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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 23, 2013 5:49:36 GMT -5
"Bring her in", said Alexei to a nearby fisherman. With his gloved hand he picked up a rope and tossed it onto the pier. Within seconds the small boat was tied securely to the edge of the improvised pier, greenish water lapping quietly at its underside. Alexei stepped off the boat and onto the pier, his rubber and plastic boots squeaking slightly as they came into contact with the damp surface.
"Couple of visitors just arrived from the Arbat Federation", he told the fisherman who'd helped tie the boat up, "I know them both so they won't be any trouble."
"Good", grumbled the fisherman, "we've already had a bunch of Reds come through earlier. They riled up the shrimps and threatened some folks who were being too nosy, so we've already had our fair share of trouble-makers."
"Reds?", said Alexei, frowning, "I didn't see them go by. Did they say what business they had with Venice?"
"They came through a side-tunnel, the one full of spiderbugs", said the fisherman, stroking his scraggly beard thoughtfully, "and they only mentioned trade with some gangsters, although what Commies have to do with scum-sucking gangs is beyond me..."
Alexei thanked the fisherman and turned back towards Opal and Natalya. With an absent-minded wave he bid them come forward, all the while wondering what the Red Line was up to in Venice.
As Natalya stepped off the boat she stared at the strange world around her. She recognised the station, but beyond that all ressemblances to what she remembered ended abruptly. Murky water came halfway up the walls and an assortment of shanty-like houses and constructions had been erected here and there on floating platforms. The smell of detritus and cooking filled the air and voices resonated like sounds outside an aquarium.
"I've never been to the real Venice", she declared, "but I think this has to be the closest thing to it."
Alexei lead them through the throng of ramshackle buildings and busy people. As they moved through the crowds Natalya saw a few disreputable-looking individuals sitting around or standing in corners.
"Worse than Grozny", she muttered, instinctively reaching for her pockets to make sure no strange hands were groping around inside them. Despite a few curious or hostile glances, the gang members did not bother them, and Natalya assumed that the small group's armament was enough to make thieves and thugs think twice before attacking. That or Alexei was a well-known and respected figure in Venice.
"To answer your earlier question, Opal", said Alexei as they walked past a bar, "I don't know if their any Revs in Venice at the moment. There are a bunch of Reds, though, but I don't think you'd want to meet them."
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Post by Opal on Sept 25, 2013 17:25:32 GMT -5
“No,” she said quietly from her position in the rear of the group, “I’d like to avoid them if I can.” Her voice was worn sounding as if from tiredness or uncaring of the subject matter, it was hard to tell. Either way she followed along behind Alexei and Natalya without joining in conversation and instead she scanned the faces of the people they passed. Keeping her goggles firmly in place she was able to observe each one without attracting much notice. The walkway was filled with nothing but the usual, fisherman and gangsters but her grip kept the latter at bay and the former from looking at her face to closely despite their friendly nods in her guide’s direction.
Opal had lied about the Reds though, she wanted to know what they wanted in Venice or at least where they were staying so she could steer clear. But first things first she decided as a familiar face flitted in between two arguing men before disappearing with their wallets and blending into the moving crowd. Keeping her eyes on the back of his head so not to lose track of him she called up ahead to her companions.
“Hey I’ll catch up with you later. I have to make a call upon another old friend.” With that she turned heel and started back the way they had come, too intent on her quarry for so much as a good-bye, good luck, I love you, or any of her accustomed sarcasm. The man she was following pose a small and unassuming presence and was so easily over looked and lost in a crowd and was perfect for his job. Suddenly he cut into a small gap between grimy shacks that made up an impromptu alley. Quickly she turned after him and was confronted with a dead-end. Her eye twitched with annoyance, he was also a coward and a huge flight risk.
Tilting up her goggles she combed the darkened space for movement of any kind. “Gavriil! Come now it’s only me!” A pout graced her lips as she continued her scan. “I’m sad that you’d hide from me.” Finally she saw it, the corner of a nearby piece of sheet metal quivered as something bumped behind it. “Damn it, Gavriil, I haven’t the time for games!”
In a fit of anger she landed a powerful kick at the metal and down came the entire tower of trash it had been supporting. Gavriil had only a second to cry out in surprise before he was all but buried in it. Opal’s nose twitched at the smell but at least he was going nowhere. “I’m not going to hurt you,” she began as she shifted some of the heavier pieces away, “I’m looking for some information and if you’ve got it, I’ll buy it. It revolves around a member of your organization…”
Thirty minutes later found her moodily staring into a dirty glass of watered down vodka in a dark corner of a dank tavern. Drumming her fingertips against the table top she brooded in silence without her usual vigil. She learned something of what she wanted to know and now didn’t know if it wasn’t a better idea to throw up her hands and choose a better way to pass her time. Clenching her fist she downed the rest of the glass.
Kicking at a table leg she got up to the far end of the bar to order another drink and was quite oblivious to the eyes that followed her across the room. Wordlessly she held up her fingers in that universal bar language of ‘yeah, I’d take another’ and then she gazed at the far wall while she waited. Laying down a few bullets as she sipped her new drink she was about to make her way back to her spot when a pair of rough hands grabbed at her hips and stopped her.
Closing her eyes she took a calming breath before attempting to warn the man off but when she opened them again she froze. “Take your hands off me you fucking Commie.” Opal growled but the man just laughed.
