Page 77 of Marked Omega

Just as suddenly, time seems to return to normal speed in a frantic rush. My ears are ringing from the gun shot. Bishop slumps against the steering wheel, and we swerve wildly. Gravity seems to go crazy as the transport vehicle starts to roll and both men are flung out of their seats.

***

When I get my bearings, I’m hanging upside down in my seatbelt harness. My ears are still ringing. The searing pain is still there, but it has thankfully lessened.

Hanging there, I glance around the cab of the vehicle. The men are nowhere in sight. The windshield is broken out, and the jagged bits that remain are stained with blood like a row of glassy fangs. Both of the front doors are flung open, presumably from the impact.

I thought this vehicle was designed to withstand anything. Apparently they lied about that too. Go figure.

Turning my senses inward, I check my body for injuries, but as far as I can tell, I’m pretty much unscathed. Somehow, I can even sense a tiny life force inside my womb too. My tiny embryo is alive and well.

What I just did was a huge risk, but I had no choice. If the transport had reached the quarantine wall, all hope would have been lost.

Now, however, I need to get my butt in gear and move.

Bracing one hand against the roof, which is now the floor, I unlatch my safety belt and slump down. The data slate is lying there. Its screen is cracked but still working, still displaying my stats.

That’s coming with me.

The rear doors won’t open, so I carefully crawl out through the wreckage of the windshield into the blazing afternoon sunlight. The glare hurts my eyes—just one more part of that awful pain that seems to be tearing me apart atom by atom.

But it’s getting better. With each passing moment, it’s getting better.

The ringing in my ears has started to subside just a little, and I hear a soft grunting sound behind me. When I turn around, I see a body sprawled on its back.

It’s Dr. Lucian. One eye is in the process of swelling shut. His perfect smile is ruined, his incisors cracked in half. It looks extremely painful.

I stand over him, and he stares up at me with terror in his one good eye. Then, slowly but surely all of that fear disappears as the eye grows milky and dull. His skin pales, and dark, sickly veins appear. His shattered mouth mumbles wet, mindless sounds.

Soon, the transformation is complete. He’s a beta.

I should feel happy about that. I should feel some satisfaction that Eva and Sara have been avenged. Maybe that’s what I’ll feel later.

Right now, I just want to go home.

Taking up the data slate, I walk a few paces and watch as the coordinate numbers change. Once I know which way is north, I start to walk. But I soon find I didn’t even need those coordinates.

I can feel the power of the Source drawing me home. And I can feel my bond to my mates.

For a moment, I almost drop the slate on the ground with the intention to smash it under my heal. I don’t know why exactly. I guess as a symbolic fuck you to the outside world.

But I stop myself. I scroll through the windows on the display, which is slightly glitchy due to the cracked screen. But just as I thought, this tablet has satellite communication enabled.

We can use this.

We can use this to connect to the outside world.

We can tell them all about what SynerGen is doing.

I don’t know who we will contact, or whether they will even listen, but at least now we have a chance to bring their whole unjust system crashing down.

Pained laughter falls from my lips as I stumble across the grass.

But my laughter is cut short.

From behind me comes a sound that turns my stomach and weakens my knees. It’s something like a roar, but wet and squishy and gurgling at the same time.

I don’t even turn to look. I just run, as fast as my legs will carry me.