Aquatic Darkness
Chapter 04
Into The Blue
"Were almost there." Joel informed the others. The four of them ran down the steps of the 1st floor and entered the basement. Steam rose high from the machines as the lights from above flickered. Syd stepped out from the metal door and down the grated steps onto the metal balcony bridge. She glanced below her and noticed many similar metal bridges hanging. It was like a giant maze.
"Some of the place is flooded." She pointed out at the water, "There must be a leak somewhere."
"Thanks for the obvious." Sky proceeded forward. The crew bolted down the pathway and down a few more steps and into a more wider area. Passing a few dead bodies, they found themselves standing in the middle of the entire room with three pathways to choose form. "Which way, Joel?"
"This way." He pointed to the left, "Come on. I hope we have access to it"
"What do you mean?" Adam slowed down a bit, "Why wouldn't we have access to it?"
Joel came to halt and turned around, "Like Syd stated, the whole entire place is flooded. The switches are a few feet down below. It could be under water."
"There is only one way to find out. We keep moving." Sky muttered, "Let's not waste anymore time."
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"Dude, where the heck are we?" Dustin stuttered, standing around, "What is this place?"
"The lobby of the pool room." Cam responded. The five of them stood around in amazement as they peered through the large glass and at the giant pool in front of them.
"That looks so soothing." Z backed away a bit, "Let's check it out. I wonder if its still warm."
Jen just nodded, "Only for a quick second. Then we have to keep moving." She walked around the front desk and through the door. The warm air embraced her skin as she entered. The pool was as big as the Olympics. It was massive and beautiful. Jen looked up to see rows and rows of decorative flags stringed across.
Dustin dipped his toe in the glowing water. The only lights that were on were from the pool, being powered by a small generator in the corner. The only pool lights that had failed to go on were the ones in the deep end. "It's still warm." He exclaimed, bending down and scooping it up to splash on his face, "Feels really good."
"I don't like this place." Merrick shifted his eyes, "It's way to quiet."
"You need to enjoy yourself!" Z exclaimed, "Luckily, I managed to still keep my bathing suite on."
Merrick shift his eyes to see Z take off her shirt, revealing her colorful yellow top. Taking off her short jeans, she slide them right off, bending over in front of them all. Stretching, she unraveled her hair and let it fluttered onto her shoulder. "Anyone care to join?" She all the way down to the deep end and dived right in.
"Ah screw it." Dustin pulled his shirt off and ran to chase after Z.
"You're not wearing a bathing suite!" Cam shouted.
Dustin just scoffed and dove right in. The two yellow rangers emerged from the water, floating there with laughter. Merrick picked up Z's gun and walked over to the rows of benches that were hiding in the shadow and took a seat. Jen turned and followed, figuring that they all could use a break anyhow.
"The water is nice, Cam!" Dustin shouted, "Jump in!"
"I'm enjoying myself out here." He responded back, "Thanks anyway." He turned and made his way over to Merrick and Jen. "How long are we going to stick around?"
"Just a few more minutes." Jen looked up at him, "I don't like being here too long and we have to get to the breaker."
"Do you think your computer will be able to explain everything that is happening?" Merrick arched his brows, "Maybe we can prevent this from happening in the future."
"I hope so." Cam sighed, "I really do."
Dustin and Z swam around in the deep end. A sudden shake of the water caught the two's attention. Z froze and turned to Dustin, "I feel something moving."
"Me too." He whispered. "Hey guys." He shouted. The others turned. The water around them began to bubble and rise. Suddenly it bursted like a geyser, revealing another large anaconda like snake. It hissed loudly as it rose higher and higher up towards the stadium ceiling. It peered down below at the yellow rangers. "Holy crap!" Dustin shouted.
"Get out of the pool!" Jen screamed, lifting up her gun, "Quickly!"
