Wasteland…
Part 2: The Future Chapter 11 DeathThe AMP Factor kicked in and the dark world became a tinted blue color, the numbers swirling around the transport, then moving onto Gangrene, and after him to the army of Neo-Humans that kept coming from the transport, the ocean, the soldiers in the third trench, the…he had it.
With the suit's implants Alex was quicker able to sprint faster, and he did so, sprinting towards the sea that he was going to use to his advantage. When he got deep enough to swim, he did so, and then swam to the transport; the transport was probably forty meters tall and a good football field long—who new how many people could in it? —And there were metal bars sticking out from a certain place on the outside of it that Alex knew were a ladder.
Another cherished minute and he was climbing the ladder as fast as he could, nearly flying up the side of the transport. He reached the top and before he could look around, there was a blur of motion that caused Alex to react by moving his head to the right and somersaulting his way across the hull of the transport. He jumped to his feet and turned to see a Neo-Human swerving its gun to shoot him—Alex shot forward and jumped into the air, his right foot kicked the gun from the Neo-Human's hand and, as he spun around, the other foot firmly planted itself in the Neo-Humans chest. Alex hit the metal hull with a clang and the Neo-Human fell off the edge.
Alex then turned and continued sprinting towards the front of the transport; he could see the tips of a few of Gangrene's vines from where he was which meant Gangrene was probably within jumping distance. Alex saw the edge of the hull and could see exactly where Gangrene was…and Alex didn't hesitate; he just jumped, pulling his rifle out of the waterproof pack on his back and firing it at Gangrene's figure. His head jerked around and the second he saw the soldier flying at him, he laughed and swung a vine at him.
Alex saw it coming and angled his body to catch it and slide down it. He did so and fired the gun as slid down, hoping that one bullet would hit Gangrene…but Gangrene never stopped moving around. Suddenly the vine began falling, plummeting toward the ground—a turret had destroyed part of it. Alex grabbed the nearest one and swung himself around it, propelling him up into the air right toward Gangrene.
The AMP Factor plan wasn't working but Alex was able to quickly estimate every action and reaction so he could play along as best he could. Gangrene didn't see him coming and just before Alex hit him he said, "Snipers cease fire!" Gangrene must've heard his voice because he was starting to turn around as Alex crashed into him. Alex used the rifle and severed the two vines coming from the palms of Gangrene's hands and all the vines fell to the ground, as well as Alex and Gangrene.
"YOU," Gangrene screamed in surprise but Alex was way ahead of him, spinning himself around so Gangrene would break his fall. Gangrene didn't have time to think before the ground's impact broke his back and Alex bounced off of him and rolled down the hill for a few yards. "YOU," Gangrene kept yelling until Alex ruthlessly raised a rifle and sent a bullet into his head.
The AMP Factor seemed to have stepped up a level; the whole time Alex had started running, it had been going and now, even though the adrenaline had slowed slightly, it kept flowing…
Suddenly there was an impact on Alex's head and he fell forward, brutally hitting the ground. He started to get up but was immediately trampled over and over again by the oncoming Neo-Humans; they didn't seem to notice that they were stepping on him as they surged forward. Alex tried to reach for the gun he had dropped but his arm kept getting kicked away.
My secondary, he thought, and whipping out his pistol from the pack on his back. Alex opened fire, swiftly killing every one of them that were in between him and his automatic rifle. By the time Alex had reached the rifle, he had taken down twenty-six Neo-Humans and was out of ammo for his pistol; he got the rifle and went ballistic on the army, knowing there was no hope of getting away. The Neo-Humans took notice of him and those that weren't getting shot all aimed their weapons at Alex and started firing.
Alex saw them starting to raise their guns and dove to the left, firing as he flew in the air, even though he knew it was pointless… Two bullets entered his system, getting past the armor and the magnets…Alex blinked from the sudden pain but kept firing until his gun started making the sound clink, clink, clink every time he pulled the trigger. Three more bullets hit him at the same time, and then nine more…and then the Neo-Humans left him alone and continued their endless march onto the island…
Alex felt himself bleeding all over and tried to speak to the army, "Ho-hold them off…can't b-b-b-be too many left…"
The ground shook as more grenades landed on the shore and Alex gave one last command, "General, was that missile sub is ready, put it into action; destroy the transport before X can come out and destroy the Neo-Humans from the sea…" Alex heard a faint reply but it was inaudible…
The darkness of the night was beginning to dampen his vision, the black beginning to consume everything he could see. He smiled, knowing he was going to die for a good cause, and only hoped that the Remnant's would survive and safely destroy the TFP… Alex's eyes closed; he could hear voices saying his name, over and over again along with other words but all Alex could make out were his name…
There was one voice…a particular voice that sounded not only familiar, but strangely good to hear…Fidget, he thought… With the last of his fading strength, Alex said, "Fidget, I love you," and then let his head rest against the sand, his vision now gone and the voices completely erased from his mind…
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Fidget was already screaming at Alex when she saw his figure running down and jumping into the ocean. She was screaming all sorts of stuff; some making Delia want to laugh and others causing her to give Fidget a stone cold stare. The most common word seemed to be 'lunatic' but that was just Delia's guess. It was when Alex had swum out too far to be seen that Fidget really got quiet and worried; she kept launching grenades but Delia knew her mind was on Alex and only Alex.
