Sacrifice for a Better Cause, Right?
Later that night… I walked down the hallways of the hospital. Each room I passed by was being cleaned as the injured and sickly made their way to their beds. I stepped into the still hole filled elevator. Punching the number for the first floor, The ride was no longer that smooth feeling of gliding. We didn't have any booze or anything like that, but my group of friends were sitting out in the back of a truck. I pushed open the glass doors and looked out over the parking lot. The scrap metal had been cleaned up and the crushed fence removed. Several trucks were park along the walls as civilian vehicles pulled in and out of the lot. APC's watched both of the entrances. A truck flying the French flag rolled into the lot. In the back were several people, including others I rescued from Kadic. The Marine's all agreed to mark their vehicles with a French flag to distinguish their trucks from the Blackwatch.
The moon hung high between a pair of skyscrapers. Atop the hospital sat a pair of helicopters stolen from a Blackwatch air base. I reached the back. In a few steps, I was in the back. Jim, Emily, Odd, Yumi, and the female Marine I fought with were in the back of the truck. They were all talking amongst themselves. I climbed atop and sat down on the cab of the transport. Yumi looked up at me and smiled. I opened my mouth to speak, but an officer ran up to the truck. His head was buzzed. He wore a camo cap with dark sunglasses. His uniform was pretty much the same as mine, but he held the rank of Lieutenant. "This is the document for your unit. See to it tomorrow."
I took the vanilla envelope from his hand. "Yes, sir." I answered. We saluted each other, then he turned and left. I carefully pried open the flap and pulled the document from the package. I handed down to Yumi, who instinctively shook it.
"There's still something in here." Yumi said as she tipped it over. Sliding out in a hurry was a small badge. It looked a lot like our symbols, but was slightly fancier. "This is a Corporal's badge. You've been promoted Ulrich." The rest of the unit clapped and Yumi handed it to me. I tore off the PFC badge and placed the new one on. "Good job buddy." Odd said. Then he gave a crooked smile. "I mean congratulations…sir."
I leaned back on the cab, laughing lightly. "That's more like it…newbie." I leaned forward and dropped down onto the bed. The entire bed rocked, attracting everyone's attention. "Alright. Here's our mission for tomorrow." I cleared my throat, then begun. "First and foremost, we strongly suggest that you bed down early for this operation. Your team has been selected, with great regrets, to be sent in first. All power stations have been rerouted to a large hotel complex one block away from the Eiffel Tower."
"You mean they moved the power to the Red Zone? Why?" Odd asked.
The strange woman kicked in quickly. "If they station there, they can easily wall out most Infected, and discourage other forces from launching a raid."
"Exactly." I said before continuing. "As you may or may not know, the Eiffel Tower has been modified into an autonomous watchtower. You're mission is to destroy or commandeer the Thermobaric missile launchers atop the tower. This will allow an entire armed force to move in."
"That's a suicide mission!" Emily yelped out. While she wasn't saying anything further, I could tell she was shaking in her boots.
"Yeah, and it's our mission." I answered quickly. "Now I suggest we go on to bed."
"Sounds good." Jim said as he stood. The others agreed. We pulled blankets and pillows out from the supply closets, then bedded down outside in the warm night. Most of the other Marines around us stayed up a while longer, talking, practicing, and staying on watch.
The next morning, I was awoken to the roar of engines. As my eyes shifted around, adjusting to the bright light of the windows, I saw several trucks and APC's roaring around the parking lot. I saw several choppers thunder overhead. I looked into the back of the truck to see my unit arousing from their sleep as well. I stood up and stretched, then headed for the hospital. We walked over to the elevator, then traveled to the top floor. Using roof access, we were soon standing over most the buildings around us. It was a clear sky. In the distance, I could see smoke clouding the sky in the Red Zone. Everyday, new fires broke out while others died. Worse, we couldn't get out there and stop the pollution.
