Alone and unsuspecting of the dangers Shameelah has put them into, Kevin and Matthew trawl the sewers for information. But there are creatures down in the sewers that don't plan on letting them leave without a fight.
Chapter Six – Trapped – Matthew
Late Morning, The Sewers, Sozma Qala
Matty could feel the reassuring presence of Kevin just a few footsteps behind him, and even though the tunnel was dark and humid with the desert heat above them and the water around their ankles creating a thick, moist atmosphere to trudge through, Matthew would swear he could feel heat emanating from Ryman's body. The light they had seen at the crossroads had seemed close, but they were still not at it, which made Matty think the tunnel extended forever. His gun holstered, the agent wiped his damp hands on his trousers, his mind going back as it often did when he had a moment of quiet in dangerous situations. Countless times ago, he and Kendra were on a mission in a cold Russian lab, and even though they were separated and had no communications, they had found each other. And though this was his first mission with Kevin, Matthew could feel a presence in his mind that told him the agent was a few feet behind him, and the southern agent knew he could find this rookie in an instant if they got separated. He wasn't psychic, or some freaky C.I.A experimental solider he…he just had really good intuition. They walked for a few minutes before Kevin interrupted the silence, and though the boy was probably going to say something annoying and small town, Matthew was glad for the noise…the water had drained away, and the rats had disappeared so the only sound was the squelching of his boots, and the heavy silence…which Matthew found maddening.
"Matt…do you think we're gonna get out of here? I mean Raccoon city, it was like hell but we got out of there pretty scot free, so maybe we can get through this?" Matthew, in front of Kevin sighed and stopped, spinning round just as Kevin almost blundered into him.
"Talk like that's gonna get you killed Ryman, when you were running from zombies back in the states were you thinking 'I'm gonna get out of here'?" Matthew asked, arching his eyebrow but not waiting for a response from the younger agent
"Didn't think so…if you think your gonna die, you work harder, you run faster and you shoot better."
With that, Matthew turned round just in time to hear Kevin mumble 'dick' under his breath, which made Matty smile and reply quickly
"Pussy" he retorted, with humor in his voice and Kevin started back with some 'witty' reply when the tunnels reverberated with a scream. A high pitched woman's scream, at first Matty almost raced back to check on the girls but even though the echo bounced off the walls and made it sound like the scream came from both just beside him, and the furthest reaches of the tunnel, it originated from directly in front of them. Looking back at Kevin in the dull light, that had grown stronger as they walked down the tunnel Matty turned and sprinted, followed closely by Kevin. Although adrenaline was pumping through his veins, Matty tired after about two minutes of full speed running, and just as he slowed down the air temperature changed and he crossed a threshold from the tunnel into a large, cavernous room that seemed at least partially air conditioned. Pulling his gun from its leather holster, and looked around the room. It was shaped like a tube, and the sheer metallic walls extended right up to the surface, where there was a large square of light. The lights they had seen in the distance however, were the powerful lights on the far wall, and wasn't the open shaft of light coming from the ceiling. Running to the far end of the room, from this vantage point Matthew could see a large hole in the wall, covered in a thick glass covering.
The hole, about as big as the front of a bus was pitch black, and the thick glass covering seemed there to keep people from going in…or to stop something getting out. Matt's mind was racing, when once again a scream sounded out. Jumping back, he held out his hand to stop Kevin from venturing into the light as three figures appeared in the hole, their features black, silhouetted by the sunlight. Holding a finger to his lips, as a signal to shush his partner as the men above talked in fast Afghan, hiding the meaning of their conversation from Matty, and he knew Kevin too…but they both understood what was going on, and it came to fruition as the third member of the line-up, hidden by the sun was a struggling, screaming woman and with a yelp she was pushed over the edge. She screamed for a bout three seconds, before she hit the floor with a dull thud and a crack.
