Chapter 14
Josh, Kurtiss, and Wilbert finally reached the edge of the city in their pickup truck, and entered the highway. The outbound side didn't have any traffic on it, but the wreckage from other cars slowed their progress considerable.
"So, where are we going to go now?" Kurtiss asked Josh.
He replied, "I don't know, but I do know we need a plan. Any ideas Wilbert?"
Wilbert shrugged, and then looked to the left on the 'inbound' side. Multiple military vehicles rolled down the highway, consisting of tanks, troop transports, and jeeps. "Maybe we should see where they are coming from," he said, pointing to them.
"I don't think that would work," Josh answered, keeping his eyes on the road. "Well, I say we head South West."
Kurtiss tried to think about why that would be beneficial, but came up with nothing. "Why head South West?"
"If we get trapped in the wilderness for whatever reason," Wilbert explained, "at least it is warmer down there."
"That's the South part," Josh continued. "The West part takes us away from this city, although I don't think that will mean no hostiles."
Kurtiss agreed, and then surveyed the sky. "Man, if that's an alien space ship or whatever, it's huge! It goes right over the horizon, and it doesn't look like it stops there either."
Wilbert too admired the object in the sky, so large that it was blocking the city's view of the sun. "I can't imagine how long it must have taken to build that."
Josh smoothly veered the vehicle off the main highway and onto an exit. "It's probably goona be even harder for us to take it out."
"So, Wilbert," Kurtiss asked, "anything pop back into your head yet?"
He sadly shook his head. "No, but I'm sure that there is something buried in there. I just need to activated it." Then, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.
"I don't have any service," Josh reported, but Wilbert continued anyway.
He typed in the number he had unearthed from his memory before, and listened for a receiver. The phone rang four times, before someone picked it up…
*****
The man in the suit was now ready to leave the facility. He had done all that he could do, and was needed elsewhere. Just before making his way out the door, he heard the phone at the desk ring. Curious, he made his way over to it, and observed it.
The phone rang again, and again.
Just after the fourth ring, he picked it up. "Hello?"
A man on the other end, seeming very exited replied, "Hello! I'm Wilber Gathers! Please, you have to help me! I can't remember anything, except my first name and this number! Do you know anything that could help me?"
The man in the suit was confused. This was not planned for the duty he had in Black Mesa, in fact, this was downright impossible! He replied, "We are no concerned with your memory problems, but believe me, you do not want to remember."
With that, he hung up the black phone, and briskly moved out of the room. He boarded a tram that he had made sure nobody else could use until he arrived, and rode it towards the surface.
*****
Wilbert, disappointed, snapped the phone closed and returned it to his pocket. "Well, so much for that idea. I got hold of someone on the other side, but he said that I would not want to remember."
"Well, maybe something tragic happened to you, causing you to lose your memory," Kurtiss tried to come up with an explanation.
"No," Wilbert countered, "the packet I received said I had a brain surgery. Wait a minute…" he trailed off.
"Yeah?" Josh asked, interested.
"Something doesn't quite add up here," he said, deep in thought. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the highway.
"WHOA!" Kurtiss yelled, turning around as a strange metallic projectile impacted and obliterated a crashed semi truck.
"We need to get out of here!" Wilbert ordered Josh, but he had already begun to do so.
The attacking ship had advanced tracking sensors, but thankfully, the plasma bolts it shot were not very accurate. Josh yanked at the steering wheel, swerving the car out of the way of the projectiles, while being careful not to tip it over.
Kurtiss' pickup truck was rusted, and partially destroyed already, but it was holding together quite well. Seeing that they could not evade fire forever, Josh veered the truck into a forest they were passing by. The truck was jostled by the uneven ground, but otherwise handled the new terrain while still being able to control and steer. When he heard that the firing had stopped, Josh slowed the vehicle down.
That was too close.
*****
Rachael picked up a long, beaded necklace, and draped it over her head. It fell atop several others, each more beautiful than the last. Althea had taken great care to sweep away all the glass from the center of the jewelry store, and into a corner where it wouldn't harm anyone. Then, she had turned her attention to the man.
The man had been hoisted onto his own counter, and lie flat. The doctor carefully examined his body, looking for any broken bones or cuts. His right hand was slightly swollen, but she didn't detect any broken bones. Nothing in his chest was broken, and the only other injury that needed attention she could find, was a bruise on the back of his head.
"Rachael, I'm going to look around upstairs for a freezer, and see if I can find some ice. Just look at the jewelry, and I'll be back in a few minutes."
As she trotted off to explore the upper level of the store where Jian lived, the youngster continued adding necklaces, rings, and bracelets to herself.
