Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Critter Volume 4 Chapter 7 : The Hardest Thing


The Hardest Thing 






Normally, when someone is put into hyper sleep you can monitor his or her brain activity once they enter the dream state. Warren was taking longer than usual to respond, “what’s wrong?” Lena asked after she saw what seemed to be a concerned look on Natasha’s face “it’s just that…” she stuttered “IT’S JUST THAT WHAT NATASHA!?” Lena screamed back “there’s nothing, he’s showing no signs of activity. It’s as if Bon Temps is no longer there” explained Natasha. Lena pushed past the group to throw herself at Warren’s lifeless body. She screamed his name, telling him to wake up but nothing was happening. Everyone stood by in awe, they had no idea how to react. “I CAN’T WATCH YOU DIE TWICE, I JUST CAN’T!” Lena sobbed while her head was buried into his chest.

Natasha was Warren’s right hand gal when it came to operating these machines. The two of them had been out of Bon Temps the longest and have spent loads of time together trying to crack the system and at the same time, hide in Lettium’s ship desperately trying to find a way to wake up their friends. Mitchell pulled Natasha aside “there has to be some other way to wake him up, right?” asked Mitch “I wish there was, but at this point there’s no one to wake up” she said. Lena overheard what was said “so what you’re saying is that when we sent him in there, essentially we were killing him?” Lena asked with puffy red eyes “I’m sorry, Lena” whispered Natasha “he’s gone” she added.

Lena stood away from Warren’s body “our file said that we were a couple before Bon Temps, they took both of us and put us in a world where we didn’t know one another at all, and we were still able to find each other and fall for each other all over again” Lena’s legs were shaking “this has been the biggest fight of our lives” she said as she looked around at the remaining survivors “and I’m not about to give up, this baby deserves a chance” she said as she rubbed her belly “we need to get Rachel, and get the fuck out of here” she yelled. “Warren was a hero” yelled Kelly “he saved us all, at one time or another. He changed my life for the better. He picked me up when I was nothing but dirt and he turned me into something to be proud of” she added. Kelly walked toward Lena “we owe it to him, we need to be free of this” she said as the two of them walked away, looking back at the man that changed their lives and knowing that they would never get another chance to say “thank you” whispered Kelly.  

Warren was gone, leaving Natasha, Traci and Chris to be the most knowledgeable of the ship they had recently resided upon. Kyle, Kelly, Clayton, Jason, Jordan, Ashley and Mitchell stared at them like they were waiting for direction. Lena kept it together as much as she could; she placed a blanket over Warren’s body, kissed his forehead and walked out of the room. “What now, huh?” asked Kelly “how do we get Rachel back?” she asked “first we need to see if she’s even awake, if Bon Temps is gone, she might have went with it. We need to get back to that room” said Traci. The group knew the room she was talking about, the one they all woke up in together.

“There’s escape pods all over the south end of the ship, we will take them to escape back to earth” yelled Chris “I thought earth was covered in those things?” asked Kyle “It’s all we have left, we don’t have a ship, so if we want any chance of surviving this we need to leave” he said “whatever we face on earth, we can face it together…. after all we’re a powerful bunch” he explained. The group was currently taking refuge near the bottom of the ship, they had to make their way back up in order to find Rachel and get to the escape pods. Chris lead the way down a dark tunnel that would take the group to the warehouse where they weld parts for the ship. Once they got there, it would give them direct access to the main floor where they could make their escape. It all seemed so easy.

The group came to the end of the tunnel that lead to what looked like a giant garbage shoot “where does that lead?” asked Mitchell “this is where they drop all their waste, it falls to the bottom and they release it into space, kind of like a giant toilet” explained Chris “you don’t want to fall down there” he stressed “but this is our way up” he explained. An old rickety latter went up the entire thing “up one more level, is our warehouse where we can go get Rachel” he said “follow me, one by one and please be careful” Chris explained.

Once Chris got to the top he helped everyone else up, the group hid behind a giant pile of scrap metal. He was directing them to an elevator that was close by. The first one to run to the elevator was Ashley, and then Mitchell followed. Chris then pulled up Lena and then Kyle and they both ran to the elevator. Traci was next, followed by Natasha. Natasha came out from the shoot and stumbled, she stepped on a piece of metal, which made a loud noise that echoed throughout the room. They caught the attention of a group of guards standing near by “IT’S THEM!” one of the guards yelled. They began firing at the group. A bullet tore through the pile of scraps and went through Natasha’s head, she hit the ground dead. Traci let out a scream and ran toward the elevator, she too was shot and killed.

Chris looked down as Clayton, Kelly and Jason who were still hanging onto the latter “GO BACK!” he yelled to them “GO!” he yelled again. In the hopes of protecting his sister, Clayton made them return to the floor below them. Chris knew the armed men were fast approaching so he took a leap of faith and ran toward the elevator. Shots were fired, but the adrenaline carried him to the door just in time “SHUT IT!” he yelled “what about the others” yelled Mitchell “they went back, we need to go, NOW!” Chris slammed his fist down on the close button, and the elevator began going up. Kyle, Ashley, Mitchell, Lena and Jordan stood around the elevator staring at Chris “man, I think you’ve been shot” Jordan stated. Chris felt the blood pouring out of his side “oh fuck” it was then that the alarm began sounding, they knew we were on the move.

