Chapter 22: Back to School
Rylan had hopped out of the truck and showed Joel, complete with yellow sash, a full set of warm-looking clothes which so happened to be a Firefly uniform. "This gives me an idea..."
"The hell?" Joel questioned as he looked on at the boy with the outfit. "What are you getting at?"
"It's easy... show up in a Firefly vehicle, in a Firefly uniform..." He led him on with his plan. "You need new clothes anyway so..."
"Yeah... nice work boy genius, maybe this will work for about two seconds." Joel remarked with his input. "But you do know that Devlin and his men have seen my face, right?"
"Well they won't have to." Rylan smirked as he took out his gas-mask from his own backpack. "Just wear mine and they won't recognize you."
The wind howled quietly as Joel kept chattering his teeth and walked up to take the Firefly uniform. He had to get out of his icy clothes before they turned him blue, and this was as good a substitute as any. "Maybe from a distance they won't see me, but how would I explain wearing it?"
"That's easy." Rylan stated as he opened the door to the backseat so that Joel could have some shelter and privacy so that he could change his attire. But the old man noted that the brunette's demeanor and tone reached a somber level. "I'll... I'll turn by the time we get there and..."
"What are you saying?" Joel's raised an eyebrow to his change in attitude; he wondered where he was going with this.
"When I turn and you shoot me... my body will release spores when I'm dead right?" Rylan did his best to hide his fear of what was soon to come. "The Cordyceps in me will try to keep growing, so... use me as an excuse to get in."
"Shut up kid." Joel stopped him dead in his tracks as he climbed into the back seat. "Let me get into these before you say another word. Got it?" Before he got a reply he shut the truck door behind leaving Rylan to process his own words in momentary solitude.
"Oh god..." Rylan now instinctively traced his bite mark over his coat with his other hand. "Why am I speaking so matter-of-factually? Fuck! What is wrong with me?!" He cried as he banged his fist against the truck in frustration. "But I have to... I have to do this..."
*squeal*
Rylan turned his attention to a nearby tree where at the base of its trunk was a white rabbit caught in a snare. Surprised that the trap didn't blow over from the storm, Rylan approached the captured prey which only had the loop tied around its hind legs. The free standing loop snare is a simple to build and cheap wire trap that can be used on beats or tracks. This loop is dug into the ground slightly and held in place by a peg, and it must have just been caught because it was still struggling to escape but to no avail.
How many rabbits had he killed in his lifetime? He didn't know the number.
How many rabbits had he saved in his lifetime? Now it was going to be one.
Rylan didn't know exactly why, maybe because in his mind he appreciated every hour, every minute, and every second to still be alive and sane. He felt empathy for the poor little creature, just waiting for its own death so Rylan knelt down and used Ellie's switchblade to cut the bunny free from the snare. It quickly ran away and was out of sight like a wisp of white in the wind...
Rylan sighed as he turned around and went back to the truck when Joel emerged from the backseat in his new outfit. He looked like a regular Firefly soldier, seeking the light and all that, and he wasn't shivering or chattering his teeth anymore so that was a plus. "So what were you going on about boy?"
"Uh... my corpse will take you in, say I'm for a dissection or something." Rylan reiterated to him as he tossed him his gas-mask. "I certainly won't need that thing anymore."
Joel nodded to memorize that he would need to put on the gas-mask and make sure to carry Rylan's body while traveling across campus. "You sure about this?"
"No, I hate the 'me dying' part." Rylan retorted. "But it's better than going in there guns blazing with all those people between us and Ellie."
"Right..." Joel held onto the gas-mask and walked to the tailgate and motioned for the boy to come over. He was sad to say this but it had to be done. "You're riding in back here."
"Good call. Wouldn't want to be attacking you will you're driving." Rylan agreed as he climbed in and tried to stable himself between the boxes of supplies which still had guns and some food, not so much guns and ammo though.
"I'm sorry about this kid, when we get there-!"
"I know..." Rylan quieted him and didn't need the extra pity. This eventually had to be done, and this was the best way he could do it while helping Joel even after his own death. Just getting past the first guard at the University, maybe he could feel he made a difference in rescuing Ellie. "I'm ready."
