41. Valentine : Labyrinth

Walking forward with the mercenaries after managing to regroup Benedict kept a close eye on Collette who ran her hands over the walls trying to connect with something. With a tug on her shoulder from Benedict her fractured eyes shot around broken from the apparent trance. Grasping at her helmet she opened the seal to let in a gust of air.

With Benedict looking over to me then her it was obvious we were running out of time as the hours went by. Her poisoned mind was beginning to crumble as she fumbled with her smg nervously trying to check the weapon was ready for when the time came again. Before finishing the check her hand rose to her helmet visor. The influence was constantly assailing her regardless of the protection we brought. Recovering with deep breaths Fledger paced unevenly towards her.

“You hear them as well don’t you? The orchestra.” Looking up to him he stepped closer.

“The void calls to you doesn’t? You’ve seen the edge haven’t you. What’s down there? What awaits us?” His raving caught the attention of the other mercenaries with Marcus beginning to slowly approach him. Collette remained silent focussed on fighting the intrusions until Fledger launched forward clawing at her helmet.

“You can see can’t you but you won’t share salvation! Let us know! Look into the void! Be its vessel!”

Trying to rip off her helmet containing the protective head band was met with terrified screams. Diving forward myself, Benedict and Marcus ripped Fledger from her throwing him to the floor at gunpoint as he curled up much the same as Collette. Helping her to her feet Marcus reprimanded Fledger with the butt of his rifle.

“We can’t afford outbursts. Hold your nerve.” Fledger managed to get to his knees before wailing.

“What’s the point? This chasm never ends we could be down here for days. All we’re doing is feeding it we can’t escape.”

The other mercenaries stood uneasy as Marcus went for his pistol cocking it. With Duke and Baron stepping forward Marcus offered an ultimatum.

“Stand and fight or die here. We can’t support deadweight.”

The pistol shaking he hoped that the threat of death would be enough to return Fledger to a fighting stance. No one wanted to see him kill a friend but Fledgers mind was questionably irrecoverable. The halls quickly degraded him the moment we descended into the facility. Looking down the barrel of the gun his eyes widened with relief while he threw out his arms with a chuckle.

“Do what you’ve got to do.”

Closing his eyes Duke and Baron immediately went to pull him to his feet to be met with resistance as he cried out against their help. Marcus ordered the two aside but they continued to desperately find something to pull their friend back from the brink. The other mercenaries moved towards Marcus trying to dissuade him from taking the shot but understood that to survive there might not be any other alternative.

After a brief struggle Fledger was once again pinned to the ground this time broken letting out a haunting wail. Catching their breath Baron and Duke kept him pinned to the ground. Walking over to Marcus and pushing his pistol down he holstered it unsure how to proceed with Fledgers breakdown. As he leant against the wall I tried to calm his nerves.

“No one needs to be made an example of. They know what's on the line. Have some faith he’ll pull through.” Sliding down the wall as Fledger was helped to his feet and walked further down to the other mercenaries Marcus sat defeated.

“They’ve not got much left. Another day and there’ll be more than him who are broken. We have to find the exit to the zone soon all this will all be for nothing.”

“We’ll make it. Already punched through most of the horrors we’ve come across. What’s a few more?” With a light chuckle he returned to being deathly serious.

“One too many. They'll break our line eventually. It’s only a matter of time. We have to keep moving.”

Nodding we readied ourselves as Collette suddenly froze looking at Marcus which he responded with a concerned look.

“Something the matter?” Looking past his shoulder now she shook her head.

“I… Nothing.” Sighing he turned to pace back to his men.

“Ease up then. Enough tension in the air as it is-”

Pinned to the wall Marcus was lifted into the ceiling corner with blood pouring from a massive puncture in his stomach in between us and the mercenaries. The unseen assailant made it’s way through his body as he attempted to emit a drowned out gargled scream. Stepping back slowly from the elevated body we were all frozen by indecision. It wasn’t until a cry went out from Duke that we acted.

“Run!”

Marcus was viciously torn apart as the walls were fractured by the invisible attacker. It’s form unknown but strength unquestionable as dust was disturbed from the roof above us with every strike. Taking off down the hall none of us risked looking behind. Darting into another room the monstrosity crashing down the halls continued on as Collette began to fall apart.

“It see’s us. It won’t let us leave until we’re apart of it once more.”

Placing an arm around her she threw it off to fire into the darkness which brought a terrifying scream to echo throughout the facility. Taking off again under Collette’s lead saw her quickly jump over something down the corridor. Leaping as well the air rushed by underneath my legs. Continuing to run a heavy strike could be heard from behind sending Benedict flying forward.

Landing further ahead past a bulkhead he groggily got to his feet as Collette ripped a handle down from the other side of the door bringing the bulkhead down slowly. The creature could be heard catching up from behind as the dust began to envelope me. Rolling to my side under the door a heavy clunk was followed by an unrelenting assault on the door.

With no apparent damage to the door we relaxed to see Sparrow with her team in another control room through the shattered observation window and Bishop with Artur and Strider in another. After reporting the situation to each other we sat in wait trying to relax before our last attempt at finding an exit to the zone. Taking a mouthful of water from my canteen Collette sat staring at the pillar at the center of the room absolutely transfixed.

Standing up she moved to the ledge of the room. Standing next to her she looked down as if she was about to jump. Pushing her back was met with no resistance. She simply stared into the pillar as her eyes tried to tear themselves away. Pulling her back again and sitting her down next to Benedict she spoke up with a fractured voice.

“The answer to everything is inside of it. Every pulse is a scream.” Raising her hands to her head again she looked up only to quickly ask a question.

“Do you hear it too?” Shaking our heads she looked to her arm nervously before curling up again.

“It’s in rhythm. It won’t stop."

Summoning all the strength she had she remained seated on the ground with arms wrapped around her knees resisting the urge to go to the pillar. Standing at the ledge with Benedict we agreed to wait only for another hour with Collette deteriorating for any more survivors. Before we could discuss any plans on how to support her Flux walked into the chamber from the opposing side. Yelling out to him only saw it gain the other's attention. He walked forward to the pillar without interruption.

Watching confused he stood near the railing falling to his knees. With that a great pitch black ball of a horror propelled itself up from the hole. Going for our weapons the creature already had a blue tendril wrapped around his head which produced a blue glow brighter than anything else in the room as it hung from the pillar.

Firing into the fleshy mass from all three control rooms the creature quickly fell back into the depths as Bishop and Strider repelled down to help their friend. Looking over in shock Collette stood at the edge once more eyes wide. Supporting herself against the wall so she was completely still speaking as if she couldn't believe her own words as they helped an unconscious but still breathing Flux into a more comfortable position.

“The pulses. They’ve stopped.” Looking at the pillar saw her easily avert her gaze back to Flux which she locked onto trying to study him from a distance. Laughing she fell to her knees just as Flux did before the creature arrived in the chamber.

“There’s hope. The abyss didn’t consume him. Madness isn’t the end after all.” Confused we looked towards her but before we could inquire about what she meant she continued with what she believed had just happened.

“He spoke to it.”