I literally just updated this story, but you guys got to over twelve reviews insanely quickly and I keep my promises. I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this story! And in response to one reviewer who commented about how Clary isn't a damsel in distress in this story, that was very intentional. In the books, Clary isn't even a damsel in distress and while she doesn't have as much training, holds her own and saves Jace more than he saves her. She's not necessarily as tough as she is in this story, for obvious reasons, but I honestly don't understand why so many on this site feel it necessary to make Clary some fragile doll just so Jace can save her. You can be assured that in this story, and any future story I write, Clary will not be like that.
Alright, rant over. Enjoy the chapter! You guys earned it!
As the four stood huddled by the tree line that served as a barrier between the protection of the forest and the no man's land of the city, Clary felt more vulnerable than she cared to admit. Though slightly obscured, she could still make out large clusters of slowly shuffling bodies among the streets of the city within view. Subconsciously, Clary gripped Mr. Pointy more tightly, allowing the cylindrical piece of wood to serve as her lifeline. The siblings were gazing at the large quantities of undead with wide, fearful eyes. Jace, on the other hand looked rather unperturbed by the sight. Clary clenched her jaw, casting a sour look in the direction of the man who had gotten her into this mess in the first place.
"Alright Mr. I've done it before, I sure do hope you have a plan to get us through those zombies that I'm sure would be delighted to tear into the throats of anyone dumb enough to try strolling past," Clary muttered dryly.
"Relax, you'll be just good and dandy to carry on your fulfilling existence of a self pitying lonesome survivor in no time," he shot back with more malice in his tone than she had been anticipating. The siblings blinked, backing away slightly in case things turned ugly. Jace ignored them, instead gesturing Clary closer so that she could see where he was looking. At the bottom of the hill that separated them from the concrete jungle that lay ahead was a long ago rusted cast iron circle. A sewer grate. Everything clicked.
"Huh," she remarked. He smirked at her dumbfounded, yet impressed expression.
"Wait, I don't get it," Isabelle hissed. "What are we supposed to be getting?"
"That," Jace pointed to the grate, "is an entrance into the sewer system. Instead of going right through the city and most likely getting chomped to death by our friendly neighborhood carnivores, we're going to go under the city. And, luckily for us, there's another of these suckers right by the mall's back entrance."
Clary pursed her lips, scanning the area below. Only around five zombies were milling around by the grate, but there was no telling how many would pop up once they made their presence known.
"How easy is it to lift the lid? Aren't those things normally pretty heavy?"
He nodded. "Yeah, normally. This one's pretty loose though, so with enough prying it comes up alright. We'll definitely need at least two people to help get it off," he responded. "On the plus side, heavy means that it'll be hard for them to come and follow us. And it'll mean that there likely won't be many down there."
"But what if there are?" Max muttered, his skin pale.
Jace shrugged. "Well, considering we'd be shutting ourselves into closed quarters with a horde of bloodthirsty monsters, we die."
"Golly, Jace," Clary accentuated with a hand over her heart, "you really do know how to get a girl excited."
He smirked at her sinfully and winked. "It's worked for me so far."
She scoffed, focusing instead on the zombies. The five were nothing special. Typical vacant expressions, grotesque skin that rotted and peeled like a snake, their shredded clothes covered in blood. Two were missing arms and one had a screwdriver impaled in its neck. Clary wondered if whoever had put it there was now one of the zombies lurking below.
She frowned, imagining herself being forced to rot and lurk alongside her killer. The thought sent an icy shiver up her spine. By the amount the zombies had decomposed, she figured those below were some of the first unlucky bastards to die. Most likely they had been trying to get out of the city when shit hit the fan. They just never made it out.
"We're going to need to be ready," Clary murmured to the group around her. "These zombies are old and, since everyone knows that the city is a death wish, they're going to be hungry."
"So what do we do?" Max asked, looking up at her with wide eyes. Clary sighed and turned her gaze back on the scene below.
"Max, you and I will go first and start thinning them out. Stay close to me in case something happens and one of us needs help. Jace, Isabelle, you two will trail behind us and work on the grate," Clary replied.
"But there's only five of them," Isabelle said. "Couldn't we just all take them out together and then open the grate?"
Clary looked at her grimly. "Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there."
Isabelle paled, looking down, before nodding. Clary shifted her gaze to Jace, who had been silent.
"Well, what do you think?" She suddenly felt self conscious. If something went wrong, if someone got hurt, it would be on her.
