Heyoo! Ashes here, just wanted to leave a little commentary really quickly. For one, look I TRY and check through these chapters for errors, spelling mistakes ect. But I don't catch them all. I do my best, but c'mon I'm only human. Take it easy on me. Many chapters are written late at night where I can't spell for shizz anyway. Mmkay. Also thank you to all for tuning in! Super stoked about this chapter. Bringing in a new character. Personally my favorite character of Borderlands. Yup! So put on your seat-belts kiddos!
It's gonna be a bumpy ride.
Aftermath
Zero's eyes rolled beneath his lids. Shifting as his body rose him from sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, his black endless orbs blinking in the very very fresh morning light. He felt wet with dew, another sign that it was very early morning. Zero sat up slowly. His body felt spent, his muscles ached and he felt as if he had been deep in battle all night. The wearing on his body was heavy. He groaned loudly, his senses finally rousing from sleep. It was only then that the stench hit his nostrils...what was that putrid smell? He raised a hand to his forehead, when he came to the sudden realization that he was without armor. Zero looked down frantically, he was completely naked, not a shred of clothing to keep him modest.
Zero was thrown into panic.
He stood frantically and assessed his whereabouts.
It was only then that he realized what the stench surrounding him was.
Bodies.
Bodies upon bodies upon bodies.
Piled lifelessly around him.
Zero looked around his heart racing. There were so many.
All dead.
He took a step back and felt his bare foot come in contact with a pool of liquid. He looked down, only to find a growing pool of blood around him, the fluids seeping from the bodies.
Flies were already finding their way to the sea of corpses surrounding him.
Their lifeless eyes stared up at him, as if asking why, shaming their killer, wishing guilt upon him.
Most were only half there, some were emptied of their innards, guts spread all over the dirt flooring.
Some were missing their heads, seeming to have been ripped clean off.
Those that still had faces, still had the frozen looks of horror just before they met their end clinging to them.
But god the smell.
Zero nearly gagged as he covered his mouth and nose from the scent.
He looked up to get a better grip of where he might be.
It was a massive warehouse of some sort.
Hyperion for sure, seeing as most the dead around him were engineers or bore the Hyperion uniform.
There was not a sound to be heard, only utter, dripping silence.
Zero looked down at himself again, his eyes adjusting to the morning.
He was covered in dried blood, bits and pieces of flesh clinging to his skin.
He swallowed hard.
His head was pounding with a fierceness that didn't allow him to recall what had happened last night. But there was a feeling deep down in his gut that told him...he did this.
This massacre was somehow his doing.
Zero stepped over the bodies tenderly, trying his hardest not to disturb them, but he had to get away from that smell.
Zero burst through the heavy doors gasping and choking. His legs felt numb and shaky as he leaned hard on the door.
He coughed for breath and looked out on the still gloomy land.
He was without his armor.
Why was he without his armor? Where was it? Why would he have abandoned it in the first place.
And like a shock to his brain, it all came flooding back to him.
The pain.
The cracking.
The changing.
The growing.
The beast.
Zero felt his breath hitch in his throat.
It hadn't been a dream.
The monster...it was real.
He remembered the intense searing of the pain as it ripped through his body and he instinctively clutched his bare chest, as if for fear that pain may return.
He remembered his poor body coming apart, his muscles growing...and he had shed his armor to save it.
But where?
He remembered crawling from the doors of the wildlife preserve, and collapsing on the ground there.
His armor must be there.
Zero simply stood there for a moment, breathing the fresh air into his lungs. His head felt like he was in a daze, awoken from some dream world that he knew was not a dream. Or was it?
Had he possibly been hallucinating? Possibly breathed in some kind of poison while in the wildlife preserve?
He couldn't fool himself with logical explanations for the happenings of last night...as much as he wished it. He knew deep down what had happened, that the horrific incident had been real.
But he could not wrap his brain around the fact that he could remember nothing of the night. Not a shred of memory of the nights events clung to him. No matter how he tried he could not recall it. Zero can his hand through his blood caked hair and sighed. A weak, fearful sigh.
He could not stay here.
He would dwell on this later.
Zero took off into the hazy morning, he needed to get there before it got light out, he was severely vulnerable without his armor.
