April 11, 2010.
A/N: Hullooo, fictioners.
I've gotta say, this story has exploded like a rocket since I started it. You know, I initially intended for it to be a ten-chapter darkfic, but now, I'm starting chapter sixteen, and I have too many places for it to go for it to finish soon XD
May I just say here, that if you're enjoying the strange darkfic-eqsue, AU-ness of this fic, then go and read 'Severance', by sakuuya. Seriously, it's the fic that created an interest in me for darkfics; it inspired this one. It's brilliant. Oh, sak, if you're reading... update? Come on, man, last chapter! D:
Otherwise, that's it for today. Happy reading!
Searching for Solace
- SIX -
March 7 – 09:22
The drive home had not been pleasant. The roads were crowded with cars; the atmosphere busy and anxious. There was tenseness in the air that crackled like electricity. It was fear, Mackenzie realised, thinking about it as they shuffled along in the bumper-to-bumper slug of traffic. Fear, and confusion, and mild chaos.
Getting out of the car, she looked around. The orbs didn't seem to be diminishing yet; if anything, they seemed to have multiplied, actually. Mackenzie shook off the edgy feeling they gave her and followed Morgan to the door.
"Whaddaya think they are?" she asked, her eyes flicking from one glowing ball to the next. Morgan glanced over her shoulder, seeing them as if she hadn't noticed them before.
"No fucking idea," she replied, glaring at them. She shoved the door open, then wheeled, her eyes wide. "Oh my god, we're idiots!"
"What?" Mackenzie asked, alarmed.
"Someone out there has to have answers," Morgan replied, dumping her bag unceremoniously and heading for Mackenzie's bedroom, Mackenzie trailing at her heels like a lost puppy. Morgan made herself comfortable at the computer and turned it on. "We should've done this yesterday. Bet ya ten bucks Dr. Shirogane's posted updates."
It made perfect sense, and Mackenzie felt foolish for not thinking of it earlier. "Want a glass of water?"
"Thanks," Morgan replied, clicking away. When Mackenzie returned, a video was buffering. Morgan grinned at her triumphantly, dark eyes almost excited. "Told ya."
They squashed together in front of Mackenzie's old computer and let the video play. Dr Shirogane's face appeared in the centre of the screen, looking strained.
"This video is being recorded on March 6. The time is eleven-thirty in the morning. In precisely half an hour, the Cyniclons will attack. We've detected them within our atmosphere. We suspected the attack would be full-scale, but it seems we've underestimated our enemy. There are more of them than we expected. We've confirmed six foreign vessels which appear to be mother-ships. Smaller ships have been positioned above various nations: India, China, Africa, the U.S., Australia, the United Kingdom, Iran, Germany – the list continues.
"Unfortunately, we can only estimate the enemy's method of attack, though we are confident they will use similar tactics to their previous invasion. In a few moments, you will view a diagram of a creation known as a Chimera Anima – a protoplasmic creature designed to mutate the genetics of any living creature, excluding humans." A picture appeared on the screen, and Mackenzie gave a shout of recognition. Morgan quickly shushed her, focusing intently. "The Chimera attach themselves to the host, absorbing their genetic foundations and exacerbating total body mass and physical statistics like stamina and speed, by combining the host's original genetics with a set of foreign genetics. Put simply, the host becomes an alien creation, with the sole intention of killing humans."
"Bullshit. Aliens don't–"
"Max! Shh!"
"We don't have much time left," Dr Shirogane was saying quickly. "The Chimera are difficult opponents, and unless you are specifically trained, destroying them is near to impossible. The chances of survival when fighting against these monsters is less than four percent. We advise anyone watching to not attack, unless you have a death-wish. Take refuge and look after yourselves and your loved ones. The safest places are those that are underground, or remote.
"Our enemy will, logically, target places of high population density. If you have the ability to evacuate the cities, we strongly suggest you do so. Another update will be posted as soon as possible. Until then, expect the worst. The earth will be hit hard. Our enemies will be ruthless. There will be bloodshed. But saving our future will not be impossible."
The video ended.
"I don't get how it works," Mackenzie said. "I couldn't even feel those things when I tried to touch them."
"That's because we're immune to them," Morgan replied. "They mutate animals, I think. Well… that's what the professor said."
"Animals…" Mackenzie repeated. The light bulb flicked on in her head. "Like insects."
"Yep. Just like those spiders."
"But…" A horrifying thought had just struck Mackenzie. Her mouth sagged for a moment. "Shit! There are thousands of them. What – they're all going latch onto some poor animal somewhere and make monsters out of them? Nuh-uh. Sorry. This is bullshit."