"I'm ready when you are," he responded simply. She nodded and turned to Max, who was looking down at the scene below, nervously rubbing his shoulder.
"Hey Max." He jumped in surprise and looked to her with wide eyes. "You're shorter than they are so I'm gonna let you in on a secret. If you kick the backs of their knees, they'll fall and then all you have to do is get them while they're down. Think you can do that?"
The boy nodded fiercely, putting on a tough expression that made Clary smile. She turned away from the boy, let out a breath, and, after tightening her grip on Mr. Pointy, began the descent down the hill. Max waited a moment before stumbling after her while Jace and Isabelle silently trailed behind the two of them. With every step, Clary felt her chest tighten. The zombies hadn't noticed her yet, but they would. And once they did, others would follow.
She had reached the bottom of the hill when behind her, a twig snapped. She heard a sharp intake of breath from Isabelle, but didn't look at her. Her attention was focused on the five zombies whose heads had swiveled and locked on the group. Clary smirked, readying her stake as they began to approach. A zombie with a frayed and bloodied trucker hat snarled at her, his one arm reaching for her her. Instinctively, Clary swung out her foot, catching the back of its leg and stepped out of the way as the still snarling zombie collapsed to the earth. Within a moment, Clary stabbed downwards into the vulnerable skull of her attacker.
The bone collapsed on itself with ease, more so than what she was used to, and doused her palm with grotesque juices. She wrinkled her nose, but didn't focus on the sickly smell that she had never gotten used to. Instead, she turned on her foot to spot Max, who had been watching her.
"Easy, huh?" She remarked, pointing a finger to the corpse at her feet. With a grin of confidence, the boy nodded profusely and tried the technique on his own approaching zombie. Satisfied, Clary turned to face on another monster, who moved more slowly than others she had encountered. She kicked outwards, sending her foot into the zombie's chest. However, instead of the zombie being pushed backwards as she had intended, her foot plummeted through its chest cavity. Her eyes widened. Immediately she attempted to pull her leg out of the zombie, who had remained unaffected by her kick and grabbed at her leg.
Clary breathed out sharply and, with both little time and options, swung her leg and the zombie attached to it into the trunk of a nearby tree. The impact was enough to free her leg and without wasting a second, she leapt to impale its skull.
There was rustling behind her. Clary turned quickly on her feet and ducked the awaiting arms of a zombie that clawed at her. It turned just as she quickly punctured the zombie, directly parallel to the screwdriver still impaled in its neck. The corpse dropped quickly. Clary turned to leave, but paused. With a frown and a shaky, adrenaline filled breath, she stooped to collect the screwdriver from the monster's skull.
"You alright?" A voice called to her. Clary spun, turning to see Jace's eyes on her from his crouched down position by the grate. His eyes were filled with concern as he scanned her for injuries, the foreign gesture immediately making Clary feel out of her comfort zone. Before she could think more into the gesture, she shot him a quick nod.
"Max, are you—oh shit!"
A booming growl came from the highway as a large herd of zombies had grown aware of their presence.
"Jace, Isabelle, how close are we?" Clary shouted, quickly rushing over to cut down the zombie keeping a shaking Isabelle busy with a quick jab. She gave her a grateful smile which Clary ignored, quickly gripping the girl's wrist and scooping her over to where Jace and Max were.
"Almost…got it! Clary, you go first. Max and Isabelle will follow and I'll come from behind," Jace grunted, his voice strained. Clary nodded quickly and dropped to the ground, prepared to scramble down the hole when Jace captured her wrist. "Be careful."
"No time," she breathed, before plunging into darkness.
She fell quickly, her only source of light coming from the grate's opening. She landed with a splash. Sewer water coated her and, despite being already covered in zombie guts, she cringed at the smell.
Two other splashes came shortly afterwards, followed by a larger splash and darkness as the others joined her. They were officially sealed inside. Through small pinpricks of light that came through the grate, Clary could still make out the basic shapes of the others, but they would be completely in darkness further on in the tunnels. The thought made her skin crawl.
"Ew," Isabelle scowled, immediately plugging her nose. "This place smells worse than Max's feet."
The boy smirked back at her, though Clary noticed it seemed to lack his usual vigor.
"Everyone okay?" she asked, squinting at the others through the darkness. The three nodded. With a sigh of relief, Clary turned to examine what she could make out of their surroundings.
