Interval One: Destruction

Chapter One: Awaken

I awoke gazing into the sky, it seemed strange for some reason. It appeared to be snowing. Grey flakes fluttered down in a peaceful manner. But the sky looked mostly clear, with orange and red colors mostly dominating it. There just wasn't enough cloud cover to explain the flakes that rained down. I didn't get up right away. I just laid there staring out into the sky. I turned my head looking at a disfigured building. It appeared as if some giant pissed off monster had came in ripped the rooftop off in search for victims then decided to put his fist into the side several times.

As I slowly got up. A lot of things suddenly became clear. The first was the fact that I had been laying down in the middle of the street. I noticed immediately that the whole area looked rampaged. Debris and rumble littered the street. There were fires spawned all over. Remnants of cars were scattered on the pavement. The destruction was as troubling as it was immense

Then I noticed a massive plume of rising smoke. It was dark grey in origin, most likely where the mysterious snow flakes were coming from. As I walked forward the street disappeared into a vast crater from which the plume was rising from. "My god...."I mouthed, It suddenly occurred to me that only two things could have happened. A meteor from space. Or a nuclear explosion.

As soon as I thought of this my heart began to jump in my throat.. I immediately turned and began to run away from the side of the crater. As I did a building on the very edge of the crater began to collapse into the street where I had been standing. Stopping to look back I gazed in horror, as the building fell most of it rolling off the side of the cliff into the crater.

"Fuck!" yelling as I turned back around I ran down the the middle of the street. Filled with adrenaline, I ran looking at the buildings all of them appeared as if they could all collapse around me at any second. As I ran deeper into the city I began to notice that no one else was roaming the street. I was apparently all alone, I paused to catch my breath and to look around, the whole area seemed creepy. The light from the evening sun casted eerie shadows off the buildings.

I winced at the pain originating from the side of my head. I looked around and immediately fell to the ground. I opened my eyes as soon as I hit the ground. I felt a sharp dull pain center between my eyes, My head was throbbing in pain. I sat up and noticed blood on my fingers from where I had grabbed my head. I tried to remember what I was doing before the blast.

But I couldn't remember anything, not even my own name. No recollection of anything before the blast. "Great" I mumbled. The pain in my head began to feel like someone was constantly whacking it with a hammer. I gathered my self up and stumbled, quickly becoming disoriented and dizzy. I stood still as my vision slowly came back and I began to make my way down the street. Looking out for any signs of survivors.

I went on for over an hour several times having climb over large piles of rubble that blocked the street. The destruction seemed to lessen the farther I got away from the crater. The pain in my head seemed to be lessening as well. All though most likely I was just getting used to it. As I jogged freely down the street, a figure darted across the street a block or so down.

"Hey.."Hey!" I yelled impulsively, The figure had already crossed the street by the time I yelled. I ran to the area of which the person crossed. "Hello!" I called out, again I received no answer. No reply, nothing but the rustle of the wind rushing between the buildings, on its way down the street.

The wind sent chills crawling down my back. It felt extremely cold, It made me begin to move again. As I did a door slowly opened and someone stepped out and began to walk down the sidewalk facing away from me. As I began to walk up the person turned and faced me, stopping me down in my tracks. The person was horribly disfigured. I couldn't tell if this person was male of female. It's face looked like it had melted like candle wax and dried creating something that you'd expect to see stalk you in a horror film.

"My god are you ok?" I said slowly approaching the person. It snarled and yelled disorienting my vision in a orange and black haze. As I regained awareness the person was gone. No where to be seen. I desperately looked around the area but found no one. I was alone again and the more I thought about it the more paranoid I got. That person should not have been alive.

I finally gave up and began to continue. Several blocks later I began to hear the faint echo of a helicopter. It sounded like it was getting louder. But I couldn't tell where it was coming from. Several second pasted as I tried to find the source, as it grew louder and louder. Finally I spotted what I was looking from. It was flying low over the street I was in. "Hey! Down here!" I was yelling and waving my arms. Trying to get the pilot's attention. But the helicopter passed right over me and kept going. I was screaming out.

