Arc Two of Extinction (Chapter Twenty-Five: Save Yourself (PART I of the Finale))

Not late, don't worry. Thanks a lot. No need to quote the entire chapter though!

Excellente!
Thanks for mentioning Lindet and Harnex! I loved this chapter and can't wait to see what will happen in Chapter 6
I read it from Jade's Holly's quote, was that the whole chapter? Short and sweet

Terrific, Danny!!!! Seriously, amazing!!!

Yeah it was Jakey. I never make them much longer than 3 pages unless they are a particularly important one or a finale (Fall Apart was pretty long). And thanks, I like the name Harnex, but I don't really know what it was in your first miniseries as I didn't get very far into it before you started All We Are. But I think Lindet worked there, and I believe Mary also had some sort of history with it, perhaps after her MI6 days? I hope so anyway.

Thanks a lot, Pippy, and cheers for commenting!

That's 3 pages on word by the way, size 12 TNR.

And is it Jade or Holly? I'm confused. Anyway, I'll just say Holly from now on since Resident-Evil-Fan is a bit long, if that's ok Jade/Holly? By the way, I preferred your old picture theme. That Alice gal is one hot lass, dunno who your new pic is of, but they don't quite compare!

Thanks!
I think she's a great main char in the films, not hot!
Its Holly.

And sorry about the quoting thing.

Yeah, you changed it back. And definitely hot.

Don't worry about it, just unnecessary effort on your part if you quote it. I will know of which you speak...

Okey then Holly. What was Jade all about?

She called herself Jade.

She pretended to be called Jade instead of giving her real name. Then she'd lie about stuff, like claiming she was pregnant and engaged

Always fun!

Yeah, I guess. As long as she came clean in the end. I mean online you can say what you like, and no one can doubt you. In the end, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone, who's to judge?

She only came clean cause people began to see through it though Nvm

Yeah, we did start to doubt her...

Flickerflame wrote:She only came clean cause people began to see through it though Nvm

They did.
And I was getting bored of it.
And I felt really bad for lying to you all!!

Ha ha, fair enough. I won't hold a grudge. I didn't even realise you were the same person until now.

Chapter Six: The Life We Leave Behind

Danielle was standing now in the middle of the desert, her hair blown wildly by the sudden wind, her eyes and face stung by airborne grains of sand. She knew there was a reason for her sudden appearance, some danger...
Her arms felt heavy. She looked down. Her hands clutched a strange-looking metal device, rectangular in shape with open vents on the side. On it, a tiny green LED flashed wildly, signalling...signalling something. Was this the reason for her being here? Perhaps... she couldn’t think clearly.
The adrenaline was pumping through her veins; her heart was pounding wildly against her ribcage. It felt as if she had just escaped from some imminent danger. No, that wasn’t it. She hadn’t escaped it. She had brought the danger with her. It was still in her arms. Why didn’t she drop it? Why didn’t she run...or teleport or do whatever she had to do to get away from it?
A feeling in her gut answered this for her: it was too late. The same feeling told her that she had done what was necessary, what was right, and that thousands of lives would be saved because of it.
Danielle closed her eyes and smiled, taking a deep breath into her lungs and letting the poison infiltrate her body, happy in the knowledge that it would hurt no other. Then she was falling, fading out of existence. Her arms weakened and her killer slipped from her grasp, thudding innocently onto the hard earth.
It was Danielle’s turn to hit the ground. She decided to take one last look at the world before it was snatched away from her. As she opened her eyes, she imagined she saw a tall female figure stood above her, silhouetted against the Nevada sun falling behind the horizon. That would be Ellie. That would be her mother...

‘Danielle!’
Rising, waking into life, not death. No sign of her mother, or the desert or the sun. Just blackness: the inside of her eyelids. She opened them slowly, revealing a distressed-looking Elan, shaking her by the shoulders and calling her name frantically.
‘Wha-?’
‘Shit, thank god,’ Elan didn’t let go, but her forehead relaxed as she breathed a sigh of relief. ‘You were convulsing. Shaking uncontrollably, I thought... I thought...’
‘I feel fine,’ muttered Danielle. ‘Totally fine.’
Elan looked as if still in shock, and then her expression changed. It was still riddled with anxiety, but her eyes lit up.
‘You do feel fine,’ she echoed. ‘Completely healthy... As if you’re healed.’
Danielle sat up suddenly, expecting to feel pain shooting up her spine, but there was nothing. She could move, and see and think clearly again. The agony was finally over.
‘But how?’ she whispered. ‘Yesterday I was-’
‘I know,’ Elan stared at her, perplexed. ‘I can’t explain it, but there’s nothing wrong with you. Not anymore.’
Feeling confident, Danielle got to her feet. Besides a major head rush, consequence of being bedridden for months, there were no ill effects. She had made it, she had cheated death.
The soothing, content voice of Elan floated up from behind her. ‘You’re ready.’
Danielle turned around, noticing absent-mindedly that she now stood higher above the ground than before. ‘Ready...? For what?’
The woman who had saved her looked her in the eye, and spoke one word: ‘Training.’

