Waking Nightmare
Ellie stood facing her parents. Her father was so far gone Ellie only recognized his clothes. His face was misshapen and severely altered by the infection. He was facing her mother and growling.
Her mother had glowing orange eyes and looked more like Kerrigan or Ellie than a typical infested. She looked over at Ellie and smiled.
"Welcome, upstart." She said her voice sounding unnatural.
Ellie tried to break into her mothers mind and free her from the swarm but she met resistance like an iron wall. She knew the feeling.
"Kerrigan." Ellie growled.
"Oh? You figured it out that easily? How cute. This is only fair. You took an entire brood from me. I'm only returning the favor." Kerrigan hissed through her mother.
"Give me back my home!" Ellie screamed as she tried to break Kerrigan's control.
"I think not. You are weak, undisciplined and naive. Did you think that I would just let you take Alestra's brood without any repercussions?" Kerrigan asked.
Ellie growled but didn't say anything.
"So you really did? Ha. I have other matters to attend to. Have your parents back." Kerrigan said.
Ellie's parents looked around for a moment, dazed. She felt hope for about two seconds before they charged her. She held up her arms to defend herself and she was sent flying by a blow from her father. She gripped her mothers arm and tried to break the hive mind but met Kerrigan's wall of energy. Tears streamed from her eyes as she overloaded her mothers body with energy. The corpse fell to the ground, smoking. Then she stood up and extended her arm blades. She stabbed her father in the face and again in his heart. He fell backwards gasping for breath. She finished it by slitting his neck and she stood there covered in blood staring at her parents. Her arm blades were covered in her fathers blood and she tried rubbing it off in a state of extreme shock. Tears started streaming down her cheeks as she scratched at the blade. Melanie found her in the same state ten minutes later when she entered the basement. When she first saw Ellie she had to stifle a scream. Then she saw the state her friend was in and remembered the seemingly useless emergency training that they had been given nearly a year ago. Mel approached Ellie slowly and started talking.
"Ellie? Can you hear me?" She asked cautiously.
Ellie showed no sign of acknowledgement she merely continued sobbing. Melanie crept closer until she was standing right next to her friend. She ripped a piece of her sleeve off and used it to wipe away the blood. Ellie finally seemed to notice her and she hid her face and backed away.
"Mel! I…" She said timidly.
"You're infested." Mel said crossing her arms.
"Y-yes." Ellie said.
"How long?" Mel asked.
"W-what?" Ellie asked highly shocked by her calm reaction.
"How long have you been like this? And are you still you?" Mel asked.
"Since I went missing. A few weeks. And yes, I am me." Ellie said showing her face.
"Prove it." Mel said holding out a fist.
Ellie smiled as she placed her palm against it and they grabbed each others hands. Then Mel smiled.
"Only you were that stupid. Didn't know what a fist bump was." She said laughing and wrapping Ellie in a hug.
Ellie grinned to herself and kept her tears from starting again at the acceptance from her best friend. When Mel released her she was still smiling.
"I knew your parents were lying about you getting accepted into the ghost academy. You would've ran over to our houses before you left. So you're a Zerg?" Mel asked.
"Kind of. Raynor interrupted the process. So instead of a new Queen of blades they got me. Free will, human emotion, absolutely no formal combat training. And of course my Psionic power." She said frowning as she saw her mothers corpse.
"So you were kidnapped by Zerg, partially infested, rescued by the most wanted man in the dominion, then came home to find Meinhoff like this. I've been taking tests and doing homework. So one question, are we still friends?" Mel asked.
"Of course! I mean unless you don't want to be… I am kind of half Zerg." Ellie said retracting her arm blades.
"Well, you never were normal. Remember when we were little? You would accidentally levitate objects. Like the bus." Mel said chuckling.
"Yeah. Thanks. Just one thing I need to do." She said pointing two fingers at her parents bodies.
There was a spark and the bodies caught fire. Mel gasped.
"Why would you do that?" She hissed.
"Two reasons. One, my parents wouldn't want to be transmitters for the virus. Two we can't bury them. There's nowhere around here that we can." Ellie replied.
"Alright then. Are you ready to face the others?" Mel asked.
Ellie nodded.
