1 Arrival
Manhattan was on fire. Every block in the district was figuratively and literally in flames. Red, hot smoke erupted from more than a few buildings, and plain chaos inhabited the streets. The people were screaming out of sheer terror and ran in panic without further goal. They just wanted to get away. Away from whatever curse that was spreading rapidly throughout the city. The civilians ran while military groups fortified on the scene, putting bullets in anyone that looked the slightest suspicious. They fired their guns over and over, with little to no rest in between shots. The kills didn't please them the slightest however. Their eyes and firearms might've been focused on the many infected limping back and forth in the park in front of them, but their minds were in an entirely different place. More or less subconsciously, they were constantly scanning the environment for a bigger price. The price their boss called ZEUS. It was their key to success and a greatness they could only imagine. What they didn't know was that this 'object' was far away from their location.
Far away, both figuratively and literally.
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"Desmond?!"
The said boy flinched at the calling of his name where he sat on a crate out in the hallway. A big yawn decorated his face as he slid down to the floor and headed to his left. He stopped in a doorway to inspect the room before him. To his right, pushed into the corner, were a big desk with loads of papers and folders neatly stacked in piles, post-it notes scrambled here and there, and a laptop. Desmond had always wondered why the brit used a laptop instead of a stationary PC. He would be able to surf the web so much faster with a more powerful computer. The said man was sitting on a rather uncomfortable-looking chair at the desk with his eyes focused on the screen. Desmond shifted his sight forward at the sound of rustling, and saw a raven-head searching through multiple drawers on the desk at the center of the room that she had claimed as hers. She mumbled while lifting papers, books and folders, and didn't seem to even have noticed Desmond coming in. He cleared his throat to get the female's attention.
"Rebecca, you called?" he asked curiously. Upon seeing her stressed expression when she looked up at him, his brows furrowed, and his stomach clenched. "What-" he started, but was interrupted by the opening of a door on the opposing side of the room. An equally distressed blonde entered and slammed the door shut behind her.
"Desmond, there's no time. Pick what you need and get to the van" the blonde scolded as she hurriedly helped Rebecca find whatever she was searching for. Knowing he wouldn't get much information out of the two females in their state, he turned to face the Brit, but found him shoving down his laptop into a satchel. He had painted on the usual stern expression he always wore, but Desmond noticed a tension as he zipped the satchel close and threw it over his shoulder. He groaned silently and followed the older man out of the room, down two flights of stairs and up to their gray minivan. The girls weren't far behind and the four of them were soon seated.
"Mind telling me where we're headed now?" Desmond asked, a bit annoyed, when they were on the road a few minutes later. Both of the girls looked at him, then at each other, and then back at him. His stomach clenched again, and he frowned. "Lucy?" he demanded, glaring at her with a stern scowl. She frowned back and just said they had to go. Desmond snorted at this and looked away. He always got the same answer. 'We need to go, there's no time.' 'We need to keep hidden.' 'Hurry Desmond!' Always on the run and in need to hide. He threw a look in the rear-view mirror to try and catch a glimpse of the brit's expression. Nothing but those cold eyes focused on the road ahead. With a deep sigh, he gave up and settled down in his seat. His eyelids were suddenly heavy, and very soon, he had fallen into a peaceful sleep.
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The sound of bone cracking resonated through the man's body as a fist collided with his back. He cried out loud in pain, but was cut off as the attacker grasped his forehead and jerked backwards, snapping his neck. A black blur then covered the man, and when it dispersed, there was no trace of the victim. Left was the attacker, on his knees, clutching his head as an agonizing pain scorched through him. Images flashed by his mind, merging with all the other memories he'd taken from those he had devoured. A loud groan slipped out through his gritted teeth. Soon enough the images started to fade, and he almost fell forward, but caught himself with his hands. Now on all fours on the ground, he panted and gazed upwards to spot a woman. All color had drained from her face, and her whole body was shaking. She had undoubtedly seen the entire episode. He swallowed a sigh as he pushed himself off the ground. His action woke her up from her frozen state, and she turned on her heels to run screaming from the scene as fast as she could. The military wouldn't mind her, though. She was acting just as crazy as everyone else in the district - running and screaming. That seemed to be the only thing people did nowadays. Ever since the outburst it had been all but calm in Manhattan. He let out a sigh and started walking east. He didn't really ever get physically tired, but his mind needed some rest, and there was no way he would be able to get that out here. But he knew one place, not far from his current position, where he could sit down and relax, if only for a minute.
Moments later he descended two flights of stairs before entering through the door to his sister's apartment. It was quiet, and he guessed she was asleep. With a sigh of relief he closed the door behind him and headed straight for the bedroom. The door was open, so he stepped in and immediately spotted a sleeping Dana in the bed. She had pulled the blanket up to her chin, and her face wore a peaceful expression. He noticed faint dark circles under her eyes and realized she must've been up for too long - maybe days - researching again. The corners of his mouth curved up ever so slightly, decorating his lips with the faintest smile, but it vanished immediately when the girl started fuzzing around in the bed. A wrinkle emerged between her eyebrows, and she hummed silently. He wondered if he should wake her up, but the next second she jerked upwards with a gasp. Her breathing was faster than usual, and her eyes darted back and forth, looking around the room. They eventually rested on him and her expression softened.
"Alex..." she mumbled and dragged her hand over her face, as if to rub off the remnants of her not-so-peaceful sleep. She turned toward him to put her feet down on the ground and rubbed her eyes before looking at him yet again. "What are you doing here?" she asked, a big yawn painting her face. He threw a meaningful glare toward the window.