“Oh I think not. See we soldiers are in need of female companionship and you, my dear, are prime.” As the man spoke he hands slid upwards until they cupped her breasts suggestively. Opal stood still but her lip moved up in disgust, but when she turned to face him her look was nothing but encouraging.
“You poor man, it’s so lucky that you found me then.” Her voice was a low purr in his ear as she pressed herself closely and ran a finger down his ear. “I’ve been traveling for a while and it’s been over a month since the last time I lay with a strong man.” The man beamed before she continued. “But…” Opal leaned in to whisper in his ear but loud enough that the people nearby could still hear. “I won’t be fucking you!”
Suddenly whipping her head back as all her tensions exploded she slammed her forehead down on his nose with a sickening crunch. Blood instantly spurted from both nostrils as he clamped his hands on his face while yelling thickly to his companions. There were three of them and in her current mood she didn’t mind the odds. And at that point chaos simply broke out across the tavern.
Dropping her glass she charged at the first man but was caught on the side of the face by the sledgehammer fist of one of his companions. Staggered she shook her head but managed to dodge the next blow. Jumping back into a crouch she spit blood onto the floor and whipped her mouth on the back of her hand and laughed. Unsettled by her reaction, the man with the big fists glanced at his companions and missed as her leg shot out as knocked his out from under him in a single move. She got up as the first man was charging at her and she held her ground sending both of them flying over the bar when they collided in in flurry of punches and curses.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jan 23, 2014 17:23:54 GMT -5
Alexei watched Opal walk away worriedly. The last time Opal had stalked off by herself in Venice, there had been a few broken noses and chairs as well as a lot of angry gangsters. What if she went and picked another fight in a bar? Who would drag her out and sort things out? Who...?
A hand fell softly on his shoulder, and Natalya's husky voice reached him through the hum of the station's activity. "C'mon, chellovek, let's go get a drink. Your girl can take care of herself."
"Okay" said Alexei, "wait, my girl?"
"Hey, don't sound so shocked" answered the older woman with a shrug, "the way she talked about you and the way you look at her, it's pretty clear that there's more than just friendly handshakes going around."
Alexei didn't find the strength to protest, and he let himself be dragged to a small, rickety bar overlooking the brown waters of Venice. Locals in greasy rubber and leather clothes nursed their tin mugs with hands as worn as the station's walls. The flickering flames of candles and oil lamps cast shadows deeper than the grave on their faces, and Alexei shivered. Natalya seemed oblivious to this as she dragged an old chair out for herself and sat down on it, her equipment and clothes rustling and tinkling together.
"Vodka!" she shouted at the barman, "or whatever it is you tunnel rats drink to keep you warm."
The barman hurried over to their table and set a grubby bottle and tin mugs beside them, his pudgy hands glistening with sweat in the candlelight. Natalya tipped the bottle twice, filling her mug and Alexei's.
"To you, chellovek, and to the future if we even have one" she said. Alexei watched her down her drink with the nonchalance of a seasoned boozer. The smell of his own vodka made his gut churn and his eyes water, and after sloshing it around a bit he set it down. Natalya looked at him in flat disapproval.
"Jesus boy", she said, "next you'll be ordering some fruit juice."
"Fruit juice?" said Alexei. Natalya's flat gaze turned to one of incredulousness.
"You've never seen a fruit before, have you" she said, the sentence coming out more as an affirmation than a question. "Bloody hell, I can't believe we've been reduced to this. Crawling around in tunnels, eating rats and mushrooms and sleeping in fucking train stations. When I was in Chechnya, we still had a home and warm blankets to look forward to if we dodged the bullets and bombs long enough. Here? There's no light at the end of the fucking tunnel."
Alexei stared at the older woman in confusion. What on Earth was she rambling about? Natalya seemed to feel his confusion and promptly changed subjects:
"So Alexei, why are you such a quiet little wimp?" she said, looking at Alexei like a particularly disappointing animal in a zoo. Alexei felt a surge of anger and outrage try to claw its way to the surface, only to be silently repressed and bottled up.
"I don't know what you're talking about" he answered. Natalya laughed, a short harsh bark.
"Bloody hell, mujik, I practically insulted you and you don't even have the balls to tell me to shut up" she said, the words so laden with contempt that they seemed to graze Alexei's ego like bullets, "that shiny-eyed devochka Opal's got you on a leash, you can't even drink vodka and even though people seem to respect you here you can't even get a nicer job than the one you have in that shitty damp tunnel."
Natalya leaned in closer, her scarred hand grabbing Alexei's cup and setting it down before him with a clink. Her eyes met his and did not waver, two ice-cold, hard as steel orbs of blue.
"Drink" she said, or rather commanded. Alexei hesitated, glancing uneasily from his glass to her eyes, the gaze of which was quickly becoming unbearable. His hand reached for the cup and lay curled limply around it.
"Go on, drink" urged Natalya, her voice soft yet hard as a crowbar. Alexei lifted the cup to his lips, the stench of the mushroom alcohol burning its way into his nostrils. He took a sip and grimaced as the bitter liquid sloshed into his mouth. It tasted worse than lamp oil mixed with petrol.
"That's not drinking, boy" said Natalya, her husky voice turning into a low, almost threatening growl. Alexei felt his hand tip the cup higher, and more vodka came pouring into his mouth. Before he even knew it he was chugging it down with noisy, shaky gulps.
