Starfox Evil

Book III

Chapter Three: Out of the Dark

He'd been afraid of the dark once, as a child. It was one of his earliest memories. He'd been five or six, it's so hard to tell with those young ages, and the power had gone out. He didn't know why he'd woken up simply that he had, and immediately fell out of bed with a yell. As soon as he hit the floor he pushed himself backwards until he hit something, but still he couldn't see. So he'd started crying. That had been how his father'd found him when he'd brought a light in, curled up in a ball against the wall and crying. His father came and knelt in front of him setting the flashlight between them. And immediately the boy'd leapt into his father's lap, still crying and shuddering.

"Now now son. There's nothing to be scared of. There's nothing here that can hurt you. It's all right. Here let me show you."

His father had turned off the flashlight again and sat there with his son still in his arms. After a few moments he stood up and felt his way over to the closed window. Once he found it he said, "You should never be afraid of the dark son. Because there's always light in the end."

With those words he'd opened up the blinds and let the light of a full moon stream inside.

The next day he'd had gone on a mission… and James McCloud was never seen again.

Now Fox was older, wiser, and stronger. He was no longer afraid of the dark. And he'd taken his father's words to heart.

"It's gotta be here somewhere."

With his cybernetic eye set to night vision he had been searching the seemingly endless mines for what felt like weeks now trying to figure out where the ambient light was getting thru. And he knew there was light coming in, or else his vision would be far more impaired than it currently was. Finally, as he searched what the map he'd pulled off the control room wall indicated as tunnel 29D, the newest and deepest of all the branches of the mine, he found it. And looking at it gave him both hope and immensely frustrated him. The light was coming from a long tube in the ceiling, a ventilation shaft.

"Why the hell is it always the vents", Fox asked himself as he stared up at the small circle of sunlight, "Now how am I gonna get up there?"

It was then that he heard a loud crash from the entrance. Running back as fast as he could he saw that while the heavy metal doors were still solid, the stone around the frame was starting to crack and shatter, large chunks of stone falling to the floor. With his left hand gripping his blaster tightly and his mechanical right clenching into a fist he watched as the infected outside started forcing their way in.

Will and the three civilians he'd found were back on the roof of the mall watching as a small horde of infected swarmed around Gunner's crashed and damaged Orbital Entry Pod, or OEP. Bill, the only human of the group waved a frustrated hand and said, "Alright Mr. Smartass Military boy! Just how d'you plan to get yer pal outta that big metal casket he's in?"

Will turned his armored head and said, "I'm thinking dammit. Now shut up."

The mercenary was quiet for another minute before he said, "Have the infected left the front door yet?"

The youngest of the group, Melody said, "I'll check", and ran over to the far edge of the roof, casting a quick glance over the edge, "Yes they're gone!"

Will smiled inside his helmet and said, "Good."

He looked at Melody's mother and said, "Grab your things Miranda. We're moving."

The older feline nodded and picked up a pair of duffel bags, handing one to Melody after slinging the other around her shoulder. They quickly followed Bill and Will back inside and down to the front door. As Miranda entered the code to unlock the door Will outlined his plan.

"Now I'm going to need you three to be on the look out for anything that still looks drivable. Preferably an aircar but a ground model will do. Also keep an eye open for emergency response vehicles. Patrol cars, ambulances, you know them we'll need one to get Gunner out. I've sent a pulse out thru my suit's FOF system and found an APC a few blocks over. We'll use that to get out of the city if nothing else is available. Just stick by me and you'll be fine."

He then set off at a quick pace, sidearm at the ready. About halfway to the little beacon on his HUD Will was tapped on the shoulder by Melody who pointed down the street. There was a police ground unit sitting half on the sidewalk, the red and blue lights on it's roof still flashing.

"Good job kid."

She kind of scowled at him, "Hey! I'm sixteen. I'm not a kid."

Will just snorted, "You're younger than me, so you're a kid. Now come on."

