Thank you as always to those of you who reviewed the last chapter :) Firestar, Gamegurl, Lady Chaos, YourFan, Omega, Lauren, Vidoshield, Ariana, Flare Region, My Best, P-a-P, Dylan, Turdy, Zombieboy and Juice Lee, I'm so glad you guys have been speaking up lately about what you want to see happening in the story! Expect to see some of your ideas in this chapter as well as the next one! So without further delays... Chapter 25!
The group of zombie slayers continued down the underground path, finally reaching a more well lit area containing a mine cart and some tracks that were at the moment, unusable. A few windows stood out, as well as the perk-a-cola Stamin-Up which filled the room with a golden light, but mostly the walls were lined with broken machinery.
"Yes!" Isabella shouted excitedly, giggling as she ran over to the familiar chalk outline on the wall, "M16 baby! Woohoo!"
Brianna rolled her eyes, loading her shotgun as the rest of the team moved towards yet another blocked hallway, hearing the groans of the undead that were beginning to swarm the area behind them. "Ve must hurry," Richtofen said quickly, realizing the danger of staying in such an enclosed area as he moved to open the path ahead. He looked back momentarily to make sure the rest of his teammates were behind him as he accidentally glared at them, disturbed by the fact that he actually required their help. As much as he hated to admit it, he couldn't do this alone. He would need their... assistance. For ze time being anyvay... He remembered, turning around and smirking to himself as lightening cleared the debris in front of them.
With the pathway now open, everyone made their way into the next room, noticing the small waterfall on the wall to the right. Looks like some sort of drainage system, Isabella guessed while examining the metal grate the water was flowing into, I wonder where it's coming from though...?
A loud yell to her left made the dark haired woman jump as a zombie hissed, shoving it's rotting arms through the cracks in the barricades closest to her before beginning to tear them down. Isabella ran forward with her ballistics, stopping to press the button on the handle and watching as a blade shot forward, striking the zombie directly in the forehead. Smirking nervously while trying to calm her racing heart, she reloaded before reaching forward to grab the knife from the corpse.
"Ack! Bad demon! Bad!" Richtofen shouted, struggling as a zombie that had dropped through the dirt ceiling grabbed his arm unexpectedly, forcing him to fumble his weapon. Struggling with the unusually strong creature, he reached for his knife as the undead corpse hissed incredibly close to his face before a stream of bullets whizzed through the air, shattering the zombie's skull and splattering the doctor's face and uniform with blood. The zombie dropped to the ground as everyone turned to see Takeo aiming an AK74u before he lowered his new weapon with a rare grin on his face.
"I am not one to brag, but damn!" The Japanese warrior said confidently, reloading before turning and firing at more undead coming through the doorway.
"Oh, I'll have to remember your birthday zhis year..." Richtofen said sarcastically, wiping the crimson liquid from his face and brushing himself off where the zombie had touched him. Bending down to pick up the alien gun, he stumbled a bit as an explosion shook the room, making dust fall from the ceiling as Nikolai's laughter could be heard over the echo of the blast.
"Ba-boom!" He shouted, pulling the pin off another one of his grenades before tossing it into a window filled with the undead. The explosion covered the walls with blood as bits of zombies flew in every direction, causing the Russian soldier to crack up, coughing a bit from laughing so much. "Ugh, I think just inhaled some zombie." He choked, ripping another grenade from his belt as he tossed it into the hallway the Imperial solder was covering, a mischevious grin on his face. "It is like fireworks show!" Nikolai laughed, thoroughly amused by the mess of carnage and gore, "Only with blood and zombies…" He continued chuckling as he watched a legless zombie hiss as it crawled forward, missing the irritated glare the Japanese man was sending him.
"Kill them Nikki!" Takeo reprimanded loud enough for the Russian to hear as said man spun around, not sure if he was hallucinating or not when he heard someone referring to him as Nikki. "Do not play with them," The Imperial continued, speaking to the drunk soldier as though he were a child while gesturing to the line of crawlers hissing on the ground near the doorway. "Are you trying to get us killed?"
