Sanctuary

V looked up at Jack as his face unaccountably came closer to her.

"My...bag..." she said, the picture breaking apart and coming together. She touched her side and felt slick blood. "Patient's supposed to bleed," she said confusedly, "not me."

With that she went limp, passing out as they ran.

 

They rushed out the door and into a much larger area, stacked high with massive crates. Some loading machinery was parked in the islands of clear floor. In a pattern, massive concrete pillars ran from the floor up to the ceiling. It looked like a warehouse basement. Where exactly this warehouse was, he didn't know. But if he remembered the schematics, it should be somewhere in the Rows.

He took V through the maze of containers and pillars to the other side of the massive room, the others following him. A small metal door stood there; an orange EXIT sign glowing above it.

Gently, Jack laid V down on the ground, and knelt beside her. She had passed out. Fear and urgency clouding his senses, he lifted her shirt away from the wound, baring her abdomen. The gash was long, jagged, and bloody. He looked around for something to bind it with. Desperate, he turned to the others.

"I don't suppose anyone had the presence of mind to grab V's bag before we got out?"

 

Being ordered around by the Jess lady was a little bit of a rush.

"Take him."

Darmetrius helped the man up, and took him on his shoulder. He was a little heavy, hopefully he'd come to soon and carry more of his own weight.

Darmetrius looked at the "leader" carry the lady off. He fell in line, leaving the area with the others. This would be his new family, if only for a second. He would have to tone down the smart ass routine, but not just yet. He felt one more coming on.

"Ooh wee, you ladykiller," he said with a wide grin.

"Okay, I'm done with that," he said openly. "For now."

 

Ohdran. I never liked you. I remember that much. And now I will rip the air from your back and watch you die slowly.

Ohdran rounded on the source of the thought, one he had previously not noticed, on whom his people hated. A cursed one. The Fyr na Vishka.

Ohdran lashed out, but was still caught slightly off guard by the cursed one's presence in the place. He felt himself slammed hard against the wall of the place with enough force to kill him if not for the armor he wore. Yet, the Fyr na Vishka was only a dragoon, less than half his age and far from worthy to even touch an envoy of Scions, a Hunter-Stalker. Ohdran retaliated furiously, his whip like body literally rippling with muscles through the skin tight armor as he tackled Vishka to ground.

Your efforts are futile Unholy One. I count it among my many honors that it will be I who ends your life.

Keeping Vishka's arms pinned firmly to the ground with his knees, the Hunter-Stalker raised one hand to strike at the neck with those razor like fingers. Yet, he had spent to long in savoring the moment. The Fyr na Vishka, while still only a Dragoon, had been exceptional at what he did. Vishka bucked Ohdran over his head and sent him spinning to the ground.

Instantly the cursed Vishka was on all fours and charging at Ohdran. The Hunter-Stalker flipped himself over just in take to take the full force of the charge. Ohdran was slammed against the steel wall with enough force to actually dent the warehouse. Vishka raise up a mighty fist and prepared to smash the Hunter-Stalker. Yet, Ohdran was an envoy of the Scion's themselves, and thusly he was privy to a small part of their power.

Ohdran raised up a hand as the Unholy One brought his own down towards the Hunter-Stalker. Summoning the psychic energy granted to him via his mind link with the Scions, he sent Vishka spiraling through the air until he at last collided with a series of shelving units.

Standing from the indention in the wall, Ohdran let out a mighty noise that might have been considered a laugh. He strode calmly towards the cursed one, the Fyr na Vishka.

You see, Unclean One? You have chosen wrongly. You ally yourselves with the Demons of this world and now you will surely die as they do. I will release your soul to the Scions and they will let you experience a pain which either of us cannot know in the flesh.

Ohdran stood over the pile of twisted metal and rubble where Vishka lay, raising his razor hand to strike, but something unexpected happened. Ohdran felt himself lifted by and invisible force, slowly at first, but then he went rocketing towards the ceiling. Ohdran collided hard with the roof, nearly crushing his body and rupturing one of his breathing tanks. Then he fell back to the ground in a crumpled heap and the Fyr na Vishka stood over him.

I have not forgotten all, Ohdran.

Before Vishka could strike again, Ohdran let the psychic energy flow through him and sent Vishka flying through the door that the demons had fled through. Still in quite a bit of shock, Ohdran pulled himself up. The gentle hiss of his ruptured breathing tank brought him swiftly back to reality and he limped quickly away. He needed time to repair the damage that the cursed one had done.

