3
Jackson Ovurlin
December 15, 2012; 1630 hours
Northern Paris, Northern French Resistance Lands
We followed the setting sun after I called in a helicopter through my walkie talkie. Sophia insisted in leaving me after tomorrow's dusk. I didn't object, but she said we could keep in touch, if she had a cell phone at all. We are now sitting side by side at a porch of some abandoned apartment, sitting next to a fire I made using a match and some wooden planks.
"What's like in the French Resistance. Is it like a tribe underground or a bustling surviving city..." I trailed off, letting her answer my question.
"Jamier and I live, like most of the Resistance, outside of abandoned cities. We live 2 miles off of Paris, somewhere north passed those hills. The radiation didn't reach our place, so we were able to live and train as scouts. Most of the people live underground, sending scouts to pass on messages and kill the remnants of the Horde still wandering out.
Most of our leftover society is under the leadership of President Deuvien Van Rhoette. He claims the northern survivals of France. He promised to rebuild French society and be found but that was twenty years ago, now we barely even prayed if it might come true. We've been starving for so long. Our people is suffering, and we need help. We were going to get found once we rebuild our civilization, but we are on desperate terms. We need fresh locally grown food, and we are just rationing the last of our stockpile. They're sending scouts like us to find some food and fresh water outside of our territory. My brother and I were sent to kill off the remaining Horde, but after that, we were supposed to go out with the other scouts to the Spanish or German old lands to find food and water. I lost my brother when we were separated by these two Hordes. I gave my weapon to my brother, but now I'm not so sure if he's even alive anymore..." I stared down at her with sympathy. She had lost her home, her life, even her her brother. I handed her a granola bar from my rucksack, I've only guessed she needed more than me.
As she nibbled onto the granola bar, I sprang forth, roasting the canteen and using the water from the water bottle and put it over the fire for the water to boil. She's all dirty now. A few hours ago, I've found a medical kit and treated her burns, now, she's healing but still a little bit in pain. I've set my body near the fire, feeling the warmth radiating out of the flame as I continue to roast our dinner.
"The helicopter would arrived tomorrow. There was some trouble elsewhere that was more important than me," I said, still staring thoughtfully at the fire.
"Do you ever feel alone, sometimes?" Sophia sighed, coughing out her breath.
I stared at her, wondering why would she say that, but words began slipping out of my lips, "Well, yeah. But don't you have your brother with you?"
"Yeah, but. I just wish I could have a normal life. I grew up having to fend off with my own and with my brother. My parents died with the last of the Horde in Tours. The bombs fell and my parents died to saved us. It was hard, but we grew up."
"I'm...so sorry, for that."
"Don't sweat it, kid. The past is the past. Now, let's get some more food to fill us, huh?" Sophie patted my back and stood up, swallowing the last of the granola bar down her throat. I stood up, too, feeling sympathetic to her situation. She had endured the loss of her parents for years, and she had been living through all this time. I looked down at my feet, staring at the thought of her lost. She lost her parents, and she's determined not to lose her brother, too. I stood up and walked beside to where Sophia was standing, looking out at the view of the destruction of the city through the half eaten wall. Most of the debris around me had filled the room up to my shins. From my vantage point of view, the city was in ruins, many buildings were topped or completely destroyed, vegetation seeped through the cracks and walls of most of the infrastructures. To the south, the Eiffel Tower, topped and filled with vines and vegetation, more or less about to collapsed at any minute. I could see the Arch of Triumph from the distance, most of the stone structure collapsed into rubble. The streets down from my position buckled against the growing vegetation and debris filling the streets like a tsunami. A large whirlpool of dust and debris swept across the far east as the radiation swept through the city. I looked to my left, Sophia was still wearing her suit, which told me she'll be fine, for now. I walked to her as she crawled to a sitting position, aiming her eyes at the sun, nearly setting down at the distance. I only sat adjacent to her, watching the sun setting at the distance, the clouds and the sky pinking to a shade of red and blue. The wind in the distance drizzle with dust and smoke. Fires from the west side of my viewpoint endowed a fire storm, raging across the buildings, burning away human existence using the vegetation and the heat as fuel. The wind rustled against my hair as I aim my hand nears hers. I quickly pulled back, afraid of something. I closed my fist against my chest, feeling regret of my move. Sophia turned her head to the east, watching a group of Horde, about twenty, walking aimlessly at different directions. I quickly reassured my jaw and spoke.
"Do...do you think, we should go outside, like it's safe, or something," I turned to the direction of the group of Horde.
"Yeah, I supposed, if we have enough distance away from them," Sophia mumbled, gazing at the group intensely. I watched Sophia stood up, as so did I.
"We've got to go before sunset. And fast," Sophia stood near the fire.
