Part 18: Two Hearts Within
Shining red destruction rained from the skies, plowing into the Earth with enough force to shatter the pavement, sending thick plumes of dirt and debris flying hundreds of feet into the air. It was impossible to see through the obscuring cloud, only the light of the crimson rays cut through smoke. The pieces of the Ear Bleeder and the Leviathan littered the ground, the first targets of the massive alien warship that had stepped in to take care of them where the scouts had failed.
Mandy charged through the smoke, crawling through the debris of buildings and the street itself. "Clover! Where the Hell did you go!?" She shouted worriedly through the smoke. She could hear the lasers punching through the ground just behind her, so she leapt over a pile of rubble and ran as fast as she could in the other direction.
She stopped suddenly, smelling something strange. It was like nothing she remembered smelling before... but somehow it was alluring. It smelled sweet, as though someone had taken the most pleasant scents on Earth and combined them into one magnificent fragrance. "What is that... smell...?" She sniffed around the air, ignoring the dirt and smoke as she followed the wonderful scent.
The sounds faded behind her somewhat as she moved through the blasted and destroyed city, even though her visibility was cut almost to zero by the thick smoke. Finally she climbed to the top of a pile of debris and caught sight of Clover on her knees with a pained look on her face. "Clover!" Mandy slid down the other side of the debris.
"Zeninia." A voice said from behind Clover. Mandy gasped and put her fists up as the smoke behind Clover began to clear, revealing a handsome man with jet black hair and rippling muscles. The fingers of his right hand were embedded in Clover's shoulder. "It's so good to see you again... we had no clue what happened to you after the accident."
"What the Hell are you talking about?" Mandy asked, forgetting about the wonderful smell. "Who are you? You know what... I don't care. Just let Clover go." The man who held Clover looked genuinely surprised, his eyes going wide.
"You don't remember..." He muttered worriedly. "That's... troubling. Something must've interrupted the genetic and memory alteration procedure..." He trailed off, though he never took his eyes off of her.
"I'm not even going to count. Let her go, or I'll kill you. It's that simple." Mandy demanded. The man smirked and shoved his hand deeper into Clover's shoulder, drawing a strangled cry of pain out of the blonde woman.
"It doesn't really matter if I let her go or not... she's as good as dead." The man replied. "You shouldn't care about her anyway Zeninia. You aren't like her... you must remember something. Try to remember."
"Shut up!" Mandy lunged forward, bringing one of her fists up behind her head. The man shoved Clover aside and moved to grab her fist, but her punch went straight through his hand and slammed into his face, knocking him back against one of the bigger piles of debris. The man shook his head, stunned and confused as Mandy stood over him with her fists clenched.
"Such strength... Zeninia, what happened to you?" He asked in awe.
"Stop calling me that!" Mandy punched downward, but her target rolled out of the way at the last moment. She cracked a cement block in half, then whirled to chase him through the dust-covered battlefield. "Get back here, Zardexian murderer!" Mandy leapt through the air and landed on his back, punching him in the back of the neck.
The man collapsed to the ground, then quickly climbed to his feet again only to be grabbed and hurled against another pile of debris by Mandy. Mandy charged up to him and punched him in the face, straddling his waist and bringing down a hailstorm of strikes. The man tried to defend himself, but she easily knocked his arms aside and continued her pummeling.
"Zeninia, STOP!" Suddenly she was no longer on top of a human man, but a giant ball of flesh, surrounded by writhing tentacles. They wrapped around her arms and waist, hefting her up into the air. Mandy struggled and almost broke free, but the Zardexian hurled her to the side so hard that her body was embedded in a pile of broken cement shards.
"Urgh..." Mandy grunted and pushed herself up slightly, ready to fight off this menace, but the Zardexian didn't attack her.
To her surprise, the Zardexian spoke in a language she could understand, but wasn't English. "I don't know what happened to you, my love. But I will bring you back... I swear it." Mandy stared at it until it turned to roll away through the mist, vanishing within seconds. She raven-haired woman climbed to her feet, shaking from pain and confusion. Why would it call her 'my love'?
