Alright, folks. This here is the 2nd to last chapter of the novelization. The next one is gonna be really short, in line with how short the actual epilogue was so I'm gonna upload that as soon as I can. So I guess I'm technically saying that I'm done with this, so I hope you enjoy my last strong chapter.

=O

F.E.A.R.

FIRST ENCOUNTER ASSAULT RECON

INTERVAL 11 - RETALIATION

GROUND ZERO

The "Point Man"
On the way up, my mind was still rattled with what has happened. The little girl, Alma, that has been harassing me since this mission started was the child form of a mother I didn't know I still had. The cannibal, Paxton Fettel, who was controlling an army of clones was my younger brother. As for myself... I was a product of Project Origin created by man to recreate the psychic potential of a very, very pissed off woman. These "reflexes" I thought I had gained from hard work and determination was just manufactured into my DNA to be an unstoppable killer.

I also wondered how much of my life may have been played with by Armacham. With no memory of my early years, what could they have done to me? Did they artificially mess with my brain as I grew up? Put me in the military for me to handle any trouble they would get involved with, like with Fettel? How much of my life is my own...?

"He's alive! I just picked up his signal!"

I was thrown out of my confusion by hearing someone talking over the comlink. It was Betters! I guess I must be far enough above the facility to get their signal back. It sounded like he was excited to pick up my life signs over the satellite F.E.A.R. has been using.

"If you can hear me, get to high ground. A chopper is standing by."

They must already know that the Replica forces have been deactivated. If I can figure out where to get an extraction from one of our Black Hawks, then I should be able to leave this place. As for what I'll do after that... well, I should probably leave this place first and then figure it out.

Where I was at now, the lift stopped in some kind of warehouse. It looked very similar to the Rammelmeier compound, only the interior was a bit different. This room looked like the armory to where I had first fought the Replica Elites, only much simpler. Looking around, there was a secret door already opened up that was camouflaged as a wall. Beyond it was a back room which I'm assuming is supposed to look like a typical warehouse.

Moving on, the entire place was still shaking from the outburst of the power cells being destroyed. A pipe blew off from the wall along the right, fire spreading out and blocking a nearby door. This place might be coming down, too. Going down the corridor down the left side, I turned around the corner when I saw another explosion go off in front of me. Another pipe broke as more fire blocked off the path in front of me. To the left side of it was a small ledge near some steps I could take as a detour.

After making my way up the steps, there was another intersection to where I had to figure out where to go. Suddenly, a small explosion went off with another pipe causing flames to emit from it. I would've ignored it, if I didn't hear strange noises coming from behind the blast. Next thing I knew, more of those "Nightmares" were surfacing from the middle of the air as they were now flying towards me. I panicked and fire several more rounds of my SMG to them until there was no more. And just when I thought I wouldn't face these things again...

Looking back behind me, I saw a large, dark room completely covered with boxes everywhere. I slowly made my way through the maze-like set-up, hoping that more of these things wouldn't just pop out of the corner. I then heard some noise coming from outside as I looked out the filthy windows. It was definitely a Black Hawk, as the chopper was flying off towards the east. They're probably trying to find a good LZ to pick me up. I'll going to have to pick up the pace if I want to get out of here.

Moving through the path full of boxes, I finally found an exit to another section of the building with tall rows of cabinets. As I was about to walk over there, I could hear some unusual noises behind me. Turning around, more portals opened up from two different spots as some more Nightmares were spawning from them. I fired the remaining bullets of my SMG towards them until none were left. Reloading my current weapon, I started to hope that I have enough bullets to fend off these things until I can get picked up by the chopper.

As I headed inside the next room, an explosion blew off behind me to were all the boxes were. The Nightmares were spawning from the black dust as it made hard to see where they were coming from. I backed up a bit and waited for them to funnel themselves into this tight space and then opened fire towards them. It's a good thing these things aren't too smart, for their intent to kill made them easy targets to pick off when all they do is charge at me.

After they were gone, I went back towards another corner nearby. Passing it, I saw some double doors closed in front of me that I could take. Just as I was about to walk up to them, a flash of white covered my eyes for a split second. When I looked back at the doors, they burst open as three more Nightmares were floating towards me. With how close it was, it was amazing that I reacted quick enough to fire as many bullets towards them as I could. Seeing them explode into smoke, I stopped firing and relaxed for a bit to calm my nerves.

