{ ((WARNING! Canon typical violence, blood, gore and death to The Walking Dead universe starts here.)) }
Lovi brought the bowl of chicken soup upstairs as Marlene determined the dose of Morphine for Crosshair's apparently fractured skull. Crosshair's fever had gone down greatly, which raised a great deal of stress and worry from Lovi's shoulders and also meant she could stop torturing her electric bill by turning her house or her room at least into the frigid arctic waters.
She knocked on the door before opening it and going inside, "Wakey, wakey." Lovi cooed as her patient groaned in displeasure at his migraine. "Does your cousin have the meds yet…?" Crosshair groaned, "Almost." Lovi replied.
It had been two days since Marlene had been made aware of Crosshair's presence in Lovi's life, the clone was made aware as soon as he was coherent enough not to trust her, lest should she sell him out early, but it seemed that Crosshair didn't trust her already, seeing as Marlene and Crosshair always tried to murder each other with their eyes alone.
"Oh god my head…" Crosshair groaned out as he fell back in bed clutching his head. The fever was stopped in time, thank god, but his fractured skull was still ailing him and would continue to for at least another four weeks.
"Here," Lovi gestured to the clone after placing an ice pack on a swollen part of his head before proceeding to feed him.
"Can you please tell me what the long-term problems of this is." Crosshair grumbled and Lovi looked at him worriedly, "are you sure?" she asked tentatively, "yes" Crosshair insisted, wanting to know the side effects of his head injury, for better or worse.
Taking a deep breath Lovi began, "Okay… so as a result for most head trauma injuries, you can be at risk of CTE, or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy which means you can have short term memory problems and difficulty making decisions. You can also experience aggression, depression, anxiety, suicidality, personality changes…" Lovi finished and she looked at Crosshair's face to determine his reaction, or rather, how he didn't react.
"I'm feeling I should be more concerned about this, but without the Kaminoans-" Crosshair was then cut off by Lovi, "the pale slimy fish-holes?" she jokingly asked, "the pale slimy fish-holes or the Imperials, I don't need to worry…" he breathed, "You do have to worry, there are people out there who think you're a criminal." Lovi pressed.
Crosshair merely shrugged as he took the bowl from her, "don't you have a cousin to boss around?".
Lovi glared him with a deadpan look before getting up and leaving for the living room.
Personality changes…
The words Lovi spoke ricocheted in his mind. Was he changing? He didn't know, he didn't think so…? He felt different when the voices in his mind ceased fighting, and that was after he'd crashed and apparently got the head injury he had now.
Crosshair then finished his soup and, after setting the bowl down on the nearby nightstand, he simply laid his head back and let sleep overtake him.
Interlude
Crosshair jolted awake as Lovi and Marlene busted into the room, faces ashen with fear and he thought he'd heard blaster fire outside.
Lovi quickly reached for a black rectangular object and turned on was appeared to be a large monitor on the far side of the room.
Immediately it lit up and Lovi pressed a button on which Crosshair could only figure was a remote-control device, flipping through different channels until focusing on one that appeared to have a woman giving live news coverage.
"-most if not all the recent cases consist of killers eating the flesh off the people they kill. We are turning to Juliet Morrison at the St. Mercy's hospital where one of the incidents occurred."
The monitor then showed another woman holding a recording device who seemed to be the reporter.
"thank you, Melissa. Here at St. Mercy's hospital, a middle-aged man was rushed to the ER for intense fever and vomiting. Then, a short time after admission, he pronounced dead only to shoot up a few minutes later and attack his wife and seven-year-old daughter. They did not survive. Then as staff attempted to subdue the man, he continued to attack them, biting two and killing one in the process-" The woman was suddenly cut off when a man, an armed man who was probably a soldier ordered her out of the area. However when the woman resisted, the man shot her dead and the live feed was cut.
"oh god…" the first woman in the newsroom shuddered, "umm… we will be right back with you shortly…" then the channel went on commercial or something.
"Okay one of you better tell me what the kriff is going on…" Crosshair growled as the remote slipped from Lovi's hands and Marlene glared at him.
"Lovi, I told you. WE HAVE TO GET RID OF HIM! HE'S WORKING FOR WHOEVER DID THIS TO US-" Marlene shouted until she was cut off by her cousin, "Marlene just shut up!" Lovi shouted, silencing the other woman, "We're cornered here, he doesn't have anything to do with this!"
Suddenly, the monitor suddenly went completely black. Text in a language Crosshair could not read flashed on the screen as an unsettling alarm echoed thrice through the room followed by a low-pitched tone, effectively silencing the catfight between the cousins.
"This message is being broadcast by the Department of Defense, WHO and the CDC" a slightly muffled voice spoke from the monitor.
