Chapter 9: Dead Ones
Location: Kig Yar group, Forerunner Structure.
Jackson 001
The moment Jackson turned on his helmet lights he completely regretted it. The thing in front of him was the ugliest bastard he had ever seen, and Jackson had seen all kinds of ugly in his time. Slime literally dripped off of its scaly naked body, had long misshapen human like limbs and had a face not even a mother would love.
"You are one ugly mother f…" Jackson's thought was cut off when the thing started flexing its over sized claws and slowly waved its right hand in the group's direction. He could see on the palm of its hand it had small sucker like holes where sickly green smoke appeared. With the motion of its hand it wafted the smoke, and after a few seconds Jackson started to notice a change in the group. All around him he could hear coughing and moaning, then a low whine followed shortly by a number of high pitched screeches that got his heart pumping. Jackson swiftly turned around and what he saw left him horrified.
"What the hell?" Jackson whispered.
The Kig Yar were going completely crazy. He watched as two of them literally tore into one another like mindless animals. Their claws carving deep into their scaly skin and sharp teeth tearing out chunks of flesh, muscle and even revealing the bone beneath. Then Jackson watched one pound his head off the metal wall, every time it struck he could hear the Kig Yar's skull make a wet 'crack, crack' sound as the male slowly split his head open and paint the wall with his blood. Another male looked like he was trying to chew his own arm off and the rest were doing other horrifying things. A sound came from behind Jackson and he spun back around to find Teal'c on one knee, clawing at his helmet as if something was crawling around inside it. The thing that had started this was still standing four meters away, watching them with a disgusting lust filled grin.
"What the fuck is happening? Wait, why am I not going crazy?" Jackson thought as something small drifted passed his vision. It was a spore or something on those lines. He put a hand on the front of his helmet as it came to him.
"My helmet, of course." Jackson thought as he finally looked at Sil.
Unlike the others, Sil was completely still and was just staring wide eyed at her hands with her mouth slightly hanging open. She then started gripping her head and moaning like she was in pain.
"Sil?" He reached out and touched her on her left shoulder and almost immediately she reacted. She spun around so fast he actually flinched and took a step back. Her green eyes were wide with intense fear with her pupils narrowed into slits. Her jaws had formed into a signal-like jaw giving her a slight human look. She was trembling uncontrollably as she stared at his visor. Jackson tried reaching out to her with a hand but she started backing away, her expression changing from fear into panic.
"D…don't touch me g…g…get away from me!" Sil's voice was tinged with dread and her breathing was getting quicker more erratic.
"Sil I don't know what that thing has done but you need to snap out of it." Jackson tried one last time to get through to her but…
"NO!" She screamed, "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME AGAIN!" She ripped out her magnum so fast Jackson had no time to think or react as she pulled the trigger.
To Jackson's luck Sil's aim was off in her panicked state but at this range she didn't really have a lot of room to miss. The first heavy round hit him right in the chest and even though it was deflected off his shield he still felt the impact. The next three hit him in the arm, shoulder, and the last one hit him in the chest again, each one making Jackson stagger back. What alarmed him the most was his shield had gone into the red zone. Then the fourth hit him straight in the chin, the impact making his head snap back and made him lose his balance. It also made his shield pop and he felt the last round break through the armour on his left thigh and embed itself in the muscle beneath. In pain and off balance Jackson tripped over Teal'c who finally managed to get his helmet off. The big Sangheili rounded on him, roaring at the top of his lungs as he grabbed Jackson by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"Gah… T…Teal'c it's me!" Jackson gaged as Teal'c's vice like grip seemed to squeeze the life from him. He could feel his windpipe start to close up, as he was held suspended in the air. Through the pain in his leg and the choking, Jackson managed to turn his head and look at Sil. She was still pulling the trigger but the clip was empty and as soon as Sil realised that, she looked at her cloaking device.
"Sil d…don't, DON'T!" Jackson pleaded.
