Merely a Madness Read Online Free Page A

so they head for the kitchen instead.
    Just to be sure, Mullen checks all the cupboards. Even if the Kozlows have already checked them top to bottom, he needs to be certain. He finds nothing. There is no food. Whatever had been in the missing supply boxes was all there was. Hannah, Daddy Kozlow and – “What's your name again?” – Amadi, otherwise known as Mr Enthusiastic, wait patiently while he finishes rifling through drawers and cupboards.
    There is a door leading out of the kitchen. Mullen insists they only keep one of their handhelds on at a time. The last thing they want is to run out of energy in the stinking dark, and have to feel their way out.
    Away from the platform and the tourist accommodation, the mud begins to turn to cold, dirty water. They slosh through, feet sticking to the gloop at the bottom.
    The handheld doesn't give off much of a glow, but it's enough to see that the walls are black and slimy with mould. Mullen takes care to keep to the middle of the tunnel. The golden light of his vaccinations can only do so much.
    Hannah is uncharacteristically silent. He reaches out and takes her hand. Her fingers are frozen, so they walk hand-in-hand like teenagers. Every now and then, she glances over at him, but when he looks back to meet her eyes, she is staring straight ahead. He aches for her. She'd wanted to show him this so badly, and it has all gone so very wrong.
    “It's OK,” he says. “We're OK. It's not your fault.”
    She bursts into tears. Daddy Kozlow and Mr Enthusiastic stare straight ahead. They don't know what to do with Hannah's tears. Mullen does. He's had years of them. He squeezes her hand, and leans over to kiss her. She doesn't stop crying, but that's OK. It just needs to come out, and he just needs to be there for her. He knows how it works by now.
    The tunnel is beginning to curve, and the water is getting deeper. It's almost at their knees. Mullen has lost track of how far they've come, but they need to find a way out soon.
    “What's that?” Daddy Kozlow says suddenly.
    They all come to a halt. The sloshing sound doesn't, and there is a lighter patch ahead on the black curve of the tunnel. Someone with a better light than theirs is wading towards them. More than one someone, to judge by the splashing.
    Mullen's stomach flips. Get a grip , he thinks; it's probably a rescue party sent by Fisher . He hates this place and what it's doing to his nerves.
    The source of the light turns out to be lanterns carried by two of a group of six Earthlings led by John Arnou.
    Before Mullen even has a chance to process the fact that that they are all holding guns, Arnou raises his weapon and shoots Mr Enthusiastic in the head.

3.
    Daddy Kozlow is next. A single bullet enters his forehead and punches out the other side, and the big man falls backwards. Dirty water and blood splash Mullen's face. The horror of it pulses through his veins, and his vision blurs. Mullen doesn't even think. He shoves Hannah behind him, closes his eyes, waits for the bullet.
    It doesn't come.
    Hannah's breath hitches. “No, no, no!” she wails. “What did you do that for?”
    Mullen opens his eyes. Arnou has lowered his gun. His expression is unreadable. Mullen has no idea what is going on, but his heart is racing so fast it feels like it might bolt out of his chest. Panic slithers up out of his belly, and infects his brain freezing him in place. He knows he should do something, but his body is too leaden and his brain feels like it's about to shut down.
    The Earthling raises his eyebrows at her as if he doesn't understand the question. He asks one of his own instead. “Where are the others?”
    “ John. ” Hannah comes out from behind Mullen and shakes her head slowly. She makes the name sound like a plea and a question all at the same time. “ John, please. There are children.”
    “So?”
    “ Please .”
    For what seems like forever, Arnou simply stares at her, expressionless. Eventually, he shrugs.