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Post by blackpapermoon on Jul 30, 2010 9:20:44 GMT -5
Ferret watched as the last two vials, where put into the transport case, and then breathed a heavy sigh of relief. All they had to do was get the case to Sakharov and this epidemic would be over, or at lest he hoped. However the ex bandit felt that this trip had been way to easy, and way too quite. One would think with a Duty and a Freedom squad working together that there would at lest be some kind of banter or ill comments exchanged, but there where none. However Ferret could not help but feel that the Duty team had some kind of alter-motives that could jeopardize their mission.
"Not so fast, salvadores del mundo." a gruff voice spoke from near the entrance. Rapier and his team had blocked the way in, and now regarded the Freedom squad and the loner with their guns drawn. "This is Senior Sergeant Sabre to Freedom team. Hand over the samples. They're something the Zone never aught to have brought to life. It's our job to honor Duty, and destroy them."
Oh how right he was.
Ferret drew his SIG 550 and aimed it at the head of Sabre. The ex Bandit might have been a rookie but even he had heard of the Senior Sergeant, the man was a legend in the zone. Normally the young rookie would hang to the back and cover the more experienced members of his squad, but not this time. Normally he was a cowered when it came to firefight, but this time around rage overcame fear. Meanwhile a Freedomer passed the loner the two vials. The loner backed away slowly to wards the end exit one of the duty fired at him, that was all Ferret needed as he unloaded five rounds into the Duty leader’s head. As Sergeant Sabre fell to the ground his blood pouring out of his skull, the firefight began. Ferret ducked behind one of the stacks of barrels just before a spray of bullets covered the area where he once stood. Peeking out from behind his cover he mowed down another Dutyer, before returning to cover to reload. The rest of Adder’s freedom squad was keeping the remains of the duty squad busy, the rookie was about to help when an explosion rocked the lab. The force of the explosion knocked Ferret face first into one of the chemical barrels; the force was so strong, it caused a crack to form in the visor of the rookie’s suit. He did not notice it as his mind was else where.
The loner medic was in trouble and at this time he was the only one who was close enough to help. Running to the exit barely dodging gunfire as he ran still unaware that he was contaminated. Coming to the test room he saw the loner propped up against the cracking wall of the chamber. His suit and face badly burned and he himself was unconscious. Quickly rushing to the man side Ferret did his best to treat the medic’s wounds and wake him.
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Post by Basil on Jul 30, 2010 17:16:51 GMT -5
The vault had exploded into violent insanity as soon as the two sides opened fire on each other. Soon after Sabre was killed, someone hit a barrel containing some very volatile chemicals, causing its contents to erupt in a ball of fire and spread black, acrid smoke into the subterranean structure's corridors. This in turn triggered some old Soviet built alarm system that started braying about evacuating all personel.
Adder had hit one Dutier in the shoulder before everything went to hell. She had seen someone catch catch fire when the barrel exploded, and some resinous substance had splashed onto her suit's sleeve, sizzling angrily and smoking slightly before dying out. The smoke around her was too thick for her to see anything but smoke.
The shooting around her had died down by the time she decided to emerge from cover. Looking around was pretty useless due to the thick smoke, so she had to find her way around by touch. She found the bodies of two fellow Freedomers, killed by bullets. Had only Freedomers been killed? This was dispelled when she found the contorted and agonised corpse of the Dutier she had shot as well as the corpses of a few others.
They had all killed each other and only she had survived.
After a few minutes fumbling around she found the window they had used to enter the vault. She climbed out and made her way upwards, back to the old UAZ jeep and the control room, where she found Ferret tending to an injured Victor.
"Glad you two made it out alive", she wheezed. She was feeling a bit short of breath, probably because of the exertion, stress and heat. "D'you still...have the...vials?"
She sat down heavily, wheezing. As she caught her breath, she coughed slightly. Her eyes widened in horror...it couldn't be...
She looked at her suit: a small hole had been made at chest level. Adder stared wordlessly before she coughed again. The wheezing persisted.
"Oh Jesus no...", she moaned.
