A Plunge Into Chaos (Chapter I: Part XVII)

A Plunge Into Chaos
(Chapter I: Part XVII)





Crissy rushed out of the room. After everything that happened, Garth thought he should wait for Crissy to process it all. He waited for a solid four hours. During which time, Garth searched each of the three bodies in the room. Only one of them still had their wallet. It was the man that Garth had shot.

His eyes were still wide open. His mouth was slightly ajar and seemed to still have what looked like a partial smile on his face. Garth started feeling sick to his stomach. He flipped the man over to get to his wallet. The blood that had accumulated in his mouth emptied onto the, already blood covered, floor.

Garth opened the wallet and found the man's identification. His name was Arkis Krane. In the other pocket he had a family photo. His arms were around the shoulders of his wife and what looked like his father. His two daughters stood next to him and his wife. Everyone in the picture, except him, had an X over their faces.

"I think I found something." Said Garth as Adé made his way over. "What did you find?" Asked Adé as he crouched down beside Garth. "I found some identification. Not that it really matters. I think he might've killed his family." Said Garth as he showed Adé the family photo.

"Hmm, it is possible. He was quite erratic when he questioned us. He seemed ...broken. He'd suddenly stop beating us and sit down in silence." Said Adé. "Hey, I forgot to ask! Are you okay? I heard the beating was pretty harsh." Asked Garth.

"I'm fine. I only have a few bruises. Burns on the other hand. I think they thought they could break the old man faster than they could break me. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a black eye and a concussion by now." Said Adé as he looked over to burns who was in the kitchen. "He's a tough old man. I'm sure he'll just use this as another one of those stories of his." Said Adé.


"Stories?" Asked Garth "oh, you don't know? He usually ends up rambling about them at some point or another. He likes to tell stories about his days in the force. Some of them are actually pretty crazy!" Said Adé. "No kidding!? I guess I'll have to ask him about them someday!" Said Garth.

"So, does that mean you guys are staying with us?" Asked Adé. "We never said we were leaving." Replied Garth. "Good! We really need an extra few Pairs of hands. We're planning on getting out of the city soon. We can't do it alone." Said Adé. "Well ...I haven't talked to my group about staying yet. I think Crissy was planning on going into ground zero." Said Garth.

"W-what!? Is she crazy!?" Asked Adé. "She has a good reason!" Said Garth. "What reason could she possibly have!? Entering that place is suicide!" Said Adé. "She has people inside. They're trying to figure out a way to stop the virus or something." Said Garth. "Why does she need to be there for that?" Asked Adé.

"Moral support? I really don't know." Said Garth. "We were just heading over to the fire station for some gas masks when you guys stopped us." Said Garth. "We have a couple to spare if you need them?" Asked Adé.

"Really!? Yeah, that'd be great! Where did you find them?" Asked Garth. "Burns had three of them among his old cop gear. We have a total of four. I brought mine from home." Replied Adé. "So ...does that leave two for us?" Asked Garth. "...Yes." Replied Adé. They were both thinking about Ron but wouldn't dare tell each other that.


After moving the bodies into a closet, Garth and Adé began to mop up the blood. Once they were done, the two men slumped onto the couch and drifted off to sleep.

Crissy came out of the bathroom about half an hour after they had fallen asleep. When she entered the room, she was greeted by Burns. "Thank you so much, my dear! Without you, I wouldn't be here." Said Burns as he held her hands in his.

"Yeah ...y-your welcome!" Said Crissy. She walked past Burns and over to Garth. She lightly wiggled his leg to wake him up. Garth slowly opened his eyes and stretched. Once he noticed who was standing in front of him, Garth jolted upright and gave her a big hug. Crissy was surprised but eventually hugged back. "I'm so sorry you had to do that." Said Garth as he let her out of his hug.

"Don't be sorry. It wasn't your fault." Said Crissy as she avoided his gaze by looking at the ground. "I just wish I could've been there to help." Said Garth. The sound of heavy footsteps started approaching the door. Vince appeared in the door and began rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"M-mornin." Said Vince in a groggy voice. After standing there for a few seconds, he finally noticed the condition the room was in. "W-what happened in here!?" Asked Vince as he looked at the destroyed room. The table and chairs were all shot up and knocked all over the place, the wall was full of bullet holes, and the wall behind him had a large hole going straight through it.

"We were attacked last night. Crissy ...had to save these two." Said Garth. "How the hell did I not wake up!?" Said Vince as he examined the large hole in the wall. "No idea." Replied Garth. "Where's Ron?" Asked Vince as he noticed the biker's absence. "He ...he was killed before we even got into the room. They pushed him out the window." Said Garth.

"That really sucks! What happened to the guys that did it?" Asked Vince. "They're all dead." Said Crissy in an empty tone. "Oh..." Replied Vince before a heavy silence filled the room.





(Meanwhile, at the Tsukino brother's residence, a certain someone was waking up from their twenty seven hour nap...)




