NationStates Jolt Archive


Damnation beneath the Sands

Sigma Octavus
04-10-2004, 03:04
"Welcome to the SOGP Hydra R&D Lab, soldiers. I am Sergeant Bradbury. This is your first assignment, so don't fuck up and everything will go well." The sergeant knew for a fact that all of these soldiers were green out of SOMI training. Not an ounce of actual battle training. Not that they'd really need it on this boring installation in the middle of the dessert, surrounded on all sides by sand and more sand. He continued with the introduction."You soldiers are going to be replacing the last group of dipshits placed out here. Get to know the science teams and everyone else working here. There are fifteen hundred civvies out here. It will help the next four years pass. If you don't, you will be bored shitless. Nothing ever happens out here." The sergeant obviously was not pleased that he had been stuck out here 12 years ago for messing around with a general's daughter. He hadn't risen in rank once since he was stuck out here.

After the sergeant's briefing, the 180 SOMI filed out of the hastily assembled auditorium/cafeteria and went to their first assignments. One soldier, a Sean Brecken, was assigned to perimeter guard duty. Namely, he had to sit in a tower in the sun for eight hours, six days a week. Not very exciting. Not what he had pictured when he had seen the SOMI posters when he was drafted. Fight for your country! Go to foreign lands! Carry enough firepower to put down a third world country!

He was dressed out in full SOMI dessert combat gear, which, thankfully, contained an airconditioning system. He was stilled bored out of his mind. Eight months into it, and the most excitement had come from when one of the soldiers comitted suicide in the middle of the mess hall with a pistol. What sort of short straw had he drawn to get stuck out at this research post? "You know what would make this job better?" he asked no one in particular,"A lounge chair and a television." The radio crackled back at him,"Watch it shitface! We can hear you over here, and it doesn't help us with you bitchin' over the airwaves." Sean sighed. "Sorry. I'll keep that in mind." He leaned back down and decided to check the sensor equipment again.

The seismic sensor was spiking just enough to suggest a convoy of vehicles. Sure enough, through a telescope, he could see about five or six vehicles coming along the hasitly constructed road, still kicking up a huge amount of dust. He checked through the list of scheduled arrivals. Yep, first, and last, arrival of the day. A bunch of stuff dug out fo the mountains. His eyes skimmed over the information, remembering what most of it was from his time in school, but there were still a few things he couldn't identify as well as a big CLASSIFIED written at the bottom. So the sci-guys down in Omega lab had another plaything. Sean sighed as he watched the massive doors to the lab open. Those had to be one of the few spectacular things in this entire complex. Massive doors, made of primarily titanium, as well as a great many other metals. Those doors could take multiple direct nuclear blasts and only be blackened. The convoy passed inside and the huge doors closed behind them.

Later that night, Sean sat in the commons area of the SOMI barracks. He was playing cards with three other soldiers. "Got any threes?" "Go fish." The nightshift perimeter guard had just gone out. Most of the soldiers were positioned almost permanently in other parts of the facility, there were never many other people around here except for when the perimeter patrol shifts were switching out. Sean put his cards down on the table. "You know what, I'm sick of this game." The other SOMI he was playing with agreed with him. He stood up and headed towards the rooms of the barracks. At least they supplied the soldiers with their own rooms. That was a plus.

He walked into his room, just now realizing how tired he actually was. He took off the body armor he hadn't realized he was still wearing as well as the black t-shirt he wore underneath. He threw them onto the stainless steel chair in the corner and fell onto his bed. He was asleep in seconds.

**Several Hours Later**

"Alert. Fire in Omega Laboratories. Unknown damage in Levels B-17 through B-09. Hazardous chemical release probable. Initiating Automated Lockdown Procedures."

Sean sat upright in bed as the announcement blared out over the speakers. The emergency lights were flashing, covering the room in red lights. He threw on his shirt and the chest of his armor. He rushed out into the commons to find several other soldiers as well as Sergeant Bradbury. The sergeant was already in process assigning the soldiers to check up on certain areas of the facility. "Bumar, Polaski, Marvio, Atlo, you four get down to Omega to offer a hand in fighting any remaining fires. Vega, Brecken, you two get over to Delta Labs. There's an exit from Omega over there, and you two need to get over there and see that there isn't chaos from when the Omega boys and the Delta boys run into each other. You know the rivalry they have." Sean as well as the other soldier, Emile Vega, saluted and headed off at a run. Both had only sidearms, the only weapons the SOMI generally carried inside the complex. They came upon an elevator to the Delta Labs and got inside once the door opened. Sean hit the B-14 button and the elevator lurched into motion.

