A/N: Here's Part Six! Remember to read and review, please! :D Enjoy :D

Part Six: Ash Base, Rangitoto Island, Auckland, New Zealand, 8:28 PM, 23rd December, 2012

'So, is there anything else you guys need?'

Captain Greg examined Blaize, Siobhan and Ben as they assembled in front of him.

He'd been told about the mission that Dr. Livingston was sending the three of them on back to Auckland City, and he'd seen to it that they had been properly geared for their assignment of finding Tiffany Glaices, and properly geared they most definitely were.

Although they refused any extra armour, Ben and Siobhan were now armed with two of the biggest weapons they could now carry. Mike Calhoun had built Ben two flamethrowers that were now firmly attached to his forearms that had chainsaw blades attached to the ends, both weapons activated by switches that he would hold, an "experimental" design that had proved to be far, far more than simply useful when Ben tested it out on a few combat dummies.

Siobhan, on the other hand, opted for Mike's "Portable Howitzer" after it was discovered through experimenting on corpses that the hides of "Leader Sickened" were most likely slightly tougher than that of Tanks. When Captain Greg first heard how much damage the big gun did to a Tank, he didn't believe what he'd heard until Siobhan tried using it against a target in the firing range – after the thing punched a massive hole in the firing range's meter-thick concrete wall, his doubts were cast aside almost as quickly as they'd came. It could also fire normal shotgun pellets as well, which made it much more valuable than Siobhan's original pump shotgun.

Siobhan had also decided to take a machete, as if her Portable Howitzer wasn't dangerous enough.

Blaize was the only one out of the three who didn't pick any new guns for herself, as, from what Captain Greg had seen her do to a combat dummy, she obviously didn't need any. She was the weapon. Nonetheless, she'd taken more ammo for her assault rifle, as well as the red axe that had been kept next to the fire extinguisher.

Captain Greg had also made sure that the teenagers got adequate rest before they set off, making sure that they wouldn't fall over in exhaustion during their search for Tiffany.

He would've got some of the Rough Riders to help find Tiffany with them, but earlier he'd received signals from Sergeant Cyrus back in the city that the Sickened were getting smarter – since the numbers of "Leader Sickened" had increased recently, he'd reported that they were now capturing live survivors to use them to sail boats over to Ash Base with their undead cargo, and Captain Greg knew that he needed his men here to help stop the assault that would come.

As the clock in the radio room seemed to loom over them, he knew that he had to send them on their way. Any unnecessary delays to the preparations would increase the risk that they might not be able to find Tiffany before the Sickness did.

Blaize took a quick glance at Ben and Siobhan, and shook her head.

'Doesn't seem like it,' she said.

'Well, best we be off, then,' Captain Greg replied, giving the teenagers an uncertain look before walking out of the radio room towards the helicopter pad, the three of them following him out.

The helicopter ride back to Auckland was uneventful. As the biting cold returned back to Auckland City, everything was almost silent in the helicopter as Ben polished his flamethrower leg, and Blaize and Siobhan were just sitting on the opposite side of the helicopter, looking out the windows and whispering to each other.

When the helicopter landed at the Auckland City Wharf Helipad and the teenagers hopped out, Captain Greg took one last look at them.

'Remember your mission, kids. Get Tiffany, find a safe spot to hide, radio me, and stay safe until I get back to pick you guys up. Understood?'

With that, they nodded as he took off, and Blaize turned to look at the ruins of Auckland City from the other side of the wharf's iconic red steel fence before her once more, small amounts of freshly-fallen snow falling from the night sky and amongst its blackened debris causing a contrast that made Blaize uneasy. The warm sun that had dominated most of the day had given way to the dark, cold and unforgiving winter night.

As the teenagers looked around them cautiously, it was almost dead silent.

'So, where do we start?' Ben asked.

Blaize turned towards him and Siobhan.

'I reckon we'll check in with Sergeant Cyrus first. He might have an idea of where Tiffany is,' she suggested. 'Otherwise, the Aotea Centre looks like a good spot to hide, so maybe she's there.'

