The Feeding Season by Stoyan Stoyanov
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At the next turn, there came yet another straight section, and after that another turn. There were no branches off of the shaft, and what was worse – there was no path leading up. Bars and Thirteen walked along one and the same level for what seemed like hours.
“How did you get out of that maze in the elevator shaft?” said Bars remembering the incident.
“That was just pure luck,” replied Thirteen.
“Why not put your luck to work now?”
“It's better if we don't trust in my luck, believe me!”
And then, after the next turn there was a metal grate blocking their way forward. On the grate hung a sign with something written on it in a foreign language that was totally unknown to the boys, so they just ignored it completely. The grate was closed tight, but after a few hard hits, the obstacle was removed and the way forward was open again. After a few meters, the tunnel split off in two directions.
“Right or left?” wondered Bars, as he watched how the discarded trash rolled around on the floor.
“Damn it! If we're going to choose a way by chance, let it be your choice! Choose a number between 1 and 10,” suggested Thirteen.
“Three!”
“Odd – means we go left.”
“OK, let's see...” replied Bars and turned in the new direction.
This tunnel was dirty. The searchlights shined on different pieces of trash hanging on the walls and ceiling, while the trash on the floor was piled up high. The boys had waded pretty far into it, when they felt the next quake of the pumping apparatus. The sound of the erupting waterfalls of mud on the surface reached their ears. When the Consummator quieted down, they were able to move forward again.
Then some kind of ooze dropped onto Bars' visor.
“Three hundred shriveled slugs!” yelled Bars with disgust and raised his hand against the increasing flow of air.
The trash on the floor started to roll in the opposite direction, and other pieces of it, carried on the stream of air ricocheted off the walls.
“Something’s happening!” yelled Thirteen and lowered the protective shield of his visor.
The sound of the coming danger increased more and more, while the boys staggered in all directions, trying to keep their balance. The pressure increased several time over and when the shock wave of air hit them, Bars' and Thirteen's Shells were sent back down the pipe. The force of the stream of air was so strong that it carried them away without any problem. The screaming boys hurled down the tunnel helplessly, unable to do anything. After a while, they just gave up and let the current carry them, taking them in a different direction, which happened to be up. Their Shells continued to be thrown about smashing against the metal walls, long after they themselves had lost consciousness.
Chapter 17