The Hands Beneath the Catwalk
The hands burst from the water all at once.
Pale fingers clawed violently through the metal grating beneath the catwalk while black seawater exploded upward around them. The entire underground chamber echoed with shrieking drowned voices as more bodies surfaced from below, their twisted limbs slamming against the rusted structure beneath the group’s feet.
Selene Cross screamed the second one of the hands wrapped around her ankle through the metal grating.
“GET IT OFF!”
Jace Holloway reacted instantly, swinging the fire axe downward hard enough to sever the creature’s arm at the wrist. Black blood splashed across the catwalk while the detached hand continued twitching around Selene’s leg even after separation.
God.
Nothing about these things obeyed normal rules anymore.
Kai Mercer physically kicked the severed hand away while backing toward the center of the catwalk.
“I hate this island so much.”
Another drowned hauled itself halfway from the water directly beside the railing. Its soaked face stretched unnaturally wide while dark seawater poured continuously from its open mouth onto the metal walkway.
Then it spoke.
Not in a monster voice.
In Elias’s voice.
“You left us below.”
Elias visibly froze.
God.
Nora saw actual guilt flash across his face before he fired the shotgun directly into the drowned’s skull. The blast tore the creature backward into the water again, but more pale figures already climbed upward from every direction around the flooded chamber.
Dozens of them.
The black water beneath the catwalk churned violently now while drowned bodies slammed against the metal supports underneath. Some crawled along the pillars upside down while others dragged themselves directly through the flooded lower levels toward the group.
And beneath all of it—
something much larger still moved below the surface.
The entire chamber vibrated every few seconds from its movement.
Elias grabbed Nora’s shoulder sharply. “The maintenance bridge ahead leads to the generator tunnel. If we reach the cliffside exit, we can get above ground again.”
Kai stared at him in disbelief while another drowned hand nearly grabbed his leg through the catwalk. “You say that like ABOVE GROUND is safe.”
“Right now it’s safer than here.”
Fair point.
The group sprinted across the shaking catwalk while drowned creatures climbed toward them from both sides. Emergency lantern light swung wildly across the chamber revealing glimpses of pale bodies moving beneath the water everywhere below.
Then suddenly—
the lights above the chamber flickered back on.
For one bright horrifying second, the entire underground cavern illuminated clearly.
And everyone saw the scale of it.
God.
The chamber beneath Blackwater Island stretched far beyond the hospital tunnels, enormous enough to fit entire ships underground. Rusted research platforms lined sections of the cavern walls while broken cranes hung suspended above the water.
And scattered throughout the flooded chamber—
were hundreds of drowned.
Some floated motionless near the surface.
Others climbed across walls and support beams.
Many simply stood waist-deep in the black water staring upward at the fleeing survivors.
Watching silently.
Like they were waiting.
Then Nora saw the center of the chamber.
Her stomach nearly stopped.
A massive hole descended into darkness beneath the water, far larger than anything else underground. The water around it churned slowly inward like an ocean current disappearing into the earth itself.
And from inside that abyss—
something enormous moved.
Not fully visible.
Only pieces.
Pale flesh sliding slowly beneath the surface.
Multiple limbs unfolding unnaturally in the darkness.
And dozens of human faces opening and closing across its body while black eyes blinked independently beneath the water.
The Hollow One.
God.
The thing was far bigger than she imagined.
The chamber lights exploded instantly afterward.
Darkness returned.
But the image remained burned into Nora’s mind anyway.
Selene sounded close to crying now while running beside her. “That thing can’t be real.”
Another roar erupted from beneath the chamber.
Closer now.
The catwalk shook violently beneath everyone’s feet while drowned creatures shrieked around them in response.
Then the metal snapped.
A massive section of catwalk behind the group collapsed directly into the flooded cavern below, throwing several drowned back into the black water as rusted support beams screamed apart.
Kai looked behind them once and immediately regretted it.
“It’s climbing!”
Nora turned instinctively.
The Hollow One had partially emerged from the central abyss now.
God.
Its upper body towered above the water beneath the chamber while massive limbs dragged slowly across broken research platforms below. Human faces shifted continuously across its pale flesh, some screaming silently while others smiled unnaturally through stretched skin.
And the creature was watching them.
Not blindly hunting.
Watching.
Thinking.
The realization terrified Nora more than the monster itself.
It understood them.
Then one of the faces across the Hollow One’s body opened its mouth.
And spoke in Nora’s voice.
“You should’ve stayed on the ferry.”
The entire chamber shook again as the creature began pulling itself upward through the flooded abyss.
Elias shouted immediately. “MOVE!”
The survivors sprinted harder across the remaining catwalk while drowned creatures lunged toward them from the railings. Rowan smashed one backward with a broken pipe while Jace hacked another away from the path ahead.
But there were too many now.
The island beneath them felt alive with drowned movement.
Then suddenly the tunnel entrance appeared ahead through the darkness, a rusted maintenance doorway leading deeper into the cliffside beyond the chamber.
Relief surged briefly through the group.
Until they saw what stood in the entrance.
The little girl in the white dress.
She stared silently at them beneath flickering emergency lights while black seawater dripped from her empty eye sockets onto the floor.
Then softly—
almost sadly—
she whispered:
“You woke it completely now.”