Chapter 12: Telecommunication Antennas
(The Next Day - April 2, 2017 - Rais' Fortress in Harran, Turkey, The Middle East, Europe - 9:00am...)
H-K
Well, I got to meet the famous Henry Phillips and Libby wasn't wrong, he was a genuinely nice dude. The only problem? He was working for Rais, which put both of us on edge for a lot of reasons. One of them involved the ever increasing concern that he would suddenly turn on us in a flick of an eye. Henry didn't seem like he would be the type of person to do that ... but what if he did throw us under the bus? I couldn't imagine what that would do to Libby, since she always spoke very highly of him and they seemed quite close.
Ugh, trust issues at their finest. I get how everyone at the Tower behaved with me even more now.
"Hey Al' Capone," Karim greeted as he and Henry approached Libby and I at the entrance. "You ready to do this?"
"Firstly, please don't call me that," I sighed, agitated. "And secondly, what exactly are we doing again?"
"Radio communication has been pretty spotty in the Quarantine," He began explaining. "Rais needs an Antenna repaired, so he can communicate with people on the far edges of town, which includes Sector 0,"
"Where's Sector 0?" I found myself asking in a confused manner.
"It's on the other side from here," Libby answered. "You'll be able to see it from the Tower and whilst it's a lot fancier than the Slums, it's pretty much a ghost town as far as we know,"
"Right," I responded, addressing Henry and Karim with "And you both realise that this is a benefit for everyone, don't you? Not just Rais,"
"Perhaps," The latter confirmed. "But the emperor must monitor his empire,"
"Okay, that makes sense," I agreed, much to my indifference. Goddamnit.
"Good luck out there, you three," Karim replied politely, deciding to leave us to it. "Come back in one piece too!"
"We will!" I called back, unimpressed.
Meanwhile, Libby was having a cautious stare-down with Henry. "Well, well, well," She remarked bitterly. "Fancy us meeting again like this,"
Hearing this, Henry sighed in concern and understanding. "Lib, I know what you're thinking and I get it." He then reassured her with "I may be working for Rais, but I'm still me, you know?"
"I get that," The young girl replied. "It's just... This caught me off guard, that's all - but I'll get over it. Shall we go?"
"Okay," Henry responded warmly, gesturing for Libby and I to follow him out. "Follow me, guys. Perhaps, we can catch up en route?"
"Yeah sure," Libby answered kindly as the three of us exited the building and emerged onto the streets. Cue Henry to lead us up the hill I climbed last night and down into an area of smaller buildings. "So, Libby," He happily addressed the younger girl. "Fill me in what I've missed. What have you been doing since the Outbreak?"
"Well," My best friend began, sticking close to me. "I'm staying in the Tower and I have two jobs; part-time Scout and full-time Doctor. I've got a lot of pals now, which include the Scorpion; Jade. I don't know if you've heard of her?"
"No, I haven't,"
"Oh, right," Libby responded. "She's a kick boxing champion; won lots of matches, medals, you name it. Really nice person too,"
"Not to mention, tough as nails," I chimed in.
"Sure," The young girl answered teasingly, smirking.
Hearing this, Henry sent me a knowing grin. "Sounds like you've taken a bit of a fancy to her," Cue Libby to raise an eyebrow in a teasing manner, and he flashed an intrigued look. "Well, then,"
"Guys," I sighed, holding back an amused smirk before changing the subject. "Okay, you know what? Henry, why don't you tell me something about yourself?"
"Alright," My acquaintance replied. "Well, I enjoy skateboarding for starters. I always did that with my buddies when we didn't have to face gruelling hours of exams, for example,"
"Nice," I commented. "I used to do that too, as well as the occasional football with my mates,"
"Interesting. Where did you study?" Oooooh, Libby is gonna love this!
"Salisbury, 2003,"
"No!" My best friend glowered with surprise.
Cue me smirking. "Yep. Wouldn't it be funny if we ran into each other?"
"Yeah, it would have been!" Libby agreed, prompting me to chuckle. "What would you have thought of little 4 year-old me?"
"Awesome kid, still are,"
Hearing this, my best friend held back a surprised smile. "You're just saying that,"
"No, I'm serious," I informed her, grinning to hide my slowly growing concern. She puts herself down a lot, doesn't she? I wish she didn't...
"He is right, you know?" Henry added pleasantly. "I mean, look at this for example. When we first met in Bournemouth, you were absolutely terrified. And look where you are now, we can't get you to stop talking,"
"See?" I agreed.
Libby chuckled whilst sending us an appreciative look. "Okay, fair point, fair point,"
There you go!
