CHAPTER FOUR
MY WAY
"Doctor!" a voice calls amidst the dark.
"What?" Olivia blurts out as she opens her eyes. A piercing sound appears inside her head.
The sound grows louder and louder like hundred alarm bells ringing next to her ear. Olivia lets out a cry of pain as she presses her ears with both hands trying to keep the buzzing at bay. But the buzzing only intensifies.
"Doctor?" the voice calls out again. Olivia squirms on the floor with both hands still on her ears.
"OLIVIA!" it calls, louder than before. The buzzing stops. Olivia opens her eyes.
"Captain?" Olivia blurts out as she sees Captain Rayne watching over her with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?" Rayne asks.
Olivia nods. Rayne extends a hand to help her stand. She accepts.
They look around. Besides them stands a familiar building.
"Is that the school?" Olivia asks, struggling to stand. Rayne shrugs.
The similarities are there both in shape and form but this one is grey and desolate; there are no veins creeping across its floor and walls, the pool which was once filled with bloody grime is now empty and broken.
Is this truly the same place, Olivia wonders?
"I don't understand. How can this be?" Olivia approaches the window and takes a closer look inside.
"I was hoping you would be able to shine a light on some matters," Rayne adds, knowing full well that she cannot.
"How could I possibly? None of this makes any sense. Were we in some sort of an alternate reality or was that all a dream?" Olivia thinks as she turns to Rayne, "You were in there with me, with the monsters? I didn't dream it? Did I?" she asks.
"Unfortunately not. It was real," Rayne adds, hoping that it was a dream.
Somewhere in the distance a roar echoes.
Rayne notices Olivia is still struggling with barely any energy to stand. He does not know why or what exactly is wrong but something is definitely wrong. Rayne looks around at this hell they found themselves in as he smirks.
Everything is wrong, Rayne concludes. But this is no time to mess around.
Who knows where danger lurks. He tries to contact his team but no luck.
The coms are useless here, Rayne concludes.
Rayne looks around; he sees a small convenience store.
Olivia grabs her head again as the buzzing noise returns.
"Come on," Rayne says as he offers a helping shoulder to help Olivia walk.
They go inside the convenience store; Rayne places Olivia down behind the counter as he takes a quick look around to check if the area is secure. There is nothing inside apart from some snacks and drinks on half-empty shelves.
"The area is clear. We'll rest here for a bit," Rayne says as he opens a bottle of water and offers it to Olivia. She takes a small sip, still holding on to her head as her body trembles.
"What is wrong with me?" Olivia asks with teary eyes.
The pain travels from her head to her stomach as she wraps her hands around it trying to keep the pain at bay. She tries to scream but only manages a whimper. The anguish grips her tightly. She needs to scream but she has no voice.
"Doctor! Doctor!" Rayne yells as he holds her. Olivia's body violently convulses.
"Captain," Olivia whimpers.
"Olivia? OLIVIA!" Rayne yells. The convulsions abruptly stop as Olivia closes her eyes.
Rayne hears nearby footsteps. He readies his weapon.
A little while ago...
Somewhere in the middle of a ruined building lies a large pond filled with mud. A hand rises from it. Then, a head! And with the head, a man steps outside. It's Big George. Akira and Davenport follow after him. Mud drips from the completely covered less than happy men.
"What the fuck!" Davenport says as he unsuccessfully tries to clean the mud.
Big George looks around the ruined building. He sees a bathroom with a shower. Considering there isn't much to lose and he is covered in mud he George turns the lever. Clean water sprinkles out.
"Well, look at that," Big George adds, slightly surprised at the positive turn of events.
He turns the hose on himself.
"Can we get some of that," Davenport adds as he and Akira approach, dripping mud.
Big George turns the shower at them spraying them like vegetables.
"Who knew that taking a shower outside in Alaska wouldn't be the most comfortable thing in the world. Can someone close that window," Davenport says as he turns to the roofless, mostly wall-less structure with a single open window standing on a lone wall.
Big George targets his mouth with the water in a not-so-discreet way of telling him to shut up.
"Now that you mention it, the weather is not particularly cold," Akira adds as Big George turns the hose on him.
"What do you think it means, Big George?" Davenport asks. Big George wipes his face with a towel, throws the towel to Davenport, and lights up a Cuban cigar.
Davenport looks at the towel. No traces of white remain on the tiny piece of fabric. He turns it around to find a small non-muddy part to clean himself off. A very small part.
“Captain do you read me?” Big George tries to contact Rayne via com link. No response. He turns to Akira and Davenport. They attempt the same but no luck. Big George shrugs.
"How are we looking ammo wise?" he asks.
Akira checks his sniper, there are no more bullets except the one he pawned before; he puts it in the mag.
"One bullet, two pistol mags, no grenades," Akira says.
"I got a full magazine, one pistol mag, and a flash grenade. Wouldn't mind trading it for a frag though," Davenport says.
Big George drops his A-100 Typhoon machinegun.
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"Two pistols mag and a flash," Big George adds.
"You two need to learn to conserve ammo better," Davenport says, self-righteously.
Somewhat proud as if this was a competition and he won it. Akira and Big George give him the evil eye. A short but an impactful stare.
"What now?" Akira asks.
"Hey look, there is a convenience store," Davenport adds, noticing the store a little distance away from them.
