Ghosts and Darkness
Joe raised his shotgun at the door of the building, the dust covered sign above reading 'Hubby's Hobbies'. He and his Russian companion had peaked through the dirty windows and didn't see or hear any sounds coming from within, and the lights were on inside, making it a good place to start looking for fuses and wiring for Archer. Tokerev slowly opened the door outward for Joe to step inside and scan the room with the barrel of his weapon aimed at chest height. Once he had stepped in a few feet Tokerev joined him with his Thompson raised and ready as he stood beside him. The two men walked slowly through aisles of hobby equipment and supplies. Paintbrushes, paint, easels, knitting yarn and needles, model trains of the Atlantic Express, and much more were still neatly arrayed on shelves and in containers along tables. The dusty store had clearly been vacant for a long time, though it held some evidence of activity. The cash registers on the counters had been busted open and thrown around just like the last store they had left. It seemed to be a common theme in Rapture, no matter what store you entered, the registers were almost always busted open and looted.
"Looks like Splicers don't care much for hobbies, eh?" Tokerev asked in a whisper as the two men looked around the room, it's overhead lights shining down on them in a drab amber glow, dust illuminated in the calming light as it floated about, not a care in the world. Perhaps in a more civilized time it would've looked nice, alluring even if viewed from the outside.
"The only hobbies they enjoy are shooting up ADAM and murder." Joe whispered back, his hand gliding over a large table of a miniature model of Pauper's Drop on a large display table. It was a view from the outside, as if looking at it from the ocean. Miniature art deco buildings and even a few skyscrapers were placed around the table with great care, stickers on the windows of Pauper's Drop told a story of brightness and a bustling society, though they had intentionally forgotten to add the slums that the Drop was known for. Joe's fingers brushed some dust aside and accidentally flicked a small switch on the side of the table. Suddenly lights inside the buildings turned on and cast a bright glow from them as quiet rattling sounded from the table, causing Tokerev to turn with his weapon raised. Once he realized it was the machine making the noise he lowered his weapon and approached the table slowly. The two men stared as a model of the Atlantic Express appeared out of the Drop and made it's way around a track weaving in and out of buildings, missing some, and going through others.
"Why do you think they chose Pauper's Drop for their model? There are far grander places in Rapture." Tokerev asked curiously as they watched the underwater train continue on it's track.
"Probably wanted to pay homage to the Drop, since it was directly under the Atlantic Express. I don't know, could be mocking the working stiffs that called it home, could be trying to paint it in a better light... or they could just not have known what it was really like down there. It's not like it was a hot travel destination." Joe explained.
"If only we could use the Express now." Tokerev said as he watched the train coming closer to his side of the table. His hand reached out and he knocked the train off of it's track with his fingers and watched it fall onto the model sea floor. Joe frowned slightly at that, he didn't know why, but it felt wrong, disrespectful to whomever had built the model. They had obviously taken a lot of time to put it together, paint it, decorate it. Whoever had done it did a marvelous job, it was clear they felt pride in their work, and loved doing it. It reminded him of the Protectors in a twisted sort of way, when they had 'decorated' their last District with Splicers, they had taken great pride in it's careful construction as well, but this, this was different. It was more pure, more innocent, it was made by someone who still had hope in Rapture, and in their business. Joe sighed as he reached up and flipped the small switch to it's 'Off' position. Suddenly the lights in the model went dark, and the gentle grinding of gears stopped as the table went silent.
The two men made their way over to the shop counter and toward the door to the supply closet just beyond. It was unlocked, but wouldn't open more than a few inches, blocked by large metal shelves that had fallen over to lean up against the wall right in front of the door. Tokerev peaked through and cursed in Russian as he tried to force it open, only able to budge it a little bit, knocking more clutter from the shelves that hadn't fallen already. Joe looked back outside the shop windows nervously at the sudden loud noise.
"Here, Joe. Help me with this." Tokerev grunted as he strained against the weight of the door. Joe joined in, the two of them putting their shoulders against the door and pushing hard. The door began to move slowly as the rack was pushed out of the way, it's metal support beams scraping loudly against the wall and floor.
"Any louder and all of Rapture is going to hear us." Joe said through clenched teeth as they pushed the rack out of the way enough for them to fit inside the room. They both stood back up straight and turned to scan the windows and door, seeing nothing through the dirty windows, and hearing no sounds they entered the room, stepping on and over clutter they had knocked off of the shelves or that had fallen years ago. Inside the room was dimly lit with overhead bulbs, their metal housings hanging down from the ceiling to illuminate small work benches and two more metal shelves that held hobby supplies in boxes and totes. It was clear whoever worked here constructed the model parts here from scrap metal and other items. One of the work tables had various pieces of plastic, tin, copper, and metal strewn about, shining underneath a lamp with a mounted magnifying glass attached to the side of the table for use with small parts. Thin scalpel like knives were kept in a cup, and a blowtorch sat idle on top of the green measuring grid of the table. The two men turned to their right and saw two more doors, one was a small bathroom that looked like it had been fairly well maintained aside from the dust. The other door was closed, and they decided to check it as well.