"That's the spirit!" shouted the older woman. Alexei set the cup down and hiccoughed, a barely repressed shudder of disgust running up and down his spine. And yet, after the initial disgust came a feeling of burning warmth in his gut, the strength of which seemed to radiate out into his arms and legs and shoot up into his brain like the ball of some broken pinball machine. Alexei blinked and cleared his throat with a loud "harrumph!" and was surprised at how loud it had sounded.
"Good, good" said Natalya, "and now..."
A resounding crash interrupted her, and both their heads snapped around to the source of the noise. A large metallic table had been thrown out of a bar, smashing through a thin plywood wall and knocking a man into the water. Shouts and the sound of furniture being tossed around emanated from the gutted bar.
Oh Opal, for fuck's sake, he thought. His body worked faster than his mind, and the young man threw his chair back and rushed off to the bar, his boots thundering on the wooden walkway. Upon entering the bar he ran into a scene of chaos: broken tables, smashed chairs and a seething mass of bodies, all punching, kicking and swearing at something smaller and faster than them. Alexei quickly recognised Opal as the target of the violence.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! STOP IT!" he yelled, his head reeling from the alcohol. One of the fighters was thrown backwards and slammed into Alexei, knocking the air out of his lungs and sending him sprawling on the greasy wooden floor. As Alexei struggled to regain his breath, a single shot snapped. Dust fell from the ceiling and everyone stopped fighting, their eyes turning to the gunman. Alexei looked up from the floor and saw Natalya standing in the doorwar, her Kalash in one hand and a worn-looking shovel in the other. Her expression was one of utter contempt, or even boredom.
"All right assholes" she said, "stop the fighting or I'll have to hurt some of you."
"This ain't any of your business, bitch" spat one of the brawlers, blood seeping from a broken tooth.
"You see this shovel?" said Natalya, swinging the tool upwards, "I used it a lot in Chechnya, but not for digging. In fact, I think I broke more skulls and knees with it than digging. So unless you want me to make you a new elbow on your forearm, I'd shut your shitty mouth and go back to drinking."
The men hovered, indecisive. Eventually they skulked back to their bar stools. Natalya nodded to herself, spinning the shovel like some fancy revolver in a Western. Alexei took advantage of the situation to go grab Opal by the arm and drag her out of the bar.
"This metro has a serious lack of guts" said Natalya as they left the bar, "back in Chechnya we used to use fuckers like those as sandbags."
"Great, great" snapped Alexei as he tugged Opal along, "let's hope they don't call for help. It would be rather hard to explain all that Chechnya business to them."
Turning to Opal, Alexei felt anger flood him, battering down his walls of self-control and calm. He almost felt like slapping the woman.
"Fucking hell, Opal!" he shouted, "what the fuck were you even thinking? Those guys could have killed you back there! Do you even realise what you did? Those assholes will be stirring shit up in no time, and I won't be able to smooth talk us out of it this time. Fuck, we'd better find ourselves a boat to get the fuck out of here fast!"
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Post by Opal on Jul 16, 2014 16:56:13 GMT -5
All Opal could see was red and she lost herself to the violence, ignoring the small voice in the back of her head that warned that she shouldn’t be doing this. Getting into fights like this was really a habit she needed to break but that was a concern for tomorrow. Right now she had too much coiled inside to care and if she didn’t get it all out right this second she was going to burst. If any of these assholes knew where she could potentially be going, no one would blame her. Or at least that’s how she would justify herself and her actions later on. Who knew if she was going to live out the month.
In her drunken state she could barely feel the pain as fists landed or bodies were slammed around her. Opal was blind to it all as she moved with the instincts of an experienced brawler and reveled in the chaos. That is until some idiot with what she could only describe as having ‘penis envy’ rip a table leg from a rickety table and aimed it for her skull, roaring insults as he moved. She made to move to the side to avoid the blow and slipped in a puddle of some foul smelling liquid. Crying out as the makeshift club clipped her shoulder she fell clutching her side and looked up at the man as he prepared another swing.
Suddenly a gunshot brought everything to a rending silence. Opal blearily looked around but couldn’t see through the press of bodies who had fired off the shot, she thought she heard a voice but her ears where buzzing too much to make it out. Trying stand up she suppressed a groan and sat back down as her shoulder screamed in protest and blood dribbled into her eye from a cut over her brow she didn’t remember receiving.
Just as she was about to succumb to giggles over her pathetic state as a hand reached down and with surprising strength lifted her up and started moving her out of the bar. Her left shoulder had been dislocated and her arm hung limply to her side and she stared down at it in fascination.
It wasn’t until they were out of the bar and moving quickly over the wooden planks that she realized who had grabbed her. It was Alexei, and he was mad, really mad. Opal looked up at him in regret and sighed. “I’m sorry.” She mumbled through a fat lip and slightly hung her head in chagrin.
Causing Alexei trouble again, eh? She admonished herself. How many times was he going to have to pull her foolish ass out of bad situations? Shaking her head, Opal hissed in pain and allowed the smaller man to pull her along. Glancing back she saw Natalya bringing up the rear but couldn’t get a handle on the other woman’s state of mind.
“I’ve let you down again haven’t I?” Opal asked lightly as they made the last turn for the docks. “I don’t know why you put up with me, love. But I appreciate that you do, or have at least until this point.” Eh? What was this self-pity crap going on here? She was all but disgusted with herself but couldn’t help it. Maybe she got hit on the head harder then she had originally thought.