He jogged in the direction of the cruiser, but stopped abruptly when he saw the thick leg dangling out of the open door, as if the officer had simply stopped on a hot day and left the door open to feel a gentle breeze. Holstering his blaster Will drew his combat knife and began creeping up on the car, wishing the sun were in any other position so he could see thru the glare. When he was but a few feet from the door he felt his heavy boot settle on something and crush it with a soft crunch. In the silence of the dead city the sound thundered in the ears of everyone present, making Will freeze in place and the civilians hide behind a crashed aircar. From the cab of the squad car there came a groan and the leg shifted, quickly followed by it's partner as their owner stood from the vehicle. The bull was massive. Definitely standing on the large end of the size spectrum, even for his species. He was easily nine foot tall probably weighing almost four hundred pounds. And he was most definitely not alive.

Will gawked as the huge zombie towering over him gave a low growl, but made no advance upon the dumbfounded soldier. Instead it narrowed it's remaining eye and sniffed the air, as if confused. Then it simply turned and shuffled away. Will gulped and slowly put away his blade as soon as the zombie had it's back turned. As it shuffled off down an alley Will relaxed slightly and waved the others forwards. As soon as he was in range Bill whispered, "Why the hell didn't ya put him down boy?"

Will said, "Simply put. I don't think I could have. Bulls have really thick skulls, I doubt I could've pierced it with this. And I know I wouldn't have been able to break his neck before he got the attention of more of them."

He was quiet for a moment as he mentally shook it off, just another brush with death in an ever-growing list. When he was ready he said, "Alright. Who wants to drive this thing?"

Miranda gawked and said, "What?"

Will sat in the driver's seat and passed his I.D. over the scanner, "Emergency Military Override 99037William Patterson Trident.

"Override accepted Gunnery Sergeant Trident. Your access has been logged."

Will stood back up and said, "I am the only one here who can drive that APC. So one of you will have to be the distraction."

At the appalled looks he was given will shook his head and snapped, "Look. They have no chance of catching you, so long as you're careful. Just drive over and turn on the siren to get their attention and drive away. After you get outside the city kill the siren and head to the Long Shore Motel, just north of here on the lakeshore. The rest of us will take the APC and link up with you there", checking his mission chronometer he said, "If you don't hear from us in say… three hours. Okay? Then just go. Keep driving and don't stop 'til you absolutely have to."

Then he pointed at Bill, "You do it."

The human scoffed, "Excuse me? Why should I? Why not you?"

Will crossed his arms and said, "Because on top of what I already said I'm also the only one who can maneuver Gunner's pod into position to open it. And I won't ask Melody or Miranda to split up, just in case something goes horribly wrong", he then leaned in close, his dull facemask stopping a mere inch from crashing into Bill's nose, "Now get in the car."

Bill flinched slightly when the armored soldier leaned close, but nothing more. After a moment of staring into that emotionless black visor he sighed, "Fine."

The human sat in the squad car and drove down the street, turning and heading back the way they came. Will waved the two females over and said, "Let's go."

As the three made their way around the impact crater, Bill slowly and quietly drove the squad car up behind a building on the rim where he could see most of the far side and wait for the signal. Feeling very exposed he held his pistol tightly in one hand, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. After waiting about twenty minutes he saw a flash from across the crater, then another. Setting his jaw he flicked on the sirens and lights and drove out into the impact zone, running down a pair of zombies that turned towards him. Smashing the accelerator he swung the car in a wide ark over the broken pavement, before driving away, dozens of the undead chasing after him. After a moment of near silence, the only sound that of the sirens growing distant, Will stood up from his position behind a broken wall and stepped out into the open, his civilian charges behind him.

They quickly moved to the damaged pod and Will delivered two sharp knocks on it's side before grabbing the trapped face and heaving, his armor lending him a strength he could never know without it, slowly lifting the pod off the ground, turning it to lay face up while the two women kept watch. As it settled onto it's side Will stopped for a breath, wishing he could wipe the sweat built up on his brow. As that thought crossed his mind Melody screamed.

