Chapter 10: Denizens of hell
"I'm not carrying that thing."
"Oh come on kid, I basically just saved your ass."
Iver holds his forehead in frustration. He's not gonna survive long under his current circumstances. Although it's not like he can trust Erina either.
"And just what're you planning on doing with that carcass."
Erina stares at Iver for a few seconds. And she finally sighs. She kicks in a vent on the wall and pulls out a messy, worn out survival backpack. It's as if it has endless makeshift tools. She pulls out a worn out cloth. It has different patches of fabric here and there and drapes it over the carcass.
"How do you think the prisoners of this place survive?"
That's when it clicked. It's not that she just outright admitted to being a pseudo cannibalism no…it's that she referred to herself as a prisoner. And for them to be eating reversed…that just stinks of a bad situation. Iver started looking around.
Observing.
"Prisoners?"
Erina tied up the corpse inside the large cloth. She grabbed one end and after hearing Ivers response she couldn't help but laugh.
"Really? That's what's bothering you?" She continued laughing.
Iver stepped back and put his guard up. His body was in pain but he had to ignore it. Erina noticed his cuffs. She stopped laughing and walked up to Iver and grabbed his wrists and took a look at them. Iver tried protesting but she shut him up.
"Just where the hell am I?"
"I'll answer you later kid, your bracelets intrigue me, so you know how much this tech could go for down here?"
She kept on observing until she realised…those were hand cuffs. She let go of his wrists.
"To answer your question, we're in hell."
Iver raises an eyebrow.
Erina continued. "To be more specific you're in a maximum security prison down at the lowest level."
She murmured to herself. "Maximum is an understatement."
A grumbling noise came from Ivers stomach. Erina looked up at Iver and saw him avoiding eye contact. She smirks.
"Don't be shy, being hungry is a natural thing, how old are you. I'm sure you're tired of me callin' ya kiddo so throw your name on there as well."
Iver stares at Erina. He hates to admit it but she's his best shot af finding out what the hell is going on down here. She tears a piece of the cloth and hands to to Iver. He grabs the cloth and wraps up the scratch on his arm.
"It's Iver…and I'm 17."
"Iver huh…are you Norwegian by any chance? Hmm…no you look a little Asian as well." As soon as she heard his age her eyes widened.
Erina began thinking to herself. "What the hell is a child doing all the way down here, and just how the hell did he fight off that thing."
She stands up and observes him and breaks him down. "Even if he doesn't know about those things, if he had an infused weapon he would've known he could do some damage."
She recalls her memories and remembers how he pinned it down. "But to go to that extent…he couldn't have survived unless…"
There's a slight flicker in her expression.
"He still has a force."
She snaps out of her train of thoughts.
"You're no normal inmate are you."
She grabs one end of the corpse and begins dragging it.
"Grab the other end, I've got a job to do."
Iver reluctantly grabs the other end. They put the king corpse on their shoulders and begin walking. Iver needed information. The sudden shift from the maniacal Jericho to this desolate world was too fast.
Neither of the two trust each other.
"Heads up Iver, there's no way you could've taken that thing down on your first try…"
Iver squints his eyes. They've slowed down from their original pace.
"You're a force user aren't you?"
Iver comes to a complete stop.
"Your point?"
"Keep it under wraps."
The tunnel grows wider. The temperature grows colder as a cold breeze hits them. Erina has gotten used to Ivers continuous limp and adjusting her pace.
She occasionally asked questions to keep the mood up. However she didn't really get many responses, it was either a snide remark or complete ignorance and silence. There was a red light in the far horizon, something was off about it. It was as if something was spinning .
WHOOSH
A sudden wave of air pushes against them.
Mmmmm…
A deep metallic sound resonated throughout the entire tunnel. A distant vibrating hum.
"You've gotta be kidding me. Is that a-"
"Yep! My favourite bitch of the day."
The silhouette in the far distance makes itself clear. With three blades that look like the appendages of a strange beast.
"It's an Axial fan. There's a vent we've gotta get through, it's a few meters away from the fan itself soooo we should be safe..maybe."
She reaches for a small device hanging from her pants and taps it rhythmically. Soon after, the object responds with static and begins beeping with its own unique sound.
"You've got to be shitting me."
Before Iver can question what's going on the dust and rubble around them begins moving backwards. The blades groan as they slowly begin spinning faster.
She stops tapping the ground. "It's midnight, which means, it's time for those blades…"
Dust clouds form as the wind is blown away. The spinning blades generate enormous airflowThe temperature cools from what it originally was rapidly as the two are met with a sudden resistance. The wind being blown by the fans makes th duo reconsider each of their steps as one mishap could derail their progress.
"To go into overdrive."
They instinctively start leaning forward but the luggage makes things difficult. Their hair gets blown away as everything starts pointing into one direction. The mechanical hum of the axial fan can be heard reverberating throughout the walls creating a low hum and slight vibration.
Erina raises her voice as she covers her eyes. "YA GOT ANY IDEAS?!"
Iver immediately thinking and arrives to a conclusion, his force could remove the resistance temporarily until they reach the vent.
"FRICTION."
She processes his words for a few seconds and immediately understands. He's talking about his force. She nods.
He grabs onto her shoulder and activates his force and suddenly.
BZZZT
An electric shock is delivered into Ivers body, his muscles contract as the shocking sensation makes its way through his system. When it finally stops there's some smoke from the bracelets and himself. He finally came to a conclusion. There are specific conditions he has to meet to activate his force.
"YOU ALRIGHT KID? THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
Iver tales deep breaths as he tries to regain focus. He shakes his head.
"CHANGE OF PLANS!"
She grumbled and curses. However her words are lost in the wind.
Seconds.
Minutes.
Hours.
After a gruelling journey they make it to the vent. Dust and air curve into the opening.
Erina kicks open the vent and they throw the corpse inside.
Erina yells. "BRACE YOURSELF."
Iver doesn't hear her and is immediately pushed into the hole. His eyes widen as the world turns black and suddenly he's met with the cold metallic sensation of his face kissing the floor as he slides. Erina chuckles and follows closely.
Suddenly there's a light at the bottom of the tunnel. The corpse breaks through the other side first followed by Iver zooming out and rolling into something hard. As Erina slides out she whoops and grabs her belongings.
She stretches."Never gets old even after 20 years."
Ivers eyes widen.
20…years?
Before he can question her she pulls him up and grabs the corpse and places it in Ivers arms.
"Hold on to this for me will ya?"
Ivers questions die down as he finally takes a look around. He's beside an enormous rock wall and a strange scent fills the air. As he looks up there's a strange orange luminance from the other side. As he gets his thoughts together Erina is already meter's ahead.
"Come on slowpoke, how many times to I have to call ya?"
Iver grumbles and clicks his tongue. He hurries towards her and soon they arrive at a…gate?
A sad excuse for one if anything. They were made of barbed wires and iron. And behind them lay something Iver never expected to see in a prison.
SOCIETY.
"Welcome to Gehenna kiddo."