Chun slowly awoke in a haze. He was confused, he could not remember getting into the position in was currently in - or in fact getting to where he was. He didn't have as bad as a headache this afternoon though, which he took as a plus. He tried moving his arms and legs. Aside from some pain and discomfort, they all moved. He looked down and was very confused - Why was he wearing orange hockey pants and a green armoured top?
"River, boat."
A message left by someone, or something. He vaguely remembered shooting at a dark ghost which scared him terribly. He had managed to fire an entire clip into something without so much as a scratch. That was the last thing he could remember, and suddenly he panicked. How much ammo did he have left? He got up and located his backpack. In it lay disappointment and dismay. He had one clip, one grenade, a flare and some random other trinkets left. The compass he wasn't using stood out. Since his radiation meter was lost and broken in the jungle, the compass could at least tell him if there were hot-spots nearby. This didn't fill him with much comfort however.
He packed his gear and stood outside, he found himself on the main shopping street in the heart of the city. This gave him a small comfort, he was once a tourist here and he knew that the canal down to the shore was a short walk from here. What didn't give him comfort was the tall, broken buildings. He felt as if he was being watched. He wasted no time in moving, looking at an old street sign - he found a side street down to the canal. It was about 20 minutes walk before he found it. The canal had a few shops and stands alongside it. Chun looked at one in particular, the windows were broken - but not enough for anyone to have fit through. The door was still shut, and locked. Chun slowly drew his Jian and thrust it into the window and out again - smashing it completely and hauled himself inside. It was a sweet shop. Almost a kid's dream. The problem was that many of the snacks, sweets and treats in the front of the shop looked discoloured, rotting and poisonous. Chun found the door to the back storeroom, it was locked. Chun kicked the door down and smiled. His luck was turning. He found a closed sealed pack of water, a pack of Cola and boxes of sweets. These did not look discoloured. They looked at least edible. If one discounted the sell-by date of course. Fitting what supplies he could into his backpack, he left the shop and stood by the canal. He felt like he was being watched again, this made his pace quicken until he found a small harbour. A few row bows were about and a couple of motorised ones. He lobbed his backpack into the biggest. It was a red and white two man boat. No more than 2 meters long. He sparked the engine into life, but was greeted by another problem. There was barely one day's fuel in this thing. He checked the other boat, it was a similar story. He couldn't drain the tank of it's fuel as he had nothing to transport it with, and he couldn't give up his supplies to make room for the fuel. He hatched upon an idea, he would use one boat and have the other tied to it. Then when the first boat ran out of fuel, he would switch to the other. There was plenty of rope tying boats to the canal side so this wouldn't be a problem. He set to work, started the engine and started making his way down the river. He didn't know how he was going to continue down the rest of the river, or out into sea.
But he was doing better than the day before he reminded himself.
Marcia woke up in 'her' basement, she had no idea how long she slept, but she was sure that it was long enough. Much longer then in the past days. She took a small sip of water and then removed the crowbar and opened the door. The rain stopped and even a bit of the sun was able to break through the clouds. She could see the big city more clearly now.
She smiled as she started walking, maybe the town would be a bit more friendly then the rest of this planet. After around two and a half hours she left the last trees behind and walked into the mostly destroyed suburban part of the city. She wasnt able to spot one single intact building here, most of them seemed to be destroyed by explosions.
She checked the radiation meter, it was reaching dangerous levels at this place. "The impact must have been somewhere here..." There was no urge to search for it, at least not from her side. It would just have been too dangerous to get too close to the hole.
Her thoughts circled about this town, it must have been a nice place before its destruction, she imagined how children played on the streets. A image that was destroyed when something black at a wall caught her attention, it had a humans shape, so she pulled the gun up. But upon closer looking there was nothing that would be alive, it was just a shadow. A human must have been at exactly this point when the explosion ended his life. She felt a few tears running down her face, but there was no more time to think about the people, when one of the former residents ran towards her.
The figure still had a human like appearance, but the skin had a dark grey color, the eyes seemed to be filled with blood, no hair left. She aimed at the humans head "Stay there!" The being continued running until there wasnt much more then 5 meters between them. Two shots and then silence, the being was killed.
"I told you to stop... stupid thing." She followed the road she was on until she reached a building that could have been a church, now it was missing the roof and the church steeple. She giggled "Not even faith can resist the power of nuclear mass destruction." Near the church she spotted something that could have had been an office, or a police station. It was hard to tell what exactly it was without any signs on it.
Entering it wasnt hard, there wasnt even a door left, she looked around, maybe there were some informations about this place, but except for a sign near a door with the words 'Wan i nu - New Huang Zhou Bank' She sighed " Well lets enter this persons office." The only thing not broken or destroyed was a solid metal shelter closed with a padlock. She took the pistol out and fired one shot on the lock, nothing happened. The second shot destroyed it and she opened the shelter. Except for a few documents, which already lost all colors on them it was empty. "Great... munition wasted for nothing."
