Man Vs Beast

Alice stared up at the rag-tag group of survivors. All of them seemed out of place. There was a man in a crisp black suit, dressed more suitably for an accounting job than wielding a hunting rifle. Another was a young girl, only just in her teens. She would have been close to Karin's age. An older sister stood over her, probably about eighteen or twenty years old. The others looked like random people plucked out of nowhere and none of them seemed equipped with the training or ability to handle a gun except for a man dressed in army fatigues at the head of the group.

"That was a close one." The soldier exclaimed. "If we hadn't spotted you then it would have been all over for you."

Alice accepted the aid from the two girls as they lifted her up. She nodded in thanks and faced the leader once more. "What on earth was that thing?"

"It's a crocodile." The man in the business suit replied, his voice cold.

Alice rolled her eyes. "I know that! But why was it so huge?"

"Our guess is that the diseases lurking within the waters of this sewer mixed with this virus into mutating. This new strain not only revives the seemingly dead but it also causes horrific deformities upon those infected. We've seen it happen to quite a few things down here." The man in the business suit seemed rather unaffected by the disaster, as if this was just another regular day for him.

"You seem oddly calm about all this." Karin spoke accusingly.

Rather than be offended the man laughed. "We have little need to worry down here. We have created a safe haven down here. This place is practically impenetrable. Jaws keeps any intruders out so we can pretty much rest easy."

"You use that monster as a guard? What if it turns on you?" Alice cried.

The soldier cut off whatever the businessman was about to say and answered for him. "Our stronghold is in an area too small to be accessible by Jaws and even if he wanted to he would be hitting the walls for hours before he got even remotely close to us and by then we would have fled. We have fall-back zones for such a situation and in our time down here we have prepared some defences as well."

"So you're in charge I assume?" Alice posed the question to the soldier who nodded curtly.

"My name is Ryan. I was sent here for a relief mission but the rest of my platoon was either killed or went missing. I'm hoping at least one of them survived. We need more specialists if we are to survive this mess."

"I'm Alice."

The two shook hands and then the introductions began. The younger of the two girls stepped forward. "My name is Zoe and this is my sister Claire." She waved a hand at the older girl who grinned and waved timidly.

"I'm Karin." The young Kurosaki girl stepped forth.

The businessman folded his arms and adjusted his glasses. "My name is Shurin. I suppose I should say pleased to meet you, but personal attachment is better placed after trust has been built."

Karin scowled at the man but he seemed to take no notice.

"You are welcome to stay with us if you like. Unlike some other bands of survivors we aren't complete lunatics." Ryan explained. His voice dropped to a whisper as if the accused were right around the corner. "You know there is this family from America, a bunch of psychopaths. We kicked them out and sent them off because they were hell-bent on," His voice went even quieter and he spoke with utter disgust, "Continuing the species."

Alice felt a bit of bile rising to the back of her throat and with it a name was spat out with such disgust it made her skin crawl. "Kirk."

Ryan's face went pale. "You've heard?"

Alice shook her head. "No, we met him. I know first-hand of his vile ambitions. At least he is rotting in Hell now." She shuddered and looked away. "That encounter was one worth repressing."

"I'm sorry. So...They were over-run as well. Damn." Ryan averted his gaze.

"What's wrong?" Zoe asked.

"Well, that means we only have two strongholds left in the entire town. I know it seems safe down here but sooner or later we'll have to abandon ship and when we do we'll be trapped in our final safe haven." The soldier patted the girls head and smiled reassuringly. "But we won't let that happen will we?"

"No sir!" Zoe saluted him and ran off laughing.

The others remained in their group, chatting quietly amongst themselves about their plans and what they knew about the dead. Their strategy meeting was unfortunately cut short when a piercing scream billowed out from around the corner.

Zoe came stumbling out, only to trip and fall short of her friends. Her left hand was covered in blood and patches of white bone were visible behind the torn scraps of muscle tissue which held her forearm together.

Claire screamed and rushed to her sister's side but the others swooped down on her and pulled her back just as an undead man burst out behind Zoe.

"Save her!" Claire begged but everyone else watched on with grave expressions. Claire glared at them. "What are you doing? Shoot him!"

