The new world

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 1: Santa Fe



”Command, this is Goose Nine, approaching Santa Fe from the east, two clicks. Over.”
“Roger Goose Nine, prepare to get out quick, we got lots of civvies here and they need evac now! Over!”
“Copy that Command! Out’
The group of Ospreys soared high above New Mexico, Corporal Harvey Fari looked out the doors, between the cliffs he saw Santa Fe. A steady row of trucks was driving away from it on Interstate 25. Once they got closer and started descending he saw the whole city. Everywhere was military vehicles, the streets were packed with people and trucks and cars.
His Osprey went down and landed in a small square alongside two other in their group, the men got out quickly and started unloading the crates of ammo and supplies. Within seconds the helicopters were covered in people, military personnel tried to maintain order but they were outnumbered. The civilians were fighting their way to the chopper because the trucks were too few, a sergeant with blood on his uniform managed to make his way up to Fari and the private who was helping him carry the crate.
“Where do you want us sir?”

“Down at the barricades!” He was trying to hold back the civilians and put them in line.
“Where’s that sir?”
‘Down that road, just follow it until you see the sandbags and stop seeing the civvies!’
Fari and the private ran down the street when they heard a weird sound followed by screaming, they turned around and saw a lone brown creature standing in the middle of all the people who had cleared a ring around it. The sergeant who had spoken to them was lying on the ground, his head covered in burns. Two soldiers ran up behind the creature that was raising its hands towards a man in the crowd and shot it dead.
The crowd quickly went back to pushing against the Osprey, now even more motivated.
Fari stood still for a moment but picked up the box again, they kept hurrying down to the barricades. They reached it and put it down next to a long running trench.

On the way back the private turned to Fari and shouted hysterically:
“What the **** is going on? What the **** was that thing? Why the **** are we entrenching ourselves in ****ing Santa Fe? Why the **** are people so anxious about getting out of here and what the **** are we doing here?!”
“I don’t know, I just do what they tell me to do, and so do you!”
The private was about to shout something back but a man in his forties ran up and grabbed him by his PCV out of nowhere.
“Please, you have to help me, my wife is injured! She’s in our house, you have to help me, she’s dying! One of those things got into our house and shot her, you have to help me! She’s going to die!” The man’s hands were covered in blood and he was sweaty and in chock.
Fari grabbed him and looked in his eyes.
“Calm down sir, calm down, I want you to show me where your wife is.”
The man nodded and looked at Fari, he pointed to a small villa a bit further down the road.

“She’s in our house over here, she’s dying you have to help her!”
“Alright we will, follow me sir. Private! Find a medic and get him over here, now soldier!”
The private ran off and Fari followed the man into his house. He got up his shotgun and shouted: “Is there anyone there!? US Army! Come out with your hands up!”
“You can’t talk to it, you have to shoot it! Quickly! My wife she…”
“Sir, please be quiet I…”
“Look out!”
The man pointed down the hallway into the living room where another of those brown things was standing, Fari ducked just in time before a green flash shot the front door to pieces. He shot the creature twice with his shotgun and then checked the rest of the floor. He walked into the bathroom and saw a naked woman lying in a bathtub filled with blood. Big chunks of her body were missing and there were burn marks all over her body and the wall behind her.

The husband ran into the room and stopped right in the doorway. He screamed and fell to his knees and wept.
Fari was about to talk to him when he heard gunfire. He ran out the house and stood still for several seconds. On the small street was a big giant, a huge monster with feet the size of a desk and hands the size of bikes. It was spewing some sort of insects from its powerful hands and was screaming. About ten soldiers were trying to fight it back; a captain and a private lay on the ground, covered in blood. Fari took cover behind a car and reloaded his shotgun, he swung around and aimed for the head, he emptied all eight shots in it before it went down.
The soldiers ran up to it and checked it was dead, a sergeant came up to Fari has he was reloading his gun.
‘Nice shot corporal, what unit are you in?’
‘Delta company sir, 4th battalion!’ The sergeant was about to speak when there was gunfire a few streets away. A wall in a nearby house across the street was torn down by several blue and green flashes, two brown creatures ran out followed by three bigger grey creatures, they were similar in appearance but they were thicker than the brown ones.

‘GET DOWN!’ The sergeant pulled Fari to behind the car again, Fari felt the car move behind hid back as the flashes from the aliens hit the car. There was gunfire from where the soldiers had been standing, someone shouted for a medic. Fari leaned out besides the car and shot the closest brown alien, the second later a tree in front of him exploded in a cloud of dust and wooden splinters. More flashes hit the asphalt and the car until more gunshots made the creatures fall silent to the ground.
‘Medic! Get over here now!’ The sergeant was getting up but Fari grabbed him and shouted;
‘What the hell is going on! Are we under attack? What are those things!?’
The sergeant threw Fari down on the ground.
‘Calm down corporal! We’re not under attack, not yet, our recon planes found an army of those things coming towards Santa Fe. A few hours ago the population of Santa Fe reported these things had started appearing in the city and ever since we came here they appear out of nowhere.’
“What are they?”
“I don’t know! They are coming from of the Black Mesa and there’s a shitload of them! That’s all I know.”

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 1: Santa Fe



“Black Mesa? Oh shit, they must be mutants from the radiation in there!” The sergeant stared at him then pulled him to the road and pushed him towards the dead giant laying on the street, its massive armour on the head and arms must be able to stop a hundred bullets.
“Look at that thing! Look at it! Now you tell me what the **** that thing mutated from!” He shouted at him and then threw him to the ground and walked away, he kicked down a waste basket by the sidewalk on his way off.
Fari lifted himself off the dead monster laying underneath him and wiped the blood off his lips. What the hell was going on? He jolted as he heard a siren going off and a voice in his radio;
“Attention all units! Dust cloud at the horizon! Get to the barricades now! Now dammit now!”
The group of soldiers started running down the street and he joined them. He returned to the trench and found a few of the men from Dog Company.
“Hey Harvey. This is ****ed up innit?” A small private called Chris spoke, he had blood on his PCV.
“You can say that again. Where’s Lieutenant Riggers?”
“Dead. He got shot by one of those grey ****s.”

“Jeezus.” Harvey looked over the ledge of the trench and said a silent prayer. What he saw was something no man had seen before, and few people would survive seeing. A wall of dust, from horizon to horizon, moving restlessly towards the army men.
He heard people mumbling nervously, everyone prepared their weapons and set up heavy machine guns.
“Get ready! They’ll be here in a few minutes! Machine gunners, give covering fire to all teams! RPG teams; Aim for the big ones! Submachine gunners; cover the RPG teams when they reload! Shotgunners; Take down everything that gets within 10 yards of our trenches!” A beefy-looking sergeant was running down the trenches shouting orders. He ran passed Harvey when a skinny private with a radio stopped him.
“Sir, I’m getting a message!” The sergeant crouched down next to him and listened:

“Santa Fe evac, this is Convoy Charlie we’ve encoun- zxxrxzcggz –terstate 25, all ways in and out of Santa Fe are clogged with bogies! Repeat; All roads south of Santa Fe are heavily attacked, you have nowhere to run, get out of there while y- zxrcvxcxgcrz -can! (medic!) We’re fighting them back but they just keep coming, we… Oh shit! Get the **** out of there, they are coming from the east and west to! They got you zeroed! You have to get out of there now! Evac right away! We’ll try to get through and bring in reinforcements but don’t ****ing count on it! Shit more of them are co- xcrrxczzzz…” The rest disappeared in static.
“Call for evac right now! Get the Ospreys back here now!”
He ran off again, Harvey looked at the horizon again, the huge dust clouds were forming into beings, he saw separate creatures storming at them. He saw huge, monsters, marching towards the front, big blue creatures that reminded of something from any of Tolkiens books. He shivered and picked up the M4 from the box of ammo and weapons behind him. He looked back and heard someone shout;

“Range 800 metres and closing, Machine gunners; Open fire!”
86 M-249s opened fire simultaneously, the sound was so intense that Harvey almost lost his balance. He saw the lines of aliens get a bit thinner but they didn’t stop for a second, they didn’t even hesitate, they kept on coming, charging against the bullets. Then the mortars started playing. The aliens flew high up in the air, the hoards got big gaps in them but they were filled again in seconds, the shells rained on them but nothing seemed to slow them down.
They got closer and closer, one of the front blue colossal was only 200 metres away from him when he heard the sound of Ospreys behind him in the middle of all the battle sounds. He saw a group of small aliens run forward being cut to pieces by an M-249. The RPG teams fired, the missiles hit the big blue monster, it stopped for a second and kept on coming. A few blasts hit close to the machineguns and the RPG teams, Harvey and many other started shooting down those going for the RPGs, Harvey took out three aliens and three more took their place.
Suddenly he was aware of an intense heat on his left side, he turned around and another blue giant spewing fire from its arms, the men in the trench before it screamed in panic as they melted in the heat.

