Dominion

Chapter Thirteen: Force Of Will

Chapter Thirteen: Force Of Will

Was this what it felt like to die?

All the pain washed away, taking with it all the fear. The endless battle had ended. And all that remained was me, alone in the blackness.

I felt a strange sort of calm in that place, a certain serenity. It was all over. All that was left...

...was for my eyes to open.

I quickly inhaled, my body feeling as if it had never taken a breathe before. And as I did, my senses began to return. The blur in my vision faded away as my surroundings returned, energy washing over my body like a cleansing water. And I quickly sat up.

I was alive. I was cured.

But how?

I quickly looked around me, taking in my surroundings anew. I was still in the lab, filled with animals the Dominion had experimented on, floating in tanks of yellow liquid. And to my left, on the ground with closed eyes, were Vera and Lizard. What had happened?

I quickly forced myself up and made my way to Vera, getting down on my knees next to her, hoping beyond anything else in that moment that she was still alive. I leaned my head down above hers, listening for her breaths. And they were there. She was still alive.

I let out a sigh of relief, but I didn't have time to let it sink in, or to investigate what had happened to us, as alarms began blaring throughout the lab, throughout the entire base.

"Humans in the lab!" Yelled the distinct deep and heavy voice of a Grigorian. Turning toward its source, I saw him standing in the doorway we had come in through, yelling into the dark hallway beyond. Likely at Dominion soldiers.

I drew my guns and launched a few shots in his direction, enough to force him back into the hallway for a moment. And then I aimed for the door controls. Landing a precise shot on them, the door fell shut, buying us another minute or so. And then I looked back to Vera, shaking her.

"Wake up!" I demanded of her, and her eyes slowly began to open, confusion settling in on her face as she saw me as well as heard the alarms blaring.

"What..." She started to mutter, but I interrupted.

"No..." I paused after I stood up to go wake up Lizard, but saw what else was happening around us. The yellow liquid was draining from the tanks. The animals were being released. All of them. "...time." I finished, quickly running over to Lizard, who was already starting to awaken from the sound of the alarms. I quickly pulled him up to his feet, and then looked back to Vera.

"You're..." She paused.

"Alive, yeah." I finished, for her.

"How?" She asked.

"I was really hoping you could tell me." I replied. "But right now, we need to move."

"No objectionsss from me." Lizard commented.

"Only one way to go," Vera said, pointing to the far doorway opposite the one we entered. "Deeper into the base."

"Let usss jussst hope there isss another way out." Lizard said, but either way, we didn't have much choice. That fact was cemented when the door I blasted shut blew open from the force of the Grigorian ramming it.

"There!" He yelled to the Dominion soldiers behind it, jarring his finger at us. Not good.

Soldiers poured into the room from behind him, quickly opening fire. And we ran for the opposite door. Grabbing a shocker off my belt, I tossed it to Lizard.