" Tomorrow "
Chapter 1
WARNING: COULD CONTAIN SPOILERS. CANON/OC, STRONG LANGUAGE, AND POSSIBLE OFFENSIVE MATERIAL.
Rated for language and violent content. Rating of story may/will change later.
Pairing(s): Baird/OC mainly. Other pairings may be included or mentioned.
Summary: Things just aren't as peaceful as they seem. Set some time after the ending of GOW3
Disclaimer: Gears of War rightfully belongs to Epic Games.
AN: Written for my friend for Christmas. It's possible for this to be just two/three chapters or multi-chapters. My knowledge is only based on the three games I've played, so I haven't read any of the books or comics. "orz Maybe some things might be wrong so sorry!
Sixteen years of fighting. Years of watching loved ones die, cities destroyed, and families torn apart. Years that you can never get back; lost and wasted over a struggle for survival. No one wanted to remember the war. When it was over, there was no glory. No honor. No satisfaction. There was only destruction upon Sera. The signs of war were clearly visible on the landmarks; the few that remained. War was costly and everyone paid the price for it. What did they have left?
"Tomorrow. We finally have a tomorrow."
Tomorrow. Any optimist could see that they no longer had to fend for their lives. No one had to live in fear of Locust, Lambent, or dying. No one had to pick up a weapon or go out not knowing if that day would be their last. But after sixteen years- sixteen god damned years- it was all anyone had ever known. It was strange to not having a reason to pick up a lancer or be on guard all the time. It was almost unnatural.
It had been a month since Adam Fenix's machine had put a stop to everything. In this fucked up world; he could possibly be considered a hero. With Prescott dead, Colonel Victor Hoffman became the new Chairman. The COG continued to exist- or what was left of it. Since the war ended, many left, seeing no point as to continue to be a soldier anymore. But there were still many whom were loyal.
Delta still remained, even after the various of times Damon Baird threatened to leave. He never did. Because he and everyone else knew the truth. Other than the team, he had nothing else. Delta had lost many of it's members.
Dom.
Marcus hadn't spoke about him for weeks or even at all since the war ended. He died a soldier's in the end and his memory- his actions would only be remembered by those who cared. All in all- Marcus knew Dom could have jumped out of the truck if he wanted. But he knew his friend had finally just given up. Dom was tired.
The war took it's toll on everyone in it's own way. To be honest, no one even believed it would ever truly end. Because there would always be something. If it wasn't Locust or Lambent, then it was something else. Resources were still needed. Many needed food, shelter, and medical attention. Under Hoffman's orders, COG had set up camps all around various locations, all of them branching from the main camp set at Anvil Gate. There were still many who hated the gears. Especially since the Hammer strikes. So camps weren't crowded nor busy usually.
In the lunch hall, food was being served by volunteers who had some experiences with culinary arts. It was filled with chatty civilians, stranded, and gears. Hoffman had wanted to see Delta later on in the day. It was rare they all ever had a moment to spare with one another. Everyone on Delta had a specific place to be or a specific time to run. Baird didn't see the point in having family dinner. Since the camps were set up, he locked himself up inside the garage most of the times. Working and tinkering with machinery either on his own or for the Chairman. Whichever it was, he enjoyed his solitude of work.
"Hey Baird, you joining us for food?" Entered the voice of Clayton Carmine as he and Cole stepped into the dimly lit garage.
The blonde pushed his goggles up, looking over to the two.
"Let's get some food, Baird. I hear it's real good."
"Yeah, if you enjoy eating grilled rats. I'll pass." Damon remarked.
"You have to eat sometimes, baby. Hoffman wants to see us soon. You might not get the chance."
"And I heard we finally got our hands on some real food." Clay added. The kid was practically drooling in his helmet.
"If I go, will it shut you two up?"
Cole shrugged with a small smile and Carmine was already headed out the door. Baird rolled his eyes and wiped his hands on a dirty towel before leaving with the two other Gears.
Once in the lunch hall, Baird had already seen a few members from Delta sitting on a long stretched table. Marcus and Anya sat together. It looked a little empty without Dom, as much as he didn't want to admit it. Jace sat besides Sam and a new face that Baird wasn't too fond off. A former stranded and a pain in his ass, Rebecca Mills recently folded in with Delta Squad. He didn't like her because she was a stranded not too long ago. And being Damon Baird, he had a grudge against those assholes.
And for some reason, Sam and Rebecca adored each other. He could see the instant "BFF" bullshit right from the start.
