ALTERED STATES - EPISODE 2

Plymuth leaned on the edge of the narrow ledge his legs dangling in the water. He acknowledged, Kitty with a nod as he searched for an exit but there was nothing, only the canal. The tunnel extended for approximately twenty meters perpendicular in either direction from the passage they had entered by and ended with an archway sealed off with a heavy duty iron grate that the strongest hybrid couldn't budge. He couldn't believe there wasn't even some sort of service door or a hatch. They were trapped!

The large mutant rat-creatures flooded into the narrow room. Some scurried along the ledge on the opposite side of the tunnel and others dove into the water and expertly swam across. They, however, did not swim directly for their prey but rather fought against the current to where there was a ladder near to the further grate in the wall. The creatures were smart enough to know that they could not climb up the sheer wall and made there way to the iron bars that were embedded into the concrete.

"Dammit!" Cursed Plymuth as he watched the rat-things, "Smart bastards, eh."

Plymuth glanced over his shoulder at the grate neared to them. True the heavy duty metal was too thick to bend but it appeared to be corroded very badly and this got him thinking.

"Be right back." He said to the tiger-woman.

As the first rat-creature pulled its bulk up the ladder and onto the ledge, Plymuth, gear and all dropped into the fast moving water. The loud splash, alerted several of the creatures and they immediately dove in after him, diving beneath he surface of the dark water.

Immediately the gill slits behind, Plymuth's ears began to slowly fan back and forth and a transparent inner lid slid over his eye allowing him to see perfectly under water. The current quickly carried him to the grate and upon a closer inspection the mariner found a badly corroded area that was crumbling apart. Unfortunately even though one of the bars had been all but worn away, it would still take some time to break the thin strip of metal. Plymuth grabbed the rusted piece of iron, braced his legs and began to pull with all of his strength. The bar flexed, but it was far from being bent or broken for that matter, but the mariner hardly had the time to keep working at it. Suddenly something grabbed his backpack and began to shake him violently. The turbulence could be seen on the surface of the water as a large rat-mutant vigorously tossed the mariner back and forth like a rag doll.

After Tom had lifted Kitty and Plymuth up on the ledge, he saw the rat creatures crossing the cannal. Nodding to Plymuth when he spoke he stood and kicked the flare into the canal. Then reached down and grabbed Gavin lifting him up to the ledge. "Friends of yours?" he asked Gavin and pointed at the rat creatiures. Tom then watched as Plymuth dove into the water. Moving towards the ladder he crouched and batted the first rat creature to ascend wit a clawed hand severing the creatures head from its body with one swipe..

Bloody hell!!! Things were going from bad to worse in a real hurry here. Kitty was learning Plymuth was a rather resourceful man so when he went back into the water, she worried but not to the point where she would have had it been Leo. But right now, she and Tom had their hands full trying to grab a hold of Gavin and get him hoisted up onto the ledge but that was proving to be more difficult than they realized.

Especially now that the rat creatures had decided the light wasn’t enough to keep them away from their would be meals. Kitty had Gavin just about pulled up when the first rat creature made its way onto the ledge and headed straight for her and Tom. Gavin caught a brief sight of the creature and let go of Kitty knowing she would have to defend herself the best way she could against them. The only bad thing with that was the fact he was now stuck in the fast moving water with the creatures who were quickly closing in on him.

Kitty and Tom were back to back now watching the creatures head for them. They had weapons but did they dare use them in these cramped quarters and risk giving their position away and worse yet, going temporarily deaf from the sound of the shot in such a tight area? They weren’t given much choice. As the rat creatures began to advance, drooling at the prospect of a fresh meal, Kitty drew her gun and took careful aim then fired.

The tunnel erupted in a momentary flash of light and the sound of the gun going off was enough to cause the rats to recoil from the pain now in their ears. Her shot was true and one of the creatures dropped into the water and was quickly turned upon by his fellow rat like fellows. Apparently the creatures were not discriminatory and saw their fallen friend as a meal too. A fresh meal was a fresh meal regardless of what it was.

The tunnel erupted in another flash and bark of gunfire as Tom got off a shot. Kitty turned to glance at him and saw the creature he shot grow limp then slip into the water which caused another feeding frenzy. That’s when Kitty heard some thrashing sounds to her other side and turned to see one of the creatures grabbing a hold of something beneath the water and shaking it furiously. As the tigress humanoid looked around she realized it had to be Plymuth and the man was somehow trying to find a way around that grate.

Raising her gun once more she took careful aim and was about to squeeze the trigger when she stopped herself. Her eyesight wasn’t all that reliable right now as spots invaded her vision from the sudden burst of lights she had suffered from and she couldn’t take the chance of hitting the man. Instead, she shoved the gun she stole from the guard she attacked into the back waist of her shorts and crept quickly along the ledge. She had to get the rats attention off Plyumth. Looking around, she finally found what she was looking for. A piece of rusty pipe lay on the ledge and she picked it up. Standing with her back to the wall she hoisted the pipe over her head and swung down violently. The pipe struck the back of the rat as it tried to shake Plyumth to death.

The creature instantly let go of Plymuth to deal with the threat that dared stack it while it tried to get a free meal. Furious its hunt had been interrupted it instantly lifted its head out of the water and took started for Kitty. The thing was much faster than she realized but what got her attention even more was the fact the creatures tail was even faster. At the last minute the creature made a jerking move to the right and that spiked tail came flying out of the water right at Kitty’s head. Instinct took over and quickly Kitty ducked only to have the tail come at her from the opposite side. She ended up scrambling backwards like a crab away from the thing, dropping the pipe with a clang.