"At 10:AM Eastern Standard time, the CDC has clarified and confirmed a global viral outbreak that has so far spread to every city worldwide. So far, the origin of this virus is unknown. Due to various incidents prior to this announcement, the infected appear to be deceased. Avoid physical contact with the infected at all costs. Any bites or scratches from the infected are lethal and a live infected individual is beyond help. The broadcast will quiet shortly for your safety. Continued to carry out the following instructions:
Remain inside at all times unless ordered to leave by authorities. Do not go outside as all military personnel have been given orders to shoot-on-sight any individual outdoors. Prepare to leave as soon as possible. Once ordered to by authorities, leave your home and head to the nearest help and relief camps immediately." At that the signal went completely dead and the monitor showed nothing but static.
All three people in the room were stunned. "There were soldiers outside" Marlene spoke, "They, they could help us!" with that the brunette sprung out the door with Lovi hot on her heels in an attempt to stop her.
"Marlene!" Lovi shouted as she grabbed her cousin's arm before she left the stairs, "They said the soldiers were told to shoot on sight, they'll kill you if you go out there." Marlene then grabbed Lovi's shoulders, "Lovi we need to get away from that man… He did all this it's got to be…" Marlene muttered.
"What?! Marlene calm down." Lovi shuddered.
"I'll do it Lovi, I'll save us!" Marlene then turned and darted for the door. "MARLENE WAIT!" Lovi screamed as she made to chase after her cousin when Crosshair came out of nowhere and pulled her back into the shadows of the staircase with him. "NO! WE HAVE TO HELP HER!" Lovi shouted as she struggled to get free.
Marlene was then able to get the door open. She swung it wide and ran out, "HELP! HEY HELP!" she ran out towards the soldiers that were surrounding a tank that was moving down the street. She didn't get two feet away through the door when a bullet tore through her skull, dropping her immediately.
"NO!" Lovi screamed as Crosshair held her back in the shadows of the stairwell. She shouldn't have to see that, Crosshair thought.
As if knowing what gruesome incident had happened and what Crosshair was thinking, the door discreetly creaked closed to spare Lovi from seeing her cousin's body. For now…
Interlude
Wrecker immediately knew something was wrong when the lights in his cell went off ten hours early.
Shouting and shooting outside would only tell him part of the story, but a corpse stumbling into the cell block and reaching its arms through the bars in attempt to grab at him, it's jaws snapping hungrily told him much more.
Wrecker remembered Tech saying something about Nightsisters using magic to raise the dead, but he merely thought that it had been his brother's way of attempting to scare him.
He didn't know what to do right now… his knowledge of knowing how to dismantle a proton torpedo and live would never help him get out of here alive…
Just before he could finish that thought, an officer barged into the cell block and saw the situation. Raising his gun, the man aimed and fired at the creature's head, not waiting for it to hit the ground, he immediately turned his weapon to Wrecker who glowered at him in response, "Are you bit?" the man asked Wrecker who didn't respond, "Are. You. Bit.?" The man repeated his question, this time to which Wrecker shook his head.
The man then took a ring of keys and unlocked the door to the brawler's cell. Suddenly, the corpse that was presumed neutralized stood up and bit the man on the neck. The guy screamed in agony as blood sprayed from his wound where the living corpse continued to bite. Bringing his gun to bear, the man shot the thing properly in the head this time, dropping it permanently.
The man fell to his knees, one hand keeping a grip on his weapon, the other applying pressure to his wound. "Listen to me." The man said as he gasped, "they, they're not human… not anymore… a shot to head kills them, and their bites and scratches a-are lethal…"
Wrecker then shook off the shock of the gory display to bolden up and ask one question. "Where are my brothers and sister?" he growled and man coughed a bit, "I don't know for certain… two of them… the long haired one and the one with goggles, were sent to two d-different hospitals. The other, the one with a metal arm and legs, is somewhere in this facility… the girl… she was taken up to DC…"
The man coughed as he raised his gun to his own head, "take my gun…" by the time Wrecker realized what was happening, it was too late, "I'm sorry…" the man gasped one last time before pulling the trigger.
"NO!" Wrecker yelled as he tried to bolt towards the man to stop him from taking his own life, but it was no use. Blood and gore sprayed the cell, stopping Wrecker in his tracks.
After a moment, Wrecker took the gun with shaky hands, the weapon pitifully small for his grip, and he bolted out of the cell to search for his brothers.
Interlude
All he could register was his mind was a blur.
His memories fuzzy beyond recognition. This has to be the worst sensory overload induced coma he'd ever experienced.
Hunter felt like his entire body was floating and his brain telling "just go back to sleep…".
He groaned a bit as he shifted, his voice muffled by what he thought was an oxygen mask or maybe just extended disuse. He felt short tubes up his nose and he could feel cool air coming from them.
He could feel the IVs in his flesh, sending pain through his nerves, the sensation of which was multiplied thousand-fold by his enhanced senses to the point her felt like a lightsaber was being shoved into his arm.
