Resident Evil: Exodus - The Tale of Elza Walker

Chapter 11 - Reveal

(AUTHOR'S NOTE - Updated to revised edition text on 2019/08/11)

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"I think this is it." Kevin said, staring at the solid metal door in front of them.

"It'd better be," Rita said, coming up alongside him as close as she could on the narrow ledge. "We can't go any farther."

"An' if we go down, we cain't climb back up again," John added, from somewhere behind them both. "Side channel's now too deep."

Rita looked down at the deep trench in the tunnel floor beside them, and shook her head. "Looks like the only way back out would be to stand on someone's shoulders, but whoever was on bottom would be stuck down there."

"Yeah," John said. "And dey cain't go all da way back eeider, because of dose blockin' grates." He pointed at the one at the end of the trench closest to them, then back up the tunnel. "Well, ya might try climbin' up da grate, and den tryin' ta hop over to da ledge, but I'm too big an' heavy ta try sumfun lak dat."

Rita looked at the grate herself. She shook her head. "I don't know if even I could manage that," she said. "I mean, I could climb up the grate well enough, but it doesn't go high enough for me to even try going for the ledge. Not unless I was a contortionist," she added wryly.

"Let's hope we don't have to mess with any of that," Kevin said. He had been examining the lock on the door. "Rita," he said, "you still got that skeleton key?"

"Just a minute," Rita said. She began rummaging through her pockets. A few seconds later, she was holding it in front of Kevin. "There you go," she said.

Kevin nodded and took it. "Thanks. I think this is were we're supposed to use this," he said, as he stuck it in the lock. A sharp turn and a loud klick! later, and the door both unlocked and opened. "Good," Kevin said. "I'm glad that happened, cause I didn't see any handle on this side." He looked back at Rita and John. "Could you guys give me some room? This door opens outward."

"Oh, sorry," Rita said. She took a step backwards, and promptly bumped into John as she stepped on his foot. "Sorry again!" she exclaimed.

John pretended to limp as he backed up. "Ya gots me, Miss Rita," he said with a smile. "Ah'm crippl'd fer life!"

"All right, guys," Kevin said, but he too was smiling. He had lost his impromptu club a couple of rooms and tunnels back, when it had broken in two when he had used it to gut-stab the last zombie he had killed. Now he held his Glock in one hand at the ready, while he yanked the door open with the other. Nothing happened, and nothing leapt out from the room or tunnel beyond to attack him. He waited a few seconds, and then nodded at the others. "Looks like it's safe to go in," he said, as he ducked to get through the low doorway.

"Yeah, but whats about gittin' back out agin?" John muttered, as he followed Rita through the doorway. He too had to duck. Rita might have made it through without ducking, but she also ducked. It was probably out of an instinctive reaction to the lowness of the uppermost door frame brace.

The three of them found themselves in yet another L-tunnel, of the kind and pattern that had by now become all too familiar to them, and somewhat monotonous in its repetitive regularity of occurrence. There was the expected side walkway, which by now had become a ledge at least seven or perhaps eight feet high, due to the depth of the side channel. There was also a ledge half as high with a corresponding side channel at the turn ahead. From what they could see at their end, the bottom of the channel running beside the low ledge in the other L-tunnel leg was higher than the one which ran beside them. It was also on the opposite wall in that leg of the L-tunnel. This made for a clean break in the side ledges, and they were now separated by a gap as wide as the deep side channel which ran beside them. Sewer water had appeared in the side channel three tunnel sections back, shallow at first but getting deeper as the bottom of the channel continued its gradual downward slant. In here the water seemed to be at least shin-deep. It was hard to tell without going down there; however, if any of them did, it would be extremely difficult to get that person back up again.