I was being ignored, left for dead. I desperately ran after the chopper. That is when I noticed that it had stopped. It was hovering a few blocks down. Drop lines were being lowered as people slid down them. I ran as fast as I could. "They are coming to save me!" I thought as I closed the distance between me and the chopper. It began to fly off but I was more concentrated on the people I saw in the street.

"Hey! Over Here," I called out. I was so relieved to see someone I didn't pay attention to the little details that was occurring. They appeared to be soldiers yet most of them had quickly taken defensive positions behind what cover they could find. All of them were wearing masks. One of them had his hand to his ear. He then turned raising his gun facing my way. I put my hands in the air. "I am unar....."

They opened fire before I could finish. Lucky for me I failed to notice the hole in the asphalt and I began to slide down on a slanted piece of street leading into a sewer. I fell into the sewerage that laid at the bottom and disappeared beneath the surface. I surfaced thrashing around covered head to toe in a nasty slime. Holding back the impulse to throw up I move away from the hole I fell through and waited quietly. Trying not to cough up my stomach, or any other organs I needed to live.

I listened quietly my senses on edge. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. As I began to hear the sound of footsteps. "Do you think we hit him?" "not sure should we pursue him?" Oddly enough all their voices sounded about the same. "That wasn't our orders, We need to set up positions around the facility's entrance if we see anything move our orders are to shoot on sight." They began to walk away from the hole. Their footsteps getting less and less audible. I closed my eyes and exhaled in relief. Soldiers? Facility? What the fuck is going on? Why were they ordered to shoot everything that they saw, none of it made any sense.

I opened my eyes, and immediately noticed a small figure standing at the end of the sewerage drain I was in. There was a working light behind the child-like figure. It was casting a dark silhouette on what I was looking at. The figured seemed to be facing me. It didn't move for several seconds. For some reason I began to get goosebumps as a chill ran down my spine. The headache that I had earlier, began to throb again piercing my vision in a red blur. At first I thought I was imagining it.

But the figure finally turned and began to walk down the intersecting sewerage path. I got up and wiped my face. "Damn it I have shit in my hair" I mumbled as I thumbed through it quickly moving towards the light at the end of the sewerage drain I was in. I poked my head around the corner in the direction the figure went. Seeing nothing but the long pathway that stretched seemly forever. I then looked the other way that was when I noticed a glowing white light that crossed the pathway and disappear again heading down one of the sewerage drains, running parallel to the one I fell into. Several chills ran down my spine.

I happened to look down at my feet and stepped back in confusion. I noticed small bare footprints in the light. They were blood red obviously made by the figure that had been staring my way when I first notice it. They were human, small bloody footprints. There were no prints leading to where the the figure stood. I poked my head around the corner again. My eyes followed the footprints that lead into where there wasn't any light. "A child?" I questioned.

The light that I was standing by began to flicker. I turned to look at it. It stopped and I looked back down the drainage system and froze seeing the same figure staring back at me. The hairs on the back of my neck raised up.. It was indeed a child, a girl in a red dress. She had black hair and her face seemed pale in the light she was standing in. Again it seemed like a stare off. She didn't move, her arms were at her side. Her head seemed to be tilted down a bit.

I took one step forwards her and the light she was standing in began to flicker. It shut off for a less than a second and when it came back on she was gone. My quivered in pain as my headache spiked, blurring my vision red again. I stood there fighting between wanting to go look for her and find the nearest man hole and get out. The hairs on my back would not lay down. Chills ran down my back continuously for about a minute. As my breathing quickened, I was freaked out. I began to make my way down the pathway I stood in the light were the girl had been. There wasn't any footprints.

I looked around and notice a ladder leading up to a man hole. I sighed in relieve, grabbing a hold and I was about to start to climb up when I heard a unintelligible whisper it sounded like a child's voice. I looked around and saw that same glowing light that I had seen earlier It was in the darkness standing still. I looked closer and noticed a face, torso, arms, and legs of a person. It was looked directly at me. "A ghost?" I questioned. It was snarling and grumbling. It starting running at me.

My eyes widened and I began to propel myself up the ladder. "fucking shit!" I yelled. I reached the top and began to desperately try to move the man hole lid from its resting place. The sounds I was hearing behind me made me punch the lid. It began to give way and I moved it and was out of the sewerage system before I could really think. Crawling away from the hole I was shaking all over. I impulsively rubbed myself over. "What the fuck! Was that?" I yelled out. I was afraid the thing would follow me up the ladder.

