Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Swallowtail ❯ Swallowtail ( One-Shot )

Title: Swallowtail

Author: Kleptomaniac Can Opener

Rating: R

Pairing: Heero x Duo

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing belongs to Sunrise.

 

Summary: High school is hell on earth. Throwing flesh-eating zombies into the mix is just adding insult to injury.

 

NOTES: For H4t3d3pt for the Halloween Story Swap. :)

This is heavy AU, mainly because I haven't seen the series in years. XD

 

And for [Prompt #100 - Rose petals on the floor], [Prompt #117 - Blood splatter on the wall], and [Prompt #166 - "I'm ready for a cigarette."] at Literati_Perverati.

groups.yahoo.com/group/literati_perverati

 

~*~*~*~

 

I wanted to follow the butterfly over the cliff.

It was a thought that had crossed my mind just the other day. The main reason being that's where my Gundam is hidden.

 

The Preventers Corporation is a secret organization dedicated to keeping the peace in the world. Why they picked up an L2 street brat like me is still a mystery, but I'm not complaining. Well, I am. I mean, they just made me go undercover at a high school. I'm twenty and they're making me pose as a senior. I don't mind going on missions where I get to blow the hell outta everything, but I HATE the ones like these. I can't even use my Deathscythe!

 

I groan as the snooze alarm goes off. I turn it off and climb out of bed, as much as I would have liked another five minutes of doing nothing. But if I take any longer to join my partner, Heero will throw a bitch-fit. For a quiet guy, he can be demanding.

 

I pull on my uniform, fix my braid, and grab a donut for breakfast as I hurry to meet my cohort outside.

 

Heero Yuy and I were partnered up when I joined the Preventers. He already had years of field experience, even though we're the same age, because he's the kid of a career Preventer. He's good at everything. He's even known as the Perfect Soldier, so the heads figured he'd be a great trainer.

I thought he was a royal prick during our first six months together. It was worse than pulling teeth getting him to open up.

 

That's all history now. After the big surprise of being requested to remain Heero's partner, I've counted on nobody else to watch my braided back. And I don't mind watching Heero's, even if I still don't understand his obsession with spandex. It does make it fun to watch his ass though.

 

“Stop daydreaming.”

“Sorry, sorry.” I throw Heero a grin and make myself go back to looking for abnormalities in one of the many yards this place has. We received information that there was a secret OZ base in the area of Ipswich, and we've narrowed it down to this private school just outside the seaside town of Blitzstowe.

 

“There's an abnormal number of butterflies.” I roll my eyes.

“It's that time of year, Heero. There's going to be bunches of them wherever flowers are right now.”

“What flowers?”

“Huh?” I look around, and lo and behold he's right. There aren't any flowers around here. “That's weird. Aren't places like this supposed to have flowerbeds and junk because it's better for the students?” Heero's eyes narrow, then his hand snaps out and kills one with a quick flick of his wrist. “Geez, Heero! Don't tell me you're one of them kids who pulls the wings offa butterflies! That's just messed up!” He picks the fallen insect off the ground, examining it before standing and heading off without a word. I quickstep to catch up. “Okay, I give. What are you doing?”

“I'm going to research the species.”

“Why?”

“I doubt it's native.”

 

That would be weird, but how significant could it be? It could be some dumbass let his butterfly collection get away and now they're running around having babies.

 

The librarian is out at the moment, and Heero's glare sends the two freshmen trying to get pass the parental lock on one of the computers to look at porn running for their lives. He sits at the computer on the far-end of the room and has already pulled up several links on butterflies when I take the seat next to him.

 

“I thought so.” Heero turns the monitor for me to see more easily. “This is a Black Swallowtail, a butterfly native to North America.”

“North America? How the heck did it get here?”

“That is the question.”

 

A breeze comes in through the window. “Hey, there's another one.” We watch the little fella land on the table, then it starts to shake in spasms. “Guess he's about to die.” Heero turns back to the computer. I'm about to read over his shoulder when I notice, well, something. “What the hell?”

The small body jerks around. The proboscis falls off as two pointy bits push through. “Mandibles? What the fuck?”

“Duo.” Heero draws my attention to the butterfly he had killed. It's having spasms too. Before I know it, it's grown its own set of pinchers and is standing on its feet like it never died.

 

“This is freaky.” The words are just out of my mouth when my survival instinct makes me jump back. Powdered wings brush my nose. “That thing just attacked me!”

“Close the window!”

“You don't have to tell me twice!” I dash over and slam the window shut, locking it in place. And not a moment too soon, several of the mutated butterflies ram themselves against the glass. I hope they're dead.

 

SLAM!

 

I jerk around. Heero just crushed the insects with a book, grinding them into the table just to be sure.

 

“What the hell was that? Those little bastards set off every survival alarm I have!”

“I never seen them before either,” Heero admits as he slides the flatten bug carcass into the book and securely closes it. The blook is slipped into his back pocket. “But it's proof that something abnormal is going on. The lab must be here.”

“No shit.”

 

“AHH!” Screams echo up and down the hallways.

Fuck! With this nice weather windows are opened all over the place!

