APCs At Dawn

The smoke clogged up Carl's lungs and lingered in the air. People tumbled out of rooms to see the commotion downstairs.

"Bloody hell," Matthew gasped, sprinting alongside Carl as they thundered down the stairs.

The carnage downstairs was phenomenal; the APC had careered through the lobby of the apartment block, and the wall that it had come through had been obliterated. Rubble and dust littered the floor; the fire consuming the APC was slow and crackled softly).

There was a gaping hole in the back of the APC, the metal bent in at odd angles, and the constant ringing of the high-pitched squeal signified that the Combine Elite inside were dead.

There were also two bodies lying on the floor - they had been sitting on the sofas when the APC had smashed into the room, and the force of the impact had flung them right across the hall. They now lay on the ground, their bodies crushed and their blood spilling onto the floor. People were already crowding around them.

Rebels burst through the door, cheering loudly.

"YES!" they shouted as they strode into the room, their guns swinging above their grimy heads.

It was then that they noticed the bodies lying on the floor.

"Shit," said one of them in a low voice.

The team's medic dashed over to the victims, but when she got a closer look at the bodies, she could see that it was no use trying to help them. She shook her head.

"They're dead, sir," she said sadly.

The team's mood changed from glee to depression in an instant They gathered everyone together as their commander, a man named Danny, walked forward.

"This APC - " he gestured to the smouldering wreck behind him, "was patrolling behind your building when it noticed us. It fired on us but luckily one of our soldiers managed to take aim and fired a rocket at it. Unfortunately it lost control and, well... it ended up here," he finished lamely.

Most of the onlookers looked deeply displeased, but there were still a few weak smiles visible in the crowd. However, their hearts all froze with fear as the sounds of marching soldiers and the rolling of APCs echoed through the high-rise streets.

"Hide!" the commander shouted, and the groups of people scrambled in different directions, taking cover behind the doors and the items of furniture strewn across the room.

Seconds later, an APC smashed through the centre of the front wall, firing wildly. Bullets smashed into the wall and at the same time, Combine grenades sailed through the windows.

"Get Down!" bellowed the commander.

Apocalyptic booms rang out and dust trickled down through the air. The APC was starting to take more tactical aim now, and the team dived behind the vehicle for cover. One of the rebels clambered up the side of the APC and aimed the massive calibre gun on top.

At the same time, the Combine Elite flanking the APC fired their sub-machine guns into the room. Nothing was spared. Civilians were ripped to shreds as their hiding places disintegrated under the hail of gunfire. Immediately afterwards the rebel gunner was shot and he tumbled down from his position, landing on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

To Carl's shock, Matthew immediately sprang up and placed himself behind the heavy machine gun. Hell broke loose as he shot wildly at the line of Combine Elite, which collapsed instantly in the face of the superior firepower. However, a second APC swerved to a halt behind the first and took aim with its modified rocket launcher, lining up the wrecked APC in its sights.

Before it could fire, one of the rebels lobbed a smoke grenade at the ground; confusion broke out as the Combine soldiers and civilians grappled with each other in the dim light and smoky air. Cries of joy and screams of pain were just audible through the sound of gunfire. Light bulbs exploded and rained down glass as a few stray bullets ricocheted across the room.

Suddenly, a rocket whizzed through the room, illuminating the area as more rubble fell to the ground. The smoke cleared, and a stunning sight lay before them - the Combine had been wiped out. Sadly, most of the civilians were also dead.

Carl shot a glance across the room and saw, to his relief, that Matthew was still alive, although he was splattered with blood. There was no sign of the rebel group; they had already left the scene.

Matthew climbed down the wrecked APC.

Slowly, a man appeared from the rubble. He pulled himself up out of the debris and brushed the dust of his uniform blue overalls.

"Hi, I'm A-Alex - Alex Hiscocks..." he stuttered.

Alex paused to ruffle his black hair and began to rub the dust out of his dark brown eyes.

"We've got to get out of here," he urged them.

The three men glanced around the room; they were rebels now, and from now on they would have to survive against the Combine.

'Those photos of us have probably been sent off to the Citadel by now, so they can program the scanners to hunt us down,' Carl thought.

Matthew picked up the sub-machine gun and several spare clips from the floor. Alex picked up a Combine-manufactured shotgun and some shells, and Carl picked up a pair of H&K pistols; he had been the best in his army training squad at the pistol range and felt most comfortable using them than any other weapon.

They looked around; their eyes all converged on the APC outside and they sprinted up to it. Alex lunged into the driver's seat, while Matthew sat behind the modified rocket launcher with a grin on his face, forcing Carl to sit in the back.

"All ready?" Matt called out, as the sounds of the Combine started drawing near again.

"Yes!" Alex and Carl shouted.

"Now drive!"

The engine roared as they zoomed out of the street and onto the empty roads of City 15. Rockets whizzed off as Matthew ripped into the few Combine patrols in the area, and it wasn't long before high-pitched beeps sounded out. The joy was short-lived, however, because a gunship was soon upon them and following behind like a cloud of death.

Machine gun bullets lay waste to the thin metal walls of the APC; Matthew fired the rockets off at the gunship but it was too agile and swiftly outmanoeuvred them. Carl threw open the metal doors and fired his dual pistols at the helicopter. Small bullet holes appeared in the glass, but the craft was already arming its rockets...

"Swerve!" Matthew shouted.

The APC veered violently across the road as rockets hailed down, causing large craters to appear in the road surface. A second gunship appeared beside the first; the Combine wanted their blood and they were determined to get it. More machine-gun bullets slammed into the APC, puncturing a tyre, and the APC started to swerve dangerously.

"Shit - I can't control her!" Alex screamed.

The wind picked up ferociously and the gunships started to come full circle for one last deadly embrace. They prowled round and locked onto their target, then fired-