Thanks for the great reviews, just reading them makes me have hope that people actually like this story, as for the question in putting Clementine or Bigby Wolf in this, they won't be mentioned or even shown in this mainly because they have no role in this story.
Although I already have an idea on what to do with Bigby and it has nothing to do with this story, in fact after thinking about this story I already thought up of other video game crossover ideas, unless you want to see the first chapters of the other stories just out of curiosity.
I might post some first chapters of the ideas I have for other game crossover stories.
But anyway, thanks for the reviews and enjoy reading this chapter. :)
Chapter 10
Ellie, Elizabeth, Faith, Desmond, Dante, Jack, and Alex
"The Journey Begins"
Jack had grown up into a man, his mother who had just recently passed was buried beside his Father and Uncle, he walks towards his recently caught horse that has pure white mane and body. He climbed up and sat on the back of his white stallion and with a light kick to the horse's side, the horse ran towards the open gate and Jack rides his way out of the ranch and onto the dirt path in search for the man who was responsible for his father and Uncle's death.
He asked around and earned clues, followed down the path and leading him to this cabin nearby a lake, Jack met a nice woman there, apparently the wife of Edgar Ross, Jack then met with Ross's brother who pointed him the way where Ross is.
And there he was, fishing without a care in the world, Edgar Ross, they talked, they yelled, and it all comes down in reaching for their pistol. Time slowed down for the both of them, and in the last second that they pulled out their pistols at the same time, it was Jack who pulled the trigger before Ross could, and he made sure that his barrel was empty.
Ross fell on his back, his body covered in bullet holes, the hat he wore was blown away in the wind and into the lake.
Jack was done but before leaving, he reloaded his pistol with one bullet, he aimed and fired at Ross's head, "That's from the little red hair miss," he said, he turned and walked away, leaving Ross's body to the crows. Jack had done it, he avenged his Pa and Uncle, now all that's left is redemption, but he didn't really care for that right now.
He got on his horse again and heads back to the Marston's Ranch, he slowed his horse down and the horse trotted over where his family lay under, each Marston had a cross above them with their names carved on it, he stepped down from his horse and walked closer to his family's grave.
"I did it Pa, Ma, Uncle, I had that man pay for what he's done," Jack said to his buried family.
"Indeed you have."
Jack reached for his pistol as he turns his head to the voice, "I'm sure your family would of been very proud."
An old man wearing a black suit, black pants and a black top hat walked towards him with his hands behind his back.
"Then again, would they really be proud to have their son as a killer?"
Jack glared at him for a moment before he looks back at his family's grave, "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh but I do, you see, I always know what's happening all around us, and compare to what's happening everywhere, it's nothing to what's really going on out there," the man pointed up the orange and brown sky colored sky, stars were appearing thus showing signs that nighttime will soon be upon them.
"You're talking crazy old man, now I'm going to have to as you to leave, you're trespassing," Jack told him but the old man didn't walk away, instead he walks closer to Jack.
"Do you really wish for me to leave without finding out where Ellie is?"
That was a definite eye opener, Jack turned around to face the strange man, "You know Ellie?" Jack asked.
"I know of her, and her predicament," the old man said, hinting out that Ellie was in some sort of trouble.
"Well where is she, she okay?" It may seem a bit strange over how he worries over Ellie even though they just met for one day, but Ellie was a teen back then, younger than he was, and she did help his father out and was even willing to stand by him in that last shootout, it was only natural for him to worry over the girl who helped his father, that and she's just an interesting character.
"If I tell you, are you going to go and look for her?" The old man questioned.
Jack glared at the old man with a sense of determination in his eyes, "Tell me old man, I want to know what's happening."
"Jack?!" Ellie said in surprise, for a moment she had thought it was John, but after looking closer, his black hair and the lack of scars on his cheeks only proved that it was Jack, what actually shock Ellie was that Jack had grown up and into what John looked like, which is bizarre since the last time she saw him he was much younger than he is now.
"Did I just go through a f***king time gap?" Ellie commented.
"I should say the same thing," Jack said when he got down from the horse, "That crazy old man might not have been crazy after all."
Desmond was just standing there watching the two exchange words, not sure when to step in.
"How did you get here?" Ellie wanted to know.
"Well, it all started-" Jack stopped and instinctively pulled out his pistol when two pistols were drawn by Dante who had just came through the door followed by Elizabeth and Faith.
"Whoa whoa!" Ellie went in front of Jack and faced the others, "It's okay, he's cool."
Not taking any chances, Dante still had his Ivory and Ebony pointed at Jack while Jack has his pistol aiming at the Nephilim.
"Who's he?" Dante questioned.
"He's the son of the guy who helped me," Ellie tried to explain, the intense situation of guns being raised at each other making her try to find the quickest way to explain.
"You think you can elaborate?" Faith said, studying the new man with caution in her eyes.
"Look, some guy name John Marston saved my life when I was in the middle of nowhere and this guy is his son, he's cool so just chill out," Ellie further explained.
"He's from a different world than yours?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah," Ellie nodded, "He's from the place you sent me." Elizabeth took in Ellie's words and then looked at Dante.
"If Ellie knows him, than he's not a threat," Elizabeth said to Dante, Dante side glanced at Elizabeth and looked back at Jack still not looking like he's going to lower his weapons just yet, it was at that moment that Ellie knew what to do to get Dante not to shoot Jack and Jack the same.
"Jack, lower your gun," Ellie told Jack, the cowboy didn't think it be wise to do so but seeing the tiredness everyone had in their eyes, and considering the fact that Ellie is with them, he did what he was told and lowered his pistol.
"I'm not here to make any trouble, I'm just here to check if Ellie's alright."
Dante watches as Jack holstered his pistol and seeing as how he wasn't going to use it, the Nephilim also holstered his own weapons, the shootout much to Ellie's relief wouldn't commence today.
"So who are you?" Dante asked the cowboy.
"The name's Jack Marston, and you all are..." Jack trailed off, wanting to know their names.
"I'm Elizabeth," Jack hears the woman in the blue dress said.
"Desmond," next came the man in the white hood, "My name's Desmond."
Jack then looks at the man who aimed two pistols at him, seeing that his turn to say his name, the man with silver black hair spoke, "Dante."
The last one who has yet to introduce herself is the woman with the red glove, seeing how she is the last one, she too said her name, "Mine's Faith."
Jack nodded, "Well, it's good to meet a bunch of...colorful characters," Jack meant their clothing which were the strangest he has ever seen, "I just came here to see if Ellie's alright, heard that she was in trouble," Jack explained.
"Well, I wouldn't say alright right away, you can pretty much see for yourselves," Ellie pointed to the the group, "We're all kind of in deep sh**."
"Really deep sh**," Desmond said.
"Now what kind of trouble are you folks in?" Jack asked out of curiosity.
"Okay, before we get to that, how did you get here?" Ellie asked.
"Oh, well this old man came up to me said some weird things at first and then mentioned that you were in trouble, I figured that since my pa knew you I would help out in any way I can, then he started talking about other worlds and the stars disappearing and-"
"Stars disappearing?" Both Ellie and Elizabeth said at the same time, surprised to hear the other ask the same thing with the rest of the group curious as well.
"Eeyup, and started talking some other nonsense, I was pretty sure he was crazy until this door came out of nowhere, it was round swirly and bright-"
"A portal," Elizabeth concluded.
"-then after I found out the truth of there beings aliens, I got on my horse, jumped through it," he decided to leave out the part where he said "Yeehaw!" while jumping through the portal, "And here I am, apparently not only do I found out that other worlds exist but apparently time travel is possible too."
Ellie found herself really surprised to see Jack explaining everything like its no big deal, "You're...really taking this well."