When the doors opened, there was a huge amount of smoke. Immediately before the elevator lay the body of a researcher. There was a huge pool of blood around the body's torso, mainly due to the fact that the head had been taken off by a piece of metal that was now imbedded in the wall. An explosion took both soldiers off of their feet and they watched as the primary elevator disappeared from the open doorway, the cord following after it. The doors slowly closed at that point. "Shit. Emile, we gotta get over to Delta and check on those sci-guys and techs." Emile nodded and they headed off towards the Delta labs, encountering more and more bodies. They came upon a large sign that had Delta Laboratories >> written on it. They headed that way slowly, keeping mind of the bodies and rubble. Both were beginning to feel that they wouldn't find any survivors over there.

They both heard gunfire at the same time, and broke into a run. They came around a corner to find a single soldier, surrounded by dead techs and scientists. He was completely wide eyed, his assault rifle smoking. The soldiers ducked back, thinking that he had massacred the others. They didn't want to get shot by some crazy.

A loud hissing came from a dark alcove and the soldier wirled and began unloading into it. A shadow, inhumanly quick, rushed out and the soldier stopped firing. Brecken and Vega both watched as the surprised soldier's gun fell in half. The soldier coughed up blood, and fell over as the huge slash from his sternum up through his skull opened up. Standing there was a creature, too hideous to describe. It stood slighly shorter than the soldier it had just killed, and had what looked to be blades made from bone where it's hands would have been. It's legs were shaped like a dog's, and it's head was small, with two beady yellow eyes on either side.

Vega was the first to fire, his gun breaking the uneasy silence that seemed to establish itself over the background alarms and sirens. The bullets took the creature in the side, and it spun to face them both. It took off, moving slower than it had looked to move when it had rushed the soldier. About twenty feet from Vega, it hurled itself into the air at him. With a slash and a spray of blood, Vega's head flew off. Sean wheeled screaming and fired a shot. The bullet took the creature in the dead center of it's head, and it did a half back-flip onto the ground. The creature spasmed a bit before ceasing to move. Sean sat there, horrified, the gun in his hands. "What the fuck is that?!" He hadn't realized yet that he was the only one alive around here.

After about five minutes, he collected himself enough to stand back up. He moved to Vega's corpse and took the gun from it's hands. He also took the belts holding ammo and other things from the corpse. He hadn't put his on in the rush from his room. He then moved to the soldier's body and did the same. The rifle was useless, but he had a flashlight harness and plenty of pistol ammo. Sean put the different belts on in their normal places, and the extras at any place that they would really fit.

He began moving when another explosion issued forth from below him. This time, a red glow overtook everything and a voice came from everywhere at once. It laughed evily, then began chanting in something he didn't understand. Sounded to be Sumerian or something. Once the chanting stopped, the glow disappeared, leaving Sean alone in the room of corpses. He commented to no one in particular,"This is fucked up." Then, almost as if responding to his voice, the power shut off.


(OOC: Okay, a few answers to inevitable questions.

1)Of course this is Doom 3 inspired.
2)No, it won't be an RP. No, I won't reconsider.
3)No, I won't join your region. No, the public has no knowledge of this. No one but those inside the complex know about this.
4)I don't care if a few words are mispelled.

Okay, now that those are done with, here's a little more. This little story is being put in II because I only seem to get feedback on my stories over here. This will be told through little parts, the above being the first. I was playing Doom 3 last night and thought,"You know what, I could do something like this on NS."

SPAMMING, FLAMING, ETC. WILL GET YOU REPORTED TO MODS
FEEDBACK IS MUCH APPRECIATED
Sigma Octavus
04-10-2004, 03:42
Come on people.

A .:bump:. already....

-edit-

Actually, you know what, I'm going to post this in NS as well.
The Island of Rose
04-10-2004, 03:54
((OOC: Very nice. Too bad, it seemed interesting for me to join :P ))
Sigma Octavus
04-10-2004, 03:56
Thanks.
Konania
04-10-2004, 04:08
[OOC: woot! Tag for an interesting start. --Felix]
Euroslavia
04-10-2004, 04:24
very very good.
TAG
Phalanix
04-10-2004, 04:35
OCC:Man if I hadn't played Doom 3 so much I'd have thought you made this up but shit it is godly! I'll be expecting the rest to be this good or even better.
Sigma Octavus
04-10-2004, 04:40
As far as my track record goes, all of my spur-of-the-moment stuff is good. I don't even know what's going to be next, but it'll probably be good.