Jian then shifted, and squeezed together his eyes. Coming back to consciousness, he slowly sat up, rubbing the back of his head.
Was powerful enemy; next time I use sword.
Then, Mr. Wan noticed that he was no longer under a pile of debris, and was sitting on the checkout counter. Swinging his legs to the side, he hopped off, and then noticed a small girl amongst the debris. She was staring at him, wearing many pieces of jewelry from his store. Were it a normal day, he would have scolded the child and her parents for letting her do such a thing, but he decided to let it slide for right now.
The small girl continued starring at the him, and all Jian could do was stare back. Then, he questioned, "Are parents around here?"
She shook her head. "Nice Dr. Sarris takes care of me."
Jian thought about it for a moment, and then asked again, "What is your name?"
"Rachael," she awkwardly hobbled over to Jian, with all the jewelry still hanging on her, "and I'm the queen of the world!"
Jian smiled and shook her hand. "Pleasure to meet you, majesty."
The two smiled at each other, forgetting the worries of the situation they were in. Then, Dr. Sarris came back downstairs, unsuccessful in finding any ice. She saw that the man had awakened, and quickly moved over to him.
"Whoa there, take it easy," she said, trying to lead him back onto the counter. He gently shook her off.
"Now is not time for rest. Danger, outside. I am ready to face danger. You, must rest more than me."
Dr. Sarris replied, "I found you under a pile of cases and glass, your hand is swollen like it punched concrete, and there's a nasty bump on the back of your head."
"I have faced worse," he assured. "I am fine."
Giving up, Althea put out her hand. "Well I'm Dr. Sarris. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Jian Wan," he said, shaking her hand. "I met youngster. Pretty child, but claims you are not mother?"
She sighed. "We don't know where she went. I found Rachael alone, outside. I took her under my wing for now."
"I understand," the Chinese man looked over the room, impressed at how carefully all the broken glass had been relocated. "Very noble act."
"Hey!" Dr. Sarris exclaimed. "The bangs stopped!"
Jian frowned. "Bangs?"
"Yes," she explained, "we were hearing a series of loud bangs throughout the city; no idea what it is."
The store owner looked outside, as if just by merely doing that could yield an answer. "Very dark. Is power in city out?"
"Well, yes," she answered, "but it's still 'daytime'. There is a very large…thing blocking our view of the sun."
Jian turned around. "Does it belong to creature I fought earlier?"
"Hmm?"
"I fought very powerful creature earlier," he said. "Green, like emerald, with evil orange eyes. Very strong. Very powerful."
"Did you kill it?" Althea asked.
"No. Creature almost kill me. Lucky you arrive," he answered.
Meanwhile, Rachael was over at the jewelry pile, but this time she was taking them off. After getting off the last piece, she hobbled over to Althea. "Doctor, I don't feel good."
"It's just a cold sweetie," Dr. Sarris assured, and turned her attention back to the man. "You say it was very powerful? Well I believe you. Their vehicles pack quite a punch as well."
Jian nodded, and then turned his attention to Rachael. "You do not feel well?"
"It's just a cold," she quickly explained. "I checked her out earlier today; just a cold."
However, Jian persisted. He put a rough hand on the small girl's forehead, and gently felt for her temperature. "Body is warm," he reported.
"What?" Althea bent down, and checked her temperature with the back of her hand as well. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh my gosh I think you're right. It must be just a cold though."
The doctor turned to the man. "Do you have a bed or something Rachael can lie down on? It's viral, so rest is the best way to cure it."
Although he did not understand the second part, he nodded his head, and then hurried upstairs. Within a few moments, he was holding two mattresses in his powerful arms, and was maneuvering them downstairs. He laid them on the ground, and looked up at the doctor. "Sleeping for all of us."
Althea nodded a thanks, and then went back to the small child. "Rachael, lie down for now."
"You also get rest," Jian told Dr. Sarris. "Long journey ahead. I will awaken when time to eat."
Although the doctor didn't like taking orders from a stranger, she knew it was probably best. So, Rachael and Dr. Sarris lie down on the mattress, leaving the other for Mr. Wan.
The people you meet when you're a doctor, Althea thought, before sinking into a light, blissful sleep with the child.
As the two females drifted off to sleep, Jian listened outside. A constant stream of bangs continued, now mixed with a clutter of human screams and shouts.
But he was ready to face any challenge.
*****
Sanchali was now in the back seat of a fancy black car, with Mr. Burcin driving. Thankfully, Scott had decided to sit in the front seat, and not next to her. All around them, a series of bangs shook the city. Behind and above their car was another alien vessel, this time guarding them from any obstacles. When a piece of a building had fallen, before it hit their car the alien ship had fired its unknown weapon at it, melting the piece of debris while at the same time hurling it away from its trajectory path.
