Gears of War - Sacrifice: The Story of David Blake (Final Chapter of Part One)

[Auzzie Legend]

Hello everyone. Its been a while since I've written a fan fiction, and lately I've really been craving to get back into it with the ideas I've gathered over the past year since I wrote my last one on here, Royal Blood. Looking back on Royal Blood now there were a lot of instances where I laughed at what I had written, and I'm hoping I can be more confortable with this new, improved writing style I have developed.

Anyway, if your reading this I hope you enjoy my truely second fan fiction, I've taken all the criticism I've been given on my writings in the past few years and I beleive I've bettered myself, I hope you all feel the same.

Please enjoy,

<3 Auzzie Legend.

Part One:
Revelations

Chapter 1: Emergence
Chapter 2: Aftermath
Chapter 3: Encounters
Chapter 4: Descent
Chapter 5: Shadows
Chapter 6: Home

Gears of War

Sacrifice

The Story of David Blake

Chapter 1: Emergence

There is always that thought in the back of everybody’s mind as their alarm clock drags them from the calm, heavenly region of dreams on a Monday morning, the stabbing regret of having to leave the warmth beneath the blankets, bringing forth the wish that life would become simple once more, the wish that the harsh, civilized lifestyle all humans live day in and day out would simply vanish, leaving time for sleep, time for life and time for family.

Of course, David was not without those thoughts as his eye lids slid open slowly, the pupils that had been concealed beneath dimming as the warm morning light slid through the blinds across the room, lighting up his bright blue eyes as if they were the first embers to spark from a burning fire. Turning away from the light directly across the room, David ran his fingers over the five buttons atop his alarm clock, each labelled with a different amount of small bumps to help those less-than conscious people attempting to work the contraption as it wakes them.

David pushed the button third from the left, the same button he had pressed thousands of times before, always at the same time, always on a new day.

David’s eyes fixated on the four numbers being digitally displayed beneath the buttons on the alarm clock, 05.32 with the convenient ‘am’ on the far right side of the number line, to represent before or after noon. With a sigh, David moved out of his bed, yawning collectively as he rose up his arms to stretch, it certainly didn’t feel like he had been asleep for nearly nine hours, he looked down upon his bed; with one simple motion he could sleep for another nine, he was sure of it, the effect sleep had on his body had always puzzled him; it seemed the more sleep he had the more tired he became when he awoke, it had been that way for as long as David could remember. But none of that mattered, David knew that.

Slowly he began to stumble towards the bathroom door across the room, glancing at the woman lying on the bed, her long brown hair lay resting on her shoulder, scarcely covered by the blanket hiding the rest of her body. Her name was Jessica, and she was the love of David’s life.

With a smile, David gripped the door knob to the bathroom and slowly pushed it open, receiving a greeting by his reflection in the massive mirror covering the entire wall opposite him, quickly, he pushed the door shut behind him and moved toward the sink before him. He turned the tap on the right and watched as water began splashing into the white bowl and draining down through the pipes connecting it. Quickly, he cupped his hands beneath the stream of water and splashed some on his face; the sudden cool sensation was a useful technique to wake the body, it was an experience he enjoyed every morning.

Turning off the tap, David ensued by undressing and moving into the shower, mixing the right amount of cold and hot water until he was satisfied with the warm temperature being shot out from the shower head and slowly drifted off with his thoughts.

Another week of work was looming and there was no way around it, always starting with Monday and hence being the hardest part. Summoning the strength to just continue doing the same job day in day out wasn’t the hardest thing in the world, but working at an Immulsion plant can get quite dull quite often. David was an Electrician; he had sought employment at the Immulsion plant because of how high they pay their workers, above or below ground; many people had theories as to why that is, the management team on the plant say it’s because of how important Immulsion is to the world at the moment, but no-body really knows for sure.

Several workers at an Immulsion plant in a boring little town quite far away claimed they had been attacked by some kind of monsters underground, the mining companies simply ruled it off as exposure to gas which caused the miners to ‘think’ they saw monsters, but it’s happened quite often lately. There have been other reports that tremors in the underground caverns surrounding Immulsion lakes are a grave threat to the company’s workers, but investigations into these tremors can’t seem to find anything behind it, or anything they’ll let us know about anyway.

David turned off the taps of the shower and dried himself with a towel before stepping back into the bedroom and getting dressed in his normal work uniform, on site at all times the workers had to wear bright orange shirts with reflective strips on them for easy finding should they get lost in the dark, that and long pants with steel-tipped boots. Every employee left their work clothes in the lockers so the cleaning staff could take care of them, it was company polocy, David always wore his white shirt with a black jacket ontop followed by a tie and long black pants. He liked to look professional in his work, even if it was just an electrician position.

Making his way down the stairs to the kitchen, David heard a click followed by the familiar voice of the morning news presenter and Jess’ familiar humming as she cooked breakfast in the kitchen, it was soothing, and she always hummed the tune to a lullaby David had long forgotten the name of. A smile upon his face, David walked into the kitchen and kissed Jessica on the lips, whispering a ‘morning’ as she pulled away to go back to the stove, a smile stretched on her face.

“Are you listening to the news?” She asked softly, turning her head to the television planted atop a cabinet in the living room adjacent to the kitchen.
David grabbed the remote from the counter beside him and turned the volume up, listening to the reporter as she began ranting on about tremors underground around the globe that had no apparent explanation.

“I’m worried David.” Jess exclaimed, a fit of emotion coming across her face, “Stay home with me today, I just have a bad feeling.”

David smiled, she was such a pessimist.

“I can’t Jess, we need the money, don’t worry I’ll be fine.” He moved over to her and embraced her in a hug, “Do you really think a few tremors underground can take me out?”

