Grey Sky

[WingsofJecka]

I thought i would give writing some stories a shot. The story is mostly focused on a team of metrocops in C17, roughly a few weeks before the events of hl2. Comments are welcomed. I'm new to writing stories, so things might not be clear or things might need more detail, but I need some new eyes to look at it. So help me out . Enough gibberjabber


Grey Sky


“What we going to do now sir?” Sylvester asked.

“We live, we adapt, we move on. Mother Russia left us behind here in this god forsaken country and now we must cope with it and establish a new life, that’s what we were trained for.”

Bosnia what a dreadful place. What was supposed to be a simple undercover operation to distract and disrupt NATO peacekeeping in the area, turned into a disaster with my team stuck in the middle. The Cold War might have been over but that didn’t stop some of the higher ups in Russia from authorizing the mission to Bosnia, but as unfortunate things go, it went sour and our exit was blown. Russia denied involvement and left us out to dry. The four of us that were there, had some of the best training Russia could offer. We adapted and sold our trade of killing around for various dealers, gangsters, and warlords, hell it was fun. Everyday was new and full of life. We lived happily and richly.


The story doesn’t end here, something happened not just to our world but to everybodies world. A bomb goes off in New Mexico. I contacted one of my ex KGB buds to find out what might of happened. All he said was there was an old missile silo base, but reports out from ground agents suggested something more secretive was happening in Black Mesa New Mexico. Whatever the exact cause, portals erupted and soon a new empire came, one more powerful then the Soviet Union of old.

Years went by.

I don’t know what to say anymore after waking up everyday from a whiskey induced sleep, to a world that hasn’t been the same in years. One thing is for sure, it never ceases to amaze me what has happened. Looking down out my window into the streets of a city that once had a name; I see blank faces of people where lively kids once were. I see gas masked civil protection units on the corners where once upon a time, merchants, drug peddlers and whores were. I see scanners flying through the air taking pictures of citizens where once… well hell there was nothing quite like scanners back in the day. Not to mention Striders, bullsquids, manhacks, or the occasionally headcrab. I look up into the sky to see nothing but the bleak grey sky. The sky always seems grey, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Combine could control the weather too, and I can’t even recall the last time it rained, but no matter the sky was always grey.

Funny thing is I’m not sure I care anymore. I took another chug from my whiskey before I turned to my closet for my gear. Pants, boots, vest, pistol, citizen enforcer stick (got to love that technical name) and the gas mask that would hide my face from breathing this cursed world.

Sylvester meet me downstairs. “Morning Victor.”
“Morning Sly.”

“Took you longer then usual today.”

“It noticeable?”

“Nah, I doubt the old Captain could even remember what the smell of whiskey is. But let’s get going so the old guy doesn’t give us hell for being late.”

I laughed. Sly could always make you laugh, even here. I met Sly in basic, and afterwards stuck together throughout advanced training and into our careers as well “unique soldiers”.

Building C17 Sector 23-CP house101, or the old police station on Bearing street, was our rusty old workplace. It looked exactly like it did in the time before the Combine. A tall official looking building, with those wide steps and ancient Greek columns, made me think of a great justice that once came from here, but no longer now with the great Combine, it was more of what I was used to back home in Russia with the secret police or the SS of Nazi Germany. But none of those can compare to the door guard of our hell hole.

“Civil Protection unit 1123 and 1124 you are five standard minutes late for reported work today report to the Captain at once for reprimand.”

“Oh, right away civil protection unit 23893.” Sarcasm can still work with some of these idiots.

The captain wasn’t so bad, he was more like us. There are two types of CP’s. The ones that had some hope and decided to wait it out and see what happens and ended up getting screwed and being mostly brainwashed like unit 23893. Then there were the ones that were smart and signed up right away and pretty much avoided the tests that came up later in the program and avoided all the mental damage that occurs with them.

“Good Morning sir.”

“Vic that’s twice now this week you been late, I’m going to have to increase workload for your whole team.”

“Ah what the hell.” Said Sly

“Shut it son, I don’t have time for your crap.”

“Like you really have important things to do today?” Sarcasm has to be the best way to get things across.

“Yeah and so do you, get to work.”

Alec and Trevor were already in the office when we got down from the Captain’s. I’ve been with them not as long as I had with Sly but long enough to trust them with my life.

“You all heard the news?”

“Yeah, but no worries, not like were gona miss out on the fabulous night life of City 17.” joked Alec.

“Allright then, what’s on the agenda?”

“I was thinking some poker?” Trevor playfully said.

“Well sounds like a plan.” Gotta love this job.

 

[WingsofJecka]

Chapter 2-Wake up call-


Trevor has to be the worst poker player in the world. Reading him has been the easiest job anyone has ever had.
“You in or you out, in or out, in or out?” poked Alec.

“Shut it already I’m…I’m… I’m…in.” Trevor announced.

“Watch out now we got a player.” Laughter fills the room.

The dispatch squeaks in during the middle of the game, “Officers down at Baker’s and first all units respond code engage.”

“Bravo one-niner inbound from Black and Jackson, ETA 2 minutes.”

“Copy that one-niner, officers reporting heavy weapons, be advised.”

“This is Bravo two-twenty we really need APC support, another beat squad isn’t gona it cut here.”

“Copy that two-twenty an APC team is in route.”

“One tango-thirteen please respond to Baker’s and first for officers in distress call, over.”