Both Ben and Siobhan nodded in agreement, and they set off towards Sergeant Cyrus' safehouse. It wasn't long before they found a few Sickened lingering around the exit of the wharf, which was a long distance away from where Captain Greg had dropped them off.

'Okay. Remember, its best if the Sickness doesn't know that we're here,' Blaize whispered as they took cover behind one of cranes. 'Ben, Siobhan, stay back here. I'll take them out.'

Ben was about to raise an eyebrow at Blaize when he noticed that she was already gone, climbing up the large crane almost as if she were born to do so.

As she climbed, she could feel her senses tingling. The Sickened near the only exit out of the wharf were Leapers, and from what she remembered about them apart from that fact that one had bitten Ben's left leg off was that they also acted as sentries for the rest of the Sickened. One scream from one of them, and the rest of the horde would follow.

When she reached the top, she watched the grey-hooded Leapers as they made their patrol around the gate.

They were formidable opponents in their own right, and this pack of four would've proved almost impossible to Ben and Siobhan to handle on their own without their new weapons, but Blaize knew instinctually that she was better than these Sickened. She could hear their almost-nonexistent heart pulses beating as they communicated to each other in their own gibberish tongue. She didn't speak their language – or rather, their vocal ones, anyway.

Leaping silently off the crane using her new strength, she landed right in the midst of them, tackling one down to the ground in her leap, ripping its head off with one hand, dodged a swipe from another and broke its neck with a well-placed punch, and then backhanded the third with her same hand, smashing it into the ground and crushing it.

Then, she sensed the fourth was about to scream to alert its brethren to the presence of the humans, and quickly snatching the fire axe she'd taken from Ash Base from her back, she flung it at the sentry, the weapon's blade lodging itself into its skull just seconds before it could alert the others.

It was over in only a few seconds. A smile crossed her face as she could feel the adrenaline rush through her body. It was as if she was born to do this, but she knew better. It was only because of her new powers she felt this way. Signalling Ben and Siobhan over by waving at them, she walked over to the last Leaper and pulled her axe free from its head and placing it back on holster on her back as Ben and Siobhan arrived.

'Holy shit,' Ben cursed, looking at the corpses of the Leapers strewn around him. 'That was quick.' Siobhan simply nodded in agreement.

'Well, get used to it,' Blaize said, giving the both of them a smile. 'I suppose it's the new me.'

'I guess I like the new you,' Siobhan said, smirking at her and sneaking in a wink that Ben didn't notice.

With that, the three of them made their way back to Queen Street, where it all began, with Blaize scouted ahead of them, eliminating any Sickened she found quickly and silently. They found Sergeant Cyrus's safehouse still present in the Kathmandu store.

Blaize knocked on the red steel door, which was quickly opened by Sergeant Cyrus, who ushered them in before closing it behind him and blocking it with furniture.

'I heard from Captain Greg that you might be coming,' he said, looking the teenagers over. 'This Tiffany Glaices girl seems to be extremely important if the three of you decide to brave the Sickness to come back here to see me.'

Siobhan nodded.

'You wouldn't happen to know where she might be, would you?' she asked him. The sergeant shook his head.

'Afraid not. There's nothing new here except this envelope some guy handed to me earlier. He said to follow the instructions on it, which I did.' He produced a large white envelope from his trench coat and handed it to Siobhan. 'It said to scan whatever's inside and transfer the information to Ash Base. Not sure how he knew I had a working scanner, though.'

As Siobhan looked at it, Blaize recognised a particular scent in the air.

Lavender.

'Wait, can I have a look at that?' Siobhan nodded and handed her the envelope. To the surprise of everyone else in the room, she immediately held the envelope to her nose, closing her eyes and breathing the smell of it deeply.

'What the hell is she doing?' Sergeant Cyrus wondered aloud to Siobhan and Ben.

'Hell if I know,' Ben said, raising an eyebrow at his sister.

Blaize opened her eyes and looked at the envelope.