Jess giggled and looked in David’s blue eyes, invoking him to stare back at her. Jessica had the most beautiful eyes, a light shade of aqua that literally glistened in the sunlight.

“Just promise me you’ll be careful, okay?” She said, continuing to meet his gaze. “I promise.” David muttered, moving in to kiss her on the lips once again, “I’m always careful”.

Jess moved back to the stove and served up the breakfast for them both, they sat at the kitchen table listening to the sports reporter blaring out the results of the various Thrashball games played over the weekend, all the teams David had tipped for his betting club had won, it was one of his best picks all season.

After breakfast David bid Jess goodbye and left the house, closing the door behind him with his car keys in his right hand. Quickly, he moved toward his car and moved into the driver’s seat, closing the door beside him before sticking the keys in the ignition and turning them completely to the right, igniting the spark plug within the car and causing it to jumpstart the engine. It was a reliable car, quite an old model, but it had belonged to David’s father, and that was good enough reason in his mind to keep this car forever. He honked the horn to bid Jess goodbye before reversing out the driveway and beginning the hour long drive to the Immulsion Plant.

***

They say it’s the little things in life, the things everyone takes for granted, that people most regret when all hell breaks loose, metaphorically or literally.

David never much cared for the little things, even distant memories like the engraving in the trunk of the car that bears his and his father’s initials when he was eight, or the missing hubcap on the back left wheel that David had never gotten around the replace since the passing of his father, and yet, the millions of Locust forging their way through Sera’s crust beneath every major city on the planet couldn’t care less about the car that was handed down to David by his father, they had one mission. Kill.

***

The sun was now high in the sky; the beautiful Sera summer was beating down upon the planet, warming the atmosphere in a calming break from the previous winter. David glanced from the road to the small digital clock near the radio, which was playing some smooth jazz-rock style of music on a local radio station. The clock spanned another four digits, 07:53am, the drive was almost over. Oddly enough, the Immulsion station David worked at was located quite close to the centre of the city, somehow due to the large lake nearby. David had no idea how Immulsion was formed or what the conditions need to be and such, that wasn’t part of his job description, he just fixed things. Suddenly, the radio station flickered to a new telecast, ranting on about massive tremors on another continent and buildings collapsing and such. David turned off the radio; he had no interest in listening to that rubbish, the media seemed to blow everything out of propulsion these days.

David stopped before a large traffic jam not far from a turnoff to the central highway, there were cars extending as far as he could see, angrily, he smacked the steering wheel in front of him with the palm of his hand. Frustrated, he looked back at the time, 07:59, by the looks of this traffic jam he wasn’t going to make it to work in the next half an hour.

And then, as the last few seconds seemed to stand still, 08:00 came.

David was left in awe as a massive shockwave seemed to implode a few hundred metres ahead of him, sending cars soaring through the sky as a massive beast emerged from the ground, its eight horrific legs tore through buildings and vehicles as it emerged, sending rubble and terrified people in every direction. In almost an instant, the beast began smashing into anything it could find, levelling a building nearby in a matter of seconds, sending rubble crashing down on the road beneath it, flattening scattering people and vehicles in its wrath.

Gunfire began rattling out along the street, David could only watch as men, women and children were torn apart by bullets, sending them tumbling in a pile beside the massive emergence hole now spewing out hundreds of smaller creatures in every direction, their skin looked as if it had boiled in water and was a shade of pale white, haunting grins made their way across their faces as the large, bulky rifles they weilded pounded round after round of white hot bullets into countless humans.

David opened his car door, only to receive a badly placed spray of bullets ricochet off of his bonnet, leaving several gaping holes in the vehicle he was so readily abandoning as he fell out of the door and frantically threw his arms over his head.

Quickly, David clasped his hands over his ears to shield his hearing from the bellowing roar of the massive beast, who smashed itself into another building, sending rubble falling through the sky down towards David. In a desperate act to avoid being crushed, he picked himself up from the ground beside his car and sprinted with the crowd back the way he had come, watching as bullets and rubble smashed into helpless people, killing them on impact or leaving them wailing on the side of the road.

The spider like creature let out another enormous roar and took itself to the street, flicking up cars in the direction of the evacuating people ahead, David looked to the sky as several cars came crashing down into buildings and those running in the centre of the street, crushing no less than three at a time as the cars were sent rolling through body after body.

Adrenalin pumped through David’s veins, causing him to run faster and more efficiently then he ever had before, one missed step and he would surely be left behind.

In what seemed to make time stand still, a fireball flew through the air behind David, the whistling was all he could hear, he knew he couldn’t out-run it, no matter how hard he pushed himself to do so. With a crash the ball of flames smashed into the centre of the road no more then a few metres from David, exploding in a hell fire that sent everyone around soaring back into the buildings around them, in what seemed like certain death, David was slung to his left into an alleyway, engulfed in smoke and burns, and smashed into a chain link fence before falling into a large pile of trash cans, his head connecting with the concrete as he landed, causing a haze to drift in upon his vision.

In one final instant, he heard the creature roar again, smashing into a building nearby and watched as the rubble and dust flew by the alleyway, consuming the street in nothing but black fog, and then, everything faded into unconsciousness.

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[TheRealBigBoss]

Lol, yeah, I remember you.

Ok, so I promise to read this later, and tell you want I think then.

[Auzzie Legend]

Haha, I honestly didn't think people would. Look forward to your opinion on it.

[Wisdom Thumbs]

I remember you, Auzzie. I was still a lurker back when you were finishing Royal Blood, and liked the story enough to read it all the way through.

Would write a review, but that is a real hassle on this I-Touch. I'll just say that it's good to have you back, and I'm liking this chapter. Good characters, strong hook, fairly unique premise.

