Chapter 15: In The Dead of Night.
Ice leaned out from the building they were pressed against and looked around the corner of the street, she sighed, looking back at Picasso and shaking her head, Zachee looked at them both, "more of them?" she asked in a low whisper, and Ice nodded, moving back to them.
"There's just no bloody end to them, we seem to have come up right in the middle of the eye of the storm," Ice said, it was true, every street they'd tried to go down seemed to have ended in a horde of the undead, they were in every direction.
Suddenly, their comms sparked up, "need a hand down there?" a very gentle voice came over the airwaves, it was Whisper, and instantly Picasso and Ice felt the prickling of her scope washing over them.
"Never thought I'd be so glad to hear you voice, Whisper, yeah we could really use your eyes more than your hands here, I'd rather get off the street without firing a shot, if at all possible," Picasso said.
"Roger that, I'll guide you through them to us, we're in a hotel about a klick north of you, in fact, I have a clear line of sight on you right now," Whisper said in her silk soft voice, true to her name,her voise never rose above a whisper, Picasso had wondered to himself when he was really bored whether there was a man alive who could get her to unleash her true vocal talents on the world, he turned to the north and, despite not being able to see her, put his thumb up to give her a go signal.
Over the next twenty minutes she guided them through a set of rat run alleyways that linked the streets together like a spider's web, moving unseen between the huge buildings till they reached the hotel that they were set up in, they'd secured all the lower doors with makeshift barricades, well, all except for one which they had now moved to allow their comrades in, Tank stood waiting behind the glass and he threw the door open as soon as they approached, "come on, move yer arses and get in here!" the big Scotsman called, making the three of them pick up the pace.
Once inside Tank closed the door and secured it with a couple of bungee ropes that he'd found, then began pushing furniture back up against the glass, "It's good to see you all again, and who's this?" Tank said, noticing Zachee, and looking her up and down as the young Scalathor doctor stood there in her dirty lab coat, looking through the smoked glass of the door into the street they'd just come from.
She turned to look up at the man giant who now hovered over her, the look of surprise on her face was priceless, "I-I'm Zachee Twist Horn, Doctor Zachee Twist Horn," she said in a slightly nervous voice.
"Very good to meet you lassie, you can call me Tank," he said, offering her a shovel like hand to shake which utterly enveloped hers inside it and nearly caused her whole body to bounce up and down as he shook her hand, both Picasso and Ice both grinned at her reaction.
"You don't have to worry about him, Doc, he's a gentle giant who just happens to be a scale lover, I'm sure his better half is around here somewhere, she's never far away," Ice said, looking around just in time to see Moodstone slink her way out from behind one of the marble columns that adorned the grand hotel lobby, wearing a proud and knowing smile at seeing her male's flustered look, Ice grinned knowingly, "See? What did I tell you, I swear these two are joined at the hip," Ice said and Picasso laughed.
"I think you'll find that it's not their hips that are joined, like when she's finding new ways to use that horn of hers," he said, and Moodstone laughed and flashed him a very toothy smile.
"Is that horn envy I hear in your voice, Picasso?" she said, making her smile evident in her voice, and Tank walked over and wrapped the slender Scalathor female in his huge arms, making her lift her chin to smile up at him as his form enveloped hers.
"Most definitely not, besides I have no locking points, unlike your man there," he said, grinning right back at her, there was no animosity in their words though, to an outsider they may think that there was a bitterness to them, but in reality the group were like family, no scratch that, they were family.
"Never knock a good woman with a very good horn," Tank said, softly running his hands over the sides of Moodstone's flanks, making her large tail swish.
"And never ever knock an open minded human willing to take a walk on the wild side, they are worth far more than gold," she said with a happy smile as he nuzzled her, making their helmets clank together, Zachee stared in utter shock and surprise at the pair, but then a soft smile came over her face.
"Told you," Ice said with a grin, then she hugged both of her comrades in very happy greeting after what they had just been through to be reunited.