Finally they reached the boats, miraculously without incident, and with a sense of contained urgency they piled into the small boat and as the engine started up and they began to pull away from the small pier Opal managed a small pained smile. “In good news, I ran into a contact of mine who time to time has been known to have useful information and now I have an idea of where to go. But… bad news, and you aren’t going to like this, but we probably are going to wind up somewhere dead on the surface before we find who Natayla is looking for.” Heaving a sigh she shrugged with her good shoulder. “That is if you want to trust the potentially outdated word from a Rev rat. At the moment I don't have the resources to mount the search, but it's got to be done and I won’t blame you if you just drop us off at the first safe port you find but I’d feel better about this if you came along, love. But before you decide, I’m going to need help with this arm."
(OOC: going to have to fiddle with this a bit to make it fit current events :/ )
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 17, 2014 11:20:10 GMT -5
"Right now we just need to get the fuck out of here!" said Alexei through clenched teeth. The tiny skiff they were in was his own, and was barely able to support their weight. Alexei watched the water lap threateningly at the sides of the boat as he picked up speed, the tiny motorcycle engine sputtering and vomiting grey smoke. As Alexei swerved around a jetee covered in makeshift houses, a bullet whined over their head and ricocheted off the ceiling.
"T'voyu mat!" snarled Natalya, immediately raising her Kalach and firing. The gun rattled savagely in her hands, and the assailants gathered on the docks scattered to find cover. Empty bullet casings clicked onto the boat's metal deck, and Alexei almost shook his head at seeing such good money going to waste. A few more bullets came at them, but all missed their target and Alexei soon steered the boat towards the station's Southern exit. As they approached the rusted gate, Alexei shouted at the gatesman:
"Oi Andrei! Let us through, it's Alexei!"
The gate began to lift itself upwards with a squeal of rusted pulleys. Water trickled off the weed and mud-encrusted metal bars. Alexei made the boat go forth, ducking beneath the gate. As the gate shut behind them and they were slowly engulfed by darkness, Alexei couldn't help but cast a worried glance behind him. What would he do now? The gangsters wouldn't forget his assistance to Opal and Natalya, making a return to Venice highly dangerous. Opal was a drifter and Natalya wasn't even from the Metro, which seemed to leave him no choice but to follow them and hope for the best.
"I'm stuck with you two now" he muttered, eyeing Natalya and Opal with sullen malevolence.
"-Watch it, mujik" snarled Natalya.
"You just waltzed into my life and pulled me out of the only place I could call home" said Alexei, glaring at the scarred veteran, "I just lost my job, my home and what family I had! Many thanks! Can't you bitches learn how to control yourselves?"
"If you don't shut your trap I'll knock you into that scummy shit you Metro rats call water!" snapped Natalya, waving a fist beneath Alexei's face. The young man, however, was not intimidated.
"Go ahead, I'm the only one who knows how to pilot this leaky rustbucket!"
A sudden cough from the engine halted the argument. Alexei felt the motor stutter and weaken in his hand and the plumes of grey smoke fade to nothing. His heart sank when the engine gave a final sputtering cough and died.
"Fuck!" he said, leaning over the engine and prying it open. He frowned and swore when he saw a trickle of petrol exiting a hole in the tank. A quick flash of his lamp revealed a shimmering trail of spilt petrol in the filthy water. With a heavy sigh, Alexei slumped back onto the deck.
"What now?" said Natalya. Alexei reached for two paddles nestled to the side of the boat and thrust one into the veteran's hands.
"We paddle" he snapped, dipping his own battered paddle into the murky water.
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Post by Opal on Jul 17, 2014 12:37:07 GMT -5
Opal had ducked down as far as she could as soon as the bullets began to fly overhead. Gritting her teeth, despite a very sore jaw, she fought back groans of pain every time the small skiff made a sudden movement. Though when the metal gate suddenly dropped back into the water behind them she couldn’t stop a small moan from escaping and swarming black dots filled her vision making her nauseous.
This was great, just fucking great! Opal thought to herself as she tried to sit up straighter. Propping herself up with her good arm she peered over side of the skiff to see if anyone was following. But the flooded tunnel was dark and still, even to her vision. She tried to relax but with the pain and the complaining Alexei made it all but impossible.
It’s not like she couldn’t understand his position but she was dealing with too much crap to really care a whole lot at the moment. “Alexei,” Opal all but growled out, “right now I’m going to need you to shut the fuck up and Natalya I need you to relocate my arm while we have this moment of quiet. Please.” She added for good measure.
The other woman nodded slightly and Opal all but ignored Alexei for the moment as she readied herself for the painful shock. Oh she had gone through this pain before but as Nat probed her shoulder with near merciless precision, Opal broke out into a cold sweat and her breath came out in pained gasps. Suddenly there came a hallow crack and Opals stomach lurched. Groaning and panting she fell to her good side and lay there for a moment to regain her senses.
After a few moments Opal glanced up at her male companion, who was still making noise by the way, and a sudden and very irrational urge to break one of his legs and toss him overboard for the shrimp entertained her mind. She resisted but even so she was in too much pain and too angry to watch her words the way she might have otherwise.
