A/N: Welcome back, everyone! Thank you for being patient with my break. I did play through DS 3, and I'll try my best to avoid spoilers. Enjoy this next (longish) installment of "Reconciliation".

Chapter Twenty-five: Eye of the Beholder

Bright red blood exploded forcibly from Greggs' temple. His expression was confused as his body crumpled and hit the floor with a meaty thud. The pistol shot crackled to the corners of the area. No one at first reacted, too stunned that Daniels had murdered the doctor in cold blood, but a keening wail knifed down through the silence. It was Noah, who burst into tears equally in fear and grief.

A growing pool of blood spread from under Greggs' prone corpse. The thick liquid began pouring over the step to the floor at Isaac's feet. Daniels said, "Oh, damn. I'll have to get someone to clean this up." She handed the R-Sec captain back his sidearm and turned a smug smile to Isaac. "Now I hope that you'll behave. It would be such a shame see the others harmed, wouldn't it, Mr. Clarke? And you'll soon see that Convergence is everything that it is supposed to be."

He'd lost attachment to the situation. He'd gone far inside himself, a response he'd used to cope with Nicole's death, and shared a glance with Ellie. Her mismatched eyes were glassy; her beautiful golden complexion had been robbed of its color. At the glance, she partially opened her mouth as if to say something, but she swallowed back her words, choosing to nod, instead. She agreed that he needed to draw attention away from them and bring it to him. He was to blame, not the others.

"You'd better keep that gun," he told the old woman. His heart thudded behind his ribs. "You're gonna need it."

"And you're in a position to threaten me? I hardly think so, Mr. Clarke." She gave a careless cackle. "My ducks are in a row and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

"Like mother, like daughter. Kendra had the same arrogance." He lowered his tone. The atmosphere rippled with tension. "She hadn't the sense to stop playing with things that were out of her control. She died on that godforsaken planet. Crushed and smeared across the ground, screaming in terror."

"Stop there, Mr. Clarke."

He wouldn't because the image of it had been burned into his memory. "She died trying to drag up the Red Marker from where it belonged. And the religion you hold so dear-"

"Enough, Isaac!"

"-sent her there. The Hive Mind didn't choose-"

"That's enough! Captain, silence this traitor at once!" She had lost control, her head bobbing, lips working and her face scarlet. "He is a terrorist! He is not to be listened to! Silence him!"

He spoke over her hysteria. "-her. It killed her because that's what it did. That's the purpose of the Marker. Kendra was all part of the experiment. She's not transcended. She's not immortal. She's not even evolved. She's nothing and nowhere. Almost like she never even existed…" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the captain swing his pistol downwards.

Needling pain ballooned into his head, searing a sinister orange veil over his vision, and the overwhelming pungency of rotting flesh slapped him in the face. The orange receded. He stood somewhere rocky, shadowy, and cold, so, so cold. And it was familiar. He knew this place and the murmur of thousands of voices carried on hoarse wind. Necromorphs grew from the floor in some jolted mimicry of a puppeteer's marionettes, blades and legs jerking, shuddering, ripping up through corruption in agonizing rebirth, but Isaac stared past them to the pagan artifact dominating the horizon that seemed at the same time close and distant. To his side, he saw Nicole, felt her hand slip into his.

"I told you," the Grey Marker gloated in that horrid whisper-scream. "I told you people around you die. Give in, Isaac. Make us whole!"

Like his previous encounters with Markers, the power of it surged through him, the promise of control, of punishment of those who had wronged him. The Marker's power caressed the wounds of his soul, promised relief if he would succumb to the Marker's will. Even as the pain lessened to nothing, even as raw energy peaked inside him, even as he knew it to be a hollow promise, he wanted to let go, he wanted to relinquish control.

Nicole's hand squeezed his. "You won't find peace," she told him. "The Marker will never allow you to rest. Don't go."

"Isaac, she's lying. You can give yourself to me. I will give you what you seek. You can be with Nicole. You owe her that. Give in. Give in." The Necromorphs that had remained completely unmoving rustled in a wave. He hadn't seen how many of them there were. So many. And he was tired of fighting. "Let go so that we may be made whole."

The offer was too good. He broke his gaze from the Marker's glowing cuneiform that danced and twinkled and enthralled to seek Nicole beside him. But when it was no longer Nicole, but Ellie, his breath caught in his lungs and he forgot about the Marker's offer. He'd held back the depth of his love for her because it hurt too much- -the self-torture and torment because he shouldn't love someone who wasn't Nicole, but he couldn't stop himself - -and seeing Ellie in this cold, deathly place shattered the resistance he'd put up to distance himself. His very soul burned until the frigid ice of the Marker's presence dissipated, until he was consumed with wanting Ellie free not from the threat of the Grey Marker, but free from the threat of any Marker.