Jack just shrugged, "I'm an open minded kind of guy, plus I've read stories with the plot happening like Time Travelling and Aliens and I tend to believe that they are possible, though if pa were in my shoes right now he would probably think he's either gone crazy or having a dream," he chuckled half heartedly.
"Yeah well, I think I can relate to your dad if that happened," Ellie smiled in amusement but something came to mind that made her frown, "Wait, if your here, how are you going to get back?"
"Well I figured that since your in trouble, and after you saving my pa with that bear and helping us fight against the government, I might as well help you out since I owe you one, besides, its not everyday I get to travel like this now is it?" Jack questioned.
"It is for me," Elizabeth muttered to herself, well it used to be anyway, "If you really want to help, then you better come inside, I'll explain everything to you, now that your here you might be endanger too," With that said, Elizabeth walks to the door, ushering him to follow.
Jack gave one last glance at Ellie before following Elizabeth, walking by Dante who was still giving a glare of distrust, Desmond didn't seem to mind the guy and Faith still has her guard up, Jack walked by Faith and tipped his hat in greeting, Faith was honestly surprised by the polite gesture, she might actually like this new guy better compare to the demon.
Everyone went back inside as the orange sky became darker, Dante went to watch over Alex while the rest were in the break room, Desmond realized that because of how dark it was getting, they would barely see anything inside the building, so with Faith's help, they searched through the cabinets to find any source of light and luckily they found three candles and one flashlight, the flashlight however had no batteries so they had to stick with the candles, Faith found some matches and so she lit two candles, setting them on the table and lit the one candle Desmond is going to give to Dante.
When Desmond left to give Dante the candle, Ellie took the time to look through the window she first saw Jack through while Elizabeth explained to him about their situation, from Ellie's view, the sky was pitched black, the forest barely visible because of the darkness, and the silence was as dead as the trees, it brought chill to Ellie's spine to not hear or see a thing out there, if she was out here alone...
Ellie didn't even want to think of that happening.
She looks back to Elizabeth and Jack just in time for Elizabeth to finish her explanation, and just as they both had expected, Jack had a look of utter disbelief.
"It's a lot to take in, I know," Elizabeth said.
"A lot wouldn't even be the half of it," Jack said, "So all those people are still inside that place?"
Elizabeth nodded, "We're the only ones that managed to escape, we obviously can't go back there even if we're at our prime, they knew too much about all of us, and so knew our weaknesses, the only way to set all those people free, and for me to get my powers back, is that we have to find the Core that keeps those people imprisoned and me from using my powers completely, I'm able to transport us from place to place if I try hard enough but that's as far as I can go."
Jack whistled, "Well color me impress, you are one remarkable alien gal," Elizabeth smiled at the compliment, technically they are all aliens since they do come from other worlds.
"The best thing we can do now is feel relieve, without me opening tears for them, they can't get anymore people, so as long as I'm out of their hands, the rest of the other worlds are safe," Elizabeth said, it was a definite relief to know that.
"Hey Elizabeth," Ellie suddenly spoke up, "I was wondering, how did you get caught?"
Elizabeth didn't expect the sudden question and so was surprised when Ellie asked, "I mean, you weren't raised by them, were you?"
Elizabeth shook her head, "No, I..." Elizabeth thought hard and frowned, "I was in Columbia, no wait, I was in...Rapture," her frown deepened as she thought it over, how did she get caught? She remembered seeing a pair of yellow eyes, they were large like that of a child, and then saw a bright light, but then again, she also remembered entering a light house, she was going to do something, something that had to do with the girl, but then something happened, she came face to face with someone once she entered a new world, it was someone who looked an awful like-
Elizabeth's head started to pound, she grabbed her forehead and gritted her teeth, internally begging for the headache to stop.
"Elizabeth?!" Ellie said out of worry, Faith was by her side while Jack had no idea what was going on, but it obviously wasn't good, especially when Elizabeth's nose started to bleed.
"Oh sh**," Faith cussed, she went to the table where the med kit is and took out a small cloth, running back towards Elizabeth, she pressed the cloth to her nose and grabbed her shoulder, Elizabeth stopped grabbing her forehead, the headache subsiding and her nose stopped bleeding.
"What happened?" Ellie asked, Elizabeth herself was unsure.
"I...I don't know, I was trying to remember but," Elizabeth paused, trying to find the right words to describe what she had experienced, "It's like my memories are all jumbled up, and when I try to make sense of it, they just stopped coming, like something's keeping them back, I still remember the time I had with my friend Booker and what we been through together but-" she stopped and had an expression like she had just lost something valuable.
"I can't remember anything beyond that point."
"Like, amnesia?" Jack said, Elizabeth shook her head.
"Well, not exactly, like, there's piece of my memory that I'm missing, it's not lost it's there, but whenever I try to get it, I get this headache," Elizabeth try to explain, it was as if her brain couldn't let her comprehend what she is trying to remember, for if she were to remember, than she would know the truth about herself.
"Well, take it easy, it'll find its way back to you," Faith suggested, Elizabeth nodded and said her Thank You to Faith for the cloth, just then Desmond walked in and saw Elizabeth holding up her nose with a bloody cloth.
"What did I miss?" He asked.
Elizabeth waved her hand, "It's fine, I just had a bit of a headache," she reassured.
Desmond nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I actually get that a lot, I've been getting those recently now, but I'm sure they'll stop, eventually."
Elizabeth stands up and threw the cloth away in the trash, not like it matter since the whole place is a mess, "We should get some rest, we'll leave first thing in the morning."
On cue, Ellie yawned, "I for one am ready to hit the hay," Faith and Desmond agreed.
"You folks got any beds to sleep on?" Jack questioned.
"No, unless you can count the beds from the basement," Elizabeth said, she didn't really like to explain to Jack about those coffins.
"No thanks, I'm sticking to the floor," Ellie said, rather not sleep in a place where a dead person once lay.
"Well, you could just sleep on the couch Ellie," Faith suggested.
"You sure, I mean it doesn't really seem fair to me," Ellie said.
"Go ahead, I got no objections, does anyone?" Faith asked, sounding more like a warning though to let Ellie sleep since she's the youngest out of all of them, it might of been her big sister instincts kicking in.
Desmond, catching Faith's hint, shook his head, "Nah I'm good sleeping on the floor."
"Okay wait, you guys aren't just doing this just because I'm the youngest, are you?" Ellie asked.
"We'll talk about it in the morning," Faith quickly dismissed Ellie's question, she looked at Jack who caught on the hint and stood up from the couch.
"Welp, guess we better start getting some sleep then."
Ellie, while annoyed that their letting her use the couch just because of her being the youngest, she didn't have any complaints and took the offer, she moved her backpack near the couch and just as she sat on it, Jack came up to her.
"Oh by the way," Jack reaches for something his his pocket, "By any chance, does this belong to you?"
Ellie's eyes widen in both surprise and utter relief to see Jack pulling out her switchblade.
"You found it!"
Ellie happily took the switchblade out if Jack's hand, "I've been traveling in hopes of wondering where you've been, my Pa once told me where he found you the first time and that's the place I looked just to find some kind of clue, that's where I found that switchblade."
Ellie brought the blade out, glad to see that its still in good conditions.
"You better know how to use that, what kind of kid carries a switchblade anyway?" Desmond asked.
"For the millionth time, stop calling me kid, I'm fourteen years old, and I know how to use this, I have to, especially when living in a life I'm living," the moment she said those words, she immediately thought of Joel and how much she really missed him.
"Hey, you okay?" Desmond asked out of concern when he saw the sad look on Ellie's face.
Ellie didn't respond, she just laid on her pack with the cushion support as her pillow and turned away from everyone, "I'm fine," she said.
No one believed her by the sound of her tone but no one questioned any further for they were too tired to try.