"Come on, the Fusebox has to be around here somewhere, let's find it and get the Hell out of here." Tokerev said as he made his way to the closed door, Joe nodded and followed. This door was much easier to open. A narrow staircase inside led up to the second floor and the men brought their weapons up as they began climbing. Tokerev was first, his Thompson sweeping another narrow hallway that opened up on the right side just a few feet ahead of them, two more doors sat on the left. They made their way forward and Tokerev opened the first room, stepping inside with his gun at the ready as Joe moved past the door and scanned the open area with his shotgun. The opening led to a small kitchen area that joined the living room. Two chairs at the small dining table sat just in front of the window with a clear view of the street below. The living room had only one couch, and a small coffee table that separated it from the modest Television set. Joe's eyes were immediately brought to the corner of the living space, where a few children's toys were scattered around from when they had been last played with. The words 'Sinclair Toys' was neatly painted on the side of some of the toys, and stitched into softer ones. Wooden Soldiers stood straight, or laid over, their rifles still either pointed ahead or slung on their shoulders. Toy Atlantic Express trains were there too, as well as a few small bathysphere models, and even some submersible construction subs with detachable work equipment lay about. It made Joe grimace, and hoped they wouldn't find a child's body in one of the rooms.
"Joe!" He heard his partner shout from the hallway. He turned and made his way over, just then seeing the wooden sign on the door of the room that read 'Tommy' in different colors, clearly painted by the boy himself. Joe swallowed hard when he saw Tokerev's dower expression.
"Did you..." Joe began, not wanting to finish his question. The Russian looked back at the door and quickly turned to face him. "No! No, there is a body, but it's an adult male in his mid forties if I had to guess... He's been there for a very long time." He said in his thick accent, as he held up his hand. In it was an audio recorder, dust covered and cracked slightly.
"He was laying next to a child's bed with this in his lap." He said lowly.
"How did he-"
"Gunshot wound to the head... Self inflicted." Tokerev answered grimly as he shook his head. "Probably better this way, at least he didn't have to see what this place became. Then again... maybe it wasn't better, judging by where he chose to spend his final moments." He added.
"Think we should listen to it?" Joe asked, his eyebrows pinching together as he prepared himself for either answer.
"I think... It is the least we can do for breaking into his home... His grave." Tokerev stated regretfully, earning a nod from Joe. The two men made their way over to the small dining table and sat down in the seats that had belonged to the man and his son, scanning the street below as Tokerev laid the audio recorder on the table between them. He hit the rewind button and paused for a moment before hitting play.
"Woooow!" A boy's voice came through the speaker, an older man's laughter following the joyful exclamation.
"You can see the whole city from here!" Tommy shouted with excitement, his father laughing again.
"Well, not the whole city, Rapture's a big place, son, but you can see a heck of a lot that's for sure! The Atlantic express is a pretty swell thing, huh?"
"This is the best train ride ever! Look Dad a shark!" Tommy shouted, causing Joe to picture a boy, cheerfully pointing outside the window of the train, his palms and forehead pressed to the glass with a look of awe on his face. He glanced back to the kid's room and clenched his jaw as he adjusted himself uneasily on his seat.
"Ooooh, yeah I see it!" His father said, equally excited.
Suddenly the recording skipped, static could be heard as a loud clicking echoed through the speaker box. The sound of breathing came next, sniffling, and sharp intakes of air, clearly someone distraught.
"We uh... We saw the Doctor today for Tommy's headaches and nausea." The Father's voice said, he sounded as if he were holding back all of the sadness in the world, trying not to break down completely.
"God, Mary. He said Tommy has a brain tumor, Glioblastoma... It's... Oh God..." He began whimpering, crying as he recounted the details. "It's untreatable..." He finished, breaking down again. Both Tokerev and Joe closed their eyes and grimaced, the sound of pain and anguish in the Father's voice was beyond sad, it was hopeless. Joe cleared his throat as he adjusted himself on his seat again, glancing at Tommy's bedroom door, and the hand painted sign pinned to the front, a sign that had clearly been made by both Father and Son together. Joe felt his eyes dampen, water encroaching on the edge of his vision.
