Chapter 37 - 36: Screech from the Depths
"Thank you."
Leon’s voice comes out hoarse, barely above a whisper. He sits up slowly on the moss-covered stone, muscles aching like he’s been beaten. Elise kneels beside him, tears still wet on her cheeks.
"I thought you were dying," she says. Her hands shake as she checks his pulse. "Your heart kept stopping and starting. Jake had to help me keep you breathing."
Leon looks around the chamber. Marcus lies unconscious against the far wall, chest rising and falling in steady rhythm. Sarah curls in a fetal position near the entrance, whimpering in her sleep. Jake sits with his back to a pillar, staring at nothing with hollow eyes.
Tommy’s body rests near the center of the room, skin pale as marble. His eyes stare at the ceiling, seeing nothing.
"How long was I out?"
"Twenty minutes. Maybe longer." Elise wipes her nose with her sleeve. "Jake woke up ten minutes ago. Said he was trapped in memories of his old squad getting killed in an ambush. Over and over."
Leon’s system interface flickers at the edge of his vision. No notifications. No warnings. Just the steady presence of his zombies waiting in reserve.
The chamber feels different now. The air tastes of copper and old bones. Shadows move in corners where shadows shouldn’t exist. Something watches them from spaces between stones.
"We need to get out of here," Leon says.
Jake’s laugh carries no humor. "Already tried. Door’s sealed. Whatever this place is, it’s not letting us leave until we finish what we started."