Everyone agreed that it's time to sleep, Jack found a spot on the floor, Elizabeth and Desmond sat beside the wall and away from each other just to give the other their personal space, Faith went to check up on Dante first and asked him if he wanted to switch just so he can rest up too, but Dante insisted that he can stay the whole night watching over Alex, now acknowledging that Dante is beyond human, she left him and went back to the rest of the group, finding a spot beside the couch.
Soon most drifted to sleep, even though it would be the most uncomfortable sleep they would ever have, some were glad to finally rest up after what happened in today's events, however, Dante was still fully awake, not for the sake in keeping an eye on Alex, but that the pain on his shoulder prevent him from ever getting any sort of rest anytime soon.
He winced when he felt a sting to his shoulder, instinctively grabbing his shoulder.
"That doesn't look good," Alex commented, Dante can tell by the sound of his voice that he was mocking him, knowing full well how Dante got injured to begin with.
"And whose fault is that?" his sarcastic remark only made Alex smirk, but the smirk was soon replaced with a questioning frown.
"Why are you helping these humans anyway?"
Dante raised an eyebrow at Alex's question, "I can understand why you would go along with them, considering that you are powerless at the moment, so then that would mean you realize that they see you as something they can't understand."
"How about you worry about yourself before telling me what I should do," Dante said, basically telling the Living Weapon to shut up, and he did but not to satisfy the Nephilim, he too was getting tired and so Alex closes his eyes and drifted into sleep fast, letting Dante to visibly react to the pain on his shoulder.
He be damn to say that the Living Weapon is actually right, that the wound on Dante's shoulder is not at all looking good, maybe by morning he'll be healed up, and so Dante closes his eyes and begins to sleep as well, unaware of Alex's squirming in his sleep, dreaming about the hell he lived through months in that facility, which actually seemed like years to him.
Morning sunlight breaking through the dusty windows woke Elizabeth up when its outstretched light touched her closed eyelids, pushing herself up and rubbing her eyes, her shoulder aching due to the position she slept and with the hard floor taking the blame as well, she admits that she does feel more restful than yesterday, and she would gladly sleep the floor or even outside, or anywhere as a matter of fact as long as she's not inside of that facility.
She looks around and sees that Ellie, Faith and Desmond were still asleep but strangely Jack isn't around, wondering where that cowboy went, she gets up and goes to search for the man, stretching and hearing a pop in her shoulder thus feeling satisfied, she walks out to the hallway and notices that in the far end, the exit door was open, going towards it and walking outside, she is met with the sight of Jack feeding an apple to his white horse.
Jack heard the crunching sounds Elizabeth made when stepping upon the dead grass and turned his head, giving a nod in greeting to Elizabeth.
"Howdy ma'am."
Elizabeth nodded with a slight smile out of politeness, "Hello to you too," Elizabeth walks closer to Jack as the cowboy petted his white horse.
"Does your horse have a name?" Elizabeth asked.
"I named him after an author, Washington Irving," Jack said, "He was the-"
"He was the first best selling author in America," Elizabeth cut in, surprise to hear that Jack is familiar with the author, and Jack the same with Elizabeth.
"You heard of him?" Jack asked.
Elizabeth nodded, "He was the one that wrote short stories like The Legend of Sleepy Hollows and Rip Van Winkle, I've read his books a few times," back when she was still in her tower of course.
"Really, no kidding?" Jack asked, Elizabeth shook her head to say that she's serious, "What you like about it, his books I mean?"
Elizabeth's eyes gleamed at the mention of books, oh what she would do to read a book right now, there were times that she was given a book back in the facility but did they really expected her to read out of enjoyment when horrible things are happening because of her?
"His way of writing out the visuals really held on to me, like I was there myself," Elizabeth said, getting closer to Jack to his side.
"I feel the same way," Jack said, "There are others that likes to copy his work, but nothing can't beat the original unless they improve it somehow."
"If the writing is perfect on its own, there be no need for improvement," Elizabeth argued.
"You got me there," the cowboy shrugged as he patted the horse, "You must like reading then don't you?"
Elizabeth nodded, staring at the lovely horse, "I love to read, it's like when being stuck in one place, I can get to explore other places just by reading, and by reading I get to imagine what the places the writings are based on are like without being there in person."
"Huh," Jack said, "Never thought of it that way, I just like a good writing and a good plot in general, and good characters too," He saw how Elizabeth was staring at the white horse in admiration and smiled slightly, "He's a beauty isn't he?"
Elizabeth nodded, "Really beautiful," she doesn't recall seeing a horse ever in person.
"You can pet him if you like, I won't mind," Jack offered, Elizabeth was slightly startled over the request but also happy as well, since her eyes first set upon the horse she desperately wishes to get close to it.
"You sure?" Elizabeth asked.
"He's not jumpy right now so I take it that you must be a good person, believe me he has a good sense of character," Jack said, he pulled the horse closer to Elizabeth only for her to be startled at the close proximity, her nerve starting to get the best of her, the horse's head moved forward where its nose is close to Elizabeth's face, she stepped back a little but not too much as she is planning to pet it as it was said by Jack that it was okay, so with a hand raised, she slowly approached the horse and gently with the tip of her finger touched the cheek of the horse, with the horse not flinching at her touch, she goes through it and reaches to rub the horse's neck with her hand fully, its rough yet smooth fur will be remembered by Elizabeth for a long time, no one could ever get this experience from a tower or in a facility.
"I love reading too," Jack said, it's a good feeling for him to meet another lover of books, he doesn't meet much of them back at his home, or even meet people that CAN read.
"Which is it that makes a book worth while, the plot or the characters?" Jack asked Elizabeth.
"Now isn't that up for debate," Elizabeth said with a hint of sarcasm in it, "Honestly, they both need the other, otherwise if you just have a book that focuses only on the plot and not the characters, or vice versa, then you wouldn't really have a good book at all."
"Couldn't said it better myself," Jack agreed and Elizabeth smiled, she was actually quite happy at that moment to meet another who's enthusiastic about books, even more than with Booker who rarely talks about any books.
The two continue to talk on about books and what they've read, Elizabeth mentioning some books that Jack hasn't heard of, which makes sense since she's from a time that's more closer to the future than Jack's, she actually wouldn't mind wanting him to read some if not all of them just to have a talk about the things she's read, and there were times where Jack has read stories Elizabeth herself hasn't read, making Jack promise that he'll fetch those books and lend it to her for a read.
It was a nice conversation actually, with everyone else who is far from getting along with each other, Jack is so far starting to actually get along with Elizabeth, that might be because either Ellie knew her and Jack knew Ellie or the fact that Elizabeth's personality is less rough than the other three, Desmond might be okay with Jack, but she's not too sure how it would go with Dante and Faith, especially after yesterday's event.
The conversation of books soon led to the stories about their homes, well Jack's home at least since Elizabeth is the first to ask him, and that led to what Jack's been doing in his time at home, which led to this.
"Then after I caught that thief who tried to take me and ma's horse away with my lasso, I pulled him off and-" Jack started laughing, "-His face landed on the spot where the horse just-" he cleared his throat, "Used the restroom."
Elizabeth covered her mouth to muffle out her laughter, Jack had his teeth shown when he was laughing, and the two just stood there until the laughter died down.
"Yeah," Jack sighed as he looks up to the grim colored blue sky, "That might actually be the first time Ma ever laughed after Pa and Uncle's death."
Elizabeth looked at Jack with a look of sympathy on her, "Well, that's good at least," she said, "To have some kind of light in anyone's life."
Jack nodded, "That's true," Elizabeth pulled a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I mean, I may not understand what you went through, since my mother was never around and my father...well," Elizabeth looked downcast as Jack studied her, suddenly frowning.
