In the Fringe, some time later
Kanin had led the way into the Fringe, guiding the group back into the tunnels and below the wall that surrounded the protected Inner City. Eventually though, they could go no further and were forced back up to the streets. Where the Bleeders were.
"Try to avoid them if possible," Kanin said. "We don't want to attract a crowd. But if you must, do not hesitate to cut them down, cripple them, whatever you must do to stay alive. That is our first priority. We won't be helping anyone if we get ourselves killed, is that clear?"
As they moved through the Fringe, they spotted more bleeders, laughing or talking to themselves, sometimes shrieking at nothing, clawing at their faces. Deeper into the Fringe bodies were sprawled in the street, dried blood around their lips or spattered on the ground beneath them. Some were frozen, several days old and covered in snow. Other were more recent, their self-inflicted wounds still fresh and seeping. Obviously things were getting worse.
They were making their way to another tunnel entrance, one that would lead them closer to the Sarren's lair when they came to an eerily quiet lot ringed by abandoned houses. Allie could feel eyes on them and the air was thick with the scent of blood and open wounds.
"Kanin," she whispered. "I don't like this. Are we almost there?"
"Very close. The entrance to the sewers is about another hundred yards from-"
That was when the screaming started.
Figures appeared in the doorways of the buildings, dozens of them, a huge ragged swarm. Bleeding and wailing, they burst through frames and windows and came shrieking at where Allie and the others were exposed in the center of the field.
Jackal
Jackal bared his fangs in an evil smile and swung his steel ax with lethal force as his attackers rushed forward. His blows knocked the humans off their feet, and they didn't get up again. One human lunged in, grappling for the weapon, and Jackal simply drove his other fist into the man's chest, snapping bones as his hand vanished into the body and emerged wet to the forearm.
Allie
"Crap!" Allie drew her sword as the roar of Zeke's pistol sounded over the screeching chaos that closed in from all sides. She spun towards Zeke as he shot two bleeders before drawing his machete and slashing it across the throat of another as it leaped towards him. The man gurgled a wild laught and pitched forward into the weeds, still clawing out.
A woman spran at Allie, shrieking about burning her laundry as she swung a chair leg at Allie's face. A single thrust of her blade and the woman fell. A man with a bloody hole where his nose had been grabbed for Allie's arm, insisting that she give him a kiss as he raised a knife in his other hand. Allie's katana flashed and his head toppled into the weeds.
Kanin
"Keep going!" Kanin roared above the shouts and laughter of the bleeders. Kanin had his short, thin blade in hand and he moved so quickly he was a blur of quick, lethal strikes that wasted no motion or effort.
Kaidan
This was reminding Kaidan way too much of husks.
He wasn't sure whether the fact they looked more like humans was a good thing or not. He didn't really have the time to think about it either way-- he had his assault rifle out, firing several bursts into the faces of incoming Bleeders.
It didn't take long for them to get too close for that, either. With a few firm presses of his fingers, his omni-tool molded itself into dual blades.
This'd mark the first time he'd beheaded someone. He wasn't going to think about that.
Allie
Allie slashed a bleeder across the ribs, ducked a wrench he swung at her head, then cut the legs out from under him. "Guys," she yelled. "Come on."
Zeke
Zeke had just turned towards Allie when a bleeder rushed him from the side. It howled in his ear and sank its teeth into his shoulder, growling like an enraged dog. Planting his feet, Zeke shoved the man away and shot him between the eyes.
"I'm fine," he said as Allie rushed over. Jaw set, he fired twice more, emptying his clip. "Get going. I'll be right behind you."
Kanin
Kanin had reached the entrance to the tunnel, nothing more then a square cement tube with a ladder leading down into the darkness. Unfortunately the press of the attacking bleeders was making it difficult to descend.
Allie
Allie was trying hard not to think about what Zeke's bite meant as they caught up with Kanin. "If we go down there, they're only going to follow us."
Kaidan
"I got it," Kaidan snapped. He dropped his rifle - but it was caught immediately in a field of his own biotics, hovering beside him. He reached out and threw, giving it a little twist he'd been working on-- a blast of blue energy smashed into one of the bleeders at the front and enveloped him.
The blue aura surrounding Kaidan suddenly grew brighter in intensity, and he felt a spark of something powerful... so close, but just out of reach. Almost.