Ryan shook his head. "Our little scrap with Jaws earlier must have attracted the attention of the others. If he got in then it means others just as easily can find us. We can't risk it just yet.

"But what about Zoe?" Claire bit Shurin and dashed off towards the ghoul. She punched the beast full in the face but he barely reeled from the attack. Without even checking she stooped down to aid her sister, not realising the undead fiend was already lunging at her. Its dull grey fangs sank into her shoulder and her head spasmodically shot backwards, slamming into the beast and making him stumble backwards.

Claire grabbed her sister and lifted her up into her arms. She cradled her like a child and tried to run back towards the others but a sudden surge of water knocked her to her knees.

The others all backed away and braced themselves for whatever was coming up the tunnel.

Claire hurriedly tried to lift her sister again but the zombie was upon her, this time grabbing the side of her face. One fleshless finger hooked into the corner of her mouth and made her give an awkward forced grin while another dragged her cheek back until the flesh was about to tear. A third dug into her eye socket, pushing the orb out of its socket slightly so that it was bulging out like something out of a cartoon.

The few who watched the shocking display struggled to retain their composure.

Claire let out a pitiful moan before the ghoul yanked his hand back, ripping the flesh from her cheek and gouging out her eye. She fainted before the beast started gnawing on her forehead, what should have been brittle teeth grinding away bone and reaching ever closer to her brain.

Alice cursed under her breath and summed up the courage to kill the zombie but the job was done for her by a familiar foe. Jaws, as they had named him burst through the tunnel behind another violent surge of decrepit green sewerage water.

Ryan pushed the others back and started running himself. The giant croc snatched up the unfortunate trio in its massive gaping jaws and with one crushing snap all three were reduced to bloody pulp and swallowed.

The rest of the survivors sprinted along the tunnel and then passed down another few twists and turns until they reached a large grating beneath them. It was large enough for a person to fit through the gaps and that was what they did. They all squeezed through until they were floating in water so deep they couldn't reach the bottom. They swam hastily through the gloom until they found a rusted ladder.

"Is this the way out" Karin asked hopefully, already climbing up out of the fetid pool.

"No, half the rungs have rotted away and besides, it leads nowhere. Keep swimming. The next ladder is the way out!" Ryan pushed ahead of the group, panting heavily. Shurin followed close behind while Alice and Karin remained side by side, taking each stroke together in unison.

The grating not far behind them started whining as the great croc tried to worm its way through. Instead, its immense weight crushed the iron bars and made them curve inwards until the giant slipped through into the deeper water where at last it could swim freely. In this area it was faster than before. This was Jaw's domain and he was much faster than the little team of humans trying to escape.

The survivors swam faster, panting heavily in their haste to escape. Their panicked breathing echoed around the tunnel. Karin once again reached the ladder first and climbed up with the ease that only children can manage. Shurin was next, shoving past Alice to get away before her. Alice could have fought back but she did not want to anger her new allies. Ryan climbed up last, watching the rippling waves with dread. The water was so deep that Jaws was fully submerged. The only trace of him was the monstrous ripples which erupted from the surface. As they grew nearer they became larger, almost like waves. That could only mean one thing...Jaws was coming up.

"Hurry!" Ryan commanded.

Karin reached the top of the ladder but couldn't lift the grating above her. It had been sealed shut by rust and crusted sewage making it impossible for the young girl to lift. Shurin hung below her, quickly losing his patience.

"Hurry up and lift it!" Shurin snapped. "Go on! Do it!"

"Shut up!" Karin retorted angrily. "I'm trying," She pushed against the grating but still it refused to budge.

"Oh for Christ's sake move! I'll do it!" Shurin snarled. Alice tapped him on the ankle and scowled.

"Leave her alone." She looked up to her young companion and smiled. "Come on Karin, you can do it. Just try a little harder ok?"

"Ok..." Karin whimpered her voice shaky. When she looked down she saw the huge shadow spreading beneath them. There wasn't enough time to waste. She had to get out of here now! With a grunt of effort she pushed against the grating, forcing her weight into it. A crusty edge snapped with a deafening 'crack' but the rest remained sealed. Karin sank back into place and prepared to do it again, but just as she pressed herself up against the grating, Shurin grabbed her ankle and dragged her down.

