Disease X

by Garrett Williams

  The precipitation that poured in from the gaping hole left Ashley’s soot covered face in smudges. They fell into Danny’s eye sockets as they both stared up at their own undoing. The colonel’s face had been dried and his gear had not once been impaired due to his skill with a blade and firearm. Danny had begun to uneasily make it to his feet. He was slumped over staring at him, exhausted. His jacket was in shambles and leather ribbons from the punishment he had received over the course of days. Elizabeth looked at Danny as he stuttered to his feet to face the dancers.

  “I’ve heard a great deal about you, Levitz,” The colonel remarked.

  “Who are your friends? Too scared to face me?” Danny sneered to retain an air of dominance as his world had begun to crumble around him.

  “Don’t worry, I assure you that captains Maximo and Hellsing are only here to lead their own small squadrons. I feel it’s become my duty to kill you seeing how much damage you’ve done to my ow – “

  Before he could even finish his statement, Danny burst into a final cloud of ember and charged for the man known to all infected. He closed in on him until, with barely any time allotted, one of the identical captains stepped in front of his path. He took his drawn, searing red blade out and in with the speed of a swallow, sliced a vertical slice down onto the cloud. Danny had kept trying to withstand the blow, until his body had given out and the flames dispersed. Danny levitated in the air for a moment, whilst the flames that had originally enveloped him parted with the slice of the captain’s blade. The flames snaked around the captain and the colonel. The sweltering heat made the colonel’s for head bead sweat while the black lens that hid the captain’s face had had begun to fog.

  The flames were then gone and Danny was standing on air, soon to drop. A drop that he could most likely no longer withstand. Danny’s eyes scrambled left and right. He caught a glimpse of the other captain raising his vibrating blade toward him. Ashley and Elizabeth watched as though they were about to witness the end of days. Time slowed as Danny witnessed his blade swinging down on him like an executioner’s ax. Without thinking further, Danny grasped the wrist of the red bladed soldier, and brought him down to the floor with him. He twisted his wrist as they fell and deflected the blade. To everyone’s surprise, there was no clang, what followed had been devastating. The blades had contacted, and a massive shockwave had been triggered. The soldier falling with Danny had taken the brunt of the blast as it pushed the two of them into a far wall while they were still high into the air. They fell and the captain’s blade escaped his grip. They both watched as they fell alongside the weapon.

  They rolled in the air and fought for what seemed like forever but was only a mere three seconds, before they finally crashed. Danny had won their fight and the clang of the blade sounded their arrival back on the earth. Danny broke his fall using the captain’s protective suit as a shield and then scrambled on all fours to the blade that had fallen to the center of the room below the hole. The captain withstood the entire event. The same could not be said for his armor. His whole being sparked with electricity as bars fell from his body from the blast and as he rose to his feet. His black lens was cracked down the side and a single, dark eye leered at them. Instead of running for his lost weapon, he allowed his weapon to fall into his targets hands. Danny grasped the heavy red blade with both hands and allowed it to incline to the ground as he stood to face the captain. On the roof, the other soldier had started down through the portal to the factory but was stopped by Huntington.

  “Maximo, Hellsing, He’s mine,” He spoke and the one with him gave him a stupefied look through his black lens and the other down with him leered up at the two of them.

  Ashley rushed to Danny’s side, closely pursued by Elizabeth. She grabbed one of his arms that held the blade down. Danny’s face was caked in dirt as they all stood by and above the heap of garbage that had originally formed the roof. The colonel leaped down and just before landing, raised his free arm to the sky and grapples flew from his wrist and shoulder. They flew to what remained of the ceiling, attached, and he stopped in midair and landed down safely. The captain down with them had grappled and flown up, reuniting with the one above…they left and the four were alone.

  The sound of gunfire was like the popping of popcorn as they stood away from it all inside of what remained of their training grounds.

  “Ashley, take Elizabeth and go help any survivors fight.”

