Chapter 2: Stranded

(part1)

~

It all seemed to be a nightmare.

And it was one.

A few hours ago, Jack Callough was expecting another routine operation.: swoop in, and hit oput the enemy.

But this was no ordinary enemy. This was something that he had never seen before.

Aliens. Or at least something like them. Whatever they were, the lacked any terrestial feature to them.

How did they get here ? What did they want ? Such questions seemed meaningless in the face of an approaching, unknown foe, by, Jack knew they had to be answered, after all this.

If he survived this in the first place.

As Jack rose up, he found himself, surrounded by all his team mates, as hung around him. Atending to him was a scientist, holding Jack's hand, and counting his pulse.

"Aaahh.. Your alive and fine. I think your colleagues may brief you on what had happened. I need to get back…"

And the scienitsi walked off, out of the room, as Jack surveyed his team members.

They were all forlorn: worried, anticipating relief, and hope of some sort. They too, were affected by the current ongoings.

"We have NO idea what happened to the others Jack. In fact, we don't even know how the hell we survived. Dumb luck, maybe, but, all we can remember was that we managed to slaughter them.

However, we lost contact. We can't communicate with HQ. We can't even get to the nearest teams. Can you believe that?!

What the f*** are we going to do now ?"

And the young officer slumped to the ground, and clutched his rifle, as Jack started to ask his questions.

"WHat off the choppers ?"

"Too far away from here."

"The APCs ?"

"Nothing more than some metal shit."

"Oh shit. Now what do we do."

"I have no idea Jack. I have no idea, I have no idea…"

"Calm down. All right, we're stranded here. The nearest helipad is a bit far off. Surely here MUST be something !"

As he said this, the scientist came back in.

"I'm back ! Do you all need help ?"

~

Upon hearing the soldier's gripes, the scientist, holding his chin, started to catch hold of an old memory.

"What we've just experienced is this laboratory's second resonance cascade…"

"Reso what ?"

"Resoancnce cascade. It's a long story, but, about a month ago, in this very same facility, this incident had also happened. However, during the last time, the government sent in Marines."

"Then, what about now ?"

"I too, am not certain as to how another event like this could happen in our laboratories. The area had been sealed off, ever since that accident, but from what I can gather from your accounts, I can safely assume that it was a result of another incident"

"Enough of the bullshit doc, and get to the point."

"Calm down. All right, there IS one radio nearby…"

"Where ?! Tell us !"

"Problem is, it's in an old, abandoned rail way. It was used by the facility, previously, but, during the renovation, was phased out.

"We don't give a f***ing damn: tell us how to use it !"

"All right, all right."

~

On the hard, cardboard table, the scientist unfolded an old blueprint, plans to the old railway system.

"Here it is. The radio is at this point. The trains happens to pass by there, and can take you to the other places. Hopefully, if you reach the radio, you can contact your other mates, and know of a possible route out.

However, it's best that you all hurry. The extraterrestial xenoomorphs that are plaguing the base now could very well be on your tail around there. Be careful !"

~