A/N: I wrote Ch25-28 a while ago, so the A/N's might be totally outdated.
[25]
I was able to find Greene's hideout rather quickly. A few trips combing the city for her lair was fruitful when I was attacked by an army of Leader Hunters in Hell's Kitchen. I was close.
A few doses of the cure were safely tucked away in my jacket, which I tucked away in favor of wearing the Blackwatch uniform. A few soldiers asked to join me in putting Greene down. I couldn't turn them away.
Alright, everyone. I'm heading in.
How many doses do you have with you, Alex?
I added the cure to my virus. I just need to pump a little bit of my biomass into you guys and it should work.
Thanks, ZEUS.
Just doing what needs to be done. Have you gotten Greene exposed?
Yes. Be careful, Mercer.
I intend on using cereal to its full capability.
I decided to lay siege to Greene's position. She would have to use biomass to continue defending herself, and under a continuous onslaught of artillery, she wouldn't be able to regenerate her lost biomass.
I put Blackwatch's strongest non-nuclear weapons to work. A salvo of thermobaric shells, followed by several waves of Javelins, broke a hole through the outermost wall of Greene's protective shell.
The Hunters remaining under Greene's control came out, only to meet with the Bloodtox machines refitted to spread my cure.
Greene must have realized that her Hunters were not making any progress against the Bloodtox machines after three waves. The Hunters stopped coming, and instead the hole in the outer wall began to close.
I readied my tendrils. While Greene was trying to regenerate her defense, she was vulnerable.
I struck and eliminated her outer-most defensive wall. After more missiles, the debris was cleared away and her next layer of defense was exposed. She had biomass dug into the concrete around the outer perimeter, preventing me from getting close. But I had ways.
Nathan and the others had no idea that I still had access to their abilities. They had no idea they had access to each other's abilities. But knowledge is shared over the Hive Mind. Without training, even the soldiers could modify each other's memories, even mind-control each other.
It was something I intended on keeping a secret as long as I could. Who knows what would happen if it became known that any soldier in Blackwatch could manipulate any other soldier in Blackwatch? Someone would get the brilliant idea of controlling me, and then Blackwatch would fall into anarchy.
The soldiers were pleasantly surprised when I made my way under Greene's second layer of defense and cut my way back out. No thermobaric tanks needed this time. I could tell Greene was prepared for the worst, though.
Inside her second layer she had an entire army of Hunters, all connected to the Hive and being drained of their biomass to fuel Greene's regeneration. I freed as many as I could and pumped my cure-laden biomass into Greene's system to weaken her.
It worked. The Hive collapsed soon, and my cure made its way into every Hunter Greene controlled in the area. Greene's soldiers became my soldiers again.
Nathan and the others were not there, though. Greene had stolen away through the subways when she realized she couldn't hold out against me. I knew they wouldn't get killed very easily, but I had to be careful. Greene probably had no idea what sort of ability they each had, but there was still the possibility.
With Blackwatch's ranks swelling and Greene retreating, the soldiers decided to celebrate a little. There were a few Marines who decided to join in as well. No one complained. The Marines were, after all, marooned on a hostile island, stuck with a contingent of fanatic soldiers bent on a singularly ignorant goal, and survivors of the whole ordeal.
I offered them a place in Blackwatch. They accepted. No one was surprised.
The cereal did end up getting used. Several men volunteered to descend into the subways and distribute the Shredded Wheat to prevent Greene from returning to Manhattan. Even the rats, already infected, would avoid the Shredded Wheat as a side effect of the infection.
A victory... for now.
I slept soundly across the next week. I was tired, but physical exhaustion wasn't the reason. Mental exhaustion was.
I wasn't suffering from the head-splitting migraines buried memories brought with them as they resurfaced, but I still wasn't comfortable. Aspirin, for all of its medicinal capabilities, had no effect.
I moved to the Garden and took some biomass from the stores there. It didn't help much with my headache. I was genuinely worried, and Blacklight was refusing to cooperate. I couldn't get myself to calm down.
I knew I was a killer. I had to kill something to calm down, and yet when I killed, Blacklight would only thirst for more blood. I could only stop when I was drowning in blood, and that time would never come. Blacklight would hungrily slurp up any spilled blood around me and convert it to biomass.
Blacklight stirred up trouble. It didn't solve trouble. I had to fix the problems it created on my own.
A few days after the soldiers partied, a very mangled Hunter collapsed outside GENTEK. It was quickly injected with a dose of the cure and shipped off to the Garden to recover.
I was working on an airborne virus in the labs when the news came. Nathan was back. Good news, but he was alone. There weren't any other Hunters with him.
He was still weak from loss of biomass when I arrived to see him at the Garden. A few soldiers were keeping him company while he lay there in a semi-conscious state.
"He's too weak to talk, sir."
