The Lands of the Rising Sun

I Can't Think of a Name for This Part

I woke basking in the orange glow of the retreating sun. I looked over to Snake who was too far-gone in a slumber accompanied by Chucky who for the first time could sprawl out in the back. I shook Snake to wake him and covered my mouth with a finger nudging my head to Chucky. With sleepy eyes still dreaming we silently exited the car and popped the trunk. We stuffed a backpack with a flashlight, couple extra pistol clips, the homemade grappling hook, our last couple of tranquilizer darts, a blow pipe, and a canteen of water. I packed a revolver in my leg holster that I kept wrapped around my jeans and we both strapped our hunting knives to our lower backs. We closed the trunk with extra care to not wake Chucky and we began our walk to the building.

We stopped at the same spot as before to survey the area again. The building was lit up with spotlights making rounds back and forth, up and down the area in front of the building. One of the trucks was making trips around the building while the other was parked out front in the midst of floodlights and an army. The music was loud, and the men were too distracted by the women entertainment to care. If we wanted, we could walk right to the front door. Only a handful of rifles about one for every five men were leaned against the building. Bottles were being passed around and fights broke out between the men. The place seemed like my type of party. The large windows scaling the building shined with multicolored lights. Snake and I had seen enough and made our way to the sewer entrance.

The sewer was dark, not like a nighttime dark but a fearsome dark, the kind of dark that left the mind scrambling. We began our journey and as the music faded into black, the only lifeline we had was the dim glow of our flashlight, which was struggling on its last leg of battery. The sewer walls were filled with strange paintings and unreadable lettering. The floor was covered with cracked concrete and old mattresses. People must have taken salvation in here at one point. Remnants of civilization lay dormant. Makeshift kitchenware and broken televisions and tables littered the area. We crept deeper and deeper into the sewer until we came to a fork. One way led to an overhang into a bottomless pit and the other was more sewer. We continued until the music became faint again. We followed until we came to a glowing light. Snake quickly shut off the flashlight and we placed our steps carefully.

We approached and saw two guards lying on a mattress unclothed. They were aggressive on each other, making love. They must've came down here so no one could find out, unlucky for them they seemed too far engaged to notice us. We were creeping up on them then my foot stepped a squishy object. With such luck the object let out a loud squeak and an even louder squeak as I lifted my foot. "Fuck," I muttered to myself. The two men stopped immediately and grabbed the two bats that lay by their clothes. "Who the fuck is out there?!" Snake and I crouched low staying hidden in the shadows. One of the men grabbed a lantern and they started toward us. The light quickly swallowed the darkness.

Snake decided to rush them and I followed. He hurled the flashlight that broke on one of the man's bats. The man swung horizontal to Snake's head. Snake ducked and connected a right hook to the man's cheek. I was right behind him to take the other man I squared up with him trying to get him to make a move, becoming trapped in a stalemate. I bucked left and right then gave him a kick straight in the testicles. The man bent over but jumped back up swinging with an uppercut with the bat barely missing my head. Snake had the other man on the ground fully demolishing him with blow after blow. I was pushed back and the man threw the bat up on his shoulder readying his swing. Snake joined my side and the man jolted back and forth faking lunges at us. I charged the man and took a blow to the ribs; I shifted my weight around with the bat caught under my arm and threw the man to the ground. Snake jumped on him and held him in a chokehold. I bent down to one knee.

"So... you asshole... where's your leader at?" I asked catching my breath. "Fuck... you, ahh..." The man couldn't talk through Snake's grip. I sighed and took out a cigarette, it seemed like we'd be here awhile. "Look man, I've had a long day... and I mean a looong day, I've met a million mother fuckers just like you in my time, oh I'm a badass I'm not gonna give up any secrets that might put everyone in danger," I said waving my hands about. The lighter flicked and I took a deep inhale, "ahh, that's nice," I said to myself leaning back on one arm. "Anyways, let me put it this way, I ain't gonna bullshit you, were gonna kill you, and whether you tell us how to get to where we want to or not, other people, you're people, are gonna die, the thing is that you can save us a whole bunch of time and maybe even a whole bunch of people's lives if you just tell us how to get your boss cuz' all you're really doing is delaying the inevitable which if you think about it, it's very redundant to not help us cuz' you can't stop it at all, and besides that why are you protecting people that wouldn't even accept you and your boy's love for each other or do you really just love fuckin' in sewers that much?" I took a couple more drags through the silence.