Getting up I grabbed the lid and walked over to the hole looking down inside it. I saw nothing and nervously covered the hole back up. Quickly stepping back away from it, I was shaking all over my body seemed to know what my mind couldn't comprehend. "What the fuck is going on! What the fuck was that? What the fuck!!" I was holding my head. Looking around I walked away from the hole. It had gotten much darker since falling into the sewer. I was now looking around for anything that might come at me. I was on a different street but it still looked the same.

I seemed to be looking at everything differently now. Every dark corner, broken out window a place where more of those things could be. I slowly began to calm down as I began to look for a place to rest for the night. But nothing I saw seemed to set my nerves at ease with the paranoia that had manifested in the back of my mind.

"Is that corn!" I yelled pulling a kernel from my tangled hair. "Fucking nasty, I don't want some fat guy 's nasty ass shit in my in hair or on me!" I threw it away stammering, frustrated that it was getting late and I still was out in the open. Some street lights had turned on. It helped out a little bit. Just when I was about to give up I notice a vehicle that surprisingly had all its windows intact. I tried the back door. It opened and I looked inside. It was empty but I notice a car seat.

I buried my thoughts, and began to take the car seat out. After taking it out I starting hearing strange sounds. I didn't hesitate I got inside and quietly shut the door. I had full range to look around the area hoping of course that I wouldn't be spotted. Plus to my advantage I had a functioning street light that was close by that illuminated parts of the area. It was helping my paranoia. I sat in the darkness curiously looking around. I began to wonder if I had imagined all that had occurred in the sewer. The girl, that ghost. I mentally began to kick myself because I left before I could decide wither to go looking for her or leave.

I looked on for about an hour seeing nothing out of the ordinary. It seemed quiet the street light was faithful it stayed on the whole time that I kept guard. I laid down in the back seat and tried to sleep. I remained still, afraid that something might have came out of it's hidden place and was near the vehicle. That bugged me to no ends. I tried to sleep but the images of the sewer haunted me every time I closed my eyes.

I finally worked up enough courage and sat up looking through the windows again. Once again I saw nothing which put my mind at ease. My headache from earlier had all but faded, I hadn't paid much attention until I sat up. The sudden movement must have somehow irritated it. I laid back down and closed my eyes. My head was spinning now, I felt sick to my stomach. The sickness quickly disappeared but then I became disoriented. Several chills shot down my back and I sat up looking around. My vision cleared. My eyes were focusing on the singular figure in the street light. It was the child from the sewer. I stared as the headache resurfaced. I watching her seemingly forever.

She finally turned and walked off into the night. The street light flicker a bit. I was breathing erratically, as I slowly turned coming face to face with a pair of golden yellow eyes. The girl was sitting in the front passenger seat turned around staring directly at me. I jumped hitting my head on the roof of the car. Her eyes seemed to be burning. Her pale face expressionless, I grabbed my head and looked at the blood on my fingertips. Looking up I took one last look at the girl who was still staring at me and passed out.

I awoke in a seemingly hellish nightmare. The sky looked alive, swirling around as a sea of black and red. Several drops of rain hit my face, which probably the reason why I was awake. I sat up and looked around. I took another look at the sky. It was covered in clouds, the movement in the them seemed very unnatural and violent. It was very unnerving, as the rain came down no wind accompanied it.

Getting to my feet I noticed that I was stand on top of a barren hill, over looking the smoldering ruins of a destroyed city. The sky made everything a dark reddish tint. "Am....Am I dead." I questioned looking down at my hands. "Not yet..." whispered all around me. I turned around looking up at the dead branches of a odd looking tree. There was a swing hanging from its highest branch. There wasn't anyone using it. But it was swinging back and forth as if there was.

My vision blurred for a few seconds, as it cleared I noticed the same little girl from before now swinging, as if she had been doing so all long. I tried to think of something but could not. Her eyes were looking over the city. Her face was emotionless, as she seemed to survey the destruction. "You shouldn't be here little girl." I finally managed to say. Her eyes didn't move for several seconds like she was in deep thought. But as she turned to me, her expression became dark, volatile, and full of contempt. She seemed to be staring straight through me. I stepped back and began to hear obscure whispers. She was still glaring at me as I blacked out.

