Chapter Text
“Okay”, said Troy, “just take it easy.” She spoke calmly and slowly and had her hands outstretched with her palms facing outward; a demeanor not unlike one would have around a spooked horse. Jade stood silent in the tense moment. Everywhere around them was damp, dark metal. They had descended into the sewers, apparently the safest way to Old Town, the one Troy always took. Helpful guides and fewer infected, practically a vacation, Jade could hear the rats scuttling by the walls.
Cenk, the man who was currently pointing a gun squarely between Isra’s eyebrows, had apparently noticed a pin with Garrison colors on Isra’s clothes and he was not too thrilled about it. Perhaps he didn’t know that Troy already cooperated with The Garrison, or the reality of it just got too intense when he was confronted with the yellow paint job of the seal in person.
“Why are you bringing one of them?” He spat his question in Troy’s general direction, not taking his eyes off Isra. Isra had adopted an almost bored look, and Jade imagined his hands would have nonchalantly stuck in his pockets if they weren’t raised in the air. Troy slowly moved closer to Cenk.
“Just take it easy. This is Jade Aldemir, do you recognize her?”
Something like stunned recognition flashed in Cenk’s eyes as he looked away from Isra, and Jade fought the urge to awkwardly wave at him. Being recognized always felt absurd. People sometimes excitedly exclaimed ‘you’re from TV!’ and would then remember where they all were. No more TV.
“We need to pass through to Old Town.” Jade said, trying to make her I’m-important-and-you-should-listen-voice convincing. What she really wanted to say was yeah you can just shoot him. Honestly it would be a win-win if you did.
“The Scorpion,” said Cenk, with a somewhat unnerving grin on his face, but at least he’d lowered his gun.
“Where’s Hazan? Can we talk to him?” Troy tried. “He usually passes with everybody to Sector Zero.”
“Hazan is busy.” Cenk’s smile melted off him, and he returned to suspiciously watching Isra through slitted eyes.
Jade desperately wanted to rub her forehead; at this point, it would be quicker, and less rat infested, to swim to Old Town. What’s a couple hundred water-logged biters and bloaters if these muppets could be avoided? She’d found the infected could be great company. They moaned and groaned at everything too, but less annoyingly. “Hey, buddy, while I’d love for him to be free target practice, and trust me I’d really sell the story of his heroic death getting gnawed on by some volatile or other, I could use the meat shield for a bit longer.”
The group was silent for a second and Jade had just enough time to wonder if maybe the half-joke-half-truth had been badly placed before Cenk burst out into deep belly laughs.
“ Him ?!” He spat, gesturing to Isra. “Might as well hide behind your own finger!”
“Now that’s just mean.” Isra shook his head in mock disappointment.
“Alright, alright”, Cenk took half a step to the side, gesturing for them to go ahead. “Climb through and up to the Main road. Follow it until-”
“Until there’s a security door, and Hazan or Deniz will open the tunnel, the Saviors have let me through lots of times before.” Troy interrupted. She made her way past Cenk, gripping the straps of her backpack. Jade and Isra hurried forward after her.
As they lined up and began climbing back out of another manhole, Cenk yelled after them that “Scorpion, I’ve got a warm bed for you when you come back!” To which Jade heard Isra chuckle under his breath.
“Something funny?” She asked, disgusted at the suggestion, just as she entered into the blinding light of the world above the sewer, with the usual biter singsong wheezes in the distance.
“Not at all”, Isra grinned up at her, “very inappropriate.” Jade fought the urge to smash her heel into his hand as he gripped the last bar of the ladder and hauled himself out of the manhole.
Troy rolled her eyes so high into her head that almost her entire whites showed. “Come on”, she said as she shoved the heavy metal cover a few inches. Jade kneeled and helped her push it the last bit into place.
Isra squinted in the sudden daylight. “I haven’t been here since before the outbreak,” he said, breaking into a light jog beside Troy. Jade glanced back over the city, catching the Tower in the distance, and felt a slight tug at the thought of Rahim. Of the time before.
“The tunnel isn’t far from here. Some of it collapsed a while back, so we need to cross part of Main street before we go down below again.”
Jade shuddered at the thought of the rats.
Inside the tunnel there were almost a dozen people with the trio included. Jade hadn’t seen any of them before. Most were men, dirty and armed, a few wounded. One had the characteristic grayish complexion of having gone a bit too long without Antizin. It was all too familiar from the Tower.