But any thought of working on that was far from his mind. A moment later, he punched at the ground, sending a long streak of blue-tinged explosions through the crowd. Several bleeders were thrown violently aside... and then one of the explosions hit the one that still hummed with biotic energy.
That bleeder exploded as the biotic fields interacted with each other. Violently.
Whoever was left after the dust cleared would need a little time to get back on their feet.
Jacakl
"Well, that would've been nice to know," Jackal said, eyeing Kaidan with new interest. "Nice trick. Got any more like that?"
He didn't wait for an answer as he turned and dropped through the hole to the sewer, vanishing into darkness.
Zeke
Not wanting to waste the time Kaidan had bought them, Zeke quickly followed Jackal down the ladder and into the tunnel. Any questions he had would wait till later.
Kanin
Kanin waited until Allie had followed Zeke down into the sewer before gesturing for Kaidan to head down. "You fight well," he said quietly, something almost like approval crossing his usually impassive face. "Go. I will close this behind us."
Kaidan
Kaidan's eyes darted from Kanin to the way behind them and back. "Okay," he said. He wasn't going to argue with that. "Good hunting."
He gave Kanin a little nod. Then he sped down the ladder.
Kanin
Kanin shifted the heavy metal plate that had covered the entrance to the tunnel so that it would fall into place once he let it go. Moving inhumanely quickly he dropped into the tunnel. The plate clanged behind him.
They were safe from the bleeders for now.
Zeke
Several hours later, Zeke started coughing. At first he wanted to blame it on the sewers. They were cold and dry but they still reeked of mold and fungus, of insects and rodents and what they left behind.
They were traveling through a low, narrow section of tunnel when Zeke started coughing again. He braced his hand against the wall to steady himself as the coughs racked his body. When he pulled the hand he'd covered his mouth with away, Zeke frowned at the blood that stained his fingers.
Allie
"Dammit Zeke," Allie whispered. She'd been waiting for it to start ever since he'd been bitten. But it didn't make it any easier to face.
Zeke
"I'm fine," he lied, meeting Allie's gaze with dull eyes. "It's all right. There's nothing you can do. Let's just keep moving."
Jackal
Jackal snorted and looked back at Allie and Zeke with a dangerous expression. "Yeah, you say that now," he said, and his fangs glinted in the shadows, "but don't expect me to hold back when you start clawing your eyes out."
Zeke
"If that happens," Zeke replied steadily. "You know what to do. Don't let me suffer. Don't let me be a danger to others. Just make it quick."
Allie
"Oh, so first I was supposed to let you die? And now I'm supposed to kill you?" Allie's voice broke a little. "Do you think that's going to be easy for me? It's not enough Kanin's dying? You want me to kill you to?"
Kanin
"Allison..."
Guess who was not happy his secret was out.
Allie
"We are not giving up," Allie spit out. "The rest of you can be fine and accepting and fatalistic if you want, but I'm not letting this thing win. I'm going to track Sarren down and beat a cure out of him if I have to. I'm sure as hell not giving up until I am certain, beyond a shred of doubt, that there is no hope lfet. So you can stop asking me to kill you, and you-" She pointed at Kanin "-can stop hiding the fact that you're dying from the rest of us. We're fighting this thing together and I'm not going to lose anyone else."
Jackal
The silence that followed was broken by Jackal clapping. "Well," he said, "that was quite the speech. Almost as good as the one you delivered on my tower that night with the old man. You do have a certain flare for the dramatic, don't you, sister?"
He didn't bother to wait for an answer before turning on Kanin with a dangerous glare. "You never told us you were dying, old man," he said softly, narrowing his eyes. "Let me guess -- Salazar wanted to make sure you wouldn't leave the city, so he made sure you couldn't run out on him. Cunning old bastard. How long?"
Kanin
"Does it matter?" Kanin's voice was emotionless. "Would it change anything?"
Jackal
"See, that's the funny thing," Jackal shot back, glaring at Kanin in utter contempt, lips curled in a snarl. "If it were anyone else, it should! Any sane vampire would be looking for Sarren right now, not trying to save a bunch of worthless meatsacks who are probably already dead. But that's always been your problem, hasn't it? You always sided with the humans. And now look where it's gotten you.
