Hello everyone!
Now, I'm sure everyone is stewing over not knowing anything about Dead Space 2 now, so I, in a flash of brilliance, decided to write a novel to conect the games.
I will post two chapters every week or so, and I would like it if people could coment on the novel, and if they're good, I will post the idea to Viseral, and get the novel a canical piece of Dead Space. Please leave your comments under all the writing far enough so more chapters can be added.
The screen buzzed to life, the dull holographic screen igniting into a multitude of colours as a young woman sat down in front of the camera.
She wore a standard doctor’s attire with close cropped blond hair, sitting at regulation cut.
Her unblemished face was stunning to look at.
She always did go by the book... He thought, looking in dismay at the lovely persons face.
The woman began talking, all the while glancing nervously back and forth into the shadows of the small room, looking slightly scared.
“Isaac, it’s me. I wish I could talk to you. I’m sorry...”
Isaac stopped the recording. He didn’t want to watch Nicole die again. He had already gone through enough.
He sighed and closed his eyes. But he saw a rustle out of the edge of his vision to his right.
Isaac looked up and glanced down to the other empty seat next to him. There was a bloodied, shrivelled, pale body with empty, red eyes looking up at him. It looked female in appearance, with some scraps of blonde hair still sitting on its head.
It was Nicole.
The Necromorph leaped out of its dark crevice and came at Isaac, screeching and roaring as the long scythe like blades extending from its hands swung up and come down violently, puncturing Isaac’s RIG, digging deep into his gut, and then cutting a long gash further up Isaac’s torso, spilling the remains of his intestines and stomach. Isaac was screaming in horror and repulsion at what Nicole was doing.
The Necromorph swung its gapping mouth filled with serrated and bent fangs down on Isaac’s neck, ripping it open, letting a flood of blood rain down onto the ships view screen. Isaac’s screams stopped as blood flowed down into his lungs, suffocating him.
By now, Isaac should be dead, but the Necromorphs venom kept him conscious for even longer, halting his death for just that little but longer as he experienced more pain. But not for long, as Nicole pulled one of its scythe’s out of Isaac and plunged it down through his head, ending his life completely, leaving Nicole’s bloody face staring at him the last thing he will ever see...
***
Isaac woke up, slamming his gloved hands down on the ships dashboard.
He was breathing heavily inside his engineers RIG suit, so badly that the glass pane was fogging up quickly.
Isaac ripped it off, throwing it behind him as he looked around the close confines of the ship, looking to see if there were any Necromorphs hidden in the shadows.
Isaac was still breathing heavily, startled at his dream.
Or was it another hallucination? God, I don’t know what to think anymore... So much has happened, God damnit Nicole.
Isaac Clarke was an Engineer for the Concordance Extraction Company, a mining industry, and Isaac had just escaped Hell. One day ago, Isaac was onboard the USG Kellion Repair ship heading out to a distress call from the USG Ishimura. Isaac’s girlfriend and fiancée, Nicole, was onboard the Ishumura as a Senior Medical Officer. Isaac specifically asked to join the Kellion’s crew to talk to her after the repair mission. That’ll never happen now.
When the Kellion arrived, the Ishumura didn’t respond and they crash landed in the hanger bay after a stray meteor hit the aft rocket. They crew entered the empty ship to find out what the hell was going on, but then a nightmare descended on them.
A strange alien life form that reanimates and mutated dead bodies, named Necromorphs by some, killed two of the security officers and attacked Isaac, Kendra Daniels, the computer specialist, and Zach Hammond, the Chief security officer. They escaped, but Isaac was cut off. After re-establishing contact, Isaac was tasked to repair certain parts of the ship to get them home.
During his travels through the infected and lifeless ship, Isaac learnt that the Ishumura had arrived at the Aegis VII colony to pick up a Marker, a relic for a powerful religion on Earth called Unitology that taught the idea that after death; everyone will be reborn into a higher state of being. But when the Marker was removed from its resting place on the colony, people started to go nuts and began killing themselves. The colony was lost and the Ishumura kept the Marker. But the Necromorphs spread to the ship as well, causing mass hallucinations in the crew. Eventually, almost everyone onboard died. Including Nicole.
But Isaac didn’t know that. After hearing and seeing many logs from her, Isaac finally met up with her in the Engineering deck. Although they were separated by a large gap, Isaac regained hope. He found a survivor named Dr. Terrance Kyne, the chief Medical Officer and a devout Unitologist. He had a plan to stop the Necromorph infection. He asked Isaac to load the Red Marker into a ship and travel down to the colony and place the marker back on its pedestal to quell the Hive Mind, a massive collimation of corpses that controlled the Necromorphs. Isaac loaded the ship and repaired it, but lost Hammond to a Necromorph while collecting a crucial part to repair the ship.
Before Isaac left, Kendra shot Dr. Kyne and left to take the Marker back to Earth for the government. Kendra revealed that she was a sleeper agent for the government to retrieve the Marker. Kendra also revealed that the divine Red Marker was manmade. But after some experiments, the Hive Mind was created from markings on the side of the Marker that led to creating a DNA strand.
Seeing that the Hive Mind was too powerful to control, the government placed the creature and Red Marker on Aegis VII and placed a no entry order for the system.
As Kendra left, Isaac got a call from Nicole. She helped Isaac bring the ship back and they headed off to the colony.
After a harrowing journey through the decimated and lifeless colony, Isaac managed to set the Marker back on its pedestal and quelled the Necromorph infection. But not for long.
Isaac moved off to escape the planet, because when he replaced the Marker, a shockwave knocked out the gravity tethers holding a continent sized chunk of earth above the planet. The chunk began falling down and threatened to shatter the planet. As Isaac ran for it, Kendra reappeared and told Isaac to watch a message Nicole sent him before he arrived at the Ishumura. In the full message, Isaac saw Nicole explain her love for him, but she then committed suicide by inject herself with a needle. Kendra then explained that all Isaac was seeing of Nicole were hallucinations. She then proceeded to take the Marker back to the shuttle and escape, leaving Isaac.
Isaac ran for it and reached the shuttle as the Hive Mind appeared and killed Kendra. Isaac fought the massive graveyard creature by himself and killed it. He ran for it and escaped in the shuttle as the planet was destroyed by the colossal piece of earth.
Now, Isaac was just cruising through space, waiting for someone to pick him up or he runs into a planet that is inhabited.
And to think about Nicole... He thought morbidly.
Isaac sighed. Why did Nicole do it? Why did she kill herself? She knew I was part of the CEC repair group. She knew I would come, no matter what. Hell, he would commandeer an illegal ship to reach her! But, she gave up, Nicole, the strongest person Isaac had ever known, apart from his father, had given up, all because of that fucking Marker and that fucking church.
Isaac rubbed his temples. He breathed in, and then out, letting his anger flow out with the air.
He didn’t need to be confused and angry now; he needed to get back home. Isaac licked his lips, and found them extremely dry. Isaac realised he hadn’t drunk anything since arriving at the Kellion back on Earth.
I’m thirsty. Wonder if there’s anything to drink on this thing. Isaac thought. He set the scanner on alert mode and got up out of his chair. He walked to the back of the shuttle, and walked up to the other door in the ship.
He pressed his palm on the blue hologram in the centre of the metal door, and waited until the door slid apart, revealing a small room that held a few compartment of food and royalties for the important members of the Ishumura’s crew. It was their personal shuttle.
Isaac walked into the gloomy section of the ship and rummaged through the compartments. Eventually he found a beer in the back of a small cooler draw and pulled it out. Isaac walked back to the control board and sat down. He pulled the airtight cap off the bottle and took a
haughty sig of the bitter-sweet liquid, letting it wash away his many emotions.
Isaac brought the bottle away from his lips and rested it on his lap. He thought back to the first time he met Nicole. It was in a bar, just off Campus in the city. He’d seen her around in his Tech classes, and decided to offer her a drink.
They had talked a bit, and found they had much in common, such as their parents disappearing, and Unitology placing barriers on their lives. Nicole also revealed that she was a descendant of Altman, the creator of Unitology. Isaac was surprised, but not alarmed. Nicole made it clear she did not approve of Unitology at all, no matter what her father said.
Eventually, Nicole and Isaac became an item, and worked through college, getting their degrees with each other’s help and support and going on to join the CEC with their respective talents. Nicole as a Doctor and Isaac as a Chief Engineer. They were both assigned to the CEC’s flagship, the USG Ishumura, and worked on two successful Planet Cracks.
Isaac even proposed to Nicole, on the same night they met, five years later. She had accepted, and they were due to marry after the Aegis VII Planet Crack. But, unfortunately, Captain Benjamin Matthias chose, in his unfathomable wisdom, to remove Isaac from the Engineering crew
before departing.
Isaac was furious, and wanted to know why. Nicole couldn’t reply, but she said everything would be fine, they would get married. Isaac, furious, cut all communication with her, believing she could have done something.
But when contact with the Ishumura was lost, Isaac offered to join the repair crew that was going to help out. He wanted to find Nicole after he got a strange message from her. That’s when all hell broke loose on the ship.
Isaac sighed again and took another swig. He still had the image of Nicole’s smiling face in his mind’s eye, the day he offered her a drink. It was spring, his favourite season, the season of love.
Suddenly, the control board began flashing, and the holographic view screen sprang up, printing an image of a small escape pod in space directly in front of Isaac’s face.
Isaac nearly shat himself. He didn’t expect help so soon. But then he checked the pod again and saw it was from the Ishumura.
Issac gasped. There could be survivors. He began piloting the shuttle over to the pod, determined he wouldn’t be alone anymore.
How wrong Isaac was. How dead wrong.
Chapter 2[]
Isaac tried to connect a communication signal as he came close to the pod. All he got was static, but he still tried.
“Escape Pod of the USG Ishumura, this is the shuttle Nicole, I am going to board and let you on board. Please respond.” He called over the com line. Still no response.
Isaac swung the shuttle over and let the docking procedures take over. He leapt out of his chair and ran to the external door to greet the survivors. As the gravity tethers connected the two shuttles doors together, Isaac waited patiently for the marriage of shuttles to end. When the two space vessels were locked together, the shuttle’s doors opened. But the pods door’s remained shut. The pods occupants had to open their door. Isaac waited a moment for the door to slide open and some familiar faces to hopefully appear. Ten seconds went by, and Isaac moved forward to peer in through the pods window to check on the survivors. He didn’t see anything in the brightly lit pods interior.
Where are they? Isaac thought. He tapped the window to try and get their attention.
A face reared up in front of the window, its fangs dripping with blood, screaming at the potential meal in front of it. Isaac jumped back from the glass instantly, moving as far away from the door as possible.
“Shit! He yelled, his eyes widening in terror, surprised and terrified that those, things, had escaped the Ishumura.
Isaac stood still for a second in shock, and then ran off to the control desk; there a Plasma Cutter lay on its side on the opposite chair. Isaac hefted it like a fire-arm and moved towards the pod again, this time prepared to take the creature out. Isaac stood up to the door and placed his hand over the emergency door override button. He looked through the window again and stared at the Necromorph’s screaming, snarling, demented face. It was shaking in frustration, bashing the pods doors with its scythe like appendages, trying to reach Isaac with all its might.
Isaac slammed the release button, ready for the fight. The shuttles systems forced the door open and released the horror inside. The Slasher rushed forward as the door opened, its arms flailing at the sudden empty air, struggling to figure out why the door opened suddenly, but it didn’t take long for the reanimated corpse to return its full attention on Isaac. But he was ready.
Isaac raised his Plasma Cutter and expertly fired the Plasma charges into the creature’s arms, slicing it off completely. Isaac then began work on the things legs, switching the Plasma Cutters firing mode so that the charges now came horizontally. These shots sliced the legs off with a spray of blood splattering on the shuttles walls. Isaac waited to see if the monstrosity moved any more. When it didn’t, he moved forward and brought his leg up, and slammed it down with all his might on the creatures head, crushing it and splashing blood in an outward spread over the floor, making a dark red stain that will forevermore finalise that beings existence.
Isaac moved away from the lifeless corpse, breathing steadily as he rested his armoured back on the wall. He had changed a lot on the Ishumura. He had to if he wanted to survive.
Shit, he thought. I thought I left all of them on the Ishumura.
Isaac then turned around and looked into the escape pods interior. There were some blood splatters on the spherical walls of the pod, but otherwise, there was no struggle in the vessel.
So the Necromorph must’ve been onboard when it was launched. But who would willingly send a Necromorph out into space, free to kill many thousands more? Isaac thought.
His mind then drifted to a black-bearded face, smiling manically through a glass window, preaching his fucked up religions ideals at him as evil swarmed over him, intent on killing him so as he can join their hordes.
Challus Mercer, that bastard... Isaac thought.
Dr. Challus Mercer was a senior Medical Officer onboard the Ishumura and massive Unitologist zealot. He went to extreme lengths to show everyone that the Necromorph gods are the next step of evolution in the human race; he even went as far to creating a regenerating Necromorph to hunt and kill Isaac.
Isaac was sure that it was Mercer that sent the Necromorphs out. He was planning to send cryogenically frozen Necromorphs back to Earth to infect the planet. Sending escape pods with Necromorphs out into space wouldn’t be below him.
“Great...” Isaac muttered. How was he going to stop this? And why did he have to do it? I’m just an Engineer! What can one Engineer do?
Because only I know about them. I know how to kill ‘em. I can stop this, when no one else can.
He remembered a pretty woman’s face staring at a screen.
And Nicole would have wanted it.
Isaac nodded his head, recognising what he must do. What he had to do.
He closed both the pods door and the shuttle, and moved off to the control board, leaving the Slashers body behind. He glanced to the other seat, and saw a woman sitting in it. A woman with blonde hair.
He blinked and the woman was gone.
Another hallucination. Isaac thought.
He forgot about it and moved into his seat. He powered up the course planner and the Nav Charts on the holographic screens. He checked the course the pod was on and cross referenced it with the Nav data, and found the pod was drifting towards The Sprawl’s system. Isaac groaned.
That system held the largest civilian population of all of the Inner Colony planets, except Earth. He had lived there for three years.
If one pod reached the planet, then they were all screwed. Unless he found the pods first and took them out.
Isaac moved his hand up to the holographic screen and moved it back to the main screen. He then ran a check on the ships many systems, checking for any form of weaponry, hell, even a small pistol on the little ship.
The check came back and showed Isaac that the ship held an ADS cannon.
Good, they have a good rate of fire, and their fairly strong. Isaac thought, remembering the times he had to use an ADS on the Ishumura.
The ADS was used to destroy incoming asteroids and debris that could hit and damage the ship. But Isaac was going to repurpose it to destroy any Ishumura escape pods.
He was becoming quite skilled at retooling gear for other purposes.
This was going to be just another occasion.
“Alright,” Isaac muttered, “Let’s go.”
Chapter 3[]
Isaac spun the engines up and sped forward through space. Isaac also fired up the shuttle’s long distance radar and began scanning for
anything that could be an escape pod.
Then Isaac settled down, and began waiting.
He didn’t have to wait for long.
Isaac saw a small blip of orange light enter the scanners range on screen. He moved closer to it and got an enhanced look at the ship, using the frontal headlights to illuminate the dark pod. It was from the Ishumura. Isaac ran a life sign scan on the pod; just to be sure he
wouldn’t be sentencing survivors to a cruel, oxygen less world.
The scan came back negative, so Isaac powered up the ships Asteroid gun. The long barrel of the gun moved out from its cover on the left side of the shuttle and extended forward. Isaac grabbed the yolk that moved out in front of him from the control board, and pulled it. The gun moved with it, and Isaac positioned the cannon to face the pod. He locked that position in place, and fired.
The energy from an internal battery charged up plasma coils in the rims of the cannon’s long mussel, bringing large energy globules to shape in a magnetic field being filled up with plasma gases. The magnetic coils then kicked in and threw the globule of plasma energy out, sending it in a direct line to collide with the unfortunate pod. The plasma sheered through the sturdy metal, melting any weak braces and gaps in the protective armour that would normally deflect small meteors. And then the whole process started again, with Isaac completely melting the pod and its Necromorph inhabitants to slag and bloody cinders, left to drift through space forever.
Content that no Necromorph would come back from that, Isaac piloted the shuttle away from the remains, moving further forward towards The Sprawl.
Isaac continued this practice of finding a pod, scanning it and then obliterating it for about an hour, ranking up five pod destructions. But he knew there would be more, far more left to go. His time onboard the Ishumura taught Isaac a few things, such as the massive planet cracker ship having at least two hundred escape pods. So he had a few to destroy.
Soon after his seventh kill, Isaac was getting a little bit sleepy. He hadn’t slept since he had escaped Aegis VII, and that was a very disturbing sleep. He still needed to rest from all of his encounters on the damned Ishumura.
So Isaac set the ship to cruise, placed the radar on high alert, and dozed off.
While Isaac slept, he dreamt.
***
Isaac was walking down through the Engineering Deck on the Ishumura, passing fellow Engineers on his way to the Transport Tram. He was going to go see Nicole down on Medical.
He was about to propose. Nothing could stop him.
He began whistling a happy tune, passing many fully armoured men and women in Engineering RIG’s.
Isaac was only in a Level 1. He still had to pass his course on the Ishumura again to get it reinstated.
As he walked by the rattling pipes and hissing vents common in the deck, Isaac noticed a small fungi growth on some of the vents on the floor.
He slowed down and took a closer look, trying to figure out what it could be.
It was a dark crimson colour, almost like a sickly blood mushroom, and when Isaac touched it with his gloved hand, it jumped a little bit away from him.
Isaac retracted his hand, a little bit startled. But then he put his worries to rest.
Ah, it’s probably some new crap from Hydroponics that got lose. I’ll ask Temple to talk to his girl about it.
Isaac kept moving forward, intent on seeing Nicole. He began whistling a tune as he climbed aboard the Transit Trams that traversed every section of the Ishumura for quick access to any section of the massive ship. As Isaac waited for the train to lurch forward to the Medical deck, he noticed no-one else was onboard.
Hmmm, guess everyone’s to busy today. It is the last chunk of Theron today. Everyone’s getting things repaired for when we leave. He thought.
As the train moved forward into the Ishumura at a rapid speed, Isaac noticed that the usual cheery music that played constantly for the visitors on the intercom was mostly silent.
Then, suddenly, it buzzed to life, and a daunting woman’s voice began playing through the train.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky...”
Isaac was impatient to move off the train when it stopped, very alarmed at the eerie music.
Who is looking after the trains today? If it’s Lauren again, I swear I’ll tell the Captain about her little parties on Electronics.
But, truth be told, Isaac was more startled about the haunting music, not Lauren. And he soon realised Lauren wouldn’t be worrying him anymore.
As Isaac moved off the large train to the platform, he noticed something very wrong. There was no one at all around, the lights had dimmed, and there were blood splatters on the walls and floor. A lot of blood.
Isaac stood still for a second, and then snapped to. He rammed his Engineering RIG helmet back on, and began walking slowly to the foyer.
As he moved further into the Medical deck, he began hearing chilling sounds. Roars of anger mixed with screams of horror and pain.
He suddenly felt very vulnerable in his barley protective Level 1 RIG suit. Hell, only his helmet had some armour to protect his fleshy body. He sorely wished he had reinstated his Level 4 Engineering paperwork.
Isaac kept moving forward towards Nicole’s room. He hoped to God she knew what was happening, because Isaac was sure it wasn’t Halloween.
Isaac moved into the Medical foyer, and found the floor completely drenched with blood. But not just a pool of blood. No, they were markings on the floor of bodies being dragged violently over the deck, leaving a stained trail.
Isaac was deeply concerned now. He began running forward towards Nicole’s residence. As he moved, he began hearing sharp, animalistic screams behind him and large galloping footsteps.
Isaac ran down a gore splattered corridor, running forward past the mutilated body of Dr. Kyne. He didn’t even care about the flickering lights above him. He just wanted to see Nicole.
When he reached her door, Isaac slammed his fist down against it. And then the failing lights down the corridor went out.
And with the lights gone, a small horde of demented shadows appeared at the other end of the corridor, smoke drifting in a dark haze above them.
“Who is it?” called a sing-song voice behind the door. Nicole’s voice.
She was fairly calm and cheerful under the circumstances.
Isaac glanced at the barley illuminated door, seeing the ring of light and the word scrolled across the door; LOCKED.
“Nicole, it’s me, can you please open the door?” He asked in a loud voice, as he glanced back down the corridor. The shadows were growing larger and gaining shape. Horrifying shapes.
“Who is this? I didn’t hear a name?” Nicole replied in her sing-song voice.
Isaac nearly shouted. “Nicole, it’s me, Isaac, please open the door, please open the fucking door right now!”
The shadows were gaining rapid speed, rushing to reach the end of the corridor. Isaac could see long scythe like appendages appear over their shoulders.
“Okay.” Nicole replied cheerfully, and the door slid open suddenly.
Isaac collapsed into the bright room, losing his balance from the sudden disappearance of what he was leaning on. The door slid shut almost instantly after he entered, but he still caught a glimpse of what the shadows were.
Misshapen, bloodied creatures with twisted faces and limbs. But Isaac could see they are, were, humans. He could identify the eyes, the torso, the legs, and even the face. And that is what chilled him the most.
Isaac got up off the floor and backed away from the banging door towards Nicole, who was still standing next to the doors control panel.
She was smiling happily at him, completely oblivious to the terror outside, even when a long, pale blade slide a hole through the frame of the door. They were trying to enter.
“Isaac, how are you? What brings you here today; I thought you would be helping finish off the Crack in Engineering?” She said cheerily.
Isaac moved up to her and grabbed her by the arm.
“Don’t play around now, Nicole; something serious is going on, and I don’t know what to do. I think we gotta leave the ship, make a run for it.” He said sternly, glancing around the small room.
Nicole turned her head to her side, looking confused.
“What are you talking about, everything’s fine.” She replied, still calm.
Isaac shook her.
“Nicole, haven’t you heard anything from outside, didn’t you see those things coming after me? There is something on the ship, and its killing people. We have to leave before they kill us too.”
A look of wonder entered Nicole’s eyes.
“Oh, the Necromorphs. I know what you’re talking about now. Isaac, but it’s okay, we don’t need to be frightened of them, their friends. Trust me.”
Isaac shook his head.
“No, no Nicole, these things are not our friends, they want to kill us. I’m sure you don’t have any friends that want to kill you. Look, we have to leave; we have to get home, now! I don’t want to see you get hurt!” Isaac yelled, distressed.
Nicole shook his hands off her arms, and stepped back from him. As she began walking back, the light started flickering. The room disappeared into darkness for a second, and then back into light. Nicole wasn’t distressed at all.
But Isaac was.
“Isaac, I don’t think you understand. I don’t need to leave. I am perfectly happy, right here, with my new friends. Maybe, if you’re nice to them, they’ll be you’re friends too!”
Nicole was smiling crazily, and every time the lights flickered, her skin began to change. It became wrinkled, haggard, and rotten. And when the transformation stopped, the lights went out completely. Isaac couldn’t see a thing.
A sudden clattering occurred near Isaac’s left, and something metal fell to the floor. Then something soft fell to the floor with a crunch.
“Oh, Isaac, look! My friends have arrived! Let’s see if they want to be you’re friends too!” Nicole sounded strange, like her voice wasn’t hers, like there was another, a horribly twisted voice behind it.
“Nicole...” Isaac whispered.
Then, the Slasher came down on him, spearing him through the gut.
