FSE

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I could tell by the time we were at the bottom of the staircase that finishing this help sign was going to be a chore. Never mind the fact that it looked like the tide had ruined what had already been done, but the beach head where Chy and Sonya had started it was crawling with the undead. At the base of the stairs, there was a walkway that was made out of wood planks that went all the way to the water front that had the pile of surfboards, chairs and luggage that Chy and Sonya had been using and between us and that pile of parts was one of those big ass ghouls like the one I'd seen at the lifeguard tower accompanied by about seven or eight henchmen. The Thug of the bunch had seen us and was slouching towards us with that same thousand yard stare that all of the unfortunate infected had taken on.

"Hold up Chy", I said as the air around my hands began to distort, "I've got this."

"What are you doing?", Chy asked, a slight hint of worry in her voice, "what's going on with your hands?"

"Trust me", I grinned, "hanging around biologists has it's perks."

Using my enhanced telekinetic ability, I drew my Katana from it's sheath with one finger and floated it in the air about 10 feet from me. I then took hold of the big ghoul and pulled him towards the blade. Strong though he was, he was unable to free himself from my grip. Chy watched in a combination of awe and horror as I forced the thug to swallow the blade, severing his spine from the base of his brain, permanently incapacitating him, but not killing him. I lifted him up, the Katana tearing through his body and cutting him almost in half. I turned the blade around and let go of the thug, finishing him off and cutting his body into two distinct halves. I held my hand out and my Katana returned to me. I wiped the blood off of it and sheathed it, turning to Chy, who was both, amazed and horrified.

"What on Earth?", She asked as the other zombies began to slouch towards us.

"Serum 42-B", I said, "A telekinetic enhancement designed by other Xenomorphs in Biosphere Labs. The more you take, the more powerful your abilities become, but take to much and you could fry your brain."

"Happen to have extra?", Chy said, "that was awesome."

"I don't", I said taking hold of the nearest ghoul and telekineticly snapping her neck.

"It's like you got the force or some shit", Chy said as I drew my Fal and assisted her in finishing the last of the ghouls.

"Maybe I do", I replied as we reached the site where the help sign was being constructed.

"We did more than this", Chy said slinging her AR-10, "this can't be it! Where's the rest of it!?"

"Is it possible that the tide washed it out?", I asked surveying my surroundings. Behind me there was a set of three changing rooms with all kinds of things ranging from bags to chairs to surfboards piled against it. A little further back where two bungalows along with a bunch of straw umbrella covered tables, some of which were turned over, others were still standing, with four chairs each. Just past the area where we were building the sign, there was a bridge that lead to a Tiki bar that had been built on a sand bar that jutted a ways out of the water. There were also a few broomsticks stuck in the sand with ghouls impaled on them, some of which saw us, others of which were just staring at the sun, going blind in the process. There were also large blotches of fresh blood staining the sand along with dried, crusty spots, some of which had picked clean skeletons of both humans and Xeno's laying on them, while others were holding bodies that had simply been decapitated.

"I suppose", Chy answered, "though it doesn't matter because there's more than enough material to re build it."

"How did things go to hell so quickly?", I asked with a sigh.

"What do you mean?", Chy asked.

"Everywhere I look there's carnage and destruction", I sighed, "how long ago did the missile land?"

Chy shrugged, "seems like an eternity, but four weeks."

"How does an entire planet collapse in 4 weeks?", I asked as I shot two stray ghouls who had wandered out of an alcove that was about 100 yards out, "was there even any kind of military or scientist response to 41?"

"Everything fell apart too quickly for there to be an organized response", Chy sighed, "we lost two girls in my unit just trying to escape the city we landed in."

"Wow", I sighed, "just wow."

"Just come over here and help me please", Chy said.

I slung my FAL and walked over to her. Chy and I began pulling the containers and chairs back a bit from the shore before starting completely over on the sign. We started the H by moving 6 chairs and a few heavy wooden crates from a nearby storage shed into the outside part of the letter. We used three beach chairs for the inner part and four surfboards and five more crates for the outer part before moving on to the L, which we used nearly 18 luggage bags and chairs for. Then came the E. For that, we used all of the remaining beach chairs, several closed umbrellas which we tied together for greater size and contrast against the white sand. While Chy started on the P, I took another look at the Tiki Bar.