The place suddenly erupted with another shot and flash of light as Tom shot the creature before it could whip that tail around one more time and strike the frightened tigress in the head for certain. Kitty flinched when she heard the gunfire and as the rat thing stopped moving and began to sink just as more of the others came to feast on him, she glanced over at Tom with wide eyes and swallowed hard.

As the creatures now seemed more interested in their fallen comrades, Kitty realized then she had lost track of Gavin. Quickly scrambling over to the ledge, she looked at the dark, churning water and felt a panic begin to fill her. To make matters worse, the smell of fresh blood was beginning to fill the air and with it her own instinctual need to hunt and eat.

Things were about to get really interesting for the others in the tigress’ company.

The canal was about twelve feet deep. During his struggle with the rat-beast the creature was ever pulling Plymuth toward the surface of the water. While their breath control was exceptional, the thing needed air after all its thrashing about but Plymuth, the turbulent tossing had been more of an annoyance than anything. The violent throws were meant to specifically weaken their prey, but was ineffective against an aquatic being with mariner's constitution.

As they neared the water's surface, Plymuth was bathed in the bright green glow of the flare that Tom kicked into the water. The canal illuminated by the bright light from below silhouetted the creature's as they swam beneath its surface and made his own attacker more visible to Kitty. As the tigress savagely waylaid the beast in it's armoured head it was stunned enough that it released Plymuth's pack.

Freed from the jaws of what seemed to be one of the largest of the creatures, the mariner drew his knife and firmly jammed it into the rat-beast's soft under belly. The creature yipped in pain and recoiled, swimming for safety, its blood trail leading the other creatures a stray for the time being.

It was then back to business. Plymuth didn't have time to swim to the surface for a fake breath of air to maintain his charade nor did he think to alleviate any stress his apparent 'drowning' may cause. The chamber was filing up with these creature's quickly and it was only a matter of time before the hybrids were overwhelmed. They needed to get to a place where they could fight these things where their numbers wouldn't have the advantage.

The mariner swam down to the bottom of the canal and put his bulky muscles to use. He grabbed the corroded bar, braced his legs and pulled with all his strength. It began to bend, but only slightly. Plymuth pulled again, pitting muscle against iron until the pressure in his head was about to burst but still the weakened piece of metal mocked him. Then another set of hands grasped the bar renewing the mariner's strength. It was Gavin. The rat-man braced himself beside the mariner and together they pried the metal strip from it's base, providing an opening!

The rat-creatures had circled round and were coming toward them. Fortunately the opening would only allow the smallest of the creatures to slip through but someone still had to lure them away. Plymuth was prepared to swim into the unknown but Gavin was quicker. He swam through the opening and as he wormed through the grate purposely cut himself.

Plymuth quickly swam away into the corner of the canal when he saw the blood. The creatures went right for it but only the smallest of them made it through. The larger ones bashed against the immovable grate and gnawed at ravenously, then began to turn on one another. It was a savage sight, one that reminded the mariner of sharks and instinct told him to get the hell out of there. He pushed off the bottom of the canal with such force and swarm with such speed that as he broke the surface of the water, Plymuth burst out like a dolphin. His gear weighted him down, but he was able to grasp the ledge and haul himself up in one smooth motion.

The mariner splashed down on the concrete knife ready. He saw Tom and Kitty back to back defending themselves against the rat-beasts on the ledge and wasted little time. Two beasts had their backs to him, they were too busy concentrating on the tigress allowing him to act. Plymuth swung his spear gun off of his shoulder, walked over to one and put a spear through its neck. The steel bolt ripped through the rat-creature and bit into the concrete. Now the odds were even for Kitty, but not for long.

"We made a hole in the grate." Plymuth informed them, "We just need some more meat in the water to busy that frenzy."

Plymuth had been under the water for several minutes. Far too long for even an exceptional Human and he didn't seem to have any breathing apparatus. There would be questions later, or perhaps once in some light the bright red of the normally hidden gills behind his ears might be seen. After their use, it took a while for them to deoxygenate and it appeared that it would be some time before they were going to dry out.

As Tom and Kitty stood back to back, he ejected the magazines from his weapons and slapped in two others "Haven't we seen this movie before?" he said with a smile to Kitty.

The onslaught continued. The hybrids had abandoned the melee and had switched to their ranged weapons. Loud booms and piercing echoes filled the chamber. It was so loud that, Plymuth could hardly think but little thought was required for what had to be done next.

The water was red. The bodies of the blood soaked rat-beasts were flowing down stream and collecting over the very grate through which was their only exit. Back the way they came the rat-creatures continued to spill into the chamber. Plymuth couldn't believe how many there were and they were quickly being forced into a corner. It was time to go!

Plymuth ran along the ledge, kicking off one of the beasts as it struggled to make it up the smooth wall. It fell back into the turbulent waters kicked up by the frenzy. There was small area, clear of rats in the corner. It was their only means to make it down to the opening.

The mariner lead the way. "Com'on!" he screamed before he dove into the water amidst the flailing rats.

Plymuth dove deep, down to the bottom of the canal. Above him the rats savagely fought one another, ripping apart the flesh of their fallen brothers and sisters and battling one another for the best meat. For the time being they took little notice of the man as he swam beneath them, but the creatures were forced down and occasionally, Plymuth had to dodge a kicking leg or bat aside one of their spiky tails.

When he made it down to the opening he paused and unslung his spear gun once more, making sure that the path was clear for the others.

Kitty didn’t need any more convincing. As she and Tom emptied another cartridge adding to the dead in the water allowing the other rat creatures to feast on them, she knew they had precious few moments to get the hell away from the creatures before things went from worse to dead. Gathering up the empty clips and tucking them away in her coat pocket, Kitty heard Plymuth over the noise of the screaming and thrashing rat creatures and saw him dive beneath the water.