“Ah hell that’s us,” Vic reaches over for the radio, “Roger that dispatch ETA 3 minutes over. All right gear up team, full load, and charge up in the car they don’t have much time, get a move on.”

Our station house had four APC teams assigned to it. Two were out at all times on constant patrol and were required to respond to distress signals and the other two were back at the station to respond to any sort of emergencies that might arise. With the station being dead center in the grid we were assigned to secure, the two patrol cars could be farther away then the cars in the station house, making us get our asses in gear. Even the great Combine had some resource problems.

“Couldn’t fourteen respond to this call? They’re just sitting on their ass too.” Mentioned Alec.

“Hell do you want fourteen backing you up?” Sly snapped.

“Hell no.”

Unit fourteen had to be the worst APC team in history. Didn’t matter what the job was, they always accomplished it poorly. Unit eleven and twelve were much better, and us being unofficially in charge of all APC teams in our station kept close watch over their actions, in order for some improvement on every bodies part.

“All right Trev man the gun. Sly drive. Alec run tech support, give me info.”

Getting in the car, the old war sense gets back in and the routine built upon years of training came to the team like ease.

“Computing, Computing, all right we are good to go. Baker’s and first is a cul-de-sac, multiple buildings, and sewer systems running throughout the area.”

“Here’s the pl…” I said before the radio squawked again.

“Ah shit, this is Bravo one-niner, Bravo two-twenty is down, repeat down, we just been hit with a flank and are pinned down, we can not make a move, over.”

“Crap, how many are in the flanking position one-niner, over?”

“Two or three, but there’s still about nine in the original position, over.”

“Roger that, Trev fire some rockets into the main building and open up with the gun on the flanker’s position. Sly drive us right up next to one-niner and give them a shield.”

Rockets flew from the turret and smashed into the upper portion of the building causing the roof to cave in on the main building. The gun up top tore a couple big holes in the flanker’s position and soon no shots were heard in the street.

“Trev remain on station. Alec, Sly disembark, Bravo one-niner back us up we are taking the main building.”

“Roger.”

Our three man team took point with SMG’s drawn, with bravo backing us up with the remaining four men of their squad with pistols at the go. I point upstairs and Sly and Alec take off to search. I give the sweep motion to bravo leader and he acknowledges and starts sweeping the downstairs. After a while I begin to relax already knowing what has happened.

“Sir the sewer, it’s open.”

“Nothen upstairs boss.”

“Sewer escapes again, god damn it, that is four times this past month.”

“Been happening all over this sector and some of the nearby ones, or so I heard. The rebels got a network of stations down there that we just can’t find.”

“I know Sly but I got a plan, this trail is still hot. I’m gona make a call for a manhack crew and for unit twelve.”

---------

More to come in a couple of days, plz post your comments.

 

[WingsofJecka]

as promised there is more

Chapter 3- The Hack crew-

“I see you let some rebels slip away Vic, must be slipping.”

“Not anymore then you are Jack.”

“Nice. Anyway why you call me off patrol?”

“Got some sewer sweeping for your crew.”

“Fabulous Vic, f-ing fabulous.”

“Hey it not so bad were bringing in a manhack crew, they get to do most of the leg work.”

“Still the sewers man.”

“Hey we might nab some of those sewer stations and grab some rebels.”

“Emphasis on might.”

“Yeah, anyway here they come.”

Jack was team leader of unit twelve, a damn good man who sadly had the misfortune of being on of those other CP’s. After months of talking with us we seem to be making a dent on whatever the Combine did to those that went under CP training. Not that we were trying to start a rebellion, its just common sense to have guys in the field who aren’t junked up on meds and Combine duck and cover tactics, or lack thereof.

The manhack crews were roughly equal to the tech crews of old. They drive in big trucks filled with all sorts of tech. The back door opened up to a world of computers and information that nobody sane would want to do. The two CP’s of the tech crew hardly noticed us as we stepped inside. One of them suddenly began to talk as if his job was to talk.

“We have studied the sewer system in this sector and we have noticed that the rebels are in a bottleneck. We been installing sensors all over the sewer system in spots like these to find rebel activity but this one didn’t get tripped.”

“So there is a hole somewhere in the ‘bottleneck’.”

“Yes, but the schematics reveal that there isn’t another service tunnel or sewer pipe close to this section of the line. Only an uncharted path that only a city planner would know about.”

“Nobody noticed a hole in the wall when they did a sweep down there last time?”

“Hey the sewer system is a jungle down there, while everything topside is all nice and layered out for you, underground is a whole new ballgame. You got the main line that leads out to the canal system that is monitored regularly. Then you got the secondary lines that fill to the main that are sweeped but not as well, then all the tributaries to those lines that might get a scanner every once in awhile. Not to mention all the service tunnels that exist down there too. In short it is easy to miss things.”

“Hey I don’t need a lecture on the sewers. All I want is to send some of those hacks down there and see if we can spot that hole in the line. How many hacks you got?”

“Full load today, 100 ready to go. Five teams of twenty sound good to you?”

“Yeah it does. Hey where’s the nearest line to the fake bottleneck we have?”

“Oh, bout 100 meters over on Jackson. It does run parallel to the line here.”

“All right send two teams down under that blown up building, and another down that slightly less blown up building searching around the bottleneck for that tunnel. Fourth and fifth team I want over on Jackson looking for that tunnel on that side. Jack I want you on that side as well, I got a feeling that is where they are at.”

