Okay, i think i can do something here.
i don't say it enough, thank you for the follows and the faves.
some filler, i'll admit. This is part of the Leni arch, you'll see next chapter.
Week 9 monday cont.
Lincoln reached over the seat and grabbed the box. it had some weight for being flat and thin.
He opened it an saw a familiar logo.
"A lap top." He pulled it from the box and looked it over. "A really old lap top."
He looked to her. "What good will this do me?"
"It's special." She told him as they exited the city and she laid on the gas. He was about to find out that the Akiko sisters weren't the only crazy drivers in the family. She went offroad, into a ditch, caught air coming out and landed roughly on a service road along side the highway. No traffic she pressed on the gas even further.
After his heart calmed down he decided to distract himself and turned on the device. Old operating system. Basic games and programs. Actually, less than that. It seemed to have been scrubbed of anything that was found on store bought ones. What was left made it seem like a normal one.
"I don't get it. Notepad, Paint, Solitair, Mine Sweeper." He again looked over. "This thing doesn't even have internet."
"We'll fix that later." She offered before Lincoln nearly pissed himself as they passed between a tractor and a big rig. The rig driver laying on his horn, which grew distant as they sped on down the road.
"See, it is set up for full customization, which I had been doing when Linda accidentally took it when she left me." Shinji filled him in. "It is also no regular laptop." She glanced over. She wiggled a finger as she said "Open the disc drive."
He did. The thing looked like any other.
"Lift the right corner of the casing."
He again followed her instruction. There, underneath the case corner, he found a small switch. "Flip this?" He asked and she nodded. He did, the screen flashed then filled with ones and zeros for a moment before they zoomed out to form a picture of a stylized C and M forming a box which was made out of all those ones and zeros. "That was kinda cool!" He chuckled. The lines of code slowly changed from neon blue to a bright purple and a whole new home screen popped up.
"Del The Funky Homosapien, I Wish My Brother George Was Here?" He read off the name under the plain icon of a simple triangle pointing to the right.
"OH!" She said with excitement and turned almost fully towards him. "That's a good album! PUT IT ON! PUT IT ON!"
Lincoln checked the volume and hit play. "It's got great speakers!" He had to raise his voice, she nodded happily and returned to her task of driving.
"What is D-W.EDM?" He asked taking note of the tool bar icons.
"Mail service." She answered. "Work only!" She gave him a stern look as she explained that. "My kind of work!" She clairified.
"Oh, that kind, got ya!" He decided to leave that alone for the moment.
"What is Hoard Of Bedlam?" A Skull with a blade through it sat over the program name.
"Custom MMORPG, also has single player for when you don't feel like dealing with people." She explained. "Invite only, or you own one of these computers." She reached over and gave his shoulder a light punch. "Set one up, foo'!" She grinned. "My user name is Lady Dearest. The music will play over the game."
Lincoln figured he might be able to ignore the wild moves Shinji would be making as she drove if he got into a game.
"We'll have to upgrade the computer as soon as we can, but the game is so universal, it'll run on DOS if needed. You'll also have to set up a CMI account." Shinji told him. "CMI, it's the little globe on the toolbar. That's the secure internet provider."
Less than three minutes later Lincoln was setting up his first character for the game. A Gladiator.