The snake dove down and slammed its face into Dustin, sending him deep underwater. The waves pushed Z back, sending her on a ride with the wave towards the shallow end. Dustin continued traveling down deeper and deeper, 15 feet underwater till he finally hit the pool bottom. The snake hissed and he opened his eyes, watching as his air bubbles rose in front of him and the snake. He muffled and swam the opposite way. The snake surged through the water like a predator and grabbed hold of Dustin's leg with his claws. Bitting down, the muffle screamed released thousands more air bubbles while the snake dragged Dustin back out of the water and flung him into the air. Water sprayed everywhere, raining down upon everyone along with droplets of blood from Dustin's wound. Jen fired a few shots but the bullets didn't even phase the snake. Dustin flew into the air and crashed back down in the water. Z stood in the shallow end, screaming. "Dustin!"
The snake turned and hissed at Z, bolting right at her. "Z!" Merrick shouted, he tossed her both handguns he was holding onto. They went flying through the air and into the water. Z dove right under and grabbed both of them before they hit the bottom. Pulling herself out, she screamed, her hair flying backwards and the guns rising from the water to aim right at the snake. The warm H20 dripped down every feature of her body.
"You son of a bitch!" She began to fire rapidly. The bullets whizzed and hit the snake in the face. The creature shifted direction and backed away. The tail suddenly came screaming out of the water in a whiplash motion, hitting Z right in the gut and sending her flying. She smashed through the glass window and onto the other side.
"Z!" Cam charged over. The snake cut him off but Jen bolted forward and fired a few rounds, knocking Cam back. "We have to help her!"
"Don't be an idiot." She ran towards the bleachers. The snake chased after her, she slide in between the benches and under the bleachers itself, only to be rocked as the snake smashed through it. Merrick ran over to the pool and gave Dustin a hand, lifting him up out of the pool. He crashed down on the cement, holding his leg. "God that hurts." He turned to see the bullets fire from Jen's gun, "We have to help her."
Merrick nodded and noticed a handgun on the cement floor near the glass that Z flew out of. He ran over, jumping over the snake and grabbing it. Stopping at the edge of the glass, he peered over to see if Z was all right, "Z? Where are you?"
She was no where to be seen. There was a trail of blood but that was it. He turned his attention back to Jen's screaming and began firing. "Hang on. Im coming!"
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"So how many big snakes do you think we have?" Adam turned, "That thing was huge."
"Well. Our zoo holds a cage of snakes. I can only imagine on many mutated." Joel muttered, "I don't want to think about it." he responded. He stopped and looked at the stairs. They were descending into the water. He sighed, "It's flooded."
"Then we swim." Sky suggested, "It's the only way to access the switches. Right?"
"I'll do it." Joel spoke up, "I'm the only one that knows how."
"I'm coming with you." Adam responded, "It could be dangerous."
A soft moan echoed down the balcony hall. Everyone turned to see Chad standing there with his axe. Blood dripped from his face and his left ankle twisted yet dragging with every movement. "Chad." Joel whispered, "Are you all right?" He made his way over.
Chad lifted up the axe and swung at him. Joel dodged and backed away. "Heh. Heh. Heh." Chad laughed hysterically. Joel just sighed. Sky, taking a few steps forward, rose his handgun that he took from Syd and aimed it.
"He has to go." He responded, "I have to." His vision started to get a bit foggy. He began to hear voices in his head whispering. 'Do it. Fire the trigger. You can do it.'
"I know." Joel gave his consent, "Go ahead."
Sky fired a shot and the bullet hit Chad straight in the head. He fell back, hitting the rail and fall. The axe fell and echoed as the metals clashed with each other. Sky turned to the others, "You should get going."
Joel handed Syd her shotgun and ran over to grab the axe. Taking one last look of his dead friend, he made his way to the steps, "Come on. We have to get going." He waved Adam to follow. The two walked down the steps and into the water, diving down deep. They stopped following the underwater balcony and swam down deeper towards a large generator. After a few minutes, they stopped and floated right in front of it.