Almost all the RPG teams fired at the big blue monster, it shrugged under the pressure of the rockets, Harvey saw it turn to his trench and was about to run when it suddenly lifted one of its massive legs. Harvey felt a shaking and saw a small cloud of dust travel in a straight line towards him, he felt the ground underneath him shake powerfully under his feet when the cloud reached the trench. He saw the cloud travel to behind the trench and reach a big house behind him.
He heard a noise in front of him and turned around. It saved his life. The house behind him was hit by the destructive force of a Garg’s full seismic power, the house was fragmented into thousands of pieces, debris hit Harvey’s back and he fell to the ground. In the disorder he heard someone shout;

“Oh my god they took out the mortar team!” And then he passed out. When he regained consciousness he looked up and saw one of the monsters stand and look at him, when he woke up it jumped back and screamed. It bent down and hit him on the face. Hot blood streamed down his soar face and he yelled out, a gun shot made the creature fall down and a young, bloody private rushed up and two men followed him. Harvey felt hands lifting him, around him was gunfire and shouting, the short moments when he was somewhat clear he saw bodies everywhere, he recognized the man he had helped, he lay in three pieces on the street. He felt wind in his hair, he realized he was being carried into an Osprey. The last thing he remembered was the row of burning trucks on the road beneath him. Then he passed out again.


Damn the 10k limit all the way to Hades!

[Z|insane]

Awesome man.

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 2: Sweet home Alabama



Somewhere in Birmingham, Alabama an alarm clock was ringing. Eddie Cohen stretched out a hand and silenced it. It was seven o clock in the morning and he was feeling rather rested. He slowly got up and swung his feet across the bed side. He got dressed in his usual black t-shirt and jeans. Nothing that would be noticed in public. He pulled out the small colt gun from under the madras and put it in the bed drawer.
He pulled up the 9mm taped under the bed drawer and checked it. The magazine was full. He put it back in and put the gun in his back pocket and walked out to the kitchen. He put on the TV on his way without checking what was on. He checked his phone for bugs and when he was satisfied he pulled up the curtains and checked the parking lot. Nothing out of the ordinary there. He pulled back the curtains and opened the fridge. He got out a pack of bacons and some eggs. While his breakfast was cooking he pulled out a copy of “Government Conspiracies” and started reading the chapter he was on.

There was a buzz on his door. He quickly got up and grabbed the gun from his pocket. He quietly ran up to the door and leaned against the wall.
“Who is it?” The 9mm in his hand was held in a steady, trained grip.
“UPS! Got a delivery for you!” Eddie slowly grabbed the handle and turned it, he quickly pulled the door open and almost rammed the 9mm into the right eye of the UPS employee who looked so scared he was ready to dive out the window next to him and land three stories below.
“What is it?” Eddie asked with his harshest voice while trying to keep down a smile.
“P-p-package for you… Please don’t hurt me…” His lower lip was shaking, along with the rest of his body.
Eddie grabbed the small thin package and ripped it open with his teeth, all the time keeping the man in sight with the gun. He looked at him and shined.
“Oh great it’s my photos. I was getting worried, why do you guys always take such long time?” He jabbed with the gun at him.
“S-s-sorry, I’m so sorry, please let me leave.”

“Not so fast. Come here.” He waved with the gun at him to get closer and after a while the delivery man took a careful step closer. Eddie swung the right arm around his neck and locked his head under his arm with the hand twisting around his face and the gun slamming against his mouth.
“Did you look at these?” The man didn’t answer, he was fighting for air.
“Did you look at these? Answer me!”
“Nngh-n-no…”
“Promise?”
Phhh… P-p… Promise…” Eddie smiled and let go of him. He threw himself into the hallway and tripped and landed on the floor when he headed for the stairs, he got to his feet again and made a run for it.
Eddie closed and locked the door again. The guys on UPS always sent one of the new guys to him. He pulled out the photos and looked at them. He picked up the Birmingham News laying in front of the door while flipping through the photos of a high-profile senator having sex with his 17-year old niece. He looked in disgust at them and put them back in the package they came in. He placed the newspaper on the kitchen table and carried the incriminating photography to a desk covered in dirty clothes.

He pulled out a drawer and placed a filings box on the desk. It was labelled “Insurance papers”.
He removed the pieces of paper on the top and placed the photos underneath, next to the other photos and various papers regarding drug abuse, traffic violations, proofs of bribery, literally anything that could be used as bargaining commodities. He put the lid on the box and put it back in the desk drawer. Under that drawer was a locked one. It was filled with unimportant stuff such as bank papers and his fake gun license. But the drawer had a fake bottom, only an inch or two from the real one, it kept something very important away from the public eye.
About fifteen months ago Eddie Cohen had lost all in his life but three things: A 9mm handgun, a uniform complete with a Kevlar and a helmet, and an ID badge.

The uniform he had burnt after a week, the gun he had kept, in fact it was lying on the kitchen table next to the newspaper. And under the fake bottom in the locked drawer, lay the ID badge. The only thing in the world that could prove that he was living a lie. That he wasn’t a former gas work employee. That he wasn’t a college drop-out, that he wasn’t born on January 21 1981. That his name was not Eddie Cohen…
He sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed the frying pan with the bacon and eggs and poured them on a dirty dish plate and took a bite. He folded up the newspaper and started reading. He took another bite as his eyes switched from the cancellation of a federal sponsored youth program to a large print article on the front page. The headline read: “Mysterious evacuation of Santa Fe” It took him three minutes to read the article all the way through and when he was finished the piece of egg fell out of his mouth. Two minutes later he was on the phone.

“Beep. Beep. Beep. Be- Uaahh… Yes? Gibbons residence.”
“Simmons, wake up!” There was a pause then the tired voice returned, slightly anxious.
“Who is this? I’m afraid you got the wrong number.”
“Simmons. It’s Calhoun.” Another long pause. Simmons sounded annoyed when he returned.
“Calhoun! You’re not supposed to call me unless it’s very important! They may be tapping my phone.”
“It is important. And it doesn’t matter if they’re tapping your phone any more.”
“How so?”
“It’s out Simmons, it’s begun. Have you read today’s newspaper?”
“What? Calhoun it’s 4 AM here. Of course I haven’t read the newspaper yet!”
“Right right, when you do, look at… Never mind, I’m sure you’ll find it for yourself, just call Dr Rosenberg. Tell him it’s begun in Santa Fe. We need to meet. All of us. The shit’s hit the fan, big time.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about Calhoun! Why can’t you speak plainly!”
“Because they may be tapping your phone!”
“But I though you said…”
“I lied. Read the paper! I’ll talk to you later.” Click!

[-JeZ-]

Once again, excellent work AJ. :thumbs:

[PunisherUSA]

Nice! More great stories to come I see.