"No."

His response enraged the Marker. The silken power that had before caressed and gently stroked became claws raking his nerves, gouging into him in a million different places, and the Marker forced itself so far into his brain he thought he would split in two. It was enough to crumple him, set him writhing and screaming on the ground without dignity or end to it. Countless different images flashed in succession so short and rapid he could barely comprehend that what he saw weren't his own memories. People and places he'd never seen before…and when the pain grew as if a living, bulbous creature in his head, pulsating with sick rot, one scene formed crystal clear and stuck there.

A black Marker surrounded completely with white in a crevasse of dark rock. Soft snowflakes sprinkled down around it. He got the impression it was quiet where it was kept. Then almost as if it caught him peeking, it shrieked, exploded with power enough to pound him abruptly conscious. After the torment from the Grey Marker, consciousness was infinitely preferable.

He was aware he'd fallen on his side and that his arms were uncomfortably manacled at his lower back, pressed against a wall, and that several minutes must've passed. His right eye throbbed, which wasn't very painful, but he realized he did not have vision in that eye. And then the noise burst into his attention. He recognized the sound of chaos when he heard it. High-pitched, rapid speech. Feet and legs rushing around. Faint screams and the fearsome Necromorphic horde's roar. Daniels' voice came to him- -she fired off orders in a tone that seemed rigid and furious.

"Ellie?" Her name cracked on his lips. His throat and mouth were dry and sour-tasting. "Ellie, are you there?" He paused, thinking maybe she wasn't near him, before trying again. "Ellie, answer me."

"I'm here," she said. "Behind you."

"What's happening?" She didn't answer immediately, so he prompted her. "Ellie? What's happening?"

"Disaster."

With as little movement as possible, Isaac attempted to sit up. He failed. His muscles and bones were under the impression he'd been crushed a few times in a garbage compressor. Pins and needles pricked the arm he'd rested on, but after a slow procedure of shuffling, stopping, pushing, stopping, he managed to get himself upright, but regretted it when his head spun in nauseous swoops and tilts. Even when he closed his eye, he felt the dizziness in the darkness behind his eyelids.

"You look like shit," Ellie told him dryly. "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah." He sighed. "Why am I still alive?"

"You were almost executed, but then a sector went into lockdown. Daniels told the soldiers to leave you for later."

"I take it the Necromorphs have overwhelmed R-Sec?"

"Not yet, but getting close. The majority of them were called to help in different areas."

"Lexine and Noah?"

"They're on the other side of me. Both are upset from Greggs' death."

"Are you?" He licked his lips when a long silence answered him. "Ellie?"

"I…I'm managing. I'm pissed and sorry he was killed needlessly."

Their silence was mutual. Yeah. That was what he felt, too, but he was more experienced with handling the death of people he knew. He'd keep a close watch on her to make sure she was okay. That was if they could escape. Isaac couldn't help calculating their odds for survival or even their odds for getting out of the jam they were in without someone else getting shot. "Is everyone cuffed?"

"Yes." Then, in a whisper, "Shit, here comes your mother."

He listened to a quiet exchange between Octavia and the lone R-Sec officer left behind to guard the prisoners. Only when he heard her approach did he open his functional eye. He didn't know what was wrong with his right eye; it had been acting funny ever since his arrival to gov-sec. It was probably the Marker meddling with his brain, but he couldn't be sure.

Octavia knelt in front of him, her knees popping, and he noticed for the first time the streaks of iron grey in her dark hair, the web of lines from the sides of her eyes. She seemed much older than she had been over the hololink. In her hands she had a red and white medical pack.

"Your face is bleeding, son," she said, zipping open the pack. "There should be something for you in here."

He watched her silently, her slim fingers picking out the medical wipes and opening one with precise, efficient movements. She took it and with a tender-roughness mothers seemed to always possess, wiped the grime and blood from his face. The wipe was cool, stinging, and smelt faintly of rubbing alcohol. There were faint memories associated with her action, ones that Isaac grasped at but in the end, decided to let go because there was no point in holding onto the past. There was no point in hurting himself over and over with those memories. When she applied pressure to his right eye, he ducked his head from the sizzle of pain.

"That's enough. You can stop," he told her, breaking the cold silence between them. "I'm fine."

