The DOOM Chronicles

Chapter 04: Not Human

Kyra felt strangely empty as the tram trundled slowly across the mute, dead surface of Europa. It was locked away inside of its own glass and steel tunnel, and she found herself absently hunting across the surface for...

She wasn't entirely sure what she was searching for.

Thoughts floated gently through her head, but none of them seemed to have any real substance. Right now, the world seemed distant and silent and faraway. Nothing seemed tangible. Even the chair she was sitting in, the console before her she was touching, hell, even the uniform enclosing her, none it felt like it had much weight. Reality seemed to have all the substance of cotton candy. Kyra knew she was in shock, but it was hard to really do anything about it. Zombies. Fucking zombies. Up ahead, Kyra saw something in the tunnel with her.

It wasn't moving, and she realized it was a dead body. A man in a blue technician's outfit. That seemed to provide a bit of an anchor for her, and she shook her head. She began slowly looking around the conductor's cabin, unsure of what she was searching for, until she laid eyes on a small compartment built into the wall. Reaching over, Kyra pulled it open and looked inside. She finally found what she was looking for in the form of an unopened bottle of water. She snagged it out of the mini-fridge, pulled off her helmet, and drank deeply.

She ended up draining the whole thing.

For some reason, that really helped finish bringing her back. That and the fact that the next main structure was coming up now. She put her helmet back on and clamped down, making herself focus. She was beginning to get genuinely worried about the fact that her mind was having this much trouble keeping in the moment, keeping tasked properly. It was insanely dangerous. But in a way, it felt a little like trying to shoot a gun with broken fingers. Kyra stood up and stretched, feeling several of her joints pop in the process.

The tram slid into the airlock and began the cycling process.

Kyra took the opportunity to check over her pistol. She reloaded, then took a look out of the cabin window as the inner airlock doors slid open, revealing a flickering interior. Great sign. Made even better by the fact that she could see a few shambling figures on the receiving platform. Well, she'd done this before, she could do it again. As the tram finished locking into place, Kyra moved back to the main passenger cabin and got the pistol ready for action. The tram came to a full halt. There was a pause.

The doors opened.

Kyra was already aiming towards the nearest zombie and popped a shot right into its temple. The thing's pallid skull snapped to the side in a spray of old blood and brains, and it went down fast. The others milling about on the platform let out warning groans as they realized that something had changed in their environment. She didn't give them an opportunity to react any further. Adjusting her aim, Kyra fired off another shot, then shifted a bit further and squeezed the trigger again. Two more shots and the last of the zombies were dead.

She waited, but when no more enemies came, Kyra slipped out onto the platform and listened. Nothing but the soft hum of power and the quiet respiration of oxygen. She moved quickly among the corpses, patting down pockets, hunting for more ammo. All she managed to find for her troubles was a single magazine of ammo tucked away in a medic's pocket. Better than nothing. She transferred it to her own pocket and then took the time to check out all the little hidden niches and alcoves that seemed to proliferate along the shadowed periphery of the loading platform. This place was a bit of a nightmare as a combat zone.

She found one more zombie, hidden away inside of a particularly dark niche, facing away from her. For a few seconds, she was utterly stymied, perplexed by what it could possibly be doing. It groaned and began to turn around, picking up on her presence, and she squeezed the trigger, as she'd already been aiming at its head. As it died and she searched its pockets, finding nothing, Kyra found herself wondering about how much intelligence they had left, how much humanity they had left. Was there anything left?