“You wouldn’t bitch so much if you knew why I was doing this, you bastard!” With Natalya’s help, Opal sat up and clutched at her shoulder and glared at Alexei. “Why would I be willing to take the risk? Why come to you at all?! Why go and get blasted drunk over a trip to the surface? Why?!” Then her voice dropped to a vicious whisper but her words still echoed over the still water. “Because we are looking for Nadya Orumov. The woman known as Adder, Natalya’s sister, and your mother.” The last she hissed through her teeth in anger.
There was a shocked silence and Opal gave a soft humorless laugh. “Just found out myself honestly. If she is truly on the surface we need to find her soon.”
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 17, 2014 14:02:40 GMT -5
Natalya and Alexei, who were about to resume their heated argument, were reduced to silence by Opal's revelations. The two stared at each other, Alexei's cold reptilian eyes meeting Natalya's.
"How...?" said Natalya, only to be interrupted by Alexei.
"-Oh yes, of course" he said sarcastically, "somehow Opal, the born liar, knows who and where my mother is, even though she's been missing for close to twenty years."
He shook his head, his mouth twisting into a bitter grimace. Within him his emotions crashed into each other like boulders. His anger at Opal was still burning strong, and he almost felt like kicking her overboard and leaving her to drown. But the possibility of finding his mother, a figure shrouded in mystery and shadow and whose presence he had never felt during his childhood, excited and scared him. What kind of woman would his mother be if she was known by Opal? Was he just the son of a two bullet whore, unwanted and unloved? He felt his heart squeeze as he put terrifying and thrilling images onto his missing mother's being. What if Opal was lying?
Alexei's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Okay Opal" he said, "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. If what you say is true, then I hope you will be able to lead me to...to my mother. If not, I'll never speak to you again."
And with that he fell silent and looked away. Natalya continued to stare at him.
"My sister...had a child?" she breathed. Alexei turned to look at her, his brow still set in a bitter frown.
"-If Opal isn't making shit up" he said. Without warning Natalya reached out and grabbed his face, gazing into his inhuman eyes for a while.
"Boje moy" she said, "if it weren't for those eyes of yours you would look just like her."
Without another word she drew Alexei into a crushing hug. In the dim light of the boat's lantern one could see tears glimmer in the woman's eyes. Alexei blinked, unsure how to respond to this sudden show of affection from Natalya...no, his aunt.
"This is a strange day" he muttered tiredly. Natalya let go of him and ruffled his blond hair.
"A good day for me" she said, "I now have hope that we'll find my sister in this hellhole."
Alexei blinked and started paddling again. "We still have a long way to go" he said, "the next station is Marxistskaya, and unless I'm mistaken, this tunnel is pretty fucked up."
"-Fucked up how?" said Natalya, joining Alexei in the paddling.
"Lots-of-people-disappearing-fucked up" said the young man, casting a cautious glance ahead, "even before the tunnels flooded there were weird tales about this tunnel. It used to be filled with some kind of gas, and once some guys from Venice decided to cross it by tying themselves to each other, that way they wouldn't get separated. When they got to Marxistskaya, however, they realised one of their ownwas missing. Nothing was left of him, and his end of the rope looked like it had been burnt with some kind of acid."
"Shit" hissed Natalya, switching on her headlamp and shining it over the murky water. Drops fell from the drenched ceiling of the tunnel, filling the place with clammy echoes and whispers. Natalya's grip tightened around her Kalash.
"Now it's boats arriving empty or disappearing entirely. No sign of their occupants..." said Alexei, his voice sinking to a soft whisper.
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Post by Opal on Jul 17, 2014 15:17:15 GMT -5
Seeing Natalya embrace Alexei effectively killed every inch of her anger, and regret pooled in. Opal had had a family once. Mother, father, sister. They were gone and there was no getting them back, but she remembered what it was like to have them. Her mother’s kindness, her sister’s laugh and unflagging loyalty, she had enjoyed the sound her father’s deep voice, even after she hated him and left home.
The tears in Natalya’s eyes nearly brought forth bittersweet ones of her own. Opal hadn’t intended to tell them this way, she had wanted matters to be done in a happier manner. But what was done was done and if Alexei seriously thought he could get away with never talking to her again he had another thing coming. She’d tie him to a chair and drag him around if she had too. Damned if she wouldn’t! Unconsciously she avoided analyzing why that was.
Feeling slightly out of place she let the two carry on their conversation and started rooting through her bag and pulled out one of her thick, and vibrantly colorful, scarves and tied it into a make-shift sling to hold her arm in place. After a few moments of adjusting she was finally able to take a better stock of herself. The side of her face was tender and probably a mess of bruises and her jaw was swollen. Split lip and a cut above her brow had bled and made a mess down the front of her low cut tank. Her knuckles where tore up and she suspected bruising to one of her ribs when she landed on the bar. To be honest she was surprised to be in the shape she was, Opal mused, as she adjusted the heavy machete strapped to her left hip and thigh.
Opal looked up when she realized what Nat and Alexei where talking about now. Marxistskaya? Shit, is that where they were heading? Letting out an annoyed sigh she glanced nervously around the tunnel before checking the rest of her weapons.
By then the boat had fallen silent, the only sound was the soft splash of the oars cutting into the water and back out. Taking off her glasses so she could peer into the darkness or detect movement in the water, they became luminous orbs whenever they happened to reflex the light cast by Natalya’s head lamp.