"Hey, Takeo, FUCK YOU." Nikolai grunted, too tired and sober to come up with a good comeback as he flipped him the bird before following Richtofen up the pathway towards daylight.
"Efficiency is good business Nikolai," Takeo advised, sighing before taking out the majority of the crawlers while leaving a few alive on purpose, "And you have none of it."
The undead were still pouring in the windows as a group of three zombies dropped through the hole in the ceiling, over what appeared to be some kind of geyser, as they sprinted towards the two women. Isabella aimed her M16 at one of them, squeezing the trigger while watching as the bullets effectively decapitated the unlucky zombie foolish enough to attack them. Looking for a way out, the younger Valentine sister backed up, seeing daylight through the hole in the underground room's roof. Brianna used her remaining shells wisely as she blasted away two zombies before both girls stood back to back while reloading, waiting for more undead to come charging their way.
Isabella took out another zombie with her M16, causing it to drop a floating container of ammunition as it fell to the ground. Cheering to herself as everyone heard the eerie ringing caused by the hovering icon before she touched it, resulting in a demonic voice they hadn't heard in a while...
"MAX AMMO!"
Angry screeching could be heard in the distance as Isabella looked around, seeing the water gushing out of the ground in the corner. Getting an idea, she moved to stand under the hole the zombies had dropped through earlier as she motioned for her sister to join her. In the caverns ahead, both women could hear the Russian celebrating now that the max ammo they had just acquired apparently refilled his vodka, as Brianna observed the strange device her sister was standing on.
"What are you doing?" Bri questioned, spying a small group headed their way now that the others had moved on ahead.
"Come on!" Isabella shouted, the water pressure quickly building up beneath her feet, erupting fully a few seconds after the blonde woman jumped next to her.
"Woooooooooooo! This is awesome!" Isabella cheered as the stream of water shot them up through the cavern's ceiling and onto a wooden platform above. "That was so wicked!" Isabella continued excitedly, as Brianna stood there wide eyed, slightly annoyed that she had followed her sister's advice instead of taking the dry way up here.
The girls walked down the dirt path, hearing nothing but the jungle creatures squaking ominously as Isabella noticed Speed Cola to their left as they continued towards another circular stone door like the one they had encountered on the other side of the temple. A small monkey came racing towards them both, barring it's teeth while charging for Isabella as she remembered her distaste for the creatures ever since the cosmodrome. Pulling out her knives, she braced herself, striking when the animal was a few steps away, killing it instantly.
Where are all the zombies? She wondered as she looked around, hearing a lot of groaning and yelling in the distance as the stone door behind them opened suddenly.
Nikolai and Takeo sprinted towards Isabella and Brianna, a huge group of zombies behind them as they turned around, firing into crowd wildly while trying to escape. Oh, there they are... The dark haired woman thought, looking at the giant crowd and panicking a bit.
"Evacuate!" Nikolai shouted, waving his gun in the air whilst sprinting past his comrades as the more honorable Japanese soldier skidded to a stop where the two sisters were standing, emptying his clips and taking out a few zombies as the others in the crowd stumbled over the fallen bodies, still advancing towards them at a frighteningly quick pace.
Richtofen grinned, bringing up the rear while bracing himself for the carnage that would ensue as the swarm coming from the doorway drew nearer. His laughter could be heard throughout the temple as he aimed carefully before firing the JGb215 at the approaching horde, "I make you small! Like Dempshey's brain!" He shouted, cackling hysterically while watching his minions shrinking before his eyes.
"Fuck you Doc!" Dempsey shouted from across the room while blasting away at the undead still chasing him. Does he think I'm fuckin' deaf? The Marine thought angrily, spying his teammates coming up the hill towards him, relived that both girls were still intact. Firing the last bullets in his clip at a zombie trying to break in through the window, Dempsey stopped to reload as the sound of the doc's insane laughter was slowly becoming louder. Which quite frankly, was giving the Marine a bit of a headache.
