K
kulkun
Guest
Chapter 1- Scent of Ashes
Gunfire rattled in the distance, echoing between the devastated buildings as battles continued to rage on. Clashes had been occurring for well over a month now between two massive groups. Those who kept order and viewed themselves as humanity’s only chance of survival. They were known as the Combine. Then there were those who sought freedom from the oppression from the genocide they had suffered. Here they were known as the Liberation Forces.
A street barricade slowly hummed to life. The massive and heavy steel panels began to slide open sparks shooting off from straining hinges. Slowly, soldiers dressed in dark blue uniforms with thick body armor stepped through, weapons ready. The distress call they had received came from this general area almost an hour ago. All the life registers of the squad that was to be stationed here had disappeared. The Liberation was in this area. It had to be.
“Secure the area. Teams of two.” Called the squad leader, his voice disguised into a hoarse and fearsome tone behind the helmet that hid his face. The soldiers, without even so much as a glance or mutter to each other, split into their groups and explored the side street, careful to keep their eyes on the windows and the holes in the tall buildings that loomed over them, threatening to crumble.
“Two bodies, Sergeant.” Called one of the groups with the same disguised voice. Behind a corner in an alleyway laid two Combine soldiers, their uniforms covered in blood and holes. The lifeless bodies still clung to their weapons. The gloved hands wouldn’t not even release the weapons as the soldiers tried to salvage what they could.
“Continue securing the area.” Ordered the Sergeant. The soldiers ceased trying to pry the weapons from a seemingly impossible grip and resumed to look into alleyways and into doorways. As the Sergeant leaned against a wall and peered around a corner another body laid in the center of it, face first in the ground, weapon on the floor. He had been shot in the back. Walking over to it, he knelt down and gently touched the back of the soldier. The corpse was still warm. Another call of dead bodies was radioed to his headset.
“Alpha, we have a live one.” Said another group. Sergeant stood up from the corpse and jogged across the street into another alleyway. Two soldiers stood over another. He was breathing deeply. His uniform was stained with red as he held his shoulder, the entire length of the uniform’s arm soaked in the blood.
“They… ambushed us….” coughed the soldier as he gritted his teeth in agony. The medic joined them and began to open his medical kit.
“They… hit us hard… then ran in sector three’s direction… probably to join up with the others.” He continued, weakly pointing with his hand to the east and down the long alleyway. Sergeant turned to the others.
“Take care of him and join up when you’re done.” Said Sergeant to the medic. He nodded in response, peeling open the wounded soldiers combat vest, “Form up squad. We’ll catch them from behind.”
The soldiers left the few bodies that had been found and joined with Alpha. The medic was cautiously readying syringes and painkillers as the squad began to sneak through the alleyway, weapons poised and ready.
“I thought I was dead...” said the wounded soldier to the medic, still breathing heavily, “Do you have any idea what it is to be dead?”
“I don’t. You’re going to be fine.” The medic responded, unbuttoning the soldier’s shirt and opening it.
The shirt was covered in blood and had three holes, yet the body underneath it only had a tiny amount of blood and not a single wound.
“What the…” whispered the soldier. The soldier that sat in front of him lashed out his hand and grabbed at his free hand, pressing his gun against his helmet.
“I bet it feels like this.” Hissed the soldier, firing a small burst of bullets directly into the medic’s head, read spattering the inner side of the lenses as dead eyes full of horror lost any trace of warmth.
The soldiers in the alley turned suddenly, seeing the soldier holding the dead medic.
“Ambush!” screamed Sergeant as they raised their weapons. Bullets tore up concrete as they beat a sort of footpath at the soldier. The soldier lifted the body as he rolled his own behind it, projectiles riddling the body as he shielded himself. A man and a woman rolled on the floor into the other side of the alley, covered in denim clothing with body armor over their chests. They opened fire into the alleyway, cutting down two of the Combine, as they were distracted. Some of the soldiers turned, opening fire as the two rolled behind the corners again. The rebel that had begun the ambush had managed to flee around the corner, leaving the corpse where it lay. As the sergeant charged to chase after him, two of the soldiers that had thought to be corpses ran into view and opened fire. He could only feel the pains in his chest before the glass in front of his eye shattered and everything went black.
The firefight between the pinned soldiers only lasted for another twenty seconds before the alleyway was filled with corpses and the Liberation Force stood at both ends. Their apparent leader removed his helmet.
“Salvage what you can and let’s get out of here.” He said, running his hand through his short spiked hair. The team began to search the bodies, taking body armor from the corpses as well as all their weapons and ammunition. When everything was gathered and compacted into bundles to carry, they all darted away from the alleys and streets.
