Chapter Four: Aquatic Ruin

Initial Location: Hovercraft, Jungle Dock

She heard the cabin door open and shut, signaling Dylan's return. Hoping that he had found something useful for the ship, she walked into the cockpit and found Dylan kneeling on the ground, a pair of released handcuffs in his hand.

"She's gone," he said softly, sighing.

"Uh...yeah, I can see that," she said sarcastically. "I also noticed something weird while you were away."

"Oh?" Dylan said, looking at her curiously.

"I went into one of the computers on this ship and checked on all the stats of the residents and soldiers, but I couldn't find anything matching her profile. It's like—it's like she doesn't exist."

He stood up and began to walk to the front. "Well, I have a theory. Maybe, just maybe, she's not one of the survivors at all."

"What?" she said, confused.

"What if those helmet people are from a completely different time than us?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" she asked, bewildered.

"I found this document in the Research Facility. Read it." He took out the folded papers and handed them to Regina. As she read, Dylan walked over to the control panel in front. It portrayed a map and three bright red dots, the dots representing docks. One of them was flashing—the one they were currently at. Two more were left unexplored—Edward City, and the Third Energy Facility itself.

Still holding on to the battery, he turned to face Regina.

"This is strange shit, Dylan...just what the hell was going on here?" she asked, her facial features showing astonishment and confusion.

"I don't know...hopefully we can find more insight as to what we weren't told, what really happened here. There are two places left unexplored: The Third Energy Facility and Edward City. Here, catch." She looked up as he tossed the starter battery, and was caught.

"What matters now is that we find survivors and other helpful data. For that, we search elsewhere. I want to explore the Third Energy Facility, and hope to get more data. Also, we might find another activator for the Timegate."

"Agreed," Regina nodded. "I'll put the battery in—you get ready to go when I give the ok."

"Got it." She ran with the battery into the cabin. Dylan went to the control panel and made a course for the facility, punching in the necessary buttons. A minute or so later, Regina gave the ok, and he pressed the ignition button. The hovercraft shook and hummed for a few seconds, the mechanical components grinding, then made a loud hum, and settled down again. The battery worked. Regina came back out of the cabin.

"Let's go," he said. She hopped into the driver's seat, and pushed a large lever forward, grabbing the steering wheel. Very quickly, the hovercraft accelerated, speeding across open waters, leaving a path of white foam as the craft glided effortlessly along the seemingly tranquil waters. Suddenly, after only going out maybe a half mile, something hit the hovercraft, making the ship shake violently. Dylan let out a grunt as the shock sent him to the floor, Regina almost falling out of the seat. Whatever it was, it was huge.

"What the hell was that?!" Regina cried, anger in her voice.

"It was no rock, I know that," he replied, getting up. The mysterious thing slammed into the boat again, knocking Dylan against the wall, his body slamming heavily into the metal.

"Something doesn't want us getting there," Dylan said through gritted teeth. Just ahead of the ship, moving quickly, the mysterious creature rose out of the water, its long neck keeping pace with the ship.

A Plesiosaurus...

"Oh, this is gonna be a fun joyride," Regina said silently. Another one of the blue and white skinned creatures rose out of the water, letting out a high screeching cry.

"I'll go out and take care of them! You keep this boat on course!" Dylan said, running to the door, when another slam from a Plesiosaurus rocked the ship violently. As he crashed into the wall, he could hear the motor spike up to a high whirr as the right side of the hovercraft rose out of the water for a second, then slamming back down again with a massive splash. Regina was fastened to her seat.

"You ok?" She called out.

"Yeah," he replied, clutching his hip. "Back in a few." As he ran out to the deck, he could hear the roar of several of the long-necked beasts. He climbed a ladder to the roof of the hovercraft, where the heavy machine gun was attached, and the magazine of ammo stretching all the way down into the craft—he need not worry about running out of ammo. He released the safety, aimed at the closest one, and opened fire, the roar of gunfire drowning out the sounds of the hovercraft. The rapid firing bullets tore into the head of the closest one, ripping large holes, bloodied. It let out a roar of pain, swayed, and then collapsed into the water. Repositioning, he aimed at the closest one and held the trigger, making mincemeat out of the next, making the head resemble something of a dartboard. Looking down in the water, he could see a large, dark shape swimming next to the ship, judging by length many times larger. He pointed the gun down and opened fire at the massive body. In seconds, an angry Plesiosaurus rose out of the water, its long neck reaching for the T.R.A.T. soldier. Dylan fired from several feet away, the sheer speed of the bullets at point-blank range slicing straight through as blood and skin shot out, landing in the water, swirling and mixing with the foam.

The boat made a slight turn to the right, and so far, it was tranquil.

"Halfway there," Regina called over the loudspeaker.