"Where's Whisper?" Picasso asked, looking around the lobby expecting to see the quiet feline sat on a table top somewhere with her huge gun in her lap, looking smug, but she was nowhere to be found, Tank just smiled at him knowingly, like a man with a secret.
"She's probably upstairs, either manning her gun or chatting to our newest friend," he said, both Ice and Picasso glanced at one another curiously.
"New friend?" Ice asked, interest in her voice, Moodstone nodded.
"A Guardian Seeker from the Guardian Core of Clan Mason, he pulled our collective arse out of the fire at the Hub, he got hit from all sides and he pulled us into a safe area and showed us hidden VIP tunnels that run under the city for important people to make a quick getaway should they need to, he brought us here and we secured the place, took the top floor for our own, four large suites and the roof, we cleared the rest of the place out, but, to be fair, there weren't many in here to begin with, I guess when this shit began to hit rather than hunker down and try to wait it out most people tried to run and got caught out in the open, now they're still out there, and always will be," she said, genuine sadness in her voice.
Picasso now looked positively ecstatic, "a Guardian!? Here? Oh splendid, I've always wished to meet one of their number, and not a Hunter but a Seeker as well! A great rarity I must say, I wonder what brought him here?" he said, clapping his hands together, Ice sighed, knowing that, whoever this Guardian was, he was in for the grilling of his life, she hoped his anti-interrogation techniques were up to scratch, Picasso may be one of the best interrogators in the Spirits, but in this case it was likely to become serious nagging more than interrogating.
"He came here on orders, tracking what they call agents of the great darkness, I'm not a great believer in coincidence so I have good money on who ever it was that the Guardian is tracking is either directly responsible for, or had a hand in whatever happened here, because a virus that can infect all species and destroy as equally as this one does is a rare thing, the chance of it being natural are next to nill," Moodstone said, and Tank nodded his agreement next to his lover.
Zachee nodded her agreement as well, "yes! This is what I believe as well, what little research we were able to complete into this thing was not a great deal but enough to make us believe that it is indeed a bioweapon, it combines the most devastating elements of all the major biological pathogen types in one, this lead us to believe that it was indeed engineered, and by a most fiendish intelligence, because to combine these elements together should be impossible, but not only did they achieve it, they made it incredibly effective, a single bite and you're on their side, no escape and no cure, one bite and you are not only a liability to your friends and allies but a danger and supreme risk, meaning they have no choice but to kill you or cast you out, it preys on the very thing that makes us sentient, our love, and inability to let go of the ones we love to spread itself, mothers and fathers unable to give up their children once they're infected and it costs them, and visa versa, it not only uses our very selves as a weapon but our love of each other as well, it is a cruel and brilliant weapon in equal measure," she said, looking very thoughtful.
But her words sent cold shivers through all of them, and it didn't take a master psychologist to see the look of horror that passed over the faces of both Moodstone and of Tank as both of them imagined their worst nightmare made real, having to kill their most beloved one in life to prevent them killing their team or themselves, and the pain in their eyes was incalculable.
"Come on lets go up to the suites, you lot must be fucking knackered after running around the city like blue arsed flies on speed," Tank said with a big sweeping gesture towards the stairs, and together, the team and their new friend headed up the seemingly never ending stairs till they got to the barricades which had been moved to allow them to come down and bring them in, now after they passed through Tank remained behind to move everything back and it wasn't lost on them that Moodstone lingered to gaze at her human as he showed off his strength, unbeknownst to him that he was being admired by reptilian eyes, but she shook it off and joined them again, rushing to catch up and to lead them to the suite that they were all using for a meeting place, where they found Whisper sprawled out on a couch with her huge gun next to her and their new friend sat next to her.
The pair looked up as the team entered, minus Tank, who was securing the stairwell, the newcomer smiled his mandibles at the new Spirits as they entered with Moodstone and stood to offer his hand in greetings.