"A moment of silence" he stated. She didn't answer, but her expression told him she understood. Letting out a sigh, he turned and walked out of the room, aiming for the sofa in the living area. When he got seated, he took a moment to lean back and close his eyes, enjoying the peace. What he didn't know though was that it would be short-lived enough to make him in a bad mood yet again.
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Desmond woke up by Lucy shouting his name. Curse this constant stressing and need to keep moving. Never stay in one place for too long. He wished it could just end. Just one moment of relaxation would be heaven after all this time. Running, running, running, never allowed to stand still. Hell, even when he was lying down he was running. Not as himself, of course, but as his distant relative - ancestor, to be precise - sprinting over rooftops and beating up any armed men that stood in his way. Why couldn't they use the same method in the real world anyway? He had picked up a few handy tricks through the Bleeding Effect.
His thoughts was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. "You goin'a stand here all day n' risk getting templars up your ass, or are ya coming with?" came Shaun's - the brit's - voice in his ear. Desmond instinctively whipped his head around to look at the man, ready to spit something back, but saw him already marching away toward a steel door in the concrete wall. He'd gotten up from his seat and out of the van, and now, looking around, Desmond noted that they had parked in an underground garage, or similar. Why always down below instead of high above? Didn't the cell service suck down here? Imagine how much better network they would have if they parked themselves on the top floor. Not that it would actually matter to him... How high was top floor..? Where were they...?
"Desmond!"
"Yea yea" he sighed and jogged after the others. As the door closed behind him, they were surrounded by darkness.
"And no one thought about bringing some light? Wonderful!" came Shaun's sarcastic voice. Judging by the echo, Desmond figured they were in a quite large cellar room of some sort. A sudden scraping sound to his left caught his attention.
"Matches...?" he mumbled. He didn't know if it was Lucy or Rebecca, but he could definitely hear one of the girls snort at his comment.
"You got a better idea?" the brit asked sarcastically, barely a second before the faint light from a match lit up a small portion of the area where they stood.
"Why always in the basement?" Desmond sighed, defeated, and ignored the wise-ass comments from the others. They'd gone through that topic about a million times before, and he didn't need to hear it again. He just had to get his voice heard, so to speak. Rebecca was the one to break the silence after they'd finished the previous topic.
"I'll be getting some groceries once we're set up here. Desmond can take some time off until I'm back".
Relief! Maybe he could exit into the building and explore for once! He didn't get much of that nowadays. His excitement quickly faded when Lucy warned him about going out while there was still light outside. 'There goes that', he thought with an audible sigh. When was it gonna end? Would it ever? He could only hope to get a few moments alone before he'd be strapped back into the Animus later on.
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[Rebecca's P.O.V.]
She couldn't help but feel guilty when Desmond was held back from going out. She couldn't exactly put herself in his situation, but the thought of never getting to leave for a huff of fresh air pained her. She hurriedly collected her stuff and exited through the same door they entered. Trying to look as casual, she imagined herself being a citizen on her way home from another day at work. It felt strange, yet utterly freeing. Having a normal life in a city where no one knew her. What wouldn't she pay to get that right about now? 'Certainly not Baby', she thought with a huff. She would be foolish to think something like that would happen anytime soon.
It was about a ten minute walk to the store, and she quickly realized the severity of the chaos in the city. This district wasn't as bad as she'd read that others were, but the tension among the people walking the streets were growing on her. She subconsciously quickened her pace and flinched when she heard static static voice from a radio right beside her. Military...? She had tensed up so much she didn't even look where she was going. Struck with a slight panic, she fished up her phone from her pocket and unlocked it with trembling fingers. Her shoulders slouched with relief. The store was just around the corner of the building. She was just about to resume her walking when alarming shouts came from the radio. Static noise drained out most of what was said, but Rebecca could make out parts of it.
"Alert ... points ... highval ... arget ... reque ... back ... Red Zone!".
The Red Zone. She remembered reading something about the 'zones' before packing up from their previous hideout. It was a necessary security measure, even if it scared her to no end. They would be able to remain hidden with all the chaos in the city, but now when she thought about it, she wondered if she'd rather be taken by the templars than one of those 'things'. Pushing those thoughts out of her mind, she continued forward and around the corner of the building. Far up ahead she could see smoke erupting from one of the buildings. Chaos indeed. Pushing the door open, she focused her mind on getting what she needed and getting back to the others. Maybe this had been a bad idea after all.
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[Dana's P.O.V.]
Another big yawn painted Dana's face as she walked out of the bedroom. Her gaze fell to rest on the seemingly lifeless body slouching in her couch. Besides his pale skin and dark circles around his eyes, he looked to be at peace. The few times they actually met nowadays, Alex had always been sort of tense and always on the run, never stopping. To see him sitting with his head laid back and arms crossed over his chest ... sleeping? ... made the smallest of smiles creep onto her lips. It soothed her to see him calm for once. She began wondering though; why? Just two days ago he'd been hellbent on catching up to whoever did whatever they'd done to him. Nevertheless, she was glad to see him take it easy, even for just a moment.
She proceeded to the kitchen to prepare a meal when an explosion echoed from outside in the hallway. As fast as she was, Alex was faster. It barely took a second for her to back up and look around the corner to throw a glance at the door, but it was already flung wide open and her brother was nowhere to be found.