They entered what was once a prisoners’ dormitory, holes in the sides and the rubble that littered the street around it made it appear just like any other structure in City Four. The battles continued to rage, pausing every few seconds as squads would stop to reload, or be killed.
“We’re home, Alpha.” Quietly cheered a Hispanic member of the team as they entered.
Picking up a rock from a pile, the man with the shirt spiked hair, codename Alpha, knocked it against a grate in the floor. A small light lit in the grate and after a moment, the grate slid open. Alpha dropped in, spotting two mounted turrets with green lights flickering softly above a door at the end of the long tunnel. As he moved for the door, the others began to drop in their spoils of war and follow behind him. Punching in a code to the keypad, the door slid open into a bunker.
“Welcome home, Twilight Wolf. I trust everything went well?” asked Doctor Jamison, a man whose knowledge of both war strategies and his education in MIT had made him a rather famed figure. While he portrayed himself as a rather harmless figure with his good nature and tendency to wear his lab coat everywhere, Alpha had seen him perform better than half of the members of his team during intense situations.
“Two squads in one day without even a graze? I’d say that’s a good day, Doctor Jamison.” Responded Alpha. Alpha then began to remove the Combine uniform in favor of his civilian clothes. The other members of the force were pouring in through the door.
“Excellent work, Alpha.” Responded Jamison as he picked up the Combine uniform and tossed it all into a trash bin, “Did you find anything worthwhile?”
“We came out of there with about a dozen ammo clips more than what we went in with, one nearly perfect Combine uniform, some grenades and stun sticks and… extra body armor.” Alpha recalled to the best he could. He wasn’t the greatest with taking inventory in the field.
“We’ll take care of inventory.” Responded Claw as he and the others dragged their heavy bundles through a blast door to the armory. Alpha nodded and waved them off.
“I’ll notify the runners. I know some squads in the other sectors have been rather desperate for ammunition.” Doctor Jamison mused, picking up the combine helmet from the trash and gazing at it.
“Anyway…” Jamison continued, turning the helmet as he observed its structure, “I think we’ve done plenty for today. You and your team should get some rest until sundown. I’ll whip together a plan for the next mission.”
Alpha nodded and stretched his arms out to the side. Pressing his finger on the intercom, he spoke into it.
“When you’re done managing inventory, Twilight is to take some R&R until sundown. We’ll have another mission.” He said. Letting go of the button.
It quickly clicked back on as the mocked groaning of the entire team resonated throughout the hideout. He smirked and turned, punching in another keypad at another door. It slid open into a long dark corridor.
“I’ll be in my room. You know how to reach me.” He said to Jamison, who was setting the helmet atop one of his super computers.
Alpha walked down the corridor until he arrived at the third door on the right. Carved into the door was the name Brent- Alpha. Turning the knob, he pulled the door open and entered. Flipping on the light, inside was the bare necessities. An uncovered mattress sat atop a wooden bed frame with a single light sheet draped over it. A small wooden table in the corner possessed a single drawer, which contained only a few sheets of blank paper and the first few pages of what would become his memoirs when this war was over and two simple black pens.
Sitting down onto the mattress, he pulled a small box of cigarettes from his pocket and extracted one from the box. Lighting it up, he puffed a couple of times on it before laying down on his bed.
It was only now he noticed the smell as it filled his nostrils. The faint scent of ashes as his cigarette burned. He didn’t care much for the smell. Despite the relaxing effects he felt from it, the smell of burning ash reminded him of the charred bodies and destroyed structures that filled the city. He liked the smell now, but when outside, it was all he could inhale. It reminded him of death. Still, in the quiet of his room, the gentle twists and swirls the smoke made in the air soothed him.
A quick thought sparked in his mind as he reached under his mattress. Hand closed over it, he extracted a thin gold chain. The chain was threaded through a heart shaped locket. He held the locket by the every end of the chain and hanged it over his head. It had been months since he’d looked inside. Only the painful memory of his wife and daughter lurked within. Their smiling and innocent faces were unable to hide the past, which recorded them as being slaughtered by the Combine over three years ago now.
Painful as it was, he kept the locket in his room, as if too afraid of the pain to gaze within, but also afraid to lose it. Doctor Jamison, during a heart to heart with Brent, had recommended he wear it and take it with him for luck. But he wouldn’t risk losing it. He wouldn’t risk letting it fall into the hands of a Combine soldier to stomp on this precious treasure.
His mind was becoming too distracted from his situation. Shaking away the thoughts of a family long dead, he tucked the locket into the flap under his mattress. Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he gently blew off the ashes from his shirt and dropped the cigarette onto the floor.
