Author's Note: As it is stated in my profile, my computer's been dead for the last three or four months, so I've been unable to update. It's back alive now, so I'll be writing again. (Of course the chapter of CWII that I had almost done was deleted when my computer died, along with everything else. I'm down to the re-install of City of Heroes, Champions Online, and Openoffice, with only this chapter in My Documents.)
Four: "Angel Witch"
It had been four days since the pulse, and our little family was already growing. Trinsha was awake, back in the swing of things with her brother, Jake. Saline had proved to be quite the handy Revenent, helping us get a few of the damaged vehicles back running. And as for myself? I was already getting back into relations with my sister.
Sarah and I sat outside the western wall of Quarantine Zone Omega, kneeling on the ground, eyes closed, facing the west in the twilight air. Sarah was speaking a prayer, and I just listened in.
"My dear Mother, and dear Father. Hard times have befallen all of your children of all creeds." She spoke in a clear tone, talking to no physical being. "So many have died in these last few weeks, and none of those deaths need have happened. I beseech to you to keep those who survived safe in your loving embrace, and see that he who caused such a catastrophe, who has repented countless times, be kept safe with them. I love you with all my heart, and can only hope that I can do right by you in this ever shortening life." As she finished her prayer, a soft golden light illuminated my eyelids. Opening my eyes, I watched the sun poke it's sleepy head over the horizon. I gave a little smile.
"That was beautiful, Sarah." I muttered, both of us standing, dusting off our knees. Sarah smiled.
"Thank you. I like praying outside. If I do it inside, Mother and Father can't hear me." Since I had amnesia from my former life, Sarah was helping me get reconnected to my Wiccian ways, helping me pray, and give thanks.
"There you two are." A voice came behind us. Turning around, we came face to face with Doctor Ballenfield. He walked like he'd had a good sleep. Coming right up to us, he faced me right away. "Emma. I'd like for you to follow me if you would. There's something I need you to see." He turned to Sarah. "Of course, you're more then welcome to come if you like. But if you still hate my guts, do what you will."
"I don't hate you, Doctor. I just wish you'd stop lying to everyone."
"Yea..." He muttered, turning and walking away. "So do I."
Jake lead us back inside the walls of the Quarantine Zone, into his lab. He sat at his desk and spun the chair around, facing us.
"So, what's this about?" Sarah asked, a feeling echoed by myself.
"All in due time. First, I want you to harken back to when we first met..." He thought for a moment. "When EMMA and I first met... Back in Quarantine Zone Alpha... you know what I mean." I crossed my arms.
"Yea, okay. What about it?"
"Remember what I said about your particular strain of F.E.V.?"
"Something about the Salem Strain unable to attach to a Y chromosome, and how I was a freak of genetics."
"Well, I was kind of drunk at the time, so I probably said a lot of things that didn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Lemme recap. The Salem Strain, as stated earlier, needs two X Chromosomes to take root. BUT, I specifically engineered the F.E.V. to make Witch Revenents impossible. Naturally speaking, of course. Not going to go into details, but the F.E.V. fries the reason receptors of the brain, which is why the Witch sits and cries, and why they're kinda single-minded creatures. So, in essence, if a Witch were to become a Revenant, they'd become a shell, incapable of thought, or even reason. Dead, for all intents and purposes. Which brings us here today. Emma Windsor, I'd like you to meet your F.E.V. sister, Sakura Sunday." The other door, which lead to a closet, I believe, opened. Stepping out was a thin, lanky woman with ghost white skin and matted white hair. Her eyes glowed an eerie red. It was like...
"...Looking into a mirror..." I muttered, vocalizing my thoughts.
"Hello..." She spoke softly, waving her clawed hand in a friendly manner.
"Jake... if what you said is true..."
"I know where you're going with this, and yes. If what I said was true, Ms. Sunday should not exist. Witch Revenants don't. I did mah research, and came up with an answer. Tell me, ladies. Is anyone here familiar with a disease called Porphyria?"
"Porphyria?" Sarah echoed.