 

Heero grabs the fire extinguisher off the wall and tosses it to me. “Here!”

“On it!” I run out with Heero, my partner grabbing the extinguisher in the hall. I go right and he runs left. We have to get as many of these little fucks as we can, who knows what a bite from the mutant butterflies will do! “Take this!”

 

I spray the chilling foam on the insects, and not to disappoint, they drop to the floor stone dead. I step on them just to be sure. “Don't just stand there!” I yell at the students gawking at me. “Either grab an extinguisher or get the fuck outta way!” They jump into action, their flight or fight instincts finally kicking in. Kids are too soft these days!

 

It feels like an eternity before the screams stop. The whole school is practically covered in foam, making the place an ice box. Half of the civilians almost passed out from the carbon dioxide before it was deemed safe to reopen the windows.

 

There are so many people being treated at the same time that the gym is being used as the nurse's station. The nurse and several volunteers are helping to clean up the victims of the mutant butterfly attacks. One poor guy has to have his whole arm bandaged up from multiple bites. I hear that several quarter-size chucks of meat were ripped out.

 

In the corner I can see the Dean talking on her cell phone. Most likely, she's calling in for medical help. I wouldn't be surprised if we're evacuating in the morning, if not sooner.

 

Heero motions for me to follow him out. We've already satisfied the nurses that we weren't bitten, so no one tries to stop us.

 

“We'll leave before dawn.”

“I hate it when we do early mornings,” I complain. “It's almost pointless sleeping at all.” Now we could do something instead of sleeping... “Hey, Heero.”

“No, we'll need our strength.”

“Aww, c'mon! I haven't even said what yet!”

“No. You'll sleep tonight.” I know I'm scowling.

“Spoilsport.” A smile flickers on his lips. “Stop smiling, asshole. I know you love torturing me, but stop being obvious about it.” That little grin of his stays put, not that I expected him to actually stop. “You're a jerk, you know.” If I didn't love the bastard, I'd smack it off his face.

 

I'm not about to give up so easily. We haven't had sex since we got to this damn school!

 

Heero's room is closer, so that's where I make my move. I shove past him and kick the door closed behind us.

 

“Duo.”

“Be irritated all you want, stick in the mud, but I'm not leaving until I get some hanky-panky.” I toss my shirt aside and grin at Heero from over my shoulder. “You're my POS, get used to it, soldier-boy.”

“POS?”

“Prisoner of Sex.” If I didn't know him so well, I wouldn't be able to tell he's trying hard not to laugh. It annoyed the hell outta me at first, but I think it's a pretty cute trait of his now.

“Is a strip search to be performed?”

“Damn straight. Get naked, buddy.”

 

“You're incorrigible.” Heero uses his `quick release' method, getting his clothes off faster than one would think a uniform could be removed. Heh, just shows he's as horny as I am after all!

“Yeah, you keep saying that and I still don't know what it means.” I kick off my pants and boxers. “Now stop stalling and fuck me. Whoa!” Heero suddenly pins me to the bed, looming over me. I'm not complaining about the view.

“Extremely incorrigible.”

 

I don't bother leaving his room afterwards. Nope, I make myself at home on Heero's bed and hog the covers while he types away on his laptop. Why he has to do that even in bed, I don't know. Workaholic. I should put him in my special rehabilitation program, guaranteed to bring out the slacker in anyone.

 

“Are you seriously working?” Cause, you know, it's something I've been meaning to ask for a while. Whenever I think he's done with work, he always seems to have something more to write about. They can't all be reports!

“I'm doing recreation.”

“Seriously?!” I sit up and prop my chin on his shoulder to have a look. “Why didn't you ever tell me you write stories?”

“It never occurred to me.” I snort. That's just like him.

 

I settle back down on my side of the bed. “Read it to me.”

“Hm?”

“Your story. Read it to me, like a bedtime story.”

“I don't believe it's any good.”

“Sure it is. You're good at everything.” That rare expression of uncertainty crosses his face. It makes me want to cuddle him like a puppy. “Go on. It can't be worse than anything I could write, and you know I'm terrible.” I grin when his lips turn up.

 

His voice rumble low as he begins reading out loud. My eyes start to droop at the soothing, melodic tone. You wouldn't know it from looking at him, but Heero has a decent singing voice, and it comes through at times like this. I curl up against his hip and fall asleep easily.

 

“Duo.”

“Nh?” I wake to Heero's shaking my shoulder and hissing my name in my ear. I would complain, but I can immediately feel that something is wrong in the air. You don't survive on L2 or in this job without developing a sixth sense for danger.

 

I pull my school uniform on. “Any idea what the problem is?”

“No.” Then there's a cry that's cut off almost as soon as it started. We don't hesitate. Heero grabs his flashlight and we're running out the door.

 

We hurry down the hall with just the flashlight to guide us. I hope to hell that it isn't more butterflies. Fighting them like this won't put things in our favor.

 

There's a girl up ahead, hunched over with her back to us. I call out. “Hey! You okay?” There's something strange going on. Her movements don't look right. They're jerky in that hammer-to-the-knee fashion. Heero focuses the light on her. “Did you hear me?” She finally looks up, and my stomach drops to my shoes. “What the hell?”

