As two piercing headlights rounded the bend, I quickly jumped feet-first into the hole.

The train wooshed to a stop over my head. Ten seconds later it left the station once more.

I sat blinking, trying to adjust to the darkness. Camel shined his flashlight on the walls and floor of the service tunnel. The rounded space was about five feet high, and I had to crouch to keep from hitting my head. If there were any lights down here, they were turned off. Everything was dark except for Camel’s sweeping beam.

I felt intensely claustrophobic.

Now what? How do we find these, uh… hellhounds.

“If you lovett a whiff of brimstone, that means we’re getting close. There’s been a few hellhounds around here lately. They’ve moved down the tunnels from New Dresden’s warehouse district.”

And what does brimstone smell like?

“Sulfur.”

I sniffed the air. I didn’t detect anything, aside from concrete, static, and the pungent odor of my companion–sweat, beer, and cigarettes. Did they really have to program smells like that?

Camel stalked forward in a hunched-over duckwalk, clipping the flashlight onto one side of his rifle and sweeping the barrel back and forth in front of us. I just kept following the pool of white light, staying close behind, careful not to bump into him with the sharp point of my weapon.

We continued this way for some time. I strained to listen for any sounds beyond our own or to smell anything reminiscent of burning. I could not guess how long we had been moving through the service tunnel, or how far we had gone from the station.

“These tunnels intersect with other tunnels up ahead. It’s like a rabbit warren down here.”

You’ve been down here before. You aren’t worried about getting lost?

“All roads lead to Rome, as they skazat.”

As time dragged on, my thighs, calves, and lower back began to ache. Camel seemed to notice and suggested we take a break. We each leaned against one side of the hard, curved tunnel wall and I massaged the tops of my thighs with the hand that was not holding the dagger.

Camel switched off his flashlight and we were immersed in total darkness. I did not care for that.

Then I noticed a faint green glow from somewhere down the tunnel. With the flashlight off, were my eyes playing tricks on me?

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Do you see that glow down there?

“Where?”

It is very faint, but further down the tunnel. I see something glowing green.

“Ah, yes. You want to get a closer smot?”

I said I would, and we inched carefully down the tunnel toward the glow. Camel kept his light off, so I made sure not to bang my head on the roof of the tunnel as I shuffled forward.

When we reached the spot, I saw that a few scant green ferns were sprouting incongruously out of the concrete floor of the service tunnel. I saw no soil or water source, but there were small cracks in this section of the tunnel. The ferns had small yellow flowers cascading from their centers.

Cancel switched his light back on, appraising the flora.

“Yep, invasive species.”

Invasive? You mean, like the creatures we are supposed to be hunting?

“That’s right. There have been flora and fauna breaking through into The Collective. They don’t follow the rules of the system. Try to hold your rooker over them, and viddy if you can identify what they are. But don’t touch them–they could be dangerous.”

My rooker?

“Your hand, droogie. Your hand!”

I did as instructed, holding my bare hand out and over one of the ferns nearest me. Nothing happened. I tried to consciously access my menu, and suddenly the fern was outlined in a faint border of light. Hovering my hand in place, information began to appear before my eyes.

[{common} fern flower detected. Crafting material. Attributes unknown]

It says it is a common fern flower.

“Shouldn’t be dangerous then. You can harvest it if you want. I don’t go in for crafting, but you might be able to turn it into something useful later on.”

Like what?

“Beats me. Like I said, I don’t go in for crafting.”

Tentatively, I reached out with the tip of my dagger and, holding the plants in place with my other hand, trimmed the yellow flowers from each of the ferns one by one. Soon the ferns themselves dissolved into inky nothing and were gone, leaving only the cracks in the service tunnel.

The yellow buds were gone from my hand.

[3 {common} fern flowers added to your Inventory]

I checked my menu to confirm.

[INVENTORY

* CARDS

* FRAGMENTS

* CONSUMABLES

* MATERIALS

* * 3 {common} fern flowers]

I wanted to select the item and learn more, but I was conscious about wasting more time while we had a Task to complete.

Thank you for indulging me. Should we press on?

“I’m ready when you are.”

We continued to inch forward through the dark tunnel.

How exactly do we hunt a pack of hellhounds? Are we following a trail? Are we setting a trap? Using bait?

“That’s the horrorshow veshch about hellhounds. They are hungry buggers, likely viddying for their next meal.”

I squinted in the dim light, trying to make sense of his bizarre word salad. He soon clarified.

“They are the ones hunting us.”