Chapter 2
"This...is getting ridiculous, I've still not recovered from cryostasis yet and now I've having to get shot through these freakin' kettles. Who ever decided to build these things, needs their ass handed to them!" exclaimed Michael deep in frustration and feeling sick from the ride. He shook his head and stood up, with his nausea slowly going away. He saw his new surroundings and was confused. "Where am I now?" he asked him in slight shock. He saw above that the sky was clearly fake but instead large screens that displayed the sky from the surface. He saw around him what appeared to be a canyon but floating debris and small pieces of land were floating like the platforms top side.
"This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. What the heck is this place?" said Michael. He moved up toward the ledge and got behind some coverage when he spotted movement ahead on the floating platforms. He pulled out a pair of goggles from his pack and examined them. They were bulky and carried the Kamabo logo on them. "If memory serves these things are supposed to have a magnification setting. They were issued to the frontline troops during the resource wars, not sure why I wasn't issued any," he placed the goggles on his face and pressed one of the buttons on the side. "Impressive, now let's see if I can get a better picture of what's on that platform over there," said Michael.
The goggles zoomed in on a figure pacing on the floating platform but Michael was speechless to see what it was. It was a...walking tentacle. It had bulging eyes and lips and tiny legs. "What the...OK, now I'm feeling like I'm in a video game. Is this reality? Am I still asleep in that damn pod?" he asked himself not knowing how to respond to the sight of the creature. He soon spotted more walking around and one hopping on some kind of metal vehicle. "reminds me of some kind of floor sweeper, are they some of kind alien species of something?" Michael asked himself. He took the goggles off and wasn't sure if he should continue on or not. He wasn't sure if the creatures were hostile or not.
He looked around for any alternative routes around them as to not get spotted but it may have been too late. Michael heard what sounded like a propeller, confused and turned and looked for the source of the noise and a small shadow covered him. He looked up and saw a tentacle like the ones he spotted but it was were some kind of metal hat with a propeller on it, allowing it to hover off the ground. Michael froze but the little octarian spotted him.
"AHHH! Inkling! Inkling in the dome!" it shouted in its language which Michael couldn't understand it. The creature dropped something in front of him. Michael stared as it swelled and burst into purple ink, coating him. He fell back and had a hard time moving his body. Michael attempted t reach for his rifle as he struggled to get up. The creature was stunned that the little ink bomb didn't neutralize the human it had mistaken for an inkling. It flailed and attempted to launch another bomb at Michael.
Still disoriented, Michael aimed his assault rifle toward the creature as it lobbed another ink bomb at him and as it did Michael lined up a shot and instead hit the bomb before it landed, causing it to burst in midair and knock the creature back, temporarily stunning it. It fell on the ground, but it was still alive. Michael took this opportunity to get away as he saw the creatures from before converge on him. The creature on the vehicle blasted ink toward his direction. "Inkling menace!" it shouted in octarian.
"Shit! Looks like I've pissed off the locals or whatever they are!" he shouted. Not wanting to stay and fight, he fled out of the area and instead of not getting back to the tea kettle he traversed deeper in the dome. He ran and hopped from one platform to the next as the tentacles pursued him. The ink effects were wearing off and he soon got better control of his body and was getting further away from the angry tentacles. "I might lose them, maybe I can find a place to hide up ahead," he said but the pathway was coming to an end. He hopped to another large platform but it was a dead end. He approached the ledge and seen nowhere else to go. He turned back and saw the tentacles were closing in on him.
"I guess it's fight instead of flight," he said as he picked up his assault rifle and aimed it toward the tentacles. He fired and struck the vehicle the tentacle was on. Some of the other tentacles were startled by the sound of the gunshot but the others kept pushing forward and shot ink at the human. Michael rolled off to the side to evade the ink and concentrated his shots. He aimed at the head of the octarian riding the metal platform towards him and pulled the trigger. He struck the octarian right above the eyes as they rolled back and it fell of the runaway platform that convened off the ledge and down below.
