“If the map is correct.”
Oddball looks into one of the caves leading off the main tunnel back into darkness and then turns to Johnson, “So we’re almost out of here, right? All them Zumbi, Zombie thingies are behind us, right? No reason they should know where we are, right?”
Johnson looks up to see caves leading off above them, “Just keep tellin’ yourself that, buddy.”
A muffled scream comes from behind them, and they all look back.
“Where is Hans?” Krugger asks.
Uneasy, the men look into the dark holes; water drips and the sounds of movement come from all around them. A German soldier walks back, looking for Hans.
From one of the dark holes behind them a spear is thrust out and into the German’s gut; the man screams as the spear is jerked out along with a portion of his entrails. As he drops to his knees, another spear hits him in the chest.
“Look out!” Krugger yells as he jerks a spear and pulls a leather-clad woman warrior from the passage next to him that was attempting to run him through, “What do we have here?” he says with a smile. She hisses at him, an inhuman sound, and Krugger looks at her face to see it’s weathered and evil. She reaches for a dagger in her belt. “No you don’t,” Krugger tells her and in a quick move he snaps her neck and throws her back into the hole.
A rope noose descends from the ceiling and catches a German around his neck and jerks him up toward a hole in the ceiling. Krugger grabs hold of his feet to try and pull him down.
Vanessa screams. Oddball looks to see her being pulled up into another hole by her neck.
“Vanessa!” he grabs her feet.
Krugger struggles to hold on, “Your knife, use your knife!” Krugger is lifted off the ground. The warrior whose neck he broke steps back out, her head twisted awkwardly and hanging limp. She comes at him, and he kicks her in the chest, “Cut the line!” he calls up.
Monte and Karl fire wildly into the holes as more leather-clad warriors attack.
Pilch struggles with a warrior as she tries to run him through with a spear, “Three months without a dame, and it’s gotta be this.”
Muller steps up and shoots her in the face.
“Thanks . . . ” Pilch turns to see that it’s Muller and bites his lip with frustration.
“Pilch!” Monte screams.
Pilch looks to Monte, who tosses him his rifle. Pilch looks at Muller and then turns to shoot an attacking warrior.
Oddball struggles to hold onto Vanessa, “Hang on.”
Krugger tries to save his comrade's life and beat back the crippled warrior. From the shadows, a warrior emerges, with spear in hand. “No, bitch,” he kicks her in the face and then loses his grip, falling to the ground. The German on the rope is jerked up screaming. Something in the ceiling above makes a deep rumbling growl followed by the sickening sound of crushing bone. The German’s screams abruptly stop, and Krugger rolls away as a fountain of blood rains down from above.
Oddball looks on with fear as what’s left of the German splatters down onto the ground. He looks up horrified, and grabs hold of the line above Vanessa’s head and climbs up into the ceiling. A spear narrowly misses him, and he sees several leather-clad warriors pulling on the line leading down to Vanessa, “Hi ya’, ladies,” he says with a smile and pulls out his pistol. He aims carefully and shoots one and then another in the head; the rest scatter down tunnels and into the darkness with Oddball sending rounds after them. Oddball looks down to Vanessa, “Are you alright?” from a large hole he hears a growl and looks up, “Uh-oh,” A leather clad man of 400 pounds steps from the darkness with two large axes, “Damn, and I thought the women were ugly.”
Oddball looks at his pistol; it’s empty, “Gotta go,” and he drops down the hole as the two blades narrowly miss him, landing hard on Vanessa.
“Ow!” she cries out.
“That was close.”
She looks into his eyes, “Thank you,” and she kisses him on the cheek.
Pilch dodges as another warrior comes out of a hole near him. The spear nicks his side, and he winces in pain. Yusif strikes, deftly severing the warrior’s head. It lands at his feet, and he kicks it away. Pilch looks at Yusif with grudging appreciation.
“Forward!” Monte screams and pushes everyone forward as Johnson, Krugger, and Yusif beat the attackers back behind him. He looks back to see Oddball and Vanessa still on the ground looking at each other, “Come on!”
