Primeval Secret Santa for Lsellersfic - Obsidian And Iron Part 5
Title: Obsidian And Iron Part 5
Author: knitekat
Fandom: Primeval
Word Count: 3216 words out of 20537.
Characters: Claudia Brown, Nick Cutter, Tom Ryan, James Lester, Connor Temple, Lorraine Wickes plus SFOCs: Jon Lyle, Niall 'Blade' Richards, Robert Finn and David 'Ditzy' Owen (OCs)
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. And Lyle, Blade, Finn and Ditzy belong to Fred. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: For Lsellersfic's Secret Santa and her prompt: The anomaly team find the Holy Grail. What is it? What does it mean? What do they do with it? With possibly some aspects of her High Concept Sci-Fi prompt as well. Not sure how well it hit either prompt but I hope you enjoy it and had a wonderful Christmas.
A/N 2: Partly beta-ed by Fififolle (oops my word count was out) and modified by me, so all mistakes are mine.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Claudia found her wrist grabbed and then she was held against Ryan's strong chest.
“Shh.” Ryan's voice was a bare whisper against her ear. “It's me.”
Claudia took a moment to enjoy his embrace before she took a shaky breath and pulled free, noticing Nick was standing close by but was apparently ignoring him. At first she thought it was out of politeness but then she realised they weren't at the Tor any more. The other soldiers, the Tor itself, everything, had vanished. She turned around as she looked for any familiar landmark, instead, she found herself in a meadow of lush green grass, dotted with vibrant white and gold flowers, the air sweet with their scents. A hand on her arm - Ryan's - directed her attention towards a red-earred snow-white doe who stood watching them. Claudia swallowed, if she had any doubts about where they were, she didn't any more. The only question remaining was... why where they here?”
“There is a path.” Nick pointed it out as he came over to join them.
Somehow, it didn't surprise Claudia when the doe began to walk along the path, only to pause and look over her shoulder at her - at them - when they didn't follow her. The doe snorted and pawed the path, looking directly into Claudia's eyes.
“Ah,” Claudia said. “Are we supposed to follow you?” She did know if it would understand her but, well, considering where they appeared to be, she knew it just might. From the way the doe tossed her head and snorted again, Claudia knew she had understood her every word.
Claudia hesitated for a moment, exchanging a look with both Nick and Ryan before setting her shoulders and following the doe along the path, Nick and Ryan beside her. The wonderful scents wafted over her as they brushed past the flowers. She glanced up at the sky, a bright, brilliant pale blue with not a cloud in sight. She heard a gasp behind her, spinning and gasping herself when she found the meadow she'd just walked through was now an impenetrable forest. It appeared to be centuries old, the undergrowth thick, impenetrable and she couldn't see a sign that the path they had just walked along had ever existed.
She felt called, almost compelled to step forward into the dark, foreboding forest, leaving the sunny meadow to entered the eerie and shadowy depths between the moss-covered trunks. The path faded beneath her feet, one more step would leave it behind. She heard a mournful howl echo from the forest's depths, answered by another and could see the red eyes which gleamed in the shadows. She felt as if something was watching her, waiting for her to step further into the forest.
She lifted her foot to step from the path and felt a hand grab her arm and pull her backwards. She stumbled and found herself back in the sunlit meadow and in Ryan's arms.
“Claudia?” Ryan's voice was full of concern. “Are you OK?”
Claudia blinked several times before nodding. “I think so.” She glanced back at the forest, shivering as she could feel how hungry it was, knowing that whatever hid within it would have hunted her without mercy.
“We'll have to see where this path leads us,” Nick said. “If we step off of it, I think we'll be lost forever.”
“You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?” Ryan rumbled, still obviously concerned that he could have lost her forever, his grip on her arm firm.
“I doubt it would have made a difference,” Claudia said, having no wish for another argument and knowing it was her own fault for almost stepping off the path, for letting the forest call to her. She noticed that the doe had stopped and was watching them, her tail flicking impatiently, and pulled free of Ryan's arms. “I'm sorry,” Claudia said to her. “Please lead on.”
