by Aline Riva
Chapter 8: In to the abyss
The entrance to Undersea Walk was wide, above ground and overlooked the deepest part of the sectioned off beach where beyond, the stairway downward led in a sharp turn, heading for a network of tunnels to view the area of sea owned by the park, the map of the route was on the wall beside the entrance, where it promised statues of mermaids and the wreck of a pirate ship, complete with treasure chest spilled open. The entrance was dark, no lights were on, and as they stood by an open doorway leading to a tunnel, far below the gloomy way was lit by sunlight slipping through to the seabed, making a strange pattern of light and darkness that seemed to dance together in slow rhythm with the movement of the tide.
“This is creepy,” Lois whispered as she looked about the quiet entrance, giving a shiver as she suddenly noticed how the heat of the day had seemed to fail to penetrate this place. Maybe it was just the gloom, coming in here from the sunlight – or the fact that this place would have been brightly lit, the way to the tunnels warm and bright as the undersea world beyond was lit up for viewing pleasure... But the electricity was off and now the tunnels would be dark, the sea would be dark and they would be taking the route though those tunnels, under the water, buried in darkness...
“Is anyone here?” David called out, and his own voice echoed back at him down the tunnel that led to the Undersea Walk.
Then they all stood still and listened, knowing if the living were not around to hear the shout, the dead would soon make a swift appearance if any were close by. But no response came back after the echo faded out, just the sound of the sea from beyond the entrance, where the world looked deceptively warm and bright and inviting when the horrors that stalked the earth could not be seen.
“No using guns down here,” David reminded the group, “One shot into those glass tunnels and we could all drown. If we come up against anything we get the hell out, okay? We're looking for survivors and also Mortiz. That's our plan.”
Then as the others put away weapons and David led the way, the team started to make their way into the corridor that led downward to the sea bed.
On reaching the bottom, David stood in the middle of the carpeted tunnel, looking about as beyond the glass walls of the tunnel, nothing could be seen but murky water as sunlight fought its way through from a surface visible far above, a surface they all wanted it get back to as they looked up, envying the ripples on the top of it as the sea was kissed by light shining down, warm and full of energy and the promise of life.
“This place is empty,” Rick said, looking down the length of the tunnel to where it turned sharply into a second tunnel route, “I don't see why survivors would be hiding. And now I'm down here, I see no reason why Mortiz would choose this place to even visit. It's dark and cold and he'd have nothing to gain by setting foot in the place.”
“But we have to try,” David replied, “We found Emma. There could be others. And we have to remember he's holding Carrie. Mortiz may also be holding other scientists.”
“But not down here,” Jason remarked as he looked upwards at the sunlight then around at the murky gloom of the water swirled with sand, “It wouldn't be practical to keep anyone down here.”
“But we could find more survivors, David's right about that,” Toby agreed.
Then as a watertight seal slammed down, blocking the way they came in, all present turned sharply, hearts pounding as they realised the way in had just been sealed off.
“No..it's a trap! This is another trap! Why didn't I see it coming?” David fumed as he looked to the sealed door then up to the other end of the tunnel, where taking on the whole of the route was now the only way to work through this underwater labyrinth...
For a moment the group stood there, anxiously looking about the dim tunnels as outside the water was murky and the sunlight slipping in from above the surface gave a eerie glow to the chilly gloom.
“There has to be more than one way out,” Toby said, looking to Jason, “You're the one who pays attention to the maps around here...emergency exits?”
He shook his head.
“I don't think they mark those on the way in, Toby. They would have had staff down here to guide people, who would have known emergency procedures and how to get out fast. There has to be emergency exits, I'm guessing somewhere in the middle or maybe in the larger parts of the attraction – some kind of watertight door that opens on manual, stairs back to the main building up top...probably. I noticed they have a couple of windowless tunnels on the map – central to two larger parts of the structure that lead upwards, if it's not for viewing underwater they must be emergency exits.”
“I hope you're right,” Toby said.
Rick paused to flex his metallic hand.
“Problem?” David asked.
“Just the cold water and how cold it is down here...plus the fact I got soaked,” Rick replied, casting a brief but resentful look in Jason's direction, “The hand doesn't function well in the cold, especially not after submersion in cold water. It picks up on heat and movement in my wrist – sounds clever but its kind of basic, really. If it gets too cold it won't function properly and cold water getting in certainly didn't help.”
“Sorry,” Jason said quietly, but Rick turned his back and looked to David.
“We can get through this – we just have to keep going and find the exit and if Mortiz has set up an ambush above water, we still have the rest of our ammo.”
Then the lights flickered in the tunnels and then outside, where underwater spot lights burst into life just as the tunnels lights stabilised, holding on bright, lighting up the way and the view of the underwater world outside.
Sandra gave a gasp, Lois stared in alarm, the others all registered the shock in silence, some looking away, then looking back, all had realised what horrors the darkened lights had been hiding from view on the sea bed:
The mermaid statue was shapely and smiling, her raised hand waving, that hand now caught on to a severed head that bobbed with the motion of the water. Partially eaten bodies floated past and above the tunnel, further up the pirate ship with its glittering treasure was made ugly by the chomped up body parts and partially exposed bones , remains of undead claimed by Nemo, the mutant shark that was now swimming off towards a close grille that led to the open sea. The shark approached it, nudged the grille and then swam away, above the tunnel as it noticed the humans, then went off into murky depths of some dark corner of the attraction.
“At least he won't try to harm us,” David said.
“Unless...”Rick tried to cancel the thought that had just struck him as he stood there in the tunnel, rubbing at the connection between his wrist and his metallic hand as he flexed the hand and finally got some movement back. The others were staring at him.
“Unless what?” Tara demanded.
“Unless,” he repeated with great reluctance, “It thinks we need saving from the water like it did when I got pushed in the pool – it might ram the tunnel.”
David looked to the murk beyond the seabed display that now looked like something from a house of horror.
“I see no sign of it coming back...but Mortiz has trapped us here for a reason. We need to be ready for a horde when we find the exit!”
“We should go,” Tara said nervously, “We can't waste time speculating.”
Then she walked on beside David as the others followed, taking the route to the end of the corridor, where it turned sharply to lead to the next tunnel.
Far off above ground, Flossie stood in the middle of the zoo, fresh brains plucked from the open head of a dead zombie, now mounted firmly on her stick. She looked to the trees as a flurry of activity came with branches shivering and leaves shaking as infected, mutated monkeys with long limbs and sharp talons emerged, chattering as they looked down at her, their fur stark white and their eyes tinged blue, their mouths filled with long, pointed teeth.
The lions were thundering across the park now, she felt the vibration of their pace as they grew closer
. Tigers with blackened eyes and long, muscular bodies and mouths as huge as the lions stalked through the into the clearing.
All the creatures looked to the human who shared their understanding via the bite. Flossie smiled, and sniffed the scent on the wind. The animals did the same, the monkeys screaming and leaping about demented in the tree tops as the lions gave low growls and the tigers scratched at the ground with giant claws. All eyes were now shifted to the same direction:
The enclosure where Mortiz kept his undead...
As they turned to make their way into the next tunnel, the view was very much like the tunnel before it, they just saw another angle of the nightmarish underwater display as the lights shone brightly, showing up every detail of the zombie head caught on the hand of the waving mermaid, its decaying skin flaking away with the pull of the water, its hair waving wild and loose as eyeless sockets looked like deep pits of blackness as that darkness was suddenly broken by small fish that swam through the eyes and out through the open mouth. The undead body parts that littered the sea bed and the pirate treasure shifted with the flow of the tide above, turning over dead hands and decaying severed arms and legs, all rotting with white bone exposed and gleaming under the lights.
It was then the shadows began to move and shift, coming from all directions, heading for the tunnel as sand was agitated and stirred up in the waters, making the horrible view of the display now murky and barely visible.
“What's happening?” Lois said in fright.
Rick turned to the transparent wall as David and Tara did the same, their eyes wide with alarm as they realised what was stirring up the sandy seabed all of a sudden as the cause became horribly visible...
Sandra screamed, reached for her gun and Toby wrestled with her briefly, forcing her to lower it.
“If you fire that gun in here we're all dead!” he said sharply as his voice echoed about the tunnel. The others were still in shocked silence, watching a scene unfold they had never imagined could be possible:
Mortiz had unleashed a small army, there were at least twenty of the creatures, all undead, all walking along the sea bed towards the tunnels, their faces twisted into snarls as they spied the living trapped behind the glass.
“Let's find that exit!” Rick said urgently, turning to Lois and grabbing her hand.
As they ran so did the others, heading for the end of the tunnel, Rick taking the lead as he dragged Lois along beside him, determined she would not be last out, not be at risk as she had been in the Death Corridor.
The next section of the tunnel, where up ahead another turn beckoned, was almost in sight when the first few of the undead caught up, they stood there on the sea bed, dead hands smashing at the outer casing that held the section together, and with a mighty strike that made the walkway shudder, a seal fractured, sending in a cascade of spurting water that hit the other side of the tunnel, ran to the floor and carried on gushing in as the undead outside battered the ruptured seal, determined to get inside.
Then as David and the others ran on, an alert sounded followed by a computerised announcement:
“Changes detected, seal breach, water pressure change, leak detected...auto lock down imminent, please vacate...”
As they raced towards the second half of the tunnel, to their horror a thick watertight door was starting to slide across, blocking the way, locking up the water – with them still inside the flooded tunnel...
“HURRY!” Rick yelled, shoving Lois through first then grabbing at the door with his human hand as the metallic one slammed heavily against it, fighting the pressure as the door continued to close, operated by the computer progam woken by the activation of the electrical system that ran to the tunnels.
Jason dashed through, then David, then Tara and Toby squeezed in as the pressure became too much and Rick gave a cry of pain as he pushed harder against the door. Toby joined him, then so did David as the three men crowded about the sealing watertight door, fighting a losing battle to keep it open as Sandra reached in, pale and breathless with fear in her eyes. The water chased up from the worsening leak, gushing past her boots and in through the closing door.
“Help me!” she yelled, and the door continued to close, the gap growing smaller as they saw her frightened eyes, heard her gasp, then as Toby was forced to let go and David did the same, they pulled Rick clear before the seal crushed his metallic hand and took his human wrist with it.
“I was trying to save her!” Rick yelled.
“We couldn't, the door was too strong...you push against those hydraulics, it's a losing battle they'll just push back harder. Those doors are programmed to shut!” David exclaimed.
There was a burst of shattered glass, a rush of water that sent Sandra thudding up against the reinforced porthole set in the watertight door, as she floated and the water covered her, the others could only watch from behind the seal, powerless to save her as she tried to hold her breath, then as shadows loomed and she gasped in a lungful of water, as the undead claimed her, biting down, the water around her clouded up red, and a last bubble of air escaped from her mouth. Then she was dragged away, dead eyes staring back, arms trailing behind her as if still reaching for rescue, as the dead took her off into the murky depths.
As the others stood behind the safety of the sealed door and the water flowed by beyond the broken tunnel as the blood faded out and shifting sands settled, Toby's face was streaked with tears.
“Sandra...” he whispered.
“We have to keep moving,” was all David said in reply, then as he led the way, Jason placed a hand on Toby's shoulder, reminding him he wasn't alone.
“It's going to have wait, we have to get moving, cry for her later,” he told him, and Toby nodded, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
As second wave of undead began to slam hands and fists against the intact section, another breach was made, the alert sounded again, and the remaining survivors ran towards the heart of the underwater complex as again up ahead, another door was slowly sliding shut, threatening to trap them all in the second ruptured section of the tunnel.
As the sound of gushing water was followed by the rush of cold sea water chasing up behind them, this time Toby was first through the doors, he pinned his body weight against it as he held on, fighting against the crushingly powerful mechanism that was forcing closure as behind him, the others dashed past, David, Tara, Rick and Lois, then Jason, finally as he stepped back and the door rolled shut with a heavy thud and then sealed, they watched as the undead shattered the tunnel, as shards floated about in the sand-blown waters, and the dead thumped and bumped and scratches sounded against it, muffled by the water and its depth as the dead looked through the port hole at the living.
On the other side of the door, they had entered a seating area that was wide and circular, and having the clear view from the vast windows, it was only too horribly obvious they were now surrounded as the corpses walked across the sea bed, encircling the outer shell of the structure. The undead's hands pressed to the transparent shell, glaring through at the living as they prepared their next assault.
“Where's the exit, is this it?” Jason said urgently, dashing across the room to a closed metal door. He grabbed the wheel set into it and struggled to turn it, then David and Toby joined him as Rick reached for Lois, pulling her towards the door and away from the sight of the invading dead.
“We're almost there!” David said, as the three of them used every last ounce of strength to turn the wheel full circle, then with the sound of a heavy locking mechanism sliding free, they dragged the door open, revealing a long flight of steps.
As something slammed against the core of the structure, Tara turned her head, her eyes widening in alarm as she saw the shark had moved in to take out the dead, but in its haste, it had collided with the shell of the wide viewing room, sending a crack snaking halfway around the wide window as it smashed together monstrous jaws and undead were cut in half as the water clouded with putrid blood. The crack was travelli
ng now, and other cracks were snaking from it...the whole structure was about to shatter.
“We have to get out!” she yelled.
David glanced back, heard a sharp crack and saw the first of the water gushing through, then he stayed at the open door, pulling in Tara, and as she went up the stairs, Rick and Lois followed, then Toby and Jason.
“Hurry, David!”
As Tara's voice echoed from high up the stairway as the others ran for the top, David's eyes widened in horror as the glass shattered and the water rushed in, along with undead as in the distance, the shark chewed on another corpse. His hands slipped from the wheel as the water slammed against the door, then he reached for the stairway as it gushed in.
As he took to the stairs, the water was swirling up behind him, with it the dead were following as a zombie hand rose from the whirlpool and he took the steps two at a time, up above daylight beckoned, the others were out as Tara looked in, calling his name. Then the water rushed up past him, pulling him under as a corpse made a grasp for his ankle, and Tara's voice was drowned out as David was dragged under...
Chapter 9: The Massacre
As Tara's voice was shut off by the cold water and the force of the whirlpool and the creature dragging him under, as the water rose above him, David grabbed at the stair rail, the corpse that had hold of him let go, only to then grasp at his shoulder as it shot up through the water, meeting him eye level as he held his breath, as his lungs felt like bursting and sea water stung at his eyes as he clung on to the rail, kicked out at the zombie and reached down with his free hand, drawing his gun.
The corpse lunged, mouth open and chattering, David quickly raised his gun through the swirling water and pulled the trigger, the shot slammed into the creature's open mouth, blowing off the back of its head as blood and brains swirled about in the water and it turned a shade of crimson. David grabbed higher at the rail, pushing up into clean water as below, more of the creatures began to rise.