Post by thatfallout3guy on Apr 27, 2012 13:43:08 GMT -5
Hello there fellow members of Incompostius, my name as you know is Fallout, and this is what my writing used to be like. Fair warning. It's bad. REALLY fucking bad.
“GET DOWN!!! THEY’RE COMEING IN FROM THE LEFT! THE LEFT!!!” Dwayne screamed frantically, “Sir, when is Omega Squad getting back?” A young soldier asked, “I don’t know, but we’re just gonna have to hold out until they do! I‘ll die before I let these slaver bastards take over Fort Charlotte!” Then, all of the sudden a stray bullet came and struck Dwayne right on his shoulder ”AAGGHH!!” Dwayne screamed violently, “CAPTAIN!!” the young man screamed as he ran towards his fellow soldier, “Sir are you okay?!” “Yea, I‘m fine.” Dwayne said as the young man helped him to his feet, “These combat suits that General Sessoms developed are incredibly strong.” “Can they take a point blank Desert Eagle round?” “I don‘t know, why?” Dwayne asked. “Let‘s find out.” The soldier then shot Dwayne in the stomach. “AGH! Why?!” “Drake pays more,” the young soldier said with a wicked smile on his face. “Dillon…. I’m…. sorry.” As Dwayne fell to the ground the world seemed to fade, and he knew that it was all over.
I should probably explain what’s going on right now. Around two centuries ago something, terrible happened, they called it Y2K. Nobody knows why it happened, but because of it, the world was reduced to a lawless, ruthless wasteland. But it wasn’t the end, in fact, it was a new beginning. Many didn’t believe in Y2K, they’re all dead. Well, the lucky ones are, the others were transformed by the radiation from the bombs into something, horrible. Hideous, disgusting, mindless, zombie-like freaks that only kill, and eat anything unfortunate enough to get spotted by a pack of them. I’ve seen some things out in the wastes that would drive most people beyond madness, fortunately for me, I’m not most people.
Anyway about five years ago I found something incredible. A building unlike I’d ever seen. For starters it was completely intact, like it had been underground while the bombs were launched, and it was massive! It was in a canyon that was about twenty miles outside of Charlotte, the only way to get to it, besides flying, was going through the canyon, which gave it a great tactical advantage, because the canyon was only about sixty feet wide, and there was also a huge gate, not unlike one that would be found on an old castle, with walls that people could patrol on. It also had everything needed to easily house a small army! It had massive barracks, a giant mess hall, even commanders quarters that were fit for a king! But the most amazing was what I found under the fort, an underground well that never ran dry, there was also a massive mine filled with metal ore that we could easily make ammo from, there was also an ammo press in the fort, like I said, this place was massive! While I was searching through the fort I found the former commanders terminal, even though most of the data was corrupt, it had the fort’s name, Fort Charlotte, it also told of the group that inhabited it. The Order of the Panther, a pre Y2K organization that was determined to eradicating all evil in the world. After exploring the rest of the fort I knew what I had to do, I had continue their noble cause, so I founded The Wasteland Rangers, a mercenary group dedicated to the same cause. But first I would need a team, and I knew just where to get one.
First I would need an XO (second in command), my close friend, Adam Parish fit the job perfectly, not only was he a tactical genius, he was also a recon expert and sniper, he’s the best shot in the wastes, he can hit a tin can from a mile away with a pistol, that’s not an exaggeration
I’ve seen him do it! Next the team would need a medic, my buddy Benjamin Batchelor was the best doctor I knew. He was fascinated by a pre-Y2K group called the Boy Scouts, even more so with first aid, and because of that he dedicated all of his time to becoming a doctor. It paid off because, like I said, he’s the best doctor I know. The next thing we would need was a tech specialist, that position was filled by my cousin, Zack Sessoms, hands down the smartest person in the wasteland, give the guy some scrap metal, a computer chip, and a radio antenna, and he’ll make something that can talk to someone in China, not to mention he’s a master with explosives. And finally we would need someone to watch over the fort while we were out on contracts, unfortunately I had no idea who, until I found Dwayne. A week or two after I found Fort Charlotte me Parish, Zack, and Ben raided a massive slaver base and found a group of people that were captured by the slavers, and Dwayne was their leader, after we got them out Dwayne said that he would pay us back by joining us, I was skeptical, but I gave him a shot. He turned out to be one of the best soldiers I had ever seen, and his leadership skills were unquestionable, and the people that he lead each had something to offer, there were mechanics, doctors, even a pastor! Even though me Parish, Zack, and Ben do most of the work, The Wasteland Rangers would not be where we are today without the help of all these people. Finally there’s me, the one responsible for all of this, now I may not be able to snipe a cigarette out of someone’s hand from a thousand yards away, or find a cure for the common cold, or build an automated turret, but what I can do is lead, and I don’t wanna toot my own horn, but I’m probably the best all around soldier in the wasteland, not to mention I’ve killed more bandits and slavers than anyone in the rangers. In the following years since I founded the Rangers we have grown, there are now about twelve other basses in a hundred mile radius. But you want me to get back to the story don‘t you? All right, I’m Dillon Smith, and this is my story.
I had no idea what was going on, from what I could tell I was in a field and there was a woman walking towards me. As I tried to get a better look of my surroundings I saw the woman getting closer and closer towards me, I tried asking her who she was, but I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t even move! Then I noticed that the woman was directly in front of me, she reached up and grabbed my head, leaned towards me, and started licking my face, before I could think she started barking! Then something good happened, I woke up.
“RUFF RUFF!” I saw my dog Duke licking my face, I’ve had Duke ever since I was three, I’m now thirty, see the radiation not only changed people, but animals as well. Some changes were subtle, dogs for instance now live as long as humans, other animals were changed into monsters. “Wow, you come with an alarm clock feature too?” I said to Duke jokingly. He looked at me strangely, and then walked away, “Didn’t even buy me breakfast,” I said sarcastically. I looked over at my clock and saw that it was three-thirty in the afternoon, then I got up to check my terminal for any new messages I heard a knock on my door, I opened it and saw a familiar face.
“Hey Dillon!” “Hey Parish!” “What’s up?” “Jesus.” I was curios as to what Parish was doing at my door, “So what you want?” “A couple of things, firstly the decontamination room is still on the fritz….” “Zack hasn’t fixed it yet?!” I interrupted abruptly, “He hasn’t gotten back from the last contract yet.” “ He’s been gone for days! What’s taking so long?” “He had to go to all the way to the coast.” “Oh that’s where he went.” “Yeah it’s a long way from Charlotte to Topsail.” Fort Charlotte was about twenty miles outside of the Charlotte ruins. “So what was the other thing you needed to tell me?” I asked curiously, “Ben says he needs us in the Command Center” “What for?” “Something about a transmission from the ruins.” “Ok let’s go.”
As I said before Fort Charlotte used to be inhabited by The Order of the Panther but I changed it into a mercenary group called The Wasteland Rangers, but we’re not like most mercenary groups, we have a list of tenets that we follow to the letter. First, we don’t accept contracts that involve hurting innocents in any way, we’ve even killed a few people for offering contracts like that. Secondly, we have to help people that can’t help themselves, meaning we do do some missions for free, but only if it means helping the helpless. Third, we do not kill unarmed people, friendly or otherwise. And finally above all, we do not, have anything to do with slavery at all! We don’t work with slavers, we don’t take contracts from slavers, we don’t even trade with slavers, also, tenet three is optional when it comes to slavers. It’s these tenets that separate us from all the other groups. “So Ben, what you need?”
“We picked up a strange transmission several hours ago, we’ve just managed to piece it together.” “Ok then play it.” Right as I said that Zack walked in, “Hey, I’m back.” “Fantastic!” I exclaimed, “Did you fix the decontamination room?” “Good to see you to, jerk.” “Whatever, Ben where were you.” “Right here.” “This is Corporal Perry Brown of The Wasteland Rangers, Delta Squad, please, if someone gets this we need immediate evac! Our coordinates are…………” “That’s all we could get.” Ben said concerned, “Delta Squad?! They’ve been MIA for weeks now!” “Yea, that’s why I wanted you to hear it, we think it actually might be them, we checked the archives, and there was a guy named Perry Brown that was with Delta.” Ben explained. “Well if it is them we need to leave immediately, did you manage to get the coordinates?” “That’s what we needed Zack for.” “Ok Zack, your up.” “Give me a few minutes, I’ll call you over the intercom when I’ve got em.” “Parish, you come with me, Ben you stay and help Zack.”
“Where are we going?” Parish asked. “We gotta go to the armory, get some weapons and tell Dwayne he’s in charge while we’re gone.” “It’s hard to believe he used to be a slave.” “Yea it is.” As we were walking I noticed a troubled look on Parish’s face, “Anything wrong Parish?” I asked concerned, “I just got a bad feeling about this whole Delta Squad thing, I mean what if it’s a trap by set by The Brotherhood?” The Brotherhood were a group of merciless slavers led by the notorious Drake, they were our sworn enemies, they have no rules, and will kill anyone that crosses them, they’ve even killed their own because they were getting too weak to fight, but the worst part is no matter how many we kill, no matter how many slaves we rescue, no matter how many of their strongholds we take, they just keep coming back! “Well if it is a trap we’ll be ready, why are you so concerned?” “I’ve just got a gut feeling that something bad is gonna happen.” “I always say go with your gut, but still, if it’s not a trap then they’ll probably die, and I couldn’t call myself their leader if I let them die for nothing, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.” “I’m not saying we shouldn’t go, I’m just saying that we need to be prepared for the worst.” “I always prepare the worst, and besides, the worst case scenario is that we all die horribly painful deaths.” “That’s cheerful” Parish replied. We then arrived at the armory and I saw Dwayne, “Dwayne.” “Sir!” he exclaimed as he saluted, “We’re going out on a mission, your in charge while we’re gone.” “Yes sir!” I then heard Zack on the intercom, “Hey Dillon I got the coordinates.” “Ok we’ll be up there soon.” I said, “Let’s go.”