Got a .txt compilation running. How many Chapters will there be? I can put em up periodically.

[jonesey2k]

nice. keep it up man.

[sHm0zY]

no, im sorry that sounds liek an old world to me

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 3: Martial Law


Barney Calhoun sat on the dirty ragged old couch, the smell of bacon and grease was all over the apartment. He was staring at the TV. Two hours ago a suspicion had risen in him, in retrospect he had thought he might have over exaggerated, there were many reasons they might have evacuated Santa Fe. But ten minutes after he called Simmons he had gone to the TV and was stunned at what was said. Another special bulletin was just starting. The attractive woman returned on screen.
“Good morning, this is a special CNN news bulletin. Seventeen hours ago, reports came to us of the possible outbreak of anthrax in the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and up until just a few hours ago we had no reason to believe otherwise. Reports are still coming in from surrounding cities of civilians and military being treated for severe combat injuries and infections of the most unknown origin. As this shocking footage shows.”

The image switched to an image of a man screaming in agony on a hospital bed as nurses and a doctor tried to restrain him. His face was red and attacked by some virus, blood veins were bulging all over his body. It then panned over to a soldier with his arm completely black as coal. He was unconsciousness. One last time the camera turned to a man with bloodied clothes and bleeding from the stump left of his arm under his shoulder. He had similar burns on his face and severe burn all over. Then a man with a corporal’s insignia walked up and told the man to turn off the camera, when the reporter asked what was going on he just repeated what he said before and put his hand on the camera. Then it went black and cut back to the news woman.

“As you may have seen, the military will not answer any questions, or comment on the unconfirmed reports of strange sightings by people in the surrounding area of Santa Fe. We will return as the story updates.”
The TV returned to the original programming.
Barney put his head between his knees and stared at the floor. All his nightmares were coming true. How did this happen? He was living a nice, relatively quiet life. Okay it wasn’t “his” life but it was a nice life. He just had to make sure he had covered all eventualities, which quite frankly was a very interesting hobby.
He did have a plan for this to, but it required some shopping and careful planning.

He slowly ate the cold bacon and eggs with no real appetite, the bulletins re-appeared but with nothing new.
Calhoun stared out the window. Rain was pouring down outside. Maybe the reason that there were no new news was because they were containing the situation, maybe it wasn’t going to happen again. As an answer to his hopes the voice of the female news anchor returned.
“On site; Our reporter Christopher Akinder is on site, live.”
A man standing in the middle of a desert was shown on screen with a mike in his hand.
“This is Christopher Akinder, reporting live 75 miles east of Santa Fe, what we can see behind me now is the smouldering ruins of Santa Fe, moments ago strange phenomenon were seen on the sky, lightning bolts were setting buildings on fire and there were gunfire heard in the distant, and there still is. But the most diabolical of all must be the ever growing dust cloud in the horizon. We are now going to ask a military spokesperson if the rumours of a terrorist attack is… uhm hang on a second.” The man dropped his mike and the camera showed him walk towards two soldiers approaching them with weapons drawn. They wore gasmasks. When the reporter started arguing with them they grabbed hit throat and the ground. They lead him to the camera and one of them grabbed the mike.

“Attention CNN, the state of New Mexico is now under Martial Law. Any attempts to make any transmission from inside the state of New Mexico will result in severe punishments. This applies to all TV stations. Right now trained experts are dealing with the situation which already has been contained, and very soon we expect t- LOOK OUT!” The man was interrupted by the other soldier shouting and moments later an Apache helicopter came tumbling down in a trail of smoke and fire, the camera was knocked to the ground and the picture disappeared. Calhoun grabbed his cell phone and his jacket and disappeared out the door.

[jonesey2k]

the best yet!

[Sprafa]

I'll wait till this is over, then ask you for the .doc.

I just can't take the suspense :lol:

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 4: Anomalous materials


Simmons was sitting on his couch in his small apartment in Tacoma. His hands were shaking. The small table radio was announcing special news bulletins about New Mexico now being under the authority of the US Army.
He was feeling like the ground had been ripped apart from under his feet. He turned off the radio and sat down at the kitchen table. The city was being pounded by a steady rain, he closed his eyes and let the sound of the rain hitting the window pane calm him. He thought of all the people who had died. He had been looking anyone still alive from Black Mesa but there were none to be found. Unlike his colleagues from the BMRF, he felt greatly responsible for what happened. The others simply said they were doing their job, but the memory of those dead people was haunting him. The only thing that helped him live with his background was the fact that it was over.
But it wasn’t over.

He almost fell out of the chair when the phone rang. He picked it up with trembling hands.
“Gibbons… who is this?”
“It’s Calhoun.”
“Please be quick.”
“I’m off to get some things, have you called Rosenberg yet?”
“I don’t know where Rosenberg is.”
“What? Jesus, then what the hell do we do?”
“Walter knows where he is.”
“Then call him.”
“He doesn’t have a phone, I just know his address. Corner of 25th and Giuliano street. His name is Ken Barber.”
“Ken Barbie?”
“Ken Barber. I don’t get how such an intelligent men could pick such a stupid alias.”
“Alright, I gotta go shopping and then I’ll call you. Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah I got a few precautions planned. I’ll get the SUV ready.”
“Alright. We’ll talk soon. Bye.” Click!
Simmons rose from the table with a new sense of purpose. He grabbed his coat and went out the door.

Samuel P Gibbons entered the clean glass doors in The Tacoma Institute for Medical Research. His ID badge said his name was Gibbons but the keycard in his back pocket proved otherwise.
“Morning Mr Gibbons, looks like you’re running late.” The security guard guarding the entrance to the R&D department stepped back and Gibbons slid the plastic card in his right pocket through the detector and entered his four-digit code.

“Yeah, yeah… got off to a bad start in bed I s’pose.”
“Don’t worry about it, most of the guys were late today, it’s Santa Fe. Ohh that reminds me, we got a pool going among the staff of how long the military will take to admit they’re aliens. Want in?”
“No thanks, its okay.”
“Hehe, know something I don’t doc?” Gibbons stared at the guard.
“I should get going.”
“Sure, let me help you.” He held the door open and Gibbons walked into the white, clean lab.
He walked past the lab coated men staring down microscopes and headed for the airlock to the clean labs.
He walked up to the observation window and pretended to read the charts on last night, when he was certain nobody was watching he quickly snuck through the door to the bio hazard research department.
The security guard on watch asked jokingly;
“Haven’t you got the wrong airlock Mr Gibbons, I’m sorry but you know I can’t let you through here…”
“Oh sorry Bill, a friend of mine was called in to help with the new sample, just wanted to see if I could catch him before he leaves.”

“I’m sorry Mr Gibbons, but without authorization you’re not coming in here.”
“I know it’s just it's a long time friend and I...”
“I’m sorry sir, can’t allow it.”
“Nah, its okay, I understand…” Gibbons turned around, presumably to walk back through the corridor when he swung around and jabbed a syringe in the guard’s neck. He let out a low cry and stared at the syringe in his hand.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a tranquiliser.” The guard reached for his gun but his legs gave up on him and he fell to the floor. Gibbons knelt down and grabbed his gun and the needle from his hand. He put the gun in his pocket and reached for his back pocket. He fished out his plastic card and put through the code lock. Working at BMRF research team meant everyone with level four clearance or above received this card, that gave access to every part of Black Mesa, and also access to all medical and technological government sponsored research centres around the US. And 20% off for video rentals at “Mesa Rentals”.
He slid the small badge through the lock and entered his four-digit code again. The glass door slid open and he walked through.

