Ch. 18: Taking Option D

Daniel & Rebecca

As Daniel stepped back into the sewers, he wondered if his sense of smell had degraded from 'weak' to 'half-dead'. He remembered smelling the rotting corpse back on the tram...and nothing much else actually. Even here, sloshing through ankle-high sewage provoked no reaction from his nose. That might have frustrated him normally. But right now, he felt like tearing out his hair due to another problem. What am I forgetting!? The nagging sensation now consumed him, bearing a warning that he should know. But he still couldn't put his finger on it. Start from the top again. Down the elevator to the treatment facility. Treatment facility to the Marcus fight. Marcus fight to freight elevator. Freight elevator to leech queen fight...what is it!?

Just as he sensed that he was upon the answer, Rebecca asked, "So, what are your parents' like?"

Daniel twitched and nearly screamed out of frustration as the answer he nearly grabbed onto shot away from his mind. * #! The glasses-wearing high-schooler paused as he massaged his scalp trying to remember what her question was. "Mom's a nurse. And Dad's a preacher."

Rebecca frowned at the short reply. Was hoping for a little more than that. "Is that all?"

The soldier reminded himself that Rebecca wasn't purposely sabotaging his attempts to decipher an important mystery. That they were walking through a sewer, and she probably wanted and deserved some kind of distraction. None of that changed his desire to kick the gook toward her. "What do you want to know in particular?"

Rebecca heard the faint echo of annoyance and considered dropping it. Maybe I'm getting too close to the truth? ...but, if that were true, wouldn't he just told me to stop? Siding with curiosity, she continued. "Well, what do they look like? Where do you get your blond hair from?"

He surrendered as he left the mental trail to tackle her question and found it hard in a different way. "Mom," He answered quietly. "I get my light hair and my eyes from her. Dad has black hair and brown eyes and... he's still taller than me." He added in before grabbing the first rung of the sewer ladder.

Behind him, Rebecca's jaw was wide open. It...it can't be! Is that how he knows!? Is he...is he my future son? That would explain how his information is so accurate and - no. Wait, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. "Does...does your mom work in the medical field?"

Memories dulled Daniel's attention as he climbed the ladder, ignorant of Rebecca's surprise and confusion. "Yeah. I think she's one of the best."

The back of her mind prodded her to keep up with her compatriot. She quickly hopped onto the ladder and caught up to him. "Was...was your Dad with the Marines?"

Daniel paused. Something nudging at the back of his mind. Was Dad with the Marines or the Army? Hmmm, oh right. "Yeah, but only for a little bit."

Rebecca's heart froze as his words swam around in her mind. It's true! He is my son! Wait, what if he's lying just to protect the timeline? But, if he's trying to ensure that, why would he be here at all? Is he counting on me to be smart enough to figure it out? Why would I let him come back at all? Does my future self even know what he's done? Wait...I get married to Billy!?

"Hey Rebecca?" Her head jerked up and she saw that Daniel was already out. He was looking down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Are you coming?"

"Yes, I'm coming," She replied before she restarted climbing up the ladder.

I wonder what got into her. Daniel let the matter drop before he walked over to his friends. All three of them were sitting in chairs near the front entrance. Tim had his arm around Katelyn, while Bruce kept a careful eye on the doors. Kevin was lying on the red carpet near the front doors, his arm propped up against a pillar to prevent anything shoving the glass still in his arm deeper. "Everyone okay?"

Tim nodded to him, his expression a little tense. "It's been really quiet since the rest of you left. Actually, I half-expected something to jump out about an hour ago but nothing happened. How about you guys?"

"Everyone's still alive, and we found another STARS member to help out," Daniel explained as he knelt down next to Kevin. The pilot was still asleep, free from painful awareness for now.

"Did you find a way out?" Katelyn asked hopefully as she lifted her head from Tim's shoulder.

"Jessica and the others are checking the train way to see if we can get out that way. We've come back to get Kevin here to the infirmary," The soldier gestured to himself and Rebecca as she finished climbing out of the sewers. "Just sit tight until we're back. Hopefully, we'll have an exit soon."

Rebecca knelt down by Kevin, studying every inch of his arm for any kind of development. To her relief, his condition hadn't deteriorated, her first aid proving itself very effective. She looked over at the other teenagers and focused on the tall, quiet one. "Um, can you help us?"

"His name's Bruce," Tim helpfully supplied.

"Thank you, Bruce, could you help me carry Kevin upstairs to the infirmary?" The brown-haired teen nodded before slipping out of his chair. "If you get his torso, I'll get his legs," Rebecca offered. Bruce silently complied. His arms gingerly locked around the unconscious man's waist. The medic holstered her weapons as best as she could before grabbing the pilot's legs.

