|
The perimeter protecting the ARK had been breached and one of the creatures had successfully returned to earth. Sarge led us back with Sam through the ARK back to the Papoose Lake facility, where we found evidence of further infection and carnage. Sarge ordered the execution of every person at the facility with extreame prejudice. The "Kid" refused to comply and was shot by Sarge for insubordination. To Sarge, everyone outside of our immediate "family" had just become the enemy. In the end, I was mortally wounded by a stray shot and Samantha injected me with C-24. The rapid healing properties would save my life. I passed out, looking into my sister's eyes, hoping that her belief in me would be justified, knowing that the gun I had given her would have been used if she were wrong...
|
|
|
I woke up disoriented, but I could hear the screams echoing in the halls. I reloaded and began my own sweep. This was where I was most comfortable, no question, no hesitation, just kill everything. I dispatched a handfull of mutant monsters before I discovered Samantha, semi conscious on the floor. She was not infected. Sarge was there, only he wasn't Sarge anymore. He had single handly killed every non infected person at the ARK facility. I engaged Sarge and in the fight, sent him back through the ARK to Olduvai, along with an armed ST grenade, effectively destroying the portal. Samantha and I were the only two to survive this ordeal. I took her to the surface. It was mid morning, the air was fresh and the desert sun was warm upon my face. Both Sam and I were subsequently interned by the U.A.C. for debriefing. Neither Samantha nor I mentioned the fact that I had been injected with C-24 and the video logs and databases... well they were destroyed in the blast. I did not become a monster, but I was forever changed. My reflexes and strength increased and I healed rapidly. There were other effects that neither Sam nor I expected. I had become immortal. I could not die. I tested this over the next century, attempting various ways to end my life. I watched the world go on year after year, decade after decade, century after century. I watched everyone I ever knew succumb to the aging process and eventual death, while I never aged a day past the day I was injected with C-24. One might consider such a condition as a blessing, but I saw it as a curse; a punishment. No one is meant to live forever. I was bound to walk the earth among humans, but never again be part of humanity. I was a mutant; my condition simply didn't present itself outwardly. |
|
