A Tale Retold, RED MIST

Black Vulture Seven

   “Do you really think that this.. trivial matter will be a consideration for the council of abyss?” A man talked through the call.
   Anthony stared at the monitor. He was in disbelief at the man’s answer.
   “What the fuck do you mean by trivial!? This is a serious matter!” Anthony replied.
   “Anthony.” He called. “The red mist corruption is no more. We’ve destroyed Earth. Breaking it apart down to atoms. What resides inside of you is just a fragmentation of what once the corruption.”
   “And that is why we need to do something about it. I believe it’s not just me. I believe there’s countless of people who are infected and they didn’t even know it. They’re maybe strong, but the people around them..?” Anthony smacked the table.
   “Survival of the fittest, mister Anthony. The body evolved and adapted to the corruption. Those who are not strong.. perish. It’s unfortunate that your wife and daughter are on the latter side.” He said.
   Offended by it, Anthony was furious. “You fucking jerk.. you caused all of this!”
   “No, Anthony.” He refused. “Your father and his crew caused this.”
   “Because of who’s order?”
   The man went silent for a while.
   “Finding a cure or even a suppressant for the corruption will possibly takes a long time. There’s a way though.. the Timekeeper way. But you’ll need the approvement from the council of abyss first. Even by then, I still can’t guarantee you that anyone wants to help you. It could possibly that you’re on your own.” He said.
   “I aware of that.” Anthony said. “I’ll do anything to stop this corruption.” A flick of hope ignited inside of Anthony’s heart.

…

   "The hive.." 10 said. He gently touched it. The hive glowed dim. "This is not a normal hive.."
   "What do you mean?" 18 asked.
   "Don't you find it weird that these creatures are friendly towards us?" 10 looked at 18.
   18 finally caught what 10 was trying to say. "You mean..?"
   "Yes.." 10 then looked to the hive again. "My wife.. is inside the hive."

...

   "I saw her. With my own eyes. She was dead." 3 said.
   They were gathering outside the containment.
   "But she was there. Inside the hive. If she's dead then how can these creatures go dormant?" 10 argued.
   "What are you trying to say?" 6 asked.
   "A dead person can't control anything. The hive must've been connected to her consciousness. The creatures recognised us, because they are connected to her." 10 said.
   "We never know for sure. The dormant and friendly behaviour could've been done by something else." 2 said. "Sure, we've done x-ray and 4 is indeed inside, but it doesn't explain why the creatures are docile."
   "Either way, we cannot retrieve her for now. Damaging the hive meaning we risk to agitate them." 1 added.
   10 was disappointed by their answer, but at least he now knew that 4 was there all along.
   "Beside.." 2 glanced at the containment, where Luna was still with the creatures. "We still need to find Alexa."

...

   By the time they were done discussing, 2 entered the containment and found Luna fell asleep on the wolves. They were all circling her, as if they were protecting her. She was snuggling into one of the wolves tail.
   2 checked the radiation level on his device. After quite some filtration effort, they were able to drop the air to a safe breathable level. So he carefully came closer to Luna to take off her helmet.
   Luna woke up by it, but she was still dozing off, so she let that happen and continues to sleep amongst the wolves. 2 couldn't help but to smile, seeing how adorable she looks.
   2 knew how bad things had been for Luna for the past seven years, especially for the last month. Beside Alexa, 2 was her best friend, a partner she always relied to when they went into expeditions. He knew for the fact that Luna was completely devastated to know that Alexa had becoming a threat. She had grown tired and exhausted because all of that.

   'I guess it's too late to say that I love you..' 2 said to himself, chuckling to it.

...

   "We have detected a radiation leakage inside one of the compartment in the station." 6 said. He presented the station blueprint over a big screen that layed down in a table. "Near the dining hall, where my crew found a crack."
   "Isn't there nothing below the dining hall?" 1 asked.
   "That's the point. There's no other room or compartment there. We suspect that a hollow area is present there. A big possibility that a another nest has emerged. Or worse.. Alexa." 6 said.
   "Should we check it?" 2 asked.
   1 gave a nod to him.

   2 then went inside the containment. He gently woke Luna up.
   "Hmm..?" Luna slowly opened her eyes.
   "Come on, we need you." 2 said.
   "What is it?" Luna asked.
   "There's a big possiblity that we've found her."

...

