James Axler – Freedom Lost

“Screw the mythology lesson. I got enough of that back with Admiral Poseidon,” Ryan retorted. Other than Doc’s rather one-sided discussion and the pulling of their various hand-to-hand bladed weapons, none of the group had moved since Mildred’s warning.

“Yes, yes, of course. But remember the telling passage from the Book of Genesis, ‘And the Lord God said unto the serpent’ ”

“Stifle it, Doc!” Mildred warned.

“Think see it,” Jak said, his usual calm demeanor tossed away as he bent and peered down at the surface of the murky water.

“What’s a snake doing down here?” Dean asked.

“For the rats, I imagine,” Ryan answered. “Could feast a long time on the amount of rats slinking around under here.”

Jak continued to stare at the water.

“Didn’t pull your blade, Jak,” Ryan said flatly, noting the albino’s hands were empty.

“Don’t need it,” the teen replied.

Then, faster than anyone’s eye could follow, Jak’s hand disappeared under the murk up to his elbow and came back up with a quivering snake held tightly in one hand. Jak had timed his strike well, catching the reptile firmly at the back of the head so that he wouldn’t have to fear being struck by the creature’s poisonous fangs.

Jak squeezed, and the snake’s mouth opened wide, revealing a white lining and throat. Needle-sharp fangs glistened.

“That’s a hell of a water moccasin,” Ryan said.

The long body of the snake was brown, with wide black cross bands that enclosed lighter tan centers. The belly was yellow and heavily marbled with dark gray. Over and through the reptile’s glistening, lidless eyes were dark black stripes that matched the jet-black top of the coiling tail.

“I thought those bastards weren’t supposed to get any longer than six feet,” Mildred said breathlessly, her adrenaline surge now dissipating in relief. “That thing’s at least ten or more.”

“They’re not,” Ryan retorted. “But you’re looking at snakes from your time, Mildred. Not ours. A hundred years seems to have stretched him some. And I’ve faced larger.”

“Seen bigger home in bayou,” Jak noted as the snake twisted, trying to worm out of his grip. “Hide in swamps. Eat rats, birds, fish, kids. Mean.”

“Could’ve been worse,” J.B. said. “Could’ve been two of them.”

“Dear God,” Doc whispered, his face whiter than usual. “I think there are two of them. I distinctly felt something foul slithering by my leg.”

“Probably just a turd. Come on, we’ve got to hurry up and get the hell out of his cesspool, free steam bath or not.”

“Go ahead, Jak. Chill the bastard,” Dean urged, watching the serpent continue to coil in the albino’s grip.

“No,” Jak said, then moved back down the tunnel. Once he was a good distance away, he boldly tossed the snake down the passageway as far as he could.

“What did you do that for?” Dean demanded when the older boy returned.

“Snake’s all confused. We’ll be gone long time before he gets back over here.”

“Let’s forget about the damn thing,” Ryan stated. “My worry now is seeing how hot it’s going to get.”

The one-eyed man hunkered down his upper body and braved the billowing steam first. Once on the other side, he was greatly relieved to discover the wet heat had washed over him without causing much discomfort. All of his friends, as well as himself, had endured about as much as any human being could stand in the past four hours.

“Come on through. Go quick. It’s not hot enough to burn,” he yelled.

One by one, all went through safely.

“Can’t be much farther. Seems like we’ve gone the length of the mall already.”

The water had risen to Ryan’s stomach by now. Shorter members of the group like Jak and Mildred were having to keep their mouths closed in fear of the foul water splashing up. Only good thing about that was it helped close off the chatter.

Then, as Morgan had said, the tunnel did come to an end, with another flat wall and another rusted yellow ladder going up to the surface. There was no interior wheel to turn this time, merely a heavy lid. Ryan went up the ladder and pushed.