The Russians, along with Jack and Hans, were scavenging for supplies amidst the corpses. They had decided that after gathering supplies they would depart the ruins, leaving the hellhole behind. Sergei wandering over to Zhukov and spoke to him in a hushed voice.

“The hell were you thinking, Zhukov! They could’ve shot you.”

“What was I thinking? Pasta of course!”

“Pasta?”

“Pasta!”

Sergei smacked his head.

“You risked your life for pasta?”

“Of course! I heard the Italians carry pasta as a part of their rations, a delicacy I haven’t been able to eat since the war started.”

“You could’ve taken the pasta of their corpses too..”

Zhukov started to stroke his beard, thinking out his response.

“But that would soil the flavor!”

“We’ve eaten rations off the dead before.”

“But this is pasta!”

Sergei scratched his head and looked over to Yakov, who was shuffling the the pockets of a corpse.

“Hey Yakov, did you find any pasta on those corpses?”

“Nope. Lot’s of tuna though. Oh, and bread, lots of bread.”

Sergei turned his attention back towards Zhukov, he sighed after seeing his commander whistling nonchalantly.

“You sympathize with our enemies too much.”

“And you seem to be perfectly fine with Hans.”

“Just look at that dopey brute. He belongs in a field of flowers, not a war...”

Zhukov and Sergei looked over to Hans, who was humming a tune as he robbed the dead.

“Zis is for Hans. Zis is also for Hans. Ooh, and zis rifle, zis rifle is definitely for Hans! I must thank you Frenchman, you have just made zis one twice as dangerous!”

Sergei shook his head and mumbled to himself.

“...twice as dangerous to himself.”

“And the others don’t?”

“What?”

“Nevermind…”

Sergei simply shook his head with disappointment before heading back to scavenge with the others.

Meanwhile, Yakov had moved over to Grundolf, trying to cheer the dwarf up. He picked Grundolf up, putting him back on to his feet.

“Everything’ll be alright, cause we’re still alive at least.”

Yakov slapped Grundolf on the back, attempting to give him some motivation. Though to his surprise, the dwarf fell back to the ground. He began driving his fist into the floor, over and over again. Yakov tried to stop him, but the dwarf shoved him back.

“No...”

Grundolf picked up his halberd and ran into the opening in the wall, from whence the monstrosity came.

“Can’t let him die in vain… ”

“Shit, after that damn dwarf!”

Zhukov wasn’t going to let the dwarf run off without them again. They chased after, but were stopped by the wall of pure darkness that greeted them.

“Torches...grab the torches!”

Everyone ran back and began prying the torches from the walls. They found that they were much like the ones from the village, putting off a bright light, but producing no heat. They didn’t think too deeply about it as they dove into the darkness, chasing after the dwarf.

Only Yakov and Hans carried the torches, as holding a torch would prevent them from using their rifles. Zhukov, Sergei, Yakov, and Vasily were in front. Behind them, Jack and Hans were watching the rear.

The deeper into the darkness they went, the more worried they grew. Though the path was linear, it was also much more expansive than the tunnels they were in moments prior. They had to watch the darkness closely for any movements, lest they end up walking straight into an ambush. Though everyone at the front seemed to be on edge, Jack and Hans were rather relaxed in the back.

“I could use a bottle of Schnaps right now.”

“Schnaps?”

“You have never had ze Schnaps?”

“No, can’t say I have.”

“Oh, you are missing out! It is simply ze best booze in ze Vaterland! Much better than ze potato piss zese Russians call vodka. Maybe we we’ll be able to scoru-”

Hans was too busy talking to Jack to notice that the Russian in front of him had stopped moving. He crashed into Vasily’s back, the latter turned to to look at him with a face so horrifying it sent shivers down his spine. It was as though he’d asked for a glass of water, and received a glass of piss.

“I recommend you watch your words, cabbage. Unless you want your grave to read strangled with potato.”

“Vhat? Ze Russian cannot take ze joke? Vhy don’t you go tell your mother zat ze vater vears the pants in zis relationship.”

Vasily smiled maliciously as he brought his rifle up above his head.

