23. Vengeance, Annihilation, Thanatos
The survivors walked across the steel platform that lead to a long steel ladder and began climbing down. As Kevin approached, his knees went weak under the weight of his body and nausea got the best of him. He fell to his knees, grabbing the railing of the platform and cried, holding the ID tag he took from Alyssa's, her face staring back at him. Yoko grabbed him by his arm.
"Alyssa…" Kevin said.
"Please, Kevin," Yoko pleaded. "We have to hurry. You need to make it."
"We're almost there son," Mark said. "No use givin' up now!"
With Yoko's help Kevin stood up and grabbed the ladder.
Back in the empty laboratory, Thanatos's immense body stepped through the plastic curtain, carrying a dead UBCS soldier with one hand. He scanned the room and sniffed the air and recognized the familiar aroma of blood. Once he set his eyes to the middle of the room, he saw Greg's body slumped backward, blood oozing from his head. Thanatos slowly walked over to it and kneeled down, pushing it with his hand like a curious animal. He tried to mumble something but only let out a low grunt. He began to shake Greg's body with his hand. He wasn't moving. He saw the large wound in his eye and began to realize what had happened. He grabbed Greg's body and lifted it into his arms, cradling him like an infant, while embracing him tenderly, rubbing his cheek against Greg's head. He let out what sounded at first like sobbing, which quickly turned into an enraged, inhuman roar that shook the walls of the room. Thanatos then placed Greg's body on the floor and clenched his immense fist. Anger was a new emotion for him, the floodgates of emotion having been ripped open without warning, and all the adrenaline in his body pumped through his veins at once as his exposed heart began to beat furiously, its loud thump thump thumping sounding like a large drum. He stood up and turned his head sideways to the door, smelling traces of human flesh.
The group traveled three stories down until reaching a tunnel, which they followed until they reached a door that was locked on their side. They unlocked it and stepped through to find themselves in the same hallway Yoko watched the UBCS soldiers get slaughtered, only this time the hall was completely congested with zombies wearing lab coats and business suits. A beeping device beside them indicated that there were only minutes left until the bombs would go off.
"What now?!" Mark said.
"We'll have to go around," George said.
They turned towards a door on the other side of the hallway, only for the entire wall in front of them to burst open, concrete and steel flying across the room creating a gaping hole. From that hole entered Thanatos, his normally vacant and pupil-less eyes now filled with rage. He looked over at the group, his chest heaving, and began to approach.
"Or not…" David said.
"We have no choice now! We MUST go through them!" George said. "Everybody, GO!"
George ran into the wave of zombies that stood behind them and shoved his way through. Mark followed, using his strength to overpower them and clear a way for Cindy and the others. David slashed and sliced at them as Kevin kicked them until they had gotten halfway through the sea of undead that cluttered the hallway, Yoko ducking and crawling between them. Thanatos saw this and let out a great bloodlust roar, then sprinted forward and swiped the zombies with his hand, sending them flying against the wall. The others then began to attack him, their attention distracted away from the survivors, as Thanatos ripped and clawed through the mass of cadavers, spraying blood from left to right and swatting them like flies. The group finally made it through the crowd and to a door on the other side, zombies clinging all over Thanatos's body. The survivors stepped through the door and ran to the center of the plaza as Thanatos began to sprint towards the door behind them, but before he could reach it the university suddenly burst into flame as the bombs on each floor exploded in unison, causing the university to collapse into itself and the ceiling to fall on top of Thanatos's body.
Each of the survivors stared up in awe at the sight they had seen, the heat from the explosion nearly burning their skin despite their keeping their distance. After the fire subsided they scanned the plaza, where the various gored and bloody UBCS soldiers' bodies lay scattered throughout.
"Great, so what now?" David said, looking at the others.
"The daylight…it's gone," George said. "That means it's, over."
"No, it isn't," Mark said. "Yoko and Kevin, they ain't infected yet. We kin still get them outta here alive, an' we got to."
"Well, this sucks," Kevin said, grabbing his arm, a drop of blood dripping from his hand.
"What's wrong?" Cindy said, approaching him and inspecting his wound. She gasped. "Oh no! Kevin, no!"
"One of those undead sons of bitches, in the hallway…argh…dammit! I was so close….Alyssa, I'm, sorry…"
"Kevin, I, I'm so sorry." George said.
"Yoko, are you still okay?" Cindy said.
"Yes, I'm alright," she said.
"Then…we must find a way, to get you out of here," George said.
Suddenly a radio transmission could be heard from one of the dead UBCS soldier's body. Mark walked over to it and picked it up to listen.
"Can anybody hear me? Do you read, over?"
"Ah hear ya'," Mark said. "Over."
"Where are you? We picked up a weak signal, we're looking for survivors. Over."
"There are eight…" Mark paused. "Six…of us. We're at the University, it just went up in flames. We need a transport outta here, on the double! Over."
"There's a courtyard behind the university, go there, we will meet you there. Hurry. Over and out."
"Le's get you home Yoko," Mark said. "Maybe this whole mess won't have been for nothin' after all. Everybody take a weapon, who knows what we'll meet on th' way there…"
The survivors picked up weapons from the soldiers' bodies, including an assault rifle, a grenade launcher, and various handguns, then trekked across the plaze to a single door that lead to a large shipping area where an immense semi truck sat, its flat bed stretching across the entire area. They climbed over it and crossed it to the other side. George noticed Kevin's silent demeanor and glanced over at him to see him still holding Alyssa's tag in his hand. George then looked at Cindy, who was standing beside him, and suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand, which caught her by surprise.
