Chello people! Welcome to chapter 21!
I'm so happy...Surface is coming out in Australia in APRIL!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, I've extended this story a chapter. In this one, our heroes finally finish what they started, and they have to face their worst fears yet...
Enjoy...and please review! lol
Disclaimer: I do not own Surface...BUT I WILL IN APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Survival
It was like the ferry crash all over again. Pain was shooting all over Miles' body, he could hardly breathe. He dared to open his eyes a fraction, forcing his eyelids to unglue themselves and lift up so he could see the damage.
The first thing he saw through the open cabin door was the tower of flames rising in the air where Iderdex had previously been. They were actually quite far away from the building, at least a few blocks. Miles tried to remember why, but his mind felt like black sludge and he couldn't quite remember anything. It was dawn, but instead of pink the sky was a dark red. He tried to sit up, wincing as he did so.
Goddamit. He thought, the hospital bill is going to be enormous by the time I'm done…
Then he glanced around and his eyes widened in horror as he eyed the carnage around him.
Miles could see the remains of the monorail, crumpled and scattered across a beach they'd landed on. Several people were clambering out, groaning and bleeding, while others simply weren't moving at all. Remembering the others, Miles whirled around and to his horror found the other laying in their seats limply with blood coming off various wounds.
Oh god…he thought, panicking, no, this can't be happening! They can't be…
Suddenly, Laura gave out a cough. Miles sighed in relief as she groaned and forced her eyes open.
"What happened?" she groaned. Rich stirred beside her.
"Ouch…" He muttered, trying to sit up but falling backwards again. "Did we make it?"
"Yeah." Miles wheezed, grinning, "We made it out!"
"Dude…"said Phil beside him, sitting up slowly and reaching up to feel his wet, bloody forehead. "That was totally crazy. Is everyone okay?"
"Seems so…" Laura said, looking around. Her gaze rested on David, "he okay?"
Rich nudged him with his elbow, and he let out a groan.
"Yep." Rich commented. "He's okay."
There was a small squeak, and Nimrod wriggled out from under the gnarled control panel. Already his wounds were beginning to heal, and in no time he'd plonked himself beside Miles, nudging him happily.
"Everyone's accounted for!" Phil said clapping his hand and then wincing as he heard a crack in his wrist, "Although I'm not sure we're all in the best condition, that said."
Suddenly, Nimrod gave an urgent squawk. Miles turned to him,
"What's up?" he asked. Nimrod nodded outside and squawked again, jumping in front of him and growling.
"Nim, what's…?" Miles began, and then he paused. Something was wrong.
"Caitlin!" he shouted, jumping up and ignoring the pain it caused him, "Where's Caitlin?!"
The others jerked up and instantly began looking around in astonishment. Nimrod jumped out of the cabin and began running down the monorail, and Miles followed without hesitation, ignoring the groans and cries of others.
Then he saw the body.
It felt like time had frozen as he ran up to her. Through a tear in her clothes he could see a deep gash across her leg, and her right arm was bent back at a weird angle, a dark purple bruise forming below her elbow. But the worst of it was just above her hip. The wound itself Miles couldn't see, but on her shirt was a large patch of red that covered her chest.
"Oh my god…oh my god…"
Caitlin gasped, "Miles?"
"Caitlin…Caitlin…holy shit…"
"It hurts…why am I hurting...?"
Miles sniffed and a wave of tears forced their way out of his eyes and dropped to the ground, mixing with the pool of blood flowing from Caitlin's open wound.
"I can't see Miles…what…" she coughed. Miles watched, sickened as blood poured out of her mouth, staining her clothes a dark red.
"No…" he said weakly, "No Caitlin…you can't die. Please."
Caitlin was gasping for air again, what breath she had coming in shuddering gasps and coughs bringing more blood forth. Her eyes became cloudy and she shivered uncontrollably. Miles wriggled her hand into his and grasped it tightly.
"Hurt…" Caitlin choked, "hurt…Miles!"
"I'm here Caitlin." Miles whispered quietly, voice choking as he watched her suffering.
"I love you…Miles…" Caitlin's voice had become a horse whisper. She shut her eyes tightly and gripped Miles' hand until it turned white.
"Saved the world." She murmured. "I love…Miles…"
She gasped one more time, and then her body went completely limp as the last breath of life escaped her lungs and flitted into the open air. Miles sat, shock still, and then he went to check for a pulse.
Nothing. There was nothing there.
