Chapter 13: Aftermath (Part 1)
The entire building was engulfed in flames, the tips licking up to the sky. The cool night air was quickly turning warm and Skipper had to shield his face when he got too close. The intense heat was just too much to take.
"Kowalski! Selena!" He called out while he circled about, careful not to get too close to the flames. "Sound out!" The windows had blown out and were scattered in the grass and thick smoke was already snaking its way out. The man tried to look past the flames and smoke but he couldn't even see the opposite walls inside. His hopes of finding the two alive was decreasing rapidly, but his gut told him not to give up. "Kowalski! Se-"
"Skippah!" Skipper turned to Private and Barbie as the two ran to him. "Wha," the boy looked at the building in horror, "what happened here, Skippah?"
"Yeah," Barbie huffed and stood up, her eyes searching the blazing inferno, "what happened? The thing just blew up!"
Skipper faced away from the flames and tucked his shirt over his nose, already feeling his eyes water. He guided the two away from the burning disaster and only spoke once they were a good distance away. "I don't know. But Kowalski and Selena are still in there."
Private and Barbie stared at him in shock. "What?" Before anyone could do anything, Barbie dashed for the building.
"Barbie," Skipper gave Private a look before running after the blonde, "get back here!"
"Selena!" Barbie called out and stopped just feet away from the building, "SELENA!" She took another step forward, but a pair of hands grabbed her waist and pulled her back. "Hey!" She turned to face a frowning man and pushed him away. "Rico! Let me go!"
"No."
"My sister's in there. I need to help her."
"I 'no."
"Let go of me, Rico! I need to-"
Skipper glared at Barbie and held a hand toward Rico, signalling him to hold on to the lady. "Don't." Barbie stopped struggling when Rico tightened his grasp and she just glared at Skipper, who ignored her. "Rico?" The man looked away from the others, sighed and shook his head slowly. Skipper had sent him to check the other side of the building, but it looked the same as Skipper's side.
"So'ry. Not'ing. 'Th'r's no way th'y cou'd've scap'd. (Sorry. Nothing. There's no way they could've escaped.)"
"No..." Barbie shook her head and looked away, burying her face into Rico as she tried hard not to cry in front of her boss. A flash of sincerity went over Skipper's eyes but the man looked away from the two and sighed at the building. He was feeling guilty now. He had a feeling something was going to go wrong tonight, but he didn't think it would be before the actual mission. Still, there was something not right with this. Who would plant a bomb in a desolate area? Skipper shook his head and looked down at the ground. Not your job to think about it, McGrath. Kowalski... "Kowalski." He turned to the others and gestured Private over. "Barbie, get the fire brigade on the line. Hurry, before the fire expands to the other buildings. Private," the boy looked up at him, awaiting his command, "we're on containment duty with Rico. That fire will not reach the other buildings, am I clear on that?"
Rico and Private nodded. "Aye sir."
"What about Selena, Skippah?" Private asked as he looked back at the buiding in fear and concern for his friend. "And Kowalski?"
"We have more pressing issues here, Private, please focus."
"My sister is important!" Barbie snapped at the man and he frowned at her, the tone in his voice growing in anger.
"In case you haven't noticed, McHale, so is my teammate. I never leave a man behind, you got that? We will get back to them soon because that's what we do, but there are more people in those other buildings, and we need to find a way to contain that fire. Now get to work, McHale!" Skipper barked and Barbie jumped in slight fear, but she quickly concealed it and saluted him.
"Yes sir!" She pulled out her phone and dialed in the number, looking around to see the landscape. She was a little surprised that nobody had noticed the fire, the other buildings looked quiet and peaceful compared to the once laboratory. As she informed the person on the line of the fire, something else caught her. How come the sirens weren't on? The ones that alerted people of a fire nearby. She placed the phone down and watched the other three men discuss over ways to keep the fire down. From what she could gather, they couldn't think of anything. A fire, made by explosives or not, just wasn't in their books; not even Rico's.
At this rate, the fire would soon engulf the next few buildings and perhaps the innocent victims in it. Skipper looked back at the building, then at his teammates.
"I'll be right back." He pointed over to the SUV. "Go and turn on the siren." He jogged over to the other building while the three looked at each other.
"Where do you think he's going?" Barbie asked the other two, who just shrugged. Barbie sighed and headed for the SUV with the other two in tow, already feeling the guilt come back. This wasn't supposed to happen, and if Jay found out that Selena got hurt under HER watch, well...
