Rise of the Arockalypse (Second Lordi Saga - Story 3)

Chapter 8 - The Arrival of Doom

SRDO Base, in the forest near Oakville
Morning

Immediately after returning to the SRDO base, Awa had brought the half-man, half-wolf baby to the infirmary to be examined by the doctors and to make sure that there was nothing wrong with him. In a totally sealed off room, doctors in uniforms carefully examined the meta-human baby, who had been put to sleep to facilitate the examination. Behind glass, Awa watched what was happening, concerned. Sarah and Ox were with her. The metallic automatic door opened and Emily and Mr. Lordi, who had just been warned, arrived to see with their eyes the presence of this baby. Emily gasped in surprise at the appearance of this baby, being the very first time she had seen a meta-human child.

_"My god... And where is the mother?" Emily asked.

_"Dead." replied Awa sadly. "She wanted to throw him off a bridge, but I picked him up. She preferred to shoot herself in the head rather than listen to us."

Emily was sorry to hear that and felt sorry for the poor little child, already an orphan when life was just beginning for him. Sarah shared this pain, also showing a sad look and was supported by Awa. Mr. Lordi, seeing his wife thus, supported her morally, coming to take her gently by the shoulder.

_ "What will happen to him now?" Emily asked her husband.

_ "I'll discuss it with Director Irons." replied the Monsterman. "I refuse to leave innocent children unjustly abandoned because of who they are. We will help them as best we can."

Emily smiled, knowing he would say something like that, that he would act like the lord he was, like he always did.

_ "And you can count on my support, Mr. Lordi." added Awa, just as determined to help these meta-human children, who it was now obvious, would be many to suffer abandonment, or even worse.

The Monsterman thanked the Countess with a nod. Suddenly, the doors to the infirmary section opened again, and this time it was Mana who rushed in, accompanied by baby cries. The others saw him arrive, holding another baby in his arms, a little girl this time, but also showing physical mutations, her ears being pointed at the ends and small gills in her neck. But what also worried the others was the presence of bloodstains on Mana's outfit.

_"Mana, what happened?! Who is this child?!" asked Mr. Lordi immediately.

_"I found her in the forest, not far from here." explained the pastor, bringing the baby. "Her father was about to kill her with an axe. He was completely delirious, saying that he had to kill his wife because she had given birth to a monster. I tried to stop him in his madness, but he tried to attack me, and I had no choice but to kill him in self-defense."

_ "Oh my god..." Emily breathed in horror.

_"The poor child. Give her to me, Mana." Awa said, coming to take the little girl delicately in her arms, then turned to other doctors from the base who were arriving and entrusted the child to them so that they could take care of it and also examine it to check for the possible presence of wounds.

Two now, and everyone knew that number would only grow. A new species of human was on the way, and that, humanity didn't seem ready to accept it. This couldn't have come at a worse time. When they thought nothing worse could happen at the start of the day, the arrival of the director of the SRDO Jack Irons, in his officer's uniform, would prove them wrong. The former army veteran greeted the group respectfully.

_"Mr. Irons. What's going on?" asked Mr. Lordi, immediately sensing the worry on the man's face.

_ "I think you should all come see this." replied Irons darkly.

Worried and confused at the same time, everyone left the infirmary to follow the director of the SRDO to the large control room of the base, where all the communications and transmissions were received. As usual, men and women in organizational gear worked rows of keyboards and screens, and many of them seemed to be receiving calls from all over the world, relaying them to others. It was total chaos. Irons led the group to the main screen and showed them the news that was being broadcast from the news channels, all of which were about the same thing.