The basket ball player could not think of anything but of the life she had lived, and how it would all rapidly change. Even from the quick glimpse she had of the passing truck, she had already memorized the faces of the two responsible for the untimely loss of her cat.
"Where are we going?" She snapped, trying to lighten the mood while containing her anger.
"We have a base," Rick answered, "a ways South from here. It'll be our new home until this is all over."
Sanchali looked out the window. Despite the city being quite dark due to the power outage and the alien ship blocking out the sun, she could see the street quite well. It was because the alien ship escorting them was emitting a spot light from its vessel, but when looking out the back window, she didn't see the glare of any light from it. The aliens' technology truly baffled them.
"Hey, Miss Palkia!" Scott sounded from the front passenger seat. "Ain't that a Pokémon?"
She rolled her eyes, just like she did when ever a news reporter asked her the same question. "No, I am not a Pokémon."
"Well good to hear it," Mr. Votow returned the sarcasm.
Sanchali did not like the situation she was in at all. The stress of the planet being attacked, combined with the loss of her pet, and her being with two men she did not know, one of which insane.
"So, Mr. Burcin, with this alliance thing, will I be helping in any fighting?"
"Well of course!" He answered, as if she should have been able to figure it out already. "Your muscular strength from the sports you play is the only reason we've kept you along!"
"Not because it's the right thing to do to help another person in need?" She questioned his morals.
Now he rolled his eyes, and answered as if he was talking to a child. "Now we can't help everybody in the city, now can we?"
If this had been at a game, she would have slugged him in the face, but she restrained herself. Not only was he driving the car, but he was getting her out of the city, regardless of his motives. She put her elbows on her legs, and her forehead on her hands.
More bangs sounded from around the city, frightening the people in the car. After a quick glance out the window, the three quickly discovered the source; small pod like structures were being launched from above, and crashing to the ground. Some pods were falling with a trajectory dangerously close to their vehicle, so the alien escort vessel promptly shot at and destroyed the few that could danger the humans.
As the pods rained from the sky, the three in the car started to hear screams and shouts throughout the city. Each one was more unearthly than the last, and combined with the pitch black atmosphere, it was the perfect nightmare scenario. Rick squeezed the steering wheel tightly, ready to swerve out of the way of anything dangerous. Scott was practically strangling his golf club, showing signs of stress only now at this level of tension. If he were any stronger, the club would have broken in half.
Sanchali only buried her face in her hands, powerless against the situation. With every scream, bang, or other noise, she wanted to be further and further away from the city.
When will this madness end?
Then, the car quickly, but smoothly, turned onto an entrance to a highway. On it was a collection of broken down vehicles, many alight and partially melted. As the vehicle moved further and further away from the city, the pilot of the alien ship knew that they were well out of harm's reach.
Then, the ship spotted another human vehicle, heading down the same highway. After a quick scan, it saw that the vehicle and its riders were to no importance to the Luumaothican Empire, and engaged it.
Unfortunately for the alien, after a few moments of firing, the truck drove into a forest, rich with trees and life. The alien ceased fire to prevent destroying possible specimens, and angrily screeched in failure to destroy the human vehicle.
*****
A sleek, black metal pod was ejected from the bottom of the Luumaothican command ship, and sailed down to the city below. It was shaped like a stretched egg, with no obvious front or back. After a few seconds of flight, it impacted the middle of a road with a thunderous crash. There the egg-pod sat, partially emerged in a crater of asphalt, for a few moments.
A small crowd of frightened observers gathered around it, waiting for something to happen. A brave man, dressed in a grey suit, slowly approached it with a flashlight. He put his other hand out and shakily reached to touch the pod. Before his hand contacted the black metal, the pod hissed, and he leapt backwards. The part of the pod that was sticking out of the ground split down the sides into three sections. Each then slowly spread apart until they touched the ground.
On the insides of the 'arms' were each four small creatures, not resembling anything on Earth. They had four legs, no eyes, head, or ears, and a body approximately the size of a slightly squashed bowling ball. Underneath their bodies was a circular opening, lined on opposite sides with teeth. There were three types too; a 'regular' looking one, a creature with skinnier legs and a smaller body, and a fatter, black one. The others were all tan.
The man in the suit, intrigued, took a step back towards the pod. Then, the creatures started moving, and crawled out of the pod. Some of the crowd ran, others watched, and a few even moved closer themselves. A 'normal' creature turned and 'faced' the man. It bent down, and then sprang into the air. The creature landed on the unfortunate man's head, and dug its sharpened legs into the sides of his skull.