Rico hopped into the SUV and looked around for the switch while Barbie turned to Private. The boy was just as worried as she was, though it showed more on his face.
"Hey," Private turned to the woman, "you're the positive one here. How about a little pick me upper?"
"I...I," Private frowned sadly and looked at the ground, "I don't think..." A rusty sounding creak echoed into the night and the boy froze. "Did you hear that?" The two immediately got into attack poses, standing back to back. "What was that?"
"Don't know, don't think I want to know, but we're gonna find out."
"Well...Selena?" Private's soft voice called out and Barbie and Rico turned to see the silhouette of the Asian crawl from an open manhole and flop down on the solid ground, face down. Rico quickly flipped on the switch, letting the sound screech into the night before joining Private, Barbie and the exhausted female on the ground. "Selena, are you" Private gently flipped her around and bit down a gasp when he saw the burns on her upper body.
"Selena?" Barbie lightly nudged the female on her waist, afraid of the consequences of doing so. "Selena?" Her voice went softer and she leaned closer, just listening to her sister's faint but still there breaths of life coming from the clear plastic mask on her face and the little tank it was connected to in her hand.
Selena looked up at the sound of the explosion and her eyes grew wide. "Kowalski!" She screamed and started looking around frantically. There was no way they were going to reach the doors in time. They were toast. Literally.
"Stop moving already! You're slowing us down!" Selena ignored him, letting the panic settle into her form before her eyes spotted a certain door. "Selena!" Kowalski growled when Selena yanked on his hair, though the fear was evident in his voice.
"The door! THE DOOR!"
"What?"
"THE BASEMENT," Selena tried to jump down so that she could pull them toward the door but he had a tight grip on her waist, "YOU DUNDERHEAD!"
"Basement?"
"AGH!" Selena could have twisted his head off right then, but instead, she just directed his head toward the door. "Move it, fool!" She let out another scream when she saw the start of something that looked like a fireball heading toward them. "MIKHAIL!"
"Wha...!" The man stared wide eyed at the fireball before shaking his head and dashing for the door. He placed his hands down on the solid metal bar and it let out a squeak as it moved down a few inches, but that was it. He tried again, to no avail but still pushed against it. "I can't-"
"Kick it down, man!" The man took a few steps back, looked at the fireball and then stopped.
"Wait, I think we can use the force of the explosion to get the door open."
"ARE YOU MAD?! Do you want to roast us alive? Just do it!"
"Wait..."
"Kowalski!" Selena whined and reached for the door, but she was stuck over the man's shoulder. "I don't wanna die this way!" She cried, earning a raised brow from the man before he charged for the door, just as the 'fireball' came past them. True to the plan of Kowalski's, the door was forced open with both forces and the two teetered at the top step before falling forward. Both let out curses and groans as they tumbled down the stone steps and landed on the cold basement floor in a pile. "Kowalski," Selena moaned in pain and pushed on the form across her, "get off me, you dweeb."
"We need to stop meeting up like this..." He groaned, rolled over to his back and sat up, finally giving space for Selena's lungs to take in the air in the basement. She took in a deep breath and turned to the man beside her.
"I get the brunt of the force most of the time, you know that?"
"Not unless I become your inflatable stunt bag..."
Selena shook her head, trying to shake away the weird lights lining her sight but paused when she spotted something wrong with the man.
"Eek!" She pulled Kowalski down and started patting on his head.
"Hey!" Kowalski grabbed her hands and pushed her away. "Hey! What was that for?"
"Your hair was on fire. It's uh, gone now."
"...thanks..." Selena merely nodded back at him and looked around the basement, keeping close the man in the dark room as they got to their feet. Their only light source coming from the still open door with flames licking into the room, slowly filling the room up with black smoke, though it wasn't noticeable at the moment. "What now?"
"Why are you asking me? I thought you knew everything?"
"I didn't know about the basement...how long does this run? The entire length of the school? Or just this building?"
"Are you serious? The basement? You don't know the basement?"
"Can we skip the fight for now and your smug smirk for escape possibilities?"
"I'm smirking alright..." She shook her head and nodded forward. "Sewers. The basement is a doorway for the sewer system. And yes, it only covers this building. About two thirds of the area, actually."
"And the electricity is bound to be cut off from here, so we've got to depend on our own eyesight." The man took a step forward but Selena followed right after him and latched onto his arm.
"Uh," she licked her lips and smiled nervously, "you don't happen to have a light there, do you?" The man raised a brow at her but didn't comment and pulled out a small penlight and turned it on. A tiny line of light cut into the darkness for about a foot or so and Selena looked at it nervously, a familiar feeling coming to her. "That's it?" She squeaked out softly and felt her skin prickle a bit. She played her fear down a bit and swallowed.