After a short version upgrade Lincoln was reading the game intro. An Intro triggered by what character you chose to build
One moment you're listening to the the fans from the stands in the colusium cheering your opponent's victory. Feeling the pain of the wounds from his trident in your leg, your arm and your chest.The next you feel cold rain on your face. The pain slowly ebbing away. You open your eyes to see a woman in strange armor. The faceplate of her helm is obviously some magic barrier, clear as it is. You see your reflection. It is as if the years of battle you have fought never happened. No scars, no flattened nose, no shattered teeth.She speaks softly, but you do not understand. Her hand glows as she moves it over your body.There is a crunch and you look towards it.There are others.A man in strange dress. The articles of his clothes are solid green and his helm would hardly keep him safe from a strike to the face. there is no other armor. He carries a strange stick on his back and eats an apple with a large knife. You do not understand him either as he speakels to someone you cannot yet see.You feel a hand on your shoulder, it is the woman with the glowing hand. She smiles and motions for you to sit up.You do. The pain you've carried in your back since your first battle is gone and you look down to see your foot now points straight. Just as it had before you stole the sheep and tripped up to be beaten by the guards.You see that someone has cleaned and mended your clothes and armor as a small girl with pointed ears hands them to you from a hand cart.She blushes madly and quickly hurries away as the others around you laugh in amusement as they notice this.You turn to see the others for the first time.A woman in furs with red skin and small horns atop her head. She eyes you as if she is hungry. You feel fear as well as desire as she licks her lips and runs her tongue over her fangs before she grins wryly.The man in green is talking into a stick on a string. His back to you, you notice a pack. He wasn't wearing that before.To his left is a man who is covered in blue hair. He has a slight appearance of a wolf. His eyes flick over to you, he gives a nod in greeting then again he has looked away.These people have you at the gate of a large village. You hear the citizens going about their day, you smell the fires and the meals cooked on them. You see light. Some of which does not flicker like torches. It is eerily steady and bright but fascinating as well.You look back to those here with you. All of them have a small thing upon their head and the end is in their ear. They all speak differently but they seem to understand eachother.The man talking to the stick on a string, the man wearing the green, he sets aside the stick and comes to you. He kneels and speaks. There is authority in his tone, years of training tells you to listen to him. He holds out his hand. It is one of the things they all wear. A necklace and a head band connected by wire.You take it, then watch as he takes his off.You watch carefully as he puts it back on, the last little piece being placed in his ear. You copy him move for move."You understand me now or is the damned thing not working?" He askes. You jump in surprise but nod that you do."Good, good. I'm Major Daudry, welcome to Bedlam." He claps a hand on your shoulder. "You'll find things a bit strange her at first, son, but if you stick with me, you may just see old age." He looks you over. "Doc Gen did a good job fixing you up! I suggest thanking her when she returns." He stands and you do too. "I'll show you to your tent Slinkman then you can go with Hund to explore." When he mentions Hund he motions towards the blue-furred dog-man."Yes, Major."
LOADING GAMEPLAY
"Lincoln!"
He jerked in his seat.
"Huh?" Lincoln looked up dumbly to see Shinji outside the car.
"Good story, right?" He nods yes to her question. "Put that up, pump the gas. I'll go pay. We'll need to relieve ourselves now if we need to, because I'm driving all night. When you're done, come on in and grab some food, and make sure it can pass as nutritious."
"Okay."
Back on the road Lincoln had become immune to the radical driving practices.
Shinji sped through the rain slicked street making small talk with him about how funny the weather could be. She even told him about the time that she watched it rain while sunbathing with her sisters just across the street, no more than ten feet away.
He alsmost called bullshit on that rain thing, until she had him ask Yuki about pictures. They were, he figured, about twelve at the time. He made sure to keep his laptop on his lap. Yuki was bare to the world, Mika might as well have been and shinji must have taken the picture. He saw an empty pool chair and a pair of shorts in the middle. A few successive photos took him to the front yard then the middle of the street. They were at a cabin, the road was dirt, trees on one side and the yard on the other.
He zoned out as he began to imagine his sisters in their summer clothes.
WELCOME TO MICHIGAN
Lincoln felt at home seeing that sign. Just how far across Ohio did they really drive?
The news was turned on. He didn't know if it was him or Shinji. But the talk of the gang war was ongoing. The fighting had slowed but a few blocks of the bad side of town were littered with bodies, burnt cars and wrecked buildings.
Casualties were up to 89 confirmed dead. To Lincoln, the news anchor's description of "littered" was over stated.
Many were injured though. That certainly was a tragedy. A few names that were released had Lincoln feeling bad. He knew he wouldn't see some faces at school.
Sure, a handful he didn't care about. The Rusty Spokes Gang no longer existed. Rusty was in jail, so there was a chance the sick fuck could rebuild. That disappointed Lincoln.
A car pulled along side them. He was shocked to see someone hanging out the window and hooking something to their car.
"Uh, Dearest?" He pointed.
"Shadow Dragons, cross country refuel. Like I said, Lincoln, we are set up!" She waved to the people in the other car and before he knew it, they were pulling away.