"Yeah, I guess. I'll get my gun, you could meet me outside," I watched Sophia grabbed her knapsack and left out the door. I sighed walking to the right corner of the room, grabbing my backpack and gun and left the door, also, feeling the rush of the wind brush me as I closed the door. Tomorrow, I'm leaving, but I can't leave Sophia. She's still looking for her brother. I sighed, leaving the door partly closed. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I'll decide.
I walked down the hall. I slashed my backpack around my shoulders and holding my gun against my chest. Walking legitimately close to the walls, I held my eyes ahead. I
"Hey, kid. There's a Horde downstairs," Sophia said in the distance. I made a left turn from the hallways and found myself walking down the stairs. I watched silently through the dark as I heard moans and gurgles through the darkness. If there was hell on Earth, this was the place. I thought of any plan on removing the Horde, but I can't shoot it. The group of Horde outside could hear it, and would most likely find us. If the French somehow survived this ordeal, they would most likely be in this situation everyday. How did the French Resistance live like this. To be in alert everyday, knowing death and destruction is everywhere and every time you step on this desolate place. I made my way down silently, without much sound from my footfalls. I kept a lookout through the darkness ahead, peering my ears at any sound coming at me. I heard a grizzled footstep near the lobby. This is taking a toll in my senses. I quickly ran into a baseball bat around my left foot. I picked up the bat and held it against my hands. Yes, I could use this bat to knock the Horde away. I held my gasped against this baseball bat while putting my gun behind me.
Suddenly, I felt a grab on my left shoulder and quickly turned around, holding my bat against my body. It was just Sophia's face, putting her index finger against her lip as a sign to shut up. I nodded and we both tiptoed through the dark.
In our surprise, we found ourselves in another room, through a door which was too dark to recognize. I quickly grabbed my flashlight from my pocket and aimed it ahead. Once I flickered the on switch, the light shone ahead, showing the Horde against the counter with his eyes peering at us; red with blood. I nearly whimpered but Sophia was quicker to react. She quickly stole the baseball bat from my grasped and ran off ahead, knocking the Horde's forehead like a pinata. I looked down to find the Horde laying down, unconscious.
"Whoa, that was fast," I broke the silence. Sophia looked at me and smile giving the bat back.
"Be fast, kid. I learned that a long time ago," Sophia smirked.
"You've got a lot of edjamacations about handling this exemplar of quandary," I noted to her while Sophia looked at me suspiciously.
"I'm an adult and even I don't know what you just said," Sophia bit her chapped lip while I chuckled putting my bat against my left shoulder.
"Never mind, let's go out," I motioned my head to the door that lead outside. Sophia nodded and grabbed a knife from the counter. I set my flashlight between my teeth and slid my backpack down the kitchen table, opening the zipper. I quickly put out a map of Paris and slid my baseball bat at a handle of my backpack. I quickly sealed the pack and followed Sophia outside.
As I walked outside, looking at the outside hell this city is. The streets were so calamitous with debris and fires, it was hard to bear. Cars around me were on fire and rusted with vegetation filling the scenery. Grass and moss filled the streets while trees and vines hang down the abandoned infrastructure. Most of the debris around us were already in form of deteriorating. I stepped past Sophia as she held her hand against my chest, motioning her head to the group of Hordes a few blocks to the left. We both crouched to the nearest car, which was already so deteriorated that it was unrecognizable. Sophia motioned her index finger against her lip.
"Shh, we need a plan. Your bat wouldn't get all of those all at once," Sophia whispered. I crouched next to the back trim of the car and spot the nearest Horde struggling to walk near the entrance of a restaurant. The view began to solidify as I noticed the other Hordes seemed to be at least searching for something or someone.
"Why are the Hordes acting like-?" I asked back to Sophia.
"I don't know, but we can't stay here much longer, we'll soon get caught," Sophia interjected before I could open my mouth. I sighed, grabbing my gun behind me.
"We'll, we've got to-" I was interrupted by a grunt behind us. I turned to my left and saw a Horde walking straight at us, dragging his body towards our direction.
"Run!" Was all I could say before I instantly shot it. Sophia grabbed my baseball bat from my handle and ran off past our safe car. I quickly ran off also, being chase by the group of Hordes.
"We need to get out of here," Sophia yelled, instantly grabbing my arm. I nodded, not looking back. We both ran for about a minute through the desolate vegetated streets. I nearly stumbled upon a block of concrete from a collapsed building when Sophia yanked me back up. I squeezed my eyes shut as we ran forward.
"Where are we going?" I asked her but she just stood her eyes forward, unable to move back.