Gunfire rattled in the distance, echoing between the devastated buildings as battles continued to rage on. Clashes had been occurring for well over a month now between two massive groups. Those who kept order and viewed themselves as humanity’s only chance of survival. They were known as the Combine. Then there were those who sought freedom from the oppression from the genocide they had suffered. Here they were known as the Liberation Forces.
A street barricade slowly hummed to life. The massive and heavy steel panels began to slide open sparks shooting off from straining hinges. Slowly, soldiers dressed in dark blue uniforms with thick body armor stepped through, weapons ready. The distress call they had received came from this general area almost an hour ago. All the life registers of the squad that was to be stationed here had disappeared. The Liberation was in this area. It had to be.
“Secure the area. Teams of two.” Called the squad leader, his voice disguised into a hoarse and fearsome tone behind the helmet that hid his face. The soldiers, without even so much as a glance or mutter to each other, split into their groups and explored the side street, careful to keep their eyes on the windows and the holes in the tall buildings that loomed over them, threatening to crumble.
“Two bodies, Sergeant.” Called one of the groups with the same disguised voice. Behind a corner in an alleyway laid two Combine soldiers, their uniforms covered in blood and holes. The lifeless bodies still clung to their weapons. The gloved hands wouldn’t not even release the weapons as the soldiers tried to salvage what they could.
“Continue securing the area.” Ordered the Sergeant. The soldiers ceased trying to pry the weapons from a seemingly impossible grip and resumed to look into alleyways and into doorways. As the Sergeant leaned against a wall and peered around a corner another body laid in the center of it, face first in the ground, weapon on the floor. He had been shot in the back. Walking over to it, he knelt down and gently touched the back of the soldier. The corpse was still warm. Another call of dead bodies was radioed to his headset.
“Alpha, we have a live one.” Said another group. Sergeant stood up from the corpse and jogged across the street into another alleyway. Two soldiers stood over another. He was breathing deeply. His uniform was stained with red as he held his shoulder, the entire length of the uniform’s arm soaked in the blood.
“They… ambushed us….” coughed the soldier as he gritted his teeth in agony. The medic joined them and began to open his medical kit.
“They… hit us hard… then ran in sector three’s direction… probably to join up with the others.” He continued, weakly pointing with his hand to the east and down the long alleyway. Sergeant turned to the others.
“Take care of him and join up when you’re done.” Said Sergeant to the medic. He nodded in response, peeling open the wounded soldiers combat vest, “Form up squad. We’ll catch them from behind.”
The soldiers left the few bodies that had been found and joined with Alpha. The medic was cautiously readying syringes and painkillers as the squad began to sneak through the alleyway, weapons poised and ready.
“I thought I was dead...” said the wounded soldier to the medic, still breathing heavily, “Do you have any idea what it is to be dead?”
“I don’t. You’re going to be fine.” The medic responded, unbuttoning the soldier’s shirt and opening it.
The shirt was covered in blood and had three holes, yet the body underneath it only had a tiny amount of blood and not a single wound.
“What the…” whispered the soldier. The soldier that sat in front of him lashed out his hand and grabbed at his free hand, pressing his gun against his helmet.
“I bet it feels like this.” Hissed the soldier, firing a small burst of bullets directly into the medic’s head, read spattering the inner side of the lenses as dead eyes full of horror lost any trace of warmth.
The soldiers in the alley turned suddenly, seeing the soldier holding the dead medic.
“Ambush!” screamed Sergeant as they raised their weapons. Bullets tore up concrete as they beat a sort of footpath at the soldier. The soldier lifted the body as he rolled his own behind it, projectiles riddling the body as he shielded himself. A man and a woman rolled on the floor into the other side of the alley, covered in denim clothing with body armor over their chests. They opened fire into the alleyway, cutting down two of the Combine, as they were distracted. Some of the soldiers turned, opening fire as the two rolled behind the corners again. The rebel that had begun the ambush had managed to flee around the corner, leaving the corpse where it lay. As the sergeant charged to chase after him, two of the soldiers that had thought to be corpses ran into view and opened fire. He could only feel the pains in his chest before the glass in front of his eye shattered and everything went black.
The firefight between the pinned soldiers only lasted for another twenty seconds before the alleyway was filled with corpses and the Liberation Force stood at both ends. Their apparent leader removed his helmet.
“Salvage what you can and let’s get out of here.” He said, running his hand through his short spiked hair. The team began to search the bodies, taking body armor from the corpses as well as all their weapons and ammunition. When everything was gathered and compacted into bundles to carry, they all darted away from the alleys and streets.