“Planning on getting them in a pinch?”

“I’m always hopeful.”

 

[WingsofJecka]

Chapter 4 ----Tunnel Rats


Another good hit and run today. We bagged about 6 or 7 CPs. Man I even know I took some of them out with my own gun to boot. Then the escape! Ha, I would have loved to see the faces under the mask’s of the CPs, as they found the house empty. They most be getting frustrated as hell with us. We been hitting this sector and a few other ones to keep CP confused as to where we might be and to weaken Overwatch control. It’s a shame though that we are only a small band or else we really would be a pain in the neck for the Combine.
We might only be a hundred strong, but with the leadership of Sergio Wilhelm we made progress against the occupation forces of the Combine. Not much is known of Sergio and I am not part of the inner circle of the movement either to know these things. I’m just a simple solider in one of the strike teams, whose sole job is to kill CPs. Even Jason, my team leader doesn’t know much about Sergio. He gets his orders as to where to strike and we go and do it, simple and not complicated. But that’s not important only the movement is, the goal to free mother Earth or to die trying!

“Ah Mary, I tell you I could taste it today, the rush of the battle, the power of it all was… ha I can’t describe it in mere words.”

“I know my dear.”

Ah Mary, the sweetest girl in the world. Such a special bond between us that is again beyond mere words. What are words really? Words, such a tool in life. I used to be a poet in my early life before I found the joy that is war. Soon I will find the answer to these words and…

“John what was that!”

“Come on Mary I’m sure it was nothing.” Always on edge Mary was. Now words they are…

“Snap out of your poetry mind John and listen.”

“Well it sounds like a saw.”

“Ah shit John look, Hacks!”

“Bloody hell. Jason we got Man hacks down here!”

“All right everybody get a move on towards the other end.”

“We got hacks here too, were trapped,” said the rebels at the other end.

“Shit. Everybody to the middle we will hold here.”

Trapped like animals. Is this the end for us? Our eight man team poised together for the last time. Four facing one direction, the other four facing the other, waiting for the blades of death to come. The sounds of the blades kept getting louder and louder as if more were coming, until at last the came. What seemed like hundreds leapt through the door way. Coming in high we traced bullet rounds after bullets round into the never ending mass of man hacks. But the man hacks never ventured close, the man hacks seemed to get ready to rush us but always fled back afterwards, it made no sense. But what did it matter there was still too many of them, they could take there sweet time and still finish us off. Out of the corner of my eye isaw movement by the door. Two white masked CPs stood at the ready. Strange though they didn’t open fire. One stood there holding out his gun, while another seemed to cock back his arm to throw something. The CPs ducked back in the door way and to my surprise it wasn’t a grenade they threw but….

I remember nothing of what happened next, as I was looking at the object it exploded into a bright white and afterwards we were all disarmed and taken away into a transport where we would suffer a grim defeat.

----------

author's note, i was never really happy with chapter 4. It never seemed to flow right. Sadly I needed this scene for plot purposes.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Kewl so far. Keep going tho.

 

[WingsofJecka]

thanks for the response bud. And dont fear this story will go on for sometime.

 

[Rennmniscant]

That ain't bad at all. Nice description and the like. A bit much to read all at once for me at this time of night... uh... morning where I am. So far so good though.

A bit much on the dialogue though. Lots of standing and talking.

 

[WingsofJecka]

thanks for the response. I try to find a good balance between dialouge and and action scenes. It still a work in progress on that aspect.

 

[Zombie]

That was a lot of dialogue. I suggest mixing in some of the character's responses without using dialogue, it's like reading a script. The cops themselves show a real lack of character, using common words like "rebels" instead of a more appropriate "rebs" or another nickname. When you're talking in CS, do you say Heckler and Koch MP5 Navy to talk about the mp5? Same thing with man hacks, "fire some rockets", and describing what each metrocop types of weapon were was excessive.

Remember, verbs are greater than adjectives, tell a story don't write about it, and for the love of god, theme! There's no themes present! Unless this is a Michael Bay summer action movie, you should have an idea of what your story is and why you're writing it.

 

[WingsofJecka]

another great response, thanks. The next chapter should help with the dialouge part. maybe.
On theme, all I have to say is that it is early. What is written for Ch 5, goes more into a man vs self conflict, giving it more then just a basic action movie run-n-gun. I hope that clears that up.

 

[Darkest90]

You don't write stories for a theme. You write a story to tell a story. The theme comes later. If we wanted to read stuff like 'Of Mice and Men' or 'Grapes of Wrath' then we would be on another forum.

Make it cool, make it interesting. But if you don't want to write a 'lesson story', then you don't have to.

 

[WingsofJecka]

I was thinking of "Mice and men" the other day. Not for this story, i was just thinking about it.

Anyway, thanks for the response.

 

[WingsofJecka]

New Chapter for you all. Enjoy. Comments are swell.

Chapter 5----Repercussions


It was a cold dark room filled with a metal chair. It reminded Vic of the horror of Russian dentistry. Of course Russian dentistry did not have electro shock running throughout your body. Which was exactly what was happening to good old John.

“I’ll never tell you anything you basta…AHHH...rds. I would rather die then give up the mother Earth to you pigs. I would YARA AHH.” Poor John. Screaming in pain as another electric shock went through his body.

