Remains, Part VII

“Do you think all of these are filled with nothing but stagnant water?” Shazer said, holding up the light and surveying the room. Boaz growled, but he carefully climbed atop the layer of barrels and began to systematically work his way through the room, smashing in each top as he had the first. When he reached the far side of the room, he was nearly in the dark, but he found a place to climb down in the corner.

“There’s an open space over here,” he called.

“The barrels?” Shazer called back.

“All the same,” Boaz said. “All water.” His voice was flat, but it still carried disappointment.

“Do they all have lead linings?”

“I don’t know,” Boaz said, leaning against the wall, then standing up quickly when he remembered Shazer’s hand.

“It’s very dark over here,” he said, “so I couldn’t really see all of them. Most of the ones I could see had the lead. I’d guess all the ones that didn’t rotted through.”

“Are there any rotted ones on that side?”

“No.”

“They must have run out of resources,” Shazer mused. “They filled the room with as many lead-lined barrels as they could, then finished it off with regular ones.” He tapped his chin.

“I wonder what they thought they were doing,” he said.

Suddenly, Boaz cried out and there was a rattle of barrels and a splash of water.

“What is it?” Shazer called, trying will the light to penetrate the darkness.

“Come over here,” Boaz said softly. “And bring the light.”

“What is it?” Shazer said again.

“There’s something over here,” Boaz said. “I just stepped on something. Hurry, Shazer.”
But getting to the other side of the room was easier said than done for Shazer. Boaz had ruptured each of the barrels, making them unstable to traverse and Shazer had little in the way of balance. He was forced to try and move each barrel a little, creating a corridor for himself, which was awkward as he carried the lantern. As he struggled through, he tried to ignore Boaz, who kept whispering for him to hurry.

By the time he was halfway across the room, the flickering lamplight revealed the shape of Boaz, pressing himself against the line of barrels.

“By Midir,” he said. “Midir protect us.”

“What is it?” Shazer said again, suddenly annoyed with his friend for his vagueness.

Boaz looked back at him.

“There’s a body over here,” he said.