Chapter 3:
"Your next mission will be a simple search and rescue," King said as he scratched the back of his head. "Another vigilante group has contacted us requesting assistance locating a missing agent."
Six quickly skimmed through the mission brief as King spoke.
"They've tracked the agent's phone to the old sub-way lines South of the Square but they don't have the equipment to get down there and investigate it themselves. You and Two of Hearts are to breach the sub-way and attempt to locate the missing agent. I already briefed Two earlier this morning. Any questions?"
"Why are you sending me on this mission? Surely this would be more suited to one of the newer Hearts or even as a training exercise for some of the Clubs?"
"Two specifically requested to work with you."
"Why?"
King shrugged. "You can ask him yourself this evening."
Six knew when King was being evasive. He also knew when King wasn't going to give him an answer.
"Fine."
Six got up to leave.
"Unless you would like to take some of the Clubs with you? I'm sure they would be thrilled." King said, green eyes filled with amusement.
Six turned around and stared at King with disgust.
"I'll do it if you give Queen the bigger office," Six smirked.
King glared at him.
Six decided it was time to leave.
Two swung the sedan into a narrow side street and killed the engine. The old sub-way lines were accessible from an old maintenance building on the corner. A train derailment decades ago caused considerable damage to a portion of the track. Rather than fix damaged area, ChaoSonic deemed it less expensive and more profitable to open a new line bypassing the effected area.
Six opened the boot and started attaching the abseiling equipment to his belt. Two joined him.
"Thanks for coming with me, Six."
"Anytime."
"Do you mean that?" Two inquired.
Six turned to look at Two and thought he saw nervousness in Two's eyes.
"Yes." Six responded.
Two grinned.
"This should be a relatively straight forward operation. I'm not even sure we will find the agent. Hopefully, we'll find his phone at least. Apparently, Queen of Hearts has talked the group requesting our assistance into giving the Deck quite a sizeable intel package as a thank-you."
Six hoped the intel package might hold some information as to who kidnapped Nai. He doubted it.
"Shall we?" Two winked.
Two turned his flashlight on as the tunnel became darker and darker. Six could still see relatively well thanks to his enhanced vision but turned his flashlight on to benefit Two. Graffiti littered the walls either side of the track and Six saw rats scurrying away from the light of their torches. The air was steadily becoming cold and stale.
"Do you know which vigilante group requested our assistance?" Six asked as they walked deeper into the tunnel.
There were a number of vigilante groups that had formed within the City. Some were more effective than others. Some barely made a name for themselves before being wiped out by ChaoSonic. None were more capable than the Deck in Six's opinion.
"Yeah, I do. They're a fairly new group calling themselves 'Turret'. I worked with them briefly before applying for the Deck."
They both came to a halt as the tunnel split in two. Six pulled out a scanner from his pocket. The scanner picked up a faint signal from the left.
"This way," Six said as he continued walking.
They continued walking another kilometer. Six looked down at the scanner, they would be at the source within a hundred meters.
"It's around here somewhere," Six said, showing Two the scanner.
"Six…look at that…"
Before them was a twisted mass of metal.
Six took a step forward. Something crunched under his foot. He shone his torch down and realized it was a bone. Two was looking down at it as well.
"The driver must have been thrown from the cabin when it derailed." Two whispered.
They both raised their torches at the wreckage. The remains of the train were twisted against the ceiling, floor and sides of the tunnel. Six could see a skeleton slumped over the driver's cabin.
"Come on," Six said. "The signal is this way."
Six ripped the side door off the train and stepped inside. The wreckage had blocked the entire tunnel and the only way past was through the train itself. Skeletons lined the seats of each compartment, their bones picked clean by hungry rats.
"This is creepy as hell." Two murmured.
Six agreed with him.
The carriages had jack-knifed in the middle of the wreckage, pivoting against each other and forcing them into the ground. Six looked down at the steep angle of the carriage.
"Be careful," he turned to Two. "It looks like the derailment may have caused structural damage to the floor of the tunnel here. Watch your step."
"Got it."
Six grabbed one of the handles fastened to the ceiling of the carriage and started making his way to the next carriage. Two followed behind him. A rat scurried past Six and disappeared where the two carriages met. Scanning his torch over the area, Six saw a black abyss in the ground. A piece of metal groaned behind him. He turned to see Two staring at his own feet.
"Shit…" Two said under his breath. Then the metal Two was standing on gave one last protest and gave way.
Two felt something warm and wet running down his right calf. He coughed as dust settled around him. His flashlight had fallen nearby, he reached out to grab it, hissing in pain at the movement. A thick jagged cut ran from behind his knee, ending abruptly above his ankle.
"Two, are you alright?" Two heard Six calling from above him.
When the ground beneath them gave way, Six had hoisted himself up on the carriage handles like a gymnast balancing on the rings. He strained his eyes trying to see Two in the darkness below.
"I've been better." Two called back. "Just a flesh wound."
Clenching his teeth together Two cast the torch around himself. It appeared he had fallen into a maintenance room below the tracks. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and swung his torch around. A rat scurried into the darkness. Breathing a sigh of relief, he cast the light across the room. Rough cement walls and debris surrounded him.
"Alright, I'm coming down to you." Six begun undoing the abseiling equipment on his belt. Wrapping the rope around one of the metal bars on the ceiling, he tugged it tight. Gradually, Six lowered himself into the abyss. The scanner in his pocket started making a rapid pinging noise.
Popping the torch in his mouth, Two started to ease himself to his hands and knees. A thick, slimy substance made his hand slip out from under him. He brought his hand up to the torch. It looked like the palm was almost black. Oil? He thought.
He plucked the torch from his mouth, shining it in front of him.
Bloodied sockets stared back at him. The lower jaw was twisted to the left, leaving tendons and bone exposed, tongue hanging loosely to the side. Bits of skull penetrated matted hair where it rested against the cement wall. Blood pooled underneath the head. Two snatched his hand back realizing the blood contained chunks of tooth and brain matter. He felt bile rising in his throat.
"Six!"
"Have you found the phone? The scanner is going wild."
"I think I've found our guy."
Two vomited onto the floor.