FADING AWAY:
My name is Aelita... Aelita Schaeffer. And these are glimpses of my life, as everything I ever knew, went so horribly, irreversibly wrong.
It started as one of those normal days. Well... Normal for us, as Lyoko warriors. Wake up, get groomed, eat breakfast, and then go to classes. Then, at some point, our enemy - My enemy - reared its ugly, digital head, and began some new round of terror and chaos at Kadic Academy during the day. Dodge its attempts to kill you, round up your friends, and run like hell to an old Renault factory, so you can jump INTO the enemy's world, fend off his monster minions attempting to kill you, find your way to an activated tower, and hopefully, lucky me made it inside and shut down its attack before anyone died in the real world.
Routine. Almost daily.
My friends and I fought to save our lives, and many times, the lives of everyone in the world around us. For years, a group of teenage kids saved Paris from an evil, digital entity bent on destroying humanity.
Unsung heroes, sabotaging our class attendance records and grade-point-averages, just to fend off a terrifying, unknown enemy:
A virus.
A malignant, digital thing, capable of manipulating electricity and anything that uses it, bending it to its will.
And, yes, it could control humans too.
We kept the virus, named 'Xana', at bay. Defeating it over and over. And then, on that one normal day, Xana grew tired of defeat, and in one single hour, turned the tables, gained the upper hand, and as our lives suddenly fell into turmoil, our old enemy rapidly turned into a seemingly unstoppable nightmare...
It all happened so fast. One quiet week, and then one harmless attack. Jeremy, our group leader and the main user of the supercomputer, (in the basement of the old factory) Ulrich and I wandered into the factory, and were about to go into the virtual world of Lyoko. Standard procedure.
Seconds after the door of the elevator car opened, Jeremy had the misfortune of even stepping out.
A huge, freaky field of electricity gave birth to a Megatank, in our real, physical world. Seconds after staring at the massive grey thing, it opened its halves, and Ulrich and I could do nothing but scream as a wall of laser killed him.
A moment later, another wall of laser severed the supercomputer's screens and keyboards completely from their mount, and Ulrich slammed his hand into the up-button inside the elevator, swearing and screaming as the interface of Lyoko crashed onto the floor.
The doors came together and began to lock shut, but between them, I glimpsed the appearance of a Tarantula, and then stared, petrified, at the door as the elevator rose up the shaft.
Sinking down to my knees and weeping, Ulrich and I confirmed that the beginning of the end was upon us. Jeremy was dead, the only way to access the supercomputer was destroyed, shutting down the mainframe was likely useless (and guarded by monsters), and Xana had figured out how to bring its monsters into the real world, without being confined to the three scanners.
Unlike times before, I truly began to fear for my life. I was also pretty certain that I could do nothing to stop what was about to unfold...
The elevator's doors opened to the gloomy concrete floor of the factory's erecting hall, and footsteps later, we were under attack, with Lyoko monsters appearing everywhere. Laser fire from a variety of our formerly electronic foes very nearly killed both of us as we rounded corners, stormed up stairs, and jumped and dodged obstacles, hurrying our way to the only alternate path to the bridge across the canal.
Kankrelats. Krabs. Tarantulas. Megatanks. Alarmingly large in reality, and much more terrifying when they can attack you, but you can't fight back.
Flashes of light and huge arcs of electricity flying every few seconds, meant more and more of the monsters were materializing. Now that Xana could do it, it wasn't planning on slowing down at all.
Which was a fact that became obvious when we finally did reach the bridge.
Monsters were pouring into the streets beyond, from huge fields of electricity across the canal. Portals from Lyoko, opening into our world.
People screaming, cars swerving and crashing, glass and building material breaking and shattering... A symphony of chaos beginning right before our eyes.
People were dying as we stood on the bridge in a stupor of terror.
We weren't the main targets anymore. Humanity was.
Ulrich shook his head in disbelief, his face visibly on the verge of tears.
"We've got to get back to school... Warn anybody if we can."
Aelita shook her head slowly, watching a large group of monsters go that direction in particular.
"It's too late Ulrich... You know Xana's already targeting Kadic because of us."
He pushed his hand up through his hair, and swallowed hard.
"I know... But we can't just stand here!"
A small burst of laser flew past the pair, and Ulrich angrily charged towards the lone Kankrelat, hopping aside, and punting it off of the bridge with a swift kick.
Aelita looked over towards the following splash, but the rumbling of something big and metallic approaching, brought her eyes to another giant grey sphere as it stopped in front of Ulrich.
Suddenly splitting open, the teens gasped as orange circles of energy drew into the eye in its center, and the brunette boy dove aside.
"Aelita! RUN!"
Her eyes widened, and she sucked in a breath, bursting into a run sideways as a distinctive blasting sound turned into a searing, circular wall of orange laser energy, ripping past just behind her.
Suddenly, the bridge under her feet buckled violently, and she lost balance, watching as the platform she fell upon bent, cracked, and rapidly fell from underneath. Steel girders groaned and snapped, and one of the supporting chains flailed wildly, slamming into the chunk of concrete next to her as she slid down it, finding herself free-falling through the air amongst chunks of steel and concrete, and the perplexed Megatank that unwittingly destroyed the viaduct it sat upon.
Then, water.
Large splashes of water thundered in every direction as she sank into the depths of the canal, with remnants of the bridge sinking around her in flurries of bubbles.
In a fury of terror, Aelita swam upwards, bursting through the surface and coughing fiercely, and then looking back to the scene she had just survived as she kept herself afloat in the cold, cold water.
A mangled mess of remaining metal protruded from each bank, and a brunette boy was nowhere in sight.
"ULRICH!"
Instead of a voice, she was met with the sudden roar of a military helicopter as it thundered overhead, disappearing just out of sight seconds later.
Gunfire began rippling through the air in the distance, and she sobbed miserably.
"Ulrich..."
She paddled over to the canal's bank, and pulled herself out of the water, collapsing onto the ground and catching her breath for several minutes.
The stench of smoke wandered into her nose, and she pushed herself upright, tears streaming from her eyes, along with water dripping off of her clothes as she stumbled up the bank, to the sidewalk of a city street.
Peering into the distance, the electrical portal was gone, but gun and laser fire continued, echoing through the air. Humans fighting Xana's monsters in the suburbs of Paris, in a sudden war that had begun within minutes.
Her worst nightmare had just come to life, right before her eyes.
After minutes of walking, and being turned back by a police blockade, Aelita wandered miserably along the street, shivering from her wet clothing, and heart racing and hurting.
Plumes of smoke rose into the sky. Explosions, guns blazing, lasers blasting, helicopters... And no friends anywhere.
Right out of a movie. Except its real. The terror, the danger, the death
Her head sank, and she slowly wept.
Jeremy... Why...
Her sorrow was suddenly interrupted by the thumping of legs ahead, and her head flicked upward, mouth opening as a Krab stormed straight towards her.
"Oh my-."
Her boots dug into the ground, and she stormed across the street in terror, diving over a low fence into someone's backyard, and running full speed across the grass towards a doorway.
A wood fence splintered behind as she burst through the doorway, sauntering through the kitchen, and around an armchair in the living room, before slamming open the front door and leaping down the concrete steps.
Skidding to a halt in the middle of another street, she sucked in a deep breath and turned around, hearing a dull jumble of noise in the distance.