He passed the labs with doctor’s studying different substances, bio warfare gases and liquids, radioactive minerals and other hazardous materials.
Gibbons rapidly passed through the corridor trying not to rouse and suspicion. After a few minutes he reached one of the airlocks. During the shift changes he used to go here to make sure what he wanted was still there.
He had wanted to be assigned to the bio hazard area but he was afraid it would arouse bad attention with the government. They may do a more thorough background check and dig something up.
He stepped into the sealed glass door leading the airlock of bio lab 14. He put on his protective suit and very slowly walked into the lab. The heavy airlock doors closed behind him and he quickly turned away so the man in the lab would not recognize when he turned around.
“Jimmy. Is that you?” Gibbons nodded and read a chart to see when Jimmy was actually due to arrive. He was half an hour late, which meant he probably wasn’t coming at all.

“Come here and take a look at this. The administrative unit cleared specimen BM-359 for testing right this morning, called in everyone with a level three clearance. Didn’t say why though. I wasn’t sure you were gonna come in today or not.” Before he could say anything else Gibbons had pulled out a small surgical scalpel from the table and sliced a small hole in the man’s suit.
“You’ve got a tear in your suit!” The man spun around and started frantically checking his suit with his hands. Gibbons started pushing him out through the airlock and once he was inside he closed the door and switched on the emergency lock. He turned around quickly before the man could see his face.
After a few seconds he finally found what he had been looking for. He pulled out the small cylinder from its secured compartment and placed it in the backpack he had brought along with him. He then approached the intercom and pressed the button.
“Alert! Alert! Spillage in bio lab 12C! Bio hazard warning! Evacuate! Hazardous materials spill! Evacuate!”
He quickly opened the airlock and ran out the corridor next. He passed bio lab 12C where the security guard lay and helped a group of people carry him. They quickly made their way outside through the labs and gathered outside. Gibbons snuck behind a corner and quickly got out of the suit. He grabbed the backpack and legged it.

[Ansur]

awesome, really a great read

[vader146]

Nice, very good. :bounce:

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 5: Jacta alea est



“This is a special news bulletin from CNN, one of our brave reporters is defying the martial law in New Mexico and is transmitting live from Las Vegas, where there is apparently some sort of activity. We go live to Robert Takanoe from outside the Bellagio in Las Vegas.”

“This is Robert Takanoe from Las Vegas, where the masses are fleeing, the roads in and out of Las Vegas are clogged with traffic as thousands of Vegas residents desperately trying to get out of New Mexico after several sightings of strange creatures have been spotted in the city. This is an amateur photo of one of them.” The small TV screen switched to a blurry photo of a headcrab and Calhoun got chills down his spine.
“The military still refuses to make any comment regarding anything except that the situation is under control. But with hundreds of civilian and military casualties coming in every hour at the hospitals around the city, gunfire echoing in the distant and military helicopters going over the city every hour, that promise seems more and more hollow with each passing minute.” The background noise erupted in a short line of loud gunshots echoing between the rocky mountains. There was the distant buzzing of a chopper and then a loud blast followed by a flash. The reporter spoke again.

“There is also some strange form of artillery pounding the city at random times, huge green balls of light strike down. Although they are of no great force, having only produced damage to cars and minor buildings, it is never the less a-“ The reporter was cut off and the camera moved to a bright green ball, the size of a truck sailing across the sky and go down just a few yards from the two men. There was screams and the camera shook and pointed to a building that had had an entire floor blown away, it was on fire and the skyscraper was braking up.
“Oh my dear god, they hit Caesar’s palace!” The casino suddenly began to collapse and the camera man shouted as the huge building started disappearing into itself, reminding every viewer of the September 11th attacks.

The camera turned and followed the reporter as they ran down the street and after a while the camera hit the ground, the screen rolled around on the ground and then there was nothing but rubble falling on asphalt. The entire strip was covered in dust and rubble.
Slowly the sound of wind hitting the mike died out and the image of the desolate street was silent, apart from screams. Papers and various pieces of construction materials still soared through the air as the reporter got into the screen, he said something too far away from the mike to hear and then picked up the camera. He was bleeding from his forehead and his face was greyish from the dust in his skin and hair.
“Right the uh… the artillery has… oh my god…t-they’ve blown up the Caesar’s palace! There is rubble everywhere, there is absolutely, ‘nothing’ left of the casino, my cameraman Eddie is hurt, I gotta take him to, oh shit!” The camera was thrown in under the undercarriage of a car and the image flickered and died. Before it went, a group of army boots came running across the street.

“Will that be all?” Calhoun flinched and turned away from the TV and looked back at the man behind the register.
“Will that be all?”
“Yes thankyou.” Barney grabbed the two shotguns and the pistols from the counter and put the pistols in his duffel bag, with some effort he clumsily made his way out the door with the shotguns swung over his back.

[Ansur]

Don't stop :(
Your way of writing somehow reminds me a bit of Stephen King. Really nice :)

[PunisherUSA]

“Will that be all?” Calhoun flinched and turned away from the TV and looked back at the man behind the register.
“Will that be all?”
“Yes thank you.” Barney grabbed the two shotguns and the pistols from the counter and put the pistols in his duffel bag, with some effort he clumsily made his way out the door with the shotguns swung over his back.

*GASP*!!

What about the mandatory waiting period?!? Guess Barney has 'connections' :naughty:

Good stuff still!!

[AJ Rimmer]

*GASP*!!

What about the mandatory waiting period?!? Guess Barney has 'connections' :naughty:

Good stuff still!!
Black market... :angel:

[jonesey2k]

keep it up mate.

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 6: Viva Las Vegas!




The early morning sun lay down upon Roy’s big lunch n’ truck stop and the large SUV outside of it. The black, thin man stood leaning against the car with sunshades on. He was dressed in jeans and white t-shirt. He blinked his blood shot eyes and slowly walked over into the diner.
“Hello sir, how are you doing?” The rather fat man behind the counter smiled genuinely at him and kept cleaning the counter. Simmons looked around him. No-one was in the diner, it was empty. Good, it was more than he had hoped for.

“Just a coffee please.” He sighed and made his way to a booth at the window. From here he could see any cars coming from the north. Where is from where the police would be coming.
To be honest to himself he didn’t really think they would actually chase him for stealing the cylinder of TT-420, it was really a pretty harmless substance, but certain thins from his past forbade him from not being overly paranoid.
TT-420 was just one out of a hundred substances that had appeared about five months ago. According to official word they were the result of samples collected from Mars, but the moment Simmons had gotten a quick look at it he had realized what it actually was. Every good scientist, hell even every bas scientist recognizes his or hers own discovery.
He had known it under the name LX-025, the 25th out of over 30 substances retrieved out of the cleanest sample of mineral 183D, just days before the incident. It was one of a group of stimulating substances, although completely effect less on humans, on the inhabitants of the border world it has varying effect. LX-018 for example was an aphrodisiac to some of the more advanced species, but LX-025 was especially noticed as a brilliant advantage to the creatures. It had been scheduled for testing in the field in the biodome complex.

The most aggressive of the Xen creatures, P-283, also called “Headcrabs” lacks any sensory organs apart from a sense of smell. LX-025, when administrated in proper dozes, would trick the creature into thinking it was facing another one of its kind. Simmons had tested it on himself already. Without a protective suit, sprayed with just a small amount of the odour-less (to humans) liquid he had stepped into a cage with 20 headcrabs in and gotten out safely after a full two minutes. If they would ever end up in a situation facing these animals, LX-025 would come quite in handy.
“Here’s your coffee sir.” The man presented a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee and Simmons took a sip and felt the spirit return in him. He had been driving since 11 o’ clock yesterday, it was now 8 o’ clock in the morning. He was heading for Oklahoma but when the morning sun struck his tired face he couldn’t refuse the invitation for coffee in the form of a rising sun neon sign and the words Roy’s big lunch n’ truck stop.