Sil slammed the hilt of her magnum onto the cloak's activation button and in an instant she vanished. Sil's sudden disappearance actually distracted Teal'c, giving Jackson the opening he needed. He kicked Teal'c in the stomach, making the big Sangheili bend over just enough for Jackson to get his feet on the floor. Now that he had some leverage Jackson used Teal'c's own size to his advantage, by twisting Teal'c's wrist in an odd angle so he was no longer strangling him. Jackson then pressed his left elbow behind Teal'c's shoulder and made him bend down even further, so much in fact Teal'c's face was almost touching the floor.
"You going to be civil about this now?" Jackson asked in a tired stressed out tone. Teal'c roared in response and tried his hardest to get to his feet. "I didn't think so."
With speed and strength Jackson ignored the pain in his leg, flung Teal'c upright and in the same move spun and kicked him hard in the chest plate, sending Teal'c off his feet and into the wall. What Jackson didn't expect was the wall caving in from Teal'c's impact. The Sangheili lay flat on his back with chunks of the wall covering him like a blanket. He was still awake as he shook his head and tried to get up. Jackson readied himself for Teal'c's charge but something caught his eye. From the darkness of the gap in the wall Jackson saw hundreds of pale yellow eyes open all at once. Teal'c was still getting up when a mountain of Flood spores came out of the darkness like a living wave and crashed into him. Teal'c roared in surprise as the body of flesh and tentacles overwhelmed him and pushed him under.
"TEAL'C!" Jackson screamed. He unclipped his shotgun from his back and aimed at the mass of flesh.
Suddenly a skinny repulsive creature erupted from the mass of slimy Flood spores, letting out a screech so high-pitched it made Jackson's blood go cold.
It wrapped its slender fingers around the barrel of his shotgun and pulled Jackson close to its face. Its soulless beady black eyes stared at him hungrily. Its face vaguely resembled a human, which was strange considering that no one had been down here for millions of years. Suddenly its entire face split down the middle and opened. As it opened, slime and flesh stretched apart with a sickening wet peeling sound that made Jacksons stomach churn. Its face was now a gapping maw full of razor sharp teeth and tentacles. When Jackson saw the slimy slithering tentacles it sparked his phobia of snakes and he could feel himself start to panic.
"OH HELL NO!" He pulled the trigger and with a brilliant BANG of gunpowder and buckshot, the creature's torso exploded into tiny bits of flesh and bone. A lot of the gore splattered Jackson's armour, leaving globs of slime, guts and other stuff Jackson didn't want to even think about. Teal'c had completely vanished under the mob of Flood spores and Jackson cursed himself for not being quick enough.
"GOD FUCKING DAMIT!" The Flood spores started slowly creeping toward him, their little tentacles reaching out longingly.
He pumped the shotgun and fired into the little bastards trying to get at his legs. The ones that didn't were now heading for the Kig Yar. Flip and Nip were the only two in the group who hadn't been affected by the *Mind spores*, and were shooting at the Flood coming down the hallway they had come down. Jackson took a quick look down to his right and found the big Flood monster had vanished.
"Where did he go?" Jackson turned his head back to the group, the Kig Yar that were still alive were stumbling about, fear and confusion plastered on their reptilian faces. Jackson looked one more time at the mass of Flood spores that swallowed up Teal'c, sadly shook his head and then bolted for the group, shooting Flood spores as he went. He got in the middle and assessed the situation. The Kig Yar didn't seem to see him as some of them bumped into him. Flip and Nip were holding off the Flood the best they could but Jackson knew it wouldn't last long. Jackson looked down and found Neaola on the floor curled up into a feeble ball, her blue eyes wide with terror. He couldn't see any injures, he knelt down beside Neaola and tried to talk to her.
"Neaola. Neaola can you hear me?" She didn't seem to see or hear him as she just stared blankly up at the celling. He sat her up then looked around him. The Flood were closing in though they were a lot slower than he remembered. The Unggoy's plasma pistols had gone dry and they throw them in frustration at the tiny mob.
