Dead Space: Aftershock
Disclaimer: I do not own Dead Space.
AN: Sorry it took a long time to write this. I've been caught up in school work and I haven't really been paying any attention to my writing...
Chapter 2: The Darkness
What I stupid decision I made, there was no reason for me to travel down there. What else did I expect to happen? What did I expect to find? What did I expect to accomplish? I guess it was all just hype, expectations and curiosity that killed the cat. My decisions caused the grief and terror of every single person that was working above. The ensuing infestation was no different, a mangled haze of blurry images, frightening screams and that sense of helplessness and guilt; the demons of my mind. Already I'm starting to lose grasp of the very images that torture me yet keep me connected to the reality I am now faced with. I can hear something outside the door. There's no way I'm going to open the door. I just heard her voice. It must be her! To those reading this, I'll leave this entry in the storage room in case you find it. If I'm not back, presume I'm dead.
-Leonard McLeod
-9.8 m/s₂...
I could feel myself free fall for a few seconds and then land on something sharp. Perhaps it was another ledge I fell on? I felt myself start to slip off this ledge also so I started to claw at the rough rock to try and stop myself...but to no avail. My hands started to sweat and let go soon after, sending me hurtling down the pitch black tunnel once again. I hit the rocky surface once more and felt the ground start to slowly curve and I started to roll downwards. The dizziness and nausea started to have an effect on my head as the curve finally started to become level.
BOOM!
I hit something, something that felt like sheets of metal and glass. I couldn't stand; shock, followed by the nausea was enough to make me vomit and I sat against the cool metal which I could feel even through my Rig. Finally I had enough energy to pick myself up off the ground which was jagged and rough. I checked for broken bones...there were none, just a couple of big bruises and some scratches by my guess as it was so black down there, you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face. Who knows where my Plasma Cutter landed...but then I heard a faint sound, a small cracking sound. Or maybe the sound was just far away, up above perhaps from that detonation.
Oh my God, that's right! The detonation! Paul! I wonder if he's up there trying to clean up the mess, maybe telling the Op Field Supervisor what happened to me.
"Paul..." I said into my mic. Nothing but static. "Paul? Can you read?" I said. "Paul? CAN YOU READ ME PAUL? ANSWER ME!" I yelled. That's when I looked up and saw it.
I could see a red dot, but not just any dot; it was the dot that I had caused. It was the aftermath of the explosion. Then, there was light. The ceiling, I presume, of the entire cavern which was roughly 150 feet above was...cracking!
The split started from the red dot and started to stretch and snake its way in the shape of a spider's web across the entire surface of the ceiling. The first segment, about the size of a two story house, became dislodged and started falling toward me. Along with the sounds of falling rocks also came the sound of screams. From across the cavern, I could see the huge piece falling, along with my partners, the people I work with and their machines falling with it. Light filled a small portion of the tunnel and I could see that what I hit while rolling down here were mining vehicles! This planet already had people on it! This was a mine shaft! The rock hit the tunnel floor with such tremendous force that I was blown back, scraps of metal screeched and clanged, glass shattered and crumbled and the screams were silenced.
Impossible, there she is. She's standing right there!
No, no. That's your mind playing tricks on you.
No, she's calling me over to her...
Don't go over there...
But she's my girlfriend! She'll be crushed!
Another chunk is breaking off!
I'll get there in time...
You doubt yourself...
The next chunk of the ceiling, this time about the size of an apartment building, was hurtling down, straight toward the hazy form of my girlfriend...how did she get down here?
"RIN! MOVE OUT OF THE WAY! RUN!"
She said nothing, no expression on her face; she just stood there laughing...
What the hell is going on?
I'll never make it now, that monstrous sized rock is too close, but at least we'll go out together.
I can hear the rock start to close in, I reach out my hand to grab a hold of Rin but I can't grab her. I look into her eyes, but she's not there! Where did she go all of a sudden?
The ground beneath my feet starts to rumble and shake and then it's complete darkness. I look up to see the rock hurtling down and then a huge cloud of dirt and debris as I continue to fall down a huge hole that opened up right under my feet. The hole turned into a sort of slide with many twists and turns, going painfully fast. A couple of turns later and I hit a rock wall, bursting through it and landing on a metal grate.
Where the hell was I now? As I awoke from my fall, I studied my surroundings. Though blurred, I could make out huge towers, blood and bodies all around. I sprang wide awake, feeling around for my extra Plasma Cutter, wondering why these would all be this far underground...
Even though I had no Plasma Cutter with me, that reflex, the instant reaction to my surrounds made me search for it. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears until I finally calmed myself. The towers looked familiar, like I had seen them before...that's because they were reactors! Reactors for what, what were these monstrous assemblies powering all the way down here?
"Len...Len, -re yo- ... there?"
"Paul? Paul, is that you?"
"Ye- are you alright?"
"I'm fine! I fell down a hole and I don't know where I am though. I'm pretty far underground, I know that. What's the status up there? Everything is going to shit!"
"Le- I can't he- -ou too well...-here a- -ou?"
"I don't know! There are these huge reactors all around me and I'm standing on some kind of man-made platform. There must have been some sort of mining operation-"
"Le- ge- -t of the-! Yo- are on the UMC Foxtrot! Ther- was a Necromor—infest—ion there! Ge- o-..."
Underground Mining Corporation's Subterranean Mining Ship Foxtrot.
The underground disaster that happened years ago...
And we're right in the middle of it.
The authorities said they cleaned the problem up though...
Yea, by burying it.
Now I'm buried with it...and the secret will die with me.