"Mm." Joel muffled, pointing to a switch a few feet to the left. Adam nodded and swam over to it while Joel swam to the other switch. He flipped his and Adam was just about to do the same when something zipped past him with blinding speed. He spun around and saw it zip by Joel. It was a giant fish type creature with green scales. It finally slowed down, revealing its large sharp teeth and huge bulging eyes. Joel took a swing at it but it dodged it and lashed out took a chunk out of Joel's arm. "Mmmmmmmm!" He screamed, releasing bubbles. He let go of the axe, watching it slowly descend. Adam flipped his switch, causing the entire underwater area to lit up. He then swam over to help his friend out. The fish bolted around and hit Joel once more, slamming the green light speed ranger into the switch board.
The howling sounds of the generator muffled but lights one after another kept flickering back on again. Adam watched as Joel got eaten alive by the carnivore type creature. Blood filled the water, making the place a lot harder to see. The creature backed away and stared down Adam. The black ranger bolted down towards the axe as the creature raced after him. He reached out just in time to grab it, spinning his body around and with as much force as possible, swung the axe right into the deadly fish's head.
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"They are taking a long time." Syd held tightly on the gun. She cleared
her dirty blonde hair o ut of the way. "Do you think they might be in
trouble." She turned to Sky was just standing there shaking his head.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed deeply. "What's the matter, Sky?"
"Heh." He just laughed, "I don't know." He just looked at her, "But I'm liking it."
"You're kind of freaking me out." She leaned against the rail. "What's the matter?"
He titled his head and eyed her, "What's the matter, Syd?" He asked, "You're not afraid. Are you?"
Syd slowly slide down the rail and backed away from Sky. "Just don't come close." She took another step back. Sky just laughed as he raised the gun. He snickered and waved it around, slowly pointing it to his palm. "What are you doing?"
"Come on." He whispered calmly, "It's kind of cool. Feeling pain is kind of fun." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Ugh, what the hell I am I talking about." Do it. Pull the trigger Sky. You can do it A voice in his head echoed. You do enjoy this. You want to do it. And you want to kill her. KILL HER "Heh. Heh." He just laughed. He fired and the bullet pierced his palm and bounced against the metal grate and into the water. He screamed out loud as massive blood flowed out of his hand.
"Oh my god!" Syd covered her mouth, "You're insane."
Yes. Insane. Kill her. Kill her. Sky switched hands and grabbed hold of the handgun with his wounded hand. The blood ran down his hands as he slowly raised it and aimed at Syd. "I wonder what a bullet would look like in your head." He arched his brow, "Should we find out?"
Syd screamed and turn to run off. Sky aimed the gun and fired. The bullet pierced through the air and hit Syd in the leg. She fell on the grate and lost hold of the shotgun as it slid across. "My gun!" She screamed and turned to see Sky walking over to him, "Stay away from me!" The water bubbled and Adam emerged soaking wet. He dropped the axe and grabbed the rail, exhausted. Syd noticed him and screamed, "Adam! Look out!"
Adam glanced up and noticed Syd on the floor and Sky turning around with blood dripping from his wrist. "What's going on?" He shouted. Sky rose his handgun and fired a few rounds. It hit Adam right in the shoulder and he took a few steps back. He just looked at Sky dumbfounded and confused before falling back into the water.
"Heh. Heh." Sky proceeded forward towards Adam and glanced down at him as Adam held tightly on the side rail. Sky just aimed the gun and fired a few more rounds to finish him off. He turned back to see Syd had vanished out of nowhere. "You can run." He glanced around, "But I'll find you..."
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Jen bolted out from the bleach and took a dive into the cement as the
Snake thrashed through the bleachers and tore them out from the ground.
Suddenly all the lights flickered on from the generator but everyone
was too distracted to really take notice. Dustin helped Jen up, the
water dripping down his body and face. He glanced at her with a smirk
and pulled her back onto her feet. "We should run." He suggested.
"We can't." She responded, "Not until we stop this thing or it will just come right after us."
Cam came up from behind. "We haven't been having much luck." He muttered.
Dustin just nodded and watched Merrick sneak on the other side of the pool and fire a shot to catch the snake's attention. The snake lashed out and flew across the pool towards Merrick. The tail lashed up and knocked Dustin and Jen back before smashing into the cement. An axe out of nowhere flew in and slammed right down upon the tail, with Z holding tightly onto the handle. Her shirt was soaked with water and blood, cuts all up and down her arms and face. The snake snapped from the pain and turned its attention away from Merrick to see Z.