The last sight he saw was a profoundly smiling Nicole, her face warped into a mash of rotting flesh, staring at him through the dark with blood red eyes...
***
Isaac snapped awake again, breathing heavily.
Sweat rolled down from his temple and over his face.
The radar’s alarm was going off. It had woken him. It had detected another object.
Isaac rubbed his face with his gloved hands. He then moved it down and ran a quick life-scan. As the shuttle began probing the pod, Isaac rested his face in his hands, recollecting his dream.
More nightmare. God, I’ll never forget that face. Those eyes.
Isaac groaned as the scan finished. He raised his head and checked the reading.
Isaac stopped. He stared at the result.
LIFE SIGNS DETECTED.
Isaac rubbed his eyes again, just to make sure there was no sweat in them. He then looked again. The sentence was still the same.
Isaac leapt out of his chair and punched in the Communication menu icon. He directed the array to face the pod and activated the call.
“Hello, this is the Ishumura shuttle Evonry calling the escape pod. Is there anyone there? Please respond.” He said calmly into the ships mike.
Isaac waited a few seconds for a response. Then the screen filled with a sound wave monitor, and the central line jumped in spikes of rapid speed and height.
“Hello Evonry, this is the USM Valor’s Escape Pod number 34. Yes, we are alive, and yes, we’ll respond.”
Isaac’s heart jumped for joy. The Valor! A military ship that had appeared near Aegis VII to stop the illegal mining, and got over run by Necromorphs. They had survivors!
Isaac turned the mike back on and replied with glee.
“Jesus, I’m glad to hear another human’s voice. This is Isaac Clarke from the USG Kellion repair ship, and a survivor from the Ishumura. How many do you have onboard?”
Isaac waited. A young man’s voice crackled back.
“Well, Isaac Clarke, there’s only me and another onboard this fine vessel. I should hope there is room on board you’re little shuttle.”
Isaac gave a small chuckle.
“Don’t worry; there is more than enough room here. Hold on, I’ll swing around and lock you on.”
Isaac moved closer to the escape pod and began the docking procedure for the second time in the day, this time hopefully ending with an actual human being arriving onboard.
As the Gravity Tethers did their work, Isaac slipped back to the shuttle door. He noticed the Necromorph body was still laying there. He would have to clean that up.
As the two vessels connected, Isaac moved up to the door, placing his hand above the release button.
The docking commenced, and the shuttle remained still. Isaac then picked up the Plasma Cutter he had dropped after his last fight from the floor, and held it aloft. He then pressed the release.
The door slid up and a man walked forward, a Pulse Rifle held up, ready to fire. The man was a marine, with stark white RIG armour covering his body. He had his helmet off, and Isaac could see his sandy hair covering his freckled, pale face had some blood set in it. The boy was just older than twenty, and had a determined glint set in his golden eyes; sure he would take control of the situation.
Isaac had his Plasma Cutter raised as well. After the boy saw this though, a smirk appeared on his face. Then that smirk became a full fledged smile as he walked forward, knowing there was no danger.
“You musta survived, if you’re that fuckin’ retarded to use that little toy as a gun.”
Then the marine slid down and collapsed on the floor. A small gasp came from the escape pod as a young black haired woman in a Medical Uniform rushed out to crouch next to the boy.
“Leo!” She muttered.
She then looked up at Isaac’s bruised face, and whispered, “Thank you...”
Chapter 4[]
The woman looked back at the marine, looking for why he collapsed. Isaac could see the man had blood streaming from gashes on his ankles and back.
Deep gashes from long blades.
The tanned woman looked back up at Isaac.
“Don’t just stand there; I need some medical help, now. Have you got any type of pain relief? Any Repair-Meds?” She asked, steel in her voice, determined to save the marine.
Isaac thought it over, and remembered that when he left Aegis VII, he had dropped all of his supplies in a locker in the second room. There were some Repair-med’s amongst the many items Isaac brought onboard. He moved quickly over to the unopened door and found the small, metal cabinet he dropped them in. He opened it and picked up the little white cylinder with the first aid logo slapped across its surface. He moved back to the shuttle’s central room and passed the small cylinder to the woman.
She thanked him, and carefully turned the marine on his side. She then pulled the safety cap off of the cylinder and began slowly pouring the silvery liquid into the man’s mouth. He began gulping the tangy liquid down his throat eagerly, as it began mending muscles and repairing blood veins.
The revolutionary medication is a ‘super-med’, and is the first form of First Aid for the injured. Isaac would be dead now without that little bottle of heaven.
As the minutes clicked by, the marine’s gashes began to repair slowly. Scabs began to form over the wounds as the blood clotted and hardened with the speedy help of the Repair-med. As the wounds repaired themselves, the long bar of light that ran down the marines spine on his armour began filling up with the bluish light, similar to a thermometer nearing the sun. Isaac knew that the health monitor kept the man’s health in check, making regulated scans on the body every few seconds to see the state of the body. The lower the bar of light on the spine, the closer you were to death.
When the bar of light elevated to the full, Isaac brought his hand down to the Marine, offering to help him up. The man’s eyes swam a little bit, but he saw the hand and grabbed it. The woman also offered her hand. When they had him, Isaac and the woman lifted. When the marine managed to get back on his feet, after much groaning and wincing, the woman grabbed him around the back, making sure to not grab his wounds, and supported him. Isaac let go then. The marine looked up at Isaac and winced. He then gave a little smile.
“I’ll thank you for that pod you set later. But for now, I need a drink. Got anything?” The man asked.
Isaac gave a grin too. At least he hadn’t cracked from the attack on the Valor. Isaac nodded and waved the couple forward.
“Don’t worry; I’ve got more medication onboard. So I take it you saw the Necromorph attack? Probably felt it too, with those cuts.”
The man looked up.
“Necromorph? So that’s what they’re called. I just called them ‘my mother-in-law’.” He grinned at Isaac and then glanced up at the woman holding him. “No offence, dear.”
The woman grinned and replied happily.
“As long as you’re okay, it’s fine.” Then she looked up at Isaac.
“Thank you so much for the rescue. I’m Nancy Laviquer, and this is my husband, Leo. Yes, those things attacked, but Leo managed to find me, and we found an escape pod. We’ve been drifting for a day now. We would have died if you hadn’t found us.” She said sincerely.
Isaac nodded and began walking back towards the cabin. As he turned, Nancy gave a stifled gasp and Leo swore. Isaac swung back to face the couple, looking for what caused the alarm. Nancy and Leo were looking down at the steel floor between them and Isaac, Nancy’s mouth gaping open slightly and Leo’s face a snarl of disgust.
They were looking at the slain Necromorph still lying there on the floor in its terrible, broken death pose.
Isaac rushed forward, trying to cover the body with his outstretched arms.
“Okay, this isn’t going to hurt you, it’s...” Isaac started, but then Leo started yelling at him.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doin’ having that thing onboard! Are you tryin’ to kill us all! You probably sent that thing to us in the first place!” Spittle flew from Leo’s lips in his rage.
Isaac threw up his arms, trying to fend off the words.
“Hey, look, I found it in another escape pod. I killed it! If I didn’t find this thing, I would have shot you out of space thinking you were some more of the bastards! And it’s dead anyway!”
“You can’t kill those things, they’re inhuman. Believe me, I tried! They just take it all and give it right fuckin’ back!” Leo cried. He was pushing Nancy away as he moved on his own terms towards Isaac, intent to harm.
Isaac began moving backwards, stepping over the grisly torn body.
“No, if you just shoot their body, they take it all, but if you take the limbs off, they bleed out! Didn’t you notice most of this things limbs are gone? I cut them off!” Isaac replied, throwing his hand down at the dismembered corpse.
Leo slowed, and he glanced down at the body, surveying the limbs. He saw the sliced stubs of the arms and the wreck that were what remained of its legs. His eyes then darted around the rest of the floor and found the rest of the limbs scattered around like little twigs of flesh in a bloody hurricane.
Leo looked back up at Isaac and stepped back towards Nancy. He looked at Isaac hard for a little bit, and then he nodded.
“I’ll take you’re word for it, otherwise you wouldn’t be here. It would also explain the Plasma Cutter you have.” He groaned. “Look, how about we get this thing out of here? We’ll shove it in the escape pod and jettison it. Then I want to hear your story. And I’ll tell you mine.” Leo looked up at Isaac, and he knew a sort of trust had been formed.
Isaac nodded, not thinking of getting rid of the body before, and waved Leo and Nancy away from the pods door. They scampered to the side as Isaac pushed the wet body across the floor with his boot, leaving a bloody trail behind. Isaac pushed the Necromorph into the centre of the pod, where he left it. He then walked back into the shuttle and picked up the remaining limbs. He threw them in with the rest of the body, and then closed the shuttle’s door. Isaac moved back towards the control board and disengaged the gravity tethers. As the shuttle pulled the charges of energy that kept the two vessels together back into its own confines, the escape pod began drifting away. But not for long. Isaac powered up the ADS cannon and took aim for the doomed pod.
Leo and Nancy quietly came behind Isaac to see what he was doing, glancing over his shoulder and through the frontal view screen at the cannon.
Isaac let the energy go.
The pod began melting as soon as the first shot hit, small globules of molten metal cooling rapidly and drifting away from its origin into the empty hands of space. As this happened, both Leo and Nancy looked on in equal amounts shock and awe at this brutal act.
When the pod wasn’t in any form apart from small shreds of steel, Isaac cooled the cannon down. He turned towards Nancy and Leo in his chair. He had known they were watching.
“That is how I’ve been dealing with them for now.” Isaac glanced back to where the pod had just been. He sighed, and rubbed his head again. It was becoming too stressful for him of late.
He grabbed the half-full bottle of beer still sitting next to him on the opposite chair. He lifted his head and took a long gulp of the still chilled liquor. Isaac then bowed his head, letting the beers calming effects begin its work.
Leo walked up to Isaac and placed a hand on his armoured shoulder pauldron. Isaac looked up into the marines eyes. He saw concern for him in those grey pupils.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through, or what you’ve had to do, but I’ll be here to help you. You saved us, and that’s all I can offer you for now. And I’m sure Nancy will help as well. Well, she’ll probably do more. She’s a doctor.” Leo explained.
Isaac looked up.
“Wait, doctor?” Isaac spoke to Nancy. “What college did you go to to get you’re degree?” He asked.
Nancy cocked her head, and replied slowly. “Colombia Memorial, why?”
Isaac smiled. “You would have known Nicole then...”
Nancy nodded. “Yes, I knew her, not personally, but from her reputation as being a strong and caring person. I heard she was going to get married, or something. Why?”
Isaac got up and walked over to Nancy.
“Well, I was Nicole’s fiancé.” Isaac replied.
Nancy gasped and raised a hand to her open mouth.
“God, what happened, where’s Nicole? Why isn’t she here? You said you came from the Ishumura, I heard Nicole was posted there. Where is she?”
Isaac bowed his head. Nancy gasped.
“Oh god, Nicole!” Nancy moved closer to Isaac and embraced him. “I’m so sorry. I am so, so sorry. She was my idol.”
Isaac nodded and pushed Nancy away.
“I know...” He muttered.
Isaac moved back to the storage room and picked up some drinks. He tugged back into the cockpit and sat back down. He urged Nancy and Leo down, and then he passed the drinks around. Then, he began his horrible story.
He started with his expulsion off of the Ishumura, then the ships distress call, the Kellion’s arrival, the attack, Isaacs travels around the ship, Dr. Kyne and Dr. Mercer, the different Necromorphs and his meetings with Nicole. When he mentioned Nicole’s death log, Nancy had a silent cry. Isaac himself tried to hold back the tears welling up. He concluded with the revelation on the Marker and his fight with the Hive Mind.
During the whole story, Leo and Nancy kept rigid with attention, occasionally taking a sip from their drinks. When Isaac finished, he bowed his head, happy to have the story off his chest. It resolved a lot of demons in his soul. Leo leaned over and patted his back.
“You’ve told you’re story, and now it’s our turn to reveal our terror.” Leo turned to Nancy and nodded, and then began his tale of their trip into Hell.
When the Valor Shocked into the Aegis’ system, they found a free floating Escape Pod registered to the Ishumura. Leo was part of the team sent to open and transport the escapee’s to a debriefing. But that’s when the madness began.
Leo was watching the pod open when the Slasher Necromorph jumped out and began attacking the other Marines. They pumped it full of lead, but the bullets didn’t slow the thing down, as they were firing into its chest, not its limbs.
Leo managed to escape the masacure, but the whole ship was thrown into chaos. The Necromorph managed to use the air vents and attacked the deck. That’s when the ship went off course. But Leo was just interested in finding Nancy in the Medical wing and escaping. He found her, and they managed to find an escape pod. Just before the Valor hit the Ishumura, Leo and Nancy managed to jettison into space. Then they drifted until Isaac found them.
When Leo stopped, Isaac looked up. He nodded and looked at Leo.
“I think you’re lucky to be alive. And I’m glad you did.”
They had all survived, that was all that mattered.
And I think that is what’ll count in the next few days...
Isaac stared back out of the glass window in front of him, thinking of a much calmer time back on Earth. Those days were long gone now...
Chapter 5[]
After the story telling, Isaac showed Leo and Nancy how to proficiently use the ADS to destroy the escape pods if they found one. He then moved off to go lie down. But he couldn’t sleep. He didn’t want to. He’d had too many disturbing dreams already.
But finally, his back comfortably supported in a padded chair near the back of the ship, his eyes began fluttering with weariness, and then, Isaac knew nothing.
Except a dream.
***
Isaac moved forward through the bright doorway into the large hallway in his father’s old mansion. It was all repossessed now, after his mother sold everything to enter the church of Unitology. Stupid bitch only cared about herself... Isaac thought as he moved forward into the warm room.
It was summer, the last time he saw his dad in person.
Isaac looked down at himself. He was in a pair of pyjamas’ that he used to wear when he was four. But he was still forty-three, so the small ploycotton clothing was stretched to its limit on his large adult figure. Isaac saw small cartoon electric clouds dotted along the clothing.
Isaac kept moving forward into the halls interior. In the distance Isaac saw a blurred statue at the other end of the room. It was grey, and somehow looked familiar, but his dad never brought any interior statues.
As Isaac progressed, he began hearing some familiar music. It was the track he and his family danced to on every one of his birthdays. It was an ancient song, Space Oddity. Paul loved David Bowie’s music. He said it was as if he was in space again, even when he was back on Earth. Isaac felt the same way about the psychedelic music. His mum told him that the song was the first song Isaac heard and danced to.
Now the steady tunes were floating down to Isaac from the back of the hall, near the grey monolith.
As Isaac reached the music, he saw two figures dancing in time with it, one male, and the other female. Isaac at first thought the woman was his mother, but then he saw the blonde hair. Isaac raised his eyebrows in wonder.
It was Nicole and his dad. And they were dancing underneath a grey coloured double helix Marker. A Marker in the spitting image of the Red Marker, except grey, found on Aegis VII colony. The Marker that released the Necromorphs.
Isaac began to run, heading straight for his dad. Paul looked up at the sound of pattering feet and smiled at Isaac.
“Isaac! God, you have grown so much since I left. But you’re still in your old pyjamas?” Paul said, confused at Isaac’s choice in wardrobe.
Nicole came up behind Isaac and gave him a hug, giggling.
“Isaac, I just met your dad. He is so like you! I’m glad the fleet gave him some leave. He need’s some time to catch up with the family.” She said, her eyes wide and sparkling.
Isaac looked up at the Grey Marker just beside them.
“Uh, dad, can I ask where this thing came from?” Isaac asked calmly.
Paul rolled his eyes and spoke to Nicole.
“I turn up after disappearing for twelve years, and he doesn’t even say hello! Does he do this to you as well?”
Nicole shook her head, looking at Isaac lovingly.
“Uh, yes, hi dad, but still, is this thing ours?” Isaac carried on, trying to get answers.
Paul’s eyebrows creased and he looked up at the thing.
“Actually, I was going to ask if it was yours. I got home to see it here. Now if you’re asking questions, I guess the wife has brought it. Ah, some things never change...” He said with a little chuckle.
Isaac looked back up at the monolith sitting in the morning daylight. But, wait, the light was darkening, disappearing.
Isaac furrowed his brow, curious at this change of lighting.
Then the music began to change. The track began to click and flutter, with the music changing to a lighter, more ominous tune. Isaac began to pick up some of the words between the bursts of static.
“Twinkle twinkle... how I wonder... above the world so... diamond in the sky...”
Isaac began to sweat. He turned back to Nicole and Paul, who didn’t look concerned.
Nicole looked over to the music player, her face gleeful.
“Whoa, I think I like this track a bit more. Come on Paul, let’s dance!”
Paul and Nicole moved together, locking their hands together and began swaying to an imaginary beat. Isaac then began to hear something crawl around in the now dark hall.
***
Leo looked back behind him at Isaac sprawled on the empty chair at the back of the cockpit. He was sound asleep. Leo looked back through the clear front view screen, looking at nothing in particular. He then turned to his wife and spoke his mind. “What do you think of this Isaac guy Nance? He seems a bit like a nut.” Leo said.
Nancy looked up from her notebook of drawings she was completing for when they arrived back on Earth.
“Well, I think he’s going through a lot, and to escape that ship after what he’s told us, I’m surprised he’s still able to reason properly. I think we’re safe for now, but we’ll just see what happens. But I trust him. If Nicole did, I will.” Nancy said carefully.
“You must’ve liked that Nicole then if you trust her without meeting her and when she’s dead.” Leo commented.
Nancy smiled. “She was one of the few people I could fully trust with my life. And, yes, I never met her in person, but she sounded wonderful. And honest.”
She turned back to her work “Oh, and you’re included in that list Leo.”
Leo smiled. “Why thanks, I’m flattered.”
Suddenly Isaac began to speak loudly from behind them. He was also withering in the seat a bit.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star... how I wonder what you, ah, hagh, AHHHH!” Isaac gasped, and then began to scream. We was rolling around in his chair, gripping the seats arms tightly with his hands. His head was waving back and forth wildly, but his eyes were jammed shut, almost unwilling to break the scene of horror that he was viewing.
Leo looked at Nancy as she climbed out of her seat and cautiously moved closer to the thrashing Isaac.
“What’s your diagnosis now, doc?”
***
Isaac began walking around wildly in a circle, looking through the darkness for the cause of the unhuman sounds coming from around the edges of the hall. Meanwhile, Nicole and Paul were still happily dancing, now in time with Twinkle twinkle little star. Isaac looked at them. He then moved in front of them and tried to shield their dancing figures. Isaac turned his head to talk to them as his eyes darted from corner to corner, looking for the Necromorphs that would surly come.
“Don’t you two hear that?” He asked quietly.
“Hear what son?” Paul asked.
“Them, the bastards in this room.”
“Isaac, what are you talking about? The only ones in this room is me, you, Nicole and our friends. Nothing will kill us here.” Paul replied.
Isaac kept glancing around the room, looking for any movement. And then he heard the tearing behind him.
Isaac swivelled around in an instant when he began to hear the sound of flesh being ripped apart. That’s when he saw to his horror Nicole and his father transforming gruesomely into Necromorphs, with their flesh being shed like a second skin unwanted. Isaac saw a Slasher burst from under Nicole’s skin, with its scythe-like front limbs scrabbling in the air and torn stomach skin forming grabbing arms. Meanwhile, where Paul Clarke once stood, a shrivelled corpse with a severed head hanging on a skinny rope of flesh from the body remained. It almost looked like a jack-in-the-box, except this incarnation was far more grotesqe. He had become a Divider...
As these two monstrosities began moving closer to Isaac, more Necromorphs began inching closer from the shadows of the hall.
“Shit...” Isaac muttered as the comical, yet disgusting, head on a stick Necromorph flung its fleshy cord forwards. The creature used the head like a monkey fist, wrapping it around Isaac’s neck. Then it began contracting the flesh, beginning to suffocate Isaac. As Isaac’s vision began to flash from oxygen starvation, he saw the Necromorphs head loom in front of him. It was Pauls head, contorted and mutated, ripped in half at the seams, staring at him. And then the head spoke, the face moving apart and closing again like a mutated face.
“Oh, Isaac, you don’t want a hug from your dad? Why not, is it because you’d look odd, hugging your old man? Or is it because of this makeover...?” The head gurgled, barely making audible words with its torn voice box.
And then, Isaac struggled no more, his last vision his father, and the last sound floating in the air as Twinkle twinkle little star came to a close.
“How I wonder what you are...”
***
Isaac burst out of his chair, nearly ramming his head into Nancy, who was leaning over him. Leo pulled Nancy away from Isaac’s chair, keeping a firm hand wrapped around her. Isaac was gasping for air. He realised that he wasn’t breathing during the dream. When he was being strangled. Strangled by his own father.
Leo moved forward, still keeping a hand on Nancy.
“Are you okay, man? What just happened?” He asked.
Isaac rubbed his temples with a hand. “God, it was just a dream, I think. Why, what was I doing?” Isaac replied.
Nancy spoke. “You were having a fit. You were thrashing in your chair badly. And you were mumbling a song...”
Isaac gulped, certain he knew which song Nancy heard, but he still checked.
Isaac gulped and asked, “What song?”
Nancy whispered, “Twinkle twinkle little star.”
Isaac groaned, and then wiped the sweat off his brow.
Leo moved forward slowly, leaving Nancy behind him, and touched Isaac’s shoulder.
“What happened in the dream?” He asked, trying to comfort him.
Isaac sighed, and just shook his head, not wanting to talk about it.
“You should tell us.” Nancy said. “It relieves the mind from the horror of nightmares if you tell others.”
Leo nodded and said, “Listen to her, she’s the Psychologist.”
Isaac grumbled, but he still told them.
“I was in my dad’s estate, going into the Hall, and I saw a Grey Marker, like the Unitology’s Black Marker. I saw my dad and Nicole dancing to my favourite music. I think it was the same day my dad disappeared. Anyway, the music soon changed to ‘Twinkle twinkle’, the room darkened and some Necromorphs appeared. Then Nicole and Paul changed. Paul attacked me and began to strangle me, and then I woke up.”
Nancy nodded, taking the information in. Isaac looked at her, waiting for some type of reassurance.
“So?” He said impatiently.
Nancy looked hard at Isaac, and then replied.
“I think your subconscious is trying to tell you a message.”
Isaac rolled his eyes.
“Must be a pretty fucked-up message then.”
Chapter 6[]
Isaac settled back in behind the control desk again. Nancy was having a break after five pod kills. It was just Isaac and Leo for now.
Leo walked back from the storage room with two beers. He passed one to Isaac.
“Thanks.”
Leo grinned. “It’s your ship. Don’t have to thank me.”
Isaac agreed with a nod of his head. He was too tired to complain.
He glanced over to Nancy asleep in the spare chair; her head sloped on her shoulder, her fine black hair covering most of her sharp, angled face.
“So, how’d you two meet up?” Isaac asked.
Leo looked at Nancy.
“Well, that is a story. I was enlisting at the main office about fifteen years ago, and there she was in line in front of me. I thought she was beautiful, so I tried to strike-up a conversation, you know the thing, ‘how are you, what are you doing here,’ that sorta thing.”
Isaac nodded, remembering a warm bar back on Earth with a pretty blonde in the corner. Isaac waved his hand, urging him to go on.