It was a bit of a drive to UEC, and the infection would definitely take hold of him by the time they arrived there. So before Joel closed the tailgate and the hatch to lock Rylan in the covered bed of the truck, he thanked him. "You're one brave kid, Rylan..."
Joel supposed he really did love his baby girl...
Ellie was hobbling to keep up with Bill and Lance as they trotted down the dank hallway of the Science Building. The last time Ellie was here this whole damn school was abandoned, but now it was up and running like you would expect any headquarters. Aside from the cosmetics of the aged building, it reminded her of St. Mary's hospital, with all the scientists and soldiers running past them.
The four of them rounded a corner to a door: The Office of Head Science Professor -. The name had been scratched off as they noticed the Fireflies escorting them ordered to hand over all their weapons before they entered. Bill, Olivia, and Lance reluctantly complied and they discarded their weapons to the soldiers.
"Ain't exactly a warm welcome back..." Bill grumbled as the four of them, now unarmed, entered the office.
When they walked in the pretty spacious office, Devlin was sitting in his chair discussing or rather ordering some people in white lab coats. Lance turned around and noticed that the four soldiers who unarmed them followed them in and stood behind them, guns at the ready just in case. "...And another thing-! Well well well, has the guest of honor finally showed up? Fan-fucking-tastic!" Devlin yelled at the three men in the lab coats as he pointed out the door. "Gentleman, please be so kind and give us a little privacy, make the preparations for the procedure."
Without a single word of protest, the three scientists let themselves out walking past Bill's group, and the Fireflies out the door. And as soon as the door was closed shut Devlin began his own procedure: interrogation. "Where's Grant?" He simply asked.
Bill was the one to answer. "He didn't show. We got separated in an avalanche-!"
"Shut up, shut up, shut the fuck up." Devlin quickly silenced him as he turned his attention to Ellie. He made his way around his desk and walked over to the girl. "I don't need to hear anything else."
"Why?" Lance questioned the little concern Devlin had for his late second-in-command. "Did he contact you and radio in?"
Devlin simply ignored Lance's inquiry and decided to bend over and get on Ellie's level, so that his malicious eyes locked with her green ones. Everyone stood in silence as Ellie held her breath and Devlin scanned her soul through her irises. ...The eyes are the window to the soul.
Olivia was frustrated and had a little outburst. "You got your girl, can we leave now?!"
"Did I say you can leave?" Devlin broke his gaze with the redhead to address the Latina. "I did not, so cierra la puta boca!" Who knew the Commander knew some Spanish? That certainly got the message to Olivia to which she gave a snarl and waited patiently where she stood.
Devlin then resumed his stern glare back to Ellie, and to his surprise she kept her nerve and she mirrored his own look. Wait... "No no... It wasn't that Carter cowboy was it..." Devlin stared down Ellie with intent to kill; his blood was boiling as he continued. "You were the one who shot me back at that cabin."
No point in hiding it and she really wanted to piss him off. "Yeah, and so what if I did?" It worked; Devlin was already grinding his teeth at her. "I just wished I had killed you!"
*SLAP!*
The impact of Devlin's hand was like a crack of lightning, it was so hard and it made her left cheek red hot. The force behind it was so powerful that it knocked Ellie to the ground and she landed on her side, unable to get back up because of her restraints.
"You watch your fucking mouth!" The Commander roared as he went on and roughly picked her up by the collar of her coat to warn her. "Don't you test me Ellie, because I'll pass every fucking time!"
"Fuck you... you fucking animal..." Ellie was able to hawk up some phlegm and spit a nice thick loogie right on his forehead to which it dripped down to his nose, and he finally dropped her so that he could wipe the spit away. "Ow! ...Feel like a big man kicking the shit outta me? A kid?"
He hadn't kicked her yet, so maybe in his mind it was about time. So he gave a good hard kick right in the girl's ribs to which she keeled over from the blow of his boot. "You're not a kid..." He began to sneer and demean her. "To me you're not even a little girl... you're not a 'she' you're an 'it'! A fucking mutation!" Ellie controlled the pain in her body and showed no fear to the Commander and his rant about her. "You lost your human rights the second you got bitten! And now I will make sure that you perform the duty you were originally meant for and save us all from this godforsaken hell!"
