Rider slowly stands up, her movements are haunting, yet humorous. Like an automaton with a faulty gyroscope. She slowly sways her head left and then right, before looking upwards. Her eyes follow a passing glider, it doesn't seem to have noticed them. She hugs Frankie tight, then looks forward, onto the gazing eyes.
“She doesn't have a mask, she’s turned!” Kim grips his sword and readies to pull it out, Jared stares, Eliza in his arms.
“Hold on tin-can-” he says but before he can continue, Eliza chimes in.
“She hasn't… turned… she’s… an immune…”
“Immune…? Like the cultists?”
“Y-yeah… see? She isn't attacking us…”
Kim narrows his eyes, slowly releasing the grip on his sword, watching over her movements carefully. However, Rider just has a string of drool falling from her mouth. “Why is she acting like that?”
“I dont know…”
“Alright enough chit-chat, if you're worried about her, I'm sure the underground city has a doctor or two that can smack her back to normal.” Jared says, plopping Eliza back on her feet. “Stay up, can't drag you around forever.”
“Do you know anything?” Kim says, turning to Jared.
“I said shut up! Lets! Get! Going! We’re in a viper’s pit and you wanna ask why the zombie hunter with a stuffed rabbit is acting retarded? Shit happens, go with the flow or fuck off!” He huffs, dragging Eliza by the arm, then shoving her into Rider so she can look after the hunter.
Kim is taken aback by his words. His claims do not track with what he's personally experienced. Regardless, the miasma wouldn't do this to someone like her. As far as he can tell, she’s smart and experienced in the world of the undead. But for now, he keeps that, and the miasma’s secrets to himself.
The group traverses the deadzone, Eliza doing her best to guide Rider as Kim walks in front as the group’s shield. They're doing their best to keep formation. “If the city is underground, why don't we just go into a manhole and traverse outside of the miasma?”
“For once I’m going to follow the dog's advice; most hives are underground, not her exact words, but we’d drop heel first into a minefield. Keep going, we’re almost there. My boys left us a marker for us to find so we know which one it is.”
Passing by a sign saying “Clair ST”, they find the manhole cover in question, adorned with an arrow made of scrap, with “HERE B WAY” spray painted on. It brings a tear to Jared’s eye. “Thankfully I grabbed a couple of these. Only problem is lighting it. There's methane pockets everywhere and it's almost impossible to tell.” Jared takes out a handful of UV flares, 4 in number.
“Alright, everyone pray to your God if you have one, or we might just create another sun.” Jared steps out from behind Kim, and gets on one knee beside the cover. “O Raiders of old, of the foot and the ball, guide me to- oh fuck this.” he sparks the UV flare, closing his eyes in preparation. “That's one.” He places it at the opposite end just off the cover. No methane pockets.
“Surprising.”
After placing all flares, he tries to lift the cover, but as it appears, it's bolted down. “What the…? This is the cover. Did my boys bolt it down so whoever's down here wouldn't escape before a raid…?” he thinks to himself, before looking at the bolts themselves, they are rusted, his Kingdom’s favorite type of metal. He grins. “Slave, bring the dog over!”
Eliza guides Rider over to Jared. He stands up, putting both hands on her shoulders and staring deep into her eyes, frowning in concentration, looking for signs of life. “Alright now, Rider. If you can hear me… I need to know you're still somewhere in there. I need you to rip the cover off the floor.” Rider stares blankly into the cover, not a thought behind her eyes.
She sways forwards then backwards, after Jared lets go of her. “Is… is that a yes…?” Rider takes Frankie in one hand, and with the other, grips onto the edge of the cover, her veins get dark as red crystal shards slowly start to rise out of her skin.
The group is huddled, and Kim stares from a distance, though he can't see much of anything. As much as he wants to take a closer look, he knows he’s the lookout, and they won’t get far if they’re ambushed.
“Yes good, now, tear it open.”
And she does, as if pulling a sticker off a fruit. However, the cover now has a curve to it, so it won't fit back on.
“Great, now throw it over there” She winds her arm back, twisting her body, and throws it, the bent disc like object hitting a lamp post several streets away, tearing it off the sidewalk, and becoming street decor. “Holy Piss Missile! I should get you braindead more often… hm.”
“Tin-can! Door’s open, hop down first.”
The group enters the tunnel. Same formation as before. And it's not long before they encounter another door. This one seems easier to open. The label on top reads “Decontamination? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jared asks, getting ignored as Kim opens the door, and the group steps inside, Jared glaring at him in response. The door seemingly closes by itself behind them. They're flashed with four UV lanterns, and a whirring noise is heard as fans suck in the room, removing the miasma off of them, and blowing it back out onto the streets.
“Fucker! It's a trap!” Jared shouts at Kim, readying his sledgehammer, facing the room’s exit.
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“It’s a decontamination room. It removes all the miasma around you, and makes sure you’re not infected.” Kim says, clearly unbothered, as Eliza internally panics, hiding behind the walking puppet. He stops for a moment, looking around. “I’ve seen these before so it’s most likely just that.”
Jared looks at him, eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Get your fucking sword out Tin-Can, I don’t give a shit what you know, I don’t trust these fuckers, and neither should you.” Kim sighs, but half-heartedly takes out his sword.
“I don’t think they would want to trap us if they locked us out with that manhole cover.”