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Post by Διμι on Aug 5, 2010 9:13:02 GMT -5
Victor came to suddenly, sputtering and taking a ragged breath of the deadly chemical-laden air. Ferret was standing over him, the Freedomer's visor having been cracked. Adder was staring at a burn hole in her kombez, wheezing. "Shit..." was the best his mind could come up with to adequately sum up their situation. He coughed heavily. Only three of them had survived, having been infected in the process. More importantly, they had lost the vials.
He shakily rose to his feet. Strangely enough, the weakness and numbness he experienced earlier seemed to have somehow retreated to the joints of his fingers in his left hand. He disconnected and slipped off his destroyed suit's glove. The hand looked unnaturally pale, almost completely white.
"D'you still...have the...vials?" asked Adder, shaking the medic from his examination. The woman coughed heavily. Every breath they took in this area was like a week of walking towards certain death. Any more time in here, and the virus concentrations they inhaled would reach critical, eliminating the incubation phase and effectively leaving them dead within hours, not days.
"No," the medic muttered, his voice still a rasp "some assassin bastard trapped me, took them as well. We need to get your suit tended to. A hole like is like an open wound of the same size. Leave it open, and you'll be dead before you anticipate it." he took out a roll of clear sealing tape from his pack, slightly burnt at the edges, and closed the hole. It wouldn't reverse the infection, but at least it would slow down the time the virus would take to fully invade Adder's body. The medic did the same with a solvent and Ferret's polymer visor. He remained the only one without a fully fixed suit, and without it, he would die in no time at all.
He coughed before drawing his polymer VSS. The weapon, having been modified with nonconductive components, remained operational despite being scorched. "C'mon," he said "we have to get out of here and find the last vial." He scanned the road ahead as a small form slowly swam into view through the haze. He peered closer, the man was clad in black and red. Sigbrand had survived.
"Hold your fire," he said aside to the two Freedomers before coughing again "this man is an ally, and with any luck, he's got what we need."
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Aug 5, 2010 21:12:44 GMT -5
Walking up to Victor, Sigbrand said "Good, you can walk. We need to get out of here, my little scuffle with that assassin probably got every Monolith squad in the forest looking for us." Pulling out the vial, he examined it "My rifle's busted too." he said, gesturing at the shattered stock on his Mosin, "So I won't be of much use."
"What's going on here, Victor? What's in this vial? Why do I need to wear my gas mask?" he asked, and then asked in a slightly lower voice, "And what are you doing with these anarchists?"
Handing the vial to Victor, Sigbrand froze, listening carefully. "Someone or something is coming through the forest to the north, we need to move now." Pushing Victor and the Freedomers towards the southern tree line he said, "You can explain what's going on once were somewhere safe."
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Post by Διμι on Aug 5, 2010 21:55:09 GMT -5
"Shit, I doubt I'll make it too far in this state." Victor groaned heavily as he followed the other three stalkers into the treeline just as a Monolith squad emerged from behind the compound. All six of the fanatics were wearing gas masks, which explained why they weren't down on the ground gasping already. "There's a virus in the air all around this area." he began to explain to the Dutier "Some bunch of idiots decided to open that place up and drop a few vials of slime on the floor, one of which we're carrying right now." he eyed the small glass container in his hand. Surprisingly enough, it had survived both his exposure to the energy emitter, as well as Sigbrand's subsequent fight with the assassin.
"Everyone get down," he rasped as the Monolithians approached. There was no escape - the best the group could hope for was for the zealots to leave without scouring the entire area. The two Freedomers slowly sank down into the brush along with Victor and the loner. The six Monolith fighters slowly spread out around the clearing before the damaged compound, searching for any survivors. Two went inside, evidently to investigate what had gone on within, while the rest settled down around the clearing, scanning the area.
Several minutes later, the pair of warriors that had gone in emerged. One pulled a remote detonator from his belt, flicked back the lid, and pressed the button. The group in the trees could feel the ground shake as the concrete bunker ruptured, spitting flames and a plume of ash into the sky, demolishing the laboratories inside for good.
