The sound of a old metallic typewriter echoed throughout the small, clostraphobic room. A pale white figure, wearing a bullet vest with many ammo pouches, combat pants with black boots, on his belt was clipped a post war gas mask, filters, a lighter and a clipboard with a compass and a combat knife. The figure sighed straighten out his back before he resumed typing, too his left on the table was a small oil lamp, its flame wavering as the male expertly danced his finger across the keys. On his right was an old valve radio, a static sounding version of: Died in your arms- was playing. The male slammed his head on the table groaning as his mind went blank.
"Come on Mikhail," laughed a voice with a thick Russian accent "your not going to get far with that!" Mikhail lifted his head from the table, mumbling something under his breath as a large burly Russian with a thick stubble walked in, grabbing onto the back of Mikhail's hoodie that was under his vest, lifting Mikhail from his seat and placing him roughly next to a pile of crumpled up paper. "If your messes were bullets, we wouldn't need guns" said the Russian. Mikhail looked up at the maker of the comment, in a way that would make anyone shrink in fear. The Russian look straight back at the stare before they both started laughing. "Mikhail! You nearly had me on there boy." The older of the two said, holding his hand out for the younger adult to grab hold off. Pulling him up into a bear hug that lifted the smaller framed Mikhail off the ground, his feet moving erratically in having the air squeezed out of him.
"Cant... Breath... Stop...Rivcha!" Immediately Rivcha stopped, opening his arms up, letting Mikhail drop to the floor, stumbling as his lungs and body recovered from the lack of oxygen.
"I'm sorry friend, I forget that you do not come straight from the hardy land of Mother Russia."
This was indeed true as his mother had come over for a holiday from the Pacific, but fell in love with a local man in Moscow, they became married and after awhile she became pregnant with Mikhail, soon after he was born his father ran off with another woman, leaving his mother with a new born, that had no father figure. That did not last long though, as nuclear fire rained down on Moscow, everyone fled the destructive force of the bombs, running to the metro for safety. His mother became trapped under rubble that just missed her son. she handed Mikhail to a pitying passerby, giving him a journal telling him of her, his mother. The pair fled into the metro, behind them, closing were radioactive proof doors, locking out the outside world.
Thinking of his mother, he grit his teeth, pressing his finger nails into his wooly gloved palms, only stopping when a firm hand was placed on his head, messing up his dark brown hair.
"What's wrong my little fox cub?" Asked a soothing feminine voice, Mikhail turned around too see his older adopted sister, Rachael. The passerby that had helped him already had a wife and a child himself,a daughter, too which they latter had another girl. So he was basically the middle child, as well as the only male after his adopted father passed away when he was 16. "Fox boy are you there?" Said the female voice with a laugh laced with some worry. Pulling him out of his thoughts.
"What? Yeah... Sorry just doing some deep thinking." Replied Mikhail, in a New Zealand accent, with a hint of Russian. He had gotten the nickname Fox cub or Fox because his first plush that he had gotten been from his mother had been a Fox soft toy, he even had it when he had been wisked away, he slept with it till he was 8 earning him the nickname.
"Very well then, your younger sister wants to meet you, so you better hurry up." Waving a good bye to Rivcha then turning to follow Rachel, the two adults walked through the underground walkways of their home station, shops setup selling weapons, dirty rounds and other items needed to defend yourself, were full of customers and guards alike as violence was rift and common when Mikhail was young, but has died down over the long twenty years of the conflict, but it was still in the store owners best interests for their shops to be under guard. Waving at some people as the walked by, Mikhail speed up as he started losing sight of his sister.
"Keep up Mikhail!" Yelled out his sister as the crowd thinned out and she bolted into a full fledged sprint.
"Hey! Wait up!" Yelled out Mikhail in response speeding up himself to catch up with his sister. When he caught up with her, or as she would say 'I slowed down' they took a more leisurely pace, chatting with the locals and visitors to their station.
"Mikhail! Mikhail!" Called the head guard "Remember your on the Northern Tunnel tonight!" Mikhail nodded his head in agreement "Also there's something new for you at the armory." Mikhail's eyes almost seemed to sparkle at the news. Which didn't go unnoticed by his sister.
"Boys and their guns..." She giggled, motioning for Mikhail to continue on. The two passed through to a small door, on it hang a helmet full of bullets, a crude face panted on it. Knocking on it, Rachel passed through first closely followed by Mikhail. Suddenly stopping, dead still, when he felt a cold metal pressed against his head, a small silence was in the room. Before reacting by instinct, drilled into him by the local Guardian corps. Flipped the assaulter over his head using their weight against them, as they hit the ground face first a resulting 'Oof!' Was heard, Mikhail instantly recognized the voice has his younger sister. Holding his hand out to the small figure sprawled out on the floor.
