6Gabe moved through the bushes, shuffling the shrubs as he came into the courtyard, looking for Resurgam's endoscopy doctor. So far, it had been a normal work day, with diagnosing obnoxious patients and all. "Hey, Tomoe..." he started, stepping out of the clustered greenery. Looking to the right, he noted the target range that stood behind him. However, the 'whoosh' of the arrow headed straight for his head went unheard...it pierced his brain, and he collapsed on the ground, dead as a doornail.
Lowering her bow, Tomoe watched the arrow head straight for Gabe, but didn't know it had hit him at first. "Hello, Dr. Cunningham!" she called to him, waving, put paused as she watched him hit the ground. Slowly, she approached him, dropping her archery equipment. "D-Dr. Cunningham?" she choked out. "Oh, God...oh, my God...no, he's..." Gently, she collapsed out of grief next to his cold, lifeless body. "Please, I didn't mean to..." Sobbing, she buried her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face as the blood from his head stained the bottom of her kimono an unforgiving crimson.
As if understanding the tragedy, the day of Gabe's funeral...it poured rain. CR-S01, who remained stoic and silent throughout the service, was the only one who cared to bring an umbrella. Few words were said, and Hank and Maria shed several tears for their colleague before departing, leaving mud to stain the headstone as the storm raged on.
Joshua had stood outside the door when the staff had called Lisa and explained the accident. Even though Josh didn't quite understand what was going on, he had gathered that his favorite doctor from Resurgam had died. Heartbroken, he sank back against the wall of the home's hallway, buried his head in his hands and cried.
Naomi cradled her cellphone between her shoulder and her ear, marking various spots around the obvious chalk-line and bloodstained grass at the scene of the death, sending Navel various things to analyze. However, her work didn't last long, as the events of that day were quite clear to the few nurses who had witnessed the scene as they passed by. There wasn't much else to uncover, and she quickly stood up, holding the phone properly. "Alright, Little Guy. I think we've got this wrapped up. I'll be back at CIFM shortly." With that, she hung up and slipped the phone away into her jacket. Tomoe, who was absolutely guilt-ridden, stood off to the side, the events of the fateful day replaying in her mind. As Naomi headed back out to leave, she purposely nudged the endoscopy doctor harshly as she passed by. "Everybody dies," she mused, loudly enough for Tomoe to hear. "But this was most definitely not the way to leave this world."
Unaware of what they carried, the Monarchs spread their golden wings and flew as living death particles across America. Onlookers in the city, unable to detect the threat, watched as the 'fragile' creatures fluttered elegantly through the town...carrying with them a disease that nobody else had seen before.
"We find the defendant...guilty on all charges." The resounding 'crack!' of the gavel still echoed in Tomoe's mind. The white bodysuit clung to her skinny figure, her hair sticky from tears, dark circles from nights that she lay awake under her eyes. The prison was a freezer, the chill overtaking her body from the moment she'd laid foot in it. She shifted her position, her back complaining from her being hunched over for so long on the cold, hard, unforgiving metal bench. Tears dried in her eyes as she found herself unable to cry...unforgiving, and cold as the stoic prison that held her hostage.
He carefully laid the flashy blue suit with golden accents and an eagle imprinted on the torso across the desk as he clutched the length of rope in one hand. Hank glanced up to where the other end of the rope was tied: around one blade of the fan that was in the bedroom of his home. Solemnly tying the noose out of the other end around his neck. With a single flick, he turned the fan on and let the blackness engulf him.
The moonlight shone through her home's window as Maria's fingers probed the trigger of the pistol in her hand. The windowsill was wide open, allowing the cool breeze to flow through the house. Turning away from the mirror, away from the reflection of her dead, sunken face, Maria put one hand on the windowsill as she pressed the gun to her head. Pulling the trigger, her legs gave way so that her body collapsed on the floor. Red swam across her vision as she felt the blood pour out of her head and onto the floor. Shakily lifting the hand that held the pistol up, she pressed the still-hot barrel of the gun to her chest, just under her right breast. "Rose," she choked out. "I'm sorry..." Maria silently cried, pulling the trigger. Her screams went unanswered in the night.
