Andromeda

The Time Machine, next generation (Andromeda)

"How you holding up Christy?"

She trailed along after him and when he turned back to check how she was doing, she offered him a wan but genuine smile. The stairs and corridors seemed to go on for ever and all she could see was dirty, grey stone in whichever direction she looked. However, the dusty, decay of above appeared to have ebbed, replaced by a slightly more fresher, cleaner stone. The air was a lot colder and damp permeated the air.

"I'm still here," she responded "A little dusty and worst for wear, but functioning perfectly fine!"

His hand felt warm and reassuring in his, and she drew strength from the fact that she wasn't alone in this strange new world. She marvelled at the clever, stone maze construct, wondering who could have possibly devised or built it. Was it a post nuclear blast construction? Were there still people? Intelligent beings they could converse with and gain information of! They would go back to their own era as heroes!

"Maybe we'll come across people!" she said out loud to Jeffrey, her hand tightening in his, "We could talk to them, learn about their past and our future! Imagine..."

And then the giant arachnids sailed into her memories and a shiver slid down her spine - maybe, these were simply massive undergrounds warrens for beasts like those, or perhaps something worse. Her grin slipped, as she envisioned huge earthworms thrashing through the tunnels towards them. Her excitement dwindled slightly.

"Or maybe not," she said quietly, as an afterthought "Hopefully we'll stumble across a food source soon - I don't particularly want to begin the length trek back to time machine when we're this close to discovering something else"

The Time Machine, next generation (Andromeda)

@Mutank95 Sorry...I'm one of those people that hates to offend, and will apologise profusely! Aaah! I did it again! ...(Wow, it's been a long day today...)

This Hurricane's Chasing Us All Underground

<Snipped quote by Andromeda>

No worries! Sorry for hijacking the quest, feel free to steer it any way you like. Otherwise I will do what I can from my end. I'll make it exciting.

@Tancuras

Don't worry - it's fine! I type my posts out in advance but I like to wait for a couple of posts, out of politeness sake...^_^, because I'm a goody-goody like that!
...and just out of curiosity, where does the username come from? At first, I kept accidentally typing out tarantula (not that similar, but that's the way my brain works....!)

@midori, @The Scotsman

Wow! I'm jealous...! I've always wished I could speak a second language fluently!

And out of curiosity, is the Scotsman referring to film/fandom/series or are you genuinely from Scotland?!

The Time Machine, next generation (Andromeda)

If I'm steering the story in a direction different to the one you had planned, just warn me...!

The Time Machine, next generation (Andromeda)

As he gestured for her to sprint into the skeleton of nearby building - that, amazingly, was still at least partially standing - she scrambled forward and darted into the entrance, feeling the temperature plunge as soon as she was out of the warmth of the sun's intense rays. The giant spider hadn't appeared to have spotted them but Christy was thankful for Jeffrey's caution. Panting, she slide down against a neighbouring wall, in a bid to catch her breath. As she sat, a cloud of dust puffed up around her and she coughed as the particles tickled her throat. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something scuttle into the depths of a shadowed doorway but since she hadn't had time to identify it as a threat, she pushed it out of her mind. It appeared they had bigger things to worry about. Quite literally.

"Are you alright?"

She barely had chance to open her mouth before the relative quiet was pierced by a horrific, piercing wail - it sounded as though a cat was being tortured. The sound lasted for several seconds and she grimaced, as it rattled her eardrums and filled her imagination with exaggerated images of monsters and mutated animals. When it finally stopped, the words she'd been about to reply with had dissipated into the abyss of sanity.

"oh my..." , she heard Jeffrey utter, glancing to her and she simply nodded mutely. Her jeans were covered in brick dust and she was pretty sure her neat bun hairstyle had deteriorated into a mess of curls. She braced herself against the floor, as she tried to gather her mental bearings.

"...well, that was unexpected..." she murmured, "But yes...I'm still alive"

She glanced at the gun still in his hand and nodded, slowly and soberly.

"I feel a little unprepared," she said with a watery grin, as she drew her knees up and rested her arms on them, "I didn't really bring anything with me, weapons-wise."

She traced circles in the dust, to give her trembling hands something to do. The dust felt thicker than usual dust and she pinched some between her finger and thumb, bringing it up to her eyes to study. On it were...words. As she stared, she realised that she was handling the remnants of books. She shivered, wondering who they had once belonged to.