In the best of conditions the tunnels where not a pleasant place to be, but rarely were they so oppressive feeling. Moss grew thickly up the walls and it gleamed wetly as they passed and it made the place feel darker and smaller somehow. Small droplets of water dripped down on their heads and made soft echoing noises that wreaked havoc on Opals over attuned senses. Every so often Opal would sense something clinging to the shadows of the ceiling but when she turned to look there was nothing there. A nasty figment of her imagination.
The hairs on the back of her neck rose and she shivered. Suddenly there was the sound of something large falling into the water some distance behind them. As the ripples came and disturbed the small skiff, Opal glanced at her companions with a grim expression. “Please tell me one of you just tossed a big fucking rock into the water?”
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 17, 2014 15:48:42 GMT -5
A loud splash echoed through the tunnel and Natalya's flashlight whipped around, briefly catching on Opal's luminous eyes. All she saw in the light of her torch was the slimy water and the mossy walls. Alexei paddled more softly, carefully dipping his paddle into the water while looking around.
“Please tell me one of you just tossed a big fucking rock into the water?” asked Opal, her voice echoeing glassily through the humid tunnel.
"-No" murmured Alexei, putting down his paddle and reaching for his harpoon gun. For a moment there was only the soft sound of the trio's breathing and the sharp hisses of air made by Alexei pumping up his harpoon. Suddenly Natalya tensed and aimed her gun at a spot in the water, a bit ahead of the boat.
"There!" she hissed, "I saw something move!"
"-Shit" said Alexei, shining his own flickering light on the water's surface. The wet walls of the tunnel seemed to be closing in on them, their surface crawling with unspeakable life, tendrils reaching out to drag them and smother them...
Alexei jerked around, expecting to see an army of plant-like tendrils reaching for him, but all he saw was the slime and moss coating of the wall. He felt his hands get damper as his fear began to build up. Natalya slowly swept her rifle around, her finger trembling close to the trigger. Alexei barely caught a glimpse of something black and slimy snaking its way on board before Natalya was yanked off her feet.
"FUCK, IT GOT ME!" she yelled, her rifle flying out of her hands and knocking Alexei in the face. He shouted in pain as the steel receiver slammed into his nose. Pain shot through his face and blood ran hot down his lips.
"Help! Please help!" yelled Natalya. Alexei blinked and scrambled to his feet, the small boat rocking beneath him. Natalya was hanging onto the edge of the boat with both her hands while the rest of her body was covered in a squirming mass of black tentacles. Without thinking he lunged forward, grabbed hold of her arms and pulled with all his might.
"AAAAAH!" screamed Natalya, her voice warped with pain, "IT'S BURNING ME! IT'S FUCKING BURNING ME! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"
Alexei smelled the strong stench of burning fabric and pulled harder, to no avail. The creature had Nat in a vise-like grip, and no matter how hard Alexei struggled, the beast would easily pull Natalya under. Out of the corner of his eye he saw more tentacles spring up from the water and wrap themselves around Opal's injured arm. Another one sprung forth like a snake and wrapped itself around Alexei's leg.
"Pizda!" yelled Alexei as the tentacle began to pull at him. His heavy boots, ideal for gripping the wet decks of fishing boats, held firm and Alexei was able to reach for his knife and cut the tentacle off. He then began to hack away at those wrapped around Natalya.
"Opal!" he cried, "in the box by the bow! Dynamite!"
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Post by Opal on Jul 17, 2014 16:37:03 GMT -5
In a matter of seconds chaos exploded into the calm of the little boat. The suddenness of the attack left Opal slightly stunned, but only for a moment. As quickly as her damaged body would allow she leaped up to her feet and unsheathed her machete. But just as she gained her footing Natalya had accidentally hit Alexie in the face causing the boat to rock violently. The rough motion caused Opal to slip and she hit the wooden deck hard.
In any other less life threatening circumstance the last few moments would have been considered comical. But as it was Opal was wheezing in pain and struggled to get back up on her feet and rush to Natalya’s aid. It wasn’t to be.
Opal was nearly knocked back off her feet as more tentacles emerged from the water and wrapped themselves around the bare skin of her bad arm. Screaming in pain she tried to hack at the creature but the angle was awkward and she only managed glancing blows. The air was filled with the smell of burning fabric and the anguished screams from the small group.
“Opal, in the box by the bow! Dynamite!” Yelled Alexei as he remained trying to keep his grips on his Aunt and struggling with tentacles of his own. Opals eyes where stinging with pain filled tears but she managed to locate the box in question. Grunting with the effort of pulling against her living restraints she dropped her machete and managed to flip open the lid with the tips of her fingers.
Biting the inside of her cheek she was able to push passed the pain in her arm and reach down into the box. With her finger tips she managed to grasp the long wick of the dynamite and pulled it up into view. She was breathing heavily with the effort but she lay on her back and hooked her leg over the edge of the boat, opposite of where the tentacles where located, her bad arms stretched painfully over her head. Resting the dynamite on her chest she reached into her cargo pants and located a butane lighter. Her hand was shaking and she failed to one-handedly light the dynamite twice. Gritting her teeth she forced herself to tune out the calls of her companions and focus before the panic set in.
Opals thumb moved over the striker and nothing. “Shit, shit, shit!” she breathed before finally the wick caught and the fuse was lit. With no time to spare she tilted her head back and tossed the dynamite into the water where she believed the tentacles where coming from. Still fighting against the crushing and burning tentacles around her arm she held her breath.