"Let's search the surrounding area, brothers." one of the men said as they reconvened "the non-believers couldn't have gone far." Victor stiffened. They should have took the risk and ran for it when they had the chance. His insides stiffened. He was in no condition to fight, and although both Adder and Sigbrand were experienced fighters, the woman was also sickened, and they would doubtfully manage to take on six trained fanatics, even with Ferret's help.
Something inside Victor twisted, and his clammy right hand twitched involuntarily. Almost as if on cue, the silence was broken by a click from the nearest Monolithian's SPAS-12 shotgun. Inexplicably, the safety on the weapon had disengaged itself without anything even brushing it.
The mystified fanatic turned the apparently malfunctioning weapon in his hands, searching for the cause of the click - perhaps an insect had gotten onto the gun's mechanism. Then he made a fatal mistake, turning the gun to examine the barrel, the tip pointing directly towards the top of his head. Victor felt an electric spasm travel down his numb fingers again.
The hammer inside the gun's workings slammed into the buckshot round, igniting the propellant within. The Monolithian's gas mask was blown off by the shrapnel as the ladder shredded the top of his head clean off. The shotgun fell to the ground from his limp hands, the barrel still smoking. The Monolithian collapsed without even a sound.
The other zealots recoiled, stepping away from the body in awe and fear. Unintelligible muttering broke out amongst them as they slowly backed down. "Brothers, let us leave this cursed place. We are powerless before the spirits here. The Monolith Himself will deal with them in due time..." as silently as they had come, the Monolith forces disappeared into the northern treeline.
Victor rose to uneasily his feet, clawing at a tree's trunk for support before coughing again. The cough brought greenish phlegm and a substantial amount of blood into his palm. The curious numbness in his arm seemed to intensify as well. "I-" he began "-I don't think I've got too much time left." he moaned "let's get to Yantar, it's not too far here from the Northwest..."
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Post by Basil on Aug 6, 2010 16:34:39 GMT -5
"What the...what the fuck just happened...with that Monolithian...?", said Adder weakly. She kept glancing suspiciously at the Dutier who had joined them earlier...who knew what he could pull after what Sabre and his goons did?
The trip through the Red Forest was becoming a lot harder now that she and Victor were infected. Adder's vision was becoming rather blurred as they progressed, and walking was becoming hard. After a lot of walking, they left the uncharted area of the Red Forest and found the road they had left. They headed down that road, eventually reaching the old mining building where Forester used to live.
As they arrived there, Adder, feeling winded and weak, sat down on the ground.
"I need some rest", she said, coughing slightly. She hadn't coughed up any phlegm or blood, but she could tell she had a fever, and a bad one at that; her vision was very blurred and everything in her peripheral vision seemed obscured.
"Fucking Dutiers", she muttered breathlessly, "if they hadn't...hadn't...stabbed us in the back...we wouldn't be in this state..."
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Post by blackpapermoon on Aug 6, 2010 17:06:27 GMT -5
"It looks like he blew his own head off," said Ferret then fell into a coughing fit. The taste of blood and phlegm now washing into his mouth, "damnit."
The group moved on, coming to the old mining administration building in a matter of an hour. Ferret's cough had worsened and he was now gasping for breath as sweat gathered on his forehead. He had a fever and his joint where stiff and painful .
"I need some rest", Adder said, coughing slightly as she sat on the ground. Meanwhile the rookie stashed his pack in some bushes, he would come back for it later.
"Fucking Dutiers", she muttered breathlessly, "if they hadn't...hadn't...stabbed us in the back...we wouldn't be in this state..."
"Come on boss stand up," said Ferret walking over to her, "I'll try to carry you the rest of the way."
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Post by Διμι on Aug 7, 2010 15:26:16 GMT -5
Victor slumped down on a concrete block set beside an old, abandoned trailer, pieces of rebar still jutting out from its sides. His entire body seemed to burn, aside from the almost relieving numbness in his entire right arm, which now hung limply by his side. Somehow, he had something to do with the Monolithian's weapon malfunctioning and firing directly in its owners face. He flexed his fingers inside the damaged glove of his suit. The act itself seemed to take tremendous effort, and he found that he could not flex the tips at all. The extremities remained limp.
