Your regularly scedualed brodcast has been interupted due to extra amounts of gamma radiation screwing around with my transmission. So i'm going to sit it out in my undergroud, extra Cylon proof bunker. TIll then, i have a teaser for a story idea i've been hammering out:
For over five hundred years, the Lyly-Tell and the Trolls had fought underground. The Lyly where smallish, cruel and generally mean spirited. They created many weapons for killing underground, and some that where found by curious big folk, and translated into ground weapons like crossbows. The Trolls however had the military genius of General Hillary Lankshanks, who had lived for over three hundred years and fought valiantly against the Lyly.
Then a subway train fell on her.
The Lyly had once again showed there callous disregard for the Elven pact, which stated the ole magic of the world would not intrude on Humanity, which was considered a endangered spice's at the time. Then Humanity had spread farther then the preserves set up for there protection. So the Elves had left under there own power, and the dwarfs had committed mass suicide in the mountains of La Chapelle-aux-Saints, France.
The hobbits slowly merged with Humanity, while the un-dead just sat in the sewers and sulked. Then Vampires hit on the idea of performing for rock and roll bands, and being a depressing and depressed bunch, they quickly caught on with the underside of society's malcontented. Dragons willed themselves into stone statue's and where put in museums until they deemed Humanity could take there presence. Kia, the odd lizard men that used to live in the Amazon, successfully hid until they became indistinguishable from the local Komodo Dragons.
That left the Lyly-Tell and the Trolls. Trolls, being more disposed to living under the earth, just said they would stay right there. The Lyly, sworn enemy of the Trolls, couldn't just LEAVE Earth! That would be admitting defeat, in their eyes. So they moved under the ground too, and this only worsened there demeanor. There rivalry with the Trolls worsened, as their younger peoples began to blame the Trolls for 'forcing' them to move under the ground.
So the Lyly became the twisted, hate filled, pale monsters they are know. Only four people had ever seen them. One was a man named Stan, and he was urinating in the town well just to cheese the people who had socially extricated him off. A Lyly had been paddling under him at the time and took offense. The second man barely escaped and wrote a novel, using the vision of the Lyly to create a scathing social commentary. It was called the Time Machine.
The third person was General MacArthur, while he was sitting in the pentagon. It wasn't an ACTUAL Lyly, but rather a picture of one shown him by a Troll emissary's. MacArthur started shooting at the Troll after staring at it incredulously. HE later applied for a extended vacation to release his stress. The Troll's where disappointed that there main target for recruitment had fled so alarmingly. So they turned to their next choice.
Amberly M Rutherford, the Editor and Chief of War gamers Us Magazine, the worlds leading Warhammer Fortythousand strategy and tactics mag.
See ya with the ACTUAL episod in a few days or less...
It's the End of the World as we Know it (But i Feel Fine)
Moderator: Moderators
Its just how my brain works see...well...here is your regularly scedualed postish type thing...
├óÔé¼┼ôCharles├óÔé¼┬Ø i said as the man pulled him self into our rather shaken car ├óÔé¼┼ôYou stealing, lying son of a bitch├óÔé¼┬Ø. He blanched as i advanced ├óÔé¼┼ôI have no idea what your talking about├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, stepping backwards as i advanced. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat about the time when you buggered off right BEFORE a hoard of Reaver's showed up├óÔé¼┬Ø. Charles cut in saying ├óÔé¼┼ôI had no choice!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôBut you left with all the stuff we had found!├óÔé¼┬Ø i continued. Charles grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôIt was two Duracell battery's├óÔé¼┬Ø he said meekly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhich you promptly sold for several months worth of water!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted. Charles's veins stood out on his neck as he flinched finding no more area to backup in. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, deadly quiet ├óÔé¼┼ôhows life been keeping you?├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Charles looked left and right with his eye's ├óÔé¼┼ôO-Okay├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. I backed off, grinning gaily ├óÔé¼┼ôoh good├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, clapping him on the shoulder .Charles looked shocked. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, what the fuck has been going on├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked offhandedly, walking him over to the others. ├óÔé¼┼ôEr well├óÔé¼┬Ø he started ├óÔé¼┼ôWho are they?├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, switching the topic quickly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø i started ├óÔé¼┼ôThe woman on the floor with a depressingly large hole through her is Judith, while the woman who seems to be perpetually tripping over her own feet is Elizabeth, while the rather tall dangerous looking man is Riffinton├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Abdul groaned and waved his arm around vaguely from his position on the floor that he seemed to of recently adopted. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh and Cynthia's idiot brother├óÔé¼┬Ø i finished. Abdul groaned and threw his gun at me. It clattered on the floor and went off, the bullet ricocheting off the inside of the Chevy and whiffing through Charles hair. ├óÔé¼┼ôWow!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted, ducking down.
His men outside through that the gunshot was a bad sine. So they opened up on the APC. Because one of the window was already destroyed, bullets started bouncing around dangerously. When one of them went through my ear lobe, i shouted to Charles who did the most moronic thing he could of done. He stood up. Bullets whipped around him as he shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôSTOP!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Then, miraculously, the bullets stopped. Charles dropped his hands and grinned. ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay, now lets start again!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. One of his solders thought he said lets shoot again, because he started fining into the side of the Chevy. His fellow's clubbed him in the back of the head.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, tired of these pointless distractions ├óÔé¼┼ôStart from the beginning├óÔé¼┬Ø.
And he did....
A few weeks and odd days ago....
A bomb placed in my pops mansion blew out the top three levels, killing him and at least twenty other people in the Police department's hierarchy. Charles had been out of town at the time, rotting about in a half demolished farm house. He had emerged with a Sony Walkman CD player and started to walk back to the City.
He had found anarchy. Both criminal organizations, the Japanese Syndicate and the Russian Mafia where continually fighting. Horseback fire fights and continual explosions rocked the entire city, with a death toll of two hundred after a few day's of continual fighting. Then a armistices was declared and both side's met. Charles was holding out in his apartment, carefully rationing his water and food.
Then the armistice meeting point exploded. The leaders of both criminal organizations where all killed. Then REAL anarchy hit the streets. No longer where both side's fighting each other. Now the shattered remainder of both side's where fighting everyone and the death toll was low...mainly because no one went out in the streets unless they wanted a roving street gang to hit them in the face with a baseball bat.
Then someone had knocked on Charles door. He, half starved and mostly scraggly, had fired his only 'gun' into the door. It was a 9mm pistol, and made next to no impact in the incredibly thick wood most people used for there doors. Then the door was blasted inwards by a rather strong foot. And in stepped Alex.
├óÔé¼┼ôI have a job for you├óÔé¼┬Ø he had said. Charles whimpered, looking at his empty pistol and wondering what he would do if Alex was some kind of psychotic. A day and a half later and Charles was directing twenty five burly mobsters in the excavation of a U.S army depot. Guns guns and guns galore came out of the depot, which was more like a crypt, filled with at least five more corpses after the Mafia had left.
Not all defense systems, like the one's we ran into, are left unarmed. However Charles had managed to get a computer to work, and Alex had learned about the PAX.
├óÔé¼┼ôThe PAX?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, feigning ignorance. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan, its that wrist watch in your pocket├óÔé¼┬Ø Abdul said. I ground my teeth together, glancing at Abdul.
So he had learned about the PAX [Charles continued] and we immediately KNEW we had to get it. That is HE knew he had to get it... Alex that is. So he equipped his best troops with the stealth amour we had found and ordered them to look for you. hen we went back to the city and rounded up the civilians.
Charles pulled out a small box, continuing to talk. ├óÔé¼┼ôThen Alex started to govern. He eliminated crime in a few days├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe...he what?├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Charles opened the box and pulled out a syringe filled with a pinkish orange fluid. ├óÔé¼┼ôAlex used to be a chemist├óÔé¼┬Ø Charles said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd he made this├óÔé¼┬Ø. I felt a prickle of distrust run down my spine. I slowly backed away from Charles as he continued to talk.
├óÔé¼┼ôIts called Obedience├óÔé¼┬Ø Charles said. ├óÔé¼┼ôCharles├óÔé¼┬Ø i said slowly, reaching for my RFG. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt is administered in there drinks. Every one is quite happy├óÔé¼┬Ø He looked at me and i noticed that his eye's where dead. Empty. ├óÔé¼┼ôIncluding Cynthia├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, then threw the syringe like a dart. I dove to the side and whipped out my RFG. The syringe clattered to the floor.
I fired.
The cloud of fletches where off by a foot and a half. So they only took off Charles hand in a spray of shredded bone and flesh. Blood spurted from the arterial wound and Charles collapsed to his knee's, grabbing his stump and screaming at the top of his lungs. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I moved my RFG over and blasted one of his solders that had been standing by the window. He fell backward, the fletches cutting him up over a wide area as they had spread out like shotgun pellets.
I rolled under the window, to cut off the enemy's line of fire and shouted to the others to get ready. They already had there guns up. A bullet thocked into Riff's foot and he snapped hit back, biting his lip. He fired three well aimed shots back and I heard the gargle of someone who had been hit in the throat. I reloaded my RFG as Elizabeth fired off a short three round bust with her SMG. A return volley of bullets smashed into the side of the much abused APC. Charles whimpered piteously, trying to keep his wound close with his hand.
I stood up, keeping most of my body under cover, and aimed at the nearest individuals. I was in luck, as two of them where standing close together. I fired off both of the RFG's chambers, sending a haze of fletches so thick i could see them as a dark cloud rushing to the enemy. Both men fell, thousands of lacerations cutting them open.
I ducked down and reloaded. A harpoon stuck through the amour of the APC. A few inches in front of my face. I jerked back as all my friends fired back. I found my self next to our pile of guns. I grabbed a nape grenade and peeked over the edge. The enemy where father then i could throw. I started rooting around, trying to find a grenade launcher. If we had one.
As i was rotting around the others fired a almost continual steam of hot lead into the enemy. A few of them dropped, as we where far better protected. I reached for the top of the pile. A bullet ricocheted off the wall and shot into my hand. I shouted and jerked my hand down, clutching it. It was fortunately nothing more then a serious bruise, as the bullets speed was slowed immensely by bouncing.
I saw the launcher. I grabbed it. I loaded it. Someone screamed behind me. A woman someone. I stood for one perilous second to fire it. And. Not one of the enemy where alive. I lowered the launcher and frowned. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted Abdul. I turned around.
Elizabeth had a hole clean through her stomach.
├óÔé¼┼ôCharles├óÔé¼┬Ø i said as the man pulled him self into our rather shaken car ├óÔé¼┼ôYou stealing, lying son of a bitch├óÔé¼┬Ø. He blanched as i advanced ├óÔé¼┼ôI have no idea what your talking about├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, stepping backwards as i advanced. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat about the time when you buggered off right BEFORE a hoard of Reaver's showed up├óÔé¼┬Ø. Charles cut in saying ├óÔé¼┼ôI had no choice!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôBut you left with all the stuff we had found!├óÔé¼┬Ø i continued. Charles grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôIt was two Duracell battery's├óÔé¼┬Ø he said meekly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhich you promptly sold for several months worth of water!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted. Charles's veins stood out on his neck as he flinched finding no more area to backup in. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, deadly quiet ├óÔé¼┼ôhows life been keeping you?├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Charles looked left and right with his eye's ├óÔé¼┼ôO-Okay├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. I backed off, grinning gaily ├óÔé¼┼ôoh good├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, clapping him on the shoulder .Charles looked shocked. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow, what the fuck has been going on├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked offhandedly, walking him over to the others. ├óÔé¼┼ôEr well├óÔé¼┬Ø he started ├óÔé¼┼ôWho are they?├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, switching the topic quickly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell├óÔé¼┬Ø i started ├óÔé¼┼ôThe woman on the floor with a depressingly large hole through her is Judith, while the woman who seems to be perpetually tripping over her own feet is Elizabeth, while the rather tall dangerous looking man is Riffinton├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Abdul groaned and waved his arm around vaguely from his position on the floor that he seemed to of recently adopted. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh and Cynthia's idiot brother├óÔé¼┬Ø i finished. Abdul groaned and threw his gun at me. It clattered on the floor and went off, the bullet ricocheting off the inside of the Chevy and whiffing through Charles hair. ├óÔé¼┼ôWow!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted, ducking down.
His men outside through that the gunshot was a bad sine. So they opened up on the APC. Because one of the window was already destroyed, bullets started bouncing around dangerously. When one of them went through my ear lobe, i shouted to Charles who did the most moronic thing he could of done. He stood up. Bullets whipped around him as he shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôSTOP!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Then, miraculously, the bullets stopped. Charles dropped his hands and grinned. ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay, now lets start again!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. One of his solders thought he said lets shoot again, because he started fining into the side of the Chevy. His fellow's clubbed him in the back of the head.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, tired of these pointless distractions ├óÔé¼┼ôStart from the beginning├óÔé¼┬Ø.
And he did....
A few weeks and odd days ago....