Time seemed to stand still and she could hear the harsh breathing from her companions as if everything was in sharp relief. Then finally an explosion rocked the surface of the water as the dynamite detonated, drenching them in the process. The boat was rocked back, nearly knocking them all into the water but somehow they stuck. The water seemed to boil but most of Opal’s attention was focused on slipping free of the creatures loosened grip around her arm. But before she was totally free they disappeared into the water with an angry splash.
With no time to think Opal rushed over and helped Alexei pull Natalya back over the railing and onto the relative safety of the small skiff. At the same moment the water exploded yet again and emitted a gurgling screech of fury as a giant form rose from the water. Opal almost gagged at the stench the monster carried with it. “Good fucking Christ!” she exclaimed.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 17, 2014 17:12:08 GMT -5
The boat rocked and Alexei's ears rang as the dynamite went off. Dust and concrete fell from the roof of the tunnel. Alexei felt the creature's grip on Natalya loosen, and he pulled his aunt back on board.
"Thanks...thanks..." sputtered the battered and soaked woman, but she had no time to recover from her shock. A ghastly creature emerged from the water, and both Alexei and Natalya turned to face it with growing horror. Never before had they seen such a disgusting beast. Its skin was black and wet, and seemed to undulate slightly. Its head was crowned by two viscous-looking feelers, and a multitude of tendrils sprouted from its body. Natalya felt bile rise in her throat when she saw the monster's "belly", a veritable nest of slithering slimy tendrils, each one tipped with a tiny beak-like mouth.
"Boje moi" gasped Natalya, overcome by terror and disgust. The tunnel was filled with a thick hot stench, like that of corpses rotting in a swamp.
"Bloody fucking hell!" shouted Alexei as the creature lunged forth. Acting on pure instinct, Alexei grabbed his harpoon and fired. The steel projectile hissed through the air and stabbed through one of the creature's feelers. The monster recoiled abruptly, its massive bulk slapping the boat aside like a piece of grass. The tiny boat spun, Alexei screamed and the front of the hull smashed into the wall with a teeth-shaking crash. Alexei's heart sank when he heard a crack followed by a rush of water.
"-We're sinking!" cried Natalya. Alexei looked down and saw water lapping at his boots, quickly rising and pulling the tiny boat under. The creature turned back to them, Alexei's harpoon still sticking out of its injured feeler, and hurled itself at the boat. Alexei grabbed hold of Opal and pulled her overboard. The scummy water engulfed them at once, and Alexei heard the dull crash of splintered wood and twisted metal. He held on to Opal and kicked off his boots. With two powerful kicks he broke the surface, pulling Opal up beside him. All around them the dark water heaved and shook, and debris from the boat drifted by.
"Natalya!" yelled Alexei. A quick glance behind him showed that the beast, now partially blind, was busy ripping the boat to pieces. Alexei felt a pang of sadness and anger as he saw his boat torn to scrap. Two years of bullets had gone into the boat.
"-I'm here!" called Natalya. Alexei saw his aunt treading water up ahead, one hand grasping the rusted and moss-covered pipe that ran along the tunnel's curved wall. Alexei began to swim towards her, dragging Opal along. Suddenly, he felt something grab his foot.
Oh God, not again!
With horrifying strength the creature dragged him underwater. Opal was wrenched from his arms, and Alexei had to stop himself from screaming underwater. Through the murk and bubbles he saw the creature's writhing mass of flesh and tentacles. Hope abandoned him then. They could never outswim such an abomination, and soon they would join all those whose lives had come to an end in this flooded tunnel.
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Post by Opal on Jul 17, 2014 18:15:32 GMT -5
Getting Natalya on board was just the start of their trails. If any of them had thought they’d have a moment to regroup, they’d have been horrifically mistaken. What rose from the water was probably one of the biggest creatures Opal had ever run across this close to an inhabited station. She had considered herself well-traveled for a tunnel-dweller and thought she had seen just about all there was, but the metro had other ideas. It always did.
Forced into making quick decisions, Opal dove for her machete as Alexei fired off his harpoon and brought it up just in time to knock back one of the tendrils with the bladed weapon as it shot towards her face. The slug-like behemoth lunged forward and the boat began spinning like a top.
“We’re sinking!”
Of all the phrases Opal hated the most, that one took the cake. Without thinking Opal reached over for Alexei but found that he had already moved to grab her. He was the only one who knew she couldn’t swim. Realizing his intent she sucked in a full breath of air just before they broke under the surface. As the water surrounded them, Opal felt… dirty. The water was thick with slime and algae, who knew how many rotting bodies was concealed by the dark water and reeds?
Her arm was swollen to near immobility and the pain was beginning to make her feel dazed but she kicked her feet and held on for dear life as they made their way to where Natalya had found a pipe. But luck it seemed was still not with them.
On moment Alexei was there, and the next he was ripped away from her. She couldn’t hold back her scream as she panicked underwater. The water was too dark and disturbed to be able to see or know what was up or down. Opal realized in cold realization that she was about to drown and then probably be eaten, and there was nothing she could do about it.
She had run out of air and her limbs felt like lead and she sank towards the bottom. The panic began to recede but too late, her consciousness began to fade out. Opal thought at that last moment that someone or something had grabbed onto her but passed it off as a delusion and closed her eyes.
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 18, 2014 11:26:55 GMT -5
Natalya held onto the pipe and watched in helpless horror as the boat was reduced to flotsam. When Alexei and Opal vanished beneath the water's surface she couldn't hold back a scream of despair.
