A/N: Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.

Chapter 9:

Suicide Run

"What else did you find?" Alan asked Dana, separating from his newly discovered niece.

"It's not about you, but rather more info about Boston. Most of the files were too encrypted for me to access until you guys went to the base," Dana said.

"What else is there about Boston?" Joel asked, curious and happy Ellie found some more family, even as he considered her family and felt she saw him the same way.

"Fuck, I don't believe this," she cursed, "I knew these Blackwatch guys were fucked up, but I never thought it'd be something like this!"

"What is it, Dana?" Amaya asked, frustrated with her stalling.

"They have the cure," Dana said, much to the shock of everyone.

"The cure? You mean the Cordyceps cure?" Joel asked in surprise to which Dana nodded.

"It doesn't just cure those that have been infected," Dana said, "It also vaccinates them from future infections."

"Why the fuck wouldn't they give that to people!?" Ellie demanded, frustrated at the injustice.

"Makes sense when you think about it," Alan said, getting everyone's attention.

"How the hell does this make sense to you?" Amaya asked astonished.

"Blackwatch always wanted more control and freedom for their experiments," Alan said, "With the way things are, they have absolute power and can do their experiments without any higher-ups developing a conscience and making them stop."

"That certainly falls in line with the Blackwatch mentality," Dana said, with Amaya nodding in agreement.

"What should we do now?" Joel asked, "I mean, I get that the cure could be useful and everything, but not only would we have to get through an entire army base in order to get to it, but we'd have no way to distribute it."

"True," Alan said, "But maybe if people knew they'd rebel against Blackwatch and the government. At the very least, they'd have more things to worry about than coming after us."

"Are we really considering this?" Dana asked, "I'm all for taking on Blackwatch, but that might be a little much, even for two prototypes."

"We aren't doing anything," Alan said, "I thought I lost the last of my family before and I'm not gonna risk it now. I'll go alone."

Ellie opened her mouth to object, but Joel's hand on her shoulder stopped her, "No, Alan, we started this together and we'll end it together."

Alan sighed, "Guess there's no talking you two out of it. You know, your mother was stubborn too, Baby Sister."

"So, I guess we gotta find some transportation," Ellie said, before she noticed the smile on Alan's face, "What?"

"Well, Amaya and I didn't destroy all of the helicopters, not to mention the ground forces didn't walk all the way here, so there's likely a troop transport, maybe even a transport helicopter," Alan said, "Whichever they're using, they'll be nearby at their rally point. We find that, we'll find our transport."

"You guys are crazy," Amaya said, "But you're my kinda crazy. I wanna help."

Alan nodded his thanks before turning to Dana, "What about you, Dana?"

"While I'm decent enough with a gun to survive around here, I won't be much help fighting your way through an army. However, since I'm in their network, I can cause some havoc with their systems and give you support that way," she said, "I can also pinpoint where their rally point is located."

Alan nodded and the group headed out, with Dana guiding them via their earpieces. As it turned out, the remaining soldiers had rallied in the remnants of Time Square and, as Alan predicted, there was a transport helicopter there to take the troops where their new orders told them to go.

"Okay, here's the plan," Alan said, "Joel, Ellie, you two will provide sniper support while Amaya and I will go in and take on the soldiers close range. Sound good?"

The other three nodded their agreement and the two humans headed off to find sniper positions while the two Evolved charged straight at the soldiers. The soldiers opened fire on the attacking Evolved as Joel and Ellie sniped some of the soldiers from their hiding positions.

Alan leapt over the main group of soldiers and grabbed one of the helicopter pilots trying to head to one of the attack helicopters before snapping his neck and consuming him. He activated his whipfists and grabbed one of the attack helicopters before spinning and slamming it into the group of soldiers, killing a dozen before it exploded and killed even more. The soldiers didn't last long after that and Joel and Ellie made their way to their Evolved allies.

"So, can you fly this thing?" Ellie asked, gesturing towards the transport helicopter.

"I can as of two minutes ago," Alan said, shifting his shape to that of the helicopter pilot.

"Have I ever told you how creepy that is?" Ellie asked sarcastically.

"Nope, but personally I think it's awesome," Alan smiled, "Now, climb aboard and strap in. Next stop: Boston."

Alan climbed in the pilot seat with Amaya, having consumed another of the pilots, moved into the copilot seat. After doing a brief check, Alan started up the rotors and the helicopter lifted into the air and set a course for Boston.

"So what are we gonna do when we get there?" Ellie asked, "I mean, I doubt they'll let us just walk right into the base."