A bomb placed in my pops mansion blew out the top three levels, killing him and at least twenty other people in the Police department's hierarchy. Charles had been out of town at the time, rotting about in a half demolished farm house. He had emerged with a Sony Walkman CD player and started to walk back to the City.
He had found anarchy. Both criminal organizations, the Japanese Syndicate and the Russian Mafia where continually fighting. Horseback fire fights and continual explosions rocked the entire city, with a death toll of two hundred after a few day's of continual fighting. Then a armistices was declared and both side's met. Charles was holding out in his apartment, carefully rationing his water and food.
Then the armistice meeting point exploded. The leaders of both criminal organizations where all killed. Then REAL anarchy hit the streets. No longer where both side's fighting each other. Now the shattered remainder of both side's where fighting everyone and the death toll was low...mainly because no one went out in the streets unless they wanted a roving street gang to hit them in the face with a baseball bat.
Then someone had knocked on Charles door. He, half starved and mostly scraggly, had fired his only 'gun' into the door. It was a 9mm pistol, and made next to no impact in the incredibly thick wood most people used for there doors. Then the door was blasted inwards by a rather strong foot. And in stepped Alex.
├óÔé¼┼ôI have a job for you├óÔé¼┬Ø he had said. Charles whimpered, looking at his empty pistol and wondering what he would do if Alex was some kind of psychotic. A day and a half later and Charles was directing twenty five burly mobsters in the excavation of a U.S army depot. Guns guns and guns galore came out of the depot, which was more like a crypt, filled with at least five more corpses after the Mafia had left.
Not all defense systems, like the one's we ran into, are left unarmed. However Charles had managed to get a computer to work, and Alex had learned about the PAX.
├óÔé¼┼ôThe PAX?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, feigning ignorance. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan, its that wrist watch in your pocket├óÔé¼┬Ø Abdul said. I ground my teeth together, glancing at Abdul.
So he had learned about the PAX [Charles continued] and we immediately KNEW we had to get it. That is HE knew he had to get it... Alex that is. So he equipped his best troops with the stealth amour we had found and ordered them to look for you. hen we went back to the city and rounded up the civilians.
Charles pulled out a small box, continuing to talk. ├óÔé¼┼ôThen Alex started to govern. He eliminated crime in a few days├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe...he what?├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Charles opened the box and pulled out a syringe filled with a pinkish orange fluid. ├óÔé¼┼ôAlex used to be a chemist├óÔé¼┬Ø Charles said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd he made this├óÔé¼┬Ø. I felt a prickle of distrust run down my spine. I slowly backed away from Charles as he continued to talk.
├óÔé¼┼ôIts called Obedience├óÔé¼┬Ø Charles said. ├óÔé¼┼ôCharles├óÔé¼┬Ø i said slowly, reaching for my RFG. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt is administered in there drinks. Every one is quite happy├óÔé¼┬Ø He looked at me and i noticed that his eye's where dead. Empty. ├óÔé¼┼ôIncluding Cynthia├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, then threw the syringe like a dart. I dove to the side and whipped out my RFG. The syringe clattered to the floor.
I fired.
The cloud of fletches where off by a foot and a half. So they only took off Charles hand in a spray of shredded bone and flesh. Blood spurted from the arterial wound and Charles collapsed to his knee's, grabbing his stump and screaming at the top of his lungs. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. I moved my RFG over and blasted one of his solders that had been standing by the window. He fell backward, the fletches cutting him up over a wide area as they had spread out like shotgun pellets.
I rolled under the window, to cut off the enemy's line of fire and shouted to the others to get ready. They already had there guns up. A bullet thocked into Riff's foot and he snapped hit back, biting his lip. He fired three well aimed shots back and I heard the gargle of someone who had been hit in the throat. I reloaded my RFG as Elizabeth fired off a short three round bust with her SMG. A return volley of bullets smashed into the side of the much abused APC. Charles whimpered piteously, trying to keep his wound close with his hand.
I stood up, keeping most of my body under cover, and aimed at the nearest individuals. I was in luck, as two of them where standing close together. I fired off both of the RFG's chambers, sending a haze of fletches so thick i could see them as a dark cloud rushing to the enemy. Both men fell, thousands of lacerations cutting them open.
I ducked down and reloaded. A harpoon stuck through the amour of the APC. A few inches in front of my face. I jerked back as all my friends fired back. I found my self next to our pile of guns. I grabbed a nape grenade and peeked over the edge. The enemy where father then i could throw. I started rooting around, trying to find a grenade launcher. If we had one.
As i was rotting around the others fired a almost continual steam of hot lead into the enemy. A few of them dropped, as we where far better protected. I reached for the top of the pile. A bullet ricocheted off the wall and shot into my hand. I shouted and jerked my hand down, clutching it. It was fortunately nothing more then a serious bruise, as the bullets speed was slowed immensely by bouncing.
I saw the launcher. I grabbed it. I loaded it. Someone screamed behind me. A woman someone. I stood for one perilous second to fire it. And. Not one of the enemy where alive. I lowered the launcher and frowned. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted Abdul. I turned around.
Elizabeth had a hole clean through her stomach.
I dropped the launcher and rushed over to her. The bullet had ripped a jagged mess through her upper intestine's and stomach. It was about as big as Judith's wound had been, but through at least two major organs. ├óÔé¼┼ôShit├óÔé¼┬Ø i whispered. Elizabeth grimaced, staring fixedly into my face ├óÔé¼┼ôThat bad eh?├óÔé¼┬Ø she grunted.
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah...just a flesh wound├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, then looked back to Riff who was looking through our medical pack. Abdul joined him. ├óÔé¼┼ôStims!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted. Abdul looked up and Elizabeth then back down at the medical pack. ├óÔé¼┼ôSTIMS!├óÔé¼┬Ø I shouted again, noticing how pale Elizabeth was getting. ├óÔé¼┼ôNone left├óÔé¼┬Ø Riff said, closing the pack. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThere are no Stim packs left├óÔé¼┬Ø Abdul said quietly. I refused to believe it. I moved over to the pack and looked through it. There was nothing but some anti-viral syringes, a lot of band aids and a defibrillator. No nanomeds. No stims. Not even a emergency support belt, like the one we had used on Judith. Nothing
I grabbed some of the medical wraps and started to apply pressure to Elizabeth's wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôGoing out├óÔé¼┬Ø she murmured, blood soaking the floor beneath her. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll be fine├óÔé¼┬Ø i said quietly. The blood flow slowed. Elizabeth grabbed my arm. Then her grip slackened an the blood flow...stopped.
I continued to hold the blood soaked rag into the wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith said, placing her good hand on my shoulder. I felt tears come to my eyes. Elizabeth. Good old clumsy Elizabeth. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith said, this time more forcefully. I looked up. Riff was standing, and Abdul was already jumping out of the window, ignoring the sharp glass. Charles was dashing away, holding a clump of his shirt to his stump.
Blood thundered in my head, a horrible rage i had only felt a few times in my life filling me. I pulled out the launcher and leveled it onto the bastards back. Charles continued to run. Judith shoved me down. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll hit Abdul!├óÔé¼┬Ø she shouted. I landed, my finger spasming on the trigger. Thankfully the launcher did not fire.
I heard three gun shots, and at each one i screwed my eyes tighter. A single tear dribbled to the floor.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou missed├óÔé¼┬Ø i said flatly, starring at the jagged cross made of scrap metal and some corrugated metal planks. Abdul looked at me, cocking an eyebrow ├óÔé¼┼ôHe was pretty far away├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou missed after firing three shots├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôAcross an open plain, with absolutely no cover├óÔé¼┬Ø. Abdul stood straighter, anger flashing across his face. Then he relented and walked away.
I looked at the grave as the night started to wear on. We had flipped the Chevy over and where gathered around the side. Riff had found some debris that burned Okay, and we had set up a rather smell fire. Burning plastic curled up under the night sky. I sat down with a clunk, looking at Judith. She was healed up fine, the stims almost completely restoring her arm.
Then i looked at the city around us. Then i looked back to the grave. Then i made up my mind. ├óÔé¼┼ôJudith├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôRiff├óÔé¼┬Ø. They both looked at me. Abdul walked over to the fire, zipping up his fly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to find the other police officers├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôand we are going to take this fight to Alex├óÔé¼┬Ø. No one asked when it had started being a fight with Alex. I pulled out a water bottle from my pack and drank it. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow i have next to no idea what this SOB wants, or what he's been doing. But that doesn't matter├óÔé¼┬Ø i stood ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to rescue those people. WE are going to save our friends├óÔé¼┬Ø
Then Abdul asked the most important question anyone could of asked.
He looked at me, cocked his eye brow and asked ├óÔé¼┼ôHow?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Judith walked into the building. It was bombed out, musty and old. Just like most buildings in the city. Light streamed through several cracks in the celling, dust motes dancing across it. A single bum lay under a pew, his foot sticking out and twitching ever once and while. The church had definitely seen better days. Judith walked into the main hall, her left arm in her pocket, so people wouldn't notice that it still moved stiffly and couldn't bend much.
She walked into the church, looked over her shoulder and saw the bum roll over and away from her. She walked over to the large porcelain Crucifix on the main wall. It was one of the few things in the city that people didn't loot. Some cultural symbols died hard. She brushed some dust away from the left foot of Christ. Then she flipped the big toe up and thumbed the button in it.
Then the entire front of the church slid down, revealing a row of guns and a single suit of low tech ablative body amour. She looked around, steeped into the gun closed and pressed a button. The side of the church closed again with a clang. The bum rolled over, looking at the wall quizzically. Then he went back to sleep.
Riff took a cigarette out of his mouth and threw it into a puddle of booze. His eye's darted around the city and he noticed people that Alex's goon squad had missed. Bums, mostly. One or two women. A rather lively corpse. He walked past them and into a bar that had been hit hard during the Anarchy. It had half burned down, and all of its windows where surrounded with bullet holes.
Riff came to the door and saw that three tables had been place against it. His foot broke one of them in, aided by the already weakened state. He steeped into the bar. Then the wall next to him exploded as a shot gun blasted it apart. Riff stood his ground as a man leveled the double barreled shot gun at his face. ├óÔé¼┼ôRiff?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man asked, peering at the tall blond man. Riff grinned.
I walked down the streets and spotted the toll booth. I walked over to the remarkably well preserved structure and steeped into it. I kicked the side of the booth. Then i turned ninety degrees and kicked that side. I turned another ninety degrees and kicked that side. It sounded hollow.
I knelt down and looked at the false wood paneling. I wrapped some cloth round my fist and smashed the wood sideways. It fell away and revealed a diamond covering. If i had punched that i would of broken my fist. I slipped my finger nail under a grove next to the diamond cover and slid it away with a grunt. It hurt, but the diamond covering clattered to the ground. I looked into the opening. Four vials sat there. Some bored technician had labeled each one with a pen.
├óÔé¼┼ôPestilence├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôFamine├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôDeath├óÔé¼┬Ø
and ├óÔé¼┼ôWar├óÔé¼┬Ø.
I felt a chill run down my spin as i pulled them out. Each one...could destroy the universe. If there was more of them.
Abdul walked into his sisters shop, and grabbed a gun magazine. It had three holes in it. He then steeped over the broken glass and bullet casings. He looked around and wondered if she was dead...or alive. Then he steeped out of the shop and walked to the prearranged meeting place. He looked back at the shop and turned back to the road.
We all met and we laid out our equipment. Five new face's joined our party, and we each looked exceptionally grim. One of our new members was a nervous man named Pete. The others where unfamiliar to me, and each one was under Pete's command. ├óÔé¼┼ôPete├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat have you seen├óÔé¼┬Ø
'Not much man├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, looking up at me ├óÔé¼┼ôWe all hid away and where missed by the initial patrols├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo we have absolutely no idea whats in the building?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. A course of ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø came from round the table.
I picked up my RFG and holstered it ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay. Lets Go├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah...just a flesh wound├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, then looked back to Riff who was looking through our medical pack. Abdul joined him. ├óÔé¼┼ôStims!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted. Abdul looked up and Elizabeth then back down at the medical pack. ├óÔé¼┼ôSTIMS!├óÔé¼┬Ø I shouted again, noticing how pale Elizabeth was getting. ├óÔé¼┼ôNone left├óÔé¼┬Ø Riff said, closing the pack. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThere are no Stim packs left├óÔé¼┬Ø Abdul said quietly. I refused to believe it. I moved over to the pack and looked through it. There was nothing but some anti-viral syringes, a lot of band aids and a defibrillator. No nanomeds. No stims. Not even a emergency support belt, like the one we had used on Judith. Nothing
I grabbed some of the medical wraps and started to apply pressure to Elizabeth's wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôGoing out├óÔé¼┬Ø she murmured, blood soaking the floor beneath her. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll be fine├óÔé¼┬Ø i said quietly. The blood flow slowed. Elizabeth grabbed my arm. Then her grip slackened an the blood flow...stopped.
