Chapter 3
The Resistance
There was a ringing in his head. A strange buzzing feeling engulfed his entire body. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was lying on a bed inside a small room. The room was devoid of furniture except for a couch and small bedside table. As Adrian tried to sit up, a stab of pain coursed through his upper body. He gasped and fell back, panting. Slowly, his thoughts cleared and a pang of dread filled him. What if I've been captured? And even worse, what if I am the only one who survived the crash?
He was drawn back to himself by the sound of the door opening, and a man walked into the room. He wore a green wooly cap, and clothes that seemed to have been made out of everyday items that had been repurposed for battle. The man walked up to him and, as he did so, Adrian noticed the Lambda symbol on his arm. He heaved a sigh of relief, for he knew that the Lambda symbol was the symbol of the Resistance. At least I haven't been captured by the combine. "Are you feeling any better, Shepherd?" asked the man. Adrian looked at him quizzically. "How do you know my name?" The man smiled. "I just read the badge on your uniform. Man, I never thought I'd find an American soldier here. I thought you would be up with the rest of them."
Adrian's head swam with questions, but he picked the one that was most appropriate. "What do you mean, "Them"?" The man looked a little shocked. "Don't tell me you don't know! I mean the American soldiers up in New York. They are still strong enough to resist the combine." Adrian was amazed. He thought that the entire planet had been defeated. This was obviously not the case. "Do you know if any of my friends on the train survived?" The man's face looked grim. "They survived, but they are in pretty bad shape, worse than you if you want to visit them, feel free to do so." Adrian nodded.
"I will go see them as soon as I am well enough to move around. In the meantime, what should I do?" "My advice is just rest up and get better. You don't need to worry about being found here. No combine have ever found this place. I'll send someone in to see to you soon." With that, he turned and walked out of the room. Adrian laid there in silence. A few minutes later, a woman came in and deposited a tray of food on the table next to the bed. "There is some medicine in the food." she said. "After about half an hour, you should feel well enough to move around." 30 minutes later, Adrian got out of bed and strolled to the door. The door opened to a thin hallway with pictures of former presidents. At the end of the hallway there was what looked like a blast door. The door opened as soon as he got close, revealing an amazing sight.
He was inside the library of congress. He moved through the books with awe. He had assumed that after the combine invasion the library had been destroyed. But now he realized that the combine were still unable to completely subjugate their citizens. After awhile, he found a rebel who directed him out to the eastern section of the library. There, he found Jack and Lydia in sickbeds on the floor. As soon as Jack saw Adrian, his eyes grew wide and his mouth moved, but no sound came out. Eventually he managed to say, "Adrian… you are alive!"
Lydia was more eloquent. "Ah, Corporal Shepherd. I am pleased to see that you are relatively unharmed. I cannot, however, say the same for myself as you can see." Adrian agreed. Her arm was in a sling and there were bandages around her head. Her leg was cocooned in a cast. By this point, Jack had gotten his voice back and was talking rapidly. "Have you seen how many books there are? It's amazing! I was pretty sure the library was destroyed during the 7 hour war. This is amazing!" Lydia, however, was looking at the library in a different light. "Once we have fully recovered, we should search for any ways into the Washington Monument other than the front door. If we can find one, then we just might have a chance of pulling this whole thing off."