Her eyes widened when she noticed the sweet smell again. "Clover!" She whirled and ran back toward the smell, eventually finding Clover lying on the ground facedown, shivering in pain. "Clover... are you okay?" Mandy knelt down beside her and put her hands on her waist to help her rise to her hands and knees. Mandy slipped her camouflage jacket off, wrapping it up to use as a bandage.
"I've... been better..." Clover replied painfully. Mandy helped her sit up so she could press the jacket against her shoulder to stifle the flow of blood. "Thanks for getting rid of that... thing." Clover muttered. "I'm not sure how you found me."
"Well, it helped that you're wearing a new perfume. I love it." Mandy replied. Clover blinked and looked over at her.
"What perfume?" She asked.
"I don't know what it is, but it was like I couldn't stay away." Mandy told her. Clover blinked and craned her neck to look at her shoulder, then closed her eyes and lowered her head to her chest. "What's wrong Clover?"
"Nothing..." Clover pushed herself up to her feet dizzily. Mandy stood up with her. "We've got to find Sam and get out of here, there's no way we can fight back like this." She stated. Mandy nodded and looked around.
"I don't see how we can find anything around here." Mandy commented. The sounds of battle had faded, but the dirt and smoke cover was still hovering in the air, and would for a while.
"Come on, I was with the others when the attack started. They were heading this way." Clover grabbed her hand and marched through the thick smoke purposefully. Mandy followed after her, watching her worriedly. Clover's face was a cold mask, but she could see in the blonde woman's eyes that something was seriously wrong.
They marched through the thick dust. It was almost like they were lost in their own little bubble world, with reality taking place somewhere apart from them outside the bubble. Even the sunlight didn't make it through the voluminous smoke, and Mandy couldn't see any sign of the massive Zardexian warship that had begun this assault.
Finally the large command center loomed out of the smoke in front of them, though the door was slightly ajar. Clover and Mandy exchanged a glance before creeping up to the building and pushing the door open. The main control center was empty, save for a few puddles of blood scattered around the floor in random places.
"No... Sammy..." Clover stumbled up to one of the blood puddles and dropped to her knees. "They... they must've eaten her..." She lowered her head as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "I thought I would be able to lean on you no matter what happened..."
"Who says you can't?" A voice replied from a nearby hallway. Mandy and Clover both whirled to see Sam leaning against the wall with her hand draped over her stomach. Alison was standing behind her, holding a small wound on her bicep. Mandy was surprised to realize that both Sam and Alison smelled just like Clover, the same sweet, attractive scent.
"Sam! You're alive!" Clover rushed over to her and wrapped her arms around her tightly. "How did you survive!?"
"I don't know... one of the Zardexians was coming after us when it just suddenly left." Sam replied. "It had us cornered and everything. I don't know what happened." She said. Mandy remained silent. She believed she knew generally why the Zardexians had called off their attack so suddenly... but all over her? It didn't make sense. Was she someone important to them?
"Well whatever, as long as they're gone we can get out of here and go hide somewhere... under the ocean." Clover gave her redheaded friend a meaningful glance. Sam gulped and nodded with a sad smile.
"Under the ocean?" Mandy asked. The other three women looked at her, but Sam and Clover lowered their gazes to the floor.
"How can you know so little about the Zardexians?" Alison smirked. "Once they break your skin with their tentacles, you're infected with a toxin that causes your body to emit special pheromones they can sense... and slowly spreads sedatives through the body until it stops the body completely." She said. Mandy blinked in surprise... the smell coming from Sam and Clover. It must've been from this toxin...
"So... you two are going to die..." Mandy said.
"Yes, they are." Alison said coldly. Mandy glared at the purple-haired woman darkly, but Sam and Clover remained silent for a few moments.
"Where's Pam?" Clover broke the silence finally.
"We don't know, she said something about going for the Faustium cache they brought in, but the attack happened so quickly I'm not sure if she made it." Sam replied. Mandy blinked. They had Faustium here in this base? That was the stuff that had killed Mandy before... what good was it too blow up all the Zardexians if they blew themselves up in the process?
"I'm going to find her." Alison turned toward the door and marched toward it, but Sam rushed after her.
"Hold on, we should stay put. There could still be Zardexians out there somewhere." Sam pointed out.
"I'm not leaving the General out there alone." Alison shot back coolly.