I continued to hold the blood soaked rag into the wound. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith said, placing her good hand on my shoulder. I felt tears come to my eyes. Elizabeth. Good old clumsy Elizabeth. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith said, this time more forcefully. I looked up. Riff was standing, and Abdul was already jumping out of the window, ignoring the sharp glass. Charles was dashing away, holding a clump of his shirt to his stump.
Blood thundered in my head, a horrible rage i had only felt a few times in my life filling me. I pulled out the launcher and leveled it onto the bastards back. Charles continued to run. Judith shoved me down. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou'll hit Abdul!├óÔé¼┬Ø she shouted. I landed, my finger spasming on the trigger. Thankfully the launcher did not fire.
I heard three gun shots, and at each one i screwed my eyes tighter. A single tear dribbled to the floor.
├óÔé¼┼ôYou missed├óÔé¼┬Ø i said flatly, starring at the jagged cross made of scrap metal and some corrugated metal planks. Abdul looked at me, cocking an eyebrow ├óÔé¼┼ôHe was pretty far away├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou missed after firing three shots├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôAcross an open plain, with absolutely no cover├óÔé¼┬Ø. Abdul stood straighter, anger flashing across his face. Then he relented and walked away.
I looked at the grave as the night started to wear on. We had flipped the Chevy over and where gathered around the side. Riff had found some debris that burned Okay, and we had set up a rather smell fire. Burning plastic curled up under the night sky. I sat down with a clunk, looking at Judith. She was healed up fine, the stims almost completely restoring her arm.
Then i looked at the city around us. Then i looked back to the grave. Then i made up my mind. ├óÔé¼┼ôJudith├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôRiff├óÔé¼┬Ø. They both looked at me. Abdul walked over to the fire, zipping up his fly. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to find the other police officers├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôand we are going to take this fight to Alex├óÔé¼┬Ø. No one asked when it had started being a fight with Alex. I pulled out a water bottle from my pack and drank it. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow i have next to no idea what this SOB wants, or what he's been doing. But that doesn't matter├óÔé¼┬Ø i stood ├óÔé¼┼ôWe are going to rescue those people. WE are going to save our friends├óÔé¼┬Ø
Then Abdul asked the most important question anyone could of asked.
He looked at me, cocked his eye brow and asked ├óÔé¼┼ôHow?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Judith walked into the building. It was bombed out, musty and old. Just like most buildings in the city. Light streamed through several cracks in the celling, dust motes dancing across it. A single bum lay under a pew, his foot sticking out and twitching ever once and while. The church had definitely seen better days. Judith walked into the main hall, her left arm in her pocket, so people wouldn't notice that it still moved stiffly and couldn't bend much.
She walked into the church, looked over her shoulder and saw the bum roll over and away from her. She walked over to the large porcelain Crucifix on the main wall. It was one of the few things in the city that people didn't loot. Some cultural symbols died hard. She brushed some dust away from the left foot of Christ. Then she flipped the big toe up and thumbed the button in it.
Then the entire front of the church slid down, revealing a row of guns and a single suit of low tech ablative body amour. She looked around, steeped into the gun closed and pressed a button. The side of the church closed again with a clang. The bum rolled over, looking at the wall quizzically. Then he went back to sleep.
Riff took a cigarette out of his mouth and threw it into a puddle of booze. His eye's darted around the city and he noticed people that Alex's goon squad had missed. Bums, mostly. One or two women. A rather lively corpse. He walked past them and into a bar that had been hit hard during the Anarchy. It had half burned down, and all of its windows where surrounded with bullet holes.
Riff came to the door and saw that three tables had been place against it. His foot broke one of them in, aided by the already weakened state. He steeped into the bar. Then the wall next to him exploded as a shot gun blasted it apart. Riff stood his ground as a man leveled the double barreled shot gun at his face. ├óÔé¼┼ôRiff?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man asked, peering at the tall blond man. Riff grinned.
I walked down the streets and spotted the toll booth. I walked over to the remarkably well preserved structure and steeped into it. I kicked the side of the booth. Then i turned ninety degrees and kicked that side. I turned another ninety degrees and kicked that side. It sounded hollow.
I knelt down and looked at the false wood paneling. I wrapped some cloth round my fist and smashed the wood sideways. It fell away and revealed a diamond covering. If i had punched that i would of broken my fist. I slipped my finger nail under a grove next to the diamond cover and slid it away with a grunt. It hurt, but the diamond covering clattered to the ground. I looked into the opening. Four vials sat there. Some bored technician had labeled each one with a pen.
├óÔé¼┼ôPestilence├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôFamine├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôDeath├óÔé¼┬Ø
and ├óÔé¼┼ôWar├óÔé¼┬Ø.
I felt a chill run down my spin as i pulled them out. Each one...could destroy the universe. If there was more of them.
Abdul walked into his sisters shop, and grabbed a gun magazine. It had three holes in it. He then steeped over the broken glass and bullet casings. He looked around and wondered if she was dead...or alive. Then he steeped out of the shop and walked to the prearranged meeting place. He looked back at the shop and turned back to the road.
We all met and we laid out our equipment. Five new face's joined our party, and we each looked exceptionally grim. One of our new members was a nervous man named Pete. The others where unfamiliar to me, and each one was under Pete's command. ├óÔé¼┼ôPete├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat have you seen├óÔé¼┬Ø
'Not much man├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, looking up at me ├óÔé¼┼ôWe all hid away and where missed by the initial patrols├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo we have absolutely no idea whats in the building?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. A course of ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø came from round the table.
I picked up my RFG and holstered it ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay. Lets Go├óÔé¼┬Ø
At dawn, which was murky and wet, a oddity in summer, i entered the city. Alone with nary a gun to my name. The others had finally hammered into my head the value of reconnaissance. Judith had pulled out ancient battles which had hung on whether or not either side knew where the other was. I finally threw up my hands and told them my NEW plans.
As i walked down the street, i felt a itching sensation on the back of my neck, a sensation i identified as... i am being watched. I remember that Riff had muttered something about ├óÔé¼┼ôRiff raff├óÔé¼┬Ø but at the time i thought he had said something about dandruff, and i told him to wash his hair in the water bucket. He had looked at me as if i where insane.
I started to spot some people that had been missed, and i could easily tell why. They where nearly inviable. They blended into the wreckage with the ease of...more wreckage. Then i hit the old mansion of my father's. A horde of men and women, all people who USED to be living in the city swarmed around the building, dressed in cheap blue overalls, worked on the mansion. Repairing the massive gash torn in the wall by the explosion, and assimilating nearby buildings into the structure.
But no one was talking. Thats something i noticed right away. None of the people even looked at each other, unless it seemed absolutely necessary. All of them who worked together blundered along, working alone in a group. It was the oddest thing. I moved off the rode before any of them spotted me.
Then i waited. It took a half hour of watching the people before a group of them started to move towards the building i had occupied. There was a man with a semi-similar hight and build to me. I grinned. They entered the building, now out of my view. I heard them moving around the building. Then a buzz saw started up, and they started to lay down the foundation for a connecting hallway to the old mansion.
Then i heard the sounds of footsteps heading up the stairs into the room i had hid in. A woman came up. I ducked farther into my hidy hole. The woman looked around, as i could tell from the shadow cast on the wall. Then i heard her whisper. My ears perked, trying to pick out what she was saying. Saying something was a nice change of pace from the others, i thought.
Then i heard another set of foot steps, these even louder. Then, peeking around the corner of my hide hole, a small sofa i saw a man come up the stairs, his face betraying a lot more emotion then i had gathered from the other workers. ├óÔé¼┼ôGod its been a long time├óÔé¼┬Ø he said to the woman.
I suddenly got what was going on as she kissed him. Something was afoot. Other then the shirt that had been thrown away with abandon, landing on my head. It smelled like sweat and hard work. Then i heard the sofa creak. I crouched lower as the couple started to become more animated. I found my self wondering why they hadn't been discovered. Then the womans arm poked over the edge as she grabbed around in the hight of her passion.
It moved down the sofa, her fingers digging into the slightly rotted surface. She moaned aloud, and i was wondering how the work's didn't notice ANYTHING down below. Then i spotted the arm flex and almost reach my hair. I jerked away. Then my foot hit a tile of the floor that had been laid against the wall. It fell on my foot with a soft thump. It also hurt...a lot. I bit my lip even as the sofa started to shake rhythmically.
I looked at the celling, wondering who could be so cruel as to put a massive BRICK against a wall. I, moving as quietly as i could, tried to slid the brick off my foot. It came off and i lowered it with a soft grunt. It was quite heavy. The womans arm spasmed suddenly. And she grabbed my hair by accident.
I went stock still. The arm jerked forward and back wards even as the woman's moans and the man's grunts got louder. It hurt. I felt some of my hair pulling uncomfortably. Then she let go of what she probably thought was a oddly fluffed foot rest and drew a shuddering breath. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said after the two bodes moved around, probably getting themselves comfortable for a long relaxed period, ├óÔé¼┼ôHow did you avoid your shot this time?├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôI bribed the regional doctor├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman said ├óÔé¼┼ôFound a pretty bauble and pocketed it├óÔé¼┬Ø. I began to formulate a scenario. Somehow the man or woman didn't get a shot of...what had Charles called it? Obedience. Then she or he had found there respective partner and got them to not get the shot. Now they where meting for these...romantic trysts. I slowly stood, looking over the sofa. The man was staring at the woman, and they both lay facing each other on the thin sofa. I moved quickly, slapping my hand over both their mouths ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't scream├óÔé¼┬Ø i said quietly ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not from the government├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôAll right...I'm going to let you talk├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut don't say anything or i will shoot you├óÔé¼┬Ø. I took my hands away. The woman opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan i get some pants on?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man asked. I glanced down inadvertently and remembered that both of them where stark naked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø i said.
I ducked down as the man and woman got dressed. After they did, i got up. The woman, now that i got a good look at her, was rather tired looking. So was the man. They both had blue circles under their eyes, and the woman's blond hair was long and scraggly. The man had a light black beard that probably would have been called a six o clock shadow in better times.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôintroductions!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôI am Heather├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWinston├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, sitting on the sofa, avoiding the residue that they had left on it. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan White Jr├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. ├óÔé¼┼ôTHE Ethan White Jr?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Winston. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, sitting down on a half destroyed chair. The workers downstairs had started up the buzz saw. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan i ask why they haven't noticed you two?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThey cant├óÔé¼┬Ø Heather said, leaning forward on the sofa and looking at the floor. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat do you mean they cant?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts simple really. Only certain voice's can stimulate them├óÔé¼┬Ø Winston said, leaning back and looking at the celling. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike the overseer's├óÔé¼┬Ø Heather said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd such├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôAh├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWell...heres the plan├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôPlan?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Heather. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôyou are going to leave and head northwest until you find a shot up armored car. There will be a group of people. Tell them that i sent you. Tell them everything and you can rest in peace├óÔé¼┬Ø. Heather looked delighted, but Winston cocked his eyebrow ├óÔé¼┼ôand what are you going to do?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôSteal your clothes├óÔé¼┬Ø i said matter of factly
In the end we found a compromise. Heather and Winston walked out, but Winston wore my clothes. One of the more animated people looked up as they left. I walked down the stairs and walked out after them. Then the buzz saw started up again after i shut the door.
The mansion was large and more oppressive then i remembered. I walked into the crowds and tried to look at my feet and keep a neutral expression on my face. After fifteen minuets of being jostled around by the crowd, a loud horn sounded and we where herded into the mansion and the surrounding assimilated buildings. Inside was rather...unexpected.
The floor of the central chamber, witch had been enlarged, was honeycombed with small sleeping slots. Many where occupied by upright forms that stood against the wall, sleeping. Guards walked along the edge's of the chambers, looking into them and snickering at some of the more pathetic men and women. Ever once and a while, seemingly at random, a guard would grab someone and shuffle them away to another massive chamber.
A few people where being beaten in a balcony that used to be where the band would play for the ball room, which this had once been. A piteous cry sounded form a woman who was being smashed about the ribs with a hard stick. The man administering the beating was looking tired, his blows doing more psychological damage then real ones. I reached convulsively for my RFG, but remembered i hadn't brought it.
Then someone shoved me aside, as i had not moved for too long. I tripped and fell into a cubical. It was occupied by someone i had know. I made the mistake of saying her name. ├óÔé¼┼ôCheryl?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked blearily. The large breasted prostitute looked radically less attractive covered in a week or so worth of grime. And not wearing a push up bra and a tight miniskirt.
She looked at me with a flicker of recognition, but then went back to sleep. Then i felt a electric prod touch my back. I spasmed as electricity arched into me. I twitched once or twice, wondering why a pacification weapon hurt so damn much. The guard above me reached into the pit and grabbed me. I made the mistake of resisting. Another guard shot me in the stomach with a rubber bullet.
