Horseshoe Nail

A/N: Sort of an exploration of what could possibly happen if Heller finds out about the events of Prototype...and doesn't care one bit. This was also written partly out of curiosity about the alleged social networking sites that reported on the quarantine, as mentioned in the Wildstorm comic. Beyond that, I also wanted to write a story in which an original character's existence just makes everything worse.

Relevant quotes:

"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." — Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

"For want of a nail, the shoe was lost;

"For want of a shoe, the horse was lost;

"For want of a horse, the rider was lost;

"For want of a rider, the message was lost;

"For want of the message, the battle was lost;

"For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,

"And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Benjamin Franklin, "Poor Richard's Almanac"

In his search for a way to destroy Alex Mercer, Sgt. James Heller had paved a long, bitter road to hell. He was walking a thin line, skirting the edge of sanity and death, in order to kill a man who deserved it a thousand times over.

To that end, he searched.

Not just for ways to kill Mercer, but also for ways to understand and predict what the sociopathic doctor would do next. So far, he'd had no luck. For that reason, he accessed BlackNet with the unwilling help of a now-dead scientist with clearance far above any researcher Heller had consumed before. It was possible that, beneath all the propaganda and bullshit, there was the truth.

To that end, Heller brought up a document that had been marked "Classified" some sixteen times over, and accessed it.

TO WHOM IT CONCERNS: The following information was retrieved from [REDACTED] on day [DATA EXPUNGED] of the military occupation of Manhattan, after the release of multiple classified documents to the internet wiki site [REDACTED]. This is the source of the leak.

Two days after this information was received, [REDACTED].

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Day 1 [The End of the World as We Know It, Scenario B]

Fuck.

I know, a great way to start the day off, right?

For those of you who live under a fucking rock or something, we've finally found out how the world is going to end. Because of some crazy bastard named Doctor Alexander J. Mercer, everyone who lives on Manhattan gets to die a horribly painful death via super-tuberculosis or some other shit. But everyone who went to Penn Station a couple of days ago? They're all dead.

So, sorry if anyone out there lost somebody to some terrorist fuckwad's idea of fun. Moment of silence.

…

Moving on. It's been forty-eight hours since the disease got airborne. At least, I think it's airborne. Kaz seemed to think so, and she's the one who got that medical degree, for all the good that's doing anyone—everyone who had anything to do with Penn Station, or who happened to have a relative who got home from there, bleeding out their eye sockets? Dead.

I didn't study viral pathology in school, but I'm pretty sure even Ebola doesn't work that fast.

Dunno if we're burning the dead yet. Or if anyone is. Someone should be.

More updates as the shit hits the fan.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Unbelievable. Blackwatch had decided this was classified? Heller had thought that the organization was an insult to everything about the American military, but this bordered on sheer ridiculousness. There was no way anyone was so incompetent that they thought a blogger's insane ramblings during the initial outbreak were even worth noticing.

But someone clearly had. Heller kept reading.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Day 4 [London Bridge is Falling Down]

Remember how they told people that Mercer bastard died on the news a couple of days ago?

Yeah, they lied. Turns out he's running around all over the city right now.

I don't even…

What the fuck, reporter people? Is it really that hard to tell if someone's been turned into a corpse or not?

Speaking of, I went outside today. I know, a shocker. Anyway, I go walking by on my way to the corner store for more Red Bull, and guess who goes shooting past?

Mercer. Alex fucking Mercer.

I would've tried pointing it out, except I don't think anyone would be able to hear be over the Apache Longbow they had chasing him. And he was outrunning the fucking thing. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure helicopters, particularly military ones, are supposed to be faster than some crazy should-be-dead bastard on foot, right?

Wrong. Particularly if he can run up walls and throw cars.

Apparently being a terrorist has turned Mercer into the Flash crossed with the Incredible Hulk. Seriously, check the traffic reports if you don't believe me.

To quote the Marine I was standing next to in line, "Fuckin' New York."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

This was useless. Heller knew Mercer's capabilities—hell, he wouldn't have been deployed to the Red Zone to start with if he hadn't been briefed. It wasn't his superior's fault that he'd managed to fight his way to the heart of the infection without a squad. That was all him.