"My father..." The cowboy looked to another direction, "He was-"
"WATCH OUT!"
Jack grabbed Elizabeth and fell to the ground as something red zipped over their heads and stuck to a tree, Jack's horse neighing in a high pitched tone out of fright, with Jack on top of Elizabeth, they were able to see that the red thing that just flew by was a dart, a dart all too familiar to Elizabeth, and that made her heart race in panic.
"There was a red light shining on your neck," Jack explained as he starts to stand up, holding Elizabeth in his arms, "When I looked towards where it's coming from, I saw a rifle and I acted."
He looked towards to where he saw a dark figure from behind the trees in the distant, his eyes widen when he sees another figure, Jack moves Elizabeth out of the way, a red dart barely missing the two yet again, he brought to her feet and pulled her into the building, his horse neighing and jumping around in an attempt to avoid the darts, the horse was able to calm down when Jack whistled for him to come inside the building, and after the horse did, Jack shuts the door closed, seeing a steel chair nearby, he brought the chair and puts it under the doorknob to have it locked, even though he has a feeling that the people outside are going to get in anyway.
"These the folks that's been after you all?"
Elizabeth was breathing in and out rapidly out of panic and in order to calm her racing heart, "They've found us, they've already found us, but how?"
Jack saw the terror in Elizabeth's eyes and hearing the rapid breathing, making him wonder what the people outside has done to her, just then he saw Dante come out, along with Desmond and Faith.
"What's going on?" Dante said with a scratch to his head, "I just woke up hearing a horse and-" he stopped when he saw the state Elizabeth is in, covered in dirt cause by Jack from when he brought her to the ground, "What happened?" Desmond and Faith asking the same question in their eyes.
"They're," Elizabeth began, breathing heavily while rubbing the back of her neck, "They're here, I don't know how but they're here."
"Sh**," Desmond cussed, Faith ran back to where the kitchen is to wake Ellie up.
"They might have already surrounded this building by now," Elizabeth said, Dante saw the panic in her eyes and it also showed in her breathing.
"Elizabeth," Dante called out to her with no chance of success, "Hey Liz!" he snapped his fingers in front of her face, bringing her out of her state at last, "Calm down, we're not going to get caught again, we're just going have to fight our way out."
"And if they already have a weapon that's prepare to take all of us on?" Elizabeth pointed out, Dante frowned in memory of his last battle with the Big Daddy and Alex, "No, we have to find another way to escape," with an idea already in mind, she turns around facing Dante.
"Bring Mr. Mercer here, I'm going to open a tear to get us out of here."
Dante was hesitant at first but seeing as how none of them are in any condition to fight back, he follows through what Elizabeth told him to do and went to get Alex.
"A tear?" Jack said.
"I'm going to be opening a door that can lead us far away from here, it's like the door you went through when you got here only it won't be like traveling to another world, it'll just be far enough for us to get away from those people," Elizabeth explained.
"Whoa wait a minute Liz," Desmond said to Elizabeth, just as Faith brought in Ellie and went back to seal off the other door, "The last time you did that you were bleeding, how much is it affecting you when you open these...tears?"
"It won't be fatal if that's what you're wondering," Elizabeth said, at least, she hopes that it won't be, "I'll just get a migraine, that's a price as small as a grain compare to getting caught again."
Desmond frowned despite Elizabeth's assurance, "Still though..." he had his share of headaches before, and may he say that they were horrible.
"Wait, Elizabeth," Jack spoke up, already pulling out his pistol, "If opening a door for us hurts you-"
"I can handle it," Elizabeth said, "I can, don't worry." Ellie approaches the three, catching everything she's heard.
"So that's the plan, just run and shoot?" she asked.
"Well that depends if we're going to end up shooting back," Elizabeth said. Faith came back after putting the couch in front of the front door and Dante also returning with the very annoyed Living Weapon still in chains.
"Okay, you ready to do this Liz?" Dante asked Elizabeth, she nodded.
"Are you sure?" Ellie asked her, after hearing that opening these portals actually hurt Elizabeth, she's worried for her.
"I'm su-" a loud sound of something banging against the door is heard in the front door, making some jump. They saw a bulge dent from the front door with a sharp end, what ever it is that's banging the door kept going until that one spot of the door was broken through, and a drill is seen spinning. The drill was pulled out and everyone can see a glowing green circle that soon turned red, and a bull like roar is heard from the other side of the door.
"What...the hell...is that?" Ellie whispered, backing away and bumping into Elizabeth who is suddenly feeling more frighten than ever.
"That is the thing that I hoped we never come across again," Faith said.
"Liz, now would be a good time!" Dante said to Elizabeth, Elizabeth snapped out of her shock and with her eyes harden with determination, she looks down to her hands and felt a surge of power coursing through her veins, her bandaged finger where her pinky is tingling, she raised her hands, ignoring the continuing noises of the Big Daddy trying to get in, and pulled apart the air, a haunting blue color stream appeared before expanding into a circle, and a wasteland is shown, reminding Jack of his home.
Another noise like before is heard only this time it came from the exit door, eyes were widen by a few when another drill appeared through, and another bull like roar is heard.
"Two of them, seriously?!" Desmond said.
"What in God's name are they?" Jack asked.
"Everyone," Elizabeth began, her nose starting to bleed, "Go now!"
Dante wasted no time in dragging Alex towards the portal and kicking him through it on the back, the Living Weapon fell and tasted dirt, when he got up on his knees, he gave Dante a murderous glare.
"You are going to pay for that," he swore, Dante just smirked.
"Oh I'm sorry, I'll be sure to treat you like a princess next time," the Nephilim sassed before jumping through the portal, Faith followed behind, then next comes Desmond, and by the time Ellie went through, the two Big Daddies were already inside, they both charged at the remaining two people which is Jack and Elizabeth and most certainly would have grabbed them if Jack hadn't pulled Elizabeth by the arm and end up jumping through the tear along with her, the two Big Daddies crashed into each other and Elizabeth wasted no time in closing the portal, bringing her hands apart and quickly putting them together like that when closing two doors.
Most took a deep breath and made a sigh of relief but as soon as the sigh left from Elizabeth, she gasped and fell to the ground on her knees, clutching her head.
"Elizabeth!" Everyone went to her side save for Alex who Dante just left him on the ground, the Living Weapon was actually amazed to see the powers done by Elizabeth herself, he begins to wonder if if were possible to have that power himself if he were to consume Elizabeth, he's not really interested in travelling other worlds, he's only wondering if its possible.
But in seeing how much blood is spilling from Elizabeth's nose, he would rather not deal with the burden of those headaches, which were getting worse every time she forcefully opens a tear.
"Easy, easy," Faith said to Elizabeth, helping her sit up as the woman held on to her head, for a minute this continues and most of the group were worried for Elizabeth, Desmond didn't know what else to do or what he can do but to support Elizabeth by putting a hand on her shoulder, he gave a sigh of relief when he witness Elizabeth had her breathing in a normal pace again but he soon frowned when he noticed something odd.
Something green is seen on the back of Elizabeth's neck, a light blinking, "Uh Liz?" He called to Elizabeth, gaining her attention while cleaning her nose with a spare cloth Faith just gave her, "There's something in your neck."
"W-what?" Elizabeth responded with confusion, she felt the back of her neck and other than that imprinted mark she gained from wearing that collar the Control had her put on, she felt at the tip of her finger a small bump.
"Don't tell me, it's a-"
"Tracking device," Alex spoke up, gaining everyone's attention, "That might have been something worth mentioning, that those people had tracking devices inserted in all of us in case if one of us were to escape, well, that's as if they had you for a while now."