She left the building again, but while walking out she saw an old car, some pieces were already lying next to it because of the rust, that didnt spare the car. Even the key was still in it, so she tried to launch the engine. Nothing happened. She tried it again and yet again, nothing. And then she realized that the street was going downhill in front of her, so she tried to push the car down the hill. The car slowly started moving, getting faster and faster. Now she had to run in order to still sit into the car, she had a few problems with finding the slot for the gear, but as soon as she found it, the car jumped slightly and the engine was running, leaving a small black cloud behind her.
She drove down the hill and then into the southern direction, hoping that the car wouldnt run out of fuel anytime soon. She tried to slow the car down a bit, but then realized that hitting the break wouldnt do anything, because of the pedal that just left the car through the ground.
She shruged, not being able to stop would mean that she would reach the destination faster.
The journey to the city wasn't an easy one. There was a hospital right next to it, there was ammo and food there, there were even some ATV's, but Vilen thought against using one of them. When the thing you need is stealth and the way ahead is destroyed city, you don't really want to use any big, loud venicles.
Yes, it would probably make his journey longer, but as one wise man of old Sol said, "I walk slowly, but i never turn back".
So he went on, taking just the ammo and food/water supplies from there.
Rubble everywhere, wrecks and garbage all over the place, it'd be not nice to walk here even without the movement you could see sometimes. And not all of this movement was evasive, too - he had used 3 clips of ammo for his AK by the time it got dark. And when it got dark, he still didn't get out of the city.
This was bad news.
Night goggles helped a bit, but he had to use flashlight instead because of all that cold rubble nightvision couldn't really see well. A broken leg there would totally be the end of the trip. And no surprise the light was seen by someone...
That was the worst mutant he has seen, ever. The vision of reaching for the knife to break free from his tentacles holding his leg and then frantically fighting with the safety of his TT would probably haunt him for the next few nights. But he didn't end up being that thing's supper, and it was a good thing.
Finally, he managed to get out of the city, taming the light and turning goggles back on. He didn't stop, however, and walked 4 kilometers more before setting up a temporal resting place like the previous one, with camo amd traps. He really needed rest.
The sound of the giant Turkey, made Elias's blood run cold. Standing in the shadows of a hospital window he watched the strange sniper and the great beast doing battle. It seemed almost a shame that the sniper slaughtered the thing without much thought and seeming reckless abandon.
But that was the way of new comers to the zone, the didn't understand that there was a balance, don't cause trouble and trouble didn't come for you. That had been Elias' creed for surviving as long as he had outside the Bretonian Coalition's refugee zones.
He backed into the hospital, padding noiselessly through the halls, before entering a machinery room.
His rifle snapping up as another, armoured figure, aimed an exotic looking rifle back at him. The two standing at almost point blank range amidst the squalor and ruin.
He heard the gunshot again. This time, it was coming from within the city itself. The Bandit knew he was getting closer to his mark. He stowed his Dirt Bike out of sight, proceeding on foot the rest of the way.
He followed the footprints, clearly his mark was making no attempt to hide himself. This was confirmed when The Bandit spotted the corpse of a massive JiangXi Turkey. Its head was now in pieces, again, the Bandit found a single 54 MM Bullet Casing. The corpse was still warm, The Bandit was gaining on his mark.
Unlike his target, The Bandit opted for stealth, slowly moving through the rubble, tracking the Footprints. They led to a large building overlooking a wide open space. The Bandit neared, hiding by a Blue Truck before quietly, but quickly running to one of the entrances of the building.
The Bandit was about to open it when a glint hit his eyes, he spotted the wire, almost imperceivable had the sun not been shining directly on it. Carefully, with practiced movements, he disarmed the booby trap. He was now the proud owner of another Grenade. The Booby trap was a clear indication that his mark was in the building. It also proved that his mark was well equipped.
The Bandit made his way from floor to floor, door to door, very slowly and very carefully checking for more traps and signs of his mark. Suddenly, he spotted fresh footprints in the dust. They led up the stairs, to the last floor. Slowly, The Bandit climbed.
Finally, something that speaks before it shoots. The Coalition soldier who was staring him down gun to gun looked young. Too young. Iscariot had a grudging respect for Coalition pilots from his Navy days, they were damn good if a bit erratic. It was to be expected, when young people are exposed to death so soon. To Iscariot, who was in his fifties, death was an old lover whose fond caress brought back warm memories. To younger people, death was the first flame, a thing of passion, and what could they do but get drunk on the spirit of love?
"Iscariot. Unless you mean to die, I suggest you put the gun down." The filter in the mask made his voice sound gravelly, almost demon-like.
Truth be told, Iscariot had been killing since he made planetfall, those people outside being the latest example. He figured that even once the radiation was cleaned, the planet would still be far from hospitable. The Coalition would need to do something about cleaning out the mutants.
Alexander's ГАЗ was running, but as he tried to move it, he realized gears cannot be shifted with his left hand, even with double clutching, because the transmission oil was cold, thus requiring the gear lever to be pushed with a lot of force.
"I have to eat, something... The vodka wont provide the vital vitamins for my body for long, and who knows how long until I have the next chance to find some food, maybe there's something useful in the bar." Alex thought and went back to the bar, leaving his car running, in order to warm up the transmission oil a bit.
