So second chapters here. Gonna be a bit longer than the last one, a few thousand words at least. More character interactions in this one too, with the GRE and the Tower inhabitants, and Cranes fate gets cleared up. Plus I decided to throw in a little bit of backstory for our new main character. Enjoy!
I don't own Dying Light. It belongs to the artists that are Techland.
Rummaging through it again, I pulled out what seemed to be a cracked satellite phone. It vibrated again. Pressing the green button in the centre, I lifted it up to my ear. After a moment, a voice cut through the static.
"Crane, report."
I froze. I hadn't thought about what would happen when I answered it.
"Crane? Report your situation." The voice again. It sounded impatient. Deciding I had nothing to lose, I replied.
"He's dead." That would be enough. I didn't need to say more.
"Acknowledged. Please state your identity." That rang alarm bells in my head, the way they threw off this person, an agent of some kind, as if they were nothing. It didn't sit right with me. I decided that a first name would be enough.
"Ardelis." If they came up with anything from that, I'd be surprised. After a pause, the same voice came through again.
"Confirmed. State the manner in which he was terminated." The cold way they handled this bugged me to no end. I didn't know him, I could afford to act detached.
"He got tackled by a Vollie. Never stood a chance."
"Please repeat, tackled by what?" I sighed. I wasn't used to explaining what things in here were. Everyone already knew.
"Big, agile armoured bastard. Volatile. Vollie. Death." I'd never actually seen one until last night. If I saw one again, it would be too soon. There was another pause.
"We don't have any records of that infected." A few seconds went by. "Please keep the phone with you. We'll call at a later designation." The line went dead. As I tucked it into my pack, I realised I never asked who they were. Making a mental note, I climbed back up the outside of the building I came from and headed back to the safe-house.
My headset pinged. A call from the Tower. I pressed the return call button.
"And which lovely person am I talking to today?" I could make a guess, and my money was on Rahim for today.
"We need you back in the Tower now." Brecken. For reasons I could never understand why, he couldn't stand me.
"Nice to speak to you too Breck."
"Cut the shit Ardelis, Mark went to find his brother on the 13th floor and hasn't come back up, you need to get here and find out what happened." Shit.
"Unlucky 13, just my luck." I let just a hint of sarcasm into my voice.
"Yeah well consider it your day." The headset went silent. I closed my sketchbook, and stood up. Brushing the dust off my clothes I got ready to leave.
It took me most of the day to cross the city, Virals were everywhere. Something had drawn them out, possibly the gunshots of the night before. Entering the lobby of the Tower, I climbed up the ledge where the stairs used to sit. Pulling myself over the lip, I looked up and saw the barrel of a rifle pointed at me. I froze halfway up.
"Shit Nadeau, way to scare a girl." Nadeau Atan. All but a brother to me. He was always looking out for me, even before this shit started.
"Sorry Lis, just gotta make sure." He extended a hand, which I gratefully took, and hoisted me up. "We've had more Virals trying to get in over the past few weeks." I held up a hand.
"Say no more." He gave me a look as if to say 'What are you doing back here?' I stood for a moment before telling him. "Floor 13." He hissed through his teeth. "Tell me about it. Hey, you wanna save me some food? No idea how long I'll be there for." He nodded his head as the elevator opened. I stepped inside and pressed 13.
The smell hit me like a wall. I pulled my bandana up over my mouth and nose. It did nothing to help. I'd never actually been to floor 13, but I'd heard stories about it. Hundreds of biters, all crammed into 400 square metres of space. I never actually believed the rumours, even still, they inspired fear. Stepping out of the elevator, I pulled my machete out. If what I suspected was true, I would need it more than ever. My pack vibrated. The phone announcing its presence. Pulling it out, I pressed the button.
"What?" I had no reason to be civil with these people, I didn't even know who they were.
"We have decided that you are to continue with Cranes assignment. You are to-" I cut her off with a snort of derision.
"Fuck no. Who even are you people? Why should I be helping you? You're acting as if the guy didn't even die, and I know at some point you would have worked with him. So don't give me this 'Let's pass off some important fucking UN mission or some shit onto a girl, who we don't even know.' So you give some fucking answers now, or your precious phone falls 13 stories, and your mission goes down the drain." Silence. At least a minute of it.
"I'm a founder of the GRE. I don't really think my name is relevant. As for why we're passing the mission onto you, Ardelis Rosier, is because we have evaluated you against our criteria. We found you most likely to succeed in achieving our goal." I flinched at who she was working for. "As for why we're acting as if Crane never died, well… let's just say that he is one of many who could have been dropped in." That answered nothing. It only raised more questions.
"Look here lady, I don't know why you chose me, or what this mission is, but if you think I'm gonna work for you, there's something coming your way. If I get nothing from it, then why would I do it?" More silence.
"The fate of the world rests on this mission." Shit. "We had a sensitive file copied and stolen by one Kadir Suleiman. After the outbreak, we lost track of him. We believe him to be hiding as either the Tower leader, or a local bandit leader. We need someone to retrieve the file from him, and you, Ms. Rosier, are the most viable option. Any information you can provide to us will be greatly appreciated." All I get for possibly risking my life more than usual is appreciation?