Desmond's eyes widen and felt his own neck, feeling all over but nothing like a bump is felt, he instead felt his arms and that's what made his eyes widen even more, there on his left arm, he felt a bump, Desmond rolled up his sleeves and there in his arm, a small blinking green light is seen where the bump is felt.
"What the f***, they're treating us like f***ing animals," Desmond fumed.
Jack is disturbed, sure he may have seen many disturbing things in his life, but the thought of having something be inserted in him that can make another person know where he's always at is an unsettling feeling, having one's independence violated and not to mention be treated as Desmond had just said, "like animals."
He's really starting to hate these people they call themselves as the Control.
Dante was ready to beat Alex down for not mentioning before since by the sound of it he knew it all along when what Elizabeth said next made him prevent himself from any action.
"Get it out," Elizabeth said, "Someone, please, get it out."
"Hey Liz, calm down-" Desmond began but Elizabeth's glare stopped him.
"We can't let it just stay there, this is how they were able to find us so fast, we have to get it out now!"
"Elizabeth listen, just take a breather, okay?" Faith rested a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, the woman in the blue dress looked at Faith in the eyes and did what she was told, taking a deep breath in and then out.
"Sorry, I got...a little bit too excited," Elizabeth apologized.
"We all pretty much did," Faith said, "But you are right about getting that tracking device out, but I can tell that it's going to hurt like hell."
Elizabeth nodded in understanding, but seeing as how there is no other choice, she looked to Ellie, "Do you still have that switchblade?"
Ellie hesitantly reached for her switchblade in her backpack, "I got the medkit in my bag, we can use that to stitch you back up."
"That's good," Faith said, taking the switchblade from Ellie's hand and then looking at Elizabeth, "You ready?"
Elizabeth nodded and she pulled up her short hair so that Faith could get a better view of where the tracker is.
"Do it."
And so Faith began the surgery of taking the tracker out, Desmond sat close by her and tighten his grip on her shoulder whenever she would yelp out of pain, Jack knelt beside Elizabeth and talked to her so that she can ignore the pain of the back of her neck, Dante was pacing around, frustrated that he can't really do anything other than wait for the small surgery to end, Alex felt nothing for the young woman so he felt no pity for her, though he have to admit that he was impress over Elizabeth's bravery in going through with this just so the rest of them won't be caught.
Of course, there's always a chance that she could be just looking after herself, what ever the reason, he can't deny her strength in dealing with the pain.
Finally, Faith was able to take the tracker out, dropping the small computer chip to the ground and stomping it, crushing the chip into little pieces, Ellie wasted no time in getting the med kit and taking out a needle and a black thick medical string, she told Elizabeth that she knew how to handle it thanks to her own experience when she took care of Joel and started to stitch Elizabeth's back neck up, Faith wiped Elizabeth's blood off with her shirt and then went to Desmond who also has the tracking device.
"Are you ready?" She asked the white hoodie man.
"Not like it matters if I am," Desmond said grimly, "Well at least it's being done by someone I don't mind."
His flirting only made Faith roll her eyes, clearly not interested, she then proceeded in getting the tracker out of his arm. While this is happening, Dante approached the chained up Living Weapon.
"And you?" He asked, "You mind telling me where that tracker is in you?"
Alex turned his body since he's still wrapped in chains and showed both of his arms with one that's currently covered with a bloody sleeve, thinking that he's showing Dante, Dante approached Alex and rolled up the bloody sleeve to where the tracker is, or rather, where it use to be.
"I already took care of it," Alex showed his clawed out arm, "It only occurred to me last night that those two may have a tracker as well, I was planning to mention it in the morning when that happened," he meant the event that happen in the building they were all in.
Little did anyone know, Alex had memories of what happened back in the facility, and it was in that memory that he remembered the tracker being inserted in his arm, it was because of that nightmare that Alex sleepily and deeply scratched the tracker off, it was only a pity that he couldn't do the same to Dante's face, and heart, and everything else.
Ellie finished stitching up Elizabeth's and went to Desmond after his small surgery was over and Faith crushing the tracker, Jack went over to check the back of Elizabeth's neck and he whistled, impressed over the work is done by a small teen.
"That's some work you did, Ellie," Jack said, "You thinking of studying to be a doctor?"
Ellie already started stitching Desmond's wound up, "Not really," she answered, "But it is pretty useful to know something about it."
With Desmond's arm all stitched up, Dante started looking around his surroundings, a wasteland indeed, sandy colored dirt with dead shrubs scattered across, but something caught his eye, and it was this something that made Dante smile.
"If that is a mirage, I'm going to be pissed," Dante said, walking his way towards to the large object in his sight.
"Hey, Demon-Guy, where do you think you're going?" Faith called out to him.
"Be back in a sec," Dante called back as he started jogging, Faith could honestly care less where Dante's going and just focuses her attention back with the group, she took a moment to actually take a good look at everyone.
So first there's the normal ones, that being her, Desmond and the girl Ellie, although she could argue that Faith still doesn't know much about Ellie other than looking like she's been through hell and back.
There's Desmond who seems like a normal guy, but what she remembered from that fight(or rather avoiding to fight) with the Big Daddy, he pulled out a blade like something an Assassin would do, which is weird since Desmond never struck her as an Assassin but it's not she knew the guy personally.
Then there's Elizabeth, a young woman with the power to open up portals that can lead to wherever, it's unbelievable, but Faith saw it for herself. Then there's this cowboy, Faith would of believed that he's dressing up for fun in a snap if she hadn't witness everything this far, so she's taking into consideration that he is a cowboy.
Then there's the guy who called himself a demon, Dante, definitely not human, she doesn't like him, enough said.
And then last and maybe not the least, Alex, a guy that can turn a part of his body into a blade, and the most dangerous one out of all of them, what made her tense around him is how his eyes always follows anyone, like she can tell that he can kill anyone or maybe everyone in a second without giving the chance to comprehend that they are about to die, and from what she heard from Elizabeth about this guy, Faith wants to get as far away from him as possible.
So taking in everything, this bizarre situation, it's giving Faith a headache, but as long as she keeps thinking about her sister and getting back to her, than she can at least bare with it.
Faith got out of her thoughts when she heard something like rolling tires, she looks over to where Dante went and was surprise to see the Nephilim coming back, pushing a damage looking car. Desmond heard the rolling tires as well and he gaped in disbelief at what Dante is bringing.
"Wait, is that..." Desmond began, Dante nodded.
"It sure is, yeah I know it's sh** on the outside, but it might not be as bad with the engines," Dante said.
"You're not serious are you?" Faith said, "That car would be out here for years, what makes you think that it still works?"
"Hey, what I said before, about having a little Faith?" Dante pointed out.
"Enough with that," Faith warned.
"Well it wouldn't hurt to try," Ellie said right after she finished stitching Desmond's arm up, putting the med kit back in her backpack and stood up, walking towards the car to the driver's seat and spotting no key inside, "Anyone know how to hot wire it?"
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"It's way to start the engine rather than use a key by using the wires in the car," Elizabeth explained, "It's mostly done by those who are planning to steal a car, but you'll have better luck with me unlocking doors."
"Don't know much about it either," Desmond said.
"Can't say I'm an expert," Faith said. Alex was out of the question so all that is left is the Nephilim himself, everyone's head turns to Dante who wasn't saying anything as of yet.
"...Well I-"
"Of course," Faith rolled her eyes before Dante could even finish what he was about to say.
"Come on, we were all young once," Dante said, he decided to just ignore Faith and just opens the door on the driver's side, he knelt down to take a better look at where the wires are and started working, after a minute, the engine started running and the car lights lit up, scaring Jack's horse.
"Whoa there, easy girl," Jack said to his horse, even he has to admit that the loud engine sound scared him too, apparently this car is a lot louder than the ones back in his home world.
"Holy sh**, it works!" Ellie said.