Is it gone?
The roof of the house sagged, and in seconds, the Krab exploded through the front of the home, sending furniture and debris flying as the machine suddenly stumbled and fell forward in front of her.
She screamed and burst back into a run, grabbing a nearby brick off the street and throwing it through the window of another home, but then looked down the street as bullets peppered the pavement and the nearby Krab, seeing several men in the bed of a pickup truck, brandishing plenty of guns as it sped towards her.
She jumped into the window, cutting hands and arms from the broken glass, and then fell inside, destroying a small wood table and a picture frame.
Tires screeched to a halt outside, and machine guns riddled the monster outside as several of the men laughed audibly, and she crawled to her feet inside, running away from the gunfire.
Something met her feet, and she tripped and fell flat onto the floor, grimacing as her bleeding hands left smears on the tile floor.
A wood door broke open behind, and Aelita leaped towards another just beyond, but the blood covering her hands prevented her from twisting the handle open.
Then, a gun clicked, a man chuckled, and she froze.
"Look what we've got here!"
She turned around, holding her arms up, and the man, sporting a bandana and Kevlar armor, grimaced at the blood running down to her elbows.
"Little miss was running from one of the big red ones..."
Two more similarly dressed men, also sporting sub-machine guns, stepped up next to the first.
"How old are you?"
Aelita stared at the barrel of one of the guns.
"S-Seventeen."
"What's a little girl like you doing running around the streets during this... Alien invasion?"
Her mouth opened.
"I..."
"Exactly. You're stupid, and we just saved your ass."
She exhaled.
"Know how to shoot a gun, little miss?"
She shook her head, and the man chuckled. He then reached into a holster, withdrew a pistol, and shoved it into her hands.
"You will by the end of today. You owe us, anyway."
She swallowed, looking down at the black weapon in her hands, and her arm was grabbed and she was drug out of the house towards the pickup truck.
"New recruit!"
"The fuck... Is she any good with a gun?"
"Sure hope so.. Somebody patch her up. Med kit is in the back seat."
"You moron... That's some teenage girl."
"And...? The Africans use child soldiers all the time. Why can't we?
Aelita's heart began racing as she was pushed up into the bed of the truck, and the engine was started as someone began wiping her arms with a rag.
Her eyes flicked from face to face as several of the armed men eyed her briefly, and she clutched onto the truck as it sped into motion.
Child soldiers... Gangs... Alien invasion...
Paris was quickly being turned upside down.
Screeching through an intersection, the truck suddenly slammed on the brakes, and several of the men swore as the truck stopped short of a police car parked across the road.
"Get out of our way you fuckers!"
Two officers scrambled to their feet and blinked at the truck full of men.
"Stand down gentlemen! You are not authorized to go through here for your safety!"
"Kill them." Came a whisper.
Several men peered over the cab of the truck, and a spray of automatic gunfire killed the policemen in seconds.
Two jumped over the tailgate, and Aelita was shoved out of the truck bed behind them.
"Go grab their guns little girl! Ammo too!"
She walked warily past the vehicles, staring at the corpses as she approached them, and delicately pried a pistol and several magazines of ammunition out of one officer's belt, moving over to the next one seconds later, and then stuffing the ammunition into the pockets of her damp hoodie.
"Jackpot!"
Several heads turned as someone pulled a FAMAS submachine gun from the squad car, and held it into the air triumphantly.
"Grab that holster little miss, you'll be needing it!"
Hours later...
"So I find the gun, but the little girl gets to have it."
"Yep."
"Fuck you."
Aelita, wearing body armor, boots, a holster, and cargo pants, watched as the blonde man unhappily thrust the weapon into her hands.
"She's a decent shot, and you already have your AK."
"She can have my AK!"
"No, she gets the FAMAS. Shut the fuck up and get over it."
The blonde walked away in a huff.
"Decent shot my ass..."
The group, clustered around the pickup truck, watched as a pair of fighter jets roared overhead at low altitude, and someone whistled.
"Our city's a fuckin' mess."
"Alien machines are everywhere... NATO's probably shitting their pants if something like this happened so easily in half a day."
"Kinda funny, really. Leave it to the aliens to start a war before the EU did."
Aelita pried the clip out of the machine gun, and inspected the bullets inside mournfully.
To think, hours ago, it was a calm, sunny summer morning...
Aelita lay on a couch in the darkness, clutching the FAMAS, and weeping silently under the dark of night.
Sounds of warfare, something only described in history textbooks, filled her ears through the open windows of an some empty house, somewhere in a neighborhood of Paris.
Everything familiar was distant, gone, or being actively destroyed. People are dead and dying everywhere... Xana's monsters... Hundreds of them... Running rampant through the streets.
And now, unwillingly enlisted into a gang of rebel thugs, I lay here.
Friends are gone. Maybe dead. Home, school... Who knows. Xana probably has destroyed it all already.
One of the sleeping men moved momentarily, and she looked up at the ceiling.
I wondered what the future would hold... I guess this is it. The end of everything and everybody I ever knew.
Her fingers wiped her cheeks.
I knew this would happen someday... All it took was enough time, and Xana figured out how to defeat us in one single move.
And less than an hour later, he started a war against humanity...
Next morning...
*POW*
Aelita jerked awake from the report of a pistol outside of the house.
*POW POW*
"Christ man, there's a whole swarm of the little ones!"
The metallic sounds of guns being readied joined the shuffle of clothing, and Aelita sat upright, peering out of the glass window up the street.
Kankrelats. Lots of them, storming down the pavement...
Her eyes widened and her hands grasped the FAMAS, and the butt of someone's rifle smashed through the window next to her just as laser fire began striking the house.
"Fucking OPEN FIRE!"
Sucking in a breath, she reached under the handle of the machine gun, pulled back the curved pin until it locked, and just as a blaze of gunfire erupted around her, she aimed through the window at one of the little machines, and pulled the trigger.
*BANG-BANG-BANG*
A brief flash of fire, three rounds fired, and one Kankrelat was blown into pieces.
The red haired girl blinked, staring at the remains of a little tan robot as dozens swarming around it were steadily blown to shreds by a hailstorm of bullets.
Wow. I got one.
Another breath, and a firmer grip, and she turned slightly, firing two more three-round bursts, shredding the head of a second Kankrelat.
Within seconds, bullets and debris stopped flying, and the air grew silent as brass casings tumbled to the floor.
"That's it... Must've been fifty of them things."
"Did you get any?"
She looked at the source of the voice as several men eyed her.
"Two."
"Alright... Let's move out of here and find a petrol station... Starving like hell."
The group of rebels filtered out of the open doorway, and Aelita exhaled after stepping off the couch.
Guns... Not quite like my powers on Lyoko.
At least I can fight back with them, though.
Aelita sat on the curb of a sidewalk, nibbling on a doughnut as several men smoked cigarettes around her.
"Should start thinking about finding more ammo soon..."
"I bet if we found a checkpoint or a supply depot or something, and flushed it out... Could find some supplies."
"Yeah. Lure some of the aliens to one and cause a crossfire. Pop the soldiers first, blow away the aliens afterward, and bam. More ammo, and both enemies are dead at the same time."
"I tell you, what we could really use, is a tank..."
The tromping of something heavy and four-legged came from the right, and Aelita gasped as a Tarantula steadily approached the gas station, knocking aside an abandoned car as it drew closer.