Turning away from the group, he pulled the zipper down along his right sleeve, and pulled the glove off. It took all his self-control to contain his gasp, which seemed to choke down in his throat.
His entire arm had become deathly white, so much that his hand actually seemed to glow. But moreover, the tips of his fingers had begun to disappear, graduately becoming more and more translucent from their joints. He could not see the very end of his hand. As his left hand scrambled to feel the fingers, it closed on thin air. He was not becoming invisible. His body was literally dissolving into thin air.
The blood slowly draining from his face, he pulled the glove back over his hand and reattached it to the suit. Almost painfully, he became aware of an all-too-familiar coldness gnawing at the tips of his toes, numbing them to the fever that was consuming the rest of his body. He bent over and vomited, a mixture of greenish phlegm and blood pouring out of his mouth as he gripped the edges of the concrete block.
The rebar embedded in the block seemed to vibrate in its firm position, surrounded by the concrete it supported as another shock seemed to go down the remains of Victor's arm. The metal rod jarred inside its fixtures as the concrete around it cracked and shattered, sending chips and dust into the air around it. The loner recoiled, glancing at his arm, and then at the rest of the group, a good way off. But thankfully, they seemed not to have noticed.
He rose, sealing his visor once more, and walking over to the group shakily. "Let's get moving," he said, his voice cracking slightly "I don't want to rot in here." he added, glancing at his gloved hand.
If there would be anything left of him to rot at all...
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Post by Basil on Aug 7, 2010 16:03:44 GMT -5
Adder stood up painfully and followed Victor. Victor seemed to be the worst off of all, although Adder's perception of other individuals was somewhat dulled by her steadily rising fever. The group went past the gates into the other half of the Red Forest, leaving the tall structure of the mining building behind them. The Red Forest's warped trees quickly engulfed them in semi darkness, and an unseen creature ran away from them as they made their way South.
Adder was unable to avoid a small rock and tripped over it, falling to her hands and knees. This was quickly followed by the worst coughing fit she had ever suffered from, with coughs so violent she was completely unable to breathe. As she coughed, she felt something wet and warm slide down her chin, and red and pale green droplets of what could only be phlegm and blood spattered onto her helmet's visor.
"Ugh...", she groaned almost inaudibly. Even talking seemed to make her lungs flare up with an unbearable urge to cough, and her breath came in long, whistling wheezes as said organs struggled to bring oxygen to her body.
Suddenly, there was a loud roar nearby, followed by the unmistakeable feeling that the earth itself was shaking under the steps of some ponderous and mighty beast.
"Ps-pseudogiant", wheezed Adder in a terrified voice. This was the worst moment for something like this to happen, as none of them save for the Dutier were fit for a battle against the toughest mutant in the Zone. Adder wasn't sure they'd be able to run away either.
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Aug 7, 2010 20:06:03 GMT -5
Sigbrand swore fiercely as the stomping grew louder. "Go!" He shouted at the others "Get to Yantar! I'll draw it off! MOVE!". Sigbrand drew his MP5 and broke into a run towards the Pseudogiant. He could see trees ahead of him shattering and falling as the massive creature crashed through the forest. Firing off a short burst at the monster to gain its attention Sigbrand shouted "Hey! Over here you giant peice of irradiated shit!". The beast gave out a low growl of discomfort as the small pistol rounds collided with its massive form. Turning to face Sigbrand the creature almost seemed confused. Moving to the side, away from his fleeing group, Sigbrand fired another burst. The beast roared with pain as one of the 9mm rounds tore through one of its massive eyes.
Releasing a furious bellow, the Pseudogiant charged Sigbrand. Breaking into a run, Sigbrand dodged around trees and jumped over boulders as the massive mutant followed him through the forest, away from the rest of his group. Spraying the remaining rounds in his magazine over his shoulder, Sigbrand broke into a full out sprint towards an area just up ahead where the trees appeared to give way to a small open area.