Two men walked over to us. One wore a helmet and sunglasses with a mic in front of his face. The other was the same, minus the helmet. He had short, messy brown hair. "Sir." One said as he nodded.
"We're your pilots for this mission. Don't worry. We're the best."
A female pilot on the roof scoffed before saying, "You might as well count your blessings now with those two clowns." She then gave a jab at one of the pilots before walking by.
The helmet one jutted his chin out to the chopper, then said, "Let's get going. The sooner we're done, the sooner we get actual power instead of generators." We piled onto the chopper and it began to lift off. The methodical wind whipping buzzed through my head. It almost made me feel at home. Then memories rang through my head. Horrid memories. Flashbacks to the sound of glass shattering, metal clanging, Brawler roars, and the sound of rifle's going off. The dirt covered street in my face, puss and blood spewing out across the street. The first sight of Hiroki, missing his arm. My hands clamped to my head, and I just wished the images would leave me be.
When I looked back up, the bright sky was clouded with the constant burning fires of the Red Zone. In the background, I saw a building that sat off its foundation. The entire building swayed to the right slightly. I slid open one of the bay doors, then kicked my legs over the edge. We were only two stories over the hotel buildings surrounding the Eiffel Tower. At the top observation deck was a large black mass. It was 8 Thermobaric launchers pointing out in compass directions. One grew bright, launching its payload.
The rocket was traveling slow, in relation to other missiles. "Missile in bound!" The copilot yelled as it headed straight for us. Remembering my prior experience, I yelled, "Brace yourself for impact!" I slammed the door shut as the chopper jerked to the right to dodge the missile. It whipped around and started catching up to the chopper. We dived a few yards, then watched the rocket fly overhead. We began heading for the Tower itself. The chopper was a jerking rollercoaster ride as the rocket did its best to silence our flight.
"I'm starting to feel sick…" Odd said as the chopper jerked up. I walked up to cockpit with one hand on each wall.
"We almost there?" I asked.
The copilot turned back to me. "Just about." Looking out the glass front, I could the Eiffel Tower only a few hundred yards away. "Now!" The copilot told the pilot. The chopper dipped as we came within a 100 yards of the Eiffel Tower. The missile followed gladly, Then we jerked back up at break neck pace. I slid back on my feet out of the front. The bottom of the chopper came within feet from the wall as it flashed over the observation deck. The missile, unable to change directions as quickly, lazily swayed up after us, but instead struck one of the Thermobaric launchers. The chopper got a several yards away, then turned sideways. I opened a bay door we could all see.
The missile struck the deck at top speed. A bright light grew within seconds. A vacuum pulled all nearby oxygen into the bomb. It was so fast it even created a suction sound, like sucking a straw through an empty cup. The light was so bright, I lifted my hand up to my eyes to block it. Then, for a split-second, there was only the sound of the chopper wings beating the air. Then, the sound of a hundred thunder strikes erupted at once. The roar was followed by a shockwave that swayed the chopper once. A ball of high concentrated chemicals turned fire tore through the observation deck. Several other subsequent explosions erupted, turning the sky a bright orange. Glass, along with several twisted and partially melted steel bars, was ripped from the building, spraying debris through the air.
The antenna that stood on the very top swayed slowly through the air. The sound of metal breaking was quickly followed the antenna groaning as its swaying increased. The radio immediately crackled to life from the other end. "Are you still there? What the hell just happened?" A male voice spoke over the radio.
I ripped my radio from my side and answered swiftly. My other hand shut the bay door. "This is Corporal Stern. Did you see that?"
"Yeah we heard a loud boom and what looked like a new star forming in the sky. Please tell me the Tower still stands."
"That's an affirmative, well mostly. The observation deck was destroyed by a misguided Thermobaric missile. We haven't even landed." We continued to trade information as I walked to the front of the chopper. I pointed down, signaling we land to search for survivors. The chopper slowly began to descend until a single round sounded out. The glass below the pilots spider webbed as a round punched through the pilot's jaw. He jerked the controls up as he left his seat. Without a helmet, the bullet exited his skull and dug into the controls above them. Sparks started fly as the chopper started to descend.
