I woke basking in the orange glow of the retreating sun. I looked over to Snake who was too far-gone in a slumber accompanied by Chucky who for the first time could sprawl out in the back. I shook Snake to wake him and covered my mouth with a finger nudging my head to Chucky. With sleepy eyes still dreaming we silently exited the car and popped the trunk. We stuffed a backpack with a flashlight, couple extra pistol clips, the homemade grappling hook, our last couple of tranquilizer darts, a blow pipe, and a canteen of water. I packed a revolver in my leg holster that I kept wrapped around my jeans and we both strapped our hunting knives to our lower backs. We closed the trunk with extra care to not wake Chucky and we began our walk to the building.
We stopped at the same spot as before to survey the area again. The building was lit up with spotlights making rounds back and forth, up and down the area in front of the building. One of the trucks was making trips around the building while the other was parked out front in the midst of floodlights and an army. The music was loud, and the men were too distracted by the women entertainment to care. If we wanted, we could walk right to the front door. Only a handful of rifles about one for every five men were leaned against the building. Bottles were being passed around and fights broke out between the men. The place seemed like my type of party. The large windows scaling the building shined with multicolored lights. Snake and I had seen enough and made our way to the sewer entrance.
The sewer was dark, not like a nighttime dark but a fearsome dark, the kind of dark that left the mind scrambling. We began our journey and as the music faded into black, the only lifeline we had was the dim glow of our flashlight, which was struggling on its last leg of battery. The sewer walls were filled with strange paintings and unreadable lettering. The floor was covered with cracked concrete and old mattresses. People must have taken salvation in here at one point. Remnants of civilization lay dormant. Makeshift kitchenware and broken televisions and tables littered the area. We crept deeper and deeper into the sewer until we came to a fork. One way led to an overhang into a bottomless pit and the other was more sewer. We continued until the music became faint again. We followed until we came to a glowing light. Snake quickly shut off the flashlight and we placed our steps carefully.
We approached and saw two guards lying on a mattress unclothed. They were aggressive on each other, making love. They must've came down here so no one could find out, unlucky for them they seemed too far engaged to notice us. We were creeping up on them then my foot stepped a squishy object. With such luck the object let out a loud squeak and an even louder squeak as I lifted my foot. "Fuck," I muttered to myself. The two men stopped immediately and grabbed the two bats that lay by their clothes. "Who the fuck is out there?!" Snake and I crouched low staying hidden in the shadows. One of the men grabbed a lantern and they started toward us. The light quickly swallowed the darkness.
Snake decided to rush them and I followed. He hurled the flashlight that broke on one of the man's bats. The man swung horizontal to Snake's head. Snake ducked and connected a right hook to the man's cheek. I was right behind him to take the other man I squared up with him trying to get him to make a move, becoming trapped in a stalemate. I bucked left and right then gave him a kick straight in the testicles. The man bent over but jumped back up swinging with an uppercut with the bat barely missing my head. Snake had the other man on the ground fully demolishing him with blow after blow. I was pushed back and the man threw the bat up on his shoulder readying his swing. Snake joined my side and the man jolted back and forth faking lunges at us. I charged the man and took a blow to the ribs; I shifted my weight around with the bat caught under my arm and threw the man to the ground. Snake jumped on him and held him in a chokehold. I bent down to one knee.
"So... you asshole... where's your leader at?" I asked catching my breath. "Fuck... you, ahh..." The man couldn't talk through Snake's grip. I sighed and took out a cigarette, it seemed like we'd be here awhile. "Look man, I've had a long day... and I mean a looong day, I've met a million mother fuckers just like you in my time, oh I'm a badass I'm not gonna give up any secrets that might put everyone in danger," I said waving my hands about. The lighter flicked and I took a deep inhale, "ahh, that's nice," I said to myself leaning back on one arm. "Anyways, let me put it this way, I ain't gonna bullshit you, were gonna kill you, and whether you tell us how to get to where we want to or not, other people, you're people, are gonna die, the thing is that you can save us a whole bunch of time and maybe even a whole bunch of people's lives if you just tell us how to get your boss cuz' all you're really doing is delaying the inevitable which if you think about it, it's very redundant to not help us cuz' you can't stop it at all, and besides that why are you protecting people that wouldn't even accept you and your boy's love for each other or do you really just love fuckin' in sewers that much?" I took a couple more drags through the silence.
"Fuck you," he replied in a strange accent.
I sighed, "Kill him."