"What do you think is going to happen when we find Sarren? You think you can take him now, falling apart like you are? Your compassion for these worthless humans is going to get us all killed!"
Kanin
"I've made my choice," Kanin said simply. "You don't have to stand with it."
Jackal
Jackal shook his head in disgust and took a step back. "You know what? You're right," he said softly. "This isn't worth it. I thought the old bloodsucker would have information on the Rabidism cure, maybe lead us right to it. But if he's going to throw away his life for a bunch of worthless mortals, I'm better off finding it myself."
Allie
"Where do you think you'll go?" Allie demanded. "You can't take on Sarren alone. He's too strong for just one person. You said so yourself."
Jackal
"Who said anything about fighting him?" Jackal crossed his arms, smirking. "I'm not that stupid, sister. Way I see it, Sarren is the closest one to discovering a cure now. If I ever cross paths with our disturbed friend, it'll be to ask a few friendly questions, and then I'll be on my way. I'm not crazy enough to try to stop him. But I'm certainly not going to hang around here with the lot of you, wasting time. You have fun with the sickies and the psychos. I'll be leaving now."
Zeke
Because things weren't complicated enough...
"What makes you think I'd just let you leave?" Zeke asked, his hand on his machete. "The people you murdered. I haven't forgotten them. You still need to pay for what you did."
Kanin
Kanin's voice cut through the rising tension. "Allison, Ezekial, let him go. We do not have time for this. It is his choice. We do not have time to fight about it."
Zeke
Reluctantly, Zeke nodded. "This isn't over," he warned. "The next time I find you. I will kill you."
Jackal
Jackal chuckled. "The next time I see you, bloodbag, you'll be a stinking, eyeless corpse. So forgive me if I'm not too terribly concerned."
He stepped away, the evil grin back on his face. "Well, I can't say it hasn't been fun," he said with a mocking salute as he turned to leave. "But I have other things to do now -- vampires to find, armies to raise, that sort of thing." He glanced at Allie, and his smirk faded a bit. "Sister, if you ever get tired of these walking bloodbags, come find me. We could still do great things, you and I."
With a final sneer, he turned his back and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the pipe.
Kanin
"Come on," Kanin said, when it was clear Jackal wasn't coming back. "Let's keep moving. We're getting closer."
"Try to avoid them if possible," Kanin said. "We don't want to attract a crowd. But if you must, do not hesitate to cut them down, cripple them, whatever you must do to stay alive. That is our first priority. We won't be helping anyone if we get ourselves killed, is that clear?"
As they moved through the Fringe, they spotted more bleeders, laughing or talking to themselves, sometimes shrieking at nothing, clawing at their faces. Deeper into the Fringe bodies were sprawled in the street, dried blood around their lips or spattered on the ground beneath them. Some were frozen, several days old and covered in snow. Other were more recent, their self-inflicted wounds still fresh and seeping. Obviously things were getting worse.
They were making their way to another tunnel entrance, one that would lead them closer to the Sarren's lair when they came to an eerily quiet lot ringed by abandoned houses. Allie could feel eyes on them and the air was thick with the scent of blood and open wounds.
"Kanin," she whispered. "I don't like this. Are we almost there?"
"Very close. The entrance to the sewers is about another hundred yards from-"
That was when the screaming started.
Figures appeared in the doorways of the buildings, dozens of them, a huge ragged swarm. Bleeding and wailing, they burst through frames and windows and came shrieking at where Allie and the others were exposed in the center of the field.
Jackal
Jackal bared his fangs in an evil smile and swung his steel ax with lethal force as his attackers rushed forward. His blows knocked the humans off their feet, and they didn't get up again. One human lunged in, grappling for the weapon, and Jackal simply drove his other fist into the man's chest, snapping bones as his hand vanished into the body and emerged wet to the forearm.
Allie
"Crap!" Allie drew her sword as the roar of Zeke's pistol sounded over the screeching chaos that closed in from all sides. She spun towards Zeke as he shot two bleeders before drawing his machete and slashing it across the throat of another as it leaped towards him. The man gurgled a wild laught and pitched forward into the weeds, still clawing out.
A woman spran at Allie, shrieking about burning her laundry as she swung a chair leg at Allie's face. A single thrust of her blade and the woman fell. A man with a bloody hole where his nose had been grabbed for Allie's arm, insisting that she give him a kiss as he raised a knife in his other hand. Allie's katana flashed and his head toppled into the weeds.