“Oh scheiße…”

Hans managed to jump out of the way of the blow, watching as the rifle’s stock exploded into fragments . He could only stare in horror.

“Vere you trying to kill Hans!?”

Vasily looked down at the rifle in his hands. The stock had broken off just behind the trigger guard. The rifle could still be used, but it would be harder to both aim and manage the recoil. He simply shrugged, the rifle still had a bayonet, which meant it could always function as a short spear.

“Look what you’ve done Hans, this poor poor rifle...”

“Vhat! Zis is not my fault, zat vas your own doing!”

Jack stood on the side, shaking his head while sighing.

“I haven’t had any tea in two bloody days…Wait a moment, where did those other blokes disappear to?”

Hans and Vasily stopped their arguing and looked around. Jack was right, the others had disappeared.

“Well...shit.”

The three gave chase after their missing comrades, but they soon came upon a diverging path. Off to their side was a door that had been left ajar, while the cave extended onwards to their front..

“Could zey have gone through zis door?”

Hans nonchalantly walked through the door. Jack and Vasily were reluctant to follow, but the German had the only torch.

It was a smaller tunnel, about the same size as the ones in the labyrinth. Unlike the labyrinth however, it seemed to have been a part of a mine. A variety of digging equipment such as pickaxes and shovels were laying alongside their long deceased owners, who were little more than bones now. Strangely, not a single skeleton looked familiar to anyone in the group. Some were shorter than even Grundolf, while others would’ve reached up to the ceiling had they been upright.

At the end of the tunnel was another door, this one much more extravagant that the last. A bulky metal door, engraved with strange symbols. Like the last door this one was also open, though only a crack. Hans looked down and found the reason why, a single bone had been wedged between the door and the wall.

The group slipped through the gap and found a sight that would’ve never been found in their own world. A town, underground. Vasily noted that it much smaller than the first town they had visited, but for its size it was still quite a feat.

A pure white orb hung from the ceiling at the center of the town, engulfing everything below in a soothing light. It was as if the town had its very own sun, though this one would never set. Beneath the light, a tree was growing, apparently unhindered by its strange environment. Around the tree was a vast field, where unkempt greenery thrived. On the outskirts of the field were stone houses, they seemed to have been carved straight from the rocky walls.

“Zis...is amazing…”

“I think this might be the first time I’ve gotten drunk without drinking…”

“Could it be? Are those...nettle plants!?”

Jack was the first one to enter the town, heading straight for the field at its center. Hans and Vasily watched as the Briton began ripping the leaves off of one of the plants. They started laughing as he let loose a string of curses after apparently injuring himself. Jack was unfazed though, he took out a pair of gloves and went back to work, shoving his bounty into his rucksack.

Hans and Vasily stopped laughing though after hearing an unsettling clacking noise. They looked around, but were unable to find the source. Hans put his torch on the ground and unslung his rifle.

He and Vasily were making their way over to Jack when they found the source of the noises, a moving skeleton. It appeared from behind the tree, not too far away from where Jack was.

“Vatch out Jack!”

Jack looked around in confusion, apparently unaware of the danger he was in.

“The hell you wankers want?”

“Do you not see ze skelton behind you!?”

Jack looked over his shoulder and finally understood. The skeleton was standing right next to him, a shovel raised above his head. Jack jumped up and managed to backstep, avoiding the blow. Though the shovel still managed to connect with his bag, tearing it from his hands and sending it flying.

“My nettles!?”

Jack delivered a powerful kick to the skeleton as it was recovering from its attack. The skeleton toppled over, landing onto its back. Much to Jack’s surprise, the skeleton shattered when it hit the ground. Jack looked over the pile of while scratching his head.

“Vow, remind me never to insult ze Queen vhen I am near zis tommy.”

“Better not insult his tea either.”

Jack was about to go and collect his bag of nettles when he heard a familiar clanking noise coming from the bones. The bones seemed to be all be gathering up, they were like pieces of iron attracted to a strong magnet. The skeleton was reassembling itself.

“Aw, bloody hell.”

Jack unslung his rifle and looked over the pile of bones that were reassembling. He aimed his rifle at the skeletons skull and fired. The skull shattered into fragments. Though to his dismay, the skull fragments too began coming back together.

