Chapter Text
The world had turned into a living hell once more. Marcus could not explain how it happened so quickly. He had lain next to Dom, snuggled underneath a blanket with Dom’s arm resting over his stomach, his beard tickling his neck. Then Dom had placed a small kiss on his shoulder – like he did every night. Soon after, Marcus had closed his eyes …
Then he had opened them again. The world was not the same: there was nothing that indicated being on the Sovereign. The soft glow of the candle was gone, no shimmering of the sea shone through the small windows. Not even the steady rhythm of a ship moving through the water was present. It was all gone, and so was Dom.
Instead, the world had filled with horrors all seen before. The horrors no human being should have ever seen. The odour of dead bodies hit him first: fresh blood, and corpses which had decayed for a while. As well as the stinking smell as if a Locust was breathing down at him while laughing at Marcus. It smelled like hell, just like Nexus had done.
Just like years ago, the Locust didn’t hide their crimes. No matter where Marcus looked, he saw the corpses in various states of decay. Some only bones with bits of uniform still stuck to them. The whole ground was littered with pieces of his brothers in arms. A long time ago, people with a heart and soul, family and history. Now? All this had been ripped apart and scattered on the floor, creating a puzzle nobody would ever been able to solve.
Marcus could feel them under his boots as he walked on. The tightness inside his chest increasing with each step, with each wet sounds as he lifted his leg for another step. He almost prayed for the crack of a bone because that would mean the massacre had happened years ago. All of this was recent. All of this meant that Marcus walked through blood and other fluids he couldn’t consider. Things he was not allowed to think about if he wanted to continue walking, and Marcus knew that he could not stop. Not unless he also wanted to end up like this.
His vision had blurred some time ago. Yet, he could still recognised the two corpses which had been draped against the wall. What sick game was this? And who was laughing about it. Amused by Marcus being met by the dead bodies of his friends … his family … as they rotted away.
Cole was still wearing his uniform and so was Baird. Even the half-present head wore the welding glasses. Their eyes empty but looking at Marcus, asking one question: where have you been? Look what you have done … by abandoning us …
The bile rose inside of Marcus. He shook his head, he would never leave Delta behind, not if he could help it. Never! Marcus shook his head … how could he be sure about this, when he had left Gears behind? Selfishly trying to save his father. Even failing at that. He couldn’t do that again, not like this, not when Delta was the only family left even worth saving. So Marcus swallowed the bile in his mouth.
“Marcus!”
Instantly Marcus fighting instincts kicked in, overriding any regret and remorse as he heard the call for help. “Dom!”
But Marcus could not see him … Where are you, Dom!? Please, tell me! I am going to find you! He was alive, Dom was still alive, somewhere in this maze of nightmares. And he needed Marcus, his help. Shit. Marcus couldn’t let Dom down, the only person who had stuck to him all his life, and had still believed in him when the world had turned its back.
“Come on, Marcus!”
So Marcus started to run. Breathing hard, as he passed the long hall. Filled with more corpses hanging on the walls as if Locust considered them hunting trophies. And when Marcus focused longer on one, he recognised who they had been a long time ago. When a heart had still been beating inside of them. So he ran past the smiling bones of his father, his mother, Pad, Tai, and even Carlos.
All the people that had had to bite the dust because Marcus hadn’t been there in time. Some of them reached for Marcus, tried to caress his cheek with a meatless hand. Almost as if to ask to stay with them, and spare him the pain to watch the same thing happen to Dom.
“Marcus, please …. !” Then Dom screamed his lungs out, like a wounded animal caught inside a trap.
No, no, no! Marcus wouldn’t let this happen to Dom. Never to Dom! Shouting, Marcus kicked the skeleton hands back. He didn’t need them. He needed Dom! And when Marcus was free, he could turn around and see Dom.
Marcus couldn’t breathe for a moment – not seeing the lovely brown eyes, maybe some scrapes and bruises but still a small smile on Dom’s lips. Instead, the Locust had butchered him. Dom’s face was a maze of bruises and scars, one eye already swollen shut. Blood streaming down, as if those were his tears. He was on his knees, clothes bloody, and one arm had been ripped clean off.
Marcus could see it lying in the dirt, only a few meters away. And yet, the sheer force Dom displayed by still crawling on the floor, and looking at Marcus – pleading and asking for help – was astonishing. He was breathing, and fighting as much as he could, and Marcus would do the same for him …
“Dom!”
… because Marcus knew that it couldn’t end like this. It couldn’t end with Dom being destroyed beyond recognition and with luck Marcus could take his tags back home. No, Dom deserved better. He deserved to rest easy, and not with nothing remaining and the world forgetting about him.
Suddenly, Marcus felt a strong hand on his shoulder, digging claws into him. He knew instantly, that it had to be the same grub that had ruined Dom. So Marcus rammed his elbow into the bastard, he’d kill him, dig his nails into his neck, only to rip out their lung and spine.
But the grub didn’t cave in. Instead it laughed and laughed, shoving Marcus onto the ground. Snarling, licking its lips as it attacked Marcus. Fists flying to his face with Marcus barely able to keep up with the pace. It scratched at him, not caring which body part it caught. Marcus could feel his gut bleeding …
“Marcus, Marcus, please!” Dom pleaded.