Claudia continued to follow the doe through the meadow, slowly feeling the influence of the forest fade, and deciding that she might as well enjoy the beautiful surrounding and reached for Ryan's hand. It was almost as if they were enjoying a walk in the countryside, if one ignored Nick's presence and the fact this... place was far more dangerous that any part of the British Isle, dinosaurs included. Still, it was the closest she'd had to a romantic walk with Tom, what with the anomalies, and she was determined to enjoy the moment.
Her smile faded when they crested a rise and she knew they'd reached their destination as she stared into the dell below. The area was full of a variety of tents, half of them brightly coloured and the other half shadowy and the path wound its way between the two halves, neatly separating them. People and other creatures moved around the tents, dressed in a mixture of archaic styles and, like the tents themselves, either brightly coloured or of shadowy hues, their features either inhumanly beautiful or terrifying to look upon and Claudia found her gaze sliding away from both, unable to look at either group, she thought they must have been the Seelie and Unseelie.
Claudia felt both Ryan and Nick move closer to her as they followed the doe through the massed crowd and into the open area; empty except for a magnificent oak tree, centuries old, its branches stretching across the entire clearing left by the tents.
She looked up at a hoot to see a large white-feathered owl flutter her wings and an expectation hush fell upon the dell as Claudia stepped forward and curtseyed. The owl spread its wings and hooted once more. The soft call still had the gathered hosts moving until they surrounded Claudia and her companions, forming a circle around the edge of the clearing. She noticed they were still split between Seelie and Unseelie, the path forming a natural barrier between the two fractions. The air was full of expectation, it felt as if a storm was about to break, and Claudia knew one spark could ignite a fight. Two figures stepped from the hosts, one light and unearthly beautiful, the other shadowy, his handsome features doing nothing to hide the dread which clung to him like a mantle. Both Fae bowed to the owl before it glided from the branches, shimmering as it reached the ground and another Fae stood before them. One who was terrible in her beauty, who Claudia found she could not look at as she shone with an inner light. “You have been chosen.” Her voice was melodious, the tones pure and Claudia would have done anything this Fae asked her to do without question.
Claudia felt like she was drifting, that she had only to reach out her hand to take that of the Fae's and all her cares would vanish. Claudia took a step towards her before realising this was a trap... or perhaps it was a test? She felt as if she was struggling against a rip tide, feeling as if something was seeking to drag her down and away from the world she knew. Claudia gritted her teeth and felt as if she was fighting for every inch of ground, digging deep into her will to keep going, to fight the lethargy that filled her bones. Claudia gathered all her energy and will for a final effort, knowing she had to break the grip the Fae's voice had on her or she'd be lost forever. She gasped when she finally managed to shake off the effects and glanced at her companions, closing her eyes briefly in relief when she realised both Ryan and Nick had shaken off the effect, standing there blinking owlishly as if only just awakening from a dream. She swallowed her suddenly dry throat and managed to speak, remembering her manners just in time, “Chosen, my lady?”
“My Queen,” the shadowy Fae spoke, bowing deeply to the Fae who had so mesmerised Claudia. “I do not see why they are here.”
“Enough!” The Fae Queen's voice lashed out, making the shadowy Fae - who Claudia suspected might be one of the Unseelie - step back and bow once more. “You agreed to this challenge.”
“Yes, my Queen,” the Unseelie Fae said. “But humans?” Claudia could sense the distaste dripping from the Fae's every word.
“You didn't stipulate the challengers had to be Fae.” The Fae Queen smiled at him, causing the Unseelie to take a step back muttering. The Fae Queen smiled and appeared to speak to the very air itself, her voice easily carrying across the assembled hosts. “Three excellent choices.” She turned her attention back to Claudia, who had to resist the urge to give ground under that direct attention. “You will each face a challenge. Fail and unimaginable horrors will be yours, succeed and you will become the Champion of the Treasure you have come for.”