Tugging Tom’s shoulder, she gave him the hand signals to let him know they had an escape route but it required abandoning the tunnel and heading under the water. As maddening as that sounded, both hybrids knew it was either that or die being a meal for these creatures. And that wasn’t going to happen if they had anything to do with it.

So the hybrids made their way to that same corner and after a glance at each other, Kitty dove in followed directly by Tom. Like Plymuth the hybrids had to practically fight their way to the grate below the surface. Of course once they got deep enough it was no problem. But getting to that depth was the issue. More than once a claw from a foot or the spike from a tail came close to Kitty and she was able to evade them but Tom wasn’t so fortunate.

He was just about through when one of those spiky tails whip down onto his back causing the hybrid to arch painfully and throw his shoulders back. Kitty saw the wolfman suddenly stop and saw the way he looked and knew something had just happened. Without thinking, only knowing she had few seconds to act, Kitty grabbed a hold of Tom’s hand and pulled him along with her.

Seeing Plymuth had the escape route protected, she shoved Tom through the opening Plymuth and Gavin had made before she slithered through herself then tapped Plymuth’s shoulder. As she looked to the man she noticed the gills flexing just behind his ears and blinked. So….the man was more than he appeared to be. Somehow she had a feeling about that all along but to see he was an aquatic breed DID surprise her.

But right now, they didn’t have time to discuss Plymuth’s abilities or DNA. Right now, they had to get the hell away from these things before they inflicted more damage on the hybrids. Once she saw Plymuth clear the other side of the grate, she pushed Tom towards the surface as she kicked with all her might to get him up and able to breathe air as quickly as possible.

AS soon as she and Tom hit the surface they both breathed in huge gulps of air. She could see the wolfman was in pain and she guided him through the water. She would support him until they could find a place to stop and tend to his wounds hoping they weren’t so deep he would bleed out before then. If she could talk right now she would be telling him to hold on, that she was going to get him someplace safe so she could take care of him.

After, and only after, the two Hybrids had made it through the hole in the grate and safety, did Plymuth follow. To do so, he had to remove his gear and slip it through ahead of him and it was during that moment when he had to temporarily take his finger off the trigger of his gun that one of the rat-creatures got bold. The mariner had just pushed his packs and several canteens through the opening when the smaller armored-rat-thing darted toward his back. As he reached for his gun, Plymuth felt the pressure of something hard against his shoulder and his first reaction was to move with the force. He spun around, bouncing off of the creature's muzzle as it mistimed it's bite. The rat-thing could not see clearly under the water, like most mammals, but Plymuth could. Under the water his vision was even clearer and not only did his reaction time not suffer, but it improved in the slower environment.

Rolling swiftly off of the rat's side, Plymuth thrust his legs hard into the creature's side, pushing it away and propelling himself back toward the grate and through the hole but the rat wasn't done. The creature was of the size that would be able to wriggle its way through the opening and so the mariner had little choice. He raised his triple barreled spear gun and fired off his second missile, skewering the beast before it reached the grate. Plymuth then grasped the bent bar and with one tremendous heave, pulled it back enough into place that no others would be able to follow.

Tom and Kitty found themselves in a tunnel that had only a few feet of air space but up ahead of them there was light at the end of the tunnel... literally. The current carried them into a large square room, with a high ceiling. The walls were smooth and unscalable, even for one with claws like Tom's, not that he was in any shape for vertical climbing at the present time.

In the middle of the room was a square concrete island, only a few feet above the surface of the water. On it protruded several pipes with rusty valves emerging from and bending back into the platform. On the other three walls were arching canal openings just like the one they come out of and above each of them was a dim green colored light.

If Gavin had traveled that way, there was no sign of him, nor could his scent be easily detected amidst all the water. The hybrids could not know which canal he would have taken, but before they began their exploration they needed to rest, and Tom required aid. The small, ten foot square island platform seemed as good a place as any to rest and lick their wounds. The pipes about them formed a kind of cage, not that they would keep anything out but the illusion of security was comforting, nonetheless.

Plymuth rose from the depths with an unintentional silence and glided toward the platform. He tossed his gear onto the dry surface then easily pulled himself up. He wasn't even out of breath.

"How's the wolf?" Asked the mariner as he unzipped one of his waterproof packs and procured a small red bag with a white cross on it.

Plymuth slipped off his jacket and was more tentative with his left arm. Under the coat, he was wearing a skin tight shirt made of a strange material. A fabric that, Kitty had seen before on people who spent a lot of time on or under the water. The strange clothes, the water proof gear, all the water he carried, it all made sense now knowing what he was.

The mariner gave his shoulder a quick look over. "Just a scratch." he said, but the grazing bite from the rat things was a little more than that. It didn't seem to impede him though, so he ignored the injury for now and slid over next to Tom.

"Let me see that?" Plymuth asked, gesturing for him to remove his shirt, "If you wouldn't mind. I'm no doctor but I know a thing or two about stitching up wounds. Ya see a lot of them on the sea."

As Plymuth helped Kitty with Tom, the tigress hybrid viewed the man with a new found understanding as to why he acted the way he did at times. The lack of trust. The look in his eyes as he studied things. The way he kept his things so close to him. Everything added up and it all made perfect sense. It also explained why he smelled like something she’d never smelled before. She still couldn’t place her finger on the scent that was faint but still there. All she could call it was…wet. If Kitty had ever had the chance to venture to the ocean, she would have immediately recognized the scent as that of the ocean. Instead, she could only give it what she knew.