“Thankyou, just what I needed.” The big man smiled on his way back to the counter.
“You’re welcome. I gotta tell you, usually I just get truck drivers this early, but most of them would already have gotten here.” He looked at Simmons with an inquisitive look.
“Well, it’s probably the martial law in New Mexico that stopped most of the truckers from heading south.”
Roy looked at him surprised.
“What martial law?”
“You don’t know about the situation in the south? Main parts of the south of America is under martial law, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona I believe. Don’t you watch the news?”
“Well… no.” Simmons checked his watch, it was nearly eight. He pointed to the TV in the ceiling.

“Do you get CNN?” The man looked under the counter an fished up a remote. The TV turned on and the CNN logo appeared immediately just like on TV shows. The voice of James Earl Jones announced that it was as the logo suggested, CNN. And then a reporter from the CNN news showed up.
“Good morning. The crisis in the south today worsens, as several cities around the states are being pounded by the same artillery that so unsuspected turned up in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday. We now go live to the state of Nevada, where our reporters are once again defying the martial law. The same man who Simmons had seen in front of the Bellagio when the Caesars palace blew up was on the screen, with his back against the desert.

“This is Robert Takanoe outside Las Vegas. Ladies and gentlemen, yesterday you all saw when an alien force destroyed the Caesars palace. I suspect most of you, like me, thought things couldn’t get any worse. We were wrong.” The camera turned around, only the reporter’s voice narrated the sight before them. As a fireball rose from the ruins and smoke on the screen the man spoke;
“Nothing is left, in what was called, Sin City.” There was only a few buildings still standing, and from the looks of it, they wouldn’t stand much longer.
“The city of Las Vegas, has been wiped off the map. A minimum of 14,000 dead is the estimate at this time, but from what I can see from here, that’s being optimistic.”
An army helicopter circulated at low altitude over the ruins, looking for survivors.

“The military no longer has the troops to spare to enforce martial law in four states. Reports from all over the southern states indicates people are fleeing all the major cities in a scale not seen since the Cuban missile crisis… And with sights like these, who could blame them? The former sight of Las Vegas, is but a desolate battle field… There is still no comment from the military, and millions are asking how these enourmous creatures which are responsible for the devastation you see before you move from city to city, without actually seeming tro travel in the conventional sence. Some suspect teleportion, others suspect faster than light travel, but two things are certain at this point; One: These things are hostile, and two: 'Those'...” The reporter pointed to the horizon. "... are 'not' from this world!" Far on the horizon, three tall shadows could be seen, enormous moving objects, large as buildings they looked like weather balloons floating avoe the ground, only much larger. Simmons knew of two men still alive who knew what they actually were. He was heading for one of them. He finished his coffee and left a tip on the table while Roy stood paralyzed before the TV. He walked out the door and sat in the car again, checked the glove compartment to make sure the 9mm was still there and drove off again.

[Lone_Bullet]

GO ON!!!!!.....plz? :)

your quite good ... really!

greetz lone

[-JeZ-]

Please, continue! I'm hooked! :P

[Max35]

Yeah, that's awesome work man, keep it up :thumbs:

[jabberwock95]

He pulled out the small colt gun from under the madras...

He keeps his gun in a large pile of curry sauce....? :eek:

Only kidding, I love the story so far, when will we see more of it?

[YourMom]

Woot! You and theotherguy are tops!

[PunisherUSA]

AJ did you die?!? Where is the rest? I'm still hanging on a cliff!!

[YourMom]

AJ - update please! :D

[AJ Rimmer]

Oops hehe... sorry, got a Red Dwar fan fic, this Half-life fan fic and a futurama fan fic going at the same time, I don't know which to finish first.

[nagual678]

you have WAY too much too much time on your hands.



nice read, though

[neptuneuk]

finish this one!
is the red dwarf one funny?

[AJ Rimmer]

finish this one!
is the red dwarf one funny?
Why it's the funniest thing outside of television!

[neptuneuk]

gimme a link, man!

[AJ Rimmer]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A2962316

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 7: More than meets the eye

The heavy steel door smashed closed and Barney dropped his elbow back to his side and got a new grip around the cardboard box. The four shotgun pipes were too hard to conceal and so he had no choice but to leave them sticking out from underneath a bit of cloth. He hurried through the dark gloomy parking garage towards the old station wagon Volvo.
“Hey Cohen!” Barney swung around and almost dropped the box. Phil Hass’s expression changed and he looked scared when the four shotgun barrels turned towards him.
“Whoa whoa Cohen! Watch out!” He took a few steps back. “Uhmm… are you going away?”
Barney looked down on the box he was carrying and almost looked guilty. Phil was a great neighbour, in that respect that he did not pose any unwanted questions and he was nice towards Barney despite the rumours the other neighbours told.
“Hi Phil.” Barney tried a faint smile and then put down the box and opened the car trunk.
“So… you goin’ huntin’?” Phil asked behind Barney’s back as he checked the first shotgun and put it in the backseat.
“No. Not really. Just taking a few precautions.” Barney put another shotgun in the backseat after checking it.
“Precautions?” Phil sounded curiously frightened as Barney loaded the last shotgun in the backseat. He walked around to the back and lifted the cardboard box containing five 9mm, a couple of grenades, sodas, water bottles, flashlights, batteries, water proof matches and several other survival tools.
“Listen Phil. How long have we been neighbours?”
“For about fourteen months. Why?”
“Listen closely Phil, I like you, and therefore, I am gonna give you a couple of advices.” Phil nodded slowly but looked doubtful.
“First of all; Leave the building. You have to leave the house in…” Barney checked his watch. “…Seven minutes 30 seconds.” Calhoun looked away, he pulled up his 9mm from his waist and loaded it.
“Second; Leave the country. Leave it now. Go to Canada or better yet, Europe, live your life quickly and live it well just don’t live it here. You hear me?” Barney checked all the other pistols but Phil didn’t say anything so he turned around again.
“I said did you he-…“ Barney froze in mid sentence. The air had suddenly gone colder. He stared across the garage and as he did he felt queasy.

