A deceitful calm greeted them as they exited the ship and entered the courtyard where parliament had once stood. There was no life here, no vegetation, not even scavenging animals. Obi-Wan stole a glance back at the troops and health officials who acted nonchalant about their mission.
Obi-Wan was sweating; cool perspiration was forming on his brow and traveling down his temples. A tremble had formed in his hands. He was staring at the horizon, anticipating what he knew waited for them in the forest beyond.
Qui-Gon glanced down at the teen by his side. "Clear your thoughts, Obi-Wan. Expect nothing. There is no fear."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He felt the familiar serenity of the Force calm his nerves and bring his focus back to the present. The tremble stopped, replaced by the comfort of the lightsaber in his hand. Qui-Gon began to walk forwards, and Obi-Wan followed confidently on his heels. The troops and researchers similarly followed suit, the previous sound of chatter dying to a hum as the soldiers became more guarded.
The first bodies were in the parliament building, mottled with the bruising of decay, limbs stiff in the air with rigour mortis and mouths forever formed in a silent scream. The smell was overpowering; the soldiers covered their noses with one hand while the other hand gripped the large rifles each one carried. The researchers seemed oblivious to the smell and immediately dropped to one knee to begin studying the corpses with morbid interest.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan continued until they were in the centre of the great hall where a black marble statue stood. Obi-Wan did not know what it represented; it looked like a body falling from the sky, with one limb gracefully extended upwards. But rather than terror residing in its face, it was a look of pure contentment and peace. It seemed wildly out of place. The water in the fountain surrounding the statue still burbled meekly; the pipes that fed it were clogged.
The hall had many branches to it and looking up, Obi-Wan could see that it had one more level too. Qui-Gon signalled to the soldiers to take up flanking positions, then quietly ordered them to split up into groups of two to scout out each hallway and to maintain constant contact with each other over their comlinks. He sent Obi-Wan with one group of soldiers, while he went with another.
The two soldiers Obi-Wan was paired up with, Valky and Bracen, looked him up and down and smirked at each other. Obi-Wan read their thoughts easily (little punk Jedi) but ignored the condescension. He walked past them to take the lead and the two soldiers scowled at him from behind. Their thoughts this time were a bit more crude.
The hallway looked like it had once served as a celebrated art gallery. The floors were sleek white marble streaked with silver. Black columns held up the arched coffered ceiling where natural light poured in through skylights. There were large rooms with sculptures and paintings, but many had been so neglected that they were rotting away or covered in dust. Obi-Wan's feet crunched on the dead leaves that littered the hallway. There were benches overturned throughout the hallway and odd bits of refuse. Obi-Wan wasn't sure if the mess was due to the epidemic or the war that began the epidemic. In any case, the hallway was a direct result of mass panic. The soldiers behind Obi-Wan were silent now, taking quick, measured steps; their faces hidden behind protective masks, further obscured by the large rifles held protectively in front of them. Obi-Wan walked ahead with his hand holding his lightsaber loosely to the side. There was no life in this building. Obi-Wan radioed his findings to Qui-Gon.
"Likewise, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon answered. "Head out back and wait for us there. We'll move on."
Obi-Wan tucked the small comlink into his belt and motioned to the soldiers to follow him outside.
The rain had stopped but the thick clouds continued to block the sun, cloaking the city in a grey pallor. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, smelling the air experimentally, but only detecting the musky scent of ozone following a rainfall. He wondered if the rain would help wash away the remnants of the city. He looked around, feeling outwards with the Force to see if he could detect any life at all. An empty nothingness reverberated back at him, unsettling and reassuring at the same time.
"Where are you going?"
Obi-Wan turned around at the sound of Bracen, only to find he wasn't speaking to him. The other soldier in their group, Valky, had walked a few yards away and began kicking at something on the ground. Obi-Wan frowned.
"What are you doing?" Bracen asked.