On the way out she stopped in her parents room. A family photo was framed on the night stand. She folded it and tucked it into her pocket. She also reached under the bed and found a long rectangular box that had a bloody handprint and claw marks on it. She opened it and pulled out her mothers Ghost Rifle. She had fired it once as a child and broken her arm. Now it was as light as a feather. She strapped it onto her back and took one last look around the house. Then she headed outside to where Mel was waiting.
When Beth and Zach saw her they pointed their guns at her and only Mel stopped them from pulling the trigger.
"You've got thirty seconds." Zach said.
"I was infested nearly a month ago. I-I put my parents down. It was to late for them." She said.
Mel pointed her own gun at Zach and eyed him menacingly.
"Put it down. It's her. I checked." She said calmly and coldly.
Zach lowered his gun and Beth did the same.
"So… we've been hanging with an infested girl. How?" He asked with angry eyes.
"I was taken by the Zerg. When I 'went to the academy' according to my parents." Ellie said.
"Huh. Ry is going to love this." He said.
He and Beth went into the ship while Mel and Ellie waited outside.
"He's always been paranoid." Mel said.
"Yeah but he's what most people will act like. The raiders trust me because I saved Jim. Tosh trusts me. Dr. Hanson does to. That's about it though." Ellie said.
"Then don't give them any reason to shun you. You are the second Infested Terran who can think for themselves. Don't shut yourself off from everyone." Mel said.
"I've tried Mel. Not everyone is accepting as you." Ellie said running her fingers through her tendriled hair.
"You got the raiders on board, didn't you? And Dr. Hanson?" Mel asked.
"Well yeah. I helped them. But what about the dominion? What about them? I don't want to be hunted for the rest of my life!" Ellie yelled.
"Well if the Raiders get there way, the dominion might not be around much longer." Mel said calmly.
"Yeah right. They don't have the men, tech, resources… all that stuff. To get at Emperor Mengsk's palace, they'd need a massive army. Though, Jim does seem to have a personal vendetta against Mengsk." Ellie said.
"Well maybe we'll find out why. So why do you look like that, El?" Ryan asked as he rounded the corner.
"I-uh… well…" She stumbled over her words and gibberish came out.
Mel held up her gun.
"You don't seem awfully surprised by this. How come?" She asked.
"Well, I do believe that she would usually take off her helmet when meeting us, unless she was hiding something. And I could see bits of her hair sticking out near the neck. I suspected that might be the case. You're not the only smart one, Mel." Ryan said.
Ellie ran her fingers through her hair and silently regretted not finding a way to shorten it. Ellie explained everything that had happened to her since her disappearance while Ryan listened without displaying emotion or any hint of his opinion. When she had finished he walked over and wrapped his arms around her. She started crying and he chuckled.
"Don't shake to much. I might cut myself." He said as one of the spikes on her back scratched his arm.
"I'm sorry." She said weakly.
After a few minutes they finally separated and entered the dropship. Ellie sat in the pilots seat checked the com network and faced the others.
"Alright. Jim has a base set up only a few miles away from here. We are heading there to help them. We can't leave the planet right now because the Zerg have set up Spore Cannons that would shoot us down if we tried to. They already lost a colony ship." Ellie said somberly.
"Why don't they just bomb the hell out of the cannons?" Beth asked.
"We don't have a lot of funds. Our tech is kind of lacking at the moment. The most we have for aerial tech are Dropships and the Hyperion. A few dominion units might be on world but they would never work with us." Ellie said spinning in her chair and taking off.
When the Base came into view, the sun was sinking down below the horizon. From the cockpit Ellie could see the infested moving inside the buildings and even some Zerg milling about.
"Jim you there?" She called on the comms.
"Ellie? Thank god. Are you seeing movement out there?" He asked.
"Yeah. I've got four civilians who have been fighting the Infested for the past few days. They could help you out." She replied.
"I'm an expert at fighting the Zerg. What's different about these four?" He asked.
"For one they are my friends. Second, there are some new types of Infested. I'm landing outside your Command Center now." She said.
As she landed, spotlights turned on all around the base, illuminating a few hundred feet in every direction. The five teens got off the ship and walked into Jim's command Center.
"So what new types of infested?" He asked.
"Well, Aberrations, Phantoms, and Shriekers are the ones we've seen. Those things are nasty." Ryan said.
"What? I need to know what they do, what they look like." Jim said.
