The Virus
Disclaimer: See Chapter Seven
A/N: It seems like nobody had read Chapter Nine :( Was it because I released it so quickly after Eight that I only got one review?
Chapter Ten: The Morning After
I awoke slowly, stretching in the confined space. I snuggled closer to a body that felt kind and caring in my mind.
"Mmm...morning, Daemon..." I murmured, still half-asleep.
"Sorry Lily, but I'm not him," a voice replied sadly.
Last night's events shot through my mind as I opened my eyes, looking up into the face of John.
Tears welled up again as I stuttered, "S-sorry, I didn't mean..." I sat up and looked out the window of the truck, holding my knees to my chest, tears falling down my face. It hurt, not having him with me.
"Lily, I -" John started, lost for words. "I know how it feels to lose loved ones. I may have only told Daemon, but I might as well tell you, too."
I might have sounded cold and rude when I replied, "How can you know? Your family is still around!"
He sighed. "My parents, yes, but not my mate...or my unborn child."
"John, I-I didn't realise..."
"Daemon didn't either. But then again, neither you or him had lost anything, yet."
"It was less than a week since I had coupled with my mate while she was in heat. She had an egg, and we were both happy as can be.
"It was not to be, however. There was a group of marauding Bug-type Pokemon, mainly Scyther and Scizor. They terrorized the small community we had resided in almost daily. As Psychic-types, neither of us could do much against them, and they knew it. And so, one night, they struck.
"They struck in the dead of night, surprising the both of us with their brazen act. It took half a dozen of their best to restrain me as they took my mate and our egg. I watched in horror as one of the Scyther took its blade and sliced my mate in two, horizontally. As if that weren't enough, the leader - a large Scizor - ripped out her gem from her still-dying body, as a trophy.
"Crushing our egg seemed like an afterthought, but as I look back now, I could see that those punks, those monsters actually did it to cause me pain."
"What happened after?" I asked, horrified and riveted by the story.
John looked me in the eyes, all the kindness and sparkle gone from his. "They never got the chance to leave."
"As they began to file out, they made the grave mistake of not killing me, and the even more grave mistake of letting me go. With an unparalleled speed that even surprised me, I murdered the whole lot of them, quickly, painfully.
"The leader I took my time with. It turned out the Scyther that bisected my mate was his mate. I did the same thing with her as she did mine. I let her bleed out, while her mate watched.
"The leader begged, pleaded for mercy. I was ignorant to his pleas as I dissected him, making him feel how I felt that my family was now gone. When all that was left was his torso and head, I asked him one question:
'Was it worth it?'
I didn't let him answer, as I crushed his thorax before beheading him. It was the saddest day of my life."
"Oh, John..." I said, not knowing what else to say.
"At least, for you, the worst is over. You're free to mourn for as long as you want. I only stopped mourning very recently, myself."
"Since when?"
He smiled. "Since Daemon told me that I was a part of a family still. This group, I now see, is a family to me. And I still have an even closer family than that, now."
I tilted my head, curious.
"You forgot already? Daemon told me to take care of you and your child. I see this as an opportunity to set my mind, and the souls of my family, to rest."
Daemon, my mate, my lover, always thinking of others rather than himself. I wiped a tear away as I cracked a small grin, despite myself.
"As I am a father without a family, and you a soon-to-be mother without her mate, I see no reason why we shouldn't share our pain, together, as a new family," John said, a new twinkle in his eyes.
"Thank you John," I said, smile fading away, "but I hope you won't take offence when I say that I want to mourn just a little bit longer. It just seems too soon to be moving away from this pain."
"I understand Lily. Take all the time you need - the rest of us will be here if you need a shoulder to cry on, remember that."
It was my turn on the wheel, and I must say, it was definitely a new experience for me. After all, I only have paws to work the controls - thank Arceus that the transmission was automatic. Archaeon had told me that all I had to do was follow the arrow's direction, as shown on a little screen on the dashboard. A GPS, I think he called it, standing for Global Positioning System. Elaine thought it might be a good idea for me to get some practice in, while the route was still smooth and we weren't being attacked. She, of course, was my co-driver, and she was trying her best to not constantly give me pointers - it was making me nervous.
"You need to keep your hands - well paws - at the "10 and 2" positions for the best possible driving," she kept reminding me.
"You know I can't do that properly because I have paws," was my constant reply to that.
It went on like this for some time until Alex decided to rescue me.
"C'mon Elaine, give the guy a break - I mean, this is new to him," he told her.
"Right, sorry, Seth."
"It's fine."