"Hey Chy", I said.

"What?", She asked.

"I'm gonna go take a look around that Tiki Bar, see what I can find."

"Okay", She said, "I'll finish up here and then come join you."

I nodded, took the Fal off my shoulder and began to cross the bridge. About half way through, a body that I assumed was dead let off a low groan and began to sit up. I put the Fal to it's head and pulled the trigger as I passed it, sending chunks of bone and brain into the water below. Despite the fact that my weapon was suppressed, the shot was still more than loud enough to attract the attention of the easy 20 ghouls that were still hanging out at the bar. My guess as to why there were so many was when Martin's MIRV landed, those who died to 41 began forming hives and then when the link with Martin was severed, they simply remained where they were. Without giving them time to close too much distance, I resorted to the same tactic I had used at the ship, sending rounds down range as fast as I could sight targets and pull the trigger. One by one the undead that I could see dropped to the ground. Once the immediate area was clear, I circled the bar, finding two more ghouls on a bridge out to a bungalow that was built on stilts in the water and one more inside the bar itself. Once I was absolutely sure that there were no more ghouls in the immediate vicinity, I exchanged the magazine currently in my rifle for a new one before cautiously entering the bar.

The inside of the bar was quite small, 20-30 square feet, but it was still enough space for a deep fryer, oven, stove and microwave as well as a cooler, counter and a few cabinets. There were two cans of Ravioli sitting on the counter next to a few granola bars and a bottle of water and a little bit of money, two 20$ bills. I gathered up the food, water and cash, placing it in my backpack before opening the cooler, which was somehow still running. All that was inside was a bag of ice and 3 bags of chicken strips that looked like they were meant for the deep fryer behind me. At this point I was at a hitch because there was food here, but I was unsure if we had the means to cook it.

"Hey Chy", I said over the radio.

"What Skyline?", She answered.

"I found a few bags of frozen chicken in the Tiki bar, but the bags say it's meant for a deep fryer. Is there any way to cook it back at the Lifeguard Tower?"

There was a minute of silence.

"Yeah", Chy said, "the kitchen has a deep fryer in it. I don't know if there's any oil though, so see if you can find some and I'll contact Marco and have him check."

"Rodger that", I said closing the cooler's lid. I turned to the cabinets behind me. The first two I opened had nothing, neither did most of them. I was about to give up hope on having fired chicken for the first time in quite a while when I opened the final cabinet and found two, gallon jugs of cooking oil. I found myself smiling.

"Further proof that there is a God", I said to myself as my tail swished happily, "Chy, I found two gallon Jugs of oil. What should I do now? Leave it here and come back for it, take it up there now or what?"

There was a bit of silence on Chy's end.

"I'll get it and take it back", Chy said, "in the mean time, head down the beach to the same place you shot those two ghouls, that's the Alcove that has those wrecks I was telling you about, scout the place out and wait for me to join you."

"Rodger that", I said.

I closed the cabinet and left the bar. I crossed the bridge back to the beach, meeting Chy half way.

"Was it in the bar or the bungalow?", She asked, "I didn't quite catch where you said you were over the radio."

"The bar", I answered, "in the white cooler. The oil is in the metal cabinet closest to the back door in the bottom rack."

Chy nodded and headed for the bar as I backtracked from the bridge to the grassy alcove where I had shot the two ghouls. Where the two bodies were was a giant stone archway that was covered in vines that had a wooden walkway, seeming like it was older as it was bleached white. I cut away the vines with my Katana, revealing a massive cave with a beach in of itself inside it. It was about 2 or three hundred yards before the beach ended with a stone wall. Six, massive stone pillars that looked like they were worn out naturally supported the ceiling of the cave and there were BBQ pits, picnic tables and beach chairs spread around, their former owners either laying in pools of blood with their bones picked clean, or standing silently in place, waiting for someone else to chew on. From where I was I could also see several boat wrecks, some of them looked new, while a few of the boats looked like they'd been sitting there a while. I also couldn't help but notice two more bigger ghouls in the back of the cave. Hopefully they would stay back there and not see me.