 

Her face is covered in blood, her eyes dead like useless marbles sitting in the sockets of her skull, what's left of a hand hangs out of the girl's mouth. She grins the wicked grin of the insane, her head and shoulder twitching in a muscle spasm. Then she's up and running straight for us like a track athlete. “Rrah!”

“Oh fuck!” I dive to the side, but Heero holds his ground. She shouts her battle cry again and homes in on Heero like she can smell him.

 

The girl lashes out to claw at his eyes, but he steps out of the way. Then quicker than a viper, Heero's hands are on either side of her head.

 

CRACK!

 

She falls to the ground, truly lifeless with her neck snapped.

 

“What the fuck?!” I hiss in a harsh whisper. If there're more of those things around, I don't want to attract their attention.

“She was one of the butterfly victims.” Heero matches gazes with me, my eyes widening at his words.

“Oh shit.” The memory of the butterfly mutating before our eyes flashes through my mind. If something like that is happening to the wounded... Extra double shit.

 

We run back and grab our gear from the rooms. Man, I want my Gundam.

 

It doesn't take long to find the school covered in flesh-eaters and the corpses of their hapless victims. If these were the slow-ass zombies in the movies they would be easier to deal with, but this breed has all of the physical abilities of the humans they used to be. Not a huge deal until it's the freakin' track star. “Stay still, you bastard!” I strike him in the jaw with my palm, dislocating it, which isn't a big hairy deal when the damn zombie doesn't care about pain. But it does slow him down just enough for me to drop kick him in the shoulder, putting his ass on the ground. “Say goodnight!” I stomp on his head, crushing the skull. “Eww, yuck.”

 

“Stop fooling around.” Heero runs pass me.

“I'm not fooling around.” I catch up to him. “Think anyone else is still human?”

“No.”

“I didn't think so. Science labs then?”

“Ah. We must contain the situation then contact headquarters. They'll likely request we capture one.”

“Dead or extra dead?” I crack. He stifles a snorty sound.

 

Not to sound paranoid, but I think the leper bastards are attracted to us. It's like they can smell dinner running around. “Heero.”

“I know. It's not you.” Well, that's nice to know. He reloads his gun before we turn the corner.

 

This is so messed up! High school is already hell on earth. Throwing flesh-eating zombies into the mix is just adding insult to injury!

I want to scream in frustration as I blow the heads off of some too young freshmen. These kids didn't deserve this!

 

We stop two hallways down from the labs to case the area and to catch our breaths. There are a few scattered walking dead wandering around, but they're not hunting down dinner by the looks of things.

 

“The gym.” I nod.

“Good idea.” Most of the doors are already locked. If we round them up in there, it'll be easier to get rid of the ghoul squad.

“I'll round them up. You make the bombs.” I grin.

“Heh, you know it!”

 

We both check our reserves. Damn, I wish I had brought more clips now. We'll have to conserve our bullets somehow. Killing one or two of these guys by hand is fine, but if there's a mob of them...

 

“Hmm...” I smirk. “Heero, the vents.”

“Acknowledged.” I kneel and lets Heero stand on my leg to reach the grate more easily. He works it off and we're in the vent systems not a minute later. While the undead horde may have retained their physical abilities, their mental ones are definitely gone. They're all instinct and no brains.

 

“See you at the gym.”

“Watch your back, Duo.” We separate at a fork. It's kind of creepy by myself now, with the groaning of the zombies down below. I keep hoping to hear a voice or to see someone with some real life in them, but our initial guess seems to have been on target. Most of the kids were returned to their rooms to recuperate... their roommates would have been their first victims, and with pretty much everyone having been deep asleep, it would have spread out from there like a wild fire.

 

Poor bastards.

 

I make it to the science lab. After making sure it's clear, I kick the grating off and drop down. The smell of blood and early decay is thick in here. I'll be damn surprised if I'm alone... I don't see anyone, the zombie that was here probably left just moments ago.

 

I grab the chemicals and containers. Funny how something I learned on the streets is coming in handy here. The L2 streets are damn rough. Learning how to make a bomb out of anything you could find was a necessity every kid learned.

 

My instincts scream bloody murder. I force myself not to whip out my gun. Not to conserve the bullets, but to keep from blowing myself up. It's not really something I want to do.

 

A low growling fills up the room, and there's the soft click of some sharp tapping on the floor. Oh shit. No no no, you can't tell me the bastards got the security guy's dog Chip. This is something out of Resident Evil!

 

From behind the teaching counter, the large German Sheppard stalks out. He must have been under the desk. He lifts his nose to the air, confirming that he picked up my scent. So the zombies must all have dead eyes. The fact that they're blind will come in handy, but that means pretty much shit when it's Cujo.

 

I stay still and hold my breath. He's blind, and I must stink of zombies and chemicals. If I play my cards right... I need the first attack. I'll have to finish him off in the initial strike or those claws and teeth are going to rip me a new one.

The people here were changed just from bites. If he wounds me, I'll become one of them.

 

Assuming I'm not dog food first.