My eyes opened slowly, I was looking at the back of the drivers seat. "It was only a dream," I thought, my head as on fire. It was sore from the shot it took, when I jumped and hit the roof. I opened the car door and got out. My whole body felt like it had been worked over with a meat tenderizer. I looked around. The sky was covered in a brown haze. That made the new day seem like the evening I had woken up to the day before.

I recalled the events from the day before, still unable to recall anything from before the explosion. I began to stretch out my body. I wouldn't have been surprised if I popped every bone in my body. It felt rather good, to say the least. My senses must have been been stunted too cause a helicopter flew right over me and I almost didn't even notice it. The sound was but a dull roar as it flew off into the distance. I listened closer and began to hear a lot more. The sound didn't seem to far off but it was echoing off the buildings. Making it difficult to determine the direction. It was gunfire and lots of it.

I finally determined the direction of the firefight as I jogged into the intersection of a four lane street. My nerves immediately began to calm down. I felt like I was finally getting somewhere. There were cars all over the street. But I didn't take the time to pay attention to much of anything. I was concentrated on finding where the gunfire had came from. It had grown oddly silent now.

I continued down the highway and came up on an open area. There were road blocks and several odd looking vehicles parked around it. As I approached I began to notice blood on one of the concrete blocks. I looked around the area then began to move closer. I froze where I stood, in front of the roadblock that had blood stained on it.

"What could have done this?" My eyes were fixed on the bloodied human skeleton that laid directly on top concrete road block. There was a large bloody soup pool underneath the hanging skull The jaw was gapping, like the person had been screaming as they died. As I knelt down noticing something in the skeleton's hands which mostly covered in blood. I turned away and reached out my hand into the sickening mess. I bit my lip as I resisted the urge to vomit pulling out the pistol that was still being gripped with a finger on the trigger. I opened the skeleton's hand freeing the gun from it's grip.

Staring at the gun I pulled the clip out and noticed a round in the chamber, the gun hadn't been fired at all. I checked over the gun without really knowing what I was doing. Wiping both my hands and the gun off on my pants, I looked up over the roadblock blood painted everything red. I jumped over the concrete blockade.

Landing with a wet thud, I stared at the carnage that laid before me. Blood painted the ground in a gooey puddle. Which seemed to stick to the bottom of my shoes. "Its like their bodies melted off their bones." I said out of curiosity. A child-like giggle echoed through my head. I continued to make my way around the area. I counted over 2 dozen skeletons before I began to look at the vehicles. They were polygon shaped with a turret on the top. As I approached one of them from the behind. The back end of it was open much like a door, with a ramp touching the ground.

I could hear the quick panting of someone breathing inside. "Who's in there?" I asked, I received no reply. I poked my head inside and quickly ducked out of the way as a weapon fired several times before running empty. The person was still clicking the trigger as I turned into the vehicle pulling out my pistol. "Stay back!" a voice yelled, The guy was laying on the ground his back against the driver's seat hold a radio in one hand, and a pistol in the other. He was still clicking the trigger. His face was covered in sweat his eyes seemed like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. "You can stop dry shooting your pistol." I said.

"I said stay the fuck back!" He stopped clicking the trigger on the pistol and began to lower it. I clicked the safety on mine and put it away. His eyes watching me as I did so. "Who are you?" he asked. "Me? I am no one," I replied. "Wheres.....Wheres the rest of my squad." "Well if your talking about whats left of the poor bastards outside....." My voice trailed off, he seemed to get the idea. "I take it your a soldier?" his face went ridge.

"Look all I want to know is if your the good guys. Cause the last bunch I ran across opened fire on me without hesitation." His expression didn't change. "So it's classified? You could have just said that." I said in frustration. "Yes we are the good guys but our mission isn't search and rescue, like you might think. Our mission is containment by any means possible." "Containment of what?" I questioned. "Everyone, no one is allowed to leave the city until we can resolve the crisis. Haven't you been watching the news, all citizens are to either remain in their homes or go to a shelter." His voice began to get hostile.