When the skeleton was back into one piece it looked virtually unharmed, though the firearm did have some effect. A few fragments didn’t join back up with the skull, leaving holes.

Jack kicked the skeleton back over again, watching as it shattered again upon hitting the ground. This time he took up the shovel the skeleton had been wielding, using it to smash the skeleton’s bones.

“You fellows just gonna watch, or are you gonna lend me a hand?”

Hans and Vasily scurried their way over to Jack. They didn’t have anything as useful as the shovel, so the two had to improvise. Hans used the butt of his rifle, while Vasily had to resort to stomping. The skeleton was unable to reanimate as its bones were constantly being shattered. After enough damage had been done it stopped trying to reassemble. They continued to bash the remains though, just to make sure.

“Well, I’d say we worked up quite the sweat. Would only be fair if we took a moment and brewed some tea to rejuvenate our tired bodies, eh?”

Hans and Vasily laughed, though their short moment of peace didn’t last long. They heard more clacking noises coming from behind and turned around, only to see the door they entered through open wide. The skeletons they had seen in the tunnel were now moving.

The three immediately started firing into the crowd of undead that was assembling at the entrance. The first shot managed to hit one of the skeleton right in the head, sending its skull crashing into the gathering crowd behind. A few skeletons fell apart, yet the headless one continued on.

Vasily attempted to aim down his broken rifle, but the recoil was simply to difficult to control without the stock. The recoil from the his first shot ended up bashing him in the face. He just started to fire from the hip after that.

The skeletons were slow and cumbersome, allowing the group to take their time retreating. They fired while moving backwards, reloading whenever needed.

“Well, zis isn’t vorking…”

Despite their attempts to thin the horde, the skeletons always seemed to always rise back up.

“They don’t seem to be too difficult to take on alone. Let’s get out of the open first though, before they surround us.”

Everyone started to look around for a more defendable position. Most of the houses had crude wooden doors, they looked as if they could barely withstand a slight breeze, much less a horde of undead. However there was one building that suited their needs. It was more refined than the other buildings, not to mention it had a metallic door. It also looked as if the roof could be accessed from inside.

The building perfectly suited their needs. If the front door was broken they could always escape through the roof. The group quickly made their way over, as the skeletons continued to advance.

The entrance to the building was a door with ornate markings that seemed to be glowing blue. Jack started to kick the building in anger after seeing no way of opening it.

“What sort of sick demented bastard makes a door with no way to open it!”

“Probably the Germans…”

“Vhat!? It must of been ze Russians, clearly a product of your drunk engineering!”

“Ha, at least our drunk engineering works!”

“Nein, vhen your vehicles break down you just go and get another. Zey are as disposable as your infantrymen.”

“Yer damn lucky that Sergei isn’t here, cabbage. I’d like tah see ya tell him straight to the face that Alyona is disposable.”

“Alyona, who is zat?”

“Dammit la-”

Jack’s attempts to intervene in the argument was cut short, after he was hit in the head by a flying pickaxe. Hans and Vasily turned back to see that skeletons were almost upon them.

“Shit, grab him. We’ll jump from roof to roof!”

Hans threw the unconscious Briton over his shoulder and followed Vasily into a nearby building. They ascended to the roof and looked over to the more defensible building, which was lower to the ground. Hans threw Jack over first, then jumped down himself. Vasily followed shortly after.

After arriving safely on the roof, Hans and Vasily looked back to the building they had just jumped from. On the roof skeletons were walking towards them, only to fall to the ground. They peered over the roof and watched as the skeletons reanimated and went right back to the roof, only to fall again.

“They are aren’t very smart…”

“Zat is probably why zey are dead.”

Vasily shrugged and went to go investigate the building, Hans followed behind with Jack in tow. The building contained only one room at the bottom, void of all light except for greenish-yellow crystal. It appeared to be floating on a pedestal of sorts.

“Oooh! Vhat is zat?”

Hans let his curiosity get the better of him. He dropped Jack and went over to poke the crystal. It hummed and shook after being touched, but remained floating.

“Look here Vasily, isn’t zis simply amazing!”

