The Overlord Trilogy: The Darkness

9 • Out of Ice

George: "I am telling you that the market for petroleum is going to crash! There is no way that the Dragon Kingdoms can keep up with that much of an influx!" Here I go again... Going on one of my famous tangents about the universal economy. At least she smiles and laughs when I go on these tangents, probably the only reason I go on them.

"All right George. We will see when the time comes." Samantha laughs again as we check through the rubble of some "classified" location. I thought I recognized the place but it was hard to tell by the destruction of the city. "Think we'll find anything?"

"We never find anything on these dumb missions." Ah her laugh again. Makes the darkness in this place not so bad. I point my flashlight at the rubble and stop when I see something shine back at me. "Wait I think I found something." Samantha stops and walks over, aiming her flashlight where mine is.

"I don't see anything dude." I put my finger to my lips and motion for us to move closer. Samantha nods and takes out her standard issue Crimson 599 pistol. Not as good as your Nightfall rifles but still can take someone out, all soldiers and people like us are given them though soldiers have them as a secondary weapon. I take out mine and take the safety off, walking closer to the shining object. Once we are only a couple inches away I put my flashlight into my mouth and aim the gun, finger on the trigger, at the shining object. Shoot only if you need to. You got this. Nothing to worry about George. I shut my eyes and take a deep breath before opening them again. I slowly reach out my hand and push a piece of debris out of the way. Samantha and I jump back as a rifle falls to the ground.

"What the hell is a rifle doing down here? What was this place?" I shake my head. You got that right... What is this place? It must have been important if there are weapons here...

"Keep your eye open for anything. I'll check to see what kind of rifle it is." Samantha nods and aims her flashlight to the areas around us. I kneel down in front of the rifle and pick it up. What the hell? This is a standard Oracle rifle! These bad boys are banned!

"What is it?" I jump as Samantha breaks the silence. Her laugh fills the air as I blush and pick up the Oracle rifle.

"It's an Oracle rifle. Th-"

"Aren't those banned?"

"Yes they are."

"Then what is it do-" Bang! We both turn quickly, aiming our Crimson's into the darkness. "What the hell was that noise?" Samantha aims her flashlight down the hallway, her hand shaking slightly. 

"I don't know but it didn't sound good..." I motion for her to follow me and she nods. For once in my life I am glad we had to go to military training back when we were sixteen. I hated every second of it but it sure as hell will help us if we get in a lot of trouble down here. We move through the darkness, side by side no longer needing to communicate by voice. I switch my flashlight to "Scavenge Mode", lighting up the ground around us for a 5 meter radius. Samantha keeps her flashlight on "Standard Mode" but that is a good thing. It shows what we can't see within the 5 meter radius. I look around as we walk. Walls on either side of us. They seem to go on for a while upward so there can't be an ambush from there. Only one way out and that is behind us. Another bang from further in the darkness draws my attention forward. Samantha and I stop as we hear running near us. Someone is alive down here?! This place is supposed to be cleared out dammit! Leave it to Mission Control to send us into a fucking hostile situation!  Our feet continue to splash through the water as we walk, making my temper worse as we continue. Too loud... We're too loud... 

"George. Shoot on sight?" I nod and Samantha takes her Crimson's safety off, an urge to slap her taking over for a moment. Who the hell keeps their safety on? Especially if we suspected something being hostile! Calm down George. What's done is done just find out what is making that noise and let's get out of this creepy place. "George look!" I turn quickly and aim my gun at where Samantha's flashlight is illuminating. I let out a breath of relief when I register that she is pointing to a door and not a person.