Thriller The Reckoning

IC: Jane
Black Rock Installation, Nevada

Jane got very quiet, Kawin was hunting her? Why would what remains of TARC send him after her? Did they think there was some connection between them? Or was he all they had to throw at this problem? Either way he would have to be dealt with. What intrigued her more was the high value target that Kawin was complicating extraction. Who were they and what was their importance to 'the Mission'. However it seemed she had her mission though maybe she could get something more.

"Who is this target of Considerable Importance, if you can tell me? So I don't harm them by mistake." She was enough of a professional not to kill those that aren't her target or actively trying to stop her from killing her target. "Or I can handle their extraction while I'm dealing with Kawin, might as well earn my contract."

TAG: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Anna Talbott
Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles

Anna gave Laura a simple nod and gave the woman one last look. Then she went out, feeling terribly alone as she stepped on the streets.

Outside she got out her mobile and called an Uber. She gave the driver the address of the Mansfield Guest House. Her only hope was she found the scientists there, or she would not have a chance to find them in a city of this size.

Waiting for the car to arrive she wondered what she would do if Laura did not return from her trip.

Kill Alpha. There was no alternative to killing him. Whatever evil had been released to the world she was sure he was responsible. He had to be stopped and there was nobody else but her to do it.

She was meant to feel heroic now, she assumed. Dedicated and empowered by her role in the events to come. The only thing she felt was terrified. The thought of confronting him terrified her. The thought of being alone terrified her.

But Anna was no fool. She knew this fear was good. It was necessary. Facing a man who had murdered so many probably was something that one had to be afraid about. Facing a true evil was something that she had to be worried about. She was no hero. She was an Instagram influencer who accidentally had been given the power to manipulate the flow of time. Not because she was chosen or even competent to be a hero. No, it was an accident. It was nothing but bad luck. She was not ready for any of this. Laura giving her a crash course in the use of a gun changed little about that. Yet, she was the one they all put their hope on.

Maybe she should run away. Maybe she should leave War to warriors.

Anna knew she could not run. There was nowhere to run. There was only one path left. Deeper in. No matter how scary that was.

The car arrived and she got in.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @SirakRomar

 

Laura Changte
Streets of L.A.

Laura signaled the driver to stop. "You know what you got to do. If you encounter Alpha do not engage him alone. We need to regroup before we go after him." Chad would actually be useful to level the playing field. His power seemed the most useful against the oldest of all Gifted.

She waited for Anna to get out and then ordered the driver to get her to her helicopter.


Half an hour later she was in the air and on her way to the Ranch. She had received the reports and now she actually knew who the enemy was. She send her own report about Alpha to TARC and the Vice President, advising to initiate a system wide search to locate him.

Then her thoughts returned to the virus and what it probably meant. Was it going to spread the same way it did in China and Europe? How long would it take to infect their infrastructure and bring it to it's knees? They could only hope a vaccine was developed somewhere or they would soon fall to the same chaos that had consumed the world.

Was Alpha behind it? A virus was a weapon a former terrorist would use to attack a Government. If so what was his endgame? Did he have a cure? Was he immune? If he was the world would soon be weakened. Their resources would slowly diminish until he and his power had the upper hand. They would be the hunted. This was not a war, it was Alpha's Reckoning.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @RachelTyrell

 

Matt Andrews
Motel

Matt looked at Ben for a long moment and then nodded. "Yes, I do." He finally said. He was the President of the United of the United States of America.

It was surreal. Matt took a deep breath.

"Mr. President." He simply said and nodded to Ben Gates. "Ben, as my Chief of Staff is not available you will serve in the position for now. I give you then chance to repair some of the damage you did here." Matt stepped out of the darkened room and waited for Ben to follow.

"National Guard is mobilized right away. I expect CDC to give me a full report within the hour, no matter how rough it is. The Ministry of Health shall make an announcement right away, stating we have the situation under control. Also I ... hereby declare the State of Emergency. Effect immediately. Quarantine centers have to be established. I want status report from all departments. The NSC shall be informed that we are facing a hostile force of empowered individuals. Get me Laura Changte on the line. Oh and most important ... have Professor John Cale arrested and all his communication devices confiscated and screened. He shall be isolated and I want to talk to him."

He looked at Ben and nodded. "Proceed." He said and pushed his glasses back up his nose.

He was President now facing two existential crisis to his country. Something no US President ever had to do.

"Oh and Ben. If you try anything behind my back, I will get you executed. I mean it."

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

IC: Kawin Muthurangu
Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Angel looked at them and she was almost helpless. "I ... I don't know the details. Really ... it isn't as if we kept records ... I mean ... as if there were any records of the future. But I know something is gonna happen here ... in this desert ... soon. A battle. The Last Stand they called it."

"Ah strawberries." Kawin muttered, trying to keep himself from far worse words in front of a child.

"Called it?" Chad asked. And looked at the girl. He stood up and stared at her. Angel was clearly uncomfortable with it. Chad kept on staring at the child though.

"I am sorry I can't be more helpful." Angel said and wiped a tear from her eye.

"Her Mum. She died?" Chad asked. Angel nodded. Chad finally turned to Angel. Obviously he was connecting dots.

Kawin was a little slower on the uptick on this one as he was focused on some other salient details. This was a bit much, and if you took one look at them no one besides Chad looked even remotely like they should be in a battle.

"Someone got killed here." Angel finally said. "In this last battle someone was killed who was very dangerous. A young woman. Anna. They call her Anna."

"Anna?" Kawin whispered the name with a heavy heart, he could almost guess who and how. Fate was cruel that way. He knew that as sure as the slowness of this country to properly upkeep their handicap entrances, let alone make them.

Putting his head down to rest his head in the palm of his hand he muttered for a moment to himself. Nothing intelligible. Just a short ramble to try and sort this in his mind. "Any more you two have to share? Beyond my death and that of a child I just barely saved?"

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

President Matthew Andrews and Laura Changte
Motel in Nevada and Ranch in Eastern California

Laura had just landed when the pilot jumped out of the helicopter and handed her a phone. A satellite phone. She looked at the Ranch below her and decided whatever call this was probably had priority.