 

Chip swivels his ears around. Never have I been this intimidated by a dog in my life, not even when I was a kid and I knew the bastards had orders to maul me. He sniffs the air and takes a step towards me, his claws clicking. I just have to stay still until he's close enough...

 

Suddenly zom-dog growls and jumps right at me!

I duck down, hoping he's as blind as I think he is. Chip sails right over me. I don't waste the opportunity. I whip around and grab his tail, yanking hard to swing his face right into the corner of the counter table.

 

Bone cracks and Chip yelps, but he's not down yet. I grit my teeth and swing him into it again. There's another crack and his body goes limp. I let go of the tail that had wagged at me just the day before and back away. “Damn... If animals are affected by this too, we could be so screwed.” I really don't want to get attacked by zombie squirrels or something. It's like some B-rated horror.

 

I finish mixing my bomb juice, pack it up, and climb back into the ventilation system to join Heero in the gymnasium. I try not to look out the grates this time. It's not a pretty sight out there.

 

One of these days, I'm going to get into Heero's head and see where exactly he keeps all of his crazy ideas. Somehow, he managed to rig himself a sort of hammock swing in the middle of the room, several feet above the ground so his zombie fans can't get to him. He has something next to him, but I can't really see what it is. It looks like some sort of control panel. I wave to him after I remove the grate. “Ready when you are!” He nods and makes a sharp, piercing whistle.

 

The ghouls go nuts! They come running into the gym in swarms, trying to track down the whistler. Fortunately, they're all blind and can't see him just above their heads. As soon as they tangled themselves into a thick crowd, I toss the bombs.

 

The roar of explosions, screaming and the sound of fire burning is deafening. If I weren't looking right at it, I would never have seen the barricades Heero had rigged to block off the doors. I figured he had to have done something like that. If there's one thing that man knows how to do, it's how to cover all of the bases.

 

I cover my nose and mouth from the stench. I've seen worse on L2, but god the smell I will never get used to.

 

Eventually the screaming and the movement stop. All that's left are the crispy charred bodies of the zombie student body and faculty. It's right out of a bad horror. I drop down from the vent and use a discarded baton to poke each of the bodies in turn, making sure they're dead. Heero jumps to the floor to do the same. There's the sound of crackling as he crushes fried dead guy underfoot.

 

“We'll search for stragglers next.” I nod in agreement. We don't need an epidemic of zombificatioin.

“Let's hit the roof,” I suggest as I toss the makeshift barricade off the closest door and exit into the somewhat less revolting air of the hallway.

 

We don't run into anymore as we search the halls and peer out of the windows. It looks like we managed to get rid of all of them. But better to be safe than sorry.

 

Heero steps in front of me to open the door to the roof, gun ready. He kicks the door and rolls out. I dive after him to cover his back.

Empty.

Thank God for small miracles. Then I see something that definitely doesn't belong.

 

“What the fuck?” I can't stop staring at it. The school grounds are encased in a giant fucking dome. Why didn't we hear something this big going up?! The machines used to control that thing should have been loud! Something like this couldn't have gone up during the short time we were in the gym, could it? “You've got to be fucking kidding me!”

“We have no choice but to contain the situation ourselves.”

“Fuck! And we can't get to our Gundams!”

“Calm down, Duo.”

“I am calm! Can't we stay up here and wait for the Preventers to notice we don't check in on time?”

“Negative. We must eliminate the threat, discover the source if possible, then remove the dome to regain communications.”

“Dammit, I knew you'd say that.” I listen to the door to make sure it's clear on the other side before opening it and charging down the stairs.

 

“There's only one place we haven't searched.” I nod at his words.

“The Dean's office.”

 

It looks like we really did get the last of the flesh lovers in the fire bomb. It's eerily quiet in the many halls that stink of blood and death. Just yesterday they were alive with the chatter of students and faculty.

 

Already having been in the office when we were first registered into the school, we have a basic idea of where to start looking. We turn over anything that could be a switch and screw with her desk for any hidden secrets. “Heh, that Dean was a drinker.” I snicker as I hold up the figurine that's hiding whiskey inside. “Huh?” There's a strange dip in the floor near where I'm kneeling. I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't happen to be at this angle.

“What is it?”

“Well well. She might not have been a drinker after all.” If my eyes aren't fooling me, the bottom of this figurine matches that notch. I place the whisky doll inside, and sure enough, there's a click. The entire desk slides away with a swooshing sound, revealing a hidden staircase. “Bingo.” The right corner of Heero's lips turn upwards.

“Good job.” I grin and toss my braid back over my shoulder.

“Nothing less from the best.”

 

With guns ready and our wits about us, we carefully go down the stairs and into the belly of who knows what. These secret labs have a really bad habit of having nasty surprises for unexpected visitors like us. And if down below is anything like it was here up top... Well things are probably gonna suck to high heaven.

 

The stairs end in a hallway which leads to a door. Pretty basic. Heero exams the keypad that's on the right wall, then pulls a hidden wire from his watch which he plugs into the pad. I wait for him to break the code to get us in, and true to form, he doesn't disappoint me.

 

The door slides open, allowing the smell of death, blood and decay, and oddly enough, flowers to waft in. Heero takes points and steps through first.

