Awaking with a jolt, all that I could see was a blinding light. My eyes darted around me to try to find out where I was, but everything was just too blurred. At least I could feel my legs, arms and lungs…
AIR! BREATHE!
My first attempt of a breath went horribly wrong when I realized that I couldn't. Once again overwhelmed by instinct, I span over to face the floor before I realized what was happening. I started to retch uncontrollably, with something spewing out of my mouth. I couldn't even tell what it was...
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I lay there, coughing, spluttering, retching and hearing the occasional clink on the floor, but I was too focused on breathing to notice at first. I don't know how long I was there for- it seemed like forever at the time- but eventually I was able to clear out my lungs enough to think straight. Closing my eyes and panting for a while to stop the world around me from spinning, I had a chance to ask myself- what was happening to me? Where was I?
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AQW FQ PQV WPFGTUVCPF AGV
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My eyes snapped open. There was that same voice again! The one that heard while I was… There… Where did it come from? It didn't seem like it came from in front of me… Or behind… Or anywhere around me while I was thinking about it.
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Not suspicious at all…
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Searching my head for answers, I tried to remember where I was, why I was soaked in blood, how I got there and why there were so… so many… bodies… all around me…
Horrified, my memories flooded back in what felt like a tidal wave, almost washing me away with it. Mount Massive Asylum, the blood, the stench, Chris Walker, that nut-job doctor, the priest… Oh God the priest… The variants, the morphogenic engine, Wernicke, Billy Hope… The Walrider... The soldiers at the door who…
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Who...
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Shot me
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"Oh…" I managed to choke out.
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Just walk… Just keep walking…
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Barely able to think with the pain from my leg, my ribs, my everywhere, I was trying to get to the stairs…
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Just a few more steps…
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Suddenly taken over by a surge of nausea and agony from my gut, I almost collapsed before I could take so much as one step up the stairs before me. Landing with a clang on the hard, cold metal, I managed to drag myself back up, knowing that everything was being numbed by the adrenaline coursing through my veins. Including my thoughts...
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Look, almost up the stairs now…
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Was my leg broken? With the way it kept crunching and shifting every time I put weight on it, as well as the shooting pain, I was willing to bet that, yes, yes it was. Risking another step, I managed to support myself this time, as the dizziness and blurry vision crept up on me.
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Focus, just keep going…
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Keeping upright with what was left of my hands, I pushed on, with the drive to just survive, escape from this hell hole being two of the only things that kept me going.
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It didn't last long though; bringing my right hand to my stomach to try and help with the pain, the whispers in the back of my mind grew stronger. What had that thing done to me?
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It doesn't matter- not now. Just keep going.
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Using the handrail to get that one step higher, I managed to stagger over to the doorway. First stage of escape accomplished.
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Now just get to the door- the one over there, past the desks- you can make it!
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Desperately, I tried to blink away the pain of my leg. But it was too much. I gasped in agony as I fell towards the corner of the closest desk. Barely managing to stay conscious, I held on for my life until my bloodied hand slipped and let me steady myself on the floor. The whispers grew into a hiss, but I was still going.
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Over there- not much further now.
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I tried to focus on the door, but my mind grew weary and everything blurred beyond recognition. As that hissing grew stronger, I blacked out for a second, not knowing what was going on.
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It doesn't matter, just keep walking!
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I began to see again much closer to the door- almost there. The hissing quietened down a little, along with my fuzzy vision, so I straightened up and kept limping towards the door. One step… Two steps…
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The pain in my leg, chest and everywhere was too much. Just too much. I couldn't keep going. It was cold. So cold. I needed to sleep- just rest my eyes for a minute.
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But I was too close! The door was right in front of me now! I had to, or the Walrider might come after me again. Who knows what it could do to me the second time around... So I staggered to my feet, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
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And then the door opened.
To a group of soldiers surrounding Wernicke.
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As they pointed their guns at me, I tried to move backwards, gasping as I did. Then the world seemed to slow down. I saw the bullet explode out of the gun and race towards me. I saw it enter my gut. I saw the splatter of blood up against the wall. That wasn't the worst part though- the worst part was that I could feel it. And there wasn't a thing I could do about it either.
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The world sped up again as I faced the soldiers again.
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Click
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Their assault rifles tore through my flesh, the impact sending me staggering backwards, causing me to fall to the floor in a pool of my own warm, sticky blood.
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As everything faded into an inky blackness, I heard Wernicke rasp one last time:
"Gott im Himmel… You have become ze host!"
The hissing then grew as a part of me felt like it was being ripped out until it became a growl- the growl of the Walrider…
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"Oh god!"
"What is that thing?"
"No… Nooo!"
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The screams of the dying soldiers and the futile gunfire were the last things I heard before the end…
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…The end of Miles Upshur…
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AN
Hi there! Thank you thejesstar1 for your review and ideas for the codes. I have a much wider plan for them now (it might not seem like it in this chapter, but keep an eye out for an unexpected something every now and then).
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Virtual cake for those who get any codes right!
And remember:
'6d 69 6c 65 73 20 75 70 20 73 68 6f 72 65 20 77 69 74 68 6f 75 74 20 61 20 70 61 64 64 6c 65'
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Please leave a review and help the story to continue- constructive criticism is very welcome!