up on his elbows, listening as Kaze continued to crawl away. Suddenly nervous, he glanced over his shoulder, as though he could actually see what was behind him.

There was another moment of silence. Then Kaze's voice drifted through.

"I'm out on the other side," he said, "It's not that long. Come on, your turn."

"Okay," said Echo, more to himself than Kaze. He took a deep breath, then began to crawl on his hands and knees, wincing as he banged his head on the low ceiling (if it could even be called that). Forced to go down on his stomach, Echo dragged himself along the ground, a pained whimper escaping his lips as pain shot up his front.