"I'll pass. Just, send in another agent or something. And try to avoid night, people tend to die in the dark." There was just one more thing that needed to be dealt with. "Also, how the fuck do you know my name? I'm pretty sure an orphan from the slums isn't going to have much of a record."
"We know all about you, Rosier. More than you think." The line died. I swore, resisting the urge to pelt the phone from the window. I slumped down against the wall and ran a hand through my hair.
How did my life get to this point? It was at this moment, I heard a scream from down the hall.
My steps were unbearably loud in the hallway. Each one echoed off the walls and empty rooms. The floors ran in circles, all paths led back to the elevators. As I passed a room on the end, I could hear breathing from inside. Steeling myself, I pushed the door open. I was immediately thrown back by a huge force, rushing from the other side.
A Viral. Avrom Kavur, Mark's brother. I slammed into the wall side on, hitting my head. Something in my arm cracked. Sliding to the ground, I swiped at an incoming hand. It darted back before my blade could sever it. The Viral, Avrom, screamed and lunged at me. He landed on my legs, popping the rough stitches. The cut started to bleed anew, covering the ground slowly. Avrom lunged again, opening his mouth to bite at my neck. I hastily held up the blade, he caught it in his teeth. I tried to wrestle it away from him, but with my other arm injured I lost my grip and the machete went sailing down the hall. Thinking quickly I pushed my good hand against his neck, keeping him from biting down on mine. He clawed at me, my arm and face becoming riddled with shallow gouges. I brought my leg up and kicked, landing it straight on his chest. I heard ribs break. It did nothing but stall for time. As a last resort, I pulled out the small knife that I salvaged from Crane and waited for him to leap again. He did, and this time I was ready. At the last second, I swung the knife up, pointing it straight towards him.
His body went slack, jaw hanging loosely, becoming dead weight. I rolled him off me, and sat back against the wall. I looked at the knife imbedded in his forehead, and let out a choked sob. I'd been friends with Avrom. He was kind, always helping others before himself. And look where that got him. Infected with a knife buried 4 inches deep. I ran a hand over my face, not caring if it was bloodied. I could feel my heart beating through my leg, the gash still bleeding. Dragging myself up with the wall, I limped into the room Avrom had been occupying.
Mark was dead. His throat was torn out, his organs were were lying beside him. He never even turned. I changed my headset to channel 7.
"Hey Lena, I'm on floor 13." I sank into the couch, my leg finally giving up on me. "Mark's… He didn't make it. Avrom either."
"Shit A, what about you?" She sounded like my mother.
"No bites, if that's what you're asking," I chuckled. "I had to fight Av. He Viralled out. Think something in my arm broke, and my leg opened up again." I expected to hear how I should put pressure on the wound, immobilise the arm, all that shit.
"What do you mean again?" I forgot to mention my run in with the Vollie.
"I cut my leg on the mission the other night. It didn't seem like a big deal at the time."
"Come on A, stay with me. I'll be down in a moment." Stay with her? What did she mean by that? "Focus on my voice. Stay awake." It was too late. The world spiralled into black, and everything went away.
I sat up with a gasp. The hospital bed creaked in protest. I looked around wildly. Everything was blurred and muffled, objects and sounds meshing into each other. A new blur moved in, almost completely blue. I felt hands pushing my shoulders down, as something stabbed into my arm. Everything came back in a wave. Sights and sounds became separate, the blurs solidified, becoming their own objects. Lena stood over me, making notes in a little notebook. She looked at me and gave a strained smile.
"Welcome back A. You lost a lot of blood. Had us worried there for a while." My mind was running on low, I couldn't understand what she was trying to say.
"What do you mean worried? What happened?" She frowned at me. What now?
"You don't remember?" I gave her a glare. "Shit, this is new." She pulled a small torch out of one of her pockets. "Look into the light for me A." I followed the light for as long as I could before I had to close my eyes. The brightness was overwhelming. "Okay, now what's the last thing you remember?"
"Really?" It seemed a bit pointless to me. She gave me a look and I held my hands up in defeat. "You're the doctor. Last thing I know is entering the lobby on the ground." I looked around again. I was on floor 19, the medical bay. "How did I get up here?" Lena didn't say anything for a while, just watched me carefully.
Finally, she whistled and pulled out the notebook. "Now that is a concussion if I've ever seen one. You should start remembering things in a few hours, until then, just get some rest." I nodded assent and she left, going off to tend to another patient. How long had I been here for? I looked out the window. Orange sky. Morning. I'd been here for at least one night. What happened to me? I laid back down, and was asleep within seconds.
My parents stood over me, glaring hatefully.
"It's your fault we're dead." They chorused together. "If you had hidden we'd still be alive. How many more people?" Faces flashed into existence: Yalim, Yasmin, Leyla, and Ceyda, the four we lost the other night. Avrom, Mark. My sister. They all stared at me with red eyes.
