by Nathan Ward
“You think I left because of how he looked?” she exclaimed, “I love him! And he didn’t even acknowledge me; I guarantee he won’t remember a thing, Enrique. What are we going to do without him? What will we do?”
Enrique was stunned; he didn’t know how to respond to what Sasha had said, as words failed him, all he could do was what he thought best, wrapping his arms around her and holding her within his comfortable grasp. Sasha rested her head upon Enrique's shoulder and sobbed heavily.
“What do we do?” she said tearfully, and this time he gave her an answer.
“We carry on” Enrique replied firmly, remembering the people they swore to protect were still counting on their return.
Chapter 22: Super agent
I must have drifted off Murdock thought as he sprung himself upright in the bed in the clinical white room. He had begun to feel a sharp, irritable sensation in and around his face, like pinpricks of tightness and discomfort and those sensations darted about his body, travelling as far as his ribs, which were still bruised from the rumble with Captain Jordan. He slowly lifted the cotton sheet from his body as he laid there completely in the nude – and then a random thought popped to mind which he couldn’t help but find intriguing. 'Who undressed me?' he questioned then chuckled to himself, he looked down at his body, it was otherwise perfect, except for the purple toned skin around his chest where healing was still incomplete as bruising lingered. Feeling certain the healing agent had indeed worked miracles, he dropped the sheet back in to place.
The odd sensations continued to throb around his face but he ignored the discomfort as he tried to understand the feel of it - this was something he had never felt before, it had to be a sign of repair, the quick effects of the super agent he had been administered by Joy. He could physically feel his flesh cooling down now, sinking back into a normal state as if drawing away all the swelling beneath his features. Murdock reached for the mirror that had shuffled its way down the bed, he drew it quickly back to his face and once again studied his reflection, and what he saw came as a relief – now he could definitely see an improvement, still seven nasty scars remained visible, but his face had more shape and features that were defining by the second. As he continued to study his reflection, the blood shot red around his eyes slowly withdrew, the crimson sliding back and sinking away, leaving his dark gaze deep brown, the whites of his eyes once again clear of all sign of injury, as if his antibodies were sucking away all hint of damage to his body.
Murdock lowered the mirror which he felt was no longer needed thanks to what he had just witnessed, he dropped it back on to the bed and then, feeling much better, he casually got himself comfortable and laid his head back against the fresh white pillow. As his body had begun to heal, he now could also feel fragments of broken memories rebooting within his mind, sparks of energy reanimating, shooting vague images down his neural cortex, projecting the faces of families, friends and enemies before him. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he forced himself to ignore those vague flickers of tugging and discomfort as the agent worked to heal the last of his wounds, focusing on the silence around him as he slipped into a relaxed state of mind that slowed down the images playing before his closed eyes, enabling him to make some sense of what information he could manage to pull together. Pieces were starting to slide into place, but slowly. He knew in time it would all come back to him, but it would just be a case of having to wait patiently to see if time would play in his favor.
Meanwhile across the underground facility, a hydraulic door slid open and Joy casually entered the small room. This was a dormitory with manuals shelved above a small bed and a lamp positioned on the little white desk on the other side of the room.
Connor had been asleep, but Joys arrival had suddenly woke him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Joy apologised, quietly tip toeing towards Connor in a comedic fashion.
Connor yawned and wiped away the sleep from his eyes.
“It’s okay, I’m just not used to all this… I was dreaming, it ...it was a bit scary.”
On hearing him speak of nightmares, Joy sat beside him on the edge of the bed with a look of concern in her eyes.
“Do you want to talk about it? You know I’m a good listener.” she said sympathetically, looking directly in to his glistening green eyes.
At first he hesitated, looking away and fixing his gaze to the corner of the room feeling unsure if he ought to tell her about it, afraid that talking of his dreams might make them worse, or stay on his mind all day and disturb his waking hours, too. But he also wanted to know what Joy would make of it, so he began to cautiously explain.