"I've started taking him on train rides every time we make a big sale... Sometimes I only eat once a day in order save money for them... they seem to be the only thing that helps right now... It... It doesn't matter how bad he feels some days... He always loves riding the Atlantic Express..." The Father said solemnly, and the recording skipped again, static hissing through the apartment as it flipped back to another day, a better day.
"I wanna drive the Atlantic Express when I grow up, Dad! Do you think I'll be able to?" Tommy said excitedly, his childlike awe piercing Joe and Tokerev's hearts.
"Of course, Son. You can be anything you want in Rapture, as long as you work hard enough. Just look at me, I started working down on Airlocks and now we have our very own Store!" His Father replied gently, adding a little extra flair so the boy understood the possibilities of a bright future. Tommy was silent for a moment before speaking again, this time lower, more sad. "I wish Momma could be here with us..." He said.
"I know, Son... Me too... But hey, Your Mom has a beautiful grave plot on the top of a hill on the surface, a place where the sun always shines..." His Father explained softly before whispering. "And she loves us, and she'll always watch over us." He said. Tokerev and Joe could practically see the man looking cautiously around the train to make sure no one heard his religious reference. The tape skipped again, static could be heard, and both men took the moment to rub their crying eyes, sniffle their leaking noses. The heartache of this long forgotten story weighing heavily on both of the hardened men.
"I thought if I brought Tommy down here... We'd be able to build a far better life from what we had up there... but... I just can't win, Mare." The Father's voice came through the speaker, his words stuttering and breaking from the heartache.
"I buried Tommy today... God I couldn't even bury him properly... They... They had to cremate him... like everyone else that... They wouldn't even let me see his body..." He paused, sobbing heavily at the fresh memory.
"When I came home... I couldn't do anything but cry for hours, I just... stared at the model of Pauper's Drop we made together... and cried..." He wailed, his broken soul causing both men listening to break as well when they realized just how much the model meant to both Tommy and his Father.
"I'm done, Mary... I have nothing left now... First you left me... and now our boy... Our Thomas left me too!" He cried, anger and sorrow lashing out at the cruel hand of fate they had been dealt.
"I'm sorry, baby... I'm so sorry I couldn't protect our child... I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you..." He apologized, the agony and defeat were crushing. They listened to him sob for a full minute before finally... They heard a single gunshot... and the recording stopped.
Tokerev leaned back in his chair against the wall and held his hand on his eyes, Joe leaned forward in his, his hands covering his face as they both wept for the two poor souls. They had seen countless bouts of death, destruction, and heartache in Rapture... but this was different, this was a first hand account of a heartbreaking story before Rapture had fallen, and the most heartbreaking aspect of this story was the very real possibility that neither Tommy or his Father never had a chance to begin with. Both men knew there were hundreds, thousands of stories just like this in Rapture, but hearing it from the words of a loving, broken, and grieving Father hit both of them far harder than either had expected. Joe stood suddenly from his seat and grabbed the audio log from the table.
"Where are you going?" Tokerev asked.
"To put this back where it belongs..." He said, taking a deep breath as he began moving to the door of Tommy's room. He paused, before stepping inside. The walls were painted red, with white baseboards around the room, a white ceiling above, and soft, cream colored carpet underneath. It was modest, one child sized bed with a nightlight on the corner closest to the bed, it still gave off it's soft golden glow to ward away all of the things children fear in the night. Toys were scattered around the room on the floor, the toybox they had originated from still open after all these years, the window leading to the outside showering the room in a deep blue glow from Rapture's exterior. It was a picture frozen in time. Next to Tommy's bed, was his Father's corpse, leaning against the nightstand, his head tilting down toward his lap. It was old, mummified, and his tattered clothes were draped around his bony frame, his left arm was at his side, a rusted revolver still in the hand. His right arm was laying against his stomach gripping something. Joe knelt down at the side of the corpse, careful not to disturb it, and gently pulled the papers from the stiff fingers that held it so dearly. He turned them over and realized they were pictures, and he began weeping as he saw them. One picture was of a young man and woman. The woman was sitting on the hood of a car parked on the side of a street lined with trees, smiling lovingly at her Lover as he did the same. They were holding hands, and the black and white color of the photo did nothing to diminish the amount of love the photo conveyed. The next photo was of the couple as well, they were in a hospital, and the woman held a bundled baby in her arms, giving an exhausted smile to the camera as a proud Father leaned over and kissed the top of her head, his hand cupping the baby along with hers. Joe flipped the photo over and written on the back in neat handwriting were the words. "Mary, David, and little Thomas Reynolds, November 6th, 1948." Joe wiped his eyes again and whispered "Thomas would've been in his twenties by now..." He said, shaking his head. He didn't know if the tumor had saved Tommy from Rapture or not. Was it a small blessing that the boy didn't have to suffer like he and his friends were now, or not? Did it even matter at all? He didn't know, he didn't want to think on it like that.