"That's enough!" To everyone's surprise it was Bill who spoke up. The large survivalist stepped forward so that one leg was in front of Ellie in a protective manner and he would block any other kick Devlin had in store. "The way I see it, you need her alive to extract a cure. Now I know you ain't no doctor, but it sure is gonna be a lot more difficult to do that if she's not in one piece."
"What are you trying to say Bill?" Devlin challenged as he turned his attention to him now.
Lance piped up standing next to Bill now. "He's saying you don't have to abuse her."
"I wasn't talking to you!" Devlin growled as put one of his hands on the holstered revolver that was his gun. "But yeah, I'll take that into consideration. ...One more thing before I let you go Bill."
"What's that, Commander Devlin?" Bill responded as he began to clench his fists.
"What became of Joel...? Now you better tell me the truth now." Devlin warned as he awaited an answer from him.
Bill took a deep breath before he said these next critical words. "You don't have to worry about Joel no more..."
"Is he dead?!" Devlin emphasized each word of his question as he confronted both of them and firmly gripped the handle of his gun, but kept it in check.
"We got the girl and Joel's dead. Liv took the shot right?" Bill looked back at her to get her to talk.
Olivia nodded to go along with Bill. "He is... yes, he is dead."
The tension is the office seemed palpable as the soldiers behind them already had their assault rifles at the ready just waiting or expecting Devlin to give some sort of order to escort or to kill. Ellie only watched as she saw Lance glance at Bill then back at her as he spoke. "Can we just move on? Please, we're all very tired I'm sure."
Devlin chuckled at that so suddenly at Lance's remark that it made everyone else in the room flinch to which he laughed at that too. "...You know what I'm really tired of?"
"What's that?" Bill replied warily.
The rage had ignited back in his eyes as he roared again. "I'm tired of you goddamn LIARS! Grab them!"
In a flash, two of the four soldiers took Olivia hostage much to the girl's discontent and the other two took hold of Ellie and Lance as well. This left the last two unrestrained people to go head-to-head on their own, and Devlin pulled the revolver out and gripped it by the barrel. Before Bill realized it he was bashed in the side of his bearded face with the butt of a gun, striking him right in the cheek specifically. "You think you can fool me?!"
"NO!" Lance and Olivia shouted in unison, distressed that their leader may be killed.
Without another second to catch his breath, Devlin bashed Bill in the side of the head mercilessly. Blood already stained his teeth red and he spit some out of his mouth as bruises were already forming on his face. Devlin got in a third blow with the butt of his revolver in the same place in his head before he stepped back to allow Bill to get back up. "Get up... get the fuck up, now!"
Bill's face was bleeding, he was breathing heavily when he tried to wipe the blood out of his beard and hair. Half his face was already beginning to bruise and turn purple, the blunt trauma alone should have rendered him unconscious, but Bill wasn't your ordinary survivalist...
Bill felt like the left side of his face was on fire and pulsating, nerves screaming for the relief that wouldn't come anytime soon as he stared down the Commander who stood right in front of his desk a few feet away from him. He could hear Liv and Lance's protests right behind him, but he supposed he was stuck in a fight. "...You're a real asshole, ain't ya? Shoulda never gotten involved with ya..."
"You have no place to speak Bill... Joel is alive, you let him go, and you all lied to my face." The Commander then spoke to the soldiers restraining Ellie, Lance, and Olivia. "They let the smuggler who murdered Marlene free..." He sighed. "I talked to him, over Grant's radio, and he declared a vendetta to kill us all for that girl right there..." He pointed right at Ellie who was still shocked at this sudden turn of events. "And for all I know, they could have led him right back to us."
"We didn't do anything! We were at a sniper's distance and he got away from us!" Lance defended them. "He never mentioned Bill or any of us while you talked to him right? Right?!"
