—Evelyn
"Who—Ah it's Cael , come on we gotta clean up some of the mess"
He was a newbie, appearing in the team 6 months ago, I remembered when we first met, he was averting his eyes whenever I looked at him, I might be attractive but not that attractive, I'm not a narcissist after all
"What's the job today boss?"
"Cleaning the Black Lagoon's tank."
"Fuck…"
"Ahahaha—Hey at least you came , the others quite literally disappeared , if you weren't here I might've have to do it all alone" At the very least, he had shown up unlike the other members of the team
"Yes…"
"Alright let's get ready now"
"Yes…" He looked completely deflated as he was sprawled on my desk, like a little kid whining that he didn't get the toy he wanted, but it was very him to do that, always procrastinating, but actually doing it in the end
He was honestly a good kid, trying his hardest and cleaned everything making sure it was spotless, unlike the other members of this team. Yet he always had that look in his eyes, a look I'd recognize, a look of guilt, of course in the end I'm just his team leader.
—
Rustle Rustle Squeak Squeak
The air tasted of rubber and chlorine, the smell of an old friend, a smell I've gotten used to after the many hours working in this tank, this wasn't the first time after all
As I was stepping into the suit, the rustling sound was delightful, it made me feel safe, as I pulled the latex seal over my head and hands, completely covering my body, at the same time I didn't hear a single thing from Cael, so I did what any person would do
"No peaking Cael~" Man will be man after all, at the very least the drysuit doesn't exactly 'show' my figure so it wasn't exactly that bad, yet he stayed silent completely silent, it was something he always does whenever I tease him
"Cael you still there?"
"Yes…" He finally replied, if he were any other person, I'd honestly expect them to escape and laze off, but he was one of the few who'd actually do his job properly, so that was at the very least a plus for him
—
"Alright alright, now help me turn mine back on"
[No~]
"Hey—Wait Cael—"
SHOVE
[HeH—How does it feel to be—]
"HKHH—CAEL—HKHH—KHHH—KHHH—"
[Evelyn? Hhhh—Kshhhhh EVELYN? EVELYN SAY SOMETHING Hhhh—Kshhhhh] his frantic voice echoed through the radio before disappearing completely, well I guess this was my fault for teasing him a little to much.
But this could be a valuable lesson for a newbie like him I thought to myself as I slowed down my breath, keeping my cool as I tried to reach to my valve to no avail, slowly but surely I can feel the air turning stale
It took him a whole minute before his radio connected again and he found me, his panicked face as he saw my eyes rolled back, not moving, his panicked voice [EVELYN? EVELYN?! Hhhh—Kshhhhh WAKE UP PLEASE…] as he tried to shake me awake
"Just Kidding~" "I'm flexible enough to do it on my own~" I said while giving him a V-sign, his mouth was wide open like he just looked at a miracle happening, his voice while still in shock he then said
[Wait so that was Hhhh—Kshhhhh a prank-?!?!]
"No, it's difficult to reach it, and it's starting to get hard to breathe… turn it on now please…"
Clunk—Click
HSSSSSSSSS
The sound of fresh air entering my helmet was music to my ears
"Hhhh—Kshhhhh Ahhhhh~ much better, give me a few minutes"
[Okay…] he said still sounding slightly guilty
—
"Hhhh—Kshhhhh alright turn it off again, I want you to hear it from the outside"
Clunk—Click
For a moment, he looked completely dazed but in a different manner, I then gave him a thumbs up and showed him my back as the same sound could be heard as fresh air slowly entered my helmet again
"You hear that? Hhhh—Kshhhhh that's the sound of you keeping me alive and me keeping you alive, we're in this together Cael, don't forget it" "Now stop slacking and help me clean the gunk, it's not going to clean itself you know~"
—
[Say Hhhh—Kshhhhh How long has it been?] Cael asked with a curious tone
"Probably around 2 hours now"
[Do you usually do this Hhhh—Kshhhhh solo?]
"Depends. Hhhh—Kshhhhh When the other members are here they help me, but most of the time Hhhh—Kshhhhh I do this solo"
[Is it not Hhhh—Kshhhhh dangerous?]
"Well, what can I do about it? I am the leader after all Hhhh—Kshhhhh besides, I am quite experienced and so far no accidents has ever happened so it'll probably Hhhh—Kshhhhh be fine~"
[Is that—] He wanted to say something but was suddenly completely silent, I felt something moving in the water, something alive. Other then me and the Rookie, there was only another living creature in here that would be alive, yet Cael was frozen in place.
"CAEL!!! CAEL!!!! CAEL!!! CAEL!!! SNAP OUT OF IT" I shook him trying to snap him out of his trance, it took him a few seconds and without any delay I turned his valve off and gestured to him to turn of mine, yet he was still slightly dazed delaying it ever so slightly
And in a life or death situation, every millisecond matters as—KRRRRRRRR—The Remnant was there as it shoved me ever so slightly, well slightly for 'it' as my helmet came crashing through the tank, and—
THUD Tap Tap
It tapped my helmet a few times before leaving me alone, I was about to sigh when—
Hssssssssssss…
Small bubbles started leaking through my helmet, well just great, now I'm on a very strict time limit, all because of a slight delay, right—No time to procrastinate, Cael was right beside me, his breathing had turned rough
I looked at him and towards the hose control and back at him again, and as I slowly opened his valve and he opened my valve, more bubbles escaped through my helmet and at the same time—The creature made it's move
SHRIEKKKKK
The creature's distinct, distorted high-pitched shriek could be heard as it came with lightning-like speed, to me as it grabbed me on my neck, its large dark eyes hostile as it showed its teeth, before it was just curious, now enraged.
