Charlie sat crouched in his small corner, sitting in the absolute dark. He wondered if the whole catacombs had gone out or just this one tunnel. But, was he about to get from his protective stance and go looking? Not a chance. Suddenly a shout came from far away in the tunnel. Terror swept over Charlie as he quickly zipped up his bag and clutched his Exact-O-Knife. Relax, it's just Boston, he thought to himself. He wondered how angry the guy was at him. Charlie was probably his only hope at finding a way out, even if he didn't know that Charlie knew the way out. At full force, Charlie knew that Boston could probably pound him into the ground, but since he wasn't at full health he felt much safer.
Suddenly, from the opposite direction of Boston's voice, came a noise. "Just the catacombs," Charlie whispered to himself, barely audible. And he almost believed that, until he heard a shout from Boston, who seemed to be getting farther away, not closer. He probably had gone down a different tunnel. But, Charlie quickly realized what he was saying, although it was quite difficult to make out.
"We got company!"
Charlie felt all of his senses go numb. The cannibals! He thought he recalled Boston saying he had killed most of them! He jerked up when he realized the noises were seeming to get closer to him. Yep, the noises weren't the catacombs at all. In the pitch black, Charlie wouldn't be able to defend himself very well. He pulled out his flashlight and flipped it on, but no light emerged from the bulb. Turning it off and trying again, he almost begged for the light to allow some illumination, even if it was hardly any at all, but his hopes were crushed once again. Turning it off again, he began to beat it as hard as he could, relentlessly, even hitting against the skull covered walls. "You blasted piece of junk!" he shrieked, his thick British accent just making it sound like gibberish, his words completely lost. He flipped the switch on one last time, a dim yet glorious light streaming out of it, just to reveal an angry face right before it leaped on Charlie, knocking him to the ground.
Charlie let out an anguished cry as he was pinned to the ground, still gripping his flashlight, but his Exact-O-Knife skidding out of his reach. With one look at the man on top of him, Charlie realized these were in fact not cannibals. Well, they could be, but they were not the bandits Boston had warned him about.
The man on top of Charlie had tan skin, much too tan for it to be a bandit who dwelled in underground catacombs. The man's curly black hair had been pulled out, leaving a bunch of bloody bald patches on his head. He was missing four of his front teeth, giving him a hideous smile that he showed to Charlie. These were not bandits at all- they were Loonies, the same Loonies who lurked the streets for people to murder and tried to find ways to break into The Dome. And they were going to slaughter Charlie, here in the dark, wet, underground catacomb tunnel.
The Loonie slammed a rock onto Charlie's chest, knocking the wind out of him. He raised it up to strike again, but Charlie whacked him in the head with his flashlight, knocking him off so he could scramble and grab his Exact-O-Knife. As the man charged again, he stabbed him in the hand, the man letting out a horrible scream and stumbling back into the dark of the tunnel. Charlie guessed it was over, but an arm wrapped around his neck and squeezed. Charlie let out a gag before stabbing the Loonie, a woman, in the arm. She shrieked, but didn't let go, so Charlie kept stabbing until she finally released him, letting him breathe. But, she bent his arm back and suddenly Charlie felt her teeth sink into his arm, right where he had tore open his suit and his skin was showing. He howled, kicking behind him and nailing her in the stomach, enough to make her stumble back, taking a bit of Charlie's skin with her. The world went dizzy, but the Loonies didn't attack again. They were gone.
Charlie crawled back to his bag and rummaged through it, until he found the water and body wash. He dumped pretty much all of the body wash on his arm, then all of his water bottle, scrubbing it as well as he could. In agony, he allowed himself to drop his flashlight and toy knife, which was now covered in blood. He checked his watch. It was 4:26 in the afternoon. He was going to die at the same time tomorrow. Why? The woman had bit him... He had been touched.