Devlin holstered his gun again and crossed his arms with a sense of superiority while he remarked darkly. "You shut your mouth! I think we all know what's going to happen next..."
Bill's eyes widened when he realized what he meant, and he made the bold choice to charge at Devlin, maybe to take him hostage to fight their way all out of the damn school. "You leave us alone-!"
Devlin quickly caught his fist, and twisted Bill's arm. But Bill clumsily tried to attempt a kick at the strong Firefly Commander. With all the weight behind his thick leg, Bill nailed him right in the kneecap and Devlin let him go as pain shot through his bones and he faltered slightly. Bill then instinctively went for his gun, his last hope to possibly get his team outta there.
Devlin however quickly recovered, turned away, and blocked his gun from Bill and he came across with a punch which landed square in the spot where his opponent's face was bruised. The long-time survivalist was in agonizing throbbing pain, but he was still swinging as he responded with sneak attack, feigning submission and he came back up with an uppercut on Devlin's chin.
The Commander must have bitten his tongue or something, because he was tasting blood in his mouth, and like the shark that he was with the salty metal taste in contact with his senses, he went in a frenzy. "You're dead!"
Devlin grabbed Bill's throat and kicked his legs out from under him, making his large body slam into the ground. The Commander then placed his boot on Bill's throat and pulled out his revolver, aiming the end of the barrel right for his forehead. "Go to hell you fuck!" Bill hissed before Devlin pulled the hammer back on his gun...
"DON'T YOU DARE!" It was Lance that elbowed the soldier that was holding him right in the face, and he ran forward with his his own fist raised.
Everyone watched as Lance slammed his punch right into Devlin's nose, a definite crack being heard, signaling that it was broken, and he fell back and landed on his desk in disbelief...
Bill looked up to catch only a glance of his savior's kind face as Devlin examined his wound. Before anyone else could make another move and without another second's hesitation, Devlin took his gun and loud shot echoed in the office...
"No... NO!" Bill couldn't believe it as Lance's grey matter splashed in his face, a gaping hole every apparent in the middle of his head and his body dropped to the ground lifelessly with a thud. "You killed him!" Devlin wiped and coddled his bludgeoned nose as he now causally walked back to Bill and Lance's body and stomped on Bill's hand, several cracks could be heard beneath his foot. "AHH!"
Devlin continued as he kept going, and he shuffled in what some could consider a daze and gave this order to his men. "Clean up this damn mess... send the girl to the lab and the other two to the security department. I'll deal with them later... Now!"
On that word he left his own office, probably to find a medic and see about his nasal injury. And the soldier that had Lance picked up a sorrowful Bill and they all escorted the remaining three of them to the destinations of the Commander's choosing.
And Lance remained on that office floor, awaiting the removal of his corpse, his sacrifice not in vain to them...
Joel pulled the truck over to the side of the road and set the gearshift to park. A few hundred yards down the road was the gate to the University of Eastern Colorado. He fondly remembered the last time he was here on Callus I and Ellie riding in the saddle right behind him. "Looks like we're here... hope to Christ this works."
Joel turned off the ignition and pocketed the keys again as he put on Rylan's gas-mask that would disguise his face from the Firefly guards. It would look suspicious, but maybe if he came up with a good enough cover, he could sneak perhaps as far to the science building at least, or mention Devlin's name, that might scare them enough. "Boy's been real quiet back there..." He looked back into the window of the truck bed and saw nothing moving.
Joel opened the door, got out, and closed it as he cautiously made his way to the back of the truck to unlock the bed. He got his gun ready and unfastened the handle which made the tailgate fall down and reveal what was inside. "Rylan?"
Had the boy turned into a raging Infected along the trip?
He rubbed his sore head and aching shoulder as he looked up to find a surprised Joel pointing his gun at him. "Ow... shit. I... I can't believe this..."
Joel smirked as he was glad to put away his gun. "Neither can I, kid."
A/N- Lance is dead and he may have bought Bill and Olivia some time to live, so can Ellie still escape potentially, could she still do it by herself? Now that Rylan is confirmed to be immune will his and Joel's plan still work somehow? Review, fav, and follow, keep it up! :)