Daniel took the lead as the three of them went up the stairs back into the conference room. Although he wanted to devote mind power to figuring out the subconscious warning ringing in his mind, he remembered that the eliminators might try for another ambush. The hospital trio had no trouble in the conference room. However, when they stepped through the knight doors, Daniel's wariness paid off. He brought the group to a halt before he snuck up to the corner. Trying to move as slowly as he could, he leaned his head out for a glimpse down the hallway. Two baboons paced around, waiting for an easy target to stumble into their vision. He signaled the others to keep the door open in case they needed to fall back.

He took a deep breath before he deliberately shuffled around the corner. To his luck, the eliminators apparently had some altercation and were now snarling at each other. Works for me, Daniel thought as he took aim. Rifle in 'burst' mode, he exhaled, squeezing the trigger at the natural pause between breaths. The first eliminator gargled as three high-velocity rounds pierced through its neck, maw, and brain. The second eliminator jumped back right as Daniel fired off a quick second volley, trying to maximize his surprise, but only one of the bullets hit, and that shot landed in its shoulder.

The eliminator squealed before charging toward him. Daniel tried another volley, but missed the critical point, his aim only good enough to trip up the failed bio-weapon when one shot hit its leg. With the break, the soldier added another second to waiting as he lined up his next shot. Got you. He squeezed the trigger...and heard a tell-tale 'click'. "Crap!" He nearly tore the empty magazine out of the rifle as he willed the eliminator to stay right where it was. The eliminator ignored his will as it climbed back up and stormed toward him again. Get in there! He mentally yelled at the new clip, as he unintentionally crashed it up the wrong way. Before he could do it right, the eliminator leaped at him.

With his heart running at a hundred miles per hour, Daniel hopped back around the corner as a white blur flew past his face, nearly taking his glasses and a little bit more with it. The eliminator crashed face-first into the wall and landed hard on its back. While it tried to shake off its daze, Daniel properly reloaded, chambered the first round, and fired on it. The scare he was forced to undergo retaliated by driving him to fire again and again, until the beast finally stopped moving, somewhere after the fourteenth bullet. He paused after his victory before taking a deep breath and leaning back against the wall. It feels good to be alive and free from pain!

"Is it dead?" A groggy, tense voice inquired.

The blond soldier glanced at the others and saw that Kevin was now back with the conscious. Daniel nodded. "Hallway is clear." He pushed himself off the wall. "You holding up okay?"

"I'm...looking forward to a dose of painkillers," The brown-haired pilot grunted back.

"Then let's get you there," Daniel replied before the group moved on. The infirmary was still free from danger thanks to Jessica and Billy's earlier visit.

"Closest bed," Rebecca ordered as she took command. Bruce obeyed and they deposited Kevin carefully on the nearest one before Rebecca raced over to the medicine cabinet.

Daniel peered over the rest of the infirmary and realized that he wouldn't mind sitting down. He took a step to the next empty bed before he paused. "Do you need any help Rebecca?"

"I'll help," Bruce offered, stepping toward her. Daniel couldn't stop the look of relief flashing onto his face, but he banished it the next moment.

Rebecca still caught it and glanced at the empty beds. "I'll only need one person to help and thank you for offering Bruce. Could you help me sort through the cabinet?"

Bruce nodded as he came up to the cabinet. Daniel took that as his cue to go lie down. For the first time this night, he removed and left his M16 against the foot of the bed. He dropped his back-up handgun next to it. Now weaponless, he walked along the bed's side, made an about-face, and let himself drop onto the soft mattress. After that last scare and being chased by a Tyrant, he found the rest well welcomed. He glanced over at the pilot and was struck by a question. "Hey Kevin, why did you change your mind and come with us?"

"Oh, that," The man replied with an undertone of embarrassment that caught Daniel by surprise. "Well..."

Flashback

As Kevin went back to work on the copter, he kept one eye out on the surrounding area. Although he knew the area wasn't safe when he first 'arrived', now the forest actually seemed to be gripped in a foreboding atmosphere. He paused, taking a tentative step toward the strange bunch of teenagers. Again, he paused, shook his head, and walked back to the copter. If I see any warning signs, I'll run after them.

Coincidentally, there was rustling in the nearby bushes."Who's there?" He yelled. No answer. With his gun locked onto the bushes, he slowly walked toward them. When he reached them, he shoved his gun into them, yelling, "Freeze!" Something leapt at his face. The pilot screamed as he tried to jump back, slipping on a tree branch. As he landed on his back, he flung his arms off to try to buy himself a few precious seconds from whatever was trying to kill him. Something landed on his visor. But instead of claws or fangs, Kevin felt it scurry right off of him. Kevin rolled over and looked at where the thing ran to. Before it disappeared in the brush, the pilot caught a clear view of it. A squirrel. A tiny, gray squirrel that shot him one last look before escaping into the bushes. "...to hell with this."