Leo continued. “Anyway, she said she was applying for a Military Apprenticeship in Medical, and asked what I was doing, taking a shine to me. I said ‘Well miss, I’m here to sign up to help protect pretty things like you from the bad guys.’ She had a little giggle, and then, we met up on the same training grounds. She was the nurse in training, so I got to meet Nance a bit more. Sometimes I got hurt on purpose just to see her.” Leo sighed, a gleam sitting in his eyes as he remembered fondly of an age past.
“And she liked you?” Isaac replied.
Leo looked at Isaac, a cheeky grin on his face.
“I’d certainly hope so if she came in every time I was there for over a night for sex. But I really knew when I found her crying one day. She had just gotten a call saying her entire family, except her sister, had just been killed in a suicide bomb attack.
I sat there for a little bit, just holding her. She was a mess, but I held her, not moving off that floor, probably staying there for about five hours. Then, she whispered quietly, ‘Thank God I’ve still got you, otherwise I’d have no family left...’ She cried for another hour or so, and then she fell asleep. While she slept, I went out and got the largest ring I could buy. The next morning, when Nancy woke up, I was sitting on the other side of her bed, with that ring in my hand. As soon as she saw it, she began crying and laughing and kissing me. Then she whispered, ‘Yes, I will.’ without me asking anything at all.”
Leo took a gulp of his beer and belched.
“We got married six months after her family’s funeral. And we’ve been together ever since, never far apart. We’ve gotten service on the same vessels for all seven years of time out with the Navy. I almost thought I’d lose her when we got sent out to your ship, but we scrapped through.” Leo finished, staring off into space.
Isaac waited for a few moments. He looked back over to Nancy. And he realised she was very similar to Nicole.
Leo was staring at Nancy as well, a smile playing on his face.
Nancy then gave a grizzled snore, and shifted in the chair.
Both men looked at each other and began laughing silently.
“Well, I don’t think your Nicole would be that bad in bed.” Leo said after he regained his breath.
Isaac wiped a small tear from the corner of his eye after the laugh.
“No, she was even worse!” Isaac replied, and both men started laughing again.
After they settled down, Leo looked over to Isaac.
“So, how good was Nicole. She musta been big if Nancy trusted her.” Leo said.
Isaac sighed. “Yeah, she was a really good person. I met her during college. I was getting my Engineering degree. Nicole was in my Applying Technology class. After a year, I met her in the local pub and things went off from there. Her dad was a big wheel in Unitology, but she didn’t want anything to do with it. We sorta rubbed sides there. My mum had sold everything to buy her way into a higher rank you see, so I didn’t have much money. After a while, we both got our degrees, my Engineering and Nicole’s Medical. We managed to get on the Ishumura and saw two planet cracks. Then I got kicked off for some reason for three years, and Nicole left for Aegis VII. That was the last time I saw her alive.” Isaac sat still for a little while, holding back the tears. “You know, I proposed to Nicole before I got kicked off. We were going to be married in two months.” Isaac muttered. He took a swig of the beer, letting it wash through him.
Then a pod appeared onscreen in the radar, and Isaac busied himself with scanning it and destroying it.
Leo just sat still, holding his bottle in both hands, staring at the metal floor in deep thought as Isaac destroyed the pod. At least then he didn’t see Isaac crying when he fired the Asteroid Cannon.
Chapter 7[]
Isaac moved out from the shuttles bathroom and walked back up to in-between the two front seats. Nancy was awake again and was sketching some more Necromorphs in her little notebook. Leo was aiming the Canon at the sixtieth escape pod from the Ishumura. Isaac glanced down at Nancy’s grey pictures of the Slasher that attacked the Valor in all its many poses of death. Isaac squinted at one of its scythes. He leaned forward and saw small markings inside the bone weapons. He recognised the symbols in terror.
“Nancy, can I ask if you’re a Unitologist?” Isaac asked, leaning forward to get a closer look at the picture.
Nancy looked up from her work.
“Um, no I’m not, why?” Nancy asked. She was confused.
Isaac brought his finger down to the Necromorphs scythe, pointing at one of the symbols.
“Well, I was just wondering if...” Isaac began, but then stopped. He saw Nancy looking past his shoulder to Leo in surprise. Isaac turned around.
Leo was sitting rigid in his seat, his face startled, staring out into space. Isaac turned and looked through the view screen and saw what was alarming Leo. And then he saw it.
Floating out of the damaged escape pod were small, pink bodies, floating freely in the vacuum towards the shuttle. The bodies were in the shape of small babies. But these babies had three large tentacles moving out of each of their backs, and their stomachs had all ripped open to allow the small intestines to form little hooks. They were Lurker Necromorphs, and they were heading for the shuttle.
Isaac gasped and pushed Leo out of the way roughly. He fell to the floor easily, still shocked at the Necromorphs.
Isaac pulled the Asteroid Canon around and aimed carefully at the Lurkers. He then fired at each one, mercilessly melting the once babies into slag. Nancy gasped sharply, and then began breathing deeply.
Isaac sighed and let the cannons controller slip out of his clenched hand. He then turned to find Leo on the floor next to him, but Leo was gone.
Isaac leapt out of his seat and glanced around for the boys white armour. He saw Leo moving towards the shuttle’s door that leads into empty space.
Isaac ran forward and slammed into Leo just before he reached the access button. Isaac brought Leo up to face him and saw a wild look in the boy’s eyes. Spit was forming in the corner of his mouth.
“We have to save them!” Leo roared at Isaac, spittle flying into Isaac’s eyes.
Isaac shook his head and said quietly, “Leo, they’re dead.”
Leo pushed himself up off the floor. He stood upright, looking ready to fight Isaac.
“They were babies! Little, fuckin’ babies!” Leo shouted. He was breathing heavily, adrenalin pumping through his blood.
Isaac raised his hands in defence.
“I know. But we can’t do anything about that.” Isaac said.
Leo stared at Isaac coldly. And then he saw Nancy in the door way, looking in fright at him. Then he calmed down and loosened his fists. Nancy then came forward and embraced Leo. Leo had broken down and was crying into her shoulder.
“They were babies Nance, just little, little babies...” He whispered into her shoulder.
Nancy nodded, tears in her eyes. “I know baby, I know...”
Isaac left them be. They would probably be there for a while longer.
As he sat down back in the control chair, he glanced back over at Nancy’s drawings. And he saw it again, this time all over the contorted beast’s body.
The Untitolgy’s secret language based off of the Markings found on the original Marker. And now Isaac was seeing them on the Necromorph.
Chapter 8[]
Once Leo had calmed down he and Nancy spent some time alone in the spare room. They didn’t appear for three hours or so. Isaac let them be. They needed to unwind.
Isaac took out about five more escape pods while Leo and Nancy were gone. And he noticed that the pods now were beginning to grow meaty looking growths on the outside of the pods shell.
They’re growing... Isaac thought in disgust.
Nancy and Leo came back in quietly. Isaac didn’t say anything.
Leo sat down in the chair next to Isaac again, passing Nancy’s sketch book to her as she moved over to a side window. She began scribbling in it furiously. Leo looked up at Isaac and placed a hand on his shoulder, slightly sheepish.
“Uh, I’m really sorry about that, I, I was, uh, just disturbed. I screwed up.” Leo admitted.
Isaac nodded, understanding.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know they were dangerous. When I first saw one, it killed someone. And I couldn’t save them.” Isaac told Leo. He then turned around, looking out through the window, looking for any pods.
It didn’t take long before another drifted into sight.
Isaac brought the cannon up and began firing after the usual scan. When the shot hit the pod this time though, the organic material surrounding it burst into a small haze of gas, and then disappeared quickly in the vacuum of space. The pod had still been damaged, but not as much as Isaac had hoped.
A small tear down the pods spherical body had appeared, and from it, Isaac could just see some bloodied claws scrambling to escape the confines of its vessel. They were wide, serrated claws.
Isaac brought the ADS around again and began to fire. But something pale had flown out of the pod before impact. Isaac tried to track the Necromorph, but it somehow managed to move itself on some type of bubble. The bubble was yellow, and looked like it was filled with some type of gas. Isaac spun the cannon around, keeping it on Automatic fire, desperately following the space-faring Necromorph.
And then he managed to hit the thing. It burst into a small ball of gas for a second, and then there was nothing, except black.
Isaac swung and faced Leo. He looked back with a creased brow.
“What the hell was that?” He asked.
Isaac shrugged. “Don’t know, but its dead. But from now on, lets all keep automatic fire on any pods we find, okay? Don’t want anything coming onboard...” He muttered.
Nancy nodded and went back to her sketching, and Leo moved out of his chair to one of the side desks on the wall to begin upgrading his Pulse Rifle and Pistol to suit Necromorph encounters. Isaac had given him his own Pulse Rifle blueprints, hoping that the Marine could understand how all of the electronics worked.
Isaac shuffled in his seat, and had a small stretch, bringing his arms in front of him as far as they could go, relieving his cramped muscles.
Just as Isaac began to get settled, the radar went off again.
Isaac leaned down and looked hard at the orange holographic screen with a blinking little point of light sitting on the outer edge.
What? Isaac thought. We haven’t seen two pods this close together. Maybe one of the Necromorphs grew a brain and began to pilot the thing.
Isaac, curious, initiated a parent scan to find the ship that it launched from. The scan came back instantly.
USM Valor.
That is what the little sign that popped onscreen read. Isaac sat still for a second and then called out.
“Guys!” He yelled.
Leo and Nancy rushed forward, glancing out of the front screen for any danger. Then Isaac pointed down to the flashing message on the dashboard.
They both gasped. Then Leo looked back out of the window to find the pod. He pointed out to the left.
“There!” He whispered.
Isaac began moving the shuttles thrusters so they pointed towards the pod. They moved forward and began the docking procedure. Leo moved off to the shuttles door yet again, while Isaac tried to call up the pods occupants on the com line.
“Hello, hello, this is USG Ishumura Shuttle Evonry calling USM Valor escape pod. If there are any survivors onboard, please respond now, we are docking with you. Please respond.” Isaac called into the microphone.
There was a static response, but Isaac’s life scan had come up positive, so there could be a survivor onboard.
Leo stood next to the shuttle door, Pulse Rifle in hand, as the docking procedures began to finish.
They finished and Leo pressed the door release button. The door slid apart with a hiss and only the pods door remained between them and the survivors. Leo peered in through the pods window and saw a Marine in full combat RIG sitting in the corner of the pod, his weapon aimed at the pod door. He wasn’t taking any chances.
Leo waved his hand through the window, showing that it was fine and he can open the door. The Marine shook his head vigorously, and then strengthened his aim on the door, keeping his weapon rigid. Leo rolled his eyes, and stared at the man. He began mouthing the words ‘Everything is okay. We won’t hurt you.” slowly. The man still sat in the corner.
Leo shook his head and moved away from the window.
“Ah, I can’t get him to open the door, and if we do, he’ll shoot us. We have to get him to open the door.” Leo said, folding his arms over his chest.
Isaac waved him over to the control desk.
“Here,” he said, “Try talking on the com line, maybe another marine’s voice will help him.”
Leo moved over and began speaking into the mike.
“Hi there, this is Leo Laviquer, originally from the USM Valor, and I was wondering if I know you. Can’t see your face with the helmet on. Then, if I know you, and I give you your name, will you open the door?” Leo asked.
He glanced over to Nancy, who was watching the man through the window. She faced them and nodded.
Leo moved over to the window again, and saw the Marine lift his gauntleted hands up to his white skull-like helmet. He lifted his hands and pulled the helmet off. An old man with brown hair that had begun to grey now sat in the escape pod. He looked up at Leo, staring, as if daring him to respond.
Leo grinned at the mans appearance and rapidly paced back to the mike. The powered it up and spoke into it.
“Well, Sergeant Slightman, I did not expect to find you out here. Is that good enough for you to open the door?” He asked.
Leo and Isaac glanced back at the door. After a moment, the pod opened and the marine stepped out and into the shuttle.
He had his Rifle raised and was searching around the room, checking its crevices. Leo walked forward, his hands raised.
“Don’t worry; no one will hurt you here.” Leo said.
The man lowered his Rifle and looked at Isaac, and then glanced around to Leo and Nancy.
Then, he cracked.
He roared, and swung the butt of his rifle at Leo’s head.
“Shit!” Leo yelled, and leaped away before the weapon collided. Isaac, surprised, stood still for a second as the outraged man suddenly took another swing at Leo, forcing him into a wall. Nancy had disappeared.
Leo saw Isaac, and yelled out to him.
“Don’t just stand there, do something! He yelled.
Isaac, regaining his senses, ran forward and slammed his small Plasma Cutter down on the attacking marines open head.
The sergeant swung around at the attack, and focussed his attention on Isaac.
“Get away from me, you alien bastards!” He yelled, and raised his rifle, aiming at Isaac’s chest. Isaac could see a wild, crazed look in his eyes.
Suddenly, Nancy screamed, and rushed out from the supply room, and jumped on the marines back, wrapping her legs and arms around him. She raised a hypodermic needle into the air, and plunged it down into the mans uncovered neck.
The marine gave a cry of pain, and grabbed at Nancy. His movements began to slow, though, as the sedative took hold.
He then just fell to the floor, collapsing with a bang. Nancy crawled off the unconscious mans body, and huddled up to Leo.
Isaac walked up to the man, and saw he was asleep.
“Christ, what was all of that about?” Leo asked.
Isaac shook his head. “Dementia.” He said.
Leo looked confused. “What?” He asked. He was gripping Nancy tightly.
“The crew on the ship began to experience mass hallucinations after they got the Marker; it was a form of Dementia.” He explained.
“But we never saw the Marker, how come he’s nuts?” Leo asked.
Isaac shrugged. “Maybe, the Marker doesn’t make the hallucinations, but the Necromorphs do.” He thought.
Chapter 9[]
They moved the sergeants limp body into the supply room, and locked the door, hoping he didn’t wake up to soon.
After that, Leo told Isaac who the marine was.
“Harry Slightman, my troop sarge. He was with me when we opened the pod. I thought I saw him ripped to shreds, but I musta been mistaken. There was so much blood flyin’ everywhere it was hard to tell. He musta escaped before me.”
Isaac worried what would happen to the man. But they would have to talk to him soon. While they waited, they shoot down five more pods. Then Leo urged Isaac to go lay down after he missed a pod. Isaac relented, and walked to a seat in the back of the ship, and tried to settle down.
As Isaac began to drop off into his slumber, he dimly remembered the Grey Marker that had appeared in his last dream, and wondered what that was all about. Maybe what Nancy said was true, and his conscience was trying to give him a message. Maybe…
***
Isaac was running through some empty city streets. His chest was exploding with each raged breath he took. He looked desperately down side streets and across Plaza’s for anyone, anyone at all. All he could see where bodies. Human and animal bodies alike sprawled across the dense metal plates that set the foundation for the city streets.
Isaac began turning around in circles to see anything moving. He didn’t. The whole central City was deserted of life.
Wait, Isaac thought, which city am I in?
Isaac moved slowly towards one of the holo-boards usually set around City centres, especially large cities that had grown to state sizes.
Isaac brought his hand across the orange screen of the holo-board he found off from the central plaza and saw the cities name appear in the top right corner.
WELCOME TO HADES, LUNA’S PRIZE AND JOY! WE HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR STAY!
Hades? Isaac thought. That’s where the Unitology nuts have their biggest church. And mum lives here too.
Isaac blinked, and then saw the once cheerful message transformed before his eyes into a collection of symbols.
The symbols bent and formed small circles everywhere; making it look like the whole sentence was one long, interconnected line. Isaac knew what language it was.
It was the Unitologist’s special written language.
As he moved away from the holo-board, Isaac thought he saw one of the bodies shift to his right, just outside his line of vision.
Isaac turned towards the movement quickly, but he found nothing.
At all. There were no more bodies littering the floor anymore. They had disappeared.
Isaac began glancing around the now empty plaza, looking for any more signs of movement. He moved slowly backwards, now glancing for any direction signs that could show where the main Unitology Church is.
Isaac saw a small lit up sign to his left, pointing down a narrow street boarded by dress design shops.
Isaac pelted down the narrow street as fast as he could, not daring to look back. He knew what was here. And he knew what could happen to him.
As he ran, Isaac briefly glanced at the shops on both sides of him. The faceless mannequins were facing away from him, sporting their latest fashions on their plastic bodies. As Isaac moved, he swore that some of the mannequins had turned slightly towards him.
Isaac kept going, and he could see the huge double helix spire of the church in front of him at the end of the road. When Isaac reached the front doors of the massive black cathedral, he glanced back down through the street he had just come through. His eyes widened at the sight he surveyed.
Thousands of Necromorphs were scrambling and galloping towards him through the street. Some were climbing sideways across the walls in a mad bid to reach Isaac’s warm flesh first. And then Isaac saw the mannequins. They all wore Nicole’s face, and they were smiling devilishly, every single one of them. And then all of the Nicole mannequins turned and faced Isaac.
Isaac had had enough, and he turned and whipped inside the church’s doors.
He slid down to the ground in a slump after the door was closed. He breathed in and out rapidly; still amazed he had survived for so long.
He then looked up at the sound of singing. In front of him, packed into the pews and along the sides of the churches massive interior, were thousands upon thousands of people. And they were all staring at the front of the church at a massive Black Marker sitting under a massive chandelier. And in front of the Marker, smiling proudly, stood Isaac’s mother, Olivia Clarke. She had her arms raised up to the heavens, preaching to amassed crowd.
“Fellow Unitologist’s, our plight for salvation, is over!” She yelled out to the swarm of men and women. They crowd cheered back at her.
“Finally, the Black Marker has been recovered, long after our glorious forefather Altman found this hallowed object, and revealed it to the world! And now, we can ascend into the wonder of the everlasting community! Even now, the creatures are swarming over the unbelieving, and letting their spirits free! And now, it is our turn to remove our mortal bonds, and be reborn!” At that, Olivia turned to a velvet table that sat behind her, and carefully brought up a long, ceremonial black sword in her small hand. Crimson lights from candles flickered onto the blade and gave it a sinister look. As Olivia picked the sword up, the entire crowd pulled some form of firearm from their personage, and aimed it under their chins.
Isaac leapt up off the floor, his mouth agape. He was frozen still.
Olivia thrust the black and crimson illuminated sword into the air.
“Altman be praised!” She screamed, with a mad look in her yellow eyes.
The rest of the assembled Unitologists cried out as well.
“Altman be praised!” And then, they all turned to face Isaac, still standing at the cathedrals door.
As they turned, they all morphed into Nicole, still with weapons under their head.
They smiled again at Isaac, and fired in unison.
Isaac howled out in grief as three-thousand Nicole’s crumpled to the ground with burst heads and bleeding faces.
But Olivia was still standing. She hadn’t stabbed herself with the blade, as Isaac thought she would. And then she began to laugh. She walked forward towards Isaac, swinging her sword around in an arc.
“Isaac, Isaac, Isaac. I’m surprised you turned up here. I thought you would be up there, in space, looking for dear old daddy. But no, oh sweetie, you came to mummy before she ascended. I always knew you loved me best.” Olivia spoke oddly, not in the same was Isaac remembered her. She was now speaking in a sickly sweet voice, almost like she was babying him.
Olivia pulled the tip of the sword to the side of her forehead, thinking mockingly as she walked ever closer towards Isaac.
“Hey, maybe you’ve come to ascend with me! It will be a family celebration, the return of the Marker! Look, you can ascend first, and then I’ll follow you!” She smiled wickedly.
Isaac shook his head. “Mum, I am not going to kill myself.” He said.
Olivia looked a little confused.
“Then, darling, why did you come here?” She asked.
Isaac thought for a moment.
Oliva nodded when he didn’t reply.
“Ah, my son has been touched by the Great Ones Mind! He has come to his senses and has come to ascend with me!” Olivia giggled. She then swung the sword point down from her shoulder towards Isaac.
Isaac moved quickly, but she wasn’t aiming for her son. She instead cleanly sliced the Church’s front door lock clean off. As the lock clattered to the floor, the doors swung backwards, letting the red light from outside gleam in. And then Isaac saw the shadows of the Necromorphs.
Olivia raised her sword again, facing the Marker, and plunged the sword through her stomach.
“Altman be praised…” She whispered as she collapsed to the floor, blood pooling under her onto the already red carpet.
And then the Necromorphs teamed in. They swarmed over Olivia’s limp body, and went straight for Isaac.
Isaac turned in a flash and ran off to the Black Markers pedestal, sprinting for his life. And as he sprinted, the Nicole bodies began lifting up off the floor onto their legs, and stared at Isaac running. They then opened their mouths, and started chanting.
“Altman be praised, Altman be praised, Altman be praised…” They sang, their mouths bubbling with blood and brain mass, some with sagging eye sockets that had lost their contents when bullets had ricochet out through them.
Isaac clambered up the steps and collapsed next to the Marker. He turned and saw the horde of Necromorphs fling themselves upon the pedestal. But they hit a barrier and couldn’t continue moving forward. Some tried to jump higher past the barrier, but met the same solid, invisible force.
Isaac sighed with relief, but then the chanting picked up pace. And the Necromorphs parted to form a path from the church’s door all the way to the pedestal. And down that path came Olivia, still with the blade in her gut.
She staggered towards the Marker, and the Necromorphs followed her with their ugly, mutated heads.
Olivia walked up to Isaac and pulled the sword straight from out of her gut, and a spray of blood came with it, flicking Isaac.
She turned her head to Isaac, and he could see her eyes were now black pits on her face. She smiled.
“Your turn, Isaac…” She whispered, and she swung the sword cleanly through Isaac’s neck.
***
Isaac bolted upright.
He realised where was after a moment and then fell back onto the chairs again, closing his eyes.
Ah, when will the dreams leave me! He raged in his head.
He decided to get up and see how Leo was doing.
As he moved towards the cockpit, he was intercepted by Nancy, who was bolting towards the door.
“Whoa, Nancy, what’s the rush?” He asked as she slid to a stop.
Nancy just waved Isaac into the cockpit.
“Come on, we found another shuttle! I was coming to wake you, but you saved me some trouble.” She said as they moved to the control board.
Leo turned around and pointed at the holographic screen in front of him that had an image of a regular shuttle just drifting.
“It appeared a minute or so ago. I scanned it, and the metal was too thick. I tried hailing it, but there was no reply. I got an ID tag though. It’s from the Ishumura.” He said.
Isaac pushed through to get a better look.
“Bullshit…” He muttered.
But when he checked the ID himself, it came back with;
USG ISHUMURA SHUTTLE 23.
Isaac thought for a second. He then saw Leo and Nancy looking at him expectantly.
“What?” He asked.
“What do you want to do?” Leo asked.
Isaac raised his hands, surprised.
“I’m no leader, I wouldn’t know!” He said. “You’re the marine; you were taught to handle this kind of thing, weren’t you?” Isaac asked.
Leo shrugged, but still didn’t do anything.
“You seem to know more than me, so I thought you could tell me...” He said.
Isaac shook his head. “I’m just a survivor, that’s all. I’m no space marine; I’m an average Engineer who got caught up in all this shit!” He yelled.
Leo sighed, and turned back to the control board, thinking. He then got up, and walked towards the supply room. Isaac followed him, looking at what he was doing from the open door of the cockpit.
Leo opened the door, and Slightman came bursting out. He was banging on the door the whole time, trying to get out.
Slightman stumbled, and faced Leo at the side of the door.
“Hello Harry. Did you have a good rest?” Leo asked.