She clucked her tongue. "You're as stubborn as your father was. Your eye is crusted over and disgusting. It needs disinfecting."

"You've never told me what happened to him," he said and shifted away when she went to continue wiping off his face. "Do you even know?"

Her mouth pursed; she dropped her arm. "He disappeared, so, no, I don't know."

"You're lying to me." He leaned his head back on the wall, anxious and weary from it. The dizziness had gone. "You always lie to me."

Octavia set aside the medical pack and smoothed out her trousers. "It's better if you don't know, but I'll tell you if you come with me for Convergence. I don't want to go without you."

"What'll be the point if he's dead?" Ellie interjected. Octavia's darkly stroked eyebrows jumped in surprise. "You obviously have no concept of these creatures. Of what they're capable of."

Octavia narrowed her eyes at Ellie, but chose to address Isaac in French. "Please, darling, join me for Convergence. You'll have the answers you seek then. You'll be able to put Nicole to rest. Isn't that what you want?"

Aggravation kept him silent. No doubt she'd seen references to Nicole on his psych profile from his time on Titan- -which Daniels could've had. What made her think slinging around Nicole's name would induce him into turning to Convergence for salvation? "I don't believe in Convergence. I'm not going with you."

Their conversation stopped when splats of pulse rifle tore through the panicked murmuring, right outside the doors. A whump of an explosion vibrated the floor and walls, rattling the windows. Daniels, on the platform, gripped the railing as a hololink of an R-Sec officer opened on her RIG. Isaac watched over Octavia's shoulder.

Mired with the sound of pandemonium, the R-Sec's voice carried out to them. "We've got men down! Men down! Shit! We can't…we can't hold them off!" He turned, his lit visor flashing sideways, and unloaded his rifle off-screen as one man shrieked in horror. Roars overwhelmed the screaming. Static showered across the screen, but the audio was clear. "Oh, God. No! NO!"

Then the door opened- -startling the scientists into looking up, frozen like statues- - and five R-Sec spilled into the area. A concussive blast rushed dust into the open door, causing the soldiers to stumble over each other, clattering gear and weapons to the floor. Three of them whipped around to unload suppressive fire into the hallway with their sidearms. Roars and shrieks of Necromorphs rolled over the living in terrifying reality.

"LOCK THE DOOR! LOCK THE GODDAMN DOOR!" yelled one soldier, who had another slung over his shoulder. He, too, unloaded his rifle in the hall behind him. "HURRY!"

One scientist leapt into action. The large door hissed shut and the holograph switched over to an orange LOCKED. White jumpsuits swarmed the officers as scientists broke from their paralysis and rushed to give medical aid as best they knew how. Murmurs and pants and sobs of the R-Sec officers were punctuated with calls for med-packs and help.

"What is going on out there?" Daniels said, suddenly animated in the aftermath. She strode across the room to the one standing R-Sec, who'd disengaged his visor. "Who are you? Where's your captain?"

"I'm PFC Kaufman, ma'am." The R-Sec was the one who'd carried in his teammate. He was twenty-ish, fair, and drawn from fear. "He's fucking dead! He's fucking dead because those motherfucking things swarmed us! They fucking came from-"

EEEK. A long, terrible silence descended on the group. Collectively, everyone held their breath. Nobody dared move. EEEEEEEK. Something was at the door, scratching at it, seeking entrance. EEEK, EEEKEEKEEKEEEEEK…the scratching rose in volume and speed until it sounded as if there were dozens of nails shredding the door, biting it, chilling to the bone, over and over and over. Infuriated roars erupted so close Isaac felt he could reach out and touch the Necromorphs. After a few seconds, the noise faded and stopped.

Octavia had put a death-grip on his arm, cutting off circulation. "What…what was that?"

"They're going into the vents." He spoke generally, scanning the ceiling and walls and finding three of them at least. "Daniels, this place is a deathtrap. We need to get the hell out or it'll be a bloodbath and you know it."

The old woman heard him from across the room and replied with a glare. She returned her attention to Kaufman. "Get your men on their feet. We have to keep this room secure in order to retain the data from Convergence. We will succeed where others have failed."

A weight settled in the air. Isaac felt the Marker's influence ripen in the room, breeding from the cold fear buzzing in everyone's head, fighting their sanity for control to throw them deeper into madness. Deeper under its evil influence. He would not let that fucking Marker win. Deliberately, he used the wall as a crutch and levered himself from sitting to standing. He was within full view of everyone in the room. Octavia kept her hand on his arm to support him as he climbed to his feet.