My next update should be sometime this week. I actually put off a massive project for yesterday, then never did it, so I have to do it over the week.
Sigma Octavus
04-10-2004, 14:15
.:bump:.
Jonothana
04-10-2004, 16:50
Very, very good. How long is it expected to take. Or is it just gonna keep going like one of them newspaper sequel thingys.
Sigma Octavus
05-10-2004, 00:50
This will be continured at random times until I decide the story needs to come to an end. This gives me things to do, I'm creating all sorts of creatures that I can use. It will stay around for a while, entertaining the masses.

==This has been an informative bump==
Jonothana
05-10-2004, 07:45
Thank goodness that wasn't a sequel.

I'm low on time.
Sigma Octavus
10-10-2004, 09:42
Damnation Beneath the Sands Part II : Hello?

Sean switched on the flashlight attached to his armor. The thin beam of light didn't do much for the darkness. He didn't breathe as he swept the room with light. There was no sign of anything aside from the corpses. He was still paranoid about that voice. Where was it coming from? What did it say? Most importantly, what was happening here?

He jumped as his radio crackled to life. The voice coming from it was one he recognized. "This is Sergeant Bradbury. What's the status of Delta?"

Sean twitched a little and keyed the radio,"Everyone's dead.....I'm the only one down here." He surveyed the room of corpses again.

"What do you mean they're all dead? What happened." Sean could tell that sarge was surprised.

"Sir, they were all dead when Vega and I arrived. A single soldier was there, but he was cut down by.....something. The thing killed Vega before I took it out." Sean surprised himself with the calmness of his voice.

"Hmmm...I've had similar reports from beta. No reports from any of the other sectors." There was a brief pause. "The security office for Delta is several hundred meters to the west of that section of Delta. Go there and wait for reinforcements."

Sean nodded, not thinking that there was no one there. "Roger. I'm moving now."

He slowly began towards the security office. He flipped the eyepiece on his helmet into position, the digital compass glowing red in the darkness. Still no power, no lights. Only his flashlight.

Sean came to the elevator shaft. There was a red glow inside. He peered through the opening and saw that there was a fire down at the bottom. An inhuman roar came up the shaft, and Sean backed away. There would be weapons at the security office.

Sean was moving into a large room, a cafeteria if he remembered right, when the emergency lights finally flashed on. He stopped moving, the lights taking him by surprise. He raised his pistol from its ready position, pointing it into the room.

A single figure stood in the red glow of the emergency lights. Sean looked closely. It was a human. "Hello?" The figure raised it's head and turned. Sean determined the figure to be female. She looked like she had a limp as she moved towards him. Sean put down the pistol and lowered the intensity of his flashlight.

When she was getting nearer he called out,"Are you the only one here? Are there others around here?" She took her arm from behind her back. Sean saw a crowbar in the red light. She raised it above her head and broke into a run. She swung and Sean barely dodged the points of the crowbar, the metal of the bar bouncing off his shoulder. She fell into him, clawing with her free hand.

Sean kicked her off and the crowbar went flying. Sean got up slowly, holding his shoulder and aiming the pistol at the woman's face. "What the hell's wrong with you lady?" She looked at him and the beam caught her full in the face. He saw that her hair was wild, she was drooling and her eyes had a manic look to them. She had gone insane.

He pointed the gun at her leg and fired. The bullet tore through her thigh and she dropped to the ground. She began dragging herself towards him. He aimed the gun at her but was knocked off his feet as something hit him from the side. He struggled and eventually got his attacker off of him. He whirled the gun and fired. The wall splattered with blood as his attacker, another person, had his brain and the back of his head violently relocated.

Sean turned as he heard more people coming into the room. The room filled with yelling and gunfire as he fired at each of them when they began running. He took down eight before he had to reload. He ran as fast as he could away from them as he ran. He was diverted into the kitchen as someone came into the doorway he was headed for.