Zero scaled the cliff, and landed down on the earth below, even without his armor...he felt overwhelmingly powerful.
Though his muscles ached, it was a pleasant ache, somehow it felt...pleasing. The kind of ache that comes after the well use of a body, the teasing, pleasing ache of a good battle. A good killing.
Zero took off, hugging the shadows of the cliffs, his speed overwhelmed him. He had never felt so quick, so agile.
Zero felt his blood pump through him heavy with adrenaline, with power that he had not felt before.
But most of all...the itch, the pestering want, the need to kill, those primal feelings were subdued. At least for the moment.
He felt freed of his urges, and for a moment he needed nothing, but to feel his feet on the ground. To feel the breath fill his lungs as he pushed forward. To feel the land, and the chill of the morning. To feel everything in vibrance he had not ever experienced.
Just as Zero had remembered, his armor was right where he had left it.
Zero crouched down to collect his garments and hurridly dressed himself.
He was not used to going without armor for such a long period of time, he felt exposed and vulnerable...like a newborn child.
Zero replaced his helmet and stood alone amongst the looming cliffs and stones.
He turned on his heel and headed back to the camp, where he hoped to find the others still asleep.
He wanted his absence to go unnoticed. Especially to Maya.
Until he figured out just what he had become...he knew the knowledge needed to stay with him and him alone.
As Zero walked he could feel it inside of him.
Something stirring there, just beneath the skin.
It was weak, but it was there.
A force beyond him, a feeling of another power within his gut.
A parasite, dwelling there, dormant for now...but would it rise again?
What had triggered it in the first place?
Zero walked quickly, his mind racing with thoughts.
The worm of a man had said the moon swayed the changes of their test subjects...but there had been no moon last night.
So how could he have changed...when there was no moon?
He felt a lump form in his throat.
Being alien...they had no research on the venom infecting someone of his kind.
What swayed his transformation?
What roused the beast now living within him?
The questions loomed above him like wolves, nipping at his body, slowly tearing away at him.
He felt...lost.
He felt utterly...alone.
He could tell the others nothing of this.
How could they trust a comrade that could not control this new power forced upon him?
Zero could not fully trust himself now, so how were they supposed to...
Zero climbed the cliff nearest to their camp and sat down on its edge. He supposed the others were not awake yet. It was still very early.
He may as well just stay a moment with his thoughts.
For the first time in a long time...he was afraid.
Afraid of what this new sickness could do to him...to Maya.
Maya.
Would she be safe around him...it? What if it hurt her...what if Zero could not stop it from doing so.
He knew not of what this thing was capable of, nor what triggered transformation. All of this added up to a very real danger that he was putting her in just by being present.
Zero frowned deeply.
He loved her very deeply...or what he thought was love.
Could he live with himself if this new power hurt her in any way?
No.
He couldn't...he wouldn't.
He could not let that happen.
What if Maya had been with him last night.
Would she have been dead in that warehouse also?
Zero nearly doubled over as the thought invaded him.
What if he killed her.
What if this thing killed her.
He shook his head wildly.
Zero clutched his head in his hands.
It was like a flood gate had been opened. The thought of Maya laying dead before his own hand caused all the memories to come flooding back to him.
The feeling of his feet and hands upon the ground...only they were not hands nor feet at all, but massive paws. Gigantic claws sprouting from them like daggers, they dug into the hard earth as he propelled himself forward. In the back of his head, his moral and conscious side was there, begging the beast to stop. But he did not. He needed this. Needed to let the beast wander, let it roam...let it kill.
Like the sides of good and evil battling within him. This beast took harness of his dark side, his need to kill, and it ran with it. Allowing the darkness to grow, allowing the need to get stronger. Everything just broke lose.
He felt so powerful, every bone, every nerve, every muscle working together like a powerful, well oiled machine. He was so fast, so very fast. The world whipped by his now overly sensitive ears. They were pulled back to his skull as he ran, long and pointed.
His vision was otherworldly. He could see for miles, even in utter blackness. Every rock, every crack in the ground illuminated as if it were dawn.