"We'll all go." Clover walked up behind Sam and put a hand on her shoulder. "I think we'll be safe enough..." She jerked her head back at Mandy. The brunette smirked, but didn't say anything. She didn't really like the idea of being a bodyguard, but she wasn't going to let Clover wander around alone, and she would fight to protect her.
"Just stay out of my way." Alison turned to head outside, followed by the other three women. The dust was finally beginning to clear, giving them a view of the surrounding city. Few buildings were still standing, and the pavement itself was torn apart. People and blood spots littered the streets as far as they could see. Some of those people were moving, giving the impression that the Zardexians had left survivors for once.
But the sweet, alluring smell assaulted Mandy's senses from every side. The entire city was teeming with it, to the point where she had to suppress a gag reflex as she followed the three other women through the city toward the armory. Even scarier though, was that her stomach growled softly at the smell... it reminded her of food.
They reached the armory and pushed the doors open, heading inside. The room was torn apart more than any other they'd seen that hadn't been destroyed from the outside. The weapons were strewn about, and the solid steel shelves were bent in upon themselves into shapeless masses. The walls and floors had punctures in them, and in the center of the room lay the General of the WOOHP army, sprawled out across the floor.
"General!" Alison ran forward and knelt down beside her, putting one hand in front of her mouth to feel for breath. Sam, Clover and Mandy approached as the woman opened her eyes, looking up at them. Her body was riddled with holes, and the sweet scent was emanating out of every pore in her body. Enough toxin must have been pumped into her to bring her down within minutes.
"Madison..." General Reynolds muttered softly, staring up at the purple-haired woman. Mandy didn't recognize the name, but Sam and Clover got startled looks in their eyes. "I didn't make it in time... they took the Faustium..."
"Relax..." Madison told her softly. "It doesn't matter, we'll regroup and launch a counterattack." She promised with a slight smile on her face. "We'll show those alien bastards who runs this part of the universe..."
"At the moment..." Pam smirked. "They do..." She chuckled humorlessly and shook her head, looking up at the ceiling.
"Hold on..." Madison grabbed her hand gently.
"Madison... promise me something..." Pam looked up at her solemnly. "After I die... stop hiding from yourself." Madison blinked the tears of her eyes furiously. "You are Madison McAllister..."
"The daughter of the greatest psycho in the history of Earth..." Madison muttered.
"The woman whose image can help unite this planet like I couldn't." Pam told her softly. Madison shook her head, reaching up to wipe her tears away furiously.
Madison spoke in a venomous tone. "No, you united everyone so far. I'm just a reminder of the most evil-"
Pam cut her off. "YOU can be the symbol of what the world once had..." She told her. "I may have made you my second in command... but you are the only remnant of the governments that were in power before all this started... everyone else has been slaughtered." She reached up and put one hand on Madison's cheek tenderly. "Bring everyone else in... who refuses to fight. I'm sure... they'll follow you. They have to."
"General... Pam... I'm no leader." Madison complained.
"Please try." Pam told her. "Hell... what have we got to lose...?" Pam asked softly. Madison wiped more tears out of her eyes, and slowly nodded.
"Okay... I promise..." Madison said softly.
"Thank you..." Pam gave her a tender smile before her eyes began to close. "In life... or in death... let the world stand as one..." Her eyes closed completely and her breath became shallower. Mandy noticed a significant wane in the smell of the Zardexian toxin... she couldn't smell it coming from Pam's body. Madison gripped the cold woman's hand tightly and laid her forehead against her chest, squeezing her eyes closed against the tears.
Clover and Sam both lowered their heads and closed their eyes out of respect, but Mandy was too preoccupied to notice. The Zardexians had them in the corner... they could have wiped them all out if they'd stayed just thirty minutes more. Was the entire attack designed to get to Mandy? And what would they possibly want with the Faustium? They had no idea if it would work on alien organisms, and if the humans used it they would be killing themselves, making it easier on the Zardexians.
"We'll give her a proper burial today... but we don't have time for a long service." Sam stated softly when she opened her eyes again. Madison nodded slowly and moved away from the body. Sam and Clover set about looking for blankets, a tarp, anything to wrap the body in. Mandy stayed where she was, watching until Madison looked up at her with a piercing, tear-filled gaze.
