‘I can’t believe I'm doing this’. I reach into my pocket and pull out the pack of gum. I grab the last piece and throw it into my mouth. I discard the container as I look up to find Hayley looking at me. “Are you coming?” she says as she stands at the entrance of the giant tunnel. I take a deep breath and look at her, “Yeah, I’m coming. Let’s get through this. I'll take point.” I begin walking forward but am stopped by her stare. “What?” I ask. “Take… point?” she says, confused by my statement. “Oh, right.” I say as I chuckle a bit. “It means I’m going to go first, and you follow me.” I explain. “Oh, okay.” She said. I walk pass her to the entrance. I take one last deep breath before I walk into the darkness.

As I step through, the dim light from the entrance disappears, causing our flashlights to be the only source of light. Our footsteps echo throughout the gigantic maze that is drainage system. The tension was atrocious, then suddenly, like a knife cutting through the veil. “Take the left up here.” Hayley’s voice causes me to jump. I shoot her a glance and nod my head in agreement. As we get closer to the turn, I begin to smell something rank. ‘We just had to move through the sewers didn’t we.’ We get to her turn point, it ends up being a large four way intersect point. The left and right have small bridges to get across the smaller waste canals. ‘It’s weird that the storm drains and sewage all goes to the same places. Come to think of it, it’s weird that there are exterior canals for a city that’s landlocked.’ I think to myself. As I cross the platform to get to the left side, I ask “So, why does a city in the middle of Pennsyltucky need a storm drain/sewage canal external to the plants?”. I ask. She hesitates, then begins to speak“My dad always said that Elk Hart wanted to create huge canal system. Kinda like a ‘Venice’ vibe to bring people back when the coal mines dried up. But that didn’t work, and when the steel mill died, it basically killed the city. Well, before Vascorp and other military companies came in. There were entire plans for separate sewage and water systems. But they all were scrapped.” .

“Damn, that’s incredible. Sad to see it didn’t-“ I am cut off by moaning. I raise my rifle to find a BZ directly in-front of me. It is wearing construction gear. I raise my rifle and aim between its eyes. *Bang* the sound of the suppressed rifle barely made a sound. The round flies through the BZ’s head, shattering the orange construction helmet on it. *plop* Its lifeless body drops, falling into the sewage water. An audible gasp comes from Hayley. I turn to find her hands over her mouth. “Trust me, you get used to it.” I say. I motion to keep going. I pull my mag out and check my ammo count. ‘About seventeen rounds. And I have four additional mags.’ I put the mag back in and begin moving.

As we continue walking, I make note of scratches and blood stains on the walls as we walk pass them. I hear her steps go faster as she grabs onto me. I stop and ask, “you okay?”. “Mmhm.” She shakes her head rapidly with her eyes closed. “Just keep going this way.” I chuckle a tiny bit as I look around. I raise my rifle again and move down the long corridor. There are some doors ahead of us, my guard is up even higher than usual.

*Splash**Splash*Splash* *Groan* I quickly turn behind me, but it’s too late, a BZ is already on top of us. I shove her off to the side as the BZ slams into my chest. Forcing me to the ground, I quickly roll, causing it to fly off of me. It lands in the water, and slides a bit. I begin staggering to my feet as I rush to grab my rifle from my sling. I raise my rifle and fire *bang*. The BZ collapses as my round tears through through its jaw, splintering the bone as rips the flesh. The body falls into the water as the head hits the concrete. ‘Hayley!’ I look to my left to see if she’s okay. I rush over to find that I had accidentally thrown her through a slightly ajar door. I rush through the doorway to get to her. She’s lying down, holding her head. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to- I was just trying-” “Are you okay?” She cuts me off. “Me? Are you okay?” I ask in retort. “It tackled you, didn’t it? You’re not going to turn, are you?” She looks at me horrified at what answer I’m going to give. “No, I’m not going to turn. I promise.” She latches onto me again, “Okay.” She let’s go. I look up and grab her hand, helping her to her feet. “Where are we?” She asks. “Probably a maintenance tunnel.” I answer. *crash* A sound comes from a door deeper in the tunnel.

“What was that?” Hayley asks. “I don’t know. Stay behind me.” I order as we begin moving towards the sound. The sounds of movement and voices begin to be heard. I stop just outside the door where the noises are coming from. I sit by the door and put my finger to my lips, motioning to Hayley to be quiet. There are two voices, now able to be clearly heard. “Damn it! Marvin, grab the camera! We are live in five! Four! Three!” He stops then the voice returns “Hello America! I am Elliot Harper! And we are Live in ElkHart Pennsylvania! That’s right, none other than the heart of the ‘nuclear disaster’ itself. Through means I do not wish to disclose, we are far within the twenty mile exclusion zone! And we have already been able to hear the sounds of bombs and gunfire!” Before he can say another word. I kick in the door and raise my rifle. I enter the room like a breeze of wind, Hayley holding onto me close behind. My flashlight illuminates the room, causing the news anchor and his cameraman to jump. As soon as he gets a good look at me, he puts on a devilish grin. “You see! You see America! Look at him! He has blood all over him! And where is his radiation gear! Just like I theorized! It’s all a coverup.” He starts spouting off tons of self indulging bullshit. “Shut up.” I order.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“No! You cannot stop the truth or Journalism! Not you! And not your-.” I quickly cut him off. “However you got here, you need to leave, right now.” I lower my rifle and walk towards him. “Leave? So what? You and your crownies can keep killing the innocent people of ElkHart? We know the truth! Do you think the American population would just miss the paper trail? The riots? Then all of a sudden murder skyrocket? Then all of a sudden the Military shuts down the city and no one can get any info out of the people here? Because of a ‘nuclear disaster!’ Yet where are all the people being evacuated? No one has seen their loved ones in days! We want an-.” I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him close. “You. listen. to. me. You have no idea what is going on. And you are not safe!” I point to the door.” “You need to go back and find the nearest military patrol. And tell them- warn them- that you were able to get through. Because if you got through who knows what else did.” My voice grates through my teeth. “No way! I know my rights! And I will not be bullied! If you want me to leave! You will have to kill me! But that’s fine, I’ll be a martyr to the millions of Americans watching this!” He then notices Hayley behind me. “Oh my God! Ma’am are you alright? Dear god! Look at that cut! Ma’am, quickly, have these two soldiers harmed you in any way?”. She quickly shakes her head no. “Why would you think I would-.” I stop “Did you just say… Two soldiers?” I ask.