We quickly arrived at the command center, “Zack where’s the signal coming from?” “I couldn’t manage to pinpoint the exact location, but from what I got it should be somewhere in the downtown area of Charlotte.” “Isn’t downtown overrun with freaks?” “Yup, completely overrun actually.” “Excellent!” Parish exclaimed, “More freaks equals more fun!” “Something isn’t right about the freaks in Old Charlotte.” Ben said, “What do you mean?” I asked curiously, “Call me crazy, but I swear they‘re getting tougher, faster, and smarter.” “You’re crazy.“ I stated bluntly, “So Zack, we need to take the jeep, or the chopper?” I asked, “Chopper.” Zack quickly stated. “Great.” Ben groaned, “We get to ride with Anthony.” “Let me call him.” “Anthony!” I shouted on the intercom “What!?” “Get the chopper ready we gotta go!” “Apache or transport?” “Transport, I’m sending the coordinates to your terminal.” “All right, Anthony out.” “Ok, we all ready?” I looked and saw confidence on all of their faces, “All right, Rangers, move out!”
We quickly got to the helipad, and soon found out that Anthony wasn’t in a good mood, “AGH!!!!! PIECE OF CRAP!!!” “Anthony, who got your panties in a wad?” Ben asked “This piece of crap terminal it doesn’t want to work right!” “I’ll take a look at it when I get back.” Zack quickly replied. “All right then, what are the coordinates?” “I’ll upload them to the chopper’s GPS.” “Ok, so what’s the plan? Are you guys jumping, or are we touching down?” Everyone then looked at me for the answer, “We’ll be touching down, Zack couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, so we’ll be touching down just outside of the ruins, then try and find our way to where the signal was coming from.” “Sounds good.” Anthony said, “Chopper’s all ready, are you?” “Yup.” I quickly replied, “All right then, hop on.”
Now I’ve explained a lot of things to you, but there’s something that you’re still probably wondering right? What do we look like? I’m six-two, and I have medium length black hair and a five o‘ clock shadow. Parish is six-three, and has short brown hair. Zack is six feet, and has long dirty-blonde hair. Ben is six-two, and has buzzed brown hair and wears glasses. And we’re all white. Dwayne is six-one, African-American, and has long, dark dreadlocks, and a goatee. Duke, he’s a black lab, not much explanation needed there huh? As for everyone else, I’ll let you decide that for yourself. Anyway let’s get back to the story, shall we?
“We’ll be touching down in a few minutes, I’m gonna circle around to scan for freaks and bandits.” “You better!” I quickly exclaimed, “Remember what happened last time?” “For the last time that wasn’t my fault! Zack forgot to fix the scanner!” “You still had your eyes didn’t you?” I asked. “Whatever.” Anthony said annoyed. I then looked out into the wasteland and saw a strange sight, a truck that seemed to be in good condition, “Hey Zack, you see that?” “See what?” “There was a truck down there, and it wasn’t a steaming pile of crap” “Probably a trap set up by bandits.” He quickly stated, “Yeah probably.” I said disappointed, “Hey, we’re about to touch down.” “Pick up anything on the scanners Anthony?” “Couple of freaks, nothing you guys can’t handle.” “Let me radio Dwayne, Dwayne we’re about to touch down, don’t burn the place down while we’re gone.” “I’ll try not to.” Dwayne chuckled. “Also, there’ll be a lot of freaks, so maintain radio silence till we give the all clear, we should be done by midday tomorrow, are we clear?” “Yes Sir!” “Alright, you guys ready?” I looked around and, once again, saw confidence on all of their faces, “Let’s do this!” I exclaimed as we touched down, but we had no idea of the trap we had just sprung.
“Captain Dwayne!” Dwayne looked up towards the intercom, “What is it Kevin?” “Sir we’re picking up something on the radar, you need to check this out.” “All right I’m on my way.” Dwayne soon arrived at the command center, “What’s the problem?” “We’re picking up some strange signal, like a recon plane, but smaller.” “What makes you think it’s a recon plane, maybe it’s just a really big bird.” “No offense sir, but birds don’t travel a couple hundred miles per hour, and the pattern that it’s flying indicates scouting.” “Well if it is a plane, why aren’t the A.A. Guns shooting it down?” “They can’t pick up anything that small.” “Should we radio Omega Squad?” Dwayne said concerned, “Yes sir.” As Kevin was reaching toward the radio, Dwayne noticed something terrifying on the radar, “They’re dropping something!” Then, in a blink of an eye, they heard a deafening, high pitch screech, and they were all knocked down by the immense pain caused by the noise, by the time they came to their senses , all of the power in the fort was down, “What the Sam Hell was that?!” Dwayne exclaimed, “E.M.P. or electro-magnetic pulse, a very high-tech type of explosive device that completely shuts down anything electronic that’s caught in its radius.” “Can we get the power back?” “No, well not anytime soon at least.” About that time Sergeant Arnold, one of the fort’s troops, walked in “Sir, what just happened?” “We got hit by an E.M.P. blast, anything in the blast radius that’s electronic is now useless.” “What’s the plan sir?” “You’re with me, we gotta get everyone together for an emergency briefing, Kevin, you and the other engineers try and get the power back on, understood?” “Yes Sir!” Kevin quickly replied, “All right, good luck, and Godspeed.”
“All right Zack, where’s the signal coming from?” “Should be somewhere east, I’m trying to hone in on the signal, give me a minute, and got it!” he exclaimed excited, “Awesome! So where is it?” “It’s, wait, that can’t be right.” “What isn’t right?” I asked nervously, “It says that the signal is a hundred feet directly ahead of us.” “What?! No way, I can see a hundred feet in front of us, is it broke?” “It’s not broke,” Parish interrupted, “The signal’s coming from underground” “What makes you so sure?” I asked, “There’s a series of subway tunnels directly under us, any monkey with half a brain would go there.” he replied bluntly, “All right, that’s where we’re headed, where’s the entrance?” “About a mile north of here.” “Ok, let’s go, you know Ben you’re being unusually quiet, aren’t you?” I didn’t hear him respond, “Ben?” I turned around and saw him with his gun raised, staring intensely at something in the distance, I looked toward what he was looking at, and I saw a horrifying sight.
“All right listen up!” Dwayne exclaimed loudly, “We were just hit by an E.M.P. which means anything electronic is now about as useful as a guy with no hands in a boxing match, the grease monkeys are working as we speak to try and fix it, but we need to prepare for the worst, all soldiers need to come with me to the armory, everyone else needs to get somewhere safe, any questions?” He looked around and got the reaction he expected, he saw fear in the eyes of almost everyone, “Look I know you guys are scared, I am too, but people have been through worse, remember the Alamo?” “Everyone died at the Alamo!” shouted one man, “Not the point!” Dwayne shouted, “They may have given their lives, but they went down swinging, you all knew the risks when you signed up, if you want to walk out, I’m not gonna stop you.” Nobody moved an inch, “That’s what I thought, now whoever dropped that E.M.P. might attack any minute, so let’s get a move on.” He then looked towards Arnold, “Arnold, I need you to go out to the gates and get Lieutenant Hartley and the rest of the gate guards inside.” “Yes Sir!” Dwayne then looked toward another soldier, “What’s your name soldier?” “Sergeant Daniel sir.” “Ok, I need you to take a few men and get Miss Jessie, and all the other people in this place that can’t fight down to the basement and protect them, the power should still be on down there. No matter what happens you are not to come out. If we don‘t give the all clear within twenty-four hours then you‘re to take all those people and get them to the outpost that‘s about ten miles to the north-west, that‘s an order, understand?” “Yes sir!” “You‘ve both got your assignments, I’ll be in the armory if you need me.”
“Freaks!” I said silently, I saw at least ten. “Why are they this close to the city limits?” “Dillon that should be the least of our worries,” Parish said quietly, “Look around.” I looked around, and I realized that we were surrounded by dozens more, “Why aren’t they attacking?” Zack asked, “They’re scoping us out, waiting to see what we’ll do.” “Oh I’ll show em what I’m gonna do!” Zack said as he raised his grenade launcher, “WAIT!!” I quickly exclaimed, “Look over there.” “What is it?” “There’s a building about a hundred yards over there, it‘s somewhat intact, if we can get to it, we can hold out until we can come up with a plan.” “Why can’t we just shoot em?” “Because I’m counting at least sixty, and if you want to end up as freak food then go ahead, but I’d like to get out of this alive.” “Would you both shut up!” Parish exclaimed, “If we don’t do something soon then it won’t really matter will it?” “You’re right,” I said humbly, “All right on three, we make a break for that building, only shoot if they’re in your way, ready?” “As we‘ll ever be.“ Parish replied, “Me too,” Zack said confidently, “Semperfi!” Ben exclaimed, “Let’s do this, one, two, THREE!!!”