"Hey I woke up in the middle of a street, a few yards from the side of the fucking crater. With no fucking memory of anything before that. Does it look like I have had a chance to sit down in front of a TV and watch the news?" I said almost yelling. "Alright I get it, It just surprises me that your not dead yet." he replied as he stood up. He was a Caucasian like me, though he was a lot bigger than me . "Why is that?" I questioned. He hesitated as if he was about to let some big cat out of the bag. "Becau....." his face immediately went ridged like someone had hit a pause button. "Because why?" I asked.

Thats when I noticed blood dripping from his nose. He began to scream. He grabbed his head as blood began to pour from his ears and mouth. For the next several seconds I stood there petrified. As the guy's skin began to melt off, he was still screaming, The sounds he was making were almost as disturbing as what I was witnessing. I took a few steps back in horror, he was pointing at me. The poor soul was still alive. His eyes melted out of his skull and the rest of him sort of just dropped in a gut-wrenching splash. What was left of him came to rest at the base of my feet. "What the fuck was that?" I yelled, turning around I caught a glimpse of that little girl, her yellow eyes looking into the vehicle, she was smiling. I ran out out the back and looked around she was gone.

"This is bullshit! People turning into a pile of gore at random, hallucinations, I am losing my fucking mind! What the fuck is going on?" I was screaming, Blood began to drip from my nose. I panicked thinking the same thing was happening to me. My head felt like it was going to split in two. I fell to the ground holding my head. "This can't be real, This can't be happening." I pulled my hands away from my head.

The pain venting between the center of my eyes was crippling. I pulled out my pistol and centered it between my eyes. My finger slammed on the trigger. It didn't move, I tried several times before driving the front sight into my skin. I threw the gun away and got up. My vision was blurred, my head felt like it was about to pop like a balloon. I walked over to the side of the vehicle and began to slam my fists into the gun metal colored armor plating.

For about a minute my fists and feet collided with the metal. I couldn't feel any pain originating from them. All I could feel was the pain that was boiling underneath the gash I had made with the gun. I finally stopped putting my back against the vehicle and sliding down it, coming to a rest on the ground. My hands were shaking violently. My vision was still blurry, but standing directly in front of me was that little girl. I was to wrecked too care what happened anymore. I closed my eyes, breathing slowly for several seconds. When I opened them she was gone.

"Any second now....." I mumbled, as I sat there thinking at any moment, I'd become like the rest of the corpses littered around me. I felt the pain between my eyes begin to fade, my vision also began to clear. I stood up and looked down at my hands. They cracked horribly as I clinched them into fists. Sharp jolts of pain shot up my arms, It felt lovely compared to what I just endured a few minutes ago. I walked over and picked up my pistol up off the ground. I turned looking into the gut-ridden interior of the military vehicle hearing the faint sounds of someone's voice...yelling.

As I stepped inside the voice became coherent. "Damn it Major you better not be sleeping!" The voice was coming from the radio the guy had been carrying. The man's voice sounded aged, but authoritative. I bent over and picked up the radio. "Major fucking report!" blared though the speaker. "Must you yell?" I asked speaking with a bit of annoyance in my tone. There was a short pause before the person began to speak again. "Jason is that you?" "No," I replied. "Then who's this and wheres Major Kepler " The man's voice seemed on edge. "Me? I am no one. As for your Major if he was the same poor fuck, who was once holding this radio. I watched him turned into a steaming pot of tomato soup."

"Damn it! Hold on a second." As I waited for a reply, I decide to get out of the vehicle, for obvious reasons. Static came through the radio as the same person began to speak. "Alright son you still alive?" "Apparently so," I replied back. "and you say that Kepler is dead?" "Well if melting like candle wax qualifies as death. Then yes I'd say everyone just about met the same fate here." There was a brief pause, "yes I am aware of that. Now who am I speaking with?" The person sounded impatient. "If I knew that I would have told you the first time." replying as I walked around the area. "Well I am General Author Lexington, I am in charge of the crisis situation here in Fairport."

"Good day General," I replied cheerfully. "Son I have a bit of a problem on my hands. The squad that you have come across are the only soldiers I had in the area. They were being prepped for a mission to secure an area close to your location," he explained. "I don't know how this concerns me." replying out of curiosity. "I believe you may be able to help out...." "Help out? you mean attempt the mission. I am no soldier, General." I replied cutting him off.

