Sanctuary

Stairs. That was one thing about living in the Rows. Lots and lots of stairs.

Theoretically there were elevators but they were just as likely to leave you standing there pushing a non responsive button as they were to take you to the wrong floor and not open the doors. V jogged upward muttering, '236, 237, 238...' as she climbed.

When she finally reached her apartment she was more than ready for the shower, reading her mother's note, and falling into bed for a few hours' sleep.

She made sure the door was locked and the apartment secured twice. She didn't fear Robert, exactly, but she didn't want him to find an opportunity, either.

 

After a meaningless trip to the Net Cafe, Darmetrius discovered he accomplished absolutely nothing. He hadn't thought a lick about what plan of action he would take regarding his deceased family. He knew he needed to get rid of those bodies before they stunk the place up. It was obvious he wouldn't find another place to go to this day.

Then he had a thought. He didn't want to spend another night at his place until he could effectively clean up over there. He had the thought to go to his girlfriend's place for the night, and possibly think up something in the morning over breakfast. He had a taste for her eggs. She made very good eggs.

He got up from his seat at the cafe, eying the multitudes of people he hadn't really noticed while deep in thought. He thought again about that guy that asked him for a printer. He chuckled to himself and shook his head.Then he noticed the cute register girl who gave him a big smile. She was perky, with curly brown hair and freckles on her cheeks. He winked at her, receiving one back as he gathered the rest of his things to leave.

"Thank you for the coffee. It was the best." he said with a smile.

It was the worst, but he wasn't trying to split hairs.

"Come back soon." she replied, still smiling.

Darmetrius waved back as he left the cafe. The streets were a far cry from that cozy cafe. Or maybe since Darmetrius had to pay some attention out there, he felt a little different. He walks by a mother with two kids and instantly remembers his mother, holding his and his brother's hands as little kids. He didn't trust any officials, that was why he hadn't done something about his family already.

One of the kids smiled at him, a cute little girl. She was holding a teddy bear that slipped out of her hands. He bends down to pick it up, giving her a smile as he placed the bear back in her grasp.

"What do you say to the nice man, sweetie?" asked the mother.

"Thank you, mister." the little girl said with a wide grin.

"You're very welcome." he said back. He looked at the mother and said "You all have a nice day."

The mother smiled and nodded as she and the two children went about their affairs.

Darmetrius was so wrapped up in being friendly, he almost forgot he was headed to his girlfriend's place instead of his own. He took a second to get himself back into gear and was now en route to her spot.

 

Joshua led Jess to one of the smaller tea rooms near his apartment. He often came here, more for the company of the owner, a Jewish man named Jacob Cohen. When Joshua's mother had been alive, he had often taken Joshua there for breakfast or lunch. As usual, Jacob came out the front door to greet them.

"Shalom, Joshua. How are you?" He stopped when he saw Jess. "And who is your friend?"

Joshua winced. The old man obviously did not like the looks of Jess. "Her name is Jessica Bennet, she is my guide today." He smiled at the man, who was now studying the woman next to him. "We where hoping you could make us some tea."

Jacob tore his gaze from Jessica, looked at Joshua and then nodded. "Come in."

Joshua and Jess took a table in one of the far corners of the tea room. Joshua leaned backwards in his chair. "Jacob doesn't seem to like you, but that's okay. He thinks every man or woman with dyed hair is opposing the Ribbono Shel Olom, and that piercings are a thing of sitra achra."

He noticed he was trying to comfort himself as much as he tried to comfort her. "So, tell me, you from around here?"

Yes," Jess replied slowly, looking puzzled. The silence lingered and she looked down at the table and began nudging grains of sugar into a strange pattern. “I live in an apartment with my aunt.”

 

Mission II: Inundation
Min Limit: 700 Max Limit: 3500
*Describe and encounter with They
*Witness They kill a person or groups of people
*Rush to defend the Wall
*Meet up at the Wall
-----------------------------------------------------------

The brightness of the midday lights overhead had only just begun to dim towards evening while Operations Officer Kerrington prepared to retire from his shift for the day. He had a little under an hour to go before he could forget about the myriad security screens and relax in the comfort of his small third floor apartment. Kerrington thought he might grab another bite to eat once he got home, maybe stop by one of the internet cafe's for a bit. A warm shower was sounding good too right about then. Unfortunately thought, Kerrington would not get the chance to relax.

One by one the security screens grew fuzzy and then blacked out entirely. By the time either Kerrington or his assistant could shake themselves out of shock, the entire wall of screens was completely black.

In a sudden rush of noise the coms equipment came alive with panicked reports from other parts of the Wall and the HQ. Kerrington slid his chair back and forth between the various control panels, typing out a frantic message here, attempting to calm the frantic soldiers there.

"I need a sit rep now!" Kerrington shouted over his shoulder at his equally frantic assistant.

"Major systems failures all over Sanctuary. Security devices have failed and we've lost coms with the Eastern Sector entirely," he replied, a hint of hysteria in his voice.

"What about the guns? Tell me we still have the rail guns damn it!" Kerrington demanded, almost pleaded.

The assistant spun to face Kerrington, his mouth hanging open and all the blood drained from his face. "Sir...sir the Rail Guns are down."

Just as the sentence finished, there was the earth shattering sound of an explosion as the massive generators that powered Sanctuary failed. The Security room went completely dark along with the rest of Sanctuary.

There was only a brief moment of the Operations Officer and his assistant staring at each other, both knowing exactly what must be happening all over the Wall. Yet it was a brief moment, and in seconds Kerrington was in action again. "Get me Douglass! I need him on the Coms right now!"

"Sir...all the Coms are down. We've completely blacked out."

"The run your ass down the hall and get him!"

The Operations assistant bolted from the room, leaving a shocked and angry Kerrington to stare into his own palms.