"We have to get out of here." He spoke with careful enunciation, with his will, his stubbornness, with his experience. Every set of eyes were on him. "The Necromorphs that slaughtered the rest of the station will come in through the vents and kill everyone. There is nothing holy about them. They were bred to kill and-"

"Blasphemy!" Daniels exploded, her finger pointing at him, white wisps of hair flying from her neat twist. The Marker had completely dominated her. "Heresy! Convergence comes with sacrifice! The faithful will not die! They go with the Marker on a glorious journey to a new life, where they will be rewarded for their loyalty! R-Sec, execute him! Execute him at once!"

Nobody moved. They seemed to wait for Isaac's reaction. He relaxed, heard their fretful thoughts swirling around like flies, stinging and irritating, and shored up his courage to give to them in absence of their own. "I know you are scared. I know you are confused. But you have to choose between Unitology's Convergence or surviving this nightmare. You have to choose between what you know to be truth and what is a lie." A distant clank, with faint scrabbling, came from above them. Everyone startled and faces turned upwards. Eyes shifted nervously. A murmur spread through the scientists. "You have to choose now."

In the pause that followed, he felt the atmosphere calm. Fear was palpable, it was always under the surface in the Marker's signal range, but the sharpness of it had been blunted. An undercurrent of sanity washed the atmosphere. He saw they'd reacted to his words and presence and they'd given him some measure of trust and respect. At least they listened to him.

Clapping turned aside his attention. "Bravo, Mr. Clarke," said Daniels. It was she who clapped. "What a lovely speech. I don't know about the rest of you," she swept out her arms to encompass the group, "but I'm not convinced. Especially not by a terrorist who's destroyed the Sprawl." Another lingering silence. "You don't have much to say about that, do you."

He chose to address the onlookers. "When I destroyed the Red Marker on Aegis VII, it left blueprints in my brain. EarthGov brought me to Titan to extract the data and used it to build a Gold Marker over the station's core reactor. That destroyed the station."

"And who pulled the power cell that kept the government sector secure? Hm? Was it Santie Claus? Or a magical leprechaun?" She chortled. "No. You unleashed Convergence on those unworthy soldiers. It was you who somehow sabotaged the core reactor and sent the station into a meltdown. It was all you."

"I admit those things. But the destruction of the public sector was nothing to do with me. It started with headaches and bad dreams, didn't it?" Again, he addressed the R-Sec intermingled with the scientists and technicians. "Long before I ever sent that message or stepped foot on this station, it started. You heard things, saw people that couldn't possibly be alive. Suicide and murder rates jumped. Then came the stinking corruption, oozing into vents, distorting communications, and then rumors started that there were strange things lurking around."

He noticed several in the audience nodding their heads. "You thought you'd be safe here, close to the Marker. But it's whispering to you. Making you think things you wouldn't normally think. Speaking to you. And now, everything's falling apart because it isn't the sort of thing that can be controlled. It isn't something one man can cause. This is orchestrated by an organization with powerful people in high places, not the kind of people who would associate with a terrorist such as me."

"What a pitiful, weak defense." Daniels sighed. "I've grown tired of it. I've grown tired of obstacles that hinder an awing event. Holy Convergence is upon us. Now. You," she pointed to Kaufman, "if you don't execute him, give me your weapon and I'll do it for you. In fact, all these pathetic heretics offend me. Get rid of them in the name of holy Altman."

Kaufman didn't respond. Instead, his eyes assessed Isaac, who looked back unfazed, then gazed out across the pale, frightened countenances of the unarmed people around him. He surveyed his remaining team, and some imperceptible communication occurred among them. Then his jaw clenched and he hitched up his pulse rifle, drawing back his shoulders.

"Ma'am," Kaufman said, "with all due respect, fuck you. My men and I aren't going to die for your fucked up religion today." He brushed past her to approach Isaac and the little group of prisoners, ignoring her slack-jawed expression. "Clarke, if what you've said is true, you're our best chance of getting out of here alive. Goodwin, release the prisoners and return their weapons."

"You fool!" howled Daniels. Her skin bloomed red with her wrath. "I'll have you court-martialed for your insubordination! Goodwin!" She charged across the room to snatch Goodwin's arm as he reached for the keycard at his belt. "You will not release those prisoners!"

Isaac watched the struggle between the tall and broad soldier and the slim, petite older woman. He could tell the R-Sec didn't want to harm Daniels, so he was being overly delicate with her, even as she flailed and stomped on his foot. He was quick enough to block her knee from slamming into his groin by jerking up his own knee. But when her hands scrabbled over his gear, dangerously close to a pistol's holster, Isaac sensed she had a murderous intent.

