Chapter 25
While they had no frame of reference as to what the building was or what purpose it had served the city's population, one thing was abundantly clear.
It was huge.
Thankfully they'd been at one of the entrances that had a ramp. The Marines had spied other points of entry that had large stairways leading up to them. Had they been built to human proportions, it wouldn't have been bad. But the idea of literally climbing up stairs built for giants was less than appealing. So they'd stuck with the ramp.
Everyone grew even more quiet as they made entry. The soft whistle of the wind outside turned sharp as it funneled into the large, organically-designed tunnel-like hallway that they found themselves in. Lights attached to helmets and weapons were turned on, panning over the curved walls around them. Robertson removed one of his gloves and touched the stone-like material the walls were constructed of. It was cool to the touch.
Janet, having led the expedition into this place, took a moment to turn on a headlamp, which she secured so the light was centered on her forehead. She took a moment to look down each direction of the hall, and started walking. There was purpose in her stride, and every few seconds her gaze flicked between the looming corridor ahead of them, and the data displayed on her multiunit's screen. Brink opened his stride to catch up with her.
"You mind telling us exactly what it is you're looking for?" The Lieutenant asked, none too happy to have had his platoon taken on what was likely little more than a wild goose chase.
"Survivors, Lieutenant." She said. "Or at least any signs of them."
"And you just happen to know your way around this place?" He asked. She ignored him, tapping something into her device that lowered the screen's brightness and inverted the colors of whatever she was reading so it was in 'night mode'. Brink let out a long exhale through his nostrils and continued walking, MA-10 at the low-ready.
The company woman led them into a large chamber. The outer portion of the room was ringed with a series of large stone heads, each of which stood at least twelve feet tall. It reminded Brink of a more humanized version of the old Easter Island statues. It didn't take a genius to see that they were supposed to be representative of the species whose dead were scattered throughout the city and the surrounding fields. Despite that, there was a sense of grandeur and royalty to each bust.
"Some kind of council, or something?" One of the Marines asked quietly.
"Take me to your leader." Another snarked in a robotic-voice.
"Shut up, man."
Despite them speaking barely louder than a whisper, the material with which the room had been constructed had great acoustics. All of their voices echoed back to them, as were any sounds made by the Marines. A sniffle, a stifled cough, the clatter of a sling point. All reverberated back multiple times over. It was eerie.
Brink looked around, his helmet-light illuminating several circular entrances to corridors that split from this main room.
"Lotta side passages." Wilks said, voicing what Brink was thinking. "What's the plan, Lieutenant?"
"You should take a squad and investigate down these." Janet said. "Who knows if the survivors found a bed-down location or something like that." She looked at Brink. "I'm going to look down that one." She pointed to the third entrance from the left.
"What's the plan, Lieutenant?" Wilks asked again. Brink stifled a smirk at this. Wilks was just as fed up with this company broad as he was.
"Staff Sergeant Wilks." Brink said.
"Sir." Wilks replied.
"Take a squad and accompany Miss Reyes down that corridor." Brink said. Janet rolled her eyes, but he did notice a slight release of tension in her shoulders. He did smirk at this. Apparently Miss gung-ho-company-girl-boss was relieved to have some Jarheads watching her ass.
"Yes sir." Wilks said. Brink turned to the rest of the platoon while Wilks passed the order along to Third Squad.
"Sergeant Hopkins." Brink said.
"Sir." Hopkins said, stepping forward.
"You and your squad are coming with me. We're going to check out some of these other tunnels. Check?"
"Yes sir." Hopkins said. As the Sergeant went to gather his troopers, Brink turned to Knight. He found the synth looking at him, patiently waiting for orders.
"You're going to stay here with First Squad. If you hear anything, or if we call for help, you guys are our QRF." Brink said. "Check?"
"Yes sir." Knight replied.
"Staff Sergeant Wilks and I will mark our paths with RV markers." Brink said, referring to the small transmitters that each Marine carried to mark waypoints. "I don't know how this place is going to affect our comms once we break line of sight, but it shouldn't interfere with picking up these."
"Understood, sir." Knight said with a nod.
"Alright." Brink returned the nod, then turned to face the squad that would be accompanying him. "Second squad, ready to move out?"
"Yes sir." They all replied. Brink nodded to Hopkins.
"Reed, lead us out." Hopkins said. Reed stepped forward, starting towards the dark, maw-like entrance of the corridor that Lieutenant Brink had pointed out. Reed hoped that his easy-going smile and confident stride had been enough to portray the image of a Marine in his element. Because after seeing the tens of thousands of dead in the field, city, and courtyard, Reed was scared shitless.