Breaking out of the trees, Sigbrand saw what looked like the entrance to an old mine and he angled towards it. Just as the Pseudogiant smashed into the clearing, Sigbrand's foot struck something hard and he lost his balance. Landing hard on the ground, he heard his Geiger counter begin to crackle furiously as the shadow of the beast loomed over him. Sigbrand flipped over onto his back in time to see the giant raise one of its massive legs, ready to crush him like an insect. Rolling out of the way, Sigbrand was thrown several feet from the creature as its foot generated a small localized earthquake.
Pushing himself up, Sigbrand sprinted towards the entrance to the mine. He stopped just short of running in, his Geiger counter had taken up an almost continuous solid click. Backing up quickly Sigbrand turned to see the Pseudogiant barreling towards him, reaching a speed seemingly impossible for something of its size. An Idea burst into Sigbrand's head, walking backwards right to the threshold of the mine Sigbrand stood completely still.
When the pseudogiant was less than two meters away, Sigbrand jumped, grabbed hold of a pipe, and swung himself up and over the giant as it stormed into the mine.
Pushing himself up from the ground, Sigbrand looked back into the mine. Roars were echoing from it, followed by a maniacal, in-human laugh as the entire shaft seemed to fill with flame.
Turning away from the mine, Sigbrand started to walk back towards the tunnel to Yantar. Just as he re-entered the forest, he dropped to one knee, lifted up his gas mask and vomited. Wiping his mouth, he took a deep breath and removed some anti-radiation pills from his pack. Swallowing them, he replaced his gas mask, stood back up and continued forward.
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Post by Διμι on Aug 7, 2010 21:35:18 GMT -5
"Let's go!" Victor rasped loudly, grabbing Ferret with his left hand, and the sleeve of Adder with what remained of his right, hoping that the Freedom commandant wouldn't notice the lack of fingertips in his glove. He jerked both the Freedomers sideways, changing their direction in the exact opposite of the path Sigbrand had taken. The three sprinted down the narrow gap in the forest undergrowth.
Victor's throat burned with every step he took, and the numbness in his feet did little to help. Stumbling, the three companions stumbled out of the brush onto an overgrown roadway. The groans and roars of the pseudogiant crashing through the undergrowth behind them died down. Several bursts pierced the silence, evidently from Sigbrand's MP-5, followed by a final, fading roar. Then, everything was silent.
Victor collapsed onto the paved roadway on all fours, panting loudly. Greenish phlegm mixed with blood slowly ran from the corner of his mouth. He felt his throat choke up, but swallowed down the urge to vomit inside his own visor. He pressed a button on the sleeve of his suit, but to no avail. The panel had burnt out along with the protective elements. The cracked visor stayed in place.
Lifting his hands to his neck, he unhitched the entire hood, lifting it clear off of his head. The thing would do little to protect him anyway at this point. His matted, grimy black hair, having been long even when he entered the Zone, fell to his shoulders, dirty and unruly. The medic stared into the ground, his vision blurring. He could scarcely feel the ground beneath his right palm, soon enough, it would follow the fate of his fingers, he thought. Never again would he hold a syringe, a gun in it. Already, he could feel the same coldness now permeating his entire foot, and the tips of his left hand's fingers as well. The numbness would follow, and they would follow suit with disappearing. He had perhaps several hours before his hands became completely useless. Perhaps a day before he became completely helpless without any extremities whatsoever. Perhaps two before he disappeared completely.
It hit him then. He was going to die, cured or not. There was nothing that could save him from this. The rage came several seconds later. Did he deserve this fate?! he asked himself. All he ever fucking wanted to do was to help. And now, he thought, he was going to vanish without even a trace. Lifting his left fist, he slammed it into the ground, feeling another of the mysterious shocks come traveling up his arm. For a second, a bright blue light seemed to explode behind his eyes, blinding him in virtually every way. A hot wind seemed to pick up, sifting dust and even small pebbles on the brick road, lifting them up in the air and holding them there. The light behind his eyes subsided, and the loner inhaled deeply. The dust settled slowly, the rocks falling to the ground.