Entering the next area, I went down some steps to the right and saw I was in another storage area. Moving through the tall cabinets, another set of portals opened up at the far end of this place. Four more Nightmares came out as they were raising their arms to try and grab me. I didn't let them get the chance as I fired some more bullets off my submachine gun. After they dissipated into the air, I slowly went through the area and saw some broken stairs by the wall. A part of them wasn't completely finished, but it was enough for me to climb up to the next floor. Going down the corridor, I saw there was another hallway to the right of me. Just as I turned my head to see what was there, more Nightmares were waiting for me as they were flying faster towards my position.

I emptied the submachine gun as I managed to "kill" the floating monstrosities before they could get to me. I noticed that there was a spare SMG available lying against the wall from the beasts were hiding. Taking that and tossing the empty weapon, I continued back to the previous hallway and walked through a metal walkway. With the next room almost exactly the same in terms of layout, I expected another ambush by those monsters. Looking down the hallway to the right, I saw that the only thing there was a set of double doors completely boarded up. With that way blocked, I walked further down the hall into the following room.

This place was a mess. A whole collection of cabinets were tipped over as well as some dirty chairs piled up in the corner of this room. On a table, however, was a spare HV Penetrator laying on a table. Holstering the SMG, I picked up the HV as this thing will be helpful for any accurate shots I can make in case if any more of those things show up. Moving on to the next room, there was a metal fencing area to the right pass some old generators. As I was walking through the machine, the building shook some more as steam was blowing off from it.

Passing through the hot steam, I walked up the set of stairs to the upper level. There was some spare ammo for my handgun lying on a cabinet near some hammers and buckets. Picking it all up, I stacked them all across my belt for later use. After grabbing all these weapons and ammo, I would probably be a bit more paranoid that I am going to use all them all. I just hope that's not the case. Moving through the corridors here, I was now on a metal walkway above a large, empty warehouse. The door in front of me was locked. That means the only out of here is go down and see where I can go.

Just as I hopped down to the ground below, a flash of white covered my eyes. When my sight returned, I saw about 5-6 black holes open up at the far end of the room ahead of me. Several Nightmares were being produced as they all began to swarm my position. I brought out the Penetrator and fired several nails to each one of them coming. Even after killing several of them one after another, more began to surface in their place. No matter how hard I tried, they just kept coming. After emptying the HV, I took back out the SMG and opened fire. Even after firing all the bullets inside the gun, waves of Nightmares were still coming from those black holes. When my SMG was empty, I dropped it to the ground and pulled out my pistol as a last resort. I was going to die... These things are going to kill me... Is this the end of me...?

Just as I was about to run out, the Nightmares then stopped spawning. Suddenly, wooden boards flew up from the floor all around me as they broke apart and hit the ceiling. Not sure what this was supposed to mean, I looked around to see that there were no more of those creatures. Maybe I managed to get rid of them all? Wishful thinking can only go so far.

Seeing where the destroyed 2x4s flew off from, there was a dark passageway underneath the floor. As much as I knew going down there would be a bad idea, there wasn't any other exit in this warehouse for me to take. Turning on my flashlight, I jumped down in there to see that it was tall enough for me to walk around in. As I turned the next corner, I saw a tight hallway at the far end of this open space. As I began to walk there, more wooden boards flew off from the left as they nearly hit me. Two more Nightmares were coming out from some enclosed spaces that the boards were covering.

Using my pistol, I only fired a couple shots at them when they dissipated into the air. Heading back through the tight corridor, another portal opened up with some more of those creatures coming. Unlike before, these things were floating towards me much faster than the others. All I could do was fire as quickly from my gun as possible until they were all destroyed. Reloading my handgun, I went pass where they came from and entered another long hallway around the next corner as it turned to the left.

This was something here. Even with the few lights working down here and my flashlight still on, it was still too dark to see what was on the other side. Something powerful was here. My eyes were covered in darkness once more as I was not sure where I was at anymore. A voice echoed into my head.