"Gotcha!" shouted Michael. He aimed at the octarians which stopped and took cover, horrified by their slain comrade. The human shot toward the tentacles as they took cover. One tentacle popped out and shot at Michael but missed as Michael fired back and the tentacle panicked and took cover again. The octarians decided to retreat as Michael watched them flee back in the other direction. Confident of his little battle, that was broken by a loud humming noise behind him. He turned around and saw a bloated creature, much larger than the other ones hovering over the ledge glaring at him.
Michael froze at the sight of the creature and quickly pulled his rifle up to aim at it but it flailed and gargled. It soon threw an ink bomb in front of Michael. Not having time to react, the bomb swelled and exploded as Michael was propelled off the platform and dropped down below the dome as he screamed. "Threat eliminated," it said as it flew off. Michael was falling to his demise and saw what looked a river below the dome and took a big dip in it as he landed in the water. He thrashed and fought to get back to the surface as he was covered in ink yet again by the bomb. Over time the water was dissolving the ink and Michael was able to swim up the surface to catch his breath. He swam to the bank and passed out to get his energy back.
"Any more time...(pant) and I...would've drowned, (coughing)," he said. He looked up above and saw the large swollen creature had left assuming that he thought the human was dead. "I guess I know now they aren't friendly but what are those things and what are they doing here?" he asked himself. He turned back toward the bank and saw that his gear and rifle washed up on the bank thankfully. He grabbed his equipment and spotted a cave in the cliff face. "I guess I better set up camp, It's getting late and I gotta think of a plan on how to get out of here and not run into those things again," he said.
Later that evening, Meryl left the octoling base to go meet up with her friend Jacob, both of them being in the octarian army and soldiers that served alongside each other. The two of them were off duty and finally caught up with one another outside the base. "So...what did you have in mind?" asked Meryl.
"I was thinking about going to the city and us catching a movie or something," replied Jacob.
"I don't know, it's just I don't feel like watching a bunch of fumbling tentacles make asses out of themselves or some corny romance. Is there anything else we could do?" she asked.
"Umm...yeah that sounds dumb, Oh, how about we uh head over to the bar and..." suggested Jacob but was interrupted by Meryl. "I don't drink Jacob and besides I don't wanna watch a bunch of drunk octolings talk about their problems, especially the elites, they tend to get frisky. Maybe that's why you wanna go there," said Meryl with a slight smirk.
"What! No, that's not it! I was just..." started Jacob who was cut off. "Just messin' with ya, Jacob. I know your trying to think of something for us to do...how about we just go for a walk and maybe talk for a bit, maybe calm our nerves from everything," said Meryl.
"Well that's why I brought up the bar in the first place but I understand that you don't wanna go. I can respect that, yeah I guess we could take a stroll for a bit," said Jacob as he rubbed the back of his head. Meryl grabbed a hold of Jacob's arm as he blushed and the two of them walked away and out toward the overlook. Time passed as the two sat on the ridge overlooking Octopolis. The fake sky went from a sunset to a star-filled sky, signaling the day had turned to night from the surface. The two of them remained quiet just looking out toward the octarian capital which lit up the dome.
"Jacob," asked Meryl breaking the silence.
"Yeah, what is it Meryl?" responded Jacob.
"Did you ever wanna go to the surface?" she asked him with slight hesitation.
"I...never really gave it any thought but I guess I would someday if Octavio changes his mind about going to war with the inklings," replied Jacob.
Meryl remained quiet for a moment then leaned over, facing the octoling boy. "I was thinking... If the war doesn't happen...maybe we could both leave and head for the surface, you know, start a new life," suggested Meryl.
"Meryl, you know as well as I do, that would be desertion not mention leaving your family and possibly never coming back to the domes. What about the army, what about Octarian law. It sounds nice but who are we kidding, being underground is our life and what are we to do once get to the surface. Just walk into Inkopolis as if we weren't octolings. The inklings would apprehend us and lock us up. I mean we're enemies for goodness sake," said Jacob as Meryl realized this but was still optimistic and wanted to pursue her dream of going topside.
