Emerged In Darkness

Chapter 18

Saran and Ethan trekked through the mud and dead fish until they came to a little shack out in the swamp.

It looked none too inviting with its rotted wood walls and rickety swaying, but it did look better than any rusted out ship or broken, infested home. That alone gave Saran enough courage to go search it.

Without a second thought, she plowed into the narrow stream of dirty water leading up to it. The smell of rotten fish was stronger and more potent in the stagnant water. It was just a minor inconvenience to her though, pushed to the back of her mind as she wadded through the water.

The little stream lead her, and Ethan, to a ladder which took them up into a small, dark room. Cluttered shelves filled the space as well as ammo, medicine, and a few pictures she really didn't care to look at. And at the end of the dark room, sat a radio. As Ethan went toward the radio, Saran stayed back, grabbing the things she thought they would need.

As soon as she was done, she walked past Ethan and caught bits and pieces of words coming from the radio.

Something about there being zero survivors at the Baker home, finding Lucas, and killing Eveline. Whoever these people were, they had the same objectives in mind as Saran. Except that she only wanted to kill Eveline. Not that Lucas didn't deserve to die, but he'd all but disappeared, leaving only Eveline. And she was the one who started it all. She was the one who did this to Saran in the first place. And now, Saran and Ethan would be the ones to end her life, for all the evil she'd caused.

Finally, when she was done listening, Saran slipped into the main room of the shack.

A single light bulb above a plastic table cluttered with hard hats and papers. Off to the side of the table, sat a surface filled with more birdcages. Some contained needles and others, odds and ends. And above the birdcages was a hastily drawn map. It pointed out the Baker's home, the swamp, the ship, and mine that Saran had never seen before.

She only inspected it a moment before taking a seat at the table and slinging her bag on top of it.

The zipper was ripped open and a few empty ammo boxes fell out. Saran ignored them and began clearing out anything she didn't need anymore. In the middle of cleaning it out, her hand scraped against something cool and reached in to pull it out.

The cat figurine Mason had given her.

She looked at it softly before tucking it into her jeans carefully. Then, she resumed what she'd been doing.

Once her bag was clean, she put in new boxes of handgun ammo and the medicine and proceeded to check her gun.

Just as she put a new magazine in, Ethan walked into the room.

Instead of acknowledging her, he went to search a box on the opposite side of the table from her.

He was rewarded by finding some sort of rifle she didn't think she'd ever seen before and a few boxes of ammo. He picked both up before putting them on the table and sitting.

With a tired sigh, he slid the boxes of ammo toward her and she got the hint. The boxes went into her bag and then, they sat in silence, Ethan staring at her and Saran looking over her handgun again.

Finally, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He dropped it on the table with a small clink.

Saran watched as a small vial of red liquid rolled back and forth until finally stopping. She watched it for a moment and then looked back toward Ethan.

"What's that?" Saran asks, quietly.

"This is what's gonna stop Eveline," He answered, blue eyes staring into her own.

Saran put her gun in the table and leaned back in her chair.

"So it's almost over then?"

He nodded.

"It's almost over."

Saran nodded her head and looked down. Very, very quietly, she said, "Then let's go end this."

She stood up, zipped her backpack, and threw it on. Her gun, with the safety on, was slipped in the waistband of her pants and her gray eyes looked at Ethan with determination.

Ethan stood up too, checking his own gun before gesturing for her to follow. He lead her to a door and opened it.

The sight revealed more of the dark bayou.

The only different thing was a single cart full of rocks and some bare, dead trees here and there.

Ethan stepped off the wooden platform of the shack and on to the mud. Saran noticed that there were no dead fish this time but the whole placed still reeked of death and a rotten, decomposing smell. Something she never wanted to smell again but would never forget. The unfortunate price of ending up in a place like this.

But it was almost time. They were almost there. Her promise to Mason was almost finished. And that in itself was giving her the strength to keep moving.

It edged her to put one foot into the mud and then the other, walking up behind Ethan. And then they began walking together, up through a little path carved in the mud itself.

It wasn't long before Saran spotted a few lit elevators and more than a few molded, standing around and growling.

"Well," she said, pulling her handgun from her waistband and clicking off the safety, "guess we're in for a fight this time."

The corners of Ethan's mouth pulled up and he raised his own gun.

"Yeah, seems like it."

And with that, they began shooting at the molded.

A few fell instantly and others, alerted by the gunshots, lumbered forward. Their beady eyes glinted and their sharp teeth gnashed as they reached a clawed hand out to swipe at the pair. But the sight no longer scared Saran. She'd seen and been through, enough to keep her wits about her. It bothered her none to put a bullet through each one of them, making sure none got up.

Only when it fell silent did she lower her gun and look around.

All the molded lay on the ground, still and very very dead.

She lowered her gun and sighed.

"Time to go in the creepy looking elevator in the middle of the swamp," Saran said, sarcastically.

Ethan gave a small snort and walked forward, shaking his head with a ghost of a smile on his face.

Saran gave her own little smile before following after and entering the elevator with Ethan.

With a press of a button, they zoomed down into the darkness.