"Oh for fuck's sake! I'll do it you stupid child!" He wrenched her leg back and threw her off the ladder. Karin grabbed onto a rung halfway to the bottom but her hand slipped and she continued to fall until she hit the water with a jarring slap. She sank down until she could not be seen and for a moment it seemed she wasn't coming back up.

"Karin!" Alice moved to dive into the water but Ryan beat her and was already in the murky green pool searching for her. Alice remained fixed in place, unable to look away...Not until she saw Karin safe.

Ryan's head bobbed up to the surface and he gasped for air. He wheezed for a short time and was about to go under again when the water started to ripple uncontrollably and he was thrown into the ladder, his back colliding hard with the old steel frame.

Alice's eyes narrowed and she screamed in pure terror, but even with all the strength in her lungs she could not match the mighty roar of the mutated croc. A great fanged mouth the length of a station wagon burst forth out of the water like a hideous flower sprouting from a bud. A rain of fetid sewer water hailed down upon them and the water gushed violently like the waves during a storm.

Alice hugged the ladder and stared at the beast. It's horribly disfigured eyes were grey, but splotches of blood covered small areas, as the tiny capillaries burst inside. It snapped at her heels and threw itself into the ladder, bending the lower half so that it was almost 'L' shaped.

Shurin threw himself into the grating and it came free. He pushed it up and climbed up through the manhole, not bothering to notify the others, not that it would have helped.

Ryan was clinging to the bottom of the ladder, trying to search for Karin as well as keep his eyes on the croc. He couldn't see a thing past the furious ripples and Karin had still not returned to the surface. That was troublesome, but at the moment Ryan feared for his own life more. He knew he had to save Karin, but his mind screamed to escape. He grappled with the decision for far too long but eventually arrived at the conclusion that he would have to look for Karin no matter what. He cursed his military training and ducked underwater. He opened his eyes but it did nothing to help him. The water was so dark he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. He groped about blindly, soon enough grabbing hold of something, though it felt like a rock, not flesh. Unfortunately, he didn't see the armoured tail thrash towards him and so he was unable to react as it slammed into him with the force of a speeding truck. Ryan was thrown into the wall and he sank like a stone, blood pouring from his mouth and the back of his shattered skull.

Alice saw the blood in the water and panicked. Jaws was still writhing about on the surface, snapping wildly and roaring at his prey, angered that they had passed beyond his reach. Alice glared at the beast and reached for the rifle slung on her back. She couldn't fire it off up where she was as the gases of the sewer could ignite from the shot, not to mention the recoil would throw her down into the water. But she had to stop the croc somehow. She looked around and frowned at the lack of options she had. The only way to survive would be to escape, but she had to save Karin...

It seemed she had no choice...

Alice took out her knife and used a strip of cloth from her sleeve to make a simple bayonet. Then she watched Jaws as he rolled about spasmodically. She waited for the right moment and then she lunged, leaping from the top of the ladder until she landed on Jaw's thick scaly snout. She landed right between his eyes and both of them seemed to focus on her in that instant. He stopped rolling about so that he could observe his prey, but that was a surprise advantage Alice had to profiteer from.

She drew her rifle back and used it like a spear, driving it deep into one of the dinner-plate sized eyes. Black vitreous humour spewed forth but Alice ignored it and drove the blade deeper, twisting it like a corkscrew and forcing it in further.

Jaws went wild again, this time convulsing out of pain. He roared and Alice barely managed to hold on as his jaws flipped upwards to open his cavernous jaws. Alice cursed and wrapped her fingers around the barrel as tightly as she could. Jaws shook his head ravenously and several times Alice felt her hands slipping. She tightened her grip once more and flung a leg out onto one of his stony eyelids. The beast snarled at her as Alice rose up high enough to reach the trigger. It was then that she squeezed it until she felt her hands cramp. The gunshot was deafening, echoing through the tunnel with a sound of thunder. Jaws let out on last mighty roar, flinging Alice into the ladder which she hit with her shoulder with bone-breaking force. She fell back down into the water and was tossed about as the great croc began to sink. The blood had gone crimson and the smell of rotting meat had intensified until it was purely nauseating.

Alice watched dazedly as the great waves crashed over her and then everything went black...