“I keep seeing him, whenever I sleep. I’m always inside the dungeon at the foot of the pit lying in the blood of my friends and he laughs. He always laughs… You’re there too.”
Joy felt an ache in her heart as she looked to the child and thought what a hellish place this world was, for a kid to have to dream of dungeons and blood and terror. What made it worse was knowing his dream had been triggered by reality – the poor child had lived through that ordeal... What a world we live in, she thought as she put her arm around his shoulder and met his fearful expression with a look of kindness.
“And what do I do in your dream?” she asked.
“You don’t do anything, none of us can do anything, he just stands there towering over all of us like the demon he is, laughing… non stop laughter. I think… I wet myself, please don’t laugh, Joy!” Connor begged, embarrassed by the admittance. Joy raised her other hand to his face and placed her palm against his soft cheek as she felt a strong maternal bond with this scared kid who had lived through way too much horror.
“Oh sweetheart, there’s nothing to be afraid of any more, you understand? I will do everything within my power to protect you, not to mention Captain Murdock, my patient I’ve been treating - he’s a far stronger, fiercer captain than Jordan. Murdock can do anything, he's amazing!” she told him, and Connor started to smile as he picked up on something that Joy had not realised - she was singing the Captain's praises like a teenager with a crush.
“You fancy him!” Connor teased, and Joy laughed, glad to see the kid was now sounding like a cheeky young lad and not the traumatised soul who had witnessed so much horror in the dungeon.
“Maybe I do, maybe I don't, I'm not telling you!” she said as her eyes sparkled playfully, “Now just remember, you have nothing to worry about once he’s back on his feet, Murdock will look after all of us.”
Her words had done much to reassure him as his face lit up in sheer delight.
“Can I meet him?” he asked excitedly as he thought of this new hero whose praises she sung so highly.
“Sure! Why don’t you jump in the shower and get yourself cleaned up, I’ll be waiting in the hangar when you’re ready, okay?”
“Deal!” He shot up off his bed in excitement and made haste towards the shower block across the room, then Joy got up from the bed and left the room, now with a smile on her face as she reflected on the fact that if a frightened kid could pull himself back together after all he had witnessed, maybe there was a great deal of hope left for this sorry world after all..
On leaving Connor's room, Joy reentered the enormous hangar which was filled with supplies and vehicles, where she saw Sasha and Enrique loading crates of food and water in to the carriage compartment of a Wasp drop ship, a slightly larger aircraft than the standard wasp. The crates packed quite a weight and it took the two of them to lift and insert inside the cargo compartment, its latch had been lodged open by the tall barrel of Sasha's Sniper rifle.
“Please tell me you’ve made a note of the size of this place.”
Enrique looked up at Sasha with an expression of confusion.
“Of course, what about it?” he asked.
“Here we are loading up a Wasp with supplies to take back, but wouldn’t it make more sense to bring them all here, it would be a lot safer for sta
rters” she stated, carrying another crate slowly across the hangar.
“On the contrary, we know we are not the only people to walk the earth, The UNA, their androids, the survivors and Howlers. They are all but a tiny risk factor; there is more than likely much more to be discovered out there - and what are the chances they come looking here first?”
Sasha listened intently, nodding as she guessed he had made a valid point.
“Back home, a cloud of nuclear waste may be considered dangerous, but it will keep away those in search of sanctuary. For now at least, perhaps one day we can return here, if by chance it isn’t already populated” he added, concluding the conversation as Sasha didn’t know what else to say.
“You’re a wise old fellow, Enrique. Glad you’ve got my back” she replied, shooting him a quick smile before catching a glimpse of Joy stood across from her with a cigarette hanging from her lip.
“She’s watching us!”
“Who? Joy?” Enrique asked, turning around to take a look.
“Don’t look, you idiot! Be discreet!” she whispered, looking away towards the Wasp beside them.
