Felix stood outside the perimeter of the settlement alone. He could hear the hum of the transport in the distance, slowly it cleared the nearest rise and landed with the usual accompanying red dust cloud. Felix boarded and was taken away bearing South. He found it difficult to gauge the distance as they travelled quite quickly over the desert but was certain that they were several hundred kilometres away. As they approached he could see the outpost, it was made up of similar modules as their own settlement leading him to conclude it wasn't a permanent installation. There was also fencing erected around it and Felix could make out automated gun emplacements spread along the fence line. The transport landed in a open area among other transports and a few dozen gunships. Felix was escorted through the outpost to it's centre. He didn't see a need to ask where he was being taken as he was there by invitation. They stopped before a large structure, his escort abandoned him once he stood before a pair of soldiers guarding the front door. One of them used his radio and opened the door inviting Felix inside. Two more guards were posted inside, Felix ignored them as he entered a side room then approached the Major sitting at his desk.

"I take it this is serious seeing as you didn't wish to say it over the radio," stated Felix as he sat down making himself comfortable without hesitation.

"Actually, I have some questions for you." The Major poured himself a drink offering Felix one but he waved it off politely. "My superiors aren't concerned with the state of the infected so why are you exactly?"

Felix was taken back, the Major did not know the full extent of the Scourge nor it's abilities of regeneration. "Major. I'm not sure how else to tell you this but you seem to have been lied to, or rather some details were not given to you."

Major Lucero scoffed, "bah! I'm a senior officer, why should I believe your claim?" Felix grinned as the Major lost grip of his glass, fumbling to keep hold it then slowly hovered over to rest in front of Felix. He reached out grasping it and sniffed the liquor causing him to screw his face up as though he had just licked a freshly cut lemon. Not an uncommon reaction as ethanol based beverages were never taken with the Gaia station in the first place.

"How do you drink this stuff? Eck." Felix placed the glass back down and slid it back over to the Major, some of the clear brown liquid splashed over the sides of the short glass and the Major finally snapped out of his trance. Mouth now closed and flabbergasted he simply pointed at Felix utterly mortified. "Just try to stay calm Major, you aren't hallucinating."

"But, but how?" he finally managed to vocalise.

"Let's just say my mind has much more potential than the average person's. That being said I believe you. You really don't know the full depths to the horror that is the Scourge," admitted Felix patronisingly.

"You-you're a telepath?" Major Lucero asked as he shakily raised his glass to his mouth downing a rather large gulp.

"Among other things," Felix replied whilst staring the Major dead in the eyes. "The important thing here is that we have a situation brewing and we need your help."

"First," the Major interjected, "I'll need all the available information on the Scourge. If you're saying that intelligence was withheld from Command then I need to know what we're up against."

"I completely agree," Felix stood and walked around the table toward the Major. "If you will allow me I can show you some of my memories?"

"Show memories?" The Major's face was puzzled but curious. "How exactly?"

Felix smirked,"I need only to touch you." The Major nodded and Felix reached out, placing his hand on the Major's arm. The Major's jaw and fists clenched then relaxed a second later. Felix showed a snippet of his memories from the presentation given by Erranos. Enough to show how serious it was when the Scourge gained a foothold. The memories then turned to a darker time, the extraction of Gaia. Major Lucero watched on as the abominations crept closer in the corridor. How one by one the Tarraxen drones were slain and how the damaged Scourge units started to regenerate and take form despite dozens of energy blasts. Felix stopped short of the part where Lloyd was cut down and when his rampage began. Felix removed his hand and sat back down.

Major Lucero opened his eyes his demeanour had shifted completely, sweat now beaded his brow and a look of horror was mirrored in his eyes. It was as if he had lived through countless wars and a piece of him had been lost in each battle. He took a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and wiped his brow with an unsteady hand.

"That was an odd experience," the Major admitted letting out a large breath. "Are there others like you?" he asked reaching back for his glass.

"No other humans that I'm aware of," laughed Felix. The Major seemed to relax a little, he sat back in his chair lost in thought.

"Were you born that way or are you the culmination of some experimentation?"

Felix smiled thinking back to Darsalae, "neither Major, it was a gift from another race we encountered."

"Not the Tarrax?" The Major sounded startled.

"No, we made first contact during our expedition and then met the Tarrax," corrected Felix. "If we survive this mess I'll tell you all about them."

The Major smiled, "I like the sound of that, but back to the task at hand." Major Lucero readjusted himself in his chair, "it must be a set up, perhaps they wish to see the full extent for themselves," he concluded. "Why else would they order me to leave them out there like that?"

"I agree, it is very suspicious. However what I don't know is how long we have until a rampaging horde is bearing down on us. It's almost as though you and your forces were intended as sacrificial lambs along side us."