Nick stepped forward and gave a short bow. “And if we choose not to face the challenges?”
The Fae Queen smiled. “Then you will be returned unharmed to your world.” Her face became terrible to gaze upon as she continued, “but know that to refuse will forfeit this Treasure to the Unseelie and with it your world.”
“Then we accept the challenges, my lady,” Claudia spoke with far more confidence that she felt. Once - if - they made it home, she'd be having words with one Sir James Lester about full disclosure, he must have known this might happen to them.
***
Nick staggered slightly as the explosion sounded behind him, he spun and stared at the black smoke billowing out of the ARC. What the hell had happened? He quickly glanced around, smiling as he noticed Claudia standing nearby, with Connor and Abby next to her, although all of them looked shocked by what was happening.
Lester sounded angry as he stalked towards Nick. “What the hell is your wife up to now, Cutter?”
“Helen?” Nick asked, confused as to what Lester was on about.
Lester frowned before glancing at Claudia. “Have him looked at by the medic, he's no use to me with a concussion.”
“Yes, sir,” Claudia replied.
Nick almost gasped as memory returned and he turned towards the burning ARC. “Helen still in there!”
Claudia grabbed his arm as he moved towards the ARC. “She wouldn't lift a finger to save you, Nick.”
***
Claudia shivered as she remembered that the creature they were hoping to trap had once been a man. Still, from the reports, it was too late to save him, all they could do was contain it, kill it and save London from the same fate. Except that it had escaped from the van and was now lose within the ARC and they had to drive it towards the loading bay and the trap that awaited for it.
Danny grabbed one of the fire extinguishers from the wall and grinned at her. “We can use these to drive it into the loading bay.” He passed his extinguisher to Abby before grabbing the second and testing it. “We'll go this way.”
Claudia nodded before turning to Sarah. “Come on, they're more extinguishers in the loading bay.”
“Isn't that where the trap is?” Sarah asked as she hurried after Claudia.
“Yes, but we'll be in and out in plenty of time.” Claudia could only hope she was right, but she couldn't see anyone, anything, in the loading bay when they reached it. She rushed inside, shivering in the cold, and located the nearest extinguisher. She grabbed it and turned towards Sarah...
***
Ryan stepped through the anomaly and found himself back in the Permian - black sand and scrubby bushes, the air full of the bellowing of Scuts. He watched his men emerge from the fractured light, carrying the two cages containing the baby Future Predators before the arrogant stride of one Dr Helen Cutter caught his attention. Now she was someone to watch, he didn't need Lyle's thumbs to know not to trust that bitch.
Still, he had a job to do and he did a final visual check of his team before turning to head off into the Permian landscape. He kept an eye on Helen as they walked across the sand, the chattering of the young Predators making the hairs on the back of his neck rise...
***
A mist rose from the floor of the loading bay, through the corridor of the gutted ARC, from the sand of the Permian until it swirled around them.
Sarah's arm moved in slow motion before she stood froze in time, her mouth open but no words emerging, her eyes in mid-blink.
Helen's hand moved infinitesimally, so slowly that it felt to Nick as if he was watching an old film, slide by slide.
Ryan turned towards the cage, about to order his men to keep the bloody things quiet when their movement became jerky before they stopped, frozen in mid-step.
The melodious voice they all recognised at that of the Fae Queen spoke to them as if from the very air itself, echoing around and through them. “To continue on this path is to court certain death yet save the lives of others who would die in your stead. Do you continue or turn back?”
“I won't let another die in my place,” Ryan spoke with conviction.
“Helen is mine to face,” Nick said firmly.
“I have made my choice,” Claudia stated.
“So may it be,” the melodious voice declared.
***
Claudia handed the extinguisher to Sarah. “Go on, I'll be right behind you.”
“Are you sure?” Sarah asked, shivering in her thin top.
“I'll only be a few moments,” Claudia assured her. Her breath was misting before her face as she hurried to locate the last fire extinguisher. She smiled when she finally found it, before swallowing as a loud clang sounded behind her. She slowly turned and gasped, her breath coming out in a billow of white. The creature was before her, its once human hands reaching for her.
