Resident Evil: Exodus - The Tale of Elza Walker

Chapter 9 - Reconcile

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STAGE TWO - THE SEWERS

Elza finished descending the long ladder and came out in a well lit tunnel. Immediately to her left was the tunnel's end. It framed a large rectangular opening which was blocked from access by a large grate bolted to the wall. The tunnel had a central channel full of flowing sewer water set between two walkways, both wide enough for a grown man to walk abreast and with a little room to spare. The grate blocked access on both walkways, although it did not block the channel beneath it. One might have cleared the grate by snaking under it via the central channel, yet there was the sewer water in it to consider. It looked clear, but there was a definite odor to it. It wasn't quite disgusting, but it wasn't pleasant either. The smell reminded Elza of the mud at the bottom of a dried-up slough during especially hot summers. It wasn't quite the raunch of the slough itself when it was fresh and whole, yet it was sharp enough to evoke its memory. One also had to consider the frequent patch of foul-smelling and sickly-looking greenish-yellow scum stuck around the edges of the channel, wherever a notch or a nook in the stonework presented any opportunity for it to gather. Elza quietly decided to reserve any wallowing in the sewer water as a last resort.

Above Elza's head were a series of long single fluorescent lamps regularly spaced along both sides of the curved tunnel roof. They ran in parallel to a cluster of pipes of various sizes following the tunnel roof as far as the eye could see. One of the long bulbs was out, but the remainder still shone strong and provided plenty enough light to see in the tunnel. She saw that the tunnel took a sharp turn to the right at its far end, and there was another shaft and ladder coming down at that turn. The shaft itself appeared to be just like the one she had come down. It was little more than a concrete lined-tube, with a rusty ladder bolted onto its one flat surface and also to the floor of the tunnel. She now looked at the walls. Occasional brown patches of dead algae and other things which made her think of pond scum could be seen on their surfaces. They told of changing water levels within the tunnel. Fortunately the highest of these patches only went halfway up the wall beside the raised walkways. About waist high, if I was on this walkway and the water was up, she thought, as she looked the tunnel up and down. If the water level had been high in here before, and it had been at least waist high given the signs, then it hadn't been that high in a very long time.

Elza felt Sherry's arms go around her legs as soon as she got off of the ladder. One of her own arms went immediately around the little girl to comfort her. Linda stood a little bit in front of them, hands on her hips and her legs somewhat apart, casting her own eyes around the sewer tunnel. "Oh, nice," she finally said. It was more sarcasm than statement. "Just the kind of place I've always wanted to visit."

"At least we don't have any zombies chasing us," Elza said.

"True," Linda said. She gave Elza a look, and there was an accusing note in her voice as she spoke. "That reminds me. Why in God's name did you set the building on fire?! Was that really necessary?"

"Yes it was," Elza said evenly. "There wasn't time to explain above, but I will now if you'll let me."

Linda disgustedly waved an arm. "By all means, Miss Walker. Please do."

Elza regarded Linda for a moment, her eyes narrowing. Then she spoke in a calm voice with even tones. "Miss Merton, you work for Umbrella. Correct?"

"Yes, but what does that have—"

"And you were in that truck that brought those things to the police station."