Hell On Earth

Chapter XXIV: Blood On My Hands[Final Chapter]

After several hours of pure surviving, Haven was able to eliminate the infected that were present. We suffered casualties as expected in regular ambushes like this, but to come to the realization that Tyson was gone was perhaps most heartbreaking. Taylor sat and cried into my shoulder, but my own heart started to grow cold. 

"I should've stopped him," I said. "If Tyson knew we were trying to make peace with Slash, perhaps he wouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

Taylor didn't seem to care, and I didn't expect her to. Shortly, Mom and Maverick arrived. When they saw where we were sitting, she could see Tyson's bloodied body. 

"Eric, I'm...," Mom paused as tears started to fill her eyes.  Maverick looked at the same time, but he reacted much more respectfully than in mourning. 

"You know," Maverick said. "Tyson was the toughest son of a bitch I ever met. I realize that now he's gone, but dammit I think we oughta take the fight back to the 5-6 and kill Slash." 

Although I could tell that Maverick was very optimistic, Taylor didn't seem to agree with the idea as she shook her head. 

"Taylor," Maverick said as he touched her shoulder. 

"Maverick," I said. "Slash is the leader of the 5-6, but a more important detail is that Slash is Taylor's father."

Maverick's eyes widened. As he sat there in disbelief, Mom decided to speak up. 

"Eric, honey," she said. "I know this is painful-- to lose someone close to you like this. It hurts me too. I agree with Maverick that we need to counter-attack the 5-6, but we'll only do it on yours and Taylor's call." 

I looked at Taylor to see if she would agree with me. Surprisingly, she nodded. 

"Looks like we agree," I said. "Let's wait around 2-3 days before we do act. One, it gives us the element of surprise and two, it allows us to mourn for Tyson."

Although Maverick didn't enjoy the waiting aspect, he reluctantly agreed to the overall plan. 

2

Back at the 5-6 headquarters, Slash seemed rather puzzled. 

"I realize that my daughter has been plagued," Slash thought. "But what if I could motivate her to take my side... Oh forget it, why am I still thinking about what I said?"

Soon, Slash was interrupted. 

"Boss," a 5-6 extremist said. "I think I've gotten an idea on what we can do to finally reign supreme."

"I'm listening," 

"What if we could find a way to make Eric turn towards our side? If we can convert Eric to an infected, his allegiance could greatly help us."

Slash shook his head. "That's a bunch of bullshit," he remarked. 

"Not if we use Project Firefly,"the extremist grinned. "All we gotta do is--,"

"No," Slash interrupted as he pulled his gun on the thug. "That will be a last resort; We could cause more damage than good."

"It's been working on Eric so far," the extremist choked in fear. "W-w-we could initiate phase 2, but all you have to do is give the signal."