"Changte." She said, stepping away from the helicopter.

"This is ... President Matthew Andrews." Matt said, as he watched the desert around him.

"President? What happened ...?" Laura was irritated for a moment.

"The President was infected with a deadly disease. It seems we have a new problem. The Black Doctor ..." Matt did not know what to say. "... it has spread already."

"I know Mr. President. We saw clear signs of it in L.A." Laura sighed. So it was a nation wide problem.

"Los Angeles? So it is already in the cities?" Matt knew what that meant. Millions of dead Americans. Millions of dead on his watch.

"Yes, Sir." Laura knew that were bad news.

"Any advise how to handle the situation?" Matt asked seriously, as he was not aware of how to act in that case.

"May I speak freely, Sir?" Laura asked.

"Absolutely." Matt frowned. He knew he would not like what he was about to hear.

"Complete curfew, isolate all settlements. Millions are doomed already, but we need to avoid spreading the infection as long as we still are operational. All towns not having outbreaks must be isolated from the outside world, all others must be left to themselves. At this stage we might save a good amount of the population from infection that way." Laura closed her eyes. "Enforce the isolations with deadly force if necessary. The big cities will all have infected by now, the smaller town probably not. Also ground all planes. All air traffic, highways and then all streets need to be blocked. Two weeks and we should be ... out of the worst." Because all infected will be dead.

Matt sighed. She suggested damning a good portion of the US to certain death to save the rest. He knew she was probably smart and right, but a decision like this?

"Thank you, Director. Please update me on the situation." He then said.

"Sir, it is Alpha. The man code named Alpha leads a group of terrorists empowered by a serum. They seem to be unstable and around thirty. They have a base near Vegas. I am about to interview former General Meyers about it. He might have insight. Also the virus might be connected to Alpha. The attacks on Mansfield seem to have served the purpose of hiding the origins of the Black Doctor. Also he is in L.A. right now." Laura sighed. "Anna Talbott is following a lead regarding the scientists who tipped us off about the virus. She is still in the hot zone." Laura took out her gun and checked it.

"Understood. I send you coordinates of our temporary base. It is also near Vegas." Matt said and realized he might be closer to the enemy than he had expected. "Once your current objectives are fulfilled, please come here and report. I also think I found our mole." Matt said. "I will debrief you upon arrival."

"Yessir."

He made a pause. "Any idea about the objectives of Alpha? What is his endgame?"

Laura needed a moment. "I can only guess. But from what I see ... human extinction is a possibility." Laura added.

"Understood." Matt replied and killed the line. They had to find him. Quick. What had Ayshe said about him? He had once said ... there would be a Reckoning. Now there was.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @LordTroepfchen

 

Black Rock Installation, Nevada

Taylor looked at Jane and then sighed.

"Bring us the man and you shall be briefed on our next target." He simply said. His trust had limits. It was to be expected from a man like him.

With a nod he gestured the conversation was over.


Outside Malcolm was awaiting Jane.

"So you met the Man. Guess you got your next assignment. You can borrow Ambrose for back-up if you want to." He said. Behind him was a map of a town ... no ... it was the outline of a motel, displayed on a digital screen. His men stood around it, now silent. It wasn't hard to imagine them discussing attack vectors and points of entries a moment before.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422


Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Angel shook her head and gave Kawin a look with his sad eyes.

"I am afraid ... I know nothing else." She said.

"There must be something. I mean, you are from the future after all." Chad said and turned his eyes to her. The girl did not have enough self-control to hide the fact he had got her. Chad looked at Kawin and then nodded to the child.

"Look at her. The resemblance is there. Look at her eyes." He said to Kawin. Then he turned to Angel. "She is you, is she? So how far have you gone back? 15 years?"

Angel shrugged. "18 years, five months and 23 days." She simply replied. She looked over at the girl. "Yes, good eyes you got."

"They come with the job. So why are you not dead? Why did the virus not kill you?"

Angel shrugged. "I think it was my ability. But maybe there was something in the serum. I am a chosen. I was created artificially. In my world I think I am the oldest living Chosen. The one who survived the original creation. Probably because I was so young."

Tag: @Mitth_Fisto



Santa Monica, Guest House of Mansfield, Los Angeles

The guest house was heavily guarded. Ten men with guns were patrolling the house next to the beach. People were not around as much as expected. But indeed someone was inside. Shadows were moving around behind the windows.

Actually she had found the scientists. It had actually been easy. Too easy probably. Google was probably a Ressource available to the enemy too.

TAG: @RachelTyrell


@SirakRomar See PM




Motel, Nevada

The President was still outside the Motel rooms, when his personal mobile rang. He recognized the number right away.

"Congratulations Matthew." The voice on the other side said. Then there was a silence. A patiently waiting listener was on the other side.

Tag: @LordTroepfchen

 

Anna Talbott
Mansfield Retreat, Santa Monica, Los Angeles

Anna smiled, proud at her success. She knew the guards would not be her problem. She slowed down time and simply passed them, making it to the door. It was locked, of course. But that was hardly an obstacle either. She looked at the lock and speed up time. She speed it up more and more until seconds became minutes, became years, became decades and finally centuries. She had never speed up time like this, but it was hardly an effort.

The lock rotted before her eyes, as did the door. Finally a simple push opened it, before it broke apart.

Silently she wondered if she could do this with humans? With Alpha? Have years pass in seconds? Starving them to death? Turn them to dust? A terrible thought. But Alpha was immune to her powers for some reason. His men were not though.

She entered and time still slowed walked up to the second level, where Dr. Graham was looking intensely on a computer screen with some sort of formula. She allowed time to resume.

"Don't be scared Doctor. Anna Talbott form TARC. We met in the garden. I am here to talk." She raised her hands and looked at the scientist.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @SirakRomar

 

Laura Changte
Farm of General ad Meyers [ /i]

Laura made her way down to the ranch. There was no cattle or horses here. It looked like the former General had simply made it his home. Unusual, but not without it's beauty.