"Hmm, well, there's always the Wookie method," Alan said, smirking.

"Uh, what?" Ellie asked.

"He's saying we'll pretend to be captives," Joel said, rolling his eyes at Alan's reference."

"Oh, why didn't you just say that?" Ellie asked.

"That's probably the saddest thing I heard. Someone not knowing Star Wars is just a tragedy," Alan said, shaking his head with false depression.

"Or maybe you're just too old like that whatever it's called," Ellie said, pouting.

The group laughed at that.

The rest of the trip was spent in near silence and after about an hour, they were contacted over the radio, asking for their authorization, which Alan gave using the memories of the pilot that he consumed.

While he was doing that, the person on the other end was speaking with the highest ranked man in the base, who just happened to be the leader of Blackwatch.

"So, it is our chopper and is sending the proper authorization, but isn't following the proper flight path?" the man asked, contemplating.

"Yes, sir, what would you like us to do?" the radio operator asked, "Should we force them to land and take them into custody?"

The mystery man stroked his chin and smiled devilishly, "No, let them land and remove the guards from the area."

"Sir?" the operator asked, thoroughly confused.

"We're gonna have guests. Guests that I've been waiting to arrive for a while now. Let's roll out the red carpet for them, shall we?" the man asked, smiling widely.

A few minutes later, Alan was landing the chopper on a landing pad in the middle of the base. Shutting down the engine, Alan looked around, his instincts screaming that something was wrong.

Looking back at his companions, he asked, "You guys feel something is off too?"

"Yeah," Joel said, "For starters, where are all of the soldiers? There should be at least a few guards around here."

"Exactly," Alan said, "Stay on your toes. No telling what'll happen inside. Baby Sister, stick close to Joel."

The group headed into the base, going through the halls, bypassing the locked doors and keeping an eye out for soldiers until they arrived at a large open area.

"What the hell? What is this place?" Amaya asked, looking around, realizing this was the perfect place for an ambush.

"It's where we test some of our more…unique experiments," said a voice from the balcony above them. They looked up to see a man that only Alan recognized, though they all felt on edge by his presence. The man's dark brown hair was slicked back and his tanned skin was mostly covered by his black suit. "This all must be quite the homecoming for you Ellie and Joel."

"You know us?" Ellie asked surprised.

"Of course," the man said, "I have followed your exploits since you both escaped Boston, not to mention I've been very interested in your companions' exploits. I am curious though as to what brought you all here."

"We're here for the Cordyceps cure," Alan said firmly.

"Ah, that," the man said, as though he'd forgotten that it even existed, "Such a useful thing when our important followers foolishly get infected. Ah, that reminds me, I haven't introduced myself. How rude of me. Well, my name is Dr. Perry Aiya. Pleased to meet you all. Allow me to come down so I can speak to you all face-to-face."

With that, the man leapt over the rail and dropped straight down to land hard on his feet, the ground cracking under the force of the landing.

"You're an Evolved!" Amaya said in shock.

Dr. Aiya laughed darkly, "Oh, no, I can assure you I am not like the rest of you. I'm what you all could have been. I am perfect!"

"Bullshit! You're just an Evolved with an ego," Alan said.

"While I'll admit to having a bit of pride, I was not exaggerating when I said I was perfect, though I will have to admit I lied a bit," the doctor said with an almost giddy smile, "My name isn't Dr. Perry Aiya. It's just a name I made for myself when I escaped my captivity. In fact, I never even had a name, just a designation. That designation was my name, it was me, is me. I am Pariah!"

"Is that supposed to mean something to us?" Joel asked before he noticed Alan and Amaya's expressions were those of shock. "Who is he?"

"I've only heard rumors, but he's the child of Elizabeth Greene, the woman that was the original Evolved, the one from whose blood the Blacklight virus was created," Amaya said, suddenly worried.

"Quite right," Pariah said, "Once I escaped, I realized the best way to hide from my pursuers was to hide among them. Eventually, I reached their highest ranks and started doing my own little experiments including the altered Cordyceps fungus you're so familiar with."

"Why the fuck would you do this?" Ellie demanded, "What the Hell would you gain from this?"