As she observed his attire beneath his out clothing, she also saw the wound to his shoulder and knew it was more than ‘just a scratch’ as he had mentioned. But her attention was drawn to Tom when Plymuth mentioned the wolf hybrid would need stitches to close the wound. Tom was in a great deal of pain and wasn’t really paying attention to anything Plymuth said. But she also knew in his current state of mind, if Plymuth started to try and sew the wound up, Tom would be more apt to attack than let the mariner do what needed to be done.

Nodding to Plymuth letting him know she understood, she let Plymuth gather the things he would need as she knelt before Tom. His muscles were tense and his eyes closed tight as he did his best to work through the pain he was feeling. Knowing what he was going through, she reached forward and tenderly touched his cheek with her hand. When his bleary, pain filled eyes snapped open and he focused on her, she gave him a soft smile then leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead. They had been through so much in such short time. He was like her yet not and still he had never left her side when he could have easily done so. There was no doubt she had indeed found a true friend. One who wouldn’t leave her. No matter what. Slowly leaning back, she nodded and signed to him what was about to happen.

plymuth stitch wound. not feel good but need to close up to prevent infection and stop bleeding. i not leave you. stay here. hold hands when hurt too much.

With another nod, she reached out and took his hands in hers and held them in such a way that would allow him to grip her hands as tight as he needed when the time came. When Tom took a few deep breaths, he let his gaze settle on Kitty’s and he nodded. Kitty held his gaze for a few seconds then glanced back at Plymuth who was merely waiting on the signal. Kitty nodded then looked back at Tom and smiled once more trying to give him all the strength she could.

Tom gimmaced then smiled faintly as he gripped Kitty's hand. "I am proud to call you friend, Kitty." he said as Plymuth began to stitch up his wound. Tom never uttered a sound nor flitched, but held tightly to Kitty's hand, as Plymuth stitched. When the wound was stitched closed, Tom leaned his head back agaist the wall of the ledge.

After Tom's wounds were closed, Plymuth put away his needle, tucking it back into his kit. He then pulled out a mirror and stripping off his shirt inspected the cut in shoulder.

"Not too bad." He commented, "A few o' these should work."

Plymuth took out some large band-aids but before he applied them took out a solution of alcohol with which to clean the wound. This was a different bottle than he had used for Tom, and to alleviate any suspicions he explained that, "It's a saline solution mixed with alcohol. My skin doesn't react to well to the pure stuff."

The mariner winced a little as he spilled the contents of the bottle over the cut. He then dried it off with a towel from his pack and the proceeded to stretch the large band-aids across the gash, pulling it neatly closed.

"There all done." He announced as he checked his range of motion, "Not too bad."

Looking over at Tom and Kitty, Plymuth could see that the wolf-man looked ill.

"Ya look like rough waters, there kid." Commented Plymuth, "Bet ya could used some food in your belly."

Plymuth reached into pack and pulled out four one foot long rods.

"I saw some fish down there. They're different lookin' but I'm bettin' they'll taste just the same."

As the mariner spoke he fit the three pieces together into one longer rod. Each locked neatly into the other and then expanded until it was the same height as Plymuth. He then produced the last piece, a stainless steel spear head which he screwed onto the end.

Shirtless and exposed to water, the hybrids noted that the texture of the mariner's skin had slightly changed. It seemed, shinier, maybe smoother like a dolphins, if they had ever seen one. It was too early yet, but eventually the aquatic-man's hands and feet would develop webbing as well, even the colour of his flesh would begin to turn blueish and he would appear most like ichthyo-sapien.

He walked over to the edge of the platform, but then turned and opened a pocket in the side of one of his packs and removed a shimmering thermal blanket. He tossed it to Kitty then walked back to the edge of the platform.

"Keep an eye on me things will ya." He said looking over his shoulder, then he dove into the black waters, vanishing below the surface.

A little over ten minutes later a wet hand grasped the side of the platform and another tossed a stringer of bright green scaled fish, each roughly about seven pounds. The looked very much like common jackfish, with one exception, being that they had a smaller mouth ringed with tentacles.

Plymuth pulled himself up and tossed his spear over by his things. He then reached over and pulled his filleting knife and a metallic plate out of his pack. Quickly then he began to fillet one of aberrations, hacking off a good sized chunk of white meat, which he brought up to his mouth and took a large juicy bite.

"Not bad." He commented, slurping back the raw flesh, savoring the fresh flavor as it slid down his throat.

He then began to expertly hack apart the rest of the fish-like creatures, tossing the fillets on the plate. He even chopped off the small tentacles and stacked them on the side like noodles, chewing back one as he finished off the last fish.

After he was done, the mariner cleaned off his knife and brought the plate over to the Hybrids.

"Well, dig in." He offered, then just in case raw fish didn't appeal to their pallets, he thumbed behind to his gear, "I have a portable burner and a pan if either of ya fancy. Sometimes I like me fish cooked, depends on my mood."

The mariner then paused and after a short while, actually smiled, "That last part was a joke by the way." he told them.

Tom said "Thank you Plymuth." Just before the Mariner jumped into the water.

Miles finished his observations. He realized this must have been near ground zero for the radiation concentrations seemed to be very high around that body of water. It seemed odd but maybe there was some explanation why... only in that area. He got back in the cockpit of the space shuttle and looked at the coordinates again. Grand Rapids, North Dakota...he turned the dial to view a wide angle of the area. I'll be damn. He was sitting in a 15 mile missle field northwest of Grand Rapids.


Miles packed the gear and PODs back in the shuttle and started the booster rockets...the craft lifted slowly upwards....raising above the landscape he pointed the craft Eastward...to the eastern seaboard. He was here to stay...but needed to find a food source and see if their were any humans left on the planet. Lifting up over 1000 feet, he pushed the the booster rockets and space shuttle Alantis lurched forward....