But Mercer…of course Mercer had to fuck that over. Just like he'd fucked over the entire city for some stupid delusion and destroyed everything. Everything the man touched was cursed.

Still, Heller kept reading. It was clear that this person, whoever he was, had something important to say. Otherwise this piece of shit wouldn't have been classified in the first place.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Day 5 [Zombie Apocalypse—Totally Called It]

So, as I've noticed, a couple of you down in the comments don't believe me about the island going to hell in a handbasket. And your IP addresses say you're from the ass-end of nowhere, A.K.A. Kansas, Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota. And Seattle. Fuck all of you.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED A VIDEO OF ZEUS PICKING UP A DESTROYED APACHE LONGBOW AND THROWING AT A SECOND APACHE LONGBOW, DESTROYING BOTH, UPLOADED TO YOUTUBE. THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED.]

And the first one to say the video was doctored gets an E-bomb for being annoying. You aren't here, so shut up and pay attention.

So, anyway. We've officially got a zombie apocalypse on our hands. I'm sure the idiots over at the NYC Stock Exchange are thrilled. And so are all those weirdoes who put IN CASE OF ZOMBIES BREAK GLASS on a glass case with a shotgun in it. The media doesn't want to call it a zombie plague, but ever since the explosion at GENTEK, things have gone even more to hell. And the only way GENTEK could be any more suspicious-sounding is if they were fucking Umbrella. Nothing good has ever come out of a company called GENTEK. Or any variations on it.

Mercer's still running around like a satanic squirrel hopped up on amphetamines, if you're wondering. Today, he threw a car into a helicopter and fifteen people died.

I'm really starting to hate this city.

On an unrelated note, Manhattan is under quarantine. Like, the kind they used to put at borders during Korea. Going near any of the bridges right now is a pretty quick way to get your head ventilated. To any suicidal idiots stuck on the island with me, now's your chance!

Other than that, if you ignore the fact that people are dying left and right and the Marines have some creepy new friends in gas masks, life's pretty much going on as usual. Except, no taxes during martial law—I guess even the New York governors realize that we're pretty much fucked right now.

What I wouldn't give to not be on this island right now.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was kind of tragic, in a stupid way. Whoever this person was, he probably didn't survive the initial three weeks.

He kept reading, now more out of morbid curiosity than anything.

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Day 10 [It's the T-Virus]

To anyone out there who's ever played Resident Evil, guess what?

Our zombies are getting worse.

No lie—ever seen those funny red-looking warehouses on the news? The ones with the choppers nearby and the military shooting at it, I mean. There's creepy red stuff growing all over those neighborhoods and there's smoke all over the place from where the gas main breaks or they're burning bodies.

Well, I got within five blocks of one on the way to work. Not my best idea, but the other way used to mean I'd go on the subway, and I'm kinda not willing to risk another Penn Station. Just saying.

So, anyway, there I am, texting my out-of-town friends to tell them I'm probably not going to get off the island alive, and everyone starts screaming all at once. Two seconds later, I get to see the ugliest fucking zombie the world has ever seen. Like, sores everywhere and missing fingers because they fused and no hair and…well. Worse news, they're runners like in 28 Days Later. My apologies to Romero fans everywhere.

I even have a video of them. Funny thing about modern cell phones…

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED A VIDEO OF SEVERAL INFECTED BEING GUNNED DOWN BY A BLACKWATCH SUPPRESSION TEAM. THE VIDEO IS SHAKY AND DIFFICULT TO ANALYZE EXCEPT THROUGH FRAME-BY-FRAME EXAMINATION. THE END OF THE VIDEO CONTAINS FOOTAGE OF AN M1 ABRAMS TANK MOVING IN. THIS VIDEO HAS SINCE BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE.]

You can't really make out the creepy bastards, but they're real. And given what happened to the guy behind me, they really do eat people. Except they kind of eat the whole body, not just the brain.

In other news, Mercer was seen killing Infected, too. Don't know how much credit to give that, but they seem to be attacking pretty much everything. Guess even terrorists aren't off the hook there.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

How the fuck…? Why were the Infected attacking Mercer? Even that early in the occupation, it should have been apparent that Mercer was the leader of the Infected. And if not, he was spreading the virus! What the hell would have been the point in attacking him?