"I wouldn't care...I mean, living in these domes. The surface has gotta be a lot better than being down here. Everyone knows of the energy crisis with the zapfish. How much longer can we depend on staying down here even if we took the zapfish from the inklings. What then when those zapfish are completely depleted of power. The only way the octarians are going to survive is if we make amends with the inklings and maybe we can share the land up on the surface," said Meryl.
"Meryl that's crazy! Who know damn well that both races would never sign a peace treaty. What, you expect everyone to forget about us being banished and the great turf war from long ago. You know we're not exactly on good terms with the inklings especially since we have a ruler that hates them and wants to go to war. I don't see it happening, you might wanna come back to reality Meryl," said Jacob.
Jacob's words upset Meryl and she turned and crossed her arms. She knew deep down the octoling was right. Peace didn't look possible, especially with hard feelings the octarians had toward the inklings. Her frustration resolved and she gave a deep sigh, coming to the realization that Jacob was right. "Meryl...I'm sorry...it's just. I wouldn't mind peace among the inklings, but I seeing things for what they are. I didn't mean to offend you in any way but it's just..." said Jacob as Meryl turned towards him.
"No, you're right Jacob...what was I thinking...I'll never leave for the surface. I'll be stuck down here for the rest of my life. It was stupid to think we could go to the surface," she said as she closed her eyes and balled up.
"You're not stupid Meryl! You're just...optimistic, it would nice to think the two races could finally get over their differences. That's why I like you Meryl, you're not like everyone else. You're looking past everything the octarians stand for. Living in these...damn domes. Having to be forced in the army and listening to that old geezer of an emperor," said Jacob as he leaned in closer to Meryl.
"You...really mean that?" asked Meryl as she sniffled.
"I do...I also think," said Jacob as he rubbed his hand, hesitant about what he would say next. "you're smart and...(gulp) cute," he said meekly.
Meryl blushed at this and didn't notice that both their hands were touching. They both jarred and picked their hands up. They rubbed their arms in embarrassment. "Y...You know...I've felt that way toward you for some time now...I was just afraid to say anything, I wasn't sure if you would accept my feelings or not," said Jacob with a slightly red face.
"Jacob I..." said Meryl stunned by the revelation that Jacob liked her as well. Jacob moved in closer as Meryl did too. The two of them were face to face about to kiss but something in Meryl's mind stopped her. She turned her head and slowly backed away. Jacob saw this and was confused by her behavior. "Meryl what is it?" he said with concern.
"Jacob I...like you too but...we're both soldiers. I wanna start a relationship but with everything going on I'm afraid that I might lose you...Octavio wants war and if we do go into battle I don't wanna know that...you may not make it back," said Meryl with distress.
"Meryl I'll be fine. I wouldn't let this stop us from being a couple. Who cares if we go to war or not. That doesn't change anything!" exclaimed Jacob.
"Jacob please listen to me. I'll be heartbroken, I don't know if I could live with myself knowing you could get killed or me for a matter of fact. I wanna ba a couple but now's not the time," said Meryl.
Jacob was upset and clenched his fist but his frustration resolved. He was heartbroken at Meryl's feelings and felt that Meryl was making excuses and if she indeed liked him too. "I see...it's ok. I understand Meryl that you're not ready. I don't think you have the same feelings for me. I know your upset with me because I criticized your pipe dream. I guess us getting in a relationship is a pipe dream too!" shouted Jacob.
"Jacob! That's not it! I wish you could see my perspective. You're my friend and I don't wanna see anything happen to you!" exclaimed Meryl seeing Jacob was getting more and more emotional.
"I knew I shouldn't have said anything. My mouth is always getting me into trouble. I was stupid to think we would be a couple! I gotta go! I'm sorry Meryl!" shouted Jacob as he rushed away shielding his eyes to hide his tears. Feeling rejected from Meryl, he disappeared out of sight.