"Ah, finally joining the living, Baird?" Sam along with the rest of the others looked up as the three soldiers joined the others.
"Yeah, yeah." The blonde genius responded, taking a seat next to Marcus with Mills just across from him. Cole seated himself next to the newest member and Carmine next to him.
"Becca, baby, how've you been? I haven't seen you around lately." Augustus asked the black haired woman with a smile on his face. The same smile was returned to the older man as Mills turned her body slightly to face Cole. Much like most others, Rebecca was a Cole Train fan way back when.
"Hey Cole- I'm fine. I think Hayman wants to drive me into the floor though." The woman commented.
"Sticking the needle in the wrong artery again?" Baird commented, annoyed by the fact that the two got along. The fact that she got along with anyone so well. Was he the only one who remembered she was a stranded? Part of the assholes who hated COG even though they've saved their asses too many times to count.
The smile soon disappeared from the female gear's lips as pale hazel eyes looked towards the blonde headed male.
"Oh hey, dick, didn't see you there."
Baird frowned, "Really. Guess you don't get your eyes or ears checked often."
"Or maybe you're just not tall enough." Mills mimicked his frown, commenting on his height, being as he wasn't the tallest male gear at the table.
"Bitch."
"Jerk."
"For god's sake, the two of you just shut the fuck up." Marcus interrupted, shooting both Gears a glare as he put a fork full of food into his mouth.
Baird shot the girl one last glare before looking down and noticing that there wasn't a plate of food in front of him as there were with everyone else. Cole on the other hand, looked amused as he looked at his friend and the blonde could only look at him with a "shut the fuck up" expression before getting up to get lunch. Small talk once again omitted among Delta. Although it was mainly Cole, Carmine, Sam, and Anya doing most of the talking. The rest occasionally commented in or made a statement that would spark up another topic to be discussed.
"We're headed back to Ephyra. Hoffman wants to try to rebuild whatever's there." Anya said as the topic now rested on why Hoffman wanted to see them.
"What are we? The repair crew?" Baird huffed, finishing the last piece of food on his plate.
"Somebody's cranky because he has to leave his precious garage." Sam muttered and Mills stifled a laugh. The mechanic scowled at them both. The two of them were definitely worse together as they were apart. Damon didn't have much of a problem with Sam though. In fact they could get along swimmingly if only Mills wasn't in the picture.
Carmine started choking on his food before anyone else had anything to say. Cole started hitting the man on the back as the gear downed his cup of water. Jace cracked a small chuckle seeing the man nearly dying on food. Delta finished what was left on their plates and Marcus was the first to stand up.
"Alright, now that Carmine's done dying, let's go. Hoffman isn't very patient." The gruff male said before turning to exit the lunch hall, followed closely by Anya and the rest of Delta.
Hoffman told them what they already knew. He wanted to rebuild on Ephyra after it had been destroyed by Locusts. Some stranded now inhabited the broken ruins of the city. But if they were going to rebuild Sera, they might as well start somewhere. Delta was split into two separate groups for convenience. One group would bring supplies and other gears/workers while the other group would have to stay in the COG camp built there and monitor the progress. Group one was headed by Marcus, the other by Cole. Marcus's group had Anya, Sam, and Jace while Cole had Baird, Carmine, and Rebecca. There was a lot of objection from the blonde mechanic on the set-up but Hoffman wouldn't listen to any of his complaints.
No one knew how long this would take. Months- maybe even years. Rebuilding a planet to it's former glory was a long, slow, and painstaking process.
When the raven with Cole's team hovered over Ephyra, the city looked worse than what they had imagined it. Especially after the Lambent started attacking. Buildings were broken and destroyed, abandoned Lambent stalks littered in the streets, and grub holes printed into the ground.
"Shit." Augustus muttered. The helicopter landed just outside of the large COG camp set up in the middle of the city ruins.
The four gears slowly got off the helicopter, glancing around at all the damage. They could only imagine what the other remaining cities looked like.
Everything was too quiet. All except the whirling propellers of the raven as it was beginning it's evacuation. Ephyra had the fewest population out of all the other camps. They didn't expect crowded areas nor people running around trying to get to places. But it was strange that it was eerily deserted. No sign of people or gears. No one came out to see who the new arrivals were, maybe they just didn't care.
"Is it me, or is there something that just screams 'get out' to you?" Baird commented.
"Sshh." Rebecca extended an arm across Baird's chest to silence the Gear. Baird only responded with an annoyed look of disapproval.
"Something isn't right." Cole reached for the lancer attached to his back, "Better stay on guard and check around."
