Chapter Five
Shadows of the Abyss
Shadows flickered around them, just out of the light's reach. Large, hulking shapes that noiselessly glided along the ground, watching them amidst other motionless chunks of rubble. The occasional plink of something was audible from either side of them, but besides that, all was silent.
But the shapes still moved.
The matrix's light flickered over a disturbing sight: a horribly mangled wreck of a once-proud skyscraper; now reduced to a mound of twisted and charred steel, glass, and ashes. This was the first in a series of hundreds of these mounds of ashen rubble and metal. The rows of the piles of junk extended far into the mists of darkness, well beyond the comparatively weak beam from the matrix.
There was a horrid-sounding crunch from underfoot, and Audrey whipped the light downwards to see what, exactly, they had just stepped on.
The crushed, mangled aluminum and fiberglass carcass of an older-model Lotus Esprit seemed to have been hit by a relatively large, mobile meteor. The car had been crushed perfectly flat with the charred, melted asphalt underneath.
"Ow," Audrey murmured, then proceeded forward. Ryan stared in horror at the annihilated sports car for just a moment longer, then hurried to catch up.
Behind them, dim silhouettes moved ominously in the darkness.
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Three hours of walking proved fruitless. Audrey flicked the light around, playing it over the demolished buildings, looking generally apprehensive of what lurked in the shadows.
The hulking silhouettes had generally receded into the distance, and the darkness seemed to press in around them even more eagerly than before, as if determined to crush them in its icy claws.
Despite himself, Ryan jumped as the light swept across his back, giving him the impression that someone was standing in very, very close proximity behind him.
This whole Ordeal thing was extremely disconcerting, as both of them were positive someone… something… lurked in the heart of this ruined metropolis.
What they didn't know: They were right.
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The first clue that they were being followed was an extremely quiet, nearly inaudible purr from somewhere in the looming blackness behind them.
Audrey glanced over her shoulder at Ryan, who was plodding along behind her, his head down, kicking at various pieces of rubble as he dutifully followed his wizardry partner down the tattered street.
"Hungry?" she inquired.
He jumped, looked at her, then shook his head.
Audrey frowned. "Then what was that?"
"What was what?"
"That… there was a hum behind us."
"Huh?"
"That. Listen…"
The noise was louder now, and rapidly growing in intensity. In fact, it now resembled an extremely lous roar of machinery, come to think of it…
Crap.
Damn… I could have sworn we just went through this…
"Audrey, get off the road!"
She obeyed this time, landing on top of the matrix, effectively smothering its light. The approaching headlights were now plainly visible, and growing brighter by the second as the roar became nearly unbearable in intensity.
Ryan stood for a moment, outlined in the glare of the headlights, then took a flying leap off the road in the nick of time.
The boxy form of an older muscle car, possibly a GTO, whipped by and fishtailed into a 180 degree turn, sweeping its headlights slowly across the demolished building.
Ryan and Audrey, crouching beneath the jagged edge of the asphalt three feet above their heads, remained perfectly motionless as the lights traveled above their heads, then flickered back to the road.
The car burned rubber and roared off into the darkness, its taillights quickly swallowed by the enveloping gloom, leaving behind two very stunned teens and a faintly glowing matrix.
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"Okay," Audrey groaned, rubbing her eyes as she struggled to process the information she'd just been given. "So…we're being pursed by these psychotic cars that are something out of a Stephen King book, are probably gonna get killed during the progress of this Ordeal thing, and I'm supposed to be optimistic?"
Ryan, a wholly fake smile plastered onto his face, nodded. "Yeah… that would be the main part of it…"
"You're delirious."
"I know. Thank you."
With a low moan of disbelief, Audrey buried her face in her hands. "You are gonna get us both killed."
"…If we're not already dead," Ryan cheerfully reminded her.
Another groan.
"Ryan, shut up. You're making me nauseous."
"Is that a good thing?"
"No. Shut up."
Ryan obliged, settling for starting work on a shield matrix, copying the diagrams from his manual, occasionally poking it and muttering, "Clarify."
Audrey, on the other hand, curled up and did her best to fall asleep in a very uncomfortable pair of jeans.
Failing miserably, she sprawled out, cupped her chin in one hand, and watched Ryan work.
He glanced over at her, and smiled kindly, making her stomach do a few weird flips. "Nauseous?" he needled.
Audrey rolled her eyes. "Nah. What're you making?"
"Advanced shield matrix. It'll block everything from a pebble chucked at you to an atom bomb explosion."
"Ah. That explains a lot…"
He shrugged and went back to his work.
Audrey watched him for a while, then rolled onto her back and shut her eyes.
She was asleep in a matter of minutes.
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A/N: Yeah, it was short… but, unfortunately, I've run out of ideas on this story. It might be a bit of a while before I update again…
Teky1389- JD and Rae rebelled. They, unfortunately for me, insisted that I change their names to Chris and Audrey. Yeah… but they say aloha auina la, and hope that The Almighty Author will update the website soon.
Venus Goddess Sailor Magna U- Thanks. And there WILL be more… soon.
Fireblade K'Chona- Thanks for being a constant reviewer… noooooo, not the Puppy Eyes of DOOM™ !
Reading Redhead- Thanks for the feedback… hope you enjoyed this so far.
Mornstar- Thanks!
Yayalulu- Thanks… though you probably won't see this until September…