Slightman just ran at him. Leo moved out of the way, and Slightman crashed into the door frame.
“Ahhhh!” He yelled, raising an armoured hand to his head.
Leo moved to the marine, and turned him around violently, slamming his back against a wall.
“Listen Slightman, I don’t know what you’re seein’ right now, but I need you to understand that we arn’t gonna hurt you, okay?” He said sternly. Slightman had some spittle forming a ball underneath his lip. His green eyes were bloodshot and angry. His neck was taught, veins pulsing along his skin.
Leo yelled at the man. “Slightman! It’s me, Laviquer. We are not gonna hurt you. Come on, talk to me!”
Suddenly, Slightman blinked, and his rigid body loosened. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Leo let go of him, and waited. Slightman, tired, managed to just get up off the floor. He rubbed his face, and looked at Leo, seeing him really for the first time.
“Leo, God, what happened to me?” He asked, his body swaying slightly.
Leo shrugged, and came and helped Slightman into the cockpit, passing Isaac.
“Hell if I know, but you’re good now, that’s all that matters.”
Leo said, and he managed to put Slightman in one of the chairs. Leo sat down beside him.
“Okay Slightman, listen, we have a problem, and you have the most experience to help us. There’s a shuttle just a little way out,” Leo pointed to the holo-screen showing the shuttle. “But we don’t know what’s in it. Could be survivors or it could be more of those things, we don’t know. So, we need to know how to handle it, make sure nothing hurts us if we pick it up.” He said.
Slightman struggled to think for a second, and then looked at the shuttle, and then Isaac.
“I say, we dock with it, look for survivors, but stay cautious anyway. You say you can’t scan it?” Slightman asked.
Leo nodded.
“Right, well, lets dock, but we’ll stay away from the hatch. If something jumps in though, we’re screwed.” Slightman said.
Isaac cleared his throat from the door. Slightman looked to him.
“Um, sorry, but you can stop the Necromorphs. I should have mentioned it sooner, but if you shoot the limbs off, they bleed out and die.” Isaac said.
Slightman raised an eyebrow.
“And you know this why?” Slightman asked, curious.
“I survived the Ishumura.” He said.
Slightman kept his eyebrow raised. It was surprising to see such a quick thinking mind after his insanity.
Slightman raised his hands, and relented.
“Okay then, we’ll follow your limb cutting idea mate. But if we get killed, I’m riding your ass all the way to hell.” He said, getting up off the seat, and heading back to the storage room for his rifle.
Nancy moved into the now empty seat, and began moving the ship closer to the other shuttle. She initiated a duo link up, and the gravity tethers powered up and began pulling the two shuttles roof and floor together. As the process continued, Slightman and Leo moved under the emergency hatch on the roof, their RIG helmets pulled on, and raised their rifles at the circular indent. Isaac waited at the doors control panel, his helmet on as well, and waited until they locked. He held his Plasma Cutter by his side, gripping it firmly.
The ship shuddered as both vessels come together, and external pegs inserted into each other, forming a strong lock.
Isaac waited for a few seconds, and then released the hatch. Isaac raised his Cutter, and aimed at the open hole.
They couldn’t see anything looming over the hole. Slightman called out.
“Hello? Is there anyone in this shuttle?” He called.
Suddenly, a Contact Beam poked its long mussel through the hole. Isaac nearly fired a shot at the mining tool when he saw it. He had learned self restraint on the Planet Cracker.
A mans voice called down into the shuttle behind the Contact Beam.
“Yeah, there are survivors in here. Who the hell are you?” The unknown man asked.
Leo spoke up. “I’m Leonardo Laviquer, previously from the USM Valor. Are you from the Ishumura?” He asked. He kept his rifle steady.
“Yeah, we survived. I’m guessing you saw all that shit onboard then?” The unknown man said.
Everyone nodded.
“Well, I guess you can’t be all that bad then.” The man said. The Contact Beam retracted, and the marines lowered their rifles. Isaac moved up beside Leo and Slightman and looked up into the other shuttle. He saw three people looking down, one a young girl, and one with a stump for his right arm.
The man without an arm spoke.
“Thank God you found us. I’m Nathan McNeal.”
He was genuinely pleased to see them. Isaac felt the same way.
Chapter 10[]
Nathan was steadily lowered down to the other shuttle’s floor by Weller and Lexine. The man in the Engineering RIG grabbed his legs and helped lower him to the floor as well. The two marines stood to the side and began helping Weller down.
“Look, I don’t need help, I didn’t amputate myself, I’m fine!” He said as the shorter of the white clad men raised his armoured hands. Weller then dropped to the floor in a heap.
Nathan shook his head.
Old Gabe will never change. He thought. Even after a life changing escape he’ll still be a completely independent tough guy.
After Weller had lowered himself to the floor ungracefully, Nathan moved forward and raised his left hand up to Lexine. She carefully lowered herself into his arm, and then rapped her arms around his neck. Nate began to find it hard to breath.
“Ah, Lex, I can’t breathe…” He gasped.
Lexine gasped and loosened her grip on him, but not entirely.
“Sorry Nate.” She said. She smiled up at him with her small, pretty young face. They stood locked together for a moment, until Weller snapped them awake.
“Hey, lovebirds, get in here and meet the lot that saved our sorry asses!” He called out, making no attempt to hide his glee at embarrassing them. He had been ribbing both Nate and Lexine about their feelings since they left the Ishumura. Now he could spread some stories around this new group.
Nate sighed and shrugged Lexine off.
“Come on, better not keep them waiting.” He said, and turned around and walked into the now cramped cockpit with Lexine holding onto his remaining hand.
The man in the bigger Military RIG had taken his helmet off, and Nate could see he was an elderly man.
The mans greying hair was dull in the dim light.
The other marine and the Engineer had taken their helmets off too, and Nate saw a young man with pale, straw-like red hair and blue eyes looking at the new crew members. The Engineer had the most battered face out of all of them, and had a look of curiosity in his eyes. His shaven head was pitch black, and almost looked like he didn’t have any hair, it was so short.
There was also a young woman, slightly older than Lexine, with black hair standing next to the young marine.
Weller was next to the old marine with his arms crossed, looking at him.
When everyone was in the room, he sat down and looked at the new faces.
“Well, at least you’re human. I think we can keep you then.” He said, looking around at the assembled people. He then pointed at the Engineer.
“I just got here, and he seems to know more than anyone else here, so he can continue.” Slightman said.
Isaac blinked; surprised he was getting the spotlight. He then glanced around nervously, seeing the four faces looking to him for answers.
“Um, okay. Uh, I’m Isaac Clarke, an Engineer from the USG Kellion, and I have just survived thousands of Necromorphs.”
Weller butted in. “Necrowhat?” He asked.
Isaac replied slowly, forgetting he only knew their name. “The aliens, they’re called Necromorphs. Um, anyway, I managed to get off the ship, and found some of the Ishumura’s escape pods filled with more Necromorphs. Since then, I’ve picked up everyone else here.”
He waved over at the young marine and the woman, urging them to speak.
“I’m Leo Laviquer, and this is my wife, Nancy Laviquer from the USM Valor. The other marine is Sergeant Harry Slightman, also from the Valor. He just survived one of those things, but escaped.”
Isaac continued.
“Anyway, I found that the pods were gonna reach the Sprawl, so I shot them down with the ships ADS. So far we have killed, ah, Nancy?” He asked Nancy.
“We’ve gotten something like twenty now. Not long before they’re all gone.” She said.
Isaac nodded.
“Well, there you go, only about five more left.”
Nate stepped forward.
“Did you say you were from the Kellion?” He asked Isaac.
Isaac nodded.
Nathan continued.
“Well, when we left the Ishumura, we heard you calling the Planet Cracker, and we tried to warn you away from it. But it looks like our com is broken.” He said.
Weller spoke up.
“Yeah, it was probably one of the bastards that ripped the com off before we left. Couldn’t have asked for a more welcome leaving gift.” Weller said sarcastically.
Nathan shook his head again.
“Ah, this is Sergeant Gabe Weller, from Ishumura Security. I’m Nathan McNeal, a P-Sec Detective from Aegis VII Colony, and this is Lexine Murdoch, a Surveyor from Aegis VII as well.” Nathan said, pointing at each person in turn. Lexine gave a weak wave when she was mentioned.
Nate turned back to Isaac.
“I’m guessing you are heading to The Sprawl as well?” He asked.
Isaac nodded.
“Good, we were heading there ourselves. But we still have to stop, like, three more pods, right?” He asked.
Isaac nodded.
“How do you destroy the pods then?” He asked.
As he said that, the control board began flashing. Isaac turned around and looked at the holo-screen and saw on the radar a pinpoint of light.
He turned back to Nathan and urged the new members forward.
“Here, I’ll show you.” He said.
Isaac ran a life signs scan of the pod, and when it returned negative, Isaac pulled a yolk to his left around. Outside the front window, Nate saw an ADS move around. Isaac took aim and fired full auto at the little sphere.
The plasma shots hit and rapidly dissolved the pod, destroying the small pieces of flesh Nate could just see before the pod disappeared.
Isaac turned around again to face them.
“We do that.” He replied.
The woman named Nancy flipped her note-book open and checked something. She smiled in delight.
“Isaac, I was wrong, we had one more left. That was the last one! You got em’ all!” She yelled. Isaac smiled and Leo grabbed Nancy around the waist, laughing.
Nate looked at Lexine and Weller, wondering what the commotion was about.
Isaac saw their puzzled looks and told them what was going on.
“The Ishumura had around fifty escape pods, and the pods we were destroying, they were heading towards The Sprawl, but the other half that was launched on the other side of the Ishumura were heading towards a sun, so they wouldn’t last long.” Isaac said.
Nate nodded in acceptance. Lexine did too, and gave Nate’s hand a squeeze. Weller nodded in satisfaction, a smile on his face.
Isaac turned back into his chair and checked the map.
“Well everyone, only three hours till we reach the Sprawl’s system, and then we can all go home!” Isaac said.
Nate nodded. The nightmare had ended. They were free. No more Necromorphs, and no more Markers.
PART 2: BLOODSHED[]
Chapter 11[]
Captain Rufus Yalak ran with the rest of his squad down the bright, empty hallway of the Guardian ship, Hercules. He was heading to the docking bay to help bring in two shuttles they had picked up. They said they were survivors from Aegis VII. What they survived from, Rufus didn’t know.
“Hey, didn’t we send the Kellion to Aegis? What happened to them?” Asked one of Rufus’ squad mates, Jonathan.
Rufus shrugged as he moved in synch with his team at the head of the triangular formation.
“Haven’t got a clue, Jono, but it’s what we’re here to find out.” He replied.
He stopped at the large door leading into the bay, and raised a clenched fist, signalling to stop. He listened closely, and hearing no gunfire, opened the door.
He still had to be careful that it wasn’t a Pirate sneakattack.
The squad moved silently into the massive docking bay, bringing their Pulse Rifles around in a sweep, checking for enemies. They kept moving carefully forward towards the two shuttles linked together hovering between platforms two and three. Rufus moved to the door facing platform three, raising his open hand at the squad to wait. Three men walked back to avoid any possible grenade blast’s.
Rufus knocked firmly on the lower shuttles door firmly. He then stepped back quickly, raising his Custom Splinter Rifle at the door.
Five seconds ticked by, and then the door lid up. A middle aged man with black hair and a Security Officers uniform stood in the door frame. He held a lowered P-Sec Pistol. The man gasped at the five Rifles raised and aimed at his head.
“Well.” He said in a slight British accent. “That’s a welcome.” He dropped his Pistol to the floor, and raised his open hands to shoulder height. The pistol clattered down and slid down the ramp. Rufus raised a foot and stopped it continuing.
“What’s your name?” Rufus barked at the man.
The Security man, still holding his hands up, replied firmly.
“Sergeant Gabe Weller, USG Ishumura Security. Can I ask who you are?” He asked sarcastically.
Rufus moved forward, still keeping his Rifle locked in the nook of his arm, his expression still rock solid. He ignored the remark and continued into the shuttle.
“How many do you have onboard?” He asked, sweeping his Rifle along the small desk and seats to his right.
“Seven, there’s seven onboard.” Weller replied, quickly checking off the numbers in his head.
Rufus shuffled forward into the main cabin, pointing his rifle down into the cockpits door. There were six people looking out at him. They all had some form of weapon raised up at him. When they saw him, however, they lowered them instantly.
Rufus blinked, surprised at the collection of fire power the shuttle’s crew had, yet they didn’t fire when they saw him. These weren’t pirates then, but they were cautious about their safety.
Rufus raised his left hand and waved two of his members in. The two men in their Red Maximum Security RIG armour moved past Weller and formed a covering fire formation just behind Rufus.
Rufus lowered his hand with his thumb out, the signal that they weren’t hostile.
The other two members of his squad lowered their weapons.
One man in a civilian RIG moved off the Pilot’s seat and walked up to Rufus, leaving his Splinter Rifle behind. He was missing his right hand.
Now Rufus knew they weren’t hostile.
He nodded at Rufus, signifying that he was happy to be there.
“Jesus, are we glad you picked us up. We’re from Aegis VII.” Nathan said.
Rufus nodded.
“Aegis, eh? Okay, listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but the captain wants to speak to you lot, and she doesn’t have a lot of time on her hands, so, let’s get going.”
One of the younger men spoke up. He was in some marine armour.
“Nice to meet you too.” He said.
Rufus gestured for his squad to give the crew some space to get out. He then moved the rest of his team to circle the shuttle’s inhabitants as they were escorted to the Bridge.
As the motley group trudged down the ramp, Rufus’s men followed them. They were still carrying their weapons. Rufus walked up to an Engineer carrying a Plasma Cutter and raised a hand.
“Sir, we ask that your crew leave your, uh, weapons onboard. Having them around would have some of my men a bit anxious. We don’t want that now, do we?” He said.
Isaac was a bit startled by the attention, but he turned back to the group.
“Guy’s, let’s put our weapons away for now, okay?” He said. He didn’t sound very confident, like he wasn’t one for attention. The two marines and a man without his right arm threw their weapons back inside the shuttle. The rest just placed the pistols on their belts. Isaac did the same with his Plasma Cutter.
Rufus sighed and, knowing he couldn’t get them to drop their side arms, turned and walked off. His squad formed a protective circle around the group as they moved in time with Rufus. The group shuffled along with them.
***
Isaac glanced at the rest of the group that circled around him as they glanced around the new ship. They weren’t used to so much life and cleanliness inside its corridors. Isaac felt the same.
He saw Nathan and Lexine walking together, hand in hand at the front. He also saw Nancy and Leo doing the same in behind them.
Weller and Slightman were walking side by side, looking around the large Military vessel in suspicion. They had gotten on well during their short time together. They had both fought in the Resource Wars and had tactical minds.
But Isaac walked alone, at the centre of the group, not a scared civilian, not a solder, just a man, feeling alone and scared about the past.
And worried about the future.
He had lost the one person he could have walked side by side with long ago.
Isaac sighed. He didn’t need to tear open old wounds again. They had survived, and that was what mattered. If Nicole hadn’t survived, then he would have to deal with that.
The apparent Squad leader turned his head slightly back towards Isaac. He seemed to recognise him somehow.
“You know, I wondered what had happened to the Kellion after you left. But I see Hammond didn’t come. What gives?” He asked.
Isaac bowed his head at the mention of Zach Hammond’s name. He was a good leader and friend to Isaac.
“He was killed while helping me. I couldn’t do anything to save him. I’m sorry.” Isaac said solemnly.
The squad leader shook his head.
“Ah, Zach. You stupid son of a bitch.” He said quietly. He then turned back to Isaac. “What killed him, a faulty wire, a malfunctioning door, what?” He asked forcefully.
Isaac blinked.
“Ah, I think you had better wait till we get to the bridge and talk to the Captain. Everything will become clear then.” He said.
The man turned back to facing the front, confused at Isaac’s words.
They had reached an elevators door. The leader raised an open hand to his squad. They then broke rank and moved back the way they had come. The man then opened the elevator’s door and urged Nathan and Weller, their unofficial leaders, and the rest in. They all pushed themselves into the elevators cramped confines.
As the elevator moved up slowly, Leo suddenly began to breathe heavily. Isaac looked over to him, and he saw Nancy massaging his shoulders.
She saw his inquisitive look and said, “He isn’t a fan of close spaces.”
Isaac nodded and turned back. Soon after, the doors opened again, and they filled out into the middle of the spacey Bridge. The large orange holo-screens encircled the centre of the Bridge. Two more Security Guards were guarding the elevator’s door, and moved off after they had all gotten out. The squad leader directed them to the front of the Bridge, pointing to an old woman standing at attention, facing the small group.
Isaac knew how she was. He had met her before he had left on the Kellion.
She was Captain Johan Wilard. Probably the balliest Captain in the universe.
The group walked forward, and but only Leo and Slightman saluted when they were in front of her.
Johan nodded her approval.
“Well, you are so called survivors from Aegis VII colony, are you?” She said in a clipped voice, beginning to pace in front of the assembled group. Her greying hair bobbed up and down; loose from the constant changing in gravity on the ship.
“What, may I ask, did your group survive from? Aegis is and will remain to be a Pirate free zone, so I doubt raiding. The Ishumura is too heavily equipped to not be in danger from meteors, so what have you encountered that decimated both the colony and the ships Ishumura and Valor?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as she listed the possible ways they could become survivors.
Weller stepped forward. He was going to take charge on this one.
“Ma’am, on the colony, another Marker was found, a Red one, and after it was extracted, a hostile alien life form began infecting humans and killed everyone. Eventually, the aliens made it onboard the Ishumura and killed everyone. I and some others made it onboard and escaped, but then Isaac here rescued us when our engine failed. I think Isaac can continue from here.” Weller said, and waved his hands at the stunned Engineer.
Isaac walked forward, and realised that the others looked to him for information. Sure he was smart, but he wasn’t that smart. He went on anyway.
“Somehow a distress beacon was launched and, well, you know the rest. Zach Hammond’s team from the Kellion was sent to fix the ship, me along with them, and we were attacked by the aliens. These aliens are called Necromorphs, and all of us have seen them in action, and it is not a pretty sight.” Isaac said. He realised he had a newfound power with his knowledge, something he had never really had before. He didn’t like the feeling.
The Captain creased her brow, unbelieving.
“Aliens, you say. Do you have any proof of these aliens?” She asked.
Nathan steeped forward and waved his stump of an arm around.
“Admiral, do you think this is enough? I mean, I wouldn’t have done this myself, would I? And, I’ve got this…” Nate pulled a small holo-viewer from his belt and passed it to Johan.
She opened it while the curious Bridge staff stopped work to watch the possible alien video. Those who could see saw the camera bobbing up and down, most likely a person running. The person turned around at a sound and found a Leaper Necromorph, with it’s tiger like face ripped open to accommodate long fangs, jumping at them.
The Leaper began mauling the persons face, and then leaped off and swung its long, blade tipped tail down into the person’s body, killing the unlucky person and ending the video log.
Johan closed the holo-viewer and passed it back to Nathan. She rubbed her temples slowly, and then looked back at Isaac.
“So you escaped the infection. But what of these, uh, Necromorphs? What happened to them?” She asked.
Isaac held up a finger.
“Well, I managed to stop their controlling mind, some sort of Hive Mind, like a queen bee, and then escaped Aegis as the chunk of earth the Ishumura was carrying, most likely destroying the planet and the Planet Cracker in the explosion. But, after I left, I found some escape pods with more Necromorphs inside. I checked and found the pods were heading here, to The Sprawl. I managed to start destroying the pods and found everyone else here along the way. Hopefully, we got all of the pods. So, we should be safe and sound.” Isaac concluded.
Johan raised an eyebrow again.
“So, your all heroes, are you?” She asked sarcastically.
Isaac rubbed his elbows.
“Ah, no, ma’am, we just tried to escape, and stop other people dying. That’s all. Hell, I’m just an Engineer.” He said.
The Captain huffed. She turned to the Squad Leader and said, “They’re all crazy. Too much time out on the colony. Rufus, take them to the Secure Holding Cells. Then call up a psyche from the planet and get these people treated. Do you have that?” She asked.
Rufus saluted and barked, “Yes ma’am!”
He then began pushing the group back to the elevator. As they were all being forced back, they started shouting in protest.
“Hey, what! You think I did this to myself?” Nathan called out, wriggling his stumped arm.
Leo joined in. “Come on, we’re from the Valor! Check our records; we were never on the planet! How can we go crazy on a planet I never stepped foot on! The things attacked us as well!” He called out.
But Isaac wasn’t yelling.
He was looking at a woman behind a console to his right. On screen was the Docking Bay, and he could see an Escape Pod being pulled in by Gravity Tethers. Isaac could see the pod rocking side to side in the stream of gravity, as if something inside was violently throwing itself against the pods walls. Isaac’s eyes widened in fear. He pushed passed Rufus quickly and charged to the woman at the desk. Rufus called back to him, but Isaac didn’t slow. He reached the woman’s console and shouted out to Johan.
“If you want to survive the next three hours, I suggest you come here right now!” He yelled to the entire Bridge. Everything stopped, all noise ceased, and all eyes followed Isaac’s finger to the hologram.
Johan walked calmly to Isaac, obviously annoyed he was still there.
“Do you know what that is? It is hell, and it will rip everyone down on that Docking bay if you don’t let me and the rest of us go down there now and save your sorry asses. Do you understand me?” He yelled so everyone on the Bridge could hear him.
Johan nodded and then spoke calmly to Isaac.
“Yes, I know what that is, but I will not let some crazy bastard down there unless I have full proof that there is anything dangerous inside that pod!”
Just then, on the screen, the pod came to a stop, and the gravity tethers pulled away. Three men in working overall RIGs moved closer to the rocking pod, and, suddenly, the pods door flew away from it’s body into the Docking bays main camera. Static only remained on-screen.
Isaac looked at the woman behind the hologram quickly.
“Can you get some audio from down there?” He asked her.
Her woman looked at Johan questioningly. The Captain nodded grudgedingly. The woman turned back to her desk and found the Docking Bay’s audio output. She linked it into the Bridge’s speakers. And out of those speakers came bloodcurdling screams of pain and terror. And behind those screams were loud animalistic growls and screeches, and a distant, ringing peel of maniacal laughter. It was a woman laughing.
Chapter 12[]
Johan spun to Isaac.
“Okay, you can go down there with your group and stop this thing, but then I want its body brought back up here, got it? Otherwise I’ll have you in a Psyche ward for the rest of your lives.” She said. She waved them off with her hand.
Isaac and the group ran back to the elevator. Rufus followed them.
“Can some more join the party?” He asked with a grin. He had obviously found this attack something worth his time for once in along while.
Isaac nodded, but was reluctant.
“Hey, your funeral.” Isaac said.
Rufus saw the concern in Isaac’s eyes, and his grin broke.
They jumped out of the elevator, eager to get to the Docking Bay before the Necromorphs killed anyone else.
The rest of Rufus’ squad were still waiting for them down the corridor. They saw the group running, and raised their weapons, expecting the worst. Rufus held up his hands and signalled for them to follow.
Nathan called out to everyone as they neared the Docking Bay’s doors.
“Everyone, remember, the only way to kill these things is to dismember them, cut their limbs clean off. When they bleed out and you are sure they can’t do anything else, stomp on them and crush their bodies so they don’t come back!”Nathan emphasised the last words clearly. No one questioned the limbless man.