Laura did not sneak up on the house, but avoided being in sight of the windows and looked for any signs of rifles and guards aiming at her. There were none.

Once she came close to the veranda the General stepped out, wearing a t-shirt and jeans he looked like any other civilian. He was still in shape though. He had a rifle which he put aside to show his peaceful intentions. As Laura saw it her hand went to her gun and then left it again.

"General? I am Laura Changte. Director of TARC." She greeted him.

"Mogadishu 2014. You took out Mashrif al-Aslam and his cell." The General replied. "Also Sudan in 15, right? I remember you, Changte." He smiled and sat down in his armchair which was outside here. Laura smiled.

"Good memory, Sir. I think we also worked together on Egypt. December 15." She replied and stepped on the veranda.

"Oh yeah, that one was messy, hm?" The General sighed.

"It was, Sir." Laura replied and sat down on the wooden chair opposite of him. "I am here because we have some questions. Questions you might be able to answer."

"Figured." He said. "About what specifically?"

"Alpha. The Gifted. Antville. General Taylor." Laura sighed. "All the little things you forgot to mention to the President."

Meyers nodded. "Surprised they did not send one earlier. Well, Director what if I tell you I don't wanna be involved in any of that anymore?"

"I would have to torture you and assume you are in league with our enemy you protect through your silence. I personally hope it doesn't come to that, Sir." Laura answered truthfully.

Meyers nodded. "He tortured me too. You knew that? Sebastian Stein. LEGO. Dehydration. Very effective for a painter."

"I did not know that. But I can assure you I would be a little quicker and more ... effective." She sighed.

"I bet you would." Meyers nodded. "What can I do for you?"

Laura smiled. Meyers was long enough in the business to know this was inevitable.

"General Taylor seems to have harvested an old project of yours. He is creating artificial Gifted. What do you know about this?" She asked.

Meyers smiled. "John is an idiot. Producing more of them. So are you believing you can ever control them. They will end up controlling you." He shook his head.

"Sir, what do you know?" Laura asked again.

"Project Lotus. We tried to replicate those Gifted. We felt we needed some too. Just in case another bunch of al-Qaida supermen showed up. The project failed. The Mali particles did not work. Too unstable. Taylor pushed to human trials anyway, using soldiers who volunteered. Some actually showed an effect. But upon using the powers we had given them they died. It was too much for their system to take."

"They still do that, but now only after several uses and days." Laura said and nodded.

"Taylor had an installation somewhere, where he was pushing the project forward. A nasty little side-ops. I had nothing to do with it, but tried to stop it. Ayshe ... Gamma ... kept on pushing him, though. I gues she has kept on working on it in secret the old fool." Meyers sighed.

"Alpha is involved." Laura then said.

"He is alive?" Meyers only asked. Laura nodded. "God help us all. I remember him well, when he broke out he leveled a town and killed several of our best soldiers. We kept him in a coma afterwards. I think we should have killed him. Actually we discussed it quite often."

"Well, he is now free and very active." Laura said with a dry smile. "What AR who's weaknesses? You must have analyzed him to death."

"Weaknesses? He is a psychopath. A classical one. Uncaring about human life they all are, but he enjoyed murder and destruction. He hungered for it. He is the most powerful of them. He can bend Space time, making him immune to almost any physical attack. His weakness was his connection to Ayshe." Meyers sighed. "Without her we would not have got him into a coma."

Laura nodded. "She is dead, is she?"

"I think so. Wasn't exactly in the loop anymore, but the President and Ayshe were never heard of again. Not after LEGO made his way to Antville." Meyers nodded. "Believe me it is for the better."

Laura had not known LEGO had been present when the President died. "What are they after? We suspect they have released a virus and seem to target the infrastructure necessary to heal it."

Meyers sighed. "Alpha is probably just enjoying the death. Taylor? No idea, but I could guess. He holds grudges. I'd say he is after you. All of you. From the lower level soldiers all the way up on the ladder."

Laura thought about what President Andrews had told her. Phoenix was ill. They had got him. "Where would I find him?"

"He was the leader of the so-called shadow network. He had hundreds of bases and safehouses spread around the country. But the base where he had the research on the Gifted done was somewhere in Nevada. Ayshe mentioned it once to me." He laughed. "Probably knowing we might have this conversation one day. One possible future in the many she saw. She told me it is the rathole, rats always return there when the time is right."

Laura raised her brows. "The President is in Nevada." She said.

"Then I guess you know what he is after?" Meyers just sighed and folded his hands.

"Oh my God." The words escaped Laura's mouth. She stood up. "I need to go. Anything else I need to know?"

"Find LEGO. He is the only one who can stop Alpha." Meyers added.

"I think we might have someone up to the task." Laura said and looked at Meyers for a second. She knew there was a risk he would betray her. There was a risk he would make any attempt to stop Taylor futile. A tiny chance, but a chance.

"It is okay. I knew I was a dead man once that helicopter landed." Meyers replied.

Laura nodded. "I am sorry Sir." She said and drew her gun, firing two shots into the old Generals heart. He collapsed on the veranda and Laura turned to run back to the helicopter.

"Inform Phoenix he is not save. An attack is planned on his life. He needs to evacuate immediately." She screamed at the pilot. "And get us to L.A. fast. We need to pick up Anna Talbott!"

She needed Anna. She was her only chance. It was that moment she realized the pilot was dead. Blood was on the windscreen. Drawing her gun she leaped out of the helicopter and ran ... before the shockwave of the exploding machine catched her in the air and threw her to the ground.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @RachelTyrell

 

IC: Kawin Muthurangu
Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Angel shook her head and gave Kawin a look with his sad eyes. He was feeling rather deflated at this moment. Most of the world had basically been handed their tombstones, including himself. It was a small comfort to know that that fear that had always niggled at him of him being what ended the world was baseless, but still. So much death with so little to go off of.

"I am afraid ... I know nothing else." She said.

"There must be something. I mean, you are from the future after all." Chad said and turned his eyes to her. The girl did not have enough self-control to hide the fact he had got her. Chad looked at Kawin and then nodded to the child. Kawin for his part did a double take. He had originally marked it off as a young teen mother and baby situation, only now as he looked closer did he begin to connect the dots.