"Hhhh—Khhhhh—Kshhhhh" I tried to resist yet to no avail as the Gill Man's powerful body slammed me onto the tank wall
THUD CRACK
I could hear the loud thud and my helmet cracking as more and more air bubbles escaped to the cracks, it was painful, but I had to keep mov—
Moving?
My hands were definitely still moving, yet it felt slow, delayed, muddled, like something
Thud
Huh? The tank floor—? but I was—
—
"RUN—AHHHHJJHHHKDAS"
CRUNCH
WHEEZE WHEEZE WHEEZE
"Eve—Run" the person said with smile, a person whose name I can no longer remember—No I remember, I just don't want to—
—
Blblblblblblblblblblbl
"Hkkkk—tk—hkkkhhhh" I was back, my body hurt, my head heavy, I couldn't move, my eyes blurry, the only thing I could hear was the sound of my regulator but it was different, it sounded Wet Struggling Failing.
"Hkkkk—tk—hkkkhhhh" Haha. I can't even move, I can feel the air slowly growing stale and moist… it tasted wrong, I knew but—
—
Cold
It felt cold, my eyes blurry, my mind slow, the first thing I noticed was the fact that my helmet was gone, someone had removed it, yet my neck felt wrong, the seal loose around my collar, my hair soaked, everywhere and I was—Coughing
"KHHHH COUGH KHHK COUGH COUGH GHHHK—"
Breathe Breathe Breathe
My thoughts still blurry, my chest felt heavy, my body wouldn't listen the way I wanted it to, my ears muffled and ringing, yet I felt like I could hear someone telling me to breathe, right—Breathe.
"HaaaH—Hkkkkh"
It hurts, every inhale felt like there was an elephant sitting on my chest, extremely uncomfortable, yet I was breathing, barely, memories returned slowly and fragmented, right I was diving, I lost consciousness.
"HaaaH—Hkkkkh"
I'm still alive? HaH—Right, the gamble, the fact that I can still think means I'm alive? Who was I with again? Oh right, Cael was here this time, my chest hurts, oh yeah, the suit, the seal, that's why it was difficult
"Ca—HaaaH—Hkkkkh—el—HaaaH—Hkkkkh" I said as I tried to grab his hand, then I felt someone doing something to my collar
HISSSSSSS
"HaaaH—HaaaH—HaaaH" fresh air entered my airway like liquid ice, I could feel a burning sensation in my throat as my head went dizzy, my shoulders trembling as I breathe in fresh air, my vision still blurred, yet I could see red beeping lights and then—
BANGGGGGG
FLINCH
"Hkkkk—tk—hkkkhhhh"
I flinched, so did Cael, the broken remnants of my regulator still hissed at my shoulder, but honestly I didn't care anymore, the loud noise, it was obvious who made that sound, yet I only felt like doing one thing.
"Haha—Hkkkkh—Haha—Hkkkkh—Haha—Hkkkkh—Haha" my breathing still ragged, my thoughts still slightly blurry, it was cold, but it was better, and out of no where I only had a single thought
"See—Hkkkkh—Told you—Hkkkkh—Panic kills faster."
—!!!!!! —!!!!!
I blurted, obviously he wouldn't be able to hear me but for a moment he stopped moving, then he shook me and said something that I couldn't hear, I couldn't even resist him as my body flailed back and forth like a ragdoll
And for a while the both of us continued laughing as security entered after a while.
—
Of course, just because a low level cleaner got injured due to the negligence of her teammates doesn't mean that any of them would get off easily.
"Evelyn, by the order of the Council, you and Cael Lucian shall be transferred to a different team, your team is officially disbanded, the ones who had skipped work will be turned into R class due to negligence, that is all, more information will be shared when needed."
"Yes" I said as I slightly bowed my head before leaving the room, well it was inevitable, it was bound to happen one day, there was no holiday, no compensation for trauma nor extra pay, as a low level cleaner all you can do is just go with the flow.
"Evelyn?" the voice of that young Rookie, he sounded worried but there wasn't exactly much I could
"We'll be transferred to a different team, the others who weren't here are demoted to R class" I said calmly, when he heard the words R Class, his expression changed, it looked grim and rather dark "Well not much we can do now can we?"
"Yes… leader"
"Call me Eve rookie~ We're partners now"
"Uhm—Evelyn?"
"e, v, e , Eve call me Eve now~"
"Okay. Eve"
"That's more like it~" I said as I slapped his slightly slouched back, he flinched and look quite shy, oh he must be so unused to it, a happy ending isn't easy to achieve, tomorrow I'm no longer a team leader, just Eve, maintaining and cleaning containment cells as usual.
After all Time waits for no one, we can only move forward in life or stay stuck to the past and rot for eternity, the choice is ours.