The sewer smelled like diapers dipped in turds as Tuck climbed down the ladder from the manhole. He hated smelling the entire dark tunnel coated in feces and trash lying across the green river of urine. But he couldn’t help it for being a mutant anteater human hybrid. He knew anteaters to smell their prey up to forty times higher than normal humans. At least his plastic suit could protect him from the organic, sticky waste he had to face every night.

Moreau City has the worse sewer system in Tuck’s own opinion. It seemed every time he had to climb down into the subterranean pipeline, there was always crap blocking the water flow. If that doesn’t get clear out, the waste would rise to the surface, flooring the lower city levels. Tuck didn’t live in the Underbelly section, but there were a lot of poor Humanimals living in slums and broken apartments there. Their lives would suffer if their homes become a waterpark of shit. Tuck didn’t care about them, nor cared if the bottom of the city becomes flooded. But if it weren’t for the bills and food to eat, he wouldn’t be working as a sewer cleaner inside the city’s alimentary canal. Good jobs were raw to earn in the city, even if you get a good degree from college.

What a shitty life!

Tuck stepped into the river of crap and strolled through the waste, pointing his flashlight ahead. About one mile from the ladder, Tuck stopped in front of a wall of dirt, which wasn’t dirt at all.

“Jesus! What have they been eating up there?” Tuck placed his flashlight on his helmet and pulled out his pickaxe.

He started chipping the turd without questioning more about the abomination he had to break apart. He held his breath, trying to ignore the salty feces that refused to leave his poor snort alone. “God, I hate this job!”

There were a hundred different Humanimal species in the city. All originated from different counties with different cultures. With that many immigrants and exiles, no wonder the sewers were clogging up.

The excrement was soft at the least, but it grew harder as Tuck clipped further and further. Sure not everyone was eating healthy, based on the tiny rocks in the crap.

“Ewwww…..” Tuck felt like he never grew adapted to his disgusting job. He has been working for the Sewer Cleaning Committee for quite some time. Maybe a year or a few months. He wasn’t sure, not since he had to take the job in the first place. Perhaps all the odors rotted his mind away as he worked without questioning his managers.

Something dripped into the water behind Tuck. He turned away, but he saw nothing. “Huh?”

An icy shiver crept up his spine like he knew something was watching him. But maybe that was only a tiny leak from the ceiling.

Tuck shrugged and continued cutting through the excretion wall. The faster he unclogs the tunnel, the sooner he could return him and take a long hot bath. A bucket of chocolate-covered ants also sounded tasty too, for a treat.

Another drip, but this time it sounded louder and closer. More like a splash, as if someone dropped a cannonball into the water.

Tuck swung around, leaving his pickaxe in the wall so he could pull out a small gun from his back pocket. He pointed his weapon at the darkness in front of him. “Who’s there?”

Still nothing, but Tuck knew something has to be disturbing the water. Rivers remain calmed unless something was close by.

One manager warned Tuck about the mutants lurking through the sewers. Crocodiles, rats, and other nasty Humanimal predators living in the tunnels to attack unexpecting prey. They were feral, completely separated from their humanity. Whatever made them crazy, it sure as hell made them bloodthirsty. For protection, each sewer cleaner received an easily usable weapon to fight off the sewer dwellers. Sometimes Tuck wished he had bodyguards with him, but he knew how to handle a simple laser gun.

"Show yourself!" Tuck shook his gun, not wishing to let his guard down.

Still nothing.

Did a brick fell into the water?

The sewers shouldn't be falling apart so soon. Besides the sewer cleaners keeping the tunnels maintained, the construction workers kept the sewers stabilized from collapsing. If all the sewers collapsed, the entire city would look like Venice. A shitty Venice!

Tuck placed his gun away and continued to pick. As he chipped more, a strong oil scent crept toward his nose while a growl tickled his back. He paused, slowly reaching for his gun.

With a quick draw, he swung around again and fired one beam at the darkness.

“What the hell!” He still saw nothing, but he swore something was touching his back. It felt slimy and cold like a truck would leave behind on the street. And the smell was very similar to burning oil. A very strong acrid smell.

“Screw this!” Tuck dropped his pickaxe and ran for his life. He knew something was lurking in the tunnel, and he won’t let it attack him while he was off guard. He whether lose his job than lose his life.

The water splashed loudly behind him. Something was definitely following him in the shadows.

He aimed his gun back and fired without looking. “Stay away from me!”

A soft chuckle echoed through the tunnel, sending shivers through the anteater’s skin. His heart was beating hard, almost leading him to a heart attack.

“Help!” He screamed by the time he reached the ladder below the open manhole. He hoped someone heard him at the top, but he couldn’t count on that.

Tuck dropped his gun and clambered up the ladder quickly. Before his hand reached the manhole, something yanked him down, but he caught the third bar on the ladder.

Below him, long black tentacles curling around his waist. In the water, an enormous face appeared with white eyes and a mouth full of yellow teeth. It looked like muck with a deformed face. Although it has no lips, the creature curled both corners of its mouth to a terrifying grin.

Tuck screamed as the black muck engulfed his entire body, entering his mouth, suffocating him before everything turned dark.