Fatal Cross Part 6

15th July, 19.13

Unknown location in Echo City

Ben awoke to the dull flickering of a neon light on his face. He opened his eyes wearily and looked around. He had been picked up and carried to a Motel, and now lay on a dusty bed, a thin blanket covering him. Then a thought hit him.

"Where's Amy?!" He sat up slightly and looked around. Lying on a nearby sofa, was Amy. Her head was propped up on a cushion and her legs covered with a blanket. As he got up slowly, Ben numbly felt his arm. The cut on his upper arm had been bandaged, the white material that covered the wound had large, red bloodstains on them. Slowly rubbing his eyes, Ben swung his legs over the edge of the bed and felt them land on something soft. He lifted them up quickly and looked over the side of the bed. Lying on the floor asleep under a quilt was Nikki. Her head was covered in cold sweat and her bulletproof vest had rips in, revealing the Kevlar metal beneath it. Ben stepped over her and knelt down beside her. He lowered his hand and gently shook her on the shoulder.

"Nikki, wake up," Ben said gently. Nikki mumbled slightly under her breath. Ben laughed quietly and swept a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. As Ben took his hands away, Nikkis' eyes leapt open, and her hand darted for her gun. She raised it quickly to Ben's temple and looked into his eyes.

"Whoa, easy Nikki, it's me, Ben," He said calmly. Nikki's eyes opened wider as she lowered the gun.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry captain!" She said panickly.

"Don't worry about it," Ben started. "What are you doing here? And where's the rest of the team?"

"Well, Hawk's here with me, and I don't know where the others are, we split up to cover more ground, and I haven't made contact with them since so," Nikki replied, hanging her head slightly. Ben put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, the situation is beyond what any of us could have expected,"

"Even you captain? I mean, you've fought these creatures before haven't you, so surely you knew what we'd be up against?" Nikki questioned. Ben sighed.

"Yeah, I've fought those things before, but that makes no difference. No matter how much you prepare yourself, you'll never be ready for a nightmare like this. Training can't prepare you for what you're gonna see before this ends," Ben replied. Nikki lowered her head and looked at her gun.

"I know, it's incomprehensible. I mean, both you and Amy went down out there, anything could have happened to you if me and Jason hadn't found you..." Nikki trailed off as Amy yawned. She sat up slowly and looked at Ben and Nikki.

"Nikki, what are you doing here?" She asked, rising to her feet groggily and walking over. Nikki smiled and hugged her.

"Well, the team split up, and me and Jase ended up near the police station, or at least what's left of the police station..." Nikki started. As she talked, the door to the room opened slowly and Jason walked slowly into the room.

"Captain, your okay!" he said. He walked slowly over to him and the two of them locked hands gruffly.

"Naturally," Ben started. "It would seem that this mission is full of surprises,"

"What do you mean?" Nikki asked.

"Well, first of all let me fill you in on what's happened," Ben began, lowering his hand to a pocket in his vest. He carefully pulled out Claire's letter and handed it to Nikki. "Claire is still alive, I've seen her,"

"What?! Jason started.

"It's true," Amy cut in. "She spent the night on the sofa with Ben, but left to follow a lead during the night." Nikki gave a quiet laugh.

"Yeah, I know, 'Just like old times', right?" Ben cut in.

"How did you know that I was gonna say that?!" Nikki Exclaimed.

"Because everyone I've told about me and Claire sleeping on the sofa has said that, so..." Ben trailed off.

"Then what's Claire doing here, of all places?" Jason questioned.

"She said that she came here looking for us. She got to the HQ and found it empty, so she traced the mission and ended up her," Ben replied.

"Wow, she must have been through a lot," Jason continued.

"Yeah, she looked an absolute state. I'm guessing that after Couwenbatos she got out and came looking for us. She's still wearing her old uniform, minus the armour as you can see," Ben told them as he tapped the metal vest on his chest.

