THE ELITE-FORCE cop with the heat-sensor motion device scanned the cenotaph walls, while rats scuttled nearby her feet in the abbey basement. She placed the device towards the floor — and she saw lots of red-spots, heat signatures on the screen — she alerted Petersburg...

"Sir! I have got a reading now."

The Commander and the others gathered, to see into the contrivance — with a cluster of lots of moving red-spots from below them...

"How the hell the fuckers got below this basement?"

The trained corporal gave her expert opinion back to Petersburg...

"There might be an underground sewer beneath, Sir — and they are using it to get to the river."

The Elite-force Commander laughed, "I'll be damned! Real sneaky bastards! So, there must be another entrance here somewhere, right?"

Another team member suggested...

"Sir, that will take time — how about we use the C-4 and blow a hole here — and we get them out?" The Elite-force corporal with the heat-detector device contradicted, with the impetuous demolition expert...

"The floor's diameter is too thick, and your C-4 won't work."

Petersburg had a sudden ploy...

"Hmm, I got a better idea — call Radio to get someone from the nearby dam, and ask them to flood the sewers — that will flush those fuckers out, into the open like turds!"

The Commander guffawed now at her own genius strategy, and the rest of her agreeing sycophant team joined her in laughing.

*

Roberta was listless after being sidelined, with the role as the reserve unit leader. She gaited by the strong current river bank, behind the Cathedral. She had forgotten to bring along her bottle of pain-killers. The twinge was throbbing on her thigh, making her limp like the Cambodian coconut plucking monkey-boy...

She was conscious that the others would soon notice her pathetic gimp. The sergeant hated that.

But her mind was still preoccupied in Columbus; with the psychotic albino stalker who has been terrorizing her life lately. The perpetrator had accessed into her home before — and her biggest fear right now was Laura's safety — after the newspaper-clippings that were found by her bedside in the wardroom.

Even though hindered with her job assignment of today, that took her away from Columbus, Roberta needed to find out later who that albino girl was — and deal with the perpetrator personally, before she attempted her next move. Her CPD department also should not find out about the break-ins into her house — or else, it would be an embarrassment for her, as a nation's hero cop, who could not manage her own backyard.

Roberta observed that her indolent volunteer team was equally ennui at that moment, dithering in idle. It was her time to put on her leadership browbeat game-face — she stepped up from behind of two policewomen seated on a fallen tree trunk, and she insinuated...

"Hey, Beth! Diana! Look sharp — and don't fuckin' slack around!"

When Roberta walked away, the two vexed cops bad-mouthed...

"What's wrong with that bitch?" whispered Diana,

"She is an adrenaline junkie — she is pissed that she is not deep into the action over there," Beth responded softly while pointing at the Convent.

"Dick that! She has already got her screwing hero's medal from the President — what more does that cunt want?" They both broke into mocking hushed giggles, to malign their newly elected sergeant.

*

A huge mass of vertical falling water dropped from above at a dam — an engineer instructed a female worker, to turn a sluice gate-valve to flood.

The water now overflowed, into several underground water tunnels.

*

"Sergeant Jensen!"

Someone called out to Roberta at the river bank. It was the Elite-force, Sergeant Desiree Brown. She approached with a radio-woman with communication equipment back-pack. They both stood facing Roberta. Brown instructed and pointed at the far end of the river...

"The Commander has ordered us to move half a click over there — those she-boys are now using the underground sewer, and we are gonna flush them out with water from a nearby dam. Now move your team to the mouth of the sewer tunnel — and we will nab them there."

Roberta okayed, and she gathered the reserve unit.

*

The Intersexuals orphans were moving in the murky water, which was now waist-deep, clad in their heavy monk robes — some were cursing at the confluence of impurities that were floating.

Matthew spoke out ...

"Michael, have you noticed that the water is getting deeper?"

"Yes, we might be reaching the river mouth," Michael replied while he soldiered on in the harsh condition — and Matthew added in a whining tone in front of the other monk-boys...

"It is difficult to move Brother Michael, will it be a good idea to remove our robes?"

Michael chafed loudly at him in frustration...

"Use your head, and have some respect and dignity, Matthew! We are going to be priests in the future — and this consecrate robe that symbolizes our faith. We can't just remove it, and walk around in our underwear — when we escape out of there!"

*

Roberta Jensen and Elite-force Sergeant Brown were first to arrive, and both inspected the end of the sewer mouth — Roberta noticed that the tunnel mouth was prison-barred, she questioned...

"How are we to extract them with those bars intact?"

Before Brown could find an answer, they both turn to see Commander Petersburg and her small jocose team of four from the abbey-orphanage raid — coming over to them, to watch the fun.

The gloating Elite-force Commander Petersburg immediately took control of the situation...

"Boys, in a while, they will all be flushed out — and we get them?" The now uncertain Sergeant Brown inquired Roberta's earlier question...

"Sir, how do we get them out? Shall we torch and start cutting down the bars?

"No you fool, not yet — those bastards will then make a run, and escape to the riverfront," a blatant reply from Ester Petersburg as she lit up her stogie.

Being raised in the bucolic community that depended on irrigation for farming in Wellsville, Utah — Roberta thought that it was a grave judgment error, made by the supercilious superior officer.