As the man screamed in agony, the other creatures began their attack. The rest of the crowd began pushing and shoving each other, desperately trying to get away from the pod. To their dismay, more were falling from the dark machine above, making the entire city a black, death zone. One of the black creatures launched itself at a different human, attaching itself in a similar manner to his head.
The four fast looking aliens scurried about, and then locked on to a slightly plump middle aged woman. One jumped onto her head, and the three others all attached themselves to their back. She howled in pain as they dug their claws into her head, and then, she stopped.
As other creatures attacked the surrounding humans, the many who had fallen stopped making human yells, and started to snarl and make unearthly noises. The man in the grey suit, now possessed by the alien, started rapidly morphing into a zombie like creature. With his now sharpened claws, he dug them into his own rib cage, and tore apart his own chest in a horrifying display of blood and gore.
The woman who had been attacked by the fast creatures began to 'shed' some of her flesh, and started running around on all fours. The still large, now biologically controlled human pounced on a human that hadn't been 'zombified', and started clawing and tearing at his body.
More pods fell from the sky, all containing the same mix of creatures. Many fell on top of frantic civilians, instantly crushing them. The small armed population fired their handguns at the small, yet deadly creatures. A few died, but the ones that lived combined with the 'zombies' quickly killed any resisting humans along with the rest.
The man with the black crab creature on his head now had a green, acidic substance oozing from the skin pours on his hands. His fingers were now sharpened to claws in a painful, rapid mutation. He snarled and charged at a police officer. Multiple shots were fired at him, and the man himself died, but the creature kept his lifeless body running.
Upon reaching the armed cop, the creature swung the man's limp-wristed hand at his face. Its claws easily tore through flesh and bone, nearly killing the officer. The acid, with an almost negative pH, quickly finished the job.
A seemingly endless supply of pods were launched from the great ship above, two or three hitting the ground every second. This continued for over twenty minutes, until finally the alien commander was satisfied with the chaos in the city he had caused. By simply hovering its fingers over various places on one of many control panels, the rain of pods stopped.
For that city at least, as many others were still being bombarded. The command ship was effectively covering most of what the humans know as America, while other vessels scoured the rest of the world.
After only about ten minutes after the last pod in New York had opened, there was once again silence. Most of the population was dead or had escaped, but the remaining few thousand people were now mindless slaves of the creature that controlled him or her, and ultimately, of the Luumaothican empire.
*****
1R3N3 and CA51M1R0 stood silently, side by side, ready to take orders. The two looked straight ahead, wearing their skin tight black suits. They hardly breathed, but did so just enough to keep them conscious, but to avoid disturbing military officers around them.
Like all Black Ops, as soon as she could crawl, 1R3N3 was trained in the arts of killing. Her academic education was minimal, as it would not be necessary. At the age of three, she was already operating side arms and throwing knives. Even at such a young age, she was still treated and held responsible like an adult. The training she went through made regular military boot camp sound like a cakewalk.
When she was old enough, same with CA51M1R0, their bodies were surgically altered. Unnecessary sexual organs were removed, bone implants were introduced, and muscle tissue was enhanced by a variety of experimental drugs.
At the age of ten, she infiltrated a heavily armed training base, filled with other trainees her age, killed everyone inside, and detonated the Black Op's trade mark – an antimatter bomb – right in the middle. It was expected for a trainee her age to perform flawlessly. CA51M1R0, for example, was around her age. He took seventeen seconds longer to complete the task, and was harshly punished for it.
IR3N3 and CA51M1R0 were randomly selected to work together before they were born. Since Black Ops have no interests or individuality, there are no 'bad matches'. They were never pitted against each other, like so many others were, as it would have to involve one killing the other. They did not work together, they simply were together.
1R3N3 continued the brutal training every day up to this point, when she is twenty three. Every day she wasn't training, she was on a mission. If she wasn't on a mission, she was training. Sleeping and eating took up a very small portion of her life. Black Ops are made to be more machine than human, showing no compassion, and no defiance. They took orders from their commanding officer, and followed them.
That very person then strode up, and stood in front of the two Black Ops, and began to give orders. "Primary objective is to infiltrate the Black Mesa research facility and detonate an antimatter bomb in the center. Kill anyone who gets in your way or looks hostile. We are not entirely certain what the emergency is, but I trust that you will complete your task with utmost efficiency. Secondary objective is to return alive. Go now."
The two understood, and made their way down to an airfield where they would take a jet to the facility. They would then be launched in pods down to the surface, and deploy. 1R3N3 and CA51M1R0 had practiced this many times, and were ready. They showed no fear, no hesitation, and certainly, no compassion for the many lives they would be ordered to end. They boarded the supersonic jet, and immediately after, they were away.