Fear crept into the Major's mind, a sense of dread he hadn't experienced since childhood. "You may be right, and that in itself is terrifying. For now I'll launch UAV's to monitor the site. Now, what exactly are we dealing with here?"

"It cannot be stopped by conventional means. Tarraxen energy weapons give off a feint form of radiation that does eventually destroy it, but it takes an immense amount of concentrated weapons fire to achieve that."

"So the pieces are immortal aside from that?"

"Yes Major, essentially. If even a single cell remains it will go dormant until it senses food nearby."

"Terrifying," the Major whispered softly unaware he was speaking aloud.

"Once the Scourge takes a foothold on a world there is no other option but to destroy everything."

"I have no intention of allowing such a scenario," declared the Major taking another sip of his liquor. "I'll do everything within my power to remedy this situation."

"What about weapons, we are defenceless out there?" requested Felix as he stood up.

"I'm sorry but I can't give you anything. My orders were clear in regards to the refugees not having weapons," answered the Major in a low tone.

"I see. Well I'd best be off then. Thank you for your time, Major," Felix nodded.

The Major nodded in return, "don't worry, we will protect your people."

Felix smiled with what little enthusiasm he had then left. He was escorted back to the same transport and as they lifted off he watched as a pair of UAV's launched and took off out of sight in an instant.

After he was dropped off, Felix brought the others up to speed. The overwhelming consensus was that of betrayal. The Earth government seemed more interested in learning about the Scourge instead of destroying it, a concept that was most troubling to Felix. He made it clear that Major Lucero was sincere in not knowing what was going on and that he intended to protect them but having both motive and the means was the underlying issue.

"So what do we do in the mean time?" asked Eva as she closed the refrigerator door, snack in hand.

"Nothing I guess. Only Lloyd and Emelia are armed and I'd rather not show our hand yet," insisted Felix.

"I still can't believe this, I'm convinced the government set us up to be eaten," Lloyd seethed as he paced behind them.

"You're probably right. But we don't have any way to fend them off, we're at the Major's mercy." Felix turned to Emelia who had sat quietly since he first got back, "any word from Erranos?"

Emelia shook her head, "I'm not even sure if he received my message, the signal felt weakened."

"They could be jamming us for all we know!" barked Lloyd.

Felix approached Lloyd with his hands in front, "calm down, we don't know that."

Lloyd huffed and sat down next to Maddison.

She had remained silent the entire time. She had been retreating further into the darkness that was now consuming her. Felix could sense it, but that ultimately amounted to nothing. They all knew Maddison was struggling with the death of her father but she wouldn't speak to them about it. Felix hoped she would open up to him eventually but each time he tried she became increasingly hostile or rejected him further. Finally it had reached the point where Felix all but gave up. He had too much on his plate already dealing with the impending threat that now brewed in the desert.

For the most part the refugees found some sense of safety over the next week. They were under the impression that those infected were just unlucky based on where they were on Gaia Station when the Scourge pod attacked. Now finally they were all cleared medically but still awaiting the final word from the Government to release them into the general populace.

Gaia was well aware how difficult it was to move such a large number of people so quickly. To that end she decided to advise them about what the military had unwittingly done. The refugees were not shocked in the least, from what they knew about the Scourge they expected never to see any of the infected again. Sadly that simple fact did little to comfort those who had lost loved ones since landing on Earth.

Lloyd and Eva were against telling the refugee population about what happened but Felix understood Gaia's reasoning. Now at least they could set a contingency plan into place, which Gaia spent days rehearsing with many of her children.

After another few weeks the settlement was still standing, the refugees had started to forget but Felix and Lloyd were still nervously waiting for that call. Felix radioed in with Major Lucero every few days and was told the same thing. There was no activity around the grave site, the flies went about their business and that was all. The refugees now took solace that in dying the infected had freed the living from the plague of flies that once harassed the settlement. The hundreds of rotting corpses acted as a powerful beacon drawing scavengers from far and wide.

Supplies came out at the start of each month as promised at day one, each time Felix would ask the crew unloading if they knew where Joseph Mott was and each time they remained unhelpful and evasive, some even downright rude.

During the third month of their isolation Felix was finally able to reach Joseph. Felix mentioned nothing regarding the discovered fate of the infected or the discussion he had with Major Lucero. Instead he merely asked for a progress report concerning their quarantine status.

Joseph advised that the quarantine had now been lifted but as yet did not have an answer as to how much longer they must wait.

Felix felt as though he was being lied to. All Joseph ever said was that once they have accommodation ready they will be processed further. Felix decided to give up asking after Joseph used the lack of accommodation excuse for a third time. It seemed as though there would be no end to their waiting.