His powerful legs propelled him upward, and he met with a cliff face, his massive claws digging right into the stone, climbing it as if it were nothing. His muscles bulging with the new found power coursing through him. He wanted to scream, wanted it to stop...but i would not. The scent of flesh hit the beast's nose and flooded it's senses. He stood in the shadow of a Hyperion warehouse, immediately he assessed that inside is where the glorious scent was coming from. He lurched forward, slamming right through the glass window, the remnants clattering to the ground around him. But the glass did not cut his flesh, it did not even scathe him. His fierce scaled skin kept him from any damage. As soon as he entered, the building wailed with alarms, and the workers came. They came with guns, they came with robots...and they fell one, by one, by one. Zero could taste the blood on his tongue is memory muddying reality and the night previous. The metallic taste filled his senses, he felt sick to his stomach. Then came the memory of their cries.
Their terror filled voice ringing in his sensitive ears, it drove him mad with power, it was like music sweet and delicious. He remembered taking a worker in his paws he ripped him clean in half, watching as the flesh gave way and finally came apart like tissue paper spilling blood all over his feet. He remembered the way it felt to fling his head back in utter bloody triumph and let loose a powerful, fearsome howl. The sound shook the walls, and reverberated up through his bones. The sound still clung to Zero's ears. The sound of popping bones, ripping flesh, as the creature tore into its prey. Taking mouthfuls of meat, blood running down its jaws, down it's neck staining a vibrant red. The taste drove him mad, he consumed more and more. Never had he tasted such a rich, delicious, delicacy. It slid down his throat like butter, his sharp teeth cutting and slicing it away from bone. His powerful paws ripped bodies apart, shoveling mouthfuls of flesh into his greedy muzzle. The predator did what any other would do...it fed. It fed its enormous appetite, fueling its great power, its strength, its speed.
He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.
What a mess he had gotten himself into.
What had he done to deserve such a sickness.
Such a curse...
But what now?
What was the right thing to do for himself?
For his comrades?
For Maya?
Zero whipped his head around as he heard the crunch of gravel behind him.
Maya stood there in the early morning light, her vibrant hair glowing in the new sun rays.
She offered Zero a small smile and neared him.
Zero almost felt as if he should run, run away from her...just to keep her from harm.
Should he ward her away? Tell her to leave him and never search for him again.
He looked her over slowly.
She was beyond gorgeous.
Her battle strengthened body muscled and powerful. They way she leaned her weight on one leg and stood with her hands on her full hips. That curious look in her eye. God those eyes, those golden amber eyes that could stare right through even the strongest of men. She was a woman that could bring any man to his knees and Zero was helpless against her power.
This was that human emotion...what was it called...love?
Yes.
Zero was sure of it.
Sitting here, now, before his siren he knew for a fact that what he felt for this strong woman was none other than love.
His heart raced when she neared, he melted when she touched him. No matter what danger he may be thrust into, he would always face it if it meant keeping her safe from harms reach. He would give his life for her if it meant keeping her safe. He knew that now. This woman here before him, was more important to him than his own life. And so, he sat at a cross roads. Should he tell her of his new sickness, or keep it from her...until he learned how to control it or how strong it really was.
Maya simply stood in silence as she looked at her distant assassin.
Finally he stood to face her.
"I apologize for my distant nature. I am afraid. It is unlike me to be afraid." Zero whispered honestly.
Indeed he was afraid.
An emotion that was as alien to him as he was to this planet.
He was afraid for Maya...and afraid that he was growing ever closer...to losing her.
If he could not control this...being now dwelling within his chest it could mean frightening consequences. He could harm Maya. Or he may have to abandon her to keep her from his harm...
He felt his breath catch in his throat.
Could he leave her...if it meant keeping her safe...from him?
He would have to.
Even if it killed him...if it came to that...he knew he would have to do it.
But for now, just for the moment, he was here able to bask in her glow, to look upon her gorgeous face, to simply exist in her presence.
And for now that was all he needed.
Maya stepped forward and closed the chilled gap between them.
She wrapped her arms around him encircling them around his neck, resting her palm on the back of his helmet.
"Shhh...I'm here. No matter what happens, I'm here." She whispered to him.
Zero felt the knot in his gut tighten.
He wanted to simply break down, fall to his knees in her arms and simply let her hold him. He wanted nothing more than her touch. It warmed him down to the core. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly.
