The End

Hey Dad

-------------Back in The Present----------
My consciousness came back to me and the first thing I felt was a feeling of frustration, of course I wouldn't die when I finally found peace...typical.... However after that bitter thought I realised I was lying on a cold road in the middle of a street still in all of my kit.

'Where am I?' Was my first thought as I looked around, a faint mist hung in the air and after taking a short breath found that the mist caused me to hack and cough as it burned the back of my mouth. Hastily pulling my gasmask out I fitted it on and took deep breaths through the filter still confused as I knelt there on the ground 'What the hell is going on??'.

After a moment of pondering I finally decided to suck it up and actually see where I was, still.... I definitely remember getting to the NATO base and getting wounded by shrapnel. The noise the confusion, yet here I am now. Unhurt...Alone... I got up swiftly from the ground and picked up my rifle from the ground cradling it in my arms. At least I had that to comfort me with, and so I set off down the road.

***

The mist hung in the air like cobwebs draped on a mirror, dark and gloomy. The street that I walked down was like most I had come across, abandoned. Vehicles and burnt out husks of chassis were all that was left. The odd skeleton was strewn across the road or pavement, sometimes still strapped to their seats in cars. After walking through this mournful setting and reaching the centre of the street I looked up. Sensing eyes surveying me, I raised my rifle, my senses heightened, and as I turned slowly on the spot, shadows came to life and my bullets began to fly.

***

Malakists

Countless large vicious Malakists leapt at me in droves from the shadows. Snout upon snout snapped at me hungrily as I fired steadily into the oncoming horde, liberally spraying the dead ground with swathes of hot red blood. Soon as I began to ran out of ammunition I relied more and more on my abilities. I crushed, smashed, tore apart and incinerated the mutated abominations but yet they seemed to never end. All light from around me seemed to be slowly extinguished as the infinite bodies of the malakists piled towards me. Fear began to fill me as darkness encroached ever closer and eventually I was reduced to forming a TK dome around myself as I slowly sank to the cold ground, exhausted. I began to sob with fear, with sadness as I was curled up there surrounded by the still writhing, gnashing bodies of the Malakists. Tears flowed freely from my face and in my pure misery I began to see faces.

Dead Faces.

From between the thrashing bodies of the mutants I saw bloodied and mangled faces appear pushing their way through the mutants and pressing themselves against my TK shield. Lieutenant Rogers, Tyler, Bull, Jonas, Ray, Anna, Kate, Myles. All of their agonised faces horrified me as they pressed themselves towards me, stares accusing me of betraying them of killing them. More faces appeared and between the others pushed Geneis, Nathan, Hannah and finally the face of the unknown soldier who I had found impaled like a stuck pig after I had crashed. The unknown soldier who I had actually killed. "No..." I moaned in agony as I saw these faces draw closer, "Please..." I begged refusing to look into their accusing eyes "I'm sorry....Please..." I sobbed. The faces had started to smile now and they now laughed at me as I lay there crying, lips pulled in identical evil grins. A fresh wave of fear washed over me as I saw this and the same faces began to whisper things and again I cowered as they spoke although only snatches of phrases reached me. "....A failure...." "Can't even help anyone....." "Useless...." "Alone.....". The last phrase was whispered into my ear but felt like it was shouted with the force of a thousand artillery guns.

"Alone...."

I began to scream, I was going to be here for the rest of eternity penned in by Malakists while I was tormented by familiar faces for the rest of time. Surely this was hell??!! I wanted out! I wanted to end it! Even nothingness was better than this! "PLEAASSEEEE!!!!!" I screamed.

Suddenly amidst my screaming I noticed that all the noise of the Malakists and the faces was gone and all was silent. I waited for minutes for a sound, when nothing happened I looked up cautiously. I was still in the hellish dome but everything seemed frozen in place. Unnmoving as if all of the faces and the Malakists were painted onto stone. Carefully, fearfully, much like a two year old I reached out to touch the dome that was formed around me. As my fingers brushed the surface of my tomb the dome began to crumble and through the newly forming cracks a brilliant light was shining in. I shielded my face as the cracks grew larger and larger until suddenly the entire dome disintegrated to make way to a canvas of nothingness.

I sat there dumbfounded for a moment. I was alone in the white nothingness in all of my gear, alone. At that last though I began to panic, had I got the wish I had asked for during my panicked screams in the hellish dome?? I didn't think I would be able to hand this nothingness either what was I going to do??? I stood up and pulled off my helmet before I ran my hand through my hair and fretted furiously for a while trying desperately to deduce what I had done to be sent to such hell, but in the midst of my musings I heard a voice call out from behind me. The voice of a man who I never though I would her from again.

"Hello Jason"

I whipped around and stared before dropping my helmet onto the canvas we stood on with a metallic thunk. There in front of me stood my father, just as I remembered him. Short cropped black hair, steely grey eyes and he was dressed in the same Olive trench coat that he died in. I took a shaky step forward and swallowed before saying in a shaky voice "Hey Dad....".

David smiled warmly and held out his arms, at the invitation I made no hesitation and embraced my father in a strong hug, crying all the while. David patted me on the back and reassured me in his steady measured voice, "There there son, it's all right". After a moment of composing myself I pulled away from my father and stood in front of him slightly taller than him and looked him in the eyes "I missed you dad". David returned the look with sad eyes and sighed heavily before saying "I missed you too son and I'm so sorry for how everything turned out, but I'm afraid you can't stay here". I felt dazed at the response my father had just given and I merely gave him a questioning look.

"Look" he said calmly and he picked up my helmet from the floor and handed it to me before gesturing for me to walk alongside him. "This space that we are in right now is the gap between realities, it is the dividing gap that separates the world that you and I have been inhabiting and the ones that the dead inhabit". I was again dumbfounded, "wait so does that, mean that I'm dead?" I asked and David thought for a moment as we continued walking. "Yes and no" he said after a moment and I motioned for him to explain. "Your consciousness, your...lets say soul if you will, tried to enter the 'other' world when it thought that it was time to leave. However this gap tends to trap those who's time has not arrived yet". Understanding began to trickle through and I got what my father was saying, I wanted to die but I couldn't.

I sighed heavily and David looked at me, "Look son" He said "I understand that you are tired of the world you just left, that you're tired of fighting and that you would like to stay with me." I looked at at my father who smiled gently. "But there are people who you have left behind who need you, there are things that need doing by you, and you just can't escape that...." As we walked we had slowly been approaching a dot in the distance that was now a giant hole in the canvas at our feet and I knew that was where I had to go. "I understand..." I said slowly as I looked into the black abyss of the hole. "Hey it's not my choice and I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help" said David and he rested his hand on my shoulder and turned me to him. I looked up into his eyes and I watched him survey me.

"My my" he said "You've grown into man now, there's no turning back!" he joked and despite my exhaustion I managed a small smile. David returned it and patted me on the shoulder before pulling me into a final hug. "One thing son" he said as we embraced "Once you get back to the other world you won't be able to remember this". "What?!" I said incredulously but David stopped me "but don't worry Jason" He said and again I was reassured by his voice we let go of each other and we straightened up, "we'll see each other again..." And with a smile and a quick salute he pushed me into the black abyss.....