Chapter Six - Tunnel Syndrome

Chapter Six
Tunnel Syndrome

The tunnels were immense - large, arched tubes made of masses of assembled stone and mortar. Twin pathways ran along either side, with an eight foot expanse of water separating them. On one of these catwalks, the small resistance team moved, their footsteps echoing down forever down the black tunnels.

Careful not to loose his footing on the wet and narrow catwalk, Kylar pressed himself up against the wall as he moved along. The changed direction several times, and he quickly became disoriented.

Kliener. He thought. He's alive, and here. Infinite questions floated in his mind, but one thing was certain: he needed to reach him.

Even after the years of being down in the sewers joseph still cringed as the wall of smell seemed to slap him in the face. But he had long learned to put the smell to the back of his head. One of his men handed him one of their high powered flashlights. He pressed the sensitive presser switch and the tunnel was filled with the harsh white light.
"From here we can reach Doctor Kliener's lab. There's a name you should remember, he's the one that's looking for you." said joseph.
He bent down and pulled out a small paper boat about the size a Ping-Pong ball. And placed it into the water and the current of the sewer started its movement down the tunnel. One of josephs men aimed the beam of his flash light on the boat and the group started to move in the direction that the boat flowed. Joseph stood up and turned to Kylar.
“In Italy there used to be this saying all roads lead to Rome. Well here in City 17 we rebels have our own saying; All water flows to home.”
Joseph started to follow his men as they continued to follow the small boat.

“This city used to be called Torun a well sized city that used to be in the country of Poland but no one seems to call it any longer now we are simply City 17. In 1880 when they first arrived here they started to build but soon learned that the natural water table here was very high (Causing them difficulty in large construction of building more the four story’s high). This happened because we are in a valley with the Cegielnik Mountains to the north and the Warzyn mountains to the south so the water seems to puddle here. Then around 1920s they started on a new technic for lowering the water table they started to construct a intertwining of tunnels underground with pipes that go straight into the earth and allow water to drain into these tunnels. Or so was the theory.”

Joseph paused his history recap to unlock what looked like a service door with an ancient lock. Taking two men to then pry open the iron door that had to be a good 4 inches thick, once through he kicked at a brick near the bottom of the wall that extruded out half an inch. Once this hidden button was pressed a large stone at chest height shifted to the side revealing an advanced looking key pad. He pressed in a long code then pressed the call button.
“This is Joe, we have retrieved Ivanenko”
Joseph kicked the button and the stone slid back into place concealing the key pad.

“So where was I, that’s right, that was the theory but when it did not show results they continued anyways trying to create more tunnles some deep and some shallow. But finally gave up and these tunnels stayed empty until the city got bigger and bigger and the mayor decided to create a new waste water system. So with this already created water table derange in place they made a few modification and created the now extensive city 17 sewer systems. Documents of its plans lost in time now make it the only unexplored area of city 17 because of natural metal deposits in the ground GPS and Comm’s end when you get more than 60 feet deep making it almost impossible to have the police down here to investigate making this a perfect place to create a rebel base. Ok, here we are.”

The group stopped and allowed joseph through, he kicked another brick on the lower part of the wall and a large panel slid open revealing a large water valve wheel. 4 members of the crew started to turn the wheel as a large part of the floor started to rise once it about two feet tall they pushed it to the side reviling a ladder down into more darkness.
“Welcome to my home.” Joseph followed once Kylar went down the hole. Before he climbed all the way down he turned up to his men.
“Thanks guys continue your jobs upside. Keep an eye out for Michael Tyre he will most likely come down here to make sure that Kylar made it down here.” Then he continued down the hole as the men above him replaced the block.
“Before we go to the dr. you need to get yourself cleaned up through there is the change room you should find a new change of clothes after your shower. Once you are cleaned up go through those doors for a quick uv clean and air pulse before entering the lab.”