I doubled over, wheezing. Then the beating started. I tried to ward off the blows but i felt my arms start to bleed sluggishly. Then a baton found its way to my head. I felt the world reel as stars began to waft around me. I held up my hands and mumbled ├óÔé¼┼ôHey man, love not hate├óÔé¼┬Ø whatever that meant. Then the Guards...relented. ├óÔé¼┼ôHey...its Ethan├óÔé¼┬Ø one of them said. He was another familiar face.
├óÔé¼┼ôMuti?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
Then a baton came down and it all went black.
As i walked down the street, i felt a itching sensation on the back of my neck, a sensation i identified as... i am being watched. I remember that Riff had muttered something about ├óÔé¼┼ôRiff raff├óÔé¼┬Ø but at the time i thought he had said something about dandruff, and i told him to wash his hair in the water bucket. He had looked at me as if i where insane.
I started to spot some people that had been missed, and i could easily tell why. They where nearly inviable. They blended into the wreckage with the ease of...more wreckage. Then i hit the old mansion of my father's. A horde of men and women, all people who USED to be living in the city swarmed around the building, dressed in cheap blue overalls, worked on the mansion. Repairing the massive gash torn in the wall by the explosion, and assimilating nearby buildings into the structure.
But no one was talking. Thats something i noticed right away. None of the people even looked at each other, unless it seemed absolutely necessary. All of them who worked together blundered along, working alone in a group. It was the oddest thing. I moved off the rode before any of them spotted me.
Then i waited. It took a half hour of watching the people before a group of them started to move towards the building i had occupied. There was a man with a semi-similar hight and build to me. I grinned. They entered the building, now out of my view. I heard them moving around the building. Then a buzz saw started up, and they started to lay down the foundation for a connecting hallway to the old mansion.
Then i heard the sounds of footsteps heading up the stairs into the room i had hid in. A woman came up. I ducked farther into my hidy hole. The woman looked around, as i could tell from the shadow cast on the wall. Then i heard her whisper. My ears perked, trying to pick out what she was saying. Saying something was a nice change of pace from the others, i thought.
Then i heard another set of foot steps, these even louder. Then, peeking around the corner of my hide hole, a small sofa i saw a man come up the stairs, his face betraying a lot more emotion then i had gathered from the other workers. ├óÔé¼┼ôGod its been a long time├óÔé¼┬Ø he said to the woman.
I suddenly got what was going on as she kissed him. Something was afoot. Other then the shirt that had been thrown away with abandon, landing on my head. It smelled like sweat and hard work. Then i heard the sofa creak. I crouched lower as the couple started to become more animated. I found my self wondering why they hadn't been discovered. Then the womans arm poked over the edge as she grabbed around in the hight of her passion.
It moved down the sofa, her fingers digging into the slightly rotted surface. She moaned aloud, and i was wondering how the work's didn't notice ANYTHING down below. Then i spotted the arm flex and almost reach my hair. I jerked away. Then my foot hit a tile of the floor that had been laid against the wall. It fell on my foot with a soft thump. It also hurt...a lot. I bit my lip even as the sofa started to shake rhythmically.
I looked at the celling, wondering who could be so cruel as to put a massive BRICK against a wall. I, moving as quietly as i could, tried to slid the brick off my foot. It came off and i lowered it with a soft grunt. It was quite heavy. The womans arm spasmed suddenly. And she grabbed my hair by accident.
I went stock still. The arm jerked forward and back wards even as the woman's moans and the man's grunts got louder. It hurt. I felt some of my hair pulling uncomfortably. Then she let go of what she probably thought was a oddly fluffed foot rest and drew a shuddering breath. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said after the two bodes moved around, probably getting themselves comfortable for a long relaxed period, ├óÔé¼┼ôHow did you avoid your shot this time?├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôI bribed the regional doctor├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman said ├óÔé¼┼ôFound a pretty bauble and pocketed it├óÔé¼┬Ø. I began to formulate a scenario. Somehow the man or woman didn't get a shot of...what had Charles called it? Obedience. Then she or he had found there respective partner and got them to not get the shot. Now they where meting for these...romantic trysts. I slowly stood, looking over the sofa. The man was staring at the woman, and they both lay facing each other on the thin sofa. I moved quickly, slapping my hand over both their mouths ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't scream├óÔé¼┬Ø i said quietly ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm not from the government├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôAll right...I'm going to let you talk├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut don't say anything or i will shoot you├óÔé¼┬Ø. I took my hands away. The woman opened her mouth. Then closed it. Then opened it again. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan i get some pants on?├óÔé¼┬Ø the man asked. I glanced down inadvertently and remembered that both of them where stark naked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø i said.
I ducked down as the man and woman got dressed. After they did, i got up. The woman, now that i got a good look at her, was rather tired looking. So was the man. They both had blue circles under their eyes, and the woman's blond hair was long and scraggly. The man had a light black beard that probably would have been called a six o clock shadow in better times.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôintroductions!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôI am Heather├óÔé¼┬Ø the woman said. ├óÔé¼┼ôWinston├óÔé¼┬Ø the man said, sitting on the sofa, avoiding the residue that they had left on it. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan White Jr├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. ├óÔé¼┼ôTHE Ethan White Jr?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Winston. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, sitting down on a half destroyed chair. The workers downstairs had started up the buzz saw. ├óÔé¼┼ôCan i ask why they haven't noticed you two?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôThey cant├óÔé¼┬Ø Heather said, leaning forward on the sofa and looking at the floor. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat do you mean they cant?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts simple really. Only certain voice's can stimulate them├óÔé¼┬Ø Winston said, leaning back and looking at the celling. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôLike the overseer's├óÔé¼┬Ø Heather said ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd such├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôAh├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWell...heres the plan├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôPlan?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Heather. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôyou are going to leave and head northwest until you find a shot up armored car. There will be a group of people. Tell them that i sent you. Tell them everything and you can rest in peace├óÔé¼┬Ø. Heather looked delighted, but Winston cocked his eyebrow ├óÔé¼┼ôand what are you going to do?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôSteal your clothes├óÔé¼┬Ø i said matter of factly
In the end we found a compromise. Heather and Winston walked out, but Winston wore my clothes. One of the more animated people looked up as they left. I walked down the stairs and walked out after them. Then the buzz saw started up again after i shut the door.
The mansion was large and more oppressive then i remembered. I walked into the crowds and tried to look at my feet and keep a neutral expression on my face. After fifteen minuets of being jostled around by the crowd, a loud horn sounded and we where herded into the mansion and the surrounding assimilated buildings. Inside was rather...unexpected.
The floor of the central chamber, witch had been enlarged, was honeycombed with small sleeping slots. Many where occupied by upright forms that stood against the wall, sleeping. Guards walked along the edge's of the chambers, looking into them and snickering at some of the more pathetic men and women. Ever once and a while, seemingly at random, a guard would grab someone and shuffle them away to another massive chamber.
A few people where being beaten in a balcony that used to be where the band would play for the ball room, which this had once been. A piteous cry sounded form a woman who was being smashed about the ribs with a hard stick. The man administering the beating was looking tired, his blows doing more psychological damage then real ones. I reached convulsively for my RFG, but remembered i hadn't brought it.
Then someone shoved me aside, as i had not moved for too long. I tripped and fell into a cubical. It was occupied by someone i had know. I made the mistake of saying her name. ├óÔé¼┼ôCheryl?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked blearily. The large breasted prostitute looked radically less attractive covered in a week or so worth of grime. And not wearing a push up bra and a tight miniskirt.
She looked at me with a flicker of recognition, but then went back to sleep. Then i felt a electric prod touch my back. I spasmed as electricity arched into me. I twitched once or twice, wondering why a pacification weapon hurt so damn much. The guard above me reached into the pit and grabbed me. I made the mistake of resisting. Another guard shot me in the stomach with a rubber bullet.
I doubled over, wheezing. Then the beating started. I tried to ward off the blows but i felt my arms start to bleed sluggishly. Then a baton found its way to my head. I felt the world reel as stars began to waft around me. I held up my hands and mumbled ├óÔé¼┼ôHey man, love not hate├óÔé¼┬Ø whatever that meant. Then the Guards...relented. ├óÔé¼┼ôHey...its Ethan├óÔé¼┬Ø one of them said. He was another familiar face.
├óÔé¼┼ôMuti?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
Then a baton came down and it all went black.
And then i found i couldent stop writing!
I forced my eyes open. A light shone down from over head. I noticed i was tied to a wheel chair. I looked round, my face feeling like several close friends had just beaten it into a bloody pulp. Which was ironic, cause thats exactly what had happened. I looked around and saw Muti standing against the door. He was wearing the Guards attire, a black smock with a baton at the hip and a rifle across the back. He stepped forward and was joined by a strange. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh I'm going to enjoy this├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, pulling on a glove.
├óÔé¼┼ôNeed any help, Sarge?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked the other man. ├óÔé¼┼ôno...i think I'll need me a little privacy for this├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, grinning predatory. The other man started to walk out as Muti raised his hand, ready to deliver a huge punch to the face. I closed my eyes in anticipation. The door slammed.
I waited.
And waited.
I opened my left eye cautiously. Muti was grinning like an idiot. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôyes?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour alive!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said jubilantly. He hugged me. Then he looked at my face, wincing ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry about that├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut i had to make it look like i was actually beating you, while not actually hitting you all that hard├óÔé¼┬Ø. He then started to untie my straps.
├óÔé¼┼ôthe other guy was plenty eager to hit me├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah...thats a real guard. He looks up to me as supreme master beater├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said wryly. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø he said as i slowly got out of the chair ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats the plan?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell...to get interrogated by Alex├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Muti looked at me funny. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôAren't you at least bit interested in Cynthia├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôRight!├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôi totally completely forgot!├óÔé¼┬Ø i slapped myself in the face ├óÔé¼┼ôGetting hit really hard in the head and face area tends to do that to some one├óÔé¼┬Ø i said sheepishly. Muti had the oddest expressions on his face. ├óÔé¼┼ôwhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe was executed last night├óÔé¼┬Ø he said.
The world collapsed. My brain found the least depressing thing to do. Deny everything. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Muti was looking at the ground, seeming to be holding his breath. I collapsed into the chair and felt tears come to my eyes. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø i repeated, as if saying it would make it truer.
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti laughed, practically splitting his side as he laughed hard ├óÔé¼┼ôI was joking├óÔé¼┬Ø. My head snapped around and i glared at him. He stopped laughing. Then the door burst open and the man who had left walked in, calling over his shoulder ├óÔé¼┼ôI think ill go help him├óÔé¼┬Ø to someone. I immideatly looked as if i where being beaten, and Muti immideatly tried to look as if he where beating me.
├óÔé¼┼ôDidn't i tell you to fuck off?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Muti offhandedly. The man did a one eighty on his heel and left. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere is Cynthia?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell each of us tried to enter the government after swiftly changing sides. I was ├óÔé¼┼ôbought off├óÔé¼┬Ø├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd i have been scouting the government Alex has set up...but to call it a fascist dictatorship would be a massive...massive understatement├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat job did Cynthia get?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, irritation pulling at me. ├óÔé¼┼ôPleasure allotment├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said guardedly. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd that means?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, getting more annoyed. Then it dawned on me. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, shaking my head slowly back and forth. ├óÔé¼┼ôIf it makes you feel better she has a lot of condoms stacked in her back pocket├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, grinning like an idiot.
I was wheeled in blindfolded. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe need to wait in this antechamber├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti whispered ├óÔé¼┼ôAlex is...busy├óÔé¼┬Ø. I strained to hear anything from the main room. Losing sight sharped my hearing enough to hear someone moan ├óÔé¼┼ôGod thats good├óÔé¼┬Ø from the other room. ├óÔé¼┼ôIs every one getting laid but me, and I'm just not noticing?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked the air irritably.
Then the door opened slowly and ponderously, creaking as it did so. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis better be worth is, Srg. Hussaman├óÔé¼┬Ø said the kind of voice one would lay one's life down for. It was oily and charismatic and i almost immideatly began to like whoever was talking. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis prisoner is...special├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, and i could tell that he was grinning.
Then i felt myself being wheeled into the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø some one purred. ├óÔé¼┼ôA prisoner, my sweet├óÔé¼┬Ø the charismatic voice said. I was rolled to a stop then the blind fold was whisked off my face. Alex, i presume, looked at me with undisguised contempt. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan Whit...Jr├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, sneering. He grabbed my chin and forced my head back ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...what has brought you back to this piece of paradise?├óÔé¼┬Ø
The wheel chair was turned to follow Alex as he walked round to his bed. It was large and purple. Fit for a king. And chained to the foot of it was Cynthia. She had been pampered, perfumed and dressed up in what looked like a twelve year olds wet dream. In my beaten and battered state, she looked like a chocolate colored angle. I found myself wondering hazily if she tasted like chocolate when Alex sat down on the bed, Cynthia snuggling up to his legs like a whore.
