heartstringss
🔻 vive la résistance 🔻
There was, unfortunately, no ‘juice’ left in Ayah’s ‘zappy thing.’ She might’ve chuckled had the circumstances of their present situation been any different (or less terrifying), but as it were she could do little more than shake her head in the meantime. She tried the power one more time and when that didn’t work, she jabbed the flashlight at the worm’s inner walls a few times instead. (Too bad the teeth of the taser’s mouth were laid flat and not pointing outward or she could have maybe tried puncturing the worm’s intestines.) As it were, if Jezz’s axe swinging and hacking weren’t making too much progress then who knows what good the taser would have been at all?
Ayah gave up the physical onslaught a lot sooner than Jezz did, instead using the time while Jezz was writhing above her and viciously hacking at the walls to try to get a better look around herself. There wasn’t much illumination in the tunnel as Jezz’s flashlight was so weak, but it was enough to tell the passage was too narrow, slick and smooth to even possibly try wiggling their way out of here. Was the Source in there with them, too? She couldn't see enough to tell but it seemed unlikely as it was so quiet beyond the sounds that she and Jezz were making themselves. That didn’t mean the guy couldn’t have just been swallowed by a different worm or ran over, though it seemed unlikely these delusions could continue if he were totally incapacitated or dead. (In fact, previous reports by other field agents had shown that they couldn’t.)
Truth be told, Ayah wasn’t too particularly worried about the wellbeing of the Source by this point… her career might’ve hinged on her success with this assignment but honestly she couldn’t help feeling like she hadn’t signed up for her own well-being feeling this supremely threatened. She would’ve rather been anywhere but here right now. Her skin was literally crawling, muscles twitching from the sheer exertion, panic and fatigue, and as if that wasn’t bad enough it was only getting harder to breathe the more energy (and air) Jezz expended with her onslaught. It wasn’t long before the other woman ran out of steam and gave up herself, at which point Ayah had no idea what else to do than try to fight the sting of tears that her eyes apparently didn’t have enough moisture left to even make regardless.
Ayah hiccuped briefly, her forehead coming to rest against the other woman’s thigh when she grew too tired and weak to hold it up herself any longer. She was just beginning to close her eyes when suddenly the walls began spasming. A rush of adrenaline itched its way up the column of her spine, fingers gripping tighter where they dug into the material of Jezz’s pants leg. She groaned with the surrounding pressure of the muscles reversing them back up the worm’s gastrointestinal tract and squeezed her eyes tight against whatever pain and suffering was in their future next.
She knocked her head against something hard wherever they’d been spat back out, what little she could tell was that they’d landed in some massive putrid, gooey pile in the dark. She didn’t react much beyond flinching whenever Jezz cursed aloud, staring up into the black, her vision dotted with stars.
“You okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
Alright, so at least they were alive. Ayah drew in a breath and coughed, thinking fortunately they hadn’t landed far from each other so at least it didn’t take much effort to reach out and touch the other woman’s arm. She grabbed the cuff of her cloak gently, a sort of ‘yep, I’m here’ before she had the strength or will to manage any actual words. After a few seconds she chimed out, “I think so,” and finally pulled herself into a sitting position. Her free hand went to the back of her head, rubbing the sore spot where she’d hit her head. “What the hell did I–”
She reached for Jezz’s flashlight to direct the light where they had landed. The bulb flickered weakly in the darkness but was strong enough to just illuminate a humanoid shaped skull half-buried in the muck. Ayah hollered in shock but before she could get too worked up—a humongous rustling came from a nearby tunnel as a second worm emerged and promptly vomited its stomach contents out onto the pile. The Source landed face-first in the muck, stayed still for about a minute and then rose up onto his hands and knees and let out a great big scream of terror.
Ayah gave up the physical onslaught a lot sooner than Jezz did, instead using the time while Jezz was writhing above her and viciously hacking at the walls to try to get a better look around herself. There wasn’t much illumination in the tunnel as Jezz’s flashlight was so weak, but it was enough to tell the passage was too narrow, slick and smooth to even possibly try wiggling their way out of here. Was the Source in there with them, too? She couldn't see enough to tell but it seemed unlikely as it was so quiet beyond the sounds that she and Jezz were making themselves. That didn’t mean the guy couldn’t have just been swallowed by a different worm or ran over, though it seemed unlikely these delusions could continue if he were totally incapacitated or dead. (In fact, previous reports by other field agents had shown that they couldn’t.)
Truth be told, Ayah wasn’t too particularly worried about the wellbeing of the Source by this point… her career might’ve hinged on her success with this assignment but honestly she couldn’t help feeling like she hadn’t signed up for her own well-being feeling this supremely threatened. She would’ve rather been anywhere but here right now. Her skin was literally crawling, muscles twitching from the sheer exertion, panic and fatigue, and as if that wasn’t bad enough it was only getting harder to breathe the more energy (and air) Jezz expended with her onslaught. It wasn’t long before the other woman ran out of steam and gave up herself, at which point Ayah had no idea what else to do than try to fight the sting of tears that her eyes apparently didn’t have enough moisture left to even make regardless.
Ayah hiccuped briefly, her forehead coming to rest against the other woman’s thigh when she grew too tired and weak to hold it up herself any longer. She was just beginning to close her eyes when suddenly the walls began spasming. A rush of adrenaline itched its way up the column of her spine, fingers gripping tighter where they dug into the material of Jezz’s pants leg. She groaned with the surrounding pressure of the muscles reversing them back up the worm’s gastrointestinal tract and squeezed her eyes tight against whatever pain and suffering was in their future next.
She knocked her head against something hard wherever they’d been spat back out, what little she could tell was that they’d landed in some massive putrid, gooey pile in the dark. She didn’t react much beyond flinching whenever Jezz cursed aloud, staring up into the black, her vision dotted with stars.
“You okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
Alright, so at least they were alive. Ayah drew in a breath and coughed, thinking fortunately they hadn’t landed far from each other so at least it didn’t take much effort to reach out and touch the other woman’s arm. She grabbed the cuff of her cloak gently, a sort of ‘yep, I’m here’ before she had the strength or will to manage any actual words. After a few seconds she chimed out, “I think so,” and finally pulled herself into a sitting position. Her free hand went to the back of her head, rubbing the sore spot where she’d hit her head. “What the hell did I–”
She reached for Jezz’s flashlight to direct the light where they had landed. The bulb flickered weakly in the darkness but was strong enough to just illuminate a humanoid shaped skull half-buried in the muck. Ayah hollered in shock but before she could get too worked up—a humongous rustling came from a nearby tunnel as a second worm emerged and promptly vomited its stomach contents out onto the pile. The Source landed face-first in the muck, stayed still for about a minute and then rose up onto his hands and knees and let out a great big scream of terror.
