Ooh! Chapter 3 at last! This is the longest chapter I've ever written for a multi-part fan fiction, I hope you all enjoy it and than you too everyone who has reviewed so far!
"I can't believe you convinced me to do this," Ted said as he sped down a lonely New Mexico highway.
Archimedes hopped absentmindedly along the dash and nestled behind the steering wheel, giving Ted a look that said 'go on'.
"You know I was only home for two days. Two days. All I wanted to do was adjust back to my own time zone and relax, but no, I'm here, driving in the desert to some remote town no one's ever heard of. Great."
From behind a set of low lying desert hills, the tiny town of Teufort rose from the earth. The whole town wasn't much, just a few businesses, a shambled motel and a dump right at the heart of it all. In a skillful slide, Ted parked alongside a fountain adorning the only nice building in the area: the town hall.
"Not much in the way of a town," Ted said, stepping out onto the gravel street.
Archimedes flew up and took his perch on Ted's shoulder before the car door could lock him inside.
"Hey there folks!" A stocky man in a suit called as he jogged towards Ted, "Welcome to the wonderful town of Teufort, I'm the mayor. Please though, call me Mike."
"Ah, yes, hello," Ted replied, "Could you direct me to the company Builder's League United? I've been told they own a gravel mill in the area."
The mayor scratched his chin, "Mmmmh, I don't know anything about a gravel mill, but we do have an excellent multi-milled beer. Or I could show you the town hall, we have a very nice courthouse and prison there. We don't get many visitors..."
"I don't care about your town hall. I want you to tell me where I can find the company Builder's League United."
"Welllllllllllll, I suppose you could check the abandoned gravel pits east of town, but..."
Ted whipped back around and started his car. In an instant, he was off and chasing the rising sun. Within minutes of leaving the city limit, black scorch marks and craters appeared across the stark landscape. Soon, the paved road ended and Ted found himself traveling along a deteriorating dirt trail. Farther along, bits of rusted metal littered the ground. At one point, he had to swerve to avoid the rotting husk of what looked like a massive metal tank. With every passing minute, the road grew more and more war torn.
At this point, most men would've turned back. They would've driven straight back to civilization and forgotten the place all together. But not Ted. The more he drove, the more questions popped into his head. What happened here? Why were they fighting? Where did all this metal come from? And why did they need a director?
Finally, as the carnage seemed to reach its peak, the same Builders League United building from the brochure appeared. Only, it wasn't the same. Half the building was missing, a silo was toppled into its side, and the remainder of the BLU logo read only 'gue Unit'. Just to the left of the building, a 20 foot chain link gate sat open and blocked by another downed tank.
"Looks like we'll have to continue on foot," Ted said, "Should we even go in?"
Archimedes blinked back at Ted and bobbed his head back and forth.
"I suppose we came all this way. It would be a shame not to at least investigate."
Ted walked carefully over the debris strewn about the edges of the gate. Just inside, a small dirt courtyard caked in oil opened into two oversized hallways with the base of the BLU tower at his back.
"What do you think," Ted asked, "door A or B?"
Archimedes took off from Ted's shoulder and landed at the edge of the hallway marked A.
Ted rolled his eyes, "Of course, A for Archimedes."
Before Ted could continue down the hall, the slide of a metallic door stopped him in his tracks. Slowly, Ted turned to face the source of the sound.
"Howdy."
Ted blinked vacantly at the man standing before him. Clad almost entirely in blue, the stocky man wore a warm smile and spoke in a low Texas accent.
"Hello," Ted finally replied in his neutral western accent.
"My name's Dell, Ah'm the engineer round here...Is there, uh, somethin Ah can help ya with?"
"Yes. Tell me about this place."
The Texan stepped forward and closed the door of the garage. "Well mister, there ain't much to tell. A long time ago, this land was just a simple gravel pit, but then these two companies, Reliable Excavation," he pointed to the top of a tower peaking over the hill covering the hallways, "and Demolition and Builders League United," Dell jabbed a thumb over his shoulder, "started fightin over who'd own the land. That's when the gravel war started. Each side'd hired a team a nine ta try an defeat the other an claim the land-"
"This land," Ted said, "why is it so valuable?"
"It's not."
Ted frowned, "Then why were they fighting for it?"
"Because they thought it was valuable."
"What about all this," Ted gestured to the tank at the gate, "junk?"
"Well that's uh, eh, how do Ah explain this..."
"You know what, I don't think you know very much about this. I'm going to take a look around for myself. Go on and go back to...whatever it is you mechanic types do."
Dell held onto a smile until Ted was well down the A hall. Donning a scowl, Dell strode back into the BLU base.
The second he entered the room, Miss. Pauling shot to her feet, "Is it him?"
"Yeah it's him alright."
"Great. Did he remember you?"
Dell shook his head. "Nope," he said, taking a seat on the room's second chair, "he din remember anythin about me or the base."
"Darn. Do you know how we're going to get him back?"
"Ah've got no idea. Ah din expect any of 'em ta make their way back on their own."
Miss. Pauling tapped the edge of her chin, "True, but there must still be some way to get him back."
"Maybe... What if we can't get him to remember?"
"Well, you got your memory back from a wipe."