"Porphyria. Originally proposed by the greek scholar Hippocrates, and later explained in more scientific depth by Doctor Felix Hoppe-Sayler in 1874, Porphyria is a genetic blood diseases which causes the body to be unable to produce iron in their blood. Now a days, Porphyria is a treatable condition, typically treated with pharmaceutical-grade beta carotene. I pulled Ms. Sunday's medical record. Seems she had a condition known as Congenital Erythropoetic Porphyria, or Gunther's Disease, which I shall call C.E.P. for the duration. C.E.P. is characterized by photosensitivity, flouresent brown-stained teeth, and maybe hypertricosis later in life. Now, I imagine Ms. Sunday was probably on a regimine of aforementioned pharmaceutical-grade beta-carotene for most of her life, but after the Infection... well, best let Sakura explain." Sakura smiled and bowed.
"He's right. I was on a treatment to lessen the symptoms. I ran out of the medication after the infection, and couldn't find more... so I turned to a bit of a more antiquated treatment. Doctor?"
"BLOOD OF THE LIVING!" He called, throwing his hands up. "Or, more specifically, iced samples of blood of the living."
"You turned to drinking blood?" Sarah made a sickened face. "Isn't that unsanitary?" Sarah continued.
"Well... yes. I did some research, and found that, yes... if I consumed the wrong type of blood, I could get HIV, or something worse... but frankly, that was a risk I was very willing to take. If I didn't do something, I would die. If I did, I might die. So, I started to find places that stored blood... One of them was Aperture. I found a few vials of blood, and decided to give it a shot. The first one I drank... was labeled Emma Windsor."
"Which puts me to only one possible conclusion as to how this happened. In drinking YOUR blood, Emma, she not only inherited YOUR strain of F.E.V., but also your IMMUNITY." He rubbed his chin. "Which is, needless to say, freakin' awesome." He cleared his throat. "Since no one here knows quite how to kick ass as a Witch quite like our own Emma; I'mma gonna assign her to your care so you can-"
"Doctor!" A voice came from outside, the door opening, and a ragged man running in. "Doctor! Serious shit goin' down outside!"
"What kind of serious shit?"
"Hundred tons of metal and ass-kick kind! We've got an M1A1 Abrams on the horizon!" Jake stood.
"Shit! Emma! Sakura! Follow me!" He took to a sprint out the door, and it was all I could do to keep up.
-Outside-
Standing atop one of the hastily constructed guard tower, Jake stared out over the halfway logged forest surrounding Quarantine Zone Omega.
"Yea..." He muttered. "One Military-Grade M1A1 comin' in at eleven o'clock. No obvious markers. Alright, follow me. We're gonna go meet it halfway."
"What if it kills us?" I asked, watching Jake start to descend the ladder.
"If they kill me, the entire Quarantine Zone opens up on them like pyrotechnicians on the fourth of July. Pray they're that dumb." Sliding down the ladder, he waited for Sakura and I to land. Hopping into the driver's seat, Jake patted the seat next to him. "C'mon. No time. We can't let them get within firing range of the Quarantine Zone. Hopefully I can talk some sense into them, because we're not gonna be able to take out a tank if it decides to start shooting." Sakura jumped in the passenger's seat, and I leapt onto the hood, crouched down, and gripped the windshield. "Always showing off, Emma." Jake muttered, driving towards the tank.
From this range, I watched the top hatch flipped open, a red figure coming out of the top. The figure began to wave in a wide arc, shouting something across the deforestation.
"EMMA!" The figure finally shouted in an all-too familiar voice.
"It's Zoey!" I called to Jake, who breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where did that crazy collage girl get a damn tank?" I watched as three other people climbed out of the hatch. Two I recognized as Nick and Rochelle. The second was smaller, probably a young child. Slowly, the tank came to a stop, Jake driving the car closer. Leaping from the car hood onto the tank tread, I pulled Zoey into a loving embrace.
"I hate to be a killjoy, ladies, but the driver is still bleeding some. He should probably be taken to a doctor." Nick muttered, pulling a barely conscious body from the tank. Jake looked over the man.
"Put him in the car. Sakura, drive back to the Quarantine Zone, and get him to Doctor Savage." Sakura nodded, Jake climbing out of the car into the tank. "I gets to drive me a TANK!" Jake grinned, taking a look at the little child, a girl. "Hello. What's your name?" Taking the little plastic box from around her neck, she started typing.
"My-Name-Is-Mary-It's-Nice-To-Meet-You-Doctor-Ballenfield." The box belched in a mechanical tone. Small drips of green goo dripped from her mouth.