"Look at her. The resemblance is there. Look at her eyes." He said to Kawin. Then he turned to Angel. "She is you, is she? So how far have you gone back? 15 years?" He nodded when the little girl looked their way. So that was it.

Angel shrugged. "18 years, five months and 23 days." She simply replied. She looked over at the girl. "Yes, good eyes you got."

"They come with the job. So why are you not dead? Why did the virus not kill you?"

Angel shrugged. "I think it was my ability. But maybe there was something in the serum. I am a chosen. I was created artificially. In my world I think I am the oldest living Chosen. The one who survived the original creation. Probably because I was so young."

"Do you think we could get a serum sample? Take you to the military and possibly get a cure or you could go back again? Anywhen about now I could vouch for you in this country, Kawin Muthurangu TARC." he quickly stated as he fished for a card to hand to her. "I doubt that was your plan, but if you are immune. . .what else do you have to tell us? A tale of doom and gloom with all hope lost is not really our thing." He added with a wane smile that didn't really reach his eyes.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

IC: Jane
Black Rock Installation, Nevada

"Bring us the man and you shall be briefed on our next target." Taylor said after a sigh, Jane put her hands up in surrender. Apparently she wasn't as trusted as she thought. It was clear the conversation was over. She excused herself and headed back out. She caught Malcolm staring at a screen, a motel surrounded by blacked out spec ops. She'd been on enough of these to almost hear what they were saying, despite no sound coming out of the screen.

"So you met the Man. Guess you got your next assignment." She nodded her head, "You can borrow Ambrose for back-up if you want to." She shook her head. Ambrose would just get in the way, this was a fight between gifted, not a place for mere mortals. After asking around she found an amory picking up a Remington 700 chambered for .338 Lapua magnum. The plan was still the same. Take out the escort with the rifle, maybe immobilize Kawin, move in for the capture.

It should be simple. Taking one of the trucks she hefted rifle into the back. She was traveling light just a silenced glock, her tac vest and a knife. It was time to face her past, to face the man she walked away from. The scar down her back itched, a fading memory of the two of them in the front seat of her uncle's mustang, her shirt off and him stitching her up. It would almost be intimate if they hadn't been running for their life, if she hadn't been tasked with killing him once upon a time.

TAG: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Maria Liang
Hong Kong, The Cellar

Maria took the backdoor of the office, leaving Akira behind and stepping out into the streets of Hong Kong again. The smell of rotting flesh filled the street. It came from a body nearby, resting where the young man had died near a few trash cans.

The streets were empty. Akira had been right. The once vibrant city had become a tomb. A look at the future of the world as the virus consumed it. The world had forgotten about the place. It was forgetting the whole Asian region. Europe. Australia. The world was forgetting itself.

"Where are you Sebastian? Where are you?" Maria asked and coughed violently. Her body ached.

Maria wondered if the Black Doctor was made by man. Had it been released? Was that why Sebastian had not acted to contain it? Because humanity had brought this upon itself? Had humanity finally triggered it's own extinction?

Maria stumbled into the street, trying to get away from the followers of Akira before they found the dead body of their dark messiah.

Her thoughts remained with Sebastian. He would kill her? Not the virus. Why? He was not after revenge. He saved her in Washington. Actually he saved the woman who had once killed him, knowing she would come here to look for him. Knowing she would be infected? If he saw the future she wondered what it was he wanted her here for. Maybe to kill Akira? To end her dark reign of terror over the world of the dying?

No, if he allowed humanity to die, one cruel woman ... even if she was his former lover ... would not mean a thing to him, right? Or was she?

Maria felt her head whirl, thoughts appearing and vanishing. Concentration got harder. The exhaustion of her last hours had obviously speed up the progress of the virus.

Sebastian would not die, Akira had said. She had not seen his death. Getting out her mobile she was not surprised she had no reception. Cursing herself for not bringing a mobile satellite device she felt alone. Even a report would have given her comfort.

THIS IS HOW THE WORLD ENDS.

LEGO had sprayed these words on a wall and she saw them right in front of her as she stumbled into another street. Not with a bang, but a whimper. She completed the line form the poem in her head.

Were these messages meant for her? Was it his accusation against humanity who had first brought it's own extinction and then had been divided by it? Nobody had helped the seven million people of Hong Kong. Nobody had given them relief or hope. The city had been sealed of and left to die. Sacrificing a few for the many, again and again until a few sacrificed the many for their own survival.

"Sebastian." She said and felt her body trembling. She leaned against a wall and slowly slides down on it.

He was in a village they had said. The other side of the island. She would not make it there. She knew. She would soon be too weak to move. Too weak to do anything but die.

Then she realized she had been wrong. Sebastian was going to kill her. So she would make it to Sebastian. As impossible as it appeared to be, she was certain of it.

She forced herself up and stumbled down the road. Almost to late she realized there was a sound. One which should not have been so strange. A car. A military SUV stopped right on Nathan Road as she entered the large and spooky main road again. A single soldier in a gas mask left the car and grabbed his rifle from the car. Maria realized she was still having the gun, as he raised his rifle and spoke Chris es words she could not understand through his mask.

A car. A driving car. Keys in the lock, running motor. Maria sighed at the man, raised his hands and mumbled "I am sorry."

Then she dropped to her knees, aimed and fired at his head. The soldier dropped dead to the ground and Maria closed her eyes fighting tears. The man had survived only to be killed for her great mission. Another innocent man ... probably he had refused to leave the city alone. Maybe a good man. Maybe he was left behind and desperately fought for his survival, successful until a chance encounter with a cold blooded killer.

She walked over his dead body, taking his medpac and sidearm from his belt and then sat in the car. Opening the medpac she took out the syringe containing probably a morphine. She injected herself. It was a combat drug, surpressing the pains and sharpening her dim senses again.

As she loosed the breaks and hit gas she felt better. It would probably last long enough to get to Sebastian and get killed by him.

