Aberrant: Dead Rising - Hearts on Fire [Alterna DR ending, v1 - Complete]

[z-Jules WhiteElk]

Going out to fight had been a mistake. She was in no condition to fight, and all it had done was let them know she was here, and sealed her fate. Alone, in the dark, she listened to them pound on the concrete, making a slow but steady progress.

Jules closed her eyes and leaned back against the console, feeling her life ebb away in pulses of blood from the ragged wounds in her legs. They’d been aiming to break her down and they’d succeeded.

It should have been zombies. But it hadn’t been, and that was enough to make her feel okay with her endgame. The supers should have been their allies, but instead they’d come sweeping in like gods, making demands, and then destroying when those demands weren’t met.

She rested her head on her deceptively flat stomach and had only one real regret. “This isn’t fair to you,” she muttered, wobbling as she crawled to her knees. “Trust me, your father would have gotten us out of here, had he known this was the end. He would have opened up a gate, and gotten James to shove me through.”

She pulled the two chains off her neck; they and a final kiss had been Morgan’s last gift to her. He’d just wanted her to keep them safe, but now, they were the instrument of her rage. She knew Morgan wouldn’t necessarily approve, but she’d had everything, including her life, taken from her, and she couldn’t care anymore. She might not have done it had there been anyone left in the Refuge, but no one could survive the inferno that they’d unleashed upon her home. Maybe someone had gotten away, like James, who seemed to have the survival instincts of an ancient rat, but she didn’t know. She’d never know.

Jules prepared herself and the objects on the chain, wondering who would be here to get her. Her answer came soon enough, when he punched a hole in the wall. Peering in, he saw Jules smiling at him. “Gotcha, motherfucker,” she hissed and hit the red button.

Enclaves for miles around were shaken by the concussive burst of energy, and more saw the blinding flash of light and the following mushroom cloud. They muttered to themselves and determined to stay away from the area; those who felt too close moved away. Only a few particularly hardy scavengers went there, only to find nothing more than a glass-lined crater, slowly filling with water from the Red River.