Chapter 1: The Door to Safety is Shut.
"None of us saw it coming, what the hell was wrong with us?"
The station was rather crowded today, mostly with the usual summer riffraff as officer Rolly pushed his way through the criminals and other officers trying to get to the elevator. There was a belligerent man handcuffed to the bench by the elevator screaming obscenities and obviously intoxicated, as Ex rounded the corner to the elevator and observed this sight he grumbled a bit under his breath and shrugged his shoulders. One of those days he thought, hot and humid always seems to bring out the crazies, as he hit the up button on the elevator. It took a few seconds for the elevator doors to finally shuffle open creaking with old age and moderate neglect. Stepping into the elevator and hitting the "3" button he thought that this old heap is going to give out someday, it'll be hell for the poor soul trapped inside waiting for the maintenance boys to come and fix it. The door slid open at the third floor after a decidedly bumpy ride and Ex was happy to step out onto solid floor, the hallway was empty which made decent sense being as the third floor was devoted entirely to S.T.A.R.S., it used to house the billing department also, but we managed to kick their sorry asses to the second floor.
The light from the sun was shining in from the window at the end of the hall lighting up all the dust particles in the musty old hallway as Ex walked towards the office door, his heavy combat boots thudding on the hardwood floor echoing emptily through the corridor. He reached the door and tried the knob, jammed like always, damn thing's so old it's a wonder it hasn't broken off yet. He rapped on the frosted glass a few times and heard someone shifting about. Must be Leon he thought, he would be the only one in before me on a Saturday wouldn't he? The door opened and sure enough he was standing there, the newspaper in his free hand barely looking up from it and nodding in Ex's direction then retreating quickly back to his desk and setting the paper down to read it more carefully. Ex gave a moderate sigh and stepped into the familiar office, thinking that he would tell the maintenance guys to get up here and fix that damned doorknob before they all get locked out of their office. Sitting down at his desk and mourning over the large stack of paperwork that had accumulated during the week he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk putting his hands behind his head and stretching a bit. Looking over at Leon he pondered something then asked what was so important in the news today. Leon didn't respond immediately, very like him, and then he finally looked up after finishing the paragraph he was on and shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing much" was his reply. "Just a few strange reports of some folk disappearing out on the edge of town. Probably run anyways but the circumstances seem odd, not the type you know?"
Ex nodded in agreement and went back to staring at the ceiling; he muttered something about the world starting to fall apart all around them. Leon, encouraged by this statement recalled something and told Ex that just Friday at class while he was walking to his car he saw two drunkards assault a poor woman in the campus parking lot. Leon had rushed over to help the poor woman and by the time he had gotten there the campus security had their hands full restraining the drunks. The girl herself was all right except for the strangest damn thing; one of the drunks had bitten her on the arm. Weird motherfuckers was what Leon called them and he told Ex that he bandaged the poor girl and went on his way, never did find out what happened to the drunks.
"Another weird thing," Leon said, "Was that even though he used his aid spray, and bandaged the woman as best he could, the wound just wouldn't stop bleeding, like the blood wouldn't clot properly for some reason." Leon said she was probably just anemic or something. Ex told Leon he was damn right, and that the world was indeed falling apart around them.
"What ever happened to decency anyways?" He said dryly.
The two men had a good chuckle and leaned back in their chairs watching the ceiling fan spin mindlessly around and around. They sat in silence for about an hour as Ex drudged through his seemingly endless flow of paperwork and when he was finally done he got up and went over to the fridge in the corner by the window, he opened the door and took out a cold bottle of water, opening it and taking a large gulp as he looked around the office, he loved this place so much because it had that old 50's detective office feel to it, complete with an old typewriter next to the fridge. The billing department had left it here when they moved down to the second floor and the guys just never got rid of it, now it feels like it belongs here. Then he glanced out the window over the city from the third floor view, he could pick out people walking down Broadway from here and the sick thought of being able to pick them off was almost comical as it crept into his head.
"Fuck," said under his breath. Ex went back to his desk and leaned over to Leon who had his face buried in some biology book, and asked him if they had anything on the agenda for the coming week. Leon put down his book and shuffled through the calendar on the wall and shook his head.