He smiles “Yeah! You and G.I. Joe over there in the doorway.” I drop the reporter and suddenly the lights in the tunnel turn on. I turn and throw my arm out to push Hayley behind me. I raise my rifle at the man in the door. He was wearing the standard military gear, a huge blood stain on his collar. His head down. On his plate carrier, read the name ‘Vasquez’. I freeze. “Vasquez!” I say- “Hey! You can’t just point that at him! He’s clearly injured!” The reporter shouts. “Vasquez! Back up. If you can hear me, back up!” I scream at him. Vasquez’s mouth opens, a pool of blood, saliva, and black fluid fall out of his gaping mouth. “Oh my-“ the Reporter comments. His helmet moves up as his dead eyes meet mine. Black veins stretching across his face, all stemming from the bite on his neck. I attempt to pull the trigger, but I can’t do it. Fear and regret fill my mind. It looks directly at me, as it lets out a deep, dark scream unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. It’s like nails on a chalkboard. “What is this!” The Reporter shouts. Vasquez’s eyes hover over each of us then lock on Hayley.

He begins rushing, I can’t bring myself to shoot him. So I rush him, I intercept him just before he can get within distance to grab Hayley. I put one hand on his chest and the other on the handle at the back of his plate carrier. I throw him with everything I have back towards the door. “Vasquez, don’t make me do this! Please! You have to still be in there!”. I plead as he gets back up. He takes a swing at me, then a lunge, but I am able to dodge them. “Come on, wake up you fuck!” I whip around and slam my hand into his jaw so hard it dislocates the BZ’s jaw. The force throws him back. “Dude, what about your kids! Your wife! I am not going to be the one who tells Jackie about this! So wake up! Please!” The pain in my voice is beyond audible. Suddenly he gets up. As he looks at me, I think I see a tiny bit of his eyes change back to their normal color. I let down my guard. “Vasquez?” They quickly flicker back and he charges me. His hands grab my plates as I shove him back. As we begin to grapple. *Bang*. Vasquez’s body flails as he falls to the ground. I follow his body down, allowing his body to gently land on the ground. I feel my eyes tear up at his dead body. I quickly turn to find the barrel of Hayley’s gun smoking. Her entire body is shaking as the gun drops from her hands.

‘Oh fuck.’ I rush over and grab her as she falls to her knees. Her eyes are as wide as plates. She’s just staring at the body. I hold her close to my chest. “I-I-I-“ she tries to speak but I cut her off. “Shhh. It’s okay, it’s okay.” I grab her face and pull it towards me. “It’s okay! You saved me, you saved me. Look at me, Okay. I know how it feels, believe me I do. But it’s okay. You saved my life.” I say trying to calm her down. “What in- how- what was that!” The reporter shouts. I get up, and look directly at him and his cameraman. “You listen to me. And you listen well. You need to leave this fucking city. And you need to do it now. And never look back. “Marvin, did you get all of that?” The reporter asks. “Ye-Yeah.” Marvin says back. “Great! Now you!” He points to me. “I want an exclusive, right now, in front of the world! You’re gonna tell me everything!”. My jaw drops and I get a look of utter disbelief. “Are you deaf? Stupid? Or just suicidal? Get the fuck out of here!” I shout as he gets up. “Or what Jackboots? You gonna shoot me? Go ahead! I was in Fallujah, Kandahar, Myanmar, I was at ground zero during the San Francisco tragedy! I was in Tehran! I’m not afraid of some national guard conscript threatening me.” I grab his collar. “You were in Tehran?” I ask. “Yeah, that was something you couldn’t imagine!” He says with a smug attitude. “Where? The north or south?” I ask.

“The south! Sadly! I desperately wanted to be in the north! Just imagine being apart of the northern meat grinder!” He says with a sigh. I let him go. “I was in the north.” I say in despair. His eyes lock with mine. “No way!” He looks at me. “You were there?” "yeah, and I wish i was there instead of this hellhole." *click* *click* *click* my eyes shot up at the sound. “What was that?” He asks. I look at Vasquez’s body, then back to the door. ‘Oh no, it’s here.’ “Back up.” I order. “Back up right now!” I command again. I look towards the door the reporter entered from. “Go, Right now! Go!” I grab onto Hayley and the reporter as I rush towards the metal door. As I look behind me to shut the door, I see the appendages of the monster come from the top of the doorframe across the room. I then see the top of its bald head, then its sunken red and black eyes meet mine as it’s hand grips the doorframe. I slam the door and put my body against it to wedge it shut. I hear a scream then *Bang* the door lurches forward.