Nadya’s Nights: Road to Vengeance
Night Three: Settling Scores
Chapter Thirty: Sewer Shortcut
by Indy McDaniel
Copyright © 2009 Indy McDaniel
Once Nadya was down in the sewer, she pulled the grating back into place and descended the ladder. At the bottom, Bridget turned to look at her with a stern expression. The Russian’s right hand fell to the handle of the machine gun at her hip, ready to draw and unload on the Irish werewolf if she did anything out of line.
She didn’t.
Instead, she spoke in a voice that was almost too low to even be called a whisper. “We have to stay silent down here,” Bridget explained, turning to glance both ways down the tunnel they were in. “There are other things that live down here. Not werewolf or vampire. Something else.”
Nadya responded with a firm nod, drawing one of her pistols from its shoulder holster and holding it low. “Lead the way,” she told the redhead.
Bridget turned and started down the tunnel, Nadya moving along behind her. Both women moved with silent grace, not even causing the sound of footfalls against the moist cement they walked along. The only noise they made were the sounds of their breathing, and even that was barely audible.
Still, Nadya remained on guard. She wasn’t sure what the creatures that lived in the sewer were, but she hoped it wasn’t another of the blob creatures that she’d faced off with before. Even with a large room to run around in and a bandolier of grenades, it had still been a major pain in the ass to take that thing out. Dealing with another in such cramped quarters or – even worse – more than one, was not something she looked forward to.
The pair had been walking for about five minutes when Nadya started to hear the noises.
It sounded like chattering.
There was only one good thing about the sound. She’d never heard the blob thing ever make anything like it.
That was where her relief ended though, since it meant she had absolutely no idea what she might wind up facing. The light was almost nonexistent down there, so it made keeping an eye out for potential enemies difficult.
Gripping her pistol tighter, Nadya kept following Bridget, noticing that the woman had slowed her pace. The sound of chattering seemed to gain a bit of volume. Turning her head to look back the way they had come, all Nadya could see was black. She turned her head forward again, looking ahead and saw the same sight. The sounds echoed off the brick walls around them, making it impossible to tell which direction they were coming from or even how many there might be.
Nadya didn’t like the situation one bit.
Thankfully, the pesky voice in her head had decided to shut up for the time being.
It had sounded rather girly. Maybe the noises had sent it hiding under the covers, too scared to come out.
Or maybe it was just smart enough to know when to shut the hell up.
Either way, she was glad that it was keeping quiet. She needed to focus all her attention on moving silently and trying to pinpoint where the creatures were. If they were as bad as Bridget claimed, it was no wonder they were going to have the element of surprise when they arrived at the hideout. It didn’t seem like anyone in their right mind would come this way.
She wanted to whisper up to Bridget and ask what exactly the things were, but she didn’t dare chance it with all the chattering coming from all around them.
Continuing on their way, Nadya followed Bridget as they traveled through the maze-like catacombs of the sewer. For a little while, the chattering seemed to grow softer, making it seem as though whatever fiends they had been in the midst of, they were now leaving them behind. Then, as suddenly as the noise had died down, it grew louder again.
The chattering was both eerie and grating. Nadya was starting to wish that they’d actually run into the things so she could put a few bullets into them and put an end to their constant chattering.
A moment later, she was regretting that thought.
As they reached a four-way intersection, Bridget turned left. Nadya began to move after her, but as she turned the corner, she was almost taken off her feet as the redhead was flung backwards. Jumping back, Nadya brought her pistol up and spun around into the intersection aiming into the tunnel Bridget had been thrown out of.
Blackness was all she could see, but the chattering had grown in volume and there was no question about where it was coming from now.
The sound began to speed up.
It wasn’t hard to decipher the meaning of the change in tempo. Whatever the creature was, it was excited.
It had just found its meal for the night.
“Sorry, fucker,” Nadya muttered. “This food bites back.”
The chattering transformed into a high-pitched screech and she had to fight the urge to drop her gun and clamp her hands over her ears. Over the screech, she could hear the thumping of feet against the floor. She was being charged. Keeping her pistol up, Nadya waited to see something that she could actually aim at.
“C’mon, asshole…”
Just then, it was about three feet in front of her and she could finally see it. It was humanoid, but definitely not human. Its face was elongated and hairless; its skin wrinkled and pink and its eyes blood red. It had a small nose at the end of its snout with whiskers protruding out from either side and its mouth gaped open, emitting the shriek and exposing jagged, yellowed teeth.
Below that, the thing was naked and just as hairless. Its arms – outstretched towards Nadya – were skinny and its fingers were tipped with pointed claws. It had a rotund belly that jiggled as it ran.
Gotten fat on stray cats and the homeless, Nadya thought. Not exactly a slimming diet…
Its flaccid cock bounced against its thighs; hairless testicles swaying underneath. Its legs were muscular and pumping hard as it propelled itself towards her. Despite the clear definition of its gender, Nadya couldn’t force herself to refer to it in her mind as a ‘he’. Its frighteningly alien appearance designated it as a clear ‘it’ to her.
It had taken roughly one second for the image of the creature to be burnt into Nadya’s brain and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever get the hideous thing out again.
Deal with that, you stupid voice, she thought.
Then she aimed for the thing’s head and fired. One of its shiny read eyes turned into a glistening red hole as the slug tore through it. The back of its head blew out, spraying brains outward in a gory sneeze. The thing continued to move forward and Nadya’s eyes widened.
Could these things survive having their heads blown off?
If so, they were definitely fucked.
