A/N: Suggested listening: Big God by Florence + The Machine
The waves go by
And I'm filled with sorrow
As intense as a hurricane
As enduring as the ocean
"You guys hear that?"
Screaming and boulders hitting the ground. That's all Wolf could hear.
"That's the eye wall," Bill murmured while he clasped his hands together.
The lights flickered. Wolf swallowed. More screaming.
"How long is it gonna be like that?" Wolf shuddered and wrapped his arms around himself.
"Won't know till it gets quieter." Bill shrugged.
"This was supposed to be two hours long, but…" Krystal furrowed her brows.
"The ceasefire." Wolf nodded. He looked to the floor. "This shit was all my idea."
Fox sighed and shook his head. "Don't…" he stopped himself. "We have to finish this mission." His mouth was open for another sentence, but he shut it.
Wolf closed his eye and saw phosphenes made of stars. "Right."
"Wolf, you need crutches." Bill looked around the shelter.
"I don't see any here." Wolf crossed his arms and raised a brow.
"I can carry him again." Fox leaned forward in his chair. Wolf felt something twinge in his chest. Gratitude?
"You- you don't have to." Wolf avoided Fox's gaze and frowned. "I can handle myself." The words came out like knives, and he groaned inwardly.
"It was just an offer, jeez." Fox's eyes were downcast. Pangs of guilt shot through Wolf.
He opened his mouth to apologize, but Bill cut him off. "I can't find anything makeshift but I can carry you." Bill smiled and gave him a thumbs up.
Wolf was silent. He tried moving a leg. Nothing.
He huffed. Figures.
"Okay, Fox." Wolf's voice was quiet.
"What?" Fox cocked his head at Wolf.
Wolf bit his lip. "Ugh, I'd like your help. To carry me." He grimaced.
Fox smiled devilishly. "What's the magic word?" He crossed his arms and leaned closer to Wolf.
Wolf growled. "Please..." That immature little-
"See, wasn't so hard was it?" Fox chuckled and leaned back into his seat.
"Don't push your luck, pup." Wolf glared at Fox something fierce, but it didn't deter him in the slightest.
Krystal cleared her throat. "Do you hear that?" She held up a hand and the others stopped talking.
Nothing. Wolf strained his ears, but the screaming was gone.
"The worst has passed." Bill got up from his seat and stretched with many a grunt. That easy smile appeared on his face and Wolf felt himself relax a little.
"But what about the hurricane defenses?" Krystal frowned and scratched her chin.
Fox got up and walked over to Wolf to help him out. "Expect flooding."
Fox turned around and crouched in front of Wolf who wrapped his arms around his neck. Fox put his under Wolf's legs and lifted him up with a grunt.
"Damn, you've been working out." Fox snickered, and Wolf growled into his ear.
"Try alcoholism, smartass." Wolf barely resisted the urge to claw Fox.
"Pudgy stomach suits you." Fox shrugged. "Makes you more approachable." Wolf rolled his eyes.
I'm going to die with this idiot. Holy shit.
"Come on, let's go." Bill put the hood of his raincoat up and walked over to the door. He tapped the button to unseal the door and opened it.
They came face to face with a completely different hall. Where the walls where once pristine and clean, they were now damp and dirty. The floor had at least an inch of standing water covering it. A light fixture hung from the ceiling and dangled above the water with deadly intent. A spark flew from the exposed water.
Bill trudged through the water and pulled a knife from his pants pocket before he started to cut the light from the wires. When he finished, he set it on a metal table that had washed down the hallway.
"Just... In case." Bill eyed the malevolent wiring with suspicion, but they continued down the transformed hallway, the portal to their new reality.
The lobby was an even worse sight. The water was flooding the ground, but furniture was turned over and displaced. Glass windows were shattered and the shards were floating in the water along with piles of debris and trash.
Wolf was thankful for his combat boots.
Rain was pelting inside from the broken windows in waves, and outside it looked to be raining sideways. The flooding was much worse. The water was ankle deep outside.
Bill didn't bother to open the door; instead, he climbed through the broken window. Krystal and Fox followed his example, and they all left the building and into the hurricane.
Wolf's legs were drenched as soon as he was exposed to the rain, but his raincoat kept his torso from becoming waterlogged.
"Do you know where we're going?" Bill shouted over the roaring wind.
"Map on my eyepiece!" Fox pointed to his headset before he turned to the left and started to walk down the street. "Come on!"
The rain was blowing into Wolf's back, but his eye was free of water. It didn't matter much, however; the rainfall was so heavy he couldn't see ten feet in front of them.
Fox trudged through the water, unperturbed by the storm.
Damn if Fox isn't brave... or dumb as a box of rocks.
Wolf kept an eye out for any of those… things, but he saw nothing except the carcasses of vehicles littering the flooded roads. He couldn't hear anything except the howling of the wind and the pounding of the rain, either.
"How far now?" Wolf asked as they turned left at an intersection. He looked back and saw Bill and Krystal right at their heels.
"A few more blocks, I think!" Fox moved out of the way of a car that started to slide down the waterlogged road.
"Ugh, you think?" Wolf snorted and craned his neck to look at Fox who glanced back at him
"Can't see the building myself." Fox shrugged and looked back.
Wolf sighed as apprehension jumped through his chest and stomach. Dismal dread settled at the bottom of his gut with the weight of a boulder.