Marcus felt the tears in his eyes, and unbelievable fear for Dom. He couldn’t dick around, he had to get Dom out of here and quickly. So Marcus took a punch, his teeth clattering against each other and with the grub’s fist by Marcus’ side, he packed it by the neck. Then he had control, and used the surprise to turn them around, Marcus pressing the goddamn beast into the ground, putting all his weight against its neck.
“Marcus, it’s me!”
He could barely hear Dom’s voice by then. Marcus knew that he shouldn’t take his eyes off the grub but Dom … Dom … Just for one moment, he looked at Dom. Dom who had fought against all the world had thrown at him, only to now lie in a puddle of his own blood, his chest barely rising and falling, his mouth moved but Marcus could tell that he was talking to ghosts.
Suddenly, Marcus lost everything. A hard punch landed against the side of his face and Marcus lost balance. He fell over, his shoulder smashing into the hard ground as he saw stars. The world turned, and for a moment, Marcus brain fooled him. Maybe to comfort him, he saw the room Dom and he shared on the Sovereign. A world that had a little warmth left. Unlike this reality.
When Marcus blinked, it was gone again. Instead, he felt like shit, his legs and arms clawed open, blood streaming from his body. If only, he could give it all to save Dom … but Dom was pale and didn’t move. Marcus used his remaining strength to rob over to him, leaving a trail of his own blood.
One day, someone might follow it, only to see their corpses and realise that they had died together. Somehow that removed the fear of death from Marcus, especially since it was invertible by now.
“I’m okay, Marcus …” Dom’s eyes were closed but he must have felt Marcus touching his cheek. “… it’s okay now.”
Just like Marcus, Dom must have also realised that they wouldn’t survive. It would end here. All of it.
“Please, Dom …” Marcus whispered, and Dom opened his eyes again. A brief smile flicked across his face as if he was trying to remember what Marcus looked like. To keep him in mind, even after the end. “… Please, forgive me.”
Marcus kissed his hand, his lips lingered. The fingers and bones were broken there, the skin cold but Marcus could not let go. Not even when he noticed that Dom’s eyes were empty. The blood had stopped flowing because Dom’s heart had stopped beating. His chest would never rise and fall again, since the last breath had left Dom’s body.
Not knowing what else to do, Marcus closed his eyes and rested his head on his shoulder. There was nothing left in this world that Marcus loved, so why should he fight to stay alive? He would wait for the silence here, for it to consume him and remove all the pain inside of him …
The Locust laughed even at that idea, a cold hand grabbed Marcus’ shoulder. He felt the scaly skin, the claws digging into his shoulder. Yet, the pain was far removed. Marcus barely opened his eyes, not seeing the grub but he looked at Dom’s commando knife.
Dom had always worn it with such pride, and Marcus could understand. It was particularly a part of Dom, one left inside this world while the rest of him was gone. And Marcus knew exactly what he would have to do with it.
With a speed that shocked Marcus, he grabbed the knife, twisted and rammed it right into the grub’s neck. Marcus closed his eyes as blood sprayed his face. Good. We’re taking you with us, bitch. Marcus watched as the blood seeped out of the wound, and breathing turned into a desperate gurgling sound as the blood started to fill its lungs. Serves you right to drown in your own shit.
An almost smile wanted to creep onto Marcus face, but at the same time as the blood flowed out if the monster, its skin turned pink: human. The bald scalp filled with hair as dark as the night, along with a beard. Suddenly, Marcus was looking into Dom’s beautiful eyes. They were filled with fear and panic, and much to Marcus’ horror he realised why: the knife that had been rammed into him, extremely close to his neck. Marcus’ hand was still on the handle. Just like in his dream but Marcus had missed by only a few inches.
Yet, Dom couldn’t speak nor breath, he was desperately reaching for his neck. A mere reflex to try and shut the wound. Marcus instantly let go of the knife. “Shit, shit, shit, Dom, shit.”
He wanted to scream. What the fuck have I do?! Dom’s fingers wandered to the knife, padding around the edges when he tried to cover the wound. It was all for no avail. The colour was draining from his skin, and …
“Dom!”
… collapsed. Marcus managed to catch him in time, gently resting him onto the bed. He resisted the urge to pull the knife out – knowing that it was acting as a cork to the wound. “Shit, fuck, Dom. Fuck!”
Dom always kept his knife within reach, and Marcus knew exactly where it had been. It was meant to protect them, not …
Marcus pressed his hands against the wound. “What did I do? What the hell did I do?!” Marcus began to panic. There were tears in Dom’s eyes, desperation and fear all played a mix, and yet, he grabbed Marcus’ lower arm, holding so tight onto that Marcus felt his skin break.
“You stay with me, Dom.” Marcus saw the blood pooling underneath Dom, saw it on his own hands. “You have to. I am so fucking sorry. I …”
Suddenly, Dom coughed. His body jerking, as he spit blood onto his own face. Shit. Dom was drowning in it. “Hold on. Just hold on.”
Marcus blindly reached for his tac/com, still watching as Dom coughed again and again. His bodies last resort to get some air into him.
“Shit. Fenix here! I need a doctor ASAP …” Then to Dom. “… just for one more minute, you gotta hold on …” Dom was trying, he really was. “… It’s Dom. He’s … I … shit, he’s T1. Hurry, or he’s going to die. I repeat …”