Chapter 10 Down Under - Journey to the Information Centre
I squinted in the distance. A familiar shape loomed ahead and I knew instinctively what it was. My heart leapt up at once and I glanced at a weary Crono and Lucca beside me. I pointed ahead.
'Look! There's Arris Dome!'
My first impression of Arris Dome was that it was a perfect emulation of Trann Dome. It didn't look like there was much food there. The usual bunches of thin, mangy people were huddled up and the usual debris was scattered around the place. I felt my hopes go down.
Crono groaned beside me. 'It's the same old gang of nobodies! I'm sick of this!'
'Really, Crono!' I rolled my eyes. 'That's not very nice of you to say that!' Even though I privately thought the same thing as him.
A weak, thin, frail old man stood up. I usually disregarded senior citizens of Guardia because they looked really powerless but this guy was even more so. The fact that he had even reached old age was probably a revelation. He was obviously in charge and hailed us as we looked around.
'You there, where're you from?...' he asked in a thin voice.
Lucca pointed in the direction of Lab 16. 'We came from the laboratories in the west,' she explained.
The old man looked shocked. 'W, what?!' He looked away and called after the people behind him. 'Hey, we've got people who've crossed the ruins!' he shouted.
The people started murmuring among themselves. I raised my eyebrows, a little taken aback at their reaction to the news. Really, it was nothing special that we had crossed Lab 16. Crono might have been injured, but it was easy work dispatching the mutants with Lucca's Zonker-38. Then I thought, maybe these people didn't have a Zonker-38. From our initial encounter with the mutant, we had ascertained that attacking them physically was useless.
What the old man said next confirmed my musings. 'So there ARE people who can beat up those freaky mutants...'
Crono cleared his throat beside me. 'Excuse me, sir. Do you happen to know where any food is?'
The old man, genteel enough, nodded. 'Pardon me. I'm Doan. I'm the descendant of the Director of this Info centre,' he explained. 'In the basement, there's a huge computer and a storage centre for food.' He pointed at a rusty steel ladder a few feet away. 'But we can't get through 'cause of the robot guards.' He sighed and shook his head mournfully. 'It's a pity.'
Crono frowned and glanced at his stomach. I swore I could hear his stomach rumble more than a meter away. I don't think he listened to what old man Doan had said about the robot guards. Not that that would have changed anything. One thing about Crono, once he got his mind set on something, nothing, absolutely nothing, will deter him. It reminds me of me.
Crono headed towards the ladder. Doan caught sight of his movements and asked, 'Are you going down below?'
'Of course!' I chirped, moving towards the ladder as well.
Doan looked worried. 'But no one's ever returned from there.'
Lucca joined in chorus with me. 'Gotta try, right?' She sure looked optimistic.
'Yeah,' Crono agreed. 'You can't just give up! If the only way to get food is to get in here, then you have to try and try until you reach that goal!'
The spirit of youth was with us. Everyone else's spirits had broken long ago. Even I could tell that nobody from this place had any motivation. All hope and meaning in life was lost. Everything I had seen in this strange era indicated that, but it was the first time I saw fully just how deep the lines the lines of despair ran.
Doan looked impressed, and maybe a little nostalgic. 'It's nice to see such spirited young people for a change,' he said.
It was rather depressing.
'Careful, now. And come back alive.' And Doan turned away.
'Mr. Doan...' Crono muttered soberly, 'It's a promise.' Everyone present knew exactly what he was talking about.
We heard an eerie yet steady dripping noise from leaked pipes somewhere in the walls as we walked through the basement. We were in almost total darkness and the only light came through the hole in which the ladder was propped up against. I shivered a little, for the air was even more stiff and ominous then when we had walked through Lab 16. All was silent in the basement and I felt myself sweating in the dense atmosphere. We all knew very wisely that talking would alert any predator of our presence, but still, the pattering sound our shoes made against the cold metal was excruciating.
I'm sure you're familiar with the expression, "The silence was deafening." Before entering the basement, I never really understood what that meant. Now I did.
I held onto Crono for support, for I was genuinely frightened. He grunted. 'Get off, Marle!' I immediately let go. I looked at Crono in surprise before remembering that his nerves were on edge as well. Lucca wasn't very approving either.
Crono's voice triggered a squeak from the walls. Lucca and I jumped but Crono assured us, 'It's just a rat.'
Lucca shone her Zonker-38 (It worked as a torch as well) in the direction of the squeak. The light shone on the culprit. Amazingly enough, Crono was right, but there was something extra disquieting about the rat.
'Just a rat?!' I shrieked shrilly. 'It's a monster!'
The rat was definitely half-mutated out of radiation or whatever it was, for it was the size of a tiger. Its crazed eyes were rabid and its fur dirty. It was not the kind of rodent I would pet because its fangs were eerily similar to that of the mutants. It had tasted human flesh and it had an appetite for us.
I reacted immediately. My hands automatically loaded my crossbow and shot at the rat. Perfect bulls-eye. My training had come to make my shooting second-nature and was I glad that it was so. To turn it into a Silencer rifle, Lucca would have to deactivate Torch Mode from her Zonker-38, which would have made her aiming a bit off. And no one, not even Crono, would dare to approach the rat close enough to use a sword.
The rat squealed again, a kind of ghastly echo which would ensure that every thing with ears in the basement were aware of us. Then it ran off, afraid of getting hit with another crossbow bolt.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the rat departed. 'Just a rat...' I said again. 'Crono, you are so dead meat.'
'Yeah, whatever,' Lucca gulped and said. 'Come on, let's keep going.' It was unspoken: There was no turning back.
Every corner we turned, I imagined another mutant rat was waiting for us. I kept imagining its bloodshot eyes peering at me with a lust for my flesh. I shivered. My fingers were shaking and I was worried I would not be able to shoot accurately in the next encounter.
Lucca flashed the Zonker-38 and I gasped. A rat again. I held up my crossbow.
'No, wait!' Crono cried. 'It's a statue!'
Lucca walked up to the crumbly statue. It was so life-like I had mistaken it for a real rat, but now that the shock was over I moved closer to examine it too.
'Look,' said Lucca, 'There's a memo attached to it.'
I took it and read it aloud under Lucca's light. 'Warning,' it was written. 'Anyone within the vicinity of the stock room will be attacked!'
Crono groaned. 'But what about the food?'
'Well, you go if you like,' I said. 'I'm not taking to the idea of being attacked very well.'
'Fine,' Crono answered. 'I will.' He approached the door marked with the sign "Stock Room." He opened it and peered inside. Just darkness. He tip-toed inside. Nothing happened. Seeing him go first encouraged me. I followed behind, tailed by Lucca.
The Zonker-38 lit up the room. It was small and another door was at the far end. Seeing nothing else was in the vicinity, Crono reached out and touched the door handle.
What happened next I can scarcely recall. A loud and very repetitive alarm sounded and a very big something crashed on top of us. My heart was in my mouth.
'Crono! What's going on?!' I squealed, struggling to get to my feet.
Of course, he had no idea. But I needed someone to cling to.
Lucca flashed the Zonker-38 at the thing that had hit us. 'Marle!' She cried. 'Let's go!'
Why did the memo have to be right? Life was so not fair.
Preview
Whoa! Look at this thing! Who would have thought THIS was guarding the Stock Room? But we've still got to pass it. For Doan and the others. I'm just… not exactly sure if I'm able to… you know? Next time in the Long Weekend, The Quest to find Hope! I've got to do my best!