Soldier 76 led Cassidy and Mercy through the corridors of the underground facility to an area they had not yet seen. It was not a short walk. In fact they seemed to travel the entire distance of the mountain, through narrow winding corridors and semi-collapsed dirt tunnels, before they reached a rusty steel door which was, apparently their destination.
Mercy was not impressed.
She had seen worse, of course. The last few months had shown her all manner of horrors, from the dead and dying to the vicious, uncompromising nature of the world itself. But there was a little something about this door that said it was part of that world; a world of worse things to come. Whatever it hid, Mercy decided, was nothing nice.
They entered after Soldier 76 unlocked a first door with an old fashioned key, then placed his palm on a very new looking keypad and unlocked a second. They descended a flight of stairs in a silence cold as death.
The bottom of the stairs opened onto a small room, surrounded in crates and dimly lit with a single flickering light like yellow piss. Barely enough room for a dozen people, shoulder to shoulder, to stand around what took most of the space in the centre of the room.
It was a cage, wrought iron, and the only thing that looked well-maintained in the dingy space. And within that cage, her arms shackled down, was a woman. The woman was thrashing left and right, foaming at the mouth, red-eyed and vicious. There was something in her dead-eyed stare that Mercy recognised. Apparently Cassidy recognised it too.
'She's not about to die,' the ranger drawled, 'she's dead. Turned. One of them.'
Soldier 76 grimaced, and turned to another soldier nearby. 'When did this happen?'
'Less than an hour ago, sir.' The younger soldier sighed. He was slumped on his keyboard, staring woefully at the undead special agent. 'I was about to come find you. But… I just felt miserable. Sorry. I couldn't save her.'
Soldier 76 frowned, but said nothing. Clearly the younger soldier would be reprimanded later. He turned to Mercy.
'So there's nothing you can do?'
He had the faintest glimmer of hope in his weary eyes. But Mercy was staring at the woman in the cage with pity, nothing else. She could heal almost anything, if she reached it in time. That was part of her gift. But she could not bring people back. She could not restore their souls. Not after they were turned into these monsters. Or at least she never had before.
'I'm sorry,' she said aloud. 'There's nothing I can do for…'
'Yes you can.' A voice sounded in her mind and she turned. Following them down the stairs at a leisurely pace was Reaper, his face hidden by the alabaster skull-mask. 'You could bring her back if you wanted to.'
Mercy knew what he was referring to. She truly was an angel, and angels had been known to return people from the dead before. She'd even done something similar to Reaper when she first arrived on Earth. But this was different. She had a different purpose now, had been sent here with a specific mission. Bringing people back from the dead was not something she had the power to do.
'You know I can't.'
'I know you can,' Reaper responded. 'And I'll help you.'
He was going to help? Mercy was astounded. They had been working together for weeks now, forming some kind of uneasy partnership of necessity. And yet they had never really worked together. Not on something like this, at any rate.
'How?' Her voice was low now.
'You heal. I'll locate the soul.'
'What's he saying?' Cassidy asked, looking annoyed. Only then did Mercy realise that the conversation had occurred within her own mind. That was one skill of Reaper's that was exceptionally useful.
'He's saying we can do it, if we work together. But it won't be easy.'
Soldier 76's old face was clenched with wrinkles. He looked ready to throw Reaper out of the secret room, but his interest had been piqued now.
'Are you sure?'
'We'll do our best.'
'Please do. She's a hero.'
Mercy smiled as compassionately as she could. 'Heroes never die.'
With a quick nod to Reaper, she turned her attention back to the cage. Widowmaker – Lacroix – thrashed animalistically, beyond control, beyond reason. But Mercy extended her staff anyway, and the golden glow filled the air between them, an ethereal river of healing energy that connected the two, bound them. The bond was just as strong as if they had been clasping forearms. Stronger, perhaps. Mercy could feel herself becoming tied to Widowmaker.
'Are you ready?' she said aloud.
Reaper said nothing. They delved into the space between life and death together, let the halfway world wash over them and drown them. And Reaper searched.
Amélie Lacroix had died in the cage, that much was certain. And it had not been long ago. If she had not died in the cage their plan might never have worked.
That was the thing about the dead, Mercy reflected. Their souls were supposed to flee the Earth, go to heaven or hell, far from their mortal bodies. Only that brought a human life to peace, and allowed the circle to continue. But the cycle had been broken. She did not know how. Souls were building up, blocking the river of death. The undead were walking, restless, hungry. It was her mission to find out why. Her mission to stop it.
It was Reaper's mission, too. That was how they had met. If anyone could reach the bottom of the mystery, it was an angel and a… well, whatever he was.
Reaper found Widowmaker's soul. As expected it had lingered near her mortal body, as restless as physical form which even now was fighting to free itself. He pulled it back into her. Mercy's healing magic helped it slide in. The fresh corpse, standing and glaring and spitting, suddenly stopped moving.
Mercy, who had been throwing all her energy and power into the transference, took a deep breath. It was no simple thing to return a body to life. She had had to repair tissue, cells, bones, and all types of matter back to life. She had repaired synapses and pumped air into the brain and heart and lungs. Thankfully – yet another lucky occurrence – the body had not been dead for long.
Widowmaker was still and silent for a moment. Mercy allowed herself to relax, pulled her consciousness back into her own body, and released the bond between herself and the dead woman. They waited with baited breath.