“You don't like her, do you?” asked Enrique as they both slowly began to lower the crate inside the cargo compartment as carefully as possible.
“It’s not that I don’t like her, its just she’s just all over Murdock!” Sasha said bitterly, giving the crate a hard shove inside the compartment.
“She has been treating him; he would have died if it wasn’t for Joy. Your view is entirely illogical as far as I’m concerned, Sasha.”
Enrique had begun to walk away when Sasha reached for his shoulder and pulled him back to face her.
“Just, keep an eye on her, please” she begged, and he could see a flicker of fear in her eyes, it was the look of one who feared losing something precious.
“I always have done.” he replied.
The two of them continued towards the boxed up water and food supplies which were stacked in the centre of the hangar, Sasha could sense Joy slowly approaching from behind her, she could smell her essence, or it may have just been the trace of cigarette smoke. Sasha abruptly turned around, facing Joy, who was a lot closer than she suspected.
“Could you put that out?” she asked, glaring at the tobacco hanging from the end of the cigarette as Joy took another drag, then slowly and deliberately exhaled the smoke in Sasha's direction.
“Of course I can,” she replied, dropping the cigarette on to the white tiled flooring and pressing the sole of her boot on to it and crushing it in to the ground. Sasha had expected more of a challenge but Joy didn’t seem too bothered, she didn’t hang about either, she took her leave and headed straight for the medical bay, leaving Connor to finish as he was taking his time to clean himself up.
“Where the hell are you going? Ever thought of perhaps lending a hand?” Sasha called over to her.
Joy stopped in her tracks with her back turned.
“I’m more than certain you’ve both got it covered. I’m just going to check up on Murdock. My patient...” Joy smirked, knowing precisely why this was getting to Sasha.
“Keep your fucking hands off him, you hear me?” Sasha yelled as Enrique held tightly on to her, pulling her back as she took a step forward, her body rigid and her hands balled into fists as fury blazed in her eyes.
Joy was unaffected by her anger, she just continued to head towards the corridor, making one last remark as she left:
“He seems to like my gentle touch, though!”
Sasha couldn’t contain herself any longer, infuriated by a swirl of envy and anger.
“You see what I mean? You heard that, right?” Sasha yelled.
“Calm yourself, she’s just messing with you, she knows it will get a reaction from you,” Enrique reminded her, keeping a tight grasp on her until her anger cooled.
“She’s one fucked up individual, one fucked up bitch I tell you…” Sasha said bitterly, pulling herself out from Enrique's grasp. Then she continued working, but now as she reached for a crate she dragged it roughly, snatching it angrily away from the diminishing pile.
Joy had admittedly become quite overwhelmed by the thought of her patient, Murdock. After hearing so many stories and the tale of how he had bravely battled Jordan, then seeing him pull through such terrible injuries and win his fight for life and accept his scarring with such dignity, she just needed to spend more time beside him and hear his appreciation once more as he thanked her for the help she had given to him, knowing those words would warm her heart.
At the back of her mind was a feeling as if she had known Murdock for years, he was also the perfect embodiment of a man she once knew well, who was extremely unfortunate and hadn’t survived long after the original outbreak, but somewhere perhaps he roamed the earth - just no longer in the image she once loved. Now, instead she had been gifted another chance, a glimmer of hope that she could no longer put aside as she hastily made her way to Murdock's medical room door, her heart racing and excitement building up inside her like a child running loose in a toy store. It suddenly felt like Christmas and Joy wanted her present, the door pulled open and she jumped inside expecting Murdock to still be sleeping upon the bed as the heroic Captain rested with the sheet down to his waist, showing a glimpse of a body that her gaze had already admired...But to her surprise the room was empty, the sheets were pulled back and left in an untidy heap while operating tools and devices covered the floor, glistening under the bright white lighting beaming down from the ceiling.