 

Roger ran with the others through a door. He was surprised by the sudden approachment of the Hunter-Stalker. He called out to the others, "Shouldn't we help Vishka. Why leave him alone over there?"

 

"Shouldn't we help Vishka. Why leave him alone over there?"

"There's nothing we can do to help him." Jack said, removing his jacket. He reached up and tore the sleeve of his shirt and pulled it off. He then proceeded to tear it into long strips, which he bound tightly around V's waist, keeping pressure on the wound, but making sure she could still breathe. He looked into her face, which had went white. Gently, he stroked away the loose strands of hair that fell around her eyes. He had only just met her, and he was surprised at how desperately he wanted her to live.

"Don't die on me."

He then stood, withdrew his pistols, and dropped the clips, replacing them with new ones.

He walked to the door and tried the knob. Locked. There was, however, a small, vertical pane of glass in it.

"Stand back." He warned the others. He leveled a pistol and put a shot into the glass, shattering it. Carefully, he reached through and unlocked the knob on the other side, and opened the door, revealing a flight of narrow stairs.

"Okay, go." He walked back over to V and picked her up again.

 

Jess nodded and led the way up the stairs, gun sweeping the narrow space. When she was halfway, she put a hand out and gestured for Josh to wait. Silently she crept to the landing and checked the next flight. She beckoned for the others to follow. At the top of the stairs there was another similar door. Through the small pane of glass, she could see that the door opened onto a street. Wary about making too much noise, Jess used her elbow to smash the pane. She reached through and opened the door. Careful not to tread in the glass, she stepped onto an empty street, taking up a sentry post whilst the others filtered out through the door.

 

Vishka rushed through the hallway, running on all fours like a common beast. A practice which -- he remembered -- was widely looked down on by his people. His former people.
Seeing Ohdran again had sparked something in Vishka's memory. Restored some hidden power that had been suppressed. He felt less empty now, but he also felt like his newfound abilities were only a fraction of his previous ones. It frustrated him, like a blind man realising what it was like to see, only to have his vision blurred.

Bounding down, Vishka came to a stop at the door. Varenna lay injured, Jack tending to her. An amusing role reversal.

"The Stalker is damaged. He will retreat now to repair. But his return will be soon. We must go. Carry the girl."

 

Jack waited until the others had started making their way up the stairwell. With V in his arms, he approached the doorway, and then turned back to Vishka.

"Thank you." He said. He met the gaze of the alien. "I dunno why you're here with us, or why you did that back there, but...thanks. You saved our lives, and I won't forget that. Even if they do." He motioned with his head to the group that had progressed up the stairs. Jack then turned and followed suit.

 

Vishka cocked his head. This emotion -- gratitude -- was new to him. He sampled it, savouring the particular feeling. He drew the appropriate response from Jack's mind and vocalised it:
"You're welcome, man."

Following the other humans, Vishka reached the street. The sounds of warfare had all but disappeared, replaced by a haunting stillness. The threshers wouldn't be far. Now that they'd found survivors, the pair would hunt them all down. Running was their only option. Where is that hangar?

 

Joshua watched Vishka with mixed feelings. He was a They, yet he also was the only reason that thing had not made of with the Magnus disc. He decided that he would worry about that later. Right now, they were hurt.

He kneeled next to V. “We should treat this wound, if we are to reach the hangar.” He opened the gun case and got out one of the relatively clean rags that he usually used to cover his rifle with and pressed it on the wound. He looked around. “I got no idea what I am doing by the way," he said, studieing the faces of his fellow survivors. "I suggest we find a building to hide in and patch ourselves up. Going on like this is suicide."

But isn’t all of this suicide? Shut up. You’re going to die. No, we are going to save them all.

 

Jack climbed the stairs and emerged in an open street, V still cradled in his arms. They were down in the Rows. The secondary power had lit every second street light to a dim red glow, casting the street in an eerie shade. Jack had been around here before, but rarely, and only in the daylight hours.

He looked back into V's face. She was still out, and he needed to take a better look at that wound of hers. He had some first aid knowledge, and knew enough to do a little patchwork. Perhaps one of the others had some deeper knowledge.

First, though, they needed to get out of here and find a place to rest and resupply, if possible.

"Josh is right. We should find some place to hole up for a while. Anybody recognize this district?"

