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The Way Of The Dinosaur

Summary:

SPOILERS: none
SUMMERY: Alex Krycek warned Mulder that he should pull his head out of the sand...what would have happened if Mulder hadn't taken this advice?
Archiving: fanfic.net, gossamer, SPAK, everyone else, please ask!
Disclaimer: I don't see the point, but here goes. The characters in this fanfic ain't mine, they're his *points at Chris Carter and his 20th century Fox representative*...If any 1 wants the film rights, I'll....change the names and we'll talk about it...=)
Note: Ok folks, here I am again... finally typing out one of my 5000 fanfics!!! This one is an alternative ending to the whole show, namely human annihilation. This happens after Krycek's visit to Mulder, but in this version, Mulder didn't believe/listen to him and ignores him...
Thanks to Cathy for the beta-reading!!!

Work Text:

The Way Of The Dinosaur
by Anne Phoenix
(AnnePhoenix@yahoo.com)

 

"when you tried to kiss me, I only bit your tongue when you tried to get me together I only came undone"
--CAKE

 

Mulder and Scully and about 5 billion other people watched the lights get closer. Every day, they got nearer. They has first appeared one week ago, and they had been getting nearer ever since. It was hot too.

And there were bees everywhere. Bees that attacked. If you got stung by more then one: you died, with horrible red blotches painting your body all over. If you only got stung by one, you basically turned into a zombie or a cripple...

At first Mulder had killed them in terror, but then he had given in and prayed for them to put an end to his suffering. That would have been too easy. The bees only stung you when you didn't want them to, if you weren't scared, they buzzed around you like flies would a decomposing body. But they wouldn't touch you.

And the lights got nearer. Might and day were only clock times, satellites had all fallen out, so had most radio stations...But that didn't matter. Most people were concentrating on surviving. Surviving the bees, and the heat, and also the fear inspiring new disease: a new black pest.

Some called in the Black Cancer. All were scared of it.

Mulder sat of a park bench. He was tired, tired of waiting. He was trying to think and it was hard to concentrate. The blinding lights were hurting his eyes and the bees got on his nerves. He waved them off, but they didn't mind; Mulder wasn't a threat for them. Soon he was joined by Scully. She looked haggard.

"it's gone" she stated. He needn't ask any questions, they had discussed it earlier: the chip in her neck; she would rather face the terrible cancer than the might of the chip.

He nodded. "How long?"

She looked at the lights "Not long now"

he nodded again and waved the bees out of his sight.

"You should have listened to him" She said accusingly.

He got up and walked off angrily. Of course he knew that. He should have listened to him. There was someone screaming for help somewhere nearby. Maybe he was being attacked by bees or maybe just the heat. Or then again perhaps it was the Black Cancer. In any case it was normal, and no-one would help him. Lots of people were dying; maybe the dead were the lucky ones...

 

Mulder wiped the tears out of his eyes. The smell of burning flesh still stung him hard. But he didn't cry.

Not anymore, there weren't enough tears. And what good could it do?

Nothing really mattered anymore.

He stared at the empty street and yelled "hello???" at the top of his voice. It resounded into nothingness. There was no answer, as there had been no answer for three days.

Everyone was gone. Burnt. Carbonised.

He knew the actual smell was long gone, but that didn't help, he could still smell it. Perhaps the only comfort was that the lights and bees were gone. He shout again, with despair in his voice.

He didn't want to be a survivor, but neither did he want to give up.

Not now. Not yet. There was enough food. Only he couldn't eat any meat. The mere thought of meat made him throw up. "Someone?" he screamed.

Suddenly he heard a slight scratching door at the door of a deserted house. With amazing strength he kicked it in. A young dog jumped up at him happily. "Come on" he whispered "Help me find someone", and together they walked down the deserted street....

 

Well Manicured man had been Marita Covarrubias when the lights had suddenly changed. This was it.

What? They didn't know, but at least it was finally happening.

Finally going to end. The bees had fallen first, unable to maintain flight in that heat. And then the birds started plummeting from above; their bodies black and burnt. Only two hours later, the whole world came alive with screams of terror and pain, with pleas of mercy and desperation. Panic flooded every street and the smell of burning flesh filled the atmosphere. Well Manicured Man watched Marita rolling on the floor in agony. He watched all the suffering as he always had as thought through an invisible shield. He knew the price he had to pay for his mistakes was to have to watch the suffering. To have to watch everyone die. He only moved when silence reigned.

The almost total extinction of life on Earth had taken less than two hours. Shock cursing through his veins, he turned to head for the Consortium headquarters. On the way he heard nothing but his own footsteps, saw nothing but the retreating ships. When he was in the room, he remembered where they had agreed to meet, if or when anything happened. Shock and terror, sadness and pain had numbed his mind. He got into a car and drove away avoiding the charred bodies. Away from New
York, away from the stench. That was in illusion, the stench was everywhere, inescapable. He drove south, toward DC. It was a slow journey, the road was littered with accidents. Accidents that had occurred whilst could feel, smell and see their own bodies burning away. But there was one relief, and that was the night.

 

For the first time in two weeks, darkness was able to settle and he looked at the stars. He looked at the stars and he cried and cursed at them. He wished about how different everything could have been, if...if only....So many ifs and most of them partly his fault. Not all his fault, but that was of no comfort to the old man. He reached the ex-nation's ex-capital four painful days later. When he ran out of gas, he changed car.

