A/N: Hey everyone! Wow, I'm sososososo sorry for my long absence! /SHOT
I've been really ill lately, and school has been kicking my butt up and down. Not to mention I lost my password . Anyways, enough excuses from me, I hope you guys are still hanging in there! I'm double-updating, to make up for my insanely long absence (And this chapter is short anyways.)
Enjooooy!
Chapter 10: Impasse
"Run," Marcus shouted as they scrambled to their feet. They bolted down the path, sprinting and trying to avoid stepping on the spikes that lined the path as the wall of rubble rolled in behind them.
"Damn this thing can eat," Cole exclaimed, glancing back over his shoulder. Allena couldn't look; if she did, she'd probably end up dead.
"It's a giant worm, Cole," Allena panted, to distract herself from the possibility of being crushed. "It has to eat a lot to keep itself going."
"Yeah, just like you," Baird managed snidely, sounding a little breathless as he kept up with them. Cole shot him a deadly look as they jumped down off a wall, the bound slightly bouncy beneath their feet.
"Aww man," Baird said, as they came upon a thin membrane.
"Don't think about it, just saw through that shit," Cole yelled. Dom revved up his chainsaw and sawed through the membrane; they had to help each other through the narrow opening, Cole nearly getting stuck. Baird and Allena pushed against the man's side as Dom and Marcus pulled, until he finally slipped through.
"Dammit, Cole, you're going on a diet when we get out of here," Baird said, as he helped Allena up and through.
"Shut up, man," Cole shot back, as the blonde slid through the opening. Allena and Dom reached out and grabbed his arm, yanking him out. They all turned and continued to run, the wall rumbling in behind them.
"Um, guys," Allena gasped out, staring at the huge wall that loomed before them. "We're trapped!"
"No we're not," Marcus shouted back. "Concentrate your fire on the opening!" Bullets bit into the pucker in the center of the wall; seconds later, it opened up, allowing them to charge through. They continued to run, putting more distance between them and the wall of rubble; still, it was coming after them, as surely as Sera revolved around the sun.
They bolted up the underside of a car, spikes glistening wickedly on either side to remind them of what would happen if they fell. Allena's boots slid across the surface, still slick with wormy fluids- it Cole hadn't grabbed her, she probably wouldn't have made it. He pulled her to safety, gently nudging her forward as he waited for Baird. They all jumped around patches of spikes, barely staying on the path as they booked it out of there. They approached another thin membrane, this time their chainsaw bayonets already revved up and ready to go.
"What cut of meat do you want," Cole said, grinning as if he had lost it. "Center cut, rib-eye? Haha, I prefer mine rare." Marcus sawed through the membrane, and they all ran through, the wall of debris unable to fit through the smaller opening.
"About time," Baird grumbled, a relieved look on his face as he looked back at the wall. The group moved forward into the new area; Allena looked down the paths, eyeing the nozzles that sprayed green liquids onto the path suspiciously.
"Let's keep moving," Marcus called, as he jumped down off a ridge. "If this is the stomach, the heart and lungs have got to be somewhere on the other side." Allena hesitantly jumped down as well, looking at the jets of liquid.
"Yeah, as long as it's physiology plays by the rules," Baird snorted.
"Shut up," Marcus growled again, rolling his eyes as they all walked towards the path.
"Damn, what is that shit," Cole asked, wrinkling his nose as they got closer; the fumes from the liquid were absolutely putrid.
"It looks like some kind of acid," Allena said, making a face as well. "Assuming we are in the stomach, those have got to be some kind of digestive fluids." She peered around for an alternative route, frowning when she saw none. "Suffice to say, you don't want it on you."
"So how do we get past," Baird asked, looking at Allena skeptically. She was about to make a smart retort when Marcus suddenly lifted his Lancer and fired. The rounds hit the nozzle, effectively shutting it off.
"That looks about good," Dom said.
"We better hurry, I have a feeling that thing won't stay off forever," Marcus grumbled. They waited for it to start up again, then shut it off, running until they reached the next nozzle. Allena found herself simply following them, moving automatically; a numb sense of being had stolen over her, and she felt inexplicably tired. She wasn't sure how much more she could take of this; she had a totally new respect for Gears.