It’s a shame because he’s right. He would rather die then give up anything. I’ve seen that look in a man’s eyes one to many times. The belief in fighting for a hopeless cause can make some people go crazy, and it evidently got a hold of this poor wannabe hero. But it does not matter for this wasn’t the person Vic was breaking. The young girl who seemed to be attached to John after the flash bang went off, stared in grim fascination at the scene in front of her. While hidden from poor John, Mary had front row seat to his torture through the two way mirror. What surprised me the most was how much she was paying attention to it. It seems to be that same fascination people had with car wrecks back in the old times. Some people can not take their eyes off destruction or in this case extreme pain.
And extreme it was. Every few minutes Trevor would snap, break, jolt, freeze, burn some part of his body. To make matters worse Alec had introduced pain amplifiers throughout John’s system. But Sly had the fun job of injecting the cure-all formula, so John could relive every part of the pain process over and over again.

It had gone on for an hour already before I broke the silence with Mary in the other room. “You can make it stop you know, just tell us what we need to know.”

“What for? We are already dead.” Mary snapped.

She said that too quickly, almost out of reflex. She has been trembling for a while now, not enough for a breakdown, but enough where her mind is not in a great position. Who ever was in charge put some training into these people.

“Why Mary, that’s no way to act, can’t you see you are only prolonging your dear John’s suffering?”

“Can’t you see you are prolonging mankind’s suffering?” Another smart quip from Mary.

“ Please Mary, mankind had its chance and lost. Do you even remember the Seven Hour war? No, of course not, you were just a child then. But I was there, sweetie, and it wasn’t some great battle between man and machine, it was a massacre. A massacre.”

“So hope is dead?”

“Hope? Hope? Do you really belief that foolhardiness? Hope, if it ever existed, died when the Combine came and conquered.”

“So it is true.” Replied Mary.

“What is?” Suddenly I was intrigued because that line has never been said by any other captives.

“You CP’s really aren’t human anymore, because a human would never give up on hope.”

“Hope is gone just like all the heroes. So start living in the present and not in some Greek tragedy of grandeur.”

“I know a man who….” Mary quickly shut up. Mary had a head on her shoulders. She knew she made a mistake there but she didn’t cover it up quickly enough.

“A man who, my dear?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit nothing.” Vic reaches for the intercom switch, “Increase pain and cut off cure fluids.” Flipping the switch back off. “Now Mary, tell me who, or else your dear friend will die and so will the rest your pathetic friends.”

“No please, he doesn’t deserve it.” Stammering for control Mary seemed to panic, stricken with moral obligations to her pathetic cause and yet her desire to see her people safe. “Sergio, that’s his name. He is the leader of our cell. I don’t know anything more, Jason is the only one who had contact with or knowledge about anything, please you got to believe me.”

Sensing that that was all she really knew Vic reached for the switch, “Pack it up boys we got what we need. Patch him up and take him and the girl back to holding.” Hitting the switch again. “Very good Mary I wish it would have come sooner but never the less we did it, thank you.”

“You are a bastard.”

“Yes I believe we all are.” If only she could see Vic’s toothy grin.

Stepping outside the room Vic noticed the Captain walking towards him. “Well I think that went well how bout you Capt?”

“All you got is a name!? How could that be a success?”, it was clear he wasn’t happy. “I can’t tolerate this Vic you better explain yourself for wasting all those materials in there to get just a bloody name.”

“It’s a name we didn’t have before.” Vic put his arm around the Captain’s shoulders and lead him to the balcony outside the second floor window. “Look Capt, we are goning to put all the captives through a Visual Reconstruction unit to see if we can map some of the sewer spots they were in from the short term memory. Odds are though that wont get us more then a few days worth of info and that might not led us anywhere. With the name at least we got a start to the big cheese.”

“Well if you would have kept that one guy alive maybe we would have gotten something productive out of it.”

What appeared to by the tea leader for this band of rebels, committed suicidal upon transfer to the station house. Rather in genius really they way it happened. We searched them all and even tied their hands up to make sure they didn’t do anything stupid, but he had a little vial of poison behind his teeth. He used his tongue to knock the poison loose and into his system. I couldn’t have thought of a better way myself to do it.

“Come on Capt, how was I supposed to think that. It’s to… to….”

“Random?” Captain suggested.

“No I was going to say professional. I mean most of these guys we pick up, were mechanics or salespeople before the War. Or they were kids and they know nothing of the times. A bunch of everyday people who think the can change the world. This suicide speaks of something someone would have thought out, someone with a game plan, a real game plan. This Sergio is smart and careful, and to spark that kind of loyalty in his people to do what the man did, shows me that he is dangerous for us.”
“Sounds like to me that you actually admire him.”

“In a way yes. I’m tired of people like John. Some burned out poet who thinks he can change the world. I’m surprised he even made it this far. But Sergio, he is looking at the big picture.”

Both men were now looking out at the setting sun on the balcony of the station. “What about Mary, is she like John too?” Captain asked.

“No, there is something about Mary. She believes giving up his name won’t matter in the long run, it will rest assured. But at least she is thinking big picture something poor John probably never thought in his life.”

After a long pause as both men watch the last glimpse of sun fade away behind the Citadel Vic comments on it. “Watching the sun set behind the Citadel reminds of those postcards you would send when you go on vacation back to family.”

“Yeah I guess your right. Are you ok Vic?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Thinking about what if he wasn’t human anymore.

 

[jonesey2k]

Im enjoying this Keep it going.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Yes, it is very good, keep writing, and don't lose momentum. Good job.