"Did you have something to do with this?" She demanded sharply. Mandy wasn't really surprised, so she just shook her head.
"Of course not... I don't want to see anybody die." Mandy replied. She walked up to Madison and put one firm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry..." Madison stared up at her searchingly... then nodded and looked down at Pam again. "You knew what I am... why didn't you turn me in...?" Mandy asked curiously. Madison sounded distracted when she answered.
"I didn't know for sure until I saw you without your Earplugs in the battle when the Ear Bleeder was activated... but all you did was protect Sam and Clover." Madison replied. "I figured if you were going to betray us, it would've been right then, when you could've turned your gun on the Ear Bleeder and destroyed it before escaping with your comrades."
Mandy nodded and watched as Sam and Clover carefully wrapped a thin blanket around Pam's body, making sure it was nice and tight before they stood up. Madison climbed to her feet, and both she and Mandy followed the two WOOHP agents outside into one of the fields. The sweet scent of toxin still hung in the air as the survivors began to regroup, finding each other and forming small groups.
Mandy and Clover each took a shovel and quickly dug a small three foot deep grave, just big enough around to fit the body into without having to bend it out of shape. By the time they finished, the sun was halfway gone past the horizon. They climbed out of the grave, and Sam and Madison gently climbed in with the body, setting it on the soft soil and climbing back out again. They all turned toward the grave solemnly.
"Do you want to say something Madison?" Sam asked. Mandy looked behind her to see that the surviving soldiers had begun to gather behind them, searching for a place to go rather than just wandering aimlessly through the landscape. Every one of them had a puncture wound on their body, and every one of them had the same sweet scent.
Madison noticed them too, and turned to look out across the soldiers. "Yes... my name is Madison McAllister..." She stated. A few gasps escaped those who were old enough to remember who she was. Others just looked confused. "General Reynolds charged me with the job of uniting everyone... everyone on Earth. It's been said... that that is an impossible task." She nodded and clenched her lips in a determined line. "But I'm going to do it anyway... and whether we ultimately win or lose against the Zardexians... at least we'll do it as one." She turned back to the grave and looked down at the blanket-wrapped body.
"Thanks to you, Pam..." She said softly. She nodded over at Mandy and Clover, both of whom picked up their shovels and started filling in the grave. Madison turned back to the gathered crowd and raised her arms over her head. "My father was the man who let all of this begin in the first place... but as long as I draw breath, I swear right now that where it began with him, it will end with me one way or another. We won't fight forever. But we WILL fight as one!"
She looked back as Clover and Mandy finished filling in the grave, now just a mound of dirt in the Earth. Madison picked up a nearby chunk of steel and walked around the grave to kneel down at the head. She jammed the steel into the Earth and took a sharp combat knife out of its holster, carving the words 'The woman who fought for us all. R.I.P. General Pamela Reynolds' on the front. The troops seemed emboldened by this display, their faces shining with grim determination.
Madison stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes in an almost businesslike manner as she marched to the foot of the grave again, looking out across the troops with the edge of the setting sun at her back. "Let both the mistakes and the heroism of those who came before guide us now... as we finally bring these damned wars to a close one way or another!" She pumped her fist into the air.
The soldiers in front of her pumped their fists into the air with shouts of determination. Mandy looked around, not feeling half as good as they were. The toxin was flowing inside each and every person present except for her. And it looked like the entire Zardexian fleet had arrived... there wouldn't be that many humans left by now, even those who refused to fight scattered throughout the cities.
"This is all useless..." Mandy commented aside to Clover.
"I know." Clover replied, though she had her arm up along with everyone else's. "But there's not a whole Hell of a lot we can do but fight. Even hiding isn't an option now." She stated. Mandy growled and nodded, her expression becoming clouded. That damned toxin... it would be the death of them all somehow, through the debilitating effects or luring the Zardexians to them. But she guessed it was better to let the troops hope and fight. To die on their feet rather than crumpled up on the ground whimpering like dogs.
"So let's go..." Madison said in a cold, hard voice. "Let's go find any brothers we have that remain out there... and make our stand."
