The Young Fighters

CHAPTER 34

7:00 a.m.

Snake led the militia with the darkness on their side. To the east there was sunrise making the tip of the landscape red and made them rush with alert while Liger kept low to the ground protruding around for traps in the ditch. Any ordinary person would go through the tall grass but in their case they chose the a trench to make their way into Washington City. If Liger's memory was correct the ditches weren't rigged with any traps... If correct. It still didn't hurt to poke around with a knife.

7:10 a.m.

The militia made it all the way up to a spot near the tunnels where they'd caught view of guards standing around on top of the bridge that led down through the burrows. Archers were assembled carefully in the darkness to aim at certain targets. 3,2,1, shoot! Simultaneously they successfully arrowed the couple sentries using arrows fired from their crossbows. Next task would consist of blocking the main entrance.

Quickly standing up and moving around the guard posts they found barrels of gasoline and some gas tankers being kept behind some sand bags and up turned cars. The upcoming plan was to sneak the drums halfway through the tunnels and start pouring gallons of the stuff down the dark system. Another little present they have in store consisted of propane canisters. Their idea was to set them in certain places and loosen the valve and let some of the fumes out slowly, and when the moment comes where the fire is let loose, there's going to be a big bang.

First thing was first, wheel the gasoline drums down the tunnel very carefully. Outside of the burrow was where a number of patrols who sat and waited if in case there ever was a call. None of them looked like they were too concerned by the fact that the city was in total darkness. Above them was a long bridge with several buildings on top that was never really used as a look out post. In the past the street above them was all that was used.

As gallons of gas were being poured out down the roads from various drum barrels, The End and Blaze climbed up on top of the bridge and carefully made their way towards the other side to see enemy activity. They plugged in their ear pieces for the radios and updated Snake and Liger of what they saw. So far they were doing nothing but acting normal about the power outage. After The End did a quick count, he spotted only fifty of them, fifty plus a hummer and some cars. The main light that he saw at the moment only consisted of a few barrels that were being used like a bonfire pit. The faces of the enemy soldiers made him think they were ghosts.

Foot by foot of the underground tunnels were moistened by gasoline and had some propane canisters set in some spots along with a couple pipe bombs. To Top it all off, any spare gas drums were set in the center of each tunnel. The attack would start off as a diversion: make gunshots and then the guys on the other side will come rushing in through the tunnels, once they're in, a pipe bomb will be thrown in and whoever's in there will become barbeque.

Before the bang could go off, Liger handed out a map to another group that detailed the tunnel routing system that would lead them near prison where Wolf and Charlie were designated on liberating. Splinter was given the task of leading them and having them defend the rescue party if they should come under fire. He shook the hands of his commanders and thanked them for letting him have a chance to lead a team. Snake didn't have time to congratulate him, and like that he sent him off down into the sewer system.

Shortly after Splinter left for his recovery mission, the extra tunnels were becoming occupied by Snake and Liger's team, consisting of whatever was left of the Georgetown Militia. Snake looked up at Blaze one last time and gave her a smile and told her to kick off the attack the moment he was beneath the manhole. As for her and The End, they were to make their way over towards a designated area and stay put up in a tall building where they could observe all enemy activity from the rooftop.

The End watched over all of them very carefully as they moved about their fireplaces and tents. Once he was informed that the head team was underground he told Blaze to start shooting inside the tunnel and draw them in. She jumped down from the bridge and took a few steps into the dark abyss, firing off a few shots. As The End watched from his end, it made the enemy soldiers jump with startled feelings. Each of them confused.

Enemy fighters grabbed hold of their weapons and their commander told them all to rush into the tunnel. The commander got on his radio yelling out to the front gate asking if anyone had come under fire. Far behind The End he could hear the bad guy's walkie talkies blurt out the enemy commander's voice. But no one was responding. Before doing so, he and a few others jumped into the hummer and turned on their brights and drove up whilst the rest of them followed behind and soon crowded around the yellow beast. A slow entrance was proceeded by the bad guys as they thought they were up against a few fighters near the entrance.

It only took a few seconds before all of them made it inside the tunnel of death. On the outside entrance waited Blaze with a lighter in one hand and a pipe bomb in the other. She could feel her heart beating like a jackhammer as she waited patiently for the approaching hummer and squads. On the edge of the first tunnel she began to see the lights from the commander's vehicle shining off of the graffiti covered walls and decided to wait a few more seconds for them to come closer. She look into the other tunnel to hear the voices of them calling out. She even heard one of them comment on the smell.

Looking into the first tunnel she beheld the headlights of the hummer. With speed, Blaze lit the first pipe bomb and chucked it into the first tunnel and lit off the other and threw that one into the second. She quickly ran over towards the other side where the latter rested against the wall and waited for it. Blaze reached the top of the bridge and called out to The End: It's lit!

KABANG!

BOOM!

It sounded as though all the fireworks from the Fourth of July had detonated at once, the moment a great belch of fire erupted from the mouths of both tunnels like a great dragon. Several other blasts sounded as the propane canisters detonated. To The End and Blaze's horror they could hear some of the screams of the bad guys calling out as they burned alive inside the tunnel of death. The Tunnel of Death as they now called it. All they could do now is move on.

The blast was so loud that everyone in the sewer could hear it echo. Snake was impressed that it would be so strident. Never the less they had to move on.

The city sewer system was not as narrow as they'd expected it to be. Tunnels made of large pipes were big enough for someone to walk though with their back hunched downward as they'd make their way though. Some alleyways were all concrete and some had old bricks that dated back to turn of the century when it was under construction. The smell was not pleasant, but victory would be as their lights led the way down paths with a street sign on the walls.

Some of them began to feel as though they were the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles while they moved about the tunnels. Liger had never been down there before, nor had he done any patrols either. But he best assumed that no one went down there. Either no soldier sneaked thought the pipes or they were afraid of alligators lurking about in the dark. It started to remind one of them about the scary movie where one of the scaly reptiles was flushed down the toilet and fed off of growth hormones and grew to the size where it could eat people whole!

Within minutes, claustrophobia was starting to set in as they made their way closer towards Joel's headquarters. Snake told them to relax and put the walls and darkness behind them. Viewing the map and looking at the sign on the wall, his HQ was right above their heads. But an attack from right above would get them slaughtered, so they decided to move a few blocks over where there wasn't an outpost.

After two blocks of crossing they decided to make this spot the exit point of the sewers. With a mirror, snake checked to see if the cost was clear. Like that he and the rest of the militia climbed out of the sewers and readied themselves with a few in the sewers to prevent enemy escape. With the sunlight now up, and the fighters present, it was going to be a bad day for Joel.