"What was that?" The leader called over the radio. Several in the chopper asked the same question.
"Snipers on the two landings, high powered rifles just took out the pilot." Then another round jerked the copilot's head back, then he fell limp as well. "Both pilots dead." I said. My hands quickly tossed the radio to another member, then grabbed the controls. Then I heard a loud clang sound, followed by gears grinding. A round had punched into the chopper blade motor, killing it instantly. The engine spouted smoke as I controlled the crash into the water surrounding the Tower. The chopper was very slowly beginning to fill with water.
"Let's move!" I yelled as our unit slid the bay door facing away from the tower. We all jumped down into the water. Sniper rounds rang through the water around us. My unit swam through the water, then climbed up onto the large, open space surrounding the Eiffel Tower. The antenna caught onto one of the struts along the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. The other end created a crater from where it stabbed into the ground. Amongst the bullets, I saw a male running down the street.
His clothes were doused in blood. His light blonde hair was parted to the left, and clotted with dried blood. His eyes were difficult to tell at a distance, but probably an aqua. His clothes were ratty and looked like they hadn't been changed in the two and a half weeks since the Infected first started appearing. A pistol was in his hand, chamber open from where he spent his last round. Behind him was a small crowd of Infected. Snipers immediately turned over to the Infected.
Several silenced shots spliced the puss filled sacks on their heads. Bodies dropped limply within seconds. After all the Infected were wasted, they shifted towards the survivor. A single round let out a light noise out as he ran past me. My hands pushed him to the ground. Then, in a flash, I turned to face the bullet. It punched deeply into my left leg. I dropped to a knee. Confused, more snipers turned and let loose into me. Each one started with a full clip. Five bullets to each clip of that rifle model, 4 of them. Each one dug into my chest, until I fell to my other knee. The man behind me sat on his back, eyes wide with fear. I could feel staring eyes from my unit as each bullet jerked my body so lightly. More like flinching, as if they weren't bullets, but pebbles being pelted at me.
Then they stopped. I only counted 19, including the first one in my leg. My eyes glanced out at the bleeding mass of my body. I was losing a lot of blood fast. Then, I felt number 20 all at once. It ripped directly into my skull. My head whipped back 45 degrees. I could feel the warmth of my own blood dribbling down my face as I fell back onto the man. As my vision clouded and nerves slowly died, I could feel the man skitter out from under my corpse. I could hear voices of my own teammates. They were all terrified. "What is he?" Was the only comment I could make out as my hearing started fading out. My heavy weighted head slowly lolled to the left. As it stopped, my vision made out a boot shaped blob. I felt a hand feel under my head and lift it up. Her face drifted over mine. She was saying something, but I couldn't place it. Wait…what's her name? Yumi! I said this several times in my head. She brought her head close to mine, continuing to say something. She puckered her lips, then kissed mine so lightly. She carefully laid my head down. Tears filled her eyes as her hands rested over my eyes. Using her hands, she closed my eyes. And then, I only saw black.
Something cold ran around my arm, then something else around my leg. I felt this sensation crawling all over me. I'm dead and these are the maggots here to pick at my corpse. This was the first and only thought to enter my head. Then my hearing cleared up. I heard voices saying, "What the hell is that?" "Was that inside of him?" "It's like a thousand snakes coiling up his entire body!" My body was twitching involuntarily. I felt my wounds heal on their own. I felt the pain of my body pushing the bullets out of the holes, then sewing the holes closed. My open palms slammed into the concrete around me. I felt the ground crack around and under my palms. In a single push up, my body was upright again. The tendrils slowly retracted from the rest my face, then the rest of my body. I was covered in my heavy armor.
The female Marine from the hospital screamed in terror. "You…you're the Prototype." She said. She took out the radio I had given her. "Commander. We've found the Prototype. The name of the Prototype is—" her statement was cut short by my hand. It gripped the radio then pulled it back to my face.
