Author Notes: Kinda took longer than expected to update this one, but I hope it's worth it! Enjoy!
Chapter 3
"This is the only way."
"I don't think I can do this."
"You're the best of all of us."
"But I'm not one of you. I never was. You know that."
"And that's why you will succeed. You have to succeed."
"So no pressure then."
"We need you, Connor."
"I know."
"You've got to go now. We don't know when we'll get another chance like this; the anomalies are getting harder to predict."
"So...goodbye then."
"Not really. I'll be there when you get there."
"No you won't. If I succeed, you'll never exist."
"And there lies your motivation. Good luck Connor. And be careful, you don't know who you'll see first."
"I-"
"Me too."
-Fire, burning, screams and flame. So much black, so much confusion-
"Go!"
-And then there was pain-
"Look out!"
"Run!"
-And a shroud of white light before cold nothingness-
Helen paused, regarding the silent room. They hadn't seemed too happy to hear how she had lost their precious pet, but then, she hadn't come here expecting friends, she had come here to stop the universe breaking apart. Not to save everyone else, of course, but even she knew the value of having a prospective future.
The skinny blonde girl looked like she was going to get violent again. Wonderful.
A shrill alarm broke the tension first. "The anomaly detector." Cutter moved towards the door, "We'll continue this later. Stephen, Abby – Abby! Come on!"
Reluctantly, the others followed him out, leaving Helen in the company of a cheery guard with a gun.
The three of them ran down the corridor in the direction of the control room. People were running everywhere, some panicking, others wielding guns, others...covered in blood? Stephen grabbed the arm of one of the more stationary people, "What's going on?"
The woman looked terrified, "The anomaly's here! It opened in one of the labs – the creatures from the future came through! We have to get out of here!" She pulled out of Stephen's grip.
"Well that's not good." Nick commented, "We'll need guns."
Connor's head throbbed, the cool metal floor pressed against his cheek doing nothing to relieve to monotonous pain. Dimly, he thought he could hear gunfire, shouts, both human and inhuman, all rising in a cacophony of destruction.
Then he remembered.
Eyes snapping open, he wrenched himself to his feet, keeping his posture low in case they noticed the movement. He didn't recognise where he was; some sort of storage facility. The anomaly bathed an otherworldly light upon the otherwise darkened room, illuminating the half ripped open door in its dimming light before it closed completely; the creatures must have heard the sound and leapt through it, following their base command even when all other control was lost on this side of the anomaly.
Connor blinked owlishly in confusion, dimly aware of the sickly feeling of blood trickling between his shoulder blades where one of the creatures had ripped a river of claw marks just before he had leapt through the anomaly. But why hadn't they finished him off when he had been unconscious? The answer came to him sluggishly, as if wading through a mire of tar; they had heard something better on the other side of the door.
Forcing himself to move, Conner pulled the gun she had given him from his belt, and cautiously moved towards the door, climbing over the torn metal and into an innocuous corridor. He refused to believe he was back until he had proof, and right now, this place looked horribly like the ARC; if he wasn't back...
Ignoring the pointlessly paranoid idea, he picked the direction that headed towards the sounds of guns. If he was back to his old time, then they'd probably need help; he didn't run, not anymore. She'd taught him that.
A body clad in black flew through a door up ahead, crashing with a sickening thud against the opposite wall, his neck snapping like a sugar cane, flopping lifelessly against his now breathless chest. One of the creatures leapt after him, from a room that by the sounds of it, had descended into the abyss. It began tearing at his flesh.
Connor levelled his gun, being careful to avoid the red, blinking device imbedded in the creature's head, just in case he missed. He shot once, despite his blurry vision, sending the bullet straight through the soft area in the creature's collar bone that would lead to paralysis; she had been the first to discover that trick, and had taught him how to do it too. He remembered a time when they wouldn't even let him hold a gun. It was incredible how so much could change in such a relatively short space of time.
A scream tore through the air, and then another, followed by more of the familiar rattle of gunfire. He ran towards the noise, and into the main atrium that had once been the base of operation in the ARC. At first, all he saw were three more of the creatures, causing carnage everywhere, and to begin with, he saw no people other than the soldiers, nothing to place the ARC in a timeline.
Then he saw him, and his eyes darkened. She had been wrong. He wasn't back, he was at the ARC as he had known it for the better part of a year in hell, and they had stupidly lost control of their own damned creatures!
If Connor had been thinking clearly, he might have remembered that anomalies didn't just span space, but always had to span time as well. He might also have remembered that Oliver Leek had once been believed to be on the good side, stationed at the ARC under Lester. But he didn't, and so as far as he was concerned, let them die; he had to get out.
But then a creature saw him, or rather, heard his heart quicken with more anger and adrenaline. It ripped apart the man it was sitting on, and bounded off the walls, aiming for Connor. He only noticed just in time, sending off a badly placed shot which imbedded itself in the creature's side, sending it off course. It was on its feet in seconds, crouched, creeping towards him, not for stealth, but for intimidation, playing with its prey.
Connor tried to shoot it as he had the other, but his gun had jammed, which what you get for using illegally obtained firearms. Swearing, he threw it to the side, running full pelt in the other direction, at the same time looking for a gun that might have been dropped by a dead soldier. The creature gave the sort of cry that would vibrate through a person's ribcage, and leapt after him.
Out of the corner of his eye, Connor saw three soldiers take down one of the other creatures, and then a new wave of people flooded through the door, heading for the third creature that was advancing upon Leek and another man in a suit who was too far away for Connor to identify. Besides, he was kind of preoccupied by his own problem, which was complete with claws and teeth.
The creature took one last spring at him, causing him to duck to the side, but not before it tore a sizable gash in his arm. He stumbled, cursing his stupidity as he found himself backing into a corner.
It shook itself from its awkward fall, and approached, guttural sound omitting from its throat. Connor swallowed thickly. He didn't want to. He hated doing it; it hurt like hell, and in his condition, he doubted he'd be able to stay conscious even if he did succeed. Besides, it just felt so wrong, in so many horrible, perverted ways. But the other soldiers were using all their manpower to save Leek, having not noticed the third creature and Connor. Submitting himself to the inevitable, Connor leaned back against the wall for support, and closed his eyes, accessing the one part of his mind that shouldn't be there, because they had put it there; they had forced him to have this manmade link.
And the creature faltered. The red light that was attached to the direct link into its brain flickered, and started submitting new commands. Connor's face creased with pain, the extra strain within his brain causing it to swell dangerously. He felt his nose begin to bleed freely, and a horrible popping in his left ear signifying a burst ear drum, more blood trickling down his neck. He wanted to throw up as his mind tried to stop the creature from obeying its inbuilt nature to hunt and kill.
Then he felt the creature give in, collapsing to the floor.
Connor's mind swam as his brain's signals were scrambled by the chip imbedded in it, and however desperately he knew he needed to stay awake, he just as surely knew he had no hope in doing so.
His body slid bonelessly to the floor as his mind was forced to shut down in complete exhaustion and confusion.
To Be Continued...
Author Notes: So, what did you think? Next chapter is the reunion! :)