Keep it up.

[Jay the Arbiter]

So you did return. I saw your name under the title and I thought "Really? He's finally back?"

Good to see you, I'll take a proper look at this in a little while.

[Jonesybites]

Is this a re-write of an old fic you did, because I could have sworn I read something similar to this before...

Anyway, the atmosphere you painted here is excellent; the pace moves in the usual routine most of us can relate to, up until the great Emergence. My only suggestion/complaint is to put a space between paragraphs, just to break it up and make it easier to read...the color scheme on this forum is not too forgiving when it comes to blocks of text, or at least for me.

[Auzzie Legend]

Cheers everybody, it's good to see you all again, looking forward to those reviews! But yeah, its good to be back again. I'll write chapter two after work today.

Is this a re-write of an old fic you did, because I could have sworn I read something similar to this before...

Nah, not exactly. You might be remembering the dreams the character from Royal Blood had about his survival of emergence day, it was a little similar but this story is going to play out completely different.

[TheRealBigBoss]

Yeah, I agree, I think your writing is more rounded out, and it has a fuller, more complete style. If that makes any sense.

One thing that did confuse me was this...

massive emergence hole now spewing out hundreds of these creatures in every direction

Because you mentioned a Corpser, and gunfire, but didn't mention anything about Locust drones. So, to the reader it might read as hundreds of Corpsers with guns emerging, lol, which I know isn't what you meant.

Anyways, yeah, it's off to a great start, nicely done.

[SKORGE]

Late to the party, but damn your name still sounds sexy.

Anyway, this stuff reads great, and I'm hoping your not just drifting in. Rather, I think you need to continue this, keep it going. Atmosphere is a big thing for me, and you tend to paint that perfectly. As long as I can picture what's going on, then your doing a great job, which you are. So, continue any time.

As well, good to see some thick paragraphs of text. Times have changed though, most tend to skip over anything that looks too much like a challenge. So don't fret if too many people don't seem to comment. So, if I were you, I'd space those out a just little bit more. Break them down to smaller bricks of text, but that's not a requirement.

[Auzzie Legend]

Yeah, I agree, I think your writing is more rounded out, and it has a fuller, more complete style. If that makes any sense.

One thing that did confuse me was this...



Because you mentioned a Corpser, and gunfire, but didn't mention anything about Locust drones. So, to the reader it might read as hundreds of Corpsers with guns emerging, lol, which I know isn't what you meant.

Anyways, yeah, it's off to a great start, nicely done.

Thanks man, and cheers for the point out. I'll edit that a bit right away.

Late to the party, but damn your name still sounds sexy.

Anyway, this stuff reads great, and I'm hoping your not just drifting in. Rather, I think you need to continue this, keep it going. Atmosphere is a big thing for me, and you tend to paint that perfectly. As long as I can picture what's going on, then your doing a great job, which you are. So, continue any time.

As well, good to see some thick paragraphs of text. Times have changed though, most tend to skip over anything that looks too much like a challenge. So don't fret if too many people don't seem to comment. So, if I were you, I'd space those out a just little bit more. Break them down to smaller bricks of text, but that's not a requirement.

Yeah I noticed there was a bit of a one sided view to comment ratio haha, cheers for the advice, I'll edit in more spaces aswell.

[RaKais]

Another Fan Fic! Sweet. I shall read it after I've had some sleep. It's currently 6AM here in England-land so my brain is about to flatline. Stayed up finishing my latest Fan Fic chapter.

Stay tuned for a review!

[Auzzie Legend]

And here is Chapter 2:

Chapter 2: Aftermath

As if the day was beginning again, consciousness began to slip back into David’s mind. Somewhat of a silhouette in the large pile of garbage shadowed by a dimming sky and a towering building, his eyes began to open, the immediate realization of pain all upon his body caused his body to jerk upward in surprise, pain tingling down the back of his spine forcing him to grunt in agony.

Suddenly, a million still images of what happened prior to his waking flashed before his eyes, inciting a never dying feeling of fear so far into his chest it hammered into his bones with a painful ending of hopelessness.

Slowly, he began to rise from the pile of rubbish beneath him and stumbled into the wall of the building beside him, barely keeping on his feet from the pain surging down his spine and back again, like thousands of daggers were suddenly forced into the spinal structure beneath his skin.

With an uneasy feeling in his chest, David marched onward, slowly but surely, into the light at the end of the alley. It was surprising how far the explosion had sent him soaring, the fence he had collided with had to of been at least 20 metres back from the road, that was quite a distance. How the explosion hadn’t completely incinerated David was beyond him, all he knew was burn marks scattered his black coat and white undershirt, the burns beneath on his skin causing him to cringe with every step he took towards the road ahead.

Hesitantly, David peered down the road to the right as he reached the end of the alley, as he had awoken the smell in the air had been bad enough, but the sight? The sight was a million times worse.

The streets before him were lined with blood, bodies, rubble and scorch marks. Not far from his left there lay a woman with limbs missing, blood trails leading towards the gutter on the road simple a few inches from her head. Then, a horrible thought occurred to David, what if this woman had lost her life to the explosion that had spared his? What if his life had continued due to her life being lost?

It was unbearable, and almost killed David from the inside out, and would for the rest of his life. The horrible thing was, he knew that. Due to some divine miracle or simple act of luck, he was alive, while the streets before him were riddled with death and destruction at the hands of beasts unlike any the humankind has encountered in the past.

Averting his eyes from the carnage that had taken place while he was in a deep slumber, David moved back into the alley way and softly rested his head on the hard concrete wall behind him, every bone and organ in his body aching, attempting to repair itself from the physical torment it had endured in the past few hours. David didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, not that it really mattered anymore, as far as he knew, there wasn’t another soul in this city.