   "Be safe. I love you." A message read.
   491 stared at his phone.
   "Hey, freshman." Someone tapped his shoulder from the back. "Come on, let's prepare ourselves."
   491 glanced at the figure, then back to his phone.
   "I love you too." 491 typed back.

   491 was part of the squads that were tasked to investigate the leakage over the station. 1 himself had ordered 491's squad to be part of, even though it was not in the initial place. He wanted to see if 491 was worth 7's heart. Still, 491 got the special code to be protected at all cost.

   "Freshman, first time on Earth?" 30 asked. He was the lead of the operation, alongside the newly added top 20, BV29.
   "Oh.. no.." 491 said. "This is my second time."
   "That explains the rank number.." 30 replied.
   29 then came. She was about to talk to 30, but as she looked at 491, she stared at him dead straight in the eyes, inspecting him. It made 491 uncomfortable.
   "Aren't he the boy who date 7?" 29 asked to 30.
   "Oh, are you?" 30 seemed clueless.
   "Yes.." 491 nodded slowly. "I'm her boyfriend.."
   "Oh!" 30 suddenly remembered. "You're the one 1 told us. That special code boy." 30 patted 491's shoulder. "You're not going with us."
   "Yea.." 29 shook her head. "I don't even know why 1 ordered you to go.. nah.. you stay here."
   "What.. no.." 491 was surprised to hear them. "I don't want to stay here, I'm going down there."
   "No." 29 blatantly refused. "I ain't risking a special coded. Just.. lie to them you know, said that you're with us, or.. help us from.. a far."
   "No, I needed to go. I need to prove myself." 491 reasoned.
   "Prove what?" 29 replied. "That you want to die? This isn't a game, young boy. Death isn't a joke that you threw around like nothing. You need to live, and we don't want to risk that."
   491 seemed devastated to hear that.
   "Yea, boy.." 30 agreed. "You need to live for that girl."
   491 stayed quiet for a while..

   "What if I'm not given the special code.. will you still let me into the operation?" 491 said.
   "Knowing you, I still wouldn't do it." 29 said.
   "Well.. I don't have any clue that you're 7's partner, so luckily 29 knows." 30 said.
   491 chuckled, knowing that he still loses. "So even then.. I still can't go.."
   "Being a BVA soldier doesn't necessarily means sacrificing your life, you know?" 29 tried to cheer him. "Be grateful for your life. That you're given a chance to live."
   29 held him by the arms. She looked at him then hugged him, gently caressing his hair.
   "It's 1, isn't it? He pushed you for this.." 29 said calmly. "Don't worry.. with you already being here, you prove yourself to be worth for her."
   "Live, boy. For 7." 30 said. "And for us."

   491 was then put aside in the reserve, with a note to never send him to the operation. 29 asked the reserve team to fabricate the operation results later to include 491, as to trick 1 into believing that 491 was in. A person from another branch was also willing to help, by putting himself in 491’s suit in order to convince 1 even more. It was the perfect plan to save the special coded boy.

   "Wait.. what if he dies?" 491 asked.
   "What do you mean?" 30 asked back.
   "The man who used my suit, what if he dies? Won't it be super suspicious that I'm still alive?" 491 said.
   "Oh.. don't you worry. The one who's willing to help you will not die." 30 assured him.
   "You sure?" 491 didn't seem convinced.
   "Don't you know who he is?" 30 smirked. "Captain Enfield, a man from the Confederate. They called him.. The Undead."
...

   "Do you really think that Alexa is in there?" Luna asked.
   "We don't really know.." 2 said. "In fact, we don't even know anything about her whereabouts. She could've been not in this place the whole time. She could be in the other side of the Earth, you know.."
   "So you are not sure.." Luna disappointed to hear that.
   "We don't have any more clue other than that rift." 2 said. "I'm sorry.."
   "No.. it's no one fault.." Luna replied. "If she's not there.. let's go back up there. I don't want to risk anyone's life."

...

   "Radiation level?" 29 asked.
   "Extreme. Same as the corruption level." 30 replied.
   They were standing just above the rift. A faint red glow was seen leaking from it.
   "Flamethrower." 29 said.
   "You sure about this? There could be some flammable inside." 30 warned.
   "There's no other way, isn't it? We can't just jump into somewhere we don't know." 29 replied.
   And so, the flamethrower was brought in. They spurted out flames into the rift. After ten seconds of it, they stopped. They inspected the rift, it stopped emitting the glow.
   29 cracked light her glow stick. She threw it inside the rift. It was a short fall, should be save for them to jump in.
   "Come on. No time to waste." 29 said.
   Afterwards, they all went into the rift..