"Good to meet you, my name is T'Sall Jack of the Clan Mason, of the Guardian Core," he said, giving a rather polite little bow to them, even from here, Ice could feel Picasso positively vibrating with joy and questions, here was a living, breathing embodiment of all of his biggest questions, "And greetings to you as well, good sir, I am called Picasso, this is my comrade in arms, Ice, and this is our new friend, and survivor of this mess, Doctor Zachee Twist Horn," Picasso said, gesturing to the three of them.
T'Sall gave a kind greeting to both Ice and Zachee as they both found a seat to rest on and Picasso couldn't help but smile at the look of sheer relief that passed over her pretty face, it had been quite a while since they'd had any rest and they certainly hadn't been able to sit down in a long while, Picasso took the seat next to her, which was directly opposite T'Sall and Whisper, who didn't speak, just merely waving her hand at them in recognition.
"So you're a Guardian Seeker eh?" Picasso said, trying to sound non-fussed as he spoke, but even Tank, who had just entered the room and had now taken the last two seater couch up entirely with his large size, taking his helmet off and placing it on the table next to him, to an outsider this would look like a supremely selfish act, given that Moodstone would now have nowhere to sit, but not a single member of the team batted an eyelid as Moodstone made tea and returned, passing out cups before placing both hers and Tank's next to him, and then taking her favorite seat after removing her helmet, his lap.
T'Sall sat back down next to Whisper on the couch where she was sprawled out, and he smiled at Picasso knowingly, "that name obviously means something to you," T'Sall said, and Picasso smiled, but, before he could open his mouth, Ice cut in.
"Careful T'Sall, unless you want to endure hours upon hours of the history of your order as told by someone who is not a member of it," she said, causing T'Sall to smile at her warmly.
"Now now Ice, it is good to see someone with enthusiasm for my order, mostly, despite what we did for people during the Hybrid wars, we are treated with suspicion and fear, so we prefer the shadows where our intentions are our own until we want them known, so to me it is good to see not just one person but a whole group who seem to hold us in high regard," he said, Tank gave a little snort and T'Sall turned to look at him curiously.
"Oh, don't mind me laddie, I just think it's funny how short people's memories are sometimes, how easily they forget what you guys did for them, and only a fool does not pay proper respect to a proven warrior as all of your kind are," he said, making T'Sall smile even brighter.
"I knew there was a reason I liked you guys, respectful and smart, plus, yes, before you ask me, Picasso, I'm a Dream Warrior, one has to be to join the Seekers, granted I'm nowhere even close to as strong as the Patriach of our clan, he speaks with spirits and gods alike, to watch him fight is like watching the purest poetry being written with blade and plasma, but he is such a beautiful contrast, on one hand he is the most dangerous and most fierce warrior you could ever imagine, there is a reason we call him the god slayer, but, on the other hand, he is the kindest, most gentle man you could ever wish to meet, watching him and our Matriach together is like watching the purest of loves this universe has ever seen, even without my aura sight, I would swear their love shines like the brightest of flames, with it...oh my Paya, it is simply radiant, they are radiant, this is part of what they give and teach to us, they teach us to not only respect the power of love, for it is one of the ruling forces of nature, but to embrace it, and to protect it, for it is the gift, the truest gift that we are lucky enough to receive," T'Sall said proudly.
Moodstone stroked Tank's beard with her horn very gently, and nodded in agreement before kissing him very gently on the cheek, "couldn't agree more, it never even occured to me just how empty my life was until I made my move on my Tank here, at first I had originally planned to just make him my conquest, to conquer a human male this size would be a crowning achievement, to lure one like him away from his own people, but the more I got to know him the more I realized I simply couldn't do that to him, because, for all his rough edges, and his sheer domineering persona, he truly was a beautiful and gentle man, to make such a man a notch on a bed post would be a cruel and vile thing to do to him, that's kinda when I realized that I loved him, that this big lummox right here had stolen my scaled heart, so I made it my mission not to claim his heart but to win it, because he is worth it, worthy of me, so I did everything in my power to prove that I was worth of him too, it worked and now this gentle giant makes my every day a wonderful one by simple gracing my life with his presence, he makes me happier than I could ever put into words, I live and love at his side and it's where I will die as well," she said, very happily and proudly.