"What DO WE DO!?" They screamed at Jackson as the mob moved closer.
Jackson looked down the hallway they hadn't gone down yet. There was no Flood coming from there so he took it. He looked around and saw many assault rifles on the floor. "Both of you grab a gun and try and herd as many Kig Yar down that hallway." He pointed to the hall behind him. The Unggoy just stared at him. "What are you waiting for DO IT!?" They both yelped and did as they were ordered.
Jackson clipped his shotgun on his back, picked up a rifle and scooped up Neaola in one arm. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. She was shaking uncontrollably as he kept his arm around her and got ready to move. The Unggoy had do what he had asked and were herding the Kig Yar as best as they could manage.
"COME ON GET A MOVE ON!" Jackson shouted, spraying his rifle one handed down one of the hallways. A few of the Kig Yar were still tripping about and Jackson tried his best to cover them but it was too late. The unlucky ones were swarmed in seconds and there was nothing he could do for them, except keep on firing into the hoard. The group had finally moved down the hallway and Jackson took up the rear, shooting at everything small and ball shaped, moving with the group as quickly as he could go backwards. They had gotten far now and the Flood had stop following.
"Ok they've stopped coming. Why?" Jackson thought as he looked at his ammo gauge. Five rounds left. "Damn it, just my luck." Jackson muttered to himself angrily.
"I'll…I won't tell you… I WON'T!" Neaola suddenly started talking and she sounded like she was in pain. "You'll NEVER make me talk I'll DIE FIRST!"
What was she seeing? What ever it was, it sounded like torture.
Jackson just kept moving and hoped Sil was still alive.
Sil
"Silia." A voice whispered.
"Where is that coming from?" Sil looked around and saw nothing but blackness.
"Silia."
Sil spun around and still she saw nothing. Everywhere, everything was complete darkness; she couldn't even see her hands. Sil feared if she didn't find what was going on soon…she might go insane. Sil suddenly felt something warm and smooth brush the skin on her neck and she froze. The warmth travelled up her neck, under her chin and stopped on her right cheek. Slowly the warmth tugged at her and slowly she turned until her eyes met the red of a single-piercing eye.
Sil opened her eyes with a sharp intake of air and found herself face down on the floor. "What…how did I…" Sil mumbled, she couldn't even think straight as her head pounded. Every time her hearts pulsed, waves of fresh pain surged through her skull. She lay there on her belly for a while, the metal floor hard and cold against her body, her backpack, quiver and bow all pressing down on her. That's when Sil realised her cloak was on and had some difficulty finding the off button. She was so tired that moving her arm took effort. Her fingers finally brushed over the button and the cloak turned off. Slowly she tried to get up and her fatigued body protested in response. She was on her knees when her stomach suddenly and painfully convulsed. She threw up green puke all over the floor, her back was completely bent from her retching. When she finally stopped she wailed in torment as her stomach muscles felt like they were ripping each other apart. She flopped on her side and lay there gripping her belly, as the pain continued, like a fire burning inside of her. Her jaws were so tight it hurt. Beads of sweat trickled down her face and neck. Tears welled up in her eyes.
After a minute the pain faded and her muscles relaxed. "W…where did THAT come from?" Sil groaned, shakily pushing her self back on to her knees and sat up.
She didn't feel the sudden need to throw up again so Sil took that as a good sign. For what it was worth.
She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth in an attempted to calm herself. She did this 4 times until she felt better and no longer sick. It didn't get rid of the sick feeling that still lingered in her stomach but it did take the edge off. Sil slowly opened her eyes again and looked at the pile of vomit she had made. It didn't look like it came out of a healthy stomach at all. In fact it looked completely rotten as if it had been lying there for days and the smell was enough to make Sil want to get up. She was near the wall so she used that to support herself as she shakily lifted herself off the floor. When she was on her feet Sil pushed off the wall, rebalanced herself and stood up straight. She winced as some pain in her gut acted up again.