TO BE CONTINUED
Shining red destruction rained from the skies, plowing into the Earth with enough force to shatter the pavement, sending thick plumes of dirt and debris flying hundreds of feet into the air. It was impossible to see through the obscuring cloud, only the light of the crimson rays cut through smoke. The pieces of the Ear Bleeder and the Leviathan littered the ground, the first targets of the massive alien warship that had stepped in to take care of them where the scouts had failed.
Mandy charged through the smoke, crawling through the debris of buildings and the street itself. "Clover! Where the Hell did you go!?" She shouted worriedly through the smoke. She could hear the lasers punching through the ground just behind her, so she leapt over a pile of rubble and ran as fast as she could in the other direction.
She stopped suddenly, smelling something strange. It was like nothing she remembered smelling before... but somehow it was alluring. It smelled sweet, as though someone had taken the most pleasant scents on Earth and combined them into one magnificent fragrance. "What is that... smell...?" She sniffed around the air, ignoring the dirt and smoke as she followed the wonderful scent.
The sounds faded behind her somewhat as she moved through the blasted and destroyed city, even though her visibility was cut almost to zero by the thick smoke. Finally she climbed to the top of a pile of debris and caught sight of Clover on her knees with a pained look on her face. "Clover!" Mandy slid down the other side of the debris.
"Zeninia." A voice said from behind Clover. Mandy gasped and put her fists up as the smoke behind Clover began to clear, revealing a handsome man with jet black hair and rippling muscles. The fingers of his right hand were embedded in Clover's shoulder. "It's so good to see you again... we had no clue what happened to you after the accident."
"What the Hell are you talking about?" Mandy asked, forgetting about the wonderful smell. "Who are you? You know what... I don't care. Just let Clover go." The man who held Clover looked genuinely surprised, his eyes going wide.
"You don't remember..." He muttered worriedly. "That's... troubling. Something must've interrupted the genetic and memory alteration procedure..." He trailed off, though he never took his eyes off of her.
"I'm not even going to count. Let her go, or I'll kill you. It's that simple." Mandy demanded. The man smirked and shoved his hand deeper into Clover's shoulder, drawing a strangled cry of pain out of the blonde woman.
"It doesn't really matter if I let her go or not... she's as good as dead." The man replied. "You shouldn't care about her anyway Zeninia. You aren't like her... you must remember something. Try to remember."
"Shut up!" Mandy lunged forward, bringing one of her fists up behind her head. The man shoved Clover aside and moved to grab her fist, but her punch went straight through his hand and slammed into his face, knocking him back against one of the bigger piles of debris. The man shook his head, stunned and confused as Mandy stood over him with her fists clenched.
"Such strength... Zeninia, what happened to you?" He asked in awe.
"Stop calling me that!" Mandy punched downward, but her target rolled out of the way at the last moment. She cracked a cement block in half, then whirled to chase him through the dust-covered battlefield. "Get back here, Zardexian murderer!" Mandy leapt through the air and landed on his back, punching him in the back of the neck.
The man collapsed to the ground, then quickly climbed to his feet again only to be grabbed and hurled against another pile of debris by Mandy. Mandy charged up to him and punched him in the face, straddling his waist and bringing down a hailstorm of strikes. The man tried to defend himself, but she easily knocked his arms aside and continued her pummeling.
"Zeninia, STOP!" Suddenly she was no longer on top of a human man, but a giant ball of flesh, surrounded by writhing tentacles. They wrapped around her arms and waist, hefting her up into the air. Mandy struggled and almost broke free, but the Zardexian hurled her to the side so hard that her body was embedded in a pile of broken cement shards.
"Urgh..." Mandy grunted and pushed herself up slightly, ready to fight off this menace, but the Zardexian didn't attack her.
To her surprise, the Zardexian spoke in a language she could understand, but wasn't English. "I don't know what happened to you, my love. But I will bring you back... I swear it." Mandy stared at it until it turned to roll away through the mist, vanishing within seconds. She raven-haired woman climbed to her feet, shaking from pain and confusion. Why would it call her 'my love'?