He then opened the doors, and raised his standard Security Pistol, peeking around the corner into the now dim bay. He could smell the stench of blood and piss everywhere.
Isaac could smell the same wafting through the door. He gripped his Plasma Cutter tightly.
Rufus and his squad spread out first, charging up their Glow Worm lights. Isaac, Nathan and Weller followed behind with their Pistols and Plasma Cutters drawn.
Isaac’s Plasma Cutter had a standard light attached to the front, so he projected the beam around though the dim interior. The Security Officers did the same with their Pulse Rifles.
Isaac searched for where the escape pod lay. He found it quickly. The blood made it easy to find.
There was crimson everywhere around the pod, making a gory emblem of death on the ground with some spray reaching the shuttles the group had come in on.
One of the Security Members threw up at the sight. Another member helped him move back. Rufus and Isaac swung their lights around the base of the pod, looking for bodies. Nathan and Weller moved forward cautiously, searching for any signs of the creatures.
There were no bodies. At least, there weren’t anymore. Weller pointed down to four sets of footprints amongst the blood splatters on the floor.
Isaac grimaced. Somehow, an Infector and some other Necromorph had made it onto that pod. And now, there were at least five Necromorphs running around the ship, probably in the air vents again. That was their usual mode of transport.
There was a sudden rustle on the roof of their shuttle.
Isaac swung his Plasma Cutter towards the sound and saw a Slasher standing surprised on top, glaring down with orange eyes at the new welcoming gift of fresh meat. The Security Officers raised their weapons at the foul monster.
It leaped off of the shuttle, it’s pale, shrivelled legs carrying more force than one would assume, and collided into one Security Guard.
Rufus called for everyone to stand down. The Officer was in the way of fire.
The woman began screaming as the Slasher reared its split head and plunged it’s fangs into her armoured neck. The fangs punctured right through as if the material was paper.
The Necromorph began shaking its head savagely, twisting the woman around with it, like a horrible hell dog with a chunk of meat trying to get as much blood out of it as possible. The woman screamed in agony and terror.
Isaac aimed his Plasma Cutter and fired one clean shot into the Slashers left shoulder scythe, directly under the appendages bend. The appendage flew away from its host, along with a spray of blood flying behind it, trying to catch the lost limb.
The Necromorph pulled its head away from the woman to give a howl. It then dropped the woman on the floor and bolted for its attacker. Its other shoulder scythe swung madly in front of it, trying to reach Isaac’s flesh. The tiny arms that reached out from the creature’s chest scrabbled forward as well, trying to snatch a piece of Isaac.
Weller and Nate then opened fire with their Pistols, and managed to shred through the creatures legs with the small firearm’s auto fire, collapsing the beast right in front of Isaac’s feet, blood flowing freely from its wounds, beginning to pool underneath it. The creature managed to just look at Isaac and hiss a final attempt to show its hate for Isaac. It then dropped its head heavily with a crunch into the increasing pool of blood. It moved no more.
Isaac moved forward after five seconds, took a breath, and raised his foot into the air, and slammed it down onto the creature’s spine, snapping it completely.
Isaac didn’t blink while he did it. He’d done it too many times before. That’s why he took a while to do it again.
The woman who was bitten was crying and sobbing hysterically, blood was flowing down over her Security armour, deepening the red colour further.
The teams Medic rushed over to him, bringing a triple cylinder Repair-med from his belt, and pulled all of their caps off. It was a triple strength Med, meant for the worst of wound injuries. The medic rested the woman’s head in his lap and managed to get her to gulp each cylinder down her throat. When they were all empty, he gave the woman some time.
Rufus turned to Nathan and Isaac, who were looking down at the thing.
“What the hell was that! Was it one of those Necromorphs you were talking about?! How did you kill it?” He exploded.
Isaac raised his arms after he had reloaded the Plasma Cutter.
“Yes, that was a Necromorph, one I call a Slasher for obvious reasons, and you kill them by cutting their limbs off. I told you as we were coming down here, but neither you nor your men listened to the tip I gave you, and one of them nearly died. Good work, dickhead.” Isaac replied vehemently.
Rufus growled.
Nathan shook his head and stepped in between the two men.
“Look, we killed one of these things, but now there are at least four more in the ship. We have to focus on keeping others alive. It won’t help if we argue amongst ourselves, will it?” He said.
Isaac looked at Nathan, and his missing arm, and nodded. Nathan then looked to Rufus.
“Rufus, can you communicate with the Bridge?” He asked. Rufus nodded.
“Good, call them now and ask them to send out a message to everyone onboard that they have to stay away from the air vents, now! Also, tell them that if they find hostiles, use anything to cut their limbs off, got it?” He continued.
Rufus nodded again and turned his back away from Isaac to deliver the message.
Weller then turned towards everyone else in the Bay. He had heard the talk, and was going to prep them for the fight to come.
“Okay, everyone, we are hunting a dangerous and violent enemy. I want you all to remain calm, and remember these few things. Keep away from as many air vents as possible, and when you do see a Necromorph, shoot their limbs clean off. Do not wait for back-up, and do not wait to be told to fire, you have to take these things down before they get the chance to take you down. We have four hostiles now, but that number can easily rise. Let’s move!” He called out.
He headed towards the doors again, head of the group. Nathan and Leo followed by Isaac’s side. Rufus hurried behind to catch up. He was still talking to the Bridge.
When they entered the corridor again, the lights were out. People brought their Glow Worms out again and began charging them.
Isaac swung his Plasma Cutter’s beam of light around slowly to check the coast was clear. He nodded to Nathan, and he waved the group forward.
Rufus moved up next to Isaac.
“I wondered why you kept a Plasma Cutter as a weapon. Sorta seemed stupid to me, but now I know why.” He admitted quietly.
Isaac nodded. “Everyone else thought so as well.” Isaac admitted.
The speakers around the ship then crackled to life. A calm speaking woman spoke from them. Almost everyone jumped.
“Attention, attention everyone. This is a level one emergency. Hostiles have boarded the ship and are alien, I repeat, they are alien. The aliens are extremely aggressive and travel around in the Air Vents. Stay away from Air Vents. If you are attacked by aliens, remain calm and fire at their limbs. Body shots do not damage them. Try and find others to form a party with and make your way to the Bridge or the Mess Hall. Stay safe. That is all.” The woman finished.
Isaac continued moving forward. Weller asked Rufus where most people were today.
“Well, it’s the weekend, so most would be in the lounge or themes Hall. The lounge is below the Bridge. But they don’t have any elevators there, so I suggest going there to help others. There are lots of Air Vents there, and not many weapons lockers nearby.” Rufus replied.
Weller nodded, and urged him to lead them there.
After fifteen minutes of twist’s and turns into the bowels of the ship without incident, Rufus slowed as he reached a large door at the end of a corridor. He urged Isaac closer, and he moved up. He seemed to think Isaac as the leader.
Leo and Nathan followed closely behind them, then Weller, their weapons raised.
Isaac placed his helmeted head against the door and tried to hear anything, using the RIGs Sound Detectors to enhance the sound. He didn’t hear anything. He nodded to Rufus.
Rufus raised three fingers to the rest of the group, and counted down. When he clenched his hand into a fist, he opened the door.
He was greeted by a small green chair, thrown from a young man behind an overturned sofa. Rufus fell to the ground with a grunt, the chair lying on his chest.
The man who threw the chair had a small metal pole in his hand and a wild look on his face. He was dribbling slightly at the corner of his mouth and he didn’t have a shirt on.
“Hey, hey, whoa!” Nathan called out. He raised an empty hand up at the man. He was the educated in violent attacks like this. “We’re not going to hurt you; we’re here to get you out of here.” He said. We walked slowly into the room, his empty hand still raised.
A woman poked her head from behind the sofa. She had wild red hair flung about her face and down her bare neck. She reached up and touched the man’s arm.
“Steve, it’s okay, they won’t hurt us.” She looked at Nathan, and then at Rufus.
“Sorry about that, Stevens jumpy. And thanks for coming for us. We heard the announcement, and decided to wait here.” She said.
Isaac looked around the room, and seeing no one else there, he realised the man and woman were alone.
“There’s no one else here? Why?” He asked the girl.
The girl looked up at the shirtless man, and then grinned sheepishly.
“Ah, let’s say the sofa was like this before the attack…” She said, and then raised a pink bra and waved it a little bit.
Isaac blinked in surprise, and then turned around as a large red alarm light went off. Klaxons were also going off. A robotically woman’s voice spoke over the speakers.
“Escape Pods readied for launch. Make sure all members are onboard before launch procedure begins. Thank you.” The woman finished.
Weller looked to Rufus, who climbed to his feet.
“Rufus, call the Bridge and see if they set up the Escape Pod launch. Tell me if they didn’t.” He told him. Rufus nodded and turned his back again to make the call.
Nathan asked five of the Squad to escort the two people to themes Hall. They hurried in and pushed the two embarrassed people out.
Rufus turned back to Weller. He was alarmed.
“Well, they didn’t order the launch. It was initiated down at the Launch Bay. It’s someone down there. And they also say there is no life sign’s in those pods. Looks like those things are in the pods.” Rufus said.
Everyone groaned.
“Shit…” Isaac muttered.
Chapter 13[]
Oliver sneezed into his news sheet. The hologram flickered as the bits of snot and spittle flew through the projection of light.
Oh, great! He thought. My allergy is already picking up. And I’m not even in Gater City yet. God, the smell must be expanding…
Oliver was onboard alone on of the underwater Transit Trains to Gater City on a business trip, but he always had a terrible cold when he got there. It was apparently something in the industrial air there. Oliver just thought it was karma. He was a shady lawyer after all.
Oliver looked out of the small window in front of him. He could see a wash of blue-green outside, the Central Sea in all its polluted glory.
The Sprawl planet was one of the largest life-supporting planets in existence, but that was only because of its massive ocean that ran across the equator. The rest of the planet was two continents on each pole of the planet, and some very small islands along the coast. After the massive industrial change on the planet, however, the sea had grown polluted.
Each continent had one massive city that ringed their respective continents coast, forming a metropolitan wonder that had no end or beginning, only the coast and the wild icy wastelands surrounding them. Oliver was heading to the northern city, Gater, to find information to back up a client. But, he had to do it in person. And at a certain time too.
I’ll never fuckin’ get there in time if this damned tram doesn’t go faster! I’m on a schedule, damnit!
Then, the train stopped completely. And the lights went out.
Oliver grumbled in frustration and slapped his legs.
“Great! I’m late, I’ll lose my client, and now I’m alone on a pitch black carriage! What could go fucking worse?!” He asked himself out loud.
Suddenly, something slammed hard into the side of the carriage in front of him. Oliver jumped at the sound.
“What the hell?” He muttered. He moved forward towards the emergency door that let to the next carriage. Oliver tried to peek through the small window in the door, but he couldn’t see anything, all the lights where out in that carriage as well.
As Oliver continued to look, he heard something. It sounded like screaming, but he couldn’t be sure.
Then a face slammed into the window. Oliver jumped back, alarmed.
“Shit!” He yelled.
The face had been ripped in half, the flesh split down the middle, like a butcher had decided he didn’t like the mans face and had sliced it open.
The face slid to the ground slowly, the blood sticking to the window. Oliver began moving backwards slowly. He could hear snarling behind that door.
Oliver began to whimper. The snarling stopped abruptly, hearing the sound.
Then, the glass window shattered apart as a large thing climbed through.
Oliver couldn’t see the thing, only a slight shadow, but he still knew it was dangerous, so he turned and ran. He ran as fast as he could to the other side of the carriage, a desperate attempt to flee the terror.
“Shit! Shit!” He screamed, running full pelt. And then he ran straight into the door.
Oliver fell backwards, blood flowing from a broken nose. But he lay there, still as could be.
Maybe, Oliver thought, If the thing thinks I’m dead, It’ll leave me be!
But, the lights came back on. And the thing was staring down at Oliver, blood dripping from its twisted, brown fangs.
The com speaker spluttered to life.
“We are sorry about that inconvenience, there was a small electrical problem, but we are now on our way to Gater City. We hope you have a pleasant time with us, and have a safe trip in Gater City.” The conductor said cheerfully.
Oliver stared up at the Necromorph, and managed to utter three short words.
“Fuck me God…”
Then the Slasher brought its scythe down through Oliver’s head.
***
Nurse Alicia moved forward through the Gater General Hospital towards the Baby Wing. She passed a window looking out to the massive city outside, and saw the dim afternoon sky darken with storm clouds.
It’s probably going to rain when I leave tonight. She smiled. She had learnt Murphy’s Law well from her dad.
She continued past the window, and headed through a door to Baby Observation. She suddenly entered a completely silent world, the only sound being her little patter of footsteps and her short breaths. Alicia had always liked the calm and quietness of the Baby Wing. And as she neared the Observation room, she looked forward to the sight she relished.
Alicia looked in through a glass window into the large room filled with small, growth-bacteria tubes sitting on short legs. Inside the green liquid filled tubes bobbed tiny babies, resting calmly as the bacteria helped grow the child’s body quickly and grew its immune system rapidly. Alicia smiled as one baby turned towards her direction with a peaceful, happy expression on its face, and continued bobbing around in a carousel dance.
Alice opened the door to the Observation room, and moved through the numerical Tubes towards Number 343.
A scanner had found that the Babies heart rate had spiked, and it wasn’t on schedule with the bacteria growth spikes that occurred when a baby grew and blood pumped eagerly to the new areas.
Alicia came towards the pod, and looked at it closely. She couldn’t see the baby, but the pod was as long as her arm, and it could be on the other side of the pod, in its green, murky depths. She checked the top of the pod’s metal data panel, and tapped one holographic panel. The bio monitor appeared in front of her, and she checked the baby’s heart rate. She blinked.
There wasn’t one. The orange screen displayed a Cardiac Monitor that displayed zero bpm. Alicia gasped, and bobbed down to the glass screen, and peered into the pods depths, looking for the small, lifeless body. She waited for five minutes, just staring at the pod. She then slowly rose up, and tapped another button on the pod’s metal top. The computer gave a small chirp, and began a thermal scan of the pods contents. The information was pulled onscreen, and Alicia stared at the coloured picture. The entire image was a deep blue colour, indicating no heat what so ever in the pod. There was no baby inside.
Alicia glanced around quickly in the large room. She saw nothing move in the dim green light. She then moved slowly around the pod, looking for any signs of entry or exit. She found none, but she did spot a small drop of blood fall in front of her after the second go around. She glanced up, and saw an Air Vent above. And peering down through the vents grates were two large, yellowy-green eyes. Alicia’s eyes widened and she stepped back as fast as she could from the vent. As soon as she did, the grates buckled forward and fell down to the floor, bouncing off the empty pod. Alicia screamed as a distorted baby fell down after it, spinning before it landed on the ground with a wet slap. It glared up at Alicia with its massive eyes, and screeched, an unholy sound that made Alicia empty her bowels instantly.
She whipped around away from the evil baby, and began running for the open door. But she didn’t make it far when she felt a white hot spear fly into the middle of her back. She stumbled forward grabbed at the pain. She turned to the baby, and saw three long tentacles erupt from its shredded back. The tips of its tentacles were massive barbs, and they were glowing from their base. Alicia pulled her hand back, and saw it covered in blood. Her own blood. She looked back up at the baby as it flung its tentacles forward at Alicia, and three barbs erupted from a blast of gas off the tips of those tentacles, heading straight at Alicia. She held up her arms, trying to protect herself in vain as the burning pieces of bone ripped through her arm and stomach.
Alicia collapsed to the floor, her vision fading as she began to black out from the creatures venom. As her sight receded into black, she saw five bat-like things crawl through the open vent on their bellies, and glided down on top of more baby pods. Alicia fainted as the Necromorph scuttled towards her, intent on completing the job.
***
Reily grabbed Adrian by the hips, and pulled him closer to her body. She pushed her face onto his, and began kissing feverishly. Adrian did the same, but he was groping around her back for her bra strap. He was more interested in those than Reily.
Reily, intent to be playful, jumped up and hooked her legs around Adrian. He had to then move his hands down to grab her legs or risk dropping her.
Reily stopped kissing him for a second as he walked towards the bed, taking a breath.
“Adrian,” She panted, “Do you love me?” She asked.
Adrian lifted his head away from her neck to look at his College fling. He cracked a half smile.
“Of corse I do, sweetie. Why wouldn’t I?” He asked.
Reily grinned.
“Well, I thought you would either love me or,” She pulled her top off, revealing a silk black bra. “These.” She finished with a smile.
Adrian dropped her onto the bed, and pulled his shirt off.
“You know, it’s so hard to choose, but I think I love the whole package, baby.”
Reily giggled as he lowered himself back into her chest, growling.
Then, she heard a bang from outside their room. Reily looked up, past Adrian, who was beginning to move his hand back to her bra strap.
“Adrian, did you hear that?” She asked quietly.
Adrian looked up, a bit annoyed at the interruption.
“Hear what, Reily?” He said.
Reily pointed to the door leading to their living room.
“I heard something crash outside. I think it might be a robber or something, maybe a loose schoolie. It is the end of term.” She said quietly, not wanting to give them away.
Adrian rolled her eyes.
“Look, baby, I locked the door when I got in, and we’re on the centre section of the building, so there wouldn’t be anyone climbing through windows, so no one is in here besides us!” He said loudly.
Reily didn’t look convinced. Adrian sighed and got off her, and headed towards the door.
“Look, I’ll open the door, and no one will be outside!” Adrian said. We walked up to the door, placing his hand over the open button. He was still looking at Reily, how had sat up and was sitting with her feet crossed and wrapped her arms around her partially naked body. Adrian pressed the button, and turned around to see the door open.
“Look, there’s nothing…” Adrian stopped mid-sentence as he saw the large Necromorph looming above the short man in the door frame. Reily began to scream a high pitched squeal.
Adrain just stared at the creatures two long scythes that had burst out of human hands that now stood up from the creature’s shoulders, looking similar to the open mouth of a Saber-toothed cat. Adrian began to scream as one scythe swung down and sliced his head off.
Reily screamed even more as Adrian’s head spun off his shoulders and down next to the bed, spraying blood everywhere, even into Reily’s open, screaming mouth. His body fell down in a heap, dead. The Necromorph leaped over the body, heading straight towards Reily.
Reily continued to scream, even after the Slasher grabbed her head with the small little hands that had formed beside its torn open gut and thrust her head into its open bowels. Reily screamed with her mouth full of the once humans intestines as it swung both scythes down and skewered her, ripping through her body and out her chest, ripping her bra off.
Reily still screamed as the Necromorph pulled its scythes out and blood began to squirt out of her back and breasts, and began filling her lungs. Tears came to Reily’s eyes as she knew she was going to die. But the venom in the Slashers scythe’s kept her alive a while longer, letting her absorb the pain, letting the blood and tears flow for as long as possible.
And the Necromorph liked it.
***
Corporal Klive Owen brought his jacket over his shoulders as the torrential downpour continued. He had been assigned patrol duty near the Slums again, and his partner had taken off to be with his pregnant wife, who was going into labour.
Ah, I’ll let it slide. He need’s to be with the girl and the kid. He thought.
Anyway, apart from the cold, the Slums weren’t rife with law breakers. In fact, Klive hadn’t seen anyone come in from this District for two months. For a badly named part of the city, it was quite peaceful. Klive looked out down the short pedestrian only street to the Shopping District. He realised that it was his girlfriend’s birthday in a week’s time, and he knew about this new Holo Vid that she was itching to watch.
It was a Chick Flick, but Suzane wanted it, and Klive was looking to propose soon, so it would be a good treat for her.
Klive looked around the area again shortly, and began to move off the Holo Shack.
But before he even stepped foot in the District, he heard distant cries for help behind him.
Klive sighed. It probabley isn’t much, probably a cat in a pipe or something minor. He thought. It wouldn’t take to long.
So, Klive turned around instantly and trudged towards where the plea for help came from. He moved swiftly through the rain, dodging puddles where he could. He heard another yell for help down a side street to his right. He couldn’t quite see to the other side of the street, but could see a slight shadow near the middle of it. Klive moved closer, and saw that there were two shadows.
It was a mugging.
Klive moved slowly towards the two people, pulling his concealed Pistol from under his jacket. As he closed in, the man calling for help grew quiet. And Klive saw the second shadow, the mugger, leaning forward towards the victim. Klive also saw the mans arms were oddly bent up and in front of him, and they were reaching down and jabbing at the victim. Klive began to become more confused. This wasn’t a normal mugging. Klive finally reached visual distance, and saw in alarm the mugger holding two blades above his head. The mugger was a murderer. But, why had he let the victim cry for help? He should have been gagged.
Then the horrible truth came clear to Klive as the murderer turned around at his slashing footsteps.
It was an alien, a grotesque, blood splattered alien with murderous eyes and a twisted body and face. It had a torn open lower torso, revealing its innards. Klive saw the two blades were firmly attached to the creatures arms that bent up from its shoulders.
Not wanting to stay and observe the Necromorph any longer, he ran back down the street, running as fast as he could in the wet, water filled street. Rain Water gushed out of an overflowing Drain Grate as Klive stepped back onto the main street. He glanced back down the short walkway, and didn’t see any shadows following him. He breathed many deep breaths, letting them fill his exhausted lungs.
As he breathed, one glowing eye glared at him from under the Drain Grate. Klive leaned forward to regain some strength, and then the Grabber lunged. The ripped open head spat out of the small drain, sending the metal grate flying away. Klive screamed as the wiggling head lunged at him with its mouth blade and stabbed him repetitively. As the Police Officer slowly died, his blood flowed down the Drain to the Grabbers ripped body, and it began sucking every last drop of the liquid.
***
Sqizzy looked up and down the street, keeping his eyes peeled for cops. The constant drizzle of rain made it hard for him to see properly, but he didn’t see any of their fluro-red vests they always wore, so he grabbed a syringe from out of one of his many hidden pockets, and quickly jabbed his arm with it. He pushed the clear blue liquid down into his arm, and grinned as the dizzy sensation took over. When all of the Gravity Lick had been injected, Squizzy threw the syringe down the back street he was standing in front of.
As he looked to where the long, empty cylinder dropped, watching it slow as the drugs effects kicked in, he smiled as a slash of rainbows erupted from the syringe as it hit the ground.
Squizzy looked up and saw someone looking at him further down the street. The person looked fuzzy from the rain and drugs, but it looked like a person to Squizzy. Deciding he wanted company, Squiz stumbled forwards, trying to walk steadily with the Gravity Lick’s effect still playing havoc with his senses.
Squizzy called out to the person.
“Hey, you there, you fell like some zero-gee action, hey! I’ve got a spare if you’re interested! Hehe…” He giggled as the shape shifted and got up. It moved quickly towards him, and Squiz, being courteous, held the second syringe in front of him. The person ran towards him, aiming straight for his hand. Squiz could sorta see his hands bent up at the shoulders, but that was probably the drugs, he thought.
“Hey, I’m not going to take it away buddy, slow down!” He said as the person kept coming for him.
He didn’t slow down, and the bent limb-like thing Squizzy had seen swept forward and down on the arm he held out.
The arm disappeared, and Squiz looked at it the new stub, dumbfounded. A cascade of colours was flying away from it.
Squizzy just realised his hand had been chopped off when the Necromorph swung its scythe down again and stabbed him through the gut.
Squizzy felt strange, and began to giggle.
