Confessions of a Corpse

Chapter 9 - The sewers

Mark jumped slightly.

"Ah, crap. Um, it's fine. Uh, this is why we plan," he said, tucking the box inside his bag and looking around a bit, his eyes lighting up as he noticed something. "Oh! Okay, I see two ways out of here. There just so happens to be a sewer that runs directly beneath this vault." He gestured to a sewer grate that I somehow didn't notice when we had entered.

"We could either go through the sewers all sneaky like, or we could go out guns blazing," He said, pulling a flintlock pistol and a lit bomb out of his bag and grinning almost sadistically. "Yeah, I found these bad boys in the pirate exhibit on the way over here, but we gotta choose fast. I think they're on their way, and they're not gonna be friendly when we're in here with the box and the bomb and the gun. So, either one's good. Sewer will probably work all quiet like, but, you know, I like a little action. But stealth is good, too." I shook my head a bit and pointed to the sewer grate.

"No way I'm going into battle with security guards using old-school weapons," I said. "The sewer has to drain somewhere." Mark pouted a bit, waving the flintlock pistol for a second before dropping it.

"You're no fun. But you might be smart," he said, tossing the lit bomb back into his bag. "If we take the sewer route we might as well be as quiet as humanly--" he bent down and pulled off the sewer grate, grunting and groaning loudly as the loud squeal of metal-on-metal filled the vault. I flinched at the sound and covered my ears. "--as humanly possible." He set down the sewer grate and glared at me.

"Thanks for the help," he muttered, holding out his arm and stopping me before I could jump down and take the lead. "After me." He jumped into the hole, a splash sounding as he landed. I followed his lead and hopped down the hole, landing in a rather dense puddle of water.

"Eww," I groaned, shaking myself off as light filtered in from somewhere close by. I turned to Mark, who was wiping sewer gunk off his face and couldn't help but snicker a bit. He glared at me again, this one was more annoyed than before.

"Shut up," he muttered, then waved me over as he started walking. "Alright, come on. I think we're on the right path." He pulled the map out of his bag. "And if I know my plan correctly, and I, uh-" he frowned, noticing that the map was now a wet, soggy mess. He then mashed it into a ball and tossed it somewhere else. "-that's alright. That's okay because I have an impeccable sense of direction. And I know exactly-"

"Hey, over here!" one of the guards shouted. Startled, I looked around to try and find the source of the voices, only to notice a staircase that seemingly hadn't been there before. "I think they went into the sewer."

Mark lept face-first into a barrel full of water as the two guards came down the stairs. I ducked behind some barrels that were a little further away, peering out at the guards as they walked past and ducking down as their flashlights shone over my hiding place for a moment.

"Yo, man, I said it. I told them when they built it," the second guard said. "Putting a sewer entrance underneath what is supposed to be the most secure vault in the museum is just grossly irresponsible. You know?"

"Yeah, I mean, I agree with you, but they don't really pay us to think," the first guard said, shining his flashlight around. "But, regardless, they gotta be around here somewhere."

The second guard nodded. "You're right. You know what? You're right. But we need to split up," he waved his gun around, "cover more ground."

"That's a great idea," the first guard said, shoving the other one with his gun. "I love that idea."

The second guard chuckled. "No, you--you're the one who usually has the great ideas."

"No, no, my ideas suck. You have the best ideas every time. Every time."

"Come on."

"No, you always have the greatest ideas."

They looked at each other silently for a couple of seconds before they turned their backs to each other and started searching. I smiled a bit at their camaraderie and waited until they were both gone before sneaking out of my hiding spot. I heard Mark gasping for breath and looked over at the barrel he had been in, snickering a bit. He was covered in sewer water and seaweed, his beanie over his eyes.

"Oh, God!" He yelped, climbing out of the barrel, falling onto the floor, and groaning in pain. He pulled the beanie up from his eyes and glared up at me. "Next time, you get the barrel." He muttered. I held out my hand for him to take, and after a moment of just staring at me, he grabbed it and stood up, the seaweed still covering him.

"Okay, all right. Let's keep moving," he said, starting to walk down the passageway the second guard searched down. "The sewers have to drain somewhere, so all we gotta do is follow the stream until we find the exit. It's that easy. All right, come on"