As I started advancing into the cave, I heard a growl come from beside me and before I could react, the ghoul had thrown himself at me. Unable to step out of the way, I put both my hands out, catching him as he made the lunge for my neck. I suppose it wouldn't matter if he bit me or not as Agent 41 couldn't survive in the acidic blood of a true Xenomorph, but I wasn't exactly in the mood to have a chuck of meat ripped out of my neck, or bleed to death. I summoned my Telekinetic ability and shoved the ghoul away from me. I drew my Katana and stabbed it straight through the forehead before pulling out the FAL. I dropped prone and put the sight on the head of the closest ghoul, which was about ten yards away. The crack of the shot, even with the surpressor, sounded my location off to every ghoul with in earshot, which started them shambling towards me.

"Dammit!", I growled at myself as my arms cracked open and the hornets began to crawl out.

"Kill!", I ordered telepathically as I unleashed a swarm of about 3,000 against the ghouls on approach. The ghouls didn't notice the swarm of flesh eating insects and continued to slouch towards me. I dropped the empty magazine out of the FAL, jammed a new one in place and slammed the bolt forward as my hornets began to drop the undead. I raised my rifle and as quick as I could sight the targets, the rounds were down range and heads split in two. One by one the ghouls dropped, leaving me alone in the cave with a pile of bodies. At this point, I didn't need to be a genius to realize that any planet that was in the grips of Agent 41 was totally fucked. The only chance we had at turning this around was cure that for all knew might not even work. I figured that my luck wasn't going to last very long against hordes of a creature that up until a few days ago I thought was pure science fiction. Martial arts and a Katana might save me when I run out of ammunition, but when my Katana dulls and the bones in my hands brake on someone's face, that makes me dead.

"What have you done Martin?", I asked myself as I picked up my spent magazine, "was this your plan all along? To bring the dead back to life and use them to do your bidding?"

I sighed and trying to push the thoughts out of my head, I pushed deeper into the caves and began checking the boat wrecks. The first boat, a Mako fishing boat, was so far gone that even if I did find anything it would have been lost to water damage, so I moved to the next one, an expensive looking sail boat that had it's mast torn off and a big chunk torn out of the bottom. Getting on board was a matter in of itself, as I couldn't just step up on it. The sides of the boat were covered with algae and so slick that my boots made it impossible to get a firm grip and going barefoot wasn't that much better as Chitin is pretty slick as well. The ultimate solution to my dilemma was to climb up on a rock near by and jump to the boat, which also proved to be no easy matter. The rocks were slick as fuck and the first two jumps nearly killed me. The first jump I I didn't put enough power into it and smashed my neck against the railing on the side of the boat, which knocked the wind right out of me and sent me face first into the icy cold water down below. I didn't understand how a planet that was so fucking hot could have water that was so hellishly cold. I don't think it was a stretch to say that water wasn't that far from getting smacked in the face by one of my LN balls. So soaked down to my skin, freezing my tail off and with two chattering sets of teeth, I tried again. This time I just barely missed it and when I smacked into the railing I know I cracked a rib from the surge of pain that went searing through my chest. This time when I fell I took hold of the railing, not wanting to take another plummet into the water. I must have held on for about four minutes, trying many times unsuccessfully to climb up onto the boat, but my boots made that impossible. So sighing, I let go of the railing and dropped back down into the water, just as I was starting to get dry. So praying that I wouldn't brake something important on the third jump, I took the leap of faith, landing smack on the deck of the boat.

"Thank God", I said pulling off my frozen shirt and breathing a sigh of relief, "now mister boat, signal flares, I know you got them."