He continued giggling as he died, possibly the happiest man to know he died from a Necromorph…
Chapter 14[]
Leo bumped along with the shuttle as it flew down to Gater City through the planets atmosphere. He gripped his new Splinter Rifle in his hands tightly, knowing that all hell must have broken lose on the planet by now. There could easily be no one left if they were really unlucky. But Leo hoped that wasn’t the case. Be a pretty crappy rescue if there was no one to rescue.
Nancy was sitting next to him, and had wrapped her hand around his arm tightly, unwanting to let go. Leo let her be, enjoying the comfort.
The small shuttle holding Rufus’ Security Squad and the Aegis Survivor crew began its final decent into the rain drenched city of Gater, heading directly for the Military’s Shuttle Bay just outside the Housing district in the planets sprawling Metropolis.
As the shuttle swung itself around and faced the open hanger of the Shuttle Bay, Weller walked up to the front long ship and called for everyone’s attention.
“Okay everyone, we have confirmed attacks throughout the city, but they are mostly clustered in this district. We are getting major support from the Military here, and they have been told how to handle these things, but I am not going to kid you that this isn’t going to be dangerous, but if you all stay calm and keep together, we’ll all get out alive, do you hear me?” He finished.
Everyone in the shuttle shouted in response. Leo got up out of his seat and walked forward towards Weller. Isaac, Nathan, Rufus and Slightman also got up and moved up to their one of their De’Facto leader.
Weller turned and looked at the assembled men in front of him, and nodded. He then grabbed several Plasma Cutters he had left on a small bench and handed them around. Isaac didn’t need one.
“Sidearm.” He explained to everyone as Leo looked at the small cutting tool in wonder. “They seem to do more damage than our rifles do.”
Leo pulled a small leaver on the left side of the Cutter and the aiming mechanism slid into a horizontal position. Isaac noticed him do it.
“Yeah, that can be handy.” He said.
Leo nodded and slid the leaver back to its original position, and the Plasma Cutter changed back to its original shape. Leo slid the tool into
his belt, patting it comfortably.
Nathan spoke up as he hefted a large Contact Beam.
“I’d also like to point out that the bastards will most likely try to use the sewerage system to get around as well, so watch the drain pipes.” He told everyone.
The shuttle shuddered to a stop, signalling that they had landed. Rufus called for his Squad to get ready to exit. Nathan called everyone else out as well.
The door opened, and everyone calmly walked out into the bright Shuttle bay. A tall man in Military uniform greeted Nathan, Weller, Isaac and Rufus and urged them to the side. Other Marines and soldiers walked towards the group and asked everyone to synch their RIG’s.
Leo pulled his helmet off, and reached inside the curved interior, feeling for the small switch that sat on the helmets innards. He found it, and gave it a small flip with his gloved hand. The small electronics in the helmet began to search for other RIG’s in the vicinity, and linked themselves up.
Leo slid his helmet back on, and his Visor suddenly displayed a list of names to his right side. They were the rest of the team. Leo saw Nancy’s name pop up at the top of the list. He brought her stats up and saw she was fine.
Weller called everyone forward and told them they were to begin escorting groups of civilians out of their houses and to the shuttle bays.
They would go in groups of seven and would work at one building at a time.
“We will have full support from other roving Marine squads and Police force, but there aren’t many left. It’s a mess down here. We also have to move fast; apparently they’re spreading really quickly.” He said.
Everyone moved out, with the Security Squad following Rufus to the west side of the Shuttle bay and out the large security doors, and the Aegis survivors heading to the north. Leo walked at the back with Isaac, his Splinter Rifle resting in his arms.
The group moved down a short elevator and into the foyer. They moved past the empty help desks and through the open glass doors into the raining city streets.
Leo’s RIG found the rain was partially acidic, mostly from all the pollution in the Industrial District further east. Leo was glad he had a RIG on, but worried for Nancy and Lexine, who only had Civilian versions. He warned Nathan about the problem.
Nathan nodded, realising the problem, but he said, “Well be safer as a group. If we leave them both here, they could get hurt far worse than if they came with us. We can give them some Meds if they start to burn, but they should be fine.” He moved off into the rain towards the College housing building, their first target, not looking back, only to his sides, looking for danger.
Leo stood still for a few seconds, and then followed. He had a point. Anyway, he himself cared about Lexine.
He moved back in line with Isaac, and walked towards the College building, splashing through the flooded streets of the city.
When the group entered the housing building, they moved carefully around the empty foyer. Leo could smell blood, and his boots stuck to the floor slightly. There was a massacre here. He turned the smell filters on immediately.
Leo and Isaac moved towards the elevator and called it down. They raised their weapons into the opening carriage, but found nothing except a mutilated woman’s body.
Leo could hear the sounds of Isaac gagging, but he moved into the elevator anyway. He tried to push the body out, but the woman’s flesh seemed to have begun to fuse to the elevators wall.
Leo, uncomfortable, waited until everyone else had gotten in when he entered. He was slightly claustrophobic. That’s why he liked space so much. It was empty. And as a Marine he could protect people in the place he loved. It was a win-win situation.
Leo pressed himself into the corner of the elevator, moving as far away from the other side of the elevator as he could, trying to imagine it as being far away.
When the elevator stopped and Slightman and Nathan walked out, Leo pushed past them, taking large lung full of air as fast as he could. He didn’t care about any Necromorphs waiting for them, he just wanted out of that small block.
Nathan hurried in front of him, glancing down the hallway. He then hissed at Leo.
“What the hell are you doing?! There could’ve been twenty-something things in front of that elevator.”
Leo just grasped his legs and kept taking deep breaths. He then looked up at Nate and muttered. “Claustrophobic.”
Weller pushed past Nathan as he got back in the elevator. He was going up with Isaac and the girls to check the higher floors.
Weller had heard Leo.
“Yeah, well, I’m Homophobic. Get over yourself and find someone alive.” He said sternly. “I do not want to end my career as a failure.” He muttered.
Leo nodded and pulled himself up, ignoring Wellers comment. He raised his Rifle and aimed down the hallway. He noticed the lights were out on the level.
Slightman walked up to the front of the group and called down the hall in his deep voice.
“Hello! Is there anyone here! We are here to get anyone out of here!” He yelled at the top of his voice.
Leo heard some thumping coming from the level above. It sounded like a very heavy person running. He raised his Rifle to the roof, aiming at where he heard the sounds. Weller and Slightman did the same.
The sounds continued along. And further down the hall, Leo heard a shout.
“Help! Help us!”
The group moved forward, Nathan in the front with his Contact Beam swinging in front of him, unsupported. The large piece of machinery could fire a large laser part jackhammer beam, ideal for blowing Necromorphs up. Especially the larger ones he had heard about from Isaac. He certainly did not want to see a Brute around these small hallways.
They came to a small door to their left first up. The small sign next to it read LOUNGE. Leo raised an eyebrow. He thought about grabbing a Scotch from the bar before they left, but forgot about it when Weller opened the door.
Inside, several Slashers were ripping apart bodies. One extremely fat Slasher was picking up the small scraps of flesh that came flying off the poor victims with its mouth. It then turned to the now open door, and let out a scream of fury.
Leo gulped as the horde charged at them.
Chapter 15[]
Leo fired carefully at the incoming Slashers legs, snapping melting bones and toppling them to the ground in a heap as more collided into the fallen creature. They began screeching at each other as limbs pressed into one another.
Weller, however, called to everyone urgently.
“Do not shoot the fat ones body at all! Use your Statis Modules to slow it down and cut it up!” He yelled, and he raised his left arm, and ejected a field of electric blue energy on the round Slasher. The oncoming Necromorph slowed instantly, enveloped in the blue field. Leo unlimbered his Plasma Cutter from his hip, raised the tool and fired rapidly into the creatures legs, sending the creature slowly spinning backwards in its frozen world.
Slightman then fired at the creatures arm scythes carefully with his Splinter Rifle, the rounds exploding in a flash of white and gore as the collided, sending the appendages flying away, fragments of the Splinters ammo following.
The team then walked up to the pile of fallen, scrabbling Slashers on the floor.
“Well, its better we get rid of these things than leave them like this...” Slightman said.
He pulled a small grey orb from a clip on his belt, and pulled the spoon at the top of the orb.
It was a standard Fragmentation Grenade with enough power to create a five meter radius blast. Leo had forgotten to grab some before he escaped the Valor.
Slightman chucked the grenade into the centre of the mass of flesh. The three men then turned and ran for an over turned table. They jumped behind it as the grenade went off.
The blast lit up the darkened room with a quick white blast of light, showing the blood covered walls and ceilings previously darkened. A multitude of limbs flew away in a rain of gore and metal shards. The side of the table was pelted with small shards of metal as well, but the shards were stopped by the table.
When the men stopped hearing arms and legs flopping to the floor, they peeked around the side of the damaged table.
Where the pile of Slashers had been just five seconds ago, a black and brown mess of grenade fragments, Necromorph flesh and charred metal remained.
Leo glanced around the rest of the now shadowy room and saw about three Slashers still struggling to move.
Weller saw this pathetic act of struggle and aimed his P-Sec Pistol at the aliens. He fired rapid shots into each beasts remaining limbs and heads with precise aim and a determined stare.
The three men moved from behind the table and began moving to the door. Then the small radio at Weller’s belt cracked to life.
“Weller? Weller, come in, what the hell happened?” It was Isaac. He was whispering, like he was in danger.
Weller grabbed the radio and began talking into the small receiver.
“Sorry Isaac, just one of Slightmans parting gifts. He decided to use a grenade on a pile of Morphs. Nearly opened a hole in the floor. But we’re fine. How’s your end? Over.” Weller asked.
“Nothing yet, but we think we heard someone over to the, wait...” Isaac stopped talking, and the group could only hear his heavy breathing.
Then they heard a hollow howl, similar to a whales, except almost ghastly, not serein.
“Shit! Divider! Nancy, use that Shotgun! Guys, we’ll meet you on the bottom floor! Don’t worry about us; we’ll be fine, just keep looking! Oh, shit!” He yelled. Then the connection cut off.
Weller breathed heavily and then urged the group to move back out.
Leo breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his back on the bloody room and walked back into the hallway.
***
Rufus and Jonathan moved along the empty streets of the West side of the city. They hadn’t found anyone at all in the hospital, so they had moved out and began searching the streets in teams to kill any Necromorphs and to find survivors.
Rufus held his Splinter Rifle tightly, looking everywhere for any sign of movement. All he could see were flooded streets and never ending rainfall. The drains had been blocked by something, and the streets were badly flooded now. It made moving silently much harder now.
Suddenly Rufus felt a firm poke on his left shoulder.
He nearly jumped, and turned around to see Jonathan.
Rufus glared at him, wondering what it was.
Jonathan pointed silently to his right, down a side street filled with water and rubbish. He had seen something move.
Rufus strafed slowly down the empty, dead end street towards a large rubbish collector, water moving slowly away from his shuffling feet.
Jonathan followed behind him, his Rifle pointing behind them.
Rufus began to hear crying behind the collector. It was a woman.
A flash of lightning overhead illuminated her more clearly as Rufus moved forward. He saw a young blonde woman in a medical uniform sitting with her back against the container, flood water lapping against her submerged legs and pants. She was sobbing into her arm, and hadn’t noticed Rufus at all.
“Ma’am?” He asked quietly. The woman looked up and stopped crying. She had deep blue eyes with dark rings around them.
“Ma’am, we’re here to get you to safety. Do you know if there is anyone else around here that needs help?” He asked calmly, lowering his Rifle slightly.
The woman shook her head, and began crying again. She moved two fingers into her mouth and chewed on them slightly; trying to stop herself from making any more noise.
Rufus sighed and held out a leather gloved hand for her. She accepted it and Rufus helped her up.
“What’s your name, ma’am?” He asked.
The woman looked at Rufus sadly, and muttered through a burst of thunder, “Nicole. I’m Nicole…”
***
Weller swung his left foot forward and kicked the small bundle of flesh away down the hall. A dark stain remained on his boot though. He had to admit it was the first time he had drop-kicked a baby before. And not that hard, either.
The baby Necromorph bounced off the floor with a splash of crimson blood, and came to a stop further along. The creature raised itself on its torn intestines and turned back to Weller and snarled, releasing three long tentacles from under its clammy flesh. The tentacles had long barbs attached to the end.
Lexine moved forward and brought her Line Cutter up in front of her, and fired carefully at the creatures tentacles. A long blue line of plasma flew through the air from the Line Cutter and cleanly sliced the Lurkers appendages off. The Lurker screeched, and then collapsed onto its side, blood squirting from the severed tentacle stumps, but quickly cauterised from the plasma’s heat.
Weller nodded at Lexine, who hefted the Line Cutter onto her shoulder, and winked at him with a cheeky grin.
She’s a spunky girls, she is… Weller thought. And I think she’s enjoying this far too much. He admitted to himself.
The group was now in the schooling building, after the disastrous trip to the College residence buildings. Everyone had either fled or been killed there. So, Nathan decided to move out to the closest building.
And they had met a group of babies’ intent on stabbing them to death when they entered.
Weller raised his arm and wiped some sweat from his brow. Hacking through these things took its toll on him. He sure as hell wasn’t as young as he used to be.
Isaac and Leo moved past him further into the foyer. They had taken out the rest of the Lurker’s, and were moving into the Primary School section of the building. Most of the younger kids might be there, and that was everyone’s priority.
Weller followed behind Nathan, who still held onto the Contact Beam he had picked up back on the Ishumura.
Weller and Nathan had grown up together on the Sprawl, and were good friends. They had stayed friends during the Resource Wars that wracked the universe as basically every metal became a valuable resource.
Sometimes their beliefs and ideals got in the way, but they stood by each other. Weller also noticed Lexine, the young girl they’d found on Aegis, was becoming a firm friend with Nathan. Possibly a little bit more than a friend.
Lexine herself was carrying the Line Cutter mining tool she found in a small compartment in the college building.
The larger version of the Plasma Cutter was for bigger mining jobs, almost the first tool miners used to shape blocks of earth, and then the Plasma Cutter came in.
She seemed to like it, but still had to use the secondary fire. That was a piece of work. The Cutters secondary fire fired a timed energy grenade that destroyed sharp pieces of rock in caves and ravines while mining. Still, it worked at killing stuff as well.
Isaac slowed everyone down as they neared the door to the first Primary schooling room for kindergarteners. He opened it, and swung his Plasma Cutter forward.
He saw three children pushed back into the corner of the room, crying hysterically. And cornering them were five Slashers. And they were darker coloured Slashers, so they had a stronger exoskeleton covering their limbs.
Weller charged into the room without warning, yelling loudly and waving his arms around, trying to get the aliens attention away from the kids.
The Necromorphs heard him, and turned to the annoying thing that had interrupted their attack. Weller raised a hand and his middle finger at the creatures.
One of the middle Slashers roared and jumped towards him. It almost seemed as if it recognised the remark.
But the alien was hit in mid-air by a hail of Splinter Rifle bullets, thanks to Leo and Slightman. The creature was shredded into fleshy strips before it reached Weller. But most of its internal organs and fluids did hit him with loud wet slaps.
Weller spat some rancid smelling blood out of his mouth as the rest of the creatures came for him.
Lexine and Nancy crouched on the ground and aimed carefully at the creatures legs, and fired. The combined assault of lead bullets and Plasma bars ripped the rest of the Slashers legs off. They collapsed in front Weller. Weller brought his Plasma Cutter up and aimed at each ones shoulder blades, and expertly fired into each one, removing the mutated limbs. The Slashers growled, and then all died, their heads flopping to the floor.
Weller wiped the gore off his shoulders and arms vigorously, and moved over to Leo and Slightman.
“You know, I would’ve appreciated it if you had fired just a little bit sooner, you know?” He said sarcastically.
Slightman grinned. “What, and miss your wonderful makeover?” He said with a chuckle.
Leo snickered. Isaac walked past them.
”Come on, lets see if there’s anyone else around here.” He said as he walked by. Nancy and Lexine followed him, helping the crying children along, trying to comfort them.
Weller followed, with Nathan, Leo and Slightman behind him.
***
Lexine crouched slightly as she urged the small tanned boy forward. He was crying hysterically. The two girls Nancy was carrying were also crying. Lexine tried to comfort the boy, despite all the clearly visible blood smeared against the walls. There must have been a gruesome struggle here.
“No, no, don’t worry, we’re going to keep you save. What’s your name?” She asked him softly, cradling the poor boy as best as she could.
“I... I, I’m Sam.” The boy stammered. He continued crying, his face completely wet. Lexine’s eyes softened and she wrapped one arm around the little kid tightly.
Back on the Aegis colony, she had a miner boyfriend named Sam, but he had been shot dead when he extracted the Marker. Then her father disappeared, and Nate and Weller showed up. They saved her. And now she was saving these little children. Such an ironic, but good, circle.
Weller stopped in front of another door, leading to another Primary schooling classroom. Lexine could hear screaming from behind the door.
Isaac came forward and opened it, and saw three of the Necromorph variety he called Leapers crawling around the rooms walls. They had long tails behind them with a knife like end, and they crawled on two strong clawed hands around the room’s walls and ceiling.
The Leapers also had split jaws that had burst open to accommodate for their long canines that had emerged from its mouth.
Isaac began firing at the creatures arms, hoping to stop them from lunging at the five people trapped in the room. Nathan and Leo moved up next to him and began firing into the room.
The Leapers that had been moving over the walls fell in a splatter of blood to the floor as they lost their grip and limbs. Weller and Leo then moved further into the room and began shooting the creatures remaining limbs off.
Lexine and Nancy moved over to the other people cowering in the corner. They were teachers and some Secondary School students. They were bloodied and deathly scared.
Lexine moved the little boy over to one of the female teachers, who cradled his head in her lap.
Lexine then moved off into the fray, firing her Line Cutter as quickly as she could at the Necromorphs. She then heard a rattle above and behind her. She swung back and faced the ceiling. There was an Air Vent right above the huddled group of survivors. And it was being bent downwards by a growling force trying to break in.
“Move out of there!” Lexine yelled at the survivors, sweeping her hand over to the left, urging the huddle to move.
They noticed her, and slowly crawled away. Just in time, as the Air Vent split open and fell to the floor just where they had been sitting.
And then a Lurker fell down into the room, screeching madly, swinging its three tentacles around wildly. Lexine, facing the side of the mutant baby, fired her Cutter at it, ripping the tentacles from their base in one shot. The Line Cutter could pass through several appendages at a time.
The deformed baby gave on last screech as it toppled to the floor, spouting blood from its severed appendages against a wall. Its green eyes glowed faintly, staring at the survivors.
Nathan then ran up to Lexine, the rest of the Leapers dead. She turned and greeted him, but Nathan was more interested in the Air Vent.
A scuttling noise could be heard from inside the vents. Lexine took a step back from the open vent. Nathan, however, moved to the Lurkers body. He gripped its head, and began tearing the small babies flesh off, making a large sheet of flesh. He checked that the strip was larger than the Air Vent, and urged Lexine over.
“Lex, you’ve got a Kinesis module in your RIG, right?” He asked. Lexine nodded, wondering what Nathan was planning.
He pointed at the Air Vent.
“Lex, can you lift this skin up over the Vent, and I’ll Rivet it in place.” He said.
Lexine shook her head.
“Nate, why put some of their skin over the vent, they can rip through flesh. It’ll be like putting a spider web in front of a tank!” She said.
Nathan raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah? Well, let’s try it anyway.” He said, almost ignoring Lexine.
Lex sighed, and raised her left arm. She activated her Kinesis module in her civilian RIG suit, and a steam of energy flew away from the metal band around her hand, creating a sphere of blue energy that enveloped the flat sheet of flesh. She then raised her rigid arm and carefully placed the flesh over the vent.
Nathan then quickly pulled his Rivet Gun off his belt, and charged the rivet to its maximum velocity. When he released the trigger, a high velocity rod spat out of the mussel and flew through the flesh and a decent section of the metal roof, effectively stapling a corner of the flesh over the vent. Nathan continued this process five more times, until the entire vent was covered. Lexine retracted her Kinesis, and lowered her arm. She looked at Nathan, wondering why he chose to do this.
Then, the flesh above began to bulge. Lexine stepped back quickly, thinking the small barrier will rip instantly from the weight. But Nathan stayed where he was, looking closely at the vents cover.
He then looked around the room, and noticed Lexine standing away from him. He pointed at the bulging flesh.
“I saw that the things don’t get hurt when we shoot their bodies, so I thought maybe it was their skin stopping the bullets. I tried it out, and it looks like I was right.” He said.
He then moved off to the injured school people. Lexine glanced back at the air vent, and followed him.
Isaac had moved up to the school personnel and students after the last Necromorph had been downed. He took his helmet off, trying to get friendly with them, and told them that they were being evacuated by the military.
“We are going to make sure that none of you get left behind, okay? But we need to know if there is anyone else that you know is definitely still in the building.” He asked them.
The woman holding the boy Sam shook her head. She was reluctant to speak to Isaac, who still had his RIG on.
It was a disturbing sight after seeing the Necromorphs. The suits armour invoked bone like images in the survivor’s minds. One boy began to throw up.
Isaac nodded his head, knowing that things were getting chaotic again. He then got up, and urged the people up as well. They followed him, but not because he was a leader, but because he was like them, almost.
He was an everyman, and Engineer thrust into a fight for his life when he had no other choice.
Leo and Nathan followed Isaac through the door again, passing him as they began searching down the seemingly corridor.
They waved their hands to move everyone out when they found nothing. The school people hurried out, glancing at the shadows playing on the walls in fear, hoping they didn’t move away towards them.
Lexine and Nancy lead the survivors forward, with Lexine lighting the hall in front of them with her Line Cutters torch. Nancy held a Rapid-assault Shotgun against her chest. She had picked it up on the shuttle trip down. Leo was worried about her now. She had never been a violent person.
Lexine was just thankful that she was a reliable shot.
Isaac moved ahead of Nathan, his copper Engineering suit just visible in the darkness. The wrap around pieces of metal on his shoulders and legs reminded Lexine of ribbing. It also reminded him about Sam’s mining RIG he used to show Lexine.
She ignored the thought and moved forward, keeping her Cutter aimed low, just in case.
They moved out of the school building without incident. Lexine breathed a mental sigh of relief. She was becoming disturbed by all the killing, and could barely handle any more.
She was trying to hide it from the others though, especially Nathan. He worried about her to much, she thought.
It had started raining more heavily since they entered the School. Water was erupting from the drains in massive torrents, swarming out of the drain pipes, the only possible escape routes. Lexine stepped away from the overflowing grates. She didn’t want to get un-necessarily wet. She had done that before on the Ishumura when a swarm of smaller Necromorphs attacked her.
The group huddled together and ran through the empty streets, heading back towards the Military Building.
Lexine didn’t notice the eyes staring out of the grate behind her, floating in the rapids of the water. It only had eyes for her, though. That is what it was tasked to do. It was what all of them were tasked to do.
They were to kill the only person that protected people from The Madness.
Chapter 16[]
Isaac waited back in the empty foyer of the Military Building as a trickle of survivors moved through to the elevator and the Shuttle Bay. He had counted less than fifty people move through so far.
It had become hell down here during the last three hours. Isaac had heard that the Southen City of Gotham was also like this, but they had some forewarning, so there were more survivors. Except for the Unitology Churches. They had all committed mass suicide when word got out.
Stupid bastards. They just made more bodies. More people to infect.