"Jacob! Wait! You don't understand...I..." shouted Meryl as she rushed after him. She tripped and fell on the ground. A tear formed in her eye and she felt dejected from what she had told Jacob. Feeling remorse she headed back to the base and crept toward the barracks. She plopped down in her bed, not waking the other octolings and cried herself to sleep.
The following morning, the figure with the beard and captain's hat was sleeping inside the shack that Michael had spotted on the top side of the valley he traversed through. The elderly creature rolled over in his bed, dreaming of past memories. The figure was an inkling named Capt'n Cuttlefish and he was a veteran of the great turf war from 100 years ago. The memories were vague as the events that played in his were so fast in the motion he couldn't make sense of what it meant. He remembered fighting the octarians and getting the inklings out of the village but something stood out that he couldn't make heads or tails of. A figure not appearing to be an inkling but humanoid-like him appeared in different scenes that took place during the war. The figure's face was darkened only revealing their mouth and shouting and giving commands. They seemed to fight alongside Cuttlefish and the inklings with one phrase they made the captain jar awake. "I'm here Captain!" It shouted to him as the captain was lying on the ground as the figure rushed over to help him up before seeing it's blue eyes. The dream ended and the captain jumped up as he sweated from the dream.
The captain frantically looked around and saw he was back in the shack. He calmed down and gave a deep sigh. "Another dream...the war has kept playing in my head for some time now. What...could it mean? Is being in recluse for the past couple of years getting to me?" he asked himself. He reached in the drawer beside him and pulled out a picture of the day the inklings claimed victory over the octarians. He saw a cat waving a flag, as well his friend Ammoses and two of the squidbeak platoon from during the war. On the right side of the old picture is where you could tell a piece had been torn off and went missing.
"Ammoses...it was a long tough battle, but we prevailed. It just seems like yesterday when we were in the valley playing together with Octavio, back before the war. Those days are long gone and you've past away as well as everyone else had moved on. I...miss you old friend," said Cuttlefish holding back a tear. He placed the picture back in the drawer and grabbed his cane. He hopped out of bed and headed into the kitchen to grab a krabby cake out of the fridge. As he was eating at his table he was receiving a surprise knock at his door. He finished his krabby cake and slowly made his way to the door to see an unexpected visitor.
The door was knocked again. "Coming, just hang on to your tentacles!" shouted a frustrated Cuttlefish. "Can't enjoy my breakfast," he mumbled before opening the door.
He looked and saw someone that we had not seen in quite some time. "Mimi," said Cuttlefish.
"Hello, Craig...it's been a while since we've talked. May I come in?" she asked the captain.
Mimi was an elderly female inkling with pale orange tentacles and pink eyes. She wore a decorative Japanese-style kimono and sandals. "Well of course, I haven't seen you in ages, how's the family?" he asked as he directed her in. She clutched her kimono and turned to face Cuttlefish.
"Don't you ever get lonely up here?" asked Mimi.
"Aye, but someone has to stay here and make sure the octarians don't attack us. I just got a feeling in my tentacles that they're planning something. I could have sworn I saw something jump inside the old tea kettle," said Cuttlefish.
"Captain, it's been years since they fled to Octo Valley. I don't think they'll try anything. Maybe Octavio has finally put the past behind him," said Mimi.
"I wouldn't bank on it (sigh) that old jaded octopus likes to hold a grudge, he's just waiting for the right opportunity. I just know it," said Cuttlefish. Cuttlefish then focused back on Mimi. "So what brings you here after all this time?" asked Cuttlefish.
"Well, you brought up family. They're doing well and speaking of which is why I came. Your two daughters...are having a baby," said Mimi excitedly.
Cuttlefish went wide-eyed and shook his head to see if heard from Mimi what he thought he heard. "They are! Both of them!?" asked Cuttlefish who was in shock.
"Yes," said Mimi as she started to tear up. "That's...wonderful! Oh, Lass, I'm going to be a grandpa!" shouted Cuttlefish as he waved his cane and started to dance before stopping and holding his back. "Aye! I'm not the young squid I used to be," said Cuttlefish as Mimi chuckled.