"Nobody was in Ohio, that's why we needed to stop at the station."
When Royal Woods came into view, plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the bad side of town. There was a mass of what looked like military vehicles and tents outside the small city.
It had suddenly dawned on the young male that the sun was up.
Tuesday week 9
There were people all over the small tent town. Shinji drove right into the middle of the organized madness.
He saw people he knew being led on their way out of town. He heard a man with a megaphone speaking to the civilians about evacuating the whole town.
Apparently the cartel and the Black Rattlesnakes with some allies had each secured a way into Royal Woods. The local law enforcement had managed to cordon off an area where they could move the towns folks out and to safety. National Guards set up a barrier to prevent the gangs from getting out as well as to try and break their hold on the Southern side of town.
"Hold it right there, Ma'am!" A young man stepped in front of their car and held his hand up.
A marine walking past stopped and looked into the window. The marine grinned, showing off fangs, and blew shinji a kiss. She then looked to the man in front of the car. "Private Fields, let them through!"
"Lincoln, meet Marine Captain Lacy Shaw. Captain, this is my nephew. Lacy, we need gear."
"Sure thing, Corporal!" Lacy saluted then looked to Fields. "Fields, equip the L T and Corporal White!"
"I'll explain later." Shinji told Lincoln as Fields started to lead them to a row of parked cars.
In short time Lincoln had been given a run down on his new rifle and side arm. He wore a uniform just like any other reservist there. Shinji herself looked in character, like she belonged.
"It's later." Lincoln told her.
"A Marine I knew from my days in Army called me up one day. He had been promoted over the years and was in command of a camp. Something was up, he knew he could trust me. I solved his problem. Now and again I do favors rooting out trouble, so, I have some to collect."
"And what's an L T?" Lincoln asked slipping on his helmet.
"Lieutennant." She answered. She put her own helmet on and waved for him to follow. "Keep your head down." She stepped out and pointed to several men, who all walked over. "Army Reserves." She told Lincoln as they approached.
She saw one roll his eyes, they must have heard her.
"I'm not here to put you down, men, you were closest and I need a team. Name's Chin, this rookie here is White." She saluted them quickly. To Lincoln, she looked like every Marine he'd ever seen on television.
They saluted back like every Army slacker that he had ever seen on television.
"White is a local boy, and as we understand it, the town still has some folks caught up in it. Some may be his friends and family. Now, the young man is actually a cadet, but, well..." She shrugged. " ... he has to learn sometime, right?"
It wasn't but a moment before the men all nodded to eachother. Looks of understanding and sympathy on their faces.
"I'm Danish." The gruff looking black man spoke up. He was average height and build but he seemed to have experience. "This is Oreo." He patted a latino man on the back, and to Lincoln it looked like he threw up a gang sign.
"Snickers." Danish pointed to a man who looked more like an accountant than a soldier. Snickers waved shyly.
"Looks like you'll fit in just fine, Snowball!" Shinji laughed and slapped Lincoln's back. "Call me Candy." She added as she turned towards the town. "My friends do." She told them. "Now let's move out. The objectives, eliminate the enemy, rescue the non coms, aid friendlies already in the mix. Don't get your asses blown off. Understood?"
"Yes, Lieutennant!" Danish answered.
The make shift squad was stopped at a police line outside the town and the officer groaned. "I ain't got time for this shit." He waved a reservist officer over. "All yours, Major."
Both Shinji and the major grinned.
"Causing trouble?" The major asked.
"Per usual. Like the epaulets!" She ran a finger over one.
"Yeah, I do." He blushed and looked at the ground for a second. Then he went back to the authority figure he was. "I take it this isn't official business." The major stated.
"Bit of official business, bit of family business. Just to be clear, you don't mind me borrowing your grunts?"
"Not at all." The major turned to the men. "They're reliable. Trained them myself. Snickers and Danish were in the mix." He turned back to her. "You have any clue as to why this situation requires both the army and Marine Corps?"
Shinji leaned in and whispered in his ear.
When she backed up he looked her in the eye and nodded that he understood. "Men, listen to the lieutennant!"