"What do you need, Ash? Some candy?" Akira asks, shaking his head.
"No, man. I mean yes. But that's not it. You know Captain Rayne, he always prioritizes places with food or water. Maybe he is there, you know?" Davenport explains his reasoning.
Big George and Akira glance at each other with disbelief.
"What?" Davenport asks but they still stare with the same expression, "What, man, what?" he asks again, confused by their reaction.
"I don't believe it! He actually said something smart," Akira states, dumbfounded.
"Maybe it's an impostor? One of those demons wearing his skin?" Big George theorizes as he inspects Davenport as if trying to find something.
“Very funny,” Davenport adds while shaking his head in disapproval.
They make their way to the convenience store.
Davenport, Akira, and Big George enter as suddenly Rayne appears in front of them with his rifle drawn and aiming at them. They reflexively aim their weapons at him.
"It's the Captain," Davenport adds, happily. Big George and Akira holster their weapons.
Rayne eyes his less than clean unit.
“What happened to you?” Rayne asks, curious about the vast traces of mud.
“We got into a sticky situation,” Davenport replies, sneering. Davenport and Big George shake their head. Rayne grunts.
"Hey, where is the doctor?" Davenport asks while looking around.
Akira stands next to a window to keep watch.
Big George notices a packet of unopened chocolate biscuits; he stashes them inside his backpack.
"Hey, Captain, where is the doctor?" Davenport asks while inspecting the fridge, "Damn it, there are no beers," he adds, as he continues looking at the selection.
"She is here, behind the counter," Rayne says.
Big George goes over to check on the Doctor.
"Hey, guys, I found some cans," Davenport adds as he turns around while clumsily holding 4 cans of beer, "What's wrong?" he asks as he approaches Big George and Rayne.
"Is she?" Big George asks as he glances at Olivia who lies motionlessly on the floor.
"No. She is alive. But something is wrong. I guess that would be an understatement," Rayne says as he smirks and glances outside at the nightmarish hellhole they found themselves into.
"What's the plan, Captain?" Big George asks.
"I'll tell you what now. We get the hell out of this... hell," Davenport says without hesitation.
"What about the mission?" Akira asks.
"Screw the mission, man. Hell, we should have never entered this place," Davenport responds, chuckling half in humor and half at their tragic predicament. A loud growl echoes somewhere in the distance making the windows of the convenience store tremble. The members of the Fang Two unit instinctively hide behind cover until the vibrations fade away.
"Akira?" Rayne asks in a soft voice.
"It's clear," Akira answers, also in a soft voice.
Their self-preservation instincts kick in.
"Do you hear that? What more do you..." Davenport says as he abruptly screams. The Fang Two unit members turn and draw their weapons. In front of them, stands the Child. A dim aura surrounds its gray androgynous shape. When they first saw this being it was as white as snow but now its visage acquired an ashen-like complexion.
"You have done well. Now follow the light," the Child says as it points outside with an indifferent look on its face.
"Captain, come on we have to leave this place," Davenport urges, staring Rayne face to face. Rayne pauses for a moment as he thinks.
The Child widely opens its mouth; they didn't notice this before but now they do, the unreal entity has no teeth or tongue only blackness inside its mouth. Their consciousness fades as if falling asleep. The edges of their vision turn black and the black continues to consume the light like a fire devouring a forest. Then, the Child closes its mouth. Their consciousness returns.
"You can not leave this place until the battle is won. The only way you can leave is if you DIE!" the Child says as it vanishes. The word DIE still rings through their head like of a gunshot that went off close to the ear.
Rayne sighs. He peeks outside. There is a pillar of light emanating from a building in the distance like a beacon. He takes off his backpack and throws it to Big George.
"We continue with the mission," Rayne gives his order.
"We're not leaving this place?" Davenport adds, dejectedly.
"I don't think the thing was lying when it said we can't leave," Akira adds, looking at the faraway shell of the Entity. When they entered it had a liquid consistency but now its more solid.
"Fuck, why do I have to carry it?" Big George asks, displeased.
"It's cos you are black, Big George," Davenport adds. Big George looks at him with a sour expression.
"Cut the chatter." Rayne orders as he puts the Doctor on his back, "Your arms are free," he adds as they go outside.
Big George growls and gives Davenport the evil eye.
"It was a joke," Davenport says as he shrugs.
Akira shakes his head at him.
"It was a joke!" Davenport repeats.
They exit the store and make their way forth keeping next to the shadows, watching carefully while making their way toward the beacon.
Next to them lies the broken city of Odette and the many giant thorny tendrils sticking out of the earth as if the ground is devouring the town.
As long as there are no more monsters, Rayne thinks.
They make their way to a large building where the beacon shines.
And the beacon shines from a a chapel! Somewhat unusual to have a chapel built in a make-shift settlement made for scientists and their families but it is there. Especially one as big as this.
There is an open tower with a bell atop it; the whole package.
Why is this here, Akira wonders as he stops for a moment?
He shakes the question off for there are more pressing matters at hand.
They get ready to go inside.
"Hey, Captain? What if we really are in hell," Davenport asks, postponing their entry for a moment.
Rayne turns to him and smiles.
"We do what we were trained for. We kill the hell," Rayne says as he opens the front doors.