 

There are rose petals on the floor. This just keeps getting weirder. I can't see where they came from, but I get the feeling there are more of those fucking butterflies around. Heero seems to be thinking the same thing, his sharp cobalt eyes are scanning the area for the pesky fuckers.

 

I swallow and try to locate a fire extinguisher or anything that could be used against a swarm of the bastards. Not finding anything so far. Not good.

 

Heero motions to a door. I nod and take position to cover his back. The metal slides open without complaint, revealing an office space. Well, this just might be able to tell us something.

 

The place smells like a normal office mixed with pipe smoke, said pipe is sitting on a holder on a side table, so it's safe to say nothing went on in here. There are papers and files all over the place, and a computer trapped in sleep mode. Heero goes to the machine and I start shifting through the paperwork and anything else of interest.

 

“Damn, this place was doing some shit.” I'm no genius, but I can recognize genetic experiments when I see them. It's a disturbing pattern. They started off with simple stuff, pretty run-of-the-mill for the type of study. Checking to see what genes controlled colors and patterns, then they moved on to features, then behavior. “What the heck is this?” I don't recognize this sort of data. It's still about genetics, but that's all I can say.

“There goal was to create a superior human brain.”

“What?” I look up at Heero's words. My partner locates empty memory discs and starts downloading files.

 

“OZ must be attempting to create ultimate soldiers for their armies.”

“That isn't correct. This lab is neither OZ nor the property of anyone else the Preventers would care about.” Our guns are pointing at the speaker before his first syllable was even complete.

“State your name and designation,” Heero orders without batting an eye.

“I'm Professor Keds Adder, and I was head of this research facility.”

“Was? Got booted or something?” I ask. This guy makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I've looked into the eyes of plenty of super intelligent men and women, my partner being one of them, but this guy... Something vital is missing in his eyes.

“Booted? Oh, no no, of course not. There was, however, an unfortunate lab accident that caused my colleagues here to expire.” He plucks up the pipe from its holder.

“Expire? What the hell were they, milk?”

 

“What is the true purpose of this lab?” Heero cuts in. “What were you experimenting on?” He clicks the safety off his gun, and the scientist finally begins to look nervous.

“We were experimenting to see how to evolve mankind.”

“What?” Now I understand the basics of evolution. The lucky and best suited survive to pass on their genes and the rest die out. But you can't just MAKE something evolve, can you? Are all those kids and teachers zombies because of some crackpot theory?

 

“Confused? Perhaps I should explain.”

“Damn straight you'll explain!” I shout. I'm tired of this bullshit pussyfooting! Professor Adder clears his throat and lights his blasted pipe.

“Throughout history there have been records of people with abilities not found in others. Accelerated healing, telekinesis, telepathy, the list goes on. But even after we broke the DNA code, we only had a limited understanding of how their genes determined these abilities. Oh, we've had moderate success in some fields, but overall we haven't gotten far. However, this project, Project Butterfly Effect--” I cut him off.

“Went out of fucking control and turned a bunch of innocent kids into a horror flick!”

“That is regrettable,” is all Professor Snakeass has to say. I would punch him if Heero would stop holding me back.

 

“Is there a cure?” Heero questions, his eyes intense. Usually that look makes bigger men piss in their pants, but this Adder guy is such a dick it doesn't faze him.

“No. However...” He pauses, drawing a breath from his pipe. I'm tempted to punch him.
“However, if I can retrieve my research notes, I should be able to correct the matter.”

 

“And your notes are where?” Heero's gun isn't wavering from its position on Adder's face. The scientist takes another long draw.

“They're in my personal research room. If I could get in, I could similarly get out without any problems.”

“Good. Then we'll follow you and get back top, locking the last of the zombies down here.”

 

“There's a dilemma with that.” I growl and shake my gun at Adder. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows hard.

“It better be a damn good one.”

“The escape pod only has room for one. Also, the isolation shield cannot be deactivated from the outside.”

“That's just fucking great.”

“You will have to make your way to the control room and enter the deactivation code. I wouldn't suggest that until after my former co-workers have been dealt with.”

“No shit, Detective Conan. With the locals coming, we can't have much time to get all this shit done.”

 

“No one's coming.” I glance to Heero for an explanation. “The computer records indicate that Dean Farrel worked with Adder. She wouldn't have called for outside assistance.”

“Double shit.”

 

People don't generally look up unless they have to. Who knows when the locals will notice the dome decorating their horizon. While not having to worry about them is a relief, it also means that the news will take longer to reach the ears of Preventer Headquarters. We really are in this alone.

I want Deathscythe.

 

With no other choice, we sketch out a plan that gets Adder to his research notes and us to the central control room. “We'll need time to eradicate the undead. Is it possible to program the shield to lower at a specific time?” Heero pins the man with his cold stare, Snakey nods.

“It's fairly simple.”

 

I study the map further as they go over the details of that. We already located the ammo supply room that was originally for their security guards. Heero and I will be able to refresh ourselves on weapons there. The only good thing I've heard so far from this guy is that there were exactly ten scientists, including himself and the Dean, and thirty guards. We had worse odds upstairs. My big worry are those damn experiments that are now running around loose.