"Hey, you're a Revenant. Spitter, at that. Can you do me a favor? Climb into the car with the nice lady, and we'll talk again, okay?" He turned back to the tank hatch, then stopped, looking at the girl. "And how'd you know my name?" The girl just smiled, gave me a wave, and jumped into the car. Shaking his head, he dropped into the tank cabin. "TAAAAANK DRIVIIIIIING!" He called, the tank lurching forward. While his tank driving skills left much to be desired, Jake managed to drive it in a semi straight line. Zoey and I didn't even bother climbing back into the tank. I was so thrilled to see her again, I couldn't help but kiss her atop the tank.
-A Little Later-
The feeling of that black segmented tail still holding it's death grip on my butt was still a discomforting feeling, but even more discomforting was the spines on my back. They made sitting in a regular chair impossible, and I had to sleep on my stomach. Thankfully, they were durable, so I didn't worry about breaking them.
I'd been keeping an eye on the growth of the black carapace material on my skin. So far, it's stopped spreading, but not after covering me neck to toe. With the undeniable exception of vital bodily orifices which, for varying reasons, had to remain open. I had heard about the tank which rolled into the Quarantine Zone while I slept. Only one injured, which was amazing.
"Saline." A voice called from an open door. Turning my head, I saw the caring face of Doctor Savage. She smiled, waving a folder at me. "Got good news for both you and Jake."
"What news?"
Marie Savage and myself walked down the hall to Jake's lab, a big smile on Marie's face. Knocking twice on the door, Jake answered.
"Come in!" He shouted over the sound of an arc welder. Marie opened the door for us.
"Good news, Doctor! Saline's test results are in."
"Oh, goodie!" He responded, putting the arc welder down. "Alright, Marie. Hit me!"
"Well, okay, starting off..." She opened the envelope and cleared her throat, beginning. "I started tracking her ovulation cycle three days ago, and managed to get a good baseline. After that, I ran her follicle stimulating hormone levels, and her luteinizing hormone levels, just to see what they are normally. Ran them against some of the other girls we had on standby. Turned out to be pretty normal. Yesterday, I ran her LH levels again, and noticed a spike, so I ran her through the cervical mucus test and the ultrasound. Results showed her Cervical mucus is thin enough that it could be penetrated in the event of intercourse, but not thin enough to break prematurely.
"The Ultrasound revealed that her overies work just fine, also. But, anticipating your next request, I went ahead and ran the optional tests, too. Luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, estradiol, progesterone, prolactin, free T3, total and free testosterone, DHEAS, and androstenedione levels all came back in the green, well inside normal levels." She took a breath. "Also ran the hysterosalpingogram, hysterescopy, laparoscopy, and endometrial biopsy. All green."
"So, the short of it is-"
"She's fertile."
"That seals it, then. The F.E.V. is mutating her body to the point where she can reproduce. It must sense that it's on the edge of extinction." He rubbed his chin. "Thank you, Marie, you've been so much more then kind. How's our newest guest doing, by the way?"
"He lost a lot of blood, but whoever dressed his wounds may have saved his life. He'll be fine. He just needs some rest." Jake nodded and smiled, clicking the arc welder off.
"Saline. Mind if I speak to you for a bit?"
"Of course, doctor. What's on your mind?"
"Don't mean to be rude, Marie, but what I have to say is for Saline's Ears Only."
"Of course, Doctor. I'll be in my office if you need me." He nodded, watching as she left. When she was out of earshot, Jake spoke.
"I need you to be honest with me, Saline."
"I've been nothing but, Doctor."
"I know. And I appreciate it. But I need you to tell me something."
"Anything." I responded.
"I need two things. The first, is I need connection to the EFH network. If you can, get me access through my terminal."
"I can try." I responded.
"And the second thing I need you to do for me... is stay as far away from me as you can for a while." I raised an eyebrow.
"Uh... why?" Jake smiled a little.
"Because, Saline, my heart's pounding in my chest, and my throat's dry right now. I can't look at you, and not be given pause. I can't help but... find myself attracted to you..."
Ending Author's Note: NYAHA! Another episode of Cry Witch II! I know it's starting slow, but I promise, next chapter, the "Revenant Wars" part of Cry Witch II kick in! Promises to be fun!