"Blame Skipper and his outrageous paranoia..." The man murmured, ignoring the female's closeness and looking ahead. "We'll need to walk inwards, don't we?"
Selena slipped from his arm and backed toward the fiery doorway. "Further into the darkness? Uh, well, yes, but..." With a grin, Kowalski switched off the light and walked away. "Kowalski? Kowalski!" Selena took a step in the direction she thought the man had went to.
"Come on, Selena. I need to preserve the battery's power, in case we really need it down there." She looked back at her only source of light, gulped and took another timid step forward.
"Kowalski? K-Kowalski? Where are you?" Her voice went down a few notches and she looked around desperately. "It's not funny, Kowalski...where are you?"
"On Earth?"
"Kowalski..." The female whined and continued looking around as her steps grew shorter but hurried. "Come on, you know I hate horror houses."
"I know." She heard a chuckle somewhere before her and she picked up her pace even more. She still couldn't see anything and the fire was just a speck behind her, much to her surprise.
"Would you stop acting like this is one? Please?"
"This is a basement, Selena. There's nothing here but us. Just keep walking forward. You're going the right way anyway."
"There's rats. Maybe snakes too. From the sewers."
"If I stop talking, what would you do?"
"Don't you dare."
"I thought you told me many times to shut up?"
"I hate you. Uh..." She stopped for a while, but quickly started walking again in where she last heard the man. "Kowalski? Were you serious there?" She giggled nervously and crossed her arms over her abdomen tightly. "Because, I wasn't? Please, say something? Kowalski? Uh, Mickey?"
"Nice trick there." The man felt the air get squeezed out of him when something latched onto his side. "Oh..."
Selena loosened her grip on him and murmured. "Sorry."
"Skipper would be proud of your death lock hold."
"I said sorry."
"I wish I had a recorder, but you say that all the time. How about a 'Kowalski is great' this time?"
"If it was true." She giggled quietly and looked at the ground when she felt his glare on her. "Don't do that again."
"Do what?"
"Kowalski..."
"I told you, we need to preserve the battery power of the penlight. I didn't check on it last week, and I've already gotten used to just depending on my eyes, so I don't know how long this would last."
"Well, how are we supposed to find the manhole cover without any lights? Do you happen to have an installed magnet in your shoes?"
"No, but I think you've seen the map of this place, right? You know where it is specifically?"
"Uh...I do know it's further North...near the wall? I think..."
The man sighed and pulled out the penlight again, turning it on. "I'll turn it off occasionally. Just keep an eye out." Then he grinned and stared ahead as he continued walking, forcing Selena to do the same. "Reminds me of the fair. Too bad there aren't any clowns here...or are there?"
"It's, uh a torture dungeon. The sewers used to have alligators streaming in it, before, they cleaned it out..."
"So, the sewers lead out to the sea too? Wait, alligators can't stay in saltwater. They're freshwater. Where did they come from?"
"They deliberately place alligators here. The lines here have been barred though."
"Wait," he paused and looked down at her incredulously, "if we find the sewers, you're telling me that we're going to be facing alligators?"
"Maybe?" Selena sheepishly played with her fingers. "Should we stay here?"
"And get burned or buried alive? Who knows if this basement of yours is capable of staying up."
The lady frowned and crossed her arms. "It's not my basement, okay?" Then she sighed and dropped her hands to her sides. "But I guess we have to keep moving. Forward is better than back."
He swiftly turned and hurried away. "Let's go Miss Positive."
"Kowalski!" Selena squealed and ran after him, quickly latching onto a solid when she bumped into something. "Kowalski?" The man sighed tiredly beside her and turned the flashlight back on.
"It's me, Selena. Relax already."
"Sorry."
"You're still afraid of the dark, aren't you?"
"It's not the dark, okay? How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"Right...like something's going to pop down from the ceiling and scare us. Very classic horror movie scene."
"Maybe. Can you keep the flashlight down, Kowalski? We're looking for a manhole cover here. Not a door marked 'exit' in neon red."
"Do I hear sarcasm?"
"When you're me, you'll need it."
"Please. When you face off with Skipper, you need it to disguise your findings of Skipper's lack of understanding of certain things."
"Meanie."
"Look who's talking. And what about your brother? I haven't heard from him. At least from you."
"What brother?" The man stopped yet again, shocked.
