Work Text:
The scutter of rats and the constant tinkle of droplets echoed gently in the flickering half-light. Freddie was staring into the murky, smelly water at his feet. It was deep, impossible to see the bottom, but he had familiarized himself with the approximate layout before coming here. Or rather – returning here. Of course he’d been here before, it was where his new life had started: he’d woken up in the dirty waters, drowning but not dying until he tired himself out with the way he thrashed about in panic. Then someone pulled him towards the surface.
And that was his job today. Tom had told him about what he’d seen just this morning; while it wasn’t easy to recognize in the strong streams of the sewers, with a trained eye, a human body was unmistakeable. Impossible to pull out until it arrived into areas with slower waters though. Like here.
Freddie waved his torch around; the flame hummed and its reflection glittered on the gentle ripples but there were no uneven splashes. Which was a good thing, really. If he could save his new brethren before they woke up, it would be so much easier for them all. And certainly less traumatic for the arrivals.
There was no reason to wait, he would have to jump in and see for himself if they were already here. He set the torch on the damp concrete ground and started to unlace his boots. Barefoot, he shrugged off his denim jacket as well. All the discarded pieces would drag him down too much once he was in the water, but even like this, in trousers and a long sleeved shirt, he felt too exposed. Layers of clothing both protected him and his brethren from outside damage and also prevented their bodes from falling apart more than they already had. He better not lose a limb in this endeavour, it’d be a bitch trying to fish it out and reattach. He fingered a knife stuck to his belt and hoped briefly he wouldn’t need it.
Freddie breathed slowly through his mask as he stared into the depths. He couldn’t drown, but that did nothing to stave off his natural instincts when he ran out of air. He would have to hold his breath just like mortal humans.
One last big gulp of air – and he jumped into the cold depths. The rush of water deafened him, only a persistent hum remained. His eyes saw nothing for several seconds before he finally started to recognize fuzzy shapes of enclaves in the wall. But so far, nothing floated around that resembled a human. He swam forward to where the water surface was replaced by a ceiling; any further and he would be trapped in a tunnel with no source of air. He’d need to be quick, perhaps he should only locate the bodies before coming back for air and then he’d retrace his path to them with more surety.
He wasn’t the fastest swimmer, but he had stamina and more importantly he could focus on the job – other, faster swimmers among his brethren had found themselves panic-stricken at the mere thought of going underwater. Some because of the experiments they had endured in the flotation tanks, some because of the experience of waking up drowning in the sewers… some both. Freddie couldn’t blame them.
There! A humanoid shape, a lighter shade than the surroundings, unmoving apart from slight bobbing up and down. And another one further away by the wall. Freddie swam on for now and watched out for more. He was almost at the point where another tunnel was connecting to this one from the right.
A movement – was someone awake? Freddie turned towards it fully, but whatever he was seeing... this wasn’t a lighter shade like the bandages all his brethren wore when dumped here. This was dark and almost graceful in its-
Freddie swore mentally, but he was prepared for this. He had to be. He pulled the knife out of his belt, waited until the crocodile was in reach and stabbed, hoping to avoid the gaping jaw. He was lucky. He hit his intended target, its eye, and the dark stream of blood confirmed his success. But by now his air was running out. With one more warning sweep of the blade towards the animal, he turned and swam back. He went as fast as he could – which wasn’t much, but nothing followed. He couldn’t see anything around him either.
Did the water turn darker or was his sight failing?
Were his limbs moving even slower?
Was he going the right way?
Were his lungs on fire?
Air!
In an eternity that lasted less than a minute, Freddie breached the surface with a splash and a loud gasp. He pulled down his mask and sucked in more of the cold air, his breaths quick and shallow. The feeling of air on what used to be his face was usually itchy and uncomfortable, but for once his body’s senseless demands for oxygen trumped any such sensations.
When his breathing returned to normal, he recollected where he saw the two bodies. There could still be more, further away, but for now he would focus on those he knew about. With another deep breath he put his mask back on, not keen on losing bits of his head in the water – parts of his nose still remained and he’d have liked to keep it that way – and dove back in. He made his way directly towards the closer body.
As he grabbed the luckily still unconscious man, he noticed the crocodile further away, mostly by the moving dark cloud of blood. Whatever, as long as it didn’t come closer.
Wait. Ah, shit.
The movement was too spread around for just one animal.
I see you brought friends , Freddie thought in a half desperate panic as he pulled on the unconscious body. There was still hope the crocodiles either wouldn’t notice him or would be wary of him with the way the first one ended up.
This time, luck wasn’t on his side.
While the lizards were nearing him quickly, options flashed through his mind: Continue to carry the man and hope for a miracle. Or leave the man here and try to save himself… but his pulling might have already made even the unresponsive body look like an interesting prey. Putting together someone torn apart by crocodiles was something The Damned had had to do a few times before and was always horrifying for everyone involved. And messy, very messy.
His third option was to fight. Considering he wasn’t a fast swimmer, whether he was carrying someone or not, the decision to go with the last option took no time at all.
With his knife in hand once again, he waited as the two crocodiles approached. Adrenaline was either coursing through his rotting body or his brain was making him think so.
He swept his knife too soon, impatient and with his fear rising as the animals split to attack him from two sides. He still held onto the man with his other hand but now he let go. He didn’t want to use him like a human shield.
The animal on the left made an aborted move downwards, as if it wanted to follow the sinking body. Freddie felt ashamed for the brief surge of hope that its attention turned away from him. An attack from the right pulled at his own attention. He hit the crocodile awkwardly with the back of his hand – the speed made him misjudge the distance. The crocodile swam past and body-checked his shoulder hard. Agile bastards. He tried to follow the lizard with his eyes but the other rushed him from the left, jaws opened wide. Freddie did a stupid, desperate move – he jabbed the inside of its jaw. With his unarmed hand.
The crocodile didn’t seem to like his throat punched from the inside, but wasn’t dismayed enough to retreat.
Instead it clamped its jaw.
Fuck! Freddie swore through gritted teeth as he saw his arm disappear, still attached to the rest of his body, but threatening to separate at any moment. His lungs also decided to remind him they would really like some air, and soon. Of course, at the moment the crocodile pulled at his arm and so moved him just enough to notice the other crocodile’s quick approach.
Now in full blown panic, Freddie tugged on his trapped arm in hopes to at least save the rest of him.
Sudden movement, slight but incongruent with current happenings, somehow still registered in the corner of his eye.
The man he’d been trying to save was waking up. He was moving erratically, not yet fully conscious but his body was already reacting to the lack of air. Soon he would start to thrash around, drowning without end, and with the crocodiles present, he’d be torn apart before he could exhaust himself into unconsciousness.
The crocodile that was still holding Freddie’s arm in its jaw indeed noticed the new target and dove down.
Still panicked but finally remembering the knife in his other hand, Freddie stabbed at slashed frantically in the direction of the crocodile’s eyes, while his own vision was failing as his brain decided Freddie was starting to drown.
He slashed again, more weakly now. He needed to see, he needed to breathe, he needed to hit that damn beast!
Freddie cried out; it was useless to try to hold breath now. His lungs started to fill with water but he kept fighting. He had to make that hit eventually. He knew he couldn’t drown, it was only his stupid rotting body that didn’t know it.
He tried to see. He could but he had to convince his brain of it. Focus. That was why he got this job. He knew how to focus on the task at hand.
Then goddammit focus! he screamed at his brain.
The crocodile was tugging his arm but it was still attached, Freddie’s slashes were useful enough to not let the animal try to tear it off. He stabbed. Stabbed again, there was its snout. Its… eyes…
He could see!
He aimed at the small glinting target and his next stab landed with precision. The beast trashed and he wasted no time blinding it fully. More dark clouds of blood spread around them.
His other arm was free.
Kicking away from the animal, he dived down to help the other man. It was a mess of movement but no blood, although that didn’t mean much – people like them bled very little, without functioning blood circulation that would force blood out through a wound.
He reached for the crocodile to get a grip anywhere on its body, a tail, a leg. But it was moving too quick, side to side in an attempt to tear the man it held in its jaw. Freddie couldn’t get anywhere close to its eyes and striking it in its back did little. Finally he positioned itself above it as well as possible to catch it with his legs instead. He was thrown away a few times but his determination only grew. He couldn’t drown and he wasn’t tired yet, so let’s see who the crocodile thought would give up first.
Freddie managed a tenacious grip on its front leg and kicking the water rapidly, he pulled himself closer. At last, his foot ended up on the other side of the crocodile and he quickly sank lower and straddled it. Then it was much simpler – a few tries only – to hit its two weak spots on its body, the eyes.
New clouds of blood spread around the three of them and Freddie let go of the thrashing crocodile, just as the beast also let go of the other man. The man who was now still once again. Tired out probably, maybe too quickly but he had been fighting the animal in addition to drowning endlessly, a horrific combination.
Freddie glanced towards where the crocodile escaped; he didn’t see it nor the other two. Even the first one, the one who had only been blinded in one eye, had preferred to run rather than attack, and thank fuck for that. Freddie grabbed the still man’s body and finally, finally pulled him towards the surface.
Only to experience a new shock. Freddie gasped and gasped, frantically trying to take a breath as one did on instinct when breaching the surface, but it was impossible and he started sinking again. Submerged fully, his gasps became less laborious, there was certain assurance in the familiarity of water. Now able to think more clearly, Freddie kept himself afloat instead of sinking to the bottom and assessed the situation. He’d become used to the water in his lungs. Now he had to get used to the air again. Oh yeah, sounded simple.
He gritted his teeth, glanced up and then held his breath as swam towards the air once again, his focus on getting the other man to safety, to the solid ground of the sewers. He pulled himself out first and then dragged out the body, only now able to judge the man’s physical state. No limbs were gone, and more importantly neither his head, but there was a big chunk missing from his torso.
Freddie sighed – or tried to, instead he coughed up water into his mask and more was tearing its way up from his lungs.
He decided quickly. The partly mangled body could wait on the concrete ground. He dove back in the water and breathed in the liquid; the coughs stopped. Alright, as long as he was underwater, he wouldn’t be drowning and he could pick up the other bodies before he had to figure out how to function on dry land.
He swam further, relieved to see the other body undamaged, and when he went on he eventually discovered two others, also intact and so far, all unconscious. It took a while to get them all out, but with no new crocodiles approaching and no worry about air, it was really just a matter of time – tedious work, but simple and straightforward.
With all four of his new brethren fished out, the moment came for Freddie to become a terrestrial man once again. Considering that coughing fit earlier… it was going to suck. He climbed out while he held his mouth firmly shut, and once he was kneeling on the damp dirty floor, he pulled down his mask and exhaled.
A cough, a splash, cough-cough- cough, so much water! His surroundings fell away, his eyes pressed shut as spasms ran through his body. The coughing fit was filling his ears with rasps, gasps, more splashes, never-ending. His lungs hurt so much he could just tear them out.
A thought flitting through his mind was trying to remind him of the time he had first woken up here. He’d been lucky, he’d only started to wake up when another was pulling him out. He’d taken in no more than few gulps of water. Not the full-blown drowning experience like some of his brethren. It was probably what helped him now to keep his wits, there was no traumatic experience he could fully compare it to.
Finally, he was heaving on all fours, his chest expanding deeply and his mouth sucking in air he didn’t need. Damn instincts.
He dropped onto his side, breathing more calmly now – and definitely somehow tired, in mind more than in body. He stared at the four soaked bodies, his new brethren. He got them all out. This whole shitty experience had been definitely worth it. Even if he knew this underwater trick of his meant that he would be sent to do this again and again.
Still worth it.