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I have decided that I *will* finish this story, even if it claims my life…
Heh heh. Little melodramatic huh?
As they say in…well a lot of things, "The show must go on!"
Here's the magical key to weird symbol thingies for people like me who keep forgetting these kinds of things:
** = telepathy
~~ = thought
^ Look! It's an alien face!
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What may have been days or even hours dragged on like years. Existence was an unending eternity of minutes; to him it had no beginning and though he knew the greatest finality of them all lay before him, it seemed as if it would have no end.
The world swam in front of his eyes. It was strange to him; silhouettes of people drifted in and out of his vision, voices came and went, but one feeling remained with him always. Fear. It was an inescapable fear, wholly consuming. What scared him the most were the ethereal movements of the human ghosts, always speaking to and of him, but never caring. He felt very alone.
"It's delirious."
Arianna McKenzie nodded in heedless affirmation. Unlike her fellows she had ceased to see a test subject, an 'it'. The creature that huddled forlornly beyond the glass of his holding room was a child. And he was suffering.
"Arianna?"
She started at the mention of her name. "Yes Dr. Ralthier?"
"Do you have anything to add to the proceedings?"
Dr. McKenzie looked put out then spoke in a very professional voice. "His temperature spiked an hour ago. It now stands at 102 degrees. The disease has obviously begun to progress beyond incubation."
"Excellent. We shall move the subject into the Chamber." He rubbed his hands together. The cheery tone of his voice made Arianna want to vomit.
She hung behind as the rest of the observers moved away, discussing the subject's vital signs.
~God damn ****'ing hypocrite. ~ She glared at the receding back of Dr. Ralthier. Just yesterday he'd flipped over a tiny spill of Pathogen 237 and now he was reviewing its advancement in the body of a host as if he were a child watching a playground being erected across the street. Suddenly she found herself loathing that man. It was contrary to all she'd been taught, but she could not hold back the overwhelming pity in her heart.
~He's only a child for Christ's sake. ~
She glanced at the latest printout of his vitals. Blood pressure, up. Breathing, heavy. Heart rate, increasing. Something inside of her was screaming. How could they do this? How could SHE do this? It all felt very, very wrong.
She turned to face the cold glass and pressed a hand against it. He was curled into a tight little ball in the far corner, clad only in the blanket wrapped around him, his only source of comfort. Arianna was almost glad that his head was buried beneath its folds. The boy had looked up at her earlier that morning. She could not forget his eyes, hollow, devoid of the sparkle of life or thought. They were the eyes of the dead. It was all she could do now to force back a sob.
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"Do you even know where we're going?"
Logan halted and shot Rogue a patronizing smile. "Course I know. Dart says it all." He held out the tranquilizer dart as proof.
"Uh. It don't look like it says anythin' to me."
"That's cause you don't know how to look, kid." He turned it over carefully with his finger. "See this serial number here? It matches the number on the top of that vial. Either someone borrowed a specially made mutant tranquilizer dart to hunt deer or whoever shot this thing was working for the lab the vial was headed to."
Rogue rolled her eyes.
"And the first 'un don't seem too likely since this dart has the elf's blood and the stink of a laboratory all over it."
"Elf?"
The older man smirked, "He's got pointy ears don't 'e?"
"Your logic is impeccable," Rogue replied sarcastically, "Now can we get on with it?" She motioned down the path that was leading them into town.
"Yeah. I get the feeling we don't got a lot of time left." He pulled on his mask in the darkness. "Better get ready squirt. We'll be there before dawn."
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Oh the suspense! Just to let you know, I probably won't be posting tomorrow but I might the next day.
Review! It makes me write faster! Honest!