As predicted the boat launch was a rather uncomfortable affair with many a bump and jolt as I slid down the helictical trough and into basin that flowed out into the sewers.
The steam engine behind me hissed as the drive gear slowly pushed me forward into the gloom of the brick tunnels. Slime and other unmentionable detritus could be seen all around me and I knew that to fall into the water beneath me would almost certainly be fatal, So with a renewed effort to keep the small steam skiff on an even keel I gingerly coaxed it forwards in what I estimated was the direction of Slade’s. Sure enough, a few tense minutes later I did indeed come to the brick step that acted as small dick to the shop but even here, aside from a small sign indicating I had found Slade’s, I could find no discernable clues.
Maybe I was too late? Maybe the illicit goods had already been delivered and moved on? Maybe, just maybe, I told myself, I was barking down the wrong sewer and on the end of an elaborate practical joke. I was just toying with thought when I heard it.
A loud splash, as though a substantial weight had hit the water, followed by a long, low, near-animal moan that turned my blood to ice. It was a sound I hoped I’d never hear again. It was a sound I hadn’t heard since the fall of the second Lincoln Line back in ‘85. It was the sound of a soul trapped between life and death. It was the sound of one that was no longer human. It was the sound of one of Feg’s own. It was the sound of a Zombie! And it was here in the dark sewers with me!
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To be continued…
All the “The Mysterious Note” posts can be read here.
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