And the smell followed him, haunted him. His hopes had briefly heightened when he thought he heard voices, but when he rushed towards the sound he discovered a walkman happily blaring out a comedy. A walkman!! He could hardly contain his disappointment as he howled out and threw the machine against the wall. Silence. He drove on.

The eerie car motor in the silence almost more than he could handle. Finally in Washington, he headed for he headed for a big white villa. He rang the bell, his heart racing.

No answer. He hit the bell again and again, but to no avail. There was no-one. With a jerked sob, he sank to the ground, leaning against the door. He stayed almost motionless and cried until the night came and then he curled up and fell into a tormented sleep, waking up every hour or so thinking he had heard something move, wishing someone would come...

 

Alex Krycek thought he was going mad. In the week since it happened he had got together with a couple of cats and a small disheartened white terrier, but he had neither seen nor even sensed the presence of any other human being. The animals followed him loyally, not wanting to lose the only man they had. And Alex had taken a liking to them too.

The terrier could be useful. He could smell any live being a mile away! Alex had also cried, and has seriously thought about giving up when the two cats had approached him. Life still existed and that revelation was enough to give him the will to live again. The little dog followed shortly after. He was in Washington DC when it happened. Now he had nowhere to go He walked around, aimlessly, occasionally yelling and shooting in the air. But there was no answer. He looked at the black twisted remains scattering around and wondered which one was Mulder.

Stupid Mulder. Mulder who had refused to believe him. Mulder who may have been able to stop this disaster.

He wondered which ones were Skinner, and Scully...and Marita. Finally, exactly 8 days after it had happened, he decided to go. Far away. Perhaps try and find a village of survivors or something. Or perhaps try and get a boat back to Russia. Yeah right. He soon found out that the telecom hadn't fallen out totally, but what was the point in phoning the air. He imagined the rings resounding into nothingness. No-one to answer. He managed to find a suitable car with keys in the ignition. He finally decided not to move drive off until tomorrow. He hadn't the heart to face the night so he decided to try and get some sleep. He kept the dog in the car with him, but let the cats roam freely. The constellations called out. Planets and stars no longerfascinated him, he despised them and wished some dark cloud would cover the sky from his eyes. But the sky tortures him by staying crystal clear and deadly beautiful. He cried himself to sleep and dreamt of Mulder.

He was at Mulder's flat again. This time he beat some sense into him and Mulder understood him and believed him. But all that was wishful dreaming, no use thinking about what could have happened... It was too late now. Much too late....

 

Mulder walked on endlessly. Except for the German Shepherd, he had seen no other form of life. Even an ant would have been welcome, so he was thankful for Haze. And Haze was thankful for him too. He lost track of time. Time wasn't exactly of any importance anymore. He moved slowly, not yet sure where he wanted to be, only that it was not here. At least the smell was finally gone. And the carbonised bodies were a normal sight by now, as far as a sight like that could ever be normal.

There were no flies, no maggots. Any of these would have been welcomed!

Suddenly Haze seemed to go wild. She danced around, straining at her leash and barking furiously.

Mulder's pulse accelerated as he followed his crazed dog. Then just as suddenly, she stopped again and sniffed at the ground dejectedly.

Mulder felt weak with disappointment. He watched Haze scratch the ground and whine, but the brief enthralment had died.

He sat down on the curb and stroked his dog glumly. "I wish you could talk to me" he mused sadly.

Haze answered with a yap and a lick in the face. He took out his gun and looked at it, pondering, when...suddenly his sharp eyes caught something.

-bullets. Three empty shells.

He didn't let himself exhilarate again, after all they could have been shot out at any time, but it gave him an idea. He aimed at the stars and shot. The sound was louder than he has expected, taking Haze and himself by surprise. It was the first sound apart from his himself and the dog he had heard for along time, and he relished the pain in the deafening roar caused in his ears. Haze started barking excitedly again. She was pulling with all her again. The poor animal must be yearning for company as much as him, he thought as they ran down the street.

But suddenly a white streak came darting out of a dark parking lot. A small overjoyed terrier. The two dogs jumped at each other barking happily.

Mulder smiled faintly and looked at his gun again. Two was company, but wasn't three a crowd? "Hey dog! Come back!" he heard a voice call not too far. His heart missed a beat and all three took off in the direction of the call.

The terrier got there first, and Mulder couldn't stop grinning when he saw the animal jump up onto something. Someone. A real human. He covered the distance in an applaudable sprint, even beating Haze. He stared at the man open mouthed. No sound came out. He dropped the leash and Haze trotted off with the terrier.

Krycek gaped too. Then he moved first stepping forward and giving Mulder a hug so long and friends, anyone would have thought they were best friends.

After a brief hesitation, Mulder responded, also putting his arms around Alex. "I never thought I'd ever be glad to see you" he whispered.

Alex drew back and started at him intensely.

Mulder bit his lip "I know...I..." Mulder started but Alex interrupted "Shut up, we both couldn't know this was going to happen!"

Mulder's tears flew freely. They both knew that together they could have hindered the catastrophe, but neither would ever say it.

"There must be others" Alex finally said.

Mulder finished for him resolutely "And we'll find them."

 

Well Manicured man hardly moved for days and when he wanted to get up he realised he couldn't. Lack of nourishment, dehydration, it was over. His fault. The words tracked endlessly in his mind. His fault. He pulled out his old revolver. After a long pause he pointed it at his head. His fault. As he fell, the revolver hit the ground with a clash, the last sound that DC neighbourhood would hear for quite some time, but in time the blood would attract something. Something would survive. Something always did....

 

THE END
©Anne Phoenix, 01/04/1998