The final picture was of David and Tommy, he was holding his father's hand and grinning up at his Father's side with awe, like he were looking at a super hero, both of them wearing casual yet well maintained clothes, both of their hair combed to the same side. His Father was looking at the camera with a happy grin as they stood in front of the Atlantic Express station, the look of joy on both of them told Joe that David hadn't know about Tommy's brain tumor yet.
Joe took the pictures of the family and held them for a long time before placing them in his shirt pocket with two soft pats, something to remember them by. He then placed the audio recorder back in David's mummified hand, before standing and pulling a folded blanket from Tommy's bed to drape over David's body. When he stood up straight he sighed sadly.
"Why did you take them? The pictures." Tokerev said, standing in the door way. Joe turned to look at him, frowning.
"You said it yourself, it's the least we could do for breaking into their home... for hearing their story. Something to remember them, and, Fate willing if we get to the surface alive, I'm going to find Mary's grave, and maybe I'll talk to her about her Husband and Son." He explained, giving one last look to David's covered body before exiting the room.
"The fuse box is in the closet in the Father's room." Tokerev said lowly, still staring at the covered corpse.
"His name was David." Joe said, earning a nod from the Russian.
"The fuse box is in David's room." He said again, his voice taking on a more solemn, respectful tone. He looked around the room and back to David's resting place before pulling the wooden door closed and following Joe to the other room. The two men quickly gathered the fuses and wires they needed from the electrical box and made their way back downstairs, through the Hobby Store's workshop, and into the shop. They were about to pass the model table of Pauper's Drop when Tokerev stopped. He reached over and picked up the train he had knocked off the rails, and placed it back on the track staring at it for a while before looking at Joe as he stood by the door. The bearded man nodded approvingly, as Tokerev walked around the table to join him but squinted as a blur of movement caught his eye through one of the windows.
Tokerev looked to Joe with wide eyes and yelled "Down!".
Gunfire roared outside as the dirty windows shattered into a thousand shards of razor sharp glass. Joe had hit the floor just in time to see Tokerev jerk backwards with a grunt as he fell. He gripped his shotgun tightly as he covered his eyes with his free hand, glass and debris raining down on him from every direction as the Hobby Shop exploded into chaos.
"Tokerev!" The bearded man screamed over the ringing in his ears and the roar of gunfire. He began clawing his way across the dirty floor to where his partner had fallen, only able to see his legs kicking from behind the model table. When he reached him, he saw blood covering his stomach and hands as he held pressure on the wound, his eyes closed tightly as dirt and other debris pelted his face from above. The gunfire stopped as Joe made it to him, he ripped his shirt open and saw that two more bullets had hit Tokerev in the chest as well, but were lodged firmly in his bulletproof vest. Joe thanked whatever higher power had given them that small mercy as he rolled Tokerev onto his side to see if the bullet had passed out the other side, it had. He began opening his friend's backpack, and quickly grabbed a first aid syringe pulling the cap from the large needle before stabbing it into the man's thigh and injecting the liquid.
Tokerev growled and cursed in both Russian and English as he held his hands on his stomach. Joe pulled gauze from the backpack and unbundled it as he began stuffing it inside Tokerev's bleeding wounds, both back and front. The wounded man shook with adrenaline, rage, and pain as he growled louder. The two men heard several hard thuds in the absence of the gunfire. Joe looked around and realized what had made the noise. He jumped on top of Tokerev, laying over his chest and stomach as he covered the wounded man's head with his shoulder and hand.
Explosions tore through the Shop, and Joe felt his body erupt in pain as shrapnel hit his back, legs, and arms. His vision was blurred, and his ears were ringing so loud it felt like his head would explode. He slowly pulled back and looked down at Tokerev who was gritting his teeth from the wound he had sustained, as well as the concussive force of the exploding grenades. Joe saw his eyes open as he attempted to lift his head toward the door, a look of rage and pain on his face. Joe understood immediately what he was looking for, and pulled his shotgun to him. The bearded man rolled onto his back, pain from a hundred cuts littering his body jarred him into an adrenaline fueled focus. Using Tokerev as a brace to prop his pain ridden back upon. He ignored his own injuries as he raised his shotgun toward the door, just in time to see it fly open, a Splicer standing in the doorway with a knife. He saw the Man's crazed eyes dart around before settling on the two, his mouth contorting into a wicked smile, despite seeing the deadly weapon aimed at him.