She fought a moment of panic down before trying to turn the extinguisher on, her hands so cold she couldn't feel the valve beneath her fingers. The creature approached ever nearer and Claudia had no choice but to retreat from it, away from the exit and from safety. its mouth opened in a moan and Claudia barely managed to dodge its grasp, finally managing to open the valve and spray the creature with the cold CO2. It staggered the creature, sending it flailing backwards and she followed behind it, spraying it as she tried to decide which was the nearest exit. She could hear the yells of her friends, her team, to run but at that moment the extinguisher died and the creature lurched at her in a final desperate attempt for warmth.
Time slowed once more...
***
“Yes. You're probably right. But I can't just leave her in there to die.” Nick pulled free of Claudia's grip and hurried into the ARC. Trying to remember which way she'd gone after leaving him and the his clone in the atrium. The smoke was thick and cloying but he continued on, no matter what Helen had done, he couldn't not try to save her.
He turned the corner and found Helen unmoving on the ground. He uttered a sigh of relief when he checked her pulse before hiding the object he found with her. He hauled her to her feet and started to help her from the burning building. After a few steps, Helen groaned and pulled free, demanding to known what the object was.
Nick told her the truth, that he had no idea what it was. He turned to go, saddened that she'd changed so much over the years, before her voice had him turning back. His eyes widened as he watched her raise a pistol at his heart. Telling him it had to be, that he had to die to save the world. “You know, Helen, you really are mad.”
He heard the sharp crack of the shot and then watched the bullet approach him, slowing until it seemed to stop, mere inches from his chest...
***
The first warning Ryan had was one of his men yelling 'Incoming' as he let off a burst of gunfire. He turned to see something moving far too fast take his man off his feet, leaving him bloodied and silent, before sweeping through Ryan's team as it cut them down one by one. He turned and fired, trying to track his target and then it was coming at him.
He could see every feature on its face, the drool dripping from its fangs and its sharp claws reaching for his vulnerable flesh...
***
The Fae Queen voice sounded once more, even though none could see her, “Do thy wish to continue on this path or chose another to take it? Speak now and thy will walk a different path, one of life rather than death.”
Ryan asked, “One paid for by another's death?”
“That is so,” the melodious voice replied.
“Never!” Claudia said.
“You could do so much more if you lived.”
“I'm not letting anyone else die for me,” Nick yelled.
“So may it be.”
***
Claudia felt the creature grasp her arm before it fell, cracking and creaking as it froze solid. She was so cold, shivers racking her body, but all she could do was stare at the green-grey fungus growing on her arm, covering more of her skin with every second. She heard a cry of anguish but knew she would die here, to leave the fungi-killing cold would risk spreading the fungi to everyone else.
She could feel herself growing more and more tired, her limbs heavy and she couldn't stand any more, sinking to the floor as her body gave up trying to generate heat by shivering. The loading bay faded from her view as she slumped to the floor...
***
Nick felt the bullet tear into his chest, feeling pain explode in his body as he slumped to the floor. He watched through pain-glazed eyes as Helen looked down at him before something startled her and she was gone.
He felt himself grabbed by another, crying out as agony filled his body and he found himself held by Connor, the young man pleading with him to stay but Nick no longer had any breath left...
***
Ryan tried to get his pistol up to fire as the future predator lunging at him, he knew it would still kill him but he might kill it too. That he might save at least some of his men, that he would save Cutter, for he could hear the Professor yelling as if from far away. He fired but only scored a flesh wound, grunting when the future predator's claws sliced deep into his chest. He felt it drag him across the sand and tried to shot it again, but his pistol was lost.
Blackness flickered at the end of his vision as he felt Cutter hold him. With his last breath he managed to ask, “The first time we came here, that body we found, that was me, wasn't it? I was looking at myself.” He felt Cutter firm grip his hand grow fainter, feeling so far away...
