SET Initiative

Austin chuckled and shook his head.

"That's good. I like 'em tough."

He put his arm around her as she reassured him of everything.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. After everything... It's good to be okay."

Addison chuckled, opening her eyes to glance at him.

"Well, you're in luck then."

She stretched out on the mattress, wincing. Her leg spasmed, enough for her to wince and push at it with her hand. Ugh.

A few hours passed, and the children remained sleeping most of the day, as Addison dozed off and on. As the sun began to set in the late afternoon, she slowly sat up again, hand combing through her messy curls. She glanced over to Austin.

"Sorry, didn't realize I was so tired.."

Austin just smiled and nodded. He slowly sat back against the bed as well, letting Addison sleep. He tried to sleep as well, but it wasn't easy.

As the evening approached, Austin had thought about every possible variant scenario where they might make it out alive. There weren't many.

He rolled his shoulder and sat up slowly, looking over at Addison.

"You're good. It's good you got some rest." He looked out the window and squinted, leaning slightly forward.

Someone was outside. Someone was in the courtyard of the motel.

Austin turned back to Addison.

"Put on your armor," he said in a hushed voice.

Addison rolled her neck. She was about to respond when he whispered for her to put on the armor. She reached and snatched the watch from the nightstand, smacking it on her wrist. The armor smoothly coated her body, and the moment the weapons materialized, she tossed him the rifle, and grabbed the pistol from her thigh holster.

Very, very slowly, she stood, and crept to stand closer to the door. She listened, holding her breath without realizing it, glancing back at Austin.

Were Infected about to burst through their barricaded door?

She anxiously glanced to the far bed, where the four remaining children anodized huddled together, then back to Austin, and finally back to the door.

Austin took the rifle and shouldered it, following Addie's suit and looking out the window again.

Gone. He was seeing things.

He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was really out there, though...

"I saw someone outside. They weren't infected." Austin looked through the peephole and saw nothing. There was no one outside.

Austin looked over at Addison, confused. He was about to open the door when a deep, masculine voice came from behind them.

"Hello."

Addison shook her head, eyebrows furrowed. Maybe whoever it was had hidden in one of the other rooms.

She stepped away to let Austin look out the door, and she had just raised her pistol, ready to fire at anything that looked mildly infected, when..

What the hell?!

She spun around, pistol raised.

A man in a suit of armor slightly bigger than Austin's was would be standing in the middle of the room. He was bald, and very pale. His helmet was missing, and instead of the armor being dark blue/steel colored, it would be a bright green.

He held a pistol of his own, casually pointed at Austin's head.

A sinister smirk ran across his face.

"Did I-" he coughed, his voice seemingly transitioning into more of a growl. "Did I scare you?"

Upon closer inspection, thin lines similar to the ones in Austin's shoulder appeared just above the neckline of his armor.

His eyes were red.

"I apologize if I'm intruding. I couldn't just leave you without first dropping in to say hi."

Austin's rifle was pointed at the strange man, his face molded into a scowl.

Realizing where the weapon was pointed, Addt raised hers to point at the insider's skull. Though she had gone quite pale, her aim was unwavering.

"Lower your weapon."

She spotted the vein-like lines..They looked like Austin's. She took a step forward.

"Who are you?"

She was terrified. This man had somehow gotten into their barricaded room, and was not only pointing a gun at Austin, but he was feet from the sleeping children.

The stranger was simply amused by Addison's tenacity.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm fine right like I am."

His weird growl-voice transitioned mid-sentence back to his seemingly "normal" voice.

"I'm the reason he's still alive." He nodded at Austin, not breaking eye contact with Addison. "His antidote was a miracle. Unfortunately, it appears to have been a fluke. I need more subjects to test on. You two, unfortunately, are not prime candidates..."

His voice trailed off as his head slowly tilted like a swivel towards the sleeping boys.

"Them, on the other hand..."

Addison furrowed her eyebrows, puzzled gaze flickering from the man, to Austin, then back.

"You put that thing in his neck?" She was about to say more, when she heard what he said. Only then did her hand start to shake.

After shooting Austin a terrified look, she held out her hands, pistol still on him, the other held up.

"Wait, please...please don't take them, don't do anything to them."

Austin didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

The bolt of plasma energy hurtled through the air, straight into the stranger's chest. Instead of dropping dead on the spot, he cocked his head, frowned, and then smirked again.