"Oh Craig, C'mon let's head back to Calamari County and go see you're new grandsquids," said Mimi.
The two of them left for Calamari County through the storm drain on the far side of the floating Island that Cuttlefish's shack sat on. As Cuttlefish headed for the drain he stopped and turned to look back at the valley that he was guarding. "Cuttlefish, what's wrong?" asked Mimi.
"I just hope you're right Mimi," said Cuttlefish.
"Everything will be fine. Don't you wanna see the new additions to the family?" asked Mimi.
"Well of course, lass. I ain't got nothing to worry about. Let's go see the new squids!" shouted Cuttlefish as the two of them squid formed and swam down the pipe.
Back at the octoling base, Lieutenant Octsana was sitting at her desk, going over the reports. Checking up on the numbers of personnel and weaponry that were in the disposal of the octarian army. Training was being given every day and more and more recruits were being drafted, some not in the best of shape. Octsana shook her head and propped her face up with her arms against the desk, staring into the air in front of her, unsure what to do. The octarian army was making little progress and looked far from ready of swiping the great zapfish or invading the inkling territory.
"How does Octavio expect us to win a war with these statistics. (sigh) I know he's eager to snare the zapfish with power slowly going out, but in the same token, this would defeat us before the war even started. Most of the bulk of our forces are those stupid tentacles," said the lieutenant with frustration. She turned and got out of her seat to look out the window watching the new recruits. "This could take weeks before we have a sufficient fighting force, morale is not exactly high neither. (sigh)" she said to herself. She turned away from the window with uncertainty. The octoling elite then went over to her intercom. "Specialist, call in Sergeant Octillia, I want a word with her," said Octsana.
"Roger, ma'am," said the specialist on the other end.
After a minute the door opened and in walked another octoling with dark red tentacles. She had her goggles on, the standard-issue octarian uniform and armor. "You wanted to see me, lieutenant," she asked at attention.
The elite looked at her and noticed something different. Her tentacles were a dark shade of red from the last time she had got in contact with her and noticed that her rank was different as well. "I guess you noticed sis, I got promoted yesterday to sergeant major," said the octoling as she pulled her goggles and gave a snide smile to the elite.
The elite gave a slight smirk. "Congratulations, I'm glad you're moving up the chain. Seems like only yesterday you were a fresh young private cleaning octoweapons. at least that's one good thing I've seen today," said the elite.
"I'm assuming you didn't call me into your office to talk about our military status, did you?" asked Octillia.
"No, I didn't, I've called you here, so I could assign you a new unit, fresh recruits ready for discipline," said Octsana.
"Recruits... You seriously going to make me take command of some ink fodder that haven't even been in training yet. Not how I wanted to start as a sergeant major," said Octillia as she crossed her arms.
"At attention! You may be my little sister, but I'm also your superior officer. Now those are my orders. I would've assigned to anyone unless I couldn't trust you with it. Octavio and the top brass are demanding more personnel and rushing training progress. I know you can get these recruits ready quicker without pushing them too hard. I expect great results and keep me updated on your progress. I'm sorry but my hands are tied and I had to choose someone and I preferred it to be you," said Octsana.
"(sigh) fine...but one condition...I want sergeant Meryl reassigned to the unit," said Octillia.
"Sergeant Meryl?" replied the elite with a questioned look.
"Yes, I might as well get some help for the grunts. Meryl is calm and cool-headed, I might as well have someone there to talk to keep me calm if I'm training these octopi," said Octiliia.
"Well, I ask that you don't lose your cool over these new recruits. Only time and perseverance will prove if these grunts have got what it takes. Hate to see what else they're going draft in the army. If Octavio had it his way, he'd probably recruit every octarian in the domes no matter the age or physique. Just remember what I've said," said Octsana as she sat back in her desk.
"Yes, lieutenant," she said before giving a salute and heading out the door. Not eager to supervise the new recruits. Octsana opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a flask, taking a sip once Octillia was out of sight. "I really need to stop drinking, going to the bar is bad enough but I need some stress relief. Nothing is a better alement than some liquor," she said screwing the top back on. Just then another octoling rushed into her office in a panic. Octsana quickly threw the flask back in her desk.