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Author: knitekat
Fandom: Primeval
Word Count: 3216 words out of 20537.
Characters: Claudia Brown, Nick Cutter, Tom Ryan, James Lester, Connor Temple, Lorraine Wickes plus SFOCs: Jon Lyle, Niall 'Blade' Richards, Robert Finn and David 'Ditzy' Owen (OCs)
Rating: 18
Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures. Certainly not me. And Lyle, Blade, Finn and Ditzy belong to Fred. Writing for fun and will replace.
A/N 1: For Lsellersfic's Secret Santa and her prompt: The anomaly team find the Holy Grail. What is it? What does it mean? What do they do with it? With possibly some aspects of her High Concept Sci-Fi prompt as well. Not sure how well it hit either prompt but I hope you enjoy it and had a wonderful Christmas.
A/N 2: Partly beta-ed by Fififolle (oops my word count was out) and modified by me, so all mistakes are mine.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
Claudia found her wrist grabbed and then she was held against Ryan's strong chest.
“Shh.” Ryan's voice was a bare whisper against her ear. “It's me.”
Claudia took a moment to enjoy his embrace before she took a shaky breath and pulled free, noticing Nick was standing close by but was apparently ignoring him. At first she thought it was out of politeness but then she realised they weren't at the Tor any more. The other soldiers, the Tor itself, everything, had vanished. She turned around as she looked for any familiar landmark, instead, she found herself in a meadow of lush green grass, dotted with vibrant white and gold flowers, the air sweet with their scents. A hand on her arm - Ryan's - directed her attention towards a red-earred snow-white doe who stood watching them. Claudia swallowed, if she had any doubts about where they were, she didn't any more. The only question remaining was... why where they here?”
“There is a path.” Nick pointed it out as he came over to join them.
Somehow, it didn't surprise Claudia when the doe began to walk along the path, only to pause and look over her shoulder at her - at them - when they didn't follow her. The doe snorted and pawed the path, looking directly into Claudia's eyes.
“Ah,” Claudia said. “Are we supposed to follow you?” She did know if it would understand her but, well, considering where they appeared to be, she knew it just might. From the way the doe tossed her head and snorted again, Claudia knew she had understood her every word.
Claudia hesitated for a moment, exchanging a look with both Nick and Ryan before setting her shoulders and following the doe along the path, Nick and Ryan beside her. The wonderful scents wafted over her as they brushed past the flowers. She glanced up at the sky, a bright, brilliant pale blue with not a cloud in sight. She heard a gasp behind her, spinning and gasping herself when she found the meadow she'd just walked through was now an impenetrable forest. It appeared to be centuries old, the undergrowth thick, impenetrable and she couldn't see a sign that the path they had just walked along had ever existed.
She felt called, almost compelled to step forward into the dark, foreboding forest, leaving the sunny meadow to entered the eerie and shadowy depths between the moss-covered trunks. The path faded beneath her feet, one more step would leave it behind. She heard a mournful howl echo from the forest's depths, answered by another and could see the red eyes which gleamed in the shadows. She felt as if something was watching her, waiting for her to step further into the forest.
She lifted her foot to step from the path and felt a hand grab her arm and pull her backwards. She stumbled and found herself back in the sunlit meadow and in Ryan's arms.
“Claudia?” Ryan's voice was full of concern. “Are you OK?”
Claudia blinked several times before nodding. “I think so.” She glanced back at the forest, shivering as she could feel how hungry it was, knowing that whatever hid within it would have hunted her without mercy.
“We'll have to see where this path leads us,” Nick said. “If we step off of it, I think we'll be lost forever.”
“You couldn't have mentioned this earlier?” Ryan rumbled, still obviously concerned that he could have lost her forever, his grip on her arm firm.
“I doubt it would have made a difference,” Claudia said, having no wish for another argument and knowing it was her own fault for almost stepping off the path, for letting the forest call to her. She noticed that the doe had stopped and was watching them, her tail flicking impatiently, and pulled free of Ryan's arms. “I'm sorry,” Claudia said to her. “Please lead on.”
