Short Story : Sewer Crawl by xisney

Katrina woke up. She took a deep breath and then remembered where she was. The thick, smelly sewer air drifted into their tent. She turned her head to see Edward sleeping soundly next to her. She crawled out of the tent, standing up and stretching.

But she heard something. She paused and grabbed her axe, hearing Edward stir in the tent. It was hard in the sewers. They’d hear something tunnels away and think it was a breath away, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.

Katrina waited a few more moments before going through her routine. She dressed quickly, using a small amount of their water under her arms and then through her reddish brown hair. They couldn’t start a fire without endangering themselves, and she couldn’t exactly use the sewer water to wash up. Edward struggled with the lack of cleanliness, but he’d get used to it. Well, Katrina hoped he’d get used to it.

Edward stirred and got up a few hours later. As he stepped out of the tent, Katrina automatically started packing it up. He followed Katrina’s routine, a bit more extensively. He mixed a sliver of soap in with the water, and eventually he combed the water through his hair.

“Can we sit down and eat?” Edward asked.

“I think it’s a walk and dine situation,” Katrina replied, smiling. “We should keep going.”

Edward said, “At least the tent kept it out but I can't stand this scent! I want to get out soon.”

She laughed. “That sounds great,” she said, handing Edward some carefully covered bread. “And here’s something to keep you going. Try not to breathe in while you eat.”

“I'll try,” Edward replied, offering a smile of his own. “When do you suppose we could leave the sewers?”

“Soon,” Katrina replied. “I really hope soon. I’m not sleeping here again, that’s for sure.”

“I wish we were in a forest or something, then at least maybe I'd have a nice warm lake to bathe in,” Edward said, taking a bite out of his bread. “And I think the air here is making the food taste worse.”

Katrina shushed him. She heard the noise again and raised her axe. Something was coming, and she wondered if it was the smell of the bread that attracted the noise. “Put your bread away,” Katrina ordered. “And stand by the wall, close to me. I don’t know if they’re coming from behind or if they’re heading straight towards us.”

So they waited.

She heard claws on stone.

And they waited.

Edward felt his body tense as he saw the yellow eyes in the distance. He put a hand on Katrina’s arm, motioning towards the eyes. Katrina took a stance, and Edward slunk behind her. He considered pulling out his guitar to play some sort of energizing ballad, but the giant sewer rats scrambling towards them froze him in place.

Katrina took a swing towards them, keeping the rats back. Edward could see her brown eyes calculating if it was worth the fight, or if they should back out of the sewers.

She sliced one in the back, knocking it into the running, murky water beside them.

Apparently she wanted to fight.

Edward stepped back as she hit two more with one blow of her large axe. She kept two hands on it to keep herself steady, but he’d seen her use it with one hand and a shield before. One of the rats started hissing at her, and Edward saw its yellow eyes watching him. He backed up again, feeling the slick sewer ground beneath his feet.

He watched as the rats began to swarm her, and she hit one clawing his way up her leg with the butt-end of her axe to keep them off. But they began to charge past her towards him. And Edward wished he had pulled out his guitar. He felt the pain as it sunk its crooked teeth into his arm. Katrina ripped the rat off by its tail, leaving a trail of teeth marks across Edward’s forearm.

She didn’t have the time to give him an apologetic look. She tossed the rat in the sewer water and hit another one off her chest. Edward stayed close behind her as the rats began to scatter. Apparently their failure with Edward frightened them off.

He noticed Katrina catching her breath, watching them run away the way they came. Edward held his arm carefully, wondering about infection. He made eye contact with Katrina. “Thank you,” he said.

“Don’t mention it,” she replied.

“No, I truly appreciate it. I froze. I don't know what came over me.”

Katrina smiled and affectionately messed up his hair with her hand. “Come on,” she said, “Let’s get out of here.”