"This Corporal Stern. As my teammate was saying, we have located the Prototype. We cannot give an identity at this time. He tore up the snipers in the tower, then disappeared without a trace. I repeat the Tower is clear, you may now begin the march on the hotel complex."
"Roger that. ETA 10 minutes. Keep an eye out for his possible return." I handed the radio to Yumi, then ran towards the fallen antenna. Several rounds were fired at me, but harmlessly bounced off the armor. At the other end of the antenna, I jumped up onto the first of the two landings.
I grabbed the rifle of the one on my right and yanked with all my might. I heard his arms dislocate as I pulled him over me. He landed back first on the landing, then bounced once. My leg came down, pinning and crushed his body to the ground. The other shot. The round bounced off my chest and struck his arm. While he stood there, grabbing his arm, my right leg came up and took his head clean off. I spun 180 degrees before my foot landed. As soon as it hit the ground, the left leg shot out. The other snipers had gathered on the opposite end of me. I ran along the railing, bracing against each round until I reached their side.
I swept the first's leg with my left. Then my right came down on face, splitting it like a hollow pumpkin. One charged at me with his knife bared. I pulled back my right fist, then lashed out with the speed and accuracy of an eagle. Taken off his feet, he flew back and was killed instantly on a metal strut. At that point, I activated my muscle mass powers. A third ran at me, only to have his arms grabbed, and torn off. I then proceeded to beat him to death with his own arms. The other three started stepping back. I grabbed two of them, and rammed their heads into each other at full force. I took both of their sniper rifles, then stabbed them both into the Blackwatch sniper that remained. I grabbed up his rifle, then jumped from the landing. I hit the ground with my back, then rolled backwards to my feet. Rifle up, I let out two silent rounds, which struck two Blackwatch on the second landing. The other two checked their bodies, then were both struck down with one bullet each.
Still blinded with rage, I stepped over to the person who'd caused all the trouble. I changed back into my Marine uniform. Lifting my barrel to him, I screamed, "What the fuck was so important!?" Odd and Jim ran over pushing my hands down.
"You need to calm down." Jim said. "I don't know what's happened to you, but you need to calm down."
"I need your help." The man said. Well, man wasn't the right word. He appeared to be 18, the same age as I. He was a teen, just like me.
"Don't I recognize you?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I'm an exchange student from America. My name is Tyler." Speaking directly to Emily. "You were my first friend in Kadic."
"What do you need?" Odd asked, genuinely concerned for this near stranger to me.
"My girlfriend and I, we've been wandering the streets for the last 2½ weeks. I left her in a wrecked APC, telling her I'd be back with help." Tyler said.
"I'll go with him." I said. "I need some time to sort out some of this shit." I grabbed his shoulder, turned, and started running back from the way he came. He ran after me. Running at a normal pace, I allowed him to pass me. Within a few blocks, he grew tired. "Just give me a minute." I said as I looked around for another mode of transportation. A taxi sat, drilled into the shop glass of a small store. A few chunks of rubble sat on top of the vehicle. I was fairly sure the door was unlocked, and when I opened it, there was no alarm.
"What are the chances of that being in working order, or with gas?" Tyler said as I opened the passenger door. He grabbed it, sat down and closed the door.
"You just gotta finesse it." I said as I pressed my hand against the steering wheel paneling. My fingers turned into tendrils that slid smoothly amongst the wiring of the vehicle. I quickly hotwired the vehicle, and it hummed to life. I fingers retracted quickly, then grabbed the shift and went into reverse. What we thought was the radio kicked in. A heavy song played, singing the lyrics, "It seems that Doomsday's come early this year. The last angel has gone. I can't remember the last time I cried." I started to flip through stations, but it only switched tracks. "Like a rising tide, beating hearts grow but never die. To simplify, I'll stand by your side, close my eyes, hope will never die." "It's in your head, all the voices mistaken, Shake it off, Shake it off. We're all dying in the end." "This is just a CD he had." I said as I then turned off the stereo.