Claudia continued to follow the doe through the meadow, slowly feeling the influence of the forest fade, and deciding that she might as well enjoy the beautiful surrounding and reached for Ryan's hand. It was almost as if they were enjoying a walk in the countryside, if one ignored Nick's presence and the fact this... place was far more dangerous that any part of the British Isle, dinosaurs included. Still, it was the closest she'd had to a romantic walk with Tom, what with the anomalies, and she was determined to enjoy the moment.
Her smile faded when they crested a rise and she knew they'd reached their destination as she stared into the dell below. The area was full of a variety of tents, half of them brightly coloured and the other half shadowy and the path wound its way between the two halves, neatly separating them. People and other creatures moved around the tents, dressed in a mixture of archaic styles and, like the tents themselves, either brightly coloured or of shadowy hues, their features either inhumanly beautiful or terrifying to look upon and Claudia found her gaze sliding away from both, unable to look at either group, she thought they must have been the Seelie and Unseelie.
Claudia felt both Ryan and Nick move closer to her as they followed the doe through the massed crowd and into the open area; empty except for a magnificent oak tree, centuries old, its branches stretching across the entire clearing left by the tents.
She looked up at a hoot to see a large white-feathered owl flutter her wings and an expectation hush fell upon the dell as Claudia stepped forward and curtseyed. The owl spread its wings and hooted once more. The soft call still had the gathered hosts moving until they surrounded Claudia and her companions, forming a circle around the edge of the clearing. She noticed they were still split between Seelie and Unseelie, the path forming a natural barrier between the two fractions. The air was full of expectation, it felt as if a storm was about to break, and Claudia knew one spark could ignite a fight. Two figures stepped from the hosts, one light and unearthly beautiful, the other shadowy, his handsome features doing nothing to hide the dread which clung to him like a mantle. Both Fae bowed to the owl before it glided from the branches, shimmering as it reached the ground and another Fae stood before them. One who was terrible in her beauty, who Claudia found she could not look at as she shone with an inner light. “You have been chosen.” Her voice was melodious, the tones pure and Claudia would have done anything this Fae asked her to do without question.
Claudia felt like she was drifting, that she had only to reach out her hand to take that of the Fae's and all her cares would vanish. Claudia took a step towards her before realising this was a trap... or perhaps it was a test? She felt as if she was struggling against a rip tide, feeling as if something was seeking to drag her down and away from the world she knew. Claudia gritted her teeth and felt as if she was fighting for every inch of ground, digging deep into her will to keep going, to fight the lethargy that filled her bones. Claudia gathered all her energy and will for a final effort, knowing she had to break the grip the Fae's voice had on her or she'd be lost forever. She gasped when she finally managed to shake off the effects and glanced at her companions, closing her eyes briefly in relief when she realised both Ryan and Nick had shaken off the effect, standing there blinking owlishly as if only just awakening from a dream. She swallowed her suddenly dry throat and managed to speak, remembering her manners just in time, “Chosen, my lady?”
“My Queen,” the shadowy Fae spoke, bowing deeply to the Fae who had so mesmerised Claudia. “I do not see why they are here.”
“Enough!” The Fae Queen's voice lashed out, making the shadowy Fae - who Claudia suspected might be one of the Unseelie - step back and bow once more. “You agreed to this challenge.”
“Yes, my Queen,” the Unseelie Fae said. “But humans?” Claudia could sense the distaste dripping from the Fae's every word.
“You didn't stipulate the challengers had to be Fae.” The Fae Queen smiled at him, causing the Unseelie to take a step back muttering. The Fae Queen smiled and appeared to speak to the very air itself, her voice easily carrying across the assembled hosts. “Three excellent choices.” She turned her attention back to Claudia, who had to resist the urge to give ground under that direct attention. “You will each face a challenge. Fail and unimaginable horrors will be yours, succeed and you will become the Champion of the Treasure you have come for.”