He knew he would only have a few seconds to figure out what to do. Looking around frantically, he saw that one of the panels in the ceiling was missing. He scrambled onto a counter and jumped, grabbing onto the edge and hauling himself up. He found the panel had just been moved and quickly put it over the hole, coveing his escape route. He heard the door to the kitchen bang in and footsteps. He pulled up the panel an inch or so and watched as about twenty people walked around the kitchen.

They looked everywhere for him, almost as though they were working together. Sean held his breath as he watched. Suddenly, the voice he had heard previously began chanting again. The people all looked at the door at once and filed through. All except one.

Sean figured that they were somehow all connected to that voice. He figured it wouldn't be wise to try and leave through that door again. He slowly moved along until he was out of the area directly above the kitchen into an air vent. He keyed his radio and spoke silently. "Sarge. Keep it quiet, I'm being hunted. I might not make it to the security station easily. Tell the others to look out for the civvies, something's wrong with them."

Sean waited for several seconds, no reply coming to him. "Sarge? Come in." After a full minute, he felt totally alone. He wondered if he was the only one left. He had what could be called a mental breakdown at that point, hugging his knees to his chest and rocking back and forth.

Another explosion shook the complex, followed shortly by a loud announcement. "Warning. Nuclear reactor damaged. Meltdown imminant. T-Minus 5 hours, 46 minutes, 24 seconds and counting. It is advised that all personnel reach the minimum safe distance as soon as possible.

The voice came again, laughing maniacly. Sean just rocked back and forth, fealing his mind slipping away from him.

(Ooh....thought I was gonna use zombies didn't ya? Nope. Anyways, here's part two...almost a week after part 1. Expect part 3 to be out whenever I get around to writing it. Also, as always, comments are welcome.)
Phalanix
10-10-2004, 13:53
OCC:As I've said before. Thats killer man. Better than the first if you ask me. Keep it up...or else. lol
Jonothana
10-10-2004, 15:05
I concur. And once you're finished, you should make an anthology and get in archived.
Sigma Octavus
11-10-2004, 14:52
Yep, I'll probably do that.

.:bump:.
Greenmanbry
11-10-2004, 15:05
A masterpiece.. Excellent work..

.:Tag:.
Zepplin Manufacturers
11-10-2004, 15:43
((ooc Very well done, nice feel to it going to have to watch this space I am. ))
Sigma Octavus
12-10-2004, 04:16
.:bump:.
Sigma Octavus
12-10-2004, 15:42
.:bump:.
Sigma Octavus
14-10-2004, 15:45
and another bump

read and reply
Sigma Octavus
19-10-2004, 03:38
Damnation Beneath the Sands Part 3: Deeper, darker, danger

Omega Labs, Office Complex

"T-Minus 5 hours, 24 minutes and counting. Please reach minimum safe distance before then, thank you."

The scientist yelled at the speaker,"Shut up, you bitch! I know!" He went back to the work he was doing on his computer.

What went wrong? Everything had been perfect. How could this have happened. Outside the heavily barricaded door came a low hissing sound. They were still there. Damnit.

"Doc, what are we going to do?" A SOMI standing over one of the injured in his squad asked, clutching a shotgun in his arms. This single squad had survived along with the scientist after the machine went haywire and these things began coming out of it. They had reached this are of Omega labs and were saved only by all the doors they had shut between them and the creatures. By the time the creatures got to them, they had barricaded a door with several tons of loose equipment and welded it all down. They were secure in this room.

The scientist didn't look back when he answered the soldier. "We wait....I'm still looking for surviving military." His computer continued going level by level, checking for any military signatures that still had heartbeats. It beeped and the view focused in on a triangle moving slowly.

"Ha! Found one. There's a soldier in Delta......he appears to be in the ceiling or something." He typed several commands into his computer before a microphone came out of a hole in the terminal. The doctor cleared his throat before speaking. "Soldier, this is Doctor Calvin Betolus. Do you read me?"

Delta Labs

Sean had only recently gotten a hold of himself and started moving again. He kept pulling up tiles to check, and found that there were always one or two of them below him. He found an emergency ladder and climbed into the compartment leading to it. His radio crackled to life. "Soldier, this is Doctor Calvin Betolus. Do you read me?"

Sean fumbled quickly for the radio before speaking into it. "Th-this is Private First Class Sean Brecken." His realized he sounded like he wasn't sure who he was.

"Excellent. Soldier, tell me what's happening up there." Sean looked back out at the ceiling area he had been moving through. "Doctor....things are hell here. Creatures. The staff have gone insane. Those that lived."