" Its going to be a light month for the S.T.A.R.S. team, unless of course we want to go out and deal with the teeming masses like the beat cops."
"Fuck that." was Ex's response as he chuckled a bit and then stood up finishing off his bottle of water and tossing it into the trash can beside his desk, he told Leon he was going to go down to the range and practice a bit, if he was needed give him a call over the radio. Leon nodded absently intent on the various vein structures of the human body listed in Gray's Anatomy.
Another rickety death-vator ride down to the basement and Ex found himself at the police firing range, a few beat cops were already down here plugging bullets into the paper targets at the far end with no real thought on accuracy. Ex put on the required safety gear though he despised doing so, and stood in front of an empty lane, loading up a target to the feeder, he pushed the button on the wall next to him and the target sped down to the end of the range, it wasn't as far as Ex would like it to be, but he was still a little insecure about his pistol skills, that is after all why he came down here every Saturday to practice. When he was situated he took a calm deep breathe, closed his eyes, then opened them, drew his left 1911 and fired off a whole clip, 7 rounds with one in the chamber for a total of 8. The target came whizzing back to him and as he inspected his marks, he had struck 3 shots in a triangle pattern around the center of the target and the other 5 rested at different spots around the head of the target. Loading another target he did the same with the right 1911, but this time, his accuracy was obviously lessened two shots having missed the vital areas completely. Thinking to himself that maybe that wasn't so bad, you don't always have to shoot to kill. That being said he repeated the process until he ran out of bullets, he had used an entire box this time, a little more than usual, killing time was the goal here, waiting for one of his other buddies to make it upstairs.
Officer Edgewtaer pulled into the parking garage of the precinct and locked up the squad car, took some time to chat with Daniel the security officer about the heat wave as he signed his car into the garage. He did this every Saturday, came in a little late, had a small chat with Daniel as he signed in his car and then took his sweet time getting up to the office.
"Not like anything ever happens anyways" he thought as he pulled open the service entrance to the building, and headed for the stairs. He never took that damned elevator it was too unstable for his tastes, didn't like the thought of being trapped in there if it broke down or something. Besides taking the stairs meant he avoided most of th crowd of the station, and he knew it would be crowded now. Saturday and hot, and it was a full moon last night, as Ex would say that brings out all the crazies.
Rowan was feeling good today, he woke up early and took a long shower, worked out for a bit according to the training regimen Ex had set up for him a few weeks ago.
"Got to toughen you up rook" were his exact words if Rowan remembered properly.
He chuckled a little to himself as he reached the second floor stairwell and stopped to look out of the window over 19th street, which was facing the station. Not many cars out on the road today but its still early and the days are getting longer finally. There was a couple on the sidewalk out there walking along and Rowan thought briefly that it must be nice. Shaking that thought of his head he wandered up finally making it to the third floor and pulling open the heavy steel door with a little bit of effort he sidled out into the hallway, the stairs opened right up next to the elevator on this side, and he gave the elevator a passing glance as he headed down the hall towards the office door. Leon would definitely be in by now, and Ex might be here in the office, or down at the range. Strange, he could almost remember everyone's schedule already and he had only been here for a month now, still it felt like he had known these guys for his whole life, like he could trust them with anything.
He got to the office door that proclaimed that this portion of the police station belonged to S.T.A.R.S. and it was propped open, presumably because the damn thing nearly broke every time you touched the knob. He stepped inside the office and that familiar feeling of calm swept over him, he glanced over the room and saw Leon pondering something of great importance at his desk, and Ex was nowhere to be seen. Leon leaned up and gave Rowan a nod and said that Ex had gone down to the range. Rowan only cracked a smile and nodded as he headed to his desk. Sitting down at his desk he shook his head a bit at the cluttered mess of broken trinkets and unfinished paperwork on top of it. He cleared himself a space on his desk by shoving some of the broken parts into the desk drawer with a few other pieces of miscellaneous junk and then he took out a pen and paper and started jotting down a few ideas for some interesting design ideas he had come up with Friday night. After a bit of writing and doodling around the edges of his writing he leaned back in his chair, it was hot in here and that damned ceiling fan didn't move enough air around, he thought about how to take it apart and make it faster but dismissed the idea for now. He looked around the room again, it was spacious and he still couldn't believe the whole team fit up here, of course the other rooms on the 3rd floor were at there disposal, but they haven't really done much with them aside from turning one of the old billing rooms into the official S.T.A.R.S. weapons locker. Clyde and Ex had done most of the work on that, did a damn good job too, they also turned the room across from the office into a changing room, where they had their S.T.A.R.S. gear. S.T.A.R.S., Rowan still couldn't quite grasp that he was part of a paramilitary organization but it sounded damn good to him, and he had made some friends that were unbelievable. He decided that he would sit and wait for Ex to show up and he asked Leon how long Ex had been down at the range. Leon answered with a half minded statement.