"I guess she's been too busy looking for you to worry about her looks," Jason put in. Ben sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. But I'm still confused, how did she survive?" Ben questioned.

"Are you meaning to say you wish she hadn't survived now?" Nikki asked, her voice rising slightly.

"Of course not!! How dare you make that assumption!" Ben shouted back. Nikki jumped back a step, her eyes filling with tears slowly as she looked at him.

"I'm... I'm sorry," Nikki mumbled before running out the room into the corridor. Ben cursed under his breath. He reached over to the bedside table and picked up his Desert Eagle.

"Wait here, I'm gonna go see if Nikki's okay, and I owe her an apology,"

"Okay, if you need any help, just give us a call," Jason said. Ben nodded and walked out into the corridor and took a deep breath. He stopped and listened carefully, and heard the soft sound of Nikki crying. He stepped to his left, checking that his Desert Eagle was loaded. He approached a turn and peered cautiously around the corner and saw Nikki on her knees, her back resting against the wall. Then he heard footsteps. Heavy, deliberate footsteps, and the frame of an 8ft creature stepped briefly into the light, and Ben recognised it. The creature had its small, red eyes fixed on Nikki, her small frame shifting slightly as she wept. The monster took another step towards her and came into arms length of the girl.

"NIKKI!!! MOVE!!" Ben shouted as he rounded the corner, his Desert Eagle pointed at the monstrosity that stood behind her. She looked up at him, tears rolling freely down her cheeks. The creature raised one of its great fists and prepared to swing it at Nikki. Ben ran forward, firing a round at the monsters balled hand, the bullet ripping into its flesh and spraying blood onto the floor. It pulled its head back and let out a deafening roar at the pain. Nikki stumbled backwards and crawled on her knees to Ben, her eyes filled with an unspeakable fear.

"Nikki, get back and tell the others, GO NOW!!" He ordered. She nodded her head, scrambled to her feet and ran down the corridor. Ben turned back to the creature as it began to advance towards him, its fist dripping blood unevenly onto the floor. Ben span the Desert Eagle on his finger and stepped backwards slightly.

"Ben!!" Jason shouted as he ran up to him.

"Hold your fire until I say so!" Ben shouted back. Jason nodded, and Ben ran at the creature. It raised its fist and swung it down at him. Ben slipped to the side and the creature swung sideways at him. Ben jumped and kicked off the wall, flipping over the creature and emptying the clip into its head. He landed on the floor behind the monster and ejected the empty clip, allowing it to clatter to the floor. The creature swayed on the spot slightly before falling face first onto the floor, a large pool of blood forming around its head. Jason, Nikki and Amy walked into view, stepping over the fallen monster, each one with a look of disgust on their faces.

"Ben, how did you do that?" Jason asked.

"Do what?" Ben replied, slipping the new clip into his gun.

"That somersault thing over that creatures head?" Jason continued.

"I'd like to know that as well," Nikki added.

"I dunno, I just did it, I suppose," Ben replied as he turned to face the group.

"Well at least that thing won't be getting up in a hurry," Amy said, with a clear note of disgust in her voice.

"Yeah. Jase, you said that you've been to the police station, right? What kind of condition is it in?" Ben continued.

"It was completely demolished, from the foundations up," Jason replied.

"What?! But how?" Amy put in.

"I have no idea. I'm guessing someone blew it up to stop someone finding something..." Jason said.

"But who and why?" Nikki asked.

"That can be anyone's guess, but right now I'm more worried about finding the power station so I can catch up with Claire," Ben finished.

"Okay. Well I managed to find a map, if that's of any use," Nikki added as she reached into her pocket.

"You did? That's brilliant news!" Ben started. "And I'm really sorry I yelled at you earlier, I don't know what came over me..." Ben apologised.

"It's okay, it's my fault for assuming what I did," Nikki replied.

"So we forgive each other?" Ben asked

"Yeah, we do," Nikki said as she nodded her head. Ben smiled and pulled Nikki into a rough embrace.

