Herbert, James - The Dark by Herbert James

Author:Herbert, James [Herbert, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers
ISBN: 9780333761243
Google: H47CGwAACAAJ
Amazon: 0333761243
Publisher: Macmillan UK
Published: 1980-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

‘Gorn, out of it!’ Duff aimed part of a crumbled brick at the creature caught in the beam from the lamp fastened to his safety helmet. The rat scuttled from the narrow ledge running alongside the sewer channel and plopped into the foul-smelling water. It vanished into the darkness ahead.

Duff turned to his companions and said, ‘Watch yourselves along here. It’s part of the old network – bit dodgy.’

The man immediately behind him wrinkled his nose against the heavy nitrous smell in the sewer, cursing the bright spark at the GLC who had thought up this unpleasant little assignment for him. There was a growing concern over the decaying state of the major cities’ sewer networks and inspections were being hurriedly carried out to see if what was happening in Manchester could happen elsewhere. Huge holes had appeared in the busy roads in the northern town, holes big enough for a bus to drop through, caused by the collapse of the underground walls. The danger had been coming for years, but it was something out of the public eye and therefore something that could be put off to a later date. Now the worry was that it would soon be very much in the eyes of the public as cracks and holes appeared in the streets; in their noses too, as the stench wafted upwards. Berkeley, the lucky man in his department chosen to study this section of London’s sewer network, shivered in the damp air and had visions of the whole city collapsing inwards into the slimy catacombs beneath. So long as he wasn’t down here when it happened he didn’t give a damn.

‘All right, Mr Berkeley?’

He shielded his eyes against the glare of Duff’s headlamp. ‘Yes, let’s get on with it. You say there’s a section ahead that’s particularly bad?’

‘Last time I had a look at it. That was about two years ago.’

Wonderful, Berkeley thought. ‘Lead on,’ he said.

There were three men in the inspection team: Charlie Duff, senior repairs foreman for the water authority, Geoffrey Berkeley from the ministry, Terry Colt, assistant to the foreman. They were forced to stoop as they moved along the old tunnel and Berkeley tried to touch the fungus-covered walls as little as possible. His foot slipped at one stage and his leg disappeared up to the knee into the murky waters flowing beside them.

Terry Colt grinned and reached down to grasp the man’s elbow, saying jovially, ‘Slippery, innit?’

‘Be all right in a minute, Mr Berkeley,’ Duff said, also grinning. ‘Tunnel widens out up ahead. Just have a look at this brickwork.’

He reached up and prodded the ceiling with a spiked metal bar he always carried when inspecting the sewers. Loose cement and brickwork crumbled away and plopped down into the centre channel.

‘I see what you mean,’ said Berkeley, shining his torch upwards. ‘Doesn’t look too good, does it?’

Duff grunted his reply and moved further along, poking the ceiling as he went. Suddenly a small section of brickwork came away completely causing Berkeley to cry out in alarm.

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