Damned Are We

by Durman, Jason

  bravery and/or recklessness. After a few more moments of hesitation, they fol owed him into the

  darkness.

  Chapter 25

  Four cones of light flashed through the dark tunnel, il uminating the high ceiling and broken road,

  which was cluttered with abandoned cars and piles of rubble. The survivors picked their way through

  the various obstacles in the road.

  "Stay close. Nobody wander off," Corvo whispered.

  Jacob led the way through the dark road tunnel, keeping a wary watch for hostiles. So far, they had

  encountered none, but they were steadily getting deeper under the mountain. Dripping water could

  be heard around them. Markus looked around nervously when he thought he heard the sound of

  pattering feet nearby. However, a sweep with his flashlight revealed nothing past the wrecked cars.

  But he stil could not shake the unpleasant feeling he harboured in the pit of his stomach.

  "Any idea how far this tunnel goes?" he whispered nervously.

  "Probably a few miles," Corvo replied.

  "Great, just great..."

  The survivors careful y made their way through the silent tunnel, stopping whenever they heard a sound. However, the footsteps, moaning and growls that each person thought they heard faded into

  dead silence as soon as the group halted. Perhaps they were being imagined?

  Jacob led the way with a grim determination. He hated the fact that they were stopping constantly –

  he just wanted to get through this damn tunnel as quickly as possible. The burly biker was

  surrounded on al sides by the shel s of abandoned cars, il uminated by his flashlight. He quickly

  checked over his shoulder to see Corvo urgently motioning for him to stop.

  "What now?" he sighed heavily.

  "Markus thought he heard footsteps," the older man replied evenly.

  Jacob bit his tongue to keep in check the foul mouthed, and probably political y incorrect, string of

  words building behind his lips. Instead, he covered the front while the others covered the sides and

  rear for a ful minute, staring intently into the darkness. Nothing came at them, and Jacob rol ed his

  eyes inwardly and moved to continue on.

  A horrifying, bloodcurdling shriek cut through the tunnel, scaring everyone out of their wits. They

  stood cautiously and aimed their weapons around, visibly shaken.

  Moments later, a second terrifying shriek whooshed by them to the side, but the source of the sound

  was already out of sight when four flashlights snapped in its direction.

  Corvo hefted his shotgun and moved toward the wal of the tunnel careful y. He was done playing

  hide-and-seek with this little bastard. He came up to a wrecked car, took a deep breath, and threw

  himself around it –

  He frowned in surprise. There was nothing there. He rejoined the others, shaking his head. "We've

  gotta keep moving. This tunnel is a death-trap."

  No one objected, and they continued their tense journey through the road tunnel that they hoped

  would bring them to their rescue in Riverside on the other side.

  "Hold up," Corvo whispered careful y after a short march.

  The survivors found themselves at a scene of total carnage; car wrecks and pile-ups served as

  testament to yet another horrific crash that had occurred here. Smashed glass covered the ground

  liberal y, as wel as a number of bodies, some of which were badly burned. Death lingered in the air.

  They looked at the strewn corpses sorrowful y. Suddenly, Corvo frowned. He could have sworn that

  he saw one tJaguar a second ago –

  "Um, is it me, or are these bodies moving?" Markus said nervously.

  They watched in horror as several of the bodies began tJaguaring and moaning, and slowly rising to

  their feet. The tunnel was fil ed with the sound of low, soulless moans. Samantha felt her skin

  crawling as the people turned their heads and transfixed them in their empty gazes, devoid of any

  emotion.

  Suddenly, Jacob lifted his shotgun. "Stay dead, you assholes!" he roared, blasting the nearest one

  off its feet.

  The loud gunshot agitated the other Common Infected, who uttered howls of fury as they charged toward the four survivors. Muzzle flashes lit up the tunnel, and shadows danced across the wal s and

  roof. Silhouetted blood projected across the walls, and several shadows jerked and convulsed as

  their real-life counterparts were assaulted with a hail of bul ets.

  Markus and Samantha hung back, flames erupting from their Uzis as their fingers depressed the

  triggers. The staccato of automatic gunfire was punctuated by the thunderous booms of shotguns

  going off as Corvo and Jacob covered the front of the group with expert precision, mowing down the

  snarling attackers before they could ever reach them.

  Samantha presently heard a loud BANG behind her and whirled around to see a couple of Infected

  bounding across the hoods and roofs of cars toward them. A burst from her submachine gun sent

  one of them toppling backward over the roof of a car, while the other one crashed headfirst into a

  windshield in a hail of flying glass.

  The snarling echoing off the concrete wal s of the tunnel gradually ceased, and the smal skirmish

  was over quickly. Corvo wiped his brow with his sleeve and exhaled a whoosh of air in relief.

  "We got lucky, but I don't want to hang around to find out how many more there are in this tunnel.

  Let's haul ass to the exit."

  The survivors advanced in a wary silence, gripping their weapons tightly. Their terrifying experiences

  in this horrible tunnel had strained them al to breaking point. They needed to find the exit, or

  somewhere to hole up, or they would be in serious trouble.