"Such a dirty mouth for one so young," Pariah laughed, "As for your questions, I did it because I spent all of my life being the guinea pig, so I figured that it was time I returned the favor. Now, all of Humanity is my personal petri dish. As for what I gained, that's even easier. Payback and absolute power! Not to mention, I learned quite a few things that I think you all will greatly appreciate. For example, I found a way to alter the Cordyceps fungus, resulting in some very special infected, but that's not all. I found that infecting corpses with the altered strain has a very unique effect." As he said that, he pulled out what looked like a detonator and pressed a button, causing the doors to the side of them to open. Out of the doors, Cordyceps infected the likes of which none of them had ever seen before. They looked like runners, but they had fungal flowers blooming all over their bodies before retracting again. The infected walked jerkingly forward, like puppets on strings, moving between Pariah and Alan's group.

"What did you do to them!?" Alan shouted, furious.

Pariah was unafraid of Alan's rage, still smiling as he said, "What seems to be the matter? I would have thought you would be happy to be reunited with old friends and family! Surely, you're happy to see your old friend Tess, Joel, or even your adorable daughter, Sarah! What about you, Ellie? Aren't you happy to be finally given the chance to meet your mother?"

"You fucking prick!" Ellie shouted.

"There's that unladylike language again," Pariah laughed before he looked at Amaya, "I hope you aren't feeling left out, Ms. Heller. I can bring out a familiar face for you as well." With that, Pariah's form shifted to a tall black man with a shaved head.

Amaya looked at him in shock, her eyes beginning to water, "D-Daddy?"

Pariah's smile widened, "That's right. James Heller was quite the dangerous individual. So cocky, so arrogant. Despite having a watered down version of what flows through my veins, he thought he could take me on his own, but eventually he fell just like everyone else. His annoying genetics were quite resistant to being consumed, but eventually, they were absorbed."

"You bastard!" Amaya shouted, charging at Pariah, but before she could get past the Infected, the corpse of Tess grew fungal growths on her hands that formed fungal versions of the claws and slashed at her, making her hiss in pain as the cut burned like acid.

"As I was saying," Pariah said, turning back to his original form, "I made some improvements to Cordyceps, effectively turning those you see before you into Cordyceps versions of Evolved! Not only that, but they excrete an acid-like substance from their bodies. Not only that, but they obey my every order! Now, I believe you all were looking for this," he said, pulling a vial out of his pocket, "I already destroyed all the data and other samples, so this is all that's left. I'll be on the roof if you want it, provided you can get past them. If you can bring yourselves to kill them once again." With that, Pariah began to laugh hysterically and walk through a door.

"Damn that bastard," Alan said, seeing his sister like that.

Joel pulled his rifle out and aimed it at Tess, unable to bring himself to aim at his daughter even if it was her corpse. Ellie took aim at Sarah, but she, like all of the others, seemed to be unable to pull the trigger. Alan, with a heavy heart, grew his claws and said, "Everyone, I know it hurts, but…we have to kill them. They aren't the people they were. Now, they're nothing but corpses."

With that said and with tears in his eyes, Alan charged at his sister's infected corpse, which responded with its own charge. Tess and Sarah attacked as well, with Joel and Ellie opening fire, their training making it easier for them attack and not think about who exactly they were shooting at.

Tess and Sarah attacked with their claws, ignoring the bullet holes in their bodies, attempting to slash Joel and Ellie, but the two humans, having gotten used to fighting creatures like them, had gotten used to being quick on their feet and dodged out of the way each time. After making a couple light cuts on his sister's corpse, Alan did something he never thought he could or would do: he drove his claws through his sister's face, putting her down once and for all. Just as he did that, Amaya stabbed Sarah through her heart, killing her, and Joel managed to hit Tess with a point-blank rifle shot.

"He's dead," Alan said, his tone as dead as he felt. Even though he knew it was just his sister's corpse, he felt like he murdered her.

The others nodded their agreement and they all headed down the hall after Pariah. This time soldiers were coming out of the rooms on either sides of the hall, but they didn't last long against the raging Evolved and humans. Alan was leading the way as he used his abilities to sense the direction Pariah went. Reaching the elevator at the end of the hall, they pressed the button to the roof.

"You all ready for this?" Alan asked, thought the look he gave Joel and Ellie told them who he was most worried about.

"We're good," Joel said, looking at the serious expression on Ellie's face.

"Okay," Alan said, "Just make sure to stay on your toes. Let Amaya and I take the most of his attention. You two keep your distance. The last thing you want is for him to focus on you."

At that point, the elevator bell ringed and the doors opened with the group finding themselves on the roof where Pariah was waiting with a smile on his face.

Seeing them arrive, Pariah began to laugh maniacally, "I love those expressions! It's like you're the heroes coming to slay the dastardly villain!"