The entire room was out of focus. No matter how hard he tried the walls looked like someone had given him poor eyesight all of a sudden. The floor even looked like it and all of the lights were dimmed, giving the earlier poorly illuminated parking garage an even more darker and mysterious feel. He snapped and raised his gun towards the dark corridor on the other side of the cement hall. Someone was there, walking towards the two men.
“Stand back Phil. I’ll…” He turned to Phil but he was, like the walls and cars and roof and floor out of focus, and not moving, he seemed disconnected from whatever it was had happened to Barney. But his attention was now drawn to the man in the sharp suit that had just walked into the very vague light.
“Mr Calhoun, we meet at lasst…” Barney took careful aim at the man’s head. He looked to be in his late fifties but something about him contradicted everything about himself. His widow peak covered the top of his small, thin, pale-looking face and his dark, tired eyes reminded of the very worst of drug addicts but with clear, green blue eyes that seemed to be telling their own lies. The smug grin that crossed his small lips was annoying even before he spoke, which he did in a fairly peculiar manner. Had he not been dressed like a government agent or a politician Barney would have guessed he was either a foreigner or just had problems with putting together sentences. He pronounced his S’s very long.
“How do you know that name? Who are you?” The man slowly walked across the room, closer and closer Barney.
“Barney Calhoun… Security officer. Education; Two years Martinson college. Undecided major. Single.” Barney started sweating.
“Clearance; Level three. Assignment: Area 3, Black Mesa Research Facility, Black Mesa, New Mexico.” The man was only a few feet from Barney now.
“Take one more step and I’ll shoot!” As soon as Barney said that, he heard a click and the clip from the gun fell out on the floor. He stepped back and dropped the gun to the floor, shocked.
“Who are you?”
“I am here to tell you something very important.”
“Who the **** are you!? Who do you work for?”
“Who I am is not important, who I work for is… well… let’s just say my employers would not like to see you go to waste…”
“Go to waste? What are you talking about?” The man walked around Barney, he blinked far too seldom for Barney’s taste. He seemed to look partially sympathetic and partially patronizing on him.
“I am sorry, Misster Calhoun, I know all too well the frusstration of being kept in the dark… My employers believe you have potential, although somewhat misguided…” Barney was getting goose bumps. Whether it was from this man or from the cold air he couldn’t tell, probably both.
“Misguided? In what way?” The man smiled.
“Dr Rosenberg.” Calhoun looked at him with suspicion.
“What about him?”
“As we speak, seventeen federal agents are rushing to his house. They know who he is and who you are. Within twenty minutes they will report that Dr Rosenberg resisted arrest and was shot dead.” Barney felt his insides go cold.
“You’ve sold him out!”
“No, Misster Calhoun. I have spent the last year and a half protecting you and the world from what would come but it would seem now my efforts were in vain. I must admit I felt somewhat guilty for it, and so I made a bold proposition to my employers. I was allowed to contact you under two conditions; One of which you already fulfilled in a twist of fate. There can be no trace of my being here. The second one was that I must guide you to the proper priorities.”
“The proper priorities?”
“Dr Kleiner, Misster Calhoun.” Barney’s world was spinning even worse than after that elevator crash fifteen months ago. The man in the suit just kept on going.
“Dr Rosenberg is a lost cause Mister Calhoun, Dr Kleiner is all that matters now. My employers have been watching his work over the last months and it is showing much progress. He must live.”
“Dr Kleiner? But Walter is only a research associate, Dr Rosenberg knows more about the technology and the creatures.”
“Dr Kleiner is, just like you and other of our employees, men and women with great potential.”
“Now wait just a minute! I am NOT one of your ‘employees’!” Barney felt anger rise in him, he would not be this man’s puppet. The man slowly raised his left hand, in which he held a briefcase. He held it up before his chest and Barney stared at the familiar BMRF logo imprinted in yellow on the side of it.
“There is more to each man than what meets the eye. Know this Mr Calhoun, Dr Kleiner may very well hold the key to what will save us all in the end. We must all make our choices Mr Calhoun. I made mine fifteen months ago, now you must make yours.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You must not go to waste, and neither must Dr Kleiner. I must go now, for you are in a hurry. Your ‘precautions’ will expire in two minutes twenty-two, and federal officers are currently making their way up the stairs to your apartment.”
“What?!”
“Good luck, Misster Calhoun. If all goes well, I will se you up ahead.” The room flashed for an instant and then he was alone. The garage had restored its former look, with the exception of Phil, lying lifeless on the cold cement floor. From above he heard shouts and feet running. He quickly grabbed the gun and the clip on the floor, jumped in the car and floored it out of there.

“I’m going in, cover me!” FBI agent Silverman rushed towards the door and made it fall to the floor with a loud bang, he was followed by two other men into the cramped little home.
“Mr Calhoun! FBI! Come out with your hands up! Jerry! Check the bathroom! John check the kitchen!” The two men rushed to it when shouting and shooting was heard outside on the street. Silverman opened the window and saw a black station wagon speed off with a wounded FBI agent in its wake.
“Damn!” Silverman kicked a trashcan on the floor when Jerry shouted from the bathroom.
“Get the hell outta here! NOW!!!” Silverman only caught a glimpse of the bathtub behind Jerry before the timer hit zero and the fifteen litres of napalm stored in the bathroom was set off by the explosion from the explosives in the flooring and sent Special Agent Silverman through the window, set fire to agent Carter and split agent Smith in three.
The fire cloud and following shockwaves set off the timed bombs in the elevator shaft two seconds too early and the explosions spread down the house until they reached the bottom where four hundred kilos of explosives and napalm, placed strategically around in the basement, garage and surrounding superstructure, shook the foundation of the building before it gave in and collapsed into itself in a firestorm, consuming twenty seven people and one dead body.

[AJ Rimmer]

Well, happy? I'm back! And I'm bad!

[Ansur]

And again, I'm sad there's nothing more to read (for now I hope) :)

[AJ Rimmer]

What do you mean?^^

[Modbrit]

lol, he wants your ass to write more!!! MORE I SAY!!!

[AJ Rimmer]

lol, he wants your ass to write more!!! MORE I SAY!!!
Mwuahahaha! Now you are my pocket! Do my biddings or I will destroy you!

[Modbrit]

laf..please

[AJ Rimmer]

Stand by for the next part, as soon as I get home from school... :E

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 8: LA Confidential



“Simmons. It’s Calhoun. Where are you?” Simmons sounded annoyed; his voice was almost drowned out by honking horns and car engines.
“I’m in the car! I’m stuck halfway between my place and Walter! I don’t know why the military bothered to put up roadblocks, there’s a huge traffic accident ahead, nobody here has gone over ten mph for two hours! Every ninth feet there’s an army checkpoint asking for my driver license! It’s crazy!”
“Alright! Listen, I… I just received some bad info, I can’t tell from where, but I think Dr Rosenberg is gone.”
“What?”
“They found him, I think they may have killed him, I haven’t been able to find him all day.”
“Who?”
“FBI, NSA, CIA, Cigarette smoking man, Cheney I dunno, someone. I’m heading for Walter now, I should be there by tomorrow.”
“Okay… There’s a motel about eight miles up ahead, I can probably be there about nine o’ clock tonight.”
“That’s in two hours…”
“Yes. There is a ‘serious’ traffic jam.”
“Ok. Just try and not arouse attention.”
“Arouse attention? There are six hundred thousand cars moving towards Canada on this highway alone, I’m the only stupid son of a bitch going south! How the hell am I supposed to not arouse any attention?”
“I don’t know, look like you’re lost.”
“I am lost, I don’t have a ****ing clue where to go and now you’re telling me Rosenberg is dead! How?! Do they know who we are?”
“I don’t know, just come to Boston okay? I have to go now.”
“Alright. For god’s sake Calhoun, watch your back.”
“You too. Bye.”

