Force of Nature
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Sleep Running
Sam felt a surge of adrenaline mix with rapid fire shock riddled heart beats as she looked to Jason before her. To say something was wrong would have been the understatement of the century. He was breathing heavy, labored, looking right through her.
"Jason?" It escaped her in a whisper. He didn't answer her, only took a breath to look down the length of his body to his thigh where a dart that looked like it was shot from a tranquilizer gun protruded from his leg. "Oh, God, Baby...what happened?"
"What did you call me?" Jason growled out rage and loath dripping with every questioning word. Sam's eyes widened in fear and she took a step back, hands roaming protectively over her belly.
"Jason? What's wrong?" Sam took a step back and realized that they were in an alley, her back meeting the brick wall of one of the buildings they were situated between.
"Quit trying to play mind games with me." He screamed.
"Guys we gotta go." Dante stuck his head in the alley from another side street and looked like he'd already been going somewhere pretty fast and for a while now. He was out of breath, looking about fearfully.
Two things happened in rapid succession.
First, Jason pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans and aimed at Dante in the blink of an eye.
Second, Sam scrambled seeing the murderous intent in his eyes and wrenched his aim away just as the shot was fired, the bullet narrowly missing Dante. She didn't get a chance to do anything else though as Jason's elbow connected with her chin and sent her reeling back into the wall, off of him.
Dante, who looked about as confused and scared to death as she felt took a running go and tackled him.
"GO!" He yelled at Sam, not sure what the hell was going on, but wanting her out of there before Jason went after her or him again.
Agony of throbs tore through her head as she clamored to her feet and took off at an all out run in the direction Dante had been headed. She was only a few feet away when she heard the gun shot and turned just in time to see Jason running after her. Sam's eyes widened in horror and she took off running once more, screaming as bullets tore through the alley all around her. Oh. God. Had he killed Dante?
What the hell?
She rounded a corner to the right and caught sight of Ethan and Kristina stopped talking, Leila and Lulu a few feet behind them.
"RUN!" Sam screamed and then as if to show just why they needed to another bullet whizzed past her. They didn't need to be told twice. The whole group took off at a run, springing through the alley without even looking back to see that it was their friend that was coming after them.
ZZZZZZZZZZ
Jason was half asleep, taking turns with Dante, keeping watch over the group. They had just switched out and Jason was trying to lose himself to sleep for a bit. He's settled Sam on a couch with Kristina and had found another sofa in an adjoining room. It was the sound of the back door that brought him around fully. Jason sat up and quickly got to his feet heading in that direction. He passed a sleeping Kristina on the way but didn't see Sam. That got him moving fast.
Jason walked through the kitchen seeing the screen door now flapping in the wind and rain. "Dante?"
"What?" Dante was just walking into the room, gun in hand, checking out the noise as Jason was. "Who went out?" He asked worriedly.
"I don't..." Jason walked to the door, looking to see if he could make out anything in the night. Suddenly a flash of lightening illuminated the field beyond and they both caught sight of Sam running as fast as she could into the woods. Jason didn't say a word before he bolted, jumping off the back porch and racing in her direction.
He didn't know what was going on, if she was being chased, if she was having another vision quest thing, he didn't care, he just had to get to her, make sure she was alright.
"Sam!" Jason called as he ran. A flash light beam lit the night ahead of them as Dante joined him, rain soaking them to the bone as they ran.
"RUN!" He heard her scream out, raw terror dripping from the word and he didn't think it possible but he quickened his pace.
"Sam!" Jason and Dante called it out in unison as they dodged trees and bushes in an attempt to catch up with her. God she couldn't run like this forever, She was pregnant for God-sake.
ZZZZZZZZZZ
Ethan groaned awake on his stomach, wishing the moment that he roused that he hadn't, pain was like an ugly slap of the storm settling in on him all over again. He cursed his ringing phone, but picked it up. "Yeah?" He groaned into the phone.
"Why haven't you gotten rid of your phone yet?" Luke asked him in exasperation.
"You know the thought just didn't occur to me considering I've been involved in two tornadoes, a hail storm, and a couple of gun fights all since dinner." Ethan hissed back as he realized that his father was right. If they had anything on the phone's they had his number at least. "I guess we better make this quick."
"The package was a drug called Oracle. I'm tracking who wants it, but it's some weird trippy crap that makes the person on it think they see the future before driving them insane." Luke explained. "I think I have some of the original formula, so maybe we can pass it off as the latest thing. "Alright look – stay off any phone and just meet me in Wichita, at the Grand Hotel bar tomorrow night at 9:00."
"Alright, I'll see if we can make it there, but no promises." Ethan hung up the phone and then opened up the back, pulling the the SIM card out and then crushing it in his hand before flopping back to try and get back to sleep.