I was quickly struck by a rapid and unexplainable events as we both bumped into a group of men in radiation suits and with guns. The men rushed forward from the windows above us from a two story window. Three men rushed for our aid as we both were grabbed and taken back to a building. The men grabbed my wrist my wrist while a man yanked Sophia's elbow, grabbing us inside the door. We both nudged ourselves inside as the men fought off the Hordes for us. I nearly suffocated as the man in radiation suit grabbed me from the mouth. My mind fills with so many thoughts going at once, my mouth was in a moment of presque vu as words came out as a struggle to breathe. The men dragged us inside while shutting the door closed. The man looked at me intently while I just layed back in perplexity.
"You okay, kid. You don't have your suit," the man with a low masculine voice asked. The man who grabbed me stared at me with a scowl.
"I'm immortal, I can't die.," I snarled back. How dare they just kidnapped us like that?!
"What are you talking about, kid?" the man who yanked me asked, now approaching me with a larger scowl.
"I'm an experiment from the American government, so I can't age, die, or grow old. I'll live forever never catching the virus or having to have wrinkles like the one all over your face," I smirked, crossing both my arms.
"That would explain why you're still alive and your white hair, how old are you exactly," the other guy with a contented face asked.
"About eighty. I was born in 1928, if you must know," a few gasped filled the room, but the guy who grabbed me aimed his gun at me...and pulled the trigger. The other guy grabbed the guy who shot me by the shoulders and Sophia screamed, nearly knocking the guy with the gun. But as the smoke cleared, I came out clean. I wiped my mouth and stood up, rubbing my shirt from all of the dirt and grabbing the now bent bullet, showing the bullet to them upon my left palm.
"Y-you're..." the other guy who was still grabbing the other guy who shot me opened his jaw. All three of them held their jaw down, gasping for air. I only rolled my eyes as if this wasn't normal, which it was.
"I'm not dead, weirdos. Can we go now?" I snarled sending the three scared and surprised grown adults in a state of shock and fear. I tossed the bullet at the forehead of the guy who shot me, "Here, you got your bullet back," I crossed my arms.
"So-so you're...an...experiment?" the other guy asked, still holding his position while still his arms around the guy who shot me.
"Name's Jack," I held my arm ahead, waiting for a handshake. Sophia was quick to recover and motioned the two shocked guys to shake my hands, though shakingly moving their hands to me. Sophia punched the guy who shot me on his left shoulder.
"M-mine's Derick Farine," the guy who tried to stop the other guy that shot me said, shaking his hands worryingly as if I would kill him in an instant.
"I won't bite, man," I smiled and moved on to the guy who shot me.
"M-mine's John McGreggory...and nice...an immortal teenager, on our hands. Heh-heh, sorry for shooting you kid, I just wanted to know if it's true. Besides, we've got medical kit and I only shot you on the shoulder. We'll by the looks of it, I guess, we don't need it..." John shakily shook my hand, making a contented face while feeling a bit guilty. Sophia and Derick shot a snarled look at John's direction.
"Well, why did ya shoot me?" I made a scowl, running back at him.
"Y-you weren't wearing a suit, so I thought you were a Horde that followed us. But a Horde would've died anyway if I shot him. So, no hard feelings," John said, putting his hand behind his back, feeling sheepishly guilty.
"Next time, don't make anymore hyperbole accusations like that, 'kay, John," I smiled sarcastically while turning around to find myself in an empty bar. After Sophia punched John on the lower jaw, I finally had the courage to speak, "Who are you guys?"
John spoke up quickly before Derick could adjust his jaw to speak, "We are the French Resistance, the Paris Branch Group 3," John spoke in a meaningful expression.
I stared at his expression while tilting my head, "You guys are the only ones left in Paris?"
John raised an eyebrow, "Uh, no. Like I said, we are Group 3. There are about 6 groups of the Paris branch scattered all around the north, west, and east side of the city. The 7th and 8th died from the radiation in the south side. It was sad, but we manage."
"Oh, I met one of you guys somewhere near the Le Bonne Restauration," Sophia interrupted.
"That was probably Group 5. Say, what city branch are ya from little girl," John snickered while Sophia glared an eye at him.
"It's Sophia, idiot. And call me that again or shoot Jack again, and I will personally slit your throat," Sophia conspicuously jabbed a finger in front of John's face causing tension between the two. I glared at John also, not sure if he could be trusted or not.
"Just answer my question-"
"Versailles Branch, a few miles west-southwest of Paris," Sophia interjected, glaring an immediate stare at him while John smiled, enjoying all this. Derick and I rolled our eyes, disgusted.
"Anyway, sweaty, about him. Why are you here kid, or should I say yoda or something," John chuckled at my direction. Immediately, Sophia punched John right in the nose, while John just held back covering his bloody nose.
"Thanks, Sophia," I smiled as so does Derick.
"He can be such an asshole sometimes. Nice meeting you kid," Derick smiled and patted my back. Sophia and John dared to make a staring contest but soon died down as Derick spoke clearly, and filled with leadership.
