Chapter 9

Barbara was starting to get a bit worried now. It wasn't being in contact with the undead creatures so much as the sounds of gunfire that was coming closer and closer by each passing hour. She was terrified that the base would be overrun and all her research would be for nothing. She had heard some of the rumors spreading by the lower ranking officials that the President had given up his rhetoric about there being a terrorist bombing in New York. He had declared martial law and ordered everyone who had bite marks or signs of infection to by shot on site. She knew that her work or her fellow colleague's work had made it into his hands. She felt that trying to stop things this late in the game was likely to be futile.

She had been given another sample of subject #139 and noticed that after feeding for almost a full day it was starting to change its behavior. The bugs inside its head had stopped growing in size. The actual creature itself had stopped moving, even when presented with fresh meals. It just stood there with its jaw slack and its eyes unfixed. She would need to ask for an autopsy to be done, and was aware of several others that had been tested by feeding them various quantities of meat.

"Meat," she mused. "So that is what I have come to know them as, I see."

She placed her hand on her forehead, feeling rather drained. She hadn't had so much as a catnap since she had arrived at the base. She would ask for the autopsy to be preformed when she awoke. Maybe they would get to the bottom of this mystery soon.

Mike sped down the interstate hoping to reach whatever place his son felt was safe. He flicked on the radio to hear if any news was being reported.

"This is National Public Radio reporting. The President is advising that everyone close to any of the local shelters to head there immediately. If you are not close to a shelter you should barricade yourself inside your house. Under no circumstances should you be on the streets at this time. Once quarantine is lifted the curfew time will be set at..."

Mike clicked the radio off. It was the same broadcast he had heard earlier, simply on a loop. He looked in the rear view mirror to see his son sleeping. Luna however was wide awake, returning his gaze through the mirror. He felt a small chill run down his spine and wondered where this new feeling came from. Pushing it aside he forced a smile and looked up higher. He could see that Beth had finally cried herself to sleep. He knew this was going to be tough on her, but they didn't really have much choice anymore. He looked over at his wife and grinned. She almost looked like a little kid from this angle. She was sleeping peacefully and he could only hope that she would stay that way until the nightmare was over.

Glancing back at the road Mike steeled his nerves. He saw more of those things finding their way onto the interstate. They didn't seem to have any purpose or direction until they heard his SUV coming up the road. It was like they returned to life at that very moment and wanted to see what now caught their attention. As he zoomed past he could see them following him from a distance, until they faded away. He had noticed more cars on the road now that people had realized they weren't safe in the cities, despite what the recordings said.

Soon he would need to move to the back roads before he came to any major accidents. If it became impassible ahead it was possible he could he swarmed by those things and he certainly didn't want to risk that. He would drive a little longer still and pray that their luck would hold out.

David could feel his heart pounding as he continued to train in his alternate place. He wasn't quite sure what to call it. Hell, he wasn't even sure where it was. Was he in his head? Or maybe on another world? He had asked Luna but she wasn't sure as well. She simply referred to it as the training grounds.

He didn't figure this place mattered so much as what it could teach him in a short amount of time. He had felt drained in such a simple use of his powers before they had entered the car. He knew that the likely cause was simply the training grounds. He could feel a strange aura that surrounded his small area like a bubble. He was certain that he was able to draw power from it and that it was sustaining his training. He momentarily wondered what was outside of the aura but the thought was quickly swept away. He looked over at Luna and saw she was hard at work. He knew she didn't have to train like this, but was simply helping him refine his own abilities while he still could.

Luna held the small sword in her hand. Her Master had called it a Katana. She had asked him about silent weaponry and so far it was the most useful thing she had found yet. She could use guns with silencers, but she wasn't sure how they would actually attain them. She knew that she would probably have some trouble finding any sword-like weapons as well, but she always had her trusty knife.

<Master, now that you have mastered the basics here, would you like me to provide us with some targets?>

David smiled and nodded to Luna.

<Please do, I wasn't sure you could do that kind of thing here. I should have realized it was possible.>

Luna appeared to be deep in concentration and in front of her stood more than 50 shambling corpses. They were about 100 feet from her current location and they seemed to be moving closer.

<Luna, how will we manage this many foes?>

<Draw upon the power of the training grounds Master. It will let you channel your powers for longer than you think.>

He nodded and sat down, trying to focus his will. He envisioned Luna's muscles getting denser and her legs and arms moving faster. He pushed with his powers until he felt as if his head was going to pop. He held his ground and struggled against the power flowing through him.

Luna looked to the crowd in front of her and licked her lips. With her hair billowing out behind her she let out a primal scream and ran towards her foes. Like a woman possessed she cut a swath through them. The blade moved with a fierce determination, every cut was made to count. She tried to draw them away from David, but some kept breaking from the herd. She felt frustrated that she could not manage them all on her own.

With a downward stroke she cleaved one of them in two. The blood of her foes had stained her hands and face. She cut them down as she made her way back to her master. David looked to be straining at this point with several of the monsters getting closer and closer to him. Clawed hands reached for and scratched her. The worse offenders pulled back without arms. She forced her way through the remaining few creatures in time to see one of them bite down on her Master's shoulder.

Screaming in pain David was forced to let go of the transformation on Luna. Her speed returned to normal and a wave of exhaustion swept over her. David had been concentrating so hard on maintaining his contact with Luna that he had not noticed what was happening. He unholstered the 9mm and shot the closest creature to him in the head, ending its existence.

Luna finally reached him and with a wave of her hand all the creatures vanished. They had only managed to handle about 30 of them in total. Still, it wasn't a small feat for only two people to manage that much. Luna knelt before David.

<Prince, I have failed you. Had this happened anywhere but the training grounds and you would surely be dead. I am sorry I should have been watching you closer and... >

<That's enough Luna. It was partly my fault for not being aware of my surroundings. This is why we train Luna, so that these mistakes won't happen on the battlefield. I know that it is helping us. It is hard to describe the feeling, but it is as if the longer I am able to hold onto the power, the more I am able to control beyond my limits. I can actually feel my capacity growing larger. Let me transfer this bite over real quick.>

David concentrated and the wound appeared on Luna's shoulder. She showed no outward signs of pain and David quickly healed her wound. He silently wished he was able to just heal himself, but maybe he just lacked the power. He wiped his forehead and tried to regain his composure. Once he had caught his breath he stood up and asked Luna to summon more of the creatures.

<Let's start with 5, and then go up by 5 after that once they are cleared. Keep raising them until I hit my limit and stop them before they get to me.>

David raised the 9mm and checked the clip. He had Luna summon a few more full clips for him which he placed into his various pockets. He didn't have a military vest, but he knew he would want one eventually. He found that Luna's ability to summon things to aid in training inside this place was an incredibly valuable tool. He could train himself far more efficiently. The book had told him an interesting little fact about this place, and that was that you could literally slow down time while inside of the aura. He didn't know exactly how he was supposed to be able to do that, but as it seemed with all his abilities, it should come with time.

David looked at the approaching monsters and steadied himself. He would try and defend himself as best as possible to find his true limits. He knew he wouldn't be able to be some superstar combat genius like Luna, but he damn sure could take care of himself. He sighted up the first pussbag that felt into range and gently squeezed the trigger.