├óÔé¼┼ôStay way from my girl friend├óÔé¼┬Ø i muttered. My brain was starting to get back into focuses, but i had to put on the act of having just been bashed around a lot. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe didn't tell me that├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, pulling his robes tighter round his otherwise nude body. Cynthia grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôHe wasn't nearly as nice as you, lord├óÔé¼┬Ø she purred. Thats why i hadn't recognized her voice. Cynthia never purred.
I was begging to feel really jealous. Alex had been screwing MY girlfriend in MY city, living in luxury and being called Lord and such. Also he had an army of henchmen behind him. It was frustrating. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said ├óÔé¼┼ôYou haven't answered my question├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôI wanted to kill you, your Guards and all of the fuckers who have been brain washing my people├óÔé¼┬Ø i said.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat in the world would have been served by that?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Alex, actually looking perplexed. I noticed a ant farm was built into the wall behind him. The insects had created a massive maze in the sand, a little to smiler to the honeycomb of sleeping cubical for me.
├óÔé¼┼ôRevenge├óÔé¼┬Ø I said before Alex gestured to Muti. Muti hit me in the back of the head, far lighter then i knew he was capable of. So i threw myself forward and moaned piteously. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said after i recovered my wits a bit ├óÔé¼┼ôCynthia, how is he in bed├óÔé¼┬Ø. Her face flashed in annoyance, much more like the real Cynthia i knew and loved. ├óÔé¼┼ôBetter then you will ever know├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, putting her act back on seamlessly.
├óÔé¼┼ôwhile fornication is interesting enough to talk about├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, standing ├óÔé¼┼ôi would like Ethan to see what i have done with the dirt ball of barbarism that your father called a city├óÔé¼┬Ø. I was wheeled out the door and down a corridor as Alex continued his monologue. Cynthia didn't follow. I looked back and remembered the chains.
├óÔé¼┼ôYour father used to know me├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen the was was going on...a hundred years or so ago├óÔé¼┬Ø. I was surprised. Alex looked about twenty five. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe where both Space Marines, serving on the same ship├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex continued ├óÔé¼┼ôand out military pension and health insurance included immortality treatments. IT was an after thought compared to the ninety five percent die off rate in space├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThen we got back to Earth, spending time in centrifuge's to get back our strength├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex continued ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd your father and i split away. Then the nukes started to fly. I was in town and survived with the rest. And survived. Then i was found by the Mafia. They taught me, with guns and torture then even Immortals need to be careful├óÔé¼┬Ø. He held up his right hand ├óÔé¼┼ôThis arm regrew five times, and every time the sick bastard who had captured me found a new way to cut it off├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, stopping in his tracks ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø he voice became louder ├óÔé¼┼ôWHY!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted, grabbing the arms of my chair ├óÔé¼┼ôHe took offense to my genetic makeup. He took offense to the retro virus's that where inserted into my body, rewriting twelve percent of my genome. He took offense to the fact that i will not die, unless i have irreversibly neural death visited on me. He took offense that i was three times as old as him, but he looked twice as old as i├óÔé¼┬Ø
Alex sneered ├óÔé¼┼ôHe taught me so much├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, his voice quieting ├óÔé¼┼ôThat normals like you don't think├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôMabey its something the genetic engineers missed while they where rewriting me and your fathers body's. They made us smarter. Better├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen i got out of the device the Mafia boss had made, i killed him with my bare hands. Then i entered the Mafia, earning me way with cruelty and brilliance├óÔé¼┬Ø he smiled, standing straight and resuming his walk
├óÔé¼┼ôSo i created Obedience, a drug that suppresses certain area's of the brain. Now they obey only me├óÔé¼┬Ø he said as we reached the balcony. The blood from the beatings remained on the floor, and the bodes...corpses had been removed. I looked at the perfect insect like machinations of the crowds. People worked perfectly in unison, i realized ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't you see├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôThis used to be a creation of lawlessness and immorality├óÔé¼┬Ø
I snorted ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd this isn't?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt isn't├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said ├óÔé¼┼ôPerfection is what it is├óÔé¼┬Ø. I was wheeled back. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow...that normal whore of yours has some more things to discuses with me├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, emphasizing normal more then whore. As Muti was about to wheel me away i shouted back to Alex ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's worth twelve of you, you fucking lunatic!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Alex stopped, turning to Muti. ├óÔé¼┼ôKill him, then dump his body in the trash├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. Cynthia grinned as Alex walked past her. She had strained her chairs to the limed to get to the door, and Alex walked past she looked straight at me. And i saw a boiling, burning rage. Deeper then i had ever seen or know before. I began to feel sorry for Alex. Cynthia was going to do something very unpleasant to him...if she got the chance.
I was stood in front of a pit filled with dead bodes. Three men stood there, lead by Muti. They each held a low caliber pistol. ├óÔé¼┼ôLet me do this├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, placing his hand on his starry eyed admires pistol, lowering it. Muti aimed his pistol at me, settling it to my head.
I thought he was going to do something. Anything. ├óÔé¼┼ôBy boss├óÔé¼┬Ø He whispered.
Then he shot me in the head. The bullet flew into the very top of my skull, gouging a ragged path in the top of my skull. Blood splattered, and i hoped it looked like i had been hit in the brain pan. Not to give them a chance to look i threw myself back into the pit. It hurt like a bitch, and probably caused a lot of damage to my brain, but i hoped i would still be able to walk when i got out of the pit.
Then the realization that i was lying in a pit filled half way to the brim with corpses of men women and, sickeningly a child. I felt my gorge rising as the people crowded around the pit. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe fell right on top of the brat too├óÔé¼┬Ø one of the men said. ├óÔé¼┼ôi think he's still breathing├óÔé¼┬Ø the admire said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour right...hes unconscious though├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut we'd better be sure├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Then someone shot me in the thigh. I didn't scream...somehow. I knew i needed chemical attention to fix it up. The people turned around, but Muti looked into it for a second longer. Then something slid out from his pant leg. It fell among the corpses. Then he walked away. I waited a good five minuets as bugs started to crawl over me. I felt sick.
I was sick, quietly vomiting on the corpses. It made me sicker. I started to dry heave. It was one thing to hear about executions on this scale, but it was another to see it. Then i grabbed the blood splattered, vomit encrusted stim pack that Muti had dropped in the pit. Then i bid down on my shoe as i jammed it into my leg. After a few more minuets i could walk again. I looked at the hole in my thigh and felt it close. My muscles would still need to regrow but i could walk.
I clambered out of the pit and began to run.
I forced my eyes open. A light shone down from over head. I noticed i was tied to a wheel chair. I looked round, my face feeling like several close friends had just beaten it into a bloody pulp. Which was ironic, cause thats exactly what had happened. I looked around and saw Muti standing against the door. He was wearing the Guards attire, a black smock with a baton at the hip and a rifle across the back. He stepped forward and was joined by a strange. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh I'm going to enjoy this├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, pulling on a glove.
├óÔé¼┼ôNeed any help, Sarge?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked the other man. ├óÔé¼┼ôno...i think I'll need me a little privacy for this├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, grinning predatory. The other man started to walk out as Muti raised his hand, ready to deliver a huge punch to the face. I closed my eyes in anticipation. The door slammed.
I waited.
And waited.
I opened my left eye cautiously. Muti was grinning like an idiot. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. ├óÔé¼┼ôyes?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour alive!├óÔé¼┬Ø he said jubilantly. He hugged me. Then he looked at my face, wincing ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry about that├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut i had to make it look like i was actually beating you, while not actually hitting you all that hard├óÔé¼┬Ø. He then started to untie my straps.
├óÔé¼┼ôthe other guy was plenty eager to hit me├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYeah...thats a real guard. He looks up to me as supreme master beater├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said wryly. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø he said as i slowly got out of the chair ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats the plan?├óÔé¼┬Ø he asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell...to get interrogated by Alex├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Muti looked at me funny. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôAren't you at least bit interested in Cynthia├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôRight!├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôi totally completely forgot!├óÔé¼┬Ø i slapped myself in the face ├óÔé¼┼ôGetting hit really hard in the head and face area tends to do that to some one├óÔé¼┬Ø i said sheepishly. Muti had the oddest expressions on his face. ├óÔé¼┼ôwhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe was executed last night├óÔé¼┬Ø he said.
The world collapsed. My brain found the least depressing thing to do. Deny everything. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Muti was looking at the ground, seeming to be holding his breath. I collapsed into the chair and felt tears come to my eyes. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø i repeated, as if saying it would make it truer.
├óÔé¼┼ôYeah├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti laughed, practically splitting his side as he laughed hard ├óÔé¼┼ôI was joking├óÔé¼┬Ø. My head snapped around and i glared at him. He stopped laughing. Then the door burst open and the man who had left walked in, calling over his shoulder ├óÔé¼┼ôI think ill go help him├óÔé¼┬Ø to someone. I immideatly looked as if i where being beaten, and Muti immideatly tried to look as if he where beating me.
├óÔé¼┼ôDidn't i tell you to fuck off?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Muti offhandedly. The man did a one eighty on his heel and left. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere is Cynthia?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell each of us tried to enter the government after swiftly changing sides. I was ├óÔé¼┼ôbought off├óÔé¼┬Ø├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd i have been scouting the government Alex has set up...but to call it a fascist dictatorship would be a massive...massive understatement├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat job did Cynthia get?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, irritation pulling at me. ├óÔé¼┼ôPleasure allotment├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said guardedly. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd that means?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, getting more annoyed. Then it dawned on me. ├óÔé¼┼ôNo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, shaking my head slowly back and forth. ├óÔé¼┼ôIf it makes you feel better she has a lot of condoms stacked in her back pocket├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, grinning like an idiot.
I was wheeled in blindfolded. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe need to wait in this antechamber├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti whispered ├óÔé¼┼ôAlex is...busy├óÔé¼┬Ø. I strained to hear anything from the main room. Losing sight sharped my hearing enough to hear someone moan ├óÔé¼┼ôGod thats good├óÔé¼┬Ø from the other room. ├óÔé¼┼ôIs every one getting laid but me, and I'm just not noticing?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked the air irritably.
Then the door opened slowly and ponderously, creaking as it did so. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis better be worth is, Srg. Hussaman├óÔé¼┬Ø said the kind of voice one would lay one's life down for. It was oily and charismatic and i almost immideatly began to like whoever was talking. ├óÔé¼┼ôThis prisoner is...special├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, and i could tell that he was grinning.
Then i felt myself being wheeled into the room. ├óÔé¼┼ôWho is it?├óÔé¼┬Ø some one purred. ├óÔé¼┼ôA prisoner, my sweet├óÔé¼┬Ø the charismatic voice said. I was rolled to a stop then the blind fold was whisked off my face. Alex, i presume, looked at me with undisguised contempt. ├óÔé¼┼ôEthan Whit...Jr├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, sneering. He grabbed my chin and forced my head back ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...what has brought you back to this piece of paradise?├óÔé¼┬Ø
The wheel chair was turned to follow Alex as he walked round to his bed. It was large and purple. Fit for a king. And chained to the foot of it was Cynthia. She had been pampered, perfumed and dressed up in what looked like a twelve year olds wet dream. In my beaten and battered state, she looked like a chocolate colored angle. I found myself wondering hazily if she tasted like chocolate when Alex sat down on the bed, Cynthia snuggling up to his legs like a whore.
├óÔé¼┼ôStay way from my girl friend├óÔé¼┬Ø i muttered. My brain was starting to get back into focuses, but i had to put on the act of having just been bashed around a lot. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe didn't tell me that├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, pulling his robes tighter round his otherwise nude body. Cynthia grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôHe wasn't nearly as nice as you, lord├óÔé¼┬Ø she purred. Thats why i hadn't recognized her voice. Cynthia never purred.
I was begging to feel really jealous. Alex had been screwing MY girlfriend in MY city, living in luxury and being called Lord and such. Also he had an army of henchmen behind him. It was frustrating. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said ├óÔé¼┼ôYou haven't answered my question├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôI wanted to kill you, your Guards and all of the fuckers who have been brain washing my people├óÔé¼┬Ø i said.
├óÔé¼┼ôWhat in the world would have been served by that?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Alex, actually looking perplexed. I noticed a ant farm was built into the wall behind him. The insects had created a massive maze in the sand, a little to smiler to the honeycomb of sleeping cubical for me.
├óÔé¼┼ôRevenge├óÔé¼┬Ø I said before Alex gestured to Muti. Muti hit me in the back of the head, far lighter then i knew he was capable of. So i threw myself forward and moaned piteously. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said after i recovered my wits a bit ├óÔé¼┼ôCynthia, how is he in bed├óÔé¼┬Ø. Her face flashed in annoyance, much more like the real Cynthia i knew and loved. ├óÔé¼┼ôBetter then you will ever know├óÔé¼┬Ø she said, putting her act back on seamlessly.
