Chaos: Thunder on High
Chapter Ten
By two o' clock in the afternoon, the battle in the Underground still wasn't finished. In fact, Jessica could have sworn that it had only escalated in the short amount of time that had passed.
Three trains had crashed in the past two hours, and the zombie-like infected were lumbering around in every station and in the tunnels.
The military had been called in aboveground and were covering the exits, meaning that the infected were all trapped within the Underground.
Figures, Jessica thought as she sliced and absorbed her way through four more infected. Such a task had now become routine now that she was used to it.
She wondered where Isaac and Lucy were. She'd seen Lucy about fifteen minutes ago, fighting off about three evolved and a horde of infected, and Isaac…well, the last time she'd seen him had been earlier that morning. I'm not worried, she told herself, but he is pushing the limits.
There was an explosion of metal and stone to her left that knocked her off of her feet at that moment. Jessica rose slowly, and found herself face to face with an evolved and two Brawlers.
"Go!" Yelled the evolved, and the Brawlers jumped right for Jessica.
Jessica jumped backward and readied her whipfist, which she sent flying right for one of the Brawler's heads. The whip latched on, and she jumped at the beast with her claw at the ready, with which she started tearing into the beast's chest. Jessica ripped it in half with a powerful jerk, but the beast was already melting into her body.
The other Brawler leaped at her, and ended up running directly into her swinging blade. Its material was added to the mix.
By then the evolved was already attacking Jessica. There was an exchange of blows as the fight escalated. Jessica twirled her blade and it met the other's blade in a shower of sparks.
The evolved got in a lucky kick, but Jessica grabbed their leg and sliced it off with her blade. She then tossed the evolved into the air and sliced it in half, absorbing it at the same time.
The evolved raised its hand and made a fist followed by a loud whistle and two Brawlers rushed forward. They charged right through the wall, and then Jessica was looking at a memory version of herself.
She snapped back to reality. Pack leader…that's what they call this technique. It would be nice to let some Brawlers do the hard work for her at this point.
The opening left by the evolved and the Brawlers led into a tunnel. Jessica decided to follow it and see where she ended up.
It was a winding path. Water glistened along the rock walls, and the path traveled ever downward. Small lanterns along the way dimly lighted the path.
When she reached the end, she was surprised to find herself in a massive chamber that was most certainly a man-made construction. Metal beams stretched from one wall to another high above. In the center of the room were several individuals.
She recognized one of them immediately.
"Bulldog," she said, her voice echoing around the room. He turned to her.
"Chaos…what a most welcome surprise." He and the others moved aside, giving her a clear view of a cache of Whitelight."
"What is this?" Jessica demanded.
Bulldog laughed. "This is our newest formula. With it, I will raise a mighty army with which Pariah will conquer the world. Our age has finally begun." He crossed his arms. "I give you one final chance to join us, Chaos. We can cease this violence against your siblings once and for all."
"Why would I?" Jessica yelled. "I happen to like the world just the way it is."
"Just like Heller," Bulldog replied. "You both refuse to see the true glory of what we can accomplish…what kind of world we can create."
"Enough talk, Bulldog," Jessica said. She formed her claws. "Whatever you're doing here ends now!"
Bulldog laughed again. "You won't win, Chaos! In fact, you've already lost."
Several of the other evolved near him dragged a woman from out of the shadows. She yelled as she was thrown to Bulldog.
Jessica recognized her. Doctor Harriet Lee.
Bulldog sliced open one of the canisters containing Bulldog's chemical.
"In a few seconds," said Bulldog over the screams of Doctor Lee, "You will witness your ultimate downfall. She will be the vanguard of our army!"
Doctor Lee's screams were suddenly silenced, as there was an almighty explosion from the center of the room. Everything went dark, but Jessica could hear something massive stepping toward her. Bulldog laughed again as she was grabbed by a large hand and hurled through the ceiling with such force that she smashed right through it and into bright daylight.
Jessica had ended up in some park, but she couldn't tell where. She rose slowly, her body aching, only to find that the monstrosity was following her.
It smashed through the ground with a mighty roar, and Jessica finally saw what Bulldog had done to Doctor Lee. Her eyes widened in horror.
Goliath! The only problem was that this Goliath was bigger than the others. Jessica couldn't tell that it was Doctor Lee by sight, but there was no one else that it could have been.
She swapped her claws for her blade and readied herself for a fight, but this would be the toughest one of her life.
The Goliath roared again and charged right for her, its shield arm carving its way for it. Jessica summoned up all the strength she had and jumped. She cleared the shield, but the Goliath slammed a giant fist into her that sent her flying.
Jessica recovered and formed her whipfist with her left arm. She threw it at the Goliath's exposed left leg and dashed toward it with her blade in front.
She connected and sliced clean through the Goliath's leg, disconnecting it. At that moment, she looked up and saw a squad of choppers moving in. Their chain-guns were already firing a barrage of rockets into the now wounded Goliath, but all it did was make it angry. It grabbed one of the choppers out of the air and crushed it in its mighty grip.
The other chopper went down after a swing from the beast's massive arm.
Something dashed past Jessica and jumped at the Goliath. Jessica glanced just in time to notice Lucy running right for it.
"Lucy, wait!"
Lucy jumped onto the Goliath and lashed into it with her claws. She was agile enough that the monstrosity couldn't grab her in time, but she managed to weaken it and bring it to the ground.
It stirred, hoping to get back up, but Jessica wouldn't let it. She ran towards it and latched her claws onto it, absorbing it as she did so.
Somehow, Harriet's memories survived.
"Bulldog's mutations seem to be growing exponentially," Harriet told Dana Mercer over the phone. "I'm going to see if I can get Jessica on the link. She may be able to help us sort out this problem."
"Get it done, Harriet," said Dana, "please. We're running out of time."
"I know," Lee replied. "But Pariah won't let this plan die with Bulldog. The war's only just begun."
Jessica shook her head, trying to clear it. "That was a bit much."
"Must have been," said Lucy. "What the hell was that?"
"Bulldog's worst insult," Jessica replied. They both looked at the remains of the Goliath corpse. "That's all that's left of Harriet Lee."
"What?" Lucy said, looking at Jessica like she was crazy.
"Bulldog will pay for this," Jessica told her.
"He already has," said Lucy, looking up. Isaac jumped down from one of the buildings, landing right next to them.
"Bulldog is finished," Isaac said.
"I watched Isaac kill and absorb him," Lucy added in explanation.
Jessica crossed her arms. "Well isn't that anti-climactic."
"It wasn't easy," said Isaac. "I also destroyed his formula. It's gone."
Jessica gasped at a sudden pain in her stomach. She felt it in her legs, arms, and even her head. She went to her knees as Lucy and Isaac stood over her, trying to find the best way to help her.
"Are you alright?" Lucy asked.
"Do I look that way to you?" asked Jessica through gritted teeth. She yelled as her arms and back molded into an odd carapace. Something else changed as well.
"Jess, your eyes…they're glowing…red."
Jessica lost consciousness as another wave of pain shot through her.
(Note: The story continues in part three. I'm building that story on a larger scale than the first two.)