Given all that was supplied to them, many of the refugees had accepted their fate, convinced that they were now at their final destination and for some that was enough. Though only few in number there were some that were beginning to question their ongoing incarceration. Felix had overheard a conversation between Lloyd and some of the refugees. It was apparent that Lloyd's dissatisfaction with their predicament was mounting, coupled with the fact that he now seemed to border on paranoia regarding the Earth Government's intentions. Felix pulled Lloyd aside to speak with him.

"Look buddy, I agree with everything you're saying but we shouldn't be fanning the flames," Felix reasoned.

Lloyd scowled, clearly offended that Felix wasn't siding with him.

"I didn't want anyone else involved to begin with, but you and Gaia dragged them in by telling them about the grave. It's not my fault they are starting to have thoughts of their own," argued Lloyd.

Felix sighed. "I suppose it doesn't matter. We have no weapons anyway, it's not like they are planning a rebellion," Felix stated hypothetically hoping to entice Lloyd into elaborating.

"No no. It's not that bad. I mean sure they are getting fed up with waiting but they just want to get out of here, you know? Settle somewhere and start new lives," Lloyd explained in a calmer tone.

"I guess we're all in that boat. Frankly I'm starting to think there might not be a threat." Felix confessed as he slumped against the dwelling behind him.

"Oh?" Lloyd's face twitched.

"Well yeah, I mean maybe all the spores were destroyed during the executions. It's been almost five months and nothing has happened. Surely by now they would have taken some kind of form and wandered out," Felix explained looking up to the sky.

"Unless something is already on its way here and the military chose not to tell us," smirked Lloyd.

Felix shot him a look. "No way! The Major wasn't lying. He genuinely sees our safety as his priority."

"Fine. I'll go see for myself," Lloyd declared as he watched Felix shoo away a fly. "Odd, that's the first one I've seen since," Lloyd paused coming to a realisation. His thoughts dwelt on those lost since arrival and he turned bitter.

"As grim as this sounds they would be just bones by now, looks like we have a swarm of flies to prepare for," sighed Felix.

"I'll let you know," Lloyd winked and with that he bolted off at full speed leaving Felix alone.

Felix remained leaning against the structure looking skyward. After ten minutes he walked off to stretch his legs and see if Maddison was more willing to receive him. Entering their home Felix found Eva reading in the common area, she gave a wave without lifting her head and Felix continued on into his room. Alone in the dark, curled under the covers he found Maddison.

"Maddie?" Felix spoke softly as he stood in the doorway.

"What?" Maddison coughed bitterly without rolling over to show her face.

"Do you think you'll get up today?" Felix enquired.

"Think? Why don't you just tell me what I'm thinking!" she barked.

Felix rolled his eyes but remained unshaken.

"It's a beautiful day out, the sunlight will do you good, come for a walk with me," Felix pleaded confidently.

"No," she hissed.

"I see. Well, may I join you? The lounges in the common room are lonely at night," Felix explained.

"Do whatever you want," Maddison mumbled sarcastically. Choosing to take her cynicism literally, Felix reached out and the covers slid off Maddison. She sat up to retrieve them but Felix had them stand vertically from the foot of the bed far from her reach.

"Stop it!" she snapped. Felix ignored her, but Maddison shifted down the bed grasped the covers and yanked at them. They would have torn if Felix didn't release them in time. Maddison pulled the covers over her head and re-assumed her previous position.

"Just go away."

"Please talk to me. You can't go on like this," Felix pleaded but Maddison ignored him. Felix remained in the doorway another ten minutes without a response before finally leaving.

As Lloyd stormed across the desert heading for the grave site his movements didn't go unnoticed by the UAV's circling overhead. The Major was promptly notified and Felix was contacted via radio.

"Felix are you aware there is a man running at 136km/h toward the grave site?" the Major asked with an air of both astonishment and confusion.

"Why yes Major, Lloyd mentioned he was going to take a look, mind you, I had no idea what his top speed was," Felix chuckled after releasing the PTT button.

"I thought I made it clear that you were all to stay within the camp," barked Major Lucero clearly sounding aggravated.

"I'm sorry, but he didn't give me much warning, besides I can't exactly overpower him," Felix explained.

Major Lucero sounded troubled by Felix's words. Given what the Major knew about Felix's powers it was a tough pill to swallow that a man could contend with him. The Major pondered this only briefly as the fact that Lloyd was running at such a god-like speed gave credence that he was certainly no ordinary man.

"Do you have a way to contact him?" the Major grumbled.

"Afraid not, but there's no need to worry. He's in no danger," Felix explained.

The Major grew further annoyed, "you forget your place. Warning shots will be fired. And if this happens again I will not be so lenient."

Felix was ruffled by the Major's arrogance but did well to remain composed, "as I said, he's in no danger. And don't you dare say I didn't warn you."

The Major had taken Felix's words for a bluff and ordered the UAV's to fire a burst of warning shots some 30m from Lloyd's position.