*

The water level had escalated up to their chest, and movement was getting even more difficult in their monk robes. Michael turned to Matthew after hearing something afar ...

"What sound is that?"

They all scrutinized to notice a strident sound, growing behind them. It became louder before the monk-boys spotted a large mass of gushing water rushing over towards them. Most of the Intersexuals started to remove their robes, in tumult. They began to swim away hastily.

Some of the uniform personnel stood on top of the roof of the tunnel entrance roof mouth, while many of other cops and e-SWAT stood at the side of the river bank for a better view of the water rushing out. Beth and Diana of the CPD were there too, joining the spectacle, waiting to capture the moment on their phone cameras. They all heard Petersburg laughing, and others echoed in humour along after their commander ridiculed...

"Those clever monk-keys think they can use the sewer to escape — this will be a total mind fucking surprise for those fucktards!"

The tunnel was half-filled to its roof. The boys were swept away by the rushing current, screams of affright, while those clad in their heavy robes begin to drown...

Roberta observed a big gush of water spewing out of the sewer mouth, while it amused those around who watched. But, the laughers stopped when the distend water-eroded, the side of the riverbank causing landslides — resulting the Elite-force radio-communication woman to be the first to slip — next, with another panicking e-SWAT soldier slipping into the muddy landslips. They were screaming in the divulging water — they both were swept into the nearby strong current river.

The screaming Beth was slipping halfway into the running water, but Diana hauled her up, to join others into safety...

Everyone gaped in horror, to witness more of the riverbanks were being washed away, by the robust water that flooded the main drain. All of the remaining e-SWAT and the reserve unit scuttled, to merge with the rest of the group, on the roof of the sewer tunnel.

*

The water level immersed and was now almost to the roof. The monk-boys tried to cling on to the ceiling cracks of the sewer roof — but, the resilient current tore them away — drowning them underwater...

It was difficult to fight the undercurrent, especially for those in their heavy monk-robes.

*

Roberta Jensen discerned at the blenched Commander who was lost in panic at the moment, staring speechless at the strong running river, seeing two of her troopers drowning afar. The newly promoted Sergeant Jensen went to the end mouth of the sewer — and detected the hands of the about twenty boys reaching out of the prison-bars, crying from below, while they were drowning...

"Help! Please help us!"

Most of the other Intersexuals were struggling to breathe in the air pockets of the sewer ceiling. Michael swam underwater, he discovered Matthew struggling in his robe that was wrapped over his head...

The monk-leader instantly removed his own cumbrous robe, underwater, and he set out in boxer-shorts, to rescue Matthew — who was dragged away, in backwards spins by the undercurrent.

*

Roberta stepped up to the Petersburg who looked astray, and she probed. "Commander, your only communication radio has been swept away — and with the jamming of the telco signal, there is no way that you can call the dam to shut the water down — what do we do, Sir?"

The Commander turned her back to Roberta, as she stared below at the dozens of hands of the children reaching out from the top of the prison bars, pleading to be saved. Remaining speechless, Petersburg kept hearing the distressed voices of the juveniles...

"Help please! Don't let us die!"

Roberta turned audacious to the crisis at hand when she found their debonair decorated e-SWAT leader was oblivious to take any form of action — the sergeant turned to one of the Elite-force corporal, who carried a bag of explosives...

"Hey, you — are you the demolition-guy? Set up your C-4s on the sewer roof and blow a hole up!"

Commander Ester Petersburg came to her senses instantaneously, and she intervened impudently — when she overheard the interloper 'celebrity' reserve unit sergeant, being out of propriety in rank — and she was now giving out the orders to her 'boys'...

"Jensen, you wait for a second, you moron — the blast will kill some of these kids!"

Roberta retorted back...

"It is either we violate to some collateral damage now — or, risk the result of all those freaks later dead, by drowning!

"It is your call, Sir!"

While the demolition-soldier and Roberta lingered for her decision — the Commander hesitated a second in thoughts...

Her ass that would be on the grill, if Washington learned from Agent Wolfe that all the boys were reported drowned, due to her incompetence in the roundup mission — and also, of her bad strategy decision to drown the sewer, which would then be later investigated and reviewed...

Commander Esther Petersburg glanced back, and she approved.

"Okay, blow up the goddamn roof!"

Immediately, the female Elite-cop rigged the C-4s, and Roberta stayed behind to assist her.

The Commander then barked her orders to all the uniforms present...

"Everyone get out of here!"

Roberta Jensen reminded the demolition SWAT woman...

"We only got one shot at this — use every-damn-thing you got!"

*

Michael swam in grit while underwater, nearing towards Matthew, and caught him from drifting further away. He removed the motionless Matthew's robe, which was covering his head...

Matthew was long dead, with his eyes and mouth wide-opened...

*

Roberta and the demolition corporal ran for safety before an explosion ripped the roof of the sewer entrance, with a torrential cascade. Roberta noticed the gushing water had then subsided.

The reserve police unit and Elite-force rushed forward to the blast-hole and they extricated the surviving boys from a blood-red pool — from below, some monk-boys were screaming limbless, and a few others were either unconscious — or were already fatal of asphyxia.