Kanin
"Keep going!" Kanin roared above the shouts and laughter of the bleeders. Kanin had his short, thin blade in hand and he moved so quickly he was a blur of quick, lethal strikes that wasted no motion or effort.
Kaidan
This was reminding Kaidan way too much of husks.
He wasn't sure whether the fact they looked more like humans was a good thing or not. He didn't really have the time to think about it either way-- he had his assault rifle out, firing several bursts into the faces of incoming Bleeders.
It didn't take long for them to get too close for that, either. With a few firm presses of his fingers, his omni-tool molded itself into dual blades.
This'd mark the first time he'd beheaded someone. He wasn't going to think about that.
Allie
Allie slashed a bleeder across the ribs, ducked a wrench he swung at her head, then cut the legs out from under him. "Guys," she yelled. "Come on."
Zeke
Zeke had just turned towards Allie when a bleeder rushed him from the side. It howled in his ear and sank its teeth into his shoulder, growling like an enraged dog. Planting his feet, Zeke shoved the man away and shot him between the eyes.
"I'm fine," he said as Allie rushed over. Jaw set, he fired twice more, emptying his clip. "Get going. I'll be right behind you."
Kanin
Kanin had reached the entrance to the tunnel, nothing more then a square cement tube with a ladder leading down into the darkness. Unfortunately the press of the attacking bleeders was making it difficult to descend.
Allie
Allie was trying hard not to think about what Zeke's bite meant as they caught up with Kanin. "If we go down there, they're only going to follow us."
Kaidan
"I got it," Kaidan snapped. He dropped his rifle - but it was caught immediately in a field of his own biotics, hovering beside him. He reached out and threw, giving it a little twist he'd been working on-- a blast of blue energy smashed into one of the bleeders at the front and enveloped him.
The blue aura surrounding Kaidan suddenly grew brighter in intensity, and he felt a spark of something powerful... so close, but just out of reach. Almost.
But any thought of working on that was far from his mind. A moment later, he punched at the ground, sending a long streak of blue-tinged explosions through the crowd. Several bleeders were thrown violently aside... and then one of the explosions hit the one that still hummed with biotic energy.
That bleeder exploded as the biotic fields interacted with each other. Violently.
Whoever was left after the dust cleared would need a little time to get back on their feet.
Jacakl
"Well, that would've been nice to know," Jackal said, eyeing Kaidan with new interest. "Nice trick. Got any more like that?"
He didn't wait for an answer as he turned and dropped through the hole to the sewer, vanishing into darkness.
Zeke
Not wanting to waste the time Kaidan had bought them, Zeke quickly followed Jackal down the ladder and into the tunnel. Any questions he had would wait till later.
Kanin
Kanin waited until Allie had followed Zeke down into the sewer before gesturing for Kaidan to head down. "You fight well," he said quietly, something almost like approval crossing his usually impassive face. "Go. I will close this behind us."
Kaidan
Kaidan's eyes darted from Kanin to the way behind them and back. "Okay," he said. He wasn't going to argue with that. "Good hunting."
He gave Kanin a little nod. Then he sped down the ladder.
Kanin
Kanin shifted the heavy metal plate that had covered the entrance to the tunnel so that it would fall into place once he let it go. Moving inhumanely quickly he dropped into the tunnel. The plate clanged behind him.
They were safe from the bleeders for now.
Zeke
Several hours later, Zeke started coughing. At first he wanted to blame it on the sewers. They were cold and dry but they still reeked of mold and fungus, of insects and rodents and what they left behind.
They were traveling through a low, narrow section of tunnel when Zeke started coughing again. He braced his hand against the wall to steady himself as the coughs racked his body. When he pulled the hand he'd covered his mouth with away, Zeke frowned at the blood that stained his fingers.
Allie
"Dammit Zeke," Allie whispered. She'd been waiting for it to start ever since he'd been bitten. But it didn't make it any easier to face.
Zeke
"I'm fine," he lied, meeting Allie's gaze with dull eyes. "It's all right. There's nothing you can do. Let's just keep moving."