 

[WingsofJecka]

Thanks! The next chapters are basically outlined, its just a matter of making it all flow in the right way.

 

[WingsofJecka]

This took way too long to do. I had more plot to this chapter but it got edited out for some logical reasons. And then I needed to add more because the scene I cut was huge. Anyway enough with the commentary, unless you like it then I could do that for every chapter(maybe).


Chapter 6----Hope



The constant dripping from the leaky pipes was just what Sergio needed. Rumors hit the city that some rebel forces got caught and killed. Apparently they were fighting some local CP units and ended up getting caught. If those reports are true then it is safe to say that one of Sergio’s teams got compromised and that would mess everything up. Figuring out a new schedule, new target zones, new safe houses, all because one team fouled up. But if the reports were not true and just Combine propaganda, then more unnecessary work would be done, draining more energy that we badly need to continue this fight. A short rap at the door to the tiny room awoke Sergio from his dripping water torture.
“Enter.”
A short robust man entered the room. His face looked like he been to hell twice and back but his eyes told you he could go back two more times. Walter Wunkesten was the second in command of Sergio’s forces and probably more important in keeping them alive then Sergio was. Walter was a city engineer for what the old City 17. He had the plans for all the city girds, sewer lines, subway tunnels, railway switches. I there was something you needed to know about City 17 Walter was the man. Without him we would be lost in the sewers just like the CPs that come after us.

“It is confirmed Sergio.” Walter said. “Team ten got picked up.”

“Captured then, Jason knows what to do we should be safe from that.”

“But we are going to move out anyway right?”

“Of course, it’s too risky to stay here. And we are going to pull off all the other strike teams for now till the time is right just to be safe. We are too close now to have something go wrong with the plan. How close are we on the tunnel?”

“We are just about done digging our way through to the subway line I told you about. It would be just a couple more days. After that we can use the rails to move supplies down the tube to the target zone. But we might run into debris or something inside the tunnel. I can’t be sure till we are through.”

“With the strike teams coming off the line you will be able to get some more hands down there to finish the job. I’m going to go take some of the men back to the Warehouse with team 5 and start packing up all the gear and moving it down back to the tunnel.”

“Right away boss”

“Be safe Walter, you are too important.”

“Thanks, you remember that in my paycheck.” And with a quick wink of the eye
Walter was out the door going back down to supervise the dig.

Sergio sighed, only half the plan was going perfectly. Walter and his diggers were on schedule and the strike teams were doing there job but it wasn’t enough. If the dig goes correctly, CP forces all across City 17 would disorganized and out of sync with each other. That tunnel leads directly to the subway line underneath the CP HQ building of City 17 and its surrounding areas. A tactical strike against it would be possible and with it crippling communication lines, killing CP commanders, and even the head of City 17 Civil Protection. Such a major blow would happen but what good would it do? We don’t have the troops on the ground to cause major chaos throughout the City. Nine teams of ten men each was all we have at the moment. Granted these are some of the best fighters I ever trained and commanded, but the raw material just isn’t enough. Several of the other rebel groups showed interest in joining up, but have little interest in either doing any fighting, or any interest in doing something that might get them killed. Some people speak highly of ideals and morals. They note how bad the Combine are, but are too chicken shit to do anything about it. But they think that by not joining the Overwatch force that they are actually doing something worth mentioning when in reality they are doing nothing at all.

“Boss?”

“Yes Marco, what is it?”

“We finished packing all the gear up here. No trace of us even being here.”

“Good will move out in a moment”

At least that blasted water pipe won’t be in the Warehouse.


After a two hour long hike through the sewers, Walter made it back to the drill team. Night was closing in time and it was time for the drill teams to step off the line, get some chow and hit the sack. “Hey Steve how did things go today”?

“Not bad Walt. I think we might have hit some softer dirt today. It would speed up the process down here mighty quick.”

“Great. Have the men eaten today?”

“We found a barnacle off in one of the corridors, we got it all cooked up and ready to go.”

“Yummy.” In a softer voice, “Oh and we might be getting more hands down here soon, the strike teams are getting pulled off the line and are moving down here.”

“The whole operation is moving down here?”

“For the time being yes, the loss of one of the teams has Sergio cautious. He doesn’t want anymore mistakes.”

“What should I tell the boys?”

“Nothing, I will do it in a bit. Grab some food, I will be there shortly.”

As Steve walked away Walter thanked the lord for however Sergio found Steve. Without his compassion for others and his charisma, the teams would have no morale. It helped that he was also a mechanic genius. He provided all the tools and equipment needed for the drilling operation. He is also skilled in electronics making him such a valuable person to the movement.

Walking to his “office”, Walter got to work planning the workload for tomorrow. Removing the rocks that were holding the papers in place, Walter looked over the map for this part of the sewer again, estimating how much the got through today and comparing it with how much more they needed to get through. Hopefully with the strike teams coming in, more shifts can be added. Storage wise, we got plenty of room down here for more people as well as supplies, so they were ok there. Just getting everybody working down here would be tough; there wasn’t much room in the tunnel. Maybe if…

“Sorry to interrupt but here is some food for you. Barnacle tongue. Enjoy.” Steve walked away with a grin.