"Ohh shit, look at that thing..."
Weapons were loaded and pointed at it as it paused, but Aelita's ears picked up the rumbling of something heavier... And diesel powered.
She looked to the left, and at an intersection just down the road, a large, armored, tracked vehicle turned onto their street, and a turret rotated towards all of them.
"...There's your tank." She spoke, pointing warily at it.
"Holy sh-."
Several guns opened fire on the Tarantula, with many bullets ricocheting off of its thin legs, and it sat down, raising its front legs towards them.
Aelita scrambled to her feet right as a large machine gun mounted on the tank opened fire at the monster, and several men turned and ran behind her when one was pelted by a burst of laser, creating an alarming spray of blood from the impact.
"Take cover in the store!"
"What about the truck?!"
Aelita burst through the doors of the store as the Tarantula produced an angry scream, and smashed the pickup aside as it began shooting at the approaching tank.
The group dove behind the cashier counter and law low on the floor, listening as the approaching tank grew quiet amongst the repetitive laser fire.
Suddenly, a flash -
The truck just outside exploded into a fireball, and a shock-wave shattered the glass storefront, with the force sending the Tarantula tumbling into the store, destroying several shelves and sending food and goods flying everywhere inside.
"...That was the truck."
A snarl startled the humans, and the machine slowly pushed itself upright, out of sight only a few feet away.
The distinctive squeak and groan of steel tank treads grew louder among the growl of a diesel engine, and the whir of a rotating turret made several eyes grow wide.
Then, all noises besides the engine stopped, and Aelita curled into a ball on the floor.
"Fuck."
The monster took one step forward, but seconds later, a fireball, and an ear-splitting explosion turned into a white flash, and ringing in Aelita's ears drowned out all other noise.
Shaky breaths later, her eyes opened to the ruins of a convenience store, and a dis-embodied Tarantula leg lay on her chest, among a mess of packaged snacks, and a portion of a display stand.
All but one man stood up, and Aelita was pulled to her feet as another handed her the assault rifle from the nearby body, and pointed towards the missing front of the building.
The ringing subsided, and Aelita tested her ears as her hearing slowly came back.
"Grab some snacks. We're following that fucking tank."
She shakily stuffed packages of food into several pockets, and one man pulled a beer from a nearby fridge.
"You want to follow the thing that almost blew us up?"
"Yeah... It might lead us right to a supply depot." He growled.
The group stumbled through the debris of the store, and peered down the street, seeing the tank moving slowly down the road in the distance.
"Let's move."
The rebels hurried down the pavement in single file, rapidly approaching the military vehicle as it slowly rumbled along, and two men jumped up and climbed onto the tail of the tank, turning to help Aelita and two others onto it.
After finding places on the exterior, the group sat silently, letting the exhaust and noise of the tank fill the air as they hitched a free ride to somewhere unknown.
Fifteen minutes later...
The tank slowly turned onto a ravaged street, and Aelita's eyes widened as the area became terribly familiar.
Her hands clutched the vehicle as charred and fallen trees gave way to a collapsed, ablaze group of buildings in the distance, and a mangled fence lay alongside the sidewalk, leading to a now-nonexistant gate, where part of a sign lay on the ground.
Her eyes stared at the sign, with the word 'Academy' still visible on it, and an ash-filled breeze, carrying a charred stench of death and destruction suddenly robbed her lungs of breathable air.
She hacked and coughed, and tears instantly began streaming down her face as her mind and body began a meltdown.
It's gone... All gone.
She heaved repeatedly, her head hanging limply over the side of the tank, and then, she sank down, face pressed against the steel turret as her eyes blankly absorbed the hazy sky above.
A news helicopter swiftly passed overhead, followed seconds later by a slower military helicopter on patrol.
Her eyes shut, and tears wandered in streams down her face as the vibration and noise of the armored vehicle lulled her into a sorrowful slumber.
Everything's gone...
"Hey, wake up."
The red-haired girl was shaken out of her slumber, and within seconds, was quite literally pulled off of the tank, and into a nearby alley.
"Wha-."
"We're right next to a train station. Place is crawling with troops and people. Some dope on a loudspeaker is telling people to evacuate by train, and troops and armor are all over the place."
She blinked during the following pause.
"We're gonna find a way inside, and hopefully find some supplies with all the troops around here. We'll shoot our way out of the station if we have to, and lure some aliens over to keep the boys busy while we get away."
Her mouth opened, and a few of the remaining men traded expressions.
"Sounds a little suicidal..."
"If you fuck around, it will be. Let's move."
The group pressed through the alley and a narrow street, wandering towards a small metal door, on the side of the large railway station.
One man shot through the lock, and then another helped him kick the door in, and within seconds, a reckless hunt for supplies had begun.
Poking around in the darkness of a musty storage room, one man grunted.
"Nothing here. I've got an idea though."
"Yeah?"
"Take her guns and armor."
"What? Why?"
She frowned as several men suddenly stripped her clean of weaponry and protection, and someone peeked through the doorway ahead, letting the frightened ambiance of a packed railway station filter into the room.
"We'll pose as her escorts and wander around, looking for anything good. Lose the bandanas."
"This is gonna look bogus as shit."
"I still have the badge. We're members of Interpol as soon as we join the crowd."
He then turned to Aelita, eyeing her with interest.
"You, missy, will fit right in with the rest of the civilians. You tell us if you see anything interesting as we wander around."
His head rose again.
"Don't fire a shot unless you get shot at. Screw around, and this whole thing will go down the shitter... We're Interpol. Government agents. Not the Milieu."
Aelita's heart raced from the sudden revelation as she was pushed out of the doorway, into the loud, crowded concourse of the railway station.
Milieu... Parisian Milieu. One of the most notorious criminal organizations in all of France.
...And I've been working with them?
I can't believe I'm still alive around these murderers!
The group weaved slowly through thousands of panicked citizens clutching family, pets and belongings, and the state of distress and grief was quite visible on their faces.
Aelita's eyes flitted everywhere as she bumped into and gently pushed people aside, eyeing the various elements of the station's interior among the noise.
Brief mentions of 'Interpol' reminded her that she was still closely followed by the rebel thugs, and she slowed down, joining people around her in looking at the glass ceiling above the platforms as the rotor beats of a large helicopter rattled the glass panes above.
A gun barrel prodded her back, and her eyes widened briefly as her feet started back into motion, heading towards a nearby stairwell she spotted.
Just as she approached the steps, a lone security guard hurried down the steps, pausing as she walked past.
"Ma'am, are you lost?"
She paused.
"Interpol... We're escorting a high value subject to be airlifted."
"A teenage girl...?"
"We dont question high command's orders. We are cleared to proceed."
"Sir... Do you have a badge?"
"Right here."
Aelita cautiously continued up the stairs during the silence.
.
"Huh. My mistake, gentlemen."
Several pairs of footsteps stormed up behind, and she hurried her pace upwards, joined seconds later by the group.
"Thanks to that moron... There's gotta be something up here."
Reaching the top, the group turned into a hallway lined with a few doors and several dim windows, and three men opened the first door, stepping inside.
Aelita's eyes peeked beyond the glass, looking at the street outside. Smoke drifted from many places, and men and vehicles moved among the streets below, engaging the occasional monster.