Miraculously, it had worked.
The Widowmaker took a deep, gasping breath, and looked around. For the first time now Mercy could look at her properly. She was a striking woman, with a sharp chin and sultry, flashing eyes. Her lithe figure was hardly covered at all in a black lycra suit that had probably once acted as an insulator between armour and flesh. A little colour returned, but not much. Widowmaker remained an unhealthy blue tinge to her skin. The pale blue of a fresh, cold cadaver.
'Where am I?' she asked.
Soldier 76 waved a hand. 'You're dismissed, all of you. Special agent Lacroix and I have a lot to discuss.' He gave one last look to Mercy. 'Is she… ok to release?'
'Give her a few minutes,' Mercy suggested. 'If she's still clear and coherent you can let her out.'
'Understood.' Soldier 76 nodded briskly, and turned his attention back to the woman in the cage.
'I'll be back though,' Cassidy mumbled. 'Y'all promised me time to speak with her. You want our help, 76, you've gotta hold up your side of the bargain.'
Soldier 76 nodded and waved his hand. Taking their cue to leave, Mercy led Reaper and Cassidy out of the dark stairwell and back into the dirty corridor above. They were unescorted now. There were more soldiers rushing around, of course, but they seemed to take little notice of the three strangers.
Mercy wanted to go straight back to the rooms and see what mischief the others were getting up to – make sure, in particular, that Genji and Tracy had not already tried to flee out a back door. But they only made it a few steps before Cassidy started asking his questions. The cowboy pulled Reaper and Mercy into a nearby service room and hissed under his breath.
'What the fuck was that?'
Reaper said nothing. Mercy understood that it was her place to provide the answers. Though it strained against her better judgement she decided that Cassidy did deserve some honesty. So she told him.
'I'm an angel. I was sent to Earth to discover why bodies are no longer dying. Why the dead rise and walk again. And Reaper… Well, he's the opposite.'
Cassidy looked over at Reaper, silent as a grave in his long black coat. 'What do you mean the opposite?'
Mercy shrugged. 'He's Death.'
It took a while before Cassidy spoke again. Or at least it felt like a while, though in reality it was only a few moments. His mouth hung agape as he looked back and forth between the two.
'Really? Fuckin' really? That's the story you expect me to believe?'
'It does not affect me whether you believe it or not. I'm sure Reaper feels the same.'
Cassidy looked astounded. 'I don't… this is unbelievable. I mean, I knew you two were strange. You're the only pair with these god damn abilities I've met yet… But I didn't expect this!'
Reaper spoke for the first time, his deep voice thrumming in the bone of Cassidy and Mercy's skulls.
'If it doesn't make sense you can leave. Otherwise accept it and move on. This is the way it is.'
Cassidy looked like he wanted to argue that, but then wisely shut his mouth. 'Alright, fine. Devil and an angel, hand in hand, joker and the fuckin' thief. What next?'
'We should go back. See if the others are…'
A siren sounded, as if on cue. Cassidy looked up, and his broad hat almost fell back from his head. He scratched his stubble.
'What the…'
A number of clone soldiers ran past, pulling their visors down over their faces and reloading their rifles. They looked ready for a war. Well, most of them did. Some had their arms in slings, eye patches covering half their face, or were missing limbs and had cheap replacements strapped on. Mercy felt a swell of pity for them. Given more time and she might have been able to help a few of them.
She stepped out the doorway and into the corridor. Cassidy and Reaper followed. The tide of soldiers passed around them. Moments later, bringing up the rear, Soldier 76 arrived. Behind him, tall and calm, strode a graceful Widowmaker with blue skin and a custom-looking rifle by her waist. She looked deadly… and just a little cold.
'What's happening?' Mercy asked.
Soldier 76's rifle was cocked comfortably under his arm. He was wearing a visor, too, unlike before. He was ready to fight.
'We're under attack. But it's strange. They don't seem to be omnics, or undead.'
'Something worse?'
'Much worse.' Soldier 76 stared at Mercy. 'There's a very slim chance we're getting out of here alive. Go get your men and women. We could use all the help we can get.'
Mercy nodded. 'I'll get the adults. Tracy is young. I'm not sure if she can…'
Soldier 76 whirled and plucked a tiny child, perhaps eleven, from the crowd of rushing men and women. Mercy recognised the child as a clone. She wondered if the women were clones too, or volunteers of a sort. It did not seem like the time to ask. The eleven year old was itching to fight, holding a small handgun and writhing in 76's grip.
'We're all soldiers here,' the old soldier growled, fury latent in his voice. He released the child. 'Go get your team and meet me by the front door. I want to be ready when the enemy starts knocking, whoever they are.'
The tunnels shook. Splinters of rock and dirt fell from the reinforced roof. It was clear that this facility had been under attack before. Wooden pillars had already been erected to help take the weight of the mountain above.
Only then did Mercy really realise the gravity of the situation. They weren't just under attack from a small scouting party of undead, or half a dozen vengeance driven robots. Nothing like that could shake a mountain. No, this was the work of heavy artillery. That meant they were being attacked by someone – something – with vehicles, and heavy weapons, and bombardments. Someone with money and technology. Actual, living humans.
Genji's brother. Just like the Japanese scouts had said, the main force had not given up.
And now they were here.