Kevin shook his head, "I'm not going to kill you. We already went through this. All you have to do is--" "Just shut up and do it!" Eileen shouted, pushing him back with the gun. "I can't fight her anymore...I can't do it." She reached out and touched his arm, "If things had gone differently...perhaps if we had taken another path, I could have loved you." She suddenly grabbed his hand that held the gun and pulled it up to her face, "But you and I know that this can only end one way." Kevin jerked back, but Eileen, weakened as she was, had an iron grip on his gun. "Don't," he whispered, "Please...I can't do this without you." "You can," Eileen whispered, tears trickling over the gun as it pressed against her cheek, "I'm so sorry for everything I've done. For once, I'm going to do something right." She pressed her finger against the trigger of his gun and there was a flash, the loud bang blocking out Kevin's shout of denial. Kevin caught Eileen before she hit the ground, trying to staunch the flow of blood but knowing that it didn't matter. Her heart was still, her skin cold, and her life was gone. Kevin cradled Eileen in his arms, crying over her lifeless body. It wasn't until he heard the soft moan of a zombie that Kevin looked up. His eyes blazed with fury and he slowly lifted Eileen's shotgun, taking the sling of shells from her shoulder and wrapping it around his chest. He gently closed her eyelids and whispered, "I'll come back for you. When this is finished, I'll come back for you." He held the shotgun in one hand, his blood-stained pistol in the other as zombies closed in on both sides. With a cold stare Kevin blasted each zombie as it came close. When the clip in the pistol was empty, Kevin dropped it to the ground and quickly reloaded the shotgun. He could hear the endless screams of torment coming from a nearby room and smiled at the thought of causing the Queen to suffer. When he had spent all of his shells there were only a few zombies still standing and Kevin dropped the useless shotgun to the ground. He reared his head back and howled before rushing forward. Kevin grabbed the first zombie by the neck and shoved its head straight through the wall. Not finished, he pulled it back out and put one hand on it's forehead while wrapping the other around its neck and shoving the zombie's head all the way back till he heard a satisfying crack as the zombies had touched the small of its back. Kevin caught the next zombie's arm as it raised to strike and then twisted it back, popping it out of its joint. He then held the zombie by the shoulder and, gathering all of his rage, shoved his free hand straight through its chest, sending its heart, plus remains of its lung flying in a bloody mess down the hallway. He heard the queen scream again in the door right next to him and kicked it open. Inside the scene almost stole his rage and replaced it with a feeling of disgust. Mutilated bodies filled the room, obviously food for the Queen and the zombies who attended to her. The Queen, however, was what disturbed Kevin the most. She had human skin, yet her face had stretched and contorted, her eyes were enormous and, while maintaining the human characteristics, were multifaceted and obviously had the same compound characteristics of an ant's. Two feelers stretched out from her forehead, scabs formed around the base showing that they had literally shoved their way out of her skull. While she still had her human arms and legs, six ant legs also protruded from her abdomen, moving around uselessly as they couldn't reach the floor. Kevin shook himself and then stepped forward, ignoring the intoxicating smell of blood with only Eileen and the creature who caused her death on his mind. He rushed forward and grabbed the Queen by her neck, hoping to squeeze the life out of her. She grabbed him with all six of her arms and through him back with such force that Kevin flew straight through the wall. He landed with a groan in the adjacent room, realizing that the Queen had acquired the same strength that ants possessed and tried to pull himself up. Kevin picked up the wooden leg of the table he had just landed on and held it firmly in his hand. With one fatal look at the Queen he rushed forward again. Before he reached her, Kevin whipped his arm forward, launching the wooden stake straight into her eye, causing her to reel back in pain as blood flowed freely from her bulbous organ. Kevin caught her by the waist and pressed forward, carrying her straight back through the window behind her. They fell the entire five stories of the building and landed on the ground. Kevin wasted no time in getting on top of the Queen and pounding his fist into her face. He realized the stake had been lodged in her eye and yanked it free, taking most of the eye with it. He then continued to jam it in her face. She opened her mouth to scream and suddenly found her vocal chords cut off by the searing pain of a wooden stake in her throat. Kevin kept stabbing at her face fiercely, piling all of his rage into each blow, relishing in the feel of the Queen's blood as it sprayed all over his body. She was dead long before he stopped stabbing her. --------------- The zombies that were still alive regained their human characteristics and immediately stopped attacking Omar's lab. While they suffered some mental illness, they were no longer slaves to the Queen's will. Omar was able to get the cure to Kevin in time to save him, and mass-produced it so that all those who had been infected could be cured. While those who had succumbed to the infection and fallen into the primal state were eventually killed, all others resumed their lives as normally as possible. Omar's lab was destroyed and his research locked away, to be used only if another outbreak occurred. Kevin made sure that the world knew what Eileen had done and sacrificed to stop the Queen. He left Los Angelas and joined the police force, deciding that he would follow in her footsteps and help people in need for the rest of his life. [i]This concludes my final story for the Flood and for Bungie. I know I've said it before, and I know you guys always say "He'll be back," but I assure you that this is it. I'll keep posting for the next week or so, but that's it. After Nov. 19, I'm gone. Thanks everyone for the support, entertainment and experience you've given me these past 4 years. I know it sounds melodramatic, but I really am a different person because I came here. Better or worse, I don't know, but I know that part of the reason I am who I am is because of you. So thanks...or if it's a bad thing, then you're all dicks.[/i]