So, I'm back! And just to let you know, this chapter is where things are REALLY going to start changing. After all, I've thrown another character into the mix of this whole story, and Angel's altering events just by existing, frankly.
One major change (that she actually didn't cause) has to do with the gaping movie plot hole that I've recently discovered. In case y'all hadn't noticed, the scene where Sam is showing Sarge and John all the research data is down in Carmack's office, which hey, that makes at least a fair amount of sense right? What DOESN'T make sense, is that later, when John goes back for her, Sam has somehow managed to have the tongue and brain matter from two of the guys all with her BACK IN CARMACK'S lab... Now that section is one of the few places where the action is happening pretty much in the space of time the movie is happening. It's all of 5 minutes max: there's no way Sam could have made a run back to the med lab to get all of that and bring it back down to where she was in that amount of time. And really, why would she even go back to Carmack's lab on her own if she didn't have to?
So, that being said, I decided to have them go down to Carmack's lab to retrieve the rest of the tapes, and then back to the med lab together (for reasons that will be revealed in this chapter in a minute.) Of course, considering that Angel's our narrator, I won't actually be writing most of that scene anyway, but I felt like it was something I should explain just in case y'all noticed people weren't where they were in the movie lol.
Chapter 10: Things Get Worse or Why it's Important to Turn your Mouthpiece Back On.
I stayed all but catatonic beneath that window. I had no real concept of the passing of time, knees up to my chest, the tears still streaming down my face. I was vaguely aware of Sam and Duke talking, their voices quiet. I had no idea what was actually being said; they could have been discussing the monsters we were facing or even the weather for all I knew. For all I cared. I simply allowed myself to break; the hold I had kept so tightly on my grief since Goat died (Since he died the first time, my treacherous mind broke in) just fell to pieces.
After minutes or hours, a burst of noise and motion at the nanowall tugged at my attention. Sarge, Kid, and Reaper surged through, a pair of bodies loading the two older men down. At the sight of Destroyer and Portman, I sunk down even more into my fetal position. There was a cry of despair from Duke, and a part of me felt for him because fuck if I didn't know how he was feeling. The rest of me, however, was focused on the fatalism that was sinking over me. We were all going to die; there wasn't any doubt in my mind about that fact.
Dimly I heard Sarge demand answers about the thing stuck in the wall, the blood still staining the glass above me, and then with shock and anger in his voice, about 'his Specialist' cowering on the floor. Sam explained the blood, and I all but whimpered at hearing Goat's fate spoken aloud again. That tiny sound brought boots pounding in a few shorts strides around the autopsy table, and then John's voice said my name in a grief torn sigh. That, finally, was enough to pull me out on my crouch in a frantic scramble to reach him.
I practically lunged at him, not giving a shit that the frenzied motion had all three of our other teammates staring. Neither did John apparently; his arms came crashing around me, pulling me in tight to his chest. I buried my face in the side of his neck, desperate for the sweat soaked scent of him and as much skin as I could reach. Knowing what I needed, John slid a hand under the edge of my tank top to wrap around my back, and the other gripping me firmly by the neck and shoulders. I babbled, reduced to scattered words and phrases, all nearly indecipherable. John just held on, muttering softly that he was there, that I was safe, that it was going to be OK. I shuddered against him, knowing that only the first was true.
After perhaps only a few minutes, I heard John chiming in on the conversation I'd been ignoring in my panic. Apparently, they'd found two more dead scientists. I shivered, praying both of them were really dead. John rubbed my back trying to sooth the shakes away.
Sam and Duke were the ones to answer Sarge's demands about Carmack's whereabouts. I didn't have to see my old friend's face to know the news had shocked him to the core. I began to ease my hold on John, as Sam kept talking trying to convince Sarge that the scientists on Olduvai hadn't been doing anything like the horrors we were seeing.
"You're wrong, Sam," I whispered, causing John to lift my head and search my eyes, trying to understand what I was saying.
"It must be something environmental or viral."
"No, it's not."
"I don't know..." Sam didn't, but I did. I shuddered again. I was trying to get up the courage to release my hold on John completely when the sound of a gunshot had my head whipping around to see Sarge pulling his handgun out of the monster-Carmack's mouth. Sarge, began to bark orders, as if he hadn't just willfully killed what had once been a man in cold blood.
"Kid, you and Duke get back to the dig and make sure the other dead scientists are really dead." I swallowed as the pair stood almost as one and left the room without saying a word. Sarge's gaze turned to me, and my hand clenched at John's jacket reflexively as I read the coldness in his eyes. "Angel, you go with them."
John tensed, and I could tell he was about to say something, but I just shook my head slightly and pushed away from him. Slowly, feeling as if I was somewhat detached from my own body, I walked to the table with my gear, pulling my coverall from around my waist and back over my shoulders as I walked. I recognized that I was likely in shock, but couldn't bring about the effort to care. Behind me, I heard Sarge interrogating Sam, her voice trembling as she responded. I pulled my vest on, only fastening the Velcro haphazardly as I reached for my weapon. I turned to see Sarge stalking closer to her. Something about the terror in her face managed to reach through the haze I was functioning in. She was telling the truth... but that didn't mean she was right. I took the few steps to her side and spoke quietly.
