Saturate✔️

CHAPTER 09: Revenant

Underground again.

Greg had wanted to go back outside...okay, well, he hadn't wanted to, it was more just that outside seemed like the less risky course. He'd rather be kicking his way through snow and freezing instead of fighting his way through a dark, subterranean hell. But he hadn't made it. Volker had warned him basically at the last minute that the Freeze Storm was upon them. Apparently, the planet had storms that hit which made it way, way too cold to be outside. Hence the reason they'd built the tunnels. It was something like negative a hundred and fifty out there right now. They actually did have specialized suits in case of emergencies, but what few were left were rare and in difficult-to-access locations. So Greg was now beneath again.

He had his shotgun in hand, as he preferred it for the close quarters.

"Volker," he said as he slipped back out into the main tunnel and cleared the area.

"Yes?"

"Patch me through to Drake. I want to talk to him."

"Very well."

Greg didn't plan on talking about anything seriously pertinent over the open air, but it would be nice to hear from someone he actually trusted. He was functionally alone down here, but hearing another voice went a long way.

There was a pause, then a soft crackle of static. "Hey, Greg, how's it going over there?" Drake asked.

"Like shit...but I'm making progress at least. I've got to kill one nasty son of a bitch monster," he replied.

"Oh yeah? Which one? Any I'd recognize?"

"Yeah. Remember that thing that Jennifer, Genevieve, and Keron took down on the asteroid a couple months ago?"

"Oh shit...how in the hell are you going to do that? They didn't even take it down, they just froze it. And you're supposed to kill it?"

"Yes. The scientists here cooked up some kind of special gun and goggles to go with it. How's Eric doing?"

"He's still out but I managed to get him to that little infirmary down the way, so I've got him hooked up to some machines and they're monitoring his brainwaves and biochemistry and whatnot. They tell me he's not bleeding internally and there's no serious damage, he's just out. I figure he needs his rest after hauling my heavy ass all over that space station, so fair's fair."

"Yeah. Did you secure the area?"

"I did. Scavenged some supplies from around the infirmary. I don't want to leave him while he's out, even locking the door. It's too dangerous with the Shadows and everything running around, so I'm staying put."

"Good. Don't worry, I'll wrap this up soon enough."

"Glad to hear it. Good luck."

"Yep, you too. Out."

Greg killed the connection and pressed on through the tunnel, continuing past where he had gone last time. The original tunnel he'd been in was basically a big circle, with other tunnels branching off of it at mostly regular intervals. Some of them were just side storage tunnels that dead-ended, others, the bigger ones, led to the rest of the installation, and they were broad, tall, huge things, full of corpses and laden with foreboding.

Not exactly the most pleasant environment.

As he began making his way down one of these tunnels, he immediately saw a problem. About thirty meters dead ahead, the way was blocked. The passage was choked with a snarl of crates, vehicles, and debris that had fallen from a partial collapse.