Oddball pulls her up, and they run down the corridor. Monte sees the 400-pound monster moving alongside them in the side tunnels, “Faster!”
The 400-pound man emerges from a hole with both axes swinging down in flight, and with a crunch and a scream, a German is cut to pieces.
“Must move faster!” Monte screams and stops and lets the other pass. The axe-wielding monster steps out in front of him, and he calmly shoots him in the head; his body falls with a thud.
“Grenades!” Monte yells.
Pilch stops and pulls a grenade as Oddball and Vanessa pass.
Johnson and a German battle several warriors, holding them back.
“Johnson, run,” Monte yells.
The German is run through with two spears, and unable to move, he flails in desperation as he is stabbed again and again.
“Do it!” Johnson yells to Monte as he takes a spear in the chest.
“We gotta save him,” Pilch yells and starts back.
Johnson struggles to hold the undead back, “For God’s sake, do it!” he screams as he’s run through again.
Monte snatches the grenade from Pilch and then throws him to the ground, stopping him from running back to Johnson. He looks down to Pilch and shakes his head and then tosses the grenade, landing it at Johnson’s feet, “Cover!” he screams diving to the ground.
The explosion brings down the tunnel in a thundering avalanche of earth and stone, cutting them off from the attackers. Dust fills the air and rubble has fallen all around them. Monte and Pilch are on the ground breathing heavily.
Oddball walks up to help them, “You’re a god damn hero, Sarge.”
Pilch looks over to him, “I think he should get one of those medals.”
Oddball smiles, “And a flag.”
Pilch agrees, “Definitely a flag.”
“For your coffin, of course,” Oddball smirks.
Muller pulls Monte up, ”Thanks.”
Oddball pulls Pilch up, “My hero.”
“Fuck off,” Pilch dusts himself off and then looks back to the rubble, “Johnson.”
Monte nods, “He did his duty.”
Vanessa looks back at the rubble, “Amazon, Russian steppes 4th century B.C.”
Monte glares at her, “Thanks, Professor.”
“Only rumor, never been any real evidence, until now . . . ”
“Hey, hey, look at that!” Oddball yells interrupting her.
The roof has collapsed from the explosion and daylight streams into the tunnel. Pilch runs to the hole. Sand pours down a break in the rock and Pilch cups it in his hands like water, “We’re out!”
The rest of them look up.
“So long Romans, so long priests, so long undead,” Oddball cries out.
“And so long little Arab bastard,” Pilch adds.
Pilch tips his helmet toward Yusif.
“Come on, Pilch. Give me a hand up,” Oddball says.
Monte looks to Yusif, “Listen up.”
Oddball and Pilch look back.
“Yusif can’t do this alone. If any of you yellow-bellied bastards want to go home and wait for these things to come knocking on your door . . . well you go ahead and get,” he looks over the men. “Rest of us got work to do.”
Muller nods, “We will stay.”
Muller, Karl, and Krugger walk behind Monte to join Vanessa, leaving Oddball and Pilch standing alone under the light.
Pilch looks to the Germans and nods, “Well, why not. You think I’m gonna let some Kraut steal all the glory,” he looks up to the light and
then joins the others.
Monte looks to Oddball, “Well, what’s it going to be?”
Oddball looks to Vanessa, who stands behind Monte with her arms crossed. He sighs, “I’m going to regret this. Ain’t I?” and he joins the rest.
Chapter 15
The band travels wearily down a narrow passage as it drops down and levels out.
Vanessa smiles to Oddball, “Been in the army long?”
“A year.”
“And what did you do before that?”
“Watch repair, with my grandfather.”
“Ever work on antiques?”
Oddball smiles, “They’re the best. They’re old and kind of have a life of their own.”
“I know what you mean,” and she smiles at him.
Monte talks with Yusif as they march.
“How much farther we got?” Monte asks.
“Not far,” he looks to Monte, “It will not be pleasant.”
“Ain’t exactly been a day at the beach so far, pal.”
They emerge from the tight passageway and into a large natural cavern. The ceiling, hundreds of feet above them, is a translucent white, giving off a soft glow. Strange plants grow on the cavern floor, and crystal stalactites reach from the ceiling toward the ground.