"Nothing in here!"
An unfamiliar man strolled out of an office further down the hall, and blinked as he halted.
"Who the hell are you guys?"
"Interpol."
"Bullshit... You don't have clearance to be up here!"
Guns were drawn, but within seconds, a bullet went through the man's skull.
"Yes we do, fucker."
Aelita stared at the body as it crumpled to the floor, terrified from being in the line of fire seconds before.
"Grab his gun, and keep searching the rooms. Me and little missy here are gonna see what's around the corner here."
Her shoulder was gripped, and she was drug down the hallway, facing a metal door just around the corner. A breif tug, and the door groaned as it opened, revealing an orange, hazy sky above a brief flight of stairs.
"The roof... Go see what's up there. And if you bring anybody back, don't get in the way."
His gun was swiftly loaded as she quietly walked up the steps, and his point became clear as a breeze tossed her red hair around.
The door quietly shut behind, and footsteps later, the fading daylight revealed the ornate rooftop of the train station.
And two men positioned around a particularly large rifle.
Aelita's heart beat hard, and her mind raced.
I'm a civilian... Some girl, lost, looking for something. Yeah.
Radio chatter came over a walkie-talkie, and her breath grew quiet and hesitant as she walked over towards them.
One man exhaled, and she came to a halt.
And then, she daintily cleared her throat.
In an instant, heads turned, and two pairs of eyes were upon her.
"Hi... Umm..."
"Miss, you're not allowed to be up here."
"I'm sorry... I've been looking for... A restroom. Wandered my way up here, and got a little lost."
Her hand rubbed her head bashfully, rummaging through unclean hair, and one of the men, holding a pair of binoculars, chuckled as he stood up.
"Silly miss... go back downstairs. There ought to be restrooms in the concourse. Probably the platforms too."
Her head sank, and the man stepped over and put his arm around her shoulders, and began leading her towards the stairwell.
"Ask somebody if you cant find one... And go find mom and dad, okay?"
Footsteps away from the stairs, her heart raced - Seconds from a trap.
She looked down, and thinking quickly, tripped herself, onto to find she was tumbling painfully down the stairwell seconds later, coming to a rest near the bottom step.
"Are you alright, miss?"
No.
The door in front of her head was kicked open, and she shut her eyes, cringing as an assault rifle opened fire, and the man screamed in pain.
Another voice, hurried footsteps, and another burst of gunfire, and Aelita pushed herself upright and stormed back up the stairs, tears streaming down her face as she stumbled over the bleeding corpses of two innocent men.
"What the fuck are you doing, girl?!"
She ran blindly over towards the sniper post, stumbled to her knees, and hoisted the massive rifle off of its position, swinging it around and gripping it shakily in her hands, aimed towards the rebel commander as he suddenly halted, visibly angry.
"You little bitch."
Her face contorted.
"Get away from me, you bloodthirsty monster!"
"You sure are a stupid, cocky little teenager."
"You're nothing but a murdering, Milieu scumbag... A sick, criminal piece of shit."
"Fuck you. If it wasn't for me and my men, you'd be dead, you little shit. You can barely shoot a gun to save your life!"
Growing steadily angrier, she pulled the trigger, but only heard a *click* from inside, and the commander, gasping at first, grew red with rage as she stared at the rifle fearfully.
"Oh you little fucker, time to teach you a lesson..."
Her hand fumbled to a sliding bolt on the side as he stormed towards her, and with seconds to spare, she tugged it back, released it, and closed her eyes as her finger pulled the trigger again.
*BANG*
A thunderous report echoed through the air, and her right shoulder seared with pain after being struck by the butt of the rifle.
Something metal fell to the ground, followed by a body, and her eyes, blurry, opened.
A gun lay next to a third corpse, with a gaping hole now under his neck, and a spray of blood adorning the rooftop behind him.
Her arms sank to her knees, and her head lowered, staring at the rifle in her hands.
I just killed a man.
Oh my god.
Tears dripped onto it, and her finger touched the scope mounted onto the barrel, before sliding down to the magazine.
I just killed a man... But this thing just saved my life.
Now, it is mine.
Her head turned to a metal box, and a backpack sitting nearby, and she stared at the number printed onto the side of the metal container.
.50 BMG.
She crawled over and unzipped the backpack, finding a water canteen and small rations of food inside, and then hurriedly pried the container open, only to stop and stare inside.
Bullets.
Lots of huge bullets.
With some effort, she pried the magazine out of the rifle, and watched, mouth open, as one of the big brass casings slipped inside with ease.
Oh my.
Putting another bullet alongside, she measured its capacity.
Five.
Radio chatter arose from one of the bodies, and she exhaled worriedly, picking up the metal box and dumping its contents into the backpack. After zipping it up, she hoisted it into the air, listening to the eerie jingle of brass inside.
Setting it next to the rifle, she pulled off her pink hoodie, revealing a plain white T-shirt underneath as she tossed it aside, pulling the backpack up onto her shoulders afterward.
She then reached down and brought the .50 caliber rifle up into her arms, stuffed the magazine inside, and pulled the bolt back, loading the weapon.
Pausing briefly, she watched as a distant helicopter turned towards the station she stood upon, hovering over the warfare in the streets below that was still raging on.
Humanity, versus Xana and its monsters.
I think its safe to say I've just enlisted...
She hurried over to the stairwell, grimacing as her boots breifly encountered blood from the three bodies, and descended down the steps, yanking open the metal door.
Hurrying back around the corner of the hallway, she passed an open door, briefly glimpsing the remaining rebels inside a room.
"What the..."
"Where the fuck is she going?"
"HEY!"
Eyes wide, she sped into a run, but seconds later halted just as quickly, seeing approaching shadows ahead of her.
Uh oh.
She ducked into a dark room and hid around the wall, and a group of armed soldiers stormed past.
Seconds later, a riot of gunfire erupted in the hallway, and bodies from both sides fell in quick succession. Aelita then burst out of the room, storming around one more corner and approaching the stairwell down to the platforms below as bullets struck the wall behind.
Descending the steps in a hurry, she pressed into the crowd, holding the rifle vertically against herself, and watching as scores of people stared and eyed her warily as she passed.
"Please move... I know, I'm holding a huge rifle, but... Yes, I know. Teenage girl with a gun. Darn kids these days..."
Several children pointed at her as she tucked the rifle's strap around her neck, and more gasps ensued.
"Please, stop... I just want to get out of here, like all of you..."
A nearby passenger train ground to a halt on one of the station tracks, diverting the attention of hundreds as they rushed towards it on the platforms.
Realizing a distraction, she joined the crowd in running, but instead of crowding around a coach door, she continued to the end of the platform, passing the idling locomotive and hopping down onto the ballast. She then hurried across a maze of railroad track leading out of the station, heading towards one side of the right-of-way as another train approached the station.
She leaned back against a nearby wall along an embankment as the train passed, and a warm current of air swirled around her as she continued along, gravel crunching under her boots as her eyes searched for a way off the railway line.
Seeing a dirt slope lead up to a chain link fence, she slowly approached it, spotting a breif hole just a few yards beyond as she hiked uphill.
Within moments of touching the fence with her fingers, a truck slowed to a halt nearby, and several soldiers jumped out and turned towards her as her feet drew to a halt.
She stared at one in particular when he looked at a radio, and uttered "Target located."