As Dune's eyes slowly fluttered open, he could see Tristan. He was asleep with his face down on the table and a wrench in his hand. "W-what happened? What're all these machines doing here?" Thought Dune. "H-hey, Tristan?" Said Dune in a tired voice. Tristan slowly raised his head, yawned, and rubbed his eyes.

"Yeah?" Asked Tristan. Tristan's eyes grew as he realized what was going on. "D-Dune! You're awake! I-I've gotta get Gareth!" Said Tristan. Before Dune could say anything, Tristan ran out of the room.

Tristan began excitedly slamming his hand on the class wall of the research room. Gareth was sitting at a computer when he heard the slamming. "Fuck sake! I just got back to working!" Thought Gareth as he grumpily walked over to the glass.

As he approached the noise, he could see his brother's figure fading in. He noticed his brother's excited face and pieced together what was happening. Gareth wanted to get to Dune ASAP. He wanted to make sure that Dune was okay.

After Gareth was done decontamination, he ran past Tristan and headed straight for Dune. "Hello, my name is Gareth. Do you know your name?" Said Gareth to Dune. Tristan and Dune both shared the same face of confusion. "W-what're you doing?" Asked Dune.

"I'm testing you to make sure you don't have amnesia. It's quite common after a coma." Said Gareth. Dunes eyes grew wide. "I-I was in a coma!?" Asked Dune in disbelief. "Y-yes, you were." Said Gareth. How long have I been out!?" Asked Dune. "Just over a day." Said Tristan.

"That's a relief! I thought the worst for a moment there." Said Dune. "How're you ribs feeling?" Asked Gareth. "They're not hurting anymore!" Said Dune as he remembered the pain they had caused him before. "That's great news! Let's get you set up for another X-Ray."said Gareth as he unhooked Dune from his IV drip.

"Uh, can that wait? I really need the bathroom." Said Dune as he sat up from the hospital bed. "Sure thing! I'll just get the machine set up while waiting!" Said Gareth.

Once Dune was done, he walked back into the room. Before they would start the X-Ray, Gareth had to talk to Dune. Tristan decided to take a look around upstairs.

"Alright! Now that all that pressure's gone, I think I'm ready!" Said Dune as he sat on the table next to Gareth. "Before we start, I think we should talk." Said Gareth as he faced Dune. "I wanted to apologize for putting you in that coma." Said Gareth. "No worries! It was an accident!" Said Dune as he patted Gareth's shoulder.

"A pretty damn big accident! I ended up grabbing the wrong needle. I gave you over twice the recommended amount! You ended up having a seizure because of me!" Said Gareth in a sad and guilty tone. "Yeah, it was pretty bad. But you were just trying to help me out! Accidents happen. I'm not going to hate one of my best friends over an accident!" Said Dune.

"Look, I'm just trying to say that I'm sorry." Said Gareth. "Don't be! It was just an accident! I forgive you if that'll make you feel better. It actually helped me. I couldn't feel any pain during the coma." Said Dune. "Thanks, Dune. You really are a good friend!" Said Gareth as he patted Dune's back.

"Let's get this over with!" Said Dune as he laid down on the table. Gareth moved the X-Ray arm over Dune. After a few minutes, the results started appearing on the screen.

"Other than a very small fracture in a couple of ribs, the person in question is fine." Read the machine. "Fractures?" Asked Dune. "I think those bones just haven't healed all the way. They're small fractures so it shouldn't hurt that much. If it starts getting bad, tell me." Replied Gareth.

Tristan came running into the room from upstairs. "You're not going to believe this, Gareth! Do you remember the person we saw before the fog came in?" Asked Tristan as beads of sweat started appearing on his face. "Yeah, why?"  Replied Gareth.

"They're back!" Said Tristan. "Oh shit! We better go take a look then!" Said Dune as he ran past the both of them. "Hey, take it easy, Dune!" Shouted Gareth. Dune pretended not to hear him and kept running. "He won't get far. He should still be pretty out of energy." Said Gareth as he fished through the duffle bag for a gun.

"Are we really going to need that?" Asked Tristan. "It's just a last resort. I'll only pull it out if it comes to that." Said Gareth as he walked past Tristan.

Dune made it into the living room and was already out of breath. He sat for a minute to get his breath back. Once he had his breath back, Dune made his way over to the curtains. He could hear his friends coming up the stairs.

Dune quickly opened the curtains and was greeted, face to face, by the dark and empty eyes of a tinted gas mask. The only thing separating them was a thin piece of glass. Dune watched as the person pulled off their backpack, put it on the ground, opened it, took the M1911 pistol out of its waist holster, take off the AR-15 from their back, and put both guns in the backpack before closing it.

Then, the person pointed towards the door. They walked towards it and out of Dune's view. Tristan walked up to Dune and handed him a gas mask. Tristan and Gareth were already wearing theirs. Dune put his on and approached the front door. He put his hand on the knob, turned it, and swung open the door.