  "Hey, there's a sign!" Markus whispered excitedly. "The exit is just around the bend up ahead!"

  Everyone's spirits rose dramatical y with the news, and they quickened the pace. However, as soon

  as they came around the bend in the road, it was clear that something was wrong.

  "What the fuck is that?" Jacob growled.

  Corvo's frown deepened at the sight of the tal and impenetrable barrier of cement, concrete and

  wood that spanned the entire length of the road tunnel. "Son of a bitch!" he cursed, kicking at the barricade. "They sealed off the tunnel into town!"

  "Shit!" Markus swore. " Now what do we do?"

  "Guys, through here!" Samantha suddenly cal ed, motioning them toward a doorway set into the side

  wall. "I think it leads to some sort of maintenance tunnel."

  "Better than standin' out in the open," Corvo grunted.

  With that, the former student led the others through the doorway and into a tight concrete stairwell,

  where she was presented with the choice of the following the stairs up or down. Without a second

  thought, she went up and found an open door, leading into a pump house of sorts. Through it, she

  saw exactly what she had been hoping for: sunlight filtered through the cracks between the planks of

  several boarded-up windows. The murky outlines of machinery and pumping stations could be seen

  through the doorway.

  She made her way toward the room eagerly when she stumbled on something lying on the ground.

  She looked down to see the strangest sight – a long, rubbery appendage snaked along the floor,

  deep purple in colour. It looked almost like a tentacle of some sort. One end of it had been severed –

  it must have detached from its owner for some reason. The rest of it, however, ran away into the

  shadows.

  "Hey, Samantha, wha
t are you looking at?" came Markus' voice from behind her.

  Her gaze fol owed the "tentacle" to where it came to rest near the wal , and what she saw made her

  gag. The horribly mutilated body of a young man lay slumped against the concrete wal , his head

  split open like a cracked egg. A foul soup of blood and brains spilled from the opening, covering the

  entire left side of his face. But even that was not enough to mask the expression of terror and agony

  forever frozen on his face.

  "Ho-ly shit," Jacob said gruffly when he saw the grisly sight, bile rising in his throat.

  Corvo noticed the tentacle-like appendage coiling along the floor and saw that the other end of it was

  wrapped firmly around the neck of the corpse in a grim noose. "Whatever this thing is, it must have

  been used to choke this poor bastard."

  "Come on, let's get inside," Markus said, ushering the others toward the pump house. "We can find something to barricade the door."

  Corvo cast one last glance at the tentacle that lay on the ground at his feet. His mind was a

  whirlwind of thoughts of the anomalies they had encountered back in Fairfield: the strange puddle of

  green goo, the Leapers, that wraith-like woman that had almost shredded them back in the alleyway.

  The creature with a fist large enough to pummel the entire side of a helicopter.

  Just what the hel kind of mutations were occurring throughout the Infected?

  Chapter 26

  Corvo lit up a cigarette and surveyed the rest of the team, who had al col apsed where they stood in

  the dingy pump house. He walked over to the boarded-up windows and peeked through the gaps in

  the planks at the outside world basking in the morning light, before turning to address the others.

  "Wel , we need a new plan."

  "Sleep," Jacob deadpanned, lying face-down on the concrete floor.

  "I mean a plan on getting to Riverside," Corvo sighed, shooting the biker a scathing look.

  Jacob wearily sat up and leaned against some pumping machinery. "And what plan would that be?"

  he snarled. "You saw the barricade. The army sealed off the damn tunnel! I knew coming here was a

  waste of time!"

  "Jacob..." Samantha sighed.

  He turned his head and rounded on her. "This was your idea, Samantha! You based our plans on a retarded list written on a random wal by some dick who's probably dead by now!"

  "At least I had a plan!" she snapped back. "One which extended past sitting on my ass in a

  deckchair!"

  While the others bickered, Markus took the time to look around the pump house. His eyes widened

  when he saw a service hatch tucked away in the corner of the room.

  "Hey, guys!" he cal ed out. However, no one acknowledged him, al too caught up in taking pot-shots at each other. "Guys!" he cal ed again, louder this time. "I think I've found something!"

  Corvo looked over at him. "What?"

  "This pump house, it must serve the drain and sewerage system of Riverside," he said excitedly. "I'll bet that service hatch over there gives access into the drain system, and we can use that to get to

  the town."

  Jacob groaned. "Again with the sewers, Markus?"

  Corvo, however, was considering this course of action. He walked over to a desk sitting at the base

  of some tall pumping machinery and found some blueprints of the drainage system that ran beneath

  the town.

  "Markus, you beautiful son of a bitch, I think you might be onto something here." He lay the blueprint down on the floor in the middle of the group, tracing his forefinger across it. "That hatch does lead

  into a service pipe, which we can fol ow to get to these floodgates. Then, it's a simple matter of

  fol owing the drains on the west side, and then we can pop up out of any manhole that we choose."

  "But what do these red lines here mean?" Samantha asked thoughtful y, pointing out several red

  scrawls on the blueprints. They crossed a number of westward pipes, and were not a part of the

  original blueprints. Someone had marked the schematics with them.