"Little later than usual" and turned back to his article in the news. It appears he was still very interested in the missing persons section Leon explained to Rowan that something just didn't sit right with him about the story so far, and he wanted later to go take a look down at the filing center and get some more details. Rowan didn't think much of that at the time, but he liked talking to Leon because he was the only one who didn't make fun of him for being the new kid. Leon also always had some interesting bit of information Rowan had never heard of to share with him, always good to expand your horizons he thought as he moved across the office to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. He looked out the same window Ex had just a bit ago, only all he thought about when he did was how clear the sky was today, he didn't even notice the people on Broadway. He turned to the side a bit and noticed the old typewriter that sat next to the fridge and ran a finger over the shifting handle on it and smirked.
"Don't know why you guys keep this thing around" was what he said to Leon, he didn't respond.
"I sure do like it though" Rowan said in admiration. Something feels safe about it, he thought as he walked back to his desk to wait for Ex or Dane, who would be along shortly also. Clyde wouldn't be here for another hour at the least he guessed. He pulled out his gameboy and started playing the original Mario bros. disregarding his already overdue paperwork. Paperwork is just a waste of time anyways; it'll get done when it gets done.
Dane was grumbling as he pulled his Pontiac into the parking lot of the police station realizing he had to park far away from the doors, as it appeared to be rather crowded today. He hated busy days the most, because it usually meant that he would be home late and he didn't like leaving the ankle biter with the sitter. It wasn't so bad though this week he was visiting his grandparents over in Champaign. Didn't really care for leaving the little tyke in Champaign either, bad place that was, his folks lived in a quiet part at least, nice gated community. These were all thoughts he went over while walking the distance of the parking lot, kicking loose rocks aimlessly as he shuffled onward. Reaching the doors he opened the right one as the left swung open and an officer walked out and lit up a cigarette.
"Man you know those things will kill you" he said as he passed by, the officer only nodding and then turning away to finish his break. Shaking his head in disappointment he trudged through the crowded police station, just like he knew he would have to. The heat in the main hall was pretty bad with it being so crowded and Dane was already sweating, he stopped at the desk in the center of the greeting area and asked the lady at the desk, Gina was what the nametag said, if any of the other S.T.A.R.S. team was upstairs.
She nodded and said "Mr. Rolly went up the elevator about an hour ago."
He thought it was strange that only Ex would be there by now, but then remembered that Leon always comes in before the station fully opens on Saturdays, and Rowan seems to prefer taking the stairs.
Taking the elevator was always a risky move it seemed, but Ex did it all the time, so Dane would too, why not, what's the worst that could happen? The elevator made it up to the third floor again, and as he stepped out into the hall he could hear music coming from the office at the end of the hall, must be Rowan, Leon likes to sit in silence for some reason.
"Damnit, its too hot out today." Dane mumbled to himself as he walked down the sun filled hallway to the office, and slid in between the open space without even touching the door. Saying hello to Leon and Rowan as he sat down at this desk and took his shoes off to air out the dogs as he referred to it. Leon and Rowan were actually having a discussion about what Dane made out to be microbiology. Mostly he guessed it was microbiology because he couldn't understand one single word either of those guys was blabbering on about. Bookworms he thought to himself as he sifted through the already completed paperwork, he always did it on Friday night to make sure Saturday would be his slack off day; also he liked to duck out a little early on Saturdays. He sat there for a bit, then ran his hand over his stomach and asked the other two if they felt like ordering a pizza or something, he was getting hungry and it wasn't to far from lunchtime. They agreed and Leon noted they should make sure to order enough for Clyde and Ex when they got here.