├óÔé¼┼ôwhile fornication is interesting enough to talk about├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, standing ├óÔé¼┼ôi would like Ethan to see what i have done with the dirt ball of barbarism that your father called a city├óÔé¼┬Ø. I was wheeled out the door and down a corridor as Alex continued his monologue. Cynthia didn't follow. I looked back and remembered the chains.
├óÔé¼┼ôYour father used to know me├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen the was was going on...a hundred years or so ago├óÔé¼┬Ø. I was surprised. Alex looked about twenty five. ├óÔé¼┼ôWe where both Space Marines, serving on the same ship├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex continued ├óÔé¼┼ôand out military pension and health insurance included immortality treatments. IT was an after thought compared to the ninety five percent die off rate in space├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôThen we got back to Earth, spending time in centrifuge's to get back our strength├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex continued ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd your father and i split away. Then the nukes started to fly. I was in town and survived with the rest. And survived. Then i was found by the Mafia. They taught me, with guns and torture then even Immortals need to be careful├óÔé¼┬Ø. He held up his right hand ├óÔé¼┼ôThis arm regrew five times, and every time the sick bastard who had captured me found a new way to cut it off├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, stopping in his tracks ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy?├óÔé¼┬Ø he voice became louder ├óÔé¼┼ôWHY!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted, grabbing the arms of my chair ├óÔé¼┼ôHe took offense to my genetic makeup. He took offense to the retro virus's that where inserted into my body, rewriting twelve percent of my genome. He took offense to the fact that i will not die, unless i have irreversibly neural death visited on me. He took offense that i was three times as old as him, but he looked twice as old as i├óÔé¼┬Ø
Alex sneered ├óÔé¼┼ôHe taught me so much├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, his voice quieting ├óÔé¼┼ôThat normals like you don't think├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôMabey its something the genetic engineers missed while they where rewriting me and your fathers body's. They made us smarter. Better├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen i got out of the device the Mafia boss had made, i killed him with my bare hands. Then i entered the Mafia, earning me way with cruelty and brilliance├óÔé¼┬Ø he smiled, standing straight and resuming his walk
├óÔé¼┼ôSo i created Obedience, a drug that suppresses certain area's of the brain. Now they obey only me├óÔé¼┬Ø he said as we reached the balcony. The blood from the beatings remained on the floor, and the bodes...corpses had been removed. I looked at the perfect insect like machinations of the crowds. People worked perfectly in unison, i realized ├óÔé¼┼ôDon't you see├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôThis used to be a creation of lawlessness and immorality├óÔé¼┬Ø
I snorted ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd this isn't?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôIt isn't├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said ├óÔé¼┼ôPerfection is what it is├óÔé¼┬Ø. I was wheeled back. ├óÔé¼┼ôNow...that normal whore of yours has some more things to discuses with me├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, emphasizing normal more then whore. As Muti was about to wheel me away i shouted back to Alex ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's worth twelve of you, you fucking lunatic!├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Alex stopped, turning to Muti. ├óÔé¼┼ôKill him, then dump his body in the trash├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. Cynthia grinned as Alex walked past her. She had strained her chairs to the limed to get to the door, and Alex walked past she looked straight at me. And i saw a boiling, burning rage. Deeper then i had ever seen or know before. I began to feel sorry for Alex. Cynthia was going to do something very unpleasant to him...if she got the chance.
I was stood in front of a pit filled with dead bodes. Three men stood there, lead by Muti. They each held a low caliber pistol. ├óÔé¼┼ôLet me do this├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, placing his hand on his starry eyed admires pistol, lowering it. Muti aimed his pistol at me, settling it to my head.
I thought he was going to do something. Anything. ├óÔé¼┼ôBy boss├óÔé¼┬Ø He whispered.
Then he shot me in the head. The bullet flew into the very top of my skull, gouging a ragged path in the top of my skull. Blood splattered, and i hoped it looked like i had been hit in the brain pan. Not to give them a chance to look i threw myself back into the pit. It hurt like a bitch, and probably caused a lot of damage to my brain, but i hoped i would still be able to walk when i got out of the pit.
Then the realization that i was lying in a pit filled half way to the brim with corpses of men women and, sickeningly a child. I felt my gorge rising as the people crowded around the pit. ├óÔé¼┼ôHe fell right on top of the brat too├óÔé¼┬Ø one of the men said. ├óÔé¼┼ôi think he's still breathing├óÔé¼┬Ø the admire said. ├óÔé¼┼ôYour right...hes unconscious though├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said ├óÔé¼┼ôbut we'd better be sure├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Then someone shot me in the thigh. I didn't scream...somehow. I knew i needed chemical attention to fix it up. The people turned around, but Muti looked into it for a second longer. Then something slid out from his pant leg. It fell among the corpses. Then he walked away. I waited a good five minuets as bugs started to crawl over me. I felt sick.
I was sick, quietly vomiting on the corpses. It made me sicker. I started to dry heave. It was one thing to hear about executions on this scale, but it was another to see it. Then i grabbed the blood splattered, vomit encrusted stim pack that Muti had dropped in the pit. Then i bid down on my shoe as i jammed it into my leg. After a few more minuets i could walk again. I looked at the hole in my thigh and felt it close. My muscles would still need to regrow but i could walk.
I clambered out of the pit and began to run.
Then my leg collapsed after three steps and i fell. My head hit a stone and i went out like a lamp. Later i found that i had been hidden by some rubble, so i avoided detection for who knows how long.
In the mean time...i dreamed.
├óÔé¼┼ôSorry pops, didn├óÔé¼Ôäót know you where dictating├óÔé¼┬ªagain├óÔé¼┬Ø I said, sitting down. Pops in the dream grinned, his teeth gone. Bloody gums leered at me. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm needed├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, then got out of his wheel chair. It was a dream, so his spine wasn't needed. He walked past me and out of the room we where in. His head was cored out and his brains where missing.
My subconscious wasn't too subtle. I got out of the chair, bemused as Pops closed the door. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Then I was standing in front of the firing squad again. This time the squad was headed by Elizabeth. The hole through her stomach was fresh, but didn't bleed. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø I said again. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry boss├óÔé¼┬Ø Elizabeth said, aiming her pistol at my face ├óÔé¼┼ôBut you ran out of Stims didn't you? You didn't save me├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Pops walked up beside her ├óÔé¼┼ôDidn't come back in time for me either├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. Behind them stood all the other people i had killed. Reavers without their implants or mutations stood in the forefront, shivering naked. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry├óÔé¼┬Ø I shouted, holding my hands up. ├óÔé¼┼ôToo late for a guilt trip├óÔé¼┬Ø Elizabeth said, and fired.
I jerked up, shouting ├óÔé¼┼ôno!├óÔé¼┬Ø to the night air. I sat up. The sky was black and pitiless. I looked around and saw that i was obscured by rubble. I slowly stood, my leg still feeling wavrey. I started to walk towards the APC, my head throbbing. I felt the bullet wound. IT had healed, but left a jagged scar i would brag about when i got old enough to be bald.
It was almost dawn when i arrived, staggering out of the city. I was starving. Stims Didn't magical heal. They worked by just speeding up the natural processes, drawing on the body's reserves of energy. Like fat. They where a great way to get slim. I found my self remembering that i had seen only one obese person in my entire life. It had been the owner of the brothel...now that i thought about it.
I walked over to the APC and saw the others had set up a crappy watch if they Didn't spot me coming in. I walked right up behind Winston and croaked ├óÔé¼┼ôCan i have my clothes back?├óÔé¼┬Ø. He started and spun his head round a surprisingly large degree. Then i fell forward on the ground. I Didn't go unconscious. Riff brought me some water, and Judith brought me food and i started to fell a bit better about life, in general.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo whats the plan├óÔé¼┬Ø was the immideatly question after i was done eating the meager rations. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...here is the plan├óÔé¼┬Ø i said and began to elaborate.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo Muti and Cynthia are alive?├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd working for us still!├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôMuti and Cynthia are both undercover though├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats Muti doing?├óÔé¼┬Ø Pete asked ├óÔé¼┼ôPolice work├óÔé¼┬Ø i responded ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd he's a higher rank them the others, so he can do quite a bit for us├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd Cynthia?├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith asked.
I mumbled something about being under cover.
I walked back into the enemy camp, waring Winston's coveralls and a coat that looked sufficiently patched and wrecked to be used by some one who couldn't afford anything better. A guard stopped me after i walked into the main building. ├óÔé¼┼ôOy├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats with the coat?├óÔé¼┬Ø. I looked at the ground and mumbled ├óÔé¼┼ôTo keep me warm, mister├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôGive it to me├óÔé¼┬Ø the guard said. I obliged, revealing the bandoleers that crossed my chest. But they weren't filled with bullets. Each one had more then a few pistols on them. A snub nosed submachine gun was strapped into the hollow of my back. And my RFG nestled in a wrist holster. Finally the four vials where on my belt. ├óÔé¼┼ôFuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted the guard.
Then a bullet hole tore out the front of his face and he pitched forward into the nearest pit. Judith had arrived. Then the other police officers showed up. We stood in a line, ten of us. The crowds dispersed, some of them actually yelling. Even drugged, they knew when to get undercover. That is each of them jumped into a nearby cubical. Then the guards ran out, guns at the ready. They where lead by Muti. They stood at a staggered interval, each one holding an AK-67, the most common and reliable of the AK series.
Muti looked at me and his left eye twitched. I noticed his admirer was at his left side. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted to Muti, who's guards each stood stalk still, waiting for us to draw out guns ├óÔé¼┼ôYou seem to run a tight shift, Muti├óÔé¼┬Ø. He grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôfollowing in your fathers footsteps├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. Then he pulled out his gun and shot the nearest guard in the face. The admire looked at him in horror as we opened fire.
The first ten guards fell satisfyingly quickly, blood spraying from there body's as bullet literally tore them apart. Muti and his admire stood alone. Muti pointed his pistol at the admires head and said slowly and evenly ├óÔé¼┼ôYou look up to me├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we where following a madman├óÔé¼┬Ø he let the pistol lay slack, holding his hand out ├óÔé¼┼ôWant to join the good guys Justin?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Justin looked at Muti. Then grabbed the pistol out of his hand and snapped a salute. Muti shook his hand. Then his chest imploded as a bullet thunked into it. Justin looked shocked as Muti shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôNO!├óÔé¼┬Ø as he fell into a cubical. Muti was then shot in the leg and dropped. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow touching├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said. He stood with a long barreled pistol. My pistol, the electromagnetically accelerated ones that fired explosive rounds.
I found myself blurting stupidly ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere did you get that?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. I had dropped them somewhere in the wasteland. ├óÔé¼┼ôFrom my new friends├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said. Then Reavers poured out of the two door ways that entered into the converted ballroom.
├óÔé¼┼ôFUCK!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted and pulled my SMG out. Riff and Judith where already onto it, firing. The other police officers where shooting, and even Abdul was hitting something. Reavers died in droves. Then they returned fire. A police officer's spine was severed and he fell in two pieces. ├óÔé¼┼ôBreak! BREAK! BREAK!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted as bullets whizzed around us.
Another police officer died as we ran out of the room, her arm sawed off by heavy caliber bullets. Me, Riff and Abdul ran into a side room. Two Reavers stood there and we dropped them swiftly, blowing their brain pans out. Riff threw a table that was stacked against the wall. We ducked beneath it as more Reavers came into the room...from both doors.
I opened fire on a Reaver coming in through the door, hitting her legs out from under her. She slid forward and was trampled by more then a few other's. My submachine gun was one of the micromunition weapons that came out of the miniaturizations craze that made I-pods and nanobots and wrist computers and com links woven into smart fabric. It had a four hundred round clip, and each round was a incredibly thin monomolecularly tipped sliver of ultra compressed hydrogen.
Thats the fancy way of saying small, fast, deadly. It sawed through people nicely, but the back of my mind that had any inkling of economics screamed that each bullet was irreplaceable without an incredible level of technology that we lacked. But i was too focused on hitting something with them.
Then after a minute of complete insanity and cacophony of bullets and explosions and screams. Then it was over. I felt the tip of my barrel burn my skin as i slid the gun out of my death grip. It was glowing. I glanced around and saw that Judith had a graze on her forehead and was shaking. Her Uzi had a immense number of shells round her, but some of those where Riff's. They had both reloaded twice.
Riff had a piece taken out of his arm by a invisible laser weapon. I was surprised that it Didn't hurt, as it had crisped some skin. Riff shook his head if i asked if it hurt. Then i looked around. Reaver corpses. Lots and lots of Reaver corpses. They all lay round our table, which was practically shredded. Gunshots rang out from across the ballroom but we couldest help them.
Then a guard walked into the room, followed by another. The where looking at the corpses and one of them whispered ├óÔé¼┼ôHoly fuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø. I shot them both with my pistol. Then we moved out. I put my hand in my pocket as i felt something move around in it. IT was the PAX. I felt like throwing it away. But i slipped it on my wrist. I itched a slight pain on my wrist, then walked after Judith.
