Fear Effect: Retribution
A Fear Effect fanfic
By Kristin Renee
Taylor
Epilogue -
Rain beat on the window, a soft, constant background hiss that, earlier, would've made Hana think of snakes, tangles of snakes, constantly moving, constantly hissing. In the distance, lighting flashed once, twice, and then all was dark once more. There was no thunder.
Rain was asleep.
The hospital room had only one bed, of which she was the sole occupant. A small light above the bed provided the only illumination, a warm, yellow glow. She was dressed in a hospital gown, and the bandages covering the right side of her body could be seen beyond the neckline. Her left leg was similarly swaddled.
She had been, the doctor had said, lucky. Extremely lucky. If either of the two bullets had been even a centimeter higher, they would have gone through major blood vessels, certainly killing her. As it was, she had lost a lot of blood, but the injuries were nothing that a blood transfusion, minor surgery, and rest, lots of rest, couldn't fix.
Hana briefly debated telling the doctor that, where Rain was concerned, luck often had nothing to do with anything, but, as she wasn't quite certain herself, she decided not to.
The door to the hospital room opened, and Hana's knight in black armor came in.
"You look like shit," Glas said, shutting the door behind him.
"I heard you the first time," Hana said. Her voice was raspy, her throat felt bruised and raw. She had refused treatment for it.
"And I'll say it again: you look like shit."
"Thanks, Glas. You really know how to flatter a girl."
Glas gave her that slightly self-reproaching half-smile. "I try." He sobered a little. "Mind telling me what the heck happened to you guys?"
Fortunately for Hana and Rain (especially Rain), Glas had answered his cellphone and had arrived at the "Moonlight Garden" in full helicopter splendor. Unfortunately for the mercenaries, Glas had been in a less than friendly mood. The gunfight between the hired guns and the ex-commando had been intense and brief.
Inside, he had taken a good look at the two women and the body on the floor, made the first of three unflattering comments about their condition, and had carted their tails to the nearest Triad-sponsored hospital.
That had been three hours ago. Rain slept now, in deep drug and exhaustion-induced stupor. Hana sat beside her, nearly as exhausted, but refusing to give in to her own needs until she absolutely certain that Rain would be all right. The safety rail had been lowered, Hana's fingers were intertwined with Rain's.
After Glas' question, Hana was silent, and the only sound in the room was the soft, steady hiss of rain and the deep, steady breathing of Rain.
Hana gestured to the only other chair with her free hand. "Sit down, this is going to take a while."
They were homeless, carless, injured, and emotionally wounded. But, they were alive. And Andrew McNorton definitely was not.
It wasn't the best ending she had experienced, but it was an ending she could live with.
FIN.
Author's Note:
Not the warmest, most family-friendly thing I've ever written, that's for sure. :) This is my first dark(er) fic, and I hope it doesn't suck.
Andrew McNorton went through three different phases before he became the way he was. First, he was a zombie. Then he was a cyborg. Then he was neither of them. I'm glad I stuck with the non-zombie/cyborg version.
This story is set after the games.
Influences are, once again, Dean Koontz (especially The Face and Dark Rivers of the Heart), a lot of random video game music (Poets of the Fall and Parasite Eve mostly), and, oddly enough, Valentine's Day.
Hana, Rain, Glas, and everything Fear Effect are owned by... er... well, they were created by Stan Liu. Andrew McNorton is the intellectual property of Kristin Renee Taylor and, to my knowledge, wasn't ripped off somewhere else. This story is copyright 2004. Plagiarism sucks.
This Has Been a Production of Blueberry Enterprises.
Have I mentioned my dislike of Eidos?