"Aberrations are really big, they have four spider like legs and their eyes glow. Phantoms look like normal infested but they have a deformed arm that evolved into a blade. We call them phantoms because they can cloak like a Dominion Ghost. Shriekers are heavily armored infested that will stand up to an unbelievable amount of gunfire. We had to drop a dumpster on one to stop it last time." Mel said.
"Interesting. You four stay here and manage communications I'm going to figure a way off this rock. Ellie, Tychus and Tosh are at the eastern entrance. Head over there. That's where the majority of the Infested have been coming from." Jim said.
"You got it. I'll see you later guys." Ellie said as she slung her rifle over her shoulders.
She found Tychus smoking a cigar while leaning against one of the Bunkers that the Scv's had put up. Tosh was watching for movement from on top of the structure.
"Bout time you showed up kid. You get anyone out of the hell hole?" Tychus asked.
"This 'Hellhole' is my home planet Tychus. And yeah I got two transports full before those cannons were up. And watch it. My friends said that a few of these things could cloak." She said.
"So what happened to ya parents? And where did ya get tat rifle?" Tosh asked.
"Later. I don't want to talk about it now." She said looking through the rifle scope.
"Well I guess we have to get to work. I see something movin around out there." Tychus said.
Ellie and Tosh looked through their scopes to see a small group of Infested shambling towards them.
"I see half a dozen. Anymore?" Ellie asked.
"No, aim for the head and take these out quickly." Tosh said letting loose a shot and downing one of the infested.
Ellie lined up her shot and fired but it only grazed her target.
"Lean into the shot. Steady the gun, girl!" Tychus yelled.
Ellie obeyed and her next shot found its target. Within a minute the two snipers had downed the infested and were reloading.
"Everyone, this is Dr. Ariel Hanson. We only have to defend ourselves at Night, the majority of the infested are vulnerable to the high UV output of Meinhoff's sun. They burn in the sunlight. Once the sun is up again we can try to destroy the Spore Cannons surrounding the base. By my estimates, we have six hours until the sun is up again. Until then we have to hold out." Ariel said over the comm channel.
"You heard the Doctor. If it looks like your position is in danger of being overrun broadcast it and we'll deploy as many reinforcements as we can spare. Good luck, Raiders." Jim said.
"So we are reinforcements?" Ellie asked.
"You bet your pretty little Zerg Head it does." Tychus said.
"You really think I'm pretty?" Ellie asked.
"Not a chance." Tychus said blowing out a cloud of smoke.
Ellie's eyes glowed dangerously and she turned to see a group of infested stepping into the light. She charged towards them during her rifle into them and missing most of her shots but once she reached them she extended her arm blades and began cutting them to pieces.
"Good work Tychus. That should keep them busy for a little while." Tosh said.
"If theirs one thing I know how to do its piss people off." Tychus said.
"On dat we can agree." Tosh said as he began firing into the mass of Zerg.
After nearly an hour of melee carnage Ellie was forced to retreat due to exhaustion. She stumbled back to Tychus and Tosh. Tosh held her up and the marines in the bunkers began firing into the Zerg horde.
"Come on boys! Only five hours left until sunrise!" Tychus yelled as he brought up his mini gun.
Ellie spent ten minutes recovering and then she was back up and firing into the Infested. Eventually the bodies began to form a wall that blocked the center passage and the infested were forced onto the sides of the road where they were easy to hit.
"Let em through so we don't clog up the gaps!" Tosh yelled.
"Aberration!" Ellie yelled as a gargantuan Zerg stepped over the smaller infested.
"Bring it down boys! Ellie aim for the head!" Tychus roared over the gunfire.
Through a barrage of bullets they ripped the monster to pieces and the corpse crushed a large group of infested.
"Ellie! A group of Shriekers just broke through the western Barricade! We need you over there before they get to the transports!" Mel yelled through the comms.
"I'm on it!" Ellie shouted back as she ran through the base.
She found the Shriekers easily as they were screaming their heads off. They were disfigured and only looked human in form. They saw her and immediately ran towards her. She emptied into ones… face? But it kept coming and they started clawing at her. One sank its spiked teeth into her arm and she gasped as blood gushed from the wound. With her free hand she gripped one of the creatures and fried its body Psionically. It cost her more injuries but she eventually subdued the rest. Once they were taken care of she looked down to find her arm had stemmed most of the bleeding though it still hurt like hell.
"Shriekers are dead. Where do they need help?" Ellie called on her Comms.
"The Northern front is being pressured- what was that- never mind just a stray bullet. Head up to the far barricade." Mel said.