Isabella spotted Dempsey at the top of the hill, a few zombies headed towards him as he disappeared behind some rubble. The sound of bullets from his Galil filled the air as a muffled 'ooh-rah' could be heard over the gunfire. Isabella smiled, knowing he would be fine as she focused on the window in front of her, pulling out her dual knives and slicing clean through a zombies neck as it reached towards the barricades. Watching as it hissed once before falling over dead, she grinned before turning around and seeing Brianna covering the window next to her, smiling as they gave each other a thumbs up. Richtofen pulled the trigger once more, sending a blast of yellow towards the undead as everyone watched the miniture zombies run towards him as he kicked them out of the way.
"Ze doctor kicks you in ze nuts!" He shouted, cackling madly after another round of punting his creations.
"He's really having a good time with that thing…" Brianna said hesitantly, staring at the German before looking back at her sister questioningly. Isabella shrugged, watching as the swarms began to die down and the group reformed near entrance to the spike trap. "Let's keep moving." Isabella sighed, glancing at Richtofen breifly before they all made their way across the dangerous hallway and into the room with the altar.
"Over here," Richtofen directed, standing in the middle near the Quick Revive machine and waiting for everyone to gather round, "Ve need an eclipse for zhe next schtep-"
Dempsey snorted, not believing what he was hearing, "What! How long is that gonna take-"
"Zhat is vhat zhe buttons are for Dempshey." The doctor growled, quite irritated after being interrupted as he directed everyone's attention to the circular stone buttons located on each wall. "Zhere are four und ve need to press zhem all at vonce."
Richtofen stood next to the button near Quick Revive as Dempsey reluctantly moved to stand near the button located on the opposite wall. Nikolai and Takeo stood next to the other two stone devices as Isabella and Brianna watched curiously as all four soldiers pressed them into the wall at the same time.
What happened next was truly amazing as the sky turned dark, blurring momentarily as everyone's vision adjusted to the instant change. "Woah…" Isabella said, starring at the sun that was now blocked out, casting an eerie blue glow over the jungle and surround ruins, "That was pretty trippy…"
"Why does everything look blue?" Nikolai wondered out loud as the Imperial raised an eyebrow at the drunk before explaining.
"It is an ecripse." Takeo said tiredly as Richtofen stepped past the two, eyes wide with excitement at his achievement.
"Fascinating!" The doctor cheered gleefully before turning his attention to the front of the room, "Und look! Zhere's a giant meteor on top of zhe temple! I must have it in my pockets-"
"This makes no fucking sense… at all." Dempsey said flatly, starring at Isabella for some support. The dark haired woman smiled, amused with the Marine's confused face as she snickered lightly to herself before turning to observe the scenery around her now that the eclipse was in effect.
"Um… Holy shit?" Brianna said suddenly, as if voicing a question while pointing to the top of the altar, "Was that meteor there before?"
"Hmm... I think I would have noticed that..." Isabella laughed, tapping her bottom lip with her finger while thinking about whether or not it was possible to not notice a giant glowing meteor in the middle of the jungle...
"Zhe meteor vas not zhere vhen ve first arrived," Richtofen explained as everyone looked his way, waiting for him to continue, "It is here now because ve have gone back in time to vhen ze meteor crash landed here a number of years ago..." The group continued to stare at the German doctor with confused/wtf expressions before Isabella finally spoke up, breaking the silence.
"So we've gone back in time… again?" She said, wondering what the point of all this was as she waited for Richtofen to elaborate. Even though she knew he wasn't going to tell them anything of real importance. Dempsey facepalmed as Nikolai grumbled about not having vodka while Takeo just stood there, silent as usual. Brianna tapped her foot impatiently, brushing a few strands of blonde hair behind her ear as she wondered how they were going to get out of this mess. The crawlers they left behind hissed in the distance, slowly getting closer as the doctor sighed heavily while rubbing his temples, "I vill explain along zhe vay," Richtofen assured them all briefly before walking towards the Punji stakes they had entered the room through, "For now vhat is important is finding a button like zhat near vhere ve exited ze mine."