The Sargent shot up in a flurry and ripped the IVs from his body, hissing at the pain they left behind. A sudden dizzy spell had Hunter falling back into his pillow. Looking around it seemed as if he was in an infirmary, however the sheets and hospital gown he was wearing wasn't giving him a sensory overload so that was nice…
Letting his eyes slip closed he settled to fall asleep again…
Until he heard something akin to slug-thrower fire. His eyes flashed open as he willed his senses to clear.
Almost immediately his senses were bombarded by the sounds of gunfire, screaming and the smells of smoke, blood, dead bodies and something else in the mixture.
"AARGH!"
Hunter pressed his hands tightly to his ears and breathed through his mouth in an attempt to will yet another sensory overload away. The scent of death in the air was so strong he could taste it and no matter how hard he pressed his hands to his ears the sounds of agony in the heat of battle still pierced through as if it was mocking him.
Just as his senses decided to stop killing him, a huge explosion from somewhere shook the whole building causing all the monitors, lights and any life-support whatsoever to suddenly die.
The sounds of screaming echoed through the building and Hunter could hear a pair of heavy boots making its way towards the door to his room.
Hunter tensed. Half expecting an Imperial Officer or Stormtrooper to barge in and half expecting some Besalisk or Zygerrian thug for some reason.
However, the universe seemed to be amused to toy with them.
The door swung open to reveal a soldier wearing a lot of strange armor… heck it didn't even look like armor, and h pointed his gun at Hunter. Hunter flinched hard, mostly because his bandana was gone and that that bandana was actually a sensory suppressor that was confiscated by the osik'la shebse that caught him and his squad.
However, the soldier did not attack him and instead called for someone outside. Simultaneously, a woman wearing blue clothes, probably a nurse, pushed past the soldier into the room. She was pushing a chair on wheels in front of her, stopping next to Hunter's bed. "Hurry, get in."
Hunter glared skeptically at the woman for a moment until the soldier snapped at him, "Come with us and live or stay here and die. Your choice."
Hunter was taken aback by the feminine voice of the soldier but followed her orders anyway. Shifting himself off the hospital bed, he sat in the rolling chair - chair with wheels - wheelchair? – he sat in the wheelchair and the nurse pushed him out of the room.
The halls were chaotic. Nurses and what he assumed were doctors were running in and out of the rooms, evacuating each and every single one. The Nurse wheeled him into something resembling a lift. He felt them ascend and the thing stopped at what he assumed was the roof of this med center.
The nurse wheeled him up to some kind of aircraft with a large propeller on top of its sleek cabin and a smaller one at the end of its tail. A handsome ship if he would say so himself. A man inside the craft helped Hunter get inside before pulling the door shut.
Apparently, he wasn't alone. Four other patients were in the cabin with him, along with a member of the 'SWAT' team that had initially captured them.
The man with brown hair in a crew cut and sideburns dressed in black leaned forwards and cuffed Hunter's right hand to a bar above his head before taking out his 'gun' and aiming it at Hunter.
"Don't think all this shit is gonna help you get away, asshole." The man growled.
Hunter decided the man wasn't worth his attention for now and looked out the window as the craft took off.
The Med center was on fire. What looked like a massive crowd of people was pouring into the bottom floor of it. Several more of the 'handsome ships' took off from the med center and other surrounding buildings, destination, unknown…
Interlude
Echo sensed something was up.
The lights going off was one sign, gunshots and screaming was another.
The clone growled and paced his cell some more. He didn't know what the kriff was going on and he didn't like it. He hadn't had a soul to speak to for weeks, he might be hallucinating right?
He waited for hours. Hours in which he could have escaped. Hours in which his mind stewed until he'd reached his breaking point just staring holes into the metal door across his bunk.
In a flurry of rage, Echo sprung at the door, his shoulder colliding with it. The metal door gave a hollow 'tung' noise that rattled down the hall as its hinges creaked slightly.
Had the door opened into the cell, Echo would have just hurt himself, but the door opened into the hallway, so he took a few steps back before charging back into the door.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Finally, on the eighth something time, the door gave way and Echo stumbled out into the deserted hallway.
The hall was eerily empty.
Echo decided to pick a direction and started walking. After turning a few corners, he'd found where the black clad thugs had kept his gear. Snatching up his scomp arm and his armor, attaching them in record time, he bolted out the door.
He'd figured that heading up to the roof of this place would give him a good vantage point to escape, but he was wrong.
Upon reaching the roof, the abhorring smell of rotten flesh attacked him. He couldn't even draw a breath.
Momentarily retreating into the stairwell, much to his own chagrin because he was a soldier, a mere smell shouldn't get him down.
After regaining his composure, Echo walked back out onto the roof, continuously refraining from vomiting all over himself. Then the sound reached him. It was like a crowd of people conversing at the same time except every single person had a sore throat.
Cautiously peering over the edge, Echo ended up recoiling in shock.
Thousands of dead people surrounded the building. Thousands of ghosts, ghouls if you will, hungry for the flesh of the living.