The unmistakable rotor-beats of the earlier helicopter drew closer from behind, and her grip on the rifle grew tighter.
"On behalf of the European Union, and the safety of your fellow citizen's evactuation, we order you to drop your weapon, and put your hands into the air!"
She swallowed, heart racing, and her hair began to be tossed around as the helicopter hovered above.
"We will not ask again! Drop your weapon and surrender yourself!"
Hearing the horn of a train nearby, her face contorted as she breathed in.
"SCREW YOU!"
She sprinted down the embankment, and watched in the corner of her eye as a departing train rapidly approached, hearing shouting seconds before she hopped over the rails, and an evacuating passenger train roared by behind her.
The helicopter tilted forward, and slowly began following her as the train rattled past, paralleling her as she ran to the opposite side of the right-of-way, heading towards a canal just up ahead.
The wires of the overhead catenary swayed as the helicopter's cushion of air passed over it repeatedly, and Aelita suddenly found herself in front of a drop, into the concrete slops of a narrow, water filled canal.
Looking at the helicopter moments after the train's passing, and then the soldiers approaching in the distance, guns drawn, she jumped off the ledge, landing and sliding briefly down the concrete, before awkwardly hurrying along the water's edge and ducking into a large culvert pipe.
Suddenly shrouded by darkness, she stumbled through the pipe hunched over, water splashing with each step as she approached the circle of light on the opposite end.
The roar of the helicopter remained faintly audible behind, and for a moment as she stepped out of the pipe, it seemed like she had fooled it.
...Until it suddenly roared overhead, rippling the water around her.
With a scream of genuine fright, Aelita fumbled for the rifle, only to watch as a nearby power line alongside the canal produced a furious field of electricity, and a Tarantula appeared on the street, right next to the helicopter.
Mouth still agape, she watched as the monster growled and lifted its front two legs, and men inside the helicopter began shooting at the monster, moments before the monster started pelting the aircraft with large bursts of laser fire, steadily blasting it apart.
Chunks of metal and other bits, and what appeared to be an arm, fell among sparks and window glass as a stream of fuel began leaking out of the helicopter. Attempting an escape, the engine spooled up to full power as alarms blared in the cockpit, and the machine slowly rose higher into the air.
The teenage girl then watched as the rotor assembly suddenly flung itself apart, and the helicopter quite literally fell out of the sky, crashing into an adjacent apartment complex and erupting into a fireball as the front of the building churned into a cascade of debris.
Assessing the victory, and unaware of the human below, the Tarantula turned and tromped away, leaving Aelita standing in disbelief, knee-high in debris-littered water.
Even if you just saved my butt, you killed more humans.
She splashed over, scaling the concrete slope, and walked to a nearby ladder in a hurry.
Your monster is going to pay for this one, Xana.
Pulling herself onto street level, Aelita watched the Tarantula as it casually passed an abandoned sedan, kicking along a suitcase that slid roughly along the pavement.
Then, a multitude of splashing footsteps came from behind, and she sped into gear, crossing the street and hurrying towards the car, heart racing as she found herself stuck between two enemies - Again.
Diving into the backseat through an open door, she curled up and clutched the rifle, covering herself with a random suit-coat. Peering through the windshield in front of the car, she watched as the monster outside stood still, observing its surroundings.
Suddenly, it turned around hearing human voices, and Aelita, eyes wide, slowly lowered her head down as several men took positions around the car.
This sucks.
Seconds uncomfortably ticked by, punctuated by a familiar roar.
Then, gunfire erupted all around her, followed moments later by laser fire shaking and jerking the car as it was pelted repeatedly, and then the audible deaths of three men around her.
Growls of frustrations and angry obscenities later, the windshield suddenly exploded into a shower of hot, sharp cubes of glass, and the front passenger seat bloomed into a small flame.
"Fuck this, retreat back to station HQ!"
"Team G, sustained losses combating hostile, target missing. Aborting mission!"
"...Repeat! Half our men are down. Hostile encountered while pursuing target. Chopper unit downed and completely destroyed. We are aborting assignment!"
Blazes of gunfire followed fading footsteps, and Aelita jerked upright, staring at the flames creeping along and consuming the car seat in front of her.
Ohh myyy I need to get out noowww!
Bursting out of the vehicle and looking in all directions, she stormed towards the crashed, smoking helicopter ahead, skipping and stumbling over debris and screeching to a halt next to the tail boom of the downed aircraft.
Ducking down, she sucked in several great breaths as the men vanished from sight, and the laser fire stopped as the car behind rapidly turned into a ball of fire.
Her breathing grew silent as ominous, heavy footsteps drew closer, but after a momentary pause, they turned, and began to walk away.
Sensing an opportunity, Aelita stood upright upon the rubble, and hoisted the rifle upward, setting the barrel upon the helicopter's tail, and cautiously peering through the scope at the moving Tarantula.
Even with the rifle on a solid surface, her body shook as she stared at the moving machine, lining up the crosshairs on its head.
Then, with an inhale, she pulled the trigger.
*BANG*
The rifle jerked, and the report of its power echoed through the air.
But the target now stood still, looking at her.
Audibly gasping, a flash of cold went down her spine as the monster turned, knelt down, and lifted its front legs towards her, and she exhaled, staring at the eye on its white head, and pulled the trigger again.
*BANG*
An impact, and the shredding of a head greeted her eyes and ears, followed by a casing dropping onto the rubble, and then by the crumpling of a large, metallic body onto the ground.
Blinking, she lifted the rifle, stumbled around the tail rotor, and slowly approached the monster, watching as a liquid oozed out of the remains of the machine's head.
Her boot pushed one of its shiny feet along the ground, and her hand apprehensively reached out, touching its smooth, curved white snout.
Her thumb then found one of the six slots along the side, and she exhaled, feeling a strange sense of elation.
...Did you see that, Xana?
I killed it. I killed one of your awful monsters. A real one.
And I can keep killing more. Until they're all gone. And then I'll kill you. Somehow.
I'll kill you, Xana. You just wait.
Streetlamps flicked on along the street, and she looked back towards the destroyed apartment as the whir of another helicopter approached in the distance.
...Annddd I need to hide now. My own country's clever military thinks I'm a threat to national security because I stole this rifle... Even though Xana's monsters are destroying everything else.
Morons keep dragging me into crossfires too...
Her pace hurried towards the dark interior of the apartment, and she climbed awkwardly onto and over the ruined helicopter, grimacing from the awful charred smells coming from the aircraft as she pulled herself up onto the second floor.
Rounding a corner just footsteps down the hallway, an open, lit doorway revealed a television, blaring news about the 'alien invasion', and much to her unfortunate surprise, began showing scenes of urban warfare in other cities.
And nations. Germany, Belgium...
Her palms grew sweaty, and she clutched the door, staring at the words and video on the screen.
Not just Paris. And not even France alone.
Mainland Europe was in the grips of Xana's war...
She stormed away, finding a stairwell, and hurried up several flights of stairs as the helicopter outside slowly passed overhead.
Minutes later, she pushed open an old door, and a breeze swept her hair aside as she stepped onto the rooftop, under the darkness of nightfall.
The nearby helicopter, having circled around the scene of the battle, turned and slowly headed back to the train station.
Guess they were just inspecting the area. Good.