Joe pulled the trigger and felt the kick of the rifle in his arms, but couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears. He watched in slow motion as the body of the Splicer erupted with blood and gore, falling back from the doorway. Another of the crazed lunatics jumped through the window to the left of the door and he fired, sending her back through the window she had come from, some of her spindly hair and fragments of her dress floating gently to the ground in her absence. From the open door, Joe could see explosions on the street, and Splicers running toward gunfire, and he knew Sigma and Archer had joined the fight.
. . .
"Splicers!" Mark yelled again as he ran down the hallway toward the workshop. He slid to a stop in the doorway, the Protectors already putting their body suits back on. Iota and Anna were putting Omega's armor pieces back on his suit with lightning speed as he replaced his helmet, locking it into place. It would take time for both Anna and Iota to put their own armor pieces back on, and the second they had heard Mark yell about threats, they had decided to outfit Omega first and foremost by working together to speed up the process.
"A big group of the Bastards just ran past the fire station, looked like they were headed toward Joe's group, there'll probably be more!" He said quickly as he watched the sisters reattach Omega's air tanks as he sat on a stool, the massive forging hammer he had been using was laying on it's square head, it's handle in the air with the Brother's hand gripping the base. When Iota patted his shoulder guard, and Anna yelled "Done!" The Protector stood, picking up the hammer in both hands and stomped past Mark and out of the room. Tenenbaum was helping Seline down the hallway toward him, and they slid to one side as the Titan moved by, his anger filled steps shaking the ground beneath them. As the Brother approached the front door of the fire station, he heard banging on the outside, and a voice he didn't recognize, a voice he didn't like. The wheezing, raspy tone of a Lunatic shouted through the door.
"Let us in! Come on we won't hurt ya!" A man shouted angrily through the wooden obstruction, an edge of sick desperation in his tone. As the Protector reached the door, he saw the tip of a knife blade stab through the door, his helmet's visors turned a deep, hate-filled crimson as he growled. The man stabbed the door two more times as others banged on the barricaded windows of the station. With an echoing bang, Omega's heavy boot kicked the door open sending the knife wielding Splicer onto his back with stars in his vision. A group of the Vermin took hesitant steps back as the eight foot tall Protector ducked under the smaller doorframe and stepped into the street, growling menacingly as he did so, the look on the Splicer's faces told him they hadn't been expecting him.
He cast his gaze to the man he had knocked down as he stood beside him. The Brother held his massive forging hammer upside down by the hilt with one arm before dropping it onto the man's head, not slamming it, simply dropping it and letting gravity do the work for him. The man's eyes went wide before the tool crushed his skull into dust, the ground shaking from the impact. The Protector hefted the bloody weapon onto his shoulder and scanned the area, counting the Splicers that were all standing there in shock. They knew him, they knew his work, and most importantly, they knew how fucked they were. The Protector gave a sinister grin beneath his helmet, his tongue lightly tapping his sharp K9's, ready for blood and war. The first Splicer to move was a deformed woman in a bloody sky blue dress, her brown hair up in a bob that exposed the horrid features of her face. "I'll not die here like the rest, you Coward!" She said as she raised her revolver and fired at the Brother, the first shot missing, a second sparking off of his shoulder armor. He let out a deafening roar as he shot toward her, the giant hammer he held offering little resistance against his speed and strength, he swung wide, arching the head of the hammer toward her side, and as it impacted her, he felt her body crunch against the force as she bent at a ninety degree angle, her mangled corpse impacting the fire station with another loud crunch. When the others saw this, they too jumped out of their shock and fear, and began attacking. One came from the Brother's right, knife raised and ready for a kill he thought he could make. The Brother turned and raised his hammer swiftly and brought it down on the top of the man's fedora covered head, he too bent in an odd angle as he hit the ground with a bang, gore showering the front of the Brother's suit and armor. He was hit with automatic fire as soon as the man died, and the Protector held up his arm to shield his helmet from the bullets. He felt the impacts on his arm and side for only a moment before a purple cloud of smoke formed behind the man, and Iota appeared, grabbing the Swine by the back of his neck, her hand upside down as her thumb pointed to his shoulder, lifting him into the air as he dropped his weapon and screamed. Her own rage filled shriek split the air as her free hand took hold of his kicking leg, and she pulled him apart like the insect he was. Anna joined them, sprinting from the open door, jumping high into the air and coming down on another of the Rats, her harvester skewering him through his chest as she growled.
Two of the Splicers made a run for the fire station door, one of them screaming "It's mine! It's my hiding place!" as his horrified expression glanced at the woman who ran beside him. "Get lost you buffoon!" She screamed as she tripped him, she turned just in time for submachine gun fire to riddle her with holes, Mark standing behind cover in the doorway, his face contorted with rage and hate as he fired his weapon first on her, then on another Splicer that tried to follow them. Revolver rounds shot through the barricaded window of the fire station as Tenenbaum joined in the defense. With their support the Protectors made quick work of the attacking force and stood in the midst of the carnage, looking for survivors as Tenenbaum and Mark joined them in the street, their weapons still held at the ready.