If only she knew how utterly dangerous he was. He had always been a danger. But not to her...he would never hurt her...but now he could not speak for the monster writhing within him.
Zero simply held her close to him, relishing in her sweet aroma, soaking in her touch.
He sighed against her.
"Did you sleep?" She asked innocently.
The assassin shook his head slowly.
"As much as I tried. Sleep was not in my cards. It alluded me." Zero whispered sadly.
It was not a lie. Sleep had alluded him. The monster in him robbed him of his sleep...and robbed countless others of their lives. Though they were the enemy...Zero still felt guilty. For a killer to feel such guilt was something he was not accustomed to. They were worthless Hyperion scum, so why did he feel so disgusted that their blood was on his hands...and in his stomach...
Maybe that was what gripped him with guilt.
He...the beast...or whatever he had become last night, ate those poor souls. Consumed their flesh like it were a rare delicacy. Made a meal of their death, swallowed it down, savored their taste.
Zero thought he was going to be sick.
He shook the feeling away and tried to bury the thoughts.
"Zero, we are going to the wildlife preserve, we don't know whats down there! I thought you would have at least tried to sleep to keep your strength up." Maya scolded looking at him sternly.
Zero shrugged slowly.
"I apologize. Many things were on my mind. Sleep was not an option." Zero mused.
Maya rolled her eyes at him.
"Well just don't go passing out on us today. We need everybody to be in tip top shape...who knows what Jack has going on behind those walls." Maya scoffed.
Zero frowned.
He already knew what was behind those walls.
Merely the carnage he had left behind from the night before.
Salvador and Axton rose shortly there after and without a second thought Maya was leading the way to the preserve.
Her SMG was at the ready, her blue locks blowing in the wind as she bounded nimbly over rocks. She was like a gazelle, strong and graceful.
Zero held his rifle half heartedly and tried to keep up with the quick woman in front of him.
They came to the doors of the preserve and Maya motioned that it was clear. She entered the shadows and let her eyes adjust to the darkness, slowly slinking into the massive building.
She gasped as her eyes met up with the scene inside. The bodies of fallen Hyperion robots littered the hallways, torn apart by an unknown enemy.
She looked to her right and left, there were massive cages seemingly meant to hold animals but the doors were left opened and there were no creatures to be seen.
Salvador neared one robot, its torso and limbs strewn in different directions. Massive teeth and claw marks riddled its metal shell.
He grunted.
"What the fuck happened here..." Salvador grumbled.
Maya frowned.
"I don't know...but whatever got these robots...it was big." Maya whispered.
She raised her gun to the ready and pushed onward, carefully stepping over the mutilated footsteps echoed through the preserve. Not a sound was to be heard, no rustling, no movement, no animals at all. It didn't make sense to Maya.
There was plenty of evidence saying that there had been animals here...but now...nothing.
Suddenly there was a loud crash from down the hallway, too far for the eye to see in the darkness. The team froze.
Zero instinctively flickered from sight and reappeared in front of Maya ready to protect her. She didn't have time to protest the action.
Without warning a roar echoed up through the end of the hallway, so loud, deep and guttural it hurt Zero's now overly sensitive ears. Zero clenched his teeth and removed his sword from it's sheath. Whatever it was it would not hurt his lover. He would make sure of that.
The thundering sound of paws smashing into the floor echoed toward them...and finally they got sight of it. A massive skag, at least four times the size of a normal animal, purple liquid dripping from it's jaws and eyeballs as it ran. It's mouth was agape in fury exposing all of it's rows of jagged fangs. It roared again, flinging it's head back as it ran, smashing into the fallen loaders on the floor like a battering ram. They flew aside or crumbled underneath it's massive feet. It was gaining speed as it neared them, running harder and harder.
Zero could feel his heart racing, his blood boiling. He could only stand witness as his body came alive.
No.
Not now.
Not here.
The beast stirred within his gut threatening to take hold, feeling the sense of danger the sense of excitement and it was roused from it's slumber. Zero fought the pain without moving a muscle, he had to fight it. He could not let the thing get loose. Not while his comrades were so close. They would be right in the line of fire. And he knew for a fact that they could not hold the beast off. Zero could hear the wild thoughts of the skag as it barreled toward them. It was frightened and confused.