Chewy like taffy, slimy like fish, and the best god damn meal in weeks. Steve sat back down at the ‘table’, a big long rock, surrounded by tiny rocks for seats, and joined the other guys in the daily swapping of jokes and stories. The men still have spirit, got to give them that.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Hey, nice to see this continued.:thumbs:

 

[WingsofJecka]

new chapter in a few days, just have to edit and see if I like the story arc. Thanks for being patient.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

new chapter in a few days, just have to edit and see if I like the story arc. Thanks for being patient.

:smoking:

 

[WingsofJecka]

Long chapter today. I hope you all like it. Any more comments on the writing style or the story itself are welcomed and plz dont be afraid to write.

Chapter 7---- Men of all things


The day started the same as all the others. Raging headache, the heavy smell of whiskey, and the aches of an old injury, are all the typical symptoms that come with waking up these days. The constant yearning for the old world and the horrible feeling that you took the wrong path, make everyday bleak and oppressive. You can reflect on your decisions in life and wonder if they were right or wrong, but you can’t regret what you yourself did. That only leads to dismay. Unfortunately it is harder to follow that code then it is to say it.

Making it to downstairs to where Sly was waiting like always, Vic was greeted by the first true blast of morning sunshine Vic had seen in a long time. It was a welcomed site for it was often not there. Some might say it is an omen for things to come. Others would laugh and shoot the other for saying it. What a world.

“You seem cheery today Vic. You think anything was happened overnight with the visual stimulus tests?”

“Oh we will get some images and some unlucky sap will grill each of them through another round of questions to see if they know anything, but really it is not going to be any different then the last time we got any rebels.”

“Good morning Civil Protection Units 1123 and 1124 have a safe and productive day.” Something about unit 23893 always seemed odd, almost liked a robot, but I guess those drugs will do it to you.

Entering the office Trevor and Alec were already into their games of chance they both seem to love. Shooting dice in the alley was a thing of the past too. Too bad dice was outlawed in this new wonderful world. Part of Breen’s curb your primal instinct nonsense he is always talking about on his show.

“Oh, hey Vic, Sly. I just took Trev here for a weeks pay, ain’t that right Trev.” Alec boasted.

“I’ll get you yet Alec, don’t you think about sleeping tonight, I’ll slice your…”

“Woah woah, I think that is enough information there.” Sly just got that out before he burst into laughter.

“Well on that happy note,” laughing all the way “I think we should go hit the streets see what is happening in our beloved city.”



Hours of driving along the same path, the same sector, and the same sights, makes a person bored and loses any edge. And a solider who lost their edge is a dead solider. While we weren’t soldiers anymore, not in a true sense, we still had to maintain some discipline as soldiers. Alec and Sly were playing their favorite game, ‘Guess what that person used to do’. It was a fairly simple game where they would just look at random people and try to guess what they might have done before by looking at body type, hair style, sex, color. It kept the boys happy and it kept their eyes awake during the usual long boring patrols. Trevor was up in the gun turret giving his thoughts on some of the citizens but mainly keeping his mindset on any potential threats. Meanwhile Vic was taking the wheel, one of the few things he enjoyed more then whiskey was driving.

“Hey check out the redhead Sly. I bet she was a model back in the day. She’s tall, skinny, gotta be model.” Alec said.

“Ever think she is that skinny because the Combine gives meager rations out?” Trevor quipped.

“Hey! Nobody asked for your opinion Mr. Lost all his money.”

“Shove off.” Trevor kicked Alec in the shoulder from his position up in the gunner’s seat.

“Jesus I’m leading kids.” Vic sighed.

“Hey boss what happened to that upgraded APC. You know the one with the DVD player, and the AC?” Alec mentioned the long running joke of Americans always upgrading to things that are unnecessary. A joke that went back a long time ago.

“Don’t forget the minifridge!” Sly laughed.

Before any more comments could come up the radio squealed to life. “Shots fired in Market district, units please report in situation.”

“This is Bravo six-niner. Shots fired by citizen upon another citizen. Suspect has fled down an alley. Pursuit in progress, over.”

“Copy six-niner.” Dispatch again.

“Finally something interesting. Sly radio us in tell them we will be on scene.”

“Copy that.” Grabbing radio. “Dispatch this one-tango thirteen heading towards Market District for investigation over.”

“Understood one-tango thirteen, over.”

“I don’t get it,” Trevor said. “Market district has the most concentrated area of CPs in this sector. Why risk shooting someone there?”

“It might just be a passion killing, those still do happen.” Sly answered.

Vic thought about it, Market District was home to the shopping area in this sector. All the local rations are distributed here as well as appliances and the like. CPs were in force around here to make sure everything got to the right place. Any anticitizen activity here was sure to be caught. Taking a chance here would be suicide. Or it should be anyway.

When the team arrived on scene, the situation had died down. Three CP officers were standing ground near a store front with a broken front window. The rest of the market went about its business as if nothing had happen. As the team drove to a stop Trevor noticed something wrong. “They don’t have anyone in custody?”

“Could be they didn’t catch him,” said Sly.

“Or they let him go.” Vic said suspiciously. It wasn’t uncommon for Civil Protection to get infiltrated, but most fakes get caught in a few days. Usually after something went wrong or something like this. “Sly back me up, Trev, Alec wait here but be ready.”

Vic stepped out the back of the APC into the damp air. Vic did a quick scan of the scene. A dead civilian, shot twice in the chest, lying flat on his back, a broken window, possible escape by the assailant, and three empty handed CP officers.

“So do you have any idea on a motive officers?” Vic asked as he dropped next to the victim to examine his body.