“Captain Dwayne, wait, why is the power still on down here?” “General Sessoms had discovered the E.M.P. a year or so ago, and he knew The Brotherhood would eventually have one, so he upgraded the armory so that it wouldn’t be affected by the blast.” “Why didn’t he protect the rest of the fort?” “He didn’t have enough supplies, but he did make it repairable, anyway what do you want?” “Lieutenant Hartley and all gate guards are at the main hall, do we have enough men for a to hold off an attack?” “It’ll be hard, but we’ll manage, here.” Dwayne handed Arnold an assault rifle, “Sir, how many troops do we have in the fort?” “Last time I checked, it was around two hundred or so.” “I hope that’s enough Sir.” “You and me both Arnold, you and me both.” Dwayne said nervously, “Captain Dwayne!” Dwayne looked to see one of the fort’s scouts sprinting towards him, “Captain it was horrible!” “What was, what is it, what did you see?” Dwayne asked calmly, “Hundreds of slavers marching towards the fort, it‘s The Brotherhood.” “Are you alright soldier?” “Yeah, I‘ll be fine, thanks Captain.” the young soldier saluted him then walked away. “Get all the troops together Arnold, tell them to meet in the main hall, I need to talk to them.” “Yes Sir!” Dwayne then looked over and saw the fort’s pastor, “Pastor Hawborkelstein, I need your help.” “What can I help you with?” “I need you to help the troops get anything off their minds that they need getting off.” “Of course, where do you need me?” “Everyone’s meeting in the main hall.” “I’ll head there immediately.” “Thank you Pastor.” “No, thank you.” Pastor Hawborkelstein said with a smile on his face. “Captain.” “Yeah Arnold?” “Everyone’s headed to the main hall, they’re waiting.” “Then let’s go.”
“RUN! WE SLOW DOWN, WE DIE!!” I screamed at he top of my lungs as we were sprinting towards the somewhat intact building, “SCREAMING AND RUNING FRANTICALLY, GOOD PLAN DILLON, GOOD PLAN!!!” Parish yelled sarcastically, “HEY IT WAS THIS OR STAND THERE AND DIE! NOW SHUT UP AND RUN!” I screamed, as I was shooting at the freaks directly ahead of us, “THEY’RE CATCHING UP!!” Zack yelled, “WE’RE ALMOST THERE!” I could actually feel the freaks breathing down my neck, I spun around quickly and mowed them all down, then one grabbed me, “DILLON!!” Ben screamed, at that moment, Parish quickly raised his gun, and shot the freak right between the eyes, “RUN!” He screamed, He didn’t have to tell me twice, “WE’RE ALMOST THERE!! JUST A LITTLE FURTHER!!” I saw Ben ram right through the door, we immediately sprinted in, “Ok find something to barricade the door, I‘ll hold them off!!” I turned to see dozens charging toward the building, so I just opened up, but for every one I killed, two more seemed to crawl out of the ruins, “There’s nothing here!” I heard Zack yell, “WELL HURRY UP AND FIND SOMETHING!! I’M GETTING LOW ON AMMO!!” “I got your back Dillon!” Ben exclaimed as he ran towards the door I was defending “Here, take this,” He said as he tossed me another clip of ammo, he then raised his submachine gun and started shooting. As we were fighting for our lives, I heard Zack “Dillon! I got an idea, DUCK!!” He exclaimed as he chunked a small block of C4 and hit the wall right above the door, I quickly ducked down behind cover as Zack detonated it. BOOM!! There was a loud explosion, and the wall came crashing down, after I recovered I got up, “Everyone ok?” I asked, fearing that nobody would answer, “I’m still breathing.” Said Zack, “Same.” Parish replied, but we didn’t hear Ben, “Ben?! BEN!!” I yelled, fearing the worst, I looked around and saw him holding a bottle, he looked at me, smiled and said, “Jackpot!”
“Alright troops, listen up!” Dwayne quickly got the attention of all the troops “I’m not gonna sugar coat it, we are heavily outnumbered, we have no power, our supplies are limited, and Commander Dillon and Generals Parish, Sessoms, and Batchelor are out on a mission, sounds like a fair fight to me.” Dwayne said confidently, “There may be ten times as many of them, but each of you men are easily worth a hundred Brotherhood guys.” Dwayne noticed that the troops hopes were getting up, “If this were any other fort, I’d be terrified, but this is Fort Charlotte! This place survived the apocalypse for God sakes! Now are we just gonna let some slaver scum take it over? Or are we gonna show The Brotherhood why The Wasteland Rangers are the greatest group of soldiers ever assembled? Now, WHO’S WITH ME?!” “HOORAH!!!” All of the soldiers screamed simultaneously, “Now if any of you want to get anything off your chest, you can talk to Pastor Hawborkelstein. Everyone else, get ready, they’ll attack any minute now. Let’s make The Commander proud.”
“What do you mean jackpot? What are you holding?” “Booze! Look around, we’re in a grocery store!” “What? No way.” But I looked around, and realized that we were! “Nice job Dillon! Way to pick a place to retreat to!” Zack said smiling, “Wow.” Parish said shaking his head, “You guys do remember that there are about a hundred freaks outside ready to eat us alive, right?” “Yeah, but I’m hoping this’ll help us forget.” Ben chuckled as he held up the bottle of alcohol, “Parish is right, we need to stay focused, no drinking until the mission’s over, got it?” I said sternly, “Whatever, buzz kill.” Ben replied, “Are there any other entrances that the freaks might be able to get in through?” Parish asked, “No idea, we need to check, if there are, find a way to block it.” “Anything else?” Zack asked, “Yeah, don’t split up, remember those old horror movies we found?” “Yeah, idiots.” Parish replied.
“Hey kid, how far away are all those Brotherhood slavers?” Dwayne asked the young scout, “Well, I was about two or three miles away from here, and they looked pretty small in my scope so probably about six or seven miles, ten at the most.” “Well what were they armed with?” “Conventional Brotherhood weapons, M16 assault rifles, 9mm pistols, possibly a couple of explosive troops, you know, the usual.” “Any vehicles?” “That I don’t know.” “How long do you think it‘ll take them to get here?” “Well based on where I saw them, how long it took me to get back, and how long we’ve been waiting, probably……” BOOM!!! Before the young scout could finish, there was a loud explosion, and the fight for Fort Charlotte was on! “BRING IT ON!!” Dwayne screamed as The Brotherhood started flooding in.
“You guys see any other entrances?” I asked, “Nope, Zack blew up the only one that wasn’t already blocked by rubble.” Ben replied, “Good job Zack, no way out now.” Parish said, “I can make another door if you want.” Zack cockily replied, “Don’t we have an outpost in the ruins?” Ben asked, “No.” I replied, “We have a few black-op squads patrolling, but we’ve never been able to get a strong enough foothold to make an actual base.” “Do you think we could broadcast a signal that those guys could pick up?” “No.” Zack replied, “They wouldn’t have anything that would be able to pick up a signal as weak as the one we’d put off.” “Well what now?” Ben said, “We’ll think of something, but for now we should look around some more, see if we can find anything useful.” “Like more booze?” Zack asked jokingly, “Of course!” I replied laughing “Yea, cause that‘s gonna help keep us alive.” Parish said shaking his head. As we were walking around, I noticed a door near the back, “Hey guys, let’s check out that room back there.” I said pointing at the door. “What do you think’s in there?” Parish asked, “Dunno, but it could be anything, weapons ready.” I opened the door slowly, cautious of what might be in the room. I looked around and didn’t see anything but filing cabinets and a desk, “Clear!” I said as I walked in, “Looks like an office.” Ben said, I proceeded to look through the filing cabinets. I didn’t find anything except an old book, I opened it up and started reading. As I was reading I found out that it was no ordinary book, it was a book on how to make various alcoholic beverages, “Hey Ben, come look at this.” I said as I motioned him to come over, “What is it?” Ben asked curiously, “Read it.” After he looked at it for a few seconds he looked at me and laughed, “This’ll diffidently come in handy!” He exclaimed “Hey guys it’s almost eight o clock.” I heard Zack say, “Alright, let’s get our stuff unpacked, we’ll sleep here for tonight, we’ll think of a plan to get out in the morning.”
“KEEP FIRING MEN, DON’T HOLD ANYTHING BACK! WE CAN’T LET THEM WIN!!” Dwayne yelled to the troops as he was shooting, “Sir, they just keep coming! I‘m not sure how much longer we can hold this area!” Arnold exclaimed “Don‘t worry! These are the toughest soldiers! After these guys are all dead, the rest should give us little trouble!” The young scout replied, “What makes you say that kid?” Arnold asked, “Well the troops that I saw at the front looked tougher, and better armed than the one‘s closer to the end.” “What’s your name kid?” Dwayne asked, “Richard Balk Sir.” Richard replied, Dwayne saw a few Brotherhood troops trying to get to better cover and immediately took shots at them, he managed to get one, but the others made it. “FIVE!” He exclaimed, “Sir?” Richard asked puzzled, “That’s how many men I’ve killed in this battle so far, record is eighty-three!” “Who holds that?” “Commander Smith! He says anyone that can beat him gets a shiny new toy!” “Well in that case….” Richard then looked around with his rifle for a Brotherhood soldier, quickly found one, and shot him, “SIX!” He yelled towards Dwayne, “Don’t get cocky kid! This battle’s just getting started!”
“You guys think we would ever end up like this?” Zack asked, “Trapped in a grocery store with you guys that’s probably surrounded by freaks that want nothing more than to rip us to shreds and eat our corpses? Nope, did not see this coming.” Parish said, “No I mean being generals in the largest and strongest merc group in history.” “Well it’s a whole lot better than being stuck as guards back in Karshaw.” Ben replied, “It wasn’t so bad back there.” I said to Ben, “Easy for you to say, your grandpa was the freaking mayor! And your dad was sheriff, if you would have went back, you probably would have been both!” Ben exclaimed, “At least you could get away with some of the stuff we did! I couldn‘t do anything without at least one of them hearing about it!” “I still hated that place, I was so happy the day I left on my Quest.” Karshaw was the place where we all grew up. It was the safest settlement in the wasteland, aside from Fort Charlotte, it was settled ten years after Y2K by Carl Smith my great-great-great-great grandpa. He was one of the people fortunate enough to prepare for Y2K. At first it was just him and his family, but others soon found him and found out what a good leader and fighter he was, and within a couple of years the town of Karshaw was born! Like I said it’s one of the safest places in the wastes, only a few other settlements have prospered like Karshaw. One of the reasons for that is the laws that were made by Grandpa Carl, and one of those laws was that at age of twenty-one all men had to partake on The Great Quest. The Great Quest was a right of passage where you would have to leave the safety of Karshaw and adventure through the wasteland. The ones that don’t return within five years are declared dead, they are mourned and never forgotten, but the ones that return are celebrated and then choose a career, they are also allowed to marry, and vote for various town elections, I did it, and so did Parish, Ben, and Zack. It was during my Great Quest that I found Fort Charlotte, but that’s a story for some other time. “All right guys we need to get some sleep, I’ll take first watch, then Ben, Parish, and lastly Zack. We’ll wake up at dawn, then we’re getting out of this mess, got it?” “Got it.” They all replied, “Good, now go to sleep.”