And then, his heart raced as his mind whispered a name. Jessica.

Startled at the thought, David pushed himself off the wall; worry for her life seemed to overcome him. He had to find her, he had to.

David once more walked onto the blood stained footpath ahead of him, cringing at the pain all over his body, but fighting a battle with it his mind seemed to be strong enough to win. He needed to get back to his home and find her, she was the only thing that mattered now, the rest of the world could wait.

Eager to continue, David pushed himself onward, moving towards one of the few cars that had not been overturned or destroyed, as he approached, David took notice of the bullet holes lining the front windscreen and bonnet. That wasn’t a good sign. Slowly, he peered in through the passenger seat window and jumped back, startled, as he laid his eyes upon two bodies, both rattled with gunfire, the hopeless look of death frozen eerily on their faces.

His heart racing, David moved back from the vehicle and moved toward another. No keys. He kicked himself in frustration; a car obviously wasn’t an option. Not here anyway.

Quickly, David moved back to the footpath and continued to follow it down the street, every little noise or creak of the twisted metal upon cars in the wind caused a panic in his heart, until, after an hour of nothing but dead bodies and toppled buildings, to David’s fear. He saw something move in the corner of his eye.

David stopped walking immediately; staring into the dark house he had seen movement inside. It looked like a fairly old house; the door was wooden and carved in the shape of an arch and the walls were made of firm brick painted white, a single glass window was seemingly cut out of the wall to David’s left, the blinds drawn on the other side and what looked like a torn pillow resting up against the transparent glass.

“Hello?” David managed to push from his vocal chords, the terror abundant in the half-hearted voice he mildly squeaked out.

There was a rattle inside the house and David noticed something on the door, a note maybe? With a few cautious steps, David moved towards the door and read the words listed in bright pink:

The Derrelic family isn’t home right now; we have taken a short shopping trip. Please, come back later.

Above the note was a large red hand print with blood oozing down upon the note, David had seen enough blood for a lifetime in this one short day, yet it still left an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach.

With a devastating screech, a creature leapt from the shadows within the house, smashing its head into David’s already intensely bruised rib cage and knocking them both to the ground. In almost an instant, the creature began lashing out, clawing into the skin on David’s chest and snapping its jaws in an attempt to grip the skin on his neck. In the struggle that was ensuing, David glanced at the creature, it was about the same height as a human child but much bulkier and wide, its pale skin was cold at touch and its weight was beating down upon him as he struggled to pry himself from its grip. There were horrible scratches and marks lining its face, all randomly dotted across its forehead and chin, and its two black eyes were fixated on David’s neck, as if they were entranced by the blood flowing beneath the soft, thin layer of skin.

Reacting to the creatures attempts to gash at his neck, David clasped his left hand into a fist and smashed it into the side of the creatures head, causing it a bit of a delay in its biting but leaving it relatively un-harmed. Grabbing the creatures face with his right hand, he swung once again with his left, mistakenly missing and connecting with the beast’s windpipe, causing it to choke in agony. Seizing the opportunity, David let go of the creatures head with his right hand reached for a small slab of rock a little out of his reach, stretching as far as possible with seconds to spare, he gripped the rock and slung it across his body, smashing it into the creatures head repeatedly until it fell off of him, withering in pain.

But that didn’t stop him.

Despite the blood splashing out with every hit the rock connected with the beast, David continued smashing it into the creature’s skull until it was simply a deformed layer of skin with eyes.

Gasping for breath and his heart racing, David picked himself up off the pavement, his stomach bleeding from the creature’s gashes. The cuts didn’t seem to be too deep and David didn’t have any intentions of slowing down. Spitting out blood from the initial blow to the chest and face he had received from the creature, he continued down the path, the thought of finding Jessica completely fixed with his mind.

Gunshots were still ringing out in the distance, whatever emerged from the ground earlier was still at large. David didn't care, all he wanted was Jessica, and he would go to hell and back to find her.

<<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>>

[Jay the Arbiter]

Okay, I've read chapter one and I thought it was very good!

Only one thing confused me:

“I’m worried David.” Jess exclaimed, a fit of emotion coming across her face, “Stay home with me today, I just have a bad feeling.”

David smiled, she was such an optimist, something he had never been.

Do you mean Pessimist? Because an Optimist is someone who has a positive attitude. (I could be totally wrong, but that's what I think anyway)

Will read Chapter 2 soon!

[Jonesybites]

Sux to be him...actually, it sucks to be anyone in this universe, lol....y'all ever noticed that?

[Auzzie Legend]

Do you mean Pessimist? Because an Optimist is someone who has a positive attitude. (I could be totally wrong, but that's what I think anyway)

Yeah sorry, I thought being optimistic was just having an opinion based on a feeling. Edited it though, thanks.

[Croswynd]

E-Day Civilian, huh? Interesting change of pace. The premise seems solid enough and your writing skills are obviously above par. Dialogue, what little there is, has the required emotion in it, which is a hard thing to do sometimes. But I think my favorite part is the little battle with the Wretch. That was exceedingly well done, to me, because I struggle with action scenes.

Not much to say on the story yet, but know I'll be reading. I like what I see thus far.

[Auzzie Legend]

E-Day Civilian, huh? Interesting change of pace. The premise seems solid enough and your writing skills are obviously above par. Dialogue, what little there is, has the required emotion in it, which is a hard thing to do sometimes. But I think my favorite part is the little battle with the Wretch. That was exceedingly well done, to me, because I struggle with action scenes.

Not much to say on the story yet, but know I'll be reading. I like what I see thus far.

