Thank you to all the people who left feedback for my previous effort. Below is the next part, with perhaps one more to follow if I get the chance. Peace.
-----------------------------------------
Absolution - Part 2
-------------------
The explosion ripped through the office, turning furniture and paper into so much burning chaff. Anathema crouched outside of it, hastily fitting another grenade into her rifle. That should have been enough to get their attention, she thought. Standing, she hurried to the other side of the corridor and waited for their approach. Soon enough she heard the tell-tale sound of shuffling zombie feet, far too many of them. She cursed herself, knowing that she wouldnt be able to deal with more than three at a time. Reaching into her belt, she pulled out a handful of sharp caltrops and tossed them into the hall.
That might slow them down a bit, she muttered, checking her rifle was fully set. Damn, she thought, this was going to be so easy as well.
Standing outside Chiron Medical Centre, Rebecca was reminded of stories told to her by doctors years ago about people who were terrified of hospitals. As she stood in its cool shadow, she felt she could relate. It had been a year since she had left this place in a wheelchair, minus her eye, her arm and the other parts of her body that Vahzilok had seen fit to remove. But now she stood outside of it, her robotic arm a satisfactory substitute and her own silicon organs working in the absence of those that had been stolen. She still regretted the eye though, no technology seemed to be able to replace that.
She slightly adjusted the blonde wig she was wearing and the scratchy nurses uniform that had been hanging in her wardrobe. Her ID was in order although she prayed no-one would check it. If it wasnt for the hope of a clue to Vahziloks whereabouts, she would never have come back here. Taking a deep breath, she strode up the steps to the front door.
As the mangled corpses collapsed to the ground, Anathema levelled her rifle and sent a round straight through the head of the last one. There was a discordant groan and it slumped, its artificial life gone. But there was no time to waste. She could already hear the sound of running feet but this time, they were away from her.
As she entered the now ruined corridor, she could see a man in a suit running away from her. He was almost at the end of the corridor, dashing for the emergency exit. Raising her rifle, she took aim and fired.
The handle to the door sprung away from the door as the sniper round rendered it useless to the escaping man. He turned to see her then chose an alternative route. Anathema ran after him. She pursued him through several rooms of medical equipment, gaining on him with every step. He threw down objects in her path but there really was no point in doing so. She leapt over them effortlessly, the artificial muscles in her legs performing in a way that no humans ever could.
The man burst through the door and out into the parking lot. He ran across the gravel, trying not to look behind him. She could have shot him then and there but that wouldnt have been enough. Calling on her legs once again, she shot across the park at the speed of a bullet, ploughing into the back of the man and sending them both sprawling to the ground.
Dr Anthony Blakes office had proven to be very interesting. Along with several files full of data on prospective patients for experimental surgery, there was also an encrypted file on his computer simply named Chimera. Unable to open it at his desk, Rebecca had copied the file to disc then stolen it, hoping to make good her escape while she could. It had been on the way down to the fire exit in the basement that it had happened.
Lying on a stretcher in the corridor, a young man, barely an adult was clutching his stomach in obvious pain. She would have walked straight past him if he had not have reached out and grabbed her arm.
Nurse, when will they operate? he asked.
Rebecca looked down at the waiting patient. She could have shaken him off, moved on, forgotten about him, it would have been easy. But she stopped, she didnt know why.
What are you in for? she asked.
Appendicitis, groaned the man, they said theyre going to have to take it out. Miss Im scared Ive never had an operation before
Noises screamed in her head. Operation, scalpel, pain, blood The trauma of being awake while operated on reverberated around her skull, causing her to almost fall. She grasped the stretcher and tried to quell the psychological agony.
Are you ok? asked the man.
Rebecca recovered, touched her forehead and tried to ignore her screaming fear of going under the knife. But then she saw the man on the stretcher, with such faith in the doctors that were going to take all the pain away. He didnt fear in the way that she did, but he needed her. He needed her to tell him that it would be alright.
Im ok, just a headache she said and for a second, she believed it. She looked down at the trolley, the urgency in her mind of catching the doctor gone. Theyre just going to put you to sleep for a little bit. You wont feel a thing. And when you wake up, the pain will be gone.
Wont I feel anything? said the man. Rebeccas lip trembled a little.
No, nothing at all, she said, Theyre good doctors, theyll look after you.
Thanks miss, said the man, who was already looking more relaxed. Rebecca smiled, a rare event for her.
Thats what Im here for, she said and walked on. She didnt know where those words had come from.
As she walked away, the man suddenly realised how cold and hard her arm had been.
Anathema rolled the doctor over and sat astride him, wanting to get a good look at his face. She levelled the gun at him so that his eyes almost crossed to focus on the barrel as she stared down it. The sight of his eyes made her jump. She knew them from somewhere
Dont kill me! he cried.
