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A few inches at a time, Mildred wormed herself into the downslanting duct,
expanding her shoulders, using her hands and feet to grip the sides. She
slipped a time or two due to the reduced friction on the metal surface. Once,
she slid forward over a yard before she could brake herself.
Sweat collected on her face and beneath her clothes, and she was grunting with
the exertion and pain in her lower back. Her teeth bit into the plastic casing
of the pen-flash, nearly breaking it.
She kept at it, over and over with her hands and feet, losing all track of how
far she had descended. Her feet and shoulder sockets began to ache, then
screamed in silent protest at the strain placed upon them.
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She experimented a few times, allowing herself to slide along under the
momentum of her weight, sighing in relief at the ebbing of the pain in her
back, shoulders and legs.
When she began to pick up speed, she caught herself, came to a complete halt,
then started the entire laborious process over again.
After the fourth moving rest stop, Mildred realized she was having difficulty
slowing her descent. The incline of the chute had sharpened. She slapped at
the sides of the duct, spreading her legs, pushing with her feet to stop
herself, but the braking effect was marginal. She couldn't get a grip, and her
body picked up speed. Then she was sliding out of control, diving headfirst
down the black duct. She saw nothing below her but thick darkness.
She couldn't repress a cry of fright and the pen-flash fell from her mouth. It
bounced from all four walls of the duct, the light jumping crazily, like a
wild comet following a mad trajectory through the black gulfs of outer space.
The duct walls vanished beneath her gloved hands. Mildred clawed for a
handhold, then
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...20-%20Deathlands%2034%20-%20Stone
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file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2034%20-%20Stoneface.html she was diving headlong into a sepia sea. She
didn't dive very long. A shattering crash numbed her body from the crown of
her head to the tips of her toes. The darkness momentarily turned the color of
blood. She was dimly aware that she was tumbling head over heels.
By the time her thrashing tumble ended, the world was spinning, tilting to and
fro, and she wasn't sure if she was sitting up, lying down or standing on her
head. She wasn't at all positive that she was alive.
When Mildred's senses finally regained control of themselves, she found she
had landed against a soft heap of something and was in a half-prone,
half-sitting position. Her head, her shoulders, her neck and especially her
back, all ached abominably. She tasted blood sliding warmly from a laceration
on her forehead, down her face and over her lips. Her hands smarted from the
impact on whatever she had landed upon. The air was heavy and cloying, and she
sneezed, sputtered and coughed.
Groaning, wanting to weep, she pushed herself away from the yielding heap and
wobbled to her feet. Amazingly, despite the waves of pain washing over her,
nothing seemed broken. As she stood, she felt a slight sinking sensation, as
though her footing wasn't solid. She couldn't see what lay beneath her. The
darkness was completely impenetratable. Patting herself down, she made sure
all her personal equipment was where it was supposed to be.
She took a step forward, and something gritted beneath her boots with a crunch
that sounded unnaturally loud. She sneezed, and that sounded frighteningly
loud, too. Taking off a glove, Mildred reached down and felt powdery granules,
finer than sand, all around her. She was in the central dustbin, the detritus
dump of the Anthill. Though the motes irritated her nose and eyes, they had
cushioned her fall and probably saved her life.
Walking through the dust was difficult, like striding through snow. She had to
lift her feet clear of the layer of grit and place them down carefully, or
else a cloud of dust would mushroom up and send her into a paroxysm of
coughing and sneezing.
Dabbing at the flow of blood from her forehead with a sleeve, Mildred wetted a
forefinger and tested the air currents. She detected a faint movement from her
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