He heard a screech coming from the air. Turning around, he saw a Pterodactyl coming down out of the sky, its long, bony wings fully outstretched, descending. He turned the gun around, aimed it up, and opened fire. The hot bullets slammed into the body of the winged beast, shot straight through the thin membranous wings. It let out a cry, and crashed into the ocean. It was quiet—for now, anyway. He scanned the water's surface for more of those Plesiosaurus creatures, saw nothing. Nothing else was in the air. Several minutes passed, and Dylan could see something in the distance—a dock, and a concrete structure many feet out of the water, with something looking like a satellite or radio antenna on top.

Location: Third Energy Facility

Her voice came on the loudspeaker again. "We're pretty much there. Thanks, Dylan. Nice shooting—did you spend a lot of time at the arcade?"

He chuckled, and went down the ladder. When he walked in, he saw Regina looking straight ahead.

"Duck Hunt, Regina."

She laughed and whacked her head in mock stupidity. "I should have known." She pulled a lever back slowly, and Dylan could feel the hovercraft slowing as the craft approached the dock. A minute later, the craft came to a full stop, and she shut the hovercraft down.

"We're here," she said, unfastening her belt. "Let's go." Leading, she stepped out onto the deck, walking slowly across the platform, Dylan in tow. As she made the initial steps onto the Facility dock, her mind suddenly flashed images, flashbacks to Ibis Island, and the Third Energy facility there—what she found, what went horribly wrong. Even though this wasn't the Ibis Island facility—that got destroyed—she couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. Only this time, there was no Rick, Gail, Tom, Cooper, or Dr. Edward Kirk, the man who started it all.

We're old friends, you and I...

They were surrounded in a huge block of open water, surrounded by concrete walls on all sides. The narrow walkway turned ahead to the right to a gate, but just ahead was a crate, a small storage area with wooden and metal boxes that have since rotted and rusted. Nothing of importance here. Dylan followed her closely as the walkway turned to the right, to a gate. As she opened the gate, she heard a distant screech in the air. Dylan raised his shotgun and scanned the sky. He could see nothing. Giving a quick nod to Regina, they continued along the walkway. The path seemed to go around in a sort of circle, the door some distance on their left, but to get there; they'd have to travel the length of the walkway, lined with a rail. Dylan noticed some floating debris in the water, but other than that, nothing of major importance as they walked the path, making it to the next door. As they ventured onto the third part of the walkway, the two spotted a large building, the same one Dylan saw on the ride to the facility, straight ahead

The walkway turned left to another door, this time, Dylan taking point as they ventured into the new area. There were several large crates, storage areas along the sides. The two progressed further, walking quickly. To their left, a truck had crashed into the concrete wall, leaving the front of it totally smashed. The concrete façade was crumbled in places, and fuel had trickled out onto the ground. Regina inhaled, and she noticed a slight smell of decay, the smell of death all too familiar to her. Ahead, on the wall, was in fact, a dead body.

"Check that body out for ammo," Regina told Dylan. He walked quickly to the dead soldier; judging by the look of the uniform, it was one of T.R.A.T., and it was evident that he'd been there some time. There were many small holes in his cold, pale body, with pieces of skin and muscle missing, most noticeably, a rather large section of his stomach. The marks all over his body showed evidence that he was probably attacked by a group of Pterodactyls, and he couldn't take them all. A group of flies had congregated on his face, probably in the process of making larvae, maggots. Dylan reached into the pockets of his flak jacket, and came up empty.

Someone got here before we did...

She came walking up behind him. "That looks attractive."

Dylan chuckled, and stood up. "He's empty. I think those winged creatures got him, just looking at the bite marks."

"Hmm..." Regina said, "Let's move on. There's a door just behind you."

"Right."

"This door is electronically locked—did you find a keycard or anything?"

Dylan fished through his pockets and pulled out two keycards.
"Let's see...Research Facility...don't need that anymore, ahh—here it is; Third Energy keycard." He gave it to Regina.

"Let's hope this works," she said, swiping the card through. The light flashed red, then switched to blue, a beep confirming the correct card.

"All right," she told Dylan, "let's go."

The door opened to reveal...some more walkway. However, this would be the last bit of walkway—at the end of the winding path, there was a tunnel going up, its destination the building with the large antenna on it.

"Watch your step here," Dylan told Regina, looking down at the cracked path. "It's cracked—might be weak in places. Tread lightly."

It took a left, and actually went over a tiny craft, but nothing was of importance. To their immediate left stood two tanks, probably fuel tanks, which had since rusted. Finally, they had reached the end of the walkway, and Dylan opened the door. No more could they hear the sounds of gentle water and the occasional cry of a Pterodactyl high in the air—they had walked into silence, save for their own footsteps as they clanged against the metal stairs. Climbing up the two flights, they finally had gained entry into the Third Energy Facility—only to find it completely and utterly deserted. Not a soul, not a trace of any life remained, just as in the jungle. Computers lined the walls, and a large set of computers and control panels stood in the center, along with some papers.