"Hey, I heard Ex was here already though" Dane said.
"Yea, down in the range, you know he has to practice that right arm every Saturday" Leon said simply.
"I bet he's working that right arm all right" Dane exclaimed laughing heartily at his own joke. It was lost on Leon who thought for sure Ex was left handed, but Rowan was chuckling a little also. Having successfully broken up their boring conversation Dane chimed in with the latest news about his boy and how he was doing, making sure to note that he was out of town for the weekend. Halfway through talking about his son Clyde came bursting into the office, throwing the door open with a loud bang as the frosted glass shuddered in its frame but didn't break.
"What the hell is wrong with the world today? Fuck!" Clyde said as he threw himself angrily down into the broken in leather chair at his desk, leaning back in it and running his hands through his hair he groaned loudly and slammed his fist down onto the desk making his favorite coffee mug, the one with S.T.A.R.S. printed on one side and Made In Heaven printed on the other, rattle a bit. He then presided to sit there fuming for a few minutes before it was Rowan who took the plunge and asked him what was up. Dane followed closely by asking what Clyde had done now, hoping to take some of the heat off Rowan. Clyde growled again and then put his hand on his temple, rubbing it profusely.
"Ok it started off like this," were the words that Clyde used as he told them about his most recent run-in with the chief boss man of the station Graham Sterns. "I was running late today because the damned alarm had a misfire and I didn't hear it to boot. I wanted to get down here early to get the paperwork from last week done I hate that shit."
Just getting through the door was a major pain in the ass and when he got halfway through Gina yelled at him over the crowd to go talk to the boss man. Now, as if that wasn't bad enough he had slammed his shin up against the wood paneling that stuck out from the front desk. Nursing that wound he limped off to the right and through the heavy double doors there, the chief's private office was in the back of the filing room. He made his way quickly there wanting to get it over with so he could get to that damned paperwork. Adding insult to injury when he actually managed to shift his way through all the bureaucrats working at the filing tables, when he got to the chiefs door the bastard was on the phone and completely ignoring Clyde. Blabbering on about some pointless crap, Disaster prevention this, Go over the records again that.
"Who the hell gave a damn anyways?" He muttered angrily. "When that fat fuck actually finished his phone call and turned around he yelled at me for not knocking when I got there, what a jerk right guys? In any case he wanted to talk to me about getting my badge back, he said that he didn't personally agree with giving it back, that he didn't feel that Clyde M. Powell was S.T.A.R.S. material, but that it wasn't up to him and the regional director Albert Wesker wanted to keep me in. Man I was really steamed at that point but I was able to make it out of there without losing my top" Clyde explained to his friends as he grabbed a water violently from the fridge and took a big gulp of it and he finished his story by saying that he traipsed his way up here, and that he saw Ex making his way towards the elevator as he entered the stairway, and he should be up soon if the elevator doesn't fall apart. Clyde was obviously having one of his classic bad days.
"We ordered some pizza, enough for all of us" Leon said, "It should get here pretty soon."
That being said, Clyde did mention that he was feeling hungry; he hadn't had breakfast because of waking up so damned late Just as the air in the room had settled from Clyde's outburst Ex walked through the doorway holding three pizzas.
"Anyone order a side of man with this?" Giving off one loud laugh.
After all laughing pretty heartily, even Clyde, Ex put the pizzas down on the center of the big meeting desk in the middle of the room, and said that he had caught the delivery boy just outside the elevator and said he would spare him the deathtrap, also adding that the boys owed him 15 bucks.
"Yea yea" is what Dane said as they all began to help themselves to a few slices of pizza and sat down at the chairs surrounding the table. They were all there now and each one of them felt a little more secure when the whole team was assembled. They all ate and caught up with each other about the current goings ons with their lives over the last couple of days, and it was about at that time that they got a call over the intercom speaker from Dave down in Dispatch. The S.T.A.R.S. team was up for a job and they were to report to dispatch immediately for the mission briefing. They all looked at each other a little puzzled, seeing as how they weren't scheduled out for anything for another month or so.