They saluted and Shinji waved them on."
Ten minutes later they were creeping down an alley.
Distant shouting and gunfire.
"A K's! Uzis!" Danish perked up.
Lincoln literally watched the man's posture and demeanor change in an instant. He looked around to see that they all had.
Snickers seemed more like a human version of a hungry coyote. Practically drooling and with crazed eyes as he searched out prey.
Oreo was like the rabid announcer at a soccer game, only quieter as he translated the shouts that accompanied the shooting.
He looked to Shinji only to find that she didn't seem to change at all. Then he remembered, she was a predator by nature and was always on the hunt, always at the ready.
He wondered how the men saw him.
Footsteps came quickly down a street that crossed the alley. A banger turned the corner and when he swung his head foreward to face them, he started to lift the pistol he carried.
Several shots were fired. The banger went down. He took a couple gurgling breaths as he twitched then went limp.
Lincoln looked to the barrel of his rifle. A slow whisp of smoke rose up from it.
"At least we know he can do it." Oreo said hushed as he took point.
"I think he's done it before." Danish added as he fell in behind Oreo.
"Chin looks more like this woman in my uncle's photo album!" Snickers chuckled. "She's supposed to be a ghost now!"
"Your uncle named Dondalinger?" Shinji asked as she nudged Lincoln to walk ahead of her.
"Shit!" Snickers turned to face them and bounced as he walked backwards. "It's true, ain't it?"
Shinji shrugged. "I don't know, I just know a lot of people."
for the next hour they slowly made their way through to friendly sections of the city. Dodging the bangers and cartel members. They quickly learned that there were smaller gangs in the city that dispised the Black Rattlesnakes. The smaller gangs provided them with intel as they looted a few B.R. stashes.
"Why didn't we kill them?" Oreo asked as they proceeded down the street.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. An old saying, but true." Shinji answered. "We might be on home turf, but we need all the help we can get."
Luckily for the squad the intel was good. a large portion of the town was barracaded by the local, county and state law enforcement that had been called to help contain the situation. Even luckier, it was Lincoln's side of town.
Some of the cars were shot up. Sadly the looks of many had her worried about the safety of some of those officers. There were locals with rifles and pistols.
In the distance the gunfire started up again.
"Wait here, guys!" Shinji told the grunts before she put an arm around Lincoln and led him off into the crowd.
Breaking through the throng of people they were swamped in a group hug. He saw the twins and Lily. Lisa, Lucy and Luan. Lynn's face appeared for second and then Luan pulled him into a smothering but welcomed hug.
"Where's Lori and Luna?" He asked as his sisters passed him around.
The joyful hugging stopped. "Lori was evacuated. Luna was at the club, we don't know where she is now." Luan answered with a worried look.
"Have you heard from anyone else?" Lincoln asked with some hesitation.
"Clyde's dad was killed. He was showing a house. Poor Howard!" Lucy gripped her big brother tightly.
Lincoln's heart dropped.
"Look, stay here! Be safe!" He hugged them each and looked at them seriously. "I'm getting Luna!"
With that he ran off to the squad. "Listen up! You owe me nothing but I need a favor. My sister is out there, I need help!" He started towards the club. If she had been there, she could still be nearby.
He was surprised to hear boots behind him. This boosted his confidence.
As he walked he kept an eye out for anything and mentally went over what he had watched about throwing a grenade in an old doccumentary.
"The club is up the street." Lincoln informed as they got into the heaviest hit part of town. Just as he finished the words there was a dull thud and he felt himself stumble back. There was a stinging in his hand and Shinji pulled him into a doorway. Oreo was already checking him over while Snickers and Danish wound up taking cover across the street.
"Sniper." Shinji told Lincoln. "Luckily he hit the butt of the rifle.
A sudden sting of alcohol had Lincoln tearing up as the nerves in his hand all screamed louder about pain.
"Hey, we're friendlies!" Danish was looking through binoculars and waving a car antenna with a white cloth on it.
"Fucking prove it!" Came a shout from down the road.
"I haven't pumped any fire into that window!" Snickers yelled.
