A Star's Descent

Chapter Thirteen: Knee Deep

A Star's Descent

By evolution-500

Disclaimer: House of the Dead and Resident Evil are properties belonging to SEGA and Capcom respectively. I do not own any of these characters.

Chapter Thirteen: Knee Deep

Marini's intestines knotted together nervously.

In all of his days as a leader, be it for a platoon of Force Recon Marines or for a S.T.A.R.S. Team, there had never been a time where he had knowingly left a man behind. Having to do so now maddened the veteran to no end.

After he stepped through the doorway, he found himself near a ledge, looking down at a large pool of water. The walls were absolutely filthy, covered in grime and other stuff that he didn't even want to identify. Sniffing the air, his nose wrinkled with disgust. Clattering behind him, he watched the others step through, pushing him closer and closer toward the edge until Rebecca was roughly shoved in by Forest, forcing him to stumble off into knee deep water. Glancing down, his features warped into a scowl, confirming his suspicions of where they were.

'How appropriate,' came the bitter thought.

As if he hadn't been reminded enough of their situation, life just had to throw a curve ball; not only were they in the sewers, but he just stepped into what looked and smelled unmistakably like a very large turd, probably from a large dog.

'I hope,' he prayed as he straightened himself up.

Looking back to Forest, he narrowed his eyes into a glare. Turning back to the medic, he saw a whirlwind of emotions written across her face, a mixture of anger, guilt, shame and determination.

"I need to go back!" she said.

"Rebecca-"

"Kenneth's still out there!"

"I know that, Rebecca, but there's nothing we can do," he said simply.

She was about to reach for the door when Forest grabbed hold of her.

"Let me go!" she exclaimed.

"Not gonna happen!" Forest replied.

Struggling relentlessly underneath his grip, she pulled away and twisted around to face Marini, panting angrily as she did so.

"We need to go back for Kenneth."

"There's nothing we can do, Rebecca," he repeated.

"So what, you're just going to do nothing?! For God's sake, he's injured, we can't just leave him like meat-"

"Don't you tell me how to do my job!" Marini snapped, causing her to flinch.

He watched as Rebecca's features faltered. There was now a look of desperation and anguish.

"Let me go back, then," she said quietly, "Please."

"This conversation's over," Marini said stiffly.

"Why?"

"For one, I don't want to argue in a sewer, especially when I'm standing in fresh shit!" Marini growled impatiently before turning away. "We'll continue this after we get out. Careful where you step."

* * * *

Rebecca opened her mouth to protest, but as Marini waded away, her eyes cast down in defeat.

"Don't look so down, rookie. We'll come back for Kenneth," Aiken tried to assure.