The more the group walked, the harder the rain seemed to fall. It was like some god was royally pissed at the four of them and was doing everything in his power to impede their progress. Wolf cursed that god out with every single foul word in his vocabulary.
Wolf found it unsettling that he didn't see any of the creatures roaming around. Maybe they didn't like rain? Or…
He shuddered. Not a good thought.
"I think we're here." Fox stopped in front of a set of large and unbroken glass doors.
"The entrance should be much bigger!" Wolf strained his eye to read the sign above the door. It read 'Help Center.'
"This is a side entrance!"
Fox walked to the glass doors and heaved one of them open. He stumbled into the building with standing water that rushed in with them. Bill and Krystal came in behind them before Fox slammed the door shut and locked it.
Wolf sighed before he looked around the help center. It wasn't a large room, and a few chairs and sofas were placed in a corner of the room. The help desk took up most of the room adjacent to the door. It was all lit only by a few emergency lights and… a single computer monitor.
Fox walked behind the desk and set Wolf in one of the chairs before looking at the computer. It was a laptop that an employee hadn't turned off.
"It's still connected to the database here!" Fox smiled and sat in another chair. He started tapping away at the computer.
Wolf used the counter to pull himself over next to Fox. Bill and Krystal hovered over Fox's shoulders as he worked. "Check the map, maybe we can find the ships," Bill suggested. Fox nodded.
Wolf watched with a widened eye as Fox's hands flew across the keyboard. The speed at which he typed was almost hypnotic, and Wolf couldn't tear his gaze away.
"Map shows where your landing pad is, Section 28-F." Fox scratched his chin. "Doesn't tell me if the ships are still there."
Wolf crossed his arms. "You have access to the whole database." He raised a brow.
Fox slapped a hand to his head. "Ah shit, right." He started back at the computer again.
Bill hummed. "Can't tell if the storm is getting worse or not, dude."
Wolf turned to look out the doors, where all he saw was the chaos and insanity of the hurricane. The rain shrouded everything outside in a cloak of shadows, making it impossible to make any shape out. The standing water was still about ankle high, which eased Wolf's nerves.
"It doesn't matter, it will be here a while." Krystal pushed her bangs out of her eyes and shifted around where she stood.
"I found ship logs!" Fox interjected as he grinned wide. "Gotta filter stuff out." He bit his lip and narrowed his eyes while he leaned in closer to the laptop.
Wolf's ears twitched. Something clattered to the floor.
Something was there. Wet thuds. Howl.
Wolf's heart stopped. He grasped for something to use as an anchor and found Fox's shoulder.
Bill drew his pistol. Another groan.
Labored breathing split the air. Fox continued typing, although his ears were perked.
Wolf felt his chest trying to rip itself to pieces. He pulled his pistol out and aimed it towards the hallway furthest from them.
More heavy footsteps. Another guttural groan.
"We need to run." Wolf's words were soft. "Those things, they're making us-"
Fox blinked. "I don't understand." He stared at the laptop screen.
"They release that chemical-"
"No, not that." Fox shook his head. "There's nothing on the logs for your ships, coming or going."
Wolf grimaced. "We have to take a look."
Fox nodded before he got up and moved to carry Wolf. Krystal picked up the laptop.
"Section 28-F," Wolf murmured, his gaze not leaving the hall where the creature lurked. "Go down there." He pointed to the opposite hall.
"That'll take us there?" Fox raised a brow, but he started to walk that direction.
"Better than the open main entrance." Wolf spared a glance behind them and saw the monster emerge from the void.
Krystal turned on a flashlight while they walked down the lifeless hall. Fox followed the signs for the landing pad while Wolf kept his ears pricked.
"What happens when we get off of Corneria, dude?" Bill cocked his head at Fox.
Fox grimaced as his ears pinned to his head. "I'll be having a chat with Pepper."
Bill nodded. "I… see."
The group fell into silence as they continued to turn down the corridors. They must have been in a set of maintenance tunnels, for there weren't any commercial places like shops and kiosks around the place.
Wolf scratched his mangled eye as they continued onwards. Apprehension was building in his gut and steadily expanding into his chest and lungs. He was being crushed by guilt and worry and fear, being suffocated from the inside out.
Let them be okay! Please, let them be alive.
"There's 28-F!" Fox pointed to a sign in front of them. Wolf breathed a sigh of relief.
The sign led them off of the main path and into a more cramped corridor where the inner workings of the building began to show. Pipes and circuitry ran alongside the group in place of walls, and the floor was sloping downward.
The corridor ended with a ladder that led up to a manhole about five meters above them. No light was filtering through, but Wolf could hear the howling wind from so far underground.
"Bill, take Wolf. I'm gonna go up." Fox moved over to Bill, but Wolf growled.
"I have to see what's up there." He shook his head and tightened his grip on Fox. "For myself."
Fox sighed.
Silence.
Wolf's heart hammered in his chest.
"Fine."
Wolf smiled. "Thank you."
Fox started to ascend the ladder with Wolf on his back. They barely had enough room to breathe in that claustrophobic tunnel. Wolf cursed his pudgy belly.
They came up to the manhole. "Ready?" Fox asked.
Wolf pulled the raincoat hood over his head. His heart was pounding. He nodded.
"Let's go."