Shambling Shadows (Part I):
Characters: Winter, Jacques Schnee (Mentioned), Weiss Schnee (Mentioned)
Pairings: (none yet)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or settings, these belong to Rooserteeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace.
Summary:
What happens when a man opens Pandora's Box? Read and find out. [Will include pairings later on, is clearly an AU, please enjoy!]. Disclaimer I do not own any of the characters or settings, these belong to Rooserteeth and Monty Oum, may he rest in peace.
White Castle, SDC Research Base
It had all started a couple of days ago when the White Fang attacks had started back up again. Father had become furious once more, Dust production was at an all-time low because of the attacks, Weiss had become nothing more than an elaborate warriour while I had been confined to a wheelchair. Nearly twenty and I have a figure most would kill for. I can't stand and have been forced to compete in specialized competitions for fencing. In the end I've taken to developing my brain only practicing fencing to get some form of exercise. None of that would do me any good though at least not in this situation.
I look back at the bloody prints on the glass as the creature with the shape of a human body continues to pound on the frosted glass that makes the doorway. How do I get out of this? I don't think a competition saber will be enough to kill whatever it is pounding on the glass… but there is something eerily familiar about that thing on the other side of the glass. I use all the strength my weary and still sleep deprived body can manage to get myself into the wheelchair next to the bed. A groan escapes my lips as my muscles scream at me that I'm too sore and poorly designed for this.
The rate of pounding increases at my groan and I try to crane my neck to get a better look at the door but my neck hurts too much to do it. Using the joystick to motor the chair over to my desk I quickly search for something, anything that I could use to deal with the thing pounding on my door.
Was it only yesterday that I was pitching my idea to Ironwood? Was it only yesterday that Weiss showed up and said hello and talked to me trying to make sure I didn't need her help? Dust why didn't I say yes to her? She could do something about what's behind the door but I can't.
Get a hold of yourself Winter! You are one of the most intelligent people on the planet. You designed a virus that could create mindless super soldiers controlled through a single unit here within the building. You memorized how to create steel out of nearly nothing. Weiss wouldn't give up, she wouldn't let you give up… so you can't give up on yourself either. I will survive this even if it takes everything I have to…
Oh Dust! Father wouldn't would he? Finally I find a pair of scissors, I might be able to push these through an eye or a soft part of the body, even if I can't get it through a skull or rib cage, and if these things are what I think they are… Wrapping my fingers tightly around the scissors I use my left hand to spin the wheelchair around and move it towards the glass door. Okay open the door and aim for the eye then I might have a chance. I put my right hand next to the button and steel my nerves before pressing it. A 'woosh' sounds fill the air and the moaning suddenly becomes twice as loud when the oily black skinned creature opens its maw wide and lets loose an ear shattering moan before the sharp saliva glistening teeth take most of my focus.
The creature takes a single step forward and then falls straight into my lap its hands slide over my skirt and blouse and roughly grabs at me. It pushes upwards trying to get more of itself into my lap and draw its maw closer to my neck. Now or never Winter! Shouts the voice in my head as I shove the scissors in my right hand into the glowing red eye of the creature. The monster goes slack in my lap and I sigh a breath of relief as I struggle to push it off of my lap. Before I get the monster off of my lap another moan goes through the hallway and I motor backwards to free myself of the heavy burden.
I've got to close that door and I have to do it now! Moving the chair directly over the creature I hit the button causing another 'woosh' to fill the air as the door shuts and seals. I'll have to get to my lab… but that's down the hall a couple of doors and its now quite obvious to me my Father is that stupid. Though there is something odd, they tried to eat me instead of outright kill me… and on top of that they seem to lack coordinated movement or the ability to open doors. There has to be someone one or something controlling them… but at the same time what could be if their movements are so shambly and reminiscent of a zombie. There's stuff in the lab I can use to fight these things that is more effective than a pair of scissors… all I have to do is find a way down there
Do I have the materials to create a portable sound generator? A quick glance around the room reveals my scroll and its charger, a speaker unit, wire cutters, and lastly some electrical tape and my still broken headphones. Alright if I remove the circuit board and speaker from the speaker unit and then take the battery from my scroll and wire it in with some wire cutters and electrical tape all I have to do is flip a switch on the… Dust! Where am I going to find a switch?