Valky ceased his kicking and looked up. "There's something down here," he pointed with his rifle to the object on the ground.
"What is it?" Obi-Wan called out to him.
The soldier shrugged, then crouched in front of the object and began tugging on it. The sound of metal scraping on concrete made Obi-Wan wince. Valky finally flung a large flat piece of circular metal out of the way. He looked up. "It looks like a sewer or something."
Something akin to horror fluttered in Obi-Wan's chest. "The tunnels," he whispered. The soldier was lowering himself into the hole as Bracen approached cautiously.
"Wait!" Obi-Wan screamed. He started to run towards them, already losing sight of Valky's head as he ducked down into the hole.
"Get out of there, you idiot!" His fellow comrade yelled at him.
Valky ignored both of them. They heard his feet splash when he touched the bottom. Both Obi-Wan and Bracen's faces were peering down at him; Bracen was glaring at his errant companion in irritation while Obi-Wan's was set in fear.
"It's clear," Valky called up.
"He has to get out of there," Obi-Wan said, the growing panic in his stomach making his words quick. "You have to make him get out of there."
"Why? What's down there?"
Obi-Wan's eyes became unfocused as he relived his memory. "That's where we were living. That's where I first encountered the infected." He fixed the other soldier with a serious stare. "You have to get him out of there."
Bracen's eyes widened behind his mask before he nodded and cupped his hands around his mouth for maximum volume. "Valky, you get out of there this second before I radio the captain and have you hauled in for endangering the mission."
Valky growled something unintelligible at them before obliging, climbing back up the metal rungs in a huff. Obi-Wan sighed in relief. Then Valky stopped on the ladder and reached for his rifle.
"What is it?" Bracen asked.
Silence pervaded the space of a few minutes while Obi-Wan held his breath and watched Valky closely. "I thought I heard something," Valky finally answered. He replaced his rifle at his side and clutched the rungs of the ladder once again. Bracen straightened, staring down the hole at Valky with his hands on his hips and shaking his head.
"You're a different kind of stupid, you know that Valky? Just get your ass out of there."
Obi-Wan was still watching the hole carefully. He didn't feel the other life form approaching until it was already on top of Bracen. Bracen was knocked off his feet, sent sprawling into the dirt with a yelp. Obi-Wan jumped to his feet and ignited his lightsaber. Bracen was being dragged away, kicking and screaming as he tried to grapple with whatever was behind him, choking him with something wrapped around his neck. Obi-Wan was running after them, surprised by the thing's speed and strength, to be able to outrun him while dragging a fully-grown man. Valky was screaming at them from inside the tunnel, demanding to know what was going on, clambering to get to the top sooner. Obi-Wan pumped his legs, calling on every reserve of strength to make him faster. Bracen was choking, coughing and gasping for air. His face was turning a bright shade of red. There was a wall ahead of them, Obi-Wan knew instinctively that there was no way they could scale it. He would have the person trapped.
To his utter shock, the person scrambled up the wall, still dragging Bracen. Bracen was barely conscious, unable to fight back. The person left Bracen lying prone on top of the wall and jumped back down to face Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan stood ready, knees bent and loose, his lightsaber fully extended in front of him. The person who stood before him was not much bigger than he was, but his clothes were ragged and covered in muck, hanging limply off his body. His hair was plastered to his scalp with filth; his face was covered in dirt and grime. Obi-Wan could barely make out the facial features. Red eyes darted at him. Then Obi-Wan felt his blood run cold when the person smiled at him.
"Nield," Obi-Wan whispered.
Qui-Gon felt the abrupt change in emotion in his former Padawan. As achingly real as if it were his own emotions running rampant, Qui-Gon experienced the physical changes as well; his pulse quickened and a cold sweat formed on his hairline. "Something is wrong," he whispered under his breath.
"What's that sir?" One of the soldiers asked.