'Lavender,' she said aloud. She turned to Sergeant Cyrus before anyone could say anything. 'Are you sure it was a man who gave you this?'

The sergeant scratched his head, trying to remember.

'I'm not sure. He was wearing all black, with a hood. Didn't speak much, but he sounded a tad bit too much like a Sickened for me to be comfortable with his presence.' He peered at Blaize. 'Why do you ask?'

'Because,' Blaize replied, 'this letter was written by Tiffany Glaices. I can smell it.'

Sergeant Cyrus raised an eyebrow at her quizzically.

'You can what?'

'It's some sort of, uh… new thing she can do,' Siobhan hurriedly explained. 'She's got the abilities of a Leader Sickened. Don't ask me how.'

Blaize opened the envelope, and looked at the papers inside.

'This was written by Tiffany,' she said as she examined the papers. 'I'm not sure what it is, exactly, but it looks like some sort of schematics for a device or something that includes syringes. Something Dr. Livingston would use.'

At that, Sergeant Cyrus coughed as Blaize handed Siobhan the papers to look at.

'Actually, the man said to let Dr. Livingston look at these,' he supplied helpfully. 'Again, I'm not sure how he knew the Liberators or the fact that they were now on Ash Base. Not many people outside of the Rough Riders know who the Liberators are.'

He sighed.

'Can you at least tell me what the blimey frak is going on? How it is that Tiffany Glaices seems to know all this?'

Siobhan raised an eyebrow at the bewildered sergeant before realizing that he probably wasn't told everything by Captain Greg.

'Tiffany Glaices is a psychic,' she explained, glancing at him before continuing to scan the papers. 'The only reason why we even know her as much as we do is because she appeared to Blaize in some sort of trance soon after we left this safehouse, while she was being drowned by a "Grabber" Sickened.'

It was then Sergeant Cyrus nodded understandingly.

'Still, though, these documents look extremely complicated for even a psychic to write,' he pointed out.

He sighed.

'Well. You'd best be careful, kids. From what I've gathered after eavesdropping on some Leader Sickened, the Avatar of the Sickness is planning something big, apart from using human hostages to ship Sickened assault forces in to Ash Base. I'm not too sure what it is, but apparently, the Avatar used the spinal fluid of about five Leader Sickened to get the ball rolling.'

Blaize coughed.

'So, did Dr. Livingston get the schematics?' she asked him, changing the topic.

'He did. He and Mike Calhoun are assembling that machine as we speak. Apparently, it's easy to build, which means that they should be finished with it around now. As far as I can tell, it's similar to a machine we've used before to test out various liquids in our grenades.'

'But… but what use is the machine going to have?' Ben wondered aloud.

'I think I can explain,' Siobhan said, after spotting a small block of text at the bottom of one of the papers. 'There's a note here saying that the machine and an "empty grenade" should be brought along when we're evacuated from Auckland City with Tiffany Glaices.'

She swallowed and looked up at Blaize before continuing.

'The fact that the machine's using two syringes means something. I'm thinking that whoever was behind this has some idea of how the Avatar of the Sickness can be defeated – by mixing both Blaize and Tiffany's blood in a single grenade, and, from what I can guess, shoving it down his throat and letting it explode.'

'But… but why not just bomb the Avatar of the Sickness? It'd just be easier,' Ben pointed out.

'We haven't tried that yet,' Sergeant Cyrus said. 'We've got bomber jets at Ash Base, but Captain Greg's decided not to use them just yet.'

Blaize nodded.

'Well. Do you have any ideas on where Tiffany could be, Sergeant Cyrus?'

He nodded.

'The man who dropped the envelope off mentioned something about some unnamed underground basketball court further up Queen Street, close to the Aotea Centre. You might want to try there.'

With that, Blaize nodded, and after asking a few, unimportant questions, the group left the safehouse and continued on with their search up the street towards the underground basketball court, searching the ruins of the city for any sign of Tiffany and eliminating any Sickened that were in their way quickly and silently.