T'Sall nodded very approvingly and pointed at her, "now she gets it, you'd do well in the Guardian Core, Moodstone," he said, and she grinned.
"Thanks, but I like it where I am, these are not just my friends, they are my family, and I would never abandon either," she said, smiling, and T'Sall grinned even broader.
"I repeat my previous statement," he said, and, to his right Whisper seemed to smile knowingly, and also admiringly, which was a look that didn't escape either Picasso or Ice, who's face cracked into a curious smile upon seeing her, it was obvious to all that knew her that the young Felenis sniper had had her eye caught by the young Dream Warrior hybrid, he'd obviously said or done something for her to catch her attention, as Whisper was very difficult to impress, and not a single one of the Spirits had ever seen her pay more than a passing glance to a member of the opposite sex of any species, in fact, there had been a rumor among them that they thought she might be gay for quite a while, well, that was until Spike found that magazine in her pack after a mission, 'Play Huntress' as Ice remembered, a dirty magazine that catered to Yautja females, and containing a mixture of both Human and Yautja males, Ice couldn't help but wonder what the publishers had done to manage to get the Yautja to strip off, so now her having her eyes on this hybrid male who was older than her but certainly not old by any measure of the imagination was kinda an obvious step.
"So, who are you chasing T'sall?" Picasso asked, looking at him curiously, T'Sall looked at him with a dark look in his bright eyes.
"An agent of the darkness, my Patriach sensed him and tracked him here, I was dispatched to hunt him down and prevent what ever atrocity he had planned, but it appears I was too late, now all I can do is find the agent who did this and make sure that the weapon itself is destroyed so it can't be used on any other world, and also make sure that the bastard that did this to all these innocent people faces justice, pure justice, I will send their soul screaming into the pit where it belongs, where it will burn for eternity for it's failure," T'Sall said with such venom and passion in his voice that all of them glanced at each other and nodded.
"We'll help you, T'Sall, if you help us, our job is to get to the bottom of this shit and to rescue any innocent civvies we can along the way, so our jobs are the same and, personally, I'd rather enjoy the chance to fight alongside a member of the Guardian Core, let alone one of the Seekers," Picasso said and T'Sall smiled brightly and nodded.
"Your team has already offered their assistance to me, but it is appreciated to hear it reaffirmed by another who did not know of our standing agreement, makes me feel that you are as trustworthy as our clan leaders say you are, you believe in honor and justice, and that is, unfortunately, so very rare these days, maybe after all this is over your team will visit our clan home, I feel you would enjoy it there, and, for aiding one of us, you would be granted permission to visit as friends of the clan," he said, Picasso smiled brightly.
"I would very much enjoy that, I have been fascinated by the tales of the Clan Mason and it's warriors, especially the Guardian Core and it's Dream Warriors, I've always wondered if the tales of the things you guys can do are true?" he said, and T'Sall gave him a wry smile.
"Well, that all depends on which tales you are referring to, yes, we can see the dead, no, we can't become animals or clouds of smoke, yes, we can move faster than ordinary people and sense their moves before they're made, no, we can't raise the dead or fly, though our grand Patriach can move so fast it sometimes does appear like he's in two places at once, which can be rather disorientating at times," he said, and Ice noticed that Whisper's ears had pricked right up, and she was hanging on his every word, though you really had to know her to spot this, to any outsider it would seem like a simple case of curiosity, but everyone in that room, especially Ice, knew her very well.
"They say you can sense others emotions and read their minds, is that true?" Ice asked curiously, T'Sall nodded his affirmation.