"Damn it," Dylan said through gritted teeth. "No one here—again. How the hell are we supposed to fulfill our mission if there's no one around?"

Regina shot an annoyed look at the angry soldier. "Dylan—the mission has changed. The mission changed the moment that T-Rex burst into the compound—the mission is no longer a simple search and rescue. Face it, Dylan—there are no survivors. This place, the jungle, all over—is deserted, gone, bereft of all human life, except for those helmet people. It's no longer a simple mission, a simple order directed to you to save people. You weren't told the whole truth, Dylan..."

Her face softened. "As was I...this is all too familiar to me. I didn't think I'd be dealing with the Third Energy again—I thought it all got destroyed with Ibis Island...I thought Kirk's work had since ended. Don't you see now, Dylan? We're trying to clean up the government's mess!" Tears began to well up in her brown eyes.

Dylan's face changed, the anger no longer present, but a soft look, a look of being apologetic, came across. He walked over to Regina and held her in a gentle embrace, and she buried her face in his chest and sniffled.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "I didn't know it affected you like this...I'm deeply sorry."

"I volunteered for this mission because I had already known the abilities of the Third Energy, its destructiveness when used improperly, when it's in the wrong hands. The government knew what happened at Ibis Island all along—they knew what Kirk was doing—they were just using us. Then after they finally got a hold of all of Kirk's work, they used it for their own ends, failing to heed any of the necessary precautions when utilizing something so dangerous. And again, something unfortunate happened in their haste for results...and we got thrown in here to pick up the pieces. Now, we can't get back to our own time...I should have just left when I could've."

"Regina? Look at me," Dylan said, his voice gentle. She looked at him, her eyes red and watery, her cheeks wet from tears. With one calloused hand, he wiped her tears away.

His deep blue eyes gazed into hers. "Then how could you live with the fact that our government has been doing these terrible things in secret? It would gnaw at you forever. You came back here because you wanted closure, some answers."

"That's true," Regina said, her voice choked.

"And you know what?"

"What?"

"We are going to get back to our own time, and we can finally end this. For now, we must continue to learn more about this Third Energy, and we shall use the data to get out of here."

A smile started to form at the corners of her mouth. "I'd like that."

He embraced her again, a smile forming. A few seconds of tense silence passed between the two. "I'm sorry for what I said."

She let out a nervous chuckle. "That's ok, Dylan. Let's press on—there seems to be nothing in here."

"You got it," Dylan agreed. "Now, there are two doors in this room, it looks like. One appears to be an elevator, and one goes out to the storage space again. I say we take the elevator—there's nothing out there."

"Agreed." Regina said, wiping one tear away. "But it looks like it has another one of those silly card readers next to it. Swipe that keycard you have, maybe it'll work."

"Worth a shot," he said, fishing the keycard out of his pocket, and running it through the reader. It blinked for a couple seconds, then flashed green, a beep confirming correct card. The door slid open, and the space was only wide enough for one person.

"You go first, Regina. I'll be right behind you."

"Ok. See ya there," she said. "One more thing."

"Yes?"

"...thanks," she said softly, smiling, then closed the elevator door.

It was a straight, narrow hallway, short and simple—door at the direct opposite end. Dylan had appeared through the elevator, and Regina motioned with her head for him to take point. All around them was that industrial, cold gray, once again bringing flashbacks of the Ibis Island facility. Large pipes and wires went all along the length of the walls, the pipes disappearing into the walls at the end. Where they stemmed off from was unknown, but probably something huge. At the end of the hall, the door slid open, and the two found themselves in a very large room, brightly lit. Again, silence was the current ambience in this section, save for the hum of electricity. In the center of this room was a lower platform, covered in a couple inches of water. A control panel stood on it. This was an elevator shaft, probably heading down underwater.

A ladder led down from the platform they were on, and Dylan was already several feet ahead of her, climbing down to the shaft. Two large crates were on the platform, and Regina followed suit soon after. At the other end of the elevator platform, a ladder led up to a small platform, on it four little enclosures. She squinted to get a better look—she made out one object in one of the enclosures, but was too far away to confirm. Dylan had already made it there, and stopped. Regina caught up to him a few seconds later.

"There's one diving suit," Dylan said calmly. "Which means only one of us is going down there, the other has to turn around."