"Must have pulled a muscle when my belly was being so kind to me." Sil sarcastically said to herself.
Sil took that moment to look around and find out where she was. She was in some sort of small dimly lit passageway that ended with a wall. Sil then looked the other way and saw some stairs also dimly lit leading up to a small open doorway. The strangest thing was, Sil had no recent memory prior to this moment. She could remember she was in a group of Kig Yar ice miners with her Human uncle Jackson. She remembered Teal'c too, he was leading them down one of two hallways when he stopped and Sil couldn't recall anything after that. What had happened, how did she come to be here and why?
Sil's head started to throb again as the image of a magnum in her hand flashed in her mind's eye. Out of habit she put her hand on her holster, to find her sidearm was missing.
"Huh, where's my magnum? Did I…drop it, no I would have remembered that." The throbbing was getting worse and Sil could feel her frustration build as she clutched her head. "AAAAAAA Why can't I remember? Wait!" Sil had forgotten she still had her ear mike and tried to call uncle Jack. "Uncle, uncle its Sil, can you hear me?" She got nothing but static, so she growled in irritation. "Damn it structure, I'm getting nothing through these walls."
With nothing left to do but get out of this passage, Sil took hold of her bow, attached an arrow and begun to climb the stairs.
When she reached the top Sil had to duck through the low doorway to avoid hitting her head. She was now back in the big gloomy hallway and couldn't help feeling a little exposed.
"Alright Sil, all you have to do now is…find out where the hell you are…yay." As she looked around Sil couldn't stop thinking how much she missed her bed. The warm covers, her soft pillow, oh the very thought of her pillow made Sil's head loll to the side as she pictured herself lying in that bed sleeping the day away.
A low moaning sound broke Sil from her happy thoughts and made her crouch in a fighting stance, bow aimed and ready. It came from her left and again the same pain filled moan echoed down the dark hallway. Slowly she began to move toward the sound, keeping her bow up. Sil could feel her hearts throb in her chest, as the sound got closer with each step. She breathed slow and steady, a foul stench of decay, sweat and iron fill Sil's nostrils making her gag so much she started coughing. In her coughing fit something metal bumped off of Sil's boot. She opened her eyes and looked down to see it was her magnum. Sil crouched down, set her bow on the floor and picked up the gun. She examined it and right away knew it was hers from the markings etched into the muzzle. The back part was open, telling her the clip was empty which puzzled Sil. She was sure the last time she checked it was full and she would have known if it was empty. So why didn't she? With a deep sigh Sil put her free hand in her pockets attached to her belt to find a fresh clip, all she could find however was one bullet.
"J'A R'A FAL'A ROUN IM'A!" She swore and cursed in Kig Yar, not believing how bad her luck was getting. After a few deep breaths Sil calmed herself down. "Oh well, guess its better than no bullets."
Sil pulled out the empty clip, inserted the bullet at the top, slid it back in the handle and cocked the primer. Now if she needed to shoot through anything metal she had her lucky bullet. Stiffly Sil straighten up, holstered her sidearm once more, aimed her bow again and moved to the pained sounds. The smell got worse the closer she got, so bad Sil put her scarf over her nose again to stop feeling sick. She came to a corner and just around that she could hear the moan very clearly and some sort of crunching bone sound as well. Poking her head around the corner Sil saw a figure leaning hunched on the wall. It was a Kig Yar but Sil couldn't see his face since his back was facing her. He looked hurt, Sil could tell he was bleeding from the blood that pooled around his feet and when she pulled her scarf down she could smell a strong scent of iron in the air. Sil didn't want to startle him so she put her bow to the side with her quiver and backpack, moved past the corner and tried to talk to him.
