by unclevinnie » Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:21 am
PART 5 (FINAL)
FPS: Just unbelievable, man. Damn... I couldn't even imagine such mess was going on... So, but you were a paramedic - not a scientist! Could you cure him by yourself?
MMK: You're right. I couldn't. All I could do, is only to take some basic care of him. He slept all day long (dead dogs' stink didn't let anyone to come close to my place, and suddenly find him). At night - I was giving him standard medicines, and changing his band-aids 3 times each night. I took the examples of tissues and blood from frozen bloodsucker, and Oak's blood tests, too. I kept my hope, that at least one medic in the zone could find out, how to help. But nobody even tried. After they saw blood tests - they looked at me with insane eyes, asking whose blood was that. Of course, I didn't tell. Each medic was so afraid even to touch these tissues and blood samples, that I couldn't expected any help, or especially cure from them.
From day to day, Oak got only worse and worse. My care didn't help him, though, I've tried all kinds of medicines I knew.
I haven't found any medic, capable to help, neither. Basically - Oak seemed not so bad, but all his skin became dark-gray, like ground near my place. Also, his fingers began seem to me to get longer, and his face got a bit taller. First time, I thought he was just loosing weight and getting skinny from malnutrition. But after a week of treatment, Oak suddenly asked me to get a mirror for him. He has already lost all his hair, and eyes felt deeper inside the skull, I really didn't want him to see himself... but he insisted. After he has been looking at himself for about a minute, he proved all my worst thoughts, which I was constantly trying to get off from my head. - "I wonder, how soon I will have the tentacles...", he said quietly, but absolutely calm.
We both understood, that some mutation has started, and both didn't knew, will it continue or not. But we had no time to wait and see it - our last chance was only Kiriani. Kiriani most likely would slice him into million of small pieces, for his sick experiments, so we couldn't risk so much, by just going into his lab. So - Oak wrote a plan for me.
He told me where to find his modified flamethrower with freezing liquid. I brought it from army warehouses - it was still full and working. All we needed, was only the element of surprise - so that Kiriani would go out of his lab, before he would even understood anything. And again Oak proved, that he was a perfect operation planner.
At 3:00 am, we already were near the bunker. Oak stayed aside in the bushes, not to be seen by Kiriani. I have pulled, and dropped a big black bag near the door, and pushed the intercom button.
-"I'm listening to you, young man" - Kiriani's awakened voice replied.
-"See this bag? It's Oak. He has mutated and died, slowly and extremely painfully. Look what you've done to him, dickhead". I went a little far from the bunker, and added: "He stinks all over our duty camp. We don't know what to do. Take care of his body yourself. Now - it's your problem", and went away.
Actually - I've just hidden behind the bunker, and I could see one of the cameras on it. But, according to Oak's plan - professor should have become so excited with a chance to get Oak's mutated body - that he would forget about everything, and will come out of the lab without any camera checks. And it worked! Right, as it was planned!!!
As soon as he heard my voice going away - he immediately jumped out of his rat hole, and looked into a bag. And have seen what he expected. In fact - we put that frozen bloodsucker there, but how could he know, if it was mutated Oak, or just some another bloodsucker? So, when he started trying to push the bag with 80-kg squid body into the door -
I ran from behind of bunker, blocked the door with my leg, and pointed the flamethrower at Kiriani. "Freezer liquid", I said only. That was enough to him, to get scared enough to shit bricks. It seemed, that he was afraid of his own liquid much more, than of any shotgun. Meanwhile, Oak was already running to us. When Kiriani saw "new" Oak - he got scared triple times more.
We took a bag with frozen bloodsucker, and all Kiriani's materials and instruments, and spent about 20 sleepless hours in his research lab. All this time, I've been pointing the freezer at his head, and he was making tests, taking probes, watching reactions on different materials, and so on, and so on.
FPS: You will amaze me, if you will say, that Kiriani found a cure?
MMK: Your intuition is not bad. After all fruitless attempts - Kiriani looked at me with absolutely empty eyes. -"I'm sorry, gentlemen. But there's nothing I can tell".
Oak seemed to have heard nothing unexpected. -"So, after 20 hours of analysis, you can't even tell, will I die, or finally turn into a bloodsucker?" He told it, like he was joking.
-"Sorry. This is not only a matter of my liquid. The mutation was caused much more by squid's neuro-toxins, combined with liquid vapors, and all this cocktail was injected into Oak's blood. But to find a cure - requires months of experiments with several alive bloodsuckers, and nevertheless - I can't guarantee success. That is really all I can say. Now, you will freeze me, with my own liquid I've created. Well, I guess - that's exactly what I deserve". Kiriani said nothing more, and just been waiting, and looking at me.
-"We are leaving. Move out" - Oak said to me suddenly, and took a flamethrower out of my hands. Professor just remained sitting near operation table. His last, very quiet words we heard, leaving the bunker - was something like "Never... Never again...". Since that time, Kiriani just walked away from the lab, and nobody seen him anymore.
FPS: That means, your last hope was lost... And Oak just let Kiriani live?
MMK: Yes. It was Oak's decision, not mine. We just silently returned back to my stinky place, through the hole in the fence around duty camp. Oak wasn't talking about Kiriani any more. I would say... he was not talking at all. He just laid on his dirty mattress, staring up into the ceiling above his head. That torture continued about a week more. Now it was extremely hard to distinguish him from any other bloodsucker. I'm not sure, If he still could speak - because he was saying absolutely nothing, just breathing quietly.