"Didn't seem like they were expecting you guys." Mark stated as he kicked one of the dead men with his foot.
"They never do." Anna replied.
"If they were not expecting us to be in the fire station, then why would they attempt to get in so quickly?" Tenenbaum asked, her eyes narrowing.
"One of them did say it was their hiding place, I wonder why they thought that was a good idea." Mark said as he rested his Thompson on his shoulder as Omega had his hammer.
"They're insane, who knows what was going through their heads." Anna replied with a shrug.
"We should probably go see if Joe and the others need help, that was a pretty big group that passed us earlier." Mark stated nodding in the direction the men had gone.
"We should hurry, no telling whe-" Anna began, before cutting herself off, all of the Protectors stood rigid, and the three of them turned their heads in the same direction, the direction the Splicers had come from. Mark and Tenenbaum looked at them with confusion as they stood still, looking for something in the distance, the only thing Mark could see however, was the large glass windows at the far end of the dimly lit street.
"What? What do y-"
"Shh!" Anna interrupted Tenenbaum, Iota putting her finger in front of her helmet signaling them to be silent. The two humans stayed quiet, but watched as the Protector's helmets jerked back and forth slightly, as if they were waiting for whatever they had heard to show itself.
"Get inside. Now." Anna said, her brother pointing his finger to the door. They did as they were ordered, whatever had caught the Protector's attention was obviously something that had them on edge, and they knew anything that could put the three siblings on edge was far more dangerous than Splicers.
"Take Lizzy and Selene to the back rooms and lock the doors... don't make a sound until you hear one of us call for you." Anna told them, both of the humans nodding before they ran inside closing the door behind them. Omega walked toward the direction they were looking, and raised his hand up toward the roof of the fire station, clenching his fist as he pulled downward, the top of the building crumbling into debris as it fell to block the windows and doorway. He stood in front of his sisters as they took up their combat stances, he brought his massive hammer off of his shoulder and held it in both hands, gripping it tightly as a new roar filled the air, it sounded almost like a Berserker NeoSplicer, but different, lower, stronger. It was then that they realized the Splicers hadn't been attacking them, they had been running from something else.
The Siblings watched the dimly lit street, ready for whatever new terror the City had cooked up, when movement caught their attention. A mass of living meat slithered into view, half the size of a baseline human. The three Protectors tilted their heads as the creature slithered down the street toward them. It was a dark pink slug-like thing, wrinkled hide with bits of hair covered it's back, and it had a large, circular mouth full of sharp teeth. No eyes could be seen anywhere on the beast, but it had two fleshy tendrils protruding from either side of it's grotesque mouth hole. They watched as it came closer, seemingly paying them no mind as it left a trail of thick slime in it's wake. It carried the scent of rotting meat, musk, and more curiously... ADAM.
"What is that?" Anna asked, disgust clear in her voice. They watched the creature pass them, completely uncaring that they even existed, the long stinger like protrusion on it's back end wiggling on the ground as it writhed toward a Splicer's corpse. The fleshy tendrils on it's mouth tapping the broken body lightly as it shrilled gently. The Protectors moved to surround the creature as they observed it. They watched as the beast slithered on top of the corpse's chest, it's stinger shaking just above the stomach of the dead man before it stabbed down into the body.
"Is it doing what I think it is?" Anna asked, looking to both of her siblings questioningly. As soon as they saw the dim glow of ADAM being siphoned through the stinger of the creature both older siblings turned and began scanning the area carefully. Omega pointed to the ADAM gathering creature and gave a short, but understandable screech, and Anna nodded, raising her harvester above it. She stabbed down into the beasts back, and it gave a sharp squealing screech of pain.
A louder, deeper roar filled the air as the creature shrieked and shook, trying to wriggle free from the Sister's needle as she pinned it to the corpse. Anna's head shot toward the direction of the second roar and she pulled her harvester out, only to slam it back down into the creature, finally killing it. ADAM mixed blood oozed from the body as she retrieved her weapon. The sound of massive footfalls echoing through the street.
"This thing... It's a Gatherer isn't it?..." Anna asked, and both of her siblings nodded affirmingly.
"And where there's a Gatherer... There's always a Protector..." She whispered, another deep roar echoing down the street. All three Protectors took up their combat stances, each tailored to match their fighting styles, and gritted their teeth in anger at the abomination they were sure to meet.
. . .