Thanks mate, means alot. Hope I don't dissapoint with where I'm leading it, haha.

[SKORGE]

With what you're putting out, I doubt it.

Keep going, man. Starting to warm up to it, to the point where I'm going to be asking you for an update constantly.

[Jay the Arbiter]

Wretch fight!

I liked this chapter, very descriptive.

Only thing I noticed:

after an hour of nothing back dead bodies and toppled buildings,

nothing but dead bodies?

[Auzzie Legend]

nothing but dead bodies?

Hahaha, wow, big typo. Don't know how I didn't notice that. Thanks mate.

And chapter 3:

Chapter 3: Encounters

It had been eight hours since emergence day, the day that almost put the human race on the verge of extinction in the short 16 hours the Locust took to completely overrun every major city on the face of the planet. In the eyes of their illustrious queen, the Locust Horde would come to consider every battle beyond emergence day a simple formality for what was inevitable; the destruction of the human species. Of course, the human race brought it upon themselves, taking every day they live for granted and every little thing in their day that less fortunate are without is simply forgotten when they curl up within their beds.

Even simple things like fresh air and sunlight pass through their minds as given things, things that have to be there for them no matter how badly they treat their planet or how disrespectful they are to it.

The Locust Horde was Sera’s saviour, breaking the chains of human oppression upon nature’s gifts.

***

Solitude was no easy baggage to carry in what seemed like a lifeless world, a lonely world, filled with nothing but death and destruction. Empty streets all began to look the same, bearing nothing but battle scars at every glance whether in the form of the wretched bodies lining the streets, riddled with missing limbs or organs spat across the pavement like chunky soup, or in the form of twisted, burning metal lighting the dimming streets as a disappearing sun retreated towards the horizon, being attacked by lifeless clouds bearing the residue left from gunfire and explosions.

It seemed all that was left in this dead city was David’s hope, the hope that burnt within him, clinging to the thought that the love of his life, Jessica, may still be alive at their suburban home that seemed so very far.

Not another human soul had presented themselves to David since he had started his long, vigorous, journey home. The thought of finding somebody had become somewhat of a prayer, a hopeless fantasy that was ignorant to believe.

Or so David thought.

The sound of shouting pulled David from his somewhat distant thoughts and caused a smile of hope to whip its way across his face.

Could it really be other survivors?

As if to simply contradict and destroy David’s hope, gunfire began to pan out through the street, causing David to crouch low to the floor instantly, his hands clasped over his ears once more. Swiftly, he ran towards a large concrete barrier that seemed to have been placed not too long ago, a battle had obviously been involved in its placement by the many bullet fragments embedded within and the charred soot surrounding a body nearby.

Keeping his head down, David glanced down the road, his eyes fixating upon the ten or more pale creatures he had seen earlier crouching down behind a few barriers similar to his own, all firing bullets above their heads at something to the right of the T-junction at the end of the street.

The odd thing was, for the first he had seen all day; something seemed to be firing back.

Bullets were smashing into the concrete barriers housing refuge for the creatures, sending small fragments of concrete through the air like shrapnel. David winced as a bullet hit one of the creatures in the skull, sending it falling backwards in a pool of dark, red blood.

It didn’t take long for the other nine to meet the same fate, burying one another in bodies as they fell one by one.

And then, as soon as it had begun, the firing stopped, leaving the street in silence.

Still keeping his head down, David peered back over the barrier, waiting for whatever had cleared his path to reveal itself.

To the joy in David’s heart, a soldier emerged from the corner of the street, completely covered with bulky armour from his neck downwards; a glowing blue Coalition of Ordered Governments emblem was embedded into his shoulder.

David continued to watch as three more soldiers moved into the end of the street; all carried what looked like Lancer assault rifles, almost everybody affected by the scourn of the Pendulum wars knew what a Lancer assault rifle was. David's father had kept a similar rifle after the wars, and when he passed on, the Lancer was given to David as stated in his fathers will. To this day it was still wrapped in plastic in a large box in David's living room.

Slowly, David moved from his cover, calling out to the soldiers and waving his arms to get their attention.

Startled, the soldiers raised their weapons, pointing them in David’s direction, immediately lowering them as they realised he was human.

“We’ve got another civilian here!” One of them shouted back as David walked up to greet him.

“God is it good to see you!” David exclaimed, unable to contain his joy, a sudden feeling of security overcoming him.

“I bet it is” Another said, looking David up and down, his blood stained shirt must have been an indication of the hardship he had endured in the last few hours, god knows what he was thinking was right.

“You’re safe now son” The first stated again, he seemed to be the leader; the insignias placed upon his chest plate indicated that he was a sergeant, a higher rank then the others.

Several other civilians emerged from down the road, moving over to David quickly, they all had tattered clothing and some were battered and bruised. Most of them were men, the few women lined the back of the group as they approached, it was probably the safest place for them to be.

“You’re going to have to come with us, there’s evac transports waiting on the city limits as we speak.” The sergeant explained, reloading the clip in his rifle.

David simply shook his head.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I need to head home and check if my girlfriends okay.” He exclaimed, pointing in the direction the soldiers had come from.

“Look kid, we’re one of the last patrols coming through here for survivors, martial law is in effect and what I say goes. So you’re coming with us.”

Before David had a chance to retaliate, gunfire rained down upon them from the buildings surrounding the street, ripping bullets into one of the soldiers, dropping him to the ground yelling in agony.

David felt himself being dragged by the soldier, pulling both of them behind cover as he fired upwards at the building across the street.

Pulling his head back down into cover, the sergeant moved his index finger to his ear.

“Command, this is Bravo three, we’ve come under fire by enemy forces and are harbouring stranded, I repeat, we have civilians under fire in sector 63” He bellowed over the gunfire, looking to his left as another soldier was hit, wailing in agony.