“From what we got from a witness was that the owner of this store and the assailant were haggling over the price of the rations. He wasn’t getting his way so he shot him.”

Finding what Vic needed from the corpse he stood up to look at the officer who spoke. “And then what happened?”

“Well...um…he ran away down that alley over there and disappeared.”

“Disappeared?” Vic’s voice rising. “How could you lose someone here? He was right in front of you and yet he disappeared?”

“We didn’t get close because we didn’t want him using his weapon again.”

“Then why the hell do you carry this around?” Vic grabbed the officer’s gun from his holster and smacked him hard in the gasmask with it. As the officer tumbled to the ground the other two officers reached for their guns. Vic was quicker, pulling out his smg well before they got their pistols out. “I wouldn’t try it.” Both officers took their hands off their guns. “And next time,” Vic continued. “Make sure you catch the guy or maybe stop him.”

Vic turned and Sly followed back into the APC. “Jesus Christ, what you trying to pull out there?” Sly asked.

“Just trying to whip these numb nuts into shape, Alec get us back to the station. Look we got what we needed, nothing more we can do here.”

“What did we get?” Alec asked.

“These,” and from Vic’s pocket he produced what remains of two .357 rounds. “These will lead us deeper in this mess.”


Hours later, three figures gather around as darkness settles across the city. They wait in the shadows, waiting for someone to show up and die. “It is getting late man, you sure you got the right address?”

“It is. I checked the records back at the station. That ****ing jackass lives in that apartment complex.”

“We sure about this?” The first man spoke again. “He is a cop like us? It ain’t right.”

“That bastard made me look like a fool in front of those dirt swine. Nobody does that to me. He will get what he deserves, that bastard.”

“Quite you two, I see two people coming.” The third man finally spoke. “Two CPs. One is breaking off and heading down towards the other building, the other guy is going in. That’s him.”

“All right this is just a simple get in get out.” The second man was speaking. “We will do our thing and make it look like something other then what it is. Up there fifth floor window, that light went on. That’s gotta be him. Everybody ready? Let’s do it.”


Vic hated the nights, the nightmares that came when he fell asleep if he managed to fall asleep that is. Vic was getting older too, and those are things nobody likes to deal with. Nothing quite beats getting up once or twice a night to take a goddamn piss. Moving from the bedroom to the hallway that connected the four rooms of his apartment together, Vic began to stumble towards the bathroom down at the end of the hall. For a apartment Vic’s was actually quite nice. A kitchen right across the hall from the bedroom, a bathroom, that actually worked, was down the hall from the bedroom, and a living next to the kitchen and across the hall from the bathroom. A spacious square four room apartment.

The toilet could have seen better days of course. Before Vic got to finish his business, Vic heard the slightest sound coming from the hallway. The very distinct sound his front door makes when it opens. Vic swore to himself, his gun was in the bedroom. He stood off to the side where he could still watch the door, but still be in the shadows. Three men walked into the hallway with a purpose, all three had guns drawn. This wasn’t a house cleaning group. Lucky for him they were amateurs. Rule one should be to clear the room. His intruders failed to sweep the bathroom or the living room; they were all heading straight for the bedroom giving him a chance. As three men were approaching the kitchen/bedroom part of the hall. Vic darted across into the living room. Vic flipped the mattress over on the chair he had in there. Grabbing the magnum he kept there he moved silently into the kitchen.

The first man had entered the bedroom; it would only be a moment before he realized nobody was there. The other two were standing outside the doorway waiting to go in.
Vic grabbed the frying pan off the stove and approached the two men from behind. He gave the guy on his left on full face of metal, smacked him neatly in the head. Vic swung towards the guy on the right, but he was already reacting but not quick enough, for he too got hit upside the head. The first guy spun and fired his shots blindly towards the door. Vic swore again, god damn trigger happy thugs. Vic ran back into the living room and flipped the sofa over giving him some cover. The first man got in to kitchen and fired some more rounds toward Vic. Vic leveled his gun and fired two shots and was greeted with an impact on the thug. Vic’s victory was short lived. One of the other guys appeared at the door way of the hall and living room and started to open up as well. Vic fired a quick reflexive shot back towards him.

If Vic didn’t get that first guy with his shots then he might be pinned down real quick. The other guy was still firing away, maybe if Vic timed it right. The man stooped firing. Vic did a quick roll out and stopped right in front of a reloading man. He fired two shots, one in the shoulder and another in the throat. He was dead before he hit the ground. The first guy finally got back to firing, and Vic had to do another quick roll out to avoid getting shot. The first man had backed up into the kitchen. Vic picked some debris and threw it in the room. Distracted by the sudden movement, Vic managed to squeeze in a shot straight to the head.

Vic walked over to the first man. Looking at his boots, he could tell he was CP. A sudden yell reminded Vic about Rule two; make sure every hostile is dead. The man Vic hit with the frying pan was back on his feat and running towards Vic. Vic managed to stand up before getting tackled by the man. The man landed a couple punches before Vic got some leverage on him with his legs. Both men separated and got up. Vic had blood streaming down his face, the other man had half his face disfigured and blood coming out. Vic let loose a kick towards the man, but he did a quick block of it. The man then lunged towards Vic with impressive speed and with his strength pushed Vic up against the counter in the kitchen. Another round of punches this time to the chest left Vic feeling it. Vic grabbed his hands together and brought them down on his opponent. Vic vision was blurry he grabbed a knife from the counter and brought down behind the man’s neck. The man finally collapsed, and then Vic, suffering from his chest wounds fell over too.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

That was a long read. It was good, but to be honest I prefered it in small bursts. But its your story. Keep going.