I brushed the soldier aside and shot out a tendril. Once it attached, I pushed a thought across.
Nathan? Can you hear me?
The response was somewhat weak, but it was definitely him.
Alex? ...Good. I thought I was... well, you know.
Blacklight won't let you die that easily. It won't let anyone die easily except its victims.
Well... Alex, what do you want?
Info. I need to know what the fuck happened. Down to the last detail.
Okay...
And take it slow. I still get headaches from vivid memories.
A short series of images flashed, and I felt a headache coming on. Nathan must have realized it, though, and the pictures slowed down.
The Greene we're hunting. Another decoy. As for how we were all taken off-guard... "Greene" planted a sleeper inside a sealed room within each Hive. When that room was opened, the sleeper made its way out and turned everyone connected to the Hive. As for the fake Greene, her identity is already connected to this whole issue. I think you'll have a good time guessing who it is.
It can't be Karen. I already killed her. Ragland?
No. As far as I know, Ragland got off the island safely. Months ago.
Then... Dana?
Bingo.
I am going to kill Greene when I find her.
No nukes, remember? Cap'n and the crew are still out there in Brooklyn.
So you were being held in Brooklyn?
Almost in Queens. There aren't any defenses there. Should deploy some out there really soon. "Greene" is still trying to extend her reach.
They'll be on their way soon enough. Take a rest, Nathan. I think I'll need you soon.
I can't rest until everyone's back to normal, Alex. Everything will be alright, right?
I hesitated for a moment. I didn't know the answer. I wasn't the type to say "Yes" blindly, either. At the same time, I couldn't say "No" without a ripple effect spreading through Blackwatch.
Depends on how well we do, Nathan. I hope it turns out fine.
"Sir?"
I looked up from my work. "Just Alex is fine. I don't deserve any special treatment."
"Sir, we've found her."
"What?" The soldier was interrupting a productive brainstorming session.
"We've found her."
"Found who?"
"You know."
"Know what?"
"Greene."
"I never put out an order to search for her."
"But you were thinking of finding her, sir."
"How would you know I was that?"
"You're throwing all of your thoughts on the Hive Mind, where all of us have to listen to it. Same happens with our dreams: all of us are in each other's dreams."
"Should I be worried?"
"We could mind-control you..."
"Okay, I'm worried."
"Sir, as far as we care, we just don't want you broadcasting your thoughts constantly. It gets distracting when we're keeping watch. I don't think anyone wants to take you out afterwards. Just stop putting your thoughts on the Hive Mind unless you need to."
"I'll try. No guarantees."
"Thanks, sir."
"Alex."
"...Alex. Anyways, we know the 'Greene' in Brooklyn is a decoy. We all heard your discussion with the corporal."
"Great. My private moments aren't private anymore."
"None of ours ever were after we joined Blackwatch. It's just even less private now."
"About Dana, then. Information on what she's attempting in Brooklyn?"
"Not enough yet. The information comes in slowly, but there's a bunch of us just sitting in the Garden analyzing what the guys out there are seeing."
"I'll come and visit. Thanks for telling me."
The soldier saluted. "Sir!" He turned around and left before I could correct him.
I pushed out a message across the Hive Mind: Alex! Not "sir"!
A few laughs resounded back across the Hive Mind. I cut my thoughts off from the Hive Mind but kept an ear open.
After a week or so, Nathan was close to normal. We were sparring with each other when the news finally came: Dana was making a move.
"She's moving north, Alex. Probably should cut her off before she gets far enough." Nathan motioned towards the door. I didn't acknowledge my agreement. "So, are you going to fly the helicopter or do you want me to do it?"
"I'll fly it, Nathan."
It was just the two of us and a few soldiers in the back. Just one helicopter.
Once we got over Brooklyn, things went downhill. Dana had obviously prepared for us. There was a forest of Hydras down below, and no object on the ground was spared a short flight through the air.
All I could do was fly higher. The Javelins were for later. It wasn't time to use them yet.
Dana was definitely heading north, Resistance from the Hydras got stiffer as I flew the helicopter north. The Hydras were eventually reduced to throwing lamp posts and postal drop boxes after they ran out of cars to throw.
The rest of Blackwatch was already moving to block Dana from the north. In the distance I saw the small swarm of helicopters already dropping off their loads and returning to Manhattan to pick up more.
Dana had one direction left to run, and that was out of the question. There were few places for her to hide on Long Island, and she knew it. She had lived in New York long enough to know. She needed a place with people, and since she was cut off, it was game over. All we had to do was finish up the job.
She was cornered. I expected her to put up a fight until the end. There was little else she could do. She wasn't strong enough to suppress the virus beneath her will, unlike us.
It was time. Time to finish what I had started almost a year ago.
[/25]
A/N: Okay, I found a video that says [P2] is coming out in 2012. Assuming it's not a hoax, this story is definitely not canon now. Oh well.