I flicked the cigarette and we ascended the sewer ladder. I moved the manhole cover and took a look around. A group of men were guarding the backside of the building but too distracted by the dancing women to notice us. A man was throwing up by a lantern and a couple of men were laughing at him armed with pipes and bats. One of the trucks was coming our way. I shut the manhole cover. The headlights passed and the wheels bounced over our heads. I lifted the cover again and saw the men helping the other man throwing up. I climbed up and Snake came behind me. We latched the cover back and dashed behind a couple of crates. I looked over at the second building. The spotlights made the same rounds glaring on the crates and away from them every couple of seconds. The lights passed and we ran to the wall under the scaffolding on the side of the smaller building. We made our way to a window to take a look inside. Three men were sitting inside passing around a joint. They were throwing dice against a wall and tossing in money. We headed for the door and as we approached it swung open. Two men came stumbling out, too drunk and busy finding a footing to notice us dash back around the corner. The men headed the opposite direction holding on to each other for support. We quickly slid into the door before it latched shut.
The building was old and run down. Lights that once were part of the ceiling were now holding on by a wire. The air ducts were visible through the crumbling ceiling. Rats were running rampant even more so than the sewers, they ran from box to box it seemed the Alemmani used this as a storage place. The hallways ran in front and to the right of me, barely lit with the poor lighting we made our way down the hall to the right ducking under each door's broken glass windows. Every other room had people inside, some rooms blaring music the hallways echoed with mixed vibes. In other rooms men were smoking pipes, I don't think they would notice our presence even if we knocked the door down. We found a staircase at the end of the hallway. Foul smelling liquid leaked from the pipes above forming a river into a drain at our feet. They're improvised sewage system had some flaws. We made our way to the next floor where the hole in the building began. The larger building was still too far away for the grappling hook so we continued up the next flight of stairs.
No one was on this floor except for the moaning of women and a banging on the walls coming from the rooms. We continued up another flight the next floor was completely in the open; the roof had collapsed onto it. The spotlight from the larger building made its round across the floor. We ducked down the stairs and returned after the light passed. "All right, we got about a minute before the spotlight comes back around, so since you made the grappling hook you're gonna go first," I said. "Alright, whatever I'll throw it down to you after I made it acrossth," Snake was observing the larger building. "You sthee those pipesth sthicking out of the wall?" Snaked pointed. "Yeah."
"That'sth where we sthould throw the hook to."
"Sounds good, let's see it happen."
We waited down the stairs for the light to pass over again and then Snake dashed for the edge of the building and jumped down to the roof covering the broken walkway.
I crouched and watched as Snake swung the rope around a couple of times and released it. The wrenches flew with the rope spiraling behind them and smacked into a vent on the building creating a loud vibrating noise and falling on top of two pipes lodging in place. The men on top of the larger building must not have heard but the light was starting towards us. Snake tugged at the rope, which gave no slack. He held it tight and swung to the wall of the building and began scaling the wall. I ducked down the stairs as the light passed by. Snake was hidden in the dark the truck passing couldn't see nor could the light from the roof reach him. I returned to the roof to see Snake crouching on top of the other side of the walkway. I made my way to the edge of my side of the walkway and he tossed the grappling hook to me. I caught it and did as he had done and through it to the pipes. I hadn't had such luck as he did and the grappling hook swung off the pipes. I tried to reel it in so it wouldn't smack the building I was on but I wasn't fast enough. I heard the shattering of a window below me. My heart dropped but I kept my cool. I peeked over the edge to see the silhouette of a man's head looking down to the broken glass. I was worried he would alarm the others, so I quickly tried again this time I succeeded. I swung and climbed to where Snake was. We both crouched to watch the aftermath of my mistake.
"Nicthe throw jackassth," Snake snarled. "Fuck you," I replied. No movements came from the room. A man ran out to where the glass had fallen and looked around until the truck stopped a couple of feet behind him. A couple of men got out and conversed with him. The man pointed to the window and shrugged his shoulders. The two men returned to the truck and the man to the building. "You think they're susthpicthiousth of anything?" Snake asked. "I don't know," I chuckled, "but you're not aloud to say that word anymore."
"Assthhole."
The truck continued its route. Snake and I climbed down the broken side of the walkway and into the building. The music was growing louder as we proceeded through the halls. The building was well maintained compared to the other at least the ceiling was intact. We kept our eyes peeled. I didn't even blink taking a look behind us every other second. The Hall way didn't have many doors or rooms. The music was still growing louder; the thumps from the faint bass began to shake the walls vibrating the glowing orange lights overhead.