"Caitlin!" Miles shook her limp body weakly, "Caitlin! Don't die…"
He could feel tears prickling his eyes and he let them out, felt them fall down his cheeks. He double checked and triple checked the pulse but still felt nothing.
"She's dead." He whispered. "She's dead." He repeated a little louder, as if saying it louder would make the hurt stop. Because now he hurt. He'd never, ever felt as hurt as he did right now.
Caitlin was dead. And if she was dead, he may as well be too.
He hugged her still warm yet limp body, and then gently lay her down. The other employees were watching the commotion now; a few whispers were passed around and a few people pointed. Eyes burning, Miles turned to David.
"You." He whispered, that one word laced with so much hurt and fury it made all the others around him flinch. David took a quick step back.
"I'm so sorry." he said, mustering up all the tenderness and sympathy he had and hoping it would be enough.
"You're sorry?" Miles asked, standing up and staring him in the eye. "We've just been caught in an explosion. Most of your employees are badly injured; some are dead. Caitlin is dead. And all you can say is I'm sorry?"
"If those monorails and that building hadn't been built to withstand a nuclear bomb, half the people in this city would be dead. You'd all be dead!" David retorted, gesturing around and stepping another step back.
"If you hadn't started this stupid thing in the first place, no-one would be dead!" Miles shouted. "Now do you see the consequences of all your stupid experiments? She and so many other people are dead, and it's all because of you and that stupid orchid!"
"But we made so many advances!" David said, trying to defend himself. "So many more people are alive because of us! So many people walking free because of what we did!"
Nimrod growled. Miles pointed at him,
"You call creating creatures to kill other people and create a super species of human an advance?" he cried, "Look around you! This hasn't helped people, you killed them!" he paused, and his eyes narrowed.
"And now I'm going to kill you." He said coldly. Laura and Rich noticed a slight shift in his eyes as they changed colour and the pupils narrowed into slits.
"Miles!" Laura shouted.
"Don't do it kid!" Rich added. "Don't you dare!"
Miles ignored them. With surprising strength and speed he launched himself at David, who ducked to the side just in time. Miles landed nimbly on the ground, and everyone could feel the electricity in the air as it gathered around him. There was a sharp crack as a bolt of electricity erupted from Miles and made it's way to David, who jumped behind the monorail cart; barely missing the bolt by a centimetre.
"Miles!" Laura screamed, "Miles, stop!"
Another crack. The other victims of the crash began joining in, some cheering and some screaming. One man grabbed David's leg as he tried to get away, shouting in triumph as he tripped and landed with a thud on the ground. His eyes widened with fear as he watched Miles steady himself, ready to deliver one last blow…
"Miles! Stop it!"
Everyone froze. Every single person at the site turned their heads towards the voice, and Miles himself couldn't help turning, automatically trying to pinpoint the source.
He saw Nimrod, sitting with a proud look on his face. Beside him was Caitlin's body, and Miles' heart leapt in his chest when he saw her sit up slowly and turn to face him, eyes shining brightly.
"You're not a murderer." She said quietly, and then grinned. "And neither is he."
Everyone's mouths dropped open. There was a moment of silence where everyone held their breaths, and then all of a sudden there was a cheer.
"She's alive!" a man chorused, "Hey everybody, she's alive!"
More cheers, a few claps. A few of the less injured got up and crawled over to Caitlin, offering hands to help her stand up. Miles, Rich and Laura watched, frozen to the spot as Caitlin stood up and walked over, each step stronger and more determined than the last. She went to Miles, then flung her arms around him and gripped him so tightly he could hardly breathe.
"How…?" he coughed, "How did you…?"
Caitlin gripped him tighter and he felt his shoulder go wet with tears, "Nim helps." She sobbed, smiling.
Miles understood it then. Nimrod had healed her. The thought made him dizzy with glee.
She was healed, she was cured, she was…
He suddenly remembered when the creatures had bitten him. Nimrod had healed him then, and look where he was now.
Caitlin was cured. And now she was cursed too.
"We've got the cure back home." Caitlin whispered into his ear, "It's doesn't matter now. Forget it."
Miles was about to ask how she knew that, but decided to leave it. He knew the answer already.
There was a chorus of 'awww' and several people began scrabbling to Nimrod, dragging other people behind them. Nimrod looked to Miles and he gave a short nod, and Nimrod began to heal the others. Laura, Rich and Phil gathered around them.
"Thank god!" Laura cried, flinging her arms around Caitlin. "I thought you were dead!"
Caitlin laughed, "I thought I was too. Thank god for Nimrod, eh?"