"It sure does beats walking," Desmond said, also sounding pleased to hear the engines running.
"Well then we better get in," Elizabeth said, even though she hasn't ever ridden in a car before, it can't be any different in riding in an air ship.
"Hope you folks won't mind if I ride with Irving here," Jack said, patting his horse.
"We'll be sure to match with your pace Jack," Elizabeth assured. Soon, Dante, after moving Alex to the back of the seat, he then went to the driver's seat, he may not have a license but he's seen how other people drive cars so it should be a piece of cake for him. The car was an old style car, not old like something you're grandfather would have but old like a classic that the cool kids would have in the old days, a car that has enough room for all with three seats in the back, two seats in the middle and two seats in the front. Elizabeth sat in the middle section on the left side while Ellie went to sit in the right, Faith decided to sit in the back a seat away from Alex just to keep a close eye on the Living Weapon and Desmond sat in the passenger seat.
But when Ellie sat on her seat, she felt something there, getting up and reaching to what she was sitting on, she grabs on to a small item, a mix tape by the look of it, "Anyone feel like listening to music?"
Everyone looks over to see what Ellie was talking about and saw the mix tape in her hand.
"Oh hell yeah," Dante took the tape out of Ellie's hand, "Things is starting to bright up finally," he inserted the tape into where the radio is with Desmond also looking forward in hearing music, but what they got instead was something they didn't expect at all. It wasn't a mix tape, it was an audio recording.
"You're listening to Radio New Vegas in your little jukebox in the Mojave Wasteland."
"What in the world, did that machine just talk?!" Jack said in awe, sitting on his horse.
"I am Mr. New Vegas and I'm here for you," as the speaker begins talking about something with Traders and NCR like hearing the news, Ellie looked at Dante with a weird out expression.
"Not the kind of music I was expecting," she said.
"It's a recording," Desmond said, "You know, like the ones people use to make sure they don't miss anything on TV."
"Yeah I got you," Dante said, "Only this isn't for TV but for a radio by the sound of it."
"Now what's this about a TV?" Jack asked, curious to know what it is, he didn't get a chance to have an answer when the speaker of the recorded radio caught everyone's attention.
"In addition, a package courier found shot in the head near Good Springs has reportedly regain consciousness and made a full recovery, now that's a delivery service you can count on."
"No sh**," Ellie said, honestly finding herself impress over this news, you have to be lucky as hell to survive a gunshot to the head.
"Those were our top stories, gonna play a song for you right now and it's about that special someone you find only once, in a blue moon."
And with that, a song begins to play, the song being a real classic sung by Frank Sinatra.
"Huh, I'm kind of liking this music," Jack said.
"Not my taste," Dante said, "But better than nothing."
Ellie refrained from saying that what Dante had just said reminded her what Joel said when they had themselves with a truck that one of Joel's old "Friends" had.
After checking that everyone's inside, Dante positioned the stick to drive and pushed the gas pedal with his foot, the car then took off with a satisfying rumble in Dante's ears, Jack soon followed after the car in riding his horse after giving a "Yeehaw!" and everyone was soon driving or riding off in the deserted wasteland, their destination is certain. But how and where can they get there? That remains unknown.
"So, anyone going to make a guess over where we're heading?" Desmond said.
"The only thing we can do is keep driving, that's really all we can do," Elizabeth said.
Silence soon took place after, seeing as how boring the ride is going to be, especially if this could take hours, Ellie decides to venture the car just for a bit, she started by getting up from her seat, being careful by grabbing on to the passenger seat when the car reached a bump and reached towards the glove department in front of Desmond.
"Hey Ellie," Desmond said, "What are you doing?"
"What? I'm just seeing what this car has," Ellie said, she opened the glove department and what appeared is a magazine, taking it, she sat back in her seat and just by the cover of the magazine alone had her eyes widen.
"You know, I'm going on a limb here that this car belong to a guy once," Ellie said.
"What do you mean?" Elizabeth asked, Ellie showed Elizabeth the front cover which also let Faith to see it as well, and the women eyes widen in seeing a half naked lady in the front, Alex caught the cover in the corner of his eye and just simply rolled his eyes. Humans and their way of Enjoyment he thought with no surprise.
"Uh, why is there a...barely dressed woman in the cover?" Elizabeth said.
Wait. What? Alex had to look over to see if that was actually coming from Elizabeth. How is it possible for a woman at her age to remain that innocent? Even Faith was looking at Elizabeth with the same question in mind.
"What?" Desmond quickly looked back, even Dante was interested.
"Could you repeat that?" he asked.
Ellie opened a page of the magazine, sure enough there were pictures of women with tan skin and in a pose with barely any clothing at all.
"Uh, Ellie, that's not for kids," Faith said as she reached out but Ellie manages to avoid from getting the magazine be taken away.
"Well hold on, Elizabeth has never seen this, don't you think it be educational in finding out what the world was like," Ellie tried to make an argument, even though she sounded like she's playing around, "Like with this picture for example," she showed one image to Elizabeth and made the young woman gasped.
"Oh!"
Jack heard Elizabeth and he slowed his horse down by a bit to be by her side to see what was up, "What are you looking at?"
Ellie quickly closes the magazine, "Something I get the feeling you aren't ready for." All Jack gave her was a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, hey, hey," Dante quickly said, having one hand on the wheel and the other trying to get the magazine out of Ellie's hand, "Didn't your parent's teach you something about sharing?"
"Well I wouldn't know since I never met them," Ellie countered as she raised the magazine out of Dante's reach, this is just like that time when she took the porn from Bill's place, thinking that she'll be having fun if she plays innocent, she decides to replay the moment she made with Joel, only this time she'll have a few more reactions,
"Come on, I just want to have a look-Oh," her sound of surprise caught everyone's attention, "Why are these two pages stuck together?"
A thick silence followed as Ellie is either given widen eyes from Faith, a tilted head of confusion from Elizabeth and Jack and "Um..."s from Desmond and Dante, she even heard Alex coughing a little when he heard what Ellie just said.
"They stuck together?" Jack said, "Well try pulling them apart."
A series of "no no no no no no no!" is made from Dante who is still trying to drive and Desmond as they as well as Faith got up slightly from their seats to reach for the magazine with Ellie holding it out of their reach, they stopped the attempt however when they heard the dark red hair girl laugh.
"I'm just messing with you guys," she laughed, the reaction everyone had was even better than she had with Joel, it was at this moment though that she didn't feel so homesick as usual when she remembered Joel.
"Oh ha ha, very funny," Dante said, he didn't bother trying to hide his amused smile, "But you are still going have to give me that, you're too young for that kind of stuff."
"I got a better idea," Faith said as she finally snatched the magazine out of Ellie's hand, ignoring Ellie's whining, she threw the porno over her head and left it facing the dust of the car, now to be lost for who knows how ever long in this deserted waste land.
"You," Dante pointed with his thumb at Faith, "Are an official downer."
"Well you might thank me one day," Faith said to Dante, "Might give you a chance to actually be with a girl."
Desmond failed to hold in his laugh, earning him a glare from Dante but soon that glare is directed towards Faith.
"For your information, I have dated plenty of babes," Dante said.
"Alright, give me a number of the girls you dated that doesn't involve giving money," Faith challenged.
Dante took a brief moment before answering, "Three."
"Say one name."
At this, Dante just stopped talking all together, sure there was Kat but he never really officially asked her on a date before, and they were more like close friends.
Desmond couldn't hold it in and neither could Ellie as the two just outright laughed while Elizabeth let out a chuckle, Jack had no idea what was happened but in seeing how the thick atmosphere from before has died down, he certainly didn't mind not knowing how it came to be, especially in seeing Elizabeth smiling, he even caught a glimpse of Alex smirking, probably because the fellow that kicked him through the tear that's getting picked on here.
