This chapter is particularly inspired by two separate video games.
1st: The Last Of Us.
2nd: Outlast
Alchemist Chronicles
Chapter 45 - Light Of The Flame
Before AJ even has a chance to fire, the chimera rushes and latches onto Derek's left leg, knocking him down and drags him towards it. He screams in pain as he uses his other foot to kick at the beast. Ed grabs his gun from the floor and the rifle, grabbing and pulling AJ towards the vent. Pushing her in it. She starts crawling through it after she helps him into it as well.
Once they make it to the other room, Ed pulls her into a hug, telling her. "We'll make it out together, I promise." She smiles at him, nodding her head and hugs him back.
Ed then heads for the door, opening it up carefully before moving through as AJ follows him closely behind.
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Making it down a long corridor, eventually reaching double doors that are blocked by flattening wooden planks and empty boxes. "Is this one of those times where we should look for a new route?" AJ says causing Ed to smirk at her response.
They start moving the items. As Janine reaches for the pipe trapped between the handles, she hears something moving in the distance on the other side. She turns to look back at Ed, telling him. "I think there's something in there."
She lays on all fours and looks under the bottom crack of the double doors. She sees different kinds of pinions (legs, etc.) walking around. Some towards the door, others are walking in other directions.
As she stands up, Ed asks her. "How many?" "There's a lot of them. Too many to count." She replies. Then the both of them hear growling coming from the other side of the door. AJ hides behind Ed as he hesitates his next move, staring at the door nervously.
Taking a breath to relax, AJ gets an idea after seeing something just up above them and whispers it in his ear. Connecting, tieing up, and testing out his plan before he lifts AJ onto the huge pipes that are up above them. Then he uses a few crates in the distance to reach the same pipe from the other direction of her.
With the other side of the rope in his hand, Ed looks at the pipe that is attached to the other side of the rope, that is lodged in the handles of the double doors. Ed looks back up at her, saying. "If this fails, we will only haunt him." She smiles at his sarcastic comment.
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Everyone immediately assumes the worse and start firing at the creature. Other soldiers as well soon follow with their bullets, striking the beast.
Recovering, healing its own wounds. It lunges towards them, attempting to reach them but misses, slamming into the ink pond rigorously. Breaking the floor beneath it at the moment of impact. It falls into a bottomless pit of spikes, screeching as the spikes pierce it throughout its body and it slowly begins to die. A fake philosopher's stone drops out of its open mouth, disintegrating before it reaches the ground.
Roy slowly looks over the hole, seeing the stilled creature impaled by the trapped spikes that are covered in the charcoaled ink. He fires a bullet into the skull of the chimera.
Before he could fire another bullet, Riza places her hand on top of his gun, pushing it downwards. "Let's not try to think of the worse case scenario, General." Roy sighs, moving his shaking hand back to his side. He then looks at her and tells her. "Go on ahead to the next room, I'll check the north." His team nods their heads.
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Ed yanks the rope (Dropping his end as well), pulling the pipe out of the handles. A herd of mis-shapen brutes rushes through the door, bursting it open forcefully. Ed and AJ stare petrified at the non-faced humanoid, different shaped-sized figures.
AJ covers her mouth and nose with her hand and Ed follows her idea, covering his mouth and nose as well. He recognizes the similarities between them and the Immortal Zombie Army. Telling himself 'Are you serious? Another fucking-' An echoed screech in the distance takes his attention away from them, the monsters also turn to look in the same direction as the noise, immediately running towards, pursuing it.
Ed waits a couple minutes later, then with his hand gestures, tells her his plan. Nodding her head, she gets herself ready to drop down on his signal.
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Ed jumps down first, landing on his feet. He then turns and signals AJ to jump. He catches her, helping her stand afterward. AJ quickly turns her head when she hears dragged scrapes coming in their direction.
A few of those same faceless creatures emerged from the other end, rushing from down the hall towards them. Ed grabs both doors as AJ pulls out her gun, firing a few rounds at the abominations. Shooting one in the head, killing it instantly. Ed closes the doors as quick as he can and locks it, turning the flick on the only handle.
After a few minutes of nothing but silence from the other side, they breathe a sigh of relief and walk away from the door.
Ed - "Oh, by the way. I left it accidentally back at the house... Sorry." With a snare, she replies. "Good, cuz I probably would have tossed it against a wall or something."
"Well damn, that's harsh," Ed tells her as he stops in which she stops as well, instantly replying. "I don't find it a coincidence that all of a sudden some of my past memories reemerged since I have not held her for a period of time! I think that's a bit harsher than my emotions right now. Wouldn't you agree, Edward?" Ed unsurely looks away, uncertain of what to say next.
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As everyone else moves to the room to the right, Roy makes it to the room across from the entrance. Slowly looking and walking in, he sees a headless body in unfamiliar clothing that is laying, spread out on the floor. It's missing half of its left leg.
He leaves quickly afterward, taking a quick moment to collect himself before he heads over to join the others. He tells them once he reaches them. "They're still alive. There's no time to waste if there are more of those chimeras running a-" Sounds of gunshots in the distance break them out of their fixed stances.