ZZZZZZZZZZ
Sam hit her knees in agony as a bullet tore through her thigh. Kristina heard the scream and turned but Sam was shaking her head. "Get her out of here!" She yelled to Ethan as Sam pushed herself over onto her ass and scrambled backwards, looking up at Jason as he descended on her, gun aim for a head shot. "Jason, I don't know why you're doing this, but think about the baby...please, think about the baby and just look at me...this is not you...it's not you...you don't want to kill me!" Sam pleaded with him.
Suddenly she was no longer looking up at Jason through the alley way, into hatred filled eyes. She was looking up at Jason bathed in the light of a flashlight as sheets of rains soaked them. Jason and Dante were standing over her, both so winded that they were fighting to catch their breath. She suddenly realized that it had all been in her head and she crumbled in sobs.
"Sam I would never hurt you." Jason was saying in horror that she had any concept of him doing such a thing. "I don't know that you think you saw, but I would never..." He looked wounded to the core of his being, yet scared to death at the same time.
Dante was just confused, trying to put together this puzzle together with so little to go on. He could understand the weather and the fact that they were being hunted for a package they no longer had, but this was something completely different. Was Sam losing it? Obviously, Jason knew something about this that he hadn't shared with the rest of the group and now Dante felt anger well up, if they didn't know what the hell was going on, something like this could definitely get them all killed.
He kept his mouth shut for now though as he watched Jason slowly approach Sam as if to show her that he meant her no harm and then quietly wrap her in his arms, pulling her into his before he started back towards the house. Dante started after them, shining the flash light to show them the way back.
Sam turned her face against Jason's chest, letting him help her back to the house as she wrapped her arms around him. She felt like whatever trust could be had in these visions had to have been shattered by the last one. Because just as he was saying she couldn't believe that he would go after her like that. Why? And what the hell was that dart in his leg? What happened? Was it real? Was it going to be real? What was real? Was this real? Sam couldn't find the words as she walked numbly back towards the house with Dante and Jason.
ZZZZZZZZZZ
"You're waking up...A part of me I've never known...And I've never felt...So invincible...What took you so far away?...You're lost for tonight again...That's what you wanted?...Your arms to your side again.."
Dr. Landers sat in his office head in his hands as he heard Deacon Grant's last orders playing through his head once more. "I...I...I...can't." He said to no one in particular, his voice wavering in fear. For all the horrendous things that Evelyn had been through, the descent into madness, her son's indifference, His own experiments. He'd still taken care of her.
Dr. Landers closed his eyes for a brief moment before he looked to the syringe on the desk top. He licked at his lips nervously. Evelyn had been given the first version of Oracle and she was far from alright, but now Deacon wanted him to give her another dose so that she could find his now missing new version of the strain. Something that Landers could only guess he wanted to use on himself or some other puppet to peer into the future for him. Another dose could kill her. Sure, her visions would be clearer for a few days but then...
Landers shakily picked up the syringe. He knew that Deacon would kill him and have someone else do it and he didn't know what else to do. He had never hated himself so much as this one moment. Landers made his way into her room, syringe in hand...
"Just take away the words I say...Cause I know...That you don't feel the same...Just go and say...What's in your head...And I won't try to stop you...You hold the rights I'll never own...And I've never felt...So alien...Don't tear us apart again..."
Luke walked into Chapman's office with the folder in hand, the vials now securely stored away somewhere safe. He wasn't about to trade his bargaining chip before he found out what the hell was truly going on and this guy hadn't just sent him after some files, not with a whole box of this shit sitting around in some hiding place for decades.
He could see Chapman's head risen just over the crest of the back of the chair, turned facing away from him as the man looked out the window. "Sir, I don't truly know what you were sending me after, but I'm not about to be some pawn in this game. My son and daughter's lives are at stake now and I want the real truth..."
There was no reply, no movement, nothing and Luke had a horrible feeling now as he approached. His hand was trembling as he touched the back of the seat and slowly turned the chair so that he could see his face. Luke cringed in disgust as he turned the seat to find Chapman shot dead in his chair but then froze in fear as he heard a gun cocking at the back of his head...
"What is the use of it...We're ok it's nothing ...It's all chemistry of a car crash...And I won't try so you'll...stay...This time...I won't try...And I won't change...This time I won't try...To stop you..."
Dante watched Jason watching Sam. She'd passed out nearly the moment they were back in the house and he'd had to help change her into something dry. Now the both of them were working on drying their clothes pieces at a time, standing shirtless as Jason sat beside Sam, gently stroking her hair back.
Dante kept his voice low as he met Jason's gaze finally. "I think it's time we had a talk..." It was time Jason told him what was going on with Sam, before they all ended up dead.
-Last Song "Chemistry of a Car Crash" by Shiny Toy Guns
