Review:
SpectorChris:
Glad you liked it.
UDLLORD:
Remember the issues with that from the first couple chapters? Might wanna review those.
Xenter:
Sorry you feel that way, though I have to admit that I lied a bit as to the reasons for including the Cordyceps/Blacklight…uh, interaction, mostly for what's happening in this chapter. Also, there are super soldiers, I just didn't want to introduce them right off the bat, besides it's not like even they'd have access to the sort of resources we take for granted in a pre-apocalyptic world, so the ability to make more would be very limited. Also, whether you like Heller or not, he killed Mercer and I'm following the stories of both franchises, so I'd have to at least mention his story. I do agree with your feelings about Ellie, she was a very enjoyable character, but I don't see how suddenly making Ellie some kind of superhuman would be enjoyable, but that's me.
Guest (Feb. 26):
Ask and ye shall receive.
A/N: Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.
Chapter 6:
Saving Ellie
"Fuck, Fuck!" Alan shouted, as he pressed his hands to Ellie's bleeding torso.
"How's she doing?" Joel asked, keeping her eyes on the road.
"She's losing too much blood," Alan said, worriedly, "We've got to get some medical supplies and bandage this wound otherwise she could bleed out!"
"Well, let me just pull into the nearest Walgreens and I'll pick something up," Joel said sarcastically.
"Quit being a wiseass and pull off here!" Alan ordered, pointing towards a road to the right.
Joel did it, deciding to trust him, and sped down the road, slowing only when he came to curves in the road. Eventually, they came to a ranger's station, where Joel pulled up to. Alan carefully picked up Ellie and carried her towards the building with Joel running ahead to open the door and to make sure it was clear of clickers. Alan took the injured girl to the couch that was in the room. Ellie, having long since lost consciousness, moaned when he set her down. While Alan pressed the makeshift bandage against Ellie's wound to try and stop the bleeding, Joel went towards the back of the building, trying to find medical supplies. Joel found the bathroom easily enough and tore open the medicine cabinet. There was a first-aid kit, which Joel immediately snatched to look inside, only finding a bit of gauze, some bandages, and outdated pain medications. He grabbed the gauze and bandages to bring them back to the two in the front.
"We need to get the bullet out of her," Joel said, kneeling next to where Alan was.
"I know," Alan said, moving his hands to her shirt and lifting it up enough to expose the wound before looking up at Joel, "She needs something to bite down on."
Joel nodded and pulled out one of his shivs before placing it between the young girl's teeth. He then put his left arm over her shoulders and his right hand on her forehead before nodding to Alan. The prototype then made his right index and middle fingers turn into tendrils that entered the bullet hole. Ellie hissed and began to thrash in response to the pain of the tendrils digging their way into her body, but Joel kept her from moving too much.
"Almost…got it!" Alan said, pulling the bullet out of the girl, who immediately slumped down onto the couch. "We need to close the wound," he said, looking at Joel, who understood what he meant.
Joel took the shiv from Ellie's mouth while Alan created his flamethrower-arms to heat it. Alan took the white-hot shiv from Joel and whispered to the unconscious girl, "Sorry about this, Baby sister," before pressing the flat of the blade to her wound.
The poor girl would have screamed had Alan not covered her mouth to keep her quiet. Once it sufficiently cauterized the wound, Alan removed the cooling blade with Ellie passed out from the pain.
"We should find some antibiotics," Alan said, moving to go through the remnants of the ranger station.
Alan was examining a map on a table when Joel came over to speak to him, "There's a ranger's tower not far from here," Alan said, pointing to the location on the map.
Joel angrily grabbed the pointing hand, "Or you could use your powers to heal her now instead of maybe finding medical supplies."
"No, I can't," Alan said, seriously.
"Bullshit," Joel said, "Just make her like you."
"Oh, just make her like me like that's so easy!" Alan said, losing his temper, "In case you forgot, she's already infected with that Cordyceps, which doesn't get along with the Blacklight virus as you recall."
"Well, you're the one that said your virus can adapt. Maybe it can adapt to the disease in her too!" Joel insisted.
"You're asking me to turn a fifteen year old girl into a monster like me!" Alan said, angry at the sheer idea.
"At least she'd be alive!" Joel shot back.
"If you can even call this living," Alan growled, "I don't eat. I don't sleep. I'm a humanoid virus. There's not even a guarantee that she would be turned into an evolved like me."
"Yeah, you said that," Joel said, crossing his arms.
"No, I didn't. You think everyone infected with the Blacklight virus becomes like me?" Alan asked rhetorically, "No, maybe 1% of everyone infected with the Blacklight virus has the genes to become an Evolved. Everyone else either becomes a walker like the clickers but not blind, or one of the special infected, like those brawlers that were chasing us. Get it now?" Alan asked, "The tower is her best option."