“Yeah, unless we broke in, which newsflash fucker, WE DID!” Kim looks up, then frowns under his gas mask. He was right. But he didn’t want bloodshed so soon.
“Let’s at least talk to them before we go swinging our weapons.” Jared laughs, but then stops as the fans finally stop whirring, and the door slowly rises. They’re met with guns pointed right at them.
“Yeah, if they want to talk in the first place.” He says, tensing up, fingers gripping his weapon harder. He looks at each of the men with guns, each and every one of them shaking, yet they hold still as best as they could, superior firepower calming them and their number giving them safety.
Their outfits were made of padding you’d find on sport players, shielded by sheets of metal and twisted wire. Their faces masked, but among them was a captain. He stood firm, and looked right at Kim, then to the group behind. “You seem lost.” voice deep and full of sophistication. It commanded order and respect.
Jared however…
“Lost? Hah, sure. Let's cut the bullshit. You know we broke in, we know you have supplies. Don’t wanna take ‘em by force.” Jared smiles, taking off his gas mask, noticing the group infront didn’t have any on. His smile changed to a grin, as he thought to himself; “At Least not for now.” “But we are willing to trade for some shit, do jobs and stuff. Got a fucker we need you to look at, make sure she ain’t permanently braindead.”
The Captain takes a look at Jared, then shifts his eyes to Kim's, they’re eyes locked on each other, The Knight’s filled with rage. “I understand.” he nods his men forward “Take her to Dr. Al.” The men brush past the group, and grab Rider with them, and upon noticing Eliza start to follow, they point their guns at her.
She takes a step back, eyes widening even further. Her hands up by her head. “Umm- She uhh… She shouldn’t wake up without one of us nearby?” She says quietly, almost sheepishly. The men look to their Captain, not really seeing the harm. And neither does he, as he nods in response.
Lowering their guns, they nod towards Rider, and Eliza stands by her side, following them as she holds her up.
As they exit the chamber, the captain looks to both Jared and Kim, his two remaining guards standing by him. “Follow along. If you're interested in trade, I may have a job or two for you to do.” Kim nods with a quick jerk of his head, almost like a robot.
Jared leans in to Kim, putting his sledgehammer away, as Kim does the same with his sword. “Hey, I’ve played a game like this. You do some shit for ‘em, fetch some mcguffin, and they trust you with everything.” Jared grins.
Kim looks at him, the anger bleeding into mere annoyance. “Unfortunately for you, this isn’t a game.” Jared grins even harder, almost like a Cheshire cat.
“Wanna bet?”
“How much?”
“Your sword.”
Kim blinks in surprise. “You want my sword?”
“Fuck yeah I do, shits badass. You dress like a renaissance nerd, with all that metal, but the sword’s a good touch.” Kim hums.
“Very well, If I win, I want your sledgehammer.” Jared frowns.
“Bets off.” He pulls the handle of his hammer towards his face, turning to kiss it. “Never putting her on the line.”
Kim laughs, before quieting down as the guards stare at him for being a bit too loud. “Right. Fair enough.”
The captain leads them on a small tour, “these are the vermin’s slums. They're the people we protect. Unfortunately most of the properties here have begun to wear down over the years. One of your jobs would be to reinforce wearing structures and repairing generators. Do that and you'll get placed on the job board.”
“Job board?”
“Yes, it's a new system I implemented, something I'm rather fond of. It's a board full of fliers and papers made by citizens. These fliers have requests that need to be done, but aren’t needed for the overall upkeep of the place. The captain before me had the metromen,” He says, pointing to his men. “-receive letters to fix and gather supplies. It was a nightmare, filing paperwork, mountains of jobs to do. I couldn't stand it.”
“Now, if someone wants something, someone eligible can take care of it.”
Jared looks at him, even if a little off put by how Civilized the whole thing sounds, he’s impressed by it. “And considering your people are pretty much sewer rats from all over the city, someones bound to be able to do it. Smart. They do get paid right?” The captain nods.
“Unfortunately for you, since you broke our hydraulic manhole system, your pay will be deducted by 50% until it's fully paid for. And it’s not an easy fix.”
“Wasn't me, blame the braindead bitch, dock her pay.”
“Wait, she what?” Kim does a double take.
“Regardless, you’re part of her group. You asked for us to look after her, therefore it comes out of the entire group's pay.” He says, with a little evil smile. Jared grumbles, but doesn’t say much more. The Captain instead looks to Kim. “Son, you can take your mask off now, you can breathe fine here.”
“What did you say happened to your old captain?”
“I didn't..”
“Sate my curiosity please.”
“Last I heard, he died in a horde on a supply run. He was a bit of an asshole, but it's a shame to lose him.”
“Huh, anyway I’ll keep my mask on. I look hideous under it.”
“He's right, his eyes look like coin slots.” Jared laughs. Kim tilts his head and looks over to Jared. “What? It's true. Don’t be jealous, you’ll reach about a third of my looks one day.”
Kim rolls his eyes.
“Fine. But I’ll be keeping guards on you. You may keep your weapons, never know when you’ll get attacked by… undesirables, but try to keep it a minimal mess. And quiet. Upper echelon society hates it when there’s news of death.” The captain points towards the jobs board. “Pick something from there and your guard will escort you. Ranger, you’re with Hammer, David, you’re with the-” Jared quickly interrupts.
“Call him Tin-can.”
The captain stares at him, before shrugging, “You’re with Tin-can.”