I should kill you right now you piece of filth! she shouted. Where is he!? Where is Vahzilok!?
I dont know! replied the stricken surgeon, I dont know anything about him apart from whats in the papers!
Youre lying! she stated, tightening her grip on the gun.
Im not! I swear! he managed, I saw those things, and then I saw you so I ran! I thought you were one of them!
Anathema grimaced. He had a point. She had used technology stolen from Vahzilok to repair herself, should couldnt help but looking like one of the Eidolons that he revered so much. Sometimes it was hard to look in the mirror.
They were trying to kidnap me! he continued, And then there were these explosions and I thought you were after me!
Anathema drew a deep breath. She stood up and allowed him to get up. She hadnt quite relaxed her grip yet but the words were ringing round her head. What if he was right? What if he was just a bystander who had been caught in the crossfire? What if he was the surgeon meant to be operating on the boy with appendicitis right now?
It was too much. She put her hand to her head, the tears coming too easily now. Her body, so different from what it had been. Was she any different to the Eidolons? Were they now her siblings? She sunk to her knees, not sure what she was meant to do now. It was all so damn confusing.
The man began to back away from her, watching this confused and crazy person fall to pieces inside. When he was a sufficient distance, he turned and began to run.
Anathema cried, trying to gather the pieces of Rebeccas memories. They were scattered and confused and made no sense at all. It was like trying to pick up grains of rice with a fork.
Such pretty eyes, came the voice. I know someone who needs one of them
And there she was, again. Tied to a table, sedated but conscious. Over her, a man leant in as Vahzilok watched. She saw the scalpel descending towards her eye. Her eye, now gone Her eye, lost Her eye his eyes! His eyes! She knew them and cursed them!
Standing, she raised her rifle again and fired an angry slug of rubber across the parking lot. It struck the fleeing doctor in the back, causing him to cry out and collapse against one of the cars.
As the car alarm screamed its protest, hard leather boots clicked across the lot as the doctor saw his doom coming for him
When the authorities turned up to find Doctor Blake suspended by his leg from the fire escape, a strip of cloth bound tightly around his blackened and bruised eyes, it was the graffiti on the wall next to him that confused them most.
In blood red letters, her message to the world read:
In the land of the blind, I SEE ALL!
FIN
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk
Thank you to all the people who left feedback for my previous effort. Below is the next part, with perhaps one more to follow if I get the chance. Peace.
-----------------------------------------
Absolution - Part 2
-------------------
The explosion ripped through the office, turning furniture and paper into so much burning chaff. Anathema crouched outside of it, hastily fitting another grenade into her rifle. That should have been enough to get their attention, she thought. Standing, she hurried to the other side of the corridor and waited for their approach. Soon enough she heard the tell-tale sound of shuffling zombie feet, far too many of them. She cursed herself, knowing that she wouldnt be able to deal with more than three at a time. Reaching into her belt, she pulled out a handful of sharp caltrops and tossed them into the hall.
That might slow them down a bit, she muttered, checking her rifle was fully set. Damn, she thought, this was going to be so easy as well.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Standing outside Chiron Medical Centre, Rebecca was reminded of stories told to her by doctors years ago about people who were terrified of hospitals. As she stood in its cool shadow, she felt she could relate. It had been a year since she had left this place in a wheelchair, minus her eye, her arm and the other parts of her body that Vahzilok had seen fit to remove. But now she stood outside of it, her robotic arm a satisfactory substitute and her own silicon organs working in the absence of those that had been stolen. She still regretted the eye though, no technology seemed to be able to replace that.
She slightly adjusted the blonde wig she was wearing and the scratchy nurses uniform that had been hanging in her wardrobe. Her ID was in order although she prayed no-one would check it. If it wasnt for the hope of a clue to Vahziloks whereabouts, she would never have come back here. Taking a deep breath, she strode up the steps to the front door.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Two down, one to go.
As the mangled corpses collapsed to the ground, Anathema levelled her rifle and sent a round straight through the head of the last one. There was a discordant groan and it slumped, its artificial life gone. But there was no time to waste. She could already hear the sound of running feet but this time, they were away from her.
As she entered the now ruined corridor, she could see a man in a suit running away from her. He was almost at the end of the corridor, dashing for the emergency exit. Raising her rifle, she took aim and fired.
The handle to the door sprung away from the door as the sniper round rendered it useless to the escaping man. He turned to see her then chose an alternative route. Anathema ran after him. She pursued him through several rooms of medical equipment, gaining on him with every step. He threw down objects in her path but there really was no point in doing so. She leapt over them effortlessly, the artificial muscles in her legs performing in a way that no humans ever could.
