I knew the main base was suspended somewhere above us and judging by how loud the metallic groaning was, we weren't far enough to be safe. The last quake sent us flying from the walkways and several hundred metres down to the ocean floor, I dread to think what damage it's done to the support beams.
It was just me and Royce at that point. We didn't know who, or even if anyone, survived the initial shockwaves but by the end of the fifth round we knew for sure we were the last. It felt like every time we got close to another crew member they were swept away or crushed or they were already dead.
Honestly it felt like the sea itself was hunting us down, making us suffer and reveling in every last second of our panicked breathing, knowing that each time we cried out for a friend we were wasting precious oxygen. We both lost track of how many tanks we looted from their remains.
Don't tell Royce this but not everyone was dead when we pulled their tanks, at least they weren't when I found them. I still have the bruises on my arm from where Otis grabbed me in his final moments and I sure as hell won't forget the look of betrayal on his face.
It wasn't like he was going to survive anyway - he was missing a good portion of his arm and both his legs were already crab food.What was I supposed to do? Just leave him to be eaten alive while I, a person with all my limbs and far less oxygen, drowned right next to him?
He was the first one I did that to and he certainly wasn't the last. There was Craymer half crushed by a fallen support beam, Marlene who was unconscious, Dray who was too shocked to fight back and just accepted death. I'll miss them all but their deaths helped me and Royce survive.
Two's better than nothing, right? That's what we kept telling ourselves while we climbed up out of the dark water to the flickering lights of the main base. Have you ever been in water that dark? Nothing quite prepares you to be surrounded by an infinite nothingness full of things much larger and much hungrier than you all darting about your head or brushing past your legs.
By the time we got to the base itself, it was flooded out. At least we saved time not having to bother de-pressurising and re-pressurising between sectors. Unfortunately if something's easy for a human in an abyssal diving suit to walk through, there's a lot worse that can swim through.
We got to Burton just as he was being crushed by the biggest angler fish we'd ever seen. Biologists got it all wrong, there is no maximum size.the bastards just keep growing and going deeper. This one had to be about eight feet tall, spines and all, and bigger ones swam past us several times while we rushed to the SS Rising Lark.
It was just me and Royce at that point. We didn't know who, or even if anyone, survived the initial shockwaves but by the end of the fifth round we knew for sure we were the last. It felt like every time we got close to another crew member they were swept away or crushed or they were already dead.
Honestly it felt like the sea itself was hunting us down, making us suffer and reveling in every last second of our panicked breathing, knowing that each time we cried out for a friend we were wasting precious oxygen. We both lost track of how many tanks we looted from their remains.
Don't tell Royce this but not everyone was dead when we pulled their tanks, at least they weren't when I found them. I still have the bruises on my arm from where Otis grabbed me in his final moments and I sure as hell won't forget the look of betrayal on his face.
It wasn't like he was going to survive anyway - he was missing a good portion of his arm and both his legs were already crab food.What was I supposed to do? Just leave him to be eaten alive while I, a person with all my limbs and far less oxygen, drowned right next to him?
He was the first one I did that to and he certainly wasn't the last. There was Craymer half crushed by a fallen support beam, Marlene who was unconscious, Dray who was too shocked to fight back and just accepted death. I'll miss them all but their deaths helped me and Royce survive.
Two's better than nothing, right? That's what we kept telling ourselves while we climbed up out of the dark water to the flickering lights of the main base. Have you ever been in water that dark? Nothing quite prepares you to be surrounded by an infinite nothingness full of things much larger and much hungrier than you all darting about your head or brushing past your legs.
By the time we got to the base itself, it was flooded out. At least we saved time not having to bother de-pressurising and re-pressurising between sectors. Unfortunately if something's easy for a human in an abyssal diving suit to walk through, there's a lot worse that can swim through.
We got to Burton just as he was being crushed by the biggest angler fish we'd ever seen. Biologists got it all wrong, there is no maximum size.the bastards just keep growing and going deeper. This one had to be about eight feet tall, spines and all, and bigger ones swam past us several times while we rushed to the SS Rising Lark.
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