He rose from the ground, approaching the two Freedomers that had also been catching their breath. Having calmed down sufficiently, he came up to Adder, who had drawn her PDA. According to the device, they were in the westernmost part of the Red Forest. Hardly a mile south lay the Yantar factory compound. They were nearing their destination. All they had to do was reach it safely, and then the fate of the virus' victims would rest on the eggheads themselves.
"Come on," the loner murmured, helping Adder to her feet, and nearly stumbling in the process himself "if we make one more push, we'll be at the lab in no more than an hour or so. We just have to try..." He looked back at the forest, which had become still ever since the pseudogiant's roars had subsided "I sure hope Sigbrand knows what he's doing."
The three slowly set off, stumbling, retching, and looking more like zombies than anything. Hopefully the eggheads would not shoot on sight, the medic thought. He chuckled, the greenish phlegm bubbling in his throat. It just seemed funny how the most meager of distances separating them from rest could become a full-scale trip through hell...
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Post by Zeno, Lord Camelith on Aug 8, 2010 2:07:46 GMT -5
Kneeling down in a small patch of dirt, Sigbrand picked up the hood and visor to a SEVA suit. It must be Victor's. God, I hope they're still alive. he thought. Standing back up he quickly located three sets of footprints, all leading towards the tunnel to Yantar. Breaking into a quick jog and following the foot prints, Sigbrand soon caught up with the three others.
His sudden arrival seemed to startle the others, pointing forward he said "The tunnel's less than half a kilometer away, I'll explain what happened when we're safe." and continued forward. After several more minutes of walking they reached the entrance to the tunnel, "There it is," Sigbrand said, "A straight shot to Yantar. We'll wait here a bit for you guys to catch your breath, then we need to-" Sigbrand stopped mid sentence, and motioned for the others to stay quiet as well. Listening carefully, Sigbrand could just make out a low ghasping breaths from the forest behind them. Wheeling around Sigbrand grabbed Victors rifle, took aim at the pair of eyes floating just a few meters away, and fired. The heavy 9x39mm round split the bloodsucker's skull, sending it's limp form toppling backwards into the forest. Handing the rifle back to Victor he said "On second thought, we should go now before any more of those bastards show up."
Taking up position at the rear of the group, Sigbrand and the others entered the tunnel.
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The bloodsucker stooped low over the small puddle of blood at it's feet. Dipping one of his tentacles into the crimson liquid, it sampled the blood. It was human, he could tell it apart from others just by its smell, but this blood was fresh. The human this little morsel had come from was still alive, and had been in this very place just minutes ago.
Peering forward, the bloodsucker's gaze followed the small trail to the entrance of the large tunnel. Others from his pack began to emerge from the woods, they too had been following the trail. Eager to have the human for himself, all seven feet of the bloodsucker stood up and broke into a loping run into the tunnel, following the trail that promised a meal.
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Post by Διμι on Aug 8, 2010 2:51:37 GMT -5
The group descended into the darkness, their progress through the narrow tunnel almost painfully slow, but already the pinprick of light that was the entrance they had walked through had disappeared behind them. The medic leaned heavily against the solid wall to catch his breath.
For several seconds, the only sound he could hear was his own labored breathing, but then, almost indistinctly, another creature's harsh, ragged breathing, almost silent, echoed through the tunnel. Something was following the group, most likely another of the monsters they had encountered back in the clearing by the tunnel entrance. More breathing soon joined that of the first creature, joining in a haunting chorale of hisses and rasps.
"Shit," Victor said, almost resignedly. Only one thought flashed through his head. It was over. There was no way the group would fight off all of the monsters alone. With his body slowly melting away into the air, he might as well make a last stand and try to hold the bloodsuckers off as they came. Perhaps he would be able to buy Adder, Sigbrand, and Ferret a few minutes to run, if the bloodsuckers decided to toy around with him first before going in for the kill.
