Friday 5 March 2010

The Shattered World Part 6 - From Ruin They Shall Rise

Everyone was here. Yarofev was ready to begin.

"Okay, I know all of you probably want to take a shot at me but if you do that the world will stay shattered. I know how to sort everything, but I need you to help me."

"You know how to fix everything?"

It was Christian who spoke. Everyone knew about his fight with Tommy, and they were all disgusted. But the matter was put aside; the group had a bigger problem to deal with.

"Many years ago, I was the leader of Black Row. I was working on a project called 'Yarofev', but something went wrong. The container that held the substance that is me cracked open, and I was trapped. My body was the first biological thing that touched the substance, and we were fused together.

"I couldn't control my new power, though, and I accidently killed everyone in the facility. But you may wonder what this has to do with saving the world, hmm? The answer is simple; I sent my second in command, Yematin, to work on a project called 'Eden'. It was a failsafe in the event that nuclear war destroyed the earth. I can only hope that he finished his work."

The survivors absorbed the information. Yarofev, a highly dangerous person, was a failed experiment of Black Row. But it had not failed, it just hadn't worked the way it was supposed to. But this other experiment, Eden, was still out there, somewhere, waiting to be found. Rebecca knew that everything Yarofev said was true, she had seen it all for herself in the archives. Everything was beginning to fit into place. But there was still one question she had to ask.

"That night, when you jumped us, why didn't you kill me? You went after the others, but you offered me safety. Why?"

"The answer," Yarofev said "is simple. You are my grand daughter. Yematin told me that my DNA would be the only thing able to activate Eden but as I am no longer flesh nor blood, I needed your help. I have kept you safe all these years until you were ready to help."

Rebecca crouched down. How could Yarofev be her grandfather? Hadn't he lived for over a hundred years, and was already old when he did change? She felt so alone, so small, with everyone staring at her. If she was the last hope for the world, the chances of success were incredibly stacked against them. She couldn't even defend herself against a single Zombie without help.

"OK, I'll help you. But we need to know where Eden is, and we'll need new weapons and supplies."

"No problem."

With that, Yarofev raised his hands. An alcove hidden behind some wall panels opened, revealing 21 century weapons and a couple of long daggers.

"These guns are in good condition, and are custom made from Black Row. The daggers will also be useful, incase you have to run through a horde of zombies. They will also break through most types of doors."

The group rearmed themselves, then were shown a detailed map of 'Lon-Don', supposedly where they were now. Far north of their position was another bunker. This was where Eden was created, but it looked like they would take a long time to get there. There were useful buildings where they could defend themselves at night, but the journey would take days. All ready, the group followed Yarofev back through the maze of tunnels, and into the open.

************

Four days had gone past but progress was slow. For twelve hours everyday, they had to defend themselves from the Zombies. Around 2 hours were consummed in building the barricades. Every now and then, they had a rest for half an hour.

"This is so slow!" exclaimed Sarah "why can't we just keep moving at night?"

"Ok," Yarofev said calmly "we can keep walking through the night. If you can keep up, we will get there in a few days. You will run out of ammo quickly and will then have to slash your way through multitudes of Zombies that will just get back up after a few minutes. You'll be lucky if you lasted a few hours; I'm only willing to defend Rebecca as she is the most important out of all of us. You are just here to help protect her."

Yarofev was not angry, but he had made his point. Continue at night and they would surely die. It might take longer this way, but it would be alot safer. They packed up and moved on again. Everyone was getting anxious; they had survived so far but in truth they all wanted to be back in the Headquarters. Any night they could be killed.

And then it happened.

While moving furniture to build a barricade, Sarah was ambushed by a Zombie. It had been hiding from the harsh sunlight in a derelict house, but when Sarah had uncovered it, it jumped at her and bit savagely at her neck. Her screams quickly caught the attention of Yarofev, and he quickly disposed of it, but the damage was done. Nearly instantly Sarah transformed. One swipe to her neck and she was truly dead.

"Strange," said Yarofev "the Zombies are mutating. Even a bite will kill you. We must hurry!"

There was urgence in his voice and, it seemed, a hint of fear. How could he be scared? He was most likely the strongest weapon they held to help them and if he was scared... They began to press on with the barricade. The sun was low in the sky and they had less than an hour to finish. Time, it seemed, was always against them.

************

Three more days had past, the bunker was just a day away. But the Zombies had indeed mutated, as the survivors began to see new types of the Dead, and the originals began to get stronger and faster. They had barely lasted through the previous night.

Only a few hours away Eden lay in wait. It wasn't as sophisticated as Yarofev, but it had a mind of its own. It sensed the survivors and...something else. It was not Yarofev, but something was on the move. Eden knew it would finally be activated after a 93 years. It had counted since the day Yematin died.

But it wasn't completed when he had died.

Eden triggered the old machinery that would finish the building process. It would not be used for evil and it would be activated as soon as the survivors arrived. As for Yarofev, it had something special in mind.

But this...thing...that it sensed would get to Yarofev first. Eden sighed. He wouldn't get the chance to deal with Yarofev, just as Yematin had instructed. Instead he contented himself with the reparing of the world. It was what he was built to do.

************

The bunker was insight when something else went wrong. It was misty and the light faded long before it should have done. It walked towards through the mist, a horrible creature that seemed neither Dead nor human. It towered over the survivors. Its muscles were rippling beneath a complete leather suit. Whatever it was, it definitly looked like a challenge for Yarofev.

"Go!" He roared "I will deal with the Zombie!"

Christian, John, Emily and Rebecca could do nothing but run. They had spent days working their way towards the bunker and they weren't going to die now. But Rebecca hadn't found out as much as she had hoped from Yarofev about her parents, and he was her only living relative. She made a decision, and turned around to help.

"Don't do it Rebecca, you're the only one who can activate Eden!"

John shouted himself hoarse, but it was no use. Rebecca had gone. The team loaded their weapons and ran after her.

************

Yarofev dodged another punch aimed at him. This Zombie had either mutated in a unique way or it had been modified by some company, most likely before the Shattering. And if it HAD been modified, Black Row was almost definitly behind it.

Yarofev's mind was wandering. Too late he realised that the creature was preparing for a kick and he was unable to dodge it. He was sent flying into a concrete wall. His back was badly damaged and he could barely stand. He saw Rebecca running towards him and he saw the creature bend over and pick up a slender metal pole. Turning the sharp point around, the creature thrust the pole through Yarofev's stomach and right through the concrete wall. Yarofev didn't move again.

"NOOO!" Rebecca screamed. Her last relative had been taken away from her.

Christian and John turned up a few seconds later. They quickly took in the scene and pulled Rebecca backwards. The creature had drawn the pole back through Yarofev and it had turned towards them. Their only hope was to run.

Yarofev lay in a pool of something that was not quite blood, but a thick black replacement. Beneath his hood, the white glowing eyes had nearly faded. Then they went out. Richard Osman had lived for many years, but his luck had finally run out.

1 comment:

  1. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

    So will this be the second-last part like you said?

    ReplyDelete