The Train Systems were really bad; an entire swarm of Morphs had completely stopped the transit system. And now the streets were flooded, and roving Squads of Marines had begun to disappear. All Squads in contact had been asked to return to the Military Building for Shuttle escape.
And more Squads had disappeared on their way back.
There were thousands of Necromorphs everywhere, and the main Military bases had been knocked out as well, so no support from them.
Gater was completely locked out to the rest of the planet in terms off support. It was the same thing that had happened on Aegis VII. Except here, it was a complete Civilised planet, not some Colony.
But the Necromorphs must be spreading faster this time. But there was only one Infector in the Escape Pods. How can they move and transform so quickly now? He thought.
He shook his head. It was the same dilemma that he saw on the Valor. The Necromorphs swarmed over the ship after only one Slasher got onboard. How were the corpses infected before it crashed near the Ishumura? Could an Infector have flown out into space and follow the Slasher?
Who knows, but Isaac was still confused at the strange circumstances that were presented.
Suddenly Isaac forgot about everything at all. He slowly opened his mouth as he saw a woman move through the crowd. She was being escorted by Rufus and Jonathan. She had blonde hair, and was striking.
It was Nicole.
Isaac spun away from the woman, and began shaking his head. He brought his hands to his face and rubbed feverously, trying to almost rub the image off his brain and eyes.
One elderly man in the crowd noticed Isaac in the corner, and wondered what he was doing. He quietly moved out of the line leading to the elevator, and walked up to Isaac.
“Excuse me, sir, is everything alright?” He asked. He waited for a second, and then Isaac turned to him. He had tears in his eyes.
“Um, no, no, I’m not alright.” He said quietly. “I thought I just saw someone I knew. But I know she’s dead.”
Isaac gave a sarcastic giggle.
“You know, I’ve been seeing hallucinations of her for a while now. I think I’m losing my mind!” Isaac said. He began to sob as he thought about what he said.
The man looked at him in pity. He then decided to help the poor man who had obviously paid much to help the planet.
“Listen, I’m a psychologist, and I want to help you, sir. I’m Dr. Wilbur. And I think I know what is wrong with yo...” Wilbur began.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Some people in the queue began to tumble over from the shaking. Isaac fell over as well. Wilbur collapsed on him.
After the shaking stopped, Isaac roughly pushed the old man off him. He got up, and rushed by the startled crowd and out the open glass doors.
And to his shock, he saw a mass of flesh climbing one of the many skyscrapers. Hundreds of Police and Marines were staring up at the long, bulbous creature that lashed up towards the top of the skyscraper with massive tentacles. Its massive head, a misshapen glob of bloody brain matter, had a gapping hole roaring up at the top while long, tree trunk sized tentacles slammed the top of the building.
Isaac gasped.
He knew that some people were up at the roof. An Officer in the Police Force had asked Lexine, Weller and Nathan to go up there to perform a heat scan for any more survivors.
Isaac began moving towards the swaying building as the massive Necromorph roared again. The shriek shattered all of the glass windows on the building and the Military Building. Isaac watched the cascade of glittering glass pieces fell down to the street with the rain, sending the Police and Marines scattering. Isaac rushed to cover as well.
Isaac knew the creature would take some work to take down, so he rushed back inside the Military foyer and grabbed a Contact Beam sitting against a desk. He also grabbed his RIG helmet he had left on the floor, and pulled it on as he moved out into the street. He ducked into the building the centipede-like Necromorph was climbing while the other people scrambled for cover from the still falling glass.
As Isaac ran to the elevator, he calculated which floor the creatures belly was on. As the elevator shot up to the thirtieth floor, he checked the Contact Beams rack of Ammo while rain drops slid off his RIG’s armour platting in small rivets to the floor. The rack was full, and had six shots. That should be enough to destroy the Centipede Necromorphs heart. Most Necromorphs of this size had their organs hanging off of their bodies for some reason. Personally, Isaac just knew that it was easier to kill the bigger ones then.
Isaac called Rufus on his Com Set as the elevator rose to the fifteenth floor.
“Rufus, Rufus!” He called. Rufus replied quickly. His voice was layered with static.
“Isaac, what’s that mother fucker of a thing outside? Over.” He asked.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m dealing with it. But I want you to get anyone outside on the street inside and sort of building and behind cover. This thing is going to drop. You can count on it.” Isaac replied.
Rufus agreed and dropped off. Then the elevator opened.
Isaac glanced out of the open door and over to the shattered windows, looking for any pale flesh obscuring his view.
He couldn’t see any, so he walked out of the confines of the elevator and to a broken window. He poked his head slowly out and looked upwards.
He was greeted with a collection of waxy, pale bodies that looked like they were melted together right above him. The centipede was one level above him. As he looked out, he managed to see the thing bulged outwards slightly near the creatures face. It was as if it was pushing its body back so something wasn’t crushed by its weight against the building.
That was where the monstrosity’s heart was. Or at lest something that was important to keep it going. Isaac was sure of it.
He raced back to the elevator, and hit the thirty-fourth floor. The elevator shot up. As it moved, the building shook again. The creature must be moving further up, or something Isaac thought.
He pulled himself up from the elevators floor. He was worried that the building could fall. The door opened again and Isaac looked around the empty business room. And he saw a distinct sickly yellow glow. The creature’s puss filled heart was here.
Isaac moved forward slowly to the Centipedes heart, moving around small desks towards the open window closest to it. He raised his Contact Beam as he did, beginning to charge the mining tool.
He reached the window, and saw the drooping sack of glowing yellow puss that throbbed as it churned the puss into blood.
Isaac was disgusted, but kept his weapon aimed at the creature’s organ. He then glanced to the side of the heart, and saw a terrible sight.
Long veins were pulsing along the side of the creature, and moving slowly through the transparent veins in a yellow liquid were bodies.
Hundreds of human bodies were being moved around the creature to be transformed into different Necromorphs. Isaac was sure that was what was happening.
As he stared at the veins pulsate, a Slasher suddenly crawled through the window in front of him, using its blades to haul it up from outside.
It shrieked at Isaac as several other Necromorph forms began climbing through other windows around the room. A Brute even managed to swing acrobatically through a window.
“Shit.” Isaac muttered, and raised his Contact Beam at the Centipedes heart. He had charged the mining tool up, and released the shot straight at the yellow organ. The energy blast instantly punctured the sack, and the creature roared in anguish. The other Necromorphs around him also shrieked in pain, with some dropping to the ground, thrashing violently, some slamming their heads against the floor. They were in terrible pain as well, but Isaac had done nothing to them. And then, the Centipede slowly dropped off the building, its tiny hooked legs loosing grip on the side of the building.
Isaac rushed to the open window and glanced down as the mass of flesh fell. He just saw the massive pile of flesh slam against the ground. The building shook violently, and Isaac fell down, slipping into a Slashers dead body. He could feel wet blood underneath him.
Isaac turned around and saw the Necromorphs body had burst from a build-up of blood pressure, splitting the creature apart. The same thing had happened to most of the other Necromorphs. Only the Brute remained, and it didn’t have any legs left. It pitifully crawled towards Isaac, but he just fired a short charge Contact Beam into the beasts head, blowing the ripped face apart into smithereens.
Isaac then turned around to the window again and glanced down to the street. He saw the collapsed body of the Centipede, its many tentacles still flopping around on its body, losing the last bit of its life. The beast had just missed the Military Building, but had destroyed most of this buildings lower level and the street. Most of the flood water had been pushed away as well. Isaac certainly wasn’t getting out the same way he got in.
He moved back to the elevator and sent it to the roof. The elevator shot up straight away. Isaac climbed out of the open door, and ran around the heavily damaged building roof, looking for Lexine, Nathan and Weller amongst the massive craters the tentacles had left that had already begun to fill with water.
“Nathan! Weller! Lexine! Are you here! Where are you?” He called. He pulled his helmet off, glancing around the empty roof in distain.
A small air vent in front of him was pushed to the side, and Isaac raised his Contact Beam towards it. Wellers hand waved through, and Isaac lowered the mining tool. He moved forward and helped Weller out.
With him out, both Isaac and Weller then helped Nathan out of the hole, and they all helped Lexine out.
Weller looked at Isaac. “Glad to know some one cares.” He said as Nathan looked around at the mess of the roof.
“The building shook suddenly while we were looking to the south. One tentacle nearly grabbed Lexine, but missed, and then it just started stomping the whole place flat. He had to hide in here while we waited it out.” Nathan said, and he pointed to the hole they climbed out of. He then shook his head at Isaac.
“We couldn’t see anyone. There is no one else in this district of the city.” He told Isaac.
Isaac nodded, disappointed, but he waved them to the elevator. They had to get off the building. They climbed in, and moved down to the bottom level of building. They moved out quickly and looked at the blocked door.
Lexine shrugged as she saw the massive body in front of the door. She turned to Nathan.
“Now what?” She asked.
Suddenly, a clear blue field of energy enveloped the beast’s body as hundreds of Kinesis Modules were used on the Centipede. The body was lifted into the air, and flung further down the street, rain flying off the body as it flew away.
Isaac saw Rufus and several squads of Marines and Police Officers move carefully towards the building, wary of Necromorphs. Isaac and the rest moved out and joined the squads. Isaac spotted Dr Wilbur amongst them. He moved towards Isaac. Isaac pulled his helmet off, and gave an awkward smile.
“Sorry about the shove before. I was in a hurry...” He said.
“That is quite alright.” Wilbur said. “I really do want to see what is happening in your head though. Come, we have little time.” He continued, waving Isaac towards the Military Building.
Isaac was confused.
“Why do we have little time?” He asked the quickly escaping doctor.
Wilbur looked back at him. “You don’t know?” He asked.
Isaac shook his head.
“Some Bio-bombs are going to be set off.” He said.
Chapter 17
Nicole stood quietly inside the elevator, standing in between the two Officers that had found her. She was still weeping, but she kept quiet while doing it. Suddenly, the building shook, and the two Officers collided against the elevators walls. Nicole managed to stay standing. She was expecting it.
She had commanded the Centipede to attack Lexine. And so far, her plan was working.
The elevator door opened in an instant, and she leaped out just as before the doors closed again. Rufus called out to her, but couldn’t open the doors again.
Nicole rushed to the window and looked across to the Centipede that had begun scaling the opposite building. She grinned at the thought of Lexine being crushed by her creation.
But, ironically, once, long ago, she had even saved the girls life. That was a different time, a completely different life ago. That was when Nicole had been human. It was when she had been weak.
Nicole Brennan, who was standing and looking out at the Centipede smash the top of the building, was a Necromorph. Not just any Necromorph, but a Deceiver, a special breed designed by the Hive Mind to infiltrate the humans undetected and kill them from behind, and then infect the dead as well.
But the Hive Mind was dead, killed by her previous fiancé, Isaac Clarke. How he did so, she will never know, but now the chain of command was given to her, and Isaac was dead, killed when Aegis was destroyed, along with the wretched Marker.
She controlled all the Necromorphs that were ravaging the planet now. And she was making the Centipede right now attack Lexine Murdoch, the only being who could repel the Dementia that gave everyone severe hallucinations and violent/suicidal personalities. Soon she would be dead and Nicole could kill easier.
Suddenly, the Centipede roared, and all of the glass windows nearby shattered. Several small pieces of glass flew towards Nicole from the window she was standing in front of, and slashed her body. But the wounds instantly closed up, her unique body healing instantly. That was but one of her powers granted by the mighty Hive Mind, she thought in satisfaction.
Suddenly, the Centipede called out to Nicole mentally.
Nicole! I sense a man coming towards my revealed heart, what shall I do? Shall I release the horde on him?
Nicole frowned. No.Wait until you know he might be able to harm you. Then release the horde on him. I will watch from the peon’s minds to make sure nothing happens though.
Nicole continued watching the Centipede as it continued smashing its massive tentacles on the roof of the skyscraper. It had also begun shuffling further upwards so it would see its prey. It called Nicole again, this time with urgency it its garbled mental tones.
The human has arrived, but it carries a weapon and intends to harm me. It has found my heart, and is aiming at it. I am releasing the horde, but they will take time to climb up. I will probably be destroyed.
Do not be alarmed. Your use is done, and you have served your purpose. I will control the peon’s to avenge you. Have faith, and soon we shall consume everything.
Nicole linked her mind into a Brute that was swinging quickly upwards towards the human using the Centipede’s long, firm appendages that were sticking into the building. It had travelled up from a pouch that the Centipede had further down near the centre of its body. Hundreds of other Necromorph forms were crawling and pulling themselves up to the level the human was one. Nicole could see that the gorilla-like Brute could sense her presence in its mind. She moved the massive Necromorph soldier onwards.
As it climbed through the open window, Nicole could see the human in copper Engineering RIG armour. It was glancing around quietly at all of the Necromorphs that were circling around him. Then, he moved his Contact Beam around, and pointed it at the Centipede’s yellow heart.
Suddenly, Nicole realised who the man was. How else would know to kill massive Necromorphs other than the man who killed the God of Necromorphs, the Hive Mind.
Who else but Isaac Clarke, her former Fiancée. Nicole saw one Slasher ear up towards him from behind, but Nicole saw this from the Brute, and lashed out ferociously at all of the Necromorphs minds, ripping all their minds away. They all fell to the flor, their heads and bodies ripping apart from the massive increase of blood pressure her mental attack caused.
Nicole then kept the Brute alive, watching Isaac. He brought his Contact Beam to bear at the Centipede after the Necromorphs had all fallen over. His helmet displayed no emotions at the odd circumstance.
Nicole just watched her former lover fire the charged shot of pure, destructive energy at the pulsating yellow organ. It burst and a flood of pus flew away from the explosion point. Isaac just watched as the massive creature lost its grip on the building, and fell down to the street below. She felt the ground tremble as the body collided with the street.
Nicole, however, ignored the dying cries of the Centipede, and instead remained transfixed on Isaac through the Brutes eyes.
Isaac saw the Brute struggling on the ground, and he moved towards it. He aimed the Contact Beam directly into its face, and charged the long mining tool. Nicole removed her mind from the Brute before Isaac fired.
Nicole stepped back from the window, regaining her body’s senses as she struggled with the shock of Isaac’s appearance. She breathed deeply, even though she knew her new body didn’t need oxygen.
Actually, I don’t know if I can survive in oxygen-less environments. She thought.
Nicole ignored her thought, and walked back towards the elevators. She pried the door open with her immense strength, and leaped over the empty chasm to the other side of the chute. She then morphed her arms at will, and sprouted massive, bone-like blades from her palms, flesh ripping apart to let the blades through. She then began scaling the chute towards the top floor and the Shuttle Bay, formulating a plan to find Isaac.
She moved out of another door one level below the Shuttle Bay, and climbed the stairs up, morphing her arms back to human shape in a spasm of contortions.
As she walked past the Security Guards, she glanced around to see if the Guards she had come up with were nearby. She didn’t see them, and walked towards a data terminal in the busy Bay as survivors were huddled onto awaiting Shuttles. Nicole didn’t bother with attacking them. The Guards knew how to kill their kind, and anyway, they will soon be doomed to death anyway. Nothing will escape the Necromorphs, she thought to herself.
As she tapped into the terminal, she tried to hack into the Shuttle liftoff program and personnel placements. The system was heavily encrypted though, so Nicole decided to take a more direct route. She glanced around the massive, enclosed Bay, looking for anyone who looked like they were in authority or knew what the flight plans might be. She saw an elderly man standing with arms folded behind his back, looking at the small crowd of survivors in dismay. He had an aid to his side, checking a holo-board.
Nicole chose him, and quickly undid three of her top buttons of her Civilian RIG, partly revealing her chest. She then began walking with a skip in her step towards the man with the holo-board. She moved straight up to the man, and clenched her arms together in front of her, pressing her chest upwards to enlarge their size.
“Excuse me, nice sir, can I ask a question?” She asked in a bubbly tone. The man looked over his board to Nicole, and was surprised by the pretty woman standing in front of him. His commanding officer glanced over at the two. He knew what was coming next.
The technician stammered.
“Um, uh, sorry, what was that, ma’am?” He asked.
Nicole took a small step towards the man. She wriggled her rear slightly in glee.
“Well, I just wanted to know what shuttle all these brave people who saved me are going to be on. Do you think I could ask you which one they are getting on? I want to, um, thank them personally.” She gave a little giggle, and gave a small, cheeky grin.
The technician began to sweat. His officer just rolled his eyes though.
“Um, the Marines and the Aegis crew are getting on Shuttle 34. They’re leaving last, before the bio-bombs go off. Is that of help, ma’am?” He asked, leaning forward slightly, a grin on his face.
Nicole’s face lit up, and she gave a little clap, and hugged the man.
“Oh, thank you! I’ll remember you when we get home, okay? Bye, and thanks!” She said, and took off, skipping joyfully back to the shuffling line of survivors. She moved off to Docking Bays Thirty, and ran down towards the fourth shuttle.
The technician watched her move off in awe. He mainly watched her chest bounce up and down as she moved away.
“Uh, sir, do you think I can get a Shuttle transfer?” He asked quickly.
The General just shook his head in distain at the man.
Chapter 18
“What!” Isaac exploded. Wilbur quivered away from the angry man, raising his small arms to shield himself from the yell.
“I didn’t plan to use the bomb. I didn’t even know this planet had one!” He said. He had his arms raised in protection, looking away from Isaac, avoiding his eyes.
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you; I’m just surprised the C. E. S. would let them set off such a devastating weapon.” He said, rubbing his shaven head thoughtfully.
“Well, actually, it was the President’s idea. They have lost the com towers, and all the Train Stations are stopped by the things, so Charles decided to use one of their bombs. The entire Planetary Board was behind him.” Wilbur explained. Isaac noted his familiarity with The Sprawl’s elected leader.
‘I’m right in thinking you’re on the Planetary Board?”
Wilbur nodded.
“I was always by Charles side, and he is determined to kill these things. He doesn’t want anyone to worry about them.” He said. He looked up at Isaac’s battered face. “You, who know so much about killing these things, know this more than anything else.” He said, squinting at Isaac, almost like he was dissecting his thoughts.
He shrugged, turned and began moving back inside the building, waving Isaac inside as well. Isaac followed slowly, but glanced back to look for Lexine and Nathan. Nathan was cradling Lexine’s head with his one arm while the Marine Doctors checked them for any serious wounds. Weller, whoever, who had been moving around, was now yelling at some young Security Officer. He had vomited at the sight of the Centipede right on Weller’s boots in the water.
Isaac knew they were fine, and he walked inside the hustling building. Many people were rushing to the elevator and away from the water and dead bodies
All the water that had been in the street when the Centipede had landed had washed inside the foyer, leaving Isaac knee deep in water. He dropped his Contact Beam on a desk as he followed the small doctor. Wilbur didn’t seem to mind the wet. He waddled around to a leather bag that was floating serenely on the water near a desk. He picked it up, and began rummaging through it. He saw Isaac glancing at him.
“Sit down, son; I’ll be there in a minute.” He said, pointing at the front desk. Isaac shrugged and complied as more people ran to the elevator.
Wilbur wadded through the water to Isaac, carrying a small cylindrical piece of machinery. It had a set rubber plug on the top, and Isaac could see a small point shine through the darkness at the other end of the instrument.
Isaac suddenly remembered a long metal rod that Challus Mercer, a crazy Unitologist, had used to kill his ‘unbelieving’ subjects onboard the Ishumura. He had plunged the spike through the victims head, and left a large hole for the Infector Necromorphs to get at.
Isaac snapped back and looked at the Doctor. He was raising the plunger side of the instrument to Isaac’s forehead.
“I trust that your fight up there must have wetted your brow enough? You smell like it.” He asked Isaac, wrinkling his nose at his smell.
Isaac didn’t reply, as the cold, rubber connected with his forehead. Isaac glanced up at the instrument as Wilbur checked his watch.
He then plucked the object off and read the holographic readout it projected.
“Curious...” He muttered. He then asked Isaac to hold still. Isaac saw him shuffle around behind him. He suddenly became fearful of what the doctor was going to do.
“This may hurt just a tad.” Wilbur told him.
Suddenly Isaac felt a burst of pain at the base of his spine.
“Ghah! Shit!” Isaac whipped around as Wilbur removed the needle. “It would hurt only a little?!” Isaac roared.
Wilbur shrugged, and turned back to the instruments holo-screen. He began bringing his finger around the motes of light, checking chemical readouts, muttering quietly to himself. He then came to a conclusion, and raised his hand to his gapping mouth.
He turned to Isaac slowly. Shock was in his eyes.
Isaac moved off the table.
“What is it?” He asked, alarmed.
Before Wilbur could reply, Rufus shouted out from the street.
Gunfire followed.
Isaac turned around and saw Rufus and his Squad swinging their weapons around the swirling water near their feet. One body was already floating, dead on the water. His face had been ripped right off, the blood drifting in the murky, dark water.
Isaac ran outside, splashing through the water. He looked to Rufus as he pulled his RIG helmet back on. The visor was completely covered in water and dried blood.
“What is it?” Isaac asked Rufus.
Rufus kept his gaze down.
“Something with a really long neck. Leapt out of the water, split its face open and ripped Thomas’ face right off. Looked like a bloody jack-in-the-box, ‘cept fucked up.” He said.
Nathan shouted out.
“We saw some on the Ishumura, they leap out of the water and grab your faces. Shoot the actual head when it comes up. That take’s them out.” He informed them.
Suddenly, a woman’s ripped face flew out of the water, its vertically ripped face screeching right in a Marines face. Isaac fired his Plasma Cutter at it. The head burst apart, and the tentacle that came out of the water with it wriggled headless and fell down back into the water.
Isaac looked at Nathan, and nodded his head, signifying his thanks for the info on the creature.
“Hold on boys. We don’t know if they’re all gone yet.” Rufus said, keeping his aim just in front of his feet.
“Bunch up together. Keep tight!” Weller added, and the group of armed men and women moved into the centre of the street, standing back to back.
Isaac kept his Plasma Cutter raised just at knee level. Then, three more of the Grabbers lunged out of the water. Isaac fired at one, Nathan at the other, and another Marine at another.
The tentacles fell back into the water.
Then four more raised themselves, water dripping from the matted clumps of hair still left on their heads. Isaac managed to kill two, and Rufus another, but one managed to hit a Security Officer. He was raised up in the air in the serpentine alien’s jaws, and was thrashed around by the head. A bolt of lightning lit the night sky, lighting up the man in the Grabbers jaws.
Lexine and Nathan fired at the tentacle holding the man. It let go, but the Officer had been in its jaws for too long. His entire face was ripped off, his face little more than scraps of flesh on his skull.
The circle tightened as the body drifted away.
Then, Slasher roars filled the air, and thousands of pale, fleshy bodies smashed their way through the Centipede’s body further down the street, their blades glittering from the rain and the Centipede’s luminous yellow pus.
The group turned and fired at the oncoming horde of monsters. The combined plasma, beam and Splinter rounds shredded through most of the Slashers. The crumpled with a splash into the overflowed street, the ripples joining with the rain drop ripples. But more Necromorphs appeared as others fell. It was more than an entire city of Necromorphs flinging themselves at the group. They began to back off from the swarming horde. Isaac glanced back inside the building, and still saw Wilbur there, watching the battle. Isaac waved him to the elevator, signalling for him to run for it.
Wilbur’s speckled eyes widened, and he ran to the elevator.
Isaac began to smell something burning. He looked down to his boots, and saw that they were smoking. The others were as well. Isaac could see yellow seeping amongst the water. The Centipede was hindering them even after death. Its blood seemed to be acidic.