Not that Heller would have regretted it if the fucker had just laid down and died back then like he was supposed to.

Something was wrong.

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Day 8 [Crazy Slippery Bastards]

Animal Planet should do a special here. Really. I think there are new species evolving in isolation on the island.

For reference, the new species is the size of a car, built like a cross between an angry gorilla and a werewolf, and completely hairless. They look kinda like the zombie guys from Uncharted, except bigger. And no eyes and a face only a mother naked mole rat could love.

No, seriously. They have bioluminescent foreheads, too.

And they, like practically everything else showing up in Manhattan these days, eat people.

Also, it seems like the creepy guys in black are taking over. Even saw a Marine get shot by one of them the other day. The rest of his unit wasn't allowed to do anything about it.

That said, I haven't seen the boys in black do anything useful. I mean, they usually shoot the zombie guys and that's great considering that most of us squishy civvies can't exactly do anything against them, but I'm still seeing the zombies spread out every day. Whole neighborhoods are going down.

I don't really want to think about what'll happen if they get this far.

…Well, aside from the standard news that the world is ending, life goes on here. Except for the tanks and the pillars of smoke and the quarantine, you could almost say that it's pretty normal. And the prices on everything are rising…

But that's not what I wanted to talk about. This is.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED FOOTAGE OF CIVILIANS THROWING THEMSELVES IN THE WAY OF AN M2 BRADLEY ARMORED PERSONNEL CARRIER. THIS VIDEO HAS ALSO BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE.]

I'm not sure if I should be insulting my fellow New Yorkers' intelligence or wondering if I should copy them. The situation here isn't quite so shitty that I hate my life that much, but I guess I'm not the one who used to live where the zombies moved in.

…Meh. Fuck 'em.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

So this was when the Hunters had first showed up. Granted, they'd been all but exterminated by the time of Heller's deployment, but it was clear that they'd been terrifying to an ordinary citizen.

Well, an ordinary citizen with mild-to-worrying levels of disregard for human life, but the blogger was harmless. The Infected weren't.

Still, something was nagging at him like a persistent itch, and it was starting to get annoying.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Day 12 [Story Time]

Okay, so I guess I need to explain a few things to you for this whole shitstorm to make sense.

The name's Ashley "Ash" Morrison, and I'm twenty-three, a Communications and Computer Programming double major at the University of New York, and a complete bitch. I live in Manhattan by the grace of things called "parents' checkbooks," I spend my spare time editing WikiLeaks, and I like to make other peoples' lives miserable if they have bigger paychecks than I do.

Speaking of, I found something interesting.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED FOOTAGE OF BLACKWATCH SOLDIERS EXECUTING CIVILIANS AND WALKERS IN THE WAKE OF A HIVE'S DESTRUCTION. THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE.]

Rule of thumb: If they're shooting civvies and not the zombies, they probably aren't on your side. Something to consider.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

…So Blackwatch was lying about their little "shoot only when necessary" policy, too. Somehow, that didn't surprise him one bit.

But…something still bothered him. There was something wrong.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Day 13 [Hell In A Handbasket]

…Okay, this is personal. And pissing me off since I can't do anything.

It's not that hard to get your hands on security camera footage if you know what you're doing. Traffic cameras are pretty similar. Given how the goons in black have taken over the news in the last week and a half, I guess I just have to upload this myself. I have a lot of reasons.

Funny thing about history, it kind of creeps up on you when you aren't paying attention. And when I said I went to college here, I wasn't kidding.

I…fuck, why is this so hard?

…

Okay. The truth is this. I didn't know it before—dunno how—but I had a couple of classes with Mercer's younger sister. She's younger than I am, and younger than her brother by like ten years, but I guess I never put it together. Mercer's a common enough name. And Dana's a bitch, same as me, so we didn't get along and never talked. She's a lying, cheating, stealing little…ah, fuck it. I can't stay angry right now.