They hear footsteps on the other side of a door once they reach it, then growling. "S-sir!" Riza says quietly, looking at Roy.
Roy puts away his gun, pulling out and putting on his fire transmutation gloves. Roy signals Valman to stand near and ready themselves to open the door.
Aiming his hand towards the door, Havoc and Hawkeye ready themselves as well, aiming their guns.
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Looking around themselves they see broken glass scattered about on the floor along with blood and charcoaled ink stains throughout the room. Diagrams and Blueprints of a variety of weapons, drawings, etc are hanging across the cement and glass walls of the room.
In the distance, they see several large, broken experimental tubes with dead animals inside. Including a bear, a warthog, a jaguar, a variety of small and large birds and other exotic wildlife. Walking slowly up to them, AJ tells Ed. "It looks like they've been dead for quite awhile." Pointing out how most of them are decomposed and parts of their skeletal remains are visible.
Ed uncomfortably agrees. "Y-yeah. Let's just move along, alright?" AJ nods her head and they proceed, walking to a door across from the one they entered from next to the deceased. Slowly opening the door and looking out of it cautiously, Ed then steps into the hallway. Giving AJ a signal that's its ok, she joins him.
Walking down along a steel-plated fenced gatewayed bridge of some sort, the pair eventually makes it to a forge after walking down another flight of steps, following a curved hallway and making an opening from a cracked wall to their right.
Empty bullet shells lie all across the floor, scattered about. Claw marks, leaning out from another collapsed hole at the other corner of the room. 'This must be that room that that guy Derek mentioned about.' Ed tells himself.
There is an open door to the right and through it is another long hallway. Ed sighs. 'He would know what to do.' Rubbing the back of his head, unsure of what to do next.
AJ asks. "Should we go through the door or down the hole, Major?" Ed brings his left hand up to his chin, debating on his next move.
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Walking through a series of tunnels, Ed and AJ make it to a point of several quarries back to back, leading into a large room that has many radios, transmission breakers, and a control board. Closing the door behind themselves, they turn and move quickly.
Running up a flight of stairs at the right of the room and entering through another series of corridors, making it to a chamber of file cabinets that leads to an open secret door behind a moved shelf. Camouflage as the same color as the wall. Ed grabs a fresh lit candle from the shelf and the both of them head through the opening. AJ pulls the shelf over the opening in which they entered from to block it.
Walking a few feet, Ed turns blows out the light once they make it to another lit room. Poking his head around the corner, Ed notices an underground elevator to the right of them. He then spots an opened door to the left of them.
Making sure that the coast is clear, Ed tells her to stay put while he slowly walks over and gently closes the door, locking it afterwards. Turning back and signaling her, she steps out, following him to the elevator.
As they step on the elevator car, Ed walks over to the control panel. He presses the green button, but nothing happens. AJ then looks around the room and finds a small generator on the side of the room. Revering up, it starts up. Walking back onto the platform, Ed then slams his hands on the green button. The elevator activates and starts to rise vertically.
Just as the conveyer ascends several feet from the ground, a shift of the lift occurs. Slanting to the right, Ed and AJ hold onto the side railing of the hoist as a loud rumble underneath them shakes and rattles the flat car. Knocking them off of their feet, they reach for each other as the conveyor drops, fast and heavily.
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Once the door open, Roy snaps his fingers, burning the creatures alive by few. The others fire away as well. While others abominations start running away, back the way they came. It doesn't take long for the team and backup to catch up to them.
The monsters turn and face the team. Roy and the others immediately pick up the similarities between them and the Immortal Army from The Promised Day. 'Just great. Someone else is trying to stick their hand into the god's domain.' Roy tells himself. With his hands, Roy orders his team into position. They fire at the brutes once the signal is given.
Kain shortly thereafter, walks over near the dead monstrosities, picking up the pipe with the rope that is still tied to it. He looks at the others. "You think this was them?" Kain asks. Breda shrugs his shoulders.
Jean then walks over to the doors and tries to open them. "No good. It must be locked from the other side." Roy then walks over, clapping his hands and places them on the door, unlocking it with Alchemy. "Try again, Captain." Roy orders. Jean pulls the handles again, opening it up both doors with Valman's help.
Walking into the damaged laboratory, all of them notice the dead animal corpses at the far end and the open door next to them. Roy immediately rushes to the door, looking out of it. "Damn!" He says. "Nothing, Sir?" Riza asks. Sighing, Roy turns and orders loudly. "Let's get moving now!" After spotting a trail of blood-stained footprints leading directly over and passed the steel bridge.
Once they make it past the viaduct, they make it to the steps and curved hallway, following the footprints until they fade. Leading into a hole in a wall of a forge. Roy enters first.
Looking around, he too notices the open door and the collapsed hole that leads somewhere. Turning his head, he sees Riza and everyone else enter through the same hole he just came in as well.
Jean - "Jeez. Guess those guys released that thing somehow?" "I don't think that's the case, Captain," Roy adds and then pointing out the hole was made with Alchemy after turning over a piece of broken cement.