Clayton, Kelly and Jason returned to the bottom “WHAT NOW!?” yelled Kelly “Jason, you’ve been here longer. There has to be another way up” he yelled desperately. Jason ran his fingers through his hair trying to think of a solution “Clay, did you see if anyone got shot?” a concerned Kelly asked “I don’t think anyone made it” he replied “I saw blood splatter, and I heard screaming and then Chris told us to go back”
“I GOT IT” yelled Jason “I remember Warren talking about another exit near by, he said he wasn’t sure if it was accessible, but I remember how to get in” he said “we have to go down there” he pointed down the garbage shoot “at the bottom, there is an emergency exit, it leads to all the major areas of the ship” he explained “well, what are we waiting for” Clayton said as he walked back to the latter and began climbing down.

When the elevator came to a stop, they all wondered what would be on the other side, and as the doors slid open they thought it was the end for them all, as Curtis stood in the entry way along side Dayna and a group of armed guards “I told you we would meet again” he said as he peered into Mitchell’s eyes “you’re the man in the suit” he whispered “correct” Curtis said as he hand gestured the guards to take them away. They were dragged down a porcelain white hallway where they came across a large glass door. Curtis placed his hand upon a scanner “I think you will all be comfortable here until I need you again” he said as the guards threw them all inside “not him, Chris can go to the lab” Curtis whispered to the guard who was carrying a drowsy and bloody Chris “NO!” yelled Mitchell as the glass door shut. Mitchell pounded on the glass door as he watched Chris being dragged away; the chaos was suddenly interrupted by a friendly voice “guys?” Rachel came walking towards them from a dark corner “you’re alive?” she whispered. The group met her with a hug “we’re all that’s left” Mitchell explained. Rachel was happy to see her friends, but was surprised at how few of them were left.

When Clayton reached the bottom, he looked up to see his sister and Jason were not far behind him. He was standing o a staircase that lead straight to a door, a few feet below them was a bunch of scrap metal, old parts and waste. Suddenly a timer began ticking away, 30 seconds on the clock “HURRY!” Clayton yelled “THIS  THING IS GUNNA OPEN IN 30 SECONDS” Kelly and Jason raced to the bottom and began running toward the door. They slid open the large piece of metal that holds it closed and they ran through the door, closing it just in time. They could hear a loud suction noise from the other side of the door “that was close” said Kelly. The three of them followed the dimly lit pathway, not really knowing where it leads.

“Do you guys know where we are?” asked Rachel “All we know is that we’re being kept prisoner by a company called Lettium, they want us because of who we are, our powers” explained Mitchell “do any of your powers still work?” asked Rachel “not that we know of, for all we know we never actually had them” he said. Rachel walked over in Mitchell’s direction “give me your knife” she said. Mitchell then remembered her abilities in Bon Temps, and handed her the knife, she held it over her arm as she looked at her friends “here goes nothing” she said as she sliced across her arm. She held onto her wound and dropped the knife. Rachel removed her hand and watched as the wound healed itself, Jordan leaped at the blood that hit the floor. He began licking it desperately from the ground and when he raised his head everybody could see his fangs were out “I guess we do still have them” said Kyle.

“What if their dead?” asked Jason “Who knows, maybe none of them made it” he added “right now, my priority is to get you two to safety” Clayton whispered “and keep your voice down” he said to Jason as they were creeping down a large hallway. They began turning a corner and Clayton pulled his gun from his belt loop “here we go” Clayton said “WAIT” Jason yelled “just in case we never get another chance” he explained as he slowly walked closer to Clay. The two of them kissed passionately, all Kelly could do was smile. Clayton was taken back by the kiss, as if it had a lasting effect on him. His heart began racing when he heard the sound of a door opening from around the bend, Clayton peeked his head around to see someone he recognized storm down the hallway. It was Logan, Clayton thought about yelling his name, but then he realized that he works for Lettium. He even said while he was in Bon Temps that he was sent to clean up the mess. Clayton could see the door slowly closing so he ran toward it to hold it open. Logan disappeared around the corner so Clayton waved Kelly and Jason over.

Clayton, Kelly and Jason entered the room, all the resided inside were three large metal doors. They were labeled 1,2 and 3 and in small lettering they said ‘escape pod’. This was it, their only chance to escape the ship. The three of them were faced with a difficult decision. Leave this opportunity behind and take a chance in their friends still being alive, or the three of them could go. Disappear somewhere and be a family. “Listen” Clayton interrupted the moments of silence “That book may say things about us, but it doesn’t matter to me. I live in the now, I believe what I feel and what I have right here in front of me” he explained, “this is our chance to leave here and have a chance to survive this, we can beat Lettium”

It was a sad feeling knowing that they may never see their friends ever again, whether they are alive or not, they knew that their friends would want this for them. Clayton walked toward the first door; he pressed the big red button, which sent the door flying open. Inside were four seats and a large glass window. This was the first time any of them had ever seen space, it was beautiful but at the same time terrifying. “Jason, do you know anything about flying these?” asked Clayton “I know that there’s an auto pilot, all we do is choose the destination and it takes us there” he said “I think we owe it to ourselves to survive” Clayton said as he entered the ship and buckled himself into the passenger seat. Jason then entered and sat in the driver seat.

Kelly took a second longer to leave, she began running everything through her head. When she was missing and then was found as a mermaid, when Warren saved her life, when she became Mer queen, when she shot Chris, when she watched Lauren die, when the Critter’s came back, her life has been a roller coaster. Her brother was right, she owed it to herself to survive and prosper. She entered the pod and shut the door behind her.

“Hold on” Jason said, as the pod broke free of the ship. They began floating away from Lettium when Clayton turned to Kelly and held her hand “they would want this for us” he said, “I know” Kelly replied and the three of them disappeared into space. Where they were going, they had no idea. They would start with earth and just do what they do best, stick together and fight for their lives.

The Hardest Thing 




No comments:

Post a Comment