"Yes, it takes a lot of practice to master, but we can, I can sense the raw emotions of someone just by touching them, I can also use this path to walk among another's thoughts and see their life as if I had lived it myself, I can also make them live my life, see my every joy, and every pain, and make them live it as if it was their own, it is rather useful at times, it's why all Dream Warriors are taught as children to believe in nothing but pure honesty, because no one can ever lie to us and get away with it, if we want the truth we will get it, it's one of the reasons they call us Seekers," he said, Ice cocked her head curiously, then, she gave a bit of a devilish smile and walked over to the Dream warrior.
"So you can walk through my mind and feel my feelings? Just by touching me?" she asked, and he looked up at her and nodded, "Does it matter where you touch me? Is it my hand or could you just, say, grab someone by the shoulder and feel them?" she asked curiously.
"Ummm, any part will do," he said, curious himself now, she smiled and knelt down before him.
"Prove it for me, read me" she said, he cocked his head curiously, and then just shrugged and reached out to touch her, but, just before his hand made contact, Ice grabbed his wrist bracer making the contact shielded and placed his hand on Whisper's tail, "changed my mind, read her," she said with a laugh, and Whisper yelped in surprise and tried to pull her tail back but it was too late, the connection formed and right then T'Sall's eyes flashed and changed to match hers before she pulled her tail free looking angry and accusingly at Ice.
"What the hell!?" she exclaimed, cradling her tail protectively and Ice grinned at her.
"Sorry, couldn't resist, you were just looking so curious I thought that you might like to try it for yourself, oh lady of secrets and mystery," she said with a laugh.
Whisper grumbled away to herself angrily, "oh come on, Whisper, it was only a bit of fun, you were quite happy to watch when you thought it was going to be my mind, if it makes you feel better I'll let him read me this time," Ice said, and she turned to T'Sall who had a rather stunned and confused look on his face, as she tapped him he shook it off and blinked a couple of times before coughing and reaching out to her.
"Um, yes, of course," he said, and with that he placed his hand to Ice's face and his eyes flashed again, changing to match hers and he looked at her curiously, "you mask your pain well, but these young eyes have seen much death, and with each soul that has passed before you a piece of you has departed with it," he said in a voice filled with genuine sadness and pain, Ice recoiled at that and she looked at him in genuine surprise, it was true, the Dream Warriors could see the deepest secrets of a person's heart as easy as reading a book.
Ice was shaken by that little reading of her, now she suddenly saw why Whisper was shaken by this, but she saw T'Sall looking at Whisper curiously, "what?" she asked a little sharply, he looked a little shaken by that but then he turned to face her with a proud look on his face.
"You have a truely beautiful mind, lady Whisper, as beautiful as it's owner, it was a true honor to walk among your thoughts, if even for the briefest of moments," he said, without a single hint of deception or of mirth, he was being deadly serious, and it shocked her.
"Y-You think my mind is b-b-beautiful?" she stammered, and he nodded.
"Along with a great deal more of you, but it was my distinct pleasure and honor to walk among your thoughts, though it was not my intention to do so, and for that I apologise, you doubt yourself, you doubt that any man would want you, so you strive never to catch any eyes, that way you can shield yourself from the pain of rejection, but truly, I say to you, any unclaimed male who would reject you is one of three things, blind, a fool, or gay, you should have as much confidence in your appeal as you do your eye, when you hold your gun you never doubt for a moment that you will hit what you are aiming for, you live and breathe for your target, to end them is your purpose and you never fail, this confidence you should have always, any man should be honored to have you chasing after them or looking at them," he said in a voice so ernest that it shocked her to her very core.
Whisper's tail swished around like a propeller as she tried to get her emotions and her mind under control, he'd just outlined her greatest fear and secret to half the team without a shred of fear, he'd spoken as if it were just the two of them and no others present, but the main thing that stuck in her mind was the fact that he'd called her beautiful, "do you truly think I am beautiful, T'Sall?" she asked in a voice so quiet and full of fear that it did her name true justice.