He took a step back, part of the rubble of the cliff dislodging from beneath his feet, toppling down into the abyss below. Ian clutched the gun tightly, his fingers grazing the trigger as he aimed it at the escapee prisoner's chest. CR-S01 weighed his options: he could either step back and fall off of the dangerous, rocky cliff that lay behind him, or allow Ian to end his life by making some other false move. This didn't quite look good. He sighed, and clenched his hands into fists. "Tell them that I died happily. Helping patients has fulfilled my wishes," CR-S01 spoke slowly, and closed his eyes. He felt the bullet dig deep into his chest, piercing his heart as the impact knocked him back. His vision went black as he fell...
The pain in her chest flared profusely, more than before, sending her into agonizing pain. Navel watched the monitors flutter as her pulse attempted to remain strong. Naomi glanced up at him with an almost serene look on her face, and smiled gently. "It's so funny," she mused as he ran a thumb across the back of her hand. "I've always waited for this moment...but I never thought that it'd be like this." He shook his head in disbelief, cupping her face. "You...You can't leave me," he begged. "You're going to stay with me. You're not going to give up and just..die." She took a shuddery breath. "Agent...you knew this would happen. I warned you not to become attached so that it wouldn't be as painful for you when I left...but...I can barely see your face..."
"Don't leave me," he repeated. "Little Guy..." she coughed. "Thank you...for...allowing me...to...love—!" The hand he didn't clasp fell slack against the hospital bed, her heart monitor flatlining.
One hand unscrewed the cap slowly as he glanced in the bathroom mirror. Alyssa was still traumatized after Naomi's death, and wouldn't find him here until the following morning. In his grief, Navel had gone and found some pills...that weren't your everyday medications. The glass of water sat on the counter as he dumped the container over on his hand, taking two of the pills. They kicked in almost instantly, killing him quickly as he fell back, his head colliding with the tiles as well. When Alyssa woke up the next morning, she found him sprawled across the bathroom floor with blood pooling from his head. A note had been left on the counter, in Navel's handwriting: 'Naomi...I'm right behind you.' Alyssa glanced at the pill bottle that sat on the counter, where a sloppy label reading 'Suicide Pills' was taped across one side of it. She may have been young, but she wasn't stupid, and she turned on the sink, refilling the glass of water as she wrote on the note he'd left before slipping one of the pills into her mouth. In the same fashion, she collapsed onto the floor next to him, landing on one of his outstretched arms as if he'd been holding her before they died. When paramedics arrived later after the accident had been reported, the note had been made important evidence. In Alyssa's tiny handwriting, below Navel's, read: 'If you both go...I'm coming with you.'
Esha buried her head in her hands, kicking the desk with her heel roughly. "I can't believe this," she murmured, standing up. "First the accident with Gabe, then all of my other top doctors end up dying one way or another...Hank...Maria...Naomi..." Nothing had been the same at Resurgam for the first day or two. With all of the best gone, complaints had poured in and littered her desk when the doctors patients needed couldn't be contacted. Shortly after the most recent death, Tomoe had gone and died at the prison, adding another death to the mass list. And she was about ready to rip her hair out after the massive stress overload. Sure, it was her job...but this was too much. The glass door to the balcony off of her office flew open because of the wind, and she sat bolt upright, startled slightly. However, to clear her mind, Esha stepped out onto the deck, glancing down the two stories below her office to the small yet deep lake that adorned the large back courtyard of Resurgam. She took a few steps back, preparing to head back inside...but instead flung herself off of the deck, and directly into the lake. Her lungs burned for a few seconds before it all faded...
Rain poured against the windows of Dr. Cunningham's previous office, where RONI sat, unused, in the same corner, the blue orbs still pulsing, as always. "Doctor..." the robot started, talking to no one in particular. "Did you truly feel your work was pointless? There is one thing that is unclear to me. All people die, so medicine is ultimately pointless. But I have observed patients leaving with smiles...was helping people smile pointless as well?" RONI mused. "Goodbye, Dr. Cunningham," she said quietly before shutting off her own power. When maintenance came by Gabe's office the next morning, no one could get RONI to turn back on again...
And still rain poured down over Resurgam.
~END~