Don't come flying back over here again.
Footsteps further onto the roof, she sank down, and leaned back against an A/C unit on the roof, unstrapping and setting the rifle aside, followed by the backpack.
Her eyes scanned the horizon, and she yawned tiredly.
I need to get away from here, find high ground... And get away from all the people and vehicles.
Wherever there's scared civilians, there's soldiers too. And tanks, helicopters...
Monsters intent on destroying them...
Her eyes shut, and memories of a long, violent, sad day flashed through her head.
Only the beginning too. This war's only been raging for a week.
Tears drifted from her eyes.
A week, and hundreds of people are dead already. Dead and gone.
Just like the future...
Hours later... (Morning)
Aelita sat on a couch in the disheveled, abandoned apartment on the second floor of the building, eyes glued to the television, and hands slowly bringing crackers to her mouth.
Mass evacuations... Warzones... Hundreds of monsters. Thousands even. Still appearing, still attacking, and we're all still fighting. E.U., NATO, entire armies trying to contain a gigantic, sudden xeno invasion of alien, robotic animals, hoping they can keep them from spreading any further through Europe.
Hoping, at least... At the rate the monsters are being churned out, Xana is playing an age old strategy - Strength in numbers.
Xana is probably out there somewhere, laughing its digital ass off at how much of a disaster its created, too...
A lengthy number appeared on the screen, and her heart stopped as she swallowed, staring at it.
170,000 estimated dead.
...And the total is rising daily.
Her heart and stomach both grew sick with grief.
Thousands of people I never knew, gone... Forever.
And to think, four of them were my best friends...
Her hand met her face, and tears readily flowed as she shut her eyes.
32 hours later... (Afternoon)
Aelita sat quietly in the ruins of a grocery store, surrounded by small piles of food and useful items, gleaned from the wreckage of the rest of the store that was visibly the setting of a major firefight.
Lights flickered, and many were broken and missing from their mounts on the ceiling, leaving parts of the store eerily dark with no windows around, and minimal light coming into the shattered, destroyed entrance.
Literal piles of upset, spoiled and broken food and goods surrounded toppled, trashed shelving in all directions, with unpleasant wafts of odor emanating from several places.
With another fleeting look at her surroundings, she sighed, flexing newfound gloves on her hands.
What a mess...
Her eyes flicked down to the rifle, and fingers pried the magazine out, setting it onto her lap next to a candy bar, and then plucking one of the .50 caliber bullets out of a tupperware container.
Poring over the bullet, she turned in in her fingers, looking at the small print stamped into the brass casing.
Flesh or metal... The power and lethality was unquestionable.
She then pushed the bullet down into the depths of the magazine, followed by two more, but then stopped, alarmed, as something pushed through boxes in the distance.
Then for a moment, silence.
Her head rose, turning as something fell over and spilled its dry contents.
Then, several rows down, a Kankrelat slowly stumbled into view, navigating through the debris with great difficulty for its small, grey legs.
She stared at it, realizing a potential threat, but nothing big enough to require the rifle.
A dangerous nuisance... One of Xana's pests.
The little tan machine slowly wandered further into the distance, and Aelita quietly set the magazine and candy bar aside, rising to her feet.
With a quick burst of energy, she hopped out of view and tiptoed down the aisle towards the front of the store, picking up a chunk of metal from one of the ruined shelves and swinging it left and right, before peeking around the corner, and hurrying along, glass crunching under her feet as she passed the ruined entrance.
Peeking back down the aisles, she halted after a fleeting glimpse of the Kankrelat, and waited silently, listening to the approaching pattering of small, metal footsteps.
Raising the metal rod, she stood, heart beating, poised to strike.
Then, as the little machine slowly stepped into view, she swung at it -
- And missed.
*CLANG*
The Kankrelat, alarmed, turned to look at her, but seconds later, was struck directly in the reticle on the front of its head, shattering the lens as the little machine was knocked off its feet.
In a spree of energy, Aelita pounced upon the robot, smashing it repeatedly with the length of metal, denting its tan, bulbous head until one more blow finished the job.
The small legs ceased movement, and a spark briefly left the broken reticle.
The girl then stood upright, dropping the metal rod and catching her breath.
You like that, Xana? Didn't need a gun to kill that one.
She then leaned against an adjacent shelf, looking out of the nearby entrance.
Anything bigger, and I'll just pack up and run...
An hour later, Aelita sat, hiding against a bare wall of a third floor bedroom, watching in the darkness as a Krabe slowly scanned its surroundings, with another just beyond.
A breeze curled through the large hole in the corner of the building, and the sun was already well below the horizon.
Her hands, protected by the new work gloves, held the rifle impatiently.
Fuck you, Xana. I smash one measly Kankrelat, and you chase me with two Krabes...
I kinda liked that grocery store too.
Oh well. Got food, water, medicine... And a nice backpack to carry it all.
Darn thing is kinda heavy now.
Her head rose as gunfire began in the distance, and both of the monsters, alerted from bullets striking them, turned and stormed down the street, passing Aelita in seconds.
Blinking, she rose to her feet, and peered her head out of a nearby window.
A moving flash of flame roared through the air in the distance, and then the object creating it struck one of the Krabes, suddenly blasting it apart into large chunks.
Wow... Where can I get one of those?
The gunfire ceased, and the second Krabe fell sideways, legs crumpling under its head in defeat.
A dark vehicle just beyond drove away, and Aelita exhaled.
Coast is clear I guess.
Looking at her dark surroundings, she swiftly changed her mind.
Don't even know where to go right now... Walking the streets at night is suicide.
She turned around, walking through an open doorway towards an armchair, and slipped off the backpack, groaning from the sudden relief of weight.
She unslung the rifle, and after setting it carefully upon the floor, sank into the depths of the chair's cushions, reclining it moments later and laying back, shutting her eyes.
Sleepy time...
A few hours into the night, Aelita stared at the ceiling, tears pooling and slowly streaming from her eyes.
Vivid memories filled her vision, visible against the blackness all around.
Friends. School. Good times, funny days and funny people... Teenage drama, places and events and moments...
Lots of smiles and jokes.
Lots of friends... Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi... And classmates...
Lazy spring and summer days, festive falls and cold winters...
Her head sank to the side.
All gone now.
Dead and destroyed.
Her heart ached miserably.
All that's left is my life, my home city, this gun, and my mortal enemy that stole everything else.
Someday, it will pay. For everything it has done. Someday...
44 hours later... (Early evening)
Aelita sat on the curved corner of a rooftop, watching the clouds of an overcast evening drift by.
Birds flew from building to building, and small reports of gunfire every few minutes, joined the occasional breeze as one of the few things registering to her senses.
In the distance, the Eiffel tower stood tall, with La Tour Montparnasse a little ways away.
Her eyes squinted.
Now those two are nice and tall... I wonder.
Her hand reached for a water canteen sitting next to the rifle, but after touching it, she stopped as a distant noise filled her ears.
What...
Her head rose.
An alarm?
The wailing noise continued, and her body grew cold from the vaguely familiar sound as it grew louder.
World war two... History class...
That's an air raid siren. I think.
She looked up as her eyes scanned the darkening grey sky around her.
Don't see anything. Are we under attack again?
The siren continued screaming, and she kept her head on a swivel for anything new.
Then, after a minute, the noise slowly died down, and she looked vainly towards the source of the siren.