"Look I have no one else in the area, The only way into the area is either by helicopter, or the path that the original squad had to carve with their APCs. Trust me in any other situation, I wouldn't resort to this. I wouldn't even consider it as an option. I still can't believe that I am asking a civilian to help out in such a way. I need to know right now if you will help." his voice was demanding. I paused for several seconds before shaking my head. "What do you need me to do?" I replied into the radio.

"First let me explain, beneath your feet is a facility believed to contain information critical to helping contain the crisis. The squad's mission was to capture the entrance to the facility and wait the arrival of another team. Who would then infiltrate the facility and gather the info." He paused for a moment. "Your mission will be to recon the area around the entrance and reporting any activity. You will then wait as the original team designated to infiltrate the facility, will move in and secure the area themselves. You will link up with them when they have secured the area and they will call for helicopter extraction. When your safely on the chopper, they will infiltrate the facility and continue with they're mission. Is there anything you do not understand?" He questioned.

"No I think I understand, but if I may add. I was shot at by a group of soldiers who had been airdropped by helicopter. They opened fire on me as I fell into a hole in the street leading into a sewer drainage way. They mentioned something about taking up positions around around a facility's entrance." I said try to help out. "Shit.... ok thanks for the Intel. I am going to turn you over to Lieutenant Fairchild, she will monitor you and help you complete your mission. You need to listen to her every step of the way, if she tells you to run don't hesitate, Your survival might depend on wither or not you listen to her instructions. Good luck and thank you. When you make it back to our base safely, expect a proper greeting."

The radio went silent for about a minute, "ok big boy can you hear me?" The high pitched voice startled me. "Yeah I can" I replied "Good I need to get you combat ready ASAP. First head into one of the APCs, there should be lockers in there with military equipment, I need you to take off everything but your shirt and underwear the rest isn't needed." I listened and headed towards a second APC that had its back door down. Looking through the lockers I pulled out the gear she requested. "Now listen to me very carefully. The stuff your putting on is going to help protect you in a lot of ways. But its no use unless you are smart.

Most importantly you need to stay hidden. If you can effectively stay hidden, you will not have to worry about being shot at. Your mission being recon means you will be surveying an area from a distance." As she spoke I suited up and a few minutes later she had me sifting through the lockers again. "Its pretty small it clips to your ear, so I can speak to you without anyone hearing. For obvious reasons you don't want to be carrying around a hand held radio." "I found it I think," I said holding a small odd looking device. "Ok now there should be a switch on it, that turns it on. Once you flip the switch I can find it and then link my mic to it. Then you don't have to use that radio." She replied in a cheerful tone.

I clipped it to my ear. To my surprise she was already talking from it. "Now I need you to open up the weapons locker. You will need a sniper rifle and pistol." "I already picked up a pistol from outside." I replied. "Smart boy" she complimented. I grabbed the only sniper rifle in the locker and held it in my hands, It seemed oddly familiar, "ok I got a sniper rifle." I said.

She then began give me a crash course on how to use it. "Flip the lids open and look through the scope. The scope should already be zeroed in. "If you have to fire the weapon hold your breath and take your time with your target. This will allow you to steady your shot better. Hopefully you don't have to fire it. Without experience you'd probably be better off using the pistol. You will be using the rifle's scope to survey the area we need you to. If what you told the General is correct. You will need to report enemy locations, what type of weapons they are carrying and how many enemies." She explained.

"I don't see how this is going to help" I stated. "The information you will be giving us will be relayed to the team that is going in to secure the area. If they moved in without such information they would most likely die. So in a way their lives are in your hands. Theres a chance you might have to support them so remember what I said about aiming as long as you listen to me you should do just fine." Her words were reassuring.

"Now you need to load up on ammo. Below the weapons there should be a latch, open that. Inside you need to look for pistol clips and rifle magazines." Her voice seemed rushed, as she began to explain what the sniper magazines looked liked. I seemed to know what I was looking, cause I found them with ease, even she sounded surprised."ok you need to head directly south for now your several blocks away. Do yourself a favor and keep your finger off the trigger for now. You wouldn't want to shoot yourself."