The man’s group muttered amongst themselves, something about how Antizin was only ever dropped in the slums, and how “that fucking politician” always took it all. Jade felt her mood somewhat improve at the thought of Rais as a politician; sure, he’d been one. Kind of. But the image of some pampered bureaucrat hogging all the goodies would twist Rais’ panties up good, with the way he seemed desperate to emulate a mafia boss.
Deniz had been the one to greet them, because apparently nobody knew where Hazan was. He hadn’t returned after guiding some people toward Sector Zero and wouldn’t signal anything back on the radio. The tunnel was cramped because of the delay caused by his absence — only Deniz was available to guide, so he’d called for backup, but Cenk hadn’t been able to spare anybody for an hour. Deniz refused to leave anyone in the tunnel safe area without a Savior present. Jade found it laughable. The air was rank and damp, the floor constantly shifting with rats, the only light harsh LED lamps or candles. There was a bare mattress along one wall, but it was moldy and stained with some liquid she didn’t exactly want to investigate. She couldn’t imagine a place she’d be less willing to take over.
“I really hope they can start guiding soon, I don’t want to be stuck here for much longer with that guy”, Troy said in a hush, her eyes darting over where the obviously infected man sat. His sporadic twitching ominously signaled that seizures weren’t far ahead. Deniz was also carefully monitoring the man, gun in hand.
“What do you mean, isn’t he just the picture of health?” Isra joked.
“You could give him a vial of the Garrison’s stolen goods”, Jade hissed. “Maybe even some of that last batch you looted from us.”
“First of all”, Isra began, “we didn’t even get to the last Antizin drop in time, it was already picked clean. And second of all, I think I’d much rather save it for you, princess.”
“I’ve never been bitten.” Said Jade nonchalantly, happily informing him of just how good of a runner she was.
“Okay, I think you both would do best to not talk about any… supplies”, Troy said, so hushed it was barely a whisper. “I don’t want any of these people to know.”
Jade folded her arms and stared straight ahead, ignoring Isra’s smirking. His lips curled into a crooked smile, and he peered at her through his dark eyelashes. There was something about what he’d said that bothered her. If the Garrison hadn’t gotten that last batch of Antizin, who had? Crane was the only Tower runner to go out for it, but night had fallen before he was able to get it. The old man by the antenna didn’t exactly go for runs, and she figured if he needed Antizin the Garrison was the most likely source for him to get it. Maybe his son fought in Rais’ pit. The thought almost made her smile; that son could barely fight a biter with its limbs cut off.
Then she thought maybe Jaffar at the Wheelstation, where Zaid had come from. But they also seemed unlikely. They hadn’t told the Tower they had any infected, at least.
Jade’s thoughts were interrupted when a few hard knocks rattled the door to the tunnel. Deniz quickly drew it open, letting the Savior Cenk must’ve sent inside. The new man was dressed much the same as the other Saviors, with a scarf tied over his nose and mouth. Jade thought she could use one of those too. The smell inside the tunnel was awful, wet metal and rot.
“Alright, Slum group, follow me”, said the new arrival, beckoning the group with the sick man. Two of them wrapped their hands around his arms and pulled him to his feet. Troy and Isra had speculated that they were going to trade or negotiate with Rais. Troy didn’t know the men, so they probably held a low profile in Old Town. Perhaps it was getting desperate there too.
Deniz made his way to the three of them. “Alright my friend”, he said to Troy, a bit muffled behind his scarf. He reached into his pocket and gave Jade and Isra a headlamp each. “It gets dark in the tunnel. Let’s go.”
Troy fastened hers — Jade guessed she’d traded something to keep it, since she needed it for the journey so often — as Deniz grabbed the edge of one of the rectangular parts of the metal grid floor. Beneath it was water. It wasn’t exactly cold, at least not freezing, but not refreshing either. It felt slimy and thick. At this point it wasn’t sewage anymore, but Jade didn’t want to dwell on what it was either. As they waded through it, almost waist-high, she could feel the currents under the surface pull along her legs and hips. Their headlamps darted here and there, but the water was dark and grimy enough that not much was illuminated by them. She could see a faint light further into the sewer, the only way to go.
Approaching that light, they came to a head where they could climb out of the water and onto another of the grid platforms. Deniz hoisted Troy up first, who then laid down on the platform and caught his hand as he began climbing. The two seemed very familiar with the place. Jade would’ve climbed on her own if she could, but without leverage the platform was too high for her to reach, even jumping. She glared at Isra when he pulled on her arm, but he just shrugged at her. There wasn’t another way to do it. He bent his knees and let her put her boot on his thigh, giving her another half meter in height. As she hauled herself over the edge of the platform Isra pushed her legs from underneath. Once up, she turned around and laid on her stomach next to Troy so they could each grasp one of Isra’s hands to drag him up as well. They stood for a few moments, dripping and blinking in the dark, while Deniz seemed to think.
