Disclaimer: I do not own Bioshock or its assets, this is purely a fan work.
BIOSHOCK – SURVIVORS
CHAPTER 1 – NEW YEARS EVE
Not everybody in rapture were maniacs and lunatics who fled to the so called utopia to escape the laws of the surface world; not everybody was disgruntled because 'forcibly rearranging a person's face' was 'immoral and illegal'. There were kids in Rapture, and teens, ones that while hardly oblivious, were not involved in Raptures darker goings on. Not worrying about how spliced up they were or recent political statements, they just lived there, they simply survived, nothing less and nothing more.
Lucas Banks was one of these survivors, his slicked back dark hair made him appear the rebel, but rebellion was not how he survived. He had been born into one of the richer families of Rapture but was hardly upper class. He was often seen strolling through arcadia with a spring in his step and a girl on his arm.
That girl was Alice Groves; usually adorned in a red flower dress and her widest smile. The timed clicking of her high heels presenting a mature aura, which sometimes attracted the attention of "boring adults".
They were a familiar sight in Raptures living oxygen factory, strolling through the Arcadian forest without a care, sometimes with extra company, most times without. They were but two of a group of individuals because what is a cool guy like Lucas Banks without his friends?
He and Alice were very selective in their friends, weeding out the parasites hoping to feed off their popularity and only befriended those they thought they could trust, true friends. This brings us to Maxie Sinclair, not to be confused as having any relation with the famous business man Augustus Sinclair.
Maxie was best pals with Lucas and had been since they came to the underwater city. Max too usually had a girl on his arm in the form of Sarah Oz, just like Alice she seemed to be inseparable from her boyfriend.
Our final Survivor for now comes in the form of Anabelle Hart. She was the unpopular girl at school, the one shunned by society, but our gang are hardly a group of jerks, they took pity on the girl and took her under their wing. The group didn't care about popularity or vanity, they just wanted to live life and to survive it.
It was New Year's Eve Nineteen-Fifty-Eight and the city was ablaze with excitement. Banks leaned over a railing, looking out at the ocean before him. Scanning the sea life that dared to enter the city's boundaries. "We are probably so weird compared to the rest of the world"
This peaked Alice's attention "Why, whatever do you mean?" she said in her usual false posh voice.
Lucas laughed "We are under water!" he stopped and looked around, he had only got a couple odd looks from his outburst "I mean, human kind is a land based species, do you remember life before Rapture? How different do you think surface life is? We are so used to the deep blue that…could we ever adapt?"
"We adapted here just fine"
"We were Six!"
"Our parents adapted then."
"That is true, but with life in Rapture being so…free, would they even want to go back? Even for a day, if you could go to the surface would you?" Alice thought hard on that question and simply shrugged. "If it wasn't illegal? I don't know, the opportunity hasn't presented itself, do you suggest we just hop on a Bathysphere and go?"
Banks was now the one in deep thought "It doesn't matter anyway, we are in the middle of the Atlantic, unless you have a boat or a personal submarine, no way it is happening"
"True"
"Come on" Lucas took Alice's hand and lead her deeper into the underwater city to meet up with the remaining three.
Meanwhile…
"Don't look, don't look…" whispered Maxie as he obscured his face. Even after the thundering footsteps had faded he still looked shaken.
"Are you going to soil yourself every time a Big Daddy comes by?" asked Sarah "Don't give them trouble and they won't give it to you" she said firmly patting him on the back.
Maxie sighed and leaned back "Maybe it isn't that I am too afraid to look as it is I am too afraid to look" Sarah's eyebrow raised at the obvious paradox in that sentence "I mean…maybe it isn't the thought of a gigantic drill in my stomach as much as it is the…"
"Little Sisters?" Max nodded.
"At least you are a boy, part of me wonders weather in another world I would be just like them?" Her male friend simply shrugged and waited for the others to arrive and not long after came Lucas and Alice.
Luke glanced at the glowing vending machine beside him. The group for the most part were iffy on plasmids, rumours of splicers had started to drain any thoughts of partaking in the drug use but no one hated Plasmids like Anabelle, that very same girl stepped into the alley, readjusting her glasses.
After she arrived Lucas checked his watch "We should get going…" the others nodded and the group made their way towards the more active parts of town. Festivities were in full swing and people were dancing in the halls. A waiter dashed around, serving drinks, disappearing and reappearing in flashes of red.