"What is the meaning of this! How dare you just barge in my..." started the lieutenant agitated by the octoling's unannounced presence.
"Lieutenant Octsana, my apologizes but this is the utmost emergency!" said the rattled octoling as gave a bow to the elite.
"What emergency! Out with it then!" commanded the angered elite.
"Y...Y...Yes, ma'am, the octotrooper reconnaissance unit had came back from patrolling and they have some disturbing news, it appears that they took fire from an inkling in the west dome near the entryway towards the surface. They report an inkling had been spotted and they attempted to pursue and question them but they fled. Once they had gained on the intruder they opened fired on the unit killing one of the octotroopers, this is very troubling. What's an inkling doing down here?" the octoling asked.
"An inkling, this doesn't sound right but the west dome is the closest to inkling territory. Are you sure the intel is reliable, I can't fathom any reason why an inkling would be down here," replied Octsana.
"They brought in the slain trooper, all the recon personnel can verify it. I can't see any other proof," said the octoling.
"I'll inform command about this and make a visit to the field hospital as soon as I can, I appreciate the news even though it doesn't make any sense. I'll see if I can gather a team to go and check it out. The base will put on moderate alert level until we get to the bottom of this. Surely those squids are trying to spy on us or sabotage our progress for some reason. If so, then we will have no choice but to act swiftly," said the elite.
The octoling gave a quick salute and rushed out the door. The elite turned back to the drawer but faltered as she didn't want to take another drink. She got up and walked to the window and watched her sister gather up the new recruits. "I see what kind of day this is goin' to be," said the elite. She thought to herself as she watched the troops in formation and had an idea but wether it would be a good one or not. She decided to think on it and wait until she came back from the field hospital to inspect the octotrooper's body.
Below the west dome, Michael had just woken to a not so good night's sleep. He sat up stretched holding his back from the uncomfortable rocky floor he laid on inside the cave. "sucks sleeping on the cold ground, but I've had worst, better than on a battlefield and at least it wasn't 2000 years long," said Michael as he slowly stood up. He saw that it was late in the morning by the sky the screens were displaying above. He grabbed a ration out of his pack and ate breakfast. "This ration isn't the best-tasting thing in the world, but at least it's edible even as old as it is," said Michael.
He finished the ration and looked around for a way to get back up the dome and find a way out before any more of those creatures spotted him, assuming they may think he's dead. "(sigh) I was somewhat hoping that maybe I am still dreaming but I know I'm not. I fought in the resource wars before I went into that deep sleep only to try and survive in this strange place from those odd creatures. I felt almost like I was back fighting in the war again. At least this time I wasn't being shot by bullets. What was that stuff? I lost the feeling to my body as if it turned numb. some kind of paralyzing agent? and it stung, corrosive kinda. I hate to know what would happen if I got covered with that stuff," said Michael as he took a bit of his ration.
"Well, I'm safe for now. I just gotta find a way out of here without getting caught. I might not be so lucky next time," he said. He walked over and inspected his rifle, shaking the water out of it. Luckily most of his gear was waterproof and undamaged. "Where to go now," he said looking around. He decided to follow the river that was running through the bottom off the dome to see where it led. He slung his rifle and backpack and headed off to find a way out of the dome. It had nearly half an hour traversing through the rocky terrain and not seeing the end of the river in sight. After a moment he could see a gleam of light reflecting off something ahead on the bank. What was it he thought to himself.
He rushed over and saw a metal case. It seemed to be dented up as he grabbed it. It had a logo on it. The same logo on his goggles. It was the Kamabo insignia. As Michael inspected the case it was locked. He tried prying on the latches but it was no use. "I wonder what's in it?" he asked himself. He decided to not damage the case any more than it was and placed it inside his pack. "Doesn't seem the river ends anywhere, I wonder..." said Michael but as he looked down the river he saw what looked like an opening. He got closer and saw the water cascaded down a large opening, but it was dark and he couldn't predict where it went. He decided not to find out and scanned his surroundings for another route back up.