"I don't get nightmares, but I know I'm going to be seein' this shit in my dreams," Cole exclaimed, as they barely avoided a jet of acid. Allena couldn't agree more; unlike Cole, she did happen to get nightmares, and this would probably be in the worst ones. They emerged from the row of nozzles unscathed, and proceeded down the path, pools of acid lining the way. Allena made a face as they passed; God, those fumes were absolutely terrible.
They approached a tunnel that was emitting a nasty-looking gray gas; Dom wrinkled his nose, waving his hand in front of his face. "Ugh! This place smells like ass," he exclaimed, leaning back a bit.
"Ass?" Cole interjected, one eyebrow raised skeptically. "More like cheesy, rotten toe-jam ass!" Allena coughed slightly, wishing that her nose wasn't attached to her face. Top ten worst smells in the world, and every single one of them were inside the damned worm.
"Forget the smell, this place is toxic," Baird coughed out. Allena's eyes began to water at the smell, and she coughed slightly. Her nose was beginning to burn painfully with each breath she drew in.
"Well, we're on a one-way trip, so keep moving," Marcus ordered, his eyes watering at the strong, overbearing smell. They ran through the tunnels, all of them coughing and gagging as they went. "Come on, don't stop," Marcus called out, urging them forward. Allena began to stumble, feeling light-headed and nauseous as she made her way through the dark, green-aired space. She followed the dark, vague shapes in front of her, unsure of if she was following the Gears or figments of her dazed imagination.
She heard the sound of a chainsaw revving and figured they were close; she pushed herself along, trailing after the others as Marcus sawed through flesh. The edges of her vision were growing fuzzy, her thoughts muddled and confused; she stumbled out after the others, fresh air slapping at her face and lungs. She collapsed onto the ground, all of them coughing and retching as the stench clung to their nostrils.
"Where the hell are we now," Dom asked, looking up at them with a frown.
"Looks like… the sternum," Baird said, glancing around. "Or at least, the giant worm equivalent of a sternum… yeah." Allena looked up; it could have been a sternum, she supposed, if one squinted really hard. But hey, who was she to question worm physiology?
"Then the heart's gotta be somewhere around here, right," Marcus asked, one eyebrow raised. Allena pushed herself onto her feet, shaking her head to try and get rid of her terrible migraine.
"One can hope," Baird said, falsely optimistic. Allena hesitated as the others began to move forward; she could feel steady pulsations through her feet and in her chest, matching rhythm with her own heart. She could even see the walls moving in time to the beat. Dom heard it, too, tilting his chin up.
"Hold on, is that a heartbeat," he asked. The others paused, each silent as they picked out the sound.
"Yeah, and the end of this crazy ride," Marcus growled, jumping off a platform and onto the lower level. They all hopped down, moving through the pulsating corridor. Marcus sawed through another membrane, and suddenly the beating became louder, clearer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the heart," Baird said mockingly, as they all entered the passage. Allena stared at the huge, pulsating mass in the center of the room, tilting her head to the side quizzically.
"That's a really ugly heart," she commented vaguely, slowly walking around. "Wouldn't put that on a valentine's card." Cole chuckled, shaking his head.
"Listen to her, this kid's got jokes," he said approvingly, patting her on the shoulder.
"Alright, guys, enough screwing around," Marcus said. "Let's finish this thing." He stepped forward and lifted his lancer, bringing the chainsaw bayonet down on a thick, rubbery artery. Blood sprayed over them as it pulled apart, the heart beating erratically at the loss of its blood supply. Allena made a face, spitting as blood got into her mouth- that was disgusting. Dom took care of another artery, and the heart suddenly ceased beating, the room strangely silent as blood sloshed around their feet.
"Finally, it's over," Dom said, sounding overjoyed as they moved out of the chamber to avoid the rising blood.
"Now we can cut our way out this bitch," Cole said, grinning like a kid.
"Good job, Delta, one dead worm," Marcus said. Allena listened for a second, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. She looked at the others, meeting Baird's eyes for a second.
"Wait a minute," he said slowly, dragging his eyes away from her to look at Marcus. "I still hear a heartbeat."
Of course, life couldn't be that easy.
"We gotta stop it, then," Marcus growled, urging them forward. Allena's shoulders slumped- and here she thought they were home free. Instead, they were still stuck inside a very much alive worm, and covered in blood and god knew what else.
Stop complaining, Allena, at least your alive.