"Now, straight to business..." Derick glared at all of us as he dragged his gun against his chest, "Since we have guest in our hands, we will have to maneuver the plan." Derick walked across the room filled with broken chairs and tables to the middle of the room with a very large wooden table and a large 32-48 in. street map of Paris. Derick pulled out his pencil from his pocket and draw a line through a street.
"We are now at the Dispensaire Saint Luc Hospital at the Rue Championnet Street. We were about to drive through the Theatre Pixel building, or what's left of it, until Jack and Sophia showed up. Now, we have to go here as a check point..." Derick circled the building called Cie Remue Menage and dot our destination. He opened his mouth and continued out destined plan, "And then we can cross the street and enter the Theatre Pixel complex right over here." Derick took a large inhale, glad about his new drawn up plan.
"Why do you guys need to go there?" I asked raising an eyebrow. John was about to intervene and open his mouth but Derick put a hand against his chest and mentally told him to just shut up. Derick spoke again, answering my question politely instead of whatever John was about to say.
"We're running out of supplies, and we need to loot more buildings that hasn't been destroyed yet," Derick said, crossing his arms proudly.
"Uh, we were just getting some supplies, too. Maybe we can team up?" Sophia asked, somewhat staring at him too long.
"Good, we could use some experienced fighters around for a change, right John?" Derick gleed at John with a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah. Just don't let that bitch get to me, again. My face hurts like hell, now!" John rubbed his jaw.
"You asked for it, anyway," Sophia and I both said in unison, but Derick broke off the fight before it could continue.
"Right, now, we have more things on our hands, like helping the others outside."
We quickly scurried to grab our guns and followed Derick, whom seemed to be the leader of the Group, lead us through the ruckus. We all hid behind a rusted car set on fire. I held my gun against my chest, peering to the side of the car, waiting for Derick to give us a clear. The smoke and smog was everywhere, giving us only a few yards of visibility. We had to rely on Derick's expertise and our good sense of hearing to surpass this. We quickly followed Derick through a set of rusted cars as the smoke cleared. Seriously, what happened here while we were gone for like only twenty minutes. I quickly dodged a bunch of rubble and dead bodies that stayed down. Vegetation was everywhere, like a concrete jungle, so we have to move quickly and fast without rustling the grass blades and the vines. We finally moved past through about five cars before we have anything to do.
"Oh...no," I heard Derick whispred through the smoke and tall grass that reached through my chest. We quickly followed Derick's voice and found ourselves in a midst of a dead body with a suit still on. Sophia quickly set her finger on his throat to check his pulse.
"Slow, must be turning into a Horde," Sophia whispered quietly, but we all heard it. We all set our heads down in mournful. He was one of the guys who defended us, one of the French Resistance. I hadn't met him yet , but if I had, I would've felt really mourned with memories passing through my head right now. John and Sophia were quick to respond and nudged Derick and I to move forward. I was surprised they were taking all of this in so fast, but we were not alone. We are in an open area, too insecure for us to be here too long. We had to keep moving before anyone else becomes a victim.
We entered through the theater fast and quiet. I guessed that the smoke and vegetation was so thick that the Hordes didn't hear or saw either one of us, so I stood my ground. I stood in front of a blue-but rusted garage door with a broken wooden dark brown door right in front of me. I looked up to find the second story filled with debris and vines while the rest were topped. To my right was one more blue garage hanger and a small metal fence post that was already so rusted and filled with vegetation that it was unrecognizable. The symbol of the broken door said 21 which was probably an address code or something. Derick walked inside first, holding his gun forward and forgetting about his dead companion. John was quick to follow and also acted more like Derick for awhile, quick confident, and kept his priorities straight. Sophia and I followed lastly, still a bit twitchy with a dead friend of ours. We kept a bit distant from each other as we walked towards the unknown dark void we just entered. It was so dark and eerie, like a ghost just claimed this as home. It might as well be with so many dead bodies filling the dark room.
We followed Derick through a room, which was probably the office, and found ourselves surrounded by files, clipboards, stamped envelopes, and pictures and notes filed across the walls and floors and tables. Since we relied on little light, the notes were too dark to read. Derick flickered his flashlight on, showing us secrets we shouldn't have seen. Around us, maps, labels, notes, envelopes, papers, files, all secret government files in German where everywhere. All of these were top secret files, and in German, which was surprising to us. And conspicuous to all of this, a large map stood in front of us, smack in the middle of the room, showing a large section of eastern Germany and red markings in German. But it was all too familiar: The Fourth Reich. Around the large section was red circles indicating followers of the Fourth Reich, all around Europe. And what's even more surprising, the city of Paris was circled, too. And we were in it. We were in the midst of the Fourth Reich followers.
And the next thing we knew, the door was slammed shut and a 'click' from our ears indicate the door was locked, trapping us here forever...
Author's Note: The first few chapters will be just character buildup and such. Enjoy...