 

"Josh is right. We should find some place to hole up for a while. Anybody recognize this district?"

"Not me. But I do believe some of us do live in this area and Lieutinant I am surprised at you not bringing some more powerful weapons", replied Roger.

He did fell Jack should have access to those guns he had and was surprised at him bringing revolvers instead of the new enforcers.

 

Jack cocked an eyebrow at Roger.

"If you take a look at my file you'll see 'covert ops' and 'information system security' in big, bold letters. That means I travel light. If HQ wasn't trashed and the guard towers along the Wall weren't in shambles, I'd know of some places to get some heavier gear. Unfortunately, they are in shambles. So we're gonna have to make due with what we have, and what we can scrounge."

 

Josh's eye twitched. Only hours ago, he had been the groups idiot. Now, he felt as if he was the one who had to pull this group together.

"I think this is neither the place not the time to discuss what we should have done." He looked at Roget and Jack. "So unless I missed a memo and They left the city, I think we should get our asses moving."

He looked around. They had just left the military district, and if they were to go to the Junkyard, they still had a lot of ground to cover.

"My apartment is about fifteen minutes from here. We could go there, scour the rest of the building for medicine and food." He looked at the rest of the group. "It's the Roosevelt building, lot of military families that live... used to live there. We're sure to find ammunition and something to patch up V."

Joshua's stomach turned at the thought of having to raid his neighbours homes, but he doubted there was any other way. You could just die. No, there was no other way.

 

"My apartment...fifteen...go there...medicine and food...Roosevelt...ilitary families that live...ammunition and something to patch up V."

Sound began to come back first and a gentle feeling of rocking movement. Someone was breathing right by her ear, a sensation that was quite pleasant.

The pain that made its leering, triumphant presence known a second later, however, was very unpleasant.

"ungh."

Words seemed to be out of reach at first. V's face wrinkled into a frown of pain and her eyes flickered open for a moment. Jack Cyrus's face wasn't far away and she realized he was carrying her.

Her eyes flicked to his shoulder accusingly.

"Said...rest," she complained weakly, "stitches..."

The sheer pain in her side took her breath away again. The wound felt hot and she wondered if the thing that attacked her had some kind of poison on its claws. Even if not who knew where those claws had been?

"Clean..." she said firmly before her eyes fell on Vishka, whose face had turned toward her.

She wanted to ask about his thin air but she passed out again, going limp in Jack's arms.

 

In the brief pause before they started running again, Zefie reloaded her rifle with one of the ammunition packs in Thom’s utility belt. Safety on, she checked over the gun as she listened to the others discussing their next move. The general consensus seemed to be that they would head for Joshua’s apartment.

“Let’s get goin’ then,” Zefie shrugged, flipping the safety catch off again, but was interrupted by a moaning sound from Cyrus’ arms.

Glancing over, she saw’s Varenna’s eyes flickering open, “V!”

V wasn’t listening, her eyes on Jack’s shoulder, “Said … rest … stitches …”

Zefie shook her head, almost smiling. She’d known V wouldn’t be happy – everyone V’d ever treated knew to follow her instructions.

It didn’t look like V was in a position to enforce her orders, however, as she soon passed out again. Zefie, hoping she’d be okay for a bit longer, nervously shifted from foot to foot, wanting to get moving again. She turned to Joshua.

“Where’s your apartment then? We need t’get movin’.”

 

Joshua nodded. "Follow me." He shouldered his rifle, and almost felt confident. Almost. It's pointless.

They arrived at Joshua's apartment half an hour later. Although they had not faced any dragoon patrols, there were the occasional sounds and screams. V flickered in and out of consciousness, each time rebuking Jack about the fact he was the one carrying her. Yet Jack had refused to let one of the others carry V around.

Joshua entered his building, and was pleased to see it relatively intact. The reception was all but destroyed, but the first floor had not been damaged, apart from a few doors, which had been ripped open. His own apartment, however, had remained untouched. He opened the door and stepped inside. His parents' pictures still hung at the wall.

"Come on in. Best put V on the bed, there is some bandage and disinfectants in the drawer of the black closet." He looked at the ragged group. "Who wants some coffee?"

 

Vishka moved to the apartment's window. There wasn't much to see but ruins now. A shame, Vishka had spent a year wishing he could get out and explore Sanctuary, and now there was nothing to explore.