But even though I hate her and I'm sure the feeling's mutual, I don't want to leave this alone.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED A VIDEO SHOWING THE ABDUCTION OF DANA A. MERCER BY THE FIRST RECORDED LEADER HUNTER, AND ZEUS TAKING OFF IN PURSUIT. IT ALSO SHOWS THE BLACKWATCH STRIKE TEAM'S ATTEMPT TO DESTROY BOTH THE LEADER HUNTER AND ZEUS, AND THEIR FAILURE. THE LEADER HUNTER ESCAPED; ZEUS ATTACKED AND ELIMINATED THE STRIKE TEAM WITH UNUSUAL BRUTALITY.]

While all this was going on, I was just happily typing away on my new entry. Shows what kind of fucking idiot I am.

Anyway. I don't like Alex Mercer. Or Dana Mercer. But if anyone deserved to get attacked by a monster the size of a fucking elephant that runs at seventy miles per hour, it was him and not her. And I don't know what it says about him that he went after it. I bet a whole bunch of people saw him chase that thing across Central Park.

I…I just…

Fuck. You know what? I want to know what's going on. But for that, I think I need to break out the hacking bullshit I haven't bothered with before now. It didn't seem all that important then. Maybe someone will get more use out of this info than I do, being a squishy little civvie in a world of zombies and black ops.

And if anyone capable of stopping it—the plague, the occupation, whatever—find the ones behind this. Track them down. And kill them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Mercer had a sister? Blackwatch should have killed her a long time before this report came out.

But if Mercer went after her, did she mean anything to him or was he just pissed off at the insult? Or did he want to make sure she died without giving up any information? But that didn't make any sense if this Ash woman's ramblings were right, and this giant monster was in fact a Leader Hunter—something that had repeatedly wiped out Blackwatch units to a man and could rip apart Abrams without any trouble—why the hell would Mercer risk anything?

Heller clenched a fist. So, this Dana woman was important, huh? Well, Mercer, hope you didn't plan on keeping her alive after everything you've done.

The end of the document was in sight. And Heller was going to finish it, if only to see what happened to the crazy woman who'd given him a target.

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Day 16 [The Man Can Go Fuck Himself]

…It's amazing how much bullshit you have to dig through to find anything in government files. Thank you to everyone who helped me break the encryption—and yes, I did notice the potshot at the DRM. Ha. Ha, Ha.

So, this new bunch of black ops fuckers? They're Blackwatch. Nice name for a nice group of dickheads, as it turns out. By the way, everything I've found has been posted to every site I could find. Including 4chan. Sorry, WikiLeaks, but I'm sure you're gonna get sued sixteen ways from hell in a bit. :D

Heh. Anyway, Blackwatch is trying to stop the Infected, as they call our zombie buddies here, and retrieve someone called MOTHER from the mess left over. I don't know who that is, or why her (I'm assuming it's a her) codename sucks so bad, but there you have it. I also don't know exactly what she has to do with the Infected, but apparently they're guarding her or some shit. This might explain why they aren't just overrunning every military installation.

And apparently Mercer is called ZEUS by Blackwatch, which makes pretty much no sense if you're trying to dehumanize and belittle an enemy who's decided that all of you need to die. Really, he has—check out the casualty reports, and you'll see that most of the CODs for Blackwatch troopers? ZEUS. Anyway, they should have just called him something less self-important.

Moving on…apparently, Mercer eats people. Dunno about anyone else, but that's creepy as fuck, but check this out.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED FOOTAGE OF LT. JAMES MALLORY BEING ATTACKED AND CONSUMED BY ZEUS. THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE.]

It's like watching a human-sized amoeba. So, be suspicious of everything and everyone or else Mercer might get you. He's like Manhattan's very own boogeyman.

And so much for no accountability for Blackwatch. I realize I'm probably going to end today, tomorrow, or the day after with a bullet between the eyes, but I don't really care. I coughed up blood in the sink a couple of hours ago, so I'm already fucked.

In which case, here's more stuff for the internet to stew over.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED FOOTAGE OF THE BATTLE IN TIMES SQUARE BETWEEN THE INFECTED, BLACKWATCH, AND ZEUS. IT ALSO SHOWED ZEUS CONSUMING MOTHER AND FLEEING THE SCENE. THIS VIDEO HAS GONE VIRAL AFTER REMOVAL FROM YOUTUBE.]