Archer ducked incoming fire as he bolted to the window of the clothing store, knocking mannequins over with clattering crashes as he ran low, his side hit the waist high concrete cover of the store's window as Sigma's Gatling gun opened up with another thunderous volley, shell casings pinging off of the ground like rain as bullets pelted the Splicers in front of him. The Big Daddy strode through the doorway, his heavy boots shaking the already spent shell casings with small dings, flattening some while others seemed all too eager to roll out of his way. Archer peaked up to the smoking hobby store on their left, he couldn't see any movement but he knew someone was alive inside, that was evident from the two Splicer bodies laying just outside the store.
He caught movement to his right and rose slightly as he shouldered his Thompson. He fired a quick burst into a boil-ridden woman with a pipe, and again on another man coming up just behind her. He didn't even have time to watch her body hit the floor before he joined her. Archer ducked back down as bullets impacted the cover just in front of him, he could hear two of them crack by his head, and he felt his adrenaline spike even higher. He controlled his breathing, counted to three, and rose again when the incoming fire stopped.
As Archer fired from the relative safety of the window, Sigma took the fight to the Enemy, trading out his large Gatling gun for his arm drill, that seemed to draw most of the attention from Archer, and all of the attention from Joe and Tokerev. The Big Daddies hand pulsed with Electro bolt, and he shot lightning into one of the Splicers that was charging Archer as he reloaded, it gave him the time he needed and the human fired into the stunned man with a fresh magazine as Sigma smashed his drill into his own charging target. He batted the insane man away like he was little more than a fly, and revved his drill up before plunging it into a woman's stomach, her shaking and convulsing as she screamed, blood spraying the Protector's armor and soaking her dirty cream colored sweater crimson. The sound of the battle was deafening. Archer tried to scream over the chaos to see if his friends were okay but it was no use, even if they could hear him he wouldn't be able to make out a reply. He saw Sigma freeze a Spider Splicer in mid air with Winter Blast and smash his drill through the lithe creature, shattering him into a hundred chunks of frozen meat and gore just before a grenade went off right next to him. The force of the blast staggered the Protector, and as the Big Daddy regained his balance, Archer had already taken aim. A lucky shot hit the Grenadier's explosive box beneath his arm, and he disappeared into a cloud of dust, fire, and smoke, pieces of him raining down all around the square.
Sigma stood and scanned the area for more threats, but the last of the Splicers were either dying, or fleeing. He looked back to his human partner and nodded with a low groan, letting him know it was safe to come out. As soon as Archer saw this he jumped over his bullet ridden cover and sprinted toward the smoking hobby store his friends were in, Sigma joining him in a jog.
"Tokerev, Joe!" He yelled as they reached the door, his stomach lurched when he saw the two men. Joe was shakily holding his shotgun in one hand as he aimed it at the door, letting it fall when he realized it was Archer and not another Splicer. He had cuts and gashes all over him from the thousands of shards of glass that had been turned to shrapnel in the explosions, some larger pieces still sticking out of his shaking body. He was wide eyed, in shock, but he had never left Tokerev's side, he was still laying up against him to shield him from harm, and he had Archer's infinite gratitude for that. Joe coughed as Archer ran over to them, kneeling to inspect both men. Joe had done the best he could to patch Tokerev's wound, but they needed to get him back to the Fire Station fast, he needed serious medical attention and they couldn't provide that in the field, even with Rapture's advanced first aid syringes.
"Talk to me Toke, how you doing?" He asked as he knelt and began wrapping his friend's wound. Sigma entered the building and went to their side, kneeling next to Joe.
"I got fucking shot, Archer! How do you think I'm doing?!" Tokerev yelled angrily at him, causing him to chuckle slightly.
"Don't worry, buddy. We're going to get you out of here and back to base, Doctor Tenenbaum will have you right as rain in no time!" He said, grunting as he rolled Tokerev onto his side to tie his bandage tight, earning him a pain filled growl.
"Hey big guy." Joe said to Sigma with a cough that dripped blood into his thick beard. Sigma groaned deeply and pulled another first aid syringe from his belt pouch before injecting it into Joe's arm. Joe groaned and sighed heavily as the healing liquid began it's work. "Aw yeah... That's the good stuff." He chuckled and coughed as some of his wounds stopped stinging. The Protector began carefully removing large pieces of glass shards from Joe's flesh, pulling most of the smaller pieces out with his telekinesis as Archer did the same for Tokerev, luckily he didn't have as much glass in him as Joe did since he was much farther from the windows and mostly covered by the model train table. Both Archer and Sigma worked as fast and carefully as they could, cleaning and wrapping the two men's wounds.
"Sigma, we have to get them back to base and patched up as soon as possible, we need to make sure everyone back at home is okay, and be ready to move fast if Reed Wahl's found us. Can you take them back?" Archer asked seriously as he looked over to the Protector, Sigma's massive helmet dipped in a nod as he groaned.