Matthew knew Kevin was desperate to run to the girl to see if she was okay, just like he was but he held a restraining hand out before the agent. Matty knew the types of men who could mercilessly throw a girl over the edge of a hole, and they weren't the kind of people who left things to chance. They wouldn't toss the girl without assuring that she was dead, but they had walked away talking to each other, not even looking at the girl. She was wearing a long robe with a head scarf, and could have only been in her early twenties…too young to go. She was wriggling a little, but she had landed on her face and Matty knew that injuries like that would stop you getting up in a hurry.
"She needs help." Kevin whispered into his ear, but Matty knew that they couldn't run to her…and before he could mention that fact to Kevin, the cavern screamed. Well not the cavern itself, but the echo made Matthew thing that this tunnel was just a giant mouth and they were inside listening to the scream. And slowly the glass panel started the rise, slowly, causing the two agents to back further into the darkness, ignoring as the water got deeper instead trying to separate themselves from the glass panel, both knowing that nothing good was going to come out. But neither agent had foreseen the extent of the horror, as slowly two large crocodiles snaked out of the tunnel. However they weren't the traditional dark green, but were skinless, with patches of their old scales clinging to their flesh. As they neared the girl one flicked its tongue from its mouth, and Matthew notices it was much longer and more flexible than a normal crocodiles, and that it was between two rows of teeth that were brown and razor sharp. Though the water wasn't deep in the center of the tunnel shaped room, the crocodiles moved quickly on land, splitting up to get closer to the girl. Hearing a splash, Matty turned to see Kevin rush past him, firing blindly at the creature closest to him, and though Matthew didn't want to tackle the creatures, he had to. Not even the most seasoned BSAA agent could allow a girl to be eaten alive by mutant crocodiles without trying to help.
Dashing forward, Matty kept a wide berth of the crocodiles and the girl, racing round so he could fire into the one furthest away from Kevin. Though the bullets were going in, and Matty could see dark, thick blood trailing down their skin, they didn't seem to be deterred. Looking at Kevin, who was having even less luck hitting his, Matty said a quiet prayer to God and ran towards the crocodile, standing just two feet away and firing into its skull. This did capture the crocs attention, which swung its massive tail and knocked the agent back a good few feet, landing in the deeper water near the edge of the room. The crocodile was now advancing on him instead, and the metallic floors made it hard for Matthew to get a firm foot hold. Relieved that modern handguns worked just as well when wet Matty fired three times, hitting the creature twice on its snout, and once in the eye causing it to howl in pain and charge forward. Rolling to the right, the creatures snapping jaws narrowly missed Matty's face, and only by inches did he manage to dash away from the abomination, getting his footing and racing away. Turning back, Matty expected the crocodile to be on his tail, but instead it was slowly walking towards him, bleeding heavily from the wounds in its skull, limping in pain. Pitying the creature, the agent fired three times more and finally the thing fell. Looking back, Ryman wasn't faring as well, but he was keeping his distance and he was slowing it down, which was good enough for now as Matthew ran towards the injured girl in the center. Sliding to his knees as he neared her, Matty lifter her from the floor and spun her over, praying to god she was okay. But as her head rolled to see him, Matty recoiled, her eyes were wide and her skin was dry and cracked and she shot out her hand, grabbing his throat and squeezing, the other clinging to his gun arm. Rolling, Matty tried to shake the woman's vice like grip from his throat, but she wasn't relenting and the constant sound of gunshots meant Kevin was still busy. As the womans grip, which didn't really fit with her petite frame, tightened Matty's vision started to blur, and as he struggled for breath, the womans fingers just dug deeper.
(hi guys really sorry about the HUGE gap, my computer broke and then my net when I got it fixed and it all got a bit hectic. But I'm back and hopefully the next chapter wont take months to prepare. Who will save Matthew and Kevin? Will Kendra and Cindy reach them? How will they escape the sewers? Please read and review, thanks to everyone who read and reviewed time ago, I hope you're still interested)