Now why on earth didn't they do that days ago...?
Her fingers grasped the canteen, but as soon as she brought it to her lap, something else stopped her.
Lights, far in the distance, began vanishing in quick succession. One by one, entire parts of Paris suddenly vanished into darkness.
Her eyes watched as entire blocks shut down, rapidly approaching hers, and within seconds, streetlights, building lights, and everything else electronic, shut down around her.
Her heart beat hard as her eyes took in the new, terrifying darkness.
Electricity, in all forms and uses, was now gone.
Her breath, and the fast beating of her heart, were now the only things heard besides the wind.
Paris was now a dark, dangerous, lonely place.
The distant roar of a group of helicopters attracted her eye, and she watched the group of black aircraft as they slowly flew across the horizon, vanishing into the distance beyond.
She then looked at the tall, black silhouettes of the city's metropolitan area, and sighed sadly.
My beautiful home... Empty, ruined, and now abandoned.
Her head sank.
And somehow, I'm still alive.
Somehow.
One month later...
Aelita trudged through pouring rain, soaked miserably to the bone.
Two days of rain... You can stop now, sky.
Water dripped from locks of her hair, and streamed from the long barrel of the rifle. Her boots splashed through puddles, and her eyes glared at the street ahead, scouring for something to catch her interest.
Moments later, a dark, open doorway appeared on the right, and after a pause, she cautiously stepped towards it, raising the rifle up in front of her as she walked.
Poking inside, she sighed and shook her head, flicking water out of her hair.
A second doorway, caught her eye after her vision adjusted to the dim interior, and wet boots squeaked along the floor as she moved towards a dark hallway ahead. A window letting in light at the end continued her curiosity, but seconds after rounding the corner, her boot met something... Squishy.
A foul smell crawled into her waterlogged nose, and her face grew pale as a hand fumbled for a small flashlight in her cargo pants.
With the click of a small switch, Aelita froze in a gasp.
Bodies.
Shining the light to her feet, revealed an arm, and a puddle of unseen blood around her boots.
Opening her mouth in a shriek of fright, she turned around and began to flee the depths of the building.
Seconds after passing through the first doorway, she suddenly screeched to a halt in the rain, confronting unexpectedly, a Blok!
Brimming with adrenaline, she stormed around the monster, hurrying across the street, and ducking around an overturned, mangled car for cover.
Through the rainfall, the whir of red, robotic legs approached, and she readily held the rifle against her shoulder.
Just as expected, the big, ugly cube-shaped machine crawled into view, stopping and evaluating what was pointed right at it.
*BANG*
Seconds later, a gaping hole replaced two of its four faces, and it limply fell over backwards, thoroughly disabled.
A brass casing bounced onto the wet sidewalk, and Aelita stood, watching as rainwater streamed off of the machine's body.
Haven't seen one of these since... Lyoko.
She turned, and after glancing at the sky above, continued walking down the street.
I need to find shelter... With no monsters or dead people anywhere.
She shuddered in a shiver, soaked by the rain.
And no huge holes in the walls, either.
She rubbed her eyes.
While I'm dreaming, how about a room with a fireplace... And a pre-cut stack of wood. And a blowtorch.
Stepping over a fallen door on the sidewalk, she sighed.
Cookies would be nice... And a blanket too.
Her head slowly lowered at the next thought.
Seeing all of my friends... Would be the best thing of all...
A sob escaped her throat, and somewhere among the rainfall, teardrops fell too.
Early November.
Aelita lay still, peering through a broken pane of glass on one of the middle floors of La Tour Montparnasse.
With winter, came snow.
And with months of wandering... Came Kevlar, and a nice thick coat. And some other little things. Even a scrap of extra ammunition for the rifle.
Funny what you can find in an abandoned city...
A bitterly cold breeze blew in snowflakes, and she exhaled as a tuft of her red hair fell in front of her eyes.
I should cut that... Or put it in a ponytail. Starting to get long again...
A puff of breath rose from her nose, and her thumb fiddled with the metal bolt on the rifle's slide.
I really should find a place to make a fire... And not burn the whole building while I'm at it.
Her mind replayed the scene from several days before.
A bunch of men screaming and cussing at their building, engulfed in flame...
Dumb fucks. Don't light a fire if you can't contain it.
She sighed.
Sad part is... The remaining people here are morons. And criminals. Gangs too.
You're better off hiding and encountering nobody, anywhere. Startle someone, and you get shot. Meet someone, and you might get shot.
Shoot at someone... And they'll definitely shoot back.
She grimaced, remembering the pain of having a leg grazed by a bullet, and then her eyes flicked over to the scope of the rifle.
...Unless you kill them first.
Then all of their friends shoot back.
Her eyes shut, and she adjusted herself on the floor, curling up sideways afterward.
Kinda sad.
Somebody smart could use someone like me... With a big rifle and all.
And I sure could use a friend...
*KA-BOOM*
Aelita jerked awake as the thunder of an explosion rattled the windows around her, and the floor tremored underneath her body.
"Oh my..."
Stumbling to her feet and grabbing the rifle, she then watched in a stupor as steel beams, furniture, several bodies, and lots of glass fell in a cascade outside of the building.
Peering through the broken window, she then watched as a shadow appeared, and a massive object fell past her floor with more debris, and she stared at the huge, square thing as it rocketed towards the ground below.
That's... A rooftop.
Her mouth opened, and she watched and listened to the thunderous crash in the streets below, as the top story of La Tour Montparnasse came to rest, destroyed, on the ground.
Looking up, a plume of smoke rose from a fire raging on the mangled top of the building, and she exhaled in disbelief.
Somebody... Or something... Just blew up the roof.
She sat back down, wide eyed, listening to a sudden bout of gunfire erupting several hundred feet below.
I think I'm going to leave here soon...
Numerous flights of stairs later, the barrage of gunfire raged on in the lobby on the bottom floor, observed by Aelita as she peered around the corner of a wall.
Bullets flying from both sides in a pitched battle...
Humans. Factions. Shooting each other, instead of shooting at Xana's monsters.
I wonder if somebody blew up the roof because somebody else had an HQ there...
She frowned, realizing her guess was eerily correct.
What the hell is wrong with these people?
Now you've lost the tallest view in Paris... And I can't even get out of here with this firefight raging on the main floor!
Seeing the door to a restroom nearby, an idea arose as she scanned the lobby for something breakable.
...Like that window.
Crouching down, and leaning against the wall, she brought the rifle up, and peered through the scope at a small, visible window across the lobby.
Her heart raced as she held her breath.
Maybe this will shut you fuckers up.
*BANG*
The expected roar of the rifle, met the clear shattering of the distant window, and Aelita grinned gleefully as the air fell silent, rising to her feet.
Angry shouts arose, and she hurried over and slipped into the dark restroom, closing the door silently, and pausing to listen.
Several obscenities and taunts mingled with the shouts, and seconds later, gunfire resumed, much to her disappointment.
Or not...
She walked away from the door, rolling her eyes.
Even the report of a foreign rifle... Doesn't stop these idiots from slaying each other.
Should've shot someone. Would've worked better.
...But then everybody would shoot at me.
Fine. Fuck all of you. I'll just wait until you're all dead.
Looking around at the stalls, she then sighed, setting the backpack onto the sink counter.
