Failure167/5

Theodore Carmichael
American, just as Jordan Hamilton, born in USA in 2037, he is little older than Jordan and Ramone, when he was fifteen he was sent into his initiation as a cultist, as this religion was moving forward in population, he was tough to hate christians, making him believe that they were liars, scum in the world, needed to be eradicated.

He joined military service at 18 years old, gaining respect among the other people, he joined Special Ops. International two years before Jordan could do it, hiding his religion to his superiors but not to his friends, which someone were also cultists.

He was not one of the programmed to travel in the third flight to Armageddon, but still he was selected as substitute to the original, this one disappeared shortly before the launch and he then was selected to the job, among the best of the best, though he wasn't planned there to be.

The Colony
We were there finally, in front of the famous colony of Armageddon, bigger than I thought seeing the pictures, the houses were built with materials brought form the the two shuttles landing, the Corporal explained the strategy, again, the survivors were to stay back while we did the dirty job.

The plan was simple: enter with caution to the colony, extract recording journals from the mutated people and activate again one of the shuttles to rendevouz with the one orbiting the planet, Ramone and I weren't together, but still I was with Thomas and Greg, my new friends.

The Corporal gave the order.

A line of five troopers moved towards the colony, we were the second wave, though it seemed to be nobody.

Our turn, we moved.

"Watch our flank" I said to Greg, as he moved toward a house metallic wall and gave us signal of moving forward, more troopers came in, no sign of the Mutated.

"Ok I need five guys to install the batteries in the shuttle, you two" said the Corporal to me and Thomas, "Extract the journal entries in the main house, that if I recall..." said watching to a colony map, "... it must be over there"

"Yes sir, come Jordan" said Thomas.

We entered the house he indicated, as the other troopers escorted the survivors to the shuttle for better protection, everything seemed normal to me, or that was I though.

"Entering data, check those codes pal" said Thomas to me.

"Ok ok" I said.

"Its asking for code yellow" he said.

"Yellow code Thomas" I corrected.

"Well that thing, Eh oh" said Thomas, the last phrase looked french as I figured.

"Yellow code: a09205092" I said, he tabbed the code, now the screen was asking another code.

"Red code" he said, I smiled.

"Ok, red code: 202291010" I replied.

He tabbed, we were in now.

Suddenly a shot was heard: BAM!

The two of us shocked our heads, looking for the shooter, or the target, the place suddenly filled with screams of crazy people, the mutants were here!

"&%#!" said Thomas, even if that was a bad word, I agreed with him.

"Search for those journals quickly!" I screamed, "I'll cover for you!"

The place was suddenly swarmed, how? I don't know, it was just crawling, the survivors, women and men, started to scream as well, a crossfire started, not from a side to side, but everywhere.

"Journals, journals..." whispered Thomas.

A mutant came from the window, I finished him off with my rifle, one gun in his head and it was over, another one, the same, but then they started to come by twos, and then by three, What was Thomas doing?

"Thomas!" I said by killing one, "did you finished yet?"

"Almost, its downloading to our PM, 67% don't worry, just hang on"

He turned with his rifle and made my life lot easier, by helping me killing those people, Greg entered the room, hurried.

"What are you folks doing?" said, the batteries are on, the engines ready, time to go!" he turned and helped us killing the mutants.

"They keep coming, How many people they are?" I asked.

"I certainly don't know" replied Thomas.

In other part of the colony, Ramone was alone with the corporal trying to recover the shot trooper, killing mutants, or getting them really hurt. the others were either on the shuttle or disappeared, and those grayish people were getting out of nowhere.

"I'll open a way for you, go now!" said the corporal to Ramone.

"No sir, I'm not leaving you"

"Go now trooper, that's an order!"

Suddenly a shot hit the corporal, making him falling into the ground, Ramone shocked his head, there, in the middle of the battlefield, it was Theodore, Ramone was really terrified, as he pointed towards Theodore.

Two shots then were heard, but it was too late, Ramone fell to ground, with Theodore smiling at him, he wasn't wearing any helmet at all.

"98, 99, 100!" said Thomas, "Al right, let's get out of here!"

"Come on!" I said pushing the door of that house open.

The three went out, with new courage and new hopes of getting earth safe, firing our remaining ammo.

The rest of the troopers were also running towards the online shuttle, which was already floating a meter above surface, we ran, ran for our lives, with our mission accomplished, our survival was now important.

We ran.