Her eyes widened when she noticed the sweet smell again. "Clover!" She whirled and ran back toward the smell, eventually finding Clover lying on the ground facedown, shivering in pain. "Clover... are you okay?" Mandy knelt down beside her and put her hands on her waist to help her rise to her hands and knees. Mandy slipped her camouflage jacket off, wrapping it up to use as a bandage.
"I've... been better..." Clover replied painfully. Mandy helped her sit up so she could press the jacket against her shoulder to stifle the flow of blood. "Thanks for getting rid of that... thing." Clover muttered. "I'm not sure how you found me."
"Well, it helped that you're wearing a new perfume. I love it." Mandy replied. Clover blinked and looked over at her.
"What perfume?" She asked.
"I don't know what it is, but it was like I couldn't stay away." Mandy told her. Clover blinked and craned her neck to look at her shoulder, then closed her eyes and lowered her head to her chest. "What's wrong Clover?"
"Nothing..." Clover pushed herself up to her feet dizzily. Mandy stood up with her. "We've got to find Sam and get out of here, there's no way we can fight back like this." She stated. Mandy nodded and looked around.
"I don't see how we can find anything around here." Mandy commented. The sounds of battle had faded, but the dirt and smoke cover was still hovering in the air, and would for a while.
"Come on, I was with the others when the attack started. They were heading this way." Clover grabbed her hand and marched through the thick smoke purposefully. Mandy followed after her, watching her worriedly. Clover's face was a cold mask, but she could see in the blonde woman's eyes that something was seriously wrong.
They marched through the thick dust. It was almost like they were lost in their own little bubble world, with reality taking place somewhere apart from them outside the bubble. Even the sunlight didn't make it through the voluminous smoke, and Mandy couldn't see any sign of the massive Zardexian warship that had begun this assault.
Finally the large command center loomed out of the smoke in front of them, though the door was slightly ajar. Clover and Mandy exchanged a glance before creeping up to the building and pushing the door open. The main control center was empty, save for a few puddles of blood scattered around the floor in random places.
"No... Sammy..." Clover stumbled up to one of the blood puddles and dropped to her knees. "They... they must've eaten her..." She lowered her head as tears began to slide down her cheeks. "I thought I would be able to lean on you no matter what happened..."
"Who says you can't?" A voice replied from a nearby hallway. Mandy and Clover both whirled to see Sam leaning against the wall with her hand draped over her stomach. Alison was standing behind her, holding a small wound on her bicep. Mandy was surprised to realize that both Sam and Alison smelled just like Clover, the same sweet, attractive scent.
"Sam! You're alive!" Clover rushed over to her and wrapped her arms around her tightly. "How did you survive!?"
"I don't know... one of the Zardexians was coming after us when it just suddenly left." Sam replied. "It had us cornered and everything. I don't know what happened." She said. Mandy remained silent. She believed she knew generally why the Zardexians had called off their attack so suddenly... but all over her? It didn't make sense. Was she someone important to them?
"Well whatever, as long as they're gone we can get out of here and go hide somewhere... under the ocean." Clover gave her redheaded friend a meaningful glance. Sam gulped and nodded with a sad smile.
"Under the ocean?" Mandy asked. The other three women looked at her, but Sam and Clover lowered their gazes to the floor.
"How can you know so little about the Zardexians?" Alison smirked. "Once they break your skin with their tentacles, you're infected with a toxin that causes your body to emit special pheromones they can sense... and slowly spreads sedatives through the body until it stops the body completely." She said. Mandy blinked in surprise... the smell coming from Sam and Clover. It must've been from this toxin...
"So... you two are going to die..." Mandy said.
"Yes, they are." Alison said coldly. Mandy glared at the purple-haired woman darkly, but Sam and Clover remained silent for a few moments.
"Where's Pam?" Clover broke the silence finally.
"We don't know, she said something about going for the Faustium cache they brought in, but the attack happened so quickly I'm not sure if she made it." Sam replied. Mandy blinked. They had Faustium here in this base? That was the stuff that had killed Mandy before... what good was it too blow up all the Zardexians if they blew themselves up in the process?
"I'm going to find her." Alison turned toward the door and marched toward it, but Sam rushed after her.
"Hold on, we should stay put. There could still be Zardexians out there somewhere." Sam pointed out.
"I'm not leaving the General out there alone." Alison shot back coolly.