Will snapped his head in her direction, then in the direction she was looking. Catching a shadow out of the corner of his eye he barely had time to avoid a large slab of concrete as it slammed into the ground right where he'd been standing. The piece of debris sent Gunner's pod spinning away.

As Will's eyes moved to the origin point of the debris he said, "Gunner? Respond! Respo…"

It was at that moment that he saw the massive, hulking form standing on the edge of the clearing. Grabbing his sidearm he held down the trigger for an overcharge and shouted, ""Hide", as the Tank began to charge,

His weapon only gathered a half charge before he released the trigger and the foot wide glob of plasma smacked into the Tank, which just charged right thru it bellowing it's fury as it's flesh was set ablaze. It swung a massive arm, which connected with Will's chest plate and sent him flying, his shields drained to zero. Crashing to the ground he rolled in an attempt to get his feet back under him as he felt the ground begin to quake as the tank charged him again. As soon as he could he turned and sprinted for the edge of the crater, scrambling over collapsed walls and a destroyed hovercar. Just as his right foot touched the ground he felt something grab his left ankle and stop him with a jerk.

Looking down he saw a long slimy tentacle wrapped around his boot, which was dragging him back towards the Tank, which had fallen into a rage as the plasma burns continued to spread across it's body. Following the slimy appendage back to it's source he saw another mutation, this one tall, with large bulbous sores all over it's body. The tentacle appeared t be coming out of it's mouth, and that's when Will realized it was the beast's tongue. Drawing his sidearm again Will aimed at the tall zombie and fired. His shot went a little low, striking the tongue and severing it about a foot from the creature's mouth, causing it to let out a grating scream and thrash around for a moment before doing something he never thought he'd see a zombie do…run away, leaving a cloud of green smoke in it's wake. The sound of his shot attracted the attention of the tank and it charged.

Instead of knocking him away again though it grabbed him and began to squeeze, trying to crush him to death with it's massive hands. As his shields popped and failed again, alarm blaring in his ears, Will brought both feet up and droved his armored boots into the Tank's distorted face. The sudden impact caused the Tank to jerk back, dropping the armored mercenary, who rolled away just as another voice shouted, "Hey! Asshole!"

The tank turned on the new voice just as there was a quiet thoomp! and something struck it in the chest, an object which began to beep menacingly. Will recognized that sound and scrambled to his feet and ran away as the tank roared briefly, then vanished in a flash of white fire. Will turned to see Gunner standing beside his pod, grenade launcher still smoking in his armored hands. The ferret's armor was more reminiscent of his Helljumper gear, the only difference being his helmet had a slim command network module on the side, and the armor's colors were white and blue, rather than standard issue black. Walking over he kicked a large chunk of still burning zombie and said, "I like this new launcher. Hey! Whaddya think? Judge 2.0?"

Will shook his head, "You call that thing whatever you want so long as you keep using it like that."

The two mercenaries' laughter was interrupted by a loud gravelly scream and will muttered, "Great. The tongue guy's back, Miranda! We've gotta move!"

Their run thru the streets was taxing, as they were chased the entire way to the APC by the tall zombie, which continued to take potshot's at them with it's regenerating tongue. But finally they made it, Gunner sealing the heavy rear door as Will slid into the driver's seat and logged on. As Gunner sat next to him he removed his helmet and plugged it into a nearby jack, projecting his HUD onto his side of the windshield. When he saw that they weren't moving directly towards their objective he said, "Will? Where are we going?"

Will flicked a switch, turning on the auto-drive as he reached up and took off his own helmet, "We've got another civilian to pick up", when he saw the look Gunner was giving him he chuckled, "Without him to draw away most of the infected you'd still be sitting in your box back there."

Gunner scoffed and folded his arms, "Whatever. All I'm gonna say is that we don't have a whole lotta time", he glanced at the mission clock on the display, "So we've gotta do this quick."

42:38:15

42:38:14

42:38:13

End Chapter Three