"No!" She cried, her voice barely audible over the thunder of roiling water and thrashing mutant. She was about to swim out in one last desperate attempt to rescue her companions when her eye caught a flash of movement under the water.
A humanoid shape emerged seconds later, bearing Opal's drenched and comatose form over one shoulder. Natalya blinked as she took in the appearance of Opal's saviour. Greenish skin, a smooth hairless skull and eyes like round black pearls gazed back at her.
"Take her up the tunnel" said the stranger, "there's a staircase leading upward. Quick! I'll go back for Alexei."
Without another word, Natalya pulled Opal towards herself. The strange swimmer instantly vanished, her body seemingly melting into the water's thrashing surface. With powerful kicks, Natalya dragged Opal through the water until she saw a dark opening in the tunnel wall. With a grunt se hoisted herself and Opal out of the water, and began to pump the unconscious woman's chest.
"Come on, Opal!" Growled Natalya, "don't you dare die!"
Alexei's lungs burned as his chest heaved with the overwhelming desire to draw breath. His limbs thrashed uselessly against the monster's myriad tentacles, with every kick and every jerk bringing him closer to drowning.
There was a sudden burst of movement as something log and narrow sliced through the water, passing mere inches away from Alexei's face. As his strength and will began to fade, Alexei recognised the object.
A harpoon. But who...?
The writhing black mass of mutated flesh began to writhe violently, and Alexei felt the beast's grip loosen. He fell free and drifted to the bottom,?arms and legs flailing lazily upwards as he sank.
Then something caught him, like a rugby player snatching the ball mid-fall, and Alexei felt himself get carried upwards. Suddenly the water fell away, and he found himself gasping for air, his hair plastered messily against his drenched face.
His rescuer began to pull him away from the writhing monster with inhuman speed. Only one person in Venice could swim and dive like that.
"G-Gill?" He sputtered, but his rescuer did not answer. Soon they left the gigantic mutant behind, an Alexei saw a large square opening in the side of the tunnel, probably the entrance of an old maintenance tunnel. Water ran down the tunnel's stairs and cascades into the muddy water, and a couple of small shrimps swam quickly away. Alexei and Gill climbed out of the water, the former's limbs trembling like those of a newborn colt.
Alexei then turned to look at Gill. The amphibious mutant, clad in her usual neoprene wetsuit, had dropped into a frog-like crouch as soon as she left the water. Near them Alexei saw Natalya doing her best to reanimate Opal.
"Oh shit!" Said Alexei, stumbling towards his aunt. His heart clenched when he saw Opal's expressionless face. Had she drowned?
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Post by Opal on Jul 18, 2014 12:32:38 GMT -5
Drowning, why did it have to be drowning? Opal could think of so many more exciting ways to die. Well, a giant tentacle slug monster wasn’t so bad but it just didn’t roll of the tongue very gracefully. But seriously, drowning? In her next life, she mused if you could muse while dying, she was going to learn how to swim and that was that. No more of this flailing about, it was embarrassing.
It was dark wherever she was, she couldn’t make out anything. There was sound but it was frail and distorted as if heard from a great distance, Opal thought that she had heard her name echo towards her but it was hard to tell. She also felt pain. Did you feel pain in limbo? Everything hurt and she was beginning to forget why. Small details began to slip away from her and she panicked. Desperately she tried to cling to everything she was losing, memories, feelings, sounds… everything that made her up as a person.
“Oh shit!” Alexei?
Sudden light burst through as her sensitive eyes snapped open and water began to expel violently from her lungs. Ok so, not dead?
Opal sucked in a deep breath between coughing fits and groaned before she was able to make sense of her surroundings. Natalya was bent over her and if she looked like a drowned rat how did Opal look? The fact that she was alive to worry about silly vanity was a relief. Alexei knelt down next to his aunt and the look on his face brought all of Opals own emotions crashing down on her. Reaching for him with her good arm she brought him down to her in a one armed hug.
Pressing her forehead into the crook of his neck she shuddered and held him close as tears silently began to fall. “I’m sorry love.” She whispered, “I’m so sorry. It’s all my fault…” She broke off as her lungs forced more water out of her lungs and she lurched to the side. Her hand still clutched Alexei’s arm as if it was a lifeline.
Movement caught the corner of her eye and she glanced up. A dark form crouched nearby silently watching them. It was human in form but hairless and eyes that seemed almost too big for its face. Its features were feminine in structure, so female? Opal glanced up at Alexie and raised her brow in silent question but he seemed unconcerned so she glanced back. “Uuuh, hello?”
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Post by Lawnmower Joe on Jul 18, 2014 12:48:47 GMT -5
Gill raised a hand and smiled.
"Hi" she said, far too jovially for someone who had saved three people from death. It was almost as if she were greeting Opal at the fish market.
Natalya fell onto her backside with a sigh, ignoring the water running down the slippery stairs. "Hello" she said, "thanks."
"No problem" said the gilled mutant, who was beginning to fidget slightly beneath Opal's steady gaze.
"Gill", said Alexei, "thanks a lot. If you hadn't been there we'd all be slug food."
"I saw what happened back at the docks and I decided to follow you" said Gill, her dark eyes flashing with a brief but telling light when Alexei spoke to her. "This tunnel isn't safe at all..."
Only then did Alexei notice Opal's confused gaze, and he hastily added: "Oh Opal, this is Gill. Gill, this is Opal."
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