The Lost Chronicles Of Pangea: Apocalypse

Zombies

The entrance to the tunnels was aptly placed within the vault that David had first found the map of the military base. Of course the vault had more than just the map in it, and for some reason, there was a ridiculous amount of money in it. David had no need for money as his family was quite rich, but seeing something like that still shook his confidence pretty hard.

The entrance to the tunnel was at the extreme end of the vault, it was not really big though, just about the size of an average store room. But the entrance was hidden, so it would not be that easy for someone to find. However David had no idea which i***t thought it was a good idea to place a manual for the hidden door right within the vault with the map.

“So how do we open this door.”

Minerva asked while shouldering a standard first aid kit bag. With the amount of injuries David had received so far, he doubted the first aid kit would have much of an effect when taken into consideration how serious the injuries he had sustained so far were. But it was better than nothing, because Lilith had used the last of the Mana water to save his life.

“The door reacts to a particular sequence of sound. Which means we have to open it with a secret knock.”

Lilith explained as she went through the manual. Doors like this were rather ingenious in their making as it did not need anyone to guard it, and was only opened in a very unconventional way. Not everybody if anyone at all, would know that you had to use a secret knock to open the door. The only way a person was getting into that tunnel was if that person already had prior knowledge about how to bypass the security of the door.

Lilith then went ahead to rap her fist against the metal frame of the door, there was no rhythm to what she was doing, and to any body who didn’t understand, she was just randomly hitting the door. But this was the second part of the security measures put in place, if you use a knock that has a rhythm, then it was safe to say that somebody else could memorize and replicate it. But a carefully stringed sequence of random bangs could leave most average geniuses stumped and confused.

After Lilith finished knocking on the door, there was an audible clank as the sounds of gears shifting and grinding was heard. The tortoises were spooked as they withdrew their heads into their shells, except for Veni who hid behind David. David on the other hand raised his assault rifle and pointed it at the still opening door. The girls were not really partial to weapons so they didn’t have any. Minerva lit her hand on fire, and Lilith encased hers in her diamond form.

The door stopped making sounds, and with a ding, it slid into the wall leaving behind a gaping hole into darkness. The tunnel beyond was completely dark, and David could only see a few feet in front of him due to the new eye he got. He could not think about the intricacies of how almost being possessed by virus/parasite infecting lizard gave him some modicum of night vision, and how so far he had not been taken over. He would like to believe that Lilith was able to stop the infection from completely taking hold, but as long as his one eye was still yellow, and he had those scales, he was keeping his finger’s crossed.

Apart from not being able to see anything, the tunnel was silent, too silent. After a few moments of doing nothing but looking at the door, David got tired and picked up a fat wad of cash. He had that urge to just pocket that money, and he actually did so, much to the surprised gazes of Lilith and Minerva. He shrugged his shoulders and picked another.

Then he threw it into the door. The only thing they could hear at first was the sound the money made when it hit the ground. Then they started hearing screeches, and vile screams from within the depths of the darkness, and it was coming closer. Lilith turned to David as she asked him with a harsh tone.

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

He replied back with his gun drawn closer to him. But by the time he finished answering they were attacked. None of them saw it coming, as in mere moments they were surrounded and could do nothing but wave their hands to try and escape the onslaught of bats that suddenly came out of the tunnel. David had to bring his head down, as he was completely worried about accidentally shooting someone. The colony of bats did not stay long as they went out through the open vault and out into the daylight lit station.

“Where those bats just now?, as in normal looking bats?”

David asked in surprise after they had all flown away. His surprise was not misplaced because the last time he saw a bat, it was the size of a house, and it was trying to eat him. But Minerva had an explanation for them, which only seemed to add more to her mysteriousness. Which David realized she actually had in the first place.

“That tunnel must have been sealed airtight since the incident with the exploding lab in the city of wonders. Whatever was responsible for the rapid mutation in both people and animals never got into it. That was probably the only uncontaminated place in the whole of Pangea.”

“And now we have contaminated it?”

David asked while trying to peer into the dark tunnel.

“I’m afraid so.”

Minerva replied. Lilith took one step into the tunnel, and started moving her hands around the doorway and the walls close to it. What ever she was looking for, she couldn’t find it that close to the door as she moved in deeper and David lost sight of her in the darkness. He was about to go after her when there was an audible switch, and light flooded the tunnel.

