Chapter 8
The Cistern
The narrow passageway continued straight ahead with the opening visible. The water had started to get a little greener and smelled a little more…moldy. She pulled herself out, letting her eyes adjust to the sudden plunge of darkness. She was in a small room with an opening straight ahead, a wooden box in the way. She pushed it out into the next room, which was just as cold and just as dark.
She heard constant chattering along the floor. She fumbled for a flare and lit it. She opened her eyes wider as they adjust to what she saw. Three or four large rats were scurrying around, now attracted by the flare. They came at her, beady red eyes searching for fresh meat. She stomped on the first one that reached her, then drew her weapons and started firing.
She managed to kill all but one, which left her alone. She holstered her pistols and then hopped down into the chamber below. Here was another opening leading into something magnificent. An ancient cistern built for some city or temple underneath the ground. It was easily the size of a small village, filled halfway with water, with stone arches, bridges, and water tunnels everywhere.
"Better pick up the pace, Lara!" She looked around as Pierre's voice drifted to her ears.
"I'm working on it." She said coldly, keeping her hand resting on the handle of her pistol. She walked slowly down the stone bridge. Looking at the other end of the room. There was another opening, with three Roman heads shooting water into a pool below it. Up on the wall to her left were an alcove and a rotating switch with two handles. She walked up to it and spun it several times.
Water began gushing form circular gratings along the wall. It soon filled the water up to the bridges. She dived in and began swimming over to the bridge near the opening when something clamped down on her foot, hard. She screamed in pain, then turned-
-to see a giant crocodile with its mouth firmly over her foot. She wriggled around, making the pain worse. It pulled her further under the water in mere seconds. She tried kicking at it with her other leg, knowing shooting it was out of the question. She saw bright red blood pool around her foot, attracting several more from deep below the cistern. Her lungs were already empty of air and screaming for another breath.
She lurched forward and with all her might soccer punched it in the snout. It let go, the pressure and pain easing. She turned back toward her destination and started swimming, feeling the rush of water as more crocs started to circle her. She broke through the surface and paddled quickly over to the bridge, then pulled herself up and 180 spun, drawing both pistols.
She began firing blindly into the water, not realizing that she was showing her teeth and screaming. Finally, after her pistols clicked empty she froze, lowering her arms. All of the crocs had been killed. She took several deep breaths, then collapsed.
The bite was making her whole leg throb and ache with pain. She pulled a first-aid kit from her backpack and unlaced her boot, kicking it off. The bite wasn't very large, but deep. She cleaned it up a bit then wrapped it with gauze, then but back on her boot. She popped a few pain relievers and waited for a few minutes, drinking some water. She stood back up, putting some pressure on her leg.
The pain wasn't as bad and she had to stitch up her boot, but was alive and had all of her limbs. She considered herself lucky. She hopped over to the opening and peered into the pool. This water was clear and cool. She dived in, a sudden current carrying her through the water.
Finally she came shooting out of a pipe into another much larger pool of water, now in some foreign cave. She brushed her hair back out of her face, looking around as the water cast blue reflections along the ceiling. The pool she was in continued further. She took a deep breath and swam on, the water becoming cooler on her skin. This had to lead somewhere.