"Hey don't be alarmed, it's me the Sangheili girl. What happened?" The Kig Yar didn't seem to hear her instead made slurping sounds. "Hey can you hear me?" She moved up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. The Kig Yar's head twitched to the side so one of his eyes was looking at her. There was something wrong with the way he looked at her, more like an animal than a person and his eye looked faded almost white. With a low growl he slowly almost lazily turned to face her. That's when Sil realised the blood around him wasn't his own. As he turned Sil saw his lips, forehead, lower torso and arms were covered in dark purple blood. He held what looked to be a dismembered hand and from the blood on his lips Sil now knew the crunching sound had come from him eating it. Sil's eyes widen in horror as something that looked like a large growth was bulging out of his chest with little slimy tentacles wriggling excitedly toward her. Sil started backing away, her hearts pounded in her chest like hammers. She couldn't take her eyes off the monstrous growth that looked to be spreading and…changing the Kig Yar's appearance into something out of a nightmare. The left side of his body looked swollen and lumpy, his left hand looked crooked and broken with over sized claws.
Sil couldn't believe her eyes. "My god what happened to you?" In response to her question the Kig Yar dropped the hand and lunged at her with teeth and claws, eyes fixed on its prey with a feral hunger. Sil swiftly sidestepped to her right and the Kig Yar went flailing past, his claws narrowly missing her face. He collapsed with a snarl and was already getting back up.
"Hey I'm not the bad guy!" Sil stated, as the Kig Yar got to his feet and fixed his hungry glare on her once again. "Nooo, I see what you're thinking, don't do it."
The Kig Yar let out a blood-chilling screech and with full speed he charged at her. Clenching her jaws in anger, Sil met the Kig Yar's charge with a powerful upwards kick to the small alien's bird like jaw. A loud popping sound came from the Kig Yar's jaw as his head snapped back from the force that came form Sil's heel. The blow didn't stop the small alien's forward momentum and went into a forward-backward spin and landed hard on his back, covering the rest of him in blood and gore. Sil spun around, pulled out her magnum and aimed it at the crazy Kig Yar who was still getting back up.
"I'm warning you, I will shoot you if you don't stop." Sil really didn't want to shoot him but she feared she might have to, for the Kig Yar was once again despite the fact he shouldn't be able to move at all was standing with his back to her.
He slowly turned his head in her direction and showed the result of Sil's kick. His entire bottom jaw hung limp under his beak and swung from side to side as he fully turned toward her and stared at her with his cold dead eyes. Sil recognised that stare, she didn't know why but she did and that scared her a lot. The Kig Yar had stopped attacking her but Sil knew it wasn't because she was pointing a gun at him. With one hand the Kig Yar took hold of his limp jaw and with a bone-grinding crack he reset his jaw. Sil's expression was one of horrified disgust, as she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. He flexed his jaw a bit, making small cracking sound as he did and after he stopped he did something Sil didn't see coming. He smiled, and it was the sort of smile you run from. For reasons Sil didn't understand she actually recognised that smile. With out warning an image of a deformed monstrous creature with that same smile, flashed in her mind's eye, causing her to wince as a wave of pain washed through her head and made her scrunch her eyes up. Distracted, Sil didn't see the Kig Yar crouch down and suddenly leap through the air and land right on top of her. Sil's body reacted faster than her mind and before she could stop herself, she jammed her gun up into the Kig Yar's throat and pulled the trigger. As they fell, the bullet entered just behind his chin, travailed in an angle through his brain and exited through the back of his skull in a shower of blood and gore. Sil hit the ground hard with Kig Yar's body on top. Also her gun fell from her grasp. The armour on her back screeched loudly as she slid about a meter and stopped right at the corner. The impact from the Kig Yar's body had winded Sil. He was a lot heavier than he looked as his weight pressed down on her body. She lay there breathing heavily, going over in her head what she had just done.