"Soldier, I am barricaded in a room inside Omega labs with a squad of marines. Have you been in contact with the Sergeant?"

"No...I couldn't raise the sergeant.....wait, how'd you find me?" There was a short pause. "I scanned the complex for military.....and the scanners were only installed in these lower levels, so I can't scan anything above your level. You, aside from the squad with me, are the only soldiers I could see. There are huge blind spots in some areas in the levels below you, so there could be more there."

Sean climbed onto the ladder. "Doctor, I have to go. I'll try to get there. I'll contact you if there's any trouble. I feel like I'm being hunted, and not by the staff. I don't want to make any unnecessary noise."

"I understand. I'll be waiting for you. Definitely contact me when you reach Omega."

"Roger. Brecken out."

The silence that followed was broken only by the alarms and countdown updates. Sean went down the ladder, checking above and below him with the flashlight. This area had no power, and he wasn't going to take any chances with the darkness.

He came out of the ladder in the primary maintenance level. He saw a dull red glow from down one corridor. He headed that way. When he rounded the corner, he found something that disturbed him deeply. A huge....vein pulsed where it had gone through the wall and into the floor. It glowed red.

A few words escaped his lips. "What....the....fuck...." He silenced himself with his hand to listen for movement. A dull roar came from behind him. He spun and beheld the creature stalking up behind him. It was about the size and shape of a bull. It's head was heavily plated with bone, and it had two huge blades coming from the sides of it's head. It roared again, causing Sean to spin and take off in a sprint. The thudding of its feet came shortly afterwards as it took off after him.

He nearly fell as he turned sharply to go into a side corridor. The creature slid past sideways, missing the corridor. Sean kept running, knowing it would come after. He heard it coming after him again. He had managed a bit more of a lead on the thing.

The corridor turned back into the primary passage very quickly, and Sean never stopped for an instance. In the distance, the tunnel glowed red. Slightly brighter than the vein had. As he grew nearer, he saw that a chasm had been torn in the tunnel floor. The red glow was emenating from the chasm. He quickly looked for a way across and saw a single thick wire hanging from the ceiling.

As the distance to the chasm shortened, he became aware that the creature had been gaining on him. He had to lose it at the chasm. He came to the edge and lept for the wire. He grabbed on and swung across, the wire gaining an unusual amount of slack at the end. He looked back in time to see a large metal beam fall directly onto the creature as it was leaping over the chasm. The beam and the creature disappeared into the hole.

Sean slowly moved towards the chasm to look inside. Deep down, he saw lava. There was a pool of molten rock at the bottom of the chasm. He saw that it was moving. A river.

He stood and walked away from the chasm, going the only way he could.

In the darkness across the chasm, a pair of red eyes appeared. It was nearing it's prey. It hadn't been commanded to strike yet. It waited. It hungered.
Phalanix
19-10-2004, 03:43
Kick ass like always man.
Jonothana
19-10-2004, 10:43
Great, absolutly great. And 5 stars now.
Greenmanbry
19-10-2004, 14:16
:Bump:

Can't wait for four.
Sigma Octavus
28-10-2004, 15:20
.:bump:.

I haven't forgotten. I'll be updating tonight, time permitted.
Sigma Octavus
29-10-2004, 04:57
Time didn't permit. It will be friday or sunday.
Sigma Octavus
04-09-2005, 11:22
Damnation Beneath the Sands Part 4: A Girl Named Claire

Sean made his way out of the tunnels through a maintenance hatch. The lighting here was full, it must have been locally powered. It was quite a relief to the claustrophobic darkness he had been dealing with up until now. There was no sign of blood or chaos anywhere. This area was completely untouched. He sealed the hatch behind him and proceeded inside.

He rounded the corner to find a corpse. But this corpse had not been killed by a monster or insane human. He recognized the SOMI emblem on the mans shoulder, as well as on the shotgun he had used to kill himself. The wall was stained red to the cieling. This had happened a while ago, probably during the first hour or so of....whatever this was. Sean reached down and picked up the shotgun. The man also wore a bandoleer filled with shells. Sean put that on as well. He removed the mans flashlight and, using a strip of the mans sleeve, tied it to the shotgun.

He flicked on the light and tested how it stayed attached to the weapon. "Perfect." He spied a helmet next to the corpse and removed it. He might need it. He moved on from the corpse, following a series of arrows. They were better than nothing.