  “Are you insane? I’m not leaving you here with him,” She protested.

  “Just go already!” He scolded, “If not for me, do it for her.” Ashley looked down at Elizabeth. She knew in her heart that if they tried to stay they would be in danger, especially her. The only person of the new regiment they received days ago that Danny knew was her. Danny hated himself for not knowing the others better. He felt nothing for the ones that have died. He had not even know their names. Ashley knew that they both meant something to him, and she also knew that the colonel would use them against him.

  “Fine. Don’t die will you?”

  “That’s the plan,” Danny remarked as Ashely picked up Elizabeth again and slung her onto her back. They ran, and Huntington allowed them to, all he cared about was this moment.

  “Well, I suppose since this is the end of the road I’ll cut to the chase,” The colonel said as Danny began to summon the strength he needed to lift the searing blade. The blade hissed and radiated waves off the razor edges. Danny stared at him, awaiting his point with piercing eyes. His arms and hands shook dealing with the weight.

  “Your leader was weak. He was nothing more than a traitor and a terrorist than a freedom fighter.” Danny grew in anger at his harsh words toward the spirit of his late adopted father.

  “He had no place in this world. He should have killed you when he had the chance, and he condemned himself in the end. He raised a monster and a murderer.” Danny’s hatred grew, however he could not deny his words. He did consider himself a monster, he murdered countless people in his lifetime.

  “That is why I did what I did.” Danny’s eyes widened in curiosity at his statement. All he could remember then was a single note that had been recovered from the alloy used to assassinate Merrick. He could remember the moment he was killed, and the single glimmer that emitted from the giants that stood round them.

  “You sacrificed your own men with that letter, and you knew it,” Danny said with growing hatred toward him. He looked around him and at his side was a single kerosene heater for the dead machines.

  “They died like soldiers, although I cannot deny their injustice. In modern war you will die like a dog for no good reason. It’s just casualties of battle.”

  “This is not war! This is anarchy!” Danny stated to renounce shame upon him.

  “Well, I guess I shouldn’t have killed him if you can’t even accept what it is you do. You still need a father, little boy.” With those final words, Danny plunged his new weapon into the heater. The sharp synthetic materials used to forge the blade tore the metal heater like paper. He bared his teeth in anger. He truly wanted to kill him after what he confessed. It had become personal between them, an eternal war between them. It was the end of the road, for one or both of them. Danny withdrew the blade from the heater and the metal was soaked in kerosene. With whatever power left that he could muster, he tightened his eyes shut and shakily raised a free hand, snapped his fingers into a small dancing ember…and the entire blade caught ablaze. The large metal torch in his hand illuminated the factory with a brilliant orange that moved as swift as water.

  “Fancy,” Huntington sneered. He finally provoked Danny, and had come charging at him. The end was here, not just for the two of them but for their home. Danny wondered where they would go in the end. They had both begun to run toward the center of the room, Huntington’s blade crackling with voltage and Danny’s blade smoldering with fire. Danny knew in his heart that he had to have been telling him the truth. He did kill Merrick. It was time for everything to end…the final ba
ttle had come for the Immortals’ home.

  XII

  No Hope

  The screeching of tires approached a corner and the vehicle nearly tipped on its side. Alex hung onto the passenger handle as they turned. Delsin had been going at extreme speeds. He was provoked by a single loud explosion that might as well had resurrected the dead. Delsin’s expression converted to that of pure anguish and urgency whilst Alex bore confusion.

  “Take it easy!” He exclaimed to Delsin, and yet he ignored him. What’s gotten into him? What was that blast? Alex thought to himself looking at the sudden change in character of his supervisor. A mere moment ago he had been calm and collected, now he was serious while carrying a concerned tone in his voice. Alex looked back out in front of them as they sped past the collapsed and living giants that towered over them. All had become a blur, both in his mind and in his reality. He was confused and anxious about what was to become of himself. He had only stayed with those people to stay alive. Even if it meant that they were to turn him into their personal weapon. No one trusted him and he knew it. He was hated by everyone for merely existing.