He turned around and quickly walked over to Adder, who too, was aware of the creatures now. Pulling out the vial Sigbrand had retrieved, he handed it to the woman. "Run. Get the fuck out of here." he coughed out "I haven't got much time on this earth left anyway. What the hell are you waiting for!? Go! These things are going to suck all of you dry if we don't get out of this damn tunnel! Run, or we'll all end up bloodsucker food!" The three hesitated visibly, but then broke into a run towards Yantar.
He tossed his VSS to Sigbrand. "Take care of it," he said simply, before drawing his HPSA and stepping back into the tunnel. He re-loaded the pistol, and aimed it into the darkness, waiting for the beasts to come.
It took the bloodsuckers scarcely thirty seconds to catch up with him. The glowing eyes permeated the darkness before him. The tunnel was too narrow for them all to close in together, so they remained one behind the other, in line for their next meal.
"Come on, you fucks," Victor growled, "bend over and take it!" he pulled the trigger, releasing a spray of 9mm into the pack leader's torso. The enormous bloodsucker uncloaked almost instantly, and leapt forward, the bullets slamming into its frame without the least of damage. The creature swung, it's massive clawed hand slamming into Victor's exposed face with a backhand that sent him flying backwards into the tunnel wall, leaving three deep, bleeding gashes along the side of his face. The Browning pistol went skittering across the floor and out of sight and reach into the darkness.
The loner rose to his feet uneasily, his legs weak. The bloodsucker stood several feet away, the pack still behind it. The creature probed one of the bullet wounds on its chest, not even wincing at the damage. If the monster could express itself, it would have been laughing at him, his futile attempts to resist its assault, Victor thought as rage suddenly flooded his head.
The entire tunnel seemed to shake as the concrete cracked overhead. A recollection of the concrete block in the Red Forest shattering around the rebar suddenly slipped into Victor's head, only to slip back out as a charge slipped through his right hand, powerful enough to make it glow momentarily inside its glove.
The ceiling burst apart, small chunks of concrete raining down on the loner and the pack he faced. A single iron rod, nearly four meters in length, burst from the concrete, hovering horizontally at chest level directly between Victor and the pack. The bloodsucker recoiled at the eruption, it's eyes glowing as it studied the rod floating between it and its target. Victor's black eyes gazed steadily back, waiting for the first twitch.
The monster leapt, attempting to dive around the rod and bring down its target, but it had already been anticipated. The rod jarred forward at an unimaginable speed to meet it head on and spear it under the ribcage. It did not stop there, carrying the first mutant into the pack behind it, bursting out of its back and burying itself into the next creature. Spines shattered and blood spurted as the hellish missile tore through the pack, impaling bloodsucker after bloodsucker upon itself. At last it stopped, having emerged from the back of the last monster in line.
The train of bloodsuckers, impaled and stuck together on the piece of rebar, wavered uneasily. Victor saw the light in the eyes of the leader go out as it toppled to the side, the rod still in its chest, bringing down the rest of the pack with it. The bloodsuckers fell to the floor in unison, with a resonant, squishy thud. Blood was everywhere, pooling on the floor, on the walls around them.
Weaponless, the loner stared at his hand. The glove hung down limply as he lifted his arm. His hand had disappeared completely. The feeling was gone in his left fingers as well now. They would start dissolving any time now. His toes were numb, while his head burned with the virus' consumptive fever. He felt his consciousness swimming, struggling to stay afloat as he vomited once more. Slowly, he regained his senses. He was half-dead, but half-dead was only a word.
"Enjoy your bonding by trauma," he spat at the downed, mutilated pack of bloodsuckers, some of which were still twitching in their final agonies. The medic turned around, and slowly began to walk back towards the exit to Yantar. He had to catch up with the rest of the group.
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Post by Basil on Aug 8, 2010 7:01:27 GMT -5
Adder struggled the rest of the way, wheezing, stumbling and coughing. Every step required tremendous effort, and every breath was torment to her lungs. She had no idea how she managed to reach the exit into the old Yantar factory, or how she even managed to leave the tunnel. Ferret and the Dutier seemed to be moving several times faster than she was, and her fevered mind seemed to be tripling the distance left.