The three others drew out their weapons. Cole, Baird, and Carmine continued to check the front of the camp for any signs of living. But there were only parts of broken buildings and dirt to be found. Mills walked to the entrance of the camp building. When she peered her head inside, the Private cursed under her breath and turned her head back to the other three.
"Boys, I'm thinking we've got something bigger on our hands."
The three turned to look at each other before jogging over towards the female gear. The four of them then proceeded to enter the camp and surprise on what they saw. Bodies laid mangled on the floor in pools of blood. Some didn't even have heads nor could even be identified as humans. Whatever happened here didn't happen from natural causes. Someone or something had attacked the camp and left no survivors. It also looked like whatever was here had also been eating some of the bodies. The whole place reeked the smell of decay and if they hadn't been gears, they would have already been blowing chunks all over the floor.
"Holy shit." Carmine's voice was barely above a whisper.
Cole went outside and pressed a finger to the radio in his ear, "Yo, Marcus. Shit. I think rebuilding will have to wait."
"Cole? Why? What happened?" Fenix's voice was heard in their radios.
"We just walked into a party of blood and guts." The blonde mechanic said over the radio. "Think maybe you should fly down and see this, boss man."
"We'll be there in an hour. Just sit tight."
"Oh yeah, because I was actually thinking of taking a stroll." Damon said, not into the radio as Mills hit him slightly in the arm.
"Don't you ever shut up?" The female grumbled.
Normally, he would have said something witty back and just leave it at that. But something like this coming from someone like that? Hell no. The blonde turned towards the black haired woman. Although he wasn't as tall as the other gears, he still had a few feet advantages over her. He extended his arms at his sides, challenging the woman like she was just another male trying to pick a fight with him.
"You got a problem with it, strandie? Why don't you go poke your nose somewhere else. Maybe down a locust hole and stay there."
"Baird." Cole could be heard from the background. Heard, but not acknowledged.
Rebecca looked at him with narrowed eyes. Her pale hazel orbs piercing into his sky blue ones. "Don't test me, blondie." She pushed the other back by using the lancer in her hands. Baird stumbled a few inches back. Before either of them had a chance to say anything else, Cole was already in between the two.
"Hey! This isn't the time, people. Becca, go stand by Carmine. Baird, with me-" The order was cut short by the sound of gunfire and bullets missing the group just by a hair.
"Shit!" Someone yelled and none of them could tell who yelled it or if it was all four of them in unison. Their first instincts was to duck in cover. They used the ruins of buildings that were large enough to cover their asses as gunfire continued to shoot in their direction.
"What the hell?" Carmine exclaimed in confusion.
Locust? No, they were all gone. Lambent? Extinct. So- what or who was shooting at them? The four stayed behind cover as long as shots continued to fire. It took about a minute or two; the gunfire finally ceased. They all shared a glance with one another before Cole poked his head out cautiously. There was only a man standing there. One. He looked like a stranded that would be from around these parts. The man look exhausted and out of breath. As if shooting the hammerburst in his hands had taken the life out of him.
"Hey, my man! We're gears! We're here t-"
The man started shooting again and Cole just barely escaped with having a hole in his head.
"Seriously, what the hell!" This time, Clay sounded angry.
"Hey, you're one of them. Why don't you go speak the language of your people." Damon nudged the female on the side while she gave him a "you're hilarious, dickhead" look.
"All youse just stay away! Stay away!" The man shrieked, not once releasing his hold on the gun in his hand.
"He sounds like he's scared shitless." Mills pointed out. And maybe a little insane? Probably.
"So what? We're sitting ducks?" Baird asked, looking over to Cole.
"Until he runs out of ammo-" The female added.
But there wasn't anytime to find out. The gunfire had stopped and the man's high shriek filled the air again. He had yelled something. His words were fast and incoherent that none of them could make out what he said. A low, hideous growl was heard that had their blood chilled in their veins. It didn't sound anything like Locust nor Lambent. Or any of those combined. They heard bones snap and the man yelled again before the group finally came from their hiding spot. A little too late. The man was gone and something was climbing to the top of one of the building. They had looked up in time just to see a dark tail disappear over the top of the building.
No one knew what to say. Their eyes were glued to the building on where that… thing had disappeared as swiftly as it came.
Sera had a new pest problem now.
AN: Akabdkclhbaldkv. I tried. Please forgive me, A. D: I kinda rushed it cause it's Christmas Eve. I'll upload more chapters later and hopefully won't make them so bad. "orz