Read Online Running Dry by Jody Wenner - Free Book Online Page A

taught in training how to read the maps and I've spent enough time with this one alone in my bunk that it's been etched into my brain, so now I focus on the code and enter it into the panel on the front of the steel circular door set into the earth.  There is a soft, high pitched beep and the hatch pulls open easily.  I see a glint of the ladder and realize there is no turning back.  I take out my flashlight one last time and point it below me but I don't see much.  The small beam of light gets more or less gobbled up in the sea of blackness.  I'm going to have to get used to this, but right now the dark and unknown are making my heart race.  I take one last gulp of fresh air and inch down the ladder.  Pulling down to close the access panel over the hole, the darkness engulfs me and the sound of the hatch thumping shut makes me feel sealed off from safety. 
    This is a new level of introvert I never thought possible, even for me.  It feels incredibly confining, but I just keep telling myself it's totally normal.  I can smell the dank air and earth now and I hear my footfalls echo through the space with each step as I lower myself down the metal rungs.  There is a lot of moisture in here which isn't a climate I'm used to being in at all.  It makes breathing a little bit easier though, which is good because I'm needing to do it more than normal at the moment. 
    My foot finds solid ground and I turn around and try to adjust my eyes.  The black surrounding me is thick.  I see nothing in any direction.  Another attempt with the flashlight reveals nothing but earth on both sides of me and some kind of sludge under my boots.  I take a deep breath and put the light back in my pocket.  I won't be able to turn it on again.  It’s just not safe.  Here goes nothing, I think, and start walking ahead blindly.
    After about ten minutes not much has changed.  My eyes have had time to adjust, but I still can't see my hand in front of my face.  I guess I'm going to have to learn to like this because it's about to become my job.  I think about my training exercises and the corny acronym we learned for working in the tunnel system.  Remember to use your FLARE. 
    F is for Feel.  Feel the walls as you go.  Along the earthen wall there are a number of dugouts or nooks that you can tuck into if you need to hide or get off of a path in a hurry.  I feel the wall now and just get a fistful of damp dirt in the palm of my hand.
    L is for Listen.  Listen for danger.  Everything is quiet right now except for the noise I'm making.  I slow myself down and try to walk quieter, listening as I go.
    A.  Stay Alert.  That part seems pretty straight forward.  Not sure what else I would be doing in such a situation, although Bek's parents were killed in the tunnels supposedly because they had gotten so used to them and hadn't been paying attention to their surroundings.
    R stands for Run.  If all else fails and you get into trouble you are supposed to run and then of course, Exit the tunnel.  Both of those seem like great ideas, especially now.  But I guess they mean if there happens to be enemy activity in the area.  I have a feeling the residents of South Sacto aren't gonna be the ones I have to worry about tonight. 
    The danger with the tunnels is that both sides of Sacto use the old drainage system in order to get to the water, which is located between both cities.  The tunnels are a warzone so you have to be ready for anything down here.  Sometimes traps are set or raids are performed or you might just run into their runners, which comes with a whole different set of acronyms and procedures to follow.  Both cities are competing for the water and neither wants to share.  Our sole source is just the one river that has divided us and caused us to form these barricades.  The worse part is the only way to tap into the water now, with all of the fences and soldiers fighting a war above ground, is from under here. 
    Atop,