"You killed us all!" They yelled. "How many more, Ardelis? How many!" The faces spiralled together, forming Nadeau standing in front of me. His rifle pointed at my head, a twisted smile on his face.
"Now you can't hurt anyone." And he pulled the trigger.
I woke screaming and thrashing about. A strong pair of hands tried to hold me down. I had to leave, I had to get out of there. I threw my arm out, my fist connecting with someone's head. I threw off the other arm and jumped off the bed. Bolting out the door, I shoved past Lena, who stared in disbelief. I ran, all the way up the stairs, all the way to the roof. I raced to the crane, and ran along the arm. Pulling myself up the scaffolding of the cockpit, I climbed as high as I could. As far as I could get from everyone.
I sat on the edge, staring out over the darkening city. Tears ran down my cheeks as I cried silently. I couldn't help anyone, they all died while I was supposed to be looking out for them. I buried my head in my hands, shaking. I felt an arm around me. Rahim.
"Hey Little Sunflower, another one?" I nodded my head. He pulled me closer to him. We sat in silence for a while. "It's not your fault, you know?" I looked up at him, he was smiling. "We both know that what happened wasn't your fault, and don't even start. Could you have known that he had a gun? Could you have known he was drunk out of his mind? Could you have even known that he was at the door?" I shook my head to each one. "Exactly." He said nothing for a while, I didn't trust my voice to speak. "I'm sorry, you know?" I looked up at him confused. "About your sister. I didn't even know you had one. When I found you in the alley, with a dead Viral, I just assumed that… I didn't…" He went silent.
"I know, but it's not just that." It came out as little more than a whisper. I doubt Rahim heard.
"Sorry?" I shook my head for what felt like the fiftieth time that night.
"Never mind. It's not a problem." I said, louder this time, still only a whisper. We sat and watched the sun set over the city.
I was woken by yelling from down the hall. Lifting myself off my bed, I shuffled out into the hall. The yelling got louder, it was coming from the planning room. Reaching for the handle, it swung inwards before I could grab it. I stumbled backwards, expecting an attack. Jade. The scowl on her face dropped as soon as she saw me. She pulled me forwards in a hug.
"Shit Ari. Don't even God damn do anything like that again, you scared me half to death. You scared all of us to death." I glanced at the room behind her, she caught the motion. "Yeah, Brecken. Again. Went out on a night run, when I told him not to, and now we're down another 2 runners." The four from my mission flashed past, I shook my head to clear them. "He of all people should know, that you don't fucking go out." She gave me a pitying look. "I was actually on my way to get you. He wants to talk to you."
"Shit." Jade laughed.
"Tell me about it." She patted me on the back. "Good luck in there Ari." She turned and left. I sighed, and walked into the planning room.
Brecken was leaning up against a table. Lena was tending to a gash on his forehead, patching it up with gauze. He glanced over to me but didn't say anything. I leaned against the door frame, waiting for him to speak. Lena finished patching him up. As she walked past, she gave me a reassuring look, and left. I turned back to Brecken, and saw him staring at me.
"There are some airdrops planned for sundown. I need you to go out and get them. If they contain Antizin, bring some back. Rahim's going with you. They drop at 7:00pm and 8:30pm. Go get ready."
"No." He turned and looked at me.
"What?"
"I said no. I'm not going out at sundown, not again. We have enough Antizin to last us for a few more weeks, we aren't that desperate that we need to risk even more lives. And Rahim? There's no way he'd go out if there was a chance of it being night!" My voice rose even more. "I'm sure there are plenty of other people who would go out, just ask around. I'm sure someone will go on your suicide mission. You went on a night mission last night! Look what happened there! Two runners! Who even were they?"
"And what about those four you took with you? What happened to them? You went out at night, that's what!" My eyes narrowed, anger rose inside me.
"You know as well as I do that we left with four hours to sundown. We never saw the storm coming. We were in a safe-house, then the power went out, for the whole fucking district. You tell me you didn't do that! That you weren't setting up traps! At least the ones I was with got a quick death, what about your team? Are the shambling around the streets? Have they gone Viral? Tell me!" He was silent. Then, stalking up to me, he pushed me back against the wall.
"At least you didn't have to kill your friends." He spat. "When they've gone Viral but have enough left to still sound like them, to act like them. That's why you have to go on this mission, so that it doesn't happen to more. What would you sister think if she saw you now?" I slapped him. As hard as I could, the sound echoed through the silent room.
"You don't get to do that to me." I hissed. "You have no idea about anything. No I haven't had to kill my friends. But have you ever watched a family member turn? Had to see them go Viral right in front of you, begging you to run? Have you had to… Have you had to beat them to death? Had to listen while they screamed at you, clawed at you? Have you ever heard your sister beg for her life? Cause I have. And I would never wish it on anyone." I turned to walk out of the room. "I'll go on your fucking mission, but don't expect me to stay after it's done." And I left the room.