One day, after sudden mutants attack on our camp - I was totally exhausted, so I even don't remember, how I felt down asleep. I woke up next night only, starving. I thought, Oak also was deadly hungry. I took some bread, opened a conserve tin, and called him quietly. He didn't even turn his face to me. Then, I slightly pulled him by his shoulder, and everything inside me just died in a second. He was cold. Cold and rigid, like a god damn stone. How?? Why?? I couldn't find a place for myself.
I was shocked so much, that only after 10 minutes has passed, I've noticed in the darkness his flamethrower behind him. I also found an empty plastic container for freeze liquid. It was torn off from the flamethrower. I think, Oak was afraid to freeze me also, if he had sprayed it inside the room. And so - he simply drunk it all at once.
FPS: Oh, my God... I believe, he have suffered enough, to continue the tortures. Poor man...
MMK: It's interesting, when you saw me earlier, at my museum - have you at least noticed, that something was wrong in my "Madam Tussaud's show"? There's no pseudo-giant, but now you can already understand, why. But have you at least noticed, that there is TWO bloodsuckers? One is a bit smaller, and another - a really big one?
Some-why, I'm almost sure, that you even didn't noticed that; or just didn't care about it, at all. Right?
FPS: Damn, you're right! a-a... Stop, you mean that... second, big one is... Oak!? Colonel Petrovsky?!
MMK: Yes. Himself.
When Oak died, I have been drinking for two days, without any measure. I've fueled myself with vodka "up to the lid", I was absolutely destroyed. Third day's morning, I woke up with such hangover, that I thought it would be perfect, if I just died right now, too... But, after couple of hours, some cigarettes, and strong tea, I decided to finish my mutant museum. As a final honor to my beloved friend Oak.
I kept the key from research labs, which I took from Kiriani. I came to the bunkers, but didn't find Kiriani anywhere. I didn't care. I've unlocked the research labs, and made fatal injections to all mutants I found there. One by one, I took them all to my museum.
Last one I needed to do, was to take care about my friend. At night, I took Oak, throughly washed his body, and worked with it a little, as much careful, as I only could. I put his body on a wooden box (in which, by the way, you can find that broken flamethrower). His exo was totally ripped, so I just burnt it, and thrown away the remained metal parts.
I already wanted to burn also that frozen bloodsucker, which started all these insane troubles. But later, something just switched in my head - and I decided to put him right opposite to Oak.
So, that's how they were standing all that time, staring at each other with their forever frozen eyes.
FPS: I see. That's where all that weird zoo is now... in your museum, but dead already. But why you say "were" standing? Aren't they still standing in there?
MMK: Actually, I can't tell for sure. I left duty forever, and not going to come back. I'm going to far borders, to come out from the zone forever. I didn't say it to anyone from duty, but I think, they already understood that I won't come back, regardless of am I dead, or not. Maybe they have already thrown all museum away.
Or maybe - they will find a new keeper to it, because it's helpful for newbies' training. I don't know, what they will decide.
FPS: Why you decided to leave the zone? You spent here so much time, what happened?
MMK: Do you know that ascetic stalker on agroprom, who was living underground, in some kind of sewer, telling philosophic things about zone, and trading with some upgraded weapons and special med-kits? I heard about him just recently, and went to see myself, who is he, and what he's trading with.
When I got underground, and came closer to him, he told me in his mystic manner: "What made you come to me, stalker?". He didn't recognize me. But I did! He's changed, but I still could recognize him!
"-Kiriani?! What the fuck YOU doing here?!", I whispered amazed, moving one hand closer to my pistol.
-"Keeper! Oak... Never... Never again... Never again..." - he continued repeating quietly, like a zombie, again and again.
You know - I just left. Finally - I've understood, why Oak didn't kill Kiriani in the bunker, and didn't let ME do it, also.
I saw Kiriani as old and absolutely broken, though he has changed his place, name, and occupation. Nothing helped him. He realized everything he done. His mistake - was a disaster, still tearing his soul apart, every night and day.
That was the first time, when I felt some pity to this man. I don't know if he's still living there, but I won't check that.
After that, I decided to forget all this story forever. Maybe I'll find some quiet monastery for myself. I'm going out.
FPS: Alright. Now, I know the true story all. But still, I need to do one thing. I must find Oak's body, and bury him with all honors. I'll dig a decent grave for him, of course - without any marks, showing who's laying down in it.
I'm afraid, if any scientists will ever know the true story of Oak - they will do everything to get his exhausted body, and tear it apart for experiments. I can't leave them a chance. Bye now, my friend!
MMK: WAIT! Please, wait a minute. I appreciate your care about Oak so much. Now, I owe you, too. Please, take this.
This is my diary, in which I have been writing down everything about how I took care of Oak, and carefully wrote down all changes in his appearance, during his mutation.
And this is a photo of Oak. Please, keep it.
The last - this is the message, he wrote me on a piece of paper, that night before he died. What he wrote there - is one his favorite phrases.
FPS: Thank you, my friend. I'll keep that secret, together with your diary, and Oak's photo. Let me see, what he wrote you in his last message...
-"DON'T FUCK WITH THE ZONE. OR IT WILL FUCK Y O U ".
Don't fuck with the zone?.. You know... I think, he was right, man. Da-aamn right!