A/N: Before everyone gets up in arms... yes, I do refer to the Axeman as such. Yes, I have played the fifth game and do know the exact same character is in it, but referred to as the Executioner Majini. I prefer calling him the Axeman, because it's so much cooler. Just thought we'd clear that up now.
As always... love it, hate it? Let me know. Reviews make the world go round.
The group of five was standing at the entrance to the tunnel. It was the only way they were going to get out now. The plan wasn't ideal, but it was all they could do at the moment.
"I'll take point," Chris volunteered, pulling out a pistol. After a moment, he dropped down into the tunnel.
Luther stepped forward after the other man had moved down into the tunnel. "Ladies," he said then dropped down into the tunnel after Chris.
Claire turned to the young man trembling behind herself and Alice. "Come on, you're next," she told him.
"I-I can't go down there," Kim Yong said with a shake of his head. "No way."
"You can," the redhead assured him.
Alice, getting impatient, tried to hurry things along. "Let's go."
The decision wasn't left up to them. Before anyone else could get down into the tunnel, a large axe came down and sliced Kim Yong in half. Somehow, the Axeman from outside had gotten in with them.
Alice's reaction wasn't delayed in the least. She leapt up, planting a foot firmly in the monstrosity's face. It didn't exactly have the effect she was going for though. It didn't even bother him.
If anything, she had irritated him – as soon as she landed back on the ground she had to dodge the axe coming down toward her. Her evasion was successful as the axe merely took out a large chunk of the sinks. She backed off, pulling out both of her 12-gauges, but before she could do anything useful with them the broad side of the axe hit her into the wall hard enough to leave quite the dent.
Before the Axeman could move in and finish off the now unconscious brunette, Claire pulled out her Beretta and emptied what was left of the clip into him. It was certainly effective in getting the giant's attention.
She was forced to duck and run as the axe came around at her. She'd barely taken a step forward when she heard the distinct 'thud' of one of the showers being chopped in half. A quick glance was cast over her shoulder just in time to see that she needed to duck again, once more barely missing being caught.
The Axeman took out a few more showers as Claire successfully kept herself just out of reach. With all of the broken pipes, water was gushing everywhere. She had to be a bit more careful with her footing, even though there wasn't much time for it.
As she reached the wall she propelled herself upward, taking a couple of steps up until she could plant her foot on the window's ledge and flip herself backwards. She flipped right over the Axeman's head and landed a few feet behind him.
The maneuver bought her minimal time, but it was better than nothing. She stood upright once more as he turned to face her. Her attention briefly flickered to the ground – one of Alice's sawed off shotguns was laying there. If she timed things just right, she could get to it.
The Axeman started forward again and Claire did the same. Just before they would have collided, Claire slid down onto the wet floor, catching up the shotgun and planting a full round straight through the giant's chest. The Axeman took a staggering step forward before dropping to the ground.
Claire laid there on the ground for a moment, letting out a shaky breath. Slowly, she pulled herself up and turned to make sure the Axeman was down and stayed that way. Though he was down momentarily, he didn't stay that way unfortunately. After a few beats, he began getting up.
Alice was suddenly beside Claire, pulling her down to duck away from the axe that was flying at them. As the weapon embedded itself in the wall, it practically shook the entire room.
With the Axeman now unarmed, the brunette stood and pulled out her remaining 12-gauge, blowing apart the giant's head. For just a few moments, the sound of falling water was joined by the ringing of quarters hitting the floor as the Axeman's body dropped back down.
Claire turned to look up at the axe first, it had barely missed them. She cast a relieved grin over to Alice as the brunette turned to glance up at the monstrous weapon as well. That had been an incredibly close call. "I think I could go without doing that again," the redhead commented.
Alice breathed a sigh of relief, nodding in agreement. "Let's get going before anymore nasty surprises show up," she said, motioning Claire back toward the tunnel.
The redhead nodded and turned toward where the tunnel lay. She stopped by the entrance, glancing over to the brunette. "You or me first?" she asked.
"You go ahead," Alice answered with a nod.
Claire watched her for a moment before smirking. "Yeah… you just want to be the one with a view," she teased.
"I said no such thing," Alice shook her head, but was grinning as well.
"You didn't have to say it." Claire dropped down into the tunnel after that, hoping that the bracing delay hadn't let Luther and Chris get too far ahead of them.
The brunette shook her head once more before following Claire down into the tunnel. It wasn't very wide – most of it only afforded enough room to barely squeeze through. It was a way out of the prison though and that was what mattered.
It felt like they'd been crawling for hours when a startled gasp from the redhead had Alice reaching for one of her guns. They had run into Luther again – he was quietly waiting off to the side. "Those things are close," he whispered. "Stay quiet. The tunnel drops into the draining system a couple yards ahead. Go."
Claire nodded and continued down the tunnel. Just as Luther had said, it dropped down into the draining system. Chris was waiting for them and helped ease her drop. "Thanks," she told him a bit roughly, getting a curt nod in response.
Alice didn't need help as she jumped down from the tunnel. She turned to make sure Luther was following. A few seconds ticked past before he appeared at the end of the tunnel. "Come on, we need to keep moving," she told him.
He nodded and was about to jump down when something literally tackled him out of sight. Another one passed across the opening, heading in the same direction as the first. A few shots rang out, but that was it.
"Luther!" Alice called up.
Claire reached over and set a hand on the brunette's forearm. "We can't help him now," she said. "We have to keep going before those things catch up to us."
Alice pulled her arm away from the redhead, turning and heading down the channel. Just as they thought, it opened up and dumped out into the ocean. From where they stood, they could see the Arcadia.
"Look, down there," Chris said, motioning down toward their right. "We could use that boat to get out to the Arcadia."
The brunette nodded and found them a way down to the shore. It wasn't easy – but then again, what was easy nowadays? After several minutes of climbing, they managed to get down to the boat. One good thing was the fact that the undead had yet to catch up with them.
Chris got into the boat first, checking it out to make sure it would work. "Looks like we're good," he said as the two women climbed in as well. "Let's go check out that ship."
After a quick trip over the water, the three found a way onto the ship. "I guess Bennett made it," Claire observed, seeing the plane she and Alice traveled in crashed onboard the ship.
"But where did he go?" Alice inquired.
"Where did anyone go?" Chris asked in return. "Maybe we'll find something up on the bridge." He led the two women up to the bridge of the ship. Everything inside was still in perfect working order. "It's like everyone just up and left."
"But why? And where did they go?" Claire asked.
"Look… it says there are still over two thousand passengers aboard. But all of the lifeboats have been launched," Chris said, looking over one of the computers.
"Maybe they're below deck," Alice commented. "If there are that many survivors onboard… we need to find them."