Kitty watched everything Plymuth did carefully. Nothing he did, while he was visible, escaped her eyes. She remained near Tom making sure he didn’t run a fever or have too much pain but her eyes never left the mariner. When she saw him pull out the different bottle she accepted his explanation as to why he needed something slightly different.

While he was gone searching for the fish, Kitty let her hand rest gently on Tom’s cheeks. She was worried about the injury to his back. He had lost some blood which was going to make him weak but she was more concerned with infection. Even though Plymuth had washed the wound fairly well, that didn’t mean something wasn’t swimming through the hybrids veins doing harm already.

The wolf hybrid would open his eyes and glance at her from time to time and offer her a small smile. Returning the smile in kind, Kitty knew Tom would let her know if anything strange was happening with him. Besides, she thought, he most likely has a boosted immune system like the rest of us just to be on the safe side.

When the fish were flopped up on the platform Kitty jumped and gave a warning hiss as a natural reaction. When she realized it was Plymuth returning, she once more sat and observed the mariner closely. He was skilled with a knife in more ways than one and she was glad she could count him as an ally if nothing else.

As he filleted the fish, her mouth watered and she licked her lips several times. When it was finally offered, she signed the word thank you then took a few pieces for herself and for Tom. Knowing that moving his arms would pain him greatly she wanted to do all she could for him right now. Not wanting to look like some sort of wild animal (even though that’s what flowed in her veins) she nibbled on the fish taking her time eating it.

While she was sure eating it cooked would have made it taste better, eating it raw wasn’t all that bad. Besides, she was able to get some much needed liquid from the raw fish to keep herself hydrated when the water was scarce.

When she had enough, she looked over at Plymuth again and signed.

thank you again fish good fill belly last good while good fisherman

Yes... they had been sitting at one of the drain exits this whole time the two sitting by their small fire smoking and drinking discussing what people discussed oh the weather and what not...what am I kidding it was all a lie they were obsessed soldiers loving their job. They were comparing campaigns, seeing who had survived the grittiest situation...the list of talk was dull and boring I will not recall it for peoples sanity .The two finally leant back taking a small break from the constant talking Rarmon was cooking....fat rats ironically they were the things that had attacked the other group earlier Rarmon turned the stinks...I mean sticks round to cook the other side as Jack slipped another cigarette into his mouth. "It is night time you know I thought we were getting out of here?" Rarmon nodded slowly as he took another puff off his cigar. "My friend Jack we have run low on ammo again." Smiling up from his slow cooking banquet...."We may need to sneak into one of our depots....for A. more ammo and B. I want some proper food....with some whiskey as a side order.”

It had been a while a good hour had passed Rarmon having eaten the rats got to the last of the cigars in his pocket knowing he would have to fish in his bag later...fish...hmm... he gave a sigh."Time we headed to that depot mate." Rarmon stood collecting his gear up slinging the Burgan onto his back with his rifle tied to its side Jack picked up the tube he was using to carry his weapon the man had very little compared to Rarmon the two stood for a while before Rarmon looked back to Jack... raising his hand up his eyes narrowing slightly "You getting any noise on the sensors?" Jack nodded his head slowly as he pulled a black cube from his small back pouch looking at its read out."There is some sound coming on the wind that seriously low...it is voices that we are picking up." Jack slipped the black cube back into his back pouch as they stared at the huge drain they had come from, were their others behind them?

Gavin couldn't have felt more at home as he wove his way around the wet pipes. He didn't particularly love swimming, but he was more than apt at it. Gavin paddled his way back the way he had come, periodically lifting his nose and sniffing the air. Things were quiet now and mercifully dark allowing him to see perfectly in the shadows.

The smell of blood and death reeked ever closer as he went and soon Gavin was wading through some stray bodies of the mutant rats. These were not the harmless little fuzzballs he was used to. Oh no, he felt nothing with these creatures, no connection, no pain of their deaths, and for that he was quite thankful. Pausing, Gavin listened for any signs of life and sniffed the air again, taking in every tiny molecule he could until he struck the faintest lingering essence of familiarity. Latching onto this scent, he moved off down another pipe and scurried into yet another. After several more minutes, the scent began to grow stronger. He was moving steadily until another scent reached him and he almost passed out, mouth watering. Fish. Fresh fish. And not just their new friend who always sort of smelled faintly like fish. REAL fish!

Regaining himself, Gavin moved swiftly with silent steps until he all but tumbled out of the pipe and stumbled into a little clearing above the water. Looking up, he found Tom looking a bit worse for the wear laying beside Kitty who looked about ready to pounce on Gavin the minute he appeared. At this point, however, she had showed him enough restraint and compassion that Gavin didn't even flinch. He just smiled, his muddy brown eyes twinkling with relief.

"Nice to see you all again," he said.

Like Gavin, Kitty’s sense of smell had picked up on his scent but with things the way they had gone down, she was still a bit on edge so she didn’t exactly trust her sense of smell just yet. Her muscles tensed and she shifted her weight so she could easily pounce whatever was coming, so when she saw the familiar form of Gavin appear, she almost pounced but held herself at the last moment.

When she saw his brown eyes twinkling in the darkness and a slight smile on his face, she released the breath she’d been holding for the most part. Slowly standing up she glanced down at Tom and gave a small smile then looked over at Gavin and approached slowly. When she was within touching distance, she slowly reached out her hand in a gesture she’d seen humans do many times as a form of greeting, Rather or not the rat hybrid accepted the gesture or not remained to be seen. Still, she signed with her free hand.

is good to see you again thought we never see you again welcome back friend

Streaking across the sky...Miles orbits around the earth, he opens another MRE and eats the cheese and crakers within. He's been in space orbiting around Earth four times in about an hour time deciding on another Course Of Action (COA).