Qui-Gon's head snapped up. "We have to go, now!" he urged. Then he was running through the building. His powerful strides carried him well past the trained Republic soldiers who struggled to keep up with the long cloak billowing in front of them. He burst through the back doors, flinging them open and pausing to take in his surroundings, scanning the deadened streets for any sign of Obi-Wan.
"Hey!" someone yelled.
Whipping his head to the side, Qui-Gon saw the soldier known as Valky poking his head up through a hole in the ground. He was waving at them, then pointing off into the distance. "We have to go, they've got-"
Then he disappeared into the hole. For a stunned moment, no one moved. One of the soldiers behind Qui-Gon moved to his side, then cautiously moved towards the hole. Pointing his rifle into the hole, he peered down it and called out to Valky. Hearing and seeing nothing, he straightened to look at the others. Qui-Gon wore a deep frown, his eyebrows knitted firmly together.
"He's gone," the soldier shrugged.
"No he's not," Qui-Gon whispered.
The other soldier was starting to climb down the shaft into the tunnel. Qui-Gon held his hand out. "Don't go in there," he warned.
The soldier looked at him dimly. "But Valky's down there," he reasoned. As soon as the words left his mouth, something grabbed his leg. With a startled yelp, the soldier clung to the railings while he tried to dislodge whatever was on his leg. "There's something down here!" he yelled to the others.
The other soldiers and researchers rushed to his aid, but suddenly the soldier was screaming, torn free from his hold and dragged into the tunnel. Everyone broke into a run towards the hole.
"What the hell was that?!" someone yelled.
Qui-Gon now knew the reason for Obi-Wan's panic. "It's the infected," Qui-Gon said. He started scanning the horizon urgently. "We need to find Obi-Wan and the others."
"What about them?" one of the scientists asked while gesturing to the tunnel entrance.
Grimly, Qui-Gon glanced down. "Leave them." He studied the various faces that stared back at him in shock, panic and anger. "Do not go down there," he ordered as he walked away from them.
Obi-Wan could not help the lump that formed in his throat when he gazed at the boy he had become so close to, who now resembled a feral wraith instead of human teenager. "Nield," he whispered, approaching the boy cautiously slow. "Do you remember me? Can you understand anything I'm saying?"
Nield remained where he was, slightly hunched over, making odd grunting noises under his breath. Then he smiled at Obi-Wan, teeth stained a ruddy-brown.
Obi-Wan glanced nervously at the unconscious Bracen, lying on top of the aged stonewall. "I need to get him down Nield. And you're going to let me," he urged Nield with a helping of the Force, willing his suggestive words to reach Nield's mind, or what was left of it. He crept towards the wall, one eye still watchful on Nield. His left arm snaked up the wall, reaching for Bracen's pant leg. He caught a tiny bit of fabric in his fingers. He started to tug.
Nield screamed, an unearthly shattering scream that seemed to pierce Obi-Wan's insides. He instantly let go of Bracen's uniform and stood at attention on Nield, holding his lightsaber out in front of him protectively. Nield's head jerked back and forth, as if measuring Obi-Wan up. Obi-Wan could hear something, the sound of stones grating on each other, from the other side of the wall. There was something or someone on the other side, but he dared not take his attention off of Nield. He did not want to kill his friend, but he knew he couldn't risk the life of the soldier either.
The decision was made for Obi-Wan when Bracen's body was suddenly grabbed by multiple hands and flipped over the top of the wall. Without another thought, Obi-Wan gathered the Force into his legs and jumped to the top, horrified by the sight of a few dozen infected adults and children, dragging the soldier away. He leapt off the wall and raced after them.
He was so close, so mind-numbingly close to reaching them when he heard Nield scream behind him. He stopped, glancing back quickly to where Nield was standing on the wall, wailing and pointing at him. Confusion stole Obi-Wan's concentration away. He had never seen them act like this before. Then he realized that the others had stopped as well, and only now seemed to be aware of his presence.
Dread grew in the pit of his stomach.
Nield set up a trap for me.