7 hours ...
7 hours ...
only 7 god damned hours
We lost our world in only 7 hours.
Or ...
Is gave away more appropriate.
Of course, it's never really that quick or simple... Is it?
We thought, we were the top of the food chain.
We thought, we were the Great White in this sea of a Universe;
When in fact, we were that tasty sweet Blue Fin tuna.
Black Mesa
That's where we were demoted, lost our rank on the food chain, and became just another morsel on the Buffet.
Blinded by Science, Seduced by Power, betrayed by Everything!
We poked and prodded and finally pried open Pandora's box.
And out popped unimaginable horrors.
But the funny thing was...
Those horrors were on the run.
They wanted what all God's creatures want, and what we unwittingly just fritter away.
Freedom
And talk about snatching defeat from the Jaws of Victory!
In their haste to cover their asses and destroy all the evidence; as the door closed, they blew it wide friggin open!
And that's when the real shark caught the scent of blood, the Combine.
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to go off on a rant"
"Hah... this guy, Dennis Miller used to say that as part of his comedy bit. Mom and Dad loved that guy."
"Dennis Miller … comedy bit … what the hell are you talking about" Don muttered.
"I'm sorry" Danni said "its pre-combine stuff. Memories of before. But Hell, you might not even remember a pre-combine. For people living in the cities they're just stories, myths the wackos tell. But once people get out, drink fresh water, stop being fed all that combine propaganda by Breen and are free of the city controls, memories can greatly improve. Brain and psyche can heal. For most recall is better but still cloudy, but many get a good portion back. And for a lucky few, most if not all of their memories will return."
"And then there are people" she stopped for a second, looked at Don and smiled "like myself, that have never lived under the combine. Never drank the water that robs you of your memories and calms you to their daily atrocities, or lived under the suppression field that steals our children.
But see, there I go again."
Don stood there shaking his head wondering if they'd made the right decision, wondering if this woman was as crazy as she was beautiful.
But those strange dreams on the road, what were they about, and why did they always seem to slip and fade away when you tried to bring them into focus and remember what they were about. He looked at the beautiful dark skinned woman as she regarded him with her sad eyes.
He'd never seen a woman so tall. She was almost as tall as him, and at 6' he'd had to slouch to not stand out in the crowd and get the attention of the Civil Protection Force.
Danni smiled, "Hey, don't sweat it. Let me get you a beer and a brat. Afterwards, if you're up to it, maybe you'll join me down in the sewers for some exercise."
Danni shouldered by him, and strode out the door. The moment they got outside, Don senses were assaulted by an assortment of wonderful scents and sounds.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
No matter how hard the Combine tried to squash them, there were always a few rumors of hope and freedom.
Did no one see the irony that they guided people west to New Mexico.
Where Earth's problems had originated.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
What was once known as the Windy City for its lake effect snows is now City 7, now infamous for the toxic wind blowing out of the crater it borders.
It had been a week since the Jeep had run out of gas and been abandoned along the road. They had eaten the last of the food 3 days ago. And even though they had the proper equipment and adequate ability to hunt; the only wildlife in real abundance now was Xenian. And with the Xenian wildlife it was always a toss up on who hunter and who was prey. Besides, none of them were hungry enough to eat a head crab just yet. How long had it taken them to finally agree that snakes and lizards, though disgusting were edible.
The Jeep had gotten them to what they hoped was the right crossroad a week ago; but this supposed last stretch of road had deteriorated rapidly, and their once rock solid decision wasn't so concrete. Chiyo had wanted to turn back, but they had burnt they're bridges when they escaped City 7 and she reluctantly agreed there really was nothing to return to. Besides, they'd come too far and would have run out of fuel anyway. So in the end they just kept going.
The gas lasted for about an hour after they turned at the final crossroad. It was close enough to nightfall that they agreed it was smarter to just sleep in the jeep that first night and depart on foot in the morning. The morning found them packing up the remainder of their supplies and heading out on what they hoped was the final leg of their journey. It was around midday that they noticed a copse of scrub brush just off the road. The area was hazy even in the parched desert air and the plants were green enough to give them hopes of fresh water. As they approached the brush, they heard a scrabbling in the rocks and the squeak of a head crab as it leaped.