“Command do you copy?” He shouted once more, apparently receiving no word on assistance.

The sergeant whispered something David couldn’t hear under his breath and pulled himself back up above the cover, firing five more rounds into a window across the street before coming back down to the cover.

“Listen to me.” He exclaimed, grabbing David’s shoulder: “That building just ahead has an open door, I need you to run across the street and tell the others they need to retreat inside that building on my mark, okay?”

David nodded, nervousness racking up inside his stomach like fluttering butterflies.

“Get ready, when I start shooting, you run! Keep an eye out for my mark to get inside the building.”

Swiftly, the sergeant began firing again, drawing the attention of the majority of the gunfire, and in that instant. David ran.

Getting to his feet, David pushed as much energy into his speed as possible, feeling the air flow of bullets on his skin as they scraped past him and smashed into the road behind him. Eventually, David reached the point where the others were taking cover and threw himself behind cover, literally.

After explaining what they needed to do, David looked towards the sergeant, who slapped in a new clip to his rifle and nodded in his direction.

And then, something landed behind him.

David wasn’t quite sure what the object was, it had two mace-like balls covered with spikes on the end of a short chain which was attached to a handle, however, it seemed to worry the sergeant. With three short beeps, the object exploded, sending dust and pieces of concrete showering in a 10 metre distance, leaving the sergeant as a puddle of blood and organs scattered around the concrete barriers.

In horror, David rose from his cover and began sprinting towards the door, the other civilians following suit. As the mad dash for the building began, the bullets started flying once more, tearing into the civilians at the back of the pack first, sending them face first into the road tangled in a bloody mess. David’s eyes were only fixated on the door, nothing else mattered. He had to survive, for Jessica.

More and more of the civilians fell to the bullets, leaving only two left as they thundered through the door way and fell to the floor gasping for breath. Continuing his run, David could almost taste the safety within the doorway as the familiar whistling he had heard earlier that day rang out above all else.

His mind rang out with the same line, only a few metres to go, just keep going. The whistling grew louder as he threw himself through the doorway, cringing as the missile smashed into the top of the stone building they had sought refuge within, sending stone and wood crashing down upon the doorway, sealing the three survivors in with no light to guide their way.

David couldn’t help but think of the bright side as he lay on the floor beside the man and woman, he now had help, and with that help he could find his way home.

He was going to find Jessica.

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[Jay the Arbiter]

You're getting too fast for me.

Will read ASAP.

[Jonesybites]

Ugh, slow down...as much as I love it when people actually update their fics, it's overwhelming when all of y'all post, AT THE SAME TIME!

There's several that I'm still trying to catch up on, lol. ...and now I'm going to get behind on this one.

[Auzzie Legend]

Heh, sorry, didn't think I was going too fast. I'll wait for reviews before posting the next chapter.

[Wisdom Thumbs]

Yes, please slow down! I'm not even done with Chapter 2 yet!

Will post a review in a bit, then go and post another chapter for Necromanteion.

[Croswynd]

If you wanna slow down, you could read my fanfic (in muh sig). :P

/shameless advertising.

[RaKais]

Tut tut Cros! xD

[Wisdom Thumbs]

Solitude was no easy baggage to carry in what seemed like a lifeless world, a lonely world, filled with nothing but death and destruction. Empty streets all began to look the same, bearing nothing but battle scars at every glance whether in the form of the wretched bodies lining the streets, riddled with missing limbs or organs spat across the pavement like chunky soup, or in the form of twisted, burning metal lighting the dimming streets as a disappearing sun retreated towards the horizon, being attacked by lifeless clouds bearing the residue left from gunfire and explosions.

This paragraph was so good that I read it three times and copied and pasted it into this post. The symbolism and the word picture you just painted is AMAZING.

Both chapters ratcheted up the intensity, and while David's quest is by no means original or even all that engaging, it does work well to evolve the man's character. He seems to have changed noticeably since the first chapter, driven by fear as much as determination; it doesn't seem like he's a badass who's determination and iron will is going to prevail. It seems more like he's desperately clinging to his goal (find Jessica) rather than giving up and dying.

One thing I noticed that might be an error with canon is that he's called a stranded by the Gears, and he also doesn't seem to recognize Lancers. That would be like people not recognizing the M16 if Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan had all been one long war; he seems like some sort of ignorant "I don't pay attention to the world" ***wit if all he sees is "enormous gun". And nobody was called a stranded during E-Day; the term 'Stranded' was coined about a year later, after the Hammer of Dawn scoured the planet.

I also noticed that the squad was called Bravo Three. That's... very intriguing, because there are four squads in my story; Bravo One, Bravo Two, Bravo Three, and Bravo Four. My idea was that instead of using the Greek alphabet (Beta) the strike teams would use a different naming conventions.

Maybe we could tie your Bravo Three to my Bravo Three? Not necessary, just something I'm wondering.

[Auzzie Legend]

This paragraph was so good that I read it three times and copied and pasted it into this post. The symbolism and the word picture you just painted is AMAZING.

Thanks man.

One thing I noticed that might be an error with canon is that he's called a stranded by the Gears, and he also doesn't seem to recognize Lancers. That would be like people not recognizing the M16 if Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan had all been one long war; he seems like some sort of ignorant "I don't pay attention to the world" ***wit if all he sees is "enormous gun". And nobody was called a stranded during E-Day; the term 'Stranded' was coined about a year later, after the Hammer of Dawn scoured the planet.

Cheers for clearing that up, and yeah I didn't know exactly when the stranded term came into it, I'll edit that out.

