Mulders Story…

In my dreams, I had pictured that, when the end came, it would be the Armageddon everyone had been predicting for millennia. I had even voiced once, during a drunken, disillusioned chat with a barmaid, that "when it hits it's going to be the shit-storm of all time". Turns out I was only partly right. What I hadn't dreamed was how big a part I would play in it all. And Scully. And a boy I thought I had lost so many years ago.

I didn't know what the hell had happened to Tad O'Malley. He had just disappeared, the same way Svetta had disappeared. I was so over people disappearing from my life that I hardly noticed when they did anymore. Not so in this case, however. I had been spending a good deal of my time online in that damn basement trying to hunt Svetta down; a lot more than even Scully was aware of. Tad, though… as curious as I was to know what did happen to him; well he was big boy and could fend for himself. Svetta…not so much. As it turns out, O'Malley reappeared of his own accord. And I still didn't know what had happened to Svetta.

When that great shit-storm hit, it was immediate and swift. I started with the military, a la Stephen King. But instead of "Captain Trips" we had the Spartan Virus. It, too, spread across the country quickly. But this was not just a strain of influenza like Project Blue. Oh no, the evil masterminds behind this holocaust had incorporated a way to summons a myriad of ills into their wretched scheme: Anthrax, the plague, rhinovirus, measles, avian flu, etc….all ready and waiting to rub mankind out of existence. And the biggest difference between King's annihilation and this one….this was intentional! And all brought into play by that modern-day Hitler and his personal Gestapo. The thought that… that….being, had sired me, sickened me…and drove a dagger into the very core of my soul. What the hell was my mother thinking….god rest her soul.

We eventually gathered together, those of us willing and able to take and make our own "Stand". Of course, for a while, I was dying myself, and it would be a few days before I, personally, would be of much help.

I had planned a meeting with O'Malley that fateful day, but it was interrupted by a visit from a hostile errand–boy. One sent by that ghost…sending an invitation. An invitation I felt I couldn't ignore if for no other reason than to see if it were true with my own eyes. I would have sworn that jackass was dead. Again. But, like all bad penny's, he keeps on turning up…reappearing in my life. Of course, I'd been there a few times myself...the brink of death, beyond and back. But, unlike CGB, I didn't want to grow up to be King of the Mountain, Ruler of the World…Destroyer of Nations. I only wanted to stop scum like him. And, it appeared, as the Devil's luck would have it, he would survive this modern apocalypse. The bastard was a human cockroach.

Then, Agent Miller appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Old Smokey let us go without a fight. I was on my way out, I knew that. It was very difficult to keep my brain in function mode. I was fast approaching the stage of illness when you prayed for death.

And suddenly, there she was, my doctor in shining armor. I think she was mumbling something about hooking me up to an IV and talking with Agent Miller, when, unexpectedly, there it was. I didn't have the strength to get up and look, but I would have known that shimmer and blinding light anywhere. It was there, hovering…right above us. For a moment I thought maybe it was going to finish Spender's work for him, blast us all right into the afterlife. But then I felt myself moving, floating, being sucked up into the craft like some half-dead fly into a Hoover. I wanted so badly to turn and look for Scully, but my body wasn't responding anymore to whatever control my thought process still had. And then…a whole lot of nothingness.

I woke to find myself in a small room, of sorts, with a feeble light that didn't seem to be coming from anywhere, but almost like it was a living thing…was actually a part of the room itself. It looked like someone took the bioluminescence out of about ten thousand fireflies and threw it around the place. I was laying on something resembling a leather sofa…a very lumpy one. At least it wasn't some damn examination table. I also had the distinct sense that someone, or something, was watching me. But, most notable of all, I didn't feel quite so feverish. I certainly wasn't one-hundred percent, but I no longer felt at death's door either. Something inside of me kept telling me I should be panicking, but another part of my brain wasn't interested in that. I had no idea how much time had passed or exactly where I was.

And then…. Scully! Was she here? Had she, too, been lifted up into that great ship in the sky? And was it an actual alien ship or another ARV? And who was manning the thing? Is that where I was now? But…Scully! I started yelling…and pounding, screaming her name. I only had the strength for about ten minutes of that tiring endeavor, when I heard a faint whirling sound and the room got a little brighter. Over in the left corner of the room, a sort of console started lighting up, dim at first, until it was glowing. It looked like the screen doctor's use to read x-rays, only brighter. I went over to investigate and a face appeared…a face I recognized, but would never have expected to see. It looked at me and smiled.

"Agent Mulder," it said, "you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Mulder's story to be continued...