Weaponless when they escaped City 7, they had now collected a small arsenal. First they picked up some Machete's from a burned out Ace Hardware in what the sign said was Moline, IL. Then after crossing at great river under an towering Arch they found a sporting goods store. Here they had found several Shotguns and ammo, several aluminum baseball bats and a ton of golf clubs. Chiyo wanted to grab a pair of shoes, but got spooked by something crawling around in the boxes. She ended up just grabbing a box her size and ran out the door. She didn't end up doing too bad though, the box contained a pair of baseball shoes with cleats; but they were her size and a lot more comfortable than her Combine issue work boots. Their final additions included a couple lever action rifles, 2 automatic pistols and a revolver from an abandoned SUV at a place called Stuckey's. The surrounding area was unbelievably flat; it seemed like you could see forever and the fields went off in all directions with no end in sight. The lights were still on inside the building and there were vehicles everywhere, but no people or movement that they could see. There were also a bunch of suspicious looking cords hanging down from the overhead around the pumps and front door. Bottom-line ... It just didn't feel right. And even though it looked like a great place for supplies none of them could get out of there fast enough.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Don sliced the leaping head crab in two with his machete. Jeff put 2 bullets in another as it crawled out from the bushes. Don turned as he heard another squeak, and thank God Chiyo had his back. She leaped, hit the ground with both hands and flipped over putting her new found baseball cleats into the head crab just before it would have landed on Don. Chiyo never stopped moving, she grabbed the machete off her belt and with a flip of her wrist carved up another 2 head crabs leaping out of the brush. The squeaking and scrabbling of rocks continued as more head crabs came out of the weeds. Jack, not to be outdone by a girl, came spinning into the mix twirling 2 aluminum baseball bats. Bats and goo were flying everywhere when Jeff felt the splat hit his back, he dove to his side, came up on his knees and didn't stop working the lever action rifle till it was empty. Don ran over, grabbed Jeff by the shirt and started ripping it off. Jeff started yelling, "whoa boy, what the hell are you….." and that's when he felt the burn. Now they were both ripping and pulling off his shirt as the acid ate both cloth and flesh.
Jack continued swinging the bats combing the brush for anything still alive, as Chiyo and Don inspected Jeff's wounds on his back and legs. "Jeff, you are such an asshole. Just a little more planning man. If you would have just dove to the other side, we'd all be ripping Chiyo's blouse off instead of your damn Tshirt." She gave Jack the "in your dreams look" and flipped him the bird. Jack grinned and walked over to where they were inspecting Jeff. "Sorry guys, there's water over there but Jeff's buddy just screwed the pooch. Chiyo looked over at the dead bullsquid lying in the middle of the water hole now filled with its blood and venom. Jeff began to stand, and went down to a knee. "Damn, that thing must have got me with its tail too. Help me up."
Chiyo looked at Don, "So Beave, what are we gonna do now?" "Who you calling Beave, Princess?" Chiyo smiled up at him, "You I guess... heck I don't know anymore. I've got so much crazy stuff going on in my head since we left City 7. At work, I got wrote up at least once a week for pressing the wrong button on my lathe and screwing up a run of plates, and now I'm doing flips and dicing up headcrabs."
Jeff couldn't walk at all. The bullsquid's tail had torn either the muscle or a tendon in his right leg. So the rest of day was spent collecting lengths of wood and building something they could use as a stretcher. They started out the next day trying to carry Jeff on the stretcher, but it just fell apart. Nothing they built would handle the weight for very long. So after wasting almost the whole day it eventually came down to pulling him on a makeshift litter.
They had no idea how far they walked on each day. Jeff's wounds got worse quickly, infection had set in on both the tail injury to his leg, and the acid burns on his back and legs. Luckily he slept most of the time. But they all knew time was running out, and not just for Jeff. The similarities between a road and the track they were on became less and less every mile. The food ran out on the 5th day, and even though they had agreed snakes or lizards were edible, no one had been able to catch one in 3 days of trying. Dining on a head crab was looking better all the time, after all earth crabs are pretty good, although no one could remember ever eating one. But even after 3 days of hunger their last food conversation ended when Chiyo mentioned that headcrabs looked more like a giant tick than any crab she'd ever seen..