Vasily would have joined the German, if he wasn’t intrigued by the two orbs of light that seemed to be approaching Hans. They glowed with the same color as the crystal. Eventually the orbs approached the light of the crystal, and their owner was revealed.

“Oh scheiße!”

Hans swung his fist out in surprise when the skeleton with glowing eyes appeared. His fist connected with the crystal, driving it into the skeleton’s skull. Both the skull and the crystal landed over in the corner of the room. Hans and Vasily were basked in darkness without its light.

“Fuck you skeleton!”

Hans started to wrestle with the bones in the darkness. He was surprised to find that the skeleton wasn’t fighting back.

“Is zis a friendly skeleton? I must apologize for my transgressions, friend.”

“Hey dumbass, stop talking and listen!”

Hans did as Vasily said and found that the noises outside had stopped. It was an eerie silence, the clacking of bones had stopped outside.

“Vhat ze hell?”

Hans felt his way through the darkness, over to where the front door should have been. He put his ear up to the door, hearing nothing but silence on the other side.

“I don’t like zis.”

“Let’s check out the roof, we might be able to see what’s going on outside.”

Vasily picked up the crystal to use as a light source and went back up to the roof, with Hans following behind. The two were surprised by the sudden change outside. The town had been enveloped in darkness.

“Zis...is bad...”

“Yeah, can’t see a damn thing.”

“Vell...vhat now?”

“Hell if I know. Let’s just grab Jack and get the hell out.”

The two went back down to grab Jack. Though to their surprise, the Briton was already back on his feet. He was standing near the now open door, shaking his head.

“We’ve been bamboozled!”

“The hell’s wrong with you Jack?”

“The door! It was a sliding door all along!

“You are damn lucky those bones outside stopped moving.”

“Lucky? Nonsense, I’m simply mad. What sort of a sick bastard would do such a thing.”

Hans leaned over and whispered into Vasily’s ear.

“I think zat blow to ze head left him vith brain damage…”

An ugly grin crept across Vasily’s face.

“What was that Hans? You said the British queen sympathizes with the fascist ideology?”

“Vait, vhat?

“He said what!? Why, I never!”

Jack started swinging aimlessly in the darkness. While Hans was busy avoiding the blows, Vasily was chuckling as he leaned on the pedestal. He placed the crystal back on the pedestal, so he wouldn’t have to hold it as he watched the brawl. The crystal rose up and began floating again, humming with a soft tune. A flash of light came from outside, temporarily blinding everyone in the room.

When they returned to their senses they heard a familiar noise. The bones outside were beginning to reanimate again. Vasily looked over to the where the bright eyed skeleton remains used to be, only to find that it had already reanimated. Though it was quickly smashed to pieces by Jack, who seemed to have only been further enraged by the sudden light.

Vasily looked at the floating crystal with a sudden realization. He snatched it from the pedestal and watched as darkness surrounded them again.

“On second thought, let’s just leave…”

“Oh you’ll be leaving alright. Leaving through the gates o’ hell for insulting Queen Elizabeth, that is!”

“Jack, don’t you have tea waiting for your outside?”

“Oh hell, my nettles!”

Jack ran outside but, after realized he couldn’t see anything, returned to snatch the glowing crystal from Vasily.

“Hey!”

Jack ignored Vasily and ran back out in search of his rucksack. Vasily scratched his head and followed after the bobbing light in the darkness, with Hans close behind. After Jack found the bag, the group left the underground town. Hans had attempted to grab his discarded torch, but its light had gone out, making it useless.

The group eventually ended back up in the main tunnel, from there they could only go onwards.

“Vell? Vasn’t zat fun.”

“Fuck you!”

Jack and Vasily shouted in unison.

The group continued on, eventually coming to a large opening in the cave. Light shone down from cracks in the ceiling, basking everything in the rich light of the outside world. At the center of of the opening, were their missing comrades, along with a massive pile of ash.

Zhukov ended his conversation with a strangely happy dwarf, turning his attention to the newcomers and waving.

“Oh, would you look at that. I guess you bastards are still alive after all!”

“Yup, guess hell didn’t want us after all.”