Chapter 2 – Hollow

That was nearly a year ago, that day on the train. Strange how quickly life seems to move on. Now, now the world is much different. I sit up in my shammy of a room, and just sit there for a moment, relaxing in the quiet darkness; it's half past one in the morning. Looking around my room I look at all I have left of my old life. My dark souls shirt, a stack of letters from my YouTube fans, a batman mug, and a picture of me and my parents. That is all I could grab when I went back to try and save my parents. They weren't home when I arrived, and they are presumed to be dead, but it is still something I question to this day. I hope they are dead; this is not a world you want to be living in.

After that day on the train, vast ships flooded our planet, taking over each major country. This was not some random alien invasion, this was a planned attack. Precise. Accurate. Without fault. These aliens knew just were to strike to cripple us entirely. They attacked the White house first, toppling the leadership of the states, then quenched their defence facilities; they moved country to country next, utterly destroying any hope there was left, until we were completely under their control. They had total control within a month, it was like Avengers, but we had no one to save us. I'm not even sure how I survived myself, just pure luck in my opinion. When we had left that forest that horrible day, and retrieved what we could from the closest houses to us (mine and Rage's), we travelled across Europe, to each of our groups houses (other than Tyde of course, America was out of the question) to try and save what we could... Unfortunately, none of our families were home. It was just us, The Crew, as so many have called us before.

Now-a-days we live in a warehouse, just off the coast of Brighten; reminds me a bit of the safe house in Wolfenstein. It's a huge building that used to store parts for Ford industries, so needless to say, vehicles are not a problem for us. Right now I am sitting up on an old conveyer belt, right beside a window, not the safest place, but it has a magnificent view of the ocean. The sounds on the waves crashing along the beach are quite calming. We are one of the few resistances left surviving in Britain; one of the largest too. Throughout our travels over the past year we managed to pick up quite a few survivors to tag along with us. It is a surprise that the Reigenals (our name for the aliens) have not discovered us yet. Tyde almost blew our cover yesterday when he decided to do a midday market raid. Yes, we were low on our food supplies, but it was moronic to try a raid during broad daylight. Just as he left the market place with preservatives and medication, a fleet of Reigenals stormed the place. The only reason they got out alive was because of Evanz. It turns out he is a real tactical thinker. They made it back without notice, but it was too close for comfort. I look outside to try and relax, and I see the sun just picking up along the horizon. And that is the last thing I see as I fall asleep.

When I awake, it is midday, and almost everyone is up. I look down and see Evanz, Tyde and Rage sitting at a table talking, and I decide to join them. Hopping off the conveyer belt, I land right beside Rage with a bang; he fell out of his chair. "What the hell man?" he complains, glowering up at me from the ground, "don't scare me like that!" Meanwhile, Evanz and Tyde are in tears from laughter.

"Sorry bro, it was just to perfect" I reply with a wink, "So, what's going on? Did you manage to get everything you needed in that raid yesterday?" I ask Tyde, with a hint of disapproval.

"Yes, in fact I did, but something happened when we were out there, they used a weapon I've never seen before!" Tyde explained, "It was a gas of sorts, they filled the whole market with the stuff. I breathed it in, but it didn't really do anything"

"Strange, maybe it is a work in progress type thing. Hopefully it just didn't work, whatever it was" I say.

"Hopefully. Anyway, before you hopped down here, we were talking. We think we found a way to infiltrate the nearest base. We can get in and out without detection, but our plan is much bigger than an "in and out" job. See, we hold the resistance here in Britain, but who knows how big the resistances are in other countries? My, our, plan is to tackle the base at Rottingdean. There is where the Reigenals hold their air fleet, or at least a large portion of it. If we can get in we could steal part of their fleet. We could leave Britain! Who knows, maybe they didn't get to every Country.." Tyde says. He is serious this time.

"Attack a base? Like a full out assault? You're not joking are you? Jeez, well please tell me you have a plan for this… We can't just go barging in without one."

"Of course we have one! I mean, I know I'm American, but I'm not that stupid" he laughs, "Here, Evanz, tell Hollow your plan".

"ol'right, well-"

"-Wait, we should draw a meeting, if we are really going to do this, everyone should be here." I interrupt, "GUYS LISTEN UP! WE ARE HAVING A MEETING; GO TO THE GROUND FLOOR COUNCIL ROOM!" I yell loud enough so my voice echoes around the whole facility. "Alright, tell me when you get to the council room".

The Council Room was just the old manager's office of the warehouse; the type of room with a huge glass window overlooking the facility. We had torches lined along the wall to keep the room bright, and in the center of the room was a long table, with chairs surrounding it. Evanz was standing at the head of the table, Tyde at his side. Around the table were the other "leaders" of our group; Rage, Anzlotte, Fluke,_, Juke, Gubiak, Pocket, Peace, Jake, Leni, and myself.

"So, Evanz, what is this plan of yours?" I asked.

"Well, you all know of the Reigenals base out in Lewes correct? Well, my plan is to confront it. In our raid yesterday, we were able to acquire enough weapons for us to lead an invasion" He threw a three foot long, glowing, blood red sword on the table, "This is their main weapon. Not only is it a sword, but it also is able to use charges to fire off balls of energy. With these, and the proper training to use them, I think we have a good chance of getting into the base, and stealing a hovercraft."

There was a kind of awestruck around the table.

"And how, per say, are we going to accomplish this? Even with the weapons, we are thoroughly outmatched." Rage retorted.

"Well, that all comes down to timing. Pocket here" Evanz waved to the small, blonde girl on his left "has been watching the Reigenal base for quite some time. They follow a simple routine, mandated shifts, scheduled raids etcetera. So, following that schedule, she has informed us that an opening will be available this Saturday next. A raid into Rottingdean will be leaving at two in the morning, which means the defences will be lowered."

"This is our opportune moment!" Tyde continued, "With them gone, who knows, we could get out! Guys, this is our best chance, for all we know, they could find our base here on Sunday! We are not going to get another shot like this. It is now or never!"

The confidence that Evanz and Tyde brought to the table made even me believe that this was going to work. It seemed like this was really it, this was going to be our escape from the madness.

"Well, this is a week from now, let's sleep on it, see what morning brings" I say, I can't help feeling a little hopeful.

Everyone nods at this, and the meeting is called to an end. As we are all leaving, I can't help but feel an aura of hope in the air. Could we really do this?