The next day, Barney approached the fifth army checkpoint outside Los Angeles, so far his luck had held, he hadn’t been searched yet. The army guys had grown more and more mysterious, the soldiers in standard combat gear with only sidearms were now gone, instead were marines in heavy bullet proof protection gear, machine guns and gasmasks were now dominating the streets, reminding him of those men in Black Mesa.
“License and registration please.” The man sounded distant, the voice distorter in his gasmask made him sound robotic. Barney handed him the fake license.
“Robin Justeen?”
“Yes sir! That’s me!”
“Business in LA?”
“I have friends and family here, I want to get them out of here.” The soldier nodded and handed him back the papers.
“Alright, obey all military instructions and don’t interfere with army business. Understood?”
“Eh, yes sir!” Barney smiled and made his best cooperative-boy scout impression and even ended the conversation with a poorly executed salute. He stepped on the gas and hurried underneath the open roadblock.
The city of Los Angeles was not recognizable any more. Everywhere were roadblocks, there were more soldiers than civilians on the streets, all of them wearing gasmasks and MP5s, M4s or shotguns. A soldier was standing in the middle of the street, he ordered Calhoun to turn to the right towards a huge parking lot that used to be a big park. At least a thousand cars were parked there, when Barney looked around he saw that there were no cars on the streets, everyone was walking. He got out of the car and grabbed his gun in his jacket pocket. He locked the car and made sure the weapons in the backseat were covered up and headed down the street towards 25th street.
He got up his cell phone and thought it best to call Simmons and check on him. He only got one signal through before a harsh voice from the other side of the street called out.
“Hey you! Freeze!” It was followed by another robotic voice;
“Don’t move, hands above your head!” Barney froze on the spot. He raised his arms and cursed long lines in his head while the two soldiers hurried to him, weapons ready. They had him in their sights and Calhoun didn’t doubt for a second that they would blow him to pieces if he got them angry.
“No cell phones allowed!”
It took Barney the better part of ten seconds to understand the meaning of what the man just said. He almost laughed out loud and then answered.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know, I’ll turn it off.”
“Give it to me.” Barney hesitated, if they couldn’t reach each other, things would become even more complicated than now.
“But I need it, to reach my friends and my family.”
“Give me the cell phone now or you will be arrested!” Barney quickly gave up and handed the soldier his phone.
“But how do I know I’ll get it ba-“ the soldier threw it on the street and stomped his boot on it until it cracked apart.
“Thankyou for your cooperation sir, now move along.”
Barney nodded and move away but was still helped on the way by a heavy push by a gun in his back. He hurried away from there before they gave him any more encouragement or they took him in for questioning. He kept going the same way he was headed before, the city was under total military control, he doubted that Dr Kleiner, or anyone for that matter, would be able to keep hidden for long here.
He was hurrying down 19th street when he saw a military truck screech to a halt a bit further up the street. About twelve soldiers jumped down and hurried in the apartment building and two men stood guard outside. Inside there was screaming and soon gun fire. Calhoun kept to the corner while watching what happened, a small crowd was already gathering, though keeping their distance. Except one elderly man who was standing just a few feet from the two soldiers. He was encouraged to leave several times before on of the soldiers grabbed him by the arm and tried to pull him away from there. The man freed himself and shouted out.
“What are you doing?”
“Sir, please stand back.”
“Why aren’t you stopping this? Those are our own people in there! And out here!”
“Sir if you don’t stand back now we will have to arrest you!”
“What is wrong with you? Those are our people, our people! Just like you and me!”
“Sir. Stand back and move along!”
“How have you been so brainwashed? You’re killing your own people! You’re no better than those aliens! You monsters!” The man brought up his briefcase with a swift motion but the soldier ducked and his partner jabbed the man in the stomach. They kicked him to the ground and two other soldiers then dragged him away into a truck that drove away.
Several army trucks had now appeared and the army was doing random sweeps into the surrounding buildings. Almost half an hour after the elderly man had been taken away the first party came out of the door. The two first soldiers were carrying a black body bag, and the next two was as well. Calhoun counted seven body bags before something caught his attention. The tenth or so soldier was carrying a small cage, like a cat transport cage. He could see the short, sharp red claws sticking out and knew what was in there without looking.
Soon after the caged headcrab followed a long, white coffin that was rolled out on a gurney. Barney had to see what was in that coffin. The other people had drawn closer as well so he thought he could the chance. He walked a bit closer until he saw the blood splattered Plexiglas more clearly. Barney could only see very little of what was in the coffin but it was enough. Inside was a man in a bloody suit and a large headcrab on his head. He wasn’t moving, but the condensation on the glass indicated he was breathing, and that it was very cold in the coffin.
Barney’s paranoid brain, fuelled on what very little he had seen of stasis technology while working in Black Mesa drew its own conclusions. He saw them load the coffin into a truck and closing the door. As they did, the man in the sharp suit was revealed from behind the truck. He checked his tie very effectually as the operation was seemingly finished. He met Barney stare. Barney moved towards him but truck passed between them and when it had passed the man was gone.

[shade70]

Nice one AJ (or can I call you Ace?) :laugh:

Keep em coming Big Man.

[AJ Rimmer]

Chapter 7: The chase


The street was empty. Gunfire and scream far off seemed the most plausible reason. This suited Barney just fine, he didn’t want anyone seeing him now. He opened the door and made his way up the stairs to floor five. He made his way through the corridors to apartment 455. He knocked and looked around anxiously down the corridor, it was empty. He knocked again and heard someone approach from inside. The door slowly opened and the receding hairline with big glasses looked at him from the small gap between the door and the wall.
“Calhoun! Come in come in! Quickly before they come!” Barney followed the small man into the unbelievably untidy apartment for a scientist.
“Who’s coming?”
“The FBI. I think.” Walter kept looking through desks and drawers like a madman.
“The FBI?! They know where you are?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“How?”
“I was planning on keeping a low profile while these troops were here so I went back here to get some things when I got this cassette.” Walter held a VHS tape and handed it to Barney who popped it in the VCR.
The corny image showed a bloody, beaten and frightened thin man with broken glasses. Barney knew him as Dr Rosenberg. He spoke quickly with someone but there was no sound, he received a kick to the stomach in the middle of a sentence and then there was a flash and a 9mm bullet ripped through his skull, blood splattering on the camera.

Barney stared at the static on the screen with a foul dead taste in his mouth, like rust. He spent a minute thinking about Dr Rosenberg, the first time they met. He was starting to get down with guilt when he heard shouting and heavy boots from what sounded like some floors below. He snapped out of it.
“When did this get here?” Barney asked Walter.
“I’m afraid I don’t know, I just got home.”
“But today or yesterday?”
“I don’t know I haven’t been home all this month.”
“What?” Barney pulled out his gun and hugged the wall behind the door, he slowly peaked out into the corridor, it was empty but someone was coming up the stairs, lots of boots were running and opening doors. He closed the door and almost shot himself in the foot when Dr Kleiner exclaimed “Eureka!” and held up a small USB-memory stick.
“What’s on it?” Walter put it in his jacket pocket and then answered the frantic Barney.
“Oh nothing, I just need the space.” Barney stared at him for several seconds.
“What?” The boots came closer and a door somewhere outside in the corridor was flung open.
“Quick, is there another way out of here?” Barney looked panicking around the small one room apartment.
“Yes, there’s a fire escape in the next apartment.” Barney closed his eyes and clenched his fists and slowly asked, dreading the answer;
“The apartment to the left, or to the right?”
“To the left.” Barney turned around.
“Really?”
“Yes.” Barney grabbed Walter by his too short black jacket and pulled him close to the door and peaked out. It was empty.
He pulled Kleiner with him out and crouched all the way to the next door, he stood up and quickly opened the door. He rushed in and closed the door and locked it behind Walter. He spun around and was almost as surprised as the two men in black suits in the small apartment. One of them had headphones on connected to an audio recording device, spy equipment, one of them reached for his gun. With two strides Barney reached the man and body tackled him, he pushed him to the floor where they wrestled until Barney managed to get out his gun and press it to the face of the NSA agent who was now lying on top of him.
“Drop it.” The other man was holding his own gun at the face of Kleiner, Barney could see the terror in the scientist’s eyes. He pushed the gun further into the agents mouth.
“Let him go or I’ll blow his face off.”
“Are you really going to kill a member of the National Security Agency?”
“Last year I murdered 67 members of the United States ****ing Marine Corps and compared to them you don’t hold a candle.” The man with Barney’s gun in his mouth made a gurgling sound and Barney quickly pulled out his gun, turned hid head around and laid his gun across his shoulder, having the other agent in his sight.
Barney’s hostage was now lying next to him with his throat nestled between Barney’s right arm.
“Let him go or I’ll shoot Mr Barber.” Barney didn’t quite process this for a while. They had called Walter Barber. They did not know who he was. They did know who they were. They did not know the military was looking for them. Which meant the military did not know they were here.
Barney grabbed the NSA agent’s gun from the floor and put it over his other neck, letting him go but keeping both of them in his sight, he lied on the floor and for about a minute all was quiet. Then there was a loud knock on the door. Barney raised his right hand and shot three times at the door. The man holding Walter shouted;
“What the **** are you doing?” Barney didn’t move a muscle, but he slowly spoke:
“Listen. Lets do this without any killing. Let Barber go, and both of you can live. You can kill him, but then I’ll kill you. Right? So just let him go, and we’ll leave.” The agents looked at each other and the man slowly let go of Walter who rushed to Barney side, who stood up and threw one of his guns to its owner.
“Here’s your gun.” The man held it and raised it to Barney’s head. Now they had the upper hand.
“Why did you do that Calhoun?!” Walter was hysteric.
“Walter. When I say now, duck down.”
“What? Why?” Barney heard the distinct sound of guns being loaded in the nearby apartment and shouted “NOW!” and pulled Walter down to the floor with him. The two federal agents just stared at them for a second and then the bullets started raining through the thin wall from Walter’s apartment. Barney pushed Walter to the floor and held both their heads down. Debris, wood, glass and plastic fell down on them, the sound from at least fifteen machineguns, pistols and shotguns was deafening to say the least. Barney saw in the corner of his eyes how the both agents were already on the floor, he screamed loud as the sound built up to a climax and a lamp fell down from the roof, pieces of the wall were falling down on them and then it stopped. Barney slowly crawled over to the audio bug receiver and grabbed the headphones. The machine was damaged but the surveillance bugs were still transmitting, he heard someone say grenade and duct tape.
Walter was still hugging the floor with his eyes closed. Barney grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.
“Doc, are you ok?”
“Yes.”
“Good, let’s go!” Barney grabbed Walter and shoved him to the door to the fire escape, he gave the door a good tackle and it swung open, he pushed Kleiner through and rushed down the stairs. They were three stories above the alley when the grenade that was duct taped to the wall went off and blew a hole the size of a table in the massacred wall, the gas pipes in the walls and flooring lit up and the apartment exploded in a huge fire cloud. Barney and Walter both stared as a burning chair flew out of a window and soared through the air and finally crashed into the adjacent apartment building.
“Oh my god! Oh my god! They’re trying to kill us!” Walter screamed in panic and Barney tried to make him keep quiet.
“Doc, quiet! They’ll hear us!”
“I’m a scientist! I’m not supposed to be shot at! Oh my god we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die!”
“Doc!” Barney grabbed him and shook him. He snapped out of it.
“What?” Barney pushed him over the edge and he went sailing down three stories. Barney looked down and then swung himself over the ledge and landed in a container on the street below next to Dr Kleiner.