"No zombies, no discarded dead bodies, no flushed alligator," Clary checked off on her fingers. "I gotta say Jace, as much as I hate to admit it, this plan of yours doesn't completely suck."
"Always the tone of surprise," he muttered darkly, though Clary could clearly see the satisfied smirk on his lips. She shrugged noncommittally before turning to the dark expanse before them.
"If we can't see anything, how are we supposed to know if there are any dead things?" Max asked quietly, nervously looking at the darkness.
"Well, I imagine we'll know when they start ripping into our flesh," Isabelle stated with an air of nonchalance. Max crossed his arms, glaring up at her with more ferocity than either Clary or Jace would have expected.
"That's not funny, Izzy," he snapped. Her shoulders sank, resembling a kicked puppy.
"Both of you, knock it off," Clary growled, massaging her temple. "Jace, now would be a good time to jump in with how we're supposed to make it through this tunnel stumbling around like a couple of blind mice."
He nodded, pulling out a small lighter from his back pocket and ducking down to pick up a lantern resting by the ladder they had come in from.
"Like I said," Jace murmured as he lit the lantern, illuminating the group. "I've done this before."
Clary nodded, ignoring Jace's knowing smirk whilst trying to conceal her own approval.
"Alright Superman, lead the way."
The four spent the majority of their trek in silence. Jace took the lead, guiding their way with their only source of light and his seemingly endless knowledge of the underground sewer system. Max and Isabelle had been quick to stick close to Clary, for reasons that were entirely unknown to her, and at every slight noise they came across, the two shuffled nearer to her. Clary had no clue how to react to the sudden display of affection.
To their left, the sound of shuffling water reverberated across the tunnels. Immediately, Max clutched onto Clary, earning an eye roll from the girl.
"I thought I was the mean one," she groaned, pointing a finger towards Jace. "Why aren't you clinging onto him?"
Jace paused from his navigating to turn back and smirk at her. She promptly responded by sticking her tongue at him as Max matter of factly responded, "Easy. We like you."
"Plus, you're a total badass. If anything comes to try to eat us, our chances are way better around you," Isabelle added enthusiastically.
Jace's amused grin dropped. He shot a playful glare to the two.
"Traitors," he hissed.
Clary let out a laugh before freezing up entirely. She pushed the siblings behind her and reached for her stake as she screamed, "Jace, behind you!"
Before he could turn, a zombie had grabbed him, dragging him backwards into the water.
"Jace!" She screamed, her heart clenching.
"Oh my god," Isabelle breathed. "What do we—"
"Isabelle, I need you to hold the lantern and make sure to make sure we can see," Clary ordered, unsheathing Mr. Pointy without a glance behind. She dove into the brown water where Jace was struggling and splashing and, as it appeared, losing. Weaponless and defenseless, Jace struggled to push the zombie away from him, paying extra attention to its snapping jaw, but he was being quickly overpowered. Jace was slipping and his once carefully controlled emotions betrayed him, broadcasting true fear.
As it was about to tear into his neck, Clary ripped the zombie off of him, poised to strike with her stake in hand. The zombie lunged at her with an uncharacteristic display of cognizance, forcing her back to hit the wall and Mr. Pointy to fall to her feet. Her eyes widened and she let out a shaky breath before narrowing her gaze. She kicked outwards. While the zombie stumbled back Clary dropped to collect Mr. Pointy. She had just enough time to look up before—
"Clary, look out!"
The zombie grabbed hold of her fiery curls, pulling her closer. She grit her teeth, fought back the pain and arced her stake backwards. The monster that towered above her stilled in its grappling, stumbling backwards into the water. Her heart thudded in her chest as she thrashed, but failed to release herself. She sucked in a greedy breath of air before being submerged underwater. The zombie continued to sink, gravity working to collect its prize. Clary made quick work of tearing the creature's leftover grip off her hair, freeing herself. Her gaze zeroed in upon the stake still lodged in the quickly sinking zombie's eye. At the depth the zombie was sinking, it would be a miracle for her to retrieve her stake and survive. The girl forcefully tore her gaze from the monster's form as another force violently grabbed hold of her, ripping her upwards to the surface.
She choked, coughing heavily and sucking in much needed air. A hand gently pat her back, helping her cough the filth ridden water from her lungs and bringing to her attention the one who had so frantically raised her from perdition. Jace watched her worriedly, distress clearly visible within his wide, amber eyes. She held his gaze, unable to look away. Clary hadn't even realized he was moving them until their bodies collided with the concrete walkway they had been walking along before Jace had been attacked. In her stupor, it took a few moments to register Jace's lips moving, muttering words that were lost on her.
