Stormbreacher - Book 1 of Titanomachy Series

Chapter 15: Social Concepts

Mr. Crowbar said that it wasn't as disgusting as you'd imagine, but he lied. Dropping into the sewer was exactly as gross as anybody would imagine. He had probably just gotten used to disgustingness.

Stinger squeezed around through my backpack and turned on my flashlight, bright enough to shine through the bag and cast a beam of light down to the sewer below. It was some ten feet down, and just from here, I could see a whole pack of rats squirm away from the sudden flash of light. "Ew..." I groaned, momentarily hesitating on my descent. "That's gross."

"What's gross?"

"Rats."

"What's a rat?"

I don't think I've ever heard anyone above the age of three say that in my life. I almost burst out laughing in response, uncontrollably spluttering out a sprinkle of spit through my mouth. 

"Seriously!" Stinger exclaimed. "I don't know what a rat is. I mean, if you told me what it was, I think I'd know what you're talking about, but still."

"It's a little bitchy furball that spreads disease and has a long pink tail relative to its size and probably procreates once a week." I grumbled. 

"Really?!" Stinger cried. "Every week?!"

"No! I'm exaggerating."

"Oh." Stinger seemed strangely disappointed in this revelation. I was not about to question why. 

I slunk down to the bottom of the stairs and was able to see and smell the sewers in their full glory. They reeked. They absolutely reeked. Name every awful, terrible smell you could think of off the top of your head—rotten eggs, spoiled dairy, sweat, trash, piss, blood, you could smell it all right here. Even when I holding my breath and pinching my nostrils shut, I could smell it. 

It didn't get much better when I pulled out the flashlight. Flowing through the sewer was a heap of trash and gunk floating in oily fluid, floating along the pipe out towards a distant light some fifty feet away. The walls were caked in rat poop, at least an inch thick against certain spots in the wall. It was a vermin breeding ground—it was gross.

I'll spare you the other details about the sewer, I don't feel like rambling on about the most disgusting place I'd ever found in my life. Long story short, I made my way through a couple hundred feet of sewer, down more ladders, and nearly gagged my throat out before I found a ripped-up grate leading out towards a nondescript exterior, different from the Skyreacher district that I came from. 

"Thank God, get me out." I groaned, choking and hacking immediately afterwards on the putrid fumes. The bars of the sewer grate were twisted and snapped out of shape, opening up a hole that I could just squeeze through. I felt like old, moldy, minced cheese come out of that sewer, and I swore that I would never go that way ever again. Screw that shit.

"Are we out?" Stinger gagged, squirming violently inside the pack. "I can see light through the backpack, Athena."

"Yeah, we're out, finally. I'm going to drop you out of the sewer, I can't fit through this grate with my backpack on." I said, slinging my backpack off my shoulder. "Brace yourself." 

I gently squeezed the backpack through the hole, and plopped it down on the ground with a thump accompanied by Stinger's grunt. The hole was so small I had to crawl through headfirst like I was being born from this filthy womb and crumpled out heels-over-head. 

Stinger poked his head out of the backpack to watch and laughed at me as I sprawled face first into the ground. "Hah!" he said. "You look so stupid!"

"And I feel so stupid, too. Why did we decide that that was the most efficient way to go in here?! Yuck!" I picked myself up off the floor and wiped my dirty hands off on my pants. No, I'm not known for my hygiene. "Let's go. You've gotta guide me, Stinger, you've been through here before, and I haven't. Where do we have to go?"