'It's sad,' Siobhan said as she looked longingly at the large fibreglass Santa monument that was perched on the entrance of the now-destroyed Whitcoulls bookstore, the large holes in his once-full belly, burns along his edges and one of his eyes hanging out reducing the ancient reminder of Auckland City's festive season to a mere mockery of its former glory. Blaize didn't need to hear the change in Siobhan's breathing patterns to realize that she was upset, even though she'd most likely seen it before.

Blaize stopped in her tracks and turned towards Siobhan, putting her hands on her shoulders and giving her a hopeful smile.

'Don't worry. This'll all be brought back to normal soon,' she reassured her, gripping her shoulders tightly. 'I swear it. You remember what I said, don't you?'

Siobhan just nodded, giving Blaize a weak smile, Ben gazing at the worn-down monument and spotting something. His face quickly turned into one of horror when he realized what it was he was seeing.

'Oh, shit!'

Siobhan and Blaize turned around to see what it was Ben had spotted, and suddenly, Blaize knew why he'd cursed. There, from one of the many large holes in Santa's belly, was one, large yellow glowing eye glaring back at them.

And then, it roared a loud, bestial roar.

Soon after, the yellow glowing eye disappeared, and a few seconds later, the snapping of the last of the metal wires that held up the monument Santa's fibreglass weight could be heard.

As the monument fell towards them, Ben and Siobhan dived to their left and Blaize to her right, the teenagers just barely moving out of the way of the structure just in time as it crashed into the ground, defeated.

While Ben and Siobhan were picking themselves up, Blaize saw a large, apelike figure hanging from one of the windows of the ruined Whitcoulls building looking back at her, and then jumped off the building, landing in front of her.

The creature was massive, twice the size of a Tank, and Blaize knew instantly from the massive wounds that covered its bloodstained black fur, large fangs that stuck out of its mouth and the simian face that now scrutinized her that this was no ordinary Sickened. She knew that this thing was much, much worse.

'So… you're the one who has derailed most of my plans…' the thing snarled at her. 'The one my brethren call… the Inferno.'

She returned the Avatar's glare for a few seconds before leaping towards him, reckoning that she had a chance at killing him herself.

She'd planned on somersaulting over the Avatar's head, landing on his back and ripping his head off, but she'd miscalculated one thing: the Avatar of the Sickness was much, much faster than she'd thought he'd be. In mid-leap, he'd snatched her in mid-air with one large hand, and flung her into the ruins of the Whitcoulls store.

Blaize crashed into the rubble, the counter catching her off guard. Her senses were reeling as she picked herself up, a large gash along her forehead caused by the rubble quickly stitching itself back up. She was starting to wonder if grabbing Siobhan and Ben and getting them both to safety first would've been a better idea.

'Foolish girl. You seek to destroy me, the Avatar of the Sickness, by using my own powers?' The Avatar of the Sickness spat. 'Your arrogance will be your undoing!'

Before she could escape, the Avatar had swept her up in one massive hand and held her up to its ugly face. The miasma that surrounded it didn't seem to affect her other than make her want to throw up. Luckily for her, she was able to suppress her gag reflex.

'I thought you would put up much more of a fight than this,' the Avatar snarled as he watched her try to wriggle free out of his vice-like grip. 'I will let you see this world once more, without your powers, and then I will take pleasure in dissecting you alive… hearing your screams echo across this barren city.'

As Blaize pounded on his hand, trying to get free, the Avatar of the Sickness seemed to grin with malicious joy.

'I will use you as an example to all humanity… none… may escape from the grasp of the Sickness! Know this, obstinate female. I can take away the Sickness just as easily as I can spread it. We shall see what it does to you!'

Blaize tried to wriggle free once more, but then she felt she was suddenly getting weaker. Her veins were now showing as a disturbing web of blue as she felt the Sickness and her consciousness being drained from her.

Her struggling stopped as her eyes closed. Her body was now too weak to fight anymore.

