PART 4: THE FALL OF MATHESON

Kat woke up in her flat, rather disappointed at how last night turned out.

Shaw was insistent on her returning to Matheson and ignored her requests to wait for Jonah. But sadly she couldn't argue with her superior, so she took the next APC home at midnight, unaware of the horrors that befell her two friends. She assumed Jonah took the next one.

There was a knock at her door.

"Damn it," she groaned as she rose from her bed.

When she arrived at her flat a few hours ago, she didn't even bother changing into more comfortable clothes. She just took off her DZI jacket and boots but kept on everything else, which was just a buttoned, long-sleeved cotton t-shirt and cargo pants like all the other soldiers wore. But she was too tired to care about putting on the rest.

She trudged over to the door and leaned against it. "Who is it?" she asked.

"It's Shaw, Mathis. May I come in?"

She opened the door, and sure enough there stood Commander Shaw. He didn't have his guns with him, so that meant he had a slightly lower chance of killing her if she made a mistake.

"It's four in the morning, sir," she whined. "I thought you and Schaefer said we'd get some time off."

Shaw couldn't help but chuckle at her casual behavior. Usually she was more composed and mature around him. "Sorry if I interrupted your beauty sleep," he said.

"I don't feel like it's working anyway. Come on in."

Shaw entered the room and Kat closed the door. He took a seat at the settee in the corner of the flat. "This chair is incredibly uncomfortable," he commented.

"Can't be more uncomfortable than how I feel right now," Kat muttered, hoping Shaw didn't hear that. She cleared her throat and leaned against the wall. "So what's the problem, sir?"

"This might be a little difficult to take in." He cleared his throat. "Would you agree you were close with O'Connor and Franklin?"

"Without a doubt, sir. Aaron saved me during the Outbreak by welcoming me into his home and Jonah is just too lively to ignore. I spent the first few years here in Matheson with them."

"So you agree the three of you were close mates. But would you still dish out necessary consequences if they ever broke the rules of the DZI?"

"What direction is this conversation heading in? I know you're always an arsehole when it comes to Aaron—nothing personal, sir—but you make it sound like he's done something horrible."

"Are you aware that he is infected?"

Kat gulped. "Yes, sir. In fact, he told me himself."

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "When?"

"He approached me and Jonah out of the forest yesterday a few minutes before you sent me back here. He said he discovered the origins of the Deadmen and that Schaefer is responsible for it."

"Don't you think he's just trying to pin the blame on someone else?"

"But that's the thing, sir. He knew he was infected and that he couldn't do anything about it. He just wanted to do something right for a change, so he wanted to help out by studying the Deadmen a little closer." Kat scurried to her bed. "I can show you the evidence he brought—"

"Stop!" Shaw exclaimed. "Just stop. Whatever you plan on showing me, it can't make up for O'Connor's actions. In fact, those actions are what cost Franklin his life!"

Kat gasped, covering her mouth in horror.

"That's right, Mathis. I came here to tell you that Jonah Franklin is dead. All because of O'Connor!"

"I don't believe you," Kat replied angrily. "Infected or not, Aaron would never kill one of his closest friends."

"Then let me rephrase that. He died trying to protect O'Connor. Threw himself into the crossfire and got shot by Schaefer."

Kat angrily scurried toward Shaw. "See? Aaron was right! Schaefer is a bad man!"

"He's not bad. It was an accident."

"Does it look like he fucking cares?! Did he even bring his body back?"

Shaw paused. He decided to lie again. "Yes. He was cremated while you were asleep."

"What about Aaron?"

"Richmond and his men killed him a few minutes ago. He won't have to suffer any longer."

Kat didn't say another word. She just let her head sink as she tried to comprehend the horrible truth. Once again, the most important people in her life were gone.

Shaw placed his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Mathis," he whispered. "It didn't have to end this way."

He rose from the seat and made his way toward the door, leaving a heartbroken Kat alone with her thoughts. He closed the door behind him, now questioning whether Schaefer was the great leader he appeared to be.

But then the crackle of his walkie-talkie broke his train of thought, along with the screams of his comrades emanating from the device.

"Shaw!" exclaimed Richmond. "Shaw, pick up!"

"This is Shaw," he replied. "What the hell is going on?"

"We've got a situation down in the sub-level!"

* * *

Two minutes ago, Richmond stood above the bullet-riddled body of Aaron O'Connor, laughing with satisfaction now that his latest target was down. He pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Colonel Schaefer, this is Richmond," he said. "We got him."

"Well done," Schaefer replied. "Did you raid his flat as instructed?"

"Yes, sir. Nothing of value. Just some Ration Cards and a notebook full of childish drawings. However, we did find a small box hidden in one of his drawers with a note labeled To Nika."

"The young lass he fancies? You didn't take a peak, did you?"

"Well...you can't be too cautious."

"You cheeky bastard," Schaefer chuckled. "What did you find?"

"An engagement ring."

Schaefer paused. "If I'll be honest, I really hope Miss Koslov is safe. She doesn't deserve any of what O'Connor had coming to him."

"Don't worry, sir. My men were investigating her corpse. Self-inflected gunshot to her brain. She didn't suffer."

"Speaking of which, did you make sure you shot O'Connor in his head?"

"Of course." Richmond paused. "I think."

"What do you mean you think?" Schaefer said aggressively. "Make sure there's a bullet in his skull, you blathering idiot!"

"And this conversation was going so well."

"Check on his goddamn corpse or you'll be joining him!"