Surprise soon turned to a look of horror on Joy's face as she scowled across the medical bay in search of Murdock - who had clearly vanished from under her wing. Concerns clouded her mind, the excitement she had felt had immediately disappeared and in it’s place Joy had become professional in her duty to look after her patient, worried where he may of gotten to, knowing he was in no fit state to be on his feet, let alone wandering the complex.
Joy hastily returned to the hangar and daringly approached a pissed off Sasha stood carrying the last of the food crates.
“He’s gone, he’s not in the medical bay!” she spluttered, slightly out of breath and showing a flash of panic.
Sasha turned sharply to Joy.
“what do you mean, he’s gone?”
“He’s not there, I can’t find him, I need you to drop what you’re doing and help me search for him, he’s not well enough to be roaming about!”
“I’ll find him!” Sasha said, marching past Joy towards a pair of large hangar doors. But as she approached they both began to slide open, emitting a blast of vapor which lingered around the ground like fog. Sasha slowed her pace as a figure caught her eye, emerging from behind the doorway. A broad yet sleek figure, slowly emerging in to the light of the bright underground hangar.
It was another one of the grey and black phase two uniforms with extra abs and chest padding for undefeated protection against all kinds of weaponry. Sasha's eyes were drawn to the figure along with Joy, who stood in awe at the sight of what could only be the Captain as a red illuminated name badge became visible on his chest plate reading Murdock.
Sasha could see it was him, his face had returned to normal but still the faded but noticeable scarring was present, although a few more scars didn’t change how she felt about him, if he could even remember who she was...
He caught a glimpse of Sasha as he emerged in to the hangar, meeting her gaze and attempting to spark a memory to remind him of the chemistry they once had - but again, it proved difficult as fragments of his mind remained lost, drifting somewhere floating free along a neuron river. He knew he had to wait a little longer and didn’t want to damage anything they possibly had, so he smiled and stated her name as he passed, hoping it may suffice for now. But Sasha could only feel hurt as the man she loved, and the man who used to love her wandered off towards his savior.
Embarrassment and devastation flooded Sasha's mind but if anything, she knew that if this was how it had to be, if Murdock really had lost
all trace of his memories thanks to the damage he had sustained, she’d have to simply win his heart, just like the first time, all over again.
Chapter 23: We’re Going Home
Murdock marched his way across the hangar floor with Sasha in tow, approaching Enrique and Joy who were looking on in amazement, both sharing the same thought, that it was nothing short of a miracle – Enrique's thoughts stayed on miracles as he cast his eyes over his Captain's revitalized face, full of fire and energy. They simply couldn’t believe their eyes; they had seen nothing like it before – no treatment in Earth's entire history could heal at such an alarming rate.
Even Joy hadn’t anticipated the treatment to take effect so fast; she was still in a state of disbelief as Murdock arrived within reaching distance of the pair.
“Joy, Enrique. What do you reckon? I think the uniforms are class,” Murdock claimed, fiddling with a wrist computer attached to his suits forearm.
And Joy looked on, filled with admiration and relief that moved her far more than she had expected to see Murdock so strong and recovered so quickly.
“I think you look great, Captain,” said Sasha, shuffling in front of him and catching her breath.
“I think you should be in bed, resting…” Joy stressed, disappointed she wouldn’t have time alone with Murdock any longer.
“I feel perfectly fine, Joy. I don’t know what it was but whatever it was you treated me with, it needs to be protected. If it were to fall in to the wrong hands the consequences would be devastating.”
“Would it not be a good thing for mankind? Enrique asked, curious to Murdock's view.
“Yes,” he agreed, “While you’re correct that it would be very good to use to save the ill and the injured, what if people like Jordan or the UNA had it at their disposal?”
“The UNA are not human...” stated Enrique, still confused at where Murdock was going with his theory.
“But I am, and I was once under their influence. With that agent and someone like me, they would have a new weapon far greater than their current forces.”