"We'll all go." Clover walked up behind Sam and put a hand on her shoulder. "I think we'll be safe enough..." She jerked her head back at Mandy. The brunette smirked, but didn't say anything. She didn't really like the idea of being a bodyguard, but she wasn't going to let Clover wander around alone, and she would fight to protect her.
"Just stay out of my way." Alison turned to head outside, followed by the other three women. The dust was finally beginning to clear, giving them a view of the surrounding city. Few buildings were still standing, and the pavement itself was torn apart. People and blood spots littered the streets as far as they could see. Some of those people were moving, giving the impression that the Zardexians had left survivors for once.
But the sweet, alluring smell assaulted Mandy's senses from every side. The entire city was teeming with it, to the point where she had to suppress a gag reflex as she followed the three other women through the city toward the armory. Even scarier though, was that her stomach growled softly at the smell... it reminded her of food.
They reached the armory and pushed the doors open, heading inside. The room was torn apart more than any other they'd seen that hadn't been destroyed from the outside. The weapons were strewn about, and the solid steel shelves were bent in upon themselves into shapeless masses. The walls and floors had punctures in them, and in the center of the room lay the General of the WOOHP army, sprawled out across the floor.
"General!" Alison ran forward and knelt down beside her, putting one hand in front of her mouth to feel for breath. Sam, Clover and Mandy approached as the woman opened her eyes, looking up at them. Her body was riddled with holes, and the sweet scent was emanating out of every pore in her body. Enough toxin must have been pumped into her to bring her down within minutes.
"Madison..." General Reynolds muttered softly, staring up at the purple-haired woman. Mandy didn't recognize the name, but Sam and Clover got startled looks in their eyes. "I didn't make it in time... they took the Faustium..."
"Relax..." Madison told her softly. "It doesn't matter, we'll regroup and launch a counterattack." She promised with a slight smile on her face. "We'll show those alien bastards who runs this part of the universe..."
"At the moment..." Pam smirked. "They do..." She chuckled humorlessly and shook her head, looking up at the ceiling.
"Hold on..." Madison grabbed her hand gently.
"Madison... promise me something..." Pam looked up at her solemnly. "After I die... stop hiding from yourself." Madison blinked the tears of her eyes furiously. "You are Madison McAllister..."
"The daughter of the greatest psycho in the history of Earth..." Madison muttered.
"The woman whose image can help unite this planet like I couldn't." Pam told her softly. Madison shook her head, reaching up to wipe her tears away furiously.
Madison spoke in a venomous tone. "No, you united everyone so far. I'm just a reminder of the most evil-"
Pam cut her off. "YOU can be the symbol of what the world once had..." She told her. "I may have made you my second in command... but you are the only remnant of the governments that were in power before all this started... everyone else has been slaughtered." She reached up and put one hand on Madison's cheek tenderly. "Bring everyone else in... who refuses to fight. I'm sure... they'll follow you. They have to."
"General... Pam... I'm no leader." Madison complained.
"Please try." Pam told her. "Hell... what have we got to lose...?" Pam asked softly. Madison wiped more tears out of her eyes, and slowly nodded.
"Okay... I promise..." Madison said softly.
"Thank you..." Pam gave her a tender smile before her eyes began to close. "In life... or in death... let the world stand as one..." Her eyes closed completely and her breath became shallower. Mandy noticed a significant wane in the smell of the Zardexian toxin... she couldn't smell it coming from Pam's body. Madison gripped the cold woman's hand tightly and laid her forehead against her chest, squeezing her eyes closed against the tears.
Clover and Sam both lowered their heads and closed their eyes out of respect, but Mandy was too preoccupied to notice. The Zardexians had them in the corner... they could have wiped them all out if they'd stayed just thirty minutes more. Was the entire attack designed to get to Mandy? And what would they possibly want with the Faustium? They had no idea if it would work on alien organisms, and if the humans used it they would be killing themselves, making it easier on the Zardexians.
"We'll give her a proper burial today... but we don't have time for a long service." Sam stated softly when she opened her eyes again. Madison nodded slowly and moved away from the body. Sam and Clover set about looking for blankets, a tarp, anything to wrap the body in. Mandy stayed where she was, watching until Madison looked up at her with a piercing, tear-filled gaze.
