Knowing the only entrance was going to be blocked, I focused solely on finding my mother. We could find our way out after. I pushed on, plunging into a tunnel that rang strangely with the shrill cries of an infant, only to stop as a body stood in my way.
An older man with a grey-peppered beard and eyebrows sunken over his blue eyes stared us down. His grey dress shirt, which looked like it might have once been nicely pressed, was unbuttoned two from the collar and stained. His denim jeans were dashed with mud. If my sense of smell wasn’t smothered by the silver, I imagined he would have reeked of body odor. He looked past me at the two girls who nearly crashed into me from behind, and his lip curled. “Billie. You’re back. And you’ve brought friends.”
Billie’s tension was palpable in th