“Sir! There’s no end to these guys!” Richard exclaimed, “Thirteen!” Dwayne shouted happily, “You’re right Rich, but we’ve got no choice but to hold out here, so unless you’ve got a better idea I suggest you shut up and shoot!” “Actually, I do have idea!” Richard said quickly, “There’s a rear exit that they don’t know about….” “Kid if you’re suggesting that we try to escape…” “No! I wouldn‘t think of it!” Richard exclaimed, “Then what’s your plan?” “We take a few guys to the armory, get several pounds of C4, then if we can push these guys back outside, a team sneaks around and plants the C4 on the cliffs, and then we blow the C4, and the cliffs will collapse on these scum, and it’ll send ‘em straight back to Hell!” “That’s, actually a good plan, a real good plan in fact. All right, I’m game, let’s do it! HEY ARNOLD!!” Dwayne screamed across the main hall, “YEAH DWAYNE?!” “ME AND THE ROOKIE ARE TAKING A SQUAD TO THE ARMORY, YOU’RE IN CHARGE!” “YES SIR!!” “Now then, I’ll get that squad together, you head down to the armory, you ready?” “I was born ready!” “Then what are we waiting for? LET’S DO THIS!!”
“What do you think’s happening up there?” One young soldier asked Sergeant Daniel, “Dunno, these walls are soundproof.” “Do you think we’re winning?” “What kind of question is that? Of course we’re winning! We’re The Wasteland Rangers for Christ’s Sake!” “I can’t believe we’re stuck down here.” Daniel heard Jessie say, “I should be up there fighting!” “Wow, the only one complaining about being down here isn’t even a soldier.” “Why won’t you let me up there? I can fight!” “Ma’am, all of us have strict orders from General Parish to protect you at all cost, and after what happened, I don’t blame ‘em.” “That was over five years ago! I’ve been training! I know I can fight!” “Sorry, but I have orders.” “AGH!” Jessie exclaimed as she walked away frustrated. Jessie was Parish’s little sister, she always wanted to be a soldier, but back in Karshaw women weren’t allowed to be soldiers. The main reason Parish and didn’t let her fight however was because of what happened a few years back. A couple of days after I found Fort Charlotte I was scouting out in the wastes with Duke, and I found Jessie in a small shack. She was looking for me, because Karshaw needed me. While we were on our way back we were ambushed by a group of bandits and she was almost killed. “I hope they can win.” Said one young soldier, “Don’t worry, I’m sure everything’s all good up there.”
“NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD!!!!!” Dwayne yelled, “LUITENENT HARTLEY!!” “YEAH DWAYNE?” “GATHER A FEW MEN, WE’RE HEADED TO THE ARMORY!!” “GOT IT!!” As Dwayne turned around he noticed a Brotherhood soldier chunk a grenade his way, “CRAP!!” He yelled as he leapt out of the way, after he got up and regained his senses, he saw a terrifying sight, “JESUS CHRIST! MORE!!” More Brotherhood troops started pouring in, “GET DOWN!!! THEY’RE COMEING IN FROM THE LEFT! THE LEFT!!!” Dwayne screamed frantically, “Sir, when is Omega Squad getting back?” A young soldier asked, “I don’t know, but we’re just gonna have to hold out until they do! I‘ll die before I let these slaver bastards take over Fort Charlotte!” Then, all of the sudden a stray bullet came and struck Dwayne right on his shoulder ”AAGGHH!!” Dwayne screamed violently, “CAPTAIN!!” the young man screamed as he ran towards his fellow soldier, “Sir are you okay?!” “Yea, I‘m fine.” Dwayne said as the young man helped him to his feet, “These combat suits that General Sessoms developed are incredibly strong.” “Can they take a point blank Desert Eagle round?” “I don‘t know, why?” Dwayne asked. “Let‘s find out.” The soldier then shot Dwayne in the stomach. “AGH! Why?!” “Drake pays more,” the young soldier said with a wicked smile on his face. “Dillon…. I’m…. sorry.” As Dwayne fell to the ground the world seemed to fade, and he knew that it was all over. The young soldier then crept away without being noticed.
Now you’re all caught up. “Hey soldier, what’s your name and specialty?” Hartley asked one soldier, “ Private Seth, and I’m a medic sir.” “Good, we’ll need a medic just in case one of gets shot.” “Sir what are you talking about?” “No time to explain, just follow me.” Hartley then looked around for more soldiers to recruit, then he saw him. Dwayne was laying face-down, and he wasn’t moving “DWAYNE!!” Hartley yelled as he sprinted toward his friend, “SETH GET OVER HERE I NEED A MEDIC!!” “Who’s……” Seth stopped as he saw who it was, “OH MY GOD! CAPTAIN DWAYNE!!” Seth shouted horrified, “We need to get him to the basement, they can treat him there.” “You get him to the basement, I need to talk to Arnold, hurry up, and meet me at the armory when you’re done.” “Yes Sir.”
“Arnold!” Hartley shouted, “Yea?” “Get over here.” Arnold ran towards him, ducking and dodging bullets as he slid into cover, “What’s the deal?” “Dwayne’s down.” Hartley said reluctantly, “WHAT?! No! What happened?!” Arnold asked shocked, “I don’t know.” Hartley said calmly. “But I need to get to the armory so I can carry out the plan. You’re in charge while I’m gone.” “But what about Dwayne?! Is he okay? Where is he?!” “I had a medic get him out of here.” “Ok, man I can’t believe Dwayne got taken down! He’s twice the soldier any of us are!” “Look, let’s just focus on the task at hand, then we’ll worry about Dwayne. I‘ll radio you when you need to start pushing them back.” “Mine’s fried.” “I’ll bring on back, are you ready? “Yes Sir!”
“Hey Sarge, do you think we’ve almost won?” “Maybe, but let’s stay alert in any case.” Daniel said, “How’s the power situation coming Kevin?” “Couldn’t be going worse, some of these systems will need to be replaced, but their E.M.P. was nowhere near perfect so we should be able to repair most of them.” “Well at least there’s some good news.” the moment after Daniel said that he heard someone at the door, “LET ME IN!!” He heard someone scream, Daniel then yelled the call-sign, “Cardinal!” “Hogs!” Daniel heard him yell back, “Open the door.” Daniel said. As the door opened Daniel saw the medic standing there with Dwayne over his shoulder. “CAPTAIN!” Daniel yelled as he saw who it was. “What happened?!” “We don’t know.” “Jesus Christ! WE NEED A DOCTOR NOW!” Daniel yelled. An older man looked up and said, “I’m a doctor.” “Get over here now!” The man ran quickly towards them, “He’s unconscious, but still alive.” “Look, I have to get to the armory, can you take care of him doc?” Seth asked, “Yea, you do what you have to I can take it from here.”
“Lieutenant Hartley, what are you doing here? Where’s Dwayne?” Richard asked confused. “He’s not coming, he got shot. He’s in the basement now getting treated.” “Is he going to be alright?” Richard asked, “He’ll be fine, but we can’t worry about that we have to focus on the plan, who are these people?” “A few men that I managed to scrounge up.” “Good, we’ll need all the men we can get, Seth should be down here soon.” “Who’s Seth?” “He’s a medic, he’s the one who carried Dwayne down to the basement.” “And I’m standing right here.” Seth said as he walked in, “Good, now we can continue on with Operation Rockslide.” “Rockslide?” Richard chuckled, “You got a better name?” “I suppose not.” “All right then, Richard take Seth and the rest of these troops to the rear exit and wait for me.” “Yes Sir!” Richard replied.
“DAMN!!” Arnold yelled as a chunk of the wall he was taking cover behind got blown off, “EAT IT!!” he screamed as he gunned down two slavers. “ARNOLD!” Arnold quickly turned to see Hartley coming towards him, “Here, take this headset, I’ll let you know when you need to start pushing them back.” “Yes sir!” Arnold exclaimed, “Good luck.” Hartley then sprinted toward Richard and the other soldiers, “All right we all know what needs to be done, it’s around five a.m. so the dark should keep us out of sight, any last minute questions?” None of them spoke, “Good, now let’s kill some slavers.”
“How’s he doing doc?” Daniel asked, “Bad, he may go into cardiac arrest at any moment.” “And if he does?” “He’ll probably die.” “Is there anything I can do to help?” “Unless you can provide fully functional medical equipment, then no.” “Just trying to help.” “I know, but this whole situation has got me in a rather bed mood.” “Does anybody else think it’s strange that the commander and all three generals left for their mission right before the attack?” One young soldier asked, “I’m not sure I like your tone.” Daniel replied sternly, “I’m just saying, what if they aren’t what they seem to be, they maybe….” “THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Daniel shouted, “Without the commander you wouldn’t be here! So shut up and know your place!” Daniel yelled as he turned away, “So without the commander I wouldn’t be stuck in a basement while Brotherhood slavers are attempting to take over? Yea, this is a real improvement, and don‘t get me started on General Parish and his sister.” SMACK! Daniel turned around to see Jessie standing over the soldier, Daniel looked at her sternly. “What?!” She exclaimed, “He had it coming.” Daniel turned back around and chuckled.
____________________________________________________
That's not all. Guess what? There's a prequel! It's just as bad... so bad that I have to make a new thread for it. Part 2 will be up soon!