"You don't remember your own brother?"
"I have a brother?"
"Selena," he shook his head, not believing what he was hearing, "he was the whole reason you were in the horror house in the first place."
"Are you serious? I don't have a brother. Unless you count Barbie when she's not all girly and pink. And I've never gone out in public with Barbie in my entire life. We were never close." The two stared at each other before the female shivered slightly and shook her head. "This is getting weird. I don't have a brother, Kowalski. If I did, I wouldn't just leave him."
"No wonder you didn't talk about him...you don't even remember him. My father must have made you forget about him."
Selena sighed and looked at the ceiling. "I have a brother?"
"Older brother."
"Do you," she raised a brow at him, feeling a little hopeful, "know what he looks like then?"
"Actually, I don't remember."
"Oh..." She rolled her eyes and looked away. "That's great."
"Funny. I can't recall his name either."
"But you know I have a brother?"
He ignored her sarcastic tone and continued to muse. "It starts with an 'a'."
"A brother named 'A'. What is this, a lame TV show?" Before he could retort, she shook her head and started tugging him along. "Let's just go, Kowalski."
After a few moments of silence, Selena licked her lips and looked up at the man. "Do you mind answering a question?"
"About what?"
"I just remembered that you were part of the homecoming committee. Did you-"
"Don't even. I don't know how I got there, I just did. I hate events like that. They goggle over me like a bunch of pathetic fan girls. What is the whole point of it anyways? You don't win anything but a stupid plastic crown and five minutes of fame."
"For fun? Mostly girly fantasies."
"Right, getting your dress torn apart while they drown you in the fountain is a girly fantasy of yours. That's very you, Selena."
Though he couldn't see her that moment, he could almost feel her mood darken drastically. "Focus on the manhole, Mikhail."
"Don't call me that. My name is Kowalski."
"Don't bring that up then."
"You started it."
"Well, you have no right to barge into my life like that." The man stopped abruptly at that and turned to her, shrugging her hand off.
"And I get no thanks for saving you? Nothing at all?"
"You didn't have to..."
"You were crying, madam. They were still throwing jabs, and cups, at you. And I believe a certain father figure would have my hide if I didn't."
"Jay wouldn't kill you. Your father was still alive that time. He wouldn't dare. You know what your father would do to me if Jay ever touched you."
"If I didn't do it, Doris will murder me. She'll go on about how I'm the male and I should be helping, blah blah blah, I don't care what she says."
"You have to stop putting me as an obligation. I refuse-"
"To have a little help? Is that so wrong, Selena?"
"I refuse for people to slave over something that isn't worthwhile, alright?"
"My father told you that, didn't he?"
"I was ten and gullible. But it's the truth. If I was really important, they wouldn't be picking on me, would they? They wouldn't destroy my dress, or dump me in the fountain, or pretend I was just gum stuck to their shoes. Am I wrong there, Mikhail?"
"That's my father's name. Stop calling me that."
"No. If you think I'm calling you your father's son, then so be it. My choices stand as they are, Mikhail. From here on out, I will never call you by that name you have decided to give yourself. Your name is Mikhail, and I will call you that. Now," she snatched the flashlight from him and continued forward, "let's find that manhole."
"You can't," he grabbed onto her arm tightly and spoke through gritted teeth, "do that."
"We need to get out of here, Mikhail."
"No," his hold on her tightened, "you can't call me that. I refuse. Don't EVER, call me that, Selena."
"Did you just," she looked up at him with wide eyes blinking behind her glasses, "threaten me?" He turned his eyes from the blackness around them and glared down at the lady.
"I'm warning you."
"Why?"
"Don't," his voice came into a hiss near her ear, "ever call me that bastard's name."
"Mikhail!" She winced inwardly and tried to get his hand off. "Let me go!"
"Promise me, Selena."
She stopped struggling and glared back at him. "NO!"
"I..." He suddenly trailed off and blinked in surprise. "Do you smell that?" He stood to his full height, let her go and looked behind them. Selena frowned slightly and rubbed the sore spot while she too followed his gaze. "The smoke's coming in too fast, and there's no windows around here. We need to find that manhole fast." He pushed her to the ground and dropped down beside her. He pocketed the flashlight and started moving forward on his hands and knees. "We crawl. I'm sure we can feel the cover with our hands." Selena sighed and followed after him. It wasn't long before they felt the metal of the manhole cover. Kowalski pulled out the light and shone the light down on the cover. He gave the penlight to Selena, who held it over the hatch while he twisted the wheel.