[Speedingorange]

More!!!!!!!

[Speedingorange]

im hocked,,,,, big time ... please please pleas with suger ontop???

[AJ Rimmer]

Okay, so Half-life 2 screwed this fan fic up real bad, but I won't give up. I'll try and fix the worst plot holes, but for the sake of my being without a head ache, you'll simply learn to accept that instead of Walter, Dr Kleiner's name is now Isaac, so please just pretend like it says Isaac instead of Walter in all thosce chapters before this one, alright?


Chapter 10: Back in business

“Oh god… I think I’ve broken something…”
“Dr Kleiner?” Barney pulled an empty pizza box off his face. “Are you okay?”
“What? Oh, yes. I think so. Where’s my… oh yes, no I’m good.”
“Good.” Barney lifted the cardboard box covering his back and peeked out to the empty balcony above.
“Are they gone?”
“Looks like it, probably on their way down here. Let’s go.” Barney helped Dr Kleiner up from the container.
“We have to leave the city doctor.”
“Yes, let’s go to my lab.” Dr Kleiner found his glasses and put them on.
“Your lab?” Barney dug around for his gun and put it in his jacket again.
“Yes, I’ve been continuing the experiments that went wrong in the Black Mesa incident. I’ll show you the way.” Dr Kleiner started running down the alley with Barney behind him.
It took them almost an hour to reach the SUV. The city was now swarming with soldiers, they seemed to gather the citizens into small quickly put together camps. There weren’t many in them but the people there seemed to come from all colours and classes.
The streets were almost completely empty from civilians. They had quickly learned to stay inside, and not because of the heavy rain that hade begun to fall. Barney heard gunshots in the far distant, explosions and fighter jets. They made their way across the parking lot and Barney inserted the key.
“You there, step away from the car.” Barney let go of the key. The soldier behind him grabbed his left arm and reached for his right when Barney swung around and let the butt of the his pistol sweep up and smash the poor soldier’s cheek broken.
“Get in the car doc!” Kleiner rushed into the car and Barney turned the key in the ignition. Over the slowly growing mud field of cars and people a group of soldiers were running to them, Barney stepped on the gas and headed for the exit barrier. A lone soldier rushed forward and held out his hand, ordering Barney to stop. The man’s leg smashed into the wind shield glass as he had waited too long before he jumped, Kleiner screamed aloud as gunshots rang out behind them. Barney floored it and sliced through the barricades until he ploughed off the mud field and out away from LA.

Barney kept driving for almost an hour until Kleiner finally told him to stop. They got out of the car and Barney followed Kleiner out into a beautiful field of grass. The high grass was glistering with drops from the rain they had left behind them some twenty minutes outside of Los Angeles.
They waded through the field, Barney clutching his shotgun and Kleiner strolling on without a worry in the world. About halfway into the field, suddenly a small elevated area appeared out of nowhere, it barely reached above the grass. Kleiner walked up to the hill and reached into the grass and out of nowhere pulled up a door covered by a thick rug of grass. He held it wide open and invited Barney in.
“Go on, you first.” Barney looked surprisingly at the scientist but ducked into the dark staircase inside.
It was dark and drippy, a cold breeze swept over him as Kleiner shut the door behind them.
“Oh fi, I forgot to leave the lights on, she’ll be absolutely furious now.” He heard the doctor feel around behind him until he heard a click and the staircase was lit up. They kept going down until they reached a large steel door. Kleiner asked Barney to open it, saying it was unlocked, Barney obeyed and opened the large steel door.
He stepped into a large cement hall, lit up by several small lab lamps in the roof, the right side was stocked to the roof by crates and boxes of different sizes, the left side was mainly used up by a large bank of computer monitors, screens, consoles, real old school looking computers they were in fact rather beefed up ones, meant for top of the line research. The farthest away wall had a desk line up against it, with two computers under it and two monitors, it was littered with papers, post-its, schematics and print-outs.
“Well, welcome to the lab, why don’t you take a look around while I go get Hedy.” Kleiner rushed off into a small adjacent room. Barney wondered what or who Hedy was but parked himself on a small kitchen chair right infront of the computer bank. He read off some of the notes Kleiner had made.
“Massless field limiter – 20% insufficient output, input ratio too high. Targeting parameters within acceptable limits. Focal point not established, Xen targets out of range. Field loop unstable, try new axis.” He read off the last quietly to himself when Kleiner knocked something over at the far end of the room.
“You okay Doc?” Kleiner scratched his head and looked around in the corners.
“Ho does she get out of her cage? I could’ve sworn I… what? Oh, just fine but Lamarr has gone missing!”
“Lamarr?”
“Oh Lamarr is my…” A rattling in the far off corner behind some boxes interrupted Kleiner.
“Oh there she is, I’ll go get her.” He marched across the room and knelt down and peeked in between the boxes.
“There you are, now come on, come out of there. Come on now…” Kleiner reached in and something jumped out, up on a stack of boxes and down between a couple of large crates standing on the floor.
“No! Lamarr, stop fooling around! She always get like this when I forget to leave the lights on. Lamarr, La-“ The boxes rattled about and the large headcrab suddenly cleared the boxes and ran clear across the floor. Barney shouted and dived for his shotgun.
“NO! Don’t worry she can’t harm you!” Kleiner ran up to Barney and wrestled him for the shotgun.
“What are you doing? Let me go!”
“No, it’s Lamarr!” Kleiner turned around but she was gone.
“Oh, look what you did, now I’ll never find her!” Barney let the shotgun drop to the ground and stared at Kleiner.
“Doc… that was a headcrab.”
“Yes.” Barney stood silent for a while.
“A real headcrab.”
“Yes.”
“Doc, you called it Lamarr.”
“Yes, that’s her name, Hedy Lamarr.”
“Her?”
“Yes, her… Well… at least I think it’s her.” Kleiner smiled faintly and kept looking about the boxes for a few seconds but gave up. He looked up at Barney’s half-shocked, half-disgusted look.
“…what?”

[Speedingorange]

n e more??please:D