"She's going for the sidearm," Isaac told Kaufman. "Don't let her get it."

Kaufman's brow furrowed- -he saw where her hand had slipped- -and he grabbed Daniels' arms, putting her in a submission hold while Goodwin stepped backwards, recoiling from her violence. Daniels furiously squirmed, spitting curse words and threats that no one responded to. She attempted to tear out of Kaufman's arms as Goodwin approached with the keycard in his hand. Her vicious yanking and twisting broke her free from Kaufman's grip; she pounced, her hand striking out and slapping the keycard from Goodwin's fingers. It skittered across the floor.

What followed was chaos.

From the vents, a nerve-shattering roar preceded an enormous crash as Necromorphs sliced through the metal grating and thudded to the floor from the ceiling. Alarms blared; lights flashed. Everyone screamed as the room went into lockdown. R-Sec opened fire. Coolly, Isaac saw that there were three slashers and they were advanced. He shifted, knocking aside Octavia, and shuffled over to the keycard lying discarded on the floor. Five R-Sec should be enough, but the Necromorphs bore down on them with horrifying speed and agility. Isaac dropped to his knees then rolled to his back, using touch to try and find the fucking keycard.

"USE STASIS! STASIS THEM!" he shouted to Kaufman and Goodwin when the slashers closed in. "STASIS!"

Kaufman must've heard what he said. He stretched out his hand. Blue-tinted stasis leapt from his palm and entrapped the three slashers in quick succession for his teammates, who dispatched them of their limbs. Three more shot out of the vents, and one came tearing out of the wall close to Isaac and the others. It careened around, headed for the closest fresh meat- -his friends. His fingers had the keycard but the angle was all wrong and he couldn't get the card into the reader slot, fumble as he might.

Then rescue. Octavia leaned over him and swiped the card through the cuffs, freeing up his hands. She helped him stand. He felt her shaking, but she understood him when he frantically gestured to the others.

"Free them!"

She nodded and spun, her loose hair flipping around with her. Isaac saw two more Necromorphs standing up behind the one that the two R-Sec officers were shooting, and for lack of a better idea, he put them into stasis to give Kaufman and Goodwin more time. Then he attempted to TK the blades off one felled slasher- -the body jerked slightly but the bone ripped from it, and he released it on one slasher he'd put into stasis. The slasher flew backwards and the blade pinned the grisly body to the wall. At this time, Kaufman and Goodwin had dismembered the second slasher, and the others had squared off the threat.

When the R-Sec ceased fire, the scientists' screams tapered, and one groaned, "Fucking shit. Fucking shit. Shit," as a mantra over and over. The lockdown ceased and the room went back to normal, washed colors. In the firefight, a few rounds had gone wild, taking out some lights. They buzzed, hissing, as electricity sparked from broken covers.

Isaac glanced over to check on Ellie, Noah, and Lexine. They were huddled together on the floor, shivering and pale. Octavia had not gotten to releasing Lexine; both women's faces were a mask of fear as Octavia helped turn Lexine around. He could see everyone's nerves were shot to hell when one light fixture collapsed and several people jumped and screamed.

"Is anyone hurt?" Isaac asked the group, rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing again. "Anyone dead?"

"I think we're good," said one R-Sec, shakily, from across the room. "We're good."

But a cry interrupted them. "Millicent!" Octavia had freed Lexine and now she rushed to Daniels' prone body. Well, part of her body. Isaac stepped over, avoiding a hand, pieces of Daniels' arms, and her head. Blood had splattered over a meter arc when the slasher had diced her. "This is…she's…in pieces! Isaac…she's…in pieces!" Octavia turned wide eyes to him. "What should we do? This isn't…this isn't…" In those eyes welled fretful tears. When she spoke next, her voice was soft, childlike. "This isn't supposed to happen like this."

Isaac reached down to bring up his mother by her elbow. "I'm sorry, but we leave the dead." Turning to Kaufman, he said, "Have everyone reload and refill stasis. You need to give us our weapons."

Kaufman nodded his acknowledgment and jogged to the far side of the room to what looked like a locked case. Concerned, Isaac craned his neck to peer into a destroyed air vent. Already he heard more movement from the other end. "This lull won't last. We have to get everyone off the station. It's important for us to remain calm and think." He gazed out to the group of scientists in a big cluster in the corner. "What're our escape options?"