Regina pushed a button next to the enclosure, and the door mechanically opened. She took out the yellow suit—it was a complete suit, totally enclosed diver's mask, full body suit, waterproofed boots, but this had a couple of unique features on it: this suit had an internal oxygen feature—no external tank required. There was a device on the suit, small device, which filters the oxygen out of the water itself. Attached to the device, a tube ran up the back to the top of the neck, into the diver's helmet, always giving him or her oxygen. Also in the enclosure was a weapon, a sleek, shiny, silvery weapon that looked like a grenade launcher of sorts. The back of the barrel opened up, allowing for the entry of a small explosive projectile, of which there were four. The projectiles were attached at the waist, two on each side, a clasp holding them firmly to the diver. All the diver has to do is release the snap, grab one of the projectiles, slam it home, aim, and fire.

"Hot shit," Regina said out loud.

"I'll say," Dylan agreed. "There must be something down there, which is why these come with it. Now, the question is, who goes?"

Regina unfolded the entire suit, and put it up next to her body. "Looks like it'd fit me fine. Try it on you."

He put the suit on his body, and it was clear that he wouldn't fit—he was too big for it.

"Looks like it's me," she said, reaching for her items around her waist.

"I don't know," Dylan said skeptically. "There might be something down there—when you're in there, you'll have absolutely no contact with anyone. It'll be all you, and if anything were to happen to you—"

"Nothing will happen to me," Regina said firmly. "I've come too far to die now. I'll tell you what—give me a couple hours. If you don't hear from me in two hours, then chances are, I'm probably dead. However, I intend on finishing here in quick time."

"Regina—" Dylan tried to cut in.

"—has made up her mind, Dylan. There could be something of importance down there, there might not be anything down there. It's worth a shot. Meanwhile, while I'm down there, you go explore that other possible area, Edward City, see if you can come up with anything there." She held her weapons out for Dylan to take

He sighed, taking her weapons, realizing that he was going to get no further with her. "All right. You win. But you've got two hours. That's it."

Regina turned around and took her combat boots off, and began to slip into the yellow diving suit. Dylan, of course, being male, took particular note of her buttocks as she bent down to put on the waterproofed boots.

Damn, she is hot...

His eyes remained transfixed on her shapely butt, and as wonderful images began to form in his mind, he could feel something between his legs also reacting to his trip into hormones and erotic thought. Dylan could feel his penis becoming hard, starting to feel desire begin to creep into the corners of his mind.

"I know you're staring, Dylan," she said casually, and very quickly, Dylan could feel the blood rushing to his face. He knew he was red with embarrassment, blushing. He felt his face become hot, and all erotic thought quickly left his mind, and his penis quickly retracted. Beside himself with shame, he turned around, his back facing the sexy soldier. Regina couldn't help but stop and laugh heartily, knowing she caught Dylan dead in his tracks, caught him staring at her. It was obvious that she was an attractive woman, but there was something comedic about this whole situation, something that amused her when she caught a guy practically ogling her. Dylan let out a nervous chuckle, pulling on his shirt collar to let out the sudden heat that had accumulated in his moment of failed lust.

After she was fully clothed in the suit, she reached around and wrapped her arms around the embarrassed T.R.A.T. soldier, and he let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry, Dylan," she said, her voice muffled by the helmet. "I had to. The opportunity was there—you left yourself wide open for that, and so I had to nail you on it."

He chuckled. "What can I say? You're hot!"

She laughed, "well, thank you for the compliment. You're not so bad looking yourself. Maybe we'll do something after we get back to 2010."

"I'll take you up on it. For now, though, I hope we can find something of importance down there," Dylan flashed a grin.

She took the weapon and climbed back down the ladder, onto the elevator platform.

"Don't worry—I'll be back. When I come up, I'll signal you by radio."

"Got it. Be careful down there—I'd like you very much alive."

She pushed a couple buttons on the control panel, and the silence of the area was quickly broken by the sound of mechanical gears grinding and moving. The platform began to descend, and the water line began to rise.

"You can count on it, Dylan."

The water rose to her chest. "Damn, it's cold!" she said, muffled.

He chuckled. "Get used to it!"

"Gee, thanks!"

"Good luck, Regina! Return safely!"

The water had rose over her head, and as Dylan could make out the last wavy sight of Regina, he flashed her a thumbs-up. In seconds, she was gone, disappearing into the watery abyss of the facility.

Please, God, let her live through this. Please make her come back all right.

He stayed there for a couple of minutes while the elevator descended, his heart and stomach beginning to tighten uncomfortably, fear and nervousness starting to creep inside.

There's now nothing more you can do, Dylan—you'll just have to wait. Get to Edward City.

The elevator had stopped, the gears now silenced. With him serving a purpose no longer here, he turned around and left, the only sounds now his own receding footsteps.

"Warning. Object blocking elevator shaft. Commencing emergency shutdown procedure."

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And so, the end of Chapter 4. Regina now heads into the underwater facility. What will she find there? How is it so far? Let me know! Chapter 5 to be up shortly.