The streets ... the main roads at least ... had been emptied by the military. At least she assumed it had been the military. Burning cars and reared down barricades were there. As she approached the cities limits tanks sometimes forced her to take detours. Then finally she left the city and just as she looked one last time into the rear-view mirror the electricity of Hong Kong failed and the city vanished in darkness.

Maria wiped tears from her face, unsure why she was crying actually. She kept on driving though, trying to take the right directions according to the map she had memorized. She passed deserted road blocks and mass graves. Military stop signs. At one point a burned out helicopter stood next to the street. Another time there were bodies of a hundred people, all lying on their faces. A mass execution of infected had taken place here. Despite these short glimpses through the lights of her car otherwise there was only darkness. All around her there was only darkness.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Matt Andrews
Motel

Matt froze as he heard the voice.

"Thank you. I guess you were not surprised. Right?" He looked around making sure he was not overheard. "So what is next?" He asked and breathed in heavily.

-------

Matt entered the room and switched the light on. A single Secret Service Agent was guarding Professor Cale in the dark and now looked up.

Cale was sitting in the center of the room on a cheap plastic chair, hand-cuffed and looking up angry as Matt entered.

"Mr. President." The Agent ... Matt remembered his name was Candle ... greeted him.

"Give me your gun and leave." Matt said. The man hesitated a second and then got out his secondary gun from his ankle holster and handed it to the President.

"Sir ..."

"Now." Matt said and grabbed the other chair in the room. The Agent looked at the prisoner and left.

"You heard right, John. President it is now. Looks like I stumbled up the ladder. You care to know how I figured it out? I bet a smart guy like you is struggling to find the one mistake he made. How a moron like me outsmarted him. Well, it was a chain of things. Blaming Sebastian for Berlin? When Alpha was such a more obvious choice? Not that smart. One was a terrorist and one an artist. So who was behind the terror attack? Who did it? The terrorist or the street artist? It was a terror attack. You are not that stupid. But that was not it. The attack. He killed everyone. Kawin reset time, but before he did he killed everyone again and again. So who was it? Who gave him the necessary insight? Laura Changte stopped him. Steve Alden was his first victim actually. Before the first reset. Paul died. Kawin? Saved so many before the attacker was stopped. But one guy wasn't even there. You. Was that enough? No. No. It was Maria Liang. You were sloppy there. They knew she was in the White House, they knew when she left. How? How would a traitor at TARC know this? Except he was with me and Maria in the room when she left. There were only the two of us. Nobody else. Such a simple mistake, John. One could think you wanted me to find out about you." Matt gave him his famous thin lipped smile and pushed his glasses up.

"So now I explain to you what is about to happen. I am gonna execute you for high treason and the only thing you can do is tell me all about Taylor, Alpha and your little plan and hope that it is enough to make me change my mind." Matt nodded.

"You got two minutes."

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins

ooc: Input by Fin.

 

Laura Changte
Farm of General ad Meyers

Laura jumped out of the helicopter and began to run. They had been compromised. This had turned into a trap. The explosion of the helicopter ripped her off her feet and she landed hard on her face. Gasping she felt blood in her mouth and every bone of her body hurt.

But this was not the moment to rest. She knew she would never make it back to the farm. Actually she knew she would probably not make it out of here.

With the strength she had left she dragged herself behind the next stone and hoped this gave her a minute. She got both her gun and her mobile out. Looking around there was no attacker in sight. Just as she hoped the men after her had not seen her escape the helicopter she heard the impact of a shot hit the rock she was hiding behind. It was not meant to kill her. A sniper was keeping her pinned down while the others circled her position to take her out. How long did she have? She did not know. A minute. One and a half at best.

The President, they were going after the President and Andrews was in Nevada. Wasn't Kawin there, too?

She quickly typed his number. Reception was blocked. Cursing she opened the report and quickly scrolled down. There had been a number. Military satellite phone. She found it and hit the number. It dialed automatically. He The phone finally rang. Once he picked up she hissed into the phone.

"Kawin, this is Changte. The enemy is after the President. He is in a motel in Nevada. Let TARC locate him. Get there and save him. I ... won't make it."

She did not know where the Motel was or how far Kawin was actually away from it, but he was her best chance. Well, there was another ...

"Call Anna and tell her to get there, too. And tell her ... I am sorry."

Steps. She heard steps and the clicking of guns prepared. Thirty seconds now, at best. Aiming her handgun into the direction of the steps she waited, but a handgun was not a very good choice for a combat situation over any kind of longer distance.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @Mitth_Fisto, @RachelTyrell [/I]

 

Outside Layola's Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

They had been easy to find. Enterprise was not far from the installation and there was only one diner. In front of it a VW beetle was parked and a military SUV.

They were probably inside having no idea someone was now out there. The town seemed otherwise abandoned. Dead. The virus had spread quickly obviously.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422


Layola's Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Angel nodded and smiled. "Of course you can get a blood probe. But I cannot go back any further than the moment I became a chosen. Yesterday afternoon I got the injection by Alpha. He saved me knowing my mom was already infected. I got there seconds after he left. And ... I am not sure I can actually go back so soon. I am not a natural like you. If I overuse I will die. Burn out."

Chad nodded. "Farmer. We might already have the blood that contains the vaccine." He added and took it his mobile to inform the TARC center.

Angel looked at Kawin. "But you got me wrong. The future I came from was the one where everything went wrong, bit thos future is already gone. Because in that future you were surprised and overpowered. You won't be surprised this time. That is why I came back. I wanted to give you and this Anna and everybody else a fighting chance. We can change the future. We can still win this battle, get the vaccine and probably save tenth of million of people." She nodded. "That is why I am here. I want to change things."

She smiled. "A few million people and no Chosen could make this a very different world." Angel smiled. "It could make this a new beginning instead of an end."

Chad looked at Kawin. Before he could say anything the Mobile of Kawin hummed. It was the satellite phone.

Tag: @Mitth_Fisto



Santa Monica, Guest House of Mansfield, Los Angeles

Dr. Graham looked up and was only surprised for a moment. Then he leaned back, closing the laptop.

