Chapter 29
Many Rooms
Nina’s army safely went around the west hill. They surely hoped there were no creatures lurking around the region; otherwise they’ll have to give up their position. The night was deep and they were still long way from the enemies. Plus, they were near the pond. So they decided to stay there for a few hours.
Sarah said to Michel that she is going to wash. She couldn’t rest as her whole body was itchy. She went to the pond and stared at the water. It looked muddy but it wasn’t a time to complain. She took off the clothes and touched the water.
James looked at Sarah from a distance. He looked at her and the urge inside him burned. James approached her without much of a thought. But as the bush rumbled, Sarah pulled out the gun and shot at it.
“Stop! Stop!” bellowed James, waving his hand in the air, Sarah, who was still naked, stopped shooting.
“Pardon me, Captain,” said Sarah, coldly. James was examining his own body to see whether he was hit.
“You are one wild girl, Sarah Johnson,” said James, with a nervous laugh. Sarah glimpsed at him reproachfully, got out of the pond and started drying her body with a towel. She grabbed her long hair and made a pony tail behind.
“Hey… umm… You know Sarah, I was the one who hired you, because I like you,” said James, staring at her body.
“I’m sorry Captain, you are being an asshole,” said Sarah, putting her clothes on. “You are not my type.”
“Oh… I like it,” said James, almost comically. Sarah scoffed and started laughing. James’s face got distorted at her reaction.
“Go away, Captain, I’ve got a gun, and you don’t,” said Sarah, shooing him off with her pistol. “… Now why do I sound like Nina...?”
“Oh... Sarah, I don’t think you can resist my charm,” said James, winking, making a weird cute face. Sarah tried to prevent the finger from moving further in. She gave him a sickened look.
“What is that attitude? Eh? I’ve heard what you’ve done in the past. Ha! I should’ve have known, no sane mind ever comes under Nina Polchinski’s command,” growled James. Sarah face got rigid.
“And why did you come then?” said Sarah, putting on her pants with her one arm.
“… I was so hungry…” grinned James. “See... I was the Captain of most notorious army in this world. It’s your fault that I’ve lost the position! I’m… I’m going to get it back, lieutenant.”
Sarah stepped back, clutching the pistol. Suddenly the bush rumbled and Michel appeared.
“Oh,” said Michel, with a dumbfounded look, lowering his gun. “Sorry Captain, I heard the gunshot.”
“It was a rat,” snapped Sarah. She grabbed her stuff and went near Michel. James looked reproached.
“Oh,” said Michel. Sarah grabbed Michel’s arm and headed back to the division.
James, furious and humiliated, just looked at them loathsomely, wanting to kill them.
Few hours later, Nina’s army activated the cloaking device and hopped toward the hill where the snipers were hiding. They were looking at the small number of militants there.
“This sugarless phenomenon is driving me nuts,” murmured Nina.
“Not so brave without the machines huh?” smiled Alvin.
“Look who’s talking,” said Nina.
“It is hot enough now. Don’t bother, we still have time until night,” said Alvin.
“Are they moving, Alvin?” said Nina, hiding behind the trees.
“Still as rock, eight snipers, and some militants and…” said Alvin. “Dogs, the real ones,”
“Sneak from the back and put the grenade in the hole,” said Nina.
“No,” snapped Alvin.
“Why not?” hissed Nina.
“Possible booby traps, and won’t the dogs bark?” said Alvin.
“You want to shoot them all?” said Nina.
“Much safer,” said Alvin, taking out his machine gun.
“All right all right. Let’s go,” said Nina and raised her gun. The others did the same.
It was an easy kill; the enemy didn’t even know what to do when they opened fire. They were exterminated. Nina looked around; seeing that no one is alive, she deactivated the cloaking device. Then rest of the army closely examined the corpses. They were going through the corpses but nothing valuable came out. Paul frowned at the corpses and went around and around. Sensing something fishy, Paul walked toward Nina.
“Uhh admiral? Captain?” said Paul.
“What is it Sergeant?” said Nina, taking the sniper rifle from the ground and strapping it over her shoulder.
“These snipers, they are all women,” said Paul. Nina frowned and looked around. Nina went up to one of them and closely examined her, looking for the tattoos of sort; but she was clean, there were nothing on her.
“Search the others,” said Nina.