He appeared before the group and flashed a smile, holding a tray of drinks, offering them "Free of charge". They all refused except for Maxie, who forcibly had the drink removed from his grasp by his girlfriend anyway, she gulped down the cocktail as the waiter vanished. "Damn Houdini's" whispered Sarah "they are so annoying; but you gotta wonder what it is like" she said as she finished the drink and left it on a counter.
That comment had earned a glare from Anabelle. "Hard to believe another year is almost upon us" said Maxie, scratching his blond hair.
"Let's hope it is a good one" said Sarah as she thrust her hand out, waiting for the oblivious Maxie to take it.
Lucas finally elbowed him and whispered "She wants to dance" causing the blond boy to blush.
"I…I knew that" he lied as he took Sarah's hand and lead her into the crowd. Five had become three "Guys, don't stay here on my account, have a dance; it should be fun to watch" said Anabelle and Lucas quickly lead Alice into the masses.
The distinct sound of Wonderful! Wonderful! Entered his ears and a smile grasped his face. They were lost in the music and it seemed like they were alone in the huge city, the only thing that mattered in that moment was not stepping on the others foot. Alice caught Sarah's eyes and they both laughed at their counterparts' campy mouthing of the lyrics.
Their steps perfectly complimented the music and Lucas took a step up from mouthing and began to sing his own lyrics "Yet another year has passed and my love still not fades…" Alice slapped him on the arm "Shut up!" She had begun to worry about Ann and searched for her out of the clump of dancers, fag smoke and disappearing waiters. She appeared to have struck up a discussion with one of the tweed wearing man. This made her smile contently, soon she was brought out of her current thoughts with a twirl.
She smiled somewhat smugly as others had decided to watch the group, there life had problems but the song summed up what they were feeling, life was wonderful, wonderful. As the song faded Lucas caught glimpse of a few fleeing, somewhat suspicious pedestrians but the loud clapping brought his attention back.
The group gathered by the wide window separating them from the ocean. The remained there, enjoying the atmosphere and when the girls departed to "freshen up" Lucas decided to light up a cigarette to pass the time. "I don't know how you can smoke those things" said Max as he simply leaned back against the railing.
"Once you start it is hard to stop" he mumbled passed the burning cylinder. Even more people had departed the "street party" in a hurry when the waiter switched the radio to a much more disturbing broadcast, static filled the street and a voice boomed throughout the city.
Everyone was being warned to return to their homes. Soon after this the girls rushed in, apparently they had heard it too. The waiter started to close up shop and rushed everybody away. The gang honoured his wish and fled.
"There has been an incident at the ball?" asked Anabelle as the message repeated. The lights appeared to get dimmer the further along they got and Lucas thought he smelt smoke. Worry had now set in and the guys sent the girls to the back. The city was no longer ablaze with excitement as much as it was literally ablaze. The corridor they occupied led to a lone door which opened up into a bright large room.
It appeared to be an old shut down bank of some sort but Annabelle recognised it, she had passed here not too long ago with her parents, how had a bank gone from active to dilapidated in a week?
"L…lets listen to the voice, let's head home…" suggested Sarah, afraid. The now cigarette free Lucas shook his head.
"We can't split up, let's all head to my house…"
Anabelle then shook her head "Mine is closest to here, it is small but it should do…" They all agreed and sprinted away from that horrible place.
They entered what appeared to be some kind of restaurant, it too was a wreck, fire and blood littered the floor, it made them all want to simultaneously vomit "Er…hello?!" screeched Lucas. He and Maxie entered a defensive stance when they heard a shaking coming from behind a table "Hello?!"
Lucas edged closer but Max halted him, passing him a broken plank of wood. Lucas gave him a look of thanks and questioning but soon moved on. "Who are you?! What has happened here?" a head slowly rose from behind the table "Don't hurt m…look out!" Everyone turned as a man rushed towards them, his hand engulfed in flame. "Splicer!" shouted the stranger as he ran off.
Lucas slammed the wooden plank into the freaks head but it did little to deter them. "Give me!" screamed the monster as he pounced on Max, searching his body "Need Adam! Need feed!" Maxie grabbed him by the arms and threw him off, the splicer hit the ground with a thud and thus caused a bar stool to fall down upon him. The freak whimpered and shed tears as he prepared to throw a fire ball at the group. "Get down!"