 

“Okay, we have butterflies from hell. What else should we be expecting, Adder?” The man leans against the desk, puffing his pipe. I want to smash his face in so bad.

“If the Papilio rutulus have reached the animal cages, then rabbits, rats, birds, cats, dogs, and monkeys.”

“Aw fuck.”

“The perimeter around them is reinforced. Unless they managed to break the shatterproof glass they're encased in, you should not have to worry.”

“You could have said that first.”

 

Heero points to an area on the map. “Do these have a hose?” I crane my neck to see what he's talking about. They're water tanks.

“Ah, yes. I do believe so.”

“What is the PSI?”

“It's not really my specialty, but I would hazard between 3000 and 5000 PSI.”

 

Oooh, I see where Heero is going with this. “My man, that is an excellent plan.” I know I'm grinning my maniac smile from how Adder backs away a cautious step. Heero smirks in return.

“Ah. We'll lure the ones we don't eliminate along the way here, then take them out with the pressure system.”

“Ooh yeah, baby!”

 

There's blood splattered on practically every wall we pass by as we escort Professor Dumbass to his private lab. We can hear the moans and groans through the vents and around the corners, but fortunately none of the zombie crew come our way.

 

As soon as we're in his lab, Adder zips around the place placing chips, discs, and papers into a suitcase. It's silent except for the man's hurried shuffling. I tap my toe for something to do. I wish he'd hurry up so we can get this mission over and done with. Man, my report's gonna look like a science fiction story.

 

“That's everything. My escape pod is in the side room there.” Heero pins him with his stare. I love it when he does that.

“Where will you come up?”

“By the south gate.” Under normal circumstances, a guy could make a clean getaway from there. Of course, with the dome up, he's not going anywhere.

“Heh, you better hope we really did get all the zombies up there, doc.” Not that I'd feel bad if he got eaten or anything. I butt my gun against the underside of his chin. “You ARE telling the truth about your arrival point, right? Cause I can kill you right here and not feel guilty about it.” Snakey swallows hard. I can see the sweat beading his brow.

“It's the truth. We never thought to have the pods go out any further. A situation of this magnitude never occurred to us.”

“Yeah, shows just how smart you dicks really are.”

 

The look on his face is priceless.

Adder is out of our hair soon enough. Even if the bastard does manage to run off, between me and Heero, we could track his sorry ass down no matter where he goes. And that's not even involving the rest of the Preventers who would be VERY interested in him too. Now that we know he exists, nothing could stop us from finding his sorry ass.

 

Getting to the Arms Supply isn't going to be as easy as it was getting to this crumby office. We can hear the plodding footsteps and dead voices of the undead outside of the door. They were probably attracted to the sound and vibrations of the escape pod taking off.

 

We both check our bullet count. “I'm down to ten, Heero.”

“I have fifteen.” Okay, that's twenty-five bullets between the two of us. Things aren't looking too gruesome.

 

Heero puts his ear to the door. “I only hear two to the left. One has an injured leg.” I cock the hammer of my gun.

“He won't have to worry about that soon enough.”

 

On a silent count, the door is opened and we jump out. The zombies are two of the guards. Their flesh is decaying and oozing with blood and infection through the tears in their black uniforms. Two quick shots and both are down for the count.

 

Twenty-three bullets left.

We hurry our asses towards the storage room. There's no chance in hell that noise didn't attract more of the bastards.

This is going to be a long night.

 

We rush through the corridors, not even stopping when we take the zombies out.

20 bullets.

19 bullets.

18...

17...

Six left in my clip. That damn map better have been right!

 

“Over there.” I look over Heero's shoulder and nod.

“Yeah, I see it. The coast looks clear.” I hold my gun at the ready and head for the door first. I listen inside carefully before tapping the key to open the room. No flesheaters, but plenty of Christmas presents! Thank you, Santa!

 

We jump inside and start arming ourselves with the good stuff. I'm not going to bother wondering how these bastards got military-grade weaponry. I'm going to put in a report to look for leaks in the arms department though.

 

“How you doing, partner?” I grin over as Heero. He smiles back and holds up the submachine gun.

“Good to go here.”

“Awesome.”

 

It's too soon to celebrate though. We stop talking and hold our breaths, listening. There's a lot of groaning outside. There's more than just a couple of undead monsters out there right now.

 

Okay, I'm not a rocket scientist or anything, but we've already taken out eight of the thirty guards. The chances of more being in this area aren't that great.

 

“Worker bees,” Heero says under his breath.

“What?”

“We should have noticed it earlier. Adder mentioned the number of guards and scientists, but what about the upkeep?”

“Shit shit shit!” I'd tear my hair out right now if I didn't treasure it so much! “Thirty guards and eight scientists my ass! He fucking forgot to mention the fucking maintenance crew and I bet there's like a billion test subjects! God dammit! We're gonna be fucking brain-dead flesh-eaters at this rate!”

“Duo, calm down.” Heero cups my face with his hands, his thumbs lightly rubbing over my cheeks. “We'll survive. We'll leave together.” I take strength from him, regaining myself.