“Look!” Muller exclaims.
Pilch looks around amazed, “Okay. Things just got officially fuckin’ bizarre.”
“Looks like it’s from heaven,” Oddball says.
Yusif shakes his head, “No. Not heaven.”
Vanessa looks up, “Quartz, a vein must run to the surface and refract the light down.”
Monte scans the strange cavern. In the center sits a large iron cage, “Jesus.”
Two men sit inside the cage, one banging his head against the bars. Aged, bleached human bones litter the floor. The second man is Clint.
“Holy shit!” Pilch cries out as they rush to him. Monte looks at Clint’s wounds.
Clint smiles at Oddball, “Hey buddy. Bum a smoke?”
“Sure thing, Clinty,” and he pulls out a cigarette.
“You’re going to give him one?” Pilch asks.
“Sure, you know Clinty. He’s never got his own.”
Oddball lights the smoke and hands it over. Muller approaches the cage and tries to talk to the other man inside, a German soldier banging his head on the bars. His throat is shredded, and the man has lost his mind.
“What’s the score?” Monte asks him.
Clint sucks in on the smoke, “We wouldn’t do what he wanted.”
“Belial?”
Clint nods.
“Have you seen him?” Yusif asks alarmed.
“No,” Clint taps the side of his head, “His touch, we can all feel it.”
“We? There’s more?” Monte asks.
Clint nods, “Harris is leading them.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Monte says.
“All of them?” Pilch asks alarmed.
“Matty and some others freed themselves.”
“Well, we gotta find him,” Pilch says.
Clint shakes his head, “They blew their own heads off.”
“But . . . ”
“It’s hard; he has power. I can feel it now, the push to kill you.”
Monte looks at Clint clenching his fists and obviously fighting a battle in his mind, “Alright, Clinty. You done good.”
Clint nods in thanks and then throws the half smoked cigarette away, “Sarge?” Clint looks up to him.
“Yeah.”
“You think you could . . . ”
Vanessa takes in a sharp breath, knowing what he’s asking for, and turns away.
Monte and Clint share a look, “Sure thing, buddy.”
Vanessa walks away from the cage.
Oddball watches her go and realizes what Clint wants, “You’re not… I mean, come on, Sarge.”
Monte looks at Oddball, “I’d do the same for you, son.”
Oddball turns and follows after Vanessa.
“Sorry, Clinty,” Monte looks to Muller, who has drawn his pistol and stands ready in front of his man, “You ready Captain?”
Muller nods, and Monte takes aim at Clint’s head.
Oddball walks with his head hung low.
“I’m so sorry,” Vanessa tells him.
Two gun blasts echo through the tunnel, and Oddball stifles a cry. Vanessa reaches out and puts an arm around his shoulder to comfort him.
Pilch looks at the motionless corpse of Clint as Monte and Muller walk away, “Damn,” he looks to Yusif, “If I buy it, promise me you’ll take my head off.”
Yusif smiles, “With great pleasure.”
Pilch smiles, but then thinks about what Yusif just said and frowns.
Oddball and Vanessa stand at the end of the chamber. It has collapsed into a mass of dirt. Monte walks up, “This the way?”
“Yes.”
“That could be a problem,” Pilch notes, coming up behind them.
Yusif stoops and sees a small opening in the collapsed tunnel, “We can fit.”
Oddball looks into the passage, just big enough to crawl through, “Oh no.”
Oddball turns to go and Vanessa grabs him before Monte can, spinning him around, “It’ll be easy, I’ll hold your hand.”
Monte laughs.
“This ain’t funny, Sarge.”
“Oh yes it is, son. Yes it is.”
Yusif crawls in and quickly disappears. Monte follows.
Chapter 16
The water has drained away to reveal what is left of Lewis lying at the entrance stone. The lower half of his torso has been blown away by the earlier blast and his battered corpse is motionless. The stone block rolls aside revealing the temple entrance room and the statue of Belial seems to gaze upon him. Lewis wears the necklace that he took from the tents. A small ruby in its center lights up. Lewis coughs up a lung-full of water and looks down at his body, “Aw man,” he closes his eyes in despair and holds back tears. Then, his eyes snap open, and he whips his neck to gaze at the statue of Belial, “Yes Master,” and he starts to pull himself toward the statue.