The two girls followed the Imperial soldier and Dempsey who took the lead in following after the doctor, Nikolai bringing up the rear as they all navigated the trap and began walking down the path ahead. The jungle definitely looks creepier at night... Isabella thought suddenly, walking a bit closer to the members of their group, Not that I'm afraid of the dark or anything... She reassured herself, gripping the handles of her knives lightly.
The green glow of Speed Cola could be seen around the corner as another totem pole like statue caught Isabella's eye. Looking slightly below the idol, the young girl noticed a stone button with a skull carved into it, similar to the ones in the other room.
"Is this it?" She asked, stepping towards it and pulling some vines out of the way so it could be seen better in the twilight. Richtofen strode over, inspecting the ancient device as he grinned, pushing it into the wall as it clicked, resulting in a strange sound almost like a door opening. Hmm, Richtofen thought curiously, expecting something more to happen, Zhat vas too easy-
"Hello out there! Hello...?"
Everyone jumped slightly, including the doctor who apparently wasn't planning on meeting anyone else out here either. "Ze voices!" Richtofen shouted, pausing for a moment when he noticed that everybody else was looking at the wall, "Vait, zhat's not in my head..."
"Hey guys, there's some British guy in this wall..." Nikolai speculated, taking a generous swig from his bottle and moving closer to hear what this newcomer was saying as the rest of the group gathered around, trying to listen in.
"We are stuck behind some kind of mechanism," The man with the British accent continued, "Whatever you did moved it slightly. We really could use some help here..."
"Who are you und how did you get-"
A loud screech behind them cut the doctor off as everyone spun around quickly, seeing something from the caves racing towards them incredibly fast. Anozher new breed of zombie? Richtofen wondered, struggling to see in the dark as he reached for his gun, watching curiously as the creature stopped a few feet away, drawing in a quick breath before letting loose another explosive yell. What happened next was literally mostly a blur, as the intense sound waves from the undead creatures shouts caused everyone to become disoriented momentarily.
"Mutti? Is zhat you?" Edward mumbled to himself, gripping the side of his head in pain, "I didn't do it!" He shouted, sounding slightly panicked as everyone else was clutching their heads desperately as they struggled to see. Dempsey swore under his breath, trying to cover his ears to avoid the horrible sound.
"Nikolai! Is that screaming one of your wives?" The American soldier complained loudly, glancing at the Soviet who looked as though he was suffering from an extreme headache as well.
"Eh, lucky for you guys I am used to such loud, angry noises..." Nikolai rambled, leaving the group to wonder about what exactly he meant by that as he aimed his FN FAL at the zombies head, "Do svidaniya!" He chuckled, watching in satisfaction as the bullets from his gun peppered the zombie's face, causing it to explode in a burst of air.
"Ouch," Isabella whined, irritated that her hearing might have been permanently affected by the annoying zombie since her ears were still ringing. "Now we have to deal with those things too?" She asked, glancing at the doctor who seemed to be lost in his thoughts at the moment. "Um, hello...?" Isabella said, waving a hand in front of the German's face, "Anybody in there-"
"Don't touch me you filzhy child!" Richtofen hissed instantly, slapping her hand out of his way as he stomped past her and the rest of the group, leaving Isabella to wonder what she had done wrong. "Zhis vay!" Richtofen ordered as he took off marching, already halfway down the tunnel when the sounds of multiple people yelling could be heard over the rushing water.
"Sounds like they're drowning, like fifth wife." Nikolai stated, approaching the metal grate on the floor where the sounds were coming from as he leaned down, observing that the water level was going up steadily. Brianna paled slightly as she continued to listen to the people struggling for survival in the lower rooms before someone spoke up, shouting above the sounds of the water.
"We are trapped down here between two gates and the water is rising!" The man with the English accent yelled, "Can you see any way to open these gates?"