"I guess we should have taken a less branded hideout. Right? Well, Ms. Talbott. The virus is spreading in L.A., did you know that?" He sighed. "Younger here for the virus are you? You are here because we created it. You know why? We wanted to defeat flu. We wanted to create a dynamic vaccine. Now look what we did."

He leaned forward again. "How can I help you?"

TAG: @RachelTyrell







Motel, Nevada

Cale was catching breath. He grimaced as Matt mentioned Maria and he realized his mistake. But when the ultimatum was spelled out he visibly panicked. He knew Matt Andrews for too long not to take such a thing serious.

"Alpha. Behind all of this is Alpha. He calls it his Reckoning. He has stolen the virus years ago, I think he went back in time to do so. He can bend space time and every time he does he reverts time a little. A side effect. He stole it and build an army. They can create Gifted. They can make us all Gifted. But the virus is released and also this is not my area of expertise I know that there are no surprise vaccines. The development of these things takes years. We don't have ten weeks left if you ask me. So I traded the vaccine against information. Hell, you are all going to die anyway. All I would do is spare some of you a much more terrible death. But he demanded more and more and all I could do was play along. Please believe me I tried to talk them out of the TARC thing. I tried. But he is not the kind of man you talk out of anything."

Cale closed his eyes.

"They know you are here, Matt. Neither you nor any of us will make it out of Nevada alive. You already lost." Cale's body was trembling. "I am sorry. I ... you have no idea how this was for me. My theories wiped away by a bunch of nobodies who suddenly had these ... incredible powers. I had no choice. I had to know what it was like. To have the power to interact with time itself. To be one of them. Alpha could make me one of them. You understand what I say? He could give me this power!"

Cale began to cry. Guilt and fear were too much for him.

Tag: @LordTroepfchen

 

Anna Talbott
Mansfield Retreat, Santa Monica, Los Angeles

Anna looked at the scientist. So it was true. Mansfield had designed a super flu to create a super vaccine and now the flu was out there and ...

"How do I get the vaccine? Is there any?" Anna asked. This was suddenly not only about super-powered terrorists. Anna realized this was ... about saving the world! Humanity was facing extinction and Alpha had somehow to do with it. He was the one making sure any data on the virus was lost by destroying both data centers.

"We need to get it as fast as possible. That is why they destroyed your centers. They will do anything to keep us from doing so. Your survival might be the one mistake they made, Dr. Graham. So how can we get the vaccine?"

The burden of responsibility weighed heavy on her suddenly. How could she stop a global pandemic? How could she not try?

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @SirakRomar

 

IC: Kawin Muthurangu
Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Angel nodded and smiled. "Of course you can get a blood probe. But I cannot go back any further than the moment I became a chosen. Yesterday afternoon I got the injection by Alpha. He saved me knowing my mom was already infected. I got there seconds after he left. And ... I am not sure I can actually go back so soon. I am not a natural like you. If I overuse I will die. Burn out."

"Well, that's something at least." Kawin muttered as he fixed his glasses. Not that they really needed fixing, but he felt he had to do something with how uncomfortable that information made him.

Chad nodded. "Farmer. We might already have the blood that contains the vaccine." He added and took it his mobile to inform the TARC center.

Pointing at Chad he nodded, finally, some more good news in this.

Angel looked at Kawin. "But you got me wrong. The future I came from was the one where everything went wrong, but those future is already gone. Because in that future you were surprised and overpowered. You won't be surprised this time. That is why I came back. I wanted to give you and this Anna and everybody else a fighting chance. We can change the future. We can still win this battle, get the vaccine and probably save tenth of million of people." She nodded. "That is why I am here. I want to change things."

She smiled. "A few million people and no Chosen could make this a very different world." Angel smiled. "It could make this a new beginning instead of an end."

Chad looked at Kawin. Before he could say anything the Mobile of Kawin hummed. It was the satellite phone.

"A few million can keep a semblance of civilization going. Who thought I would be saying that seriously happy a couple months ago." With a heavy sigh and shake of his head he lifted the mobile to his ear, time to see what was so important. "Good Afternoon, this is Kawin. How may I help you?" Sometimes you could take the man out of customer service but couldn't take the customer service center out of the man.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Layola's Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

"Kawin, this is Changte. The enemy is after the President. He is in a motel in Nevada. Let TARC locate him. Get there and save him. I ... won't make it."

She did not stop to even catch breath. Obviously Laura was under stress. The woman who did not even feel her pulse raise when in a shoot-out sounded as tense as Kawin had never heard her before.

"Call Anna and tell her to get there, too. And tell her ... I am sorry." This now carried a sadness in the words.

Angel sat opposite of Kawin and gave him a sad smile. She had probably not heard a word, but Kawin's face probably told her all she had to know.

"As I said, there was a battle." Angel said and Chad was giving Kawin a worried look.

Actually everybody was a little too distracted. They had not even realized they were no longer alone in the room.

Tag: @galactic-vagabond422, @SirakRomar, @Mitth_Fisto

 

IC: Jane
Enterprise, Nevada

It was a short drive to the small town turned into a ghost town by the virus. It was madness just how lethal this thing was. She drove slowly past the only diner, the only place that looked like it had any life. An SUV that screamed government, and a yellow beetle. Decidedly not governmental. With a quick glance she spotted Kawin just quickly but, she couldn't forget him. She parked across the street, behind the diner so as not to draw attention. Stepping out she moved quickly and quietly to one of the side entrances that would have her coming up behind her target. Old habits die hard. Coming up to the door she closed her eyes and the world slowed around her. The breeze blowing through the sage grass seemed to move through molasses.

Even with the cover of her power she didn't dawdle. Opening the door she moved quickly to the booth. Her target seemed distracted by something all the better. She drew her weapon and dropped next to him releasing her control on time.

With a cruel smile she pressed the barrel of her weapon into Kawin's ribs.

"Hey there Kawin...been a while."

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @DarkLordoftheFins

 

IC: Kawin Muthurangu
Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Answering the phone had been a bit of surprise. The message definitely killed whatever levity he had been trying to generate, and compound what he had to cope with.