A thick cloud of fog flowed into the building and the silhouette of a person stood in the doorway. The person entered the room. "Do you guys have a place where we can take these stupid things off?" Asked the person in a muffled voice. "Uh, yeah. Follow us." Said Gareth as the group followed Gareth down to the lab.

Once they were all inside, Gareth shut the door. He then walked over to a computer panel beside the door and activated a program. The room started to suck out all the fog through vents in the ceiling. Once he did a thumbs up, everyone took off their gas masks.

To the boys surprise, they were met with the face of a young girl. "W-Wow! You didn't  look like a girl with all that gear on." Said Dune. "Yeah, it's quite a lot of gear. It was my dads. He was in the military." Said the woman. "Really? Maybe he can help us!" Said Tristan. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he's dead." Said the woman. "Oh ...I'm sorry I-" "it's fine! He died before I was born, so I didn't really know him." Said the young woman after cutting Tristan's sentence short.

"I'm Amythyst by the way! But I usually go by Amy!" Said Amy as she held out her gloved hand. "That's an odd name for a person!" Said Gareth as he shook her hand. "Yeah, I get that a lot! I'm sorta named after the rock. My mom had an affinity for stones. It was her favourite one!" Said Amy. "So why's your nickname Amy? Isn't the stone's name Amethyst? It's with an E isn't it?" Asked Gareth. "Yeah, the actual stone is spelt with an E. My name is spelt with a Y instead!" Said Amy.

"How did you know we were here?" Asked Tristan. "My Grandpa told me! We live a few blocks away and he said he knew you guys! He said that you were very bright kids and that you'd probably still be alive. Apparently, you used to work together?" Said Amy. "Really? What's your last name?" Asked Tristan. "It's Thorne, why?" Asked Amy.

"Okay, so your Grandpa is James Thorne! He used to be the office supervisor at IPW!" Said Tristan. "Yes, He was my grandpa." Said Amy in a sad tone. "Oh, I'm sorry! Did he pass away?" Asked Tristan. "Yeah, he was in the hospital when this whole thing started. He was bed ridden so I think the fog probably got to him." Replied Amy.

"That sucks, I'm sorry for you loss." Said Gareth. "Thanks." Replied Amy.
After a long silence, Dune spoke up. "...So how old are you anyways? You can't be more than sixteen!" Asked Dune. "Heh, I'm fifteen! I'll be turning sixteen in February!" Said Amy in an enthusiastic voice."That's awful young to have to deal with all this stuff!" Said Tristan. "Yeah, I've been having a pretty tough time! I've been alone since day one." Said Amy.

"Why didn't you come here sooner?" Asked Dune. "I tried! I didn't have a proper gas mask at that point. When the fog came in, I ran for it! I found this one in my attic!" Said Amy as she gestured towards her gas mask. "Where'd you get all that gear?" Asked Dune as he looked towards her backpack.

"I found the M1911 with my dads old things. The AR is from the police station. I took a trip there on the day this whole thing went down. It was the only one left! It was locked up behind a gate. I think the officers tried to get rid of all those guns before they evacuated the city. They must've forgotten it!" Said Amy.


"Do you have any food?" Asked Gareth. "Nah, I've only had one can of beans since the beginning." Replied Amy as she rubbed her stomach. "Here, we'll make some dinner right now!" Said Tristan as he walked into the break room. "Thank you very much!" Said Amy. "You're very welcome!" Replied Gareth.

Amythyst finally had time to take in her surroundings. "Wow, this is a really cool place!" Said Amy as she admired the room. "Yeah, it was expensive but I think it was worth it." Said Gareth. "Want me to show you around?" Asked Gareth. "Sure!" Replied Amy as she hopped off the table.


Dune entered the break room to talk to Tristan. "Hey, Tris? Said Dune as he walked into the room. "*sigh* Yes?" Asked Tristan " I think we should talk about Amy." Said Dune. "What about her?" Asked Tristan. "I'm just a little worried about taking her in. We don't have much resources left." Replied Dune. "We have enough." Said Tristan.

"I wish we did. If each of us gets a can of food each day, then we only have enough for three days!" Said Dune. "Well we can't just le-" Tristan was cut off by a voice from behind him. "Don't worry, I won't be staying long." Said Amy as Tristan and Dune faced her. She had a gun against Gareth's head. "Neither of you move or this fucker gets it!" Said Amy as she held a Glock 21 against Gareth's head.

"Okay okay! Calm down! I don't want any violence! What is it that you want?" Asked Tristan as he held his hands up in the air. "I want all the supplies in this damn place! You guys must be loaded with good shit!" Said Amy. Her tone is completely different than before. Instead of a childish voice, Amy now had a serious voice. She meant business.


"W-what happened to that innocent little girl that you came in as?" Asked Dune. "Are you all really that gullible!? Everything that I've told you about me is a lie! I can't believe all of you fell for it! All I'm after is the gear. Pack it up into this bag and let me go. I don't want to have to do something we'd all regret." Said "Amy" as she tossed a garbage bag over to them. "Get moving!" Said "Amy" as she moved out of their way.





(END PF PART SEVENTEEN)