Elizabeth is actually quite pleased to see how everyone is slowly starting to get along save for Alex which she is sure that no one wants to be anywhere near him, but as long as most of the group begins to open up with one and another, then this journey will be easier, especially if this journey turns out the be a long one.
Which it will be.
When the laughter died down, everyone has decided to stay quiet and let the music from the radio play, when the song finished, the announcer name Mr. New Vegas spoke about the news again.
"Howdy folks, it's Mr. New Vegas and I have a good feeling about all of you listening..." Ellie has to admit that this Mr. New Vegas is a pretty good talker, he definitely would be a better announcer than the one back in the city before she even met Joel, "This just in, troubling news from Primm as Merchants report a large presence of armed and savory figures patrolling the town-"
"Anyone heard of a place call Primm?" Ellie asked.
"It's probably some city that use to exist in this world," Elizabeth answered, "This tape you found must be pretty old, it's almost like listening to history."
"Except you'll be guaranteed not to fall asleep," Desmond said, "I find it better listening to this guy then staying in history class." And that's not to say that he's seen history in the making with his own eyes in the body of another.
"Same here," Ellie agreed with Desmond.
After news of a broken Monorail Service now fixed up, Mr. New Vegas added, "Promotional consideration for this news program has been paid for by the UltraLux. The Ultralux, Live Life in that old lab of Luxury. You're gonna love this next song, I guarantee it."
And so the next song played, a faster pace song called Manhattan by Gerhard Trede. But just when this song started to play, Jack saw a dark figure in the corner of his eye, he turns his head to his left and saw nothing out of the ordinary, thinking that it might have been his imagination, he shrugged it off, until he saw it again. This time, Jack knew he saw something, and what could this something be?
Well, it almost seemed like a scorpion, a really BIG scorpion, appearing from the dirt region and then digging back into the ground, and this was not too far away either. Jack's description of what he thought he saw came to light when he witness this with his own two eyes.
"Dante!"
Jack's call had caught the Nephilim's attention, he looked back at Jack who pulled out a pistol and is riding his horse away from the car before looking at what Jack had his eyes on.
"Aw great," Dante muttered to himself, Jack's call also caught the attention of everyone else but before they could ask what's wrong, everyone was jerked to the right when Dante suddenly turned the steering wheel, Ellie, Desmond and Alex slammed to the door beside them by the arm while Faith and Elizabeth were lucky enough to grab on to something so that they don't end up fall on to the person that sat beside them.
"What the hell?!" Ellie yelled, she withheld any curse word she thought up in that instant for Dante when she saw what the Nephilim was trying to avoid. A black and violet shell of a huge scorpion just dug up from the earth, bigger than the car as a whole, with its size it would have stopped the car on its track if Dante hadn't avoid it in time. Instead, the mutated scorpion had a taste of dirt from the speeding car, and it was this that it became angered.
With a monstrous screech like a command, more mutated scorpions dug up from the earth, they were smaller compare to the one Dante just missed. The creatures then began to chase after the running car and the running horse, their pace starling for they are able to catch up to them, with only just twenty feet apart and getting closer, it became clear that neither Dante or Jack will be able to out run them.
"Looks like this became a run and shoot scenario," Dante said as he pulled out Ivory with one hand, his other hand holding the steering wheel. "Liz, Red, get down!" Elizabeth and Faith listened to what Dante told them to do and so ducked so that Dante can gave a better shot, he aimed his Ivory and fired at one of the scorpions, but the shot seems to bounce off of the scorpion, Jack did the same as Dante and also fired his pistol but the result is the same as his bullet bounced off of the scorpions hard shell.
"What the hell are these things?!" Jack said as the creatures are getting closer to them, Dante cursed under his breath when he sees his bullets aren't affecting the scorpions and he can't get a better shot while he's driving, he's going have to get to the back of the car if the mutated scorpions were to get any closer.
"Hey Des," Dante called out to the man in the white hoodie and pulled said man by the arm, without any explanation, Dante just told him, "You're driving," and got up from his seat while also forcing Desmond to be on the driver's seat.
"What the-hey!" Desmond yelled at Dante who didn't stop at his call. First it was watching over Alex, now this, does Dante really have to drop things on Desmond's lap unexpectedly?
The car was already swerving out of control for the lack of holder to its steering wheel and so Desmond had no choice but to take the wheel, meanwhile Dante walked across the small path between Elizabeth and Ellie then stepped onto the seat between Faith and Alex, Mercer was already feeling the itch to kick the Nephilim off of this car just as Dante kicked him out through the portal from before.
Dante started firing rapidly at the coming mutated scorpions, their yellow empty eyes looked hunger for the group, his shots were doing nothing and neither was Jack's, Ellie decided to join the fight and so pulled out the Winchester Repeater, aiming and then firing.
"God!" Ellie said out of frustration, "How do we kill these f***ers?"
"Watch your mouth young lady!" Jack said as he attempted to shoot another scorpion.
"Like anyone gives a sh** at a time like this!" Dante said as he made another round of rapid firings.
"Oh sh**!" Desmond said when he sees another group of scorpions digging up from the earth right in the path of where the car is heading, Desmond reacted in time and warned Jack before turning the steering wheel to avoid the other creatures but not to drastically so that Dante wouldn't fall off, especially when the Nephilim is being strangely unsteady with his feet.
Jack had to break away from the group so that he can avoid the mutated scorpion ahead of him, he sped his horse up faster while also shooting behind him, the mutated scorpions shells were just too tough, but the cowboy then got an idea, seeing as everything except for the mutated scorpions eyes are covered, Jack activated the trick that his own Pa did when it comes to shooting a couple of enemies in a row.
He focused, the whole world went slow and golden, he aimed at one mutated scorpion, specifically in the eyes, before firing all his rounds.
At last the bullets made a hit as the mutated scorpion screeched in pain from the bullet to the eye and even slowed down, Dante and Ellie saw this event and so did the same as Jack though their own aim weren't quite as precise as Jack's, but they were able to make a few hits, and its with these hits that the mutated scorpions all screeched in pain before staggering back, getting farther away from the group.
"Alright, we're doing it!" Ellie cheered as she reloaded the Repeater.
Thought Jack shared Ellie's enthusiasm, Dante made a different reaction. The Nephilim rubbed his eyes because of how the dirt is effecting his vision and fired another round, his aim however became terrible as it didn't even hit the shells of the mutated scorpions, he lost footing and had to held on the seat he had his feet on.
"Damn it Des, keep this car straight!" Dante said to Desmond.
Desmond looked back at him with a look that asked if Dante was serious, "What the hell are you talking about, that's what I'm doing?!"
"Then why the hell do I feel like I'm spinning," Dante didn't even yell back as he is starting to feel low on energy, he was getting even more dirt in his eyes, and that's when he realized, Dante didn't had dirt in his eyes, it was because the world he sees is getting blurry, the wound in his shoulder feeling numb and Dante lost the sensation of his fingers and how they felt with his two pistols.
"Dante?" Elizabeth call out to him, Faith also shared Elizabeth's concern as she is the one who is able to see Dante's pained expression up close.
"Hey, Dante," Faith's own call didn't seem to faze the Nephilim. Dante stepped down from the seat, he tries to force himself to stand up without the support of seat but that was proving to be difficult, at last, his body could no longer take the neglect Dante has made towards his wounded shoulder.
"Ah sh**..." was all the Nephilim said before dropping to the small path, the side of his face making an impact to the car floor.
"Dante!" Elizabeth, Ellie, Faith and Desmond all called out to him,Jack kept shooting at the mutated scorpions but also glanced over to Dante in concern, Alex however grinned at the sight of the fallen Nephilim, knowing full well of what is wrong with Dante.