"Army! Got a couple Jar Heads with us!" Danish took over the conversation again. "If you want to continue shooting, I have orders to shoot ANY dipshit dumb enough to do so!" Danish looked over to them. "Right Lieutennant?"
"Correct!" Shinji yelled. "And shoot to kill!" She added.
"You hear that, man?" Danish hollered.
There was some silence then a couple state troopers came out of a destroyed shop.
Danish and Snickers stood up and Lincoln and Oreo stepped out of the building they had sheltered in. Shinji followed a moment later.
"Officers Fenwick and Gordon." Fenwick introduced himself.
Their group made their quick intro then got to business.
"Where's your C.O.?" Shinji asked.
"Dead." Was all they got from Fenwick about that. "Got two more in bad shape. Radio is busted. We're low on ammo." He spit. "Some of them bangers are running around in uniforms. They're green, that's about all I can tell you."
"The Cochino have been working with the Columbian military as well as some geurilla groups from South America." Shinji relayed.
"Cohino, my brother in law has dealt with them in Florida and his father has dealt with them in New Mexico." Fenwick commented. "They kill cops for fun!"
"Well, you'll be glad to know we've got orders, shoot to kill. No playing around." Shinji patted Oreo on the back. "Go look the wounded over. Let's get back to cover. I'm making a quick call, then we move out."
In less than fifteen minutes after the call Lincol saw two familiar faces. Each one driving a bus full of people.
"Buses? Really!" Shinji commented as she strolled out to meet Harumi and Sol.
"They wouldn't give us AFV's." Sol answered.
"Who are these guys?" Fenwick questioned. "They look like criminals."
"They're D.D. and unlike the police or military, they don't need orders from anyone but me." She gave Fenwick a stern look. "Play nice with my guys!" He nodded, a bit scared of her. "Alright boys and girls, listen up good! I want to avoid unnecessary property damage! This is no free for all, we have friendlies and civilians caught up in this! Identify yourselves to all law enforcement, give them my name!" She pointed to the name tag on her uniform and a few took a look. "Officially I ain't here, so Lieutennant Chin is what you have to remember." They were already passing the info around. "Our objectives are to supply friendlies, evac wounded and civilians, search and destroy The Cochino Cartel and Black Rattlesnakes. When in doubt, walk away! We don't need any friendly fire mishaps!"
"Okay, cousin. Why are we here?" Sol pointed at her feet.
"Unload the supplies, evac some wounded officers. I'll take at least ten men to help Fenwick here hold the position. Makes a good check point, strategic, after all, two stories in a group of one story buildings. On a main road at that."
Sol whistled and pointed out several D.D. Each with a D4 patch on their sleeve. The orders were given and they went to work.
"Do me a solid, Fenwick, deputize the guys who stay with you." Shinji got a nod in return and she waved her hand. "Let's go find Luna, grunts!"
As they were walking off, Lincoln saw one of the buses leave after the injured were aboard. A lone body bag also accompanied the wounded. He felt his guts knot up tighter.
"So, who are you, really?" Snickers asked.
"I'm that Army urban legend you've been yaking about, but keep your mouth shut, okay!" She replied.
Snickers beamed like he had picked the winning numbers on the lottery.
It was slow getting to the club. Several times they had to duck superior forces. Shinji mentioned that the Black Rattlesnakes held a safehouse in the area. It appeared that was what the Cochino forces were looking for.
There was also a small exchange of gunfire. Lincoln was covered by Snickers, and if it hadn't have been for the man's vest, they'd have both been dead.
After picking themselves up, Lincoln remembered Lynn's baseball tips and he pitched a grenade right in the window of the small office area from where the shots had come.
A quick search of the building revealed four dead Rattlesnakes. Three of which Lincoln's grenade had taken out. He didn't follow Danish or Shinji out the back door, but he did listen as they shot down the remaining few as they tried to run.
He asked Snickers about honor in warfare, about shooting the enemy in the back. Snickers waved his hand dismissively and said. "In situations of survival, honor don't mean shit. Besides, you think they've got honor?"
He had been wondering about that until they had finally arrived at the restraunt. They had to cut around heavily occipied territory to get here It was now late afternoon.