Between the thumps I heard echoing footsteps and voices coming our way. The laughter from a woman and the booming voice of a man startled my ear. The hall came to an intersection; Snake and I quickly found places to hide. Snake behind a rusted water fountain and me behind a mound of sandbags. The two stopped a couple of feet in front of us stripping each other's clothes off. The man's moaning was cringing. I ducked as he threw the girl on top of the bags. The girl shrieked in my ear as thump after thump hit the sand bags. The man flipped the woman over, and she opened her eyes not even a foot away from my face. She jumped back, "Aesh ki von!" She yelled. Snake tackled the man before he could grab his weapon. I grabbed the girl and covered her mouth so she couldn't scream for help.
The man grunted and jerked around trying his hardest to free himself from Snake. "Okay, everyone calm the fuck down," I said in half a panic. The girl clenched her eyes closed shedding tears. I held her trembling hands tight, "It's okay I'm not going to hurt you," I tried to calm her to no avail she started babbling. "Tahnt Qwua Yi! Tahnt Qwua Yi!" she kept screaming. "She doesn't speak English," the man said. I turned in surprise, "Holy shit... I was beginning to think none of you talked." The man relaxed and Snake lightened his grip. "So were not the first ones you've ran into?"
"No... trust me I've tried to get some answers from y'all, ain't no one wanna tell me shit."
"That's because we don't tell secrets."
"Secrets? Like what kind of secrets?"
"I've already said too much..."
"Then why'd you say anything at all?"
"Because you probably would've just killed us if I didn't and I'm not ready to die."
"Not 'til you get your nut huh?"
"Something like that."
"You know you're pretty well spoken for one of these Alemmani mother fuckers."
The man kept silent. "I was hopin' you could help me n' my friend out here, see we're lookin' for your leader, it seems you keep harrassin' our friends in the town nearby and they just so happen to have the only doctors in hundreds of miles, see I'm in need of a doctor for someone that... well... what the fuck do you care, we're lookin' for your leader." The man stared to the ground without even batting an eye in my direction. I dropped my head down with a long sigh. "Y'all really are some very annoying mother fuckers, but fuck it you can die too with all your friends."
Snake unsheathed his large bowie knife and held it to the man's throat. He spent hours obsessing over sharpening all the knives and with barely pressing the knife he drew blood. The drop slowly crept to the base of the blade and unto the floor. One drop after another created a series of beads of sweat accumulating on the man's forehead. He swallowed but remained silent I could see the acceptance of death befall his face. "Y'all are some seriously disciplined mother fuckers, I gotta give it to ya," I said, "but unfortunately that don't help me much so I wish you the best with death, Snake here is gonna slit your throat, don't worry some people take it better than others and you seem the type to come to terms with it... farewell mother fucker." Snake dragged the knife across his throat a river of blood flowed down his neck. The girl screamed and I covered her mouth quickly.
"What about her?" Snake asked. "We gotta kill her," I said. "But..."
"But what?"
"But sthes stho young."
"So what I seen kids younger than her die."
"Yeah but I've never killed a girl."
"It really ain't much different than killin' a man and we ain't in no position to find a soft spot." Snake put his knife back in its sheath. "I'm not gonna do it," he said. "Fine I will."
The girl squirmed almost breaking my grip as I pulled my knife from its sheath. I dug the knife into her throat and slid it along her neck. Her body flopped to the ground twitching until she released her last breath. I remembered the first time I killed a girl; it kept getting easier.
"I didn't sign up for this!" I yelled with the gun trembling in my hand. "I ain't ask you what you did or didn't sign up fer boy, you do as I say! I'm tryna make you a man!" Steely talked through the clouds of smoke pouring from his mouth. "This don't make you a man," I said. "Whatchu know bout bein a man? You ain't even fucked no girl yet."
"That don't make you a man either!"
"You know why I'm a man... hmm? Do ya boy?!" I stared down the sight of my gun trying to keep my sights lined up to the girl's head. The green hue and brilliant twinkle of her eyes shined through the darkness overcoming my spirit. I saw the pathway to my destruction, the only thing that kept me from becoming an animal like Steely lied in the chamber of this pistol. Her eyes said it all. Her eyes laid a curse on me; they became the part of me that taught me how valueless life was. Those eyes were so beautiful. "I'm a man cuz' I don't hesitate to kill, I'm a man cuz' I get what's mine, I'm a man cuz' when we get back to town every night I go over to where your momma at and I fuck her little brains out boy! Now kill this bitch and them kids and let's go the fuck home!" The kids were held up in a corner holding close to each other, the eldest was whipping their tears.
"Fuck you!" A swift hand stung my mouth. "You angry boy?!" I clinched my jaw and eyes. "You angry boy?!" Steely's smoke filled my nostrils. "Yes!"
"Good! I wantchu to be angry, bein' angry makes you a man! Now pull that fuckin' trigger."
"Ahhhhhh!" My innocence had left me a long time ago. With the pull of that trigger I had lost my soul.