"Fine, you go and I'll watch her," Joel said, obviously still not happy about the outcome.
"Good," Alan said nodding, "Keep an eye out for those brawlers. I doubt we've seen the last of them."
"Right," Joel said, checking his rifle to ensure it was loaded.
Alan stepped out of the station and took a deep breath to calm himself, "That guy has no idea what he was asking," he muttered, trying to cool his frustration. He reaches into his shirt to pull out a pendant. He opened it to look at the picture inside. "I know I could move a lot faster if I leave them behind, but that girl, she reminds so much of you, Sis, that I can't," Alan said to the picture, "Even if I could, you wouldn't want me to, would you?" he asked, smiling at his sister's picture, "That was you. Always looking to save the world." He sighed and put the pendant back in his shirt, "Don't worry, Sis. I will find you, just hang on." With that, he sent his biomass into his legs and took off towards the tower, running at inhuman speeds and dodging the trees.
He ran for about forty-five minutes before reaching the tower. Unfortunately, he wasn't the first there, judging by the three bloaters shambling around the base of the tower.
Alan sighed, "Terrific. These fat bastards again." The Evolved walked forward and shouted, "Hey, ugly!"
The bloaters immediately turned and roared at him before throwing spore bombs at him. He rolled out of the way and turned his arms into his dual swords and charged at the massive infected. He leapt into the air and hit one of them with a powerful heel kick and knocking it into a tree. Alan flipped in the air to land back on his feet before spinning on his heels, his blades gleaming in the sun, as he used them to slice open one of the bloaters' swollen gut, its fungus-covered entrails falling to the ground. The final bloater tried to grab him, but Alan ducked under its grasping hands, slicing off its left leg as he did. When it fell on its face, Alan clamored onto its back before, with one swipe, cut off its head. The first bloater then managed to waddle its way back towards the Evolved, who drove both of his large blades into its gut before lifting it up off of its feet. He followed up by pulling the blade out of the bloaters sideways and cut off its head.
Alan dropped the dead bloater to the ground before turning to the tower. Besides being moldy due to lack of care, it appeared to the Evolved as being in good shape and unlikely to collapse when he added weight to it. Deciding to take the safer route, he began to climb the ladder up to the tower. Luckily, there wasn't a clicker at the top, so Alan was able to begin his search for the medicine. He found the first aid kit hanging from the wall and opened it up and, much to his relief, there were some antibiotics in the kit. He closed the lid of the kit and prepared to go back down the ladder when the tower began to shake and rattle. Alan hurried to the side to look down and saw one of the brawlers from before clawing at one of the beams holding the tower up.
"Shit!" Alan shouted as he prepared to jump off to safety, but when the tower suddenly collapsed, he was knocked off balance and fell when the tower did. The tower split apart and Alan was sent flying, slamming into a tree, seconds before one of the flung beams, impaled him in the stomach to said tree. "Fuck!" he shouted in pain. He tried to pull the beam out of him, but he couldn't get the right angle to allow for his strength to allow it, not to mention his blood made it too slick to grip. His attention was drawn away from his attempt to free himself by a deep growl. The brawler was stalking its way towards him, its intent to finish him clear. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" Alan shouted as he frantically tried to pull the beam out of his gut to no avail. He looked up again to see the brawler getting closer and a thought occurred to the Evolved, "Oh, god, is this going to hurt," he muttered before pulling hard on the beam to drag his impaled body along it, "Fuck…fuck…fuck!" he groaned as he dragged himself along the beam.
The brawler, seeing its prey was about to free itself, started running towards Alan, hoping to take his life before he was free.
"Shit!" Alan shouted when he saw this before performing one last pull to unimpale himself just in time to fall to the ground and make the brawler miss him as it leapt at him, slamming into the tree and knocking it down.
He got back to his feet, his legs unsteady due to the pain, and turned to face the brawler that was stalking towards him again. Alan turned his arms into his claws and waited for the brawler to attack, which it did, leaping at him again. Alan rolled under its attack, using his claws to gut it like a fish as he did. Once it was dead, Alan consumed it, healing himself. He grabbed the first aid kit from where it had fallen and took off running back to where he'd left Joel and Ellie.
While Alan was dealing with the brawler, Joel was taking care of Ellie, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.
'Damn it, hurry up, Alan,' Joel thought, 'Ellie needs that medicine.' Then he heard a sound outside. When he went to the window to look, he saw a brawler stalking the area. 'Fuck! Alan, hurry the hell up!' he thought as he moved back to Ellie, readying his shotgun as quietly as he could, hoping to keep from attracting the brawler's attention.