“The floor has been unsteady in this part of the tunnel. I think the best way is to use the pipes along the walls to climb.” He said, shining a flashlight on two pipes, one yellow and one faded white, which ran along the wall into the shadows ahead.
Jade pulled on the elastic band that ran around her head. It was old and worn, so it sat a bit loose. The thought of losing it made her shiver. Following Deniz, she wrapped her hand as best she could around the yellow pipe, stepping carefully with one foot in front of the next on the white one. The palm of her other hand slid along the rough surface of the concrete wall as she steadied herself against it. Everywhere around them were the eerie sounds of dripping water, and the draft in the tunnel sighed almost soundlessly. Jade felt tense and unnerved. The group climbed painstakingly slowly along the pipes for several minutes until they went around a corner and Deniz jumped off onto the concrete floor of another shaft.
Jade startled at the sudden noise of Isra whistling. The sound echoed far in the tunnel, returning melodically after reaching some end point further along. It was immediately recognizable; one of the biggest Turkish pop hits. A stupid song with made up lyrics.
“Dudu? Really?” Jade said, walking along.
“What?” Isra stopped whistling, only to start singing. “ Dudu dudu dilleri, lıkır lıkır içmeli … It’s a good song.”
“Were you even born when it came out?” Jade asked snarkily.
“I’ll have you know I was ten years old, dudu , I’m not even two years younger than you.”
Deniz grunted in front of them. Troy glanced back as if uncertain what to do, perhaps regretting tasking either of them with any part of the mission.
Suddenly they reached a hole in the ceiling, with the end of a ladder sticking out on one side. Deniz swung the rifle around so it rested fully on his back before pulling himself up by the slim metal bars. Troy followed him, and Isra grinned at Jade in a way that seemed to indicate “ladies first”. She scoffed before climbing into the hole.
The higher they went, the more dim light found its way into the tunnel. It wasn’t cold like the harsh artificial LEDs of the Cauldron, the Saviors’ hideout, and the breeze seemed to have picked up. Finally, Jade thought, they were resurfacing.
She almost bumped into the sole of Troy’s shoe when the two above her stopped without warning.
“What is it?” she heard Troy hiss.
“Listen”, said Deniz, and Jade felt her pulse rise into her ears. At first there was no discernible sound, at least not over their breathing, but slowly she started to pick up on groans and shrieks. They didn’t seem too close, but poking their heads out now seemed way less appealing than before.
“What do the surroundings look like up there?” Isra asked, his voice hushed but not a whisper.
“The sewer opens into a large, open drain channel. Most of the platforms are still attached to the walls so we can climb above the infected if they’re in the depression”, answered Deniz slowly. “There usually aren’t infected here though. We try to keep the tunnels clear.”
"Well, let’s keep going. We need to reach the Embers’ tower before dark.” Said Troy matter-of-factly.
Deniz mumbled something but kept climbing. Jade kept hearing the swishing of blood in her ears, not even their multiple footsteps in this enclosed space was enough to drown it out. When Troy stopped again she assumed Deniz was peeking out from the hole. Slowly, Troy moved above her, scooting silently out and over the edge.
“There are biters and virals, five in total. Something’s burning in the channel, but it looks like we can go above it using the grids”, Troy whispered down. “Come up as carefully as you can.” She held Jade’s upper arm as she lifted herself out slowly.
The sound of Troy’s voice was still loud enough to trigger the virals. One man and one woman, shrieking and screaming, both with fabric hanging around their necks, throwing their limbs around in unnatural, sharp movements, came at them. Troy dove to help Isra out of the hole while Jade pulled a longknife from her boot and Deniz hauled the rifle back around his torso. Troy jumped to her feet beside Jade, drawing the hatchet that had been tied to her backpack.
“Don’t shoot”, called Jade, and the viral woman lunged at her, panting and snarling. The biters were slowly making their way over after them, but they weren’t as much of a concern. Jade spun away from the viral, kicking hard at her knees. There was a satisfying snap and the woman, if she could be called that, screeched in pain. Or anger. It wasn’t enough to hurt them like that, and Jade ducked as twitching, bloody hands came up to scratch her. She slashed fiercely with the knife right across the collarbones, but had to curse under her breath when she narrowly missed the throat. She threw herself backwards as the viral threw her face forwards, gnashing her teeth horribly in that mouth full of black blood and bile. Something came down hard on the top of the viral’s head, and she, it, collapsed onto the ground. Troy panted heavily for a moment before she slammed her foot onto the viral’s shoulder and dislodged the hatchet violently. Pieces of skull cracked and the fleshy, swollen brain inside bulged out of the wound. The two women glanced at each other and Jade gave a nod of thanks.
Deniz and Isra were attacking and dodging the male viral, Isra with a slender metal pipe with a piece of broken concrete at the end, and Deniz with the butt of the rifle. Jade and Troy ran around them, Troy throwing her hatched onto the platform before putting her foot onto Jade’s intertwined hands. Jade bent her knees and propelled her body upwards, something between lifting a very heavy medicine ball and a deadlift, and Troy almost flew. She threw her knee over the metal grid and rolled onto her stomach, reaching her hand out for Jade, who took two running steps toward the inclined concrete wall of the canal and jumped off it at the platform. One hand caught Troy’s, the other the edge of the grid. The muscles in her arms burned as she strained to climb up.
Below them, Isra’s pipe hit the viral’s back with enough force to cause an audible crunch in the spine, and as soon as it hit the ground Deniz smashed the rifle into its face. The viral’s whole body twitched and shook before it went limp.
“Oh no…” Troy’s voice went soft. “Hazan…”
Jade looked closer at the corpse, but didn’t immediately realize what had happened. Then she noticed how pale Deniz looked. The scarf had come undone from his face, and it seemed as if he would vomit. Isra grabbed his arm, but Deniz shook him off. The biters were closing in, and Isra tried a final time to beckon Deniz to run before he made for the platform as well.
Deniz looked up at the women. “I have to go back. I have to tell the others. You know the way, Troy.” He yelled shakily, before he backed away from the biters, retracing the way to the hole. He used the butt of the rifle once more, this time crushing the mushy head of the nearest biter, before throwing himself down the shaft and disappearing.
The three of them sat silently on the metal grid for a few seconds. Below, the two biters left were becoming confused, slowing down again and opting to stand around and wheeze. Jade swallowed in between gulps of air.
“What happened here?” Asked Isra, a note of shock in his voice.
Troy stared towards the hole, and the mangled bodies near it, as she spoke. “The virals were Hazan and his wife, I think. They’re sewer guides. With the Saviors. Something must’ve happened…”
“They were infected just a few hours ago”, said Jade, “that guy in the Cauldron, could he have been bitten here too?”
“It’s possible”, mumbled Troy.
“Alright, shit”, said Isra. “I’ll go back after him, you two stay up here.”
“Do we need him?” Jade asked Troy.
“Not really. We’re already practically in Old Town. We just need to go through a utility vault and the plant itself.” Troy turned and gestured toward a large circular opening at the end of the drain canal, closed off by metal bars. On the side of the vault was a turning wheel that looked rusted and neglected.
Jade stood, a little shakily, and took a few steps over the grid. “Come on, let’s go. Let’s not waste time.”
Troy and Isra drew to their feet behind her. The three of them balanced across the wobbly parts of the platform, especially where the grid had loosened from the hinges and fallen down, leaving behind only a narrow ledge. The biters shuffled around under them, still slow and unsure where to go. When they reached the end of the scaffolding, Isra launched himself down and began turning the wheel. He had to strain hard for it to move, but the bars came up from the ground and slowly, he made enough space for them to duck in under. Jade thought they should probably lower the bars back down, but she was too eager to get out of this place to care. Inside the vault opened up to a quadratic space with more vault openings that all lead out to the drainage canal. One large pipe ran from the ground and up onto another platform, illuminated with what Jade had learned to recognise as Savior LEDs. She was the first to grab the pipe and start climbing.
After reaching the apparent employee floor, a corridor led them toward desks inside a room with different panels, generators and emergency brakes. Troy took the lead and led them through different hallways and rooms. They were gloomy and run down, but sufficiently lit by the Saviors that Jade thought she should conserve the battery on the headlamp. If she took the same way back after finding Ezgi, maybe she would give it back.
“Here!” Troy exclaimed, running out of the gloom and concrete into a staircase that seemed to belong much more to a house than a control room for the drainage system. The walls were wallpapered and there were vases with dead flowers on decorative tables. The trio rushed several flights, tripping over places where the mats on the floor had bunched up, all the way to a door with stained glass details on a window in its middle. They burst through it and practically fell out on a beautiful third-storey deck.
Only when she had closed the door carefully behind her did Jade hear Troy breathe a sigh of relief, and then laugh. “Welcome to Old Town.”