As she looked closer - intriguied to see whether or not a book was still intact, to provide knowledge of the future - she noticed something long pointing out of the wall behind her. It had the dull gleam of aged metal and when she touched it, it was ice cold. It was balanced so that the action of touching it caused it to jerk down - it was a lever! She gasped as clicks echoed around her.

And then before their very eyes, a square of stones in between both Jeffrey and Christy collapsed downwards, causing her to stumble backwards to avoid being swallowed up by the widening gap. When it had settled, it became apparent that it had formed a stone staircase, leading down below floor level and into shadows. She wondered whether it was a sort of secret underground bunker that may have survived (it was rather sturdy, if it had) and she looked up excitedly at Jeffrey.

"You can have the honours," she said, smiling, "See - you didn't bring me along for nothing!"

This Hurricane's Chasing Us All Underground

"Nevermind. We can probably kick it down, if we need. Don't worry. I'll take the fall for that if we get in shit, I don't care."
Val laughed, again. She couldn't help it. She knew she was laughing more than was adequate or appropriate in such a grave, sombre situation but she honestly couldn't help it. It was her instinctual way of dealing with anything that provoked intense emotion and she knew, if she stopped finding everything funny, that she would end up bursting into tears and breaking down in front of all her classmates. Not a great way to commandeer respect, she thought soberly.

"Kicking down doors just happens to be my all-time favourite pastime," she said, her voice thick with sarcasm; she'd never really gotten into trouble before but she somehow didn't feel like advertising the fact and simply shrugged "But no fear - I highly doubt that anyone will be particularly concerned with a busted door considering what's happening outside. And if they do...well, getting reprimanded is my second favourite pastime. Custodian's Office, it is, then."

They continued on and Val tried to suppress the shivers that kept racking her body. Whereas the shaking had originally seemed sourced from the confused panic of the apparent apocalypse, now it seemed that the cold was affecting her more than she'd first thought. This part of the school was eerily quiet and the echo of their footsteps seemed exceptionally loud in comparison, inviting anything prowling within a 100 yard radius towards them. She quickly pushed that thought out of her head. It just so happened that they did find somethings - but they happened to be more terrified children and...excited teens, than anything else. With a laugh, she sent all of them to the auditorium, settling nicely into the 'helpful' role.

In the Custodian's Office, it was clear that someone had been there before them - by the state of both the door and the smashed cabinet. Val side-stepped the broken glass littering the floor to stand by Cecil as he surveyed the selection of keys. They all seemed to have already been taken and she grimaced.

"Well let's hope this is the work of some well-meaning student rather than a saboteur..." she said carefully, blinking in the light of Cecil's newly discovered head torch, but she suspected her optimism was a little naïve in this situation.

"At least we know where to look for them."

She didn't say anything, striding over to the desk and taking a seat on the edge to catch her breath. She was still shivering violently as it seemed the temperature only dropped the further they advanced in the school. Sighing, she rifled through the books on the desk, which were sparse and uninteresting. It seemed as if everything in the present universe was conspiring to both bore and terrify her.

"So where to next, boss?" she asked with a mocking salute, though her jokey grin was a little forced.

This Hurricane's Chasing Us All Underground

@tancuras No problem! I'll get a post up as soon as I can!

EDIT
Sorry I didn't give you a lot to respond to! I started writing some before you posted (...and may have fell asleep ^_^) and finished the rest of quick now, as I wanted to post something but I don't have a lot of time!

The Time Machine, next generation (Andromeda)

"Find anything yet?"

A few moments after Jeffrey had wandered off in a slightly different direction to her, she heard him call back to her. He sounded pensive, his voice echoing in the silence and she blinked.

"No..." she called back, kicking another lump of stone and sending it skittering across the barren, landscape. It was eventually stopped by a clump of thick, green grass, bouncing out of view. She said more quietly, "I think whatever wonders that once existed here have long gone...Eaten up by time"

She looked up at the sky, shielding her eyes. Something had definitely shifted though it was hard to put her finger on it - did the sun seemed a little brighter despite the clouds seeming fuller, thicker? Maybe her vision was simply still reeling from the journey here. Deep in thought, she stepped carefully over what seemed like the remains of a wall, but it appeared that any internal furnishing had long since disintegrated.