As the creature came within a foot of her, its movements became jerky. Stepping to the side, the thing dropped to its knees and then collapsed forward into a heap. Now that she could see its backside, she noticed the long, rat-tail sprouting from just above its ass. The thing continued to give off death twitches on the ground.
“You are one ugly motherfucker…” Nadya muttered.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she spun around and brought her pistol up, right into Bridget’s face.
The redhead jumped back and threw her hands up. “Don’t fucking shoot me again!”
Nadya lowered her gun.
Bridget looked down at the dead creature. “Well, now you’ve done it. You’ve gone and gotten us proper fucked.”
“What are you..?” Nadya’s voice trailed off as she heard how loud the chattering had gotten. The fact that it was interspersed with more of the things’ high-pitched cries was not comforting. “Ah, fuck… How far to the hideout?”
“Not close enough, now that every one of those things knows we’re here.” Bridget shook her head. “Jesus, I told you to stay quiet…”
“Oh, yea,” Nadya said, sarcasm soaking into her words. “By the way, Nadya, thanks for saving my fucking ass after I walked right into this ugly cocksucker.”
“Fuck you…” Bridget shot back. “We need to fucking move immediately.” She moved past Nadya, continuing down the hall the hairless rat monster had been lurking in, moving at a faster pace.
Nadya took one last look at the dead creature then turned and hurried after Bridget. “Don’t see what the big deal is. They die pretty easy, seems like.”
“Try telling that to the fucking horde of them that’s about to run up and eat out your ass in the worst possible fucking way,” Bridget said. “Ever hear about that whole strength in numbers thing?”
Nadya rolled her eyes. “Oh, yea. That’s the thing that says a lone girl can’t possibly kill six werewolves all by herself, right?”
Bridget stopped dead and turned back to Nadya. “Five. You killed five werewolves. Friends of mine, by the way. Thanks for reminding me.”
“You’re welcome,” Nadya replied. “Now I’ll remind you that I could have killed you, too. So I still say six. I’d add Remy to that list, but I had a bit of help with him and I give credit where credit’s due.”
Bridget was silent for several seconds then turned and continued down the tunnel. “You’re such a fucking cunt…”
“Guilty.”
The sounds of the rat-monsters were all around them now, growing louder with each passing minute. Nadya drew her second pistol, keeping both at the ready. She decided that if any of the things grabbed hold of Bridget, she’d let them take a nice bite or two out of her before intervening.
Hearing more thudding of feet coming up fast from behind her, Nadya spun, lifted her weapons and fired a shot from each. The screech she got in reply was one of pain and another of the monsters skidded up to her feet, blood pouring from its chest and two massive exit wounds at its back.
Turning back around, she realized she’d lost sight of Bridget. “Hey!” she yelled, moving forward. “Fucking bitch…” she added in Russian, hurrying down the tunnel. She reached a dead end, two adjoining tunnels running off in either direction. Looking both ways, she still didn’t see any sign of Bridget.
That’s fucking it, she thought. I’m shooting the bitch the next time I see her…
Crouching down, Nadya examined the floor, covered with a light layer of dirt. There were numerous footprints, but only one set made by boots. The rest were the bare feet of the rat things.
The boot tracks led to the right.
Rising, Nadya turned and started down the right tunnel. As she did, once again a hand clamped down on her shoulder. This one gripped her much tighter and she felt the sharp tips of claws dig into her.
“Shit…”
The rat thing yanked Nadya back, pulling her clean off her feet and sending her sliding backwards along the floor. Her pistols left her hands.
“Goddammit!” she yelled.
Reaching down to the machine gun attached to her hip, she tried to unlatch it. Before she could, the rat creature pounced her. Bringing her arms up, she grabbed hold of the thing by its scrawny neck, keeping the sharp teeth from tearing into her throat.
Nadya could see a pair of fat tits sagging from the thing’s chest, its belly swollen from something other than stray dogs.
“Jesus…” The thought of the things fucking almost made Nadya puke.
She tried shoving the female rat thing off of her, but it scrambled hard and refused to be thrown clear.
Despite their scrawny appearance, the things had surprising strength. Nadya could feel her arms starting to grow tired from holding the gnashing teeth at bay. It struck her as absolutely ludicrous that after everything she’d been through, she was about to get turned into rat food.
“This is fucked…” she said to no one in particular.
Ya got that right, sister…
The string of colorful Russian curses that escaped Nadya’s mouth actually seemed to stun the rat woman.
Of course, that fucking voice waits until I’m two seconds from death to stick its big, fat fucking face in.
Hey! Who’re you calling fat?
“Shut the fuck up!” she yelled out loud.
Just then, a third hand grabbed hold of the rat woman’s neck and she was yanked clear off of Nadya and smashed into the nearby wall. The sound of crunching bones was audible and the creature let out a squeak before she was dropped to the ground.
Looking up, Nadya saw Bridget standing over her. “Way I figure it, that makes up for me trying to kill you.”
Nadya wasn’t exactly sure if she agreed, but at the moment, she didn’t really give a fuck so she gave a nod and hopped to her feet. “Next time, though, try not to leave me behind when I’m covering our rear.”
“Fuckin’ hell, you’re ungrateful…” Bridget said, shaking her head and turning away. “C’mon. We’re almost there.”
Nadya let the comment go and followed, anxious to get the fuck out of the sewer and away from the disgusting rat people. After she got through with killing Remy, she’d have to ask Vlad if she could borrow some napalm and come back to exterminate the things.
It wasn’t so much a personal vendetta.
She just really didn’t like them.