I searched that boat from top to bottom, quarters, deck, storage, everything. What did I find? A zombie angry as hell with me for disturbing his bath time and a whole lot of nothing, which left me wanting to rip my visor off. Angry about finding nothing as well as having to dip back into the liquid nitrogen masquerading as water without anything to dry off with, I left the boat and searched the next wreck, finding a mostly empty ship, along with a few tool sets, which I wasn't sure we would need, but hell, take it anyway. So after boxing that away and taking yet another dip into that cold ass water, now certain I would catch the flu, I searched the fourth and final ship, and finally, the good Lord decided I had suffered enough and granted me four packages of six flares each, neatly sealed and protected from water damage. I found myself saying a small prayer, giving thanks that I had the flares and, as of yet, wasn't dead. Though if it kept up this way, I was sure that I would be.

"Thank you Jesus", I smiled at myself as I carefully packed away the flares and gave myself a small dose of morphine to combat the searing pain in my chest from what I was certain was a cracked upper rib. I pulled my Katana out of it's sheath and started back for the Life Guard Tower, meeting Chy about half way.

"You look like shit Skyline", she commented, "why the hell are you soaked?"

"I took a few plunges into the water", I said.

"Why the hell would you do that?", Chy asked.

"Wasn't exactly my choice", I said, "it's a long story. Why the hell is the water so cold any way?"

"That water is not cold you big baby", Chy said.

"Oh yes it is", I said, "it feels like liquid nitrogen. I'm also 100% certain I'm going to get sick from that."

"Your not gonna get sick", Chy said as we started back for the lifeguard tower.

"Oh yes I am", I said in the middle of a sneeze, "see it's already started."

"That's called a coincidence", Chy said.

I sneezed again, "dammit."

Chy sighed, "we have some allergy medicine back at the tower. Come on Skyline, I'd be surprised if you get anything more than a cold."

"You know I get sick when I get hit with the cold baby girl", I answered.

"Yet I don't", She said, "how is that? I'm shorter, weigh less and I'm no where near as strong as you."

"Enough", I moaned, "please."

Chy giggled, "yes my prince."

I sighed and shook my head. If there was one thing Chy loved to do it was screw with me when she knew I wasn't in the mood for it. This was one of those times. When we got back to the tower, the first thing I did was put my shorts and shirt along with my web gear out on the railing of the balcony to dry and then changed into my Multi Cam, which was a lot warmer, which was what I needed. I also grabbed my poncho liner and wrapped myself in it before heading down stairs to talk to Sarah about her poison.

"Hey Sarah", I said knocking on the door.

She turned around, trying hard to stifle a laugh when she saw me.

"Speak Earthling", I joked, "what do you find amusing?"

"Well", Sarah said smiling, "it's 118 Degrees outside and your wearing long pants, long sleeves and a blanket You cold or some shit?"

I nodded, "feeling a little stuffy too. I fell into the water down at the alcove, looking through some boat wrecks for signal flares. The water was colder than the second level of hell and on top of catching a cold I think I cracked a rib."

'Where?", Sarah asked.

"My upper chest", I answered.

"Unless it was broken I can't really help you", Sarah said, "but I know you didn't come down here just to talk about how the work with your mate went."

'She's not my mate", I said, "not yet at least."

"Sarah smiled, "at least your upfront with it."

I smiled as well, "please don't try and give me relationship advice, we have some catching up to do before we even think about stripping."

Sarah giggled, "all right I won't. So have you decided on what path I should take on the development of the cure?"

"I think trying to design a counter virus would be better in the long run because maybe we can make it contagious."

"A contagious cure?", Sarah asked sitting back, "that's science fiction."

"So are Zombies", I said.

Sarah sighed, "I suppose it IS possible, but actually acquiring the equipment to try that is a different matter."

'What would you need?", I asked.

"For starters", Sarah said, "I would need a Starlight HX2000 Chemical processor, one that was built to produce enough of the compound to make it viable. 2, I would need a lot more PSC than what I have, which is about two quarts, 3 I would need a very, very powerful microscope, 4 a better centrifuge and 5, test subjects."

"The way you said that made you sound like a mad scientist", I said,

"Sorry", Sarah said, "but I can't test a cure for a disease that I don't have on myself. If I got infected somehow it would be a different story."

I sighed, "when I hit the pharmacy tonight, I'll make absolutely sure I go through every piece of paper and every nook and cranny, because without that cure, 41 could consume the entire Confederacy."