Unfortunately, Ellie picked that point to start regaining consciousness and moaned softly, "Joel…Alan? W-where?"
Joel quickly covered her mouth, hoping that the monster outside hadn't heard her. Joel's luck, being what it was, didn't hold out as the brawler started stalking its way towards the building with far more purpose. 'Fuck!' Joel thought, aiming his shotgun at the part of the wall that the brawler was approaching.
Just before it reached the building, something dropped right on top of the brawler with a loud crash, which kicked up tons of debris and dirt. Joel looked to see Alan standing on top of the brawler, his hands now solid mass as he used his hammerfists to slam both of them onto its head, turning it to paste. Then, the tendrils came out of his back and he absorbed the brawler.
Alan hurried inside the building where Joel was still looking down the barrel of the shotgun.
"Whoa, easy," Alan said, holding his hands up after taking the first aid kit off of where it was attached to his hip, "I found some medicine."
Joel lowered the gun, "Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Alan said, moving to the wounded girl, "Don't worry, Baby sister," he said, gently petting her head, "You'll be just fine," he opened the first aid kit pulling out the syringe before filling it with the antibiotics. He stuck it in her arm, making the girl moan softly from the pain. "Sorry, about that, Baby Sister," he whispered.
"Will she be okay?" Joel asked.
""Yeah, she will be eventually," Alan said, "I'm just glad the memories I got from some of the doctors I ate told me the proper amount to give her, otherwise things would have really gotten bad."
Joel nodded as he picked the unconscious Ellie up off of the couch, "We should get out of here before the military catches up."
Alan moved to the window, muttering, "Too late for that," when he noticed soldiers moving out of the trees.
"Damn, how the hell did they catch up this quickly?" Joel cursed.
"Used the brawlers for hunting dogs and just followed them," Alan said, leaning against the wall to peer through the dirty glass.
One of the soldiers walked forward, "Alan Cogburn! You will surrender immediately on the authority of Blackwatch! Failure to do so will result in your accomplices will be arrested and executed for treason."
"You got a plan?" Joel asked.
"Well, escape's not an option. They've surrounded the car and have likely surrounded the building too. Surrender's probably a bad idea too. These Blackwatch guys aren't known for being men of their words," Alan said.
"Then, what do we do? We ain't got time to just stand around," Joel said, getting worried.
"I'm not saying that," Alan shot back, "I'll draw their attention away from the truck and you try to make a break for it with Ellie."
"That ain't exactly the best plan," Joel said.
"You got a better one?" Alan asked, arching an eyebrow.
Joel sighed, "Not really."
"Remember, stay low and watch your back. There's no telling if these assholes will try and attack from behind," Alan warned.
Joel just nodded when Alan started moving to the door. He opened it up slightly to yell out, "I'm coming out! Tell your men to hold their fire!"
Alan walked out with his hands up.
"Smart move," the soldier in charge said.
"So, tell me," Alan said, glancing at his uniform, "Lieutenant, are you the one in charge of hunting me?"
"No, but don't expect me to tell you where my CO is, freak. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't tell you, since he doesn't tell me until it was absolutely necessary," the lieutenant said.
"Smart. Don't suppose you'll tell me his name?"
"You'll find out when I bring you to him, dead or alive. Get me?"
"I got it," Alan said, nodding, "I'm gonna have to go with…dead." With that, Alan turned his arms into dual swords and charged at the soldiers. The soldiers opened fire on him instantly. Alan charged despite the bullets piercing his body as he closed the distance to the soldiers. He cut the first soldier in half before spinning around to cut the second one down. Slowly, Alan moved the soldiers away from the building, giving Joel the distraction needed to make a break for the truck.
The lieutenant saw the man running towards the truck with the unconscious girl still in his arms.
"Eliminate secondary targets!" the lieutenants ordered seconds before one of Alan's blades emerged from his chest. He looked back at Alan, who had him impaled on his blade.
"You should focus more on the more dangerous one, asshole," Alan said, before throwing the dying lieutenant away. Alan used his shields to cover Joel and Ellie's escape. Once Joel fastened the girl in the passenger seat and started the car, Alan jumped into the truck bed before they sped away, racing back down road they'd originally came down. The few remaining soldiers fired at them, but Alan used his shield to protect them.
They sped down the road, leaving the soldiers in the dust.
"Well, that went well," Alan said, sarcastically.
Just then, Ellie groaned awake, "Ugh, w-what did I miss?"
"Nothing much, Ellie," Joel said, smirking at Ellie's timing before looking back at Alan, "So, any idea where we're heading?"
"East," Alan said, "We've got to get to New York."
A/N: And there's chapter 6! Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.