Injection: Tides of War

Chapter 10

It didn't take long to locate the voice's origin as it had come from one of the rooms attached to the main corridor. She stopped just short of the door, furrowing her brow at the red smears leading into the room. A small green panel was embedded into the wall at shoulder level next to the closed door. Her hand hovered over the button, a moment of discord passing over her. She almost didn't want to see what those monsters had done to him... if he was even himself anymore.

A distant shock rumbled. The hall shook with pulsing vibrations, cracks ripping through the concrete and splintering into branches along the walls. It was happening again.

She slammed a closed fist on the square panel and the door whisked open. Due to the intermittent quakes, Shan stumbled in, attempting to stand up straight. Looking up, her fears had become a reality. The room was a spiderweb of cables and tubes running from vats of green and purple liquid on the far wall. They converged at a slanted table in the center of the room, plugging into a large contraption fixed to the back of Rew's chair.

He squirmed, his shirtless body tensing up and spasming. The needles from the contraption had pierced every exposed muscle of his upper body; the swarm of tentacles forming an alien-like cocoon around him. He threw his head back with a silent scream, his eyes squeezing shut as if the torture was actually occurring within him like some hellish nightmare.

Shan rushed to him, securing ATLAS on her back before using both hands to rip the strange tubes out of him one by one. Blood seeped from each of the small holes left by the needles, but it was insignificant compared to the amount of iridescent goo pumping from the discarded tentacles.

Another earthquake shook the facility. Closer this time. The wings were imploding one at a time. She had to get him out of here before they were both buried alive.

When the last tube was removed, he fell limp on the inclined table and let out a long sigh. His breathing eventually stabilized but remained dangerously faint. She tried to wake him but he was unresponsive. She'd have to carry him. She gritted her teeth, taking a moment to consider her other options. If she left him, she might find a way out and survive, but the guilt would weigh heavy on her mind. She'd come this far already for the young man, she might as well save his ass.

With a grunt, she began to wedge her arms underneath him. His eyes shot open with a frightened look as if he'd seen death and somehow escaped.

"S-Shan... is that... you?" he croaked, his voice barely resembling its former self. "I'm... s-sorry. I h-had to do it."

Shan Li realized what he was saying. But she didn't care. All the questions that had infected her mind from before had vanished upon seeing him like this.

"It doesn't matter, rookie," she said, trying to comfort him. "We have to get out of here. I need you to help me. Can you do that?"

He didn't respond. His eyes looked tired, as if all hope was already lost. "My... family was killed because of me. I tried... to make it right, b-but–"

"Hey, Rew, enough of that. We're getting out of here," Shan said. She grabbed both of his arms in an attempt to throw him over her shoulder. He flexed and ripped free from her grasp. She hadn't expected him to have enough energy to resist her.

"I feel it inside me, Shan. I don't want... to live like this. Please... you have to kill me," Rew begged.

Tears leaked from each eye, falling down his dirt-covered face and leaving clean streaks in their path. Another explosion rocked the room. Small chunks of the ceiling fell all around her, but she didn't pay them any mind. She stared into the young man's eyes, seeing the desperation and hopelessness sucking away at his desire to live.