"Did you have something to do with this?" She demanded sharply. Mandy wasn't really surprised, so she just shook her head.
"Of course not... I don't want to see anybody die." Mandy replied. She walked up to Madison and put one firm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry..." Madison stared up at her searchingly... then nodded and looked down at Pam again. "You knew what I am... why didn't you turn me in...?" Mandy asked curiously. Madison sounded distracted when she answered.
"I didn't know for sure until I saw you without your Earplugs in the battle when the Ear Bleeder was activated... but all you did was protect Sam and Clover." Madison replied. "I figured if you were going to betray us, it would've been right then, when you could've turned your gun on the Ear Bleeder and destroyed it before escaping with your comrades."
Mandy nodded and watched as Sam and Clover carefully wrapped a thin blanket around Pam's body, making sure it was nice and tight before they stood up. Madison climbed to her feet, and both she and Mandy followed the two WOOHP agents outside into one of the fields. The sweet scent of toxin still hung in the air as the survivors began to regroup, finding each other and forming small groups.
Mandy and Clover each took a shovel and quickly dug a small three foot deep grave, just big enough around to fit the body into without having to bend it out of shape. By the time they finished, the sun was halfway gone past the horizon. They climbed out of the grave, and Sam and Madison gently climbed in with the body, setting it on the soft soil and climbing back out again. They all turned toward the grave solemnly.
"Do you want to say something Madison?" Sam asked. Mandy looked behind her to see that the surviving soldiers had begun to gather behind them, searching for a place to go rather than just wandering aimlessly through the landscape. Every one of them had a puncture wound on their body, and every one of them had the same sweet scent.
Madison noticed them too, and turned to look out across the soldiers. "Yes... my name is Madison McAllister..." She stated. A few gasps escaped those who were old enough to remember who she was. Others just looked confused. "General Reynolds charged me with the job of uniting everyone... everyone on Earth. It's been said... that that is an impossible task." She nodded and clenched her lips in a determined line. "But I'm going to do it anyway... and whether we ultimately win or lose against the Zardexians... at least we'll do it as one." She turned back to the grave and looked down at the blanket-wrapped body.
"Thanks to you, Pam..." She said softly. She nodded over at Mandy and Clover, both of whom picked up their shovels and started filling in the grave. Madison turned back to the gathered crowd and raised her arms over her head. "My father was the man who let all of this begin in the first place... but as long as I draw breath, I swear right now that where it began with him, it will end with me one way or another. We won't fight forever. But we WILL fight as one!"
She looked back as Clover and Mandy finished filling in the grave, now just a mound of dirt in the Earth. Madison picked up a nearby chunk of steel and walked around the grave to kneel down at the head. She jammed the steel into the Earth and took a sharp combat knife out of its holster, carving the words 'The woman who fought for us all. R.I.P. General Pamela Reynolds' on the front. The troops seemed emboldened by this display, their faces shining with grim determination.
Madison stood up and wiped the tears from her eyes in an almost businesslike manner as she marched to the foot of the grave again, looking out across the troops with the edge of the setting sun at her back. "Let both the mistakes and the heroism of those who came before guide us now... as we finally bring these damned wars to a close one way or another!" She pumped her fist into the air.
The soldiers in front of her pumped their fists into the air with shouts of determination. Mandy looked around, not feeling half as good as they were. The toxin was flowing inside each and every person present except for her. And it looked like the entire Zardexian fleet had arrived... there wouldn't be that many humans left by now, even those who refused to fight scattered throughout the cities.
"This is all useless..." Mandy commented aside to Clover.
"I know." Clover replied, though she had her arm up along with everyone else's. "But there's not a whole Hell of a lot we can do but fight. Even hiding isn't an option now." She stated. Mandy growled and nodded, her expression becoming clouded. That damned toxin... it would be the death of them all somehow, through the debilitating effects or luring the Zardexians to them. But she guessed it was better to let the troops hope and fight. To die on their feet rather than crumpled up on the ground whimpering like dogs.
"So let's go..." Madison said in a cold, hard voice. "Let's go find any brothers we have that remain out there... and make our stand."
TO BE CONTINUED