"They all have 24 pairs of chromosomes." Sam and Sarge turned to stare at me, disbelief in her eyes and just the same cold rage in Sarge's. Sam shook her head, opening her mouth to deny what I'd said, but I just kept speaking. "I don't know how, though I can guess a geneticist might." I nodded meaningfully at Carmack's body. "All I know is that, that's the commonality. That's the change that caused their condition."
Sam took a few steps back, and reached out to steady herself on one of the tables. I was going to go to her, to try to offer what comfort I could when Sarge's voice stopped me cold.
"Why are you still here? I told you to go." I turned to face him, confused. This was what I was here for after all. "I gave you an order, soldier." I froze, searching his face. There was nothing of Asher there, nothing of my friend. Just Sarge, and that would have shaken me if I'd been collected enough to feel it.
"Yes, Sir." I didn't trust myself not to say anything else, so I just spun on my heel and headed out the door, not bothering to even glance back at John. I reached the airlock and paused for a moment in front of the schematic still up on the screen, making sure I'd memorized the turns I'd need to reach the dig. "Duke, Kid, I'm entering the airlock now."
They didn't answer me, which was odd, but I just chalked it up to the pair of them keeping silent in hopes of avoiding the attention of our once-human hunters. I moved silently through the halls, barely noticing when my feet stepped off of hard metal grating and onto hard dirt floors.
"Sarge, we've got a problem. One dead scientist is missing." Kid's voice was shaking.
"Kid, Duke, I'm approaching to your position. Wait for me to catch up." Once again, they didn't answer, and I felt a chill creep up my spine through the cold shock I'd been functioning under. I picked up the pace, not worried about the noise I was now making, and I approached my last turn to reach the pair almost at a run. I shot around the corner to my left, and gunfire erupted all around me. I shrieked in pain and tried to duck back around the corner. I looked down at myself in shock. My vest hung almost open on my left side, the barely attached Velcro having pulled free while I ran, and I'd taken two shots high in my shoulder on that side. I tried desperately to stay calm, as Duke and a shaken, terrified Kid shouted out their report to Sarge and John. With a deep breath, I dropped my gun to hang behind me, and pressed hard against the wounds with both hands. It wasn't going to do a lot of good; I was fairly sure the bullets had gone right through, and I was bleeding heavily on both sides of my shoulder. Kid was babbling now, all but helpless with guilt at what he'd done.
"I thought she was one of them... How could.. I didn't know it was her! She wasn't supposed to be down here. How was I supposed to know it was her?" I half expected Duke to scream at the younger man, but he looked just as shocked as I was. Had they really not heard me? My mind raced, and my stomach rolled as I realized I hadn't ever turned my mouthpiece back on after talking to Sam back in the med lab. They really hadn't known I was coming.
"It's... it's not as bad as it looks." I wasn't sure who I was trying to convince: the guys or myself, but I knew damn well from the feel of blood running down my chest and my back that I was lying through my teeth. Still, it seemed to calm Kid at least; at my words, he stopped babbling and moved to support my on my other side. I leaned on him, trying to keep my balance as we started back down the hall to the airlock. I did my best to keep Duke from seeing the amount of blood I was actually losing; I could tell he was as close to breaking as I'd been earlier, and we couldn't afford him yet another one of our men shattering.
"Report! Goddammit report! What the fuck is happening?" Sarge and John were both yelling over each other, trying to find out what had happened to trigger shots and the frantic shouts of the two men with me. Duke answered, trying to keep calm enough to relay the situation.
"Friendly... friendly fire. Angel's been hit. I repeat, Angel's been hit." I cringed at the silence following that statement, not wanting to imagine the looks on the faces of the two men I cared most about. Sarge finally responded.
"Get back to the airlock. We'll meet you there. Move, now!" Duke answered a shaky affirmative, and we kept going, moving as quickly as we could, all thought of stealth long forgotten. John actually met us before we reached the airlock, taking Kid's place at my side, supporting almost all of my weight as we half-ran for the airlock. I kept my hand pressed firmly against the wound under my vest, now as much to keep John ignorant of the damage as to try to staunch the bleeding. We caught up with Sarge and Sam just past the airlock, and we all headed straight for the med lab. My legs were shaking by that point, and I could tell I was growing weaker by the minute. Kid and Duke dropped back, taking up guard positions outside the lab.
We'd barely entered when yet another shoe dropped. What sounded like a chainsaw suddenly roared into life across the complex, back in the direction of the Ark. A panicked Pinky reported that something was trying to cut through the Ark door.
"Reaper, now!" Sarge spun back to the door, while John stared in shock, not wanting to release me.
"You want me to just leave them here?"
"Dr. Grimm's got her. You've got a job to do." With one last pained look from me to Sam, John cursed and lowered me next to a chair and followed after Sarge. The door slid closed, shutting out the noise of the chainsaw, and I finally allowed myself to collapse. Sam hurried toward me, and pulled open my vest. Her eyes widened, and her mouth opened in shock. I met her anguished gaze and spoke, part of me relieved to know the others wouldn't hear me over my inactive comm.
"Don't tell John. It's worse than it looks."
So, don't hate me? If it makes yall feel any better, I'm already nearly 2 pages into the next chapter! :) Now.. just repeat after me: why do we create original characters? So we can abuse the hell out of them!