We entered another room and found more Reavers. This time thought i counted forty. A bullet whammed into Judith's foot. She yelped and jumped backwards. I grabbed the ├óÔé¼┼ôPestilence├óÔé¼┬Ø vial and threw it into the room after a moments consideration. It splattered onto the enemy. The the Reavers started to bleed. And bleed and bleed and bleed. Their eyes bled, their nose's bled and their fingernails started to dribbled blood.
We all held out shirts over our mouths and waited the ten seconds it took for the hyper Ebola to die off. Then, to be sure Riff tossed a napalm grenade into the room. The napalm splattered and immolated the room. Then we went on. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy Didn't you use the napalm grenade?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Judith as we moved on. ├óÔé¼┼ôReavers rug off flames surprisingly well├óÔé¼┬Ø i said.
The next room that allowed us to get farther into the place was bobby trapped. I noticed it just before we walked in. It was a blinking land mine. Why would the mine need a blinky light, i will never know. I shot it and the room blew up nicely, shredded by shrapnel and other fragments. We walked through the room and where shocked when two Reavers burst from cover and started firing. Judith fell with a bullet through her throat. Riff was taken out with a bullet in the back.
Time slowed. I pulled out my RFG and aimed it. The Reaver looked like he was moving glacially slow. I swore i could see the bullets. I fired once. Twice. Both Reavers fell, blood streaming out of many many wounds. I reloaded the gun and holstered it. Then i pulled out my medical pack. It was fully stocked with Stims.
Judith felt her throat, feeling the support pack wrapped round it. This one was called a 'trauma' pack and was designed to support the brain in case's of extrema wounds. She couldest talk, and might never get it back. Her vocal cords had been severed and the damage to her neck was extrema. The trauma pack was supporting her brain with O2 and blood.
Riff was easer to deal with, as his wound was just a big hole through him! It missed most major organs, but clipped his lungs. So he got a trauma pack too. I Didn't use to many stims, and it would take both of them a good while to heal. ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay...get you guys under cover and you hide├óÔé¼┬Ø i said to Riff. He nodded and gave a thumbs up.
I walked through the hallway, holding my pistol at the ready. I came round the corner and saw a guard looking nervously left and right. I blew his brains out mercilessly. I got to the balcony and looked down at the ballroom. Corpses piled into the unused cubical, heaved there by the survives of the other group. Abdul looked at me and grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôWe got them all!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm going to find Alex├óÔé¼┬Ø i called back. Abdul gave me a thumbs up for luck.
I walked down the hall way. I came to Alex's room. I kicked the door down and came in to the room with Alex's back to mine. Cynthia lay on the floor, and he had been beating her. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou sick fuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø I shouted, advancing. Alex spun, pulling out my pistol and pointing it at me. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's a normal├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, as if that where the explanation i needed.
├óÔé¼┼ôYour men are either dead or run off├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôYou've lost!├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôMore men are on the way from the military base we got all our toy's from├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, grinning ├óÔé¼┼ôThey have power amour and advanced weapons├óÔé¼┬Ø he continued ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd you'll be arrested├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôArrested?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked, pointing my gun at him. Alex's gun Didn't waver ├óÔé¼┼ôYes...then we will put you on a little obedience├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell...├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôif you want to win this without honer├óÔé¼┬Ø I said, holstering my pistol ├óÔé¼┼ôGo ahead and shoot me├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, his pistol lowering slightly. ├óÔé¼┼ôSimple├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe go to the hall, turn out back and take ten pace's turn and fire├óÔé¼┬Ø. Alex grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôSeems to be the only way to finish this├óÔé¼┬Ø he said.
I took the first step and remembered that i hadn't heard of this bastard seine two days ago.
My second and i remembered he had killed my father
Elizabeth
Justin
The kid in the pit
All those people.
Fury started to build in me as i remembered everything he had done. All the horrors, all the pain.
Nine steps.
├óÔé¼┼ôTen├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted, turned and fired.
Alex felt something sharp pain shoot through him. But he kept his pistol pointed and Didn't waver. Then a dribbled of blood ran down his ear and plopped to the ground.
Then Ethan tottered forward on his feet and fell forward, a hole straight through his heart.
Cynthia screamed from her vantage point on the bedroom floor and strained against her chains. Alex holstered his pistol and walked over to Ethan's corpse, knelt down and pulled the PAX off his wrist. Then he put it on his own wrist and grinned. It did look nice and more immortality...never hurt.
The End?
In the mean time...i dreamed.
├óÔé¼┼ôSorry pops, didn├óÔé¼Ôäót know you where dictating├óÔé¼┬ªagain├óÔé¼┬Ø I said, sitting down. Pops in the dream grinned, his teeth gone. Bloody gums leered at me. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm needed├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, then got out of his wheel chair. It was a dream, so his spine wasn't needed. He walked past me and out of the room we where in. His head was cored out and his brains where missing.
My subconscious wasn't too subtle. I got out of the chair, bemused as Pops closed the door. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. Then I was standing in front of the firing squad again. This time the squad was headed by Elizabeth. The hole through her stomach was fresh, but didn't bleed. ├óÔé¼┼ôWait├óÔé¼┬Ø I said again. ├óÔé¼┼ôSorry boss├óÔé¼┬Ø Elizabeth said, aiming her pistol at my face ├óÔé¼┼ôBut you ran out of Stims didn't you? You didn't save me├óÔé¼┬Ø.
Pops walked up beside her ├óÔé¼┼ôDidn't come back in time for me either├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. Behind them stood all the other people i had killed. Reavers without their implants or mutations stood in the forefront, shivering naked. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm sorry├óÔé¼┬Ø I shouted, holding my hands up. ├óÔé¼┼ôToo late for a guilt trip├óÔé¼┬Ø Elizabeth said, and fired.
I jerked up, shouting ├óÔé¼┼ôno!├óÔé¼┬Ø to the night air. I sat up. The sky was black and pitiless. I looked around and saw that i was obscured by rubble. I slowly stood, my leg still feeling wavrey. I started to walk towards the APC, my head throbbing. I felt the bullet wound. IT had healed, but left a jagged scar i would brag about when i got old enough to be bald.
It was almost dawn when i arrived, staggering out of the city. I was starving. Stims Didn't magical heal. They worked by just speeding up the natural processes, drawing on the body's reserves of energy. Like fat. They where a great way to get slim. I found my self remembering that i had seen only one obese person in my entire life. It had been the owner of the brothel...now that i thought about it.
I walked over to the APC and saw the others had set up a crappy watch if they Didn't spot me coming in. I walked right up behind Winston and croaked ├óÔé¼┼ôCan i have my clothes back?├óÔé¼┬Ø. He started and spun his head round a surprisingly large degree. Then i fell forward on the ground. I Didn't go unconscious. Riff brought me some water, and Judith brought me food and i started to fell a bit better about life, in general.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo whats the plan├óÔé¼┬Ø was the immideatly question after i was done eating the meager rations. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo...here is the plan├óÔé¼┬Ø i said and began to elaborate.
├óÔé¼┼ôSo Muti and Cynthia are alive?├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd working for us still!├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôMuti and Cynthia are both undercover though├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats Muti doing?├óÔé¼┬Ø Pete asked ├óÔé¼┼ôPolice work├óÔé¼┬Ø i responded ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd he's a higher rank them the others, so he can do quite a bit for us├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd Cynthia?├óÔé¼┬Ø Judith asked.
I mumbled something about being under cover.
I walked back into the enemy camp, waring Winston's coveralls and a coat that looked sufficiently patched and wrecked to be used by some one who couldn't afford anything better. A guard stopped me after i walked into the main building. ├óÔé¼┼ôOy├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats with the coat?├óÔé¼┬Ø. I looked at the ground and mumbled ├óÔé¼┼ôTo keep me warm, mister├óÔé¼┬Ø.
├óÔé¼┼ôGive it to me├óÔé¼┬Ø the guard said. I obliged, revealing the bandoleers that crossed my chest. But they weren't filled with bullets. Each one had more then a few pistols on them. A snub nosed submachine gun was strapped into the hollow of my back. And my RFG nestled in a wrist holster. Finally the four vials where on my belt. ├óÔé¼┼ôFuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø shouted the guard.
Then a bullet hole tore out the front of his face and he pitched forward into the nearest pit. Judith had arrived. Then the other police officers showed up. We stood in a line, ten of us. The crowds dispersed, some of them actually yelling. Even drugged, they knew when to get undercover. That is each of them jumped into a nearby cubical. Then the guards ran out, guns at the ready. They where lead by Muti. They stood at a staggered interval, each one holding an AK-67, the most common and reliable of the AK series.
Muti looked at me and his left eye twitched. I noticed his admirer was at his left side. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted to Muti, who's guards each stood stalk still, waiting for us to draw out guns ├óÔé¼┼ôYou seem to run a tight shift, Muti├óÔé¼┬Ø. He grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôfollowing in your fathers footsteps├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. Then he pulled out his gun and shot the nearest guard in the face. The admire looked at him in horror as we opened fire.
The first ten guards fell satisfyingly quickly, blood spraying from there body's as bullet literally tore them apart. Muti and his admire stood alone. Muti pointed his pistol at the admires head and said slowly and evenly ├óÔé¼┼ôYou look up to me├óÔé¼┬Ø he said ├óÔé¼┼ôBut we where following a madman├óÔé¼┬Ø he let the pistol lay slack, holding his hand out ├óÔé¼┼ôWant to join the good guys Justin?├óÔé¼┬Ø
Justin looked at Muti. Then grabbed the pistol out of his hand and snapped a salute. Muti shook his hand. Then his chest imploded as a bullet thunked into it. Justin looked shocked as Muti shouted ├óÔé¼┼ôNO!├óÔé¼┬Ø as he fell into a cubical. Muti was then shot in the leg and dropped. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow touching├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said. He stood with a long barreled pistol. My pistol, the electromagnetically accelerated ones that fired explosive rounds.
I found myself blurting stupidly ├óÔé¼┼ôWhere did you get that?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked. I had dropped them somewhere in the wasteland. ├óÔé¼┼ôFrom my new friends├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said. Then Reavers poured out of the two door ways that entered into the converted ballroom.
├óÔé¼┼ôFUCK!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted and pulled my SMG out. Riff and Judith where already onto it, firing. The other police officers where shooting, and even Abdul was hitting something. Reavers died in droves. Then they returned fire. A police officer's spine was severed and he fell in two pieces. ├óÔé¼┼ôBreak! BREAK! BREAK!├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted as bullets whizzed around us.
Another police officer died as we ran out of the room, her arm sawed off by heavy caliber bullets. Me, Riff and Abdul ran into a side room. Two Reavers stood there and we dropped them swiftly, blowing their brain pans out. Riff threw a table that was stacked against the wall. We ducked beneath it as more Reavers came into the room...from both doors.
I opened fire on a Reaver coming in through the door, hitting her legs out from under her. She slid forward and was trampled by more then a few other's. My submachine gun was one of the micromunition weapons that came out of the miniaturizations craze that made I-pods and nanobots and wrist computers and com links woven into smart fabric. It had a four hundred round clip, and each round was a incredibly thin monomolecularly tipped sliver of ultra compressed hydrogen.
Thats the fancy way of saying small, fast, deadly. It sawed through people nicely, but the back of my mind that had any inkling of economics screamed that each bullet was irreplaceable without an incredible level of technology that we lacked. But i was too focused on hitting something with them.
Then after a minute of complete insanity and cacophony of bullets and explosions and screams. Then it was over. I felt the tip of my barrel burn my skin as i slid the gun out of my death grip. It was glowing. I glanced around and saw that Judith had a graze on her forehead and was shaking. Her Uzi had a immense number of shells round her, but some of those where Riff's. They had both reloaded twice.
Riff had a piece taken out of his arm by a invisible laser weapon. I was surprised that it Didn't hurt, as it had crisped some skin. Riff shook his head if i asked if it hurt. Then i looked around. Reaver corpses. Lots and lots of Reaver corpses. They all lay round our table, which was practically shredded. Gunshots rang out from across the ballroom but we couldest help them.
Then a guard walked into the room, followed by another. The where looking at the corpses and one of them whispered ├óÔé¼┼ôHoly fuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø. I shot them both with my pistol. Then we moved out. I put my hand in my pocket as i felt something move around in it. IT was the PAX. I felt like throwing it away. But i slipped it on my wrist. I itched a slight pain on my wrist, then walked after Judith.
We entered another room and found more Reavers. This time thought i counted forty. A bullet whammed into Judith's foot. She yelped and jumped backwards. I grabbed the ├óÔé¼┼ôPestilence├óÔé¼┬Ø vial and threw it into the room after a moments consideration. It splattered onto the enemy. The the Reavers started to bleed. And bleed and bleed and bleed. Their eyes bled, their nose's bled and their fingernails started to dribbled blood.