April Silverstone woke sharply to the sound of stone striking glass. She knew that she hadn’t imagined it as she had awoken by the same noise countless times before. That noise meant one thing: her boyfriend was in trouble again.
Dragging herself from under the warm sheets, April reluctantly peered out of the window. Just as she had suspected, he was crouched shiftily behind her bins, head snapping left and right in a paranoid manner. Anyone would think the government were after him, not some small-town cops looking for a teenage vandal. Why did he always come to her? Why did she always put up with it, time after time after...?
April sighed. She knew exactly why and, for that same reason, she flicked the switch located on the window pane which promptly slid aside electronically. The chilly night air rushed in to meet her, and the covers on her bed beckoned her to climb beneath them once more. But instead she caught his attention and signalled for him to meet her round at the back door.
A few minutes later, after she had carefully deactivated the security system like she had so many times before, he was stood before her on the back porch. However, something about him was different this time. His eyes were bloodshot...red beyond belief, his face was pale and he was shivering like crazy.
His voice husky and frantic, he whispered, ‘Could you let me in? I’m freezing my ass off out here.’
April managed a smile, but her concern was not assuaged.
‘Kyle... What the hell have you been doing?’

The clanging of silverware and the scraping of plates over the hubbub of dozens of conversations filled the large, high-class restaurant. As Anton moved slowly in-between the tables, he was terribly aware of the tiny microphone strapped to his collar and the numerous secret service agents placed strategically around the room, watching his every move. It reeked of CIA; McArthur had all the angles covered. There was no element of trust in American operations, and this one was no exception.
‘No sign of him,’ Anton muttered, apparently to no one.
The reply came quickly: ‘Look to your right. Do you see?’
‘No... Wait,’ Anton glanced cautiously over the heads of the diners. ‘Yes. Yes, I recognise him.’
‘OK, make your way over. Don’t make any contact, let him see you.’
Anton felt like screaming that he knew what he was doing. It was incredibly patronising, not to mention demeaning, being given orders by men who, five years ago, would have taken them from him...without question. But he bit his lip, and murmured: ‘OK, understood.’
He began walking casually in the direction of his former employer, eyes fixed straight ahead, not daring to even glance at Korolov, in case their eyes met. Fingers crossed in his pocket, he prayed that the politician wouldn’t notice him. That Anton could just keep walking towards the exit, as he had been instructed, and perhaps back to his retired life. But in his heart he knew that it wasn’t an option, so he didn’t even jump when a booming voice rose above all others, yelling: ‘Anton Demidov! It is you! Get over here!’
Feigning surprise, Anton glanced about as if looking for the owner of the voice. He would be obvious to anyone with experience looking on: Dmitri Korolov was not a small man and, considering practically everyone else in the restaurant was staring at the loud man who had just interrupted their dinner, it would seem unusual that Anton hadn’t noticed him. But Korolov was not particularly perceptive, it had to be said, and he was the desired audience. They couldn’t let him think Anton had approached him. McArthur had been meticulous about that point in the briefing.
‘Over here man,’ Korolov beckoned Anton over, when the latter had finally “spotted” him. Anton gave a surprised wave and wandered over, Korolov standing up to greet him. At nearly seven foot, the politician towered over Anton, who was average height. His handshake was strong and enthusiastic, Anton’s fingers crumpled under the tight grip.
‘Mr Korolov, sir. It’s been a long time,’ Anton tried to sound professional, relieved when he had his hand back to himself.
‘Anton, my old friend,’ despite their close proximity, Korolov refused to turn down the volume, ‘you stopped working for me years ago. Please, call me Dmitri.’
‘Absolutely, sir...Dmitri,’ Anton smiled nervously. ‘Sorry, old habits.’
The large man burst out laughing, drawing stares once again, as he took to his seat and gestured for Anton to do the same. This was it; Anton knew there was no going back. He was in.
‘Pull up a seat, my friend, the food here is fantastic.’

