From The Deep

Chapter 5, Part Two

"Your devotion to these people is going to get you killed."

"What about your devotion to Aberlind?"

"That's different. Julia...well, she might have answers to this. That woman back there—"

"She's my friend, and the wife of one of my other friends. If you and I are better at killing these things, shouldn't we put that to good use and help the ones who need it?"

"Not if it means you die in the process...you don't think I tried to help anyone on Lynet? I did, and it got the people with me killed and I was nearly killed. You've got to watch out for yourself now."

The way Norton talked about it, it sounded like there was more he was holding back, but Raleigh didn't want to get into it with him now. Maybe later, she told herself.

To get to the other side, they passed through D Level recreational facilities, entering the pool room and surprising a pair of lovers enjoying each other's company in the shallow end.

"What? What's—"

"Save it," Norton said, "just get the hell out of the pool and back to your rooms. You shouldn't be out here."

"Screw you, dude," the woman said. "Who are you to tell us what to do?"

"Fine, if you want to stay here and get killed, that's your problem."

"What the fuck did you just say?" The man started to climb out of the pool when a suppressed gunshot sounded in the room. He clutched his back and his partner screamed. He fell backward into the pool, quickly turning the water red.

Raleigh and Norton looked across to the other side of the pool, the same infected who had attacked Waslin was there, pistol aimed right at them. The infected started shooting at them, Norton ran to the right into the bathrooms. Raleigh attempted to follow, but shots striking near her forced her back.

The woman in the pool hauled herself out and tried to run toward Raleigh to get out that way. A shot through her thigh tripped her up and she fell face first to the hard ground, knocking out several teeth and bleeding all over the edge of the pool. The shooter aimed at Raleigh and she dove into the pool, swimming down as far as she could go to avoid the bullets.

Raleigh was forced to stay under, watching the infected Security officer stalk along the edge of the pool. She watched the injured woman attempt to crawl away. The Security officer pushed her foot against the injured woman's back and fired twice more, finishing her off. The infected Security officer stood at the edge of the pool, watching Raleigh beneath the surface. She knew Raleigh would have to surface soon, or drown, and she was waiting for that.

Raleigh's lungs were beginning to burn at this point, and she was starting to think Norton had simply abandoned her when she saw him creep up behind the infected Security officer and swing at her head with his pipe, knocking her into the pool.

Raleigh surfaced, gasping for air and swimming toward the edge of the pool. Norton reached out his hand to pull her up, but the infected Security officer was still alive, despite bleeding from the back of the head. She grabbed Raleigh's foot and pulled her away, pushing Raleigh's head under the water. Raleigh struggled to surface, but she couldn't get free from the Security officer's grasp.

Rather than going up, she swam down toward the bottom of the pool, where the pistol sank after the infected dropped it. She almost got to it when she felt her ankle grabbed again. She kicked the infected Security officer in the face and grabbed the pistol, turning around and pulling the trigger. The sound of the shot was distorted under water, and blood poured out of the wound as the body floated limply away from Raleigh.