"Got it. God that hurts!" She hissed.
"You okay?" Mel asked.
"Yeah one of those things ripped my arm open with its teeth. It's mostly healed up but it hurts really bad." Ellie said.
"As long as it's not as bad as what happened to Rick. It got him right before we killed it. That was nightmare fuel." She said.
"I can imagine. You guys okay?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah, Ryan and Zach are on the sensors providing intel to the soldiers. Beth is relaying information between Jim and the soldiers." Mel said.
"Well looks like we might make it through tonight. Two hours right?" Ellie asked.
"Yeah. Sunrise in one hour and fifty-two minutes." Mel said.
"Good. Call me if anything comes up." Ellie said as she arrived at the northern Barricade.
The infested were ten feet from the bunkers and gaining ground. Ellie holstered her rifle and extended her arm blades. The blade from her injured arm hurt but she pushed the pain to the back of her mind.
"Raiders! Finish off the group closest to you! I'll hold them back." She said as she leapt into the mass of Zerg.
The next time the marines saw her she was covered in blood and a mound of bodies surrounded her. Her arms and legs were raw. Her suit was ripped and torn and her face was host to many cuts.
"Ellie! Get back another wave is coming!" One of the marines yelled.
"She needs a medic!" Another yelled.
She began stumbling back towards the barricade and only a few feet from safety she collapsed, unconscious, on the ground and threw up. A medic ran up and dragged her the rest of the way while the marines kept the infested at bay. The medic began cleaning out her wounds and trying to remove anything from them. Once that was complete most of her wounds were closing up and she came to.
"What happened? Did we lose?" She croaked.
"No it's fine. You pushed them back." The Medic said.
"Thas good." She said as her eyes rolled back and she passed out again.
As the medic was bandaging her largest wounds all the comms lit up.
"Ellie! Someone! Anyone! A Phantom got into the Command Center! Help! Oh god Beth!" Mel screamed.
Ellie was still unconscious but Tychus and Tosh heard the message and raced off to help. When they arrived they found Beth lying in a pool of blood with a massive hole through her chest. An infested was sitting over the body like a prize.
"Piece of shit." Tychus growled as he shot it to pieces.
"Who's there?" A voice called from inside.
"Tychus Findlay." Tychus said.
"Ugh get in here." The voice said.
Tosh led the way and they found Mel inside sitting against the wall. She was nearly white from blood loss. She had taken off her shirt and was using it to attempt to slow the bleeding.
"Where's Ellie? Doesn't matter. Hand me that mic." She said reaching for a headset.
Tosh handed it to her and she began ordering reinforcements to certain positions from memory.
"Girl you need a doctor." Tychus said.
"Hah! I've been here for days big guy. I know what happens when you get wounded by these things. I've got a few hours maybe a day if I'm lucky. But I'm not going to make it through this." She said.
"I might argue that." Ellie croaked as the medic carried her in.
"Hey. Did you see…" Mel blacked out for second before Ellie smacked her.
"Look at me. It's in your blood. Those cells are connected to the hive. If I connect myself to them I can terminate them. I'm not losing two friends today." Ellie said she closed her eyes and gasped as she reconnected to the hive.
She could feel the deaths of the infested and it almost made her sick. Then she focused in on the cells inside Mel and sent a tiny burst of Psionic energy through each of them. The cells died and after checking to see if any were left Ellie cut her connection once again.
"There. Now I'm going to take a…" Ellie fell asleep and Mel gripped her hand while whispering a silent thank you.
"Now we have to get you patched up. Do you know your blood type?" The medic asked.
"O something? Check on the others. Ryan went somewhere with Jim a few minutes ago. I think Zach was attacked in the back. Go check please. I have orders to send." Mel said issuing commands to both the marines and the Scv's who were repairing the defensive structures.
Tosh went into the back while Tychus wandered back outside and looked at the sun peeking over the horizon.
"It's about damn time."
That's you guys isn't it? Yeah so sorry about the nearly month long wait for an update. I've been working roughly 35 hours a week plus 18 College credits. That doesn't leave much time. But lately I've been getting less hours and the school year ends next week for me. So I'll be sure to be updating more often then. But it was worth it right? I mean a 10 page updates gotta count for something… Anyway if you like my writing style check out my Fictionpress account as well. It's Lich00 as well. See us later.
