Protector of Men Ch 106

"Councillor Cochran," Columbus said with resignation, "We have to get in now." She stood in front of the communications screen stiffly; Cochran was not easily convinced of their urgency; she was not easily convinced of his authority to say otherwise.

"I'm sorry, you have to understand – we can't afford to lose any more, and the batteries are almost charged. I'd recommend you wait for ten minutes before getting within five kilometers."

"Councillor, I think you're going to want us in there as fast as possible."

"If you wait," he said, his temper rising quickly, "You'll have safer clearance!"

At this point Columbus gestured for the recently-woken Zandra to take the headset.

"Hello, Zandra," the councilor said warily. Zandra didn't smile.

"We can't stop and wait for the batteries to blow."

"Well, I'm sorry-"

"I know how to finish this – I just need access. The sooner we're back the sooner it'll end."

"You have a definite plan?"

"Yes."

"And you're on your way now?"

"We're asking for clearance," she said, looking to Columbus. The captain nodded in agreement. The councilor sighed.

"I can't guarantee anything," he said slowly, "But I'll do everything I can to get you in safely. I can't stay on with you here forever, though."

For a moment he left the screen, but he came back with a soldier.

"I'm leaving you to Private Gabe here – he's gonna open the doors for you when you're ready. We've mapped your trajectory, and you should arrive – that, is, if everything goes well out there…" he coughed, and continued. "You should arrive in no more than a half hour."

He clapped Gabe on the shoulder and left with a half-hearted smile; Gabe looked down with what seemed humility. Columbus took the headset back from Zandra and asked how Zion was doing so far. Zandra wasn't paying attention, but it didn't seem good. Columbus quietly swore as the private described what carnage Zion had endured in the past days.

It was time for another round of Alias' home remedies. Zandra was tired again; the effects of the Libertas' crash hadn't completely worn off and her head was still painful (though much lessened by Alias' pain medication) from the impact. The ship was warm and Zandra felt that she was walking in a dream. She traced the wall with her fingers as she walked.

"Ready for another one?" Alias asked, putting down a syringe. She hopped with a clunk off the table and gathered supplies for Zandra's medication. "Still feeling tired?"

"Muddy," Zandra mumbled, staring into the hallway. "How long should this last?"

"Not much longer," she answered, squirting a bit of medication from a new syringe. "We have a little bit of time, and this should help."

Zandra winced as the needle was plunged into her shoulder.

"Just come home, okay? It's safer over here."

"I dunno mom, it's just… it's hard to get outside, you know?"

"I don't want you staying there! Do you know what's been happening?"

"I know mom, I know. I'll come… it'll just take a while, okay? I gotta make sure I can get out safely and everything."

Outside he could hear the dull thud of another person falling to the ground. That was the sixth one today, and it was only getting worse. The scariest thing was, they all survived.

"Something's wrong here mom, I dunno what it is-"

"I know Will, I know. I think they'll explain things once it all slows down but for now… you just need to get home."

The ambulances didn't bother coming when someone was injured. Most people were trying to injure themselves, testing their limits, testing the world around them. It was no use going out anymore – their injuries (if any,) were minimal, and didn't necessitate any assistance. Plus, everyone was on their own… for the moment. Something was wrong, and everyone was suddenly alone in the struggle to find out what exactly was real, and what wasn't.

William had never been possessed, but he had seen it happen to others. He had watched (was it only two hours ago?) as his secretary, Mauve, changed into another person. She was presenting a fax to him and fell into convulsions – but before Will could call for help, he was standing in front of a man in a suit. And before Will could speak a word of disbelief, the agent had broken open the door and left. But that wasn't the only time; there had been many others both before and since.

Someone had disappeared; someone actually vanished in front of his eyes while he walked the few blocks back to his apartment. The man looked to the sky, screamed, and was wiped out of existence. Will stopped cold, questioned his own judgement, and hurried home. He locked the door several times before he was somewhat confident of his security. He sat down and picked up the phone to call his sister and remembered belatedly that she was permanently unavailable.

It had been a hard three months since her disappearance. Had it really been only three months? For everyone that knew her it felt like an eternity. She would have known what to do in a situation like this, wouldn't she? Hell, she probably would have been out there with the rest jumping around and trying to kill themselves.

They said she was a terrorist, but even William could see through their propaganda. Alex couldn't have been a terrorist. She might have been curious, but that was all. Curiosity was one of her biggest assets. It couldn't have killed her.

William put down the phone with a click, ironically still so close to contacting her.

He started as his television came to life at a crashing volume; after a few seconds of green the screeching noise went down a few decibels to a more acceptable level. Will recoiled, and moved to watch the renegade television from a more secure spot. He crouched behind his chair and watched.

"This is an emergency news alert," the screen blasted, a woman's face faintly coming into view, "From CNN.

"The UN has declared a state of emergency in all civilized nations. Please take cover in a building until further notice. Your state government has sanctioned the release of all State Troops in the hopes of restoring order to the country. This message has been sent to you via your local government. The UN advises all populations not to panic. With your cooperation, order will be restored swiftly and thoroughly."

The screen faded to gray, but stayed on. Will slumped against his chair, and that was when his mother called.

A/N – whoooh. Okay maybe three chapters left NOW. I'm not sure. Only 18 days of school till I graduate! WOOHOO

Aqua_phoenix – aw, thanks. Well, it's nice to know that people are keeping up; I was starting to worry that everyone had just left. But now I have 9 people that favorited me instead of 7! So I guess I was wrong…

Alocin – I know how you feel about not sitting around the website in a while… I totally stopped going to this one fanfic website bc of school and I feel really bad about abandoning them :(

Kal – a reading leprechaun? Iiinteresting….. :p