She got up and stalked from the room, part-irritated at how outrageous everything was, part-terrified that, despite her doubt, she was believing it, because the proof was all around her that it was real; those disgusting jellyfish things the professor had talked about were floating past her window as they spoke.
"Max–" A roar like the thundering of airplane engines ripped through the silence, vibrating violently through the floor. Mackenzie turned instinctively in the direction it had originated, and found herself looking straight into an enormous electric-blue eye that was almost as big as the window.
She screamed. Morgan was beside her in a flash, face panic-stricken.
"What's–?" A second roar effectively muted the rest of her sentence, then there was an ear-splitting crash and a gigantic, clawed paw ripped through the wall. Screaming, the girls retreated to the room of easiest access: the lounge room. Eyes huge and mouths open, they backed up as the monstrous beast shoved its head through the jagged hole in the Richards' kitchen. It roared threateningly, revealing dripping, carnivorous teeth, and reached with a paw the size of an armchair to swipe at them.
Without thinking, Morgan grabbed Mackenzie and dragged her out of the way. The monster's claws left wall-to-wall gashes in the carpet, like someone had run through with a big, steel rake.
"Grab some stuff!" Morgan yelled, screaming as part of the roof caved in. Plaster rained down around them; they shielded their heads, flinching as they were pelted.
"Like what?"
"Some warm clothes, your wallet, maybe a couple of blankets or something – I dunno!" Morgan bellowed, as a monster paw took out the lounge room wall. The noise was deafening; like they were stuck in the middle of a demolition zone with no protective earmuffs. "Useful things!"
She gave Mackenzie a forceful shove that almost sent her sprawling, and Mackenzie ran blindly for her room, heart in mouth, pulse hammering in her ears. She fumbled around stupidly, grabbing things at random and throwing them into a bag. Thirty seconds later, she realised she'd mindlessly chucked in completely idiotic things like her old calisthenics trophies from when she was five, and her maths textbooks. She emptied half the contents and repacked, messily shoving in half of her jumper drawer and the first aid kit her mum had made up for her to take on school camp last year.
Mackenzie gathered her pillows and doona up in her arms as she left, wrestling the whole lot towards where she prayed the front door still was. She focused on looking ahead; if she turned around she'd be forced to see the missing back half of the house, and she just didn't think she could handle it right now. Frustrated roars of the mutant beast propelled her forward - pushed her legs faster - and she was exploding out onto the driveway in a matter of seconds.
"Here!" Morgan called, throwing the boot of the Holden open. She grabbed half of the armload impatiently and threw it haphazardly at the boot, slamming the lid with a little too much gusto."Get in!"
The monster had, at this point, noticed their attempted getaway. It loomed over the semi-destroyed house, snarling down at them from its extremely intimidating full-height, and lifted a paw, looking as though it planned on stepping over the house to get to them. Or maybe stepping through it. Mackenzie dove for the car; she was fumbling stupidly for the seatbelt as Morgan reversed madly onto the street. She just had time to stick the car into drive and shoot forward to avoid the enormous paw that was trying to crush them. With a colossal crunch of gravel, the asphalt buckled and collapsed under the weight, leaving a crater in the road when it lifted away.
By this stage, the girls were turning out of Mackenzie's street and screeching in whatever direction seemed to be most opposite from the house.
"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god," Mackenzie was whimpering, pale-faced and trembling.
"What? What is it?" Morgan snapped breathlessly, gripping the wheel so hard her knuckles were cracking from the pressure.
"That thing…" Mackenzie trailed off weakly. She couldn't believe what she'd seen when they'd pulled out of the driveway. She'd had a clear view straight past the house to the backyard, and her gaze had fallen immediately on what had been the remains of Rusty's wooden doghouse. The rest of it had been scattered over the grass. "I… I think…" Her lip trembled.
"Max, what?"
"I-I think it was Rusty…" She was piecing together how it could have happened in her mind, so crystal-clear and horribly detailed that it was like watching a movie in her head. Rusty dozing in his kennel, a stray floating jellyfish somehow making its way inside and latching onto him – taking over his body – and seizing control. Turning him into a monster that grew and grew until it was too big for the little doghouse, and it had exploded as he'd continued to expand rapidly…
"Fuck me!" Morgan exclaimed tactlessly, dragging her sharply back to reality. "No shit!" She stared, wide-eyed, at Mackenzie. "Holy… That's just..."
Mackenzie didn't really feel like talking. Her mind was whirling dizzily; she was in such a state of shock. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned her head back exhaustedly against the headrest. The nightmare wasn't going away; it was dragging on and on… Without even realising it, her brain switched to auto-pilot and promptly switched off, doing its best to instinctively protect her. The vivid images and frightening memories faded into nothingness, and she was granted a short relief from everything that awaited when she woke again.