Nick stepped forward and gave a short bow. “And if we choose not to face the challenges?”
The Fae Queen smiled. “Then you will be returned unharmed to your world.” Her face became terrible to gaze upon as she continued, “but know that to refuse will forfeit this Treasure to the Unseelie and with it your world.”
“Then we accept the challenges, my lady,” Claudia spoke with far more confidence that she felt. Once - if - they made it home, she'd be having words with one Sir James Lester about full disclosure, he must have known this might happen to them.
***
Nick staggered slightly as the explosion sounded behind him, he spun and stared at the black smoke billowing out of the ARC. What the hell had happened? He quickly glanced around, smiling as he noticed Claudia standing nearby, with Connor and Abby next to her, although all of them looked shocked by what was happening.
Lester sounded angry as he stalked towards Nick. “What the hell is your wife up to now, Cutter?”
“Helen?” Nick asked, confused as to what Lester was on about.
Lester frowned before glancing at Claudia. “Have him looked at by the medic, he's no use to me with a concussion.”
“Yes, sir,” Claudia replied.
Nick almost gasped as memory returned and he turned towards the burning ARC. “Helen still in there!”
Claudia grabbed his arm as he moved towards the ARC. “She wouldn't lift a finger to save you, Nick.”
***
Claudia shivered as she remembered that the creature they were hoping to trap had once been a man. Still, from the reports, it was too late to save him, all they could do was contain it, kill it and save London from the same fate. Except that it had escaped from the van and was now lose within the ARC and they had to drive it towards the loading bay and the trap that awaited for it.
Danny grabbed one of the fire extinguishers from the wall and grinned at her. “We can use these to drive it into the loading bay.” He passed his extinguisher to Abby before grabbing the second and testing it. “We'll go this way.”
Claudia nodded before turning to Sarah. “Come on, they're more extinguishers in the loading bay.”
“Isn't that where the trap is?” Sarah asked as she hurried after Claudia.
“Yes, but we'll be in and out in plenty of time.” Claudia could only hope she was right, but she couldn't see anyone, anything, in the loading bay when they reached it. She rushed inside, shivering in the cold, and located the nearest extinguisher. She grabbed it and turned towards Sarah...
***
Ryan stepped through the anomaly and found himself back in the Permian - black sand and scrubby bushes, the air full of the bellowing of Scuts. He watched his men emerge from the fractured light, carrying the two cages containing the baby Future Predators before the arrogant stride of one Dr Helen Cutter caught his attention. Now she was someone to watch, he didn't need Lyle's thumbs to know not to trust that bitch.
Still, he had a job to do and he did a final visual check of his team before turning to head off into the Permian landscape. He kept an eye on Helen as they walked across the sand, the chattering of the young Predators making the hairs on the back of his neck rise...
***
A mist rose from the floor of the loading bay, through the corridor of the gutted ARC, from the sand of the Permian until it swirled around them.
Sarah's arm moved in slow motion before she stood froze in time, her mouth open but no words emerging, her eyes in mid-blink.
Helen's hand moved infinitesimally, so slowly that it felt to Nick as if he was watching an old film, slide by slide.
Ryan turned towards the cage, about to order his men to keep the bloody things quiet when their movement became jerky before they stopped, frozen in mid-step.
The melodious voice they all recognised at that of the Fae Queen spoke to them as if from the very air itself, echoing around and through them. “To continue on this path is to court certain death yet save the lives of others who would die in your stead. Do you continue or turn back?”
“I won't let another die in my place,” Ryan spoke with conviction.
“Helen is mine to face,” Nick said firmly.
“I have made my choice,” Claudia stated.
“So may it be,” the melodious voice declared.
***
Claudia handed the extinguisher to Sarah. “Go on, I'll be right behind you.”
“Are you sure?” Sarah asked, shivering in her thin top.
“I'll only be a few moments,” Claudia assured her. Her breath was misting before her face as she hurried to locate the last fire extinguisher. She smiled when she finally found it, before swallowing as a loud clang sounded behind her. She slowly turned and gasped, her breath coming out in a billow of white. The creature was before her, its once human hands reaching for her.