  Alex turned around in his seat, looking back at the speeding automobiles. It appeared to him as though they were attempting desperately to win a race. When it had sounded he did not know what to think. The smoke began to rise, and Delsin had gone mad and sped off like mercury. Alex then began putting the pieces into their proper places. The explosion meant that something was wrong, and that it was in their path. He realized that there was a more than likely chance that it had come from Alex’s new and unstable home. Panic then swept over Alex like a hawk, until he realized one last thing. He needed them to trust him, and it was now his chance.

  He asked himself how he would even do it. They were being attacked by others, and it was a real fight. It meant that if he went there now he would most likely die. Emotions crept in on him endlessly. He had begun to picture the fight as it was occurring. The death, the mutilation, the horrors of battle flooded his mind. It filled his mind until all he could think about was the life that had abandoned him. The car finally approached a growing cloud of smoke in the middle of the cataract from the sky. They were enveloped in grey sulfur and could not see mere feet in front of their faces. The fog inside Alex’s mind embraced him like a snake suffocates its prey.

  It squeezed him tighter and tighter trying to attain whatever emotions he could muster and as many memories as he had in his short life. He thought back to his young foster brother Johnny and his old foster mother Mrs. Smith. All the people he had known up to the single one he had betrayed to protect, Julie. He remembered how much they trusted each other, how much time they had spent. He remembered that she was always fascinated by the infected. She saw them as people, no different than the healthy. Alex now wanted desperately to tell her never to get affiliated with such ideas. He now knew what kind of “people” lived in the zones.

  Even his own new caretakers were cruel only to him. The fog outside him and Delsin unveiled ruins beyond ruins, the gates were smashed, the walls were beginning to crumble. Alex heard heavy gunfire as they pulled into the center of the base. Screaming penetrated the barrier that was the vehicle, it was enough to nearly deafen him. Among the screaming and crying, he heard children within the cacophony. The car skidded to a loud stop and Delsin undid his safety belt and nearly kicked his door out. Alex undid his and gently opened the door and the chaos grew to maximum. His ears deafened at the popping sound of firearms. He had begun to have that same loud ring in his mind. He clasped his ears shut, trying to block the pain from his subconscious. It became too much for him. Delsin sprinted to the trunk of the car and slung the top open in a hurry. He grabbed for his rifle while Alex’s pistols still sat slung at his sides. Delsin turned and stared at him infuriated. Why wasn’t he doing anything? Did he want to die?

  Delsin ran behind him, grabbed him by his hood and slung him down to the ground behind the vehicle. He crouched behind him rifle held in both hands. Alex had his hands over his ears the entire duration of the firefight, trying to drown out whatever agony had intruded his ears.

  Delsin grabbed his arm, pulling his hand from his ear and cried, “What’s gotten into you?!” Alex just looked at him distraught, until he threw him back to the ground then peeked out of cover to fire. He ducked back down to manually load another shot. Alex leaned against the side of his cover, staring at the pavement beneath him. He no longer drowned out the sounds of battle from his mind. He knew he had no reason to, as they would keep reappearing to pester him until they could control him.

  Delsin surrendered his weapon to the ashen ground as he remembered what he had collected the other day. He crawled around the back wheel and felt around the open trunk until his hope had come to him. He grabbed for their situational lead. It landed in his palm in the shape of a large cylindrical tube. He struggled as he lugged the heavy item from the back while remaining in his sanctuary. Alex did nothing, and all he could do was sit and hunch over the ground and let the ringing in his ears take over him. Delsin struggled until he brought the tube out of the back and let it crash onto the ground with a hollow plunk. It then came into view in the corner of Alex’s eye. It was a dark green metallic tube that had to have weighed at least fifty pounds. Delsin held the inclined tube in his left hand and returned his right into the trunk around the wheel he hid behind.