We pulled back out of the store, then drove down the street. Several cars sat all over the streets from where they were abandoned. Most were trashed with shattered windshields, dented panels, missing doors, and broken lights. Tyler continued to give me directions, left, then right. Two blocks later, left. I was stunned by what I saw. I let off the gas and let the taxi roll to a stop. The street was clear. A single tendril shot out from the ground. Two more, one from each side of the street, shot from the buildings. They all met, attached to an APC dangling in the air. I looked at him and began to speak, but he quickly stated. "I swear to God, that was not like this when I left for help." I opened the door and stepped out. Tyler followed on swift feet.
"Since you've already seen the truth," I activated my muscle mass powers. "I guess it doesn't matter if I hold back or not." I leapt up onto the APC, which rocked in the air. One hand pressed against the APC while my other wrapped around the massive tendon like structure. Pulling with all my strength, I slowly heard flesh tear until, like a suspension bridge cord, it snapped and retracted all at once. The APC swung down and crashed into the 2nd and 3rd floor of a small office building. I heard glass rain down as I positioned myself against the other one. I ripped it away as well, then jumped in the air as the APC bounced off the ground. I landed on my feet, then began to pry the lid off. All at once, the hinges snapped. The entire APC rocked slightly as the lid crashed into the windshield of the taxi.
Bile rose up my throat, but I quickly choked it back down. Turning to Tyler, I said, "You're gonna want to see this. Well, you won't want to see it, but it's something you need to see."
With a worried look across his face, Tyler climbed up onto the APC and peered into the troop bay. "Oh my God." He muttered. Tears began to fill his eyes. He collapsed to his knees. "Why? We were so close to escape. We were gonna go home, and try to live happy again." I placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry this happened." I said as I jumped down into the bay. Within the APC was a massive cocoon like structure. It was attached to the floor. The entire mass was throbbing, like a beating heart, or a breathing chest. Only her head stuck out from the mass. Her hair was long, dyed light pink from what appeared to be normally blonde. I jammed both fists within the mass of flesh.
"What are you doing?" He asked frantically.
"The only thing I can think to do." With that, I began absorbing the black mass. I could feel the tendrils ride up my arms and burrow beneath my skin. I cringed as the feeling of ice ran through my entire body. I watched the mass recede from her body. Some tendrils held tight around her arms, but soon loosened and left. Then, I pulled my hands up from the bottom of the APC. She was dressed in a tattered, blood soaked clothes, much in design to Tyler's. Her skin was bright and pale, and she wore glasses. Putting a hand to her neck, I could feel a light breath. "She's still alive."
Tyler jumped down after me. "You sure?" He leaned over her, seeing her chest rise and fall, slowly, but there. He leaned down and spoke softly in her ear. He said, "Jen, are you alright?" Her eyes opened, casting a beautiful emerald green. Her eyes shone like gems in the sunlight.
"Ty?" She asked. He hugged her tightly. Outside, I heard a loud groaning. I peeked over the edge. I didn't see anything, but it turned to a low rumbling. Then the street cracked, and a large mound of blood red flesh grew out of it, like a pimple.
Turning back, I said, "I'd love to stay and cuddle, but we've got to move. Before they could answer. A bang resembling a mortar shell went off. Thick, slime like blood dripped down on us from the open hatch. Slowly peering over the edge, my eyes grew wide at the next sight. A massive tendril ripped through the ground, at a diameter wider than the taxi bumper. It stood taller than the surrounding buildings, and had two, vehicle sized pincers that seemed to be constructed from bone.
"What is that?" Jen asked.