"We've got shuttles. All of us can easily fit on one," said a female scientist with shining auburn hair. "And it's a fairly straight path."

But Isaac shook his head. "We can't trust shuttles. There's something out there, something big, and it might sense and destroy us. I've already seen a shuttle go down from it." That had been a hard lesson learned.

One scientist who was white-capped with a matching bushy beard came forward. "There are some cryogenic escape pods on the other side of the tower." He strode to the platform to put a hand on the observation windows. "They were installed in the event that the shuttles experienced catastrophic failure. They're an emergency failsafe. We can get there by taking the catwalk around and going through the education center. And they're much smaller than the shuttles, so if what you're saying is true, those might go unnoticed."

"But the door," said a woman with glasses. "We can't get to the catwalk from here. We have to go out and around." She visibly swallowed. "Through the hallway."

From his side, he saw Ellie move towards a desk area where a stool had been toppled from the flurry of movement. "That shouldn't be a problem," she said and hefted the stool. "We can break these windows and slip out."

"We'll put out three soldiers onto the catwalk to cover the window and the door." Kaufman had come forward, his arms filled with plasma cutters and a contact beam. "That way we can even out our fire power and assist the people climbing out of the window. Goodwin, take the director's RIG and put in the override codes for the lockdown procedure. That oughta prevent us from being boxed in."

"Good plan. Everyone else, move fast and move silent," Isaac said. He accepted the plasma cutter Kaufman handed him as he addressed the scientists. "We'll be attacked in here for sure and soon. Stay low and keep going through the window. No matter what happens, keep moving."

Ellie took the contact beam, leaving Lexine with her pistol and Noah with the remaining plasma cutter. Octavia had refused being armed. First thing Isaac did was to check his cutter for an ammo count; it was fully loaded and functional. He noticed Noah doing the same, and he showed the kid how to eject and slot in a fresh clip. As the R-Sec lined up the scientists for some semblance of organization, Ellie chucked the stool through the window, shattering it beautifully. Humid heat blasted into the room and the temperature rose twenty degrees.

Three R-Sec climbed out of the window, their pulse rifles at the ready and flanked the windows, covering opposite ends of the catwalk. Isaac began to help scientists scramble through the window, and they were doing well. Nearly half the scientists had exited onto the catwalk when leapers attacked.

The leapers- -spiny, elongated mutations- - flung their bodies to the walls, to the catwalk, and there were so many that it seemed they came from all sides, an infestation of them, that they seemed innumerable. But inside the room, Isaac had other problems. Advanced pukers, an exploder, and several other advanced slashers dropped from the ceiling vents. Sheer luck had the exploder, with emaciated and twisted flesh, on the very far side of the room, but Isaac had forgotten the blindness in his eye. It took him three precious shots to detonate the yellow explosive bulb. The explosion felled a puker and a slasher, leaving them splattered on the floor.

Afterwards, he, R-Sec, Ellie, and Lexine had judiciously applied stasis on everything that had moved and no one stopped shooting until nothing continued to move. They were not without casualties. A puker had melted two scientists into a hissing, steaming lump of goo, and another had been caught under the razor blades of a slasher. Outside, several more scientists had been taken down by the leapers, but the R-Sec had protected the majority.

There was no time to celebrate victory. More Necromorphs swarmed out of the vents and so the escape had to be made under fire. Worse than that was the arrival of the hunter. Isaac had heard something big clamoring through the vents and when it hopped to the floor, Isaac immediately put it into stasis in order to lob off its limbs. The fear of it gripped his throat, but he turned to Ellie and the R-Sec standing in a firm line beside him.

"Everyone get out, now. I'll keep it distracted," he said. He noticed a terminal next to the locked door. The hunter's body was wracked with spasms as fresh tissue and bone crunched outwards. "I'll meet up with you."

Ellie grabbed his arm. "Don't do it. Please, stay with us." She looked so wounded. "Stay with me."

He shook his head. "Go with the others. Get Noah and Lexine off the station."

He turned aside and dodged across the pocked and bloodied battlefield to the stasis unit to refill his module and to pick up any ammunition he could from the bodies. On the other side of the destroyed room, the R-Sec hoisted the remaining survivors out of the window onto the catwalk. Ellie's eyes were on him, imploring him even as Kaufman pulled her along by her wrist. Then she was out of sight.

At his feet, hell spawned.

A/N: I apologize for the series of cliffhangers; I know they are agonizing. Hopefully, I'll see you all for the next update on 2/23/13. Until then!