He looks at the map and closes his eyes, his finger nails have grown so much that they have curled under. He takes a stab at it and touches the map and quickly opens his eyes.

"New York?"


He looks out the window as he dials in for the new location...


Now thats a pretty area...LAKE TAHOE...He remembers being a kid on his fathers' ski boat and being pulled around the lake skiing.... I wonder if there are any humans living down there...

"Well f**k me. It's the rat-man." Said Plymuth as affectionately as it was possible for the gruff man.

When Gavin had descended out of the shadows and landed on their little cement island in the middle of water-way junction, the mariner spun around ready to defend himself. He would of slugged (or attempted to slug) the stealthy rogue if it hadn't been for Kitty's quicker reaction. By the time he was reacting, she was already relaxing which made Plymuth take a closer look at the intruder and recognize him.

"Fish?" Offered Plymuth holding up a plate before Gavin, as he himself chewed on another fillet, "These canals are full them. They're ugly as sin, but they're tasty."

The hard concrete slab they were situated on might not have been the most comfortable of rest sites and even though they were in a system of canals below the surface, Plymuth always felt secure when surrounded by water. His belly full, he leaned up against one of the many pipes that rose out of the slab and back in, each one fitted with a pressure gauge leading the mariner, who was somewhat educated in such things, to believe they were camped out on some sort of old regulation station.

"So Gavin, where in the hell did ya bugger off ta?" Finally inquired, Plymuth since no one else had asked yet. "I was hoping maybe ya found a way outta here."

One last look out the window, Lake Tahoe was already just a thumbnail print, but more careful looking the dark areas surrounding the Sierras were dark green, which meant only one thing...

Miles closed his eyes dreaming of the old days driving thru the mountains on Highway 50, the top down on his pearl white 'vette and the smell of Cedar burning in fireplaces along the North American river.

**********************************************
(from the other post)

COA : a half hour later, he felt the rockets shut down and the auto pilot turn the ship into a vertical orbit above the earth, the doors opened on the USS Atlantis and the payload was being deliverd.






There was a loud noise as the mechanical arm that lifted the satellite into earth's orbit. It was spectular to see the first satellite in space again after so many years. Miles hoped there was someone down below, that would pick up these transmissions from from the satellite. Someone down there with a satellite radio or a ham radio at least. He watched as the satellite opened its extended antenna arms and wings...




He opened a channel ..static came through first. He clicked on the mic and spoke clearly...

" TO ALL MANKIND...

THIS IS THE USS ATLANTIS."

I'M FLYING ABOVE EARTH @90,000 feet per second

Latitude: N 40 deg 24 min 36 sec. Longitude: W 111 deg 42 ....

Location: Conspicuous immediately east of Provo, Utah

MY RADIO FREQUENCY is 9..0...point 2....0...5.

FINAL DESTINATION: NEW YORK CITY...

AGAIN, THIS IS THE USS ATLANTIS..."

This transmission would repeat itself over and over again....

Floating in the distance, a US Defense Hubble telescope floated aimlessly in orbit until...



Miles reactivated the junk in space with a flip of a switch on the Atlantis flight panelboard above his head. Hours later he watched the sunrise on the eastern seaboard and felt the impulse jets...

**************************************


The impulse rockets fired keeping the ship in direct line with the landing zone as the ship came in at 1000 feet per second. As the spacecraft came in at ceiling of 100,000 feet, the nose floated into position and the auto-pilot flashed for Miles to take over the controls to land the spacecraft.

At 10,000 feet, the runaway came into view. Dropping down to 2000 feet, Miles flew over a few abondon roads leading into the City of New York. He thought he saw movement yet no indication on the heat senors indicated any life on the surface. Miles landed the craft a few minutes later and turned the spacecraft around facing the long open roadway. Miles reviewed the maps and his route, he took the necessary weapons he would need to explore the city. Miles climbed down the ladder and stepped on the surface...the ladder slipped back into the belly of the craft.

The buildings of New York stood tall, vacant, empty, no glass anywhere...shadows played on his eyes...abondoned cars over on their sides and fire gutted. An eerie feeling that he ws being watched.

Miles turned on the his GPS device and walked toward the center of town...to City Hall. The north-easterly winds howled through the vacant streets. It was cold and he would need to find shelter. He turned toward his left. What looks to have been a large building, was now a collapsing ruin covered in dead ivy. It rises like a small mountain to the side of the thoroughfare. Milesl calls out, trying to be heard over the rising winds. Nothing responds in return... Inbetween the buildings are two dead trees an opening between them. It might lead into what's left of that building.

Miles looks down to the avenue to the right, then crosses the street to check it out and see if it's big enough inside, and what kind of cover might be offered.




He looks to the ruins and then looks back on the screen of the thermal imager mounted on his advanced Smith & Wesson sidearm. Miles lifts his Browning medium machine gun and steps toward the opening of the dead trees. Miles appeared gnarled with muscles, like an Oak tree come to life. He was dressed in Air Force issed tank top, Air Force fatigues with ammo belt wrapped around his sz 30 inch waistline and he carried a concealed bowie knife.

His beard, as stiff as iron, jutted from his face. Miles' eyes were small, deep-set yet enthusiastic to be alive. From his brows, massed over his sockets like the wall of a fortress, his glances flashed piercing, gleams at everytning surrounding the building and the opening.