"Hydra!" I yelled as the pincers stabbed into the APC, nearly impaling Tyler and Jen. They both screamed as we were lifted off the ground. Still watching the Hydra, I saw that behind the pincer, its mouth was lined with needle-like bone teeth that would surely mince anything that got close. Then it began shaking the APC. Jen toppled out of the top. Her hands clasped tightly to a bar that stuck out of the APC. I reached out my hand. "Take my hand." She reached up, but the Hydra shot out a tendril that clasped onto the hand and pulled back. He shrieked the bar nearly came loose in one jerk. Grabbing out my knife, I crawled out onto the edge of the APC. With one hand holding onto the paneling, the other reared back to strike. In a single blow, the tendril was severed. Not willing to let go so easily, the Hydra readied another.
I threw my knife, which delved deep and planted in the back of the throat of the Hydra. It reared back, then flung the APC down the street. In the air, I pulled her in the APC, grabbed Tyler, and closed my eyes before turning my heavy armor on. The vehicular carcass slammed into the ground, flinging the three of us onto the street. As the three of us stood, I looked at the both of them. They were covered head to toe in heavy armor, just like mine. "You two are Prototypes too?" I asked, stunned.
"What?" Tyler said. He lifted his hands up to his face. "Oh my God!" His gaze whipped towards Jen. "You have it too!" He yelled. She looked her herself over, then shrieked.
"How?" She asked frantically. Then, like fresh, crisp fall leaves, the armor started to flake off. Within seconds, dozens of black shards were surrounding them, and they had returned to their original state.
Looking at my own hands, I realized, then stated, "I can grant temporary powers through contact when activating them. That's amazing!" I heard the rhythmic beat of chopper blades. My armor faded out as an Apache chopper flew overhead, firing a pair of missiles into the large mass. It arched in pain. As the chopper disappeared over the buildings, I charged the massive beast.
With armor and muscle-mass reactivated, I latched onto and began to climb the Hydra. I grabbed it tightly around the throat, then jumped up and sent an angry fist into its mouth. Using the other hand to hold on, I slowly choked out the Hydra. I could feel it desperately moving it's teeth in an effort to either swallow or spit up, but it was caught. Soon the frantic movements grew still, and it dropped to the ground. With hand still inside, I opened my palm, feeling cold tendrils flee from my hands and my back.
Just like the Brawler, I absorbed more than just his healthy cells. I took on something more. Something on my hand felt, different. Looking at my right hand, it bared all normal characteristics. As I pulled my left arm out though, it was a mass of a few interwoven tendrils with incredulously sharp bone needles laced throughout it. The whole thing came to a clean, shining, bone spearhead. I swept my arm out to the left, watching it stretch out, slicing cleanly through the shop glass. Not a shard was out of place, but a visible line was marked across it. A troop chopper flew overhead, and I quickly hid my power. As it landed, the bay door opened, revealing my friends.
"Get on in here," Odd said. "All three of you." We ran across the street and into the chopper. It lifted off without a hitch, and started towards the power station. Within minutes, the chopper was overhead a warzone. Outside of the concrete walls built around the complex, Blackwatch desperately tried to fight back the Marines as they simply mowed down the Infected and charged the gate. We flew overhead, dodging the automatous guns. Several rocketeers were on the roof, firing deadly missiles towards tanks and choppers. With one sweep from the guns, we cleared most of them away.
Landing on the roof, most entered the complex. Yumi and I ran out towards the survivors. The chopper headed back for the Yellow Zone with Tyler and Jen. All four pointed towards us, but I cracked out two rounds, stopping two in their tracks. A missile came towards us, but we rolled in opposite directions. Yumi let out two rounds. First was in the man's chest, and he dropped his launcher just before the second one struck just under his left temple. The last was still watching us through his sights, but hadn't fired.
Then he said something that stopped the both of us. "Ulrich, is that you?" It was then I realized I wasn't wearing my helmet.
Still pointing our rifles at him, I asked, "Yeah, and who are you?" He dropped his launcher to the ground, stood, and pulled off his mask. Dark, sweat matted hair was accented by blue eyes. His face was chiseled from several months of serious training, but he still held a glint of rebellion in his eyes.
"It's me," he started, placing his right hand on his chest, "William."