“Yeah, you're right. Dunno why I was panicking.” I grin and kiss him. I couldn't have a better man for my partner. “Remind me to treat you to sushi or something when we get out of here.”

“I'll hold you to that.”

 

We double-check our gear a last time, then Heero sets himself at the door. Things seem to go into slow motion as his hand wraps around the lock handle. There's a low, heavy groan followed by a screeching scrape as he pulls it back.

 

The door swings open. I fire, splitting open the head of some lady and the man behind her. “Heh, nice.” Heero fires at the rest, spreading their decaying brains on the walls. “Real nice.”

 

We sneak down the halls, trying not to draw attention to ourselves just yet. It reminds me a lot of our early missions when we were just punk teens. I lost count of how many compounds we snuck into and blew up from the inside. Yeah, those were the days. We didn't have zombie-infestations.

 

We finally reach the only hall that connects the central control with the western wing that we're in. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up. There aren't any dead people in sight, so the threat has to be something else... This is not good. “Heero.”

“I'll go first.”

 

I follow two yards behind him as we carefully make our way down the corridor. There's no scent of immediate decay, no sound of sloppy steps or thudding from blind people running into shit. No sounds of mindless groaning either.

 

Heero pauses, tilting his head like he's picking up something on the edge of his hearing. I strain to make anything out.

 

Skittering, like bugs on hollow metal.

FUCK!

 

There's no need to exchange words, we make a break for the other end. Not a moment later those godforsaken butterflies crawl out of the vents and come swooping down like vultures on road kill.

 

We dive through, Heero spinning to kick the door switch with his heel. It shuts just in time, crunching a few of the little bastards in the frame.

 

“That's not gonna hold them for long, man.”

“Ah, agreed.” I can just see the calculations flowing through his brain. “There's an isolation room three halls from here. We'll have to trap them in there.”

“How the hell we going to do that?” I know before I'm even finished asking. “No! You are not using yourself as bait!”

“They're not like the human subjects. They're not guided by sound.”

“I agree with that. We would've been swarmed forever ago if they had been. But the risk's too high to use yourself for bug bait!”

“I won't risk you.”

 

This isn't the time to be feeling warm and fuzzy inside. I steel myself and give him my best glare. “I'm faster than you are. I'll be the bait and you'll damn well accept that.” Those cobalt eyes stare right back at me, but after a long silent moment he nods.

“Affirmative.”

 

The plan is pretty simple as far as plans go. I open the door, get their attention and make them chase me to the room, then I run around like mad and get out once the butterflies are accounted for. Heero closes the door and shuts the vents so all's good.

 

Heero goes ahead of me to get into position, making sure to stay out of sight to keep from tempting the little buggers from my tail. I count to 30 beneath my breath to give him plenty of time. “Here it goes!” I push the button and the door slides open. I swallow. If I didn't know these butterflies were straight out of a horror flick, I'd think it was a pretty peaceful scene in the corridor. They're standing on the walls, fanning their wings like they're not capable of doing anything worse than pollinating some flowers.

 

Well, no time like the present. I take a deep breath and blow right into the hall. Yup, that did it, they have my scent. I beat it the hell away from there, the swarm following me in a thick cloud of too innocent colors. “Shiiit! This was a stupid idea!”

 

One hall, two halls, third hallway! Here we go! I make a sharp turn, moving faster than even when I knew a bomb was about to go off behind me. At least then I knew I'd be dead and not a flippin' zombie-boy!

 

I scramble into the only open doorway, and not a moment too soon. I get the feeling they're closer than I would like if I looked. “In here, dumbasses! Follow the leader!” I can feel the wind whip around me as they swoop inside. I better kick my speed up a notch if I want to live.

 

BAM!

 

I whip around when that sound echoes from outside the room. “Heero?!” I duck under a few missile dives and dash back across the room. I jump and dive headfirst out the door, shoulder-rolling back to my feet. Heero hits the switch, closing off the vents.

 

“Ha! Have fun in there, you little fuckers!” Ooh, yeah, they sound pissed off in that isolation room. They're practically wrapped up for Christmas. “You alright, Heero? I heard something.”

“It was nothing.”

“Alrighty, if you say so. The Butterflies from Hell are down, now just for the rest of the Moan and Groan Gang.” I lean against Heero as I finish catching my breath.

“We can't rely on the self-destruct doing a full demolition. It will be best to gather them to a single point, as we've trapped the Swallowtail.”

“Hmm...”

 

I glance around for inspiration. “Hey, how about the alarm system? They like sound, yeah? We could make them follow the sirens like a greyhound chasing a rabbit.” My chest warms when a grin stretches over Heero's lips.

“Excellent. That will eliminate the remaining enemy units.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

 

We listen a bit longer before moving out. It's quiet, a temporary blessing. I could whoop in relief when we spot the console door.

 

“I'll unlock the safety mechanisms on the tanks and open our escape route. You set the timers and alarms.” I grin.

“Roger.” I hit the pad to open the door.

The zombie doesn't even have a chance to scream at us before Heero's blown off his head. It makes a sticky mess on the floor that we have to step over in order to reach the console, but it's an inconvenience worth having. With the codes that Adder gave us, it doesn't take long to make the system tap dance to our tune.