"Oh god, I killed him. I didn't even mean to…I couldn't stop myself." She gained enough energy to thump the floor in frustration. "Damn it why did this happen? Why did he have to…" Sil started to hear some gurgling sounds coming from the body on top of her. She lifted her head up and the first thing she saw was the massive hole that was once the back of the Kig Yar's head. The blood coming out of the wound was staining Sil's armour and clothing. "Sleav'a, that was my favourite jumper." She muttered to herself. Sil's eyes widened when she saw the Kig Yar's hand that was lying on her chest, moved. "What the hell?"
At first she thought it was just a nerve twitch but she was soon proven wrong. The Kig Yar suddenly sat up, blood and bits of brain poured out of the back of his head as he reared back, opened his mouth as wide as it could go and tried to go for her throat. At the last second Sil caught the top and bottom parts of his mouth and held them open with all her strength. Sil was strong, she knew she was but this…thing was much stronger than she was and inch-by-inch his razor sharp teeth got closer to her neck. Sil tried to push herself up but the Kig Yar was sitting on her pelvis, preventing her from moving her legs or even sit up. Sil grunted and moaned as the Kig Yar's wide jaws closed in. She could feel his hot breath on her neck now inching ever closer. Sil's arms started to shake now from the shear effort of holding back the small alien's powerful jaws.
The Kig Yar decided to make use of his hands, clamping them around Sil's wrists and started to apply pressure. Sil cried out in pain as the armour around her wrists started to bend inward. The cloaking device on her left arm sparked and caved in from the Kig Yar's iron grip. How could so much strength come out of such a small being? She kept her hands firmly clamped where they were however, despite the pain but the Kig Yar enforced the issue. With a powerful yank he tore away the armour on Sil's left wrist, making her scream in agony as a good part of her sleeve and skin was also torn away, leaving a bloody gash that ended at her elbow. As a result Sil let go of the Kig Yar's mouth and he reared back once more for a killing bite. Sil brought her right arm up in time as the Kig Yar's jaws bit down hard on her dented armour. Sil cried out again in pain as the Kig Yar's bottom teeth bit into the unprotected under side of her arm guard. The rest of his teeth cracked or broke on her armour.
Panic seeped into her mind. She wanted nothing more than to get this thing off of her, but from the looks of it he had her at his mercy which was non-existent at this point. Sil grunted as the monster on top of her released her arm and reared back one more time. In shock and in pain, Sil could only close her eyes and waited for the end.
It didn't come.
Suddenly the pressure of the Kig Yar's body vanished, allowing her to breath. She opened her eyes again and saw a large Sangheili who wore no armour was holding the Kig Yar who was thrashing around suspended at the throat. He did have a simple black T-shirt witch was covered in slime, baggy black trousers and dark brown boots. Sil didn't need to see the robotics to tell it was Chackrol. Sil watched as he stabbed the Kig Yar in the back and through the growth in his chest. There was a loud pop as the growth exploded outward in a spray of purple and yellow blood. The Kig Yar went limp and didn't move again after that.
Chackrol yanked his shard of metal out of the Kig Yar's body and let him drop rag doll like to the floor. Chackrol's bright yellow eyes fixed themselves upon Sil, and he didn't look happy to see her. What bit of joy Sil had gained had now faded as Chackrol stormed up to her, lifted her up by the throat and pinned her to the wall but low enough for her feet to touch the floor so she didn't choke.
He then let her go only to press his massive grey skinned arm to her collar bone and press the sharp shard of metal to her throat. At this point Sil felt like she was going to faint from blood loss but the sharp metal pressed to her neck kept her wide-awake.
"What is a female like you doing all the way out here in the ass end of nowhere?" Chackrol demanded not hiding the fact he had a problem with her. "Where did you come from? Are you with Ral? What have you done with Neaola? ANSWER ME."
Sil couldn't take it. She was already in shock and Chackrol's questioning was just making it worse. "Please stop, I… ah…mean you no harm."