"Mistake."

A bolt of lightning shot from the stranger's chest straight at Austin, launching him through the door. Turning to Addison, he tilted his head forward in a hat tip gesture.

"Don't worry, they'll be safe. Your friend knows where to find me if you're really desperate."

And then it was as if he and the boys were never there.

Addison flinched as Austin was blown through the door, and she rushed to drag him back inside, lest the infected come around and spot him.

Realizing the stranger had taken the boys, she screamed.

"NO!".

She dragged Austin inside and ran to the bed the boys had been sleeping on.

"No..please, no."

She fell to her knees, struggling to keep a hold of herself before she turned to Austin. Tears poured down her cheeks, and she mashed buttons on her arm until her helmet disappeared, bending over him, hands holding hos face.

"Austin?"

Austin remained still and silent. He wasn't breathing. Mistake, indeed, it seemed that unless something was done fast he wouldn't be around for much longer.

Addison's visor would begin to overlay vital signs and directions for first aid onto her field of vision before she dematerialized the helmet. Austin had a large burn on his chest, which tore a hole through his shirt. Plasma scarring.

Realizing he wasn't breathing, she quickly brought her helmet back. She knew basic first aid, and she knew CPR, but had never had the issue of someone being wounded on their chest when they needed CPR.

To hell with it.

Reaching for the pillow nearest her, she ripped a piece of fabric from the case, laying over the burn. Get him breathing, then worry about the burn, was basically the visitor's instructions. It indicated with a flash to look in a pouch of sorts on her right thigh, and when she did, a mask with an airbag attached, folded up, was found. Just like lifeguard training.

She quickly popped it open, settled the mask against his fAce, and cherry carefully began the chest compressions, timing herself, and every now and then, she stopped to squeeze the bag, filling his lungs with air.

"Don't you dare die on me, Austin. Don't you dare, or so help me, I will kill you."

She continued on, until the information in her visor stopped beeping. She paused for a moment. Had it worked?

After much effort from Addison, Austin breathed in suddenly, his eyes open.

"What the hell..." He looked up at Addison quickly and then at his surroundings. His breathing sped up, and gradually slowed.

His gaze finally settled on Addison's face through the visor. "How'd you know I hate being dead?"

Addison sight in relief. Before she knew what she was doing, she demaaterialized her helmet, bent, and, unless he managed to stop her, briefly pressed her lips down to his for a few moments, before sitting back up.

"Just a feeling, I've heard being dead isn't that pleasant." She lifted the cloth from his chest, then tugged his shirt up enough to inspect the burn. "This isn't gonna heal quick, Austin.."

Austin didn't do anything to hinder Addison's access to his face. It was surprising, but despite the lack of air for the past minute or so, he didn't mind it being taken away by her. He smiled at her when she sat up. The burning in his chest quickly became unpleasant, and his smile became a frown.

"Near-death experiences and long-healing wounds and I have a complicated relationship." Austin struggled to sit up, and immediately fell back down. His spine buzzed.

"Is... Is my back supposed to buzz?"

"...Buzz? Like..Buzz..like a phone?"

She immediately grew concerned.

"Just.. stay still. Can you wiggle your feet for me?" While she waited for him to do that, or try to, she grabbed a bottle of water unopened from the nightstand nearing where the kids had been, and after dampening the cloth, she pressed it bAck to the wound. She would have to find a way to ease the pain.

"No.. I mean buzz like one of those prank handshake toys."

Austin 's feet moved fine until Addison pressed the cloth to his chest.

"AH! Son of a-" He bit his tongue until he had grown accustomed to the pain. "That hurts worse than the stab wounds. Damn."

Austin's eyes were wider than normal: He was panicking. He was trying not to, but he was.

"I can't see straight. I feel... Fuzzy..." He could barely shake his head but he closed his eyes for a half second.

Addison shook her head. She didn't know what was wrong, and she didn't know what to do. After a moment, she thought of something. Not much, but it was something.

"Austin, that chip in your neck..is it attached to your spine?"

Electricity and electronics did not always go together if there was too much, so it was a thought, maybe it could somehow be malfunctioning now. Seeing he was starting to panic, she combed through his short hair and shook her head.

"Just shut your eyes and be still."