We all held out shirts over our mouths and waited the ten seconds it took for the hyper Ebola to die off. Then, to be sure Riff tossed a napalm grenade into the room. The napalm splattered and immolated the room. Then we went on. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhy Didn't you use the napalm grenade?├óÔé¼┬Ø asked Judith as we moved on. ├óÔé¼┼ôReavers rug off flames surprisingly well├óÔé¼┬Ø i said.
The next room that allowed us to get farther into the place was bobby trapped. I noticed it just before we walked in. It was a blinking land mine. Why would the mine need a blinky light, i will never know. I shot it and the room blew up nicely, shredded by shrapnel and other fragments. We walked through the room and where shocked when two Reavers burst from cover and started firing. Judith fell with a bullet through her throat. Riff was taken out with a bullet in the back.
Time slowed. I pulled out my RFG and aimed it. The Reaver looked like he was moving glacially slow. I swore i could see the bullets. I fired once. Twice. Both Reavers fell, blood streaming out of many many wounds. I reloaded the gun and holstered it. Then i pulled out my medical pack. It was fully stocked with Stims.
Judith felt her throat, feeling the support pack wrapped round it. This one was called a 'trauma' pack and was designed to support the brain in case's of extrema wounds. She couldest talk, and might never get it back. Her vocal cords had been severed and the damage to her neck was extrema. The trauma pack was supporting her brain with O2 and blood.
Riff was easer to deal with, as his wound was just a big hole through him! It missed most major organs, but clipped his lungs. So he got a trauma pack too. I Didn't use to many stims, and it would take both of them a good while to heal. ├óÔé¼┼ôOkay...get you guys under cover and you hide├óÔé¼┬Ø i said to Riff. He nodded and gave a thumbs up.
I walked through the hallway, holding my pistol at the ready. I came round the corner and saw a guard looking nervously left and right. I blew his brains out mercilessly. I got to the balcony and looked down at the ballroom. Corpses piled into the unused cubical, heaved there by the survives of the other group. Abdul looked at me and grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôWe got them all!├óÔé¼┬Ø he shouted. ├óÔé¼┼ôI'm going to find Alex├óÔé¼┬Ø i called back. Abdul gave me a thumbs up for luck.
I walked down the hall way. I came to Alex's room. I kicked the door down and came in to the room with Alex's back to mine. Cynthia lay on the floor, and he had been beating her. ├óÔé¼┼ôYou sick fuck!├óÔé¼┬Ø I shouted, advancing. Alex spun, pulling out my pistol and pointing it at me. ├óÔé¼┼ôShe's a normal├óÔé¼┬Ø he said, as if that where the explanation i needed.
├óÔé¼┼ôYour men are either dead or run off├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôYou've lost!├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôMore men are on the way from the military base we got all our toy's from├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, grinning ├óÔé¼┼ôThey have power amour and advanced weapons├óÔé¼┬Ø he continued ├óÔé¼┼ôAnd you'll be arrested├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôArrested?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked, pointing my gun at him. Alex's gun Didn't waver ├óÔé¼┼ôYes...then we will put you on a little obedience├óÔé¼┬Ø
├óÔé¼┼ôWell...├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôif you want to win this without honer├óÔé¼┬Ø I said, holstering my pistol ├óÔé¼┼ôGo ahead and shoot me├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat?├óÔé¼┬Ø Alex said, his pistol lowering slightly. ├óÔé¼┼ôSimple├óÔé¼┬Ø i said ├óÔé¼┼ôWe go to the hall, turn out back and take ten pace's turn and fire├óÔé¼┬Ø. Alex grinned ├óÔé¼┼ôSeems to be the only way to finish this├óÔé¼┬Ø he said.
I took the first step and remembered that i hadn't heard of this bastard seine two days ago.
My second and i remembered he had killed my father
Elizabeth
Justin
The kid in the pit
All those people.
Fury started to build in me as i remembered everything he had done. All the horrors, all the pain.
Nine steps.
├óÔé¼┼ôTen├óÔé¼┬Ø i shouted, turned and fired.
Alex felt something sharp pain shoot through him. But he kept his pistol pointed and Didn't waver. Then a dribbled of blood ran down his ear and plopped to the ground.
Then Ethan tottered forward on his feet and fell forward, a hole straight through his heart.
Cynthia screamed from her vantage point on the bedroom floor and strained against her chains. Alex holstered his pistol and walked over to Ethan's corpse, knelt down and pulled the PAX off his wrist. Then he put it on his own wrist and grinned. It did look nice and more immortality...never hurt.
The End?
Last edited by Zoombie on 26 Jan 2006, 15:20, edited 1 time in total.
My eye's snapped open. A nice ceiling stared back at me. Everything felt slightly...off. Every color was slightly different. Blue was darker, red was more vibrant. It was the damnest thing. I felt something soft and warm lying across my chest. I looked down. A chocolate colored arm lay across my chest. But that wasn't what i noticed.
My skin was a different color and more muscles stood out against my skin. I then followed the arm to its logical conclusion. Cynthia's shoulder, Cynthia's breasts and Cynthia's face all connected together. She was grinning like a idiot, staring into my eyes. I leaned my head back into the bed and groaned ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat happened?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked the air.
Cynthia obliged answers. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen Alex fell asleep I pressed the overwrite button on the PAX├óÔé¼┬Ø. I looked at the wristwatch. A small signal light was flickering on and off. A LED display said triumphantly ├óÔé¼┼ô100% Transfer├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow?├óÔé¼┬Ø Was the next question i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell after Alex fell asleep i had a relatively simple job├óÔé¼┬Ø she smiled wolfishly.
├óÔé¼┼ôAfter?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, sitting up. Cynthia rolled under me and grinned innocently ├óÔé¼┼ôWell before that i had all the faking to do├óÔé¼┬Ø she said. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, leaning close. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat did i miss├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, my face incredible close to hers. Then she did.
The End
Epilogue
I put my legs up on the desk, leaned back and sighed. ├óÔé¼┼ôLife is good├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. The shower was still going and i halfway thought about joining Cynthia. But Muti walked into my office, wearing the beret he had adopted a year or so back. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, putting my feet down and clapping the arms of the chair in anticipation ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat has happened today in the old City?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôWell there was one full scale robbery of Abdul's shop. Lets just say the citizenry stopped├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, leafing through his report ├óÔé¼┼ôBut otherwise├óÔé¼┬Ø he continued, clapping his folder close ├óÔé¼┼ôThe city is safe├óÔé¼┬Ø he ginned. ├óÔé¼┼ôAlright, Lieutenant├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, saluting him ├óÔé¼┼ôYour relived of duty till the morrow or the next big crises├óÔé¼┬Ø. He saluted back and walked out. The shower stuttered off and Cynthia walked out, dripping and holding a too small towel round her chest.
I waved as she walked into our rooms, then spent the next few minuets leafing through the fiscal reports of my minister of internal economy. Till a few months ago we had only had one minister of economy, but now we needed two, with the trade routes to Junktown. I was still trying to think of a name for the city. Then i noticed something the mail man had dropped off on my desk.
I picked up the envelope, once again cursing the mail man under my breath. He always forgot to tell me if what he dropped of in the morning was important or spam. This was important, i thought. I grabbed my letter opener, Elizabeth's pocket knife actually, and opened the letter.
I finished reading it as Cynthia walked out, wearing a business suite like she always wore on days we would give public announcements. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats that├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked, sitting down on the desk and crossing her legs. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts a treaty...from Junktown├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, standing ├óÔé¼┼ôThey have agreed to our alliance plans├óÔé¼┬Ø i looked at Cynthia ├óÔé¼┼ôThey're sending a two senators down on the next trading caravan├óÔé¼┬Ø. She clapped in glee and hugged me. ├óÔé¼┼ôI need to announce this too├óÔé¼┬Ø i said looking at my speech. I was horrible at speeches. ├óÔé¼┼ôdon't worry├óÔé¼┬Ø Cynthia said ├óÔé¼┼ôI'll handle it├óÔé¼┬Ø. She kissed me.
After ten minuets we managed to extricate each other from the other and went about our duty's. I walked down the hall way of my fathers old mansion and suddenly, a inspiration struck me. I did an about face and walked into Muti's office. He was talking with his second, Justin.
Justin had, survived the bullet. Most people think it was because he was just hard to kill, but i knew it took him a year and a half to recover completely. ├óÔé¼┼ôHey Muti├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, after he quieted down ├óÔé¼┼ôHow about New Washington?├óÔé¼┬Ø. He mulled it over, looking at the celling as he thought. ├óÔé¼┼ôThats a good name, Mr. President├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. I walked over and we shook on it.
The end...for real this time!
My skin was a different color and more muscles stood out against my skin. I then followed the arm to its logical conclusion. Cynthia's shoulder, Cynthia's breasts and Cynthia's face all connected together. She was grinning like a idiot, staring into my eyes. I leaned my head back into the bed and groaned ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat happened?├óÔé¼┬Ø I asked the air.
Cynthia obliged answers. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhen Alex fell asleep I pressed the overwrite button on the PAX├óÔé¼┬Ø. I looked at the wristwatch. A small signal light was flickering on and off. A LED display said triumphantly ├óÔé¼┼ô100% Transfer├óÔé¼┬Ø. ├óÔé¼┼ôHow?├óÔé¼┬Ø Was the next question i asked. ├óÔé¼┼ôWell after Alex fell asleep i had a relatively simple job├óÔé¼┬Ø she smiled wolfishly.
├óÔé¼┼ôAfter?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, sitting up. Cynthia rolled under me and grinned innocently ├óÔé¼┼ôWell before that i had all the faking to do├óÔé¼┬Ø she said. ├óÔé¼┼ôOh?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, leaning close. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat did i miss├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked, my face incredible close to hers. Then she did.
The End
Epilogue
I put my legs up on the desk, leaned back and sighed. ├óÔé¼┼ôLife is good├óÔé¼┬Ø i said. The shower was still going and i halfway thought about joining Cynthia. But Muti walked into my office, wearing the beret he had adopted a year or so back. ├óÔé¼┼ôSo├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, putting my feet down and clapping the arms of the chair in anticipation ├óÔé¼┼ôWhat has happened today in the old City?├óÔé¼┬Ø i asked.
├óÔé¼┼ôWell there was one full scale robbery of Abdul's shop. Lets just say the citizenry stopped├óÔé¼┬Ø Muti said, leafing through his report ├óÔé¼┼ôBut otherwise├óÔé¼┬Ø he continued, clapping his folder close ├óÔé¼┼ôThe city is safe├óÔé¼┬Ø he ginned. ├óÔé¼┼ôAlright, Lieutenant├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, saluting him ├óÔé¼┼ôYour relived of duty till the morrow or the next big crises├óÔé¼┬Ø. He saluted back and walked out. The shower stuttered off and Cynthia walked out, dripping and holding a too small towel round her chest.
I waved as she walked into our rooms, then spent the next few minuets leafing through the fiscal reports of my minister of internal economy. Till a few months ago we had only had one minister of economy, but now we needed two, with the trade routes to Junktown. I was still trying to think of a name for the city. Then i noticed something the mail man had dropped off on my desk.
I picked up the envelope, once again cursing the mail man under my breath. He always forgot to tell me if what he dropped of in the morning was important or spam. This was important, i thought. I grabbed my letter opener, Elizabeth's pocket knife actually, and opened the letter.
I finished reading it as Cynthia walked out, wearing a business suite like she always wore on days we would give public announcements. ├óÔé¼┼ôWhats that├óÔé¼┬Ø she asked, sitting down on the desk and crossing her legs. ├óÔé¼┼ôIts a treaty...from Junktown├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, standing ├óÔé¼┼ôThey have agreed to our alliance plans├óÔé¼┬Ø i looked at Cynthia ├óÔé¼┼ôThey're sending a two senators down on the next trading caravan├óÔé¼┬Ø. She clapped in glee and hugged me. ├óÔé¼┼ôI need to announce this too├óÔé¼┬Ø i said looking at my speech. I was horrible at speeches. ├óÔé¼┼ôdon't worry├óÔé¼┬Ø Cynthia said ├óÔé¼┼ôI'll handle it├óÔé¼┬Ø. She kissed me.
After ten minuets we managed to extricate each other from the other and went about our duty's. I walked down the hall way of my fathers old mansion and suddenly, a inspiration struck me. I did an about face and walked into Muti's office. He was talking with his second, Justin.
Justin had, survived the bullet. Most people think it was because he was just hard to kill, but i knew it took him a year and a half to recover completely. ├óÔé¼┼ôHey Muti├óÔé¼┬Ø i said, after he quieted down ├óÔé¼┼ôHow about New Washington?├óÔé¼┬Ø. He mulled it over, looking at the celling as he thought. ├óÔé¼┼ôThats a good name, Mr. President├óÔé¼┬Ø he said. I walked over and we shook on it.
The end...for real this time!