"Could circle to cleared ground. Would only lead to the swamp. Can't walk in the swamp."
I put the sniffer in my pack and clipped the light to my belt. I tiptoed into the tunnel. Toal followed.
The ground was slippery underfoot, and the amount of light filtering through the massed leaves swiftly lessened. The tunnel curved gently from side to side. One hundred meters from the entrance, I could not see and turned on the light.
The Hog grunted. The ground vibrated.
Raising the heavy firearm to my shoulder, I waited. "Keenlogh!" the Hog squealed. The sound of his breathing reached me. The oily stench of him came through the tunnel.
Pausing between each step to listen, I moved forward. The tunnel twisted sharply and then branched. Each branch again divided. The Hog grunted, "Huh, huh, huh, huh!"
I moved to the right toward the sound. Down the leafy corridor, a red spot glittered. It blinked from sight before I could aim.
I reached another branch in the tunnel, and my light chose that moment to go out. I stood in total darkness, remembering that I had failed to install a new generator.
"Go back," I whispered in terrified accents. "Light's gone. Toal?"
"Here."