"Dream Warriors do not lie, lady Whisper, and I would never ever jest with a ladies heart, not now, or ever!" he said, sounding a little hurt that she would accuse him of trying to play with her heart strings, but now she looked truely flustered, it was obvious that no one had ever spoken so earnestly to her, she jumped up to her feet lifting her gun as she did.
"I, errr, am very tired, I'm going to retire to get some rest, we have a long day tomorrow," she declared in a shaky voice and vanished into the bedroom she'd claimed like a bullet out of her gun, T'Sall looked at her closed door with an aggrieved look on his face.
"W-Was it something I said? Have I offended her?" he asked, turning to the group looking very troubled by this, Ice was grinning all over her face as were a few of the others.
"offended? No, scared the living shit out of her by being the first ever man to be brave enough to tell her she is beautiful to her face, most definitely, you are a true rarity and breath of fresh air, T'Sall, finally, we meet a guy earnest enough and brave to tell her to her face that she's beautiful, most guys are scared shitless by her demeanor and the fact that she very rarely speaks, it unnerves them, it offends their delicate male egos because they don't know what she's thinking about, but you, you just came right out and said it loud and proud, I just hope your ready to take responsibility for you words and your actions," Ice said with a sly grin and T'Sall looked confused, and more than a little startled.
"Responsibility?" he asked, and Tank roared his great booming laugh.
"She means the wee lassie is going to set those sights you spoke about very firmly on you ye great jessie, and, like yer said yerself, she doesn't miss, she's going to chase you, laddie, and I know you Yaujta lads like a good hunt, but I wonder how you like to be the prey? Because, when she gets her head back on straight she's going to be gunning for you," he said, and T'Sall looked surprised and shocked, but then a large smile crossed his mandibles.
"I am T'Sall Jack, Dream Warrior, and Guardian Seeker of the Clan Mason, and I welcome it, to be hunted by a female as strong, righteous and honorable as her is a dream come true among the males of my clan, so I welcome it," he said proudly, and Tank laughed as they others nodded their approval.
"I think yer misunderstand me laddie, yer ain't got a choice in the matter, only choice your going to have is to either let her catch you or to run yer fucking arse off," Tank said with a grin, and now T'Sall laughed mightily too.
"What male in his right mind would run from a beauty like her?" he asked, and Tank grinned at him showing pearly white teeth through his fire red beard.
"I suppose it depends if she's pointing that fucking rifle of hers at yer now don't it?" he asked, and they all laughed together, suddenly Picasso stopped laughing and looked at his wrist comp with interest before grabbing his helmet and jamming it on his head.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Zachee asked, noticing him scrambling and suddenly the other's all turned to look at him as well.
"I've got movement on one of the sensors I set up downstairs, didn't you notice the small discs I threw out before and after we got in here?" he asked, both Zachee and Ice shook their heads in unison.
"Spike gave them to me to try out, they're linked to my Hud and extend the range of my movement detectors, I put some out earlier to ensure that this place was secure, they're picking up movement," he said, Tank just shrugged.
"It's probably just picking up some undead strolling by," he said, and Picasso shook his head.
"No, I recalibrated them earlier while we were on the run based on the readings my motion detectors took in the hospital," he said, and Ice looked both surprised and impressed.
"What? Spike's not the only one who knows how to use a computer you know, but anyway I tuned them to be able to tell the difference between the living and the dead, it's still a bit twitchy and it can't tell each species yet, but it knows what's dead and what's not based on things like heat readings, right now they're picking up two living things near the entrance to the hotel, so we're either being tracked or we have some lucky travelers to greet, but, either way, someone get turtle love dove in there up on the roof with her gun, everyone else on me, lets go say hello," he said, and as one, they moved, well all except for Zachee who, unarmed as she was, wisely decided to stay put and hold the fort.