 

[WingsofJecka]

I felt that the last scene would 'wrap' up that chapter's storyline. I could have saved it for later but I didnt feel it would fit.


Anyone else have any comments on length or anything else? Feedback is good!

 

[jonesey2k]

I want more Keep at it, its rather good.

 

[WingsofJecka]

Right now the next four chapters are being worked on. Problem is I think of ideas that need to be in say chapter 7, when im writing chapter 9. If i post a chapter as soon as im done with it, then I get screwed. But if I hang on to it for awhile then i can fit that missing part in and clear up something.

Also i ran in to a timeframe problem in the story. These coming events should in reality take longer, but I'm rushing it to get to get caught up to the HL2 game time line.

College also sucks my writing time down the drain. So it is still going, but its going to take more time then it used to.

 

[Atomic_Piggy]

Thats alright, theres no rush.
Or is there *eyes shift eerily*

 

[WingsofJecka]

A new chapter!!! omg! Anyway thanks to all those that read and reply. Enjoy.

Chapter 8----Caverns and Shadows


“Walter! Walter get up! Walter come on sleeping beauty.” Steve said energetically.

“Ugh, Steve stop being so peppy, you know how early it is?”

“Yeah its 4:30 in the morning, but you got to take a look at this.”

“What is it?”

“The night crew was digging through more of that soft dirt and discovered a whole new opening.”

“What do you mean.”

“Like someone else was digging down here. There are caverns all over the place down here, caverns where there not supposed to be.”

Ducking into the new opening Walter was able to see where he left off last night before going to bed, but now after only a couple of hours worth of digging by the night shift crew, it looked like they were digging for weeks.

“We estimate that this tunnel runs right to the objective. Maybe just a little short. It would save a lot of time.”

“You have no idea. We are going to need to widen it a bit to move supplies in but other then that we are nearly done here. Keep the crew working around the edges, but don’t go too far down just yet. I’m going to tell Sergio.”

“You’re the boss. And try not to look too dumbstruck when you talk to him.”

“Will do.” Walt laughs.

Too many thoughts were racing through Walt’s mind. How did the caverns get there? How long are they? What other places do they go? Walter reached Sergio’s tent and went on in.

“Sergio we got a situation.”

“What?”

For being fast asleep Sergio did wake up in a hurry, makes a man wonder what his life was like before the occupation.

“We got a breakthrough in the tunnel.” Continued Walter. “It looks like it runs deep towards the objective, if thats true it would save us weeks off digging. But I have no idea how they got there though. None of my old records state anything being done down here, or that these caverns were here.”

“So they’re new.”

“Well maybe, but it doesn’t look machine made, so what could it be? Certainly not Combine made.”

“Antlions.” Sergio said with confidence.

“You got to be joking; no way could antlions get in here. We are way to close to the Citadel and its power; they would scurry away long before they got there. Sure their nests are everywhere outside City 17, but still not here.”

“Before the Combine came, tons of cities had antlion problems; it doesn’t surprise me that their tunnels are under here too.”

“But I don’t remember antlions here, and I’ve been here since the outbreak.”

“Yeah but antlions weren’t the dominate species as they are now. Antlions were still fighting with all the other Xen wildlife, not to mention our own. The antlions that built those tunnels could have lost to something and moved somewhere else.”

“Great now you are suggesting something that could kill a whole flock of antlions is down there, fantastic. How am I supposed to keep these people together if that gets out?” Disgusted Walter turned away.

“Don’t worry, Walter, you wont have too. I’ll go down there with a full assault team to check it out. You will follow us up with some more men and see how far these tunnels actually go.”

*******

Walter didn’t like it, but he could deal with it if this tunnel really did lead to the objective. Too many unknowns here, Walter liked things simple and known. But this was too much. Team One was stringing up lights as they pushed through the tunnel as Walter was bringing up his work crew behind them. What concerned Walter as the trek continued and the tunnel was widening out into a cavern, was the fact that even though they were heading in the right direction, they were also heading deeper and deeper down. If the cavern didn’t go back up, they might have to dig upwards and haul all the supplies up too.

“Walter there is a riverbed up ahead; we will rest up here and wait for your arrival.”

“Understood.” Walter replied back in to his radio. Team One must be getting tired, or they found something really important. Walter and his team turned the corner and saw the riverbed and saw Sergio and the rest of the team. It was actually a fairly long riverbed, it went straight ahead for a good hundred meters down to the right. On the left side it dropped off into the area below for another thirty meters before getting lost in the darkness. As Walter moved his flash light to take a look down there, he saw four antlions fluttering their wings and spurting around.

“Holy hell.” said someone from Walter’s group.

“Don’t worry about them; they haven’t even attempted to come any closer. Feel the ground. The vibration is keeping them away.” Sergio said. “Walter how close are we?”

“Not too far. The old subway station should be up ahead, and then it is clear to the CP HQ.” It was better only to tell Sergio what he needed to know then to bother him with the technique issues.

“All right then. Walter, you set up camp here and do what you can. I’m heading back to get the rest of us and start moving supplies up to here. And keep some people up to make sure no antlion gets feisty.”

 

[jonesey2k]

Nice one:thumbs: