Desperate Measures

Chapter III

Dusk was falling across the city. The coolness of autumn was starting to creep into the daytime, but the day had been sunny and warm so the stones of the battered buildings still gave off a pleasant warmth. Barney squatted with his back against the wall and reflected on the rosy glow in the west. "Red sky at night…"

Nolan was pacing back and forth, "Yeah, yeah. Where the hell is Josef, already? His shift should have been over at six."

"Settle down. We aren't under any real time constraints here. He probably just got caught up with something. You know, the guys probably wanted to take him out for a beer." Barney leaned his head back and closed his eyes under his mask. The sarcasm would most likely be lost on the kid. Oh well, it was always best to relax when given the chance.

Nolan walked over and stood against the wall. "I still don't understand why we can't take a transport vehicle. It would be safer and a lot faster. And we could pick up more than just a few water filters. This is going to be a long walk in the dark."

Barney sighed. Nolan was a recent recruit and only ninteen. He was a great man to have at your back in a fight and was a crack shot, but he was as nervous as a rabbit if given too much time to think. "And how would you explain to your supervisor a vehicle being signed out after a shift? Anyway, we only need a few filters. Too many missing and it would be noticed"

This obvious logic was ignored and Nolan bounced away from the wall. "There he is!"

Barney stood and looked at the figure that had just rounded the corner. He moved his hand inconspicuously towards his sidearm. The CP raised his hand in an odd wave. Barney relaxed, reached for his pack and started forward. "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing we need to worry about. Sector G is all riled up with some "insurgents" and they were thinking of sending me back out. Did you ask for a distraction or something?"

"No, but that's good luck. Should keep the patrols down. We all set to go?"

The other two men nodded and the small group set out down the deserted street. After a few minutes, Barney cleared his throat. "We need to make a stop on the way back from our little shopping trip. I think I found someone who might be a nice addition to the Lambda family."

X X X

Kat's eyes popped open to darkness. There had been a sound. Something. She lay there perfectly still, trying to remember where she was. She was lying on a lumpy mattress covered with a musty blanket in a small room. To her left, a sliver of light showedat the bottom of a door.There were quiet voices coming from the next room. Her memories came crashing back at the sound of a voice distorted by a CP mask in the hallway.

She bolted upright and felt around frantically for her gun. There was a loud banging on the apartment door. Kat's breath caught in her throat. She knew she was trapped. Her hand swept along the floor next to the mattress and finally found the weapon. Rolling out of the bed, she scuttled across the floor to wedge herself behind a battered dresser. Kat could hear a man saying something when the hallway door banged open. Immediately there was shouting and crashing in the next room. Feeling an icy calm descend upon her, Kat raised her gun to the door and waited.

To her astonishment, despite the sounds of chaos, she heard a knocking on the bedroom door. It slowly cracked open. An unmasked head poked into the room. "Hey, are you in here? Take your finger off the trigger, it's just me."

"Barney?"

The door opened fully, letting light filter into the room. "Yeah. I hope we didn't startle you. We need to make this look like an arrest to get you out of here."

Kat stood, "No. I was just asleep. I'm okay." She quickly shoved the gun into the waistband of her pants.

"Good. We need to get moving. What's your name, by the way?"

"Katya, but everyone calls me Kat."

Stepping into the living area revealed a strange sight. Four men were bellowing orders and insults at each other, stomping around and crashing into furniture. Ivers paused to give her a reassuring grin and Stephan started wailing as though he was being beaten.

Barney stepped over to two packs on the floor and dug around inside. He removed four single liter bottles and a smaller sack. He placed the sack and the water on the battered desk and came over to Kat.

"I'm going to need to put some restraints on you. You know, for show. Could you put your hands behind your back for me?"

Kat hesitated. It seemed she had no choice but to trust these men. "Just don't make them too tight." She gave a slight smile, "I might need to get out of them."

As Barney fastened the restraints on her wrists, Kat asked, "What's in the bag?"

"Some food. I got my hands on some produce and we try to get fresh stuff to people who help us out. The water has been filtered. You know what they put in the water, right?"

"Yeah, to make you forget."

"Okay, we're all set here. Let's get going." Barney slipped his white mask back over his face.

Stephan, Ivers and the two men dressed as CP finished up their shouting match. As Kat walked to the door with the CP's, she turned to see Stephan emptying the bag. There were some apples, potatoes and a couple of turnips. She realized how lucky she had been living on the farm before the attack two weeks ago. It hadn't been easy, but at least they had eaten pretty well.

Stepping into the hall, Kat was alarmed to see two more CP's. Barney grabbed her roughly by the arm and dragged her down the dimly lit hallway. On the stairs, he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "The show was for the two in the hall. Sorry about your arm."

Kat just nodded to show she understood. She knew she could take any abuse as long as it kept her out of the hands of the Combine.

X X X

The small group had been walking for nearly an hour. Kat's light jacket wasn't doing much to keep her warm and she hoped they were nearing their destination. Barney led the group and the other two flanked Kat, walking slightly behind her. There had been very little conversation along the way, but she had learned that the shorter, older man was named Josef and the slight, young man was named Nolan.

Only a few CP patrols had passed them and none of them seemed to find the group unusual. One group even had a couple prisoners of their own.

They were entering a light industrial area. The squat brick buildings were unremarkable, except that some were obviously in use. As they walked down the dark deserted street, Kat could hear machinery in the closest building. "Why are some of these factories still running?"

Joseph answered, "Most of them produce something for the Combine. Machinery or weapons. Some of them print propaganda. This one here," he gestured at the building they were passing, "packages that slop they call food."

"Are the people forced to work there, or do they do it willingly?"

"Well, I don't know if you could call it 'willingly'. Some are offered incentives like extra food or the chance to contact family members in other cities. Civil Protection works like that. We get all kinds of bonuses, and it helps reinforce the idea that if you're CP, you're superior to the average citizen. It makes it easier to step on the little guys neck since someone is already standing on yours."

Nolan snickered, "What city are you from, Kat? I thought everyone dealt with Civil Protection and the Combine's 'work programs'."

"I'm from outside City 17. I was living on farm about fifteen miles from the city." Kat heard her voice go flat. "Civil Protection showed up two weeks ago and killed everyone there. I was out hunting. That's the only reason I survived. I overheard the name of the officer leading the group and now I'm hunting again. So, yeah, I guess you could say I've dealt with Civil Protection."

Nolan managed a small, "Oh man, I'm sorry." They continued on in silence.

As they progressed deeper into the area, the factories became larger and loomed higher. Some bristled with pipes and tall stacks. There was a strange metallic odor in the air, and one of the occupied buildings seemed to emit the low groans of a tortured giant.

Rounding a corner into a narrow alley, Kat sensed a change in Barney's gait. She heard a whispered, "Oh, shit," from Nolan. Looking over Barney's shoulder, she saw two dark figures walking towards them.

An electronic, unnatural voice rasped through the air. "Halt, citizens."

The group came to a stop. Josef stepped up behind Kat and put a hand on her arm. "Stay calm and be ready," he murmured.

The two Combine soldiers approached with perfectly matched strides. The lenses of their masks flashed blue in the darkness of the alley. Several yards from Barney they stopped. "Where are you taking this female? There is no Civil Protection facility in this area."

Barney replied, "We're under orders to take her in for questioning. We didn't have access to a vehicle tonight, so we're just taking a little shortcut."

"Shortcut?" The soldiers paused as though they needed to process this unfamiliar term.

"There is no Civil Protection facility in this area," the first soldier repeated. "What is the name of the female?"

Barney turned slightly towards Kat. She realized that she had never told him her last name. "Katya Orovjek," she said meekly.

The second soldier put his hand to the side of his black-masked head. "Query. Detainee Status: Katya Orovjek."

Kat could feel the tension building as several seconds passed. "There is no order for the arrest of this citizen. There is also no record of this citizen. Turn her over and come with us for questioning."

"Yes, sir," Barney replied.

To Kat's horror, he turned and reached for her arm. Instead of pulling her towards the Combine soldiers though, he pushed her down and to the side of the alley. Her shoulder cracked painfully with the brick wall and she fell to the ground on her face.

Gunfire exploded through the alley as Kat struggled desperately with her bonds. As she rolled onto her side she heard a cry of pain. It sounded like Josef.

Bullets tore into the wall above her head and pieces of brick fell onto her face. A sudden radio squeal announced the death of one of the Combine soldiers.

Pulling one hand free, Kat grabbed her gun and pushed herself up onto her knees. Josef was huddled against the far wall holding his arm. Nolan crouched behind a stack of shipping crates several feet in front of her. He fired on the hidden soldier, while across the alley, Barney reloaded.

"Don't let him call this in!" Barney yelled and started firing again.

Nolan dug into a pocket on his pack and pulled out a grenade. Pulling the pin, he tossed it well behind the remaining soldier.

Like a pop-up toy, the soldier sprung from hiding and ran across the alley towards them. Kat, Nolan and Barney all stood and fired on the running figure. The black-masked head snapped back and he tumbled limply to the ground.

The grenade exploded ineffectually, echoing through the night.

Nolan ran across the alley. "Josef, are you alright?"

"Yeah, it's not bad. Just grazed my shoulder is all," he responded, clenching his teeth as Nolan examined the wound.

Barney hurried over, tossing his pack to Nolan. "There's a MedKit in there. Kat, help me check the bodies. We'll take those weapons and anything useful they might be carrying. We need to get out of here fast."

Barney and Kat trotted down the alley to the motionless bodies. As they stripped them of weapons and ammunition, Barney looked up at Kat. "You're bleeding."

Kat put her hand to her face. There was a cut at her temple and blood was oozing down her cheek. She wiped it away. "I'm alright. It must be from when I fell."

"Ahh, I'm sorry. I just needed to make sure you weren't…"

"Really, it's okay," Kat interrupted with a small grin. "I'll take a little scrape over a bullet to the head any day."

Barney nodded. "Fair enough. We'll get it looked at when we get back. We're pretty close."

Nolan had patched up Josef and was helping him to his feet.

"You guys ready?" Barney asked. As Nolan and Josef moved towards them, he turned back to Kat. "Take the boots, too. Someone always need boots."

The four figures slipped into the shadows, leaving the barefoot corpses to cool in the night air.

Okay, sorry about the X's to break up the chapter. The document manager seems to have issues with asterisks. Does anyone have a way to do that a little more gracefully? I didn't want to break this up into three separate chapters. Maybe two chapters, but I felt the first two parts needed to go together.

Anyway, I really fixed the anonymous review thing this time. Missed that stupid "Save Changes" tab. Feh.

Please let me know what you think. I'm having a little trouble on Chapter IV and some reviews might provide the kick in the rear that I need.