"Christy! Christy I think I saw something!"

With a start, Christy's head snapped up and she began rapidly making her way over to Jeffrey, scrambling up on the pile of rubble he'd positioned himself on. He was clutching a pair of binoculars and when she reached him, panting, she searched his expression for clues to what he was referring to. Mutely, she took the binoculars and peered through the lenses, curious. Whereas the majority of the landscape surrounding them was covered in tired, grey rubble swept into mounds like sand dunes, something stuck out. On the horizon, she could see a glint of bright blue, shimmering slightly. Hypnotised, she tried to focus the binoculars more but they had reached their maximum resolution limit. Lowering them, she handed them back to Jeffrey.

"I think it's a lake..." she said slowly, before murmuring "It's the most beautiful lake I think I've ever seen..."

She began walking forward, gesturing for Jeffrey to follow her as she stumbled over the brick, weed-encrusted wreckage in pursuit of the blue paradise. She couldn't eradict the intensity of the colour from her mind, as though it had burnt into the backs of her retinas and by extension, her memory. Sweat began beading on her forehead and she pushed up the sleeves of her jacket - she had left her lab-coat back in the time traveller's still-standing house, in the past.

As she approached, she began to falter. The lake was very much as beautiful as she had suspected but it was isolated; a small, glittering, cornflower-blue pool around the size of a football pitch and surrounded by a beach of cracked stones and dead weeds. Small waves rippled on the surface, glinting in the sunlight, inviting. However, on the far bank, she saw something move. Something huge, black and spine-chilling. The best description she could procure was to that of a spider - plump body, with wiry, spindly legs - the size of a small car, seemingly lapping at the surface of the lake. Ice seeped into her bloodstream as she froze in fear. She was still a considerable distance and it hadn't yet appeared to spot her, but the sight alone was enough to alarm the toughest of men.

"Er.....Jeffrey?" she whispered, her panic stealing the conviction from her tone.

The Time Machine, next generation (Andromeda)

@Mutank95 Oooh! Awesome!....I'll try not to disappoint!!

This Hurricane's Chasing Us All Underground

"Cecil," the boy returned as Val introduced herself and she realised, with a tinge of amusement that he was avoiding her eye, "Uh, I'm sorry you had to see that." Rather than say anything, she simply shrugged, in a nonchalant gesture.

"That kid is a dictator. Someone should tell him he needs to listen to other people before we wind up with a real problem. There is a line between tyranny and leadership, and he doesn't see it. Anyway, there aren't any ranks right now, so I'll listen to you if you listen to me. Deal?"

And as he spoke, Valerie nearly burst out laughing.

"Don't worry," she reassured him, with a grin, using this as an excuse to push away the nerves that had been dancing at the forefront of her mind ever since the lights had blacked out and the freaky events had started happening "I wasn't planning on bossing you about. You seem okay - if a little intimidating -" she murmured the last phrase more to herself than the him but her smile didn't falter "but I just want to get on with the job at hand, with as little fuss as possible. So mutual respect sounds great. And, yeah....nice to meet you."

She ignored the chill that had snaked its way down her spine, when he mentioned that there wasn't ranks...right now. It was a point - how long would this weirdness last?

She shook his outstretched hand, anxiously as she kept pace with him walking down the corridor; the darkness was still relentless and it felt odd to see somewhere - typically, glaring under fluorescent lighting and sprawling with students - so familiar in such an unbelievable, eerie situation. She was tense, on edge, anticipating another banshee wailing or another explosion at every second that ticked by and the fact that it remained as silent as the grave was quite frankly unnerving. When she reached the end, she picked a random direction and tried to look like she knew what she was doing by not hesitating, as she swivelled on her heel to walk right. She had vague image of layout of the school shimmering in her memories and she figured that the boiler and stores in the basement might be the most promising option to finding something that could be useful.

“There’s some freaky stuff going on - I wonder if it's just here...” she commented as she continued to squint through the darkness that still felt as thick and threatening as ever. Her phone battery was draining fast and she hoped it would hold up for a little while longer; at least until an external light source was discovered, "And I'm guessing we should try the lower levels - what do you think?"

She rubbed her forehead as a headache threatened at her temples. She pegged it down to stress and confusion, and massaged her temples as she walked, keeping a wary eye on the other guy.

@tancuras