He cautiously halted before entering between the dead trees. The narrow dark passage gave no indication that it lead to anywhere. He stepped into the darkness, and waited until his eyes adjusted, then moved forward. The passage long and narrow drew him to two story stone building. Its tin -backed shutters were closed, its heavy banded door shut.

Miles held his eyes on the darkness beyond the doorway. No movement. Unsheathing his blade, Miles swung back to the heavily banded door. A soft, steady sound from within stopped him, too low to be heard from any distance but now, as he stood before the huge door, he could hear a liquid murmuring that raised the hairs on his neck. Miles reached out with his machine gun and set its point under the latch. He lifted the iron handle upward until it disengaged, then pushed open the door.

Movement rippled in the gloom within, a flap and soft thumping of air carrying to Miles the redolent stench of putrifying flesh. Breathing hard and with a mouth dry as old cotton, he waited again for his eyes to adjust.

Miles stared in the outer room, and it was a mass of movement, a chilling soft sussuration of throats giving voice. The chamber was filled with black pigeons cooing in icy calm. Human shapes lay in their midst, stretched haphazardly across the floor amid droppings and drifting black down. Sweat and death clung to the air thick as gauze.

Miles stepped inside. The mutant pigeons rustled but otherwise ignored him. None made for the open doorway. Swollen faces with coin-dull eyes stared up from the shadows; the faces were blue, as of men suffocated.

Miles muttered..."This is not a healthy thing to find." He shook himself, walked across the room. The pigeons tracked away from his footwear, clucking. The next door was slightly ajar. Musty light bled through the shuttered windows' unevened joints. His sidearm at ready, Miles entered the room.

Inside the room, the walls had caved in on one side and where the fireplace once was, now only a pile of red brick lay about. The hole behind the fireplace dropped downward and Miles saw the shape slip into the darkness. He turned away, walking swiftly back through the outer room until he stepped into the dark passageway between the buildings. He closed the heavily banded door as no doubt, whoever had escaped had.

The dark bloom of sorcery was a stain few cared to examine too closely. It had a way of spreading. He came out behind the dead trees...looking like he had fought an army...He did not look back...but walked quickly toward City Hall.


Behind him, through holes in the shuttered windows, an evilness peeked out at him.

Tom's nose twitched and he opened his eyes. "Ah I see the "Rat Man" has decided to rejoin our merry party. It is good to see you again." Tom said as he stood. He looked at Kitty and smiled faintly, then looked at Plymuth. "Where do we go now?" Tom asked as he sniffed the air and cocked his head slightly to listen.

While the others may have expected Gavin to nibble at the fish like a rat, he surprised them by graciously accepting the food and digging in with all the poise and grace as a soldier in the trenches. He paused, however, when Plymuth inquired about a way out, a somewhat sheepish look falling over his dark eyes.

"I . . . um . . . well . . . didn't think to look," he admitted, "I led those mutant things away as fast as I could and then just looped around and followed your scent." He stopped again, glancing away and now taking another nibble of the fish, seemingly looking off in thought. "I'm sure I could find something," he offered finally, looking back up at them all. "I've got a pretty good sense of direction and I'm pretty comfortable down here as you may've guessed."

He fell silent again, hungrily finishing off his meal. Already a small gathering of damp rats were beginning to form around the "Rat Man's" feet to which he glanced and muttered "sorry." At Tom's comment, Gavin merely nodded with a smile and turned his attention back to Plymuth, wondering what his answer would be.

CHAPTER 2 — Passage to New York
pages 7 to current

_________________________________________________________

Have Plymuth start to speak then have the noise of a walk-talkie emanate from one of his bags. - Salem slipped one in there when they first met, so that he could communicate with him if necessary. Salem will need help. The device will have a small screen on it, through which he will send the coordinates of his location.

Salem is trapped in Stone Haven... the place is swarming with zombies. It seems that almost the entire population has changed.

'Now this was a strange turn of events', Plymuth thought to himself as the three hybrids looked to him for direction. He for damn sure was no leader. Not any more, but he wasn't about to dig up the past and speak of the dead. It just wasn't his way, but the pack mentality the pulled these hybrids was catchy, and so the mariner figured he'd lead them to Tahoe. To what was supposed to be the 'free-world'.

"Well, here's the way..."

Plymuth's words were cut short by the load sound of static, emanating from one of his packs. He was as confused as the others at the sound, but he recognized what it was and started rifling through the backpack in search of the source. He found a communication device tucked into one of his pockets, a high tech phone that had been modified to work like a walkie-talkie. He intuitively pressed and held down the button that read 'talk', and when he did a familiar voice came in loud and clear.

"Plymuth! Are you reading me? Over."

It was Salem Midvale. He sounded out of breath and there was panic in his voice. Plymuth figured then, that he must have slipped the phone into his pack when they first met.

Plymuth released the button and spoke into the phone. "Salem? What's goin' on?Over."

"Thank, Christ!" Exclaimed Salem, "Plymuth, I didn't know who else to turn to. I need your help."

Plymuth was doubtful. "How do I know I can trust ya?"

"Plymuth... have... help..." the signal was starting to break up"...sending coordinates."

The phone's display screen lit up, and revealed a map that would show them the way to Salem's present location.

"Salem? Salem are you there? Over."

The signal was dead, but the phone retained the coordinates of Salem's last position. Plymuth looked over at his three companions. "Bugger." he quietly cursed, then sighed, "Well, I gotta find out what's happened to the bloke." he said as he started to pack up his gear, "The guy sounded desperate and I never got the impression that he'd toss a person in harm's way if'n they didn't deserve it. I'm headin' back in ta Stonehaven, looks like that's where he's at. I'm not gonna ask any of you risk your necks. You keep heading west. Find, Tahoe."