He came to another door, labeled Water Management. He looked further down the hall and saw no markings. This was as safe a bet as any. He remembered seeing a tunnel leading from this area up to where the Doctor was. He opened the large door and walked into a setting quite unlike the one that he had just been in.

Water Management and Distribution

The floors were made entirely of steel grating, the water below completely still. Lights were in the water, as well as above him on the cieling. Proceeded into the room, shutting the door behind him. He had been getting a feeling paranoia, as though he were being followed, and thought that closing the door would help. He proceeded with caution into the complex.

Sean's light shone over something of a different color than the dark metal of everything else here. A section of the cieling had collapsed, completely blocking the left pathway. He saw a hand sticking out from the rubble and the water nearby was pink. This had happened a while ago as well.

He diverted his attention to the path ahead. He saw that the metal grating ended soon, and a concrete hallway lined with mesh windows lay beyond. The lighting was much better there. As he passed by the windows in the hallway, he looked through them. This place was a maze. He could easily be lost here.

SPACK! A bullet ricocheted where the concrete ended and the mesh started, and glanced off Sean's armor's rib protectors. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain before calling out,"Don't shoot! I'm friendly!"

"Oh shit!" A woman's voice, with a trace of mountain Sigman accent. Sean peaked over the edge to see a fairly young technician clutching a pistol shakily. He held up his shotgun above his head as he stood. "My name is Sean Brecken. I'm a marine." He said this calmly, half thinking that she might take another shot.

The woman ran down the grating to the mesh window, where she turned left and ran to the end of the hallway. Reaching it, she nearly sprinted to Sean. She slammed into him in a full hug, reminding Sean violently of the pain in his ribs. She was crying.

He gritted his teeth and patted her on the head. "What are you doing down here?" He saw now that she couldn't have been older than 18. She couldn't be a technician.

She didn't answer , clinging tightly to his armor. He eased her off, mentioning that his side hurt, not saying exactly how. She looked up at him like he was the first human she had ever seen. He asked her again,"What are you doing down here....who are you?"

She wiped away her tears and slowly answered,"M...my...I'm Claire Grey. My father is the head of operations down here, Allen Gery. He and the rest of the crew headed up in the elevator a few hours ago. It hasn't worked since. I heard noises and got his pistol, and now you're here."

"I didn't realize that there were families living in the complex." Sean tried not to let how much more horrible that made this whole mess get into his thoughts. "How old are you?"

"I'm 16."

"Fuck....do you know how to get up to Omega from here? I need to get there."

The girl smiled, as though she had always been told to stay out of the way. "Yes...I know this place very well. Follow me." She turned and began to walk, but Sean grabbed her by the collar of her coveralls and yanked her back. "Not with everything that's happened here. I lead."

He remembered the helmet he had found and pulled it from where he had attached it on his belt. "Put this on. It's got lights and you'll be protected by it." She put it on and strapped it tightly. The name P. Trag was visible for just a second on the helmet side.

He had her behind him, holding with one hand onto the bandolier. They walked briskly through the remaining complex, keeping an eye out for anything that might be hazardous to their well being. They came to a large pipe that indicated Omega Labs with a door on the side. Sean turned the door release and it slowly opened. The pipe didn't start on this level, it went down into blackness. He shone his light down and up to make sure that nothing was waiting for them. He ushered Claire in ahead of him. He followed shortly, closing the door and sealing it.

The pipe was completely empty save the ladder and the two survivors ascending inside. Claire stopped after a few minutes, indicating that the doorway lead to Omega. She kept climbing so Sean could enter first, in case of danger. He swept the room they entered with his flashlight and saw nothing, except that light was coming from underneath the doorway. He went to the light switch and flipped it. The lights came on as Claire was entering the room.

Omega Labs, Office Complex

"Sean, did you notice when the meltdown notice turned off?" It dawned on him that he hadn't noticed it. He didn't think that a nuclear meltdown could have slipped his mind. "No...I didn't."

Claire looked at her watch. "It must have been a good twenty minutes ago. I wonder if that means that it's fixed?"

Sean gripped his shotgun. "Fixed or not, we still need to get out of here."

Claire had warmed up to Sean enough that it almost seemed like she didn't know the place was taken over by monsters. He realized that she looked a bit like his sister, who had died in a car accident. Maybe that's why he had gotten so protective so quickly. She smiled cutely.