More mutants came out of nowhere, we opened fire, making a path towards the shuttle, a little bigger than ours.

"Come on!" I said to the remaining troopers, "I'll cover you run into here!"

"Get in Jordan" said Thomas through radio, "get on the shuttle now!"

"Let's wait for the others!" I said.

I waited, I wanted all to be safe, but no one was wearing the uniform with the titles "Ramirez"

"Where is Ramirez?" I started to ask the other troopers, which were arriving in pairs or in groups or three, "Did you saw Ramirez?"

"We do not find the corporal either" said one of them.

"Wha...?" I said, but I suddenly felt a something cold entering my right arm.

The impact of a bullet had reached me.

The shock made me fall into the ground, no more people or troopers were getting in the ship.

Suddenly a shape stood up erectly besides me, I recognized that face, it was Carmichael.

"Theodore!" I screamed.

"What?" said Thomas through radio.

"Yes I am" said Theodore, a little grayish, and without helmet.

"Could you please repeat Jordan?"

"Wait Theodore, did they take your helmet off?"

"JORDAN!"

"No, I took it out myself" said smiling, his eyes were darker and his pupil bigger.

"I d-don-t understand?"

"Well, it is something amazing, something your kind and mine only know, also Ramone, but he cannot now." he stopped watching how the shuttle started to move to avoid mutants get on.

"Come on Theodore" I said trying to calm him down "Let me go, you are not thinking well"

"Of course I'm thinking well, and better than before!" he said angrily, he approached me slowly, "Don't you see Hamilton, this 'mutants' and I are the same, its just I can speak, and they cannot"

The wave of the wind pushed and pulled by the shuttle started to hit us, the crowd of mutants suddenly was finished, by the troopers.

"I was sent here to sabotage this mission, for years the government has protected scum like you, FOR YEARS!"

"Jordan, please respond" said Thomas through the radio.

I was now getting it, he was a traitor, and now as cultist he killed Ramone and would kill me.

"This was our vengeance, now I know that I cannot return with glory, they will probably execute me" he stopped seeing how his fellows were killed by the troopers.

"But if I most die, then I will go to paradise, by killing at least two christians!" screamed Theodore, following a weird laughing, and horrible.

He pointed his rifle towards me, I was saying Good-bye already, and closed my eyes, there was nothing more to do, and my rifle was too far.

A shot was heard.

Then after few moments, I opened my eyes, and realized that I was not the dead, but Theodore, and just behind him, was Ramone, with his legs flexed, he then fell to the ground, I ran as I could, Thomas and Greg jumped from the Shuttle and helped us get on the Shuttle.

We were now at peace.

"But how?" I said, cleaning my wound and looking to Ramone.

"I was shot by Theodore" said doing efforts, "Fortunately for me, it wasn't my time to die"

"It wasn't God's will" I said, affirming.

"No" he said laughing, but then calming because of his wound in the chest, "Hum... Not with this, no"

I relaxed, as I sat down in a chair of comfortable materials, made for passengers, over there it was crawling of survivors, now calmed down and most of them speaking and sleeping, the shuttle moved into orbit where it would dock with out ship, and then return to home.

Thank you God I said, and lifted a prayer to Him.

Epilogue
George Brown was moving towards the exit of the Lab, he was a scientist after all, but his faced expressed concern, as he was getting out of the final exams of Armageddon's air.

His wife, Loren Brown, was waiting for him on his car, sitting and reading a girls magazine, he opened the door and sat down, introduced the key to his place, and started driving.

"How it was?" asked Loren.

"Fine" he said, but he knew it wasn't.

"Did the air of that planet had something wrong"

He though, trying to answer correctly, "No" finally said.

Loren seemed interested and closed her magazine, remembering the page where she was and also because she gets bad when reading on a moving vehicle.

"No?" she repeated.

"No" said George.

"So then, what caused the mutation?"

His eyes got wet than normal, tears started to get out of his eyes.

"It was the mere will of God" he finally said.

Loren detected something wrong in his husband, "Are you all right?"

"Yes" he said moving away his tears, "yes indeed, I need to see someone"

"Who?" asked Loren seeing the magazine portrait.

"Someone who saved my life back there"

"Jordan Hamilton?" said Loren, she knew Jordan at the arrival, as George introduced each other.

"Yes" said George.

"Well, he is weird I got to say" said Loren looking her IPod.

George laughed.

"Surely he is" he smiled, "that is why I'm seeing him"

The car moved away from the building, and got lost in another street.

END.