Alex seemed more subdued than the rest of us - possibly on par with Lily. It seemed as though he thought it was his fault that Daemon died. But, in his defence, he was trying to tell him - and us, by association - who the traitor was. Unfortunately, none of us could have prevented the events that unfolded that night...
"But that's what I'm tryin to tell you! It was -"
'DAEMON!'
I shook myself out of the flashback, just in time to swerve around a stump.
"HEY! Watch the road, willya?" Archaeon shouted from the turret.
"Sorry," I called back, still a bit shaken.
"Um, Seth, do you want me to take over?" Elaine asked, noticing my expression. She, too, was thinking about the night before.
"Thanks, but I think I can handle myself until the next switch."
She nodded, deciding to not say anything for now.
That night, we had decided to set up a small camp between the two parked trucks. Half of us would sleep - I would be meditating, of course - and the other half would keep watch, two on the turrets at all times.
My Trainer had opted to sleep first, sitting on my lap and curling into a ball.
"I hope you don't mind, Seth, but it is a bit chilly," she had muttered sleepily.
I didn't mind, and told her so. Even though I wasn't alone, it got pretty lonely during meditation, if that makes any sense.
Lily was huddled in a corner, not sleeping, her open eyes reflecting the scene. It was hardest for her to move on - she had known Daemon longer than the rest of us combined. What was worse was the fact that her own father had caused Daemons' death. A tale of two betrayals, as it were.
Alex was patrolling around the vehicles and our camp, trying to make up for his part in Daemons' demise. It was almost as if he was trying to take up the torch that Daemon had dropped. Someone had to talk to the kid, even if only to let him know it wasn't his fault.
Sue was curled up by Lily, offering silent condolences just by being there. I knew, however, that she was multi-tasking: aside from keeping tabs on all of us, she was our early-warning system.
We had to move on, both mentally and physically. We still had a job ahead of us, and I know Daemon would push us to conquer this, all of this. With that in mind, I began meditating.
I watched as everyone else around me fell asleep. I couldn't, not without Daemon. I don't even know how I fell asleep in the truck earlier...
'Lily,' Sue said beside me. I jumped, startled.
'Lily, relax. Brooding about him won't bring him back, you know that.'
"But...I can't stop thinking about him...what we could've been..." I stifled a yawn. How could I be thinking of sleep when my love was gone? Hot tears sprang up, and I wiped them away.
'Lily, you need to sleep.'
"I can't."
'Lily...'
"What?"
'Look at me.'
I looked at Sue, and saw her eyes were a dark blue-purple.
"You so did not just..." Damn. Hypnosis.
I woke up sometime later, noticing I was all by myself. Where had everyone gone? Even the trucks were missing, and this certainly didn't look like the area we had set up camp. I gasped. Had I been kidnapped?
"H-hello?" I called out nervously. The only reply was the whisper of the wind.
"Sue? John? Seth? ANYONE?"
Silence.
I shivered. I was alone. Just me...and my egg. I looked down at myself, only to turn away in horror and puke.
Someone - or something - had cut out my egg and crushed it within me! No way was this real! I want out of this nightmare!
"Someone, anyone, DAEMON! Daemon, please help me!"
"Lily!"
"D-Daemon?"
"Lily, wake up! It's just a dream! Wake up!"
I felt a slap across my face. I gasped as I surfaced, looking into Seth's face. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
"Lily, are you with us? What's wrong?"
I couldn't stop the hot tears from flowing as I embraced him. I couldn't form words as I bawled.
"Shh, shh. It's ok, we're here, you're safe, shh..."
Aside from last night's scene with Lily's nightmare, it was peaceful - for once. Seth had moved her into one of the Humvees so she could get a better sleep. I was on turret duty with my father, but right now he had left to relieve himself. Dawn was only breaking, when there was some sort of commotion in the other truck. Curious, I leapt down from my post and walked over.
"Hey, Elaine, what's up over there?"
"Nothing I can't handle!" came the reply.
As I went around to the back end of the truck, I saw that one of the doors was open. Elaine and Seth were huddled around it, talking to Lily.
"Alright Lily, now just breathe," Elaine was saying.
"You shouldn't be looking, Seth!" Lily screeched as Seth got blown back by some invisible force. I ducked his airborne body as I edged closer.
"Uh, Elaine? What's up with her?" I muttered.
"Nothing too serious, she just woke up with abdominal pains, an egg ready to pop out, and a horrible temper to boot," she muttered back.
"I heard that! And who're you talking to?" Lily shouted.
I peeked my head around the doorframe; saw a pair of legs, the crown of an egg, and one very pissed-off Gardevoir behind all that.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE, JOHN!"
"OSHI-!" was all I got to say before she blew me backwards and over the opposite Humvee with her powers.