"Abigail, you need to stop taking training too seriously, I could of killed you."
The young twenty year old, with help from her brother, stood up. Furiously shaking her body, like what a dog would do when wet.
"Thanks for the concern brother, but it is not needed" she replied flashing him one of her famous smiles, that made most men swoon.(yes I said men) But after years of onslaught it was of no effect against her brother. "Like it or not I'm joining the local guards, when I'm done with training."
She had always been the feisty one of the family, even though only being one year younger then Mikhail, she treated everyone as equal to herself, unless earned good or bad. To her, her brother is like a punching bag. 'No matter what he goes through, he comes back swinging, as long as he had his fox plushie.' She added the last bit on at his Twenty first birthday, the event fresh seeing it was only three weeks ago that it had happened. When Rachel gave him a gift in front of all the Guardian's, His Fox plush. Which caused him to go red face and stuff the toy in his breast pocket, its small head protruding from the top. Reigniting his nickname, much to his dismay.
"Rachel?" Asked Abigail a sly smile plastered on her face. "You doing anything special for your twenty sixth?"
"Abigail, dear I'm afraid if you wasn't able to get me on my twenty first, you won't be able to get me now" Rachel laughed. Rachel had become the mother of the group after a bandit raid had killed both, their mom and dad.
"Mikhail, you better get going to the armory, their closing soon" reminded Rachel.
"Shit, nearly forgot thanks!" Replied Mikhail running out the door. As Mikhail ran pass a crowd of guards one called out saying.
"The Northern tunnels are that way" throwing up his thumb in a way so it pointed to a small solid steel door.
"I know!" Yelled out Mikhail "I just got to grab something from the armory" not even slowing down until he ran into the criss cross of the wire around the armory, quickly straightening himself out, he turned to the armory caretaker, who had a shit eating grin on his face. Noticing this Mikhail blurted out "Not now, okay." With an understanding nod the armory caretaker ducked under the metal table in front of him and pulled out a crate. Dusting some strands of hay from the top of it, he passed it to Mikhail, who with giddy hands, took the knife from his belt and pried off the lid. What was inside it was a Klash a prewar AK-47.
"Well, someone likes you." Said the caretaker before whistling. "Even has a red dot sight, extended mag, and a flash light. Damn that would of cost about," he paused, calculating. "A little under 200 military rounds,"
Mikhail looked dumb struck at the weapon. "Kid get going!" Yelled the caretaker throwing some dirty rounds at him "take these too, a guns no good without ammunition."
Thanking the caretaker, Mikhail ran to the north gate as it began to close.
"Nearly late again Mikhail," said a guard as he patted the back of the young 21 year old guard. "Just stay awake OK?" Continued the guard with a grin on his face, Mikhail gave a grunt to replie to the smart remark.
"Okay boys let's hope its a quite shift." Yelled out the commanding officer. "If not, then let's give them hell!" To this remark everyone yelled out an resounding shouts of 'hell yeah!' And 'They'll never see it coming!'
Ten minutes later.
"Damn it!" Yelled out a guard at a round table where he had just lost a large sum of military rounds in poker. Mikhail gleefully took the ammunition from the table and slid it into his pocket, pausing to take a handful out and chucking them back at the unfortunate fellow that he had just won them from.
"Here you need these for your family. Anyway your wife would kill you if you lost as much as you just did." Laughed Mikhail. The guard thanked Mikhail. The whole ordeal was stopped when the sound of glass being crushed underfoot was heard. The northern gate sprang into life with guns aimed into the darkness, one of the guards pulled out a flare and lit it, throwing it into the darkness. As it flew through the tunnel large black hunched shapes were lit up showing gray pale dog like beasts.
"Nosalis!"
The tunnel turned into a pit of fire as bullets flew into the incoming froth of mutant freaks advanced upon the northern guard, one of them got past the volley of gun fire and attacked by latching its jaws onto its victims neck. Mikhail noticing it, was too late to help the unfortunate guard, as he killed the Nosalis.
"Dark one! There's a fucking Dark one!" Yelled out another guard as a large gray slender figure pushed its way through the lowly mutants underneath him. The guards distracted by this left an opening for the Nosalis to attack. Noticing this, but too late to make any difference the guards reopened fire. Just then a howling wind came crashing down the tunnel surrounding the group of guards dust and snow kicking up around them concealing their view of the enemy. One by one the guards fell to their mutant for until it was Mikhail and the gambler, suddenly there was silence.
"What happened to the Nosa..." Asked the gambler cut off by him collapsing on the ground. behind him was a Dark one, its slender arms reaching out and roughly grabbing Mikhail. Who could only swear and curse in his mind as his body denied him of running. As soon as the Dark ones hands latched onto him he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. As Mikhail was dragged along the concrete ground a small plush object fell out of his top pocket.