"I've tried to forget."

"I've tried so hard to forget."

I recognize the voice now. It was that of Chuck Habegger, one of the scientists who was involved with Project Origin. That's who I heard back at that abandoned building, to where we were first looking for Fettel. That was his voice I was hearing way back then. Even after he was dead, my mind was still able to hear what may have been his last words to Fettel. He knew about us... about Alma.

I was back at the burning building that has been haunting me. Just as I had opened, a loud scream came from the left side of this place. The naked, corpse-like form of Alma was slowly walking towards me. I could feel her psychic powers. She stretched out her arms to grab me as I could feel killing intent coming from her. If she grabs me, then I will surely die from her touch. Raising the pistol I was still carrying, I fired a few bullets to her chest. A flash of white covered my eyes as she was now gone.

I could feel something calling out to me from the next room. Even with the flames surrounding me, I did not care about them. I have to know what the meaning of all this is supposed to be. Moving through the familiar building, I tried to understand. Tried to reason what it is about this place that feels so familiar...

As I opened the next set of doors above the small set of stairs, Alma suddenly manifested a few feet in front of me. To defend myself from her lethal touch, I opened fire at my "mother" several times until she disappeared again. I won't let her anger kill me! I won't! I have to live! To find out why this is happening to me!

Turning towards the steps in front of me, I went to the left as I was back at the long hallway from before. I'm almost there. As I began to walk slowly through this place, my sight once again flashed to white. When I could see again, I was now in front of the two doors. The path was shortened. I will soon arrive to the answers. Before I could push open the two doors, Habegger's voice echoed once again in my head as I remembered hearing these words.

"You were born here. In this place."

This place... I remember this place now! This is the building to where Alma had given birth to me. And that wasn't it, either. That abandoned building, the one to where Fettel was at for the first time and Betters sent me to investigate... It was this place. The fires, the blood, the creatures... The place I am at right now is the darkest portions of Alma's mind to when she was in labor. The reason I keep going here in these "hallucinations" were because she wants me to see what had happened... what happened after I was born.

I pushed the doors in front of me as they slowly revealed the next hall. At the far end, I could see someone standing by the two doors to where the windows showed his figure. As I got closer and closer, the sounds of me crying as a newborn heard up ahead, Chuck's voice rang inside my head.

"I was there."

Chuck was there the day I was born. He was there in the delivery room to when she was in labor. That's why Fettel first targeted him. It was because he knew the names of everyone that was a part of Project Origin.. Chuck couldn't forget now matter how hard he tried, to ease his guilt of being involved.

I walked over to the two doors to see Chuck nervously looking away from an empty operating table. Alma's adult form walked over to him as he just stood there. As she got close enough, Chuck screamed as loud as possible as his body exploded, blood completely covering the windows. Seeing all of this, this was probably what Alma intended for him, sending Fettel to kill him first.

Another flash of white covered my eyes. As my sight returned, I could feel something dangerous behind me approaching. Looking back at the long hallway, I saw Alma slowly walking towards me from the other end. Her killing intent was stronger than ever, her powers still increasing. Just one touch is all she needs to take her sons life. I brought my weapon up again as I fired as many bullets as I can towards her. When she disappeared again, she reappeared just a few feet in front of me. I wasn't sure if there was anything left in my throat to scream, but I felt like yelling as loud as possible. I kept shooting and shooting at her as she still got closer. Her blood was spilt several times as she still kept getting closer. She is going to kill me... her own son. Does she not realize that? I have to defend myself! To kill!

She was gone again. All of the bullets in my gone were empty. Even with nothing left in the chamber, I still kept pulling the trigger as though she was still there. My body was still shaking, consumed in fear. What's happening to me? My mother's voice whispered to my ears as she told me:

"My baby... Give him back to me..."

"Give me back my baby!"

I could see someone holding me. My eyes were barely open as someone was bringing me towards the figure of Harlan Wade. He was holding me with his bare hands, wearing a white lab coat. Could this be from the day I was born? What is Alma trying to show me now? Harlan looked down at me and said:

"You will be a god among men."

A god...? I was created by him to be like a god to him?

"Take her back the Vault." Harlan said as he looked over at someone in the room.

