Thirteen Rings

Chapter Eleven

"What do you mean 'we're lost'?" Darius spat in disbelief, glaring furiously into the man's back.

"Exactly what 'we're lost' means." Turning to face them, Alexis held up the severed end of the rope. "I can't find the other half anywhere. And the way splits in two."

"Can you not remember the way?"

"It's like a maze down here, incase you didn't notice." Fixing him with a stare that seemed to say, I told you this already. "But I think I know the way from here, we're almost there."

"I hope so, I hate wading through literal shit." Lyria groaned, her voice muffled through the fabric of her sleeve.

"I'm pretty sure not all of it i-"

"It's probably better if she doesn't know." Darius cut in after watching her eyes grow wide in the dark tunnel.

"What?" She asked, disgust lacing her words. "I want to know."

"Some of it is probably dead bodies." Alexis finished, malice flashing behind his pupils. "The gangs dump dead bodies down here."

"That isn't as bad as I thought."

"Oh? What about all the vomit?"

"That's disgusting." She hissed, hugging close to the wall.

"Good." Grinning, he turned back to the fork in the tunnels.

"These boots are new!"

"We can get them cleaned." Darius groaned as they pressed on.

"What about the bottoms of my pants?"

"I'm sure they can be washed."

"And my feet!" Her voice came out as a screech as the realisation dawned on her. "I can feel the shit literally soaking through the fabric! There is shit on my feet!"

"I know it's disgusting." He began. "But he says we're almost there, so just deal with it for a while longer, calmly."

"This is absolutely vile!"

"I know, but sometimes we all have to do something that isn't particularly pleasant."

"Well, sooner or later, you're going to have to actually kill someone." Anger danced through her words.

"Look, I know you're just lashing out because you're frustrated-"

"You don't kill people?" Alexis cut in from ahead. "Why not?"

"I don't agree with it." Darius replied. "Death comes for us all eventually, I won't aid it to reach those before their time."

"What if the other person deserves to die."

"That's not my call to make."

"So, if someone was about to kill someone close to you, and the only way to stop them was by killing them, you wouldn't do it?"

"There's always another way." He breathed exasperatedly. "Killing just isn't an option."

"And if someone you loved died because you wouldn't make the decision, you'd be able to live with yourself?"

"That's exactly what I've been trying to get at!" Lyria exclaimed.

"Look, I know it might be hard to wrap your little heads around in this day and age, but, I've killed before, and I'm not a fan of it."

"You must have such a great moral compass." He could literally feel her rolling her eyes at the back of his head. "Remind me, what is your occupation again?"