"That was so awesome!" Phil cried, "No-ones dead! We're all accounted for!"
Rich hung back. "Hey!" he shouted. "Where's Lee?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Miles saw something slink into the water. It was only brief, but he could have sworn he saw a tail fly into the depths.
"I think he's okay." He said smiling, and he hoped Lee knew what he was doing. They all stayed like that for a moment, each enjoying the other's company and the fact that they were still alive, and then slowly they turned their heads to the wreck. None of them noticed as David, long forgotten, slid out of his hiding place and ran down the street. They were too busy thinking one thing.
It was finally over. They had won.
The group managed to escape from the scene and hitchhike their way back to the aquarium, the whole time reliving their story in such a frenzy that the driver must have thought they were mad. As if their ruined clothes, various wounds and freaky little mutant lizard weren't bad enough. Once they got to the aquarium, they waved their coach off and walked to the door, grinning, Nimrod hopping along behind them. They didn't notice the five cars parked outside as they walked across the car park.
"Did you see that?!" Phil cried excitedly, "The monorail just went, wham! Off the rail! Sparks flying everywhere, and then crash through the wall! It was better than Speed!"
Rich laughed, "I didn't think we'd make it out of there alive!"
"I'm surprised we managed to get in there!" Laura cried, grinning. "Miles, what the hell were you thinking with that bloody blanket?"
"It worked, didn't it?" Miles protested. Nimrod squawked happily beside him and Miles could see the happy images he was sending in his mind.
Caitlin patted his back, "I thought it was rather clever of you, y'know."
They all giggled madly, and Phil glanced at his watch.
"Ha!" he cried, "It's only five to one! We aren't even late!"
He reached the front door and gripped the handle. "Jackson won't have even had time to call backup! No one will have any idea…"
He paused. The others crowded in behind him.
"What's wrong Phil?" Miles joked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Not a ghost." He said, and then gestured inside. The others looked in. There was a moment of silence, and in that brief moment all the happiness was squeezed out of the group.
"Shit." Rich murmured.
Tracy, Savannah, Caitlin's dad, Miles' parents, Phil's parents, Shaun and Jackson looked up as the door opened, and each person's mouth opened to form an 'oh!'
"I think we're in trouble." Miles commented grimly.
"Miles Barnett!" Sylvia Barnett exclaimed, stepping forward. "Where have you been young man? And…" she gasped as she eyed their wounds. "what have you been doing?"
Phil and Miles glanced at Jackson, who was standing behind the angry parents, frantically waving his arms and mouthing, 'no!'
"We went out to get some food." Phil explained coolly, the lie passing his lips with ease. "And Caitlin had to get herself stuck in a thorn bush."
"It wasn't my fault." Caitlin murmured, playing the part. "You pushed me!"
"Anyway, we tried to help her out and this bird flies out of nowhere. We freaked and fell into the bush."
It was a simple lie, but it seemed to work. That was, until Sylvia grinned.
"Really?" she asked. Jackson slapped his forehead and groaned in an almost comic fashion. She turned around and faced the others.
"We were told that you just went down to the beach for a swim." Sylvia said matter-of-factly. Tracy glared at Laura, obviously disapproving the fact her husband was swimming in his boxers around another woman. There was a stunned silence for a moment, one group looking down on them smugly and the other gulping down the fear of having to tell them.
"If we'd told you." Caitlin began weakly, "You would have never let us go."
"What kind of an excuse is that?!" her father retorted. "If there is a reason not to go of course you're not going!"
"You told me it was over!" Tracy yelled at Rich. "No more secrets! When are you going to leave it Rich! Your brother is long gone!"
"This isn't about my brother Tracy!" Rich shouted back, "This was about saving everyone else for once!"
"And you!" Tracy turned to Laura. "You little bitch! Stay away from my husband!" she shouted, advancing on her. Laura held her hands up.
"Look, I swear, I never…"
This was interrupted as Tracy's palm connected with her face, landing the stinging blow with a sharp crack. Laura took a few seconds to recover, and then she looked up at Tracy, glaring daggers.
"How dare you!" she screamed at the top of her voice.
"Don't even think about it Dee!" Shaun held her back. Laura turned to face him, her fury deciding to vent towards him instead.
"Let go of me!" she shouted, ripping her arm away. "I don't know how you have the gall to come and talk to me after what you did!"
"I had to do it for Jesse!" Shaun protested desperately. "You left him behind Dee!"
Laura laughed darkly, "And you took me away from him again! You thought I was crazy!"
