Duncan's eyes slowly opened as he sat up from the concrete floor. He rubbed his eyes and saw two figures sitting next to him.
"John…? I'm surprised you didn't wake me up…" Duncan yawned.
He looked again. It wasn't John or Hannah.
It was the Maidens.
"Be quiet," Nixon ordered.
"You're not gonna kill me, are you?" Duncan asked nervously.
"We'll give you two options, Duncan," Knox declared. "You help us kill John and you'll safely return to the surface with all your charges dismissed… or we kill you."
Duncan exhaled shakily. "Oh, man…"
He didn't want to betray John and Hannah. He genuinely cared for them. But in the end, he valued his own life more.
"How can I trust you two?"
Nixon smirked. "You'll just have to."
Duncan shook his head. "I… I can't. They've done everything they can to keep me alive and safe."
Nixon shrugged. Knox stood up and started walking toward him.
Duncan raised his arms frantically. "Wait, wait! I haven't made my decision yet!"
"Well, hurry up," Knox demanded.
---
John and Hannah were making their way back to base.
"I wonder if he's still sleeping. Or maybe he hasn't even slept yet," Hannah said.
John shrugged. "If he was or wasn't, we should still wake him up. I really need to get this off my chest. I feel the same way you do — like we're holding him prisoner here."
They walked in to find Duncan standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.
"Oh, hey guys!" Duncan said, sweating and forcing a smile.
"Hey, Duncan," John nodded. "What'd you do while we were gone? Did you sleep?"
"Oh, I was just… uh…" Duncan tried to think fast. "I was just doing push-ups and… stuff."
John narrowed his eyes. "You alright, man?"
"I'm totally fine, bro! Like, I'm super stoked and… fine—cool…" Duncan forced a chuckle.
Hannah laughed. "You're being really awkward right now. What happened?"
"I was just…"
In a heartbeat, John snatched both Hannah and Duncan, pinning them against the wall. He spun and planted himself in front of them, shielding their bodies with his own. The whole motion was so fast their eyes couldn't even track it.
"What the fuck?!" Duncan screamed, startled.
John scanned the room. "Something's off…"
"There's nothing in here, dude! I was just pulling a joke on you guys, okay?! Chill out!" Duncan exclaimed.
John snapped back. "Are you serious?"
"What? You can't blame me, I was bored as shit!"
Hannah pushed him. "You can't do that! We thought you were being held hostage or something."
"Held hostage?" Duncan blew a raspberry. "That'd never happen!"
John sighed. "Alright, well uh… let's all sit. We have something to tell you."
Duncan was confused but sat down anyway.
"We've been thinking about this for a long time. But anyway, we want to give you two choices."
"Choices?!" Duncan gasped. "You gotta be fucking kidding me…"
Hannah scooted closer. "Listen, if you want to go back to the surface, then you're free to do so. We are absolutely not forcing you to stay here."
"But before you decide, hear us out…"
Duncan gulped. "Uh…"
"Behind you, Harper!" Nixon exclaimed.
John spun — only to be slammed by a blinding wall of blue light and 20,000 roentgens of radiation.
"You fucking—!"
Knox and Nixon rocketed away. John and Hannah tore after them, the Maidens' laughter ringing in their ears.
Seconds later, John lost control and crashed hard into the ground. He stumbled, slammed into a wall, and tried to push himself up.
"John!"
His stomach suddenly convulsed. John doubled over and vomited violently, thick surges exploding from his mouth onto the floor as his body heaved again and again. The radiation was already eating him alive from the inside.
"Fuck…" John didn't even have the strength to shout.
He vomited even more violently this time. Then he started screaming in pain and agony as his eyes began glowing red, growing brighter by the second.
"Uh, John…?"
"AAAAAHHHHH!!!!" Two laser beams blasted out of John's eyes, slicing through the concrete walls and growing hotter.
Then John's chest began glowing bright red violently as he screamed even louder. Suddenly, a massive beam blasted out from his chest, exploding a large chunk of the sewer and awakening everyone inside, including the Maggots.
John fell unconscious.
---
BEFORE ALL OF THIS HAPPENED...
Duncan shook his head. "I… I can't. They've done everything they can to keep me alive and safe."
Nixon shrugged. Knox got up and started walking toward him.
Duncan raised his arms frantically. "Wait, wait! I haven't made my decision yet!"
"Well, hurry up," Knox demanded.
Duncan groaned. "Alright, fine! I-I will help you kill John. But I'm only doing this to return to the surface!"
Nixon patted him. "Good choice."
"All you have to do is act natural. Speak to him like you always do. Try to get him more focused on you than usual. Make all his attention directed toward you and you only," Nixon explained.
"That's all you have to do. Then we'll do the rest. Alright?"
Duncan nodded.
---
Hannah returned to base and gently laid John's body down.
"Fuck…" she muttered.
John's body was trembling. His eyes were glowing faintly red. Vomit spilled from his mouth. His chest rose and fell slowly.
"Duncan, get me Vivex! Now!"
Nobody responded.
"Duncan, are you fucking deaf?!" Hannah shouted furiously.
Still no response.
She got up and realized Duncan wasn't there. She searched for the Vivex — only to find nothing.
Her eyes widened in realization. "You fucking bitch…"
She rushed back to John, holding his head. "What am I supposed to do… Shit… SOMEONE HELP!"
Hannah panted rapidly. "Alright… Alright, I know what to do."
She carried John on her shoulders and blasted out the doors, flying through the tunnels at supersonic speeds. Her speed continued to grow faster with every second, adrenaline pumping through her veins.
"Emma… Emma… Emma…"
She suddenly found a base and burst inside, only to find a random group she didn't know.
"Oh fuck, it's one of the rich! EVERYONE GET THE FUCK OUT!!!!" a man screamed.
Hannah continued flying. Her speed kept increasing. All she could think about was John.
She accidentally smashed through a wall and found another base. This time she saw familiar faces. The Maggots.
"Oi! The fuck are you both doing here?!" Benjamin shouted.
Hannah ignored him and placed John on the ground.
"Emma! Help him, he's fucking dying!"
Emma rushed over but suddenly stopped. "Woah…"
"What the fuck are you doing?! He's gonna die! Do something!" Hannah shouted.
"Everyone, get away from John right now!" Emma exclaimed. "I'm not kidding — away from his body this instant!"
They all backed off.
"Farther! That's still too close!"
They backed off even more. Only Hannah remained near him.
"Listen to me, Hannah. If you stay close to him for another minute, you won't live to see the next."
Hannah was confused. "W-What do you mean…?" Tears streamed down her face.
"John has been poisoned with an extremely high dose of radiation. The symptoms are there and very clear."
Hannah took her hands off John and backed away. "Well what are we supposed to do?! Please. Please, don't let him die!"
"Hannah, I have no equipment to treat any type of radiation. Even if I did, it would be of no use. This amount of radiation is untreatable. Trying to help him would get me and all of us killed."
"There's gotta be some way, right?" Aya asked frantically.
Emma slowly shook her head. "We'll have to rely on John's body to fight the radiation… But for now, there's nothing I can do."
Hannah broke down, crying loudly.
Benjamin decided not to say anything. He remained expressionless.
"Who did this?" Junior asked quietly.
Hannah's eyes turned to rage. "The Maidens… I'll fucking kill them…"