"What, why are you speaking Human English? Are you trying to fool me because it won't work?" He pressed the metal harder to her neck, making tiny pinpricks of blood weep out of the cuts it made. "WHERE IS NEAOLA!?"
Sil couldn't hold it back any longer. The pain, the stress, not to mention the fact she was losing blood, had become too much and she started to cry. "STOP it, please stop it!" She pleaded, tears streamed down her cheeks. "I don't…I haven't seen her I…I can't remember…its all too much, please stop I'm begging you Chackrol please…I don't know…." Chackrol was taken aback. His expression was one of shock and confusion as he let her slide down the wall and sit on the floor. Sil was breathing heavier with each sob, not caring anymore how it made her look, the stress was getting too much to hold back. Her head started to hurt again which made her sobbing worse as she gripped her hair tightly. Sil opened her tear-drenched eyes and saw through the haze Chackrol kneeling down beside her damaged left arm.
"So, you are not with Ral?" Chackrol asked.
"WHO IS RAL!?" Sil yelled at Chackrol.
"I'll take that as a no."
He gently took hold of Sil's wrist, cupped his robotic hand under her elbow and lightly lifted her arm up for better inspection. His metal hand was cold against her skin and Sil whimpered loudly when he pinched the sides of her arm. "I take it you brought healing equipment with you?" He asked, no longer using his harsh tone.
"In…in my backpack, there is a med-kit. You know how to use it right?"
He didn't reply but he did go get her pack and put down beside her. He stuck his hand in the bag and pulled out things one at a time till he finally found the med-kit. "This looks important." He said, grinning with the green box in his normal hand. He opened it and took out a roll of bandages and started to rap up Sil's wound.
"Hey what are you doing?" Sil protested, still sobbing.
"What?" Chackrol said in confusion.
"At least disinfect it first."
Chackrol made a huffing sound and took out a bottle of clear liquid. He didn't wait, he poured it on to the wound and Sil grunted in pain. He then gave her a wide-eyed look and a half smirk. Because the right side of his jaws had a metal exoskeleton attached to them. "May I now use the bandages?"
"Just stop the bleeding before I pass out."
As he wrapped her wound he started asking her questions. "So young one, how do you know my name?"
Sil wiped her cheeks with one thumb as she answered his question. "Your wife Neaola told me. I was with her for a while before…well I can't remember what happened next."
"How did you come to be here and why?"
"I came here on a Human-Kig Yar hybrid vessel with my uncle under the orders of Kala Van to help you out."
Chackrol growled at the name and may have yanked on the bandage a little too hard. "Kala Van." He said the name in such disgust, as if reliving an unpleasant memory. "That bitch has been a thorn in my side since I discovered this place."
"Your not the only one who hates her guts." Sil stated. "I would love nothing more than to give her a punch in the face."
"I wasn't thinking of just punching her." Chackrol mused. He had gotten up to her elbow when he asked. "So who is your uncle?"
"I think you'd be better off just meeting him first."
Chackrol huffed again as he finished tightening off the bandage, making Sil wince as it nipped her wound. "And what's your name? It's been a long time since I heard a good Sangheili name. Soooo…?"
"Sil." She simply answered as she checked Chackrol's handy work. Could be a bit tighter but better than nothing?
"Sil? Sil who?" Chackrol insisted.
"Its just Sil."
Chackrol raised his right eye-rig at that. "Well just Sil, I stopped the bleeding. Now please stop crying, I'm too much of a softy as it is."
Sil let herself smile a little at that as she looked at her wrapped up wound. The once pure white bandages were now soaked in her blood, going all the way from her upper wrist to her elbow. Chackrol sat down beside her and was quiet, as she looked at her other arm. It wasn't as bad but the Kig Yar's bite had bit deep in her skin and torn her sleeve up. She undid the straps of her arm guard and tore away with the rest of her sleeve, revelling the bite mark beneath.
"Is there any more bandages?" Sil asked.