It was wounded from the night before. A cage door had shut on it, breaking several of it's ribs and now it was mad with pain and fear. It charged blindly, not knowing if the creatures before it were friend or foe. Zero dropped his sword to his side and simply outstretched his hand, holding it up as if he were pushing against something solid.
The creature was gaining speed, quickly closing the gap between it and the vault hunters.
Axton raised his gun.
"Do not shoot it. It will only anger it. Lower your weapon." Zero snapped over his shoulder.
Axton narrowed his eyes, but the intensity in his comrade's voice made him obey.
Closer, closer, closer.
Zero could hear its wheezing breath, its pounding heart, blood rushing through it all driven by wild fear.
Zero brace himself.
"Stop." He whispered to the beast so low only he and it could hear.
The monster skidded to a complete halt, stopping just inches from Zero's body.
It stood there frozen before him panting, its chest heaving its body shaking. Zero simply stared at it, unwilling to break the bond that was there between them. Then slowly the beast's legs began to quiver and eventually they gave out. The monster fell to the ground in a heap, moaning in pain. The adrenaline gone from it's body the pain of it's broken insides now overwhelmed it and hindered it useless. Zero crouched down and gently touched the beasts face. The creature was dying. It was inhumane to let it suffer another moment. It's massive chest rose and fell shakily. Zero raised his sword and drove it quickly through the beast's heart. It shrieked and writhed, then fell silent its jaw slacked its paws still. Zero brushed its bleeding chest and then stood to face his fellow vault hunters. All three stood dumbfounded and confused.
Zero simply turned his back.
"Shall we continue. Standing will get us nowhere. The creature will give us no more trouble." Zero muttered his back to his counterparts.
Maya slowly passed the assassin, her gun raised, shooting Zero a very confused and concerned glance. He ignored it.
Salvador and Axton followed Maya, carrying pretty much the same confused looks.
Zero stood for a moment, the pain of the creature inside of him waned. He clutched his chest as the sting faded. Was it danger that roused the parasite? Adrenaline? He was unsure. But something about that charging beast had nearly roused the creature within him. But it was unable to overtake him...was the creature still too weak from the previous night? Did it have to recharge possibly? Zero racked his brain with possibilities. Zero would literally have to relearn himself. He needed control of all situations, and now this was out of his hands. He had to get control of it somehow...someway...
Zero followed the others mechanically, swarmed by his own thoughts.
Meanwhile at Hyperion headquarters Opportunity:
The tall man stood in the dimly lit room, his back to the door, his lean shoulders raised. He brought one slender finger to his mouth and ran it across his bottom lip then over his cheek. His fingers met the soft material of the mask covering his face, so very different from his actual skin. Less real...less...human.
Suddenly the heavy double doors burst open and a winded Hyperion worker trudged in.
He stood there panting, trying to catch his breath and attempting to access if it was ok to speak in the other man's presence.
"Ummm...sir..." The worker muttered meekly.
The man turned slowly, painfully slowly. He folded his arms across his chest and simply eyed the worker menacingly. His fierce eyes seemed to stab right through the workers soul. He cringed as if fearing for his life.
The man then thrust his hands out annoyed.
"Well? Do you have something to say? Or not? This whole silence shit, isn't getting us anywhere!" He barked coldly.
The worker seemed to want nothing but to sink right into the tile flooring.
"Th-there has been some t-trouble at the wildlife preserve...it-it appears that it was attacked...I-I sent a recovery team early this morning...they only found one survivor..." The worker stuttered fearfully.
"Well the fuck is the hold up? Bring the bastard in." The man said running his hand through his dark brown hair.
"Fucking shit. I leave for a week and shit hits the fan." He cursed shaking his head.
Two loaders then boomed through the door, the mechanics of their leg movement echoing through the spacious room. Each of them had some poor, small man by the arm, dragging him limply across the floor. A trail of blood followed behind the pudgy male. The loaders dropped him hard to the floor, right before the brown haired mans feet.
The fat man cursed and slowly lifted up on his elbows.
"You sorry son of a bitch robots couldn't have just been easy on me!" He yelled over his shoulder, cursing and sputtering as he slowly sat up making it very apparent that he was missing one leg.