That thought made her want to cry all over again, an image of poor Ben Carmine's torn body flashing through her mind. She grit her teeth and tightened her grip on her Lancer- she wasn't going to cry. She was going to help take care of this thing, and then she was going to get the hell out of here.
They marched through the worm, the walls pulsating along with the increasing heart beat. More of the parasites erupted from the ground in front of them; they were easily dispatched, everyone's faces set in grim lines.
"We're almost there," Marcus said from ahead, as they reached a ledge. "The heartbeat is getting louder." He sawed through a filmy membrane as the others jumped down, exposing the chamber where the heart was stored. Blood sloshed around their feet as they entered, looking around for the arteries.
"Of course, they've got to be up there," Baird snorted, eyeing the arteries. They were all one behind the other, hanging across a path that spiraled up and around.
"You guys go get on higher ground," Marcus instructed, indicating the path with his Lancer. "Once I cut through those arteries, this place is going to fill up fast." The others hesitantly retreated, the sounds of the chainsaw revving up following them as they went up a separate path. They waited almost anxiously for Marcus to return, hearing the blood pump out of the arteries and fill the cavern they had just been in. After a tense moment, Marcus came up the path, blood covering his armor up to his neck.
"Looks like you had a nice little swim," Baird said sarcastically. Marcus gave the other man a glare, his eyes narrowed as he brushed past the blonde.
"Let's just get out of here," he said testily, then came to a stop and cocked his head to the side. Allena looked up, confused, but then she heard it too- the beating of another heart.
"Son of a bitch, is that another heartbeat?" Dom exclaimed, looking up.
"Baird, just how many hearts does this thing have," Cole asked, looking at the blonde irately.
"How the hell should I know?" The blonde shot back, then looked at Allena. She blinked, startled, then held up one hand.
"Hey, I wouldn't know either," she said, shaking her head. "This is a large creature, though, with the size of the hearts we've seen, it makes sense that it would take a lot more power then that to pump blood to all the major body parts."
"So this thing could have a lot more hearts floatin' around in this shit," Cole asked, sounding incredulous.
"It doesn't matter," Marcus cut in. "We'll cut them all! The heartbeat is getting faster. We can put this thing down." The others nodded hesitantly, sending wary glances to each other. Would this nightmare run never end? They followed the sound of the quickening heartbeat, sawing through another membrane to find the largest chamber yet.
"Okay, Delta, this is it," Marcus said, as they entered the chamber. He moved towards the arteries, his chainsaw revving; before he could take more then three steps, the ground erupted in front of him, white parasites scuttling out of the ground.
"We'll cover you," Dom shouted, as gunfire filled the air. Marcus sloshed through the blood towards the arteries, sawing through the first neatly. Allena couldn't watch him take care of the other as a parasite made a move for her, screaming and chattering. She jumped out of the way, blood splashing around her feet as she landed.
"We're going to be swimming in worm blood if you don't move you're ass," Baird shouted. The blood level was slowly climbing up her leg- if Marcus didn't finish this fast they'd all be goners. Allena took out another of the parasites- apparently, these things could swim through blood. Pleasant.
She spotted Marcus as he moved for the other two arteries on the other side of the hearts when suddenly a group of parasites rushed him; he had no choice but to take them down, a grimace on his face.
"Marcus, come on," Dom shouted desperately. Marcus growled, shooting down the parasites, but he wasn't moving fast enough. Allena dodged out of the way of a parasite, then made a run for the arteries.
"How do I do this," she shouted over her shoulder as she sloshed through the blood.
"Pull the lever," Dom yelled back to her over the sound of gunfire, seeing what she was up to and giving her covering fire. She found the lever and yanked on it just as she reached the first artery, the Lancer nearly jumping out of her hands. She tightened her grip and swung the massive bayonet down, slicing through the artery. She fought past the gush of blood and got to the second one, spitting blood out of her mouth as she sawed through it. The ground shook violently, pitching her into the waist-deep pool of blood- someone reached down and grabbed her, dragging her back up before she could drown.
"Let's go," Marcus shouted, helping her slosh through the rising pool of blood. "Let's get the hell out of here!" Allena began trying to tread water- being shorter then the others, the blood was already dangerously high for her. She struggled frantically, the armor dragging her down. The last thing she saw before the blood rose above her eye level was the flash of a chainsaw bayonet being revved up, flesh flying as it cut through the inside of the worm.