  He grabbed, but he was not as fortunate the second attempt. He cursed, then quickly darted around his safety, burying his whole torso into the back. He turned and nearly fell as he swiftly slung around the wheel, back to his static ally. Out of the corner of Alex’s eye he saw the second piece of the destructive instrument. It was the shape of a narrow, cylindrical arrowhead, it was the same tint of green as the tube had been. He lifted the piece of tube, rested it on his shoulder and plunged the bottom end of the arrowhead into the opening. In that moment the puzzle had been completed. It was a large RPG that he had collected from days past.

  He turned the arrowhead until he heard the click. He turned the weapon until the trigger contacted his hands. He set it onto his shoulder and the full weight of the weapon bore heavily upon him. He slowly but surely lifted the weapon above their cover and rested it on the top of the vehicle. He flipped the scope up and the column of spokes inside had surrounded his world. With only one eye open, he aimed for a place where it would do most harm until finally he found it. Dancers covered the walls and used them for vantage. He breathed calmly, allowing his epicenter of a heart to slow to a crawl. It was time…and he pulled the trigger. A loud hiss clouded Alex’s mind followed by the blasting heat of the reaction.

  It flew through the air at high speed in a single line until it met the walls. The behemoth had been slain, a blast so strong that it knocked the dancers out of the sky and fly like rag dolls to the ground. Debris soared then fell back to the earth with the downpour that had already been bathing them in dust and soot and muck. Small projectiles flew to their position and Delsin jerked himself to the ground, abandoning the tube. Small projectiles flew overhead and into the car and one struck the back of Alex’s head. Alex had finally woke up with this, only to be reminded of the horrors that filled his ears. The behemoth that had protected them had been slain by the arrowhead from the bow of assault. Delsin grabbed him by both shoulders then slapped him across his face.

  His hood had been slung down when he grabbed him and Delsin had scolded, “What in the hell is wrong with you!?” Alex did not respond, he stared at him terrified and had begun to cringe in front of him. Delsin grabbed one of the pistols from his side and slammed it into his chest. “You can shoot right? Prove it!”

  Delsin grabbed his rifle from the ground, peeked out again and shot. And in those days men shall be like animals… the thought rang through Alex’s mind as he listened to the sounds of death. He heard men screaming before they died, a woman pleading for her life, finally, a child crying in agony until a single pop ended that child’s pain. He remembered young Johnny and Levi’s word
s to him. As far as you know your friend is dead. Tears fell from his eyes, he has to witness what no child his age should, that was murder. It was around him, he has partaken in it. He thought of himself as scum. Finally, he remembered his rejection to Julie.

  He turned away from the light that had been his escape in order to keep safe one of the only ones he considered family. Memories flashed of the two in his mind to the point of betrayal. He remembered her hurt face and her glistening eyes magnified through her lenses. Even in anger she assisted him as best she could. He remembered the times she helped him when he was in trouble with people from school. He kept thinking until he finally came to the realization that he truly didn’t deserve her.

  He was ashamed he had not realized such a thing until after he abandoned her to his own intentions, even if it was to save her from a fate he feared. He leaned against cover as it was too late for him to see her, as it would have most likely been his end. His single hand had begun to move almost with a will of its own and in his subconscious, grasped the handle of the weapon. He pressed his thumb on the safety notch until it clicked and the other side of the weapon appeared red. The weapon felt as though it weighed a ton on his mentally worn body. He raised his weapon slowly to his face. His eyes followed the weapon and flashes of memories of the people he cared about and met appeared in his vision. The strobe light of his world flashed a brilliant bleached white as visions of Danny and the Immortals appeared. The memories of the events until his final moments returned to him. Delsin. Danny. Ashley. Merrick. The funeral. Levi. The raid. His torture by Danny. His fight with Danny. Mrs. Smith. His last breakfast with them. Young Johnny. The bus with Julie. The field trip. His infection. Julie.