The DOOM Chronicles

Chapter 35: Back From Hell

                                                      -PART FIVE: ENDGAME-

Jack thought he might be dead.

Sadly, this was not an unfamiliar thought. He wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious, but he had an idea it was more than a few minutes. But if that was true, then how was he still alive? Getting knocked out seemed like a one-way ticket out of life in a place like this. So was it just luck? Or had something else happened? Had something finally gone right for once? Jack didn't want to open his eyes, but his senses were already coming back to him.

He hurt.

That was the biggest thing his body was telegraphing to him. His head, his shoulder, his ribs, his feet, his knees. Everywhere. Just everywhere. His ass hurt from falling on it so many times. He could smell things: blood, death, sweat, but these scents were not overwhelming at least. He heard movement, someone mutter quietly, a voice he wasn't familiar with. Or maybe he'd heard that voice once, sometime recently...

Jack opened his eyes.

His gaze, blurry but coming into focus, stared up at a bland ceiling of gray metal with a few dim bulbs providing light. They flickered briefly.

"Holy shit, you're awake."

A face came into view, staring down at him, a vaguely familiar face.

"Who're you?" Jack groaned. "Where am I?"

"Storage room. Mars City." The man looked anxious. "I'm PFC Sanders."

"Private Ward," Jack said.

"What the hell happened to you? I found you and your friend naked out in the hallway. There was this crazy electrical sound, blew out a lot of lights, and then I found the two of you on the floor. There was smoke coming off of you."

"Long story," Jack replied. He sat up suddenly. "My friend?" A blanket fell away from him. He looked over and saw Jennifer beside him, still unconscious, but breathing, and safe, also beneath a blanket.

"Yeah," Sanders said. "Uh...so you two are Space Marines then? Where'd you come from?"

"Hell." Sanders stared at him. As he did, perhaps waiting for more elaboration, Jack realized that he did recognize the man, although he knew why he'd had a hard time with it. He was one of the Marines he'd seen patrolling around Mars City back before all this shit went down. He had an idea that him and Thompson might have been friends.

"I need some water," Jack said.

"Oh. Right. Hold on."

Sanders got up and moved over to one of several crates that had been pried open. The storage room was small, one wall taken up by a shelf packed with smaller crates. There was an untidy stack of the silver boxes in one corner, and another was taken up by a table. There was just one door to the room and it was shut.

Sanders returned with a canteen of water.

"Going to need more," Jack said, opening it up. "And some food. And uniforms. And guns."

"Got you covered," Sanders replied, moving over to the other side of the room again. Jack drank half the canteen away and then returned his attention to Jennifer. He gently put a hand on her shoulder, began to slowly rock her.

"Babe, wake up," he said, not wanting to scare her awake. They hadn't exactly passed out under the best circumstances. "Jennifer-"

Too late. Her eyes snapped open and her fist came up, connecting squarely with his cheek. He grunted, canteen flying from his hand.