March 7 – 16:38
"Max, wake up."
The sky behind the car windows was faded orange-red, dusted with shadowed clouds. Mackenzie looked over sleepily; Morgan was undoing her seatbelt. She immediately imitated, pushing herself up straighter in her seat.
"Where are we?"
"A friend's," Morgan replied. "Apparently things haven't been bad here." She opened the car door. "Come on."
The first thing Mackenzie noticed was that, if the faint pounding music coming from behind the front door was anything to go by, things weren't bad here at all. She glanced suspiciously at Morgan's back as her friend rang the doorbell. The second thing she noticed was the loud chatter of voices as the door swung open, followed by the warm scent of a party. Her heart sank as she stepped over the threshold with Morgan, who was already smiling at people.
"Jess, you don't mind if we crash here do you?" she called. The girl who let them in – the host, apparently – waved one hand casually in the air, walking away. Evidently, that was her way of consenting. Morgan started to walk, but Mackenzie grabbed her arm.
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"Why did we come here?" Mackenzie asked, her voice sticking in her throat. She was way outside her comfort zone, and the fact that Morgan knew she hated parties left her feeling more than a little hurt. Didn't Morgan care about her feelings? She tried not to look offended.
"I knew she'd let us crash," Morgan replied, raising her voice to be heard over the House music. She shrugged. "It was the best I had on short notice."
"Couldn't we have just stayed at yours?" Mackenzie almost begged, glancing around Morgan to the group of guys stacking Corona bottles in a hazardous pyramid on the coffee table.
"Don't be stupid," Morgan snapped. "My house is probably worse than yours right now. Just dump everything upstairs and come mingle with us."
Feeling wounded, Mackenzie tried very hard not to glower at her best friend. "Okay… I'll be down in a sec."
Morgan smiled happily and pointed her in the direction of her friend's bedroom. "I'll grab you a Cruiser, okay? After the day we've had, you need a drink. Trust me, you'll like it."
Mackenzie trooped upstairs and stood silently for a few minutes, gazing around the dim bedroom, feeling lost and anxious and very unhappy. Not to mention betrayed by the only person she had right now. The thought demolished whatever tiny almost-desire she had to return to the party. Instead, she wrapped herself in her doona and sunk down to sit on the floor and cry.
In the midst of watching her classmates being eaten by alien monsters, having her house destroyed by her pet, losing practically everything she had ever owned, and finding herself homeless and – for the moment – family-less, Mackenzie seriously doubted getting blind drunk was what she needed. She sent another hopeful text off to her sister and made herself more comfortable, resting her head against the wall to watch the shadows dance in the dying afternoon light.
CULTURE NOTE
'Bet ya ten bucks' - Extremely Australian. Especially in children.
Bucks - Dollars.
Jumper - Sweater.
Holden - A brand of car in Australia. One of the two biggest teams that race in the Bathurst 1000 - a huge car race held annually in New South Wales. A teacher of mine once told me that Holden is the Australian equivalent of America's General Motors.
The boot - Um... the very back of the car, where you put stuff XD I think the Americans call it the 'trunk'...?
'Fuck me!' - Does not actually mean 'sleep with me right now'. It is used to express shock or disbelief, mostly among males.
Corona and Cruiser - I hope you guys have these drinks. I'm gonna explain them anway. A Corona is a light beer, drunk with a slice of lemon in the neck. A Cruiser is a pre-mixed Vodka drink - nicknamed 'lolly water' here - that comes in all sorts of fruity flavours. Mostly teenage girls drink them. They're sickly sweet and very disgusting XD
NOTES
Note! In Shirogane's video, he says the time is 11:30am. Keep in mind that it isn't the time in Melbourne - it's the time in Tokyo. While the time was 1:30 for Max and Morgan, it was two hours earlier in Japan. Timezones, people. Obviously it couldn't be 1:30 in both Australia and Japan.
Note! In this story, you'll find I switch from calling the Chimera Anima 'Chimera Anima' to just 'Chimera'. I am referring to the same thing. The reason for this is that it's been such a long time since I wrote a fic involving Chimera Anima, that I've actually forgotten what a Chimera Anima really is. In my mind, it refers to both the glowing blob orb and the mutant beast creation. I am most likely wrong. So bear with me on that :S Apologies in advance to sakuuya, who really isn't going to like it.
Good lord, Max's house has been destroyed D: Whatever will our heroines do now? Next chapter will be up soon for you to find out! :)
... Review? :D
Until the next update.
Love,
Cherrie xx