   "Flashlight on." 30 said.
   The rift lead them into a hollow corridor. They inspected the wall, floor, ceiling, everything and found out that the whole thing were organic. Just like the hive, it was all alive. They followed the corridor. It was a slimy walk, a disgusting path to make.
   The corridor led them into a massive nest. It was empty, no creatures were spotted. They then moved to the middle where they found the hive. It was dangling in the air. They aimed their flashlight to the hive and found it to be quite translucent. A figure of a person was seen inside. A figure no other than what they were looking for.

   "This is Rift.." 29 reported to the comms. "We have found the target."
  
   "Should we extract her?" 30 asked.
   29 looked back to the team. They gave her a nod.

...

   "So, 491.." 27 happened to be the one who guarded the reserve. "What makes you.. motivated to go down here? I mean.. you have someone whos’s waiting for you, and knowing 7.. oh man.. she will do something unimaginable if you were harmed."
   "I just.. I feel like that I am not worth of her. I mean.. my rank number compared to her.. and her father too.." 491 said.
   "This number?" 27 pressed his finger into 491's patch. "This is nothing. The higher you are, the closer you will be with death. You don't need to prove yourself by doing all this, you know? Risking your life.."
   "Yea.. that's what they said too.." 491 replied.
   "Yep.." 27 nodded. "This numbers.. it's all worthless compared to the lives of those who bear it."

   Suddenly, it the midst of their conversation, an explosion was heard deep within the rift. An immense crimson red glow began to emit from the opening, following by dark smoke, then finally thick red mist.
   "The fuck!?" 27 stood up and quickly went into the command panel. "This is Rift reserve! Do you copy!?"

   No reply..

   An explosion then happened again, right at the rift opening, rupturing it, making the hole much more bigger. The red mist poured out like waves of tsunami. It filled the dining hall and the whole station in just matter of seconds.
   27 managed to alert the team who guard the main entrance of the station. They successfully sealed it, in cost of trapping those who's inside, including him and 491.
   "Shit!" 27 shouted. He glanced at 491. "Seal your fucking helmet tight or you'll get infected!" He returned his focus back at the comms. "29! 30! Rift team! Do you fucking copy!?"

   Their vision were soon became limited. The mist has covered all of the air inside the station. The reserve was put in the kitchen area, just about the dining hall. They were only six people at the reserve. Completely sealed off and unprepared for such thing.

   27 gave up on communication. He ordered everyone to arm themselves. 491 was given the standard automatic rifle.
   "Backup will soon came to help us." 27 assured. "But by then, we need to defend ourselves. Prepare for the worst."
   27 then looked at 491. He nodded to him. "Devote your life, young boy. This may be your last fight."

...

   29's visor was cracked. She could feel the mist entering her helmet, corruption was filling her’s lungs. In the midst of the chaos, she could see a figure slowly approaching her. She looked to the right, she saw that 30 was sliced in half. Horror soon filled her eyes. She returned her eyes back to the figure, only to see it was already in front of her.
   It was her. Their target..

   Alexa.

   She grabbed 29 by the neck and pulled her up, choking her in the process. Alexa took off her helm, showing her face. Red glowing eyes, pale skin, she was no more to be considered a human. She stared right at 29, through her cracked visor.

   "Perish.." Alexa said to 29 gently.

   Soon, her grasp was tightened, cracking 29's neck, killing her. Alexa tossed 29 to the side, where she then saw her next victim. A man with a patch number read 491.
   Enfield was trembling. He stood there, seeing Alexa slowly closing her distance with him. He aimed his shotgun at her. Violently, he shot out all the ammunition inside the shotgun. The mist created by the gunpowder hid Alexa.
   Enfield thought he killed her. For a moment it was all quiet, then suddenly, deep within the fog, Alexa's hand suddenly reaching out to him, grabbing him right in the neck, just like 29.
   Alexa showed herself to him. Enfield was trying his best to break free from her choke, but to no avail. She then grabbed his shotgun with the other hand. She aimed it right at his face, from below, at the chin. Enfield knew it was empty, so he was not too worry about it, he kept his best to break free.
   But then, as she pulled the trigger, it shot out a bullet, exploding his head, turning it into a mush of liquid. Alexa tossed the body to the side and continued to walk forward, into the rift opening.