The Wasteland Rangers
Chapter One
The Beginning
“GET DOWN!!! THEY’RE COMEING IN FROM THE LEFT! THE LEFT!!!” Dwayne screamed frantically, “Sir, when is Omega Squad getting back?” A young soldier asked, “I don’t know, but we’re just gonna have to hold out until they do! I‘ll die before I let these slaver bastards take over Fort Charlotte!” Then, all of the sudden a stray bullet came and struck Dwayne right on his shoulder ”AAGGHH!!” Dwayne screamed violently, “CAPTAIN!!” the young man screamed as he ran towards his fellow soldier, “Sir are you okay?!” “Yea, I‘m fine.” Dwayne said as the young man helped him to his feet, “These combat suits that General Sessoms developed are incredibly strong.” “Can they take a point blank Desert Eagle round?” “I don‘t know, why?” Dwayne asked. “Let‘s find out.” The soldier then shot Dwayne in the stomach. “AGH! Why?!” “Drake pays more,” the young soldier said with a wicked smile on his face. “Dillon…. I’m…. sorry.” As Dwayne fell to the ground the world seemed to fade, and he knew that it was all over.
I should probably explain what’s going on right now. Around two centuries ago something, terrible happened, they called it Y2K. Nobody knows why it happened, but because of it, the world was reduced to a lawless, ruthless wasteland. But it wasn’t the end, in fact, it was a new beginning. Many didn’t believe in Y2K, they’re all dead. Well, the lucky ones are, the others were transformed by the radiation from the bombs into something, horrible. Hideous, disgusting, mindless, zombie-like freaks that only kill, and eat anything unfortunate enough to get spotted by a pack of them. I’ve seen some things out in the wastes that would drive most people beyond madness, fortunately for me, I’m not most people.
Anyway about five years ago I found something incredible. A building unlike I’d ever seen. For starters it was completely intact, like it had been underground while the bombs were launched, and it was massive! It was in a canyon that was about twenty miles outside of Charlotte, the only way to get to it, besides flying, was going through the canyon, which gave it a great tactical advantage, because the canyon was only about sixty feet wide, and there was also a huge gate, not unlike one that would be found on an old castle, with walls that people could patrol on. It also had everything needed to easily house a small army! It had massive barracks, a giant mess hall, even commanders quarters that were fit for a king! But the most amazing was what I found under the fort, an underground well that never ran dry, there was also a massive mine filled with metal ore that we could easily make ammo from, there was also an ammo press in the fort, like I said, this place was massive! While I was searching through the fort I found the former commanders terminal, even though most of the data was corrupt, it had the fort’s name, Fort Charlotte, it also told of the group that inhabited it. The Order of the Panther, a pre Y2K organization that was determined to eradicating all evil in the world. After exploring the rest of the fort I knew what I had to do, I had continue their noble cause, so I founded The Wasteland Rangers, a mercenary group dedicated to the same cause. But first I would need a team, and I knew just where to get one.
First I would need an XO (second in command), my close friend, Adam Parish fit the job perfectly, not only was he a tactical genius, he was also a recon expert and sniper, he’s the best shot in the wastes, he can hit a tin can from a mile away with a pistol, that’s not an exaggeration
I’ve seen him do it! Next the team would need a medic, my buddy Benjamin Batchelor was the best doctor I knew. He was fascinated by a pre-Y2K group called the Boy Scouts, even more so with first aid, and because of that he dedicated all of his time to becoming a doctor. It paid off because, like I said, he’s the best doctor I know. The next thing we would need was a tech specialist, that position was filled by my cousin, Zack Sessoms, hands down the smartest person in the wasteland, give the guy some scrap metal, a computer chip, and a radio antenna, and he’ll make something that can talk to someone in China, not to mention he’s a master with explosives. And finally we would need someone to watch over the fort while we were out on contracts, unfortunately I had no idea who, until I found Dwayne. A week or two after I found Fort Charlotte me Parish, Zack, and Ben raided a massive slaver base and found a group of people that were captured by the slavers, and Dwayne was their leader, after we got them out Dwayne said that he would pay us back by joining us, I was skeptical, but I gave him a shot. He turned out to be one of the best soldiers I had ever seen, and his leadership skills were unquestionable, and the people that he lead each had something to offer, there were mechanics, doctors, even a pastor! Even though me Parish, Zack, and Ben do most of the work, The Wasteland Rangers would not be where we are today without the help of all these people. Finally there’s me, the one responsible for all of this, now I may not be able to snipe a cigarette out of someone’s hand from a thousand yards away, or find a cure for the common cold, or build an automated turret, but what I can do is lead, and I don’t wanna toot my own horn, but I’m probably the best all around soldier in the wasteland, not to mention I’ve killed more bandits and slavers than anyone in the rangers. In the following years since I founded the Rangers we have grown, there are now about twelve other basses in a hundred mile radius. But you want me to get back to the story don‘t you? All right, I’m Dillon Smith, and this is my story.
I had no idea what was going on, from what I could tell I was in a field and there was a woman walking towards me. As I tried to get a better look of my surroundings I saw the woman getting closer and closer towards me, I tried asking her who she was, but I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t even move! Then I noticed that the woman was directly in front of me, she reached up and grabbed my head, leaned towards me, and started licking my face, before I could think she started barking! Then something good happened, I woke up.
“RUFF RUFF!” I saw my dog Duke licking my face, I’ve had Duke ever since I was three, I’m now thirty, see the radiation not only changed people, but animals as well. Some changes were subtle, dogs for instance now live as long as humans, other animals were changed into monsters. “Wow, you come with an alarm clock feature too?” I said to Duke jokingly. He looked at me strangely, and then walked away, “Didn’t even buy me breakfast,” I said sarcastically. I looked over at my clock and saw that it was three-thirty in the afternoon, then I got up to check my terminal for any new messages I heard a knock on my door, I opened it and saw a familiar face.
“Hey Dillon!” “Hey Parish!” “What’s up?” “Jesus.” I was curios as to what Parish was doing at my door, “So what you want?” “A couple of things, firstly the decontamination room is still on the fritz….” “Zack hasn’t fixed it yet?!” I interrupted abruptly, “He hasn’t gotten back from the last contract yet.” “ He’s been gone for days! What’s taking so long?” “He had to go to all the way to the coast.” “Oh that’s where he went.” “Yeah it’s a long way from Charlotte to Topsail.” Fort Charlotte was about twenty miles outside of the Charlotte ruins. “So what was the other thing you needed to tell me?” I asked curiously, “Ben says he needs us in the Command Center” “What for?” “Something about a transmission from the ruins.” “Ok let’s go.”
As I said before Fort Charlotte used to be inhabited by The Order of the Panther but I changed it into a mercenary group called The Wasteland Rangers, but we’re not like most mercenary groups, we have a list of tenets that we follow to the letter. First, we don’t accept contracts that involve hurting innocents in any way, we’ve even killed a few people for offering contracts like that. Secondly, we have to help people that can’t help themselves, meaning we do do some missions for free, but only if it means helping the helpless. Third, we do not kill unarmed people, friendly or otherwise. And finally above all, we do not, have anything to do with slavery at all! We don’t work with slavers, we don’t take contracts from slavers, we don’t even trade with slavers, also, tenet three is optional when it comes to slavers. It’s these tenets that separate us from all the other groups. “So Ben, what you need?”
“We picked up a strange transmission several hours ago, we’ve just managed to piece it together.” “Ok then play it.” Right as I said that Zack walked in, “Hey, I’m back.” “Fantastic!” I exclaimed, “Did you fix the decontamination room?” “Good to see you to, jerk.” “Whatever, Ben where were you.” “Right here.” “This is Corporal Perry Brown of The Wasteland Rangers, Delta Squad, please, if someone gets this we need immediate evac! Our coordinates are…………” “That’s all we could get.” Ben said concerned, “Delta Squad?! They’ve been MIA for weeks now!” “Yea, that’s why I wanted you to hear it, we think it actually might be them, we checked the archives, and there was a guy named Perry Brown that was with Delta.” Ben explained. “Well if it is them we need to leave immediately, did you manage to get the coordinates?” “That’s what we needed Zack for.” “Ok Zack, your up.” “Give me a few minutes, I’ll call you over the intercom when I’ve got em.” “Parish, you come with me, Ben you stay and help Zack.”
“Where are we going?” Parish asked. “We gotta go to the armory, get some weapons and tell Dwayne he’s in charge while we’re gone.” “It’s hard to believe he used to be a slave.” “Yea it is.” As we were walking I noticed a troubled look on Parish’s face, “Anything wrong Parish?” I asked concerned, “I just got a bad feeling about this whole Delta Squad thing, I mean what if it’s a trap by set by The Brotherhood?” The Brotherhood were a group of merciless slavers led by the notorious Drake, they were our sworn enemies, they have no rules, and will kill anyone that crosses them, they’ve even killed their own because they were getting too weak to fight, but the worst part is no matter how many we kill, no matter how many slaves we rescue, no matter how many of their strongholds we take, they just keep coming back! “Well if it is a trap we’ll be ready, why are you so concerned?” “I’ve just got a gut feeling that something bad is gonna happen.” “I always say go with your gut, but still, if it’s not a trap then they’ll probably die, and I couldn’t call myself their leader if I let them die for nothing, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take.” “I’m not saying we shouldn’t go, I’m just saying that we need to be prepared for the worst.” “I always prepare the worst, and besides, the worst case scenario is that we all die horribly painful deaths.” “That’s cheerful” Parish replied. We then arrived at the armory and I saw Dwayne, “Dwayne.” “Sir!” he exclaimed as he saluted, “We’re going out on a mission, your in charge while we’re gone.” “Yes sir!” I then heard Zack on the intercom, “Hey Dillon I got the coordinates.” “Ok we’ll be up there soon.” I said, “Let’s go.”