In the bar, Alex found a fridge, used for meat, but even if there had been some meat in it, it would've been old. Then he noticed a relatively small stack of boxes, the top ones were empty, but the two bottom ones looked full, so he opened one of them and saw tin cans of some kind.
"I really, really hope it's not fish..." Alexander thought as he opened one of the cans "Urgh, it is fish... Well, i don't really have much of a choice, i have to eat it, since it doesn't seem to be too old to consume."
After finishing the first fish conserve, he took the two boxes, and dragged them to the GAZ, and put them in the trunk, eating another can of fish afterwards.
"Now that i've eaten a bit, i should get going.. But who knows how long the journey will take. Actually, i need to find more vodka. Maybe there are other bars or stores left around the city, if i don't rev this too high, i might be able to slip past any unwanted things undetected, as it's exhaust is quite silent for a car this old. Now i should be able to select a gear t'-" Alexander was interrupted by the sound of a door being broken. Now Alex's plans really relied on how fast the car would get in gear. He tried it with left hand, but nothing, besides a loud cracking noise coming from the gearbox, happened, so he used his left leg for the clutch and sat back in the seat, to be able to raise his right foot to the gear lever. He pushed the stick as hard as he could, and with some more cracks, the gear lever went into position 1, according to the drawing on it. "Lights on, let's go! I have to duck though, since the source of that noise might have a gun, and i'm not quite sure this is a bulletproof glass in front of me"
The beast that crashed the museum door down was running towards Alex's GAZ, but since it's a mindless creature, it didn't notice the GAZ moving towards him and soon the monster had been run down, and Alexander was now out on the street, exposed.
"allright, 2nd gear, this should be easier, left hand, scene one, take two!" Alex smiled a bit and tried to shift gear. With the same cracking sound coming from transmission he was able to shift to 2nd gear... this time, so Alex started driving a bit faster, looking around for another place where some alcohol could be found. "A church... No, a bank... No, a...something... don't think so, oh, that looks like a bar, and it looks almost intact" Alex thought and stopped near what-used-to-be a basement bar, and went inside, to look for alcohol or something not-living underwater to eat.
"i really hope nothing happens to the GAZ while i'm in here" Alexander thought while lifting some empty boxes of vodka...
Record decryption...
Done.
Press any key to play the record.
Playback started.
I'm sure I'm on the right way. I can hear heavy gunshots and I think that's a Credit's guns. I'm so close, so close... Pieck's out.
Social Credit just flew away. Looks like our bird have been damaged. Something went wrong and I don't know what to do again. *silence*
Well, I'll go in the direction in which Credit flew. At least it sounds better than other ideas. Go and learn what happened there and who attacked Credit, for example. Pieck's out.
I just found a car wreck. No chance it can budge without assistance, but maybe there are more transport which is preserved better. Pieck's out.
I see a city on my way. Most likely this is New HangZhou. My chances to find a transport increased! Pieck's out.
Errr, I don't want to walk in dead city at night time. And I'm tired, so... Heeey, what is it? Looks like crushed shuttle. Anyway, I can rest inside. Perhaps. Pieck's out.
Nice! The interior is dry and there are even comfortable seats! So, I'll sleep for closest four hours. Pieck's out.
What a morning! Damn, feels like I was drunk as pig yesterday. I want to sleep and still tired. But I gotta go. I REALLY need for transport. Pieck's out.
Just found underground garage. I'll check it now. *footsteps*
Ja! Here are dozen of cars! Hope at least of of them still works. Pieck's out.
Yeah, this... Well, it looks like old jeep or something. And It works despite the fact that it should be in the museum, not in the garage... Anyway, now my poor legs will rest. Pieck's out.
Verdammt! These... Zombies? Damn them. Thanks god I'm not on my feet but driving the car. Bad thing I lost all ammo for TT. Good thing I still alive and my, eh, jeep has much of fuel. *engine's moaning*
I'm following to south. Pieck's out.
End of file. Play again? (Y/N)
Opening directory...
Done.
Press any key to start slideshow.
"Iscariot. Unless you mean to die, I suggest you put the gun down." The filter in the mask made his voice sound gravelly, almost demon-like.
Elias' eyes assessed the armour, and the weapon pointing at him. In a point blank gun fight he might do some damage, but the exotic weapon pointed at him looked like an energy weapon... he didn't fancy his odds trying to fight, that left him with words.
He lifted the AKM, carefully slinging it back to his shoulder.
"You're not Coalition, not with guns and armour like that," Elias slowly backed through the door, keeping his hands up by his head. If shooting began, he might be able to dive for cover... though he highly doubted that he was fast enough. "Part of the IND assessment expedition maybe?" he guessed. No Zoner could afford equipment like that, and he certainly wasn't a bandit.
Vicenta and the gunner stood among the ruins of New Hangzhou, looking at Alexander's GAZ.
"Pass me a satchel charge, Mikey," the Provost Marshal eventually said.
"My name isn't Mikey."
"Do I look like I care?" She set the charge and drove them to a safe distance. "Don't want to make it too easy for the nuggets... FIRE IN THE HOLE!" KA-BLAM!
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