If that was MOTHER, we're all doomed here in NYC anyway, since I get the impression these Blackwatch guys are the type to cut and run. Nice knowing you.

Oh, and even more fun stuff. I'm still not sure if I should be pissed, happy, or sad. Because this is probably going to mean hell for someone.

[THIS SEGMENT CONTAINED FOOTAGE OF ZEUS'S CAPTURE BY BLACKWATCH FORCES. THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE.]

In summary, I think we're all about to die, be saved, or something in between. I hope the Marine guy I talked to is still okay…

Oh, and you'll probably never hear from me again after this. I think there's a 5.56mm out there with my name on it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Infected. Didn't say how. And there were a lot of links—Heller even remembered the footage of Mercer killing MOTHER, since it was a part of the standard Blackwatch briefing and they didn't encrypt it half as well as they did anything else. Mercer destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives in one fucking move, and they expected…Heller didn't even know what Blackwatch could have done.

But this explained the nuke, if nothing else. Blackwatch would have cut their losses and blasted the city from the face of the earth.

One more thing to pay Mercer back for.

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Day 18 [To The World At Large]

I think I'm done. I have no idea how much impact me being a crazy bitch will have on the world at large. Maybe someone will figure out the entire truth. Maybe someone will remember Hope.

Or maybe whoever reads this will find himself on the wrong side. Dunno how much this crap will help, but I hope it does anyway.

Blackwatch doesn't know everything. They can't. They aren't the ones at the center of the infection—they fight it, yeah, but I don't think anyone but an Infected can understand it.

It's like having a couple thousand voices in your head. All…talking. Screaming…some of them aren't in yet. Aren't dying, or mutating.

…Though, I think I'm getting off easy. They seem to be afraid of Mercer. Not of Blackwatch. So for anyone who reads this, remember who the Infected consider a bigger threat.

Remember not to get on his bad side.

…I don't know if Dana ever got rescued. I don't know if she's alive. Someone sent a video to me, said she was rescued. Something. The biggest Hive broke down. Dunno how much is true anymore.

I think I'm going insane. If this is what the others felt…well, I guess I can't blame them for attacking. Much.

There are new voices now—you never hear Mercer talk, you know. But the voices…you can tell him apart. He's going counter to them—one fish who knows exactly where he's going, compared to a whole bunch who don't.

I think I'll go to the Brooklyn Bridge. Throw myself off. Or die.

Die…what…?

They…did their best…I think…?

We…

WE…so many voices ha why so sad mommy's not coming home they want to see mama where did she go HA HA HA mama's gone why WHY WHY WHYYYYY baby come back to mama why run why hide all going to die mama loves and mama cares WHY DID YOU KILL MAMA lost child lost baby

…

…

…

…Goodbye.

[AFTER THIS ENTRY, ASHLEY MORRISON SUCCUMBED TO THE VIRUS AND APPROACHED THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE. THE INFECTED WAS IDENTIFIED AFTER THE FACT THROUGH ITS PERSONAL EFFECTS.]

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

In the days after discovering the Morrison File, Heller would go on a one-man crusade against the Infected and their leader, Alex Mercer. In time, he would discover the truth.

Heller, now codenamed ARES, would eventually track down Dana Mercer, still in a coma under the care of Doctor Ragland. Consumed by rage, ARES would kill and devour them both while ZEUS fought Blackwatch forces in the heart of the Red Zone. When ZEUS discovered this, it would go utterly berserk and lead ARES on a chase throughout the city before both sides confronted each other in Times Square and fought to the death. The creature that interfered, codenamed TYPHON at a later date, would be destroyed and consumed by ZEUS in short order as the two mutants battled.

In the end, ARES would consume ZEUS, and realize the true meaning of hell when all of the latter's combined, amassed memories hit it all at once. ARES went mad and assumed control of the Infected following the events of [REDACTED] in which Blackwatch forces failed to terminate it.

In less than three weeks, the Infected spread across the globe. Only isolated islands such as Madagascar, and inhospitable holdouts such as Greenland and Antarctica remain unclaimed by the REDLIGHT/BLACKLIGHT combined plague.