"Don't worry Claire. I'll get us both out of here alive. I'm sure your father and his crew are already out." He knew it was highly doubtful, more likely that they were dead and rotting or completely insane. "I promise."

"Thank you Sean."

Sean paused as he saw movement from the pipe, a red meaty tendril reaching for Claire. "Claire!" He raised his rifle but it was too late, the tendril shot out, wrapped around her waist, and yanked her backwards through the pipe. Sean rushed to the edge only to see her flashlight fading into the distance along with her screams. "I'll find you Claire!" He saw movement coming back at him and he slammed the door shut. He locked it and jumped back, pointing his weapon at it. Something punded on the door four times before stopping. A tendril busted through the side of the pipe, and Sean retreated from the room. He found himself in an office complex.

He saw on the wall Dr. Calvin Betolus, Ph.D --->. He remembered that the doctor mentioned a life sensor. He broke into a run. The hallways were deserted save for a few dozen chewed on corpses. No monsters anywhere though.

He came to the doctors door and saw several people inside. Most of them were heavily armed SOMI. He pounded on the window. An elderly man, the doctor he guessed, looked up and smiled. He held something to his mouth and a speaker above Sean crackled to life. "Brecken, I had nearly thought you wouldn't make it. I had a secret entrance installed in case I ever needed to escape. It is disguised as a poster with "Safety First" written on it. Knock the first three keys of the national anthem and I will open it. You will find it down the hall to your left and on your first right."

Sean looked oddly at the doctor but followed his directions. He found the poster and raised his knuckle to it. He paused as he heard a hiss. Something moved to his left.

Sean dove as the something came at him, his shotgun rising to take aim. He hit the floor and slid, the creature coming down on top of him. He fired and the blast threw the thing up into the ceiling, allowing him to slide on unhindered. He jerked upright and fired at the creature again. It's head reacted very much like a pumpkin being smashed on the floor. He fired two more times, to make sure, and went back to the poster.

Despite having done that so professionally, Sean was shaken to the bone. He shivered as he knocked the three notes on the poster. It clicked and slid open. He crawled inside a vent and the poster closed again. A hand grabbed him and he yelled in surprise, not knowing that it was a SOMI hauling him into the room.

Once inside there was much back slapping as his fellow SOMI congratulated him. He was trying to speak above them and eventually got through. "Doctor, I need you to scan the lower levels. Right now."

"But why?" "Just do it doctor, this is important." The doctor initiated the scan and made a surprised noise. "There's another soldier down there. A corporal Percy Trag. He wasn't there on any of my other scans."

"That's because that's a 16 year old girl named Claire Grey wearing Trag's helmet. Is she still alive."

The doctor pulled up a vitals window and checked it. "She has a high pulse, but she's alive."

Sean let out a sigh of relief, but caught it. She was alive, but what were they doing.

"I need to get down to her." Sean turned to the secret exit. A hand stopped him. It was the doctor this time. "Sean, there is a matter of great importance we must bring up. The nuclear meltdown has not ceased, just the alarm. We need you to stop it."

Two SOMI stepped forward. "These are Baker and Patelli. They will go with you to stop the meltdown. I've given them all they need to do it."

Sean was furious, but kept his head. "Where is the power room?"

The doctor turned back to the scanner. "I think that you might be happy to know that it is in the same place as your young girl. It is seven levels down. I've given Patelli the map with markings of every way to get there."

Sean almost pulled Patelli and Baker through the secret path after him. He needed to get to Claire. He had promised her. Much as he had promised his sister Beth that she would be fine driving on her own.


(So it's a little late...at least it wasn't a year late. Just around 10 months late. But I said it would be up on sunday, and voila. Its been sitting in the back of my mind for 10 months, and I felt that I needed a creative jolt for my upcoming roll in Operation: Hellfire. Continuing this series should do the trick.)

(Also, if the ending seems rushed, I've been on a lot of medication lately, and have been slightly out of it. Had two ear infections at once. Needed sleeping pills, which mixed with everything else I've taken, has made me very tired though I haven't had any since last night. So I sleep.)
Sigma Octavus
04-09-2005, 20:09
bump

read

reply
Aequatio
05-09-2005, 08:45
*tag for reading entertainment*
Sigma Octavus
05-09-2005, 09:00
For those interested in the story, I have moved it out of II to NS.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?p=9585188#post9585188

I'm just gonna let this get buried in this forum, because this really isn't the right forum for non-rps.