The next thing I saw was a young teenage girl lying down on an table, with a strong beaming light pointed towards her. She got up as she tried to reach out to me.

"No!" she yelled as it echoed loudly into my head. They were taking me away from her... my mother.

As I was looking down, a folder was laid out on a table. There were several pieces of paper inside. But none of that mattered. What was on the front cover shocked me.

TOP SECRET

ORIGIN

SUBJECT:
ALMA WADE

Alma... Wade? Then, this wasn't some random girl picked just to be used for experimentation. She was Harlan's daughter! He did all of this to his own flesh and blood! He made her give birth to both me and Fettel for Armacham's selfish desires... and showed no remorse until the very end when he let her out.

If Harlan is her father, then that means... He's both mine and Fettel's biological grandfather. And if Alice is also his daughter, then her and Alma are both sisters, too. And Alice never even knew about her younger sister, completely oblivious to the heinous acts her father has committed to all of us.

Everything he told me about saying how she has suffered enough... was he aware that letting her out would cause all this? Maybe he didn't want her in Armacham's hands again? Or perhaps he probably felt guilty about doing all that stuff to her when she was a child. It's too late to ask him now...

"My baby..."

I was back at the dark hallway. Alma's presence was no longer felt anymore. She was gone. The last thing I could hear from her before she completely faded away was:

"I know who you are."

Hearing her say that made me second guess what she tried to do earlier. She wasn't coming at me with killers intent. She didn't want to grab me and take away my life. There was only one reason.

She wanted to embrace the son she never got to hold in her life.

Right now, I don't feel anything once again. No sorrow, no guilt, no happiness, no resolve, no anger. I felt more empty than when I killed Fettel, but worse. This was some fucking cruel twist of fate. After everything I've done today, everything! That the thing that breaks my fighting spirit is not fighting a squad of Replicas, or facing ATC security, or even all those terrible illusions... The thing that breaks me down is that my entire family that I met for the first time that I can remember are now all dead. My grandfather, my mother, my brother, my aunt... They're all gone.

Using every strength available in my body, I slowly walked over to the set of doors at the far end of this hall. I have to leave... meet with the chopper. It's the only thing I can do for myself now. God knows how much time it will take before I can figure out what to do now for my life.

Opening the doors, I saw that there was a small elevator at the far end of this room beyond some construction equipment. Going over there, I went inside and pressed the switch to go up. Anywhere is fine, I don't care where this takes me. After a while, the lift stopped as I was now in a dark-blue room. The windows here were broken open, to which I can now hop over to head outside. The night seems to have passed, for the sky was now in the early morning. The sun is going to rise soon. Now to figure out where to go...

An explosion erupted underground along the street. Next thing I knew, a bright flash of light erupted far, far away from the center of this city. Shockwaves blew me back a bit as I something huge coming from the city. Smoke was getting bigger and bigger as more bursts were blowing away from there. As it all started to increase, I could see a big ball of fire erupt from the center of all this chaos. That's when I realized what was happening.

That chain reaction that started from the Origin facility grew much bigger than what it initially was. Instead of just blowing up the entire building, it spread out much bigger to the point to where the explosion would ensnare hundreds and hundreds of buildings. Mapes miscalculated as to how dangerous the blast would be!

Building parts and cars were flying everywhere as the devastating explosion got closer and closer. No matter where I go, there is nowhere to hide from it. And even if I could head inside a building, the force from the blast was too strong for me to go anywhere. The best thing I could do was stand on my own two feet in vain as I tried not to get blown away. It was getting closer. Soon, I could not longer stand up straight as I was blown back to a wooden fence. My back hurt so much from the sudden impact of hitting the hard boards.

As the explosion was just beginning to reach me, the fence gave away as I was blown back some more. My sight begins to fade from me as I was slipping onto a deep sleep. So this is how it ends. They were right. I'm not like everyone else... I'm a monster. I've lived this life doing nothing but kill people. It's only proper that my life were to be taken when I have nothing to kill. I deserve to die like a monster...

Reviews would be nice so I can hear some feedback. All of you have been awesome to me. Maybe I can give some of that to the Point Man if I do another story for him :D