After this, we continued making conversation during our trek for a tad bit longer - that is, until we reached our destination. The antenna towered a good distance above us, sitting next to a small warehouse with wooden boards acting as a bridge between the two. Meanwhile, more warehouses led down a path next to the antenna ... and it was crowded with numerous biters and one Goon. Well, sh*t.
"Okay Crane," Henry began, drawing his machete at the ready whilst keeping an eye on the infected. Libby also drew her knife. "How do you want us to handle this?"
"You guys okay with holding off the infected?" I asked worriedly, after quickly thinking it over. "I have a feeling I'm gonna have to switch something on in there, so I could use some time without getting my head bitten off,"
"Sure," My acquaintance replied, heading off to deal with our unwanted guests with Libby in tow, the latter turning to tell me a worried: "Be careful, alright?" beforehand.
"You too," I responded, equally concerned for her and Henry's well being.
Alright, let's do this.
As Libby and Henry began taking on the infected, I approached the warehouse and bent down to grab the main door and pull it up ... only to find myself freezing in shock when a new type of infected jumped down and gave a loud screech. What the f*ck?! It was a disgusting green fella covered in blisters which convulsed violently before spitting out some toxic snot!
I yelled and stumbled back, scrambling for cover whilst Henry finished decapitating a biter with his machete and shouted: "Crane, why are you shouting?! You okay?!"
"No!" I shot back angrily, dodging another gas of toxic snot. "And I'm shouting because this f*cked up infected motherf*cker with guts hanging out of its' mouth spat some toxic snot at me! Twice now!"
"Not a bad reason," Henry commented, proceeding to shove an incoming biter off him and cleave its' head into two.
"Seriously?!" I demanded. "You're not gonna help me take this dude down?!"
"Hey, you were the one who told us to hold the infected off!" My acquaintance shot back, later offering me an apologetic look. "Sorry mate, you're on your own for this one!"
"F*ck!" I groaned in frustration, flipping him off before anxiously racking my brains together.
Okay, okayokayokay, how am I gonna do this without getting myself killed?!
K-J
When you meet someone who changes your life, you become a different and better person.
When he is taken away from you, what do you become then?
I never thought I'd get to ask myself that question ... at least, until... Amir died right in front of me, six days ago. I didn't know him for as long as I hoped I would, but... he was the best, most decent man I have ever known. He enjoyed helping the Tower and he was on good terms with almost everyone he met, including Rahim, Libby and myself. He loved to play video games and have nerf-gun fights with the former two whilst on other occasions, he would join me in collecting the airdrops and my frequent training in kick boxing. Amir and I had a special bond, and I can't describe how much I loved him...
I still don't know if I can let him go just yet...
The man he gave his life up for, Kyle Crane, reminded me of him in many ways. Firstly, he was just as kind and decent towards others and secondly, he was on good terms with Libby and my brother - given how much they already look up to him and how quick they are to assist him if an issue arises. I'll be honest, I couldn't help but feel intrigued by him and that terrified me. Why? It's because I couldn't bear the thought of losing my brother, Libby and him like I lost Amir.
And here I was, following the latter two when I shouldn't have been!
Libby was okay thankfully, as she was busy fighting a decreasing group of infected with a man clad in Rais' ranks; presumably Henry Phillips, the singer she always spoke highly of. Go in there and help them, Jad— No, no, stay where you are! They look like they can handle themselves, they're fine. Crane had a different story, though, and it took everything in my power not to charge in because I knew he could handle himself too.
But why was I terrified of losing him, when I've only known him for a couple of days?! There has to be something I can do to help him from afar as well, thinking about it...!
As a matter of fact, there was. Frantically, I fished out a metal throwing star out of my right pocket and took aim at the Toad currently targeting Crane, the latter whom was ascending the side of the warehouse with his machete at the ready.
"Okay, Crane - team effort," I muttered to myself. "You can thank me for this later,"
One throw from me and the Toad was dead, mere seconds before Crane stabbed it in the abdomen. The poor man was left dumbstruck by the event. "What the f*ck?!"
I took that as my cue to leave unseen. "You're welcome,"
As I jogged back towards the central area of the Slums, my radio suddenly came to life with static before a familiar voice spoke. "Heads up, everyone. This is Alfie. We just lost gas at the Tower and as far as I can tell, most of the Slums have lost it too,"
"Do you have any idea what could have happened?" I asked.
"None! Not only that, but Jeff up and quit on us last week," Alfie explained angrily. "He was kind of irreplaceable,"
"Okay, maybe I can track him down and have a chat with him?"
"Make maybe definitely and get on it fast, Jade!" Our friend ordered. "Word is, he's set up his own little fortress somewhere near the train station. He shouldn't be too far,"
"Thank you, Alfie," I replied. "I'll get onto it and I'll be in touch,"
Alright - Libby and Crane seem to be fine for now. That's good. I'll check on them again after I finish this job.