We quickly arrived at the command center, “Zack where’s the signal coming from?” “I couldn’t manage to pinpoint the exact location, but from what I got it should be somewhere in the downtown area of Charlotte.” “Isn’t downtown overrun with freaks?” “Yup, completely overrun actually.” “Excellent!” Parish exclaimed, “More freaks equals more fun!” “Something isn’t right about the freaks in Old Charlotte.” Ben said, “What do you mean?” I asked curiously, “Call me crazy, but I swear they‘re getting tougher, faster, and smarter.” “You’re crazy.“ I stated bluntly, “So Zack, we need to take the jeep, or the chopper?” I asked, “Chopper.” Zack quickly stated. “Great.” Ben groaned, “We get to ride with Anthony.” “Let me call him.” “Anthony!” I shouted on the intercom “What!?” “Get the chopper ready we gotta go!” “Apache or transport?” “Transport, I’m sending the coordinates to your terminal.” “All right, Anthony out.” “Ok, we all ready?” I looked and saw confidence on all of their faces, “All right, Rangers, move out!”
We quickly got to the helipad, and soon found out that Anthony wasn’t in a good mood, “AGH!!!!! PIECE OF CRAP!!!” “Anthony, who got your panties in a wad?” Ben asked “This piece of crap terminal it doesn’t want to work right!” “I’ll take a look at it when I get back.” Zack quickly replied. “All right then, what are the coordinates?” “I’ll upload them to the chopper’s GPS.” “Ok, so what’s the plan? Are you guys jumping, or are we touching down?” Everyone then looked at me for the answer, “We’ll be touching down, Zack couldn’t pinpoint the exact location, so we’ll be touching down just outside of the ruins, then try and find our way to where the signal was coming from.” “Sounds good.” Anthony said, “Chopper’s all ready, are you?” “Yup.” I quickly replied, “All right then, hop on.”
Now I’ve explained a lot of things to you, but there’s something that you’re still probably wondering right? What do we look like? I’m six-two, and I have medium length black hair and a five o‘ clock shadow. Parish is six-three, and has short brown hair. Zack is six feet, and has long dirty-blonde hair. Ben is six-two, and has buzzed brown hair and wears glasses. And we’re all white. Dwayne is six-one, African-American, and has long, dark dreadlocks, and a goatee. Duke, he’s a black lab, not much explanation needed there huh? As for everyone else, I’ll let you decide that for yourself. Anyway let’s get back to the story, shall we?
“We’ll be touching down in a few minutes, I’m gonna circle around to scan for freaks and bandits.” “You better!” I quickly exclaimed, “Remember what happened last time?” “For the last time that wasn’t my fault! Zack forgot to fix the scanner!” “You still had your eyes didn’t you?” I asked. “Whatever.” Anthony said annoyed. I then looked out into the wasteland and saw a strange sight, a truck that seemed to be in good condition, “Hey Zack, you see that?” “See what?” “There was a truck down there, and it wasn’t a steaming pile of crap” “Probably a trap set up by bandits.” He quickly stated, “Yeah probably.” I said disappointed, “Hey, we’re about to touch down.” “Pick up anything on the scanners Anthony?” “Couple of freaks, nothing you guys can’t handle.” “Let me radio Dwayne, Dwayne we’re about to touch down, don’t burn the place down while we’re gone.” “I’ll try not to.” Dwayne chuckled. “Also, there’ll be a lot of freaks, so maintain radio silence till we give the all clear, we should be done by midday tomorrow, are we clear?” “Yes Sir!” “Alright, you guys ready?” I looked around and, once again, saw confidence on all of their faces, “Let’s do this!” I exclaimed as we touched down, but we had no idea of the trap we had just sprung.
“Captain Dwayne!” Dwayne looked up towards the intercom, “What is it Kevin?” “Sir we’re picking up something on the radar, you need to check this out.” “All right I’m on my way.” Dwayne soon arrived at the command center, “What’s the problem?” “We’re picking up some strange signal, like a recon plane, but smaller.” “What makes you think it’s a recon plane, maybe it’s just a really big bird.” “No offense sir, but birds don’t travel a couple hundred miles per hour, and the pattern that it’s flying indicates scouting.” “Well if it is a plane, why aren’t the A.A. Guns shooting it down?” “They can’t pick up anything that small.” “Should we radio Omega Squad?” Dwayne said concerned, “Yes sir.” As Kevin was reaching toward the radio, Dwayne noticed something terrifying on the radar, “They’re dropping something!” Then, in a blink of an eye, they heard a deafening, high pitch screech, and they were all knocked down by the immense pain caused by the noise, by the time they came to their senses , all of the power in the fort was down, “What the Sam Hell was that?!” Dwayne exclaimed, “E.M.P. or electro-magnetic pulse, a very high-tech type of explosive device that completely shuts down anything electronic that’s caught in its radius.” “Can we get the power back?” “No, well not anytime soon at least.” About that time Sergeant Arnold, one of the fort’s troops, walked in “Sir, what just happened?” “We got hit by an E.M.P. blast, anything in the blast radius that’s electronic is now useless.” “What’s the plan sir?” “You’re with me, we gotta get everyone together for an emergency briefing, Kevin, you and the other engineers try and get the power back on, understood?” “Yes Sir!” Kevin quickly replied, “All right, good luck, and Godspeed.”
“All right Zack, where’s the signal coming from?” “Should be somewhere east, I’m trying to hone in on the signal, give me a minute, and got it!” he exclaimed excited, “Awesome! So where is it?” “It’s, wait, that can’t be right.” “What isn’t right?” I asked nervously, “It says that the signal is a hundred feet directly ahead of us.” “What?! No way, I can see a hundred feet in front of us, is it broke?” “It’s not broke,” Parish interrupted, “The signal’s coming from underground” “What makes you so sure?” I asked, “There’s a series of subway tunnels directly under us, any monkey with half a brain would go there.” he replied bluntly, “All right, that’s where we’re headed, where’s the entrance?” “About a mile north of here.” “Ok, let’s go, you know Ben you’re being unusually quiet, aren’t you?” I didn’t hear him respond, “Ben?” I turned around and saw him with his gun raised, staring intensely at something in the distance, I looked toward what he was looking at, and I saw a horrifying sight.
“All right listen up!” Dwayne exclaimed loudly, “We were just hit by an E.M.P. which means anything electronic is now about as useful as a guy with no hands in a boxing match, the grease monkeys are working as we speak to try and fix it, but we need to prepare for the worst, all soldiers need to come with me to the armory, everyone else needs to get somewhere safe, any questions?” He looked around and got the reaction he expected, he saw fear in the eyes of almost everyone, “Look I know you guys are scared, I am too, but people have been through worse, remember the Alamo?” “Everyone died at the Alamo!” shouted one man, “Not the point!” Dwayne shouted, “They may have given their lives, but they went down swinging, you all knew the risks when you signed up, if you want to walk out, I’m not gonna stop you.” Nobody moved an inch, “That’s what I thought, now whoever dropped that E.M.P. might attack any minute, so let’s get a move on.” He then looked towards Arnold, “Arnold, I need you to go out to the gates and get Lieutenant Hartley and the rest of the gate guards inside.” “Yes Sir!” Dwayne then looked toward another soldier, “What’s your name soldier?” “Sergeant Daniel sir.” “Ok, I need you to take a few men and get Miss Jessie, and all the other people in this place that can’t fight down to the basement and protect them, the power should still be on down there. No matter what happens you are not to come out. If we don‘t give the all clear within twenty-four hours then you‘re to take all those people and get them to the outpost that‘s about ten miles to the north-west, that‘s an order, understand?” “Yes sir!” “You‘ve both got your assignments, I’ll be in the armory if you need me.”
“Freaks!” I said silently, I saw at least ten. “Why are they this close to the city limits?” “Dillon that should be the least of our worries,” Parish said quietly, “Look around.” I looked around, and I realized that we were surrounded by dozens more, “Why aren’t they attacking?” Zack asked, “They’re scoping us out, waiting to see what we’ll do.” “Oh I’ll show em what I’m gonna do!” Zack said as he raised his grenade launcher, “WAIT!!” I quickly exclaimed, “Look over there.” “What is it?” “There’s a building about a hundred yards over there, it‘s somewhat intact, if we can get to it, we can hold out until we can come up with a plan.” “Why can’t we just shoot em?” “Because I’m counting at least sixty, and if you want to end up as freak food then go ahead, but I’d like to get out of this alive.” “Would you both shut up!” Parish exclaimed, “If we don’t do something soon then it won’t really matter will it?” “You’re right,” I said humbly, “All right on three, we make a break for that building, only shoot if they’re in your way, ready?” “As we‘ll ever be.“ Parish replied, “Me too,” Zack said confidently, “Semperfi!” Ben exclaimed, “Let’s do this, one, two, THREE!!!”
“Captain Dwayne, wait, why is the power still on down here?” “General Sessoms had discovered the E.M.P. a year or so ago, and he knew The Brotherhood would eventually have one, so he upgraded the armory so that it wouldn’t be affected by the blast.” “Why didn’t he protect the rest of the fort?” “He didn’t have enough supplies, but he did make it repairable, anyway what do you want?” “Lieutenant Hartley and all gate guards are at the main hall, do we have enough men for a to hold off an attack?” “It’ll be hard, but we’ll manage, here.” Dwayne handed Arnold an assault rifle, “Sir, how many troops do we have in the fort?” “Last time I checked, it was around two hundred or so.” “I hope that’s enough Sir.” “You and me both Arnold, you and me both.” Dwayne said nervously, “Captain Dwayne!” Dwayne looked to see one of the fort’s scouts sprinting towards him, “Captain it was horrible!” “What was, what is it, what did you see?” Dwayne asked calmly, “Hundreds of slavers marching towards the fort, it‘s The Brotherhood.” “Are you alright soldier?” “Yeah, I‘ll be fine, thanks Captain.” the young soldier saluted him then walked away. “Get all the troops together Arnold, tell them to meet in the main hall, I need to talk to them.” “Yes Sir!” Dwayne then looked over and saw the fort’s pastor, “Pastor Hawborkelstein, I need your help.” “What can I help you with?” “I need you to help the troops get anything off their minds that they need getting off.” “Of course, where do you need me?” “Everyone’s meeting in the main hall.” “I’ll head there immediately.” “Thank you Pastor.” “No, thank you.” Pastor Hawborkelstein said with a smile on his face. “Captain.” “Yeah Arnold?” “Everyone’s headed to the main hall, they’re waiting.” “Then let’s go.”