“Yes admiral,” said Paul and the few. They started searching them again, but found nothing either. Stein stared closely at one of the snipers, slightly touching their cheek. The face looked familiar from the past.
‘What is it?’ he tried to remember. Inside the memory Stein was in the small office, the three people were dead on the floor; the cards and money were scattered on the table and the floor. There were group of women cackling inside the bar, standing beside the corpses. The people at the bar hid under the table, frozen and scared; they stared at those fiendish looks.
Stein gushed back to reality, felt a chill from his back. He stood up and looked at Alvin wearily.
“It’s the Assassins’ Chamber,” said Stein. After those words hit their eardrums, they fell into a silence. Michel dropped the corpse he was holding; it hit the head on the rock, making a squishy sound. No one spoke for a couple of minutes.
“Move quickly,” said Nina.
“Nina, if it is really the Assassins’ Chamber…” said Alvin.
“Alvin, we need your army!” said Nina.
“Admiral, pardon me, but I don’t think it is wise to move right now…” murmured James, interrupting her.
“Why?” said Nina, frowning.
“Well, we have a cloaking device and they, well… don’t have these headgears…” murmured James.
“James,” said Nina.
“Yes, admiral,” said James.
“Do you doubt my judgment?” sneered Nina.
“No, admiral,” said James, sheepishly.
“Obey, James, for your sake,” said Nina. She turned to the soldiers. James zipped his mouth, coughing.
“Drop the load, we have to move fast,” said Nina to Alvin.
“Ok,” muttered Alvin. “Everyone drop the unnecessary luggage and run!”
They started running toward the creek. But the situation was bad. After the Assassins’ Chamber heard the gunshot, they surrounded the area. When they ran for while, the booby traps exploded in the woods; two men became pieces. Bullets and rockets showered at the spot. As they went down the hill, Nina sensed that the booby traps were depicting an inverted shape like a fish trap. Among the woods, there were also an iron wires blocking the way.
“Run run!” shouted Nina, going forward. The enemy pursued them from their back. Rockets and grenades flew. The bark of the trees float in the air, the rock cracked open and the soil started rumbling.
“Now, hide hide, whatever you are.” hissed the assassin, looking at the turmoil right in front of her “Just a little more, fall down to the pit.” She pulled the trigger; the grenade launched and hit the trees nearby James.
James had a heavy blow on his upper body, the cloaking device broke; his whole chest felt like the fire went through; it started bleeding uncontrollably. He felt cold, his strength fused out from his body.
“I…” muttered James. Instantly, several bullets hit him; they pierced through his leg and stomach. He dropped dead.
Nina’s army opened fire at the enemies but they were well hidden, they couldn’t move fast due to booby traps. Alvin caught something on his fo
ot and rolled on the ground. The cloaking device got damaged and part of his body got exposed.
“Alvin!” shouted Nina. She ran up to him and covered him so the assassins cannot see. They silenced for a while, laying flat on the ground. Alvin groaned and looked around to see what tripped him off. He saw the black hatch handle on the ground.
“Tunnel,” said Alvin.
“What?” hissed Nina. “Shut up!”
“Tunnel!” shouted Alvin.
Nina glanced above and saw the hatch door also; it was half covered in dry leaves. She crawled toward it and pulled the hatch open. Nina pushed Alvin into the tunnel and pushed the emergency button on her walky-talky, calling everyone.
She covered the open hatch door with her body so it doesn’t look notable from afar. She pressed the button again, all the walky-talky let out the high pitched sound. The soldiers noticed and turned back. The head gear they were wearing showed the location of Nina. They went near her and jumped into the hole.
She saw the leaves flying in the air. Many men were entering the hatch, some of them fallen from the distance. Nina then saw the flare from a distance; the rocket flew toward her. She jerked and quickly dropped to the hole pulling the hatch door. It banged shut; the blast vibrated the door. Nina twisted the handle and it locked. There were heavy breathing and groaning inside.
“Urrgh,” said Nina, catching breath. Stein went to her and sighed with relief.
“Are you alive, Paul?” said Sarah, giving hand to Paul who just rolled on the stair.
“Yeah,” said Paul.
“Will you move?” groaned Michel, pushing Paul who was sitting on his body.