"Kawin, this is Changte. The enemy is after the President. He is in a motel in Nevada. Let TARC locate him. Get there and save him. I ... won't make it."

The question tumbled out, "Where?" although he already had a sinking feeling it was close by. At least by American gas guzzling standards anything within two states was. She did not know where the Motel was or how far Kawin was actually away from it. Not that he volunteered that information at the moment, but he was her best chance. Well, there was another ...

"Call Anna and tell her to get there, too. And tell her ... I am sorry." Never good words to hear someone say. The poor girl had already suffered too much and needed a couple weeks and a shrink to make sure her head was on straight, and would if things were working normally. Only this was armageddon.

"Take care, see you soon." he gently replied as he hung up the phone. It was a lie. Another lie, he doubted he would see her in this life again. With a heavy sigh he was going to relay the information before making a phone call to check with their future psychic when something else entirely happened.

"As I said, there was a battle." Angel said and Chad was giving Kawin a worried look. Things were starting to happen quickly and he had too many things on his mind.

It happened all at once, body beside him and a barrel of her weapon into Kawin's ribs. Glancing over he caught the lines of a cruel smile before she spoke.

"Hey there Kawin...been a while."

"You wanna shoot me or get Chad to help me change?" he stated as he clutched at his chest. Unfortunately he was not faking the alarm, but luckily he was the need to be changed. Barely.

"They're fine. What you want to say or are we back to trying to kill me again?" he was feeling rather uncomfortable with that barrel where it was and his own mental calculation of how much time he would have to grab his own weapon if he reset time. Then again he probably wouldn't see her coming then.

TAG: @galactic-vagabond422 , @DarkLordoftheFins

 

IC: Jane
Enterprise, Nevada

There was a little laugh that came through her nose as she watched Kawin clutch at his chest. The smile deepened just a little. She kept the others at the table in her peripheral vision. A young woman and a young girl didn't seem like much of a threat but, you never know. Most of her focus was on Kawin and Chad beyond him. Kawin knew how to handle a weapon and from what she knew Chad had some experience with violence.

She snaked her arm across his shoulders wrapping her hand around his shoulder. This was to drive him more into her pistol but, also give her some warning if he was thinking about reaching for a weapon, or whatever else he had hidden away.

"Ohhh….Kawin." she shakes her head, "You know I can't kill you." There was an odd sincerity to her words like she wasn't just talking about his ability, a skill that saved her life three times over. "Besides, my job is to bring you in alive." She leaned her head a little out to look at Chad. "You on the other hand. I was told to kill." Her weapon didn't move and her smile remained as if she was catching up with old friends or chatting about the weather.


"Well I think we should get going shouldn't we?" She pulled just a little on his shoulder guiding him out of the booth.

TAG: @Mitth_Fisto @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Laura Changte
Farm of General ad Meyers

"See you soon." The last words by Kawin made her smile a bitter smile. "Sure." She answered and killed the connection.

The first attacker appeared in her eye-sight wearing a submachine gun and full combat gear. Laura let go of her phone and stabilized her pistol with a second hand. She fired two quick shots and saw the man go down. If he was wearing a vest her would still be there. Before she could be sure a salvo of shots hit the rock she was hiding behind. These were from an assault rifle.

Laura made herself as small as possible and waited for the shooter to empty his magazine. The moment she heard the click she jumped up, put her arms on the rock and aimed at him. He looked almost the same than his first colleague, wearing a ski-mask, full combat gear and G-36 assault rifle. Laura aimed and fired a single shot. This time she hit the man's head and saw the blood spray as the bullet entered the skull.

The moment of triumph was short lived as she felt the hit in her shoulder and hurled around. Her gun slipped out of her hands and she landed on the ground. The sniper. The sniper had got her. Blood poured from her shoulder as the pain finally arrived through the shock of her body and made her gasp. She looked for her gun and saw the first attacker rise back to his feet. He had been wearing a vest.

Cursing she retreated back behind her rock and breathed out. Without a gun she was lost. Looking around she saw the Glock lying in the grass four meters away. Too far. Yet it was her only chance.

Clenching her teeth she leaped forward and did not reach the gun fully, but robbed forward ignoring her shoulder and the radiating pain from it. The attack with the sub-machine gun had expected her. A burst landed right of her and Laura knew the next one would not miss. The gun was still a meter away. Quickly she withdrew to the rock and closed her eyes. Not a second too soon, as a second salvo hit the stone. Then there was silence. They were waiting, probably sneaking up on her position. Looking at the burning helicopter Laura sighed in pain and felt her arm loosing it's feeling from the blood loss.

What was left to do?

She took her mobile and looked around the corner. The attacker was moving to her position with caution, obviously unsure if she had a secondary gun. Regrettably she had none. She opened Anna as her contact and opened a message window.

I AM DEAD SOON. FIND THEIR BASE IN NEVADA. KILL THEM ALL.

She pressed send and heard the attacker now nearby. Quickly she typed a last message.

I BELIEVE IN YOU ANNA.

She pressed send and let the mobile go. Closing her eyes she breathed in and clenched her teeth in pain. Then she stood up and screaming leaped forward to the attacker.

The man stayed cool as he raised the sub-machine gun and fired a single burst.

Laura managed to leap aside for him to miss her and then threw herself with all her weight against him. The man stumbled back and Laura kicked his leg, making him fall. The sniper fired again missing her this time by an inch. The bullet hit into the grass. Laura ignored it and leaped on her victim. Having only one hand to work with she did not try to struggle for the sub, but drew his sidearm, pressed the safety button down and then he hit her in the face and she rolled of him into the grass. Aimlessly she fired the gun emptying the whole magazine. The man spasmed like a puppet on electrified strings. The pistol finally made click and Laura lay in the grass for a moment. Then she pushed herself to the knees, barely having any strength left. The blood was soaking into her clothes.

A red point from a laser pointer probably attached to the sniper rifle crawled up her torso until it reached her face.

She closed her eyes and sighed.

It was over. She had fought and lost. Now Anna was the last hope and she would not be there to help her.