'Pathetic weakling…' The Avatar of the Sickness spat as he tossed her limp body towards Ben and Siobhan, who had just managed to pick themselves up. 'You two-' He stopped suddenly and looked around as Ben and Siobhan knelt beside the unconscious Blaize.

A tear rolled down Siobhan's cheek as hopelessness washed over her. It would take a miracle to save them, to save humanity, now.

And a miracle they would get.

Behind them, Ben heard the footfalls of someone behind him, and he turned around.

'What the-'

Before he could say anything else, a figure grabbed him, Siobhan and the unconscious Blaize, and with the strength of a Leader Sickened, carried them to safety as it leapt away from the bewildered Avatar of the Sickness, denying him his prize.

As Tiffany Glaices made her escape with the three survivors, she heard the Avatar of the Sickness roar in fury.

'NOOOO! AFTER THEM!' he screeched. But she was already moving faster than the average Leader Sickened, and she knew that whatever the Avatar of the Sickness would send after her wouldn't be fast enough to catch her. She'd be able to lose them easily in the alleyways that were her home.

As she leapt from one wall to another, she quickly disappeared into the darkness.

After a few minutes of jumping from wall to wall through Auckland City's alleyways, Tiffany landed in front of the doorway to her safehouse. Letting go of Ben and Siobhan, she helped them back up to their feet using her free hand while keeping the unconscious Blaize under her right arm.

'Holy crap, I think I know why Blaize doesn't just carry us around,' Ben said, holding his head as he tried to remember which way was up.

Siobhan, however, recovered her wits faster as she looked at Tiffany.

'You… you're Tiffany Glaices, aren't you?' she asked her, identifying her by the blue jacket and her hair.

Tiffany nodded.

'And you're Siobhan Skibursky, one of Blaize's friends,' she replied, looking her over carefully.

'You should know. You're psychic.'

Again, she nodded, and without a word, walked inside her safehouse, a suspiciously recently-repaired red steel door creaking noisily as it swung open, revealing a brightly-lit indoor basketball court. Ben and Siobhan followed after her, and closed the door behind them as Tiffany lay Blaize down onto a bench, crossing her arms over her chest.

Siobhan walked up to her unconscious friend while Ben barred the door with benches and looked at her limp form as she tried to hold back tears.

'What… what happened to her?' she asked Tiffany.

'I don't know,' the psychic replied, sighing. 'Perhaps the one who helped me out might be able to explain this.'

At that, Siobhan stared at Tiffany.

'There's someone else here?'

She didn't respond. Instead, she just kept looking at the unconscious Blaize. She placed a finger on Blaize's neck, but then Siobhan grabbed it and pulled her finger away. Tiffany's gaze immediately switched over to Siobhan, regarding her with a glare that would've intimidated anyone else.

'Don't… touch… her,' Siobhan said slowly and venomously, returning her glare. It was obvious that she didn't trust Tiffany enough. Tiffany simply withdrew her finger from Siobhan's grip, and her gaze turned into one of examination.

'There's more of a relationship between both you and Blaize than would meet the eye,' she noticed as her eyes narrowed. 'Romantic, perhaps?'

It was at that Siobhan bristled.

'Stay… out… of… my… head…' she said threateningly. Well, two could play at that game.

'Look. I know you're Blaize's friend. I know that you're her lover. I know more than you do about what's going on at the moment. And one thing you've got to learn… is that with one of my hands, your head will come off with just a twist. I saved your life just then, and I can take it away just as easily,' she replied venomously and with authority. 'Now. Shut up, and let me check her pulse.'

Tiffany's gamble to intimidate Siobhan had worked. She'd sighed, defeated, but she still maintained an aura of hate towards Tiffany that the psychic could notice, even without her powers.

But she knew she had a right to be angry. She'd just technically lost her best friend and lover.

Sighing, she placed her finger back on Blaize's neck. To her relief, she could feel Blaize's pulse, although it was too weak to be heard.