Roy decides to walk up to the door, looking out slowly. He then nods for the team to follow. Kain quickly asks his superior officer. "But sir, what about-" Roy cuts him off. "If I know Fullmetal, he'll stay clear of any water or the sewers for that matter. Not to mention, I highly doubt he'll be able to drag Janine down there with him. Orders or not." He smirks at his last remark.
Just as they make it to the last hallway, all of them hear a bang in the distance via echo from an air vent to the upper side of the hallway.
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Ed is the first to wake up and slowly sits up. Rubbing the back of his head, he starts to look around as he begins to stand. "Janine!" He yells, hoping that he hears a reply.
To the right of him, he then sees a hand and arm underneath a pile of broken cement. Rushing over to her, he pushes and moves the rocks away from her. Janine slowly regains consciousness and Ed grabs her from behind, helping her up, wrapping his arms around her waist.
As she holds her head, steadying herself. He asks. "Are you ok?" "...yeah." She quietly replies, still holding her head slightly. She then feels a sharp in the side of her left arm. Gritting and whimpering from the soreness and aches, Ed gently grabs hold her arm and checks it himself.
Ed - "I think your arm is sprained." She sighs sadly as she slowly bends her arm against her chest, biting her lip from the discomfort, to keep it in place.
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The group makes it to the backup laboratory. Kain inspects the electronics, Roy and Hawkeye head up the steps as Havoc takes the other soldiers over to the set of doors on the other side to keep guard.
Entering the room, they look around. Checking each of the file cabinets, only to find them empty, Riza suggests. "I think it's time to head back, Sir." Roy nods his head and they head back to the others.
Kain informs them that the radios and other devices no longer work. Havoc and another soldier open the door quickly and check the hallway. "It's clear, General!" Jean shouts. "Good. Then let's continue." Roy replies as he starts walking with the others following him immediately.
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Making it to the main laboratory, they see a few empty large testing tubes surrounding a radio that is connected to a large circuit board in the middle of the room. "I don't think we're underneath Table City anymore," Janine tells Edward. "What makes you say that?" He asks.
AJ - "Only to the west in Oakland or to the south in Lexington in Creta, can you find technology that complicated to figure out. And I know this because Solana has an avant-grande system that she got when she visited Lexington in her younger years. My dad, on the other hand, was from Oakland. He packed up a few radios and technology nicknacks before he moved east."
Ed - "And you remember all of that?" She nods her head and then tells him. "I visited Solana when I was over there. It was good seeing her and some of my friends again." She smiles. Ed smiles as well, then asks. "So hows Nicole? I've never met her but Roxy says she's a pretty cool chick."
"Yeah, she's awesome. It was nice spending some time with her again." AJ replies. Looking forward, she adds. "Shall we continue?" "Yeah. The quicker we can get out of this hellhole, the better." She chuckles and follows him as he starts walking to and through a set of double doors.
Then out of the blue, they hear an echoed roar coming through an air vent. Ed grabs her right arm and the both of them take off running.
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Panting and catching their breath, AJ and Ed recollect themselves and look around. Now in a watercourse canal, to the far corner is a doorless exit. Ed then suggests. "Let's head over there!" Walking through several rooms finally making it to a door with a lock on it.
AJ sighs. "Well, now what?" Ed bends down, pulling a small tool out of his pocket. "This is one of those days that I'm incredibly grateful to have my wife. (AJ smiles) Even though I can't use alchemy like that anymore, she taught me a few tricks to the trade, like picking locks with a lockpick. Of course, I knew my own skills from my younger years. (He grins as the lock clicks) Bingo! We're in!" He puts it back into his pocket.
Pushing the door open, Ed and AJ walk in and see a girl (aged about ten years) tied up in chains behind a locked gate. A sealed door that is covered with broken and loose wires are just a few feet away from the girl on the other side, behind her to the left.
Ed then notices something on top of the gate. Pulling the rope down, the other end of it pulls a lever on the right side of the other door above the other end. The gate opens up, slowly moving horizontally. The both of them rush in and Ed grabs on an end of the chain, untieing it slowly. AJ works on the other side.
Ed catches the girl once the chains are loose enough as AJ unties the girl's legs. AJ then checks her pulse. "She's still with us." "Good. Let's get her and ourselves out of here asap." AJ nods her head as Ed moves his arms underneath the girl's legs, carrying her. AJ holds the door for Ed as all three quickly exit the room.
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Making their way from around another set of corridors, they make it to a storage room filled with large water and oil containers. A streak line of blood starts in the room, leading through a door to the right. Down a flight of steps, they walk into a room full of hanging animal corpses. Some are decomposed, others are fresh.
Just as they make it to another hallway, more of those faceless monsters lunged right at them. Killing them quickly and walking down to a different, other path then that the creatures came out from.
Riza then pulls out her gun, loading it up and then aiming it at the double doors in front of them. "Colonel?" Roy asks. Jean and the others as well point their guns at the doors as well. Roy then hears the deep growl from the other end of the door as well.
As soon as he raises his hand, glove on, a Panther chimera with human-like characteristics, bursts open through both doors, glaring at the group fiercely and roars loudly.
End of Chapter 45