"All this way just to die," David said. "Sounds like the ending to a bad novel to me."
"I'm afraid you're right David," George said, his normally optimistic demeanor waning.
"It weren't for nothing," Mark said. "Don' you understan' that Yoko is still alive? If in all this mess we can git at least one a' us outta here, then I's worth it in mah eyes."
"Mark's right," Cindy said. "Even after all this, we have to remember that there will always be hope, and right now that hope is Yoko."
"Thank you, everybody," Yoko said shyly.
Kevin pocketed Alyssa's tag, placing it in his back pocket near his butt. "Hope you're comfortable there baby," he said with a weak smirk. "This'll hafta do until we're together again in that bubble bath in the sky."
The group walked until they saw a door near the back of the area.
"This leads to the courtyard just past a series of platforms," George said. "Let's hurry, before,"
Suddenly a large object fell from the sky and landed in front of them, blocking the door. It stood straight up and looked at them. It was Thanatos, one of his arms having been destroyed, his body burned and charred to a crisp, but he had grown in height, muscle, and mass, half of his face completely burned to the point the skin had melted off. Thanatos roared at them and began to take slow, labored steps toward them.
"No not now!" George yelled.
"We were so close!" Cindy said.
"You again?" Kevin said, raising his assault rifle. "I admire your persistence, but…I'm SICK of this shit!!"
"Time to DIE mother FUCKER!!" David said, unsheathing his knife and wielding a desert eagle.
"You can't beat us! Not now!" Mark said as he cocked his shotgun.
David charged ahead of the others like a wild man only to be backhanded across the room against a locker, leaving a large dent. He shook his head and watched Thanatos lift his large arm to pierce through his body until the others opened fire on him, pulling his attention away.
"This way you ugly mothah!" Kevin said.
Thanatos then took an incredible leap across the area and swiped at Kevin, barely missing him but knocking him back. Mark then fired his shotgun into Thanatos's back, stunning him for a brief second, but soon Thanatos turned around and approached Mark, who unloaded on him with little affect despite leaving large wounds on Thanatos's body, which quickly seemed to heal themselves. Kevin meanwhile climbed onto the bed of the back of the semi and kneeled down, taking aim. As Thanatos raised his arm to strike Mark Kevin took a shot, hitting him in his heart. Thanatos then let out a shrill scream of agony and turned towards Kevin.
"The heart!" Kevin said. "Aim for the heart!"
Thanatos then shoved Mark aside with his hand, then sent it towards Kevin's direction. Kevin leaped off the back of the truck, just barely dodging Thanatos's attack, which ripped the truck nearly in half. Mark ran across the area as Thanatos pursued, swiping horizontal as Mark dove onto his chest, Thanatos's immense claw barely missing but instead leaving a large scrape against the concrete wall in front of him. Mark stood up and fired a round off only to be kicked hard against the tough, cement wall, stunning him. Kevin fired a few rounds off to get the monster's attention, and Thanatos responded by swiping the concrete wall, sending large blocks of cement in Kevin's direction. Kevin rolled sideways, barely dodging one of the large boulders. He tried to stand up, but found his rifle had been pinned under the boulder. He moved to run but Thanatos dropped his large arm down directly in his path, then swung it like a bat into Kevin's chest, sending him reeling against a steel gate. Kevin shook his head and looked up at Thanatos, who stood over him as if gloating.
"Guess this is it," Kevin said as Thanatos raised his arm.
Suddenly an acid round flew through the air and smacked Thanatos on the side, its impact burning his already charred flesh. He turned his attention back to George, who held the grenade launcher in his hand. He leaped across the area, dodging another grenade round, and shoved George to the ground with the palm of his hand. Cindy screamed in terror and laid down on top of George as Thanatos raised his foot to crush both of them.
"Hey, ugly," David said. "Take a gander over here. Got a present for ya'."
Thanatos turned around to see David kneeling down near the locker he had been thrown against, brandishing a large rocker launcher.
"Eat shit and die," David said as he pulled the trigger, sending a rocket soaring through the air, which exploded directly against Thanatos's chest. Thanatos screamed, blood pouring from his mouth like a fountain, then dropped to his knees as his body became engulfed in flames, then dropped face first to the floor and remained motionless.
David dropped the rocket launcher and fell backward in exhaustion. Kevin and Mark approached, both of them limping, and helped David get to his feet as Cindy and Yoko helped George up. They all looked down at the large creature that fought so valiantly and ruthlessly, still showing both fear and respect at its sheer awesomeness.
"You gave us one hell of a fight," David said, blood trickling down his forhead.
"You got lucky this time pal," Kevin said, wiping blood from his mouth.
"Poor miserable creature," Mark said, his shoulder bleeding again, its wound having reopened.
"What horrors mankind has brought us," George said, blood running down his head and onto his neck. "Why did he pursue us so?"
"He's just an insane psycho monster," David said.
"No, I don't think it's that simple," George said. "Greg said he was like his son. It must think that we killed him. It must think that…we, are the monsters."
"Hmph." David muttered.
"Well, he's dead now," Kevin said, kicking Thanatos's head. "Too bad I'm infected, or I'd carve his ass and hang it over my fireplace!"
"Let's keep movin'," Mark said. "Ah can hear a chopper nearby."
The survivors walked past Thanatos's body and broke through the sealed door that lead to the courtyard. Unbeknownst to the group, one of Thanatos's pale eyes suddenly opened, and his leg began to move.