"Yeah, I needed break anyway..." Nikolai slurred, sitting down on the floor as he heard something click. Takeo stepped forward, standing on the grate where the Russian was located as more clicking was heard.
"Something's happening..." Tank said curiously, walking over and adding his weight to the mechanism, "I think we need more weight."
"Quickly!" Richtofen shouted, walking over as Brianna and Isabella jumped on the platform as well, "Stay vhere you are!"
The gears corresponding with the gates continued clicking due to the additional pressure until they stopped and... nothing happened. The doors hadn't opened and the water level was still going up.
"Hurry!" The trapped people yelled desperately below the gate, "Please help us!"
Everyone looked at each other dramatically, not knowing what else to do while they listened to the people below struggle to stay alive in the rising currents. There has to be something else... Isabella thought, panicking slightly as she scanned the area for anything that could help them... That's it! She realized suddenly, looking towards the small metal chute that was the source of the water flowing into the room.
"I've got it!" She yelled, taking everyone by surprise as she ran off in the direction they had come from, "Just stay here!"
"Vait! Verdammt!" Richtofen cursed, hearing the gears moving the other way as he watched Isabella dashing away. Jumping off the metal grate himself, he ran after her, not trusting her to handle this herself without screwing it up.
"Hold on a second!" Dempsey shouted, watching them disappear through the dark tunnel as he noticed Brianna looking down in horror, seeing that the water was close to reaching the top of the underground cavern. "Hang on!" She shouted, trying to reassure them, "We're trying to get the gates open!" Hurry Izzy... Brianna thought desperately, hoping they would be able to save these strangers in time...
"Come on Eddy!" Isabella teased between breaths, looking back momentarily at the pissed off doctor while sprinting across the bridge, grimacing while thinking about having to make her way through the mud pit ahead. The German caught up a few seconds later as the two followed the path through the maze, coming out near a small waterfall falling over a shallow pond.
"I hope this works!" Isabella shouted, smiling at Richtofen before he could say anything as she dove head first into the waterfall, sliding down the metal chute behind it. The German soldier could hear her childlike laughter echoing down the tunnel as he rolled his eyes, looking at the water slide with a distasteful expression before jumping in after her and cursing whoever had built this strange temple...
"Wooooooooooooooooooooo!" Isabella shouted, unable to contain her excitement while sliding down the dark cavern rapidly. Hmmm, She thought as she saw the end of the slide approaching, I didn't really think about the landing...
"Shit!" She yelled, making Dempsey turn around a split second before she tackled him to the ground, making the gears click again as more weight was added. "Scheisse!" Richtofen screeched a few seconds behind her, as he too crash landed onto the pressure plate as a strange sound was heard before the doors finally opened.
"That did it!" The man below yelled happily, relief evident in his voice, "The way is clear!"
"We did it!" Brianna shouted, high fiving her sister after helping her up and heading outside. The rest of the group followed them out, all of them stopping momentarily as they exited the cave, seeing that the eclipse was no longer in effect. "What happened to the eclipse?"
"Ve must have completed zhat part of ze puzzle..." Richtofen explained, emptying water out of his hat while sending Isabella an unamused glare. He trudged towards the main room, the rest of the team following a few steps behind, "It vould seem zhat in order to complete zhis process, ve must activate ze eclipse before each schtep..."
Everyone continued following along while listening, slowly making their way back to the room with the altar when the doctor stopped dead in his tracks, forcing the others to do the same. Richtofen pulled the JGb215 from his back while everyone stared at him curiously until realizing the same thing he had just seconds ago... It was dead silent in the jungle. Something that never happened. No birds, no bugs, no annoying monkies screeching in the distance... It was as if someone had pressed the mute button on the jungle itself. This is not a good omen... Isabella thought as she noticed dark clouds beginning to form in the distance. A few seconds later a loud rumbling in the distance could be heard as the first few raindrops began to fall...
What's a little rain, right...? :o
R&R please! :)