Dell busied himself with a loose thread on the arm of his chair. "Ah dunno, that was different. It was only one memory, not my whole life. Besides, Gray used different technology than my daddy, it might be more effective, or more permanent."
Miss. Pauling paced around the small dining table, "True, but it would be worth a shot to interrogate him. You know, ask him questions only Medic would know the answer to. That might jog his memory."
"Well, Ah suppose it can't hurt ta try. Ah'll go get 'im. He's probably still wanderin the base."
Dell wandered from the BLU base out into the starting common. Slowly, he made his way down the one segment of the A hall that hadn't collapsed. Stiffly, he sat on the ledge of the hall mouth and dropped to the hard rock ground below. Once upon a time, Dell would've jumped straight off the ledge, but it'd been far too long since he'd traversed the inner control points of RED base and he was older now than in the days Gravel Pit was in operation.
Dell took a quick glance around the A cap area, "Looks like somebody made his way to C." He mumbled.
Climbing over hunks of metal and scrap, Dell made his way up to the path from A to C. When Dell stepped into the concrete divide, he couldn't help but smile. Carved into the wall were the initials DC. It wasn't much, but it was a tribute to the longest standoff in the Gravel War. For three days, it had been RED vs BLU with each side refusing to give in to the other. Dell must have built and repaired around forty sentries throughout the course of the battle, just waiting for some side to win. In the end, Victory had gone to BLU and the DC would, hopefully, never let anyone forget that.
A frantic set of coos resonated off the walls of the tunnel as Archimedes flew swiftly towards Dell.
"Whoa there little fella, what's gotcha all worked up?"
The dove circled Dell twice before shooting off towards cap C. Dell's brow furrowed his brow and followed the little bird into the C courtyard. Overall, the C cap was the least damaged. Sure a few robot parts were rusting about on the ground, but the C tower and adjoining buildings were still intact. The only main issue was the satellite dish that had fallen from the tower and created its own crater right before the connecting hall to B cap.
Archimedes zipped between Dell and the RED respawn. Each time he reached an endpoint of his flight, he would coo urgently and zip to the next target.
"What?" Dell said, "Did someone leave a big bag a bird seed in the RED base?"
Archimedes circled Dell as he stood before RED's resupply door.
"Alright, alright, Ah'm openin the door. Don get so worked up."
Dell set the sliding metal door to automatic and watched as the resupply door ground open. At first, there didn't appear to be anything in the room save a rotting set of wood lockers, then he saw Ted. In all his polo and kaki glory sat on his knees, giving the thousand yard stare to the RED medical bay.
"Are ya doin alright?" Dell asked tentatively.
In a thick German accent, Medic replied, "Zhe past two years of my life have been a lie."
"Evening Mr. Carter. How's my favorite pencil pusher?"
With a light sigh, Connor met the eyes of his superior, "Good evening Greg."
"I was wondering, well, you see, I'm going out to the pub tonight and...Ah...I also have to finish the monthly profit reports..."
"Greg, please get to the point."
"I want you to finish the reports and have them on my desk tomorrow morning. With my name on them, of course, wouldn't want the boss to think you're worth something."
Connor shrunk into his seat. He'd had his own plans for the night. As always, he planned to meet his best friend Albert for a couple rounds of bowling in preparation for their winter league. It was their Friday night tradition.
"Of course," Connor said, "I'll have the report on your desk tonight."
"Excellent! I suppose I'll see you Monday then, you don't do weekends right?"
Before Connor could respond, Greg sped from the office, leaving Connor alone in the gray cubicle. In an instant, Connor had that months profits up on his computer. With a calculator and aging typewriter, he copied and calculated the various array of gains and losses of the massive lending firm. Soon, there was nothing but the methodical click of type keys on the desolate fourteenth floor. In all truth, Connor didn't mind finishing the work of his colleagues. If they were happy, he was happy. There was no point in letting people go on unhappy, everyone deserved the best day possible and it was his job ensure that, even if it meant sacrificing his day.
Finally, at two in the morning, Connor set a large stack of paper on Greg's desk, pulled a local newspaper clipping from his desk and took the lift to the lobby. Despite the hour, there was one last thing Connor had to do before he could head home and rest. The little article in his hand mentioned an exhibit exchange with America at the local history museum. Being a bit of a history buff, Connor wanted to see for himself if the exhibit really did exist. Walking away from his apartment, Connor found himself at the doors of the history museum.
'Behind Enemy Lines: The Infamous D-Day (In exchange with the American National History Museum)' read the massive banner strung across the museum's front. Ever since he'd read the article in the paper, he'd been anticipating the arrival of the acclaimed exhibit. And to think, America, there was nothing like history from the perspective of other nations.
Connor Carter
Location: London, England
Occupation: Accountant
Dear readers, I am American. As a result of this, I may have written the people who are supposed to be English too American. If this is true, I would greatly appreciate if you would, kindly, correct me, thank you :) Also, I want to hear who you all think Connor is. I gave one major hint if you've read any of my other works because I see what I did there. Oh and the memory thing Dell mentions, I took that from another piece I did called Chance Meeting. Thank you for reading this far! I'll try and get the next chapter out soon.