His round little eyeballs then adjusted to the dark, and realized that there were shoes directly in front of his line of vision. His eyes quickly darted up to find the owner. Immediately his chunky little cheeks began to shake and his eyes grew wide.
"J-J-Jack?" He whispered his voice trailing off to nothing but a small squeak.
"Doctor Mills! What a pleasure to have you back pumpkin. Such a shame not all in one piece I see." Jack bellowed flashing a million dollar smile down at the small man.
Doctor Mills swallowed hard and stuttered shakily, unable to form words.
Jack leaned down casually, ensuring his face was mere inches from the doctors.
Jack grinned at the fear riled up from the small man just by his presence alone. Jack leaned back slowly, giving the fat fuck a heart attack on the spot would do him no good and gain him no answers.
Jack turned heel and crossed the room to the large oak desk a few feet from where the crumpled man lay on the floor. He leaned back against it and drummed his long fingers on it's hard surface.
"Soooooo...what the fuck happened last night, a little birdie told me there was a teenie tiny, itsy bitsy spot of...trouble." Jack said in a sing song way, his hands moving along with his slow, teasing words.
"The-there was...an intruder. A...vault hunter..." The man choked.
Jack's eyes grew cold and unforgiving at the mention of the words. He growled under his breath.
"You want to run that by me again there pumpkin? Or did I hear you correctly? A vault hunter...meaning a SINGLE, fucking human being...trashed my entire fucking wildlife testing facility AND its warehouse in ONE fucking night?" Jack spat his anger flaring like a wildfire.
The doctor looked down at the floor, as if trying to hide from Jack's bellowing voice.
Jack sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, hiding the grey streak within his brown locks. He breathed out and then his gaze was back on the little man.
"Is that what happened? Hmm Doctor Mills?" Jack questioned in a much calmer yet just as poisonous tone.
Doctor Mills gathered all his possible courage and opened his mouth to speak, still avoiding eye contact with Handsome Jack.
"It was a vault hunter...but...but he wasn't human." He croaks weakly. His throat is dry and his words come our strained and raspy.
Jack raises his eyebrow.
"Go on." He commands.
"Several months ago...we had an escape of test subjects...we assumed we had captured and disposed of them all. We were wrong. Somehow...some way...this vault hunter...had a run in with an exposed test subject...and became infected." The man strained.
Jack frowned deeply.
"You told me those test subjects were CONTAINED. Or do you just like lying to me? Hmm? You like lying to big bad Handsome Jack? You like the way that feels, trying to play me for a sucker? Feeding me your little lies? Hmm?" Jack hissed crossing the room in the blink of an eye and grabbing the man by the shirt collar.
"N-No! We thought they were contained! I swear!" He gasped as Jack choked the words from him.
Jack lets loose of his grip on the man but stays crouched in front of him, like some sort of gargoyle creature.
"Tsk...Tsk...Tsk...well. It seems you miscalculated didn't you there Doc. You know...I do not take very...kindly to miscalculations." Jack hisses in his honey sweet tone of voice.
The doctor bites his lips, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.
"The...infected...was not...human...to begin with. He is...different. Stronger. Unlike anything we have seen before or tested upon." The man squeaks.
Jack's eyes flicker with intrigue.
"And. What does that mean?" Jack pushed fiercely.
"Unlike the others...he...might be able...to control the transformation." He wheezed.
A vicious smile spread across Jack's slender lips. A smile that can only be accomplished by the most dangerous of humans. And dangerous he was. He chuckled to himself lightly and leaned forward, his lips only inches from the fat mans. His beady eyes quivered in fear.
"Well Mills...looks like you, are just about a fucking genius. A god damned genius I say!" Jack said laughing manically.
"Well now it looks like we have a jolly little man hunt on our hands! Whadda ya say folks! Who want's to go hunt down a fucking vault hunter!" Jack yelled his arms out in invitation.
Jack then paused to look down at the doctor.
"Oh and Doctor Mills, I believe it's time I had to well...let you go. It's been real fun peach." Jack grabbed either side of the little mans face and snapped his neck, breaking it clean.
The fat man slumped to the floor in a pudgy heap, his eyes wide and blank. Jack whisked by his collapsed body heading for the doors, cheerfully whistling "A hunting we will go" over his shoulder.