Varenna was set down on the couch. Her wound seeped a remarkably vibrant red liquid. Jack tended to her as best he could, but she seemed to be fading. Vishka decided to try something.
"Allow me to... experiment."

Crouching beside her, Vishka placed a gloved hand over the woman's wound. Conjuring up an image in his mind, he willed the blood vessels to close up and the skin to stitch itself back together. He let the energy flow out of his mind, through his body, his hand, and into her. He didn't know if it would work, but he figured there was no harm in trying.

 

The apartment wasn't in the best of shapes, but Jack was grateful for any shelter right now. Josh beckoned him in and he laid Varenna on the bed. Jack immediately went to the drawers that he mentioned, procuring the medical supplies.

"Thanks, Josh. We owe you one."

He removed the makeshift bandages he had bound about her waist, and started to clean the wound. Vishka approached from behind.

"Allow me to... experiment."

Jack was hesitant. The alien had saved their lives, but it still seemed wrong to trust him completely. He moved out of the way slightly, but kept a close eye on Vishka. He reached out and laid his hand on her abdomen, and his eyes clouded over with concentration.

 

There was a tiny dot of white in the darkness.

Unconscious, V nevertheless became aware that the dot was coming closer, brighter, and larger. She could hear breathing, as though through an apparatus.

She couldn't move. Could only watch.

The dot came closer and then arced, a firey crescent of light that seemed to dive into her.

In Josh's apartment, V's body jerked and she whimpered.

She wanted to hold her hand up against the brightness but almost immediately would have preferred to beat at the growing heat in her side. It became unbearable, flames of pain through every nerve.

Her eyes opened and she saw Vishka, his gauntleted hand against her and she understood.

With an effort, she covered the hand with her own, not to remove it but to keep anyone from stopping him.

She clenched her teeth, staring into the alien face until the pain passed and she could breathe easily again. She was shaking when he pulled his hand away and nodded.

When they examined the wound they found it closed so that it was merely a red raised line from rib to hip. Somehow the healing of over a week had happened in moments.

V stared at Vishka, unable to say anything but, "Thank you."

 

Jack watched, stunned and wide-eyed as Vishka removed his hand, and the wound appeared to have healed at an amazing rate. The process had brought V back to consciousness with pain, and at the sight, Jack had almost reached over to remove Vishka's hand. But the pain seemed to fade, and he took his hand away of his own accord.

Jack smiled broadly as V thanked him. He still didn't understand why Vishka was doing these things, but he was rapidly coming to the point where he could trust him.

Jack reached out and took V's hand.

"Good to have you back." He said, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

"Fascinating," Vishka said, examining the wound. Distant memories seemed to treacle in. Nothing tangible, just bits and pieces of field ops he'd carried out. Ohdran was a loose cannon, constantly endangering the lives of his fellow scouts. It's one of the reasons he was forced to become a solo operative. The amount of times Vishka had to clean up after him...

The world was getting hazy. His brain was starting to shut down. He wasn't sure if it was the effort of healing Varenna, or his general lack of air. Probably both.

"I need air. Joshua, what chemicals are at hand in this place?"

 

"Good to have you back."

V squeezed Jack's hand and gave him her best attempt at a smile.

"Hey," she said softly. A wordless moment passed while she was content to simply be with Jack.

For a moment she couldn't find words. Just seeing him and being alive was quite enough. She took a moment to collect herself and looked at the others.

"Where are we?"

Events were starting to come back to her and she was mildly surprised that they weren't all - including her - dead.

"...what chemicals are at hand in this place?"

Her attention snapped to Vishka.

"Your air supply." She remembered wanting to ask before, "What can we do to help?"

 

Joshua grimaced. What was that thing going to do, build a chemical bomb and blow up the rest of us? "A second." He poured the coffee into a pot, got some mugs and walked back into the living room.

He nearly dropped the tray he was holding when he saw V, Jack kneeling next to her. She was conscious, but somehow looked even worse then before. He put the tray on the table next to the couch. "Are you ok?" She gave a small smile, then nodded towards Vishka. Joshua turned around.

"Nothing unusual in this apartment, but I am sure there are plenty of chemicals in the storage room. It's the small room at the end of the hall, with the door that reads "Employees only".'" He stared at Vishka for a bit, wondering if he should offer to come along. A little voice in the back of his head warned him not to.

He turned back to the tray and started pouring the coffee. "If you need chemicals, that would be the place to look." He picked up the mug and offered it to no one in particular. "Coffee, anyone?"