 

“At least this part is easy.” I set the alarms to go off in sequence, baiting the last of the zombies to congregate in the maintenance bay. Now we just wait a while to give them enough time to get their leper butts over here.

“I'm going to prepare the hose.”

“Alrighty, I'll see you there in a bit.” I listen to Heero, his steps heavier than normal. Man, he must be as tired as me to be walking like that. Even the Perfect Soldier needs a break during a mess like this.

 

I close off the various sectors as they empty of their occupants until they have no choice but to join us for the grand finale. I grin and set the self-destruct to blow in thirty minutes. That will give us twenty minutes after the dome is down to get safely away in our Gundams. I doubt it will take us ten whole minutes to kill the last of the Thriller mob, but better safe than sorry.

 

I run out to join Heero. It looks like he just finished getting everything ready.

 

A yawn makes itself known all the way from the bottom of my toes. I am so set for all of this to be over. “I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a cigarette.”

“You don't smoke.”

“My point exactly.”

 

I frown when Heero keeps his back to me. That isn't like him at all. He usually smiles and chuckles when I make jokes like that. “So I'll take secondary, yeah?”

“No, you'll take the main position.” He walks across the floor to the opposite side where the emergency switch is.

“But you're stronger than me. You should be holding the hose.”

“I'll turn it off from this side when you're done.”

“I still say you're the stronger one.” As fun as it sounds, my arms ache just thinking about the task I'm about do. I roll up my sleeves and get into position. “Ready?” Heero nods from where he's standing and bangs his gun against the railing to get their attention. They come charging down the catwalk, screaming.

 

I wait for it... Wait for it... “Here she blows!” I force open the valve and let the water go! Gallons and gallons gush out at a high enough pressure to tear a person in two. I just hope it holds out.

 

The zombies, brainless as they are, keep charging at Heero and headlong into their permanent deathbeds. I watch as heads and limbs go flying with sprays of blood that quickly watched down the floor drains along with teeth, intestines, and probably things I don't want to think about.

 

The strain is starting to get to me. I feel some muscles locking up while others give out. I can't do this for much longer.

 

The water shuts off, and I almost fall over from the sudden slack. I drop the hose, letting my arms hang at my side like rags. “That's all of them...” I can't believe it worked. My knees hit the ground hard, but I'm too tired and hurt to feel the impact.

“No, there's a last one.”

“What?” I hear Heero cock his gun and jerk my head up. “No...”

 

I finally see it, the Swallowtail bite wound on his wrist. That slam outside the isolation room... one of those fuckers didn't follow me inside?! That's why he insisted that I control the hose...

He looks at me, and I can see one of his eyes has already gone dead. I shake my head, this can't be happening! “Don't do this, Heero! We'll get back to HQ, we can find a cure!”

“I'm too dangerous to become like them.” Heero puts the barrel to his temple. “Stay alive.” He pulls the trigger.

“NOOO!” My scream is drowned out by the boom of the shot. “HEERO!”

 

I slam my fists into the floor until they're raw and bloody. It's not fair! “It's not fucking fair!” The sobs rack my body and I don't try to stop them. What was the point? There's nobody left to hear.

“Isolation Dome is deactivated.” Hearing the computer say that just makes me want to scream all over again.

 

When I regain myself my watch beeps the ten minute warning I had set. I pull Heero's body into my arms and carry him outside while the timer continues to count down. God, I can't even give him a decent burial. His remains will probably be burned after the autopsy. It's not fucking right.

I put him down to wrap his head in my jacket. I can't stand to see that any longer, the face of my best friend, partner and lover bloodied and lifeless.

 

I sense Professor Adder before I spot him. The snake's finally crawled out of his hole.

 

“Ah, good. The job's done I see.” He pulls out that damn pipe, lighting it like he doesn't have a care in the world. “Don't look so glum. The research I retrieved will solve the mysteries of the universe.”

“The same research that did THIS?”

“Hm? Yes, but this was an accident, a miscalculation. I'll fix the problem and it'll be fine.”

 

Fix the problem? FIX the fucking problem?! You can't FIX this!

 

“Wh-What are you doing?!” Adder backs away with shaking steps. I don't remember standing and whipping out my gun. I don't remember cocking it. But none of that matters. “Don't! Put the gun down!”

 

I don't hear a thing as I fire. I only see the bullet pierce his face and blow out the back of his skull in a scattering of blood and bone. Cold satisfaction wraps its clawed fingers around my chest. “Fucker.”

 

The sounds of sirens reach my ears. So the locals have finally noticed, huh? I better beat it. The last thing I need right now is to kill a bunch of cops. What am I thinking? This place will be blown sky high before they even reach the grounds.

I cradle Heero in my arms, snatch Adder's suitcase, and take off. My eyes are burning again. Because of the smoke... that has to be it. This is no time for more tears.

 

“Stay alive. You ass, saying that for your last words.”

Heero, you fucker. When you said we'd get out together, you were supposed to be alive too.

 

I jump off the cliff and into the arms of Deathscythe.