"What?" she asked, fighting against the numbness consuming her.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did it—"
Clary shook her head, looking brokenly back to the spot where the zombie had succumbed.
"Clary, are you okay?" Jace repeated, shocking her with his fierce display of concern. She winced from the tight grip he held on her shoulders, no doubt leaving finger shaped bruises across her skin. She looked at him with open vulnerability, her eyes wide and wet.
"I lost Mr. Pointy."
The worry immediately faded from his tight lipped gaze and he released a small chuckle.
"Better than ending up bitten."
She frowned at him.
"I really liked that stake."
Jace looked at her, appearing as if he had something to say, but whatever it was Clary didn't get to hear it. As soon as the two were in reach of the walkway, both her and Jace were engulfed in hugs from the siblings.
"Oh my god, that was so close!" Isabelle breathed out, her skinny arms encircling them both.
"Did you see that? She was like wham and boom and he went like gaaaaaaaah dead!" Max enthused, jumping up and down as he animatedly reenacted the fight. Clary smiled softly, pausing briefly before returning Isabelle's gesture. Her gaze then landed upon Jace, who was quietly scooping up the lantern that Isabelle had discarded at their arrival. The light was just barely flickering.
"You okay?" She asked. He turned to look back at her and nodded.
"Thanks to you, I'm fine," he responded. "Thanks for that, by the way."
Clary shrugged. "Guess we're even now."
He breathed out a laugh, though Clary noted it came out shaky and forced.
"Yeah, I guess we are." He tore his gaze from the girl and took out his lighter once more, flicking the ignition with his thumb to no avail. He sighed, discarding the lighter into the water behind him.
"Well, the lighter got fried when I went into the water, so hopefully that was the only chomper because we have to walk the rest of the way without light."
"How much farther is it?" Isabelle asked, not sounding particularly excited about the idea of being in complete darkness with zombies lurking.
"Not far, a couple hundred feet or so. Just stick close to each other and try not to make too much noise and we should be fine. At least if we can't see them, that means they can't see us either," Jace responded, though Clary noted that his sense of optimism seemed forced.
"They can still smell us," Clary muttered.
"Well, if we have any problems, its good to know that we have our very own superhero to save the day," he shot back, his voice further away now that he had begun to walk. Clary sighed, ushering the siblings to go ahead of her before following.
"You better not make me regret losing Mr. Pointy for you," she grumbled, not liking the feeling of loss that consumed her every time her arm brushed against her side, expecting to feel a stake that wasn't there.
"Ah c'mon Clary, we all know you can't resist me."
Even in pitch black darkness, she could sense the cocky smirk residing on his stupidly smug face.
"Oh no, you must have hurt your head during the fall," Clary responded, her voice leaking with faux concern. "You're obviously delusional."
"Yeah, well—"
"Will both of you shut up! I don't want to die because you two couldn't stop flirting!" Isabelle hissed. Max's snort was immediate. Clary was suddenly very grateful for the darkness, as the immediate blush that immediately stained her cheeks would have been even more mortifying than being told off by a girl surviving the zombie apocalypse in six inch heels.
"Its alright Izzy, we're here. I'm going to climb up first and make sure the coast is clear. After that all we have to do is walk a couple feet to the back door."
Before the others could respond, the golden haired man had already made his way up the ladder. At that point, Clary was just hoping there was a shower somewhere in the mall. Zombie guts were one thing, but total submersion in sewer water took her stink to a whole new level. She would never live it down if she was snuffed out by the undead because they could smell her from three miles away.
Light filtered in through the tunnel as Jace pushed open the sewer grate, instantly filling Clary with joy. She had been itching to gets out of the tunnels from the moment they had entered. Jace's head disappeared, only to pop back in a moment later.
"All clear. Ready to go shopping?"
I was so close to leaving this chapter on a cliffhanger and stopping when Jace was attacked, but I decided to be nice. Plus, there's a cliffhanger next chapter and then the chapter after that and then the chapter after...anyways, enjoy this non cliffhanger while it lasts. As always, thank you for reading and be sure to review and let me know what you think! You guys really seem to like the quieter Clace moments full of banter, so you'll definitely love the next chapter. And we get our first taste of Jace's backstory...
-Anika
