Serenity zipped up her rucksack and slipped it onto her back. The vitamins were a lucky find and would, no doubt, prove invaluable in the coming months. She and Justin were living off of what little they could forage during their travels, so the vitamins would certainly help to offset their limited diets.
"Do you hear that?" Justin said suddenly, going still.
The sudden sound startled her and she stopped adjusting her pack, listening carefully. She could hear mice, or perhaps rats, as they scurried in the darkness. They were everywhere, it seemed, now that there were fewer humans around to cull their numbers. But rats and mice were commonplace and most likely weren't what Justin had heard. So she continued to listen until finally, faintly, she heard a trickle.
"Water?" she questioned.
"Come on," he answered, grabbing hold of her hand. "I think it's in the same direction as that food."
They slowly made their way through the darkness, their flashlight beginning to dim as its charge ran low. They would need to stop, soon, so that Justin could use the crank to recharge the battery.
"I think I see light ahead," Serenity whispered, her heart beginning to race.
They soon reached a doorway which led to a short hallway. The sound of the water was louder, now, and the steady glow of electric lights spilled through the archway at the opposite end. The familiar glow sent a wave of nostalgia through her. She hadn't seen electric lights since she and Justin were newlyweds. How was there electricity here, of all places?
The hallway spilled out into a long, sloping corridor lined with tiny string lights. And in the middle of the corridor, flowing like a river of ink in the dim light, was a steady stream of water.
"A canal?" she said, confused. "Why would there be a canal underground?"
This freewrite is part 5 of an ongoing story. If you would like to read more, use the links below to navigate.
As always, thanks go out to @mariannewest for providing this prompt. If you would like to see her original post, you can find it here.
Image sourced from Pixabay.