It was on the eighth morning Don noticed a cloud of dust on the horizon. He didn't mention it to anyone till he was sure that it was not just an illusion and was definitely getting closer. Distances were really hard to gauge on the sultry desert plain, so it could have been anywhere from 2 to 20 miles north of the road. But they soon agreed that it indeed was something moving towards them and thought it best not to get caught out in the open. But there was no shelter to be found. The land was the same in every direction, flat dry plains, just rock and scrub grass wherever you looked, and though the road had smoothed somewhat, it was harder to see that it even existed. Hungry, tired and increasingly hopeless they eventually just sat down and waited.
Then it was gone. Don panicked, as scared and tired as he was, it had been something. And even if it was bad, the ordeal would be over. Death began to look better than another day without food. And then their little dust storm topped a ridge about a quarter mile away. He could now make out 3 separate shapes. There were 2 riders on horseback followed close behind by a horse drawn wagon. The first rider began to whistle and wave its arms. That's when Don noticed it was a dark skinned women. Her long black hair drawn back into a braid that he could now see went to her waist and was draped across her lap. The other rider was a humongous male with a shaggy mane of bright red hair, a matching close cropped red beard, and the most freckles he had ever seen.
The wagon must be driven by a midget. He could barely make out the driver. No, not a midget, a child, it was a god damn kid. And try as he might, and as stupid as it sounds he could not remember ever seeing a child before. Don reached up to wipe something off his cheek and realized he was crying.
There was water and some kind of dried meat in the wagon. And though a million questions ran through Don's mind, he couldn't stop eating long enough to say anything. But their visitors didn't mind, they had quickly put Jeff in the back of the wagon and were applying salves and bandages to his wounds. They assured everyone not to worry, that Jeff would be okay. The driver of the wagon never stopped talking. He said his name was Gordon and he was eight years old. "Oh, don't worry about your friend, we have Vortigaunts!" At this statement the other 2 burst out laughing. "Now Gordon, we don't have the Vortigaunts. They just live here too. Do you think your friend would tell other Vortigaunts." "Hey, we have humans."
Don, Chiyo and Jack looked at each other. Things got real quiet for awhile. And Don wondered what the hell they had gotten themselves into.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Don didn't know how much time had passed but he was awoken by the gentle shake from the darkskinned women. She smiled down at him and said, "By the way, I'm Danni and welcome to Mayberry." Her skin was deep bronze with a reddish tint, and her hair was the purest black he thought he'd ever seen. "I'm Dadada Don" he stammered. "Well Don, follow me. I'll take you to your friends. You can get something to eat and get acquainted with everyone. The Vorts are already looking after your hurt friend. Lucky we found you when we did, I'm not sure he would have lasted much longer. You can thank you lucky stars Gordon and Kurt were out hunting midges last night. Kurt sensed you guys out here, another day and you would have passed us by and headed into the deadlands."
"The Vorts have a lot better grasp of time than we do." Danni mused.
"When I think about the times I've barely missed something. You ever met a person who is always be in the wrong place at the right time, or visa versa. Well the Vortigaunts claim that's its not that far out of our control. This subject comes up a lot when they talk about the Free-man."
Danni sighed, "But now will you just listen to me rattle on."
"But Damn it, think about it"
7 hours ...
7 hours ...
only 7 god damned hours
We lost our world in only 7 hours.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
Well that's a wrap... end Chapter One
Please! Read and Review...
It's been a long time since I've tried this, but I"ll make a deal with you.
please review, even a simple thumbs up or down will do, or if it's not your cup of tea, say so :)
I'll continue anyway for awhile, but if response is good we'll ride this sucker out and see where she goes.
I promise lots of action.
I've got some ideas I've harbored for a few years now, and now would be a good time to set them free!