"And you're not?" Shaun asked, anger now apparent in his voice, "You practically dumped him on me and then disappeared without a trace. He wakes up at night calling for you because he's having dreams in which people are trying to kill him, and weird creatures are springing up from the ocean! And you didn't care!"
"Didn't care?!" Laura's already exploded composure was crumbling away fast. "I love Jesse! You don't know how much I wanted to be with him! When you sent me off, they did try to kill me! And it was all your fault! Can you even begin to imagine what would have happened if they'd done it, huh?"
"They told me you'd be protected!" Shaun argued.
"You are going to be grounded for the rest of your life young man!" Phil's father cried over him. "I am never, ever letting you out of my sight again!"
"I told you that little mutant freak was trouble!" His mother said almost triumphantly, grabbing Phil's arm and beginning to drag him, struggling, out the door.
"Excuse me?" Ron whirled around. "Don't you dare talk about my son like that!"
"It's that bloody lizard's fault!" Sylvia screeched, pointing to a growling Nimrod. Miles jumped in front of him.
"Leave him alone!" he shouted. "What happened to letting me keep him! He was better to me than you two ever were!"
"Guys!" Jackson threw himself into the throng, "Guys! Calm down!"
Soon the whole room was full of screams as everyone began to fight, each one determined to outdo the other. The voices got louder, and test tubes began to rattle in their stands. The voices reached a loud crescendo, melding into one shout of anger that flowed in from all sides.
"Hello? Guys? Could you all shut the hell up for one second!?"
The shouts instantly came to a hault as the loud, hollow noise erupted over the shouts. Savannah stood in the middle of the group, one hand pressing firmly onto her ear and the other gripping a thick rolled up bunch of papers. She stood there for a second, making sure everyone had stopped, and then took her hand away and threw the paper to the side.
"God, I'm going to have permanent ear damage for the rest of my life." She complained, "You guys were going crazy. Am I the only responsible person here?"
She glared at them all. "What is it with you guys? The minute something goes wrong you chuck a fit. Didn't even bother actually finding out where they went. And you," she turned to Miles, Caitlin and Phil, "I though you three would have at least tried to tell the truth." She threw her hands up in the air, "Jesus Christ. What am I supposed to do with you lot?"
She turned to Miles, "Okay. Let's start with you. Because you are my brother and you're worse at lying than Bilbo here," She gestured to Phil, who glared at her. "So, where were you?"
She waited for an answer. Miles was silent, partly because he was annoyed that his sister was bossing him about again, but then he cleared his throat.
"Um…" He began. "Well…last night Laura got a call from this guy called Davis Lee telling us to go down to Iderdex and find out about the creatures…"
"What?!" came the parent's shocked voices.
"What did I say?" Savannah commented angrily, glaring at them. They shut their mouths, and Savannah nodded. "Continue."
"So we went down there, but we got caught." Miles continued. "We managed to fry their generator and blow up the building."
Wisely, he left out the bit about the crash and Caitlin's temporary death. Even so, those few words were enough to make everyone's faces go pale.
"You blew it up." Dr. Blume repeated, "Oh my god…"
"Don't worry!" Laura assured him. "We had a good reason."
Phil's mother rolled her eyes. "Yes, that makes it so much better."
"How did you guys get here?" Miles asked. The others glanced at each other.
"I came to check up on you kids." Sylvia confessed. "And then we found out nobody was here. I called up everyone else."
"God Mom." Miles shook his head. "It's not like we need looking after twenty-four seven."
"If you go around blowing up buildings in your spare time I think you certainly do."
"You underestimate your son Mrs. Barnett." Rich butted in, "He saved the world today. If you ask me, that's pretty good for your average teenager."
"It's true." Laura added, patting Miles on the shoulder. "He really saved the day. I sure would want him as my son."
"What about Jesse?" Shaun asked her. "Aren't you happy with him?"
Laura frowned, "It was a compliment Shaun. I love Jesse and there is nothing else to it."
There was a brief pause as both parents tried to gather an argument.
"Why couldn't you leave it alone Dee?" Shaun asked. Laura shrugged.
"I don't know." She said, exasperated, "I don't know why I bothered anymore. I just wanted to prove something, do something with my life. I saw the creatures first!"
"And you left behind everything else." Shaun added.
"Maybe I did." Laura admitted. "And I still didn't prove anything. But what would have happened if I'd stayed with Jesse? None of this would have happened. Rich would be dead for one, Miles and Caitlin wouldn't have found a cure, Lee would be dead and we'd all be drowning by now."
