We continued our descent in complete darkness. Every time I thought there couldn't possibly be more ladder to climb down, there was still way more to go. The air down in the confined shaft the three of us were in was getting colder, and the rungs of the ladder cool and moist. I was tempted to heighten my hearing to see if I could hear how close we might be to the bottom of the ladder, but the consistent metallic thumps from the three of us descending the ladder put me off the idea, since I knew I would hear each thump like an explosion.

You could try and tune your hearing to prevent hurting your ears, a part of me thought.

Maybe, I thought back.

You could all stop moving, I thought, then you wouldn't have to hear the footsteps.

No, I thought back, we have to keep moving. The only way is down anyway.

I put aside the idea for the time being, preferring instead to concentrate on not falling to my death with each bare-footed step I took on the slick wet ladder rungs.

"Why's it so wet down here?" I said.

My voice sounded like a ghost haunting the darkness which enveloped the three of us.

"It might be sewage lines," came Walter's voice further above, "But now I think a'bout it I ken imagine it being–" he stopped mid-sentence to catch his breath, since we were all moving steadily down the same ladder as fast as we dared, "--some kind of way of pumping out excess water."

Sophie, who was sniffling and her voice shivery, then said, "I think the complex borders a large body of water held back by a dam."

"What'd be the sense in that?" said Walter.

None of us had an answer.

We continued on.

I lost my concentration for a moment and missed the ladder rung in front of me. My entire body froze up, terrified of entering into freefall. My left hand, which was gripping the higher metal rung, carried the unexpected weight of my body it thought it was going to be relieved of, but wasn't.

I groped blindly for the metal rung in front of me, sorely smacking my wrist against the side of the ladder which gave a loud clang. I huffed like a frightened baboon, clinging to the metal ladder for dear life.

"Burgess?!" cried Sophie.

Hearing the fear and desperation in her voice made things even worse.

For several desperate moments all I could do was remain still, telling myself that I had purchase on the ladder and I wasn't falling. The darkness was dizzying. My mind reeled from nearly falling to my death. Gravity seemed to shift all around me; for a mad few seconds I wasn't sure if I was holding onto the ladder to prevent myself from falling down, or was laying atop it trying not to float away. It was an insane line of thinking but human beings weren't meant to spend so long in complete darkness under so much stress.

Most of all I was afraid of simply letting go.

"I'm fine," I huffed, "Just missed it for a sec."

"Are yer good to keep goin'?" said Walter.

"Yes," I said, "Just give me a sec."

"They could be right above us-" Walter said.

"Shut up and give me a minute!" I yelled.

My voice ricocheted up the shaft, sounding loud even in my own ears.

My nerves were raw. My arms in particular were trembling from a mixture of the continual tension of needing to hold onto the ladder, but also from the increasing cold. My overalls had been damp upon waking up earlier in the day, before the mayhem had started. It had rained thick and heavy on my way back from Robert's special dinner after all.

"I'm sorry," said Walter, "But we cannae wait."

I nodded, feeling my face grimace, the corners of my mouth tugging down as if they were being yanked by fish hooks.

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I renewed my climb down the ladder. Sophie and Walter immediately did the same.

A childish part of me was angry at Walter for urging me on, but another part of me knew that he was right. We had to keep going. There simply wasn't any time for us to get our bearings, not with the Pied Piper officers somewhere above. Sooner or later they would come after us to finish their mass murder.

The sound of running water through pipes built until it was a consistent churn all around us in the shaft.

Then, much to my dismay, I felt the rush of cold water pouring over my bare feet.

"Crap!" I yelled.

"Watch out," I yelled to the others, "There's water coming from an opening somewhere."

Both Walter and Sophie mumbled 'okay' but stopped since I didn't move away from the water pouring on me. I groped in the dark and felt for where the opening might be. In order to find it I climbed further down, moving much more slowly. Finally, once my head was at the level my feet had been when the water had first fell on them, my fingers found what felt like a net made of metal. I did my best to ignore the running water pouring between my fingers and onto my chin and neck. The bone-aching cold made me fight to catch my breath.

"T-There's a-an o-opening a-about the–about the–" I said, the words so difficult to get out because of the terrible icy cold washing over me.

My brain tried to think of something, anything that might explain the size of the opening next to me.

"L-like the s-size of a l-large p-p-pizza!" I stammered.

"What's that mean?" said Walter.

It was funny how much I suddenly envied the comparative warmth he was experiencing compared to the cold gripping every inch of me.

When I didn't answer right away Walter said, "Do you wannae go that way?"

"N-no," I said, "W-we s-should k-keep g-going."

I wanted to say more but I was at my limit. I'd had enough of the cold water rushing over me and wanted to get further down the ladder to be rid of it, if that were possible.

Sophie and Walter didn't object. They each gave small cries and gasps as the water drenched them, making them as miserably wet and cold as I was.

There were more openings on the way down, which, combined, created a kind of constant shower above us.

"I love this rain!" I sang, having gone a little mad in the dark, "I can't get enough of this rain!"

"Have ye lost ye mind?" said Walter, but I could hear the amusement in his voice.

"La-la, la-la, I love the rain! Rain! Rain! Rain!" I sang.

"Silly bastard," said Walter, before chuckling a little.

"Bring on the rain!" Sophie sang all of a sudden, "Bring it on! Bring it on! Bring it on!"

A sliver of my dour mood lifted. I felt the faintest smirk stick to my face.

"I'm climbing down the ladder," sang Walter, making out his own nonsensical song, "Climbing down the ladder, climbing, climbing, down the ladder!"

His song, admittedly, was a bit catchier than mine. After a few more repetitions from Walter singing his impromptu ladder song, Sophie and I joined in, leaving all three of us madly singing together in the darkness and the heavy raining water droplets patting relentlessly down on our heads.

"We're climbing down the ladder, climbing down the ladder, climbing, climbing, climbing, down the ladder!"

We sang the stupid lines over and over, using the rhythm and fun of singing to fight the constant oppressive dark and dread all around us.

We kept on singing for a good while before our enthusiasm for it finally died. And then, at last, I felt my foot submerge a little into a thin layer of water, like stepping into a small stream, before touching solid ground.

"Stop!" I called up, "I think we're at the bottom!"

I searched around with my right foot and very, very carefully searched around with my foot to make sure I hadn't just found some kind of precipice rather than the actual bottom.

I felt and heard the splashes around my feet as I let go of the ladder. I groped around in the darkness and found there to be a large opening ahead of me that had to be a doorway.

I concentrated on bulbing up my left hand, and felt the glorious warmth which came with the sudden golden brightness. The shaft filled with light, turning the falling water to golden rain.

"Yes!" Sophie cried out, beyond relieved to have finally reached the bottom of the ladder. I moved beyond the opening ahead, which was a doorway like I hoped. Immediately I felt a sudden clanging and metallic rattle beneath me.

Sophie and Walter took a few moments to reach the bottom of the shaft. They stepped beyond the doorway, Sophie on my left, Walter emerging at my right.

The three of us gasped at what we saw.

We were high up still, on a stretch of metal grating with a railing in front of us. To our left was a closed railing, leaving us with the only option to go right.

Further along the right side the platform we were on was metal steps that were built against the wall, being not too different from a construction site set of metal stairs. The light from my bulbed left hand only went so far, the metal steps disappearing further off into the dark, promising a way down should we go that way.

The water pouring out from the shaft passed out to the grating we were standing on, and through it, falling down below into the darkness there.

Walter, and also Sophie, who I was sure was using the bulbing power for the first time, joined me in bringing light to this new space the three of us had come to.

Far ahead, from which we could see from high above, was what looked like a small town.