Then the walkie-talkie clicked off.

While the soldiers worked to clean out the cell where Lavinia finished off those three kids, a series of veins sprouted throughout Aaron's body like cracks in the pavement. His body remained motionless, still wading in a pool of his own blood, but the Ambrosia was far from dead. All the bullets used to end his life started sliding back out of the holes they created, dropping to the floor beside him. Then the holes patched themselves up like nothing ever happened. The only bullet that remained in his physical structure was the one that penetrated his heart.

The jingling of the bullets pattering against the floor earned the attention of Richmond and his men. Richmond shoved his handheld transceiver back into one of his pockets and carefully approached the boy's corpse.

"You! Walton!" Richmond whispered to the soldier closest to the body. "Shoot his head."

"Yes, sir," the soldier replied, unsheathing his handgun.

However, the lad found himself distracted by Aaron's eyelids slowly sliding open, his eyeballs coming into view like a sunrise. The color had vanished forever, leaving behind only two white pools of inhumanity.

"Sir," the soldier known as Walton said. "Weren't O'Connor's eyes closed when he died?"

"Who gives a shit? Just get it over with and shoot—"

Three sharp blades impaled directly through Walton's jaw all the way into his brain. Richmond could see the blades stabbing through the soldier's mouth before they quickly exited back out the new holes. Then Walton collapsed to the floor dead, now with three holes digging through his jaw and the roof of his mouth.

Richmond saw Aaron's hand. Not only was it not in the same place as it was when he died, there were three long talons stabbing out of his fingers. Upon closer inspection, they looked more like bones than sharp nails, especially considering the fact they were white and had penetrated directly out of his fingertips. But seconds later the blades retreated back into his fingers.

"Fuck!" Richmond exclaimed as he pulled out his shotgun.

When he took his shoot, Aaron's arm jerked out and pulled Walton's corpse over him, blocking the shot. Then Aaron's corpse leaped off the floor with five blades emerging from his fingers. Still using Walton's body as a human shield, he impaled his talons through the head of one DZI and nearly sliced the head clean off another. He threw Walton's corpse to the floor, no longer needing it, and unleashed the claws from his other hand, slicing the soldiers around him apart like Wolverine. He moved too fast for them to take their shots.

"Aim for his fucking head!" Richmond exclaimed, firing his shotgun aimlessly.

Aaron used another DZI's body to shield himself once more, and Richmond ended up blowing the brains out of one of his own soldiers. He lunged out toward another soldier, impaling his talons through his heart and his head before tossing the corpse aside like rubbish.

Richmond ran out of ammo for his shotgun. He tossed the gun to the side and pulled out a handgun while using his free hand for his walkie-talkie. "Shaw! Shaw, pick up!"

"This is Shaw," the walkie-talkie replied. "What the hell is going on?"

"We've got a situation down in the sub-level! O'Connor is—"

Aaron quickly slashed across Richmond's arm, slicing his walkie-talkie in half and grazing the side of his wrist. With another slash, he took Richmond's arm clean off his elbow, depriving him of his weapon. He then grabbed Richmond's remaining arm and held it between the two of them. He had a grip of steel, almost as if he was pinning Richmond against the wall.

"You should've taken your advice," Aaron spoke in a monstrous voice. "Always aim for the head."

"Y-y-you remember me?" Richmond whimpered in pain.

"I remember everything."

He started bending Richmond's arm in an unnatural position. Richmond kicked Aaron in multiple places, yet he remained staunch as a statue.

"How much do you remember?" Richmond screamed, his arm on the verge of breaking.

"A little too much for your sake," Aaron hissed, and he released Richmond of his grip and started goring him alive with his talons, slicing through torso over and over again.

Blood splashed his arms and his face as Richmond's shrill screams filled the room. He started ripping things out of the man, organs and muscles and just about anything his hands reached through the new rupture in his torso. By the time he was done, entrails were spilled all over the floor, and the two of them stood in a pool of blood.

"Fuck...you..." Richmond screeched before finally going silent. Then he collapsed to the floor, nearly torn in half from his waist.

Aaron's talons retracted back into his fingers, the wounds left behind sealing up in seconds. Now with his hands and arms drenched in blood, he decided he'd leave behind a message for the other DZI.

Several minutes later he had disappeared deeper into the sub-level, taking the exit out into the Dead Zone. Shaw and some of his men eventually arrived at the scene of the slaughter, two of them vomiting at the sight of Richmond without his innards.

"O'Connor did this?" Shaw said. "It felt like only yesterday he was targeting Deadmen. And at least he was humane with them by only targeting their heads."

"None of these soldiers are bitten, sir," one of the soldiers declared.

"Then how would you explain those lacerations?" another soldier replied.

"Those are too deep and too clean to be bites. If anything, they look more like stab wounds."

The first soldier chuckled. "You think it was Freddy Krueger or something?"

"Might as well be," Shaw chimed in. "Look over here, lads."

All eyes were on the message Aaron left behind using Richmond's blood. Those same meaningless yet sinister words:

BEWARE THE BRAIN-DEAD'S BLOODLETTING BUTCHERY

"I thought that was Bloodletter's calling card," the previous soldier said.

"Well O'Connor implied he was hanging around him for the last few days," Shaw replied.

"But if O'Connor is a Deadman now, shouldn't his memory be wiped clean?"

"There are some exceptions, lass." Shaw turned to look at his squad. "Violent outbursts, doesn't eat his kill, retains his memories. Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves an Abnormal."