The next group of lights clicked on when Nick reached the end of the section of hallway. He’d expected the first set to shut off, but they remained burning. He turned the corner, and saw that the hall turned right again almost immediately.
He continued on with growing trepidation… about what, he couldn’t exactly say. He realized when he turned the second corner that the new expanse of hallway, which was longer than the first, should have led right back into the garage, but it didn’t.
Well, he must have made a mistake, then. The second stretch of hall had gone on further than he’d thought, or the door had been closer to the end of the wall. He must be traveling parallel to the garage.
Though, why there should be a hall like this which circled around an underground parking complex…
Well, obviously there was a reason for it. It wouldn’t have been built if there wasn’t one! Probably, it was some kind of utility tunnel, carrying pipes and wires and fiber optic cables beneath the city streets. Yes, he thought, that had to be it. It certainly explained the pipes and things on the walls.
Except, it didn’t look like a utility tunnel… it looked like a hallway lined with pipes and things.
That was silly, he thought to himself. How could he know what a utility tunnel was supposed to look like?
Except… hadn’t he spent a lot of time, when he was younger, exploring the secret highways and byways that lay beneath Jericho? Hadn’t he wormed his way through plenty of claustrophobic little passageways, tight even for young Nicky Brown, which had sneaked and snaked their way throughout the city’s underbelly?
Yes, he had… but that had been a life time ago, and anyway, he couldn’t convince himself he’d seen every sort of maintenance line and access tunnel that had ever been in use. The fact was, this hallway or tunnel or passage existed, so it had a purpose.
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LOVE this story so far. Also an avid MU reader. You are very very talented!! Tribe reminds me of something very Gaiman-esque…it has kind of a Neverwhere feel to it. (that is a big compliment, esp. coming from me – Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite authors)
Dunno if anyone else told you that so far, but I thought I’d say so.
(first comment I’ve left on any of your stuff, heh!)
I’d list Neverwhere among the influences for Tribe, definitely. I’ve always been a big fan both of the fantasy world that exists just out of sight at the corner of your eyes, and of the idea of subcultures living in and beneath the large metropolises of modern society.
Lol Nice reasoning there. Very characteristic of the bound to reason kind of human.
Just one point…
“…should have lead right back…”
Should it be ‘led’ instead of ‘lead’, there? I’m not even sure, but I think so.
*sigh* Once again, you have drawn me into one of your stories and left me wanting more.
Keep this up and all of my “free time” will be taken up by reading your work. At least it’s all short and I’m caught up with both this and MU.
“Should it be ‘led’ instead of ‘lead’, there? I’m not even sure, but I think so.”
I’ve been seeing that error everywhere, in SHN, and I believe in ToMU as well. It’s probably worthwhile for someone with the access to go back through them with a Find and check the context of any hit on “lead”.
Fascinating. I find myself wondering who the man is who wants Woe dead, and if the ‘utility tunnel’ is the daughter’s imagining of what one should look like. Lovely classic bit with the thread to follow to safety from the depths of the labyrinth! I can’t help but also wonder if Woe’s ‘gentleman caller’ is the same as the daughter’s abductor… and if he will be this labyrinth’s minotaur.
I also read Mu. Thank you for all the wonderful, thought-provoking stories.
I’m kinda glad this was so short. (so far) I’ll actually be able to sleep tonight.
He obviously doesn’t play video games. No matter how big and expansive a building is, the interior consists of a single, winding hallway. Common sense, really.
It’s a tardis!! ehehe…