“RUN! WE SLOW DOWN, WE DIE!!” I screamed at he top of my lungs as we were sprinting towards the somewhat intact building, “SCREAMING AND RUNING FRANTICALLY, GOOD PLAN DILLON, GOOD PLAN!!!” Parish yelled sarcastically, “HEY IT WAS THIS OR STAND THERE AND DIE! NOW SHUT UP AND RUN!” I screamed, as I was shooting at the freaks directly ahead of us, “THEY’RE CATCHING UP!!” Zack yelled, “WE’RE ALMOST THERE!” I could actually feel the freaks breathing down my neck, I spun around quickly and mowed them all down, then one grabbed me, “DILLON!!” Ben screamed, at that moment, Parish quickly raised his gun, and shot the freak right between the eyes, “RUN!” He screamed, He didn’t have to tell me twice, “WE’RE ALMOST THERE!! JUST A LITTLE FURTHER!!” I saw Ben ram right through the door, we immediately sprinted in, “Ok find something to barricade the door, I‘ll hold them off!!” I turned to see dozens charging toward the building, so I just opened up, but for every one I killed, two more seemed to crawl out of the ruins, “There’s nothing here!” I heard Zack yell, “WELL HURRY UP AND FIND SOMETHING!! I’M GETTING LOW ON AMMO!!” “I got your back Dillon!” Ben exclaimed as he ran towards the door I was defending “Here, take this,” He said as he tossed me another clip of ammo, he then raised his submachine gun and started shooting. As we were fighting for our lives, I heard Zack “Dillon! I got an idea, DUCK!!” He exclaimed as he chunked a small block of C4 and hit the wall right above the door, I quickly ducked down behind cover as Zack detonated it. BOOM!! There was a loud explosion, and the wall came crashing down, after I recovered I got up, “Everyone ok?” I asked, fearing that nobody would answer, “I’m still breathing.” Said Zack, “Same.” Parish replied, but we didn’t hear Ben, “Ben?! BEN!!” I yelled, fearing the worst, I looked around and saw him holding a bottle, he looked at me, smiled and said, “Jackpot!”
“Alright troops, listen up!” Dwayne quickly got the attention of all the troops “I’m not gonna sugar coat it, we are heavily outnumbered, we have no power, our supplies are limited, and Commander Dillon and Generals Parish, Sessoms, and Batchelor are out on a mission, sounds like a fair fight to me.” Dwayne said confidently, “There may be ten times as many of them, but each of you men are easily worth a hundred Brotherhood guys.” Dwayne noticed that the troops hopes were getting up, “If this were any other fort, I’d be terrified, but this is Fort Charlotte! This place survived the apocalypse for God sakes! Now are we just gonna let some slaver scum take it over? Or are we gonna show The Brotherhood why The Wasteland Rangers are the greatest group of soldiers ever assembled? Now, WHO’S WITH ME?!” “HOORAH!!!” All of the soldiers screamed simultaneously, “Now if any of you want to get anything off your chest, you can talk to Pastor Hawborkelstein. Everyone else, get ready, they’ll attack any minute now. Let’s make The Commander proud.”
Chapter Two
The Siege of Fort Charlotte
“What do you mean jackpot? What are you holding?” “Booze! Look around, we’re in a grocery store!” “What? No way.” But I looked around, and realized that we were! “Nice job Dillon! Way to pick a place to retreat to!” Zack said smiling, “Wow.” Parish said shaking his head, “You guys do remember that there are about a hundred freaks outside ready to eat us alive, right?” “Yeah, but I’m hoping this’ll help us forget.” Ben chuckled as he held up the bottle of alcohol, “Parish is right, we need to stay focused, no drinking until the mission’s over, got it?” I said sternly, “Whatever, buzz kill.” Ben replied, “Are there any other entrances that the freaks might be able to get in through?” Parish asked, “No idea, we need to check, if there are, find a way to block it.” “Anything else?” Zack asked, “Yeah, don’t split up, remember those old horror movies we found?” “Yeah, idiots.” Parish replied.
“Hey kid, how far away are all those Brotherhood slavers?” Dwayne asked the young scout, “Well, I was about two or three miles away from here, and they looked pretty small in my scope so probably about six or seven miles, ten at the most.” “Well what were they armed with?” “Conventional Brotherhood weapons, M16 assault rifles, 9mm pistols, possibly a couple of explosive troops, you know, the usual.” “Any vehicles?” “That I don’t know.” “How long do you think it‘ll take them to get here?” “Well based on where I saw them, how long it took me to get back, and how long we’ve been waiting, probably……” BOOM!!! Before the young scout could finish, there was a loud explosion, and the fight for Fort Charlotte was on! “BRING IT ON!!” Dwayne screamed as The Brotherhood started flooding in.
“You guys see any other entrances?” I asked, “Nope, Zack blew up the only one that wasn’t already blocked by rubble.” Ben replied, “Good job Zack, no way out now.” Parish said, “I can make another door if you want.” Zack cockily replied, “Don’t we have an outpost in the ruins?” Ben asked, “No.” I replied, “We have a few black-op squads patrolling, but we’ve never been able to get a strong enough foothold to make an actual base.” “Do you think we could broadcast a signal that those guys could pick up?” “No.” Zack replied, “They wouldn’t have anything that would be able to pick up a signal as weak as the one we’d put off.” “Well what now?” Ben said, “We’ll think of something, but for now we should look around some more, see if we can find anything useful.” “Like more booze?” Zack asked jokingly, “Of course!” I replied laughing “Yea, cause that‘s gonna help keep us alive.” Parish said shaking his head. As we were walking around, I noticed a door near the back, “Hey guys, let’s check out that room back there.” I said pointing at the door. “What do you think’s in there?” Parish asked, “Dunno, but it could be anything, weapons ready.” I opened the door slowly, cautious of what might be in the room. I looked around and didn’t see anything but filing cabinets and a desk, “Clear!” I said as I walked in, “Looks like an office.” Ben said, I proceeded to look through the filing cabinets. I didn’t find anything except an old book, I opened it up and started reading. As I was reading I found out that it was no ordinary book, it was a book on how to make various alcoholic beverages, “Hey Ben, come look at this.” I said as I motioned him to come over, “What is it?” Ben asked curiously, “Read it.” After he looked at it for a few seconds he looked at me and laughed, “This’ll diffidently come in handy!” He exclaimed “Hey guys it’s almost eight o clock.” I heard Zack say, “Alright, let’s get our stuff unpacked, we’ll sleep here for tonight, we’ll think of a plan to get out in the morning.”
“KEEP FIRING MEN, DON’T HOLD ANYTHING BACK! WE CAN’T LET THEM WIN!!” Dwayne yelled to the troops as he was shooting, “Sir, they just keep coming! I‘m not sure how much longer we can hold this area!” Arnold exclaimed “Don‘t worry! These are the toughest soldiers! After these guys are all dead, the rest should give us little trouble!” The young scout replied, “What makes you say that kid?” Arnold asked, “Well the troops that I saw at the front looked tougher, and better armed than the one‘s closer to the end.” “What’s your name kid?” Dwayne asked, “Richard Balk Sir.” Richard replied, Dwayne saw a few Brotherhood troops trying to get to better cover and immediately took shots at them, he managed to get one, but the others made it. “FIVE!” He exclaimed, “Sir?” Richard asked puzzled, “That’s how many men I’ve killed in this battle so far, record is eighty-three!” “Who holds that?” “Commander Smith! He says anyone that can beat him gets a shiny new toy!” “Well in that case….” Richard then looked around with his rifle for a Brotherhood soldier, quickly found one, and shot him, “SIX!” He yelled towards Dwayne, “Don’t get cocky kid! This battle’s just getting started!”
“You guys think we would ever end up like this?” Zack asked, “Trapped in a grocery store with you guys that’s probably surrounded by freaks that want nothing more than to rip us to shreds and eat our corpses? Nope, did not see this coming.” Parish said, “No I mean being generals in the largest and strongest merc group in history.” “Well it’s a whole lot better than being stuck as guards back in Karshaw.” Ben replied, “It wasn’t so bad back there.” I said to Ben, “Easy for you to say, your grandpa was the freaking mayor! And your dad was sheriff, if you would have went back, you probably would have been both!” Ben exclaimed, “At least you could get away with some of the stuff we did! I couldn‘t do anything without at least one of them hearing about it!” “I still hated that place, I was so happy the day I left on my Quest.” Karshaw was the place where we all grew up. It was the safest settlement in the wasteland, aside from Fort Charlotte, it was settled ten years after Y2K by Carl Smith my great-great-great-great grandpa. He was one of the people fortunate enough to prepare for Y2K. At first it was just him and his family, but others soon found him and found out what a good leader and fighter he was, and within a couple of years the town of Karshaw was born! Like I said it’s one of the safest places in the wastes, only a few other settlements have prospered like Karshaw. One of the reasons for that is the laws that were made by Grandpa Carl, and one of those laws was that at age of twenty-one all men had to partake on The Great Quest. The Great Quest was a right of passage where you would have to leave the safety of Karshaw and adventure through the wasteland. The ones that don’t return within five years are declared dead, they are mourned and never forgotten, but the ones that return are celebrated and then choose a career, they are also allowed to marry, and vote for various town elections, I did it, and so did Parish, Ben, and Zack. It was during my Great Quest that I found Fort Charlotte, but that’s a story for some other time. “All right guys we need to get some sleep, I’ll take first watch, then Ben, Parish, and lastly Zack. We’ll wake up at dawn, then we’re getting out of this mess, got it?” “Got it.” They all replied, “Good, now go to sleep.”