Isaac saw Weller look at the incoming hoard, and he decided that it was time to leave.
“Everyone!” Weller called. “I don’t think there’s anything left that we can do!” Weller then rushed over to inside the building with Isaac following behind him. Nathan and Lexine followed closely behind them. The rest of the squad followed soon followed, believing in the seasoned mans judgment. Isaac opened the elevator, and waited till everyone else got in. He and Weller jumped onboard just as the army of animals arrived in a frenzy, and the door’s closed. A Slasher rushed at the door, but just smashed against the closed door.
It reminded Isaac of his first encounter with a Necromorph. It had been decapitated by a closing elevator door.
When the door opened again on the main floor, the Squad rushed out. They headed straight for the second last Shuttle sitting in the Bay. Isaac glanced around and saw Wilbur talking to General Shard, the chief in this operation. He saw Isaac, Weller and Nathan turn up, and walked briskly towards him, Wilbur following slightly behind him.
“I’ll be quick boys. The Protection ships topside are getting ready to drop the big one on the fuckers, but they’re getting impatient. We have to get out now, so please tell me that everyone is here that you know is here.” He said quickly. He was eager to leave the hell hole.
Isaac glanced around and noticed that Leo, Nancy and Slightman weren’t around. Shard noticed his glances, and cleared his throat to get Isaac’s attention.
“Your friends have walked down to one of the lower floors after a disturbance. That was an hour ago. I think they ran into some trouble...” He said. The elevator doors then slid open with a clatter of moving metal. Isaac swung around, his Plasma Cutter to bear.
He saw Leo and Nancy walk through the door, slightly rattled but fine. Slightman followed behind, his hand clenching a tear on his RIG where blood was slowly bleeding out.
Isaac rushed over to them.
“What happened?” He asked.
“Some flying things appeared from some of the vents in the basement, and began causing havoc with the electronics down there. They had some of those baby ones along as well. We had trouble getting the electronics back up to escape through the door. Slightman got hit by one of those barbs before we left though, and he’s really starting to feel sick. I think the barbs had some venom in them.” Leo explained.
Isaac nodded and began leading Slightman to one of the Medics. He then walked back to General Shard. He looked at Leo and Nancy walking to the last ship in the bay. The other had left just before after the Police Officers that were in the Defence Squad had gotten onboard.
“So, that’s everyone?” He asked again. Rufus overheard and walked up to Shard.
“Sir?” He inquired. “I know of at least one possible person who could be around here, alive. I found a woman before, and she disappeared after the Centipede attack. I have no idea where she went, though.” He said. He seemed distressed that he lost the person.
Shard shrugged.
“Probably a Unitologist nut. Maybe she left to commit suicide. Heh, no real lose then. Come on; forget her soldier, time to leave. Things are getting bad down here.” He said, and walked to the last Shuttle. Rufus followed, looking forlorn, and Isaac came last. He was remembering another suicide victim. But she was far from being crazy.
God Nicole, he thought. I miss you so much.
Chapter 19
The doors slammed shut on the large Express Shuttle. Isaac moved further into the chair lined interior or the Shuttle. Only a handful of them were occupied. The seven members of the Planetary Board were there, the Planets President, Charles Halesford was also there, and so were Rufus’ last ten Squad members. And then there was Isaac’s motley crew of seven. Then there was the pilot, and about six Marines who had stayed with the Defence Squad outside. There were only 30 or so people here.
General Shard walked up to Isaac as he glanced out a window. The ship moved over the ravaged city. Some fires were still raging under the heavy rainfall. He could start to see the fleshy organic substance growing on some of the buildings. The Necromorphs were expanding their home.
Shard tapped on Isaac’s shoulder. He turned away from the rain whipped window and looked at the tanned man.
“Isaac, I’m happy to say that with your help, none of us would have made it out. I thank you.” He handed his hand out to him. Isaac took the hand and gave it a meaningful shake.
Suddenly, the ship buckled. Shard was thrown to the floor, and Isaac grabbed the seats next to him firmly as the ship jolted sideways again. He pulled himself up, and looked into the cockpit. He was struggling with the large holographic controls in front of him as he tried to figure out what was happening. Isaac hurried up to him, and looked at the ship scanner. There was nothing registering coming into contact with the ship except for the rain.
The pilot then explained what was happening.
“A Gravity Tether has attached itself to us! We’re being pulled down!” He cried. He tried to disengage the tether, but the overrides were being blocked by the cities powerful computer systems.
“Let it pull us down.” Isaac told him.
The pilot looked up at him as if he was mad.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?! Those things will get us if we land! I don’t know about you, but I got kids to provide for!” He shrieked.
Isaac put a firm hand on the pilots.
“We can protect the ship, but we have to land, otherwise we’ll be turned to vapor. Do you understand me?” Isaac asked firmly.
The pilot gulped and nodded. Isaac then backed off into the main Shuttle area, and walked over to Rufus.
“Hey, Rufus, you ready for some Necromorph pounding?” He asked.
He grinned.
“I’m always ready for a rumble, baby!” He said with a glint in his eye. He got up and shouldered his Splinter Rifle.
The two people moved to the door, and Isaac called Leo and Nathan over.
“Guys, I trust you. I want you to stay here and guard the Shuttle until we get back. We’ve gotta break some stuff.” He said. He slammed his helmet on, and waited for the Shuttle to land.
It landed with a bump, and Isaac hit the release button. The door fell open, and Rufus and Isaac ran out. The rain had picked up, so their vision wasn’t the best. But Isaac knew the general way to the Gravity Room. He had worked there before his transfer to the Kellion. He pointed to a small door that should be twenty meters in front of them. He saw Rufus nod in his Security RIG helmet. It was a black colour, and had a larger, green visor. He opened the RIGLINK between them, and began walking.
“Rufus, when we get down to the Gravity Room, get ready for anything. The Necromorphs aren’t known for being able to use electronics.” He said as the door opened to reveal a spiralling staircase.
Rufus laughed.
“They sound a bit like my mother-in-law.”
Isaac snorted.
They continued moving down the winding walkways until they reached a door that had a blue sign outside.
“This is the room.” Isaac said. He pressed the release button, and the door slid open. Inside was a massive, glowing blue chamber. Three spinning turbines charged a sparking blue current through clear pipes to outside the room. Isaac pointed his Plasma Cutter around the interior. He only spotted a mass of flesh looking similar to a massive brain on of the consoles, so he entered. Rufus followed.
Isaac moved over to the console that had the flesh attached, and saw it had grown small tentacles and had wrapped them around the console, making a firm grip. Isaac tried to pull the flesh off to access the terminal, but it has too tightly secured on. He decided to blast it off. Isaac moved back three steps, and took careful aim with the Cutter. He didn’t want to damage the console. He then fired a vertical shot at the small piece of flesh just in front of the screen. The mining Plasma flew through the air at an incredible speed, and cleanly sliced through the glob. It fell apart from the screen with a hiss, its reddish-brown skin melting away. Isaac moved over to the screen and ripped the rest of the mass off. As he ripped, the flesh shrieked, and Isaac felt a searing pain on his hand.
He let go of the lump, and looked at it. Isaac saw the flesh had a deformed, puffed up face, similar to an infant. It had wide, yellow eyes, and glared at Isaac with a barred mouth full of sharp, tiny, bent teeth.
Isaac tried to grab the creature off the console again, this time making sure to grab near the eyes. He pulled, and the rest of the brainy thing came off. He lifted it up and showed Rufus.
He winced and said, “Look’s like my mother-in-law.”
“You really don’t like your mother-in-law, do you?” He asked.
Rufus shrugged. “Well, we’re not friends.”
Isaac threw the sack of brain at the wall, and it stuck, wriggling like soft jelly.
Isaac then moved in front of the terminal and began working to shut the Gravity Tethers off.
Leo called up on the RIGLINK.
“Hey, Isaac, we’re having some trouble up here. How much longer will you take?” He asked. Isaac could hear guttural roars and shrieks in the background.
“I’ll be there soon Leo, just ran into a small electronic problem.” He said.
Rufus looked over to Isaac.
“Problem?” He asked.
Isaac shrugged.
“Ah, sorta. The Gravity Tethers have to be shut down manually when we leave; otherwise they’ll start back up again before we can leave the atmosphere. We simply don’t have enough time to get back up to the ship again in time.” Isaac said.
“Why can’t we just blow the turbines up?” Rufus asked.
Isaac got up and knocked on the clear casing covering the turbine.
“I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a little to hard to shoot our way into this.” He said.
Rufus nodded, and pointed at the console.
“Is it easy to shut the tethers down?” He asked.
Isaac moved back to the screen.
“Fairly. All you have to do is hit the execute button before we leave. That’s all.” Isaac said.
He turned to Rufus. “Why?”
Rufus suddenly grabbed Isaac by his RIG, and threw him out the open door. Isaac landed in a heap outside, his Cutter clattering next to him.
Rufus looked back at Isaac, and closed the door. The red locked icon then flashed on the door’s holographic screen.
“Rufus!” Isaac yelled.
He opened a Com Link with Rufus.
“Rufus, what the hell are you doing?! Get out here. Stop being a dickhead!” He spat.
“Isaac, shut up, I’m saving al your butts, that’s what I’m doing.” He yelled back. He then quietened. “Listen, Isaac, I haven’t told you this, but I’ve got a cancer. I’ve got less than three months to live. This way I’ll be dying for a real cause. Now get your skinny ass up to that Shuttle!” He explained.
Isaac set his helmet down on the door for a second, and then began running up the walkways.
As he ran, he began to hear growls behind him. Isaac picked up the pace.
Leo called him again.
“Isaac, we would appreciate it if you got here right now, or even better, before now.” He said. He heard Shard yell in the background.
“The limbs, the limbs damnit, Kowalski!” He yelled.
“I’m coming up now. Rufus decided to stay behind. He’s got a cancer, Leo. I couldn’t stop him.” He said.
He shut the RIGLINK off, and continued running. He could hear the running straight behind him now. He could just see the door one floor above him.
Then, something hard slammed into him. Isaac rolled to the floor, and saw a massive, thicker Slasher standing above him. The creature had sinewy, rotting flesh that bulged further away than the skinny Slashers. It was also taller, just taller than a Pregnant Necromorph.
Isaac knew what type of Necromorph it was. It was a Hunter.
Chapter 20
Isaac raised his left arm and activated his Statis. The blue burst of energy enveloped the Hunter, and it instantly slowed its movements.
Isaac crawled away from the Hunter, and carefully fired three shots each into its strong, thick legs until they fell away. The massive beast began to spin slowly down in its frozen space, and Isaac ran straight for the door. The Hunter could regrow its limbs, effectively pursuing anyone to the edge of the earth.
Isaac moved to the door and slammed his fist against it.
He called Rufus and Leo at the same time as the door opened.
“Rufus, I’m near the Shuttle, stop the Tethers. Leo, begin to take off. I’m nearly there.” He said, and ran for the flashes of light and gunfire.
Isaac began to hear the Shuttles engines power up, and it began to lift off. He ran faster towards the open door that had light spilling out of it.
He saw a massive blade swing at him from the left, and Isaac just ducked it. He saw another Hunter growling at him as he weaved past another blade heading towards his gut.
The Shuttle began to lift off the ground when Isaac leapt into the open door. His wet body slapped against the bottom of the door frame. As Leo and Weller helped move him inside, the shuttle turned around quickly, sending Isaac spinning. He managed to just grab hold of the door frame again before he fell down to the ground.
The Shuttle began to move into the atmosphere, and Weller and Leo helped Isaac inside. The door closed as Isaac was fully inside. He then leaned against the hard surface, and closed his eyes for the first time in a day.
Back on the planet, Rufus sat quietly in his chair. He had his Pulse Rifle on the ground next to him. He had his eyes closed. He could hear the things running around in the vents around him, but he didn’t attack. He knew they were there, and they knew he was there.
Rufus hadn’t been this calm for years. He had always been on edge, thinking about the safety of the planet below from Pirates, but now a completely alien attack had destroyed it. But they were done for. The bombs would blow them away. But for now, Rufus was at complete peace.
The door behind him buckled as a massive force slammed into it. Rufus heard massive roars accompany it. Rufus ignored them. He shifted in the console seat to try and get as comfortable as possible. Then the door was completely thrown away as the Hunter lurched in, growling. The bent door clattered against turbines. The clear material covering it cracked.
“Ah, Jesus, can’t you see I’m tryin’ to sleep here!” He yelled at the Necromorph.
The thing leaned over to Rufus, watching him closely.
Then, before the thing could do anything to Rufus, he heard a low whistling sound. They were bombs dropping.
He grinned at the Hunter.
“You’re in for it now, fucker.” He said, and then the bombs struck the planet. Then, Rufus felt the most glorious feeling he had ever known as the bomb expanded over him.
Isaac sat in the Captains suite, resting on the small seat, looking out the window down to the planet below.
As he watched the large white balloons of energy wipe over the planets surface, he heard a bang outside. Someone must have tripped, he thought. He looked back out the window and saw the white sphere’s dissipate into nothing.
The com channel opened and the pilot informed everyone about the planet.
“Well everyone, the bombs have dropped and destroyed everything organic. Please, everyone, give Isaac Clarke a warm thankyou for his tremendous help. We wouldn’t have made it off the planet at all without you Isaac. Thank you, Isaac.” The com clicked off, and Isaac began to hear claps from behind the door. Isaac gave a quick grin, and then moved over to the Captain bed.
He soon fell asleep. And he couldn’t see the door silently side open.
Nicole moved over to the door Isaac had been moved into.
She was going to surprise him. But before she reached the door, a sudden symphony of shrieking filled her mind. Nicole fell to the floor, her hands cupped over her ears, her eyes watering with pain. She gasped a strangled breath.
Thousands upon thousands of Necromorphs were calling out to Nicole as their bodies were destroyed in a wave of chemicals. And all Nicole could do was try to bloke them out.
As the shrieking began to end, Nicole heard a call over the radio system. It was a human, and he was congratulating her Isaac. He was congratulating him for killing all the Necromorphs on The Sprawl. Then everyone else in the vessel began clapping. The sheer joy that erupted in the room was like a poison to Nicole. She withered on the deck, smacking her face, trying to repel all the emotion. She could only feel Isaac’s love.
Nothing more! Leave me! She screamed to the power of the gratitude in the ship. Then, it stopped.
Nicole struggled to her push herself onto her arms, her elbows buckling from the loss of her strength. She collapsed again. As she lay in front of Isaacs’s room, she called out ant Necromorph minds on the planet far below. She pushed her mind to the very limit, but nothing called back to her. The entire planet was empty of Necromorphs.
Nicole stayed still. She then breathed out. She could handle a setback. Everything would be fine, especially now that she had Isaac.
She slowly crawled back up to her feet, and opened Isaac’s door. She saw him lying on the bed, resting so serenely, so calm.
He probably thought she was dead, Nicole thought. Well, this would be a wake up call for him, she thought, and she smiled.
She moved slowly into the cramped room, and lowered herself next to him. She still had her shirt unbuttoned, and she removed her headband as well. Her lengthy Blonde hair fell down over her shoulders, draping her face with its silky gold strands.
And then she began to sing a soft tune. A tune that remained stuck in her mind, all the time.
“Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are...” She began. She moved her small hand over, and clasped Isaac’s gloved one. She gave it a slight squeeze.
Isaac’s eyes burst open, and he saw Nicole just sitting beside him.
He started to scream.
Comments[]
its been awhile wheres the rest of the story :(
In real world context, individuals don't usually use profanity. So, as of now, Isaac looks quite clichéd like those "Space-Marines-are-Mankind's-only-hope". Also, keep in mind that he is only an Engineer and I doubt he has the spirit to continue the fight against the Necromorphs. Treat him like your everyday person. Additionally, there are several grammatical errors. I suggest using Microsoft Word to spellcheck the whole story. Oh, try to adopt Dead Space's eerie and mysterious atmosphere. You seemed to adopt the "Girlfriend-Gone-And-Now-It's-Payback-Time!" atmosphere which is tad boring, no offense. Other than that, the story is ok. :) - 5əb'7aŋk(7alk) 20:37, October 8, 2009 (UTC)
First off, I'd like to express my gratitude for your generocity in itself. I feel that if enough people get into this, it could really populate this place and attract alot more regulars.
Secondly, there's not much more I can add for feedback - Subtank covered it pretty well. It seems like you have a pretty good grasp on the story, but I think it would do justice to the novel itself if you kept in mind the environment and went over certain parts of the story while you're writing about a topic which ties into the franchise proper. I'm sure that you have a good grasp over your own work and have a very well though out plan for the story, but these minute details could and probably would make the difference of whether or not it gets published. I enjoyed it thus far, nonetheless. I look forward to your next installment :) --LBCCCP 02:06, October 9, 2009 (UTC)
Thanks for the talkback.
Now, I realise that the Isaac Clarke character is your everyday person, but I don't have much to go on for character, but I will edit the book to make him a hell of a lot more relatable, and I will work on his attitude as well.
As for the mystery of the book, it's just the start and a direct sequel to the game, so I'm setting the pace and explaining what went down on the Ishumura, but will become starnger more in, but that can't be helped for now.
Thanks for the good talkback, and with it I will make a killer book worthy for Dead Space! Tazio1 05:04, October 9, 2009 (UTC)
Do you plan too, through the medium of the novel, add your own elements to the franchise?DeadSpaceFella 19:45, October 10, 2009 (UTC)
Yes, hopefully through the novel, I plan to wadd new characters, new eapons and new story ideas for the series. Tazio1 01:06, October 11, 2009 (UTC)
Sounds an interesting concept. Just to let you know , that you have my full support and if you are lacking inspiration and need some new ideas, just let me know.By the way Great work so far , keep it up!DeadSpaceFella 15:39, October 11, 2009 (UTC)
Very interesting, you give a nice twist of plot in the story, combining both dead space and dead space extraction characters, but the atmosphere and status of the place is unclear. In other words readers need to know their surroundings. If you improve that then this will be a much better novel.
P.S. Love your novel
P.S.S. for dead space fans, don't worry about Nathan's arm since the 26th century grow arms and legs. :):):)
--Magistret 13:57, October 12, 2009 (UTC)Magistret
I've only read 3 and 4 since your second update, but I've got a couple comments just regarding those two.
- Mercer probably wouldn't have been able to send any Necromorphs into space via pods as Terrence Kyne launched at least a vast majority of shuttles and pods prior to the events of Dead Space in an effort to keep the Necromorph corruption from spreading. Thus, while still possible that their could have been one or two from the Ishimura, seven is unlikely.
- Keep in mind Isaac's own mentality. He's most likely been severely damaged psychologically from exposure time. It's probable that he would persist to have hallucination while awake as well as other strange exhibitions of character.
Those aside, I'm enjoying it thus far. --LBCCCP 18:18, October 12, 2009 (UTC)
Hey guys,
Now I would like to point out that Dr. Kyne never spesifically says or implys he fired all the shuttles. For all we know, Mercer could have fired them.Where is it mentioned Kyne did it? Also I couldn't really think of another way to send the Necromorphs away from the Ishumura. But there are plot holes all over the series, so bear with me.
Thanks, And keep giving me thoughts on the book. Tazio1 06:00, October 13, 2009 (UTC)
On second examination; no, it never does say that Kyne launched the pods as part of his sabotage. In fact, Kyne was on the bridge when they were launched. So, yeah it is entirely possible that it was Mercer. Whether or not he had obtained Necromorph specimens that point is unknown, so speculation is open. Your novel aside, I would hope that for DS2 Visceral doesn't go with the whole escpae pod thing as a reason for a colony or something to become affected as the priamry basis of the story because it's already been used with the whole Valor situation. That would just be stale thinking on their part. I'm sure they've already got something that will blow us away, though, as It might even be in production right now. Personally, I can't get enough of the story itself and especially with those hints about the Mausoleum ships that Unitology is apparently funding. Just a hunch, but I'll bet that that won't be the only reference to those. --LBCCCP 20:05, October 13, 2009 (UTC)
Thanks for returning the talk, and also, know that the mauseleum may make an appearance in the novel as a crusial part of the story. Tazio1 20:25, October 13, 2009 (UTC)
I've taken the liberty of introducing a special format and sections for visitors/readers to navigate easily between chapters for your story. Remember to leave out an empty space for each paragraph (if you intend to make one) as MediaWiki does not recognise two paragraphs close to each other and will treat it as one paragraph. Keep up the interesting story. :) - 5əb'7aŋk(7alk) 11:49, October 15, 2009 (UTC)
I enjoyed Chapters 5 and 6. The story is really starting to pick up - good work! :) --LBCCCP 21:49, October 15, 2009 (UTC)
Well, thanks Subtank, that helped me a lot, and I will get Part two up fully after some revisions. Keep reviewing it everyone! Tazio1 06:03, October 16, 2009 (UTC)
I understand that you just uploaded them, but could you please reformat chapters 11 and 12? They're a little difficult to read this way. Dankie weer. --LBCCCP 01:37, October 17, 2009 (UTC)
Powerful! I like your new chapter 11 and 12. You've given them an amazing improvement to the story line. Isaac's emotions are intensified. You can feel as if your Isaac and the widely known bloodstains are so awesome. This is what I call an intense atmosphere where you can fell the stress from each of the character. And also a slight stagnant a humor makes it an almost perfect novel. Thu THUMBS up!!. ;)
P.S. There still more room for improvement though
Amazingly powerful story telling which flows effortlessly. I wish i could writing like this.... great job Tazio1!DeadSpaceFella 10:11, October 20, 2009 (UTC)
I just read the first part of youe fic....and i love it.
The interaction between Dead Space and Dead Space: Extraction was very well done, and you gave Isaac a good personailty.
Gorvar 02:34, December 4, 2009 (UTC)
Allright just read the whole thing....i love it. Though i think your victims were not really necesary, just maybe one of them, but the couple was a bit over-kill. But i love the rest, including Isaac's role to leader.Gorvar 02:55, December 4, 2009 (UTC)
Nicole is Sarah Kerrigan in Dead Space.
Awesome chapters there man, i really liked the interactions between the extraction group and Isaac, they all share the same bacground in fighting the Necro's. Awesome cmaeo of the Grabber by the way, those guys are very hard to kill in-game.
As for the twinkle twinkle little star tune....EA should hire you, it's really good. Gorvar 11:58, April 11, 2010 (UTC)
Disturbing! AWESOME job with the dream/hallucination sequences! my improvements? keep Isaac as the average joe. he knows better than to "get revenge", all he wants to do is survive. Great characters, great plot, very creepy and disturbing. love it! DisMEMBAH 16:46, April 13, 2010 (UTC)
Love this! AH! This awesome! Brilliant atmosphere and humor reliefes. I think you gave Isaac a great personality and made him take the role of leader. ("Christ, I'm just an Engineer!") LOL! But I don't think it should end like that. Maybe you should write something about what happens next. What does Nicole do? Will Isaac accept the fact that Nicole is actually there and still loves him, even though she is a speical necromorph? But other than that, it is a brilliant piece of work!!! Ah hell, Dead Space 2 Script, RIGHT THERE!!!! :-DDS2117 23:52, November 23, 2010 (UTC)
If this is supposed to take place between the events of Dead Space and Dead Space 2, then why are they on The Spraw? That is in Dead Space 2. If Dead Space 2 is like the first one Isaac will be alone during the story not with other survivers.