They entered what was once a prisoners’ dormitory, holes in the sides and the rubble that littered the street around it made it appear just like any other structure in City Four. The battles continued to rage, pausing every few seconds as squads would stop to reload, or be killed.
“We’re home, Alpha.” Quietly cheered a Hispanic member of the team as they entered.
Picking up a rock from a pile, the man with the shirt spiked hair, codename Alpha, knocked it against a grate in the floor. A small light lit in the grate and after a moment, the grate slid open. Alpha dropped in, spotting two mounted turrets with green lights flickering softly above a door at the end of the long tunnel. As he moved for the door, the others began to drop in their spoils of war and follow behind him. Punching in a code to the keypad, the door slid open into a bunker.
“Welcome home, Twilight Wolf. I trust everything went well?” asked Doctor Jamison, a man whose knowledge of both war strategies and his education in MIT had made him a rather famed figure. While he portrayed himself as a rather harmless figure with his good nature and tendency to wear his lab coat everywhere, Alpha had seen him perform better than half of the members of his team during intense situations.
“Two squads in one day without even a graze? I’d say that’s a good day, Doctor Jamison.” Responded Alpha. Alpha then began to remove the Combine uniform in favor of his civilian clothes. The other members of the force were pouring in through the door.
“Excellent work, Alpha.” Responded Jamison as he picked up the Combine uniform and tossed it all into a trash bin, “Did you find anything worthwhile?”
“We came out of there with about a dozen ammo clips more than what we went in with, one nearly perfect Combine uniform, some grenades and stun sticks and… extra body armor.” Alpha recalled to the best he could. He wasn’t the greatest with taking inventory in the field.
“We’ll take care of inventory.” Responded Claw as he and the others dragged their heavy bundles through a blast door to the armory. Alpha nodded and waved them off.
“I’ll notify the runners. I know some squads in the other sectors have been rather desperate for ammunition.” Doctor Jamison mused, picking up the combine helmet from the trash and gazing at it.
“Anyway…” Jamison continued, turning the helmet as he observed its structure, “I think we’ve done plenty for today. You and your team should get some rest until sundown. I’ll whip together a plan for the next mission.”
Alpha nodded and stretched his arms out to the side. Pressing his finger on the intercom, he spoke into it.
“When you’re done managing inventory, Twilight is to take some R&R until sundown. We’ll have another mission.” He said. Letting go of the button.
It quickly clicked back on as the mocked groaning of the entire team resonated throughout the hideout. He smirked and turned, punching in another keypad at another door. It slid open into a long dark corridor.
“I’ll be in my room. You know how to reach me.” He said to Jamison, who was setting the helmet atop one of his super computers.
Alpha walked down the corridor until he arrived at the third door on the right. Carved into the door was the name Brent- Alpha. Turning the knob, he pulled the door open and entered. Flipping on the light, inside was the bare necessities. An uncovered mattress sat atop a wooden bed frame with a single light sheet draped over it. A small wooden table in the corner possessed a single drawer, which contained only a few sheets of blank paper and the first few pages of what would become his memoirs when this war was over and two simple black pens.
Sitting down onto the mattress, he pulled a small box of cigarettes from his pocket and extracted one from the box. Lighting it up, he puffed a couple of times on it before laying down on his bed.
It was only now he noticed the smell as it filled his nostrils. The faint scent of ashes as his cigarette burned. He didn’t care much for the smell. Despite the relaxing effects he felt from it, the smell of burning ash reminded him of the charred bodies and destroyed structures that filled the city. He liked the smell now, but when outside, it was all he could inhale. It reminded him of death. Still, in the quiet of his room, the gentle twists and swirls the smoke made in the air soothed him.
A quick thought sparked in his mind as he reached under his mattress. Hand closed over it, he extracted a thin gold chain. The chain was threaded through a heart shaped locket. He held the locket by the every end of the chain and hanged it over his head. It had been months since he’d looked inside. Only the painful memory of his wife and daughter lurked within. Their smiling and innocent faces were unable to hide the past, which recorded them as being slaughtered by the Combine over three years ago now.
Painful as it was, he kept the locket in his room, as if too afraid of the pain to gaze within, but also afraid to lose it. Doctor Jamison, during a heart to heart with Brent, had recommended he wear it and take it with him for luck. But he wouldn’t risk losing it. He wouldn’t risk letting it fall into the hands of a Combine soldier to stomp on this precious treasure.
His mind was becoming too distracted from his situation. Shaking away the thoughts of a family long dead, he tucked the locket into the flap under his mattress. Taking the cigarette from his mouth, he gently blew off the ashes from his shirt and dropped the cigarette onto the floor.
