The DOOM Chronicles

Chapter 26: Further Into the Storm

                                                         -PART FOUR: INFERNO-

"Hey, you okay?"

Jack looked up. He realized that he'd been staring at the gently vibrating deckplates of the ship for several minutes now.

"I'm not cracking up...I think," he replied.

Jennifer looked worried, but also tired. But she wasn't exhausted anymore, at least. Neither was he. Their brief R & R in the Hangar had helped. Green had taken over flying duty on the grounds that...she was the only one who knew how to pilot. Stratton was up front with her, leaving him and Jennifer alone in the back. A part of Jack found it strange and somehow hilarious that, even when they were almost literally in Hell itself, they were still pairing off and hooking up. But he supposed that was the nature of humanity.

Almost everyone wanted to fuck.

Especially if they were going to die soon.

Although...he looked over at Jennifer, who was still looking at him. He took her hand and squeezed it, she squeezed back. For him, it was a little more than just looking to hook up. "I'll be okay, Jennifer. What about you?"

"I hope I will be too. This is...this is all so much. I mean, we're in...Hell."

"It's not Hell," Jack said.

"How do you know? I mean, we can't know."

He shook his head. "It's not actually Hell, Jennifer. It's just another dimension that's home to a bunch of sick assholes that need a lesson in manners."

That made her laugh, and some of the tension seemed to disappear. "I guess you're right," she murmured. "This is just freaky."

"I know. I'm scared shitless myself. But...hey, we've made it this far, right? I mean, seriously, we got thrown into the meat grinder on Phobos, and it was even worse over here on Deimos. And we kicked their ass all over those two moons. Yeah, it's gonna be tough, but we can do this. We're gonna make it home."

He almost believed it himself.

Jennifer nodded. "Yeah, we got this."

The whole shuttle jerked suddenly. A shriek of rending metal sounded and, on the heels of it, they could hear Green cursing sharply.

"What's happening!?" Jack called.

"Strap in! Mechanical problems! I think...shit! We're going down! Stratton, get your ass back there and strap in! Now!"

As Jack and Jennifer strapped into their seats, Stratton stumbled back to join them. He sat down heavily across from them and quickly snapped the restraining straps into place over his chest, then gripped the chair tightly. The engines sounded horribly strained now, and right as Jack began to ask what was happening, he heard a series of sharp pops, followed by a small explosion, and then the awful silence of no engines.

"We're a dead stick!" Green roared. "We're going down! Hold on!"

They were in free fall now. Jack could feel it, his stomach flipping over and over, icy terror filling his veins. Goddamnit, he refused to die in a shuttle crash, not after all the crap he'd gone through, all the dangers he'd faced down. Not here, not now, not like this. But what could he do? Nothing but hang on and hope.

Wasn't that the fucking story of his life?

The shuttle was rattling violently now, and every now and then it would shudder powerfully as something was ripped off by the sheer winds. It was awful, terror given a voice. He could hear Green cursing occasionally as she fought the controls, trying to make their landing anything but lethal. He reached over and took Jennifer's hand, squeezing it again, harder this time. She squeezed back. He had just begun to open his mouth to ask something, how much longer or when this was going to finally happen, when there was a rending shriek.