End Flashback

Daniel's face scrunched up, he 'coughed' a little, and he turned away from looking straight at Kevin. But he successfully contained the laughter aching to erupt from his chest. "Well...glad you came along."

"Laugh it up, I know I deserved it," Kevin replied dryly before sighing. "I'm as bad as Brad." He winced as Rebecca removed the final shard of glass. "Freaking out over a squirrel. Freezing during the attack."

"You weren't trained for this," Rebecca gently countered. "Your job is to simply get our team and get us out. You were never supposed to stay on the ground with us."

Her radio screeched. "Rebecca, this is Enrico over." She looked between the radio and Kevin, measuring how much more work she had left.

"I'll answer it," Daniel answered as he pulled himself off the bed. He accepted the radio from her before hitting the button. "Sir, this is Private Sims answering, over."

"Roger, we've established an escape route through the train. Gather your people and meet us at the exit ASAP, over."

Daniel frowned as that earlier mystery reappeared at the back of his mind. "Understood. We'll be on our way soon, over."

"Enrico out."

"Is there something wrong?" Rebecca asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.

Is there? What am I missing...treatment facility, fight Marcus, go up the elevator, leech queen chases, get to the top, hold it off, open up the roof for the sun..light...oh. Daniel's wrist jerked sideways, the face of his watch staring directly at him. 2:13 AM. THAT'S IT! If we go the traditional route, we'll be stuck in a boss fight without the key weapon. But shouldn't we have enough incendiary grenades to deal with it? ...no, no, we don't. Which means the queen would be practically invincible. He looked back at the others, his eyes widening a little. I just nearly led us into a slaughter! What kind of leader am I?

"Daniel?" Rebecca repeated, gently prodding him for a response.

"Iiiii...I'll be better once we're out of here," The soldier decided.

"I'll second that," Kevin added as he stared at the ceiling as Rebecca finished wrapping the last bandages on. "What has happened while I've been out? That was the captain on the radio. Does that mean the rest of STARS is here?"

Daniel couldn't help but notice how Rebecca winced at the question. "No. Only Enrico found us. We still don't know where the rest of the team is."

Kevin nodded absentmindedly as he absorbed the information. "Well, that's almost half the team at least. Is Edward with Enrico right now?"

The silence oppressed the room the other three occupants avoided looking at Kevin. The pilot's eyes darted from one to the other. "...is he severely wounded?"

Again, Daniel spared Rebecca the explanation as he met Kevin's gaze, shame and weariness squeezing his heart. "We lost Edward several hours ago to a leech zombie. We locked him in the basement area with Shantia. Her blood was drained from her by several infected leeches."

Kevin paused before dropping his head back on the pillow. "Damn."

Rebecca stepped back from the bed before she announced in a monotone, "All done." Kevin pulled his legs off the bed before he sat up. He studied his hand, which now had a splint for every broken finger while his arm was bandaged from shoulder to elbow. "How do you feel, Kevin?"

His eyes flashed up at her before going back to looking over his arm. "The painkillers are working. But it looks like I won't be using a gun anytime soon." He stood up and noticed for the first time that his arm wasn't the only one bandaged. "What happened to you?"

Daniel wore a wry smile as he jabbed a thumb back into the hallway. "First time we ran into those things, it bit my arm."

Kevin winced as he shot a glance back at the hallway door before returning back to the reservist. "Ouch. Well at least you survived."

Rebecca and Daniel shared a look. He doesn't know about the virus. Daniel tried to smile and reassure the pilot. "Yeah, you're right."

Kevin sighed, his attention on both of them now. "What? What am I missing now?" He prodded sourly. "It's just a bite...right?"

Daniel took one last moment to stare at the nice, danger-free ceiling before he willed himself to get up. The simple command carried a powerful and unexpected difficulty: his body didn't want to get up. It liked the bed. And the bed liked it back as its gentle yet deceptive pillow latched onto the back of his head, tempting to stay there for as long as he wanted. He groaned before he fought off the bed's temptations as he rolled off of it, his feet landing on the floor and righting the rest of him as he unwilling stood up. He secured his weapons, his rifle taking its familiar spot across his torso. When he turned around, he saw Kevin alternatively glaring at him and Rebecca. Rebecca was doing her usual poor job at hiding her guilt while she helped Kevin up. And Bruce waited uncomfortably by the door. Just one, big happy team, Daniel thought wearily.