The ball of flame impacted the wall behind them and it set alight, the splicers righted himself and his hand spluttered hot material onto the floor but failed to produce a fire. It panicked and started throwing random bottles and glasses. Lucas had son scrambled to cover but the others were exposed, Max took the intuitive and shielded them with his back when a loud bang resounded throughout the bar. The splicer cast down his gaze as blood drained from his body "Damn…you" it croaked before collapsing in a heap on the floor. A distinct clitter clatter filled the room as Lucas dropped the shotgun that had occupied his hands "What the fuck?!"
Tick, tock, tick, tock, time passed and silence filled the room, no one did more than twitch. It was Alice who made the first move, embracing her boyfriend in a hug. Anabelle simply shook her head "There is a reason I hate plasmids and we are looking at it…"
Lucas readjusted "We should…we should…"
Maxie looked at him sympathetically "Get moving?"
Luke nodded and grabbed the gun. Time had passed, and blood had been shed throughout the city by the time they reached Anabelle's house. Rapture had already drowned in its own madness.
"Anabelle?" asked Max nervously. The girl turned to him and gasped, her door had been bashed in. "Stay back" prompted Maxie, slowly pushing the door in the rest of the way, causing it release from its hinges and impact the floor with a thud. Lucas raised his weapon as they slowly edged into the house.
As they entered the living room, the sound of vinyl filled their ears. The record jumped and scratched, stuck in a constant loop. Lucas took the needle off the record, their ears surely thanked him. He turned and followed Anabelle's eyesight as she let out another gasp. A large stain of blood painted the wall and floor. He winced and proceeded to scout the house alongside Maxie while the girls comforted Ann.
"Empty!" shouted Maxie as he rushed down the stairs "The entire house is empty" he smiled "It seems your parents got out..."
"How?" She looked him in the eyes.
"What?"
"How did they get out? Voluntarily or otherwise" His smile faded and Ann barged her way out of the house. They all looked at each other and followed.
"Ann! Ann!"
"Don't touch me!" she screamed, jerking her arm away from Max's attempted grab.
"Look, we can't do this! We need to stick together!" She scanned the others eyes, "Okay…I'm…I'm sorry, just…" She looked up at Maxie as he approached
"It is okay…"
"What about our parents?!" shouted Sarah, grabbing Max. He looked at Lucas, he nodded and raised his shotgun, leading the way.
Sarah wrapped her arms around herself, the city seemed colder now and not just in its atmosphere. "Damnit!" shouted one of the boys.
"What?!" Sarah saw that the path was blocked
"Shit!"
Lucas readjusted his gun "Let's go back! I think I saw a way around…" he stopped dead in his tracks as a stroller wheeled into the alley.
"Young brats!"
"Get down!" was once again shouted as the stroller exploded, showering the group in fabric and metal debris. Flaming bottles flew up and came down on them "Molotov's!" Demented laughs accompanied the bombs as Maxie found a hole in a wall "Go! Go!" he ushered the group threw when a cocktail flew right past his head, igniting the wall behind him.
He fell forward and backed away from the wall when a distinct buzzing made itself known. A swarm of flying insects surrounded him, he could barely hear Luke's constant gun shots over the constant buzzing.
"Boys!" screeched the girls.
"Aaaaaaa! Get em off me!"
"Maxie!"
"Lucas! Arrrrrr" the constant assault stopped, leaving a much redder Maxie. Lucas wringed a pipe out of the blockade and threw it towards the source of the violence. A blood curdling scream followed and with a loud thud, everything stopped. One last bottle rolled towards him, unignited. Lucas grabbed it and lifted up his lighter, checking it still had juice. "One more defence…" he breathed out before he checked on Maxie "You alright?"
His friend nodded and they followed the girls through the hole, continuing their journey to find their parents.
"Empty!"
"Nothing!"
"Nada!"
"Fuck!" shouted Lucas as he collapsed against a wall, shouting "Nothing! Hey, do you all think they were at…."
"The New year's ball?" asked Max and Lucas just nodded, head in his hands.
"Fuuuuuuuck!"
"We can't go there can we?" asked Ann.
Sarah shook her head "No, that is where this all started…"
"Maybe we can…eventually, but for now, it is getting late, we need to rest…maybe when it seems safer, we can go…"
Lucas got up and dusted himself off, pushing his door open "Let's…stay here for the night", Lucas and Sarah's houses were the only ones that hadn't been broken into, the others nodded and they all entered one by one. Lucas took one last look around before checking the clock, New Year's Eve had passed and the New Year had already begun. He then realised that their life now as it always had been, survival.