She fought a moment of panic down before trying to turn the extinguisher on, her hands so cold she couldn't feel the valve beneath her fingers. The creature approached ever nearer and Claudia had no choice but to retreat from it, away from the exit and from safety. its mouth opened in a moan and Claudia barely managed to dodge its grasp, finally managing to open the valve and spray the creature with the cold CO2. It staggered the creature, sending it flailing backwards and she followed behind it, spraying it as she tried to decide which was the nearest exit. She could hear the yells of her friends, her team, to run but at that moment the extinguisher died and the creature lurched at her in a final desperate attempt for warmth.
Time slowed once more...
***
“Yes. You're probably right. But I can't just leave her in there to die.” Nick pulled free of Claudia's grip and hurried into the ARC. Trying to remember which way she'd gone after leaving him and the his clone in the atrium. The smoke was thick and cloying but he continued on, no matter what Helen had done, he couldn't not try to save her.
He turned the corner and found Helen unmoving on the ground. He uttered a sigh of relief when he checked her pulse before hiding the object he found with her. He hauled her to her feet and started to help her from the burning building. After a few steps, Helen groaned and pulled free, demanding to known what the object was.
Nick told her the truth, that he had no idea what it was. He turned to go, saddened that she'd changed so much over the years, before her voice had him turning back. His eyes widened as he watched her raise a pistol at his heart. Telling him it had to be, that he had to die to save the world. “You know, Helen, you really are mad.”
He heard the sharp crack of the shot and then watched the bullet approach him, slowing until it seemed to stop, mere inches from his chest...
***
The first warning Ryan had was one of his men yelling 'Incoming' as he let off a burst of gunfire. He turned to see something moving far too fast take his man off his feet, leaving him bloodied and silent, before sweeping through Ryan's team as it cut them down one by one. He turned and fired, trying to track his target and then it was coming at him.
He could see every feature on its face, the drool dripping from its fangs and its sharp claws reaching for his vulnerable flesh...
***
The Fae Queen voice sounded once more, even though none could see her, “Do thy wish to continue on this path or chose another to take it? Speak now and thy will walk a different path, one of life rather than death.”
Ryan asked, “One paid for by another's death?”
“That is so,” the melodious voice replied.
“Never!” Claudia said.
“You could do so much more if you lived.”
“I'm not letting anyone else die for me,” Nick yelled.
“So may it be.”
***
Claudia felt the creature grasp her arm before it fell, cracking and creaking as it froze solid. She was so cold, shivers racking her body, but all she could do was stare at the green-grey fungus growing on her arm, covering more of her skin with every second. She heard a cry of anguish but knew she would die here, to leave the fungi-killing cold would risk spreading the fungi to everyone else.
She could feel herself growing more and more tired, her limbs heavy and she couldn't stand any more, sinking to the floor as her body gave up trying to generate heat by shivering. The loading bay faded from her view as she slumped to the floor...
***
Nick felt the bullet tear into his chest, feeling pain explode in his body as he slumped to the floor. He watched through pain-glazed eyes as Helen looked down at him before something startled her and she was gone.
He felt himself grabbed by another, crying out as agony filled his body and he found himself held by Connor, the young man pleading with him to stay but Nick no longer had any breath left...
***
Ryan tried to get his pistol up to fire as the future predator lunging at him, he knew it would still kill him but he might kill it too. That he might save at least some of his men, that he would save Cutter, for he could hear the Professor yelling as if from far away. He fired but only scored a flesh wound, grunting when the future predator's claws sliced deep into his chest. He felt it drag him across the sand and tried to shot it again, but his pistol was lost.
Blackness flickered at the end of his vision as he felt Cutter hold him. With his last breath he managed to ask, “The first time we came here, that body we found, that was me, wasn't it? I was looking at myself.” He felt Cutter firm grip his hand grow fainter, feeling so far away...
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