They all deactivated the cloaking device. Paul hit the flare to light up the area. Many of them were injured badly. They treated each other using an emergency kit. They rested for awhile.
Inside the tunnel, the rotten stench was coming up from below. The orange and yellow funguses were growing on the wall. The water was dropping from above. It was dark and cold.
The hatch door was making a ticking noise and the handle was slowly turning by itself. Nina realized that it’s only going to stay locked for a while. Few explosions were heard from above. The metal door vibrated but remained bolted shut.
“Check this out…” said Michel lighting the hatch door. “There is something here.”
Michel saw there was one phrase written on the corroded surface. The light flickered as his hand was unstable. It was paved on the metal surface,
‘There are many rooms, but do not enter. There is only one way.’
“Riddles…” murmured Michel. “I hate riddles.”
“What is it?” said Nina, coming near. Sarah came along too.
“Any luck Nina?” said Sarah, approaching from behind.
“Nope,” said Nina.
Nina took out the flare from her pocket. She removed the cap and struck the end. It sprayed the fire. She frowned at the blinding light and went to the handrail. Looking down at the dark space below, she dropped the flare. It dropped further down, lighting the surrounding. They saw a massive structure of stairs and various black metal doors. A moment later, a light tapping sound echoed inside the tunnel; it hit the bottom.
“This is huge…” said Alvin, looking at the flare down below. Their eyes were filled with awes and wonder.
Suddenly, they heard squealing and the next moment, the flare was gone. They startled and clutched their weapons. They saw a couple of creatures climbing on the metal frame. Alvin pulled his machine gun and shot at the creatures; they shrieked and fell into the darkness.
“Do you think there is a breeding ground down here? Captain?” said Sarah. Alvin sniffed and rubbed his nose.
“I don’t know lieutenant. But we can’t stay here too long,” muttered Alvin.
“We don’t want them to snipe us either…” said Nina glimpsing at the hatch door. “Let’s move and find another exit shall we?”
“I got two rounds left,” muttered Alvin, handing her the clip. They walked, not knowing where they are going, but moving far enough to get away from the assassins.
“So are we having a tour?” murmured Michel to Sarah.
“Yeah,” said Sarah, looking at the rustic doors on the side. “You want to knock one of them?”
“This reminds me a bad memory” said Paul, remembering the sewage trip he had in Cassandra.
They walked for a while, the flame slowly died out. Nina felt some kind of bitterness in her heart, which she didn’t know exactly what it was. The wound in her heart, that was lost in the storm, slowly loomed inside. She tried so hard not to remember, but she failed to do so.
After Veron’s raid, she was afraid of going sleep. She still remembers her grumpy grandfather watching television from his rocking chair. Alvin used to take care of her at the time, young, immature and more childish than now. He comforted her when she was scared and felt miserable. Many things happened after that. They tried to gather the scattered army in Cassandra and put it under the flag. She still remembers what he said when she became an admiral.
“In my life and death,” said Alvin, grinning. “I will protect you till the end.”
‘Was it love?’ thought Nina. ‘Or was it not?’
Perhaps she will never find out.
They walked for hours, and they stopped at one hatch above them. She went up and opened the hatch; she looked around using her binocular. Glimpsing at the starry sky, she went down the stair. The breeze came in, the smell of fresh grass traveled through the wind.
“Alvin?” said Nina.
“Yes?” said Alvin.
“We have to say bye,” she said sadly.
“What are you talking about?” said Alvin, frowning.
“Too much noise,” said Nina. “The position is near. Wait until dark; it is one day away, go to north.”
“Where can I find you then?” asked Alvin. Nina looked away bitterly.
“Nina?” said Alvin.
“I… I’ll find you.” said Nina, her voice trembling. “Go back to the base near shore. Hopefully Captain Nottingham held the base.”
“...”
“And now get your wife, go,” said Nina.
Alvin stared at Nina, slowly shaking.
‘She is trying to find Ricky,’ thought Alvin. ‘She knows that it is the only way.’
There is nothing he could do at this stage. Alvin put on the headgear and strapped his rifle. He went near the hatch and touched the cold metal ladder.
“May the Lord keep you,” said Alvin. “It was an honor, Nina Polchinski.”
Alvin activated the cloaking device and went up to the hatch. Nina nodded, the tear came down. The hatch got closed.
“… Take care,” she whispered.