The sun was a dim red disk melting into the horizon. Crimson light filtered into the darkened settlement that was Stonehaven. There were hardly any lights on, the town's streets were black and it appeared deserted.

Salem sat on the floor, his back to corner of the small room. He was in one of the look-out towers, hiding from something. Sweat covered his face and blood seeped through a haphazardly applied bandage on his upper arm. It happened so fast. He was expecting them all to turn so soon and he and his fellow rangers were unprepared. Now he was the last, but there was still hope. The rocket! He had not imagined it. The people flying the rocket had the answers, he was sure of it. If he found them, then maybe he knew how to reverse the sickness that plagued Stonehaven, a sickness that had slowly began to change the inhabitants into the walking dead. They were unaware of it. At first, a few started to change on moonless nights, and the rangers were quick to quarantine them. When the changed back, they assumed that whatever had happened to them had passed, but they were wrong. It got worse. In time, more became infected. They searched for a cause, and eventually learned that the people were infected by some kind of spore from a strange mushroom. For some reason though, the rangers had stayed unaffected. They didn't know why, but they though that since they were resilient that perhaps they could help, maybe reverse what was happening, but it was too late for all of them. The transformations were lasting longer and longer. Always at night, but a few were starting to linger into the day, and not change back. Now the town was overrun with them, and Salem feared that this time none of them would be returning to daylight forms. They had killed and eaten all the other rangers and now it was just him. He was the last, and his only hope of surviving was getting to his jet plane, but that meant fighting his way through hundreds of ghouls to get to the runway. He needed help and then he remembered that he had secretly slipped a communicator into Plymuth's backpack. Hopefully with his help, and perhaps his other companions as well, they could make it to the plane and freedom.

The two stood for a while before they agreed on tactics... “I will use the time it takes for the next low flying military satellite to come across this area to search out the sewers for these... ‘Voices’ you hold the front here and keep a secure frequency homing beacon on so I will at least know where you are and I will turn on trace mark.” Jack agreed to the plan laid out by Rarmon as the big soldier pulled his rifle from the backpacks side beginning to trudge back into the sewers his pistons in his legs seeming loud in the confined space and his boots fell dully on the cement sometimes giving a splash as he stepped in a puddle. Closing his shock helmet collar the helmet rolling over him expanding his HUD onto the inside of it he quickly turned on the flashlight attachment as not to startle and give a little warning to the people he was heading towards.

Jack stood outside looking around for a while before pulling the black cube he seemed to open it up like a puzzle cube it flattened out to a screen about 15 inches across as he used it like a palm top it was touch sensitive. The light from it an eerie blue as he began to go over different functions of the computer he opened a picture of the globe a layer of dots covered the screen though all the satellites in space. A few more clicks and there were less dots, he had narrowed his search for imaging equipped satellites be it photos or live feeds with this he began his operation to get live information on town.

Rarmon slowly walked through the sewers his gun waving left and right covering the branches off as he walked the voices had been getting louder when suddenly his HUD at the bottom left corner blinked a warning light. It meant a signal intruding on all frequencies he decided he would scan it first recording a sample in a secure part of his processor it slowly scanned it for interference codes. None found he decided to play it finding a largely boring list of co-ordinates for New York. Rarmon quickly shut the message off he was a good three days sprint with his body maybe two if they went to a depot and stole a skimmer or fast attack vehicle...then another slightly more secure channel opened up once again the blipping light on his HUD but one scan told him it was just some long range radios and not computer linked so he hacked in while the static was still going then suddenly the burst conversation between a Salem and Plymuth. Suddenly another light blipped on the HUD incidentally Rarmon accidently downloaded the co-ordinates map wondering if the sender would realise he sent it to two sources? He moved on he was getting closer.

Jack had been whistling a merry tune when his pc lit up again showing he had received a packet from military users....oh Rarmon. He opened the packet it was a map with the script of the conversation typed up for Jack he quickly checked the map to the data he was collecting and began merging the data together making his jigsaw fit...with heat scanned images live video feeds and many bits and pieces of visuals he got.

Rarmon was getting closer the Hybrid’s could probably hear his footsteps as he wasn’t exactly the silent type moving through the pipes they heard him stop the flashlight which shined ever so slightly out from one of the drains dipped as he looked down. A second later they could hear the sound of a lighter being used the strike of flints in the sparker...then after the third or fourth try they heard the click of it closing the user obviously lit...and the smell of the Cuban cigar drifted into the main drain room...nostalgic of an old friend they knew? He continued walking little did he know that at the end of the tunnel he was on was a corner which would take him into the room they were all gathered.

The last time that Plymuth had seen the cybernetic soldier he was blasting a tavern apart and before that was way back at the Oasis hotel, where he rained down a hail of bullets him. Unintentional, though it might have been, the mariner was still none to pleased to see the walking weapon appear in a passage way just across the water. He hadn't noticed it before, but there was a service tunnel above one of the canals partially hidden by the remnants of busted platform. Only a small ledge now remained and the only way to get up to it would be with a rope. The walls were too smooth to climb so one would have to wade out into the water and pull themselves up to passageway.

For a moment, Plymuth was hesitant. He half expected the soldier to start blasting away for no reason, but when the others seem to warm up to the cyborg the mariner relaxed.

"There's our way outta here." Plymuth said as he procured a strong light weight rope from his pack. He reached down and picked up an old pipe and tied it to one end and began to swing it around. "Coming up." he alerted the soldier then with a well placed toss put the pipe into the hands of Rarmon.

"Tie it off." Plymuth shouted while he held out the other end to the others, "So who's first?" he asked them.