Suddenly Fidget yelled, "There he is, on top of the transport!" Delia blinked and then looked…sure enough, there was somebody on top of the transport and Delia didn't doubt for a second that it was Alex—then the figure jumped off the transport and onto the tentacles. Fidget had briefly tried to explain that there was a man that could control plants back in her time but Delia couldn't comprehend it. Alex's command was heard loud and clear, "Snipers cease fire!"
Fidget and Delia kept launching grenades, but were careful not to aim anywhere near Alex or the vine-guy—Fidget called him 'Gangrene' or something like that.
Alex was not only insane to do this…he was unbelievably brave and Fidget was complimenting him one second and then calling him an idiot the next. Delia figured Fidget was just too worried to do anything but put a grenade into the launcher and pull the trigger.
And then the attitude changed dramatically. The turret fired again and destroyed the mass of vines, causing Alex to start falling toward the ground—Fidget was screaming and cursing—then Alex was somehow flying back up toward 'Gangrene', his rifle firing non-stop. Fidget and Delia both gasped and said, "Alex," at the same time when he crashed into Gangrene. Then, for some reason, the two people began to fall and Delia couldn't tell one from the other until they hit the ground and Alex recoiled away…right into the middle of the Neo-Human army…
That was when Fidget stopped firing grenades and Delia just held her breath. She couldn't see Alex anywhere in the mass of Neo-Humans—not only was it too dark to make distinctively make out the shapes, the army kept running forward and taking Alex out of view… A few seconds later, there was gunfire from right in the middle of the Neo-Humans and then rapid gunfire as Alex unleashed everything he had on the Neo-Human army…
And a few seconds later came the cries of sudden pain and anguish, causing Delia to hold her breath and Fidget to simply stare blankly toward the Neo-Humans…Alex's voice came over the line, raspy and full of pain, "Ho-hold them off…can't b-b-b-be too many left…" Fidget cried out and started to get up but Delia held her back—Fidget would die if she started running down there—and Alex's voice came back again, this time distant, as if Alex was in a dreamy state, "General, was that missile sub is ready, put it into action; destroy the transport before X can come out and destroy the Neo-Humans from the sea…"
The General's voice came back saying, "Will do, Mr. Mann…it looks like you've saved our asses…the world couldn't repay you enough…"
Fidget looked as if she might vomit; the tears streaming down her face were tears that hadn't been spilled for a long time… "Alex," she whispered, "Alex…don't die…please, you can't, not here…"
Suddenly Alex's voice came back, clear and steady as if he was a-okay… "Fidget, I love you," and Delia heard Alex expel his last breath. Fidget could do nothing but cry…she said his name over and over again, kept mumbling 'I love you' over and over again…
But Delia, knowing she had to, left Fidget alone and continued launching grenades. It was because of her and Fidget that the Neo-Humans hadn't reached the second trench and she intended to keep it that way. Grieve now and die, or grieve all we want later.
"You're right," Fidget said, her voice surprisingly serene. Oh, thought Delia, accidentally said it out loud.
Suddenly there was a huge bright light and Dr. X's voice could be heard in the headsets, "So you all have been very brave, and even had one renegade soldier that destroyed my second in command…you have proved a worthy enemy, but now, I'm afraid to see, it's time for you to be defeated."
The sound of hydraulics pushing something huge up could be heard over the battle and Delia could see something coming out of the top of the transport. As she pulled out her binoculars, she heard the General suddenly yelling, "Focus all turret firepower on the top of the transport—NOW!" Delia gasped when she saw what was happening; a huge cannon was being prepared to fire…not just any cannon. It was a cannon that wasn't supposed to exist, only a rumor among the wastelands…
It was called an Apoc Ion, short for Apocalyptic Ion Gun; its shots were forty feet wide and twenty feet long, firing what would look like a laser, but was actually nothing but ions that were so condensed that the second they touched any normal, microscopic cell that already had ions, they would flood the cell and cause it to explode. It was a painful way to die, even if it only lasted for a few seconds…and it would destroy the island in less than a few minutes… No doubt their intention was to destroy the third trench and leave it at that, so they wouldn't destroy the TFP that was somewhere on the island.