The windows were busted out. The cash register was missing and so was the liquor, but other than that, the place was in decent shape. Pellets peppered the wall as a loud bang filled the room, the group was forced to duck. Familiar voices warned them off.
"Luna!"
"Lincoln?" There was a pause. "LINCOLN!" Luna stood up from where she had been crouching by a table.
"Easy! It's my little bro, dudettes!" Luna told whoever it was as she hopped the tabke and ran to grab him up in a tight hug.
She pulled Shinji in as soon as she saw the woman and welled up with tears of joy. "I am totally fucking happy to see you!" She let them go and waved them in. "They heard the shot, they'll be coming to look for the source." Luna warned.
"Where did you get the military. Radio says they aren't even in this part of the city." A county sheriff asked as she stood up. She had a rag tied around her left arm and held a shotgun at the ready.
"Special Unit, baby!" Danish eyed the sheriff. "You single?"
"Bad time to look for a date, buddy." The Woman huffed.
Danish shrugged. "When this is over?" He asked the Native American woman.
"My name is Officer Wing." She told them. Her eyes went to Danish and looked him over, though her stare was hard, there was a glint of approval of his looks. "We'll see."
Danish grinned.
"Look, Yuki went off to gather up some people stuck in a building about a block from here. She heard them on a ham radio. There was some shots but it's been quiet for some time." Luna explained. "Anyway, Violet is in the back, mixing up some no bake bars, if anyone is hungry."
"I could eat!" Oreo strolled into the back.
"Babe! One coming for an order, don't shoot him!" Luna called and got a quick 'okay'as a response.
"Hey, Howard McBride..."
"He's in the back too. He's in bad shape." Luna teared up. "He was just laying in the road and we heard him groan." She wiped her eyes, smearing her mascarra. "We barely got him in the van when they came back around the corner. The Restraunt was the only place we could think of to go, we couldn't head home, dude!."
"Well, news is good, everyone is fine. Harold, Clyde and our sisters. I think I even saw the Pingrey family and Maggie. Violet's mom and dad, Daisy was with the Sam and her family. It looked like Daisy was avoiding her parents."
"Yeah, probably. She came out the other day. They didn't take it well." Luna glanced back. "Violet's moving in."
"Cool!" Lincoln looked around. "Hey, where'd the LT go?"
"Down the block, man." Snickers answered.
"Stay with them!" Lincoln told Danish and Oreo as he grabbed Snickers. "Come with me!"
Just about then thw street filled with the sound of an amplified zipper. That's all Lincoln could describe it as. There was shouting and he couldn't understand any of it.
Snickers was laughing. "That was fucking close!" He returned fire and the street filled again with the noise. "Uzi's and Mac Tens!"
Lincoln looked under the car to see sneakers and boots coming their way. He aimed an fired. The target's leg folded in half backwards and all of the others headed for cover. The man in the road with an olive drab uniform was reaching out for someone off to the side of the street. When he had landed, his left arm went off at a strange angle and the sub machine gun skittered away from him.
Lincoln aimed again but his view was blocked. He heard Snickers. "Lower their moral, let him lie there. Shoot another."
When he got his view back, Lincoln aimed at one of the sets of legs he could see under a shot up Suburban. That man was swept off his feet and it was clear that Lincoln had taken out the man's hips.
The street again filled with automatic fire.
He didn't take a shot one the enemy volly was over. instead he sat quietly with Snickers. When the Cartel goons started to move up again, Snickers let out a burst and took one down and hit a second in the shoulder. They again scrambled for cover and left the previously injured man out in the road.
Danish and Snickers exchanged some hand signals, Danish nodded and stayed back from the front of the resteraunt.
"Think you can pull off another shot up under the car?" Snickers asked.
Lincoln saw a man lay prone, his head coming into view around the back tire of a Dodge. The look on his face as he saw Lincoln take aim. Lincoln placed the shot right down his throat.
"Get the gringos!" He heard the angry yell.
That was close. Not too far away.
"Grenade?" Lincoln asked. Snickers shook his head no. After taking a look, Lincoln saw why. A pair of terrified eyes peeking out of a building just behind the enemy.
"Well fuck!" He muttered. The enemy at this point started moving up the street.