Elizabeth got out of her seat and knelt beside Dante, seeing the pained expression to his closed eyes before noticing the wound that looked worse than before. Guilt hit Elizabeth's heart as she should have insisted Dante to get that wound checked. Wasting no time, Elizabeth grabbed Ellie's backpack and took out the med kit, she opened it and searched through it to find anything that can help with Dante's wound.
"Faith, I need your help," she called out, Faith got up and looked over Elizabeth's chair, "I need you to move Dante over so that I can treat the wound."
The runner did what she was told, turning Dante's body as gently as she could even though its proven to be difficult considering that they are all in a speeding car, she manages to move Dante to where he's facing up. Elizabeth was able to find the medicine that can fight against the infection as well as a syringe, she inserted the needle of the syringe through the cap of the small medicine bottle and drained it's liquid medicine inside the syringe.
"We need another shooter here, those freaks are catching up!" Ellie said.
"I might be able to help," Alex suggested, eyes fell on him save for Jack who was still shooting, he didn't know the stories of Alex Mercer, if he did, he would have had the same look as everyone else did, and was these looks that is an answer to Mercer's question.
No.
Elizabeth thought back to how Faith used a gun when fighting against the Big Daddy and so thought it best for her to fight alongside Ellie and Jack, "You go ahead Faith, I can handle the rest from here."
Faith looked at Elizabeth and then to Dante, her expression was unreadable but Elizabeth was able to tell that Faith was worry for the punk half demon, she then nodded and went back to her seat, waving to Jack.
"Hey Jack," the Runner called out to the Cowboy, "You got an extra gun I could borrow?"
Jack seized all fire so that he could reach for one weapon, he pulled off the Carbine from his back and threw it at Faith, "If you know how to shoot," he said.
Faith caught the Carbine and followed what Ellie and Jack were doing, aiming the weapon and waiting for the mutated scorpion to catch up before pulling the trigger, hitting a bulls eye in the eye and making the creature stoop to recover from the hit its taken.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth just inserted the medicine into Dante's wound and started cleaning off the dead skins off of Dante, she watches as Dante's eyes open and close, revealing that the man is still conscious.
"Don't move Dante, this is a serious injury," Elizabeth pleaded to Dante.
"I've had worse," the Nephilim attempted to make light of his situation with a reassuring smile but that quickly faded when the pain from his wound is felt, which is actually a good sign, for it's better to feel the pain then to feel nothing despite how bad it really is.
A loud thud is heard and everyone in the car suddenly jumped in their seat.
"Sorry, sorry!" Desmond apologized, he was distracted for a brief moment when looking back to see if everyone was alright, it was this that he failed to see a big rock in the car's path and that led the car to jump from the bump.
"Watch the f***ing road, damn it!" Dante cursed when the small jump actually made the pain even worse for him.
"These people are going to drive me crazy, I just know it," Alex thought to himself, while also attempting to squirm out of the chains that's holding him down.
Ellie and Faith re-positioned themselves and began shooting at the mutated scorpions again, with their combine firing along with Jack, they were able to overwhelm the pursuing mutated creatures, so many times are these creatures eyes getting shot that most of the scorpions had all stopped and so left behind.
Which leaves one mutated scorpion left, and that was the bigger scorpion.
The three shooters did the same tactic they used with the smaller mutated scorpions but the result has changed drastically with the leader of the mutated monsters, for now every time they try to shoot the eyes, the larger mutated creature blocked their shots with its large armored claws, this went on even if the shots were made simultaneously.
"Anyone has any idea how to kill this thing, it's getting pretty close," Ellie said in a slight panic tone.
Elizabeth looked over to the still coming mutated creature but her focus returns to Dante when the Nephilim is attempting to force himself to get up possibly in an attempt to fight the mutated scorpion.
"Dante, no," Elizabeth pushes Dante back down, "You are in no condition to fight."
Dante tried to reply in saying that he was fine but the fact that Elizabeth is able to hold him down despite being stronger than a regular human being proves that he's not fine at all, but if he doesn't prepare himself once the mutated scorpion catches up to them, then not one of them would be able to fight back.
Letting Elizabeth open a portal would only hurt her and setting Alex free is out of the question since there is a strong possibility that Alex will consume all of them before fight off the large creature. So what can they do?
"I got an idea," Jack ensured, he holstered his pistol and rummaged through his coat for another weapon until his fingers made contact with a red stick dynamite, he ignites the dynamite by the long black string and threw it at the creature who was now five feet away from the car.
The mutated scorpion leader was unfamiliar with the red stick and so simply caught it with its claws and never thought to throw it away, this proves to be a fatal mistake as the dynamite exploded, the impact of the explosion surprised the creature and also blinding it with its smoke.
The monster waved wildly its claws around to blow away the dirt view in its eyes, and it was by this action that Jack saw the arm without armor, most likely broken off when the dynamite exploded. Jack wasted not a breath when he pulled out his Winchester Repeater out his pistol, having a good aim of the armor less arm-no pun intended- and fired all ten of his rounds.
The first shot it hurt the monster, the fourth shot it aggravated it, the seventh shot it screeched a high pitch tone out of pain, and by the tenth shot its arm lost all sensation and simply dropped to the side, now being dragged in the dirt by the still coming mutated scorpion only the monster had decreased in speed.
Faith and Ellie saw that the one eye is now left open without any means to defend it and so starting shooting every bullet they had.
The mutated scorpion staggered and cried, now feeling intense pain in his eye, Ellie decided to follow what Jack just did and so went to her backpack which Elizabeth gave back to her and dug into it to find a nail bomb, once she did, she threw it at the monster.
Out of instinct, the monster grabbed onto the can, thinking that since its not a red stick it might not blow up, but the reality of it literally blew in its face, while the nails didn't effect it, the thick clouds did as the creature was blind again and reacted by waving its arm around, Ellie saw the defenseless arm and so started shooting at it, emptying the repeater with her last ten rounds and disabling the creature's arm.
Faith saw the opportunity to completely blind the monster and so fired the carbine into the remaining eye.
The mutated scorpion is now wounded, crippled, and blind, it had no reason to keep chasing after the group and so fell. Everyone watched as the monster was getting further and further away, and when the sight of the monster is no more, a few gave a sigh of relief while the rest still gazes across the land that surrounds them, watching out for any more surprises.
"That...was way more intense than what I'm use to," Ellie admitted.
"No kidding," Jack said humorlessly. Faith just sunk back into her seat as relief overcame her. Alex for the most part had been observing the events in front of him, and it was by this observation that he has come to realize that some of the people he is with are survivors, the desperation for life in their eyes were clearly seen, making him wonder just what experience they all had in their life.
He was also relieve to see that this situation did not escalated for if they were to all be surrounded by those creatures, especially with Dante's condition, then none of them would have survived, which means that Alex would have also died since he be still wrapped in chains and has no way to defend himself, this is how he has come to a conclusion.
If everyone dies, then that's it for him. So it seems that he will have to bare with these people a little longer than usual.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth, who is still tending to Dante's wound, has finally come to understand, that no matter where they go, something of danger will always get in the way, and it would be any kind of danger that can be fatal to one, a few, or all. The rest of the trip was a quiet one, with only the voice of Mr. New Vegas heard throughout the day.
"Well that's all for today, this is Mr. New Vegas wishing you Lady Like Luck."
If Lady Luck exist in this world, she sure isn't here to ensure the group's safety, they can only assume that they will face something of equal danger or worse.
Thank you for reading! I just thought of Dante breaking into a car when he was little after his parents were killed, thinking him as a trouble maker, I don't know if he actually did this, this is just for the purpose of this story, but he did have an RV so we know that he an drive.
Please leave a Kind and Honest Review.