J-K
"What the f*ck happened there?!" I found myself growling in shock.
Just seconds after I climb up onto the warehouse and stab the disgusting infected in the stomach, I find that it's already been killed with a f*cking throwing star of all things! Where the hell did that even come from?! Despite this, someone probably decided to save my *ss and whoever it was, many thanks to them! Appreciate it!
Though, I could have handled the dude myself.
"Quit your whining, Crane!" Henry shouted from below, just as Libby bravely jumped from a nearby roof and landed on the Goon's back, repeatedly stabbing it with her knife. "You're still in one piece, aren't you?!"
"I think I'm allowed to whine, f*ck you very much," I scoffed in defense, rolling my eyes with annoyance before jumping back down and lifting the warehouse's door up with some effort ... only to see another biter ready to lunge forward in a manner of Surprise MotherF*cker!
This time, I was prepared. Just seconds after the zombie lunged, I grabbed its' head and twisted it to one side, snapping its' neck. Then, I scurried through a lower entrance into the electricity room - which basically had a bunch of metal switches jammed together whilst the walls were painted in red and the floor was a light brown. First Switch, scavenged for parts. Rince, repeat with the second and third. F*ck, c'mon! Fourth one, still intact!
"Bingo," I said in triumph, pulling the metal bar down and allowing the light to change to a lively green. Back out and onto the roof I went.
Now for beginning the very long trip up the Antenna. This is gonna be fun...
On the plus side, I had one or two biters to gleefully kick off and watch plummet to the ground en route. Brilliant way to relieve stress! Apart from that, the climb was just as I suspected; long, tiring and frustrating if I did that for f*cking nothing.
"I sure hope this climb was worth it," I muttered aloud as I finished ascending and walked to the other side to find a metal box encased with the Antenna. C'mon switch, come to Papa!
One ripping the lid open later, and this was still intact! Yes! I flipped the metal bar down without hesitation and for several seconds, there was complete and utter silence. Please tell me it worked, please tell me it f*cking worked!
"Karim?" I spoke into my radio once I switched it on. "The Antenna's on, is that gonna be enough?"
"Good job, Crane," Karim spoke on the other end. "We'll have to wait for now. If it doesn't work, then you'll need to switch another Antenna on," Wonderful. "Come back here, and we'll take it from there,"
"Affirmative," I replied, switching my radio off and quickly scanning for a way off. How the f*ck am I gonna get down without killing myself?! A mess of rubbish bags served as my answer, much to my indifference.
Oh god! Okayokay, just jump, Crane! You'll be fine!
I did so and thanks to the bags, I landed in one piece. "I swear I'm gonna land on a bag on rusty knives at some point," I groaned as I pulled myself up to my feet.
"Let's hope that doesn't happen, mate," Henry commented as he and Libby approached. "You still with us?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," I replied, hiding my appreciation and noticing the carnage behind my two team mates - as well as their blood stained appearances. "I see you two had some fun,"
"Not really," Libby muttered, earning a playful scoff from Henry.
"Yeah, tell me about it," I agreed in understanding. I know just how you feel.
Before Henry could chime in with another remark, my radio suddenly blared to life with static and Spike's voice came through. "Hey, Crane. It's Spike. If you got a minute, I have someone who really wants to talk to you,"
"Huh, who?" I asked with confusion, earning equal frowns from my two team mates.
"Is this Kyle Crane?" A woman asked on the other end. What the?!
"Who wants to know?"
"My name is Troy," The woman explained. "I lead a group of survivors in Sector 0 and we call ourselves the Embers. Until you switched the Antenna on, we didn't know if anyone else in the city was alive,"
"Wow," Libby murmured, sharing a mutual surprised look with Henry.
"I just wanted to say Thank You, Mr. Crane," Troy continued appreciatively. "You've given us a small measure of hope!"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but grin. "I-I'm glad I could help,"
"If there is any way we can help you, please don't hesitate to ask,"
"Thank you, I'll bear that in mind," I thanked before switching my radio off.
It didn't take long for Libby's radio to blare with static and seconds after she switched it on, Rahim spoke on the other end. "Was it you, Libby?"
"No, it was Crane who switched the Antenna on," She answered, before asking a confused "Why do you ask?"
"Dr. Zere can hear Dr. Camden now!" Her best friend revealed excitedly. What?!
"W-Wait, are you serious?!"
"F*ck yeah, I am!"
"That's great!" My best friend exclaimed happily, feeling just as pleased Henry and I were. "M-Maybe Sector 0 isn't a ghost town, after all?"
"Yeah, maybe," The older kid agreed. "See you and Crane back at the Tower,"
"Okay, see you then," Libby replied, switching her radio off.
Wow...! I don't think any of us saw that coming. That's not so bad.