He spotted what looked like a pathway up the canyon but it seemed treacherous especially carrying his backpack. Michael had no choice but to go up the path and hope that it would lead out of the canyon. The path proved less dangerous than he thought and reached the ridge above overlooking the river. It would be an ideal spot for a camp and an observation point. He could see the surroundings better and watch for any flying threats. The river was easily accessible for fishing or bathing. Michael decided to go ahead and set up camp until he found a way out of the dome.
It took another hour to finally get set up. Using the goggles he put in zoom mode. He scanned around for threats or vantage points for when he was discovered again by the strange creatures. Above he could spot the floating platforms but no life signs. It appeared to be clear...for the moment. Michael was hoping he wouldn't jinx himself and stayed vigilant.
Back at the underground facility where Michael had awaken from, another cryostasis pod like the one he had been frozen in, opened up, revealing another human inside wearing a uniform like him as well. The figure slowly blinked his eyes and like Michael had no control of their cognitive and motor skills. They attempted to move until they finally reached and grabbed a hold of the edge of the hatch. They gathered enough strength to get out of the pod but stumbled and fell to the floor. "(coughing)...(gasping) what the heck happened? Where...(coughing) am I?" they asked while scanning the room. multiple pods could be seen inside the unlit room. They held their held trying to overcome the massive migraine that came about. The figure jeered and slowly stood up.
"This...place...looks familiar," they said. Further, inspection revealed a name tag on their uniform shirt that said Brooks. A young male with a crew cut and an average physique. As he walked around to inspect the large room he was in. He examined the cryopods curious to who was inside them. As soon as he came across one that had a female soldier in it, his eyes slowly widened. She looked asleep and she had blonde hair pinned behind her head. She also wore a uniform like Michael and the one that just woken from their frozen slumber. They opened the hatch and studied the young woman that was still frozen. The name tag on her shirt read Banks.
Showing no life signs, Brooks checked her pulse and didn't feel anything. He turned to the monitor that gave information about the occupant inside the pod. The occupant statis read deceased and that word caused a deep feeling of agony to run through the young man's body. "oh no...Banks, how could this of happened?" he asked himself with distress. He continued scrolling through and running diagnostic to find out what caused Banks's death. It appeared the pod suffered a malfunction and shut off sometime during cryostasis, this intern caused the pod to be unsustainable and killed Banks inside, like meat being left in a fridge that has no power going to it.
"I wonder if anyone else is still alive? I don't even know how long its been," said Brooks. He turned away leaving the pod open with a deceased Banks inside. The occupants of the other pods appeared to be dead as well with the rest unoccupied and empty. He left out of the chamber and headed down a corridor. After navigating through the facility, he spotted footprints coming from a room that was blocked by two jarred metal doors. He squeezed through them and spotted a pod to itself in what appeared to be a lab of some kind. The footprints came from out of the opened pod to itself across the large room.
"The footprints aren't very old. Who could've come out of that pod and why is it to itself in this room, instead of being with the others?" Brooks wondered.
Closer examination of the pod revealed that it opened recently as Brooks checked the terminal beside it. The occupant's name was private Michael Maxwell and the data revealed that the pod opened yesterday. "Michael? But...how?" asked a baffled Brooks remembering shooting his old friend in the head from before they were placed in cryostasis during some project. He recanted the moment he did and the other tests that were run on him and himself as well as the others.
"That's impossible...unless...what on earth were those eggheads doing to us," said Brooks remembering a needle being stuck in his neck with an unknown substance. He rubbed his neck and backed away from the pod. "So, Michael, I guess you're out there somewhere looking for answers like me. I don't expect anyone to have survived the wars or the floods. I guess I'm about to find out myself," said Brooks. He left out of the lab and followed the footprints to the supply warehouse and armory where like Michael he grabbed up some gear and a weapon for the expedition that would lie ahead.