Jackal
Jackal snorted and looked back at Allie and Zeke with a dangerous expression. "Yeah, you say that now," he said, and his fangs glinted in the shadows, "but don't expect me to hold back when you start clawing your eyes out."
Zeke
"If that happens," Zeke replied steadily. "You know what to do. Don't let me suffer. Don't let me be a danger to others. Just make it quick."
Allie
"Oh, so first I was supposed to let you die? And now I'm supposed to kill you?" Allie's voice broke a little. "Do you think that's going to be easy for me? It's not enough Kanin's dying? You want me to kill you to?"
Kanin
"Allison..."
Guess who was not happy his secret was out.
Allie
"We are not giving up," Allie spit out. "The rest of you can be fine and accepting and fatalistic if you want, but I'm not letting this thing win. I'm going to track Sarren down and beat a cure out of him if I have to. I'm sure as hell not giving up until I am certain, beyond a shred of doubt, that there is no hope lfet. So you can stop asking me to kill you, and you-" She pointed at Kanin "-can stop hiding the fact that you're dying from the rest of us. We're fighting this thing together and I'm not going to lose anyone else."
Jackal
The silence that followed was broken by Jackal clapping. "Well," he said, "that was quite the speech. Almost as good as the one you delivered on my tower that night with the old man. You do have a certain flare for the dramatic, don't you, sister?"
He didn't bother to wait for an answer before turning on Kanin with a dangerous glare. "You never told us you were dying, old man," he said softly, narrowing his eyes. "Let me guess -- Salazar wanted to make sure you wouldn't leave the city, so he made sure you couldn't run out on him. Cunning old bastard. How long?"
Kanin
"Does it matter?" Kanin's voice was emotionless. "Would it change anything?"
Jackal
"See, that's the funny thing," Jackal shot back, glaring at Kanin in utter contempt, lips curled in a snarl. "If it were anyone else, it should! Any sane vampire would be looking for Sarren right now, not trying to save a bunch of worthless meatsacks who are probably already dead. But that's always been your problem, hasn't it? You always sided with the humans. And now look where it's gotten you.
"What do you think is going to happen when we find Sarren? You think you can take him now, falling apart like you are? Your compassion for these worthless humans is going to get us all killed!"
Kanin
"I've made my choice," Kanin said simply. "You don't have to stand with it."
Jackal
Jackal shook his head in disgust and took a step back. "You know what? You're right," he said softly. "This isn't worth it. I thought the old bloodsucker would have information on the Rabidism cure, maybe lead us right to it. But if he's going to throw away his life for a bunch of worthless mortals, I'm better off finding it myself."
Allie
"Where do you think you'll go?" Allie demanded. "You can't take on Sarren alone. He's too strong for just one person. You said so yourself."
Jackal
"Who said anything about fighting him?" Jackal crossed his arms, smirking. "I'm not that stupid, sister. Way I see it, Sarren is the closest one to discovering a cure now. If I ever cross paths with our disturbed friend, it'll be to ask a few friendly questions, and then I'll be on my way. I'm not crazy enough to try to stop him. But I'm certainly not going to hang around here with the lot of you, wasting time. You have fun with the sickies and the psychos. I'll be leaving now."
Zeke
Because things weren't complicated enough...
"What makes you think I'd just let you leave?" Zeke asked, his hand on his machete. "The people you murdered. I haven't forgotten them. You still need to pay for what you did."
Kanin
Kanin's voice cut through the rising tension. "Allison, Ezekial, let him go. We do not have time for this. It is his choice. We do not have time to fight about it."
Zeke
Reluctantly, Zeke nodded. "This isn't over," he warned. "The next time I find you. I will kill you."
Jackal
Jackal chuckled. "The next time I see you, bloodbag, you'll be a stinking, eyeless corpse. So forgive me if I'm not too terribly concerned."
He stepped away, the evil grin back on his face. "Well, I can't say it hasn't been fun," he said with a mocking salute as he turned to leave. "But I have other things to do now -- vampires to find, armies to raise, that sort of thing." He glanced at Allie, and his smirk faded a bit. "Sister, if you ever get tired of these walking bloodbags, come find me. We could still do great things, you and I."
With a final sneer, he turned his back and walked away, disappearing into the shadows of the pipe.
Kanin
"Come on," Kanin said, when it was clear Jackal wasn't coming back. "Let's keep moving. We're getting closer."