The group silently left the Yantar factory through the gates and proceeded down the dirt road. They heard a snork snarl, but it was clear that the creature wasn't close enough to them to pose a threat. After an arduous walk, Adder, Ferret and the Dutier finally sighted the scientists' bunker.
"Oh God", said Adder in a voice so weak she was amazed at how it could even be audible, "oh...God..."
They were standing atop the slope leading into the depression where the lab stood. Adder took one step towards the lab...and then everything went insane. She felt herself falling, falling...
...and then she came to at the bottom of the slope, bruised and winded. What had happened? Everything was wavering sickeningly before her eyes, and she couldn't breathe.
She couldn't breathe.
She gasped and struggled with her helmet, feeling the powerful need to rip it off, to rip this prison off her head. She found the device that kept the helmet secured and opened it before wrenching the thing off her head and taking a deep, ragged breath which somehow only got a tiny trickle of air into her lungs. She lay on the ground, struggling to breathe and coughed weakly. A bubble of phlegm and blood formed on her lips.
"Can't-t-t...go...on...", she rasped. She could barely move her arms, and everything was getting darker as her lungs struggled to keep her body supplied with oxygen, failing a little more with every breath. Her lungs must be clogged with phlegm.
And then she realised something. She was on the verge of death. The world around her seemed to be slipping away...
She perceived someone looming over her. Ferret? The Dutier? She couldn't tell. Weakly she reached out, before her arm dropped limply to the ground.
"Can't...breathe...help...", she managed to say.
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Post by Διμι on Aug 8, 2010 16:06:46 GMT -5
Victor stepped out of the tunnel and took several deep, rasping breaths, relishing the comparativel fresh air flowing into his lungs. The numbing cold had spread up his arms now, and he could no longer feel his own knuckles. His hands were steadily disappearing, and his arms would follow suit very soon. The medic stepped forward, and nearly fell, tripping on his own foot. Instead of his toes meeting the ground, he felt only air, and jerked backward to hold himself balanced. So his toes were gone too...
Still, it beat the prospect of lying back in the tunnel, completely desanguinated by the bloodthirsty freaks that met their end there instead. The team's destination was now at hand. Less than 500 meters separated him from the gorge where the mobile lab was situated. If he didn't fall flat on his face and crack his skull, he would make it. Limping the best he could on his maimed feet, he slowly walked through the barren compound and out of the wrought iron gate.
The loner caught up with the rest of the team by the slope leading down to the dried lakebed on which the mobile lab was position. The bunker was clearly in sight, but something had stalled them. Wlaking closer, he could see one of the Freedomers, Adder to be precise, on the ground, gasping for air. Catching up to the group, the medic knelt beside the woman, and examined her. The characteristic gurgle emananting from her airway suggested that her lungs, smaller than those of the rest of the group members', had been clogged almost completely. Adder was breathing her last, and there was nothing that could be done to clean her respiratory system on such a scale. Except for perhaps one thing.
Up to this point, the mysterious telekinetic ability had only manifested itself in moments of extreme fear, anger, apprehension. It had been as dangerous and unpredictable as it had been helpful. But now, it was his only hope, and the Commandant's as well.
Kneeling down beside the unconscious woman, he placed the remains of his palms on her chest, and seemingly through sheer will, sent a gentle surge through his steadily numbing arms. He could almost feel Adder's insides clench underneath his palm, relaxing and contracting as she coughed, expelling the phlegm that coated her lungs all over Victor's face. Adder took a rasping, choking breath as her eyes opened and her lungs filled with air. She had only been an inch from death.
Victor rolled away, sitting up and brushing the greenish slime from his face with the palm of his glove. The goo slowly streaming down his throat into his own lungs worried him scarcely anymore. They had reached their destination.
"C'mon," he said to Adder, who was still taking heaping mouthfuls of the stale air hanging around the lake like a fish taken out of water "we're here, let's not keep our little virus from the eggheads any longer. Keep your weapons raised over your head as you approach. With the way we look at the moment, they'll mistake us for the regular zombies around here."
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