“Sir! There’s no end to these guys!” Richard exclaimed, “Thirteen!” Dwayne shouted happily, “You’re right Rich, but we’ve got no choice but to hold out here, so unless you’ve got a better idea I suggest you shut up and shoot!” “Actually, I do have idea!” Richard said quickly, “There’s a rear exit that they don’t know about….” “Kid if you’re suggesting that we try to escape…” “No! I wouldn‘t think of it!” Richard exclaimed, “Then what’s your plan?” “We take a few guys to the armory, get several pounds of C4, then if we can push these guys back outside, a team sneaks around and plants the C4 on the cliffs, and then we blow the C4, and the cliffs will collapse on these scum, and it’ll send ‘em straight back to Hell!” “That’s, actually a good plan, a real good plan in fact. All right, I’m game, let’s do it! HEY ARNOLD!!” Dwayne screamed across the main hall, “YEAH DWAYNE?!” “ME AND THE ROOKIE ARE TAKING A SQUAD TO THE ARMORY, YOU’RE IN CHARGE!” “YES SIR!!” “Now then, I’ll get that squad together, you head down to the armory, you ready?” “I was born ready!” “Then what are we waiting for? LET’S DO THIS!!”
“What do you think’s happening up there?” One young soldier asked Sergeant Daniel, “Dunno, these walls are soundproof.” “Do you think we’re winning?” “What kind of question is that? Of course we’re winning! We’re The Wasteland Rangers for Christ’s Sake!” “I can’t believe we’re stuck down here.” Daniel heard Jessie say, “I should be up there fighting!” “Wow, the only one complaining about being down here isn’t even a soldier.” “Why won’t you let me up there? I can fight!” “Ma’am, all of us have strict orders from General Parish to protect you at all cost, and after what happened, I don’t blame ‘em.” “That was over five years ago! I’ve been training! I know I can fight!” “Sorry, but I have orders.” “AGH!” Jessie exclaimed as she walked away frustrated. Jessie was Parish’s little sister, she always wanted to be a soldier, but back in Karshaw women weren’t allowed to be soldiers. The main reason Parish and didn’t let her fight however was because of what happened a few years back. A couple of days after I found Fort Charlotte I was scouting out in the wastes with Duke, and I found Jessie in a small shack. She was looking for me, because Karshaw needed me. While we were on our way back we were ambushed by a group of bandits and she was almost killed. “I hope they can win.” Said one young soldier, “Don’t worry, I’m sure everything’s all good up there.”
“NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD!!!!!” Dwayne yelled, “LUITENENT HARTLEY!!” “YEAH DWAYNE?” “GATHER A FEW MEN, WE’RE HEADED TO THE ARMORY!!” “GOT IT!!” As Dwayne turned around he noticed a Brotherhood soldier chunk a grenade his way, “CRAP!!” He yelled as he leapt out of the way, after he got up and regained his senses, he saw a terrifying sight, “JESUS CHRIST! MORE!!” More Brotherhood troops started pouring in, “GET DOWN!!! THEY’RE COMEING IN FROM THE LEFT! THE LEFT!!!” Dwayne screamed frantically, “Sir, when is Omega Squad getting back?” A young soldier asked, “I don’t know, but we’re just gonna have to hold out until they do! I‘ll die before I let these slaver bastards take over Fort Charlotte!” Then, all of the sudden a stray bullet came and struck Dwayne right on his shoulder ”AAGGHH!!” Dwayne screamed violently, “CAPTAIN!!” the young man screamed as he ran towards his fellow soldier, “Sir are you okay?!” “Yea, I‘m fine.” Dwayne said as the young man helped him to his feet, “These combat suits that General Sessoms developed are incredibly strong.” “Can they take a point blank Desert Eagle round?” “I don‘t know, why?” Dwayne asked. “Let‘s find out.” The soldier then shot Dwayne in the stomach. “AGH! Why?!” “Drake pays more,” the young soldier said with a wicked smile on his face. “Dillon…. I’m…. sorry.” As Dwayne fell to the ground the world seemed to fade, and he knew that it was all over. The young soldier then crept away without being noticed.
Now you’re all caught up. “Hey soldier, what’s your name and specialty?” Hartley asked one soldier, “ Private Seth, and I’m a medic sir.” “Good, we’ll need a medic just in case one of gets shot.” “Sir what are you talking about?” “No time to explain, just follow me.” Hartley then looked around for more soldiers to recruit, then he saw him. Dwayne was laying face-down, and he wasn’t moving “DWAYNE!!” Hartley yelled as he sprinted toward his friend, “SETH GET OVER HERE I NEED A MEDIC!!” “Who’s……” Seth stopped as he saw who it was, “OH MY GOD! CAPTAIN DWAYNE!!” Seth shouted horrified, “We need to get him to the basement, they can treat him there.” “You get him to the basement, I need to talk to Arnold, hurry up, and meet me at the armory when you’re done.” “Yes Sir.”
“Arnold!” Hartley shouted, “Yea?” “Get over here.” Arnold ran towards him, ducking and dodging bullets as he slid into cover, “What’s the deal?” “Dwayne’s down.” Hartley said reluctantly, “WHAT?! No! What happened?!” Arnold asked shocked, “I don’t know.” Hartley said calmly. “But I need to get to the armory so I can carry out the plan. You’re in charge while I’m gone.” “But what about Dwayne?! Is he okay? Where is he?!” “I had a medic get him out of here.” “Ok, man I can’t believe Dwayne got taken down! He’s twice the soldier any of us are!” “Look, let’s just focus on the task at hand, then we’ll worry about Dwayne. I‘ll radio you when you need to start pushing them back.” “Mine’s fried.” “I’ll bring on back, are you ready? “Yes Sir!”
“Hey Sarge, do you think we’ve almost won?” “Maybe, but let’s stay alert in any case.” Daniel said, “How’s the power situation coming Kevin?” “Couldn’t be going worse, some of these systems will need to be replaced, but their E.M.P. was nowhere near perfect so we should be able to repair most of them.” “Well at least there’s some good news.” the moment after Daniel said that he heard someone at the door, “LET ME IN!!” He heard someone scream, Daniel then yelled the call-sign, “Cardinal!” “Hogs!” Daniel heard him yell back, “Open the door.” Daniel said. As the door opened Daniel saw the medic standing there with Dwayne over his shoulder. “CAPTAIN!” Daniel yelled as he saw who it was. “What happened?!” “We don’t know.” “Jesus Christ! WE NEED A DOCTOR NOW!” Daniel yelled. An older man looked up and said, “I’m a doctor.” “Get over here now!” The man ran quickly towards them, “He’s unconscious, but still alive.” “Look, I have to get to the armory, can you take care of him doc?” Seth asked, “Yea, you do what you have to I can take it from here.”
“Lieutenant Hartley, what are you doing here? Where’s Dwayne?” Richard asked confused. “He’s not coming, he got shot. He’s in the basement now getting treated.” “Is he going to be alright?” Richard asked, “He’ll be fine, but we can’t worry about that we have to focus on the plan, who are these people?” “A few men that I managed to scrounge up.” “Good, we’ll need all the men we can get, Seth should be down here soon.” “Who’s Seth?” “He’s a medic, he’s the one who carried Dwayne down to the basement.” “And I’m standing right here.” Seth said as he walked in, “Good, now we can continue on with Operation Rockslide.” “Rockslide?” Richard chuckled, “You got a better name?” “I suppose not.” “All right then, Richard take Seth and the rest of these troops to the rear exit and wait for me.” “Yes Sir!” Richard replied.
“DAMN!!” Arnold yelled as a chunk of the wall he was taking cover behind got blown off, “EAT IT!!” he screamed as he gunned down two slavers. “ARNOLD!” Arnold quickly turned to see Hartley coming towards him, “Here, take this headset, I’ll let you know when you need to start pushing them back.” “Yes sir!” Arnold exclaimed, “Good luck.” Hartley then sprinted toward Richard and the other soldiers, “All right we all know what needs to be done, it’s around five a.m. so the dark should keep us out of sight, any last minute questions?” None of them spoke, “Good, now let’s kill some slavers.”
“How’s he doing doc?” Daniel asked, “Bad, he may go into cardiac arrest at any moment.” “And if he does?” “He’ll probably die.” “Is there anything I can do to help?” “Unless you can provide fully functional medical equipment, then no.” “Just trying to help.” “I know, but this whole situation has got me in a rather bed mood.” “Does anybody else think it’s strange that the commander and all three generals left for their mission right before the attack?” One young soldier asked, “I’m not sure I like your tone.” Daniel replied sternly, “I’m just saying, what if they aren’t what they seem to be, they maybe….” “THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Daniel shouted, “Without the commander you wouldn’t be here! So shut up and know your place!” Daniel yelled as he turned away, “So without the commander I wouldn’t be stuck in a basement while Brotherhood slavers are attempting to take over? Yea, this is a real improvement, and don‘t get me started on General Parish and his sister.” SMACK! Daniel turned around to see Jessie standing over the soldier, Daniel looked at her sternly. “What?!” She exclaimed, “He had it coming.” Daniel turned back around and chuckled.
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That's not all. Guess what? There's a prequel! It's just as bad... so bad that I have to make a new thread for it. Part 2 will be up soon!