She never heard the shot.
She did not feel it even.
It just entered her central brain and ended her life.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @Mitth_Fisto, @RachelTyrell

ooc: Fin approved obviously.[/I]

 

Layola's Diner, Enterprise, Nevada

Chad's hand went to his gun and then suddenly he began to laugh. He looked at Angel and shrugged. "Blocked her abilities, so could you please do your thing and we kill her before she comes in?" He asked Angel as if talking weather. Then he turned to Jane. "Or do you wanna put the gun down? Because if you haven't killed me yet, you are probably not here to do so. Also ... we have probably the highest concentration of time travelers in the history of mankind in the room. So feel free and go ahead and shoot anyone ... just don't expect it to last too long." Angel looked at Chad and smirked. He turned to the girl and winked. "We are total cheaters, are we?"

"Cheaters." The small girl in the corner said and smiled. She obviously did not get the situation at all.

Tag: @Mitth_Fisto, @galactic-vagabond422



Santa Monica, Guest House of Mansfield, Los Angeles

Dr. Graham gave her words some thought and then nodded. "We know little about it, but from what we know ... it is complete and these murderers seem to move into hot zones without too much fear of infection. I'd say it is save to say they have it. So all you need to do is find them. But I kinda doubt they will hand it over to you just because you ask nicely."

That was the moment the messages from Laura arrived.

TAG: @RachelTyrell

 

Anna Talbott
Mansfield Retreat, Santa Monica, Los Angeles

Anna stared at the message and closed her eyes. She swallowed so hard it almost hurt. Laura was dead. She believed in her. The last words her ... yes she considered her a friend ... had ever send her.

"You stay here and if you move you give me a call. I will get you the vaccine and I will make sure these people won't hunt you anymore."

I will have to kill them all. All. It had to be done. They had taken Laura from her and they were about to take the world from her. They were evil. It was as simple as that. For whatever reason Anna had been given this power ... of for nothing else ... it meant she had to try and stop them.

No.

She had to stop them.
She would stop them.
She would not allow them to triumph.

"I will be back ASAP." That was all she said and slowed down time until it was almost not moving anymore and left the house again. On her way out she closed her eyes and wondered how to find them. She had to find a way to locate them. She simply had to.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @SirakRomar

 

Maria Liang
Hong Kong, Nearing Repulse Bay

Maria finally arrived at the South Coast and there was light. Fire to be more precise. The small village was burning and probably for quite some time already. The lack of firefighters had allowed any small fire to spread. The harbour was yet unaffected though with hundreds of house boats lying down there. What the fire also revealed where dead bodies in the water, drifting out to the open sea. It had to be hundreds. Their arms were bound to their backs.

They had spared ammo when they realized they were not getting supplies. The military had instead sacrificed cable ties and handcuffs. They had bound the infected their hands and kicked them into the sea leaving them to drown. Which they had. After a few hours their bodies had risen again though and were now floating on the surface slowly pulled into the Indian Ocean.

Maria was suffering another almost violent cough as the need to throw up was only kept in check by the lack of food she had.

She collapsed to her knees feeling the morphine was loosing it's effect. "I won't search boat by boat, dammit." She spit out angry and forced herself to her feet again.

"You won't have to." Maria's head snapped up and there he stood.



Sebastian Stein stood right in front of her. . His hands in the same grey hoodie he had worn all those years ago. He had a beard now. Not one of the well shaved hipster beards, but one that had grown out of the pure lack of shaving for quite some time. He had changed little otherwise. Only his eyes ... Maria looked into them and they looked back with the cold indifference of someone who had seen everything.

"Why did you not come earlier?" Maria asked.

"Why did you come at all?" He asked in return.

"Because you ... you already know what I am gonna say. You know everything, do you?" Maria smirked and suppressed another cough.

"Actually I don't. I did not care to look. But I could guess." He turned around and started walking to the harbor.

"Where are you going?" Maria asked and resisted the urge to draw her gun.

"You are hungry. I got a soup on my boat." He replied. "Coming?" He asked then and Maria felt tears run into her eyes.

"We don't have time for games!" She yelled. Sebastian sighed and turned half.

"You don't have time. Maria. And if you do not eat you will have even less of it." He looked at her. "I got all the time in the world."

He turned and began to walk again. Weakened and exhausted Maria followed. He walked slowly, making sure she could keep up. Maria was almost embarrassed how she stumbled after him, tears in her eyes. Sebastian finally stopped and sighed. He looked at her and then stepped towards her. He gently took her face into both his hands and smiled at her. It felt as if her lungs got better for a second just by the contact to another human being.

"Maria, I know how hard it was to find me. I know how brave you were. It took everything, even your life. But there is nothing I can do to stop the future from coming." He looked into er eyes. Maria looked back and then laughed a little, the first smile and laugh she had in a long time.

"Except stop time, you mean?" She asked.

Sebastian laughed back at her and nodded. "Yeah, except that."

Tears began to float from her eyes now. "There must be something. Anything."

"Humanity made it's choices. I did not intervene. I regret that sometimes. But I cannot save you from yourself." He nodded.

Maria started to cry. It was just too much. He was all the hope she had. All the hope the world had. She found the strength to hit his chest with her fist. "You are a God! You could have stopped it! You could ... try." She knew he did not have to. He had seen any outcome of any attempt probably.

"Try to do what?" Sebastian asked.

"Anything. Stop this! Stop people from dying! They are all dying!"

"I cannot keep anyone from dying. Everybody dies. All I can do is shuffle the time and place a bit." Sebastian let her go and she hit his chest again. The strike was so weak he probably hardly felt it.

"Yes, but that moments between birth and death ... this is life! That is life, Sebastian! That is all we got!" She cried now and felt her legs weaken. Before she could collapse Sebastian grabbed her arms and held her.

"Coming from a woman who makes her living by killing people." He smiled at her. She leaned her head against his chest. She still cried, shaking now out of control.

"I am sorry. I am so sorry I shot you." She whispered.

"I know. I know, Maria." He said back and finally gave in to the urge and embraced her, holding her tightly pressed to his chest. "I am sorry, too."

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins