Merely a Madness Read Online Free

also knocked out communications at the mine.
    That makes no sense, Mullen thinks. The mine hub is designed to withstand damage from storms, rioters, blasts. Everything.
    But there's no point crying over something he cannot change. He stays logged in, so he'll know as soon as communications come back on, and then heads back down the stairs.
    Everyone is awake when he steps back into the darkness, and they all have their handhelds out. The pale light from the screens is just enough to highlight their concerned faces.
    “Where's Fisher?” Mr Enthusiastic asks.
    “I have no idea,” Mullen says. He tells them about the storm damage and the blocked door. Hannah comes up beside him and leans against his shoulder. Her clothing feels clammy and damp like the tunnel, and her hair reeks of it. It's the Earth burrowing into us , he thinks, infecting us. In his mind's eye, the golden light of their vaccinations is failing, losing the battle against the pure filth of the Earth. The grime and pollution are turning them into mud monsters, one cell at a time.
    He shakes his head again, trying to clear it of the madness. This place is driving him insane. Hannah frowns at him, concerned. He smiles, kisses the top of her damp-smelling hair.
    “We'll just have to shove the door open,” Daddy Kozlow says.
    “It's blocked ,” Mullen says again. “We'll need to find another way out.”
    “Can't we just wait for help?” asks the Boy Most Likely To Ask Stupid Questions. His narrow face appears strained and washed-out in the wan light from their screens and, even though he’s the elder of the two, he's clinging to his brother as if the darkness might suck him away.
    “Don't be an idiot, Chi,” Mr Enthusiastic says. He nudges Hannah. “You've been here before. Is there another way out?”
    “I think Chibuzo is right. We should wait,” Hannah says. That's his name.
    “ Why ?” Mr Enthusiastic says.
    “Just give Fisher a little more time. Or John Arnou.”
    “Good God, no,” Daddy Kozlow spits out. “That animal was probably the one that pissed all over the beds. He's taken his fee and run. I'd put money on it.”
    “No, no. He's not like that,” Hannah says in a hurt tone.
    Privately, Mullen thinks Kozlow is at least half right. Arnou probably isn't dumb enough to piss where he eats, but he's not going to come back. Mullen thinks of the resentment in the creature's dark eyes. Arnou's not going to lift a finger to help them.
    “There should be a way out through the railway tunnels,” Mullen says. “We just need to follow the tracks. But Hannah's right, someone might come back” – Fisher , he thinks, and he feels guilty when Hannah looks grateful – “so someone should stay here just in case.”
    Finally they decide that Mother Kozlow and the children will stay, along with the Boy Most Likely to Ask Stupid Questions, because she doesn't want to stay on her own and he's too much of a wuss to go off into the dark.
    Mr Enthusiastic actually appears to live up to Mullen's private nickname for him, and is keen to go explore. The younger Europan actually seems to be enjoying himself, as if this is all some grand adventure. Mullen decides the boy is just as stupid as his elder brother – only a different kind of stupid.
    Hannah tries to make a case for the two of them to stay, but Mullen argues her down. He can't bear the thought of waiting passively in the noxious dark, and he doesn't want to leave her here without him
    He's itching to get out of here. And no matter what he might have said to Hannah previously, he's not even entertaining remaining another six days. It's the surface and a shuttle for them. He can feel the Earth's germs burrowing into his skin, deeper and deeper with every second he stays here. The sooner they get out into the open air, the sooner he can contact the mine and get away from this filthy planet.
    One side of the tunnel is bricked up completely. There is no way through short of breaking down the wall,