Wait what about the headphones? I was trying to fix them because the plugin broke but the switch on the wire should still work I can use those! I set about gathering everything at the desk in one place so I can tear everything apart. Alright first wire in the switch here, then attach the power supply here, speaker next. Dust I need a soldering gun to make this all stick! I start rooting around in my drawers as quietly as I can before finding it at the very bottom. Plugging it in I find that the power is on emergency… I can only use so much so this has to work and it has to work the first time.
I finish soldering the wires to the circuit board and then use electrical tape to make sure everything holds together. Then with the sound device complete I gather another pair of scissors and a sharp quill pen, what I like to write the old fashioned way sometimes too! The hallway is unnervingly quiet since the last moan ran through it, and there's no shadows at my door which means that none have come to investigate what happened to the one I killed. I press the button and cringe as another 'woosh' sounds throughout the hallway, answered in response by another moan. Flicking the switch on the device it begins blaring a standard alarm noise which is almost loud enough to cause me pain. I cock back my arm and put all my strength into my sore muscles as I toss it down the hallway and shut the door again. It skids a couple of feet from its first impact, which is thankfully a bit of the ways down the hallway. Dust I'm glad Weiss commanded me to get better at throwing things… of the course the comment about it being the worst throw ever… of all time hadn't helped my confidence much. More moans bounce across the hall and soon shambling feet go past my door heading towards the source of the noise.
Alright first part of the plan complete, now all I have to do is make it two doors down and I should be able to find some stuff to fight with. As the last pair of feet shuffles past I give it another couple of seconds before I press the door button and use the chair controls to hightail it out of my room. The 'woosh' sounds for the last time as I enter the lab and stare straight at the white hair of my lab assistant.
"Oh thank Dust there's someone else besides me. I mean you don't even know what I was beginning to think about doing if…" My voice loses itself as the woman turns around, the twenty-two year old's skin was the same oily black, except hers had begun to crack revealing the same menacing glow from her eyes as the cracks in the skin. Her mouth opens as she drops her jaw and turns on me with the saliva coated teeth. "South…"
As if reacting to her name the creature starts its shambling walk forward and I desperately begin looking around the room for anything that might be of use to me. Hypodermic needles, the failsafe serum, hydrochloric acid, Zinc metal, stainless… Wait did I say failsafe serum! I left it out yes! I deftly move my left hand over the controls getting the chair over to the failsafe serum which was enclosed in a clear key-coded syringe case. I pull the case into my lap and begin fumbling out the code as adrenaline fuels my system as South moves closer. The woman is nearly on top of me when I get the syringe out and slam the wheelchair back hitting South in the stomach and sending her backwards onto the floor. Sorry… I think as I turn the chair around and test that the needle is working by squirting a bit of the serum out.
My heart beats in my chest as I wait for South to pull herself closer to me and give me a chance to use the serum. If this doesn't work there won't be time for me to get the scissors and save myself… only enough time to end it before she starts eating me. I push the thought away as South is finally close enough. Leaning as far forward as I dare I stab the needle into her glowing red eye and push the plunger down. The blue liquid disperses through South's body and changes the glowing red to a dull blue before the body ceases to move and goes completely limp. There! Hydrochloric Acid combined with an metabolic blocker, and a synthetic compound designed to stop neuron messages from being passed around the brain. You're nothing but a dying brain inside a useless body now… I'm so so sorry.
"Science Bitch…" I whisper looking at the dull blue light emanating from the woman that was once my friend. "Alright now to see how stupid my Father really is. I mean it isn't like he'd disperse this across the whole world right? Oh Dust are we in trouble."
I roll over to the computer terminal and access the file entitled 'PROJECT GRIMM'.
Beacon Encampment, ORI Base Subset
"How far has it spread?" asks the first.
"We don't know… it's… well we've lost control," answers the second.
"May Dust help us."
Author's Note:
This is the first of this AU, the story may or may not continue, depends on how it is viewed, followed, and most importantly whether or not I get into it or not. Please support if you like it and want to see more. Thank everyone who has continued looking at my work and I hope that all of you are well. I enjoy hearing from people, so never hesitate to message.