Whumph
"Ow..." I muttered, rubbing the back of my head.
"Nice of you to drop in," Seth said.
"Note to self, do not try and speak with a Gardevoir laying an egg."
"Or any Psychic-type, for that matter - and shouldn't you have already learned that with your mate?"
"I wasn't there when she laid our egg - the other females prohibited the males from visiting during laying."
"Now we know why," Seth chuckled.
I chuckled as well. "Well, we better go tell the rest of the gang, unless they wanna end up like us."
"Be funny to watch, though."
I agreed, laughing.
Hours later, we were back on the road, Lily having apologized profusely at her actions, cradling her new egg in her arms. I had forgotten what an egg from our species looked like, it's been so long. In all honesty, it looked like the head of a Ralts, minus the protruding horns.
"So what are you going to name your child, Lily?" I asked over my shoulder - I was driving.
"I haven't thought about it much," she replied. "I was thinking about naming it after Daemon, if it was a boy."
'What about if it was a girl?' Sue asked.
"Like I said, I haven't thought about it much," Lily said, blushing a little bit. "Why do you all want to know, anyways?"
Sue tilted her head in thought, tail swishing around the egg.
'Never hurts to be prepared,' she said finally, curling up in Lily's lap.
The radio crackled. "Eyes up front, guys. I think I can see a large building ahead - and we got company!" My father's voice reported.
I grabbed the mic. "Good or bad company?"
"Bad, then good...I hope," the voice crackled back.
"Talking about being prepared..." I muttered to myself. "Alex! You awake back there?" I said louder.
"Yeah," he replied quietly.
"Hop on that turret and get ready to kill some infected bastards! Make Daemon proud!"
I swear I saw him grin as he mounted the hot seat and flicked the safeties off. A quick glance to my right showed me that my father had already traded seats with Elaine, who was doing turret duty earlier.
I began to grin myself. I floored the gas and heard the engine roar in response.
"Let's go kick some ass."
The LRV's flew across the ground, covering the distance between us and the building quickly. Soon enough, the sounds of battle reached our ears before they were deafened by the heavy-caliber MG's on the roofs of the vehicles. The steady, but rapid thud-thud-thud of the guns brought me a sick kind of pleasure as I watched the gruesome infected beasts get torn apart with each striking round. Even more pleasurable was the sound of many heavy thuds caused by bodies getting bowled over and crushed underneath the Humvees.
When we finally reached the front gates, I pulled on the E-brake to swing the heavy frame of the vehicle around and got out, my XM29 barking at the infected beings while the 50-cal's boomed over my head. It took a few minutes while we helped the troops behind us clear out the infected, but when it was all over, I was fairly satisfied. As I was patrolling, giving final dead checks to the surviving monsters, I heard a shout behind me.
"Hey, you! In the Humvees! Come out with your hands and paws up! No moves otherwise!"
I growled and turned around, my rifle still in my hands.
"Weapons down too! I said PUT IT DOWN!"
Instead, I clutched my weapon closer right before I felt a sharp sting on my thigh. I growled again, right before fifty-thousand volts of electricity zapped me and brought me to my knees. A simple tazer couldn't do much to a fully-evolved Pokemon such as myself - it was like getting hit with a Pichu's Thunder Wave; painful, but not very effective. I growled yet again and moved to stand up, but felt the cold barrel of a handgun press against the back of my skull.
"Stand down, or I will be forced to make you," came the cold voice.
"Fuck you," I replied. "We just helped you guys wipe out a huge group of infected, and this is how you repay us?"
At that, I received a sharp rap from the butt of the pistol. "A backtalker, eh? We'll see to it that you get some 'special' treatment during your interrogation." I heard a few shouts of pain and surprise as everyone else was forcefully dragged and tazered to be brought up next to me. Lily was begging the soldiers to not harm her or the egg as she co-operated with slight hesitation from seeing the rest of us.
"…Do what you want to me, but don't harm the Gardevoir or her egg," I said softly, hatred flowing through my voice.
"She's your mate, huh?" Wrong guess, but I didn't correct him. "Don't worry, we'll let our medical team take good care of her." I could practically feel the sarcasm dripping down my back from his words.
"You damn well better, or I'll-"
"Do what? You can't do anything."
"Watch me!" I shouted as I stood up quickly, only to hear a thwip, feel a sharp sting at the back of my head, and hear more thwips as tranquilizer guns fired, bringing the rest of us to a blank state of unconsciousness.
Continued in Chapter Eleven…
A/N: John and the gang have been captured! Can they ever complete their mission? We'll find out next chapter…
- Chief
P.S. Writer's Block. Hate it with a passion.