She paused. "Jesse understands I had to do that. Why can't you?"
Shaun didn't make a move, didn't falter. But Laura could see that she had indeed made a mark.
"I've made mistakes," Laura continued. "I can admit that. But I swear it's all over now. I'm coming home for good this time."
"Why can't you be like that for your own family?" Tracy asked Rich suddenly, her voice tipped with malice. Rich turned to her and took a deep breath.
"Okay, Tracy. Look, I'll admit it. I haven't been totally honest with you about everything okay? And I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been so stupid and lied to you. But I did because I wanted to protect you. I had people running after me, and I was afraid if they got hold of you I'd lose you too."
"No you didn't." Tracy accused, "You just wanted to avenge your brother."
Rich shrugged. "Maybe that had a bit to do with it too. But…" he paused, "I'm over it now."
Silence.
"A few months ago, I would have done anything to those creatures, just to get my revenge." Rich said, "But I've changed now. I stopped caring about him, what he would have wanted. I was just angry. I thought if I did something, anything to stop them I'd get him back. But now I've realised that he wouldn't want me to go around moping for the rest of my life. And he certainly wouldn't have wanted me to let my family get away from me." he laid a hand on her shoulder. "But even so, I had to finish this Tracy. I'm part of it now, and I knew you wouldn't have understood if I'd told you."
"How do you know that?" Tracy asked angrily. Rich gestured to Laura, whose cheek was flushed a bright red.
"The fact that you slapped Laura suggests you don't have complete faith in me." he pointed out.
"And why not?" Tracy protested. "You're a different man. My Rich disappeared a year ago. I thought I'd gotten you back, and now you lie to me again. Is this really a better you Rich?"
Rich shook his head. "Look, I don't know. But from now on, I promise I will tell you everything. Word for word. Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you."
More silence. Tracy thought for a moment, and then her face grew grim.
"Did you ever kiss her?" she said, gesturing to Laura. Laura blushed, and an awkward silence descended over the group.
"Yes." Rich said tentatively. "But it wasn't serious, I just…"
He frowned in confusion. Tracy was smiling, "What? Aren't you supposed to be hopping mad right about now?"
"You told the truth." She said happily. "You can tell me the rest later. Right now it's good enough for me."
She drew him into a hug and pecked him lightly on the cheek. Savannah coughed.
"S'cuse me, sorry. I'm glad we've all sorted out our differences, but can we please get a move on here? If anyone's noticed, it's one 'o' clock in the morning. I don't know about you, but I'd like to go back to bed."
"I'll agree to that!" Jackson said. "I've done enough for one night."
"I might stay here awhile." Miles glanced at Caitlin as he said this, and she picked up the hint.
"Me too." She offered. "Maybe we'll do some real help this time around."
The parents caught this by-play, but nobody said anything. Ron, Sylvia and Paul glanced at each other, gave a resigned sigh and nodded.
"Fine." Ron said, smiling warmly. "But don't stay up too long, okay?"
"I'll pick you up in the morning." Paul added, throwing a ring of keys at Caitlin. "Lock up when we leave."
"Bye guys!" Phil waved as he walked towards the door, "See ya tomorrow!"
They each began to file out until Rich, Laura, Miles, Nimrod and Caitlin were the only ones who remained. They glanced at each other, and grinned.
"I guess that's it." Laura said. The words sounded weird coming out of her mouth, almost a fake promise.
"I suppose." Miles said. He laughed, "It was great knowing you."
"You talk like we're never going to see each other again!" Caitlin cried, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. Nimrod jumped away from her and gave a screech, then edged towards Miles for safety.
Rich shook his head. "How about we leave it for the moment. Wait till this all blows over."
"How about in a month?" Laura suggested. "Say…the eighth."
"Works for me." Miles said. Caitlin nodded. They each smiled at each other again, and Rich held out his hand.
"See you in a month's time." He said, shaking their hands politely. He and Laura left, and a new silence descended over the other two who remained.
"Guess we'd better get a move on." Miles suggested. "You know where the cure is kept. I might head down to the marsh; see how the others are going."
Caitlin nodded, then headed for the lab. Nimrod followed. Miles glanced around, grabbed a large coat which he presumed belonged to Jackson off a chair and then headed out the door.
I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, and this time I'll name em'
Podge17, Stargal88, Nimster57 and city girl...THANK YOU!!!! And thank you SkyHighFan, my wonderful beta!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Three chapters left...