"What about you?" Joe asked through gritted teeth.
"I'm going to get the lights in that store back on and get that tracking dart onto a NeoSplicer." He responded as he laid Tokerev back down.
"It's dangerous to do it alone." Joe stated as Sigma helped pull him to his feet.
"We don't have a choice right now. I'll be alright, I know this District like the back of my hand, and I can move faster alone once you guys are gone." He said as he pulled Tokerev up into a sitting position. Joe steadied himself by grabbing onto Sigma's armor before finally standing on his own shaking legs. He didn't like the idea of leaving Archer there alone, but he was right. Joe could barely stand let alone walk, and Tokerev definitely wouldn't be able to get back on his own.
"Don't worry about him, he's a stubborn Bastard, Joe. If I couldn't kill him, nothing can." Tokerev gave a growling chuckle as Sigma knelt down to scoop him up with one arm. Joe sighed heavily as he accepted the truth of the situation, and climbed onto Sigma's back, standing on the small platform of his lower back that the Little Sisters would use, and wrapped an arm over the Protector's air tanks for support, jamming the butt of his shotgun between them so he could use the barrel as a handle. Once both men were situated Sigma rose to his full height, their combined weight barely registering to him.
"You three get back as quickly and safely as you can, make sure everyone is okay, and if you end up having to evacuate the District don't wait on me." Archer said as Sigma turned to leave. Joe panted heavily as the pain from his wounds caused his vision to blur and darken.
"Take care of them Sigma, and be careful." Archer said as he waved them off. He checked the fuses to make sure they were okay, and took Tokerev's bloody backpack and hefted it onto his shoulder, he had to work fast, and he had a bad feeling about this whole mess. He left the store as Sigma jogged off and disappeared around the street corner, and made his way back to the clothing store they had been in previously. He entered the store and made his way back to the basement, shards of glass crunching like the leaves of a forest beneath his boots. This had to work, and if it didn't... he had to make it. Even with the power of four Protectors helping them, there was no way they would be able to find the NeoSplicer nest if they had to search all of the tunnels and maintenance accessways in Rapture, and even if they all somehow survived the endless numbers of the NeoSplicer horde, it would take far too much time. No, this was it, this was their only chance to find the nest, and they were pressed for time, they had to get the tracking dart onto a NeoSplicer no matter the cost. He worked quickly, replacing burned out and damaged wires for new ones, he knew he had done something right when the lights in the room, though dim, had turned back on. He felt a sense of victory however small, and nodded.
"That's one problem taken care of." He said to himself as he looked to the heavy bulkhead door that locked out either NeoSplicers, or the Ocean.
"Now let's see what's behind door number one." He said as he walked over to the bulkhead, taking a deep breath.
There was no way of knowing what was behind the door. Was it empty darkness, or was it a wall of water and pressure that would flood the district as soon as he turned the wheel? He didn't have the luxury of choice at this point. Archer looked back from the door and made his way to the opposite side of the room, directly facing the door. On the off chance that it wasn't completely flooded, he would be ready. He pulled Tokerev's experimental air rifle from his shoulder and pressed the trigger, earning him a loud 'SWISH' of air as it left the long barrel. He nodded approvingly at his best friend's work and sat the rifle down facing towards the door, he knelt beside it as he loaded the tracking dart into the chamber, and felt the weight of every life in their company on his shoulders. This had to work.
Once he had loaded the rifle, he made his way back to the bulkhead door and took in another deep breath. His eyes looking over the obstacle as if he might somehow gain the ability to see through the steel.
"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He said as he took hold of the bulkhead wheel. He grunted as he turned it once and listened. No sound came, nothing to discern whether or not the maintenance tunnel was flooded, or filled with horrors. He took another deep breath and realized just how nerve wracking it was to not have a Big Daddy there with him like he had before, and he promised himself he would never take Sigma, or the Siblings for granted again. His grip tightened and he turned the wheel again, nothing. With a heavy grunt he pulled the door open, his heart pounding in his chest at the thought of NeoSplicers just on the other side, ready to drag him into the darkness, but when he pulled the door open... It was empty. An empty black hallway lie before him with all of the possible nightmares Rapture could dream up lurking inside. Archer felt his heart beat faster and faster, as if any moment a NeoSplicer or some other Abomination would reach out for him. He backed away from the tunnel, facing it the whole time, not daring to turn his back to the darkness. He felt his food tap the bipod of the air rifle and glanced down. He laid down on the ground behind the rifle and took a shaking breath.
"HEY!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
"Come and get me you BASTARDS!" He screamed as he shouldered the rifle, and took aim into the darkness, shaking hands clicking the safety of the weapon off.