"Right now it's too risky to fall out with any team members, it could prove fatal," Ben replied quietly.

"Ben, why would Claire want to go to the power station in the first place?" Jason questioned.

"There's only one way to find out the answer to that," Ben started as he released Nikki from his embrace. "And that is to go there..."

"Yeah, we can look for the others on the way as well," Amy added. Nikki nodded.

"And we can use it as a rendezvous point if we can radio everyone and tell them where it is," she said

"Then what are we waiting for?" Jason questioned as he turned and walked back to their room. Ben and the others followed him, stepping through the door one at a time, and shutting the door behind them. Jason walked to the end of the bed and opened a small chest that lay there. He picked up the two MP5s and threw them to Ben and Amy.

"Here, these are yours," Jason said as they caught the weapons. As he finished Nikki walked over to the wardrobe that was set into the wall near the door. She reached in and pulled out Amy's' Sporter rifle and Bens' STORM rifle. She reached out and handed the weapons to each of them.

"Thanks," Ben started. "But where's my bag?"

"Here," Amy said as she picked up the small black backpack from beside the bed and handed it to him.

"Thanks," He replied as he threw the bag onto his shoulders, the metal clips rattling against each other as the fabric hit his back. "Nikki, where is the power station from here?" He continued as he slid his STORM rifle into his backpack.

"Umm, it's near 1st park, somewhere to the east of here," the woman replied as she pulled the map open and looked down at it.

"Right, it looks like that's our current destination. If we can get there, we can then navigate our way to the power station. The only thing I'm worried about is that there will probably be a lot of zombies there," Ben said as he holstered his Desert Eagle and raised his MP5.

"Lets get going, we can find that out when we get there," Jason finished as he slipped his SR-16 off of his shoulder. Ben nodded and walked to the door and gently pulled it open, the hinges creaking slightly as he stepped out into the hallway. As he looked from side to side, he stopped, his gaze fixed on the large, forbidding frame of the Tyrant.

"Shit!" Ben exclaimed as he ducked back into the room quickly and slammed the door. He turned and walked over to the window and looked out into the street below.

"What is it Ben?" Amy asked quickly as she watched her captain open the window.

"That thing's still alive, you guys are gonna have to jump out the here" Ben said as he motioned to the open window. Nikki shook her head slowly.

"Are you serious?!" She exclaimed quickly. Ben nodded.

"Yes I am, and you've got to go now! Jase, chuck me some T-5," He ordered. Jason pulled a pouch off of his belt and threw it to his captain before he stepped over to the window.

"Come on guys, lets get moving," Jason said as he stepped out onto the windowsill and looked down.

"Hurry," Ben said quickly as the monsters steps became audible, the slow thumping noise reverberating through the hallway. See you at 1st park," Jason said as he jumped out of the window, his body disappearing from view.

"You two go," Ben said firmly as he stared at the door, his eyes transfixed on the wood in front of him.

"What are you going to do Ben?" Amy asked. Ben didn't turn to answer her.

"You'll see in a minute, just get out of that window, I'll meet you at the park," Ben said firmly. Amy nodded and walked to the window,

"Take care. We'll meet you at the park," She finished as she jumped out of the window. Nikki stared at the back of Bens' head briefly before she walked over to the window.

"I'll see you at the park captain," She said simply before she jumped out of the window and disappeared from view. Ben took a deep breath and blew it out slowly before he turned and shut the window quickly, and turned around as the monster smashed through the door, the wood splintering under the force.

"Hello," Ben said sarcastically. The creature stared at him with its small, red eyes.

"You forgot to knock!" Ben shouted as he threw the wad of explosives at the Tyrant he raised his MP5 and aimed at the bomb, and squeezed the trigger, the bullets hitting the pouch, and triggering the explosives. Ben twisted on his foot, and leapt out of the window head first as the bomb detonated behind him.