'She's alive,' she said soon after, which received a sigh of relief from Siobhan. 'Although I'm not sure what's happened to her. It's like she's slipped into a super-coma or something. Her pulse, although present, is extremely weak.'

She nodded and turned towards Siobhan and leaned in towards her.

'By the way, don't think I'm going after Blaize. I'm not lesbian,' she whispered to her. She could feel Siobhan's defensive attitude towards her instantly disappear. 'Um… well, just wondering - is Ben, er…'

She twirled her finger around the end of her ponytail as she tried to find the right word.

'Single?' Siobhan whispered back, relieved that Tiffany wasn't interested in Blaize and hastily trying to make that situation permanent. 'Of course. No girl at school seems to find him attractive.'

'Ah. Good. Erm… what happened to his leg?'

'It got bitten off by a Leaper two days ago. His replacement's a mini-flamethrower that a nano-engineer attached,' Siobhan explained. 'Wait. You're psychic. Shouldn't you know this?'

'Well, being psychic for me doesn't work all the time,' Tiffany admitted. 'Half the time I can tell everything about a person, the other half, I've got just as much of an idea of them as you have.'

Tiffany leaned away as she noticed Ben walking towards them after pushing the last of the benches into place.

'So… is Sonja going to be okay?' he asked Tiffany uncertainly.

'Yeah. She should be fine. I'm not sure what it is that's happened to her, though.'

A few quiet seconds passed.

The silence was suddenly interrupted as the screeching of the red steel door could be heard. Ben and Siobhan tore their attention to it, and to their surprise, the door was opening despite the benches stacked on it, and a figure dressed in black camouflage armour with a hood entered, closing the door shut behind him and looking at the three teenagers before taking off the hood.

'I think I can explain what's happened to Blaize,' Norman Skibursky said.

The moment Norman took off his hood, Siobhan grabbed her portable howitzer from her back and aimed it at the Leader Sickened, and Ben did the same.

'N… N… Norman?' Siobhan almost stuttered her brother's name as her hands started to shake. Out of everything, she hadn't expected this.

'Siob. Ben. Put your weapons down, and I will explain everything,' Norman continued.

'So you can do what, exactly? Turn us into Leader Sickened without a fight?' Siobhan straightened her aim towards Norman's head. 'I don't think so.'

Tiffany realized that Siobhan was about to pull the trigger, so jumped and landed in front of Norman defensively, blocking her shot.

'Siobhan. Put the gun down. He's with us,' she said, sticking out her hands to try and emphasize her message. 'He's the one who helped me out,' she added.

Siobhan raised an eyebrow at her.

'Wait, what? Norman's with us?' she spat. 'And he helped you? Did he tell you that he tried to kill us this morning?'

'Look. He's the one who helped me out. How do you think I got my powers?'

Siobhan, knowing how futile it was to argue with Tiffany, sighed, and lowered her weapon, Ben doing the same. She sank to her knees, and to Ben and Tiffany's surprise, began to sob. Norman noticed this and leapt towards Siobhan, landing in front of her, going on one knee and putting his cold, pale hands on her shoulders.

'Siob. Siob. Look at me. I'm here,' he soothed. As Siobhan raised her head, she looked into Norman's glowing eyes, and for the first time since he'd been turned into a Leader Sickened, she saw her brother.

She leaned forward and started to cry on his shoulder.

'I just… I just don't… I just don't know what to do anymore…' she cried. 'First you're gone, and then Blaize is gone, and then…'

Norman held his sister tightly as she let the horrors of recent events escape.

'Hey. Don't worry. I'm here.'

After a minute of sobbing, Siobhan looked at Norman behind her green eyes.

'Hey. You might not know the way for now, but I do,' Norman said, giving her an empathetic smile.

'But… but I thought you were dead… for good…' Siobhan sniffed as she wiped her eyes.

'Yeah, what happened, Norm?' Ben butted in. Almost instantly, Norman and Siobhan glared at him, and he started to back off as he realized it wasn't wise to ruin the moment.

Norman sighed as he looked at the three of them, and began to explain.