Might as well make use of this room...
Jerking awake from a nap against the wall of the bathroom, Aelita quickly reached out and lifted the rifle from the ground in the dim light, looking it over before pulling the magazine out, and sighing from the visual reminder of ammunition inside.
Standing up and stretching, she paused, hearing nothing but silence beyond the door.
Must be all done shooting...
She pulled the rifle up by its strap, slinging it over her shoulder, and then tugged on the backpack, but then turned and looked at her reflection on the bathroom mirrors again.
Jeez...
Her fingers touched her cheeks, and then ran up through her hair, and she frowned.
Need to find the river and bathe again... Too bad its winter or I'd go for a swim.
Out of curiosity, she reached over and twisted one of the faucet handles, but only a trickle came from the spout, dwindling to nothing seconds later.
No water pressure...
Too bad there's no electricity, or I'd take a shower.
She rolled her eyes, stepping over towards the door.
Too bad everything is ruined... And everybody's gone...
Stepping outside, she squinted at the dark hallway outside of the bathroom, and wandered cautiously around the corner, seeing nothing but the moonlight reflecting into the lobby ahead.
Walking closer, several bodies began appearing scattered around the floor, she held her breath, grimacing as she carefully stepped around the debris and corpses among puddles of blood.
And the winner of this firefight, is nobody...
Bullet holes and casings were everywhere, shattered glass from the entrance adorned the floor, and just outside, a large chunk of building that was half of the rooftop, lay mangled and ruined among piles of debris in the street.
Stepping over several steel beams and chunks of concrete, Aelita paused, turned and stared at the tall building she had inhabited for several days.
Mangled rooftop, now on the ground... Broken windows scattered everywhere on the outside, and a dusting of snow covering everything else...
Only humans... Are dumb enough to blow up the big things we build, with no regard for anyone or anything in the future.
Shaking her head, a breath of steam escaped her mouth, and she turned away, walking down the dark street.
Now to find some other place to inhabit... That hopefully won't get burned, blasted to bits, or discovered by anybody else.
Unknown months later...
Aelita walked carefully along the Seine river, tucking a freshly reloaded magazine inside the .50 Caliber rifle with a flourish.
A coat sat tied around her waist, a bigger backpack adorned her backside, and a recent, minor burn wound and several bruises adorned her arms and side. The same old boots, white T-shirt, and Kevlar armor remained, albeit a little more worn and dirty.
The young, naive teenager she used to be, however, was something of the past.
"Three men, one Krabe, and one Tarantula... And five more bullets, gone."
Sighing, she eyed the upper windows of a nearby building.
"Not a one, knew what hit them... Shame."
Envisioning the spurts of blood and monster goo from several heads and bodies, her eyes then settled down onto the flowing water of the river, watching as the Seine still flowed, normal as ever.
Sure, nature's doing just fine... While mankind is wasting away, and my city is in a slumber of silence.
Aside from my havoc...
A brief, rare smile touched her face, vanishing seconds later.
Footsteps later, the sky opened in front of her, and the Eiffel tower itself, rose prominently into the faded blue sky beyond.
There it is...
Rows of trees, and overgrown grass stretched for hundreds of feet towards the tower, and in a moment of wonderment, she burst into a run, approaching the long grass field.
Crossing the street, her boots met grass, and she slowed down, looking at the lattice steel structure in the distance as she walked towards it.
Still standing, looking noble as ever.
An old idea bloomed in her mind, and she stared at the top of the tower as her walking slowly increased in speed.
The top of the Eiffel Tower... Might just be the best place for a rifle, ever!
Brimming with newfound energy and excitement, she sped into a run down the middle of the grass courtyard, sprinting, grinning, and clutching the rifle as she envisioned a new spot of Paris to call home.
Crossing a circular courtyard, she breathed heavily, but continued her quick pace towards the structure, crossing more of the tall grassy fields and several stone paths, before slowing to a halt, yards away from one of the tower's feet.
Her vision climbed up the sides, eying the girders and latticework with marvel, having never been up close to the tower before.
"Thank you, Gustavus Eiffel..." She breathed, sitting down on the grass near a sidewalk, and marveling the massive structure before her.
"Well, mister rifle, now we just need to figure out how to get all the way up there..."
Hours later...
Clouds slowly grew in the sky as the afternoon faded, and wind casually swirled through the metalwork of the tower as Aelita climbed higher and higher.
Elevators are useless... And the only way up and down besides them, are stairs.
Lots... Of stairs...
She growled with exhaustion, gripping the rifle.
Even with numerous breaks to ease my poor feet, and a brief stay in that strange little restaurant below, I'm beat to hell.
Its worth it. Has to be. The tower keeps getting narrower, so I must be...
Her eyes opened as a large ring appeared around her, and after moments of continued footsteps, her head poked up onto the a flat deck, surrounded by a cage of fencing.
Clawing her way up the steps, she sprawled flat onto the floor, regaining her breath.
I made it.
Her head lifted, and she pushed herself upright, breathing as she looked at the view around her.
Paris...
Standing upright moments later, her mouth opened as she carefully circumnavigated the deck, eying the city in all directions, with the Seine river just down below.
The wind flicked her hair around, and she exhaled in disbelief.
Beyond perfect... I can see everything. And I'm way far away from anything that can shoot back at me.
Sitting down again, she leaned back against the center of the tower, and looked up through the cage at the sky.
This... Is now my home.
She then looked down at the rifle in her hands.
And you, my friend, helped me get here.
Tears streamed from her eyes, and she brought the rifle close, hugging it against her chest.
We should have come here ages ago... It's so perfect for us.
After a moment, she kissed the side of the rifle, and then set it aside, unstrapping it and the backpack from her shoulders, and pulling a coat from the depths of the pack.
"Together, we'll watch over Paris up here... Even if it fades away into nothing, we'll fade away with it."
Pulling the coat on and zipping it up, she then grasped the rifle, and shuffled forwards up to the fencing, curling her free fingers around the intertwined metal links.
She then gazed into the fading sky, and a deep, painful sigh left her lungs.
"I know you're all up there somewhere, watching me. Odd, Yumi, Ulrich... Jeremy..."
More tears streamed from her eyes as she pressed her face against the fencing.
"We'll avenge you, and everybody else that died. Someday. Somehow."
Her voice then croaked in a sob.
"I promise."
...And from that day on, here I am, up on the Eiffel Tower's observation deck. Watching over Paris, since nobody else seems to care anymore.
Don't even know how many days have gone by anymore... Never bothered to keep track. Xana's monsters are still here, but they're few and far between, and once they're close enough, they're dead before they know it.
Food... I find now and then. Water, comes from the Seine. Ammunition... Let's just say I don't like thinking about running out. Shelter... Some tent I found somewhere. Helps keep the rain away.
Me? After all I've been through... I wonder how I don't go insane sometimes. Crying is practically normal, and comes so easily. Everybody I know is gone, and so many things are ruined.
Poor Paris is such a mess... Its not the only city that experienced the war, but the war all started right here.
Everything started right over there, that way. At the Renault factory.
Everything I ever knew, fell apart in one day.
Everything, taken away by Xana.
Everything... Except me.
I will be the one, that brings about its demise.
Someday, somehow.
Thanks for reading! The next story right after this is, of course, Black Continent. Reviews are certainly welcome! :)