Yusif crawls along the tight passage with dirt raining down onto him, “I can see light ahead,” he calls back.
“Just hurry up,” Monte yells to him.
Oddball struggles to move forward, grunting all the way. Vanessa is ahead of him, “Almost there, you’re OK?” she tells him.
“You know, it’s the man that is supposed to be reassuring the woman.”
Vanessa kicks him in the head.
“Ow!”
Muller pulls himself along, ahead of Vanessa. Something moves in the dirt beside him. He looks back to see Karl driving his dagger into the dirt, “From the walls, they’re coming from the walls.”
“Forward!” Muller yells.
Oddball looks around, “What the fuck?” A hand breaks into the tunnel from the dirt and grabs him, “Undead! Coming out of the walls!”
Krugger is bringing up the rear, he struggles through the tunnel, his sheer size bringing down pounds of dirt on top of him.
Yusif pulls himself out and turns to help Monte, “Hurry!”
Muller uses his pistol and shoots into a badly decomposed body that is attacking him as Karl climbs out ahead of him, “To me! To me!” Karl screams as he reaches in and pulls Muller out.
Hands have grabbed Oddball, “Help!”
Pilch climbs out and looks back, “Oddball!”
Vanessa climbs over the corpse that Muller left and struggles for the exit. Pilch and Karl reach in and pull her out, all three falling to floor.
Oddball pushes past his attacker and quickly crawls for the exit as more hands grab for him, “They got me!”
Muller dives back into the tunnel, “Hold my feet, my feet!” he yells back and Pilch and Monte grab his feet and lean in as Muller reaches for Oddball, “To me boy! To me!” Oddball reaches out for Muller.
“Help me!”
Their fingers touch.
“A litt
le more!”
Muller grabs him, “Go!” he screams.
The two are quickly pulled free as Pilch and Monte jerk them out to land in a heap on the floor.
Oddball looks up to Vanessa, “It’ll be easy, you said. Easy.”
She shrugs.
Muller looks back to the tunnel, “Krugger,” he stands and dives back in. He can see Krugger, hands ripping him to pieces as more undead crawl out of the dirt, “Sergeant, to me, to me!”
Krugger looks up, fear in his eyes as bony hands tear the flesh from his body, “Help me!”
“Oh god!” Muller cries as chunks of meat and skin are ripped from Krugger and his cries for help turn into shrieks of anguish.
Pilch jerks Muller out of the tunnel and Karl fires a round from his long gun, hitting Krugger in the head. Monte throws in a grenade, “Fire in the hole!”
The tunnel collapses in the explosion and Muller falls back onto the stone floor.
“I’m sorry,” Monte tells him.
Muller looks up, tears in his eyes, “A baker, he was just a baker,” he looks to Karl.
Karl is near tears, “I had to,” he looks down, upset.
“It’s OK son,” Muller says giving him a fatherly squeeze.
Pilch looks at Oddball talking softly with Vanessa and then to Muller sitting on the floor.
He approaches Muller, “You saved my friend.”
Muller looks up.
“I ain’t got many left. Maybe you do have a worthwhile bone in your stinking body after all,” and Pilch holds out his hand. Muller takes it and Pilch pulls him up. The two turn around.
“Jesus Christ!” Pilch exclaims.
Chapter 17
In the entrance chamber, Lewis claws his way up to the head of the statue. He looks into the stone eyes of Belial and then struggles to pull the necklace off his neck. He holds the necklace in one hand and looks again into Belial’s eyes, “Forgive me,” and he puts the necklace on Belial and then falls to the floor below with a sickening crunch.
Belial turns to flesh and steps from the pedestal. He grips the mighty sword in his hand and looks down to Lewis.
“Please, you promised,” Lewis begs.
Belial smirks with an evil grin, “Yes, I did.”
Belial draws back to strike, and Lewis closes his eyes, “Thank you.”
Rise of the Undead 1943 Page 7