Chackrol lazily looked in the green box and shook his head. "Only the one I just used."
"Damn it, guess I'm going to have to use my torn sleeve." With out even having to ask, Chackrol gave her the disinfectant and just sighed like an old man. His breath stank of something horrid and Sil had to make an effort not to gag. "Um…thanks?" Sil said as she took the bottle.
After cleaning and wrapping up her bite wound, Sil leaned back on the cold wall, letting out a weary sigh. Her energy was depleting and she didn't know if she could take much more of this hellhole. Her thoughts went back to what had happened minutes ago. "I shot him in the head. I killed him yet he was still alive."
"Oh no he was dead, trust me on that."
Sil's eyes widened at his response, not quite believing him. "So I did kill him?"
"No."
Sil frowned. "Wait, now your making no sense. Did I or did I not kill him?"
Chackrol chuckled a bit. "You couldn't have killed him because he was already dead."
Now Sil had lost his point completely. "Wait so, you're telling me he was a zombie?"
"I don't know what a zom…whatever it is you call it. But I tell you now, that Kig Yar whoever he may have been was very dead. Way before you found him"
Sil was so confused she couldn't make sense of it. How could one be dead yet not dead?
Sil's thoughts were slapped aside as knife stabbing pain shot through her brain like fire. She gripped her head with both hands as the pain continued to burn inside her head. She knew the pain all too well and was confused why it was happening so soon.
"What is wrong?" Chackrol leaned over her and put his real hand on her for-head. "You are burning up. Why…?"
Sil cut him off with a sharp inhale. Her words came out fragmented "In the bag…silver case…get it…quickly."
Chackrol once more rummaged in her bag and pulled out the hilt of the energy sword. "Who's…?"
"Just get the…the case…hurry." Her mind was a world of pain, like a red-hot iron case locked around her skull and never cooling.
Finally he pulled out the small silver case and handed it to her. Sil snatched the case from Chackrol's large hand, opened the lid on her lap, picked up the needle, filled it half way with the clear green liquid from one of the vials and injected it in the side of her neck. Instantly the pain vanished along with the overwhelming heat, leaving a cold ice feeling in her mind. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead and dripped off her nose. Now she felt completely drained as she discarded the needle and looked at Chackrol who looked completely confused.
"Wonderful, the first Sangheili woman I meet in five years had to be an addict."
Sil gave him an angry look, not at all finding this funny. "I'm not an addict, I have a physical condition in my brain and if I don't treat it with this…" She brought up the empty vial, "I could die in a very painful way."
Chackrol just stared at her blankly, his yellow eyes glowing slightly in the dim light. "I don't know many of the words you just used but I got the it could kill you part." He started to look a little concerned. "Sounds bad, and whose blade is this?"
Sil was about to speak when her ear-mike went off and she could hear a voice but it was distorted. "Sil, com…Me, Neaola and…over we need to…" The signal cut out but Sil knew that voice anywhere. Sil had a new drive now, the will to keep going, to find uncle Jack.
"Who was that?" Chackrol asked.
"It's my uncle, he's alive and I think Neaola is with him to."
Chackrol's eyes widened at the name of his wife and he stood up. "Well what are we sitting around for lets get moving."
Sil didn't bother putting her arm guard back on so she threw it away to clatter somewhere. She unsteadily tried to stand but her knees were having none of it. "Can you help me up?" Sil asked Chackrol who again looked at her blankly. With a sigh he extended a hand and helped her up. After gathering her things, gun and bow, Sil looked at Chackrol who was still holding the blade hilt the belonging to Teal'c and asked him. "Where do we go?"
Chackrol pondered for a moment then pointed with his right arm down the way Sil hadn't been yet. "There's another hallway back this way. I was going to go down it when I heard the struggle here."
"Ok lead the way then."
And with nothing else to say they both made their way down the dim hallway and Sil hoped she would run into her uncle along the way.