I also noticed that the squad was called Bravo Three. That's... very intriguing, because there are four squads in my story; Bravo One, Bravo Two, Bravo Three, and Bravo Four. My idea was that instead of using the Greek alphabet (Beta) the strike teams would use a different naming conventions.

Maybe we could tie your Bravo Three to my Bravo Three? Not necessary, just something I'm wondering.

Sorry about that haha, while I was writing I just pulled a random squad name with no second thoughts about it, I wasn't really planning on having them in much else of the story, but it could just be a cameo appearance I suppose. Its up to you really, I'm not fussed about changing the squad name if you'd prefer that.

By the way, thanks for the elaborate review, I love getting big blocks of feedback like that haha.

[JD aus]

You're Aussie and you're a legend.

[Wisdom Thumbs]

Thanks man.

Cheers for clearing that up, and yeah I didn't know exactly when the stranded term came into it, I'll edit that out.

Sorry about that haha, while I was writing I just pulled a random squad name with no second thoughts about it, I wasn't really planning on having them in much else of the story, but it could just be a cameo experience I suppose. Its up to you really, I'm not fussed about changing the squad name if you'd prefer that.

By the way, thanks for the elaborate review, I love getting big blocks of feedback like that haha.

I know, man. Big blocks of reviewage for the win! I love that stuff!

As for the squad, your Bravo Three isn't the same as my Bravo Three. My Bravo Three is led by a black guy with a huge mane of hair that sticks out from under his helmet, and he joined up on E-Day; he wouldn't have been a Sergeant then.

You don't have to change the name, it's fine. Though I would suggest using Kappa One or Kappa Two; the Kappa squads don't get any love from anybody, even the book fans.

[Auzzie Legend]

I know, man. Big blocks of reviewage for the win! I love that stuff!

As for the squad, your Bravo Three isn't the same as my Bravo Three. My Bravo Three is led by a black guy with a huge mane of hair that sticks out from under his helmet, and he joined up on E-Day; he wouldn't have been a Sergeant then.

You don't have to change the name, it's fine. Though I would suggest using Kappa One or Kappa Two; the Kappa squads don't get any love from anybody, even the book fans.

Ahaha, sounds good. And yeah I just read your first chapter, enjoyed it alot, I'll elaborate in your thread after I finish editing.

[Wisdom Thumbs]

Thanks man, and feel free to post another chapter whenever. So long as "whenever" is "right now" .

[Jay the Arbiter]

Just read Chapter 3 and, yeah, it was very good!

Yeah, I'm probably the worst critic and reviewer, but I read it and liked it. Good enough for me!

[Auzzie Legend]

Anymore reviews or critisism before I post the next chapter? I have half of it written, so.

[Wisdom Thumbs]

I have already posted my reviews/criticism, and eagerly await Chapter Four...

"Eager" might be an understatement here.

[SKORGE]

Post away, anytime dude....

[Auzzie Legend]

Chapter 4: forgive me if this chapter isn't up to the bar, it's two in the morning and I just completely re-wrote it, but I'm happy with the way its turned out (or so my 2am brain thinks).

Chapter 4: Descent

Picking himself off the flood, David examined his surroundings, the unfriendly smell of dust and explosive residue lined the air, causing his nose to twitch as he took another breath of the contaminated oxygen around him.

His surroundings were dark, very dark. Almost everything around him was hidden in a coat of black, the only light entering the room coming from various small cracks in the massive rubble pile that had engulfed the doorway.

Gunfire still rang out on the other side of the destroyed doorway; the team of soldiers who had saved David’s life were apparently still valiantly fighting off the creatures that had ambushed them, consuming the street in an instant fire fight.

David heard one of the other survivors cough as they finally regained their breath, obviously a reaction to the thick air around them. He moved over to her and grabbed her hand, helping her up onto her feet before doing the same with the wheezing gentleman to her left.

“I’m David” He managed to protrude from his lungs, a grim expression lining his face as the woman before him attempted to drag out a welcoming smile from the pit of her stomach, fighting a losing battle with the hopelessness in her heart.

David studied the woman before him with his eyes; she was of a rather average height and had short, black hair touching the back of her ears. Her eyes were a dull shade of brown, as if the colour had been brought on by the pain she obviously hid behind them, a testament to all the lost lives she had witnessed in the past twelve hours. Her clothes were riddled with tears and blood stains, and seemed to be her work uniform, a formal black jacket and long black dress pants.

“My—My names Sarah” She stuttered from her lips, the dry skin of her top lip scratching against the bottom, all to help with the uncomfortable feeling the day had brought on.

“Yeah, and uh, I’m Frank” Announced the other survivor, who gestured to shake David’s hand.

The man had black skin and was quite tall, he wore long sleeved, checker shirt and long white pants, as if he had just strolled out from a casino. He had quite a muscular build and bore several long, fresh scratches along his face; it seemed he had been attacked by a similar creature that had attempted to kill David.

Turning from the other two survivors, David noticed small cracks of light escaping from around a doorframe on the other side of the room and gestured to the others. Making every effort to remain quiet, he slowly walked up to the door and placed his ear to the cold wood, hearing only a muffled voice as the sound bounced from surface to surface on the other side of the door.

Keeping his voice low, he whispered for the others to stay put and gently placed his hand around the doorknob, turning it quietly and pushing the door open, revealing the long hallway that expansively connected to what looked like a kitchen.

Suddenly, the voice he had heard stopped, leaving nothing but the soft sound of gunfire continuing in the street outside. David felt uneasy, the silence was eerie, leaving nothing but the constant ringing inside his ears, bearing down upon his mind as if a thousand souls were screaming directly into his hear.