“Light?”

“Yes David Light. Now let’s move out, we’re burning daylight and I would very much appreciate it, if I’m not exposed by the time the sun comes down.”

They all bundled themselves into the tunnel, after they went in, Lilith pressed a switch behind the door, and it slid close behind them. It might look like they were trapped, but at least this way nothing bad could come up behind them. Of course the station was secure, but you can never be to careful.

“David take the lead, your abilities should be more than enough to warn us of any coming danger.”

David looked up at Lilith after she said that. He was knew she was right, but the idea of being the first thing a monster will snack on did not sit well with him.

“Oh don’t worry I’m quite comfortable right where I am.”

He said with a big smile on his face. Minerva and Lilith looked at him like he had grown a second head. It did not take long for it to become completely uncomfortable for David.

“Seriously you girls are to serious, can’t you read the mood and get a joke.”

David moved to their front and gathered whatever courage he had left in his body. He might have told the girls he was joking, but he knew he was being dead serious.

For the first fifty meters or so, the tunnel was in a straight line, but it was also a decline, which meant that they had been going deeper into the ground. The tunnel was actually dug out as a concrete hallway, the walls seem to be a little damp, but it still did not explain where the bats came from. At the end of the fifty meter tunnel, David began to discover traces of rocks and dirt, and after another ten or so meters he came across what he could only call an underground tunnel system.

The smell of damp earth assailed his nose as his ears could hear the sound of water from within the walls. It seemed like there were pipes above the tunnels, which meant the city’s sewer system was right above the tunnel. However David could not help the feeling that something was terribly wrong.

After going down the tunnel for another ten minutes, they came to a crossroads of sorts, that branched out into six different directions. Thankfully Lilith was a very capable map reader, and she was in charge with getting them to the base. They took the first tunnel from the left and continued their journey towards the base.

David did not know how or when it started, but somehow during their journey through the tunnels, the smell of rotten meat and spoilt food filled the air. The stench was so thick that David had to breath through his mouth, but even then it did not help much as he even began to taste it.

“Are you sure this is the right path Lilith.”

David asked as he tried unsuccessfully to cover his nose while holding his gun. Lilith took a look at the map for a moment then looked up.

“I’m Sure, this is the right path David. It says so on the map.”

If the map says so then it must be true, but David was getting really sick of the smell and stench. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he had to keep moving.

Later on he began to hear the sounds of shuffling feet and the sound of pained groans, coupled with the smell, it painted a very eerie picture. But David had not felt any intent so he could only hold on till they saw what was ahead of them.

“Guy’s stop!”

Minerva shouted all of a sudden. David was immediately pissed off, because of the low lighting, strange sounds and stomach churning smell, his nerves were already strained to the breaking point. Minerva shouting had spooked him so badly that it was only a miracle that he did not start shooting everything in sight.

“what is it!?”

David shouted back.

“We have to go back, now!”

What the hell was going on in this woman’s head, David could not tell, he knew how uncomfortable the current situation currently was, but was she so shaken that she would have them all turn back. Besides this was the path that would lead them to the military base, going back would just defeat their entire reason for coming here.

“Before you all start saying s**t, you better listen to what I have to say, or better yet run!”

And with that she turned around and ran like the devil was on her tail. David was puzzled, but he only took one look ahead of the tunnel for him to notice what had spooked them.

“Are those……..are those zom……..zombies.”

Of course there was no one left to answer David as even Lilith had made a run for it, and the three tortoises had followed right behind her. David was shocked for a moment that they actually ran away without him, but he immediately followed behind them, unable to shake the sight he had just seen from his eyes.

The entire tunnel was clustered with a mass crowd of rotten flesh, creaking bones and pus. Even as he ran he could not help but shiver at the sight of all those hollow eye sockets and rotting eyeballs. The tunnel was filled with the dead, and they were all walking. David was not sure what kind of danger those Zombies posed to him and his group of friends who did not think twice before abandoning him, but he knew one thing for sure, and that was the fact that since he truly woke up in this world, as both David of Earth, and David of Pangea. This was downright the most bizarre thing he had ever seen. And I don’t know about you, but when David see’s a walking dead body, he does what any normal human being would do. RUN!!.