No Adults Allowed

Zero

Erik gripped the torch in one hand and the talkie in the other. The light from the torch made it difficult to see the dim red glow that pulsed up from the grating in the floor, so he had to turn it off every time he reached a split in the narrow corridor. He'd be plunged into sudden darkness, then his eyes would slowly adjust and reveal the red light, which Eva had told him to follow.

So he followed it. The passage became tighter, until he had to pass through it sideways, shuffling along with his feet, then crouch down to avoid hitting his head. It was less of a corridor by then and more of a gap between pipes and whirring machines. Eva and Flick wouldn't have been able to fit even if they were still there. It would be an amazing place to play hide and seek, if there were fewer scary monster things.

Reminded suddenly that he was alone, Erik squeezed the button on the side of the talkie. "Rufus?"

"I'm still here, Erik. How you getting on?" Rufus' voice was crackly and sounded far away, though he was clearly trying to sound reassuring. Erik could recognise when older people were putting on a voice to make him feel better. Eva was pretty good at it but Rufus was always really obvious - he had a habit of saying Erik's name at the end of every sentence. Erik liked it anyway, because at least they were thinking about him. That was nice.

"I'm okay," Erik responded.

"What can you see?"

"It's really tight," Erik said, holding the talkie close to his mouth. "I'm having to get all squidgy."

"Squidgy?"

"Yeah, to squeeze through all the little gaps."

"You sure you're going the right way?"

"Eva said to follow the red light."

"You can still see the red light?"

"Yes."

"Sounds good, Erik. Great job."

Erik crawled forward, now on his hands and knees. He hoped it was the right way, because it was impossible to turn around. He had only just realised that, after it was too late to do anything about it. Keeping going was the only option. At least the weird creatures couldn't fit in there with him.

"So," Erik said, trying to think of something to say, "how are you, Rufus?"

As the talkie clicked over, he heard the end of a quiet laugh from Rufus. "I'm good, Erik. Don't worry about me. Could do with a wee."

"You should have gone before."

Erik kept pushing ahead, his torchlight bouncing off the pipes and splashing scary shapes that he caught in the corner of his eye. Everywhere he expected something to leap out, for something to reach through the gaps and take hold of his arm, or his leg. He was aware that without the torch it would be very, very dark. Time passed by imperceptibly, feeling both fast and slow: he had no idea how long he had been crawling, or when they had entered the tunnels. Had it been hours, or days? Erik wasn't quite sure what the difference was between the two, or how minutes fit into everything, but he was sure that he'd been on his own for a long time. Strangely, it felt like he might have always have been doing this, inching along, through the dark, and perhaps it was everything else that he'd imagined. He could have always been in this tunnel, moving forward for no reason, and had made Eva up so that he'd have a friend.

He clicked the button. "Rufus?"

"Yes, Erik?"

"You still there?"

"Yes, still here."

"Are you sure?"

A pause.