None-the-less, David began to move, cringing as the floorboards beneath him creaked on every second step, leaving unnatural facial expressions of fear upon his face. Time seemed to drag on as David continued down the narrow hallway, his eyes darting from object to object in the kitchen ahead of him, until; finally, he stepped out onto the cold tiles on the kitchen floor.

The room around him was wrecked; pots and pans lined the floor, accompanied by an overturned fridge and smashed china wear. To his right, David noticed a puddle of blood and a line of the thick red paste oozing over the carpet in the doorway beside it, leading into what seemed to be a living room. Uneasy about the feeling in his stomach, David followed the line, it seemed someone or something had been dragged out of the kitchen unwillingly, overturned furniture and scratch marks lined the floor and walls around the blood trail, leaving the unsettling image of a human being dragged, still alive, to the jaws of some eager beast. As David turned the corner into the living room, his heart raced at the image before him.

A massive hole was centred in the room, as if a massive drill had come straight out from below the house, unleashing hell upon the unsuspecting living room and its inhabitants.

Furniture around the hole was barely staying on one side of the hole, there was a television set dangling down into the hole, being kept from plunging to its death only by its power cord, which was stretched to its threshold along the floor and into the wall adjacent to the gaping hole before it. A large table housing a radio that produced the eerie sound of static was somewhat hanging in the balance also, one of its legs disappearing into the hole while the combined mass of the radio and table kept it from giving in to gravity and plunging down into hell itself.

The hole seemed similar to the hole David had seen the creatures emerging from earlier that morning, only smaller, and the sight of one inside the house raised many questions. How many of these things had come out of the ground? Surely this and the other hole weren’t the only places the creatures emerged, what if they had attacked other cities aswell?

Dismissing his wandering mind, David moved across the room to the hole, watching as the bloodline ended directly before the hole. Something obviously took a human back down with it.

As he peered down into the hole, keeping as much distance as possible from the edge, David wasn’t sure how he felt about what he saw.

About a fifteen metre drop below him revealed that they were above a subway line, the steel that lined the track below glistened slightly in the dim light protruding downwards from the house into the dark tunnel.

Startled, David looked to the radio as the static was replaced by a voice, the voice David had heard from the other side of the door.

This is a broadcast from the Coalition of Ordered Governments; please stand by.

David moved back from the hole and contained his startled heart, taking deep breaths to slow its pace as the man on the radio continued the announcement:

Citizens, a merciless enemy has revealed itself to the world today, infecting our cities with its filth and lust for death. Already, hundreds of cities across the globe have been attacked, with the casualty rate already reaching the hundreds of thousands. The creatures assaulting us from every angle seem to protrude through the very surface of the ground itself, allowing them to emerge from anywhere. As of 01400 hours I am initiating an evacuation of every major city on the continent, Raven class helicopters will be sent in along with military personnel to round up and rescue surviving citizens from the bloodlust of this new enemy. If you are hearing this, please, remain in your homes and wait for military personal to collect your families and above all, stay safe.

May god help us all.

As quickly as it had begun, the message drifted off into static, leaving David staring at the small grey contraption as it continued spraying the foul noise at him.

Returning to the others, David explained the situation and formed a plan to descend into the tunnels, using some persuasion to get the other two survivors to agree. After finding some rope, the three of them assembled beside the hole, listening as the message sprung to life over the radio once more and repeated its information, unfortunately, the evacuation had ended. They would have to find their own way out.

Grabbing the long rope they had found in the house, Frank tied one end to the refrigerator they had dragged into the living room from the kitchen and placed behind a couch for support, it seemed heavy enough to support all of their weight while they inched their way down the rope.

Volunteering to go first, David grabbed the rope and sat on the edge of the hole, getting ready to wrap his feet around it to keep his balance as he lowered himself.

The tunnel truly was the only way out of this building; all the windows had been barred from the outside for storm protection, an obvious design flaw of the house. The residence didn’t even have a backyard, it seemed the building behind was too cramped in to leave enough space to support one, therefore, the gaping hole in the middle of the living room was the only feasible point of exit.

Getting a good grip on the rope and setting himself up to climb down, David began to slowly edge his way down the rope, feeling as if death was creeping around the corner with every inch lower into the tunnel he became, but he had to do this, there was no other way to get back to Jessica, the tunnel would have to do.

<<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>>

[SKORGE]

Nice work, Auzzie.

What I like about your writing is the fact that you seem to have a grasp on getting story out with characters and the overall text that is accompanied alongside the dialog. See, that's where some people struggle, some don't. But I think, you manage to set the tone and atmosphere with the words you churn out, as well as what the characters say, do and how they act. That's also a biggie.

I enjoyed the latest chapter, so, anytime you happen to get another one out, feel free to post it.

[Auzzie Legend]

Nice work, Auzzie.

What I like about your writing is the fact that you seem to have a grasp on getting story out with characters and the overall text that is accompanied alongside the dialog. See, that's where some people struggle, some don't. But I think, you manage to set the tone and atmosphere with the words you churn out, as well as what the characters say, do and how they act. That's also a biggie.

I enjoyed the latest chapter, so, anytime you happen to get another one out, feel free to post it.

Thanks mate, I was worried chapter four would be a bit dull due to the lack of action scenes, but I suppose I had it in my mind to set aside a chapter for David to comprehend the attack on Sera and to introduce himself to the others.

Will post chapter 5 this afternoon (or early morning where you guys are? I have no idea hahaha), I wrote most of it last night because it was actually supposed to be part of chapter four, but four was getting a bit long, so I cut it in half.

[SKORGE]

Oh no worries man, action doesn't always mean the chapter is great. You can have a lot of action, but at the end of the day, the story and characters are what carry the events and fiction.

Chapter five... I can expect that to be up by tomorrow afternoon for me, then.