"Yeah." She grinned, "Caught your attention now, didn't I?" The snake hissed loudly and lashed right at her. Dustin pushed her out of the way and pulled the axe out from the tail and got ready for the snake's attack. Z hit the ground, turning to see Dustin slam the axe right into the snake's face and falling backwards. The snake hissed in pain even more and flailed his tail. Merrick joined up with them and he aimed is gun along side with Jen to fire a few more rounds. The bullets blasted through the skin of the snake and the creature began to weaken even more. Blood oozed out of the skin as it lashed its tail and knocked them back. Jen and Merrick lost their guns, both of them flew right into the pool.
"We have no weapons." She shouted. All five of them gathered together and took a few steps back.
"What now?" Dustin held up Z, the two of them hurting from the pain, "Were trapped in the corner."
"This could be it." Z just sighed, "We put up a good fight but it was too strong."
The snake hissed and lashed right towards them. The sound of a scorching fire bursted through the door and straight towards the snake. Everyone turned to see a figure standing at the door holding a huge flamethrower. The fire scorched the snake, pushing it back and into the water. Steam rose high into the air as the figure picked up a container of gas and tossed it right at the snake. The snake opened it's mouth and clawed right down on it, causing it to burst. The liquid sprayed everywhere, drooling down its jaw. The figure aimed the flamethrower and launched another blast, causing the gas to explode and the head to burst in a fiery flame. Blood and pieces of the snake's head fell like rain into the pool. The figure walked out from the steam, slowly revealing the person's face. A symbol of the time force signature shined on the clothes as Lucas showed himself. His clothes were torn and dirt was smudged all across the face. Blood stains were very well noted across his body. He fell onto one knee, holding the weapon.
"Lucas!" Jen screamed, running over to her. Merrick ran towards the pool and dove in after the two guns. Dustin and Z quickly followed Jen as they helped her comrade up. "Are you alright, Lucas? What happened?"
"Long story." He groaned, "I lost the others."
"You're hurt." Z held his arm to keep him from falling, "We should fix those wounds."
"I can say the same about you two also." Jen glanced at the two. She turned her attention to Lucas, "What exactly happened? Can you please tell us? Where are the others?"
"We were attacked by some giant snake in the green house." He stated.
Merrick came out from the pool with both guns and made his way over. He handed one to Dustin. "Wait." Dustin continued the conversation, "You had a run in with a snake also?"
"There seems to be a lot of them around here." He stated, "Anyway. I didn't think I would last long so I had the others run ahead." He sighed, "Then I decided to explore to find some better weapons."
"Oh yeah." Jen realized, "There was a weapon room somewhere in this sector. "So you came here."
"We should get out of here." Merrick suggested, "Come on. Is there a first aide place near by?"
"Down on the first floor. It should be right after the stairs. From there we can make our way to the breaker room." Jen explained, "Let's get going."
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Syd ran down the halls as fast she could. Tears flowed down her cheeks
as she limped. Sky walked up the steps and exited out to continue to
follow. "Oh Syd." He called out, "Where are you going? I like to talk
to you."
Syd opened a closet door and entered in, hiding in the dark. She muffled her breathing as she heard Sky's step walk past the door. Closing her eyes, she held tightly on the shotgun, unsure what to do. If he came in, she'd had to blast him but she wasn't looking forward too. She prayed that he would just pass her and she could make her escape. The door flew open and Sky lunged in to grab Syd by the hair.
"Sky!" She screamed, "Let me go!"
He dragged her out and slammed her against the wall. She hit it hard and fell back, sliding down as she watched Sky turned and laughed at her. She just glanced up at him, fixing her tantop and staying still.
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To Be Continue
Group A
Destinations: Unknown
Members
Syd - Shotgun
Group B
Destination: First Aide Room/Breaker Room
Members
Jen - Handgun
Cam - Armless
Z - Armless
Merrick - Handgun
Dustin - Axe
Lucas - Handgun & Flamethrower
Others
Sky - Handgun