Kyle lay heavily on his girlfriend’s bed, unable to even comprehend sleep. His only thoughts were of his mother: shot down in cold blood. Her face as the first bullets hit her, him powerless to save her. The images ran a constant loop through his head, until finally they were interrupted by April’s whisper.
‘Are we going to talk about this?’
Kyle could hear her straining not to sound impatient. He understood her frustration, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk. As if saying it out loud made it real. It was already real though, and deep down Kyle knew that. He knew that, from now on, his life before yesterday would always be the life he had left behind. He wasn’t normal anymore. He had to accept it.
‘They killed my mother,’ he stated, without emotion. Internally, each word broke off a piece of his heart, but he couldn’t even shed a tear. Some stupid sense of male pride stopped him from crying in front of his girlfriend. ‘They killed her and... And they’ve done something to me.’
April’s mouth hung open. Her face went pale and she quickly sat down on the bed. Half-formed words tumbled through her lips, but whether she was trying to ask questions or offer him comfort, Kyle couldn’t tell. Either way, after a few seconds, April stopped trying to speak, and just sat in silence, staring at the wall.
Kyle sat up, and gently squeezed her hand. She responded, clutching his hand in both of hers. But her eyes remained fixated straight ahead. It was shock, he realised. He had spent the entire bus journey staring at nothing, thinking about nothing. But now, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Everything had changed, there was no going back.

‘Where did you find me?’
Elan looked puzzled at the question, before realising what Danielle must have meant.
‘I didn’t find you, truth be told,’ Elan replied, sparking up electricity in her hand effortlessly. ‘If anything you found me.’
Danielle stopped concentrating, looking at the older woman in confusion.
‘It was in the desert, in Nevada,’ she explained. ‘After the breakout from NESO-’
‘You were at NESO?’ Danielle exclaimed.
Nodding, Elan went on: ‘Spent two years in that hell, before you came along.’
‘You saw me? Why didn’t you say before?’
Elan shrugged. ‘I suppose it never came up. Plus you were asleep for a long, long time,’ she added, with a dark grin. ‘So before you worry about life debt, we’re already even. I owe you and your friends my freedom.’
Danielle’s smile fell from her face. ‘My friends... Oh my god. It’s been months, they’ll think I’m dead.’
‘I’d imagine so,’ remarked Elan, a bit too casually. Danielle gave her a funny look, so she added quickly: ‘You’re alive, that’s all that really matters. There’s no reason to dwell on it.’
‘But-’
‘Don’t think about it right now,’ Elan cut in. ‘When the time is right, you’ll see them again. Keep trying...’
Reluctantly, Danielle put thoughts of Chloe and Sarah, and Jimmy, out of her mind. The latter was the hardest considering it was his ability she was trying to recall. Desperately she strained to remember back all those months, at the Capitol Building, when suddenly she had had enormous power and control at her fingertips. It had come so naturally... so rapidly. It was as if she had manifested all over again. But now, as much as she tried, she couldn’t even create a single spark.
She cried out in frustration, letting her arms drop to her side.
‘I can’t,’ she told Elan. ‘I don’t know why...I just can’t.’
Elan calmly took her hand and, in the strange commanding tone that was so familiar to Danielle now, she said: ‘Look at me!’ Her bright green eyes fixed on Danielle’s and the latter felt as if her very soul were on display. ‘Look at me. Can you see it?’
Danielle didn’t understand. ‘See what?’
‘The lights, the colours all around me: my aura.’
And suddenly Danielle could see it. It had been there all along, but somehow it had been hidden from her. It was unlike Nina’s or anyone else’s she had ever met. It was so beautiful...so colourful, each shade swirling and mixing with the others, creating a vivid dance of abilities. Reaching out, Danielle touched it, feeling its warmth flow into her. She found what she was looking for, and her own aura mimicked it, taking on its shape and colour. Inside, she felt the heat build up, burning her and threatening to explode.
Danielle stepped away from Elan in fear, falling down against the wooden floor. To her amazement, milky blue fire shot from her hands, two tendrils spiralling towards the ceiling. Then, as quickly as it had come, the fire dissipated, leaving Danielle lying on her back, eyes wide in disbelief at what she had just done.
Standing over her, Elan reached down her hand to help her up. On her face was a look of triumph and pride. ‘Well done. You’ve taken your first step,’ she told Danielle, ‘into a wider world.’

Another excellent chapter

Heh, you always say that! What do you really think? Cheers though.

I agree with Low. It is realllllly good!!

Its brilliant!
Well done!

Thanks.

No prob!

I know it's not one of my best chapters. I just wanted to concentrate on Danielle and Elan really. I hope it wasn't too bad though, the stuff about Kyle and Anton is related by the way, it will just take a while before it becomes evident.

The next chapter should be more exciting.

I don't see how it can get much better, but if you say so!