  Corvo shrugged. "No idea," he admitted.

  "Am I the only one who doesn't like the idea of entering another sewer system?" the stocky biker

  quipped. "Especial y with the sun up outside. Vitamin D is important, you know."

  Markus shot him a look of genuine surprise. "What do you know about Vitamin D?"

  Corvo extinguished his cigarette butt on the floor. "Unless you have a better idea, Jacob, this is the

  only way into Riverside."

  The others looked at him expectantly, waiting for an objection. Although she did not admit it,

  Samantha secretly hoped that he did have another suggestion; one that did not involve them

  entering yet another series of underground tunnels. However, he simply lay back down on the floor

  and closed his eyes.

  "It's settled, then," Corvo said, folding up the blueprint and tucking it into his pocket. "Markus, you got some sleep on the truck on the way in, so you take the first watch. Everyone else, get some rest.

  We'l move out in five hours. We all okay with that?"

  Jacob did not bother to answer, while Samantha nodded unenthusiastical y, lying down on the hard concrete floor. She would have liked to have made a pil ow with her jacket, but it was a little too cold

  for her to do that.

  "Damn, what is that smel ?" Jacob complained.

  "Take a wild guess," Corvo replied.

  The team of survivors made their way through a tight, circular drainpipe, which was just large

  enough for them to stand in without bumping their heads. The passages were narrow, forcing the

  survivors to advance in single file. The tightness of the tunnels left Samantha with a slight feeling of

  claustrophobia. She shook her head and tried to ignore it, but every time she pushed the feeling to

  the back of her mind, it slowly came creeping back.

  "How much further are the floodgates?" she asked Corvo.

  "Not too far. About a ten minute walk, I should think."

  Markus walked out in front of the group, aiming his flashlight and Uzi down the dark drain. He hated

  taking point, almost as much as he hated covering the back.

  "These service lines must be the overflow pipes for Riverside," he commented absentmindedly.

  "You know what?" Jacob said behind him. "I don't care! Lead on."

  The deep puddle of water came up without warning, and the former business man stepped right into

  it. "Aw, shit!"

  "Hey, it was your idea to come down here, Markus," Samantha said teasingly.

  "It was your idea to come to Riverside!" he snapped back, clearly annoyed.

  He made to pul his foot up out of the water when he suddenly felt something bump up against it

  below the surface. He panicked and ripped his foot out of the water, disturbing whatever was

  beneath the surface. He looked down in horror to see several unidentified objects break the surface

  of the rank water.

  "What's the hold-up?" Corvo cal ed from behind him.

  "There's something in the water..." Markus breathed, aiming his flashlight downward.

  He immediately wished he hadn't. A number of mutilated body parts had come floating to the surface

  of the deep puddle. The dismembered limbs of several people were floating in the dark water,

  waterlogged and well into the process of decay. Samantha gagged, and nearly vomited at the sight,

  while the others looked equally horrified.

  "Those poor people..." she whispered.

  Corvo momentarily removed his beret, held it to his chest and bowed his head. "Rest in peace."

  "More like rest in pieces," Jacob remarked.
He looked around to see the others staring at him angrily.

  "What?"

  Corvo grabbed him by the col ar and slammed him hard against the side of the drain.

  "What the fuck!" the biker bel owed.

  The older man glared at him for a moment, and then marched off without another word. Samantha

  and Markus exchanged glances, before fol owing Corvo, being sure to give the watery grave a wide

  berth.

  "It was just a joke..." Jacob muttered as he brushed himself off. He looked down at the grim pool and the dead bodies one last time. Shivering, he took off to catch up with the others.

  Chapter 27

  "We're here," Corvo announced as his ragtag team emerged from the pipes into a large flood room.

  They stood on a metal catwalk above a rather deep pool of grimy water that covered the entire floor.

  No one wanted to think about what might be lurking below the surface.

  "Great," Markus said, stil rather shaken from the grisly discovery he had unwillingly made not so

  long ago. He was now very eager to get out of these sewers. "So, where are these tunnels that we

  have to go down?"

  Corvo consulted the map, and then pointed across the room. "Over there."

  Samantha looked. "Um, I don't see 'em Corvo," she pointed out.

  "This doesn't make any sense…" He pored over the blueprints. "Unless… Ah, shit."

  "What?" she asked, with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

  "The pipelines are underwater."

  "…Can we swim through them?" Markus asked, feeling sick at the thought.

  "I ain't swimmin' in that shit," Jacob growled.

  Corvo shook his head dejectedly. "These drains go on for hundreds of metres. There's no way we'd

  be able to hold our breaths for that long." He was bitterly disappointed with himself, having led his

  people into a death-trap, with no foreseeable way out.

  Samantha, however, found herself looking thoughtful y at the large floodgates on either side of the

  room. "Do you think the machinery in here stil works?"

  "I think so," the war veteran said, scratching his scraggly beard. "According to these notes, the army instal ed some generators to be able to control the flow of water throughout the drains. They were

  probably trying to turn it into some kind of defence mechanism."

  "That's it!" she said excitedly. "If we lower the floodgates to drain the room, then we'll be able to access the west pipelines."