Delia threw the binoculars and kept firing grenades as fast as she could. This was a turning point and even with the turrets firing at the Apoc, they would probably lose the battle; the Apoc was rumored to have armor so thick that the only way to destroy it was to send something like turret fire or grenade down the barrel of the cannon…and the volatile object had to be big, otherwise it wouldn't make any difference. A normal grenade wouldn't work…
The battle was hopeless. They had lost; in probably one or two minutes the Apoc would fire and destroy the third trench, obliterating half of the men they had. And if the rumors were right, it would only take a minute for it to be ready to fire again…
It was over.
Delia and Fidget kept firing but Delia knew it was hopeless…knew that nothing was going to work and that island was lost… And if the TFP couldn't be safely destroyed, the world might be lost…
Suddenly there was a huge explosion that rocked the island, causing everyone that was standing up to fall down or stumble from losing his or her balance. Delia wanted cry out in pain for her friends, the ones that were had just died but when she looked up, she saw that the third trench hadn't lost any men at all. Confused, she looked up at the transport and the Apoc, only to find that the Apoc was destroyed, a huge fire where it once had been.
The Neo-Humans stopped pouring from the transport and the soldiers kept firing, destroying every last one of them that was still on the shores and running up to the first trench. Delia kept firing grenades and Fidget did too, still in shock at losing Alex.
Suddenly Delia could see two bright lights appear from the ocean surface, and the two bright lights—missiles, Delia realized—hit the transport, causing another small quake on the island. "The missile sub," Delia cried out, half happy, half shocked. There's still HOPE! The missile sub kept firing until the transport exploded with a fierce shockwave that threw everyone off their feet and if they weren't already, rolling backwards from it. The transport was now in shards strung out for hundreds of yards in the sea and the shore and the island.
…And then Dr. X's voice came over the headsets, "Yes, you all have proven your valor. I commend your skills of strategy and tactics…but there's one power you can't destroy, or overkill…and that's ME!" Suddenly there was another small quake and the sounds of trees being crushed and from the woods came Dr. X, with a group of Neo-Humans that numbered fourteen. How'd they get in there, Delia thought, then realized, where's CONNOR?!?!
The Neo-Humans were lined up with the third trench and started launching explosives into the third trench, anguished cries of soldiers filling Delia's ears as she re-aimed her grenade launcher. She and Fidget fired at the same time and a few seconds later, the grenades hit, destroying the fifteen Neo-Humans and—, "What the hell was that," Fidget yelled, as if reading Delia's mind. The grenades killed off the Neo-Humans but when the explosion got close to X, it stopped at a suddenly visible, light blue wall. "He's gotta shield," Delia yelled, "And its powerful." Very powerful if it withstood that, Delia mentally added.
The missile sub fired two missiles at X and they impacted the ground behind him; he cried out as the explosion propelled him from his position—apparently his shields weren't strong enough for missiles— impelling him through the air right toward… Delia and Fidget dodged the old man as he crashed into the ground next to them. When Delia looked back, she saw Dr. X's body, old and gray-skinned, unmoving as if dead…
Delia got up and walked toward Dr. X; the silence was shocking—the battle was over and there were no sounds of gunfire, just her walking toward X. She started to bend down when he suddenly moved with unbelievable speed, grappling her throat and squeezing, asphyxiating her before she could do anything to react. "No," Delia heard Fidget cry, but it was too late. "One wrong move and I break her neck," Dr. X said calmly, and then added, "I want a boat and a guarantee of safe passage away from this island." Fidget dove at him, screaming but he grabbed her by the helmet and tossed her aside. She hit the ground hard and went unconscious.
The General's voice came through, loud and clear thanks to speakers from the main building. "Dr. X, it seems your name is, do you really think that we care about one more lost life? We could so easily overpower you and kill you. Just surrender now and drop the girl."
"HA," X replied. "If you, Mr. General, didn't care about one last life, you would have everyone in your third trench attacking me by now."
Silence…Delia was seeing spots in her eyesight and the world's colors were beginning to dim…she then saw the little red button on his suit and thought, perhaps that's the shield's generator or something… And she swiftly kicked the button; the invisible blue shield suddenly went visible and then quickly faded—Delia looked at X just in time to his head suddenly fall apart, and she fell. "Got him," came Connor's voice over the headset. Connor!
Delia fell to the ground and pulled the dead man's hand away from her neck and ran to the woods, to be embraced by Connor—as much as you could embrace in armor…
And Dr. X's corpse lay there, decapitated; the final sign the battle was finally over…