Summary: The last thoughts of Nicole Brennan, and the story that follows up to all of it.
Nicole Brennan sat in her office and looked into the camera one last time. Her mouth moved but she could hear no words. A tear rolled down her cheek as she gripped the needle in her hand. First, her feet went numb. She looked down and saw that the needle was still intact. Stalkers followed the shadows out in the hall, making low haunting grunts.
Nicole breathed in deeply as her legs started to lose feeling. Her heart pounded as she realized that there would be no one coming to look for her.
This morning, everything was fine. She had done what she did every morning, made it to her shift on time, and even took the extra minutes to stop by and get a glance at what had been brought onto the ship.
"I should have known..." she whispered. She blinked away the tears as they welled up inside.
At noon, the crew had started to act strangely. A double-homicide had been reported. The patients that she had been receiving seemed to be completely out of their minds. They had been changed.
In the evening, the ship had gone into a lockdown and half the crew were murdered by those... things. Nicole had gotten stuck in the medical wing with another doctor. He was a Unitologist.
She started to cry as the camera continued to record. It was positioned so that when the message was received, no one could see the horrors that had been covering the walls and floor of the room.
At around midnight, she knew that there was no escape.
Nicole looked up at the man on the other end of the room. He held his plasma cutter firmly and raised it to her level.
"Convergence is coming, Brennan," he smirked slightly. "The Marker wants you."
Anger had risen from the grave in her heart. "Leave me alone, you creep," she hissed.
He moved toward her and kept the gun to her head. "Let me help you," he insisted. His hand brushed up against her arm. He leaned down to her height and stared into her eyes, emitting a look of intense rage and lust. Suddenly, he pushed his lips against hers.
Nicole instinctively shoved him away. "Fuck you!" she snapped.
"Let me bring you to them!" He raised his plasma cutter and started to fire shots at her. The first two missed, while the last one had severed her lower leg. She screamed as she hit the floor. The anger continued to grow within her. As the man walked toward her, she struggled to make it to a safe corner. He grabbed her by the collar and dragged her over to the chair, slamming her down onto it. The man lowered the gun to her head once again. More pain radiated throughout her body. Tears streamed down her face as she clutched onto the arm rest.
"Please... stop," she breathed.
"No one will be spared, Brennan," he softly spoke. As he grabbed onto her shoulder, infectious laughter took over him.
Nicole sobbed while she felt the laughter bubbling inside of her as well. She looked down at the needle on the table in front of her. Her sadistic smile was replaced with a saddened frown. No escape, she had realized.
"Spare me," she quietly prayed. With a quick movement, Nicole had grabbed the needle and stabbed it into the man's throat.
He grasped at his neck, dropping the plasma cutter right into her hands. Shots were fired, and then the office went silent.
By now, her whole body was numbed. Nicole looked into the camera.
"Isaac, I'm sorry," she said. Her voice slightly trembled. As she inhaled, the needle started to break her skin. For once in her life, an injection had never felt so painful. Convergence, her mind screamed. Isaac, Isaac! It yelled. Come back, don't leave me. On the outside, she could not move; she was frozen in place. But on the inside, one last thought was uttered. 'I always loved you.'