The man burst through the door and out into the parking lot. He ran across the gravel, trying not to look behind him. She could have shot him then and there but that wouldnt have been enough. Calling on her legs once again, she shot across the park at the speed of a bullet, ploughing into the back of the man and sending them both sprawling to the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Dr Anthony Blakes office had proven to be very interesting. Along with several files full of data on prospective patients for experimental surgery, there was also an encrypted file on his computer simply named Chimera. Unable to open it at his desk, Rebecca had copied the file to disc then stolen it, hoping to make good her escape while she could. It had been on the way down to the fire exit in the basement that it had happened.
Lying on a stretcher in the corridor, a young man, barely an adult was clutching his stomach in obvious pain. She would have walked straight past him if he had not have reached out and grabbed her arm.
Nurse, when will they operate? he asked.
Rebecca looked down at the waiting patient. She could have shaken him off, moved on, forgotten about him, it would have been easy. But she stopped, she didnt know why.
What are you in for? she asked.
Appendicitis, groaned the man, they said theyre going to have to take it out. Miss Im scared Ive never had an operation before
Noises screamed in her head. Operation, scalpel, pain, blood The trauma of being awake while operated on reverberated around her skull, causing her to almost fall. She grasped the stretcher and tried to quell the psychological agony.
Are you ok? asked the man.
Rebecca recovered, touched her forehead and tried to ignore her screaming fear of going under the knife. But then she saw the man on the stretcher, with such faith in the doctors that were going to take all the pain away. He didnt fear in the way that she did, but he needed her. He needed her to tell him that it would be alright.
Im ok, just a headache she said and for a second, she believed it. She looked down at the trolley, the urgency in her mind of catching the doctor gone. Theyre just going to put you to sleep for a little bit. You wont feel a thing. And when you wake up, the pain will be gone.
Wont I feel anything? said the man. Rebeccas lip trembled a little.
No, nothing at all, she said, Theyre good doctors, theyll look after you.
Thanks miss, said the man, who was already looking more relaxed. Rebecca smiled, a rare event for her.
Thats what Im here for, she said and walked on. She didnt know where those words had come from.
As she walked away, the man suddenly realised how cold and hard her arm had been.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Anathema rolled the doctor over and sat astride him, wanting to get a good look at his face. She levelled the gun at him so that his eyes almost crossed to focus on the barrel as she stared down it. The sight of his eyes made her jump. She knew them from somewhere
Dont kill me! he cried.
I should kill you right now you piece of filth! she shouted. Where is he!? Where is Vahzilok!?
I dont know! replied the stricken surgeon, I dont know anything about him apart from whats in the papers!
Youre lying! she stated, tightening her grip on the gun.
Im not! I swear! he managed, I saw those things, and then I saw you so I ran! I thought you were one of them!
Anathema grimaced. He had a point. She had used technology stolen from Vahzilok to repair herself, should couldnt help but looking like one of the Eidolons that he revered so much. Sometimes it was hard to look in the mirror.
They were trying to kidnap me! he continued, And then there were these explosions and I thought you were after me!
Anathema drew a deep breath. She stood up and allowed him to get up. She hadnt quite relaxed her grip yet but the words were ringing round her head. What if he was right? What if he was just a bystander who had been caught in the crossfire? What if he was the surgeon meant to be operating on the boy with appendicitis right now?
It was too much. She put her hand to her head, the tears coming too easily now. Her body, so different from what it had been. Was she any different to the Eidolons? Were they now her siblings? She sunk to her knees, not sure what she was meant to do now. It was all so damn confusing.
The man began to back away from her, watching this confused and crazy person fall to pieces inside. When he was a sufficient distance, he turned and began to run.
Anathema cried, trying to gather the pieces of Rebeccas memories. They were scattered and confused and made no sense at all. It was like trying to pick up grains of rice with a fork.
Such pretty eyes, came the voice. I know someone who needs one of them
And there she was, again. Tied to a table, sedated but conscious. Over her, a man leant in as Vahzilok watched. She saw the scalpel descending towards her eye. Her eye, now gone Her eye, lost Her eye his eyes! His eyes! She knew them and cursed them!
Standing, she raised her rifle again and fired an angry slug of rubber across the parking lot. It struck the fleeing doctor in the back, causing him to cry out and collapse against one of the cars.
As the car alarm screamed its protest, hard leather boots clicked across the lot as the doctor saw his doom coming for him
-----------------------------------------------------------
When the authorities turned up to find Doctor Blake suspended by his leg from the fire escape, a strip of cloth bound tightly around his blackened and bruised eyes, it was the graffiti on the wall next to him that confused them most.
In blood red letters, her message to the world read:
In the land of the blind, I SEE ALL!
FIN
@Dante EU - Union Roleplayer and Altisis Victim
The Militia: Union RP Supergroup - www.themilitia.org.uk