"No, that's not how it is," Alan said, "We're just gonna kill you!"

Pariah's smile stayed in place as Alan and Amaya charged him with dual sword arms and claws respectively. Once they were in range, he backhanded Amaya away from him before grabbing Alan by his left arm and spinning and slamming him hard onto the ground. He then proceeded to punch Alan repeatedly in the face. Joel and Ellie fired and hit Pariah in the back multiple times, but none of the shots seemed to affect him in the slightest. Amaya tried to attack with her whipfist, but Pariah caught it and pulled her to him twirling her like a lasso over his head by her whipfist before throwing her at the two humans, having her collide with Joel. When Pariah looked back down at Alan to continue what he started, Alan socked him in the face with his hammerfist, sending him flying back.

Ellie, seeing an opening, jumped onto Pariah's back to stab him multiple times in the chest.

"Get lost, you little gnat!" Pariah growled with annoyance as he grabbed the girl and threw her away from him.

Alan moved and caught her before she flew over the edge.

Pariah laughed when he saw that, "You'd have been kinder to have let her fall. I mean, you're all going to die here, so why bother?"

"I told you before, we're gonna kill you!" Alan shouted as he attacked again with his hammerfists, but Pariah dodged each punch with ease.

"Doubtful when you can't even hit me or really hurt me," Pariah said, "But you know, I've gotten bored with this. I'd say it's time for me to end this."

With that, he grabbed Alan's right arm and, with a flick of his wrist, ripped Alan's arm off at the shoulder, making him cry out in pain.

"Oh, dear, that really looked like it hurt," Pariah said, "Here let me give you a matching set."

Before he could do the same to Alan's left arm, Amaya slashed Pariah's back with her sword arm, making him cry out in pain. When Pariah's attention was off of him, Alan turned his remaining arm into his flamethrower arm and hit Pariah with a stream of flames pointblack to the face. Even the near indestructible Pariah cried out in agony as his face melted off.

"That's it!" Pariah snarled as he sent tendrils out of his back into Alan's torso, trying to break him down and consume him.

Alan tried to retaliate with his own tentdrils, but he was weak from the pain, so he could only slow his being consumed. Amaya, rushing to Alan's aid, impaled Pariah through his chest, making him cry out in pain again and giving Alan an opening to continue consuming Pariah. Growling with annoyance, Pariah backhanded Amaya away from him, but this time when his attention was diverted, Joel pulled out his shotgun, placed it against the 'perfect' being's head, and pulled the trigger, splattering his head.

Alan finished consuming Pariah and grabbed the vial of the cure, which fell out of Pariah's pocket.

"So, what now?" Joel asked, clutching his bruised ribs.

"Now, we, urk!" Alan groaned and dropped to his knees in pain as tendrils moved all over his body, "Th-there's so much biomass! I-I need to get rid of it!" Then, a thought occurred to him, "I've got an idea how to kill two birds with one stone." Before anyone could ask Alan used his tendrils to absorb the cure and then in a burst of biomass formed a massive, writhing tower of tendrils out of his arms before swarm of tendrils came out of it, stretching for miles going even beyond their line of sight, each of the tendrils releasing a mist of the Cordyceps cure over the entire landscape with the wind spreading it everywhere they missed. Once the last of his biomass was expended, Alan fell onto his back, completely drained.

"Alan!" Ellie shouted moving to her uncle's side, who weakly turned to look at her.

"Hey, Baby Sister, I, uh, I think I put too much into that," he said weakly, laughing weakly as he did.

"Y-You'll be okay, right?" Ellie asked, worried.

"I-I don't think so, Baby Sister," Alan said, before looking at the older man, "Joel, look after her, okay? Like she was your own."

Joel nodded solemnly in agreement.

Lastly, Alan turned to Amaya, "G-get them out of here. You're the only one that can get them out of here before soldiers arrive. Take them home."

Amaya nodded and grabbed Joel and Ellie, though the younger girl resisted, wanting to take her newly found uncle with them, despite the fact that he breathed his last and the light faded from his eyes. Amaya leapt off the building with the two being carried on her shoulders.

It was about twenty minutes before the soldiers arrived to find the body of Alan.

One of them got on the radio and reported what they found before waiting for their reinforcements, never noticing the pinkie of the 'corpse's' remaining hand twitched until tendrils shot out of the body and impaled the soldiers before absorbing them.

A/N: And there's chapter 9! Please remember to review with any comments, question, concerns, or constructive criticism that you might have.