-~<>~-

Operations Assistant Michael Warren made his way through the narrow corridors of the Wall, soldiers, armed to the hilt, were running at full speed towards the upper sections. The assistant could hear the unmistakeable sound of gunfire, even muted through the thick metal walls. He knew what it meant, knew that They were attacking in full force. He also knew that everyone in Sanctuary was doomed. As the thought became truth in his mind, he found himself crouched with his back against the wall and crying into his own hands. He knew that even if he managed to find Douglass in the panic that it would make no difference.

"You there! Get up! We could use you out there!" came the shouts of a nearby soldier as he tossed a rifle to Michael.

"I'm...I'm no soldier," Michael said to him.

"Doesn't matter. They are out in full force. Everyone is rushing to the Wall to defend, civilians and everything. This is it. If we don't push them back here then we all die."

Michael stared at the gun, knowing that they would all die no matter what. Silently, Michael stood and took firm hold of the gun.

"Good now come-" The soldier fell as Michael shot him sqaure in the head, blood splattering in the narrows halls around him.

"Forgive me..." Michael said as he took the barrel of the rifle and put it to his own head.

-~<>~-

General Douglass was thrown to the ground by the sound of the generators exploding. He looked briefly at where Vishka had been. The ventillation shaft had been ripped from the cieling by the explosion. Douglass hope for a moment that the creature might have been crushed, but in the next moment he was out the door and headed to the ramparts. This was the attack he had been waiting for.

Up on the ramparts, soldiers and civillians alike were firing down on an advancing wave of Dragoons. Douglass had never seen something so terrifying. No matter how many Dragoons fell, which was relatively few, five more came forward to replace it. He ducked as a volley of gunfire pounded the ramparts. When he rose and looked, almost a fourth of the people on the ramparts had been killed.

Douglass grabbed the nearest soldier and shouted over the din, "Whats wrong with the rail guns?"

"Think the bastards cut the power somehow. Its black all over Sanctuary. I figure we've got fifteen minutes before the emergency lights here in the Wall go out. You might want to find a place to hide sir, this is lookin' like the last stand."

The rail guns were down. Douglass went pale at the thought. The rail guns had been what kept Sanctuary safe, what the military had prided itself on in all the papers and on the websites. Slowly, the idea took root in Douglass head that no one would survive the day. Frantically, he grabbed up the gun of a fallen soldier and began firing down at the twisting mass of They.

However, before he could even take one down, he felt a sharp pain in his chest. When he looked down, he was greeted with the sight of seared blood and flesh. Then he collapsed into a shock induced unconsciousness.

-~<>~-

At 1:22 PM on an indeterminate day of an indeterminate year, the power systems that kept Sanctuary's heart beating failed one by one. Without anything to power them, the city-bunker's massive rail guns were useless, leaving the people of Sanctuary completely defenseless. When the lights went out, darkness engulfed Sanctuary, only serving to deepen the horror of what happened next.

The entire front wall of the Bunker caved in under the pressure of what seemed like a hundred thousand Dragoons. They had been digging around the bunker for quite some time and the time had come to finally attack. The people of Sanctuary were caught completely off gaurd.

By the thousands, civilans rushed to the Wall with their own weapons or the weapons of fallen soldiers to defend their precious city and what was left of human kind. Though they fought with a zealousness that had not been seen since the Spartans, they were no match for the sheer numbers of their enemies and were slowly being overwhelmed by the flood.

In the holding cells, guards abandoned their posts to do what they could on the ramparts. The power failure mean that the electronic doors of the cells were no longer locked. This left Vishka staring towards the open door, weighing his chances of survival. A rather shaken looking Dre had just managed to crawl from the fallen ventilation shaft, staring in confusion as the sounds of gunfire erupted.

 

I shook my head and replied,"Yes, if you would just put that piece of junk down and hurry over here." I picked up my perfect creation and turned on the laser sight and switched it to level 1 charge. I looked back over at the girl. "My name is Bruce by the way, What is yours," I asked with a genuinely kind smile.

 

Zefie still didn’t trust the man, and she expected that as soon as she put her rifle down he would turn his gun on her. Despite her suspicions, however, the proud, almost loving look his gave the weapon as he picked it up made her wonder if maybe he really did mean what he said – if he just wanted to show his gun off.

His smile certainly seemed genuine, but Zefie had lived in the Junkyard long enough to know that you could never trust appearances. Experts in deception never seemed like they were deceiving you. That was the point.

So it was with a wary frown that she edged closed to Bruce, and his gun. It was with hesitation that she told him her name, but then she supposed her name didn’t mean a whole lot in the scheme of things.

“Zefie.”

Still wary, and keeping her eyes nailed to Bruce, she gently placed the rifle on the ground. As she straightened, she reached out to see if he really would give her the gun.

He did.

With surprise she fitted it into the crook over her elbow and examined the sleek black casing. It was heavier than the rifle, and fitted with various switches she couldn’t even begin to fathom the use of. It was making that high-pitched whining again, and there was a digital screen that seemed to be indicating something Zefie didn’t understand.

She looked up at Bruce. “How’s it work?”

As the last word left her lips the lights suddenly went out. They were enveloped in darkness, only the faint light from the screen illuminating their identical, shocked expression. Zefie could hear Bruce’s breathing and she looked at a darker patch of shadows where she thought he was stood.

“What – what’s happenin’?”

 

"Zefie that's a cute name," He smiled at her as she took a hold of the gun. She seemed clueless about it but that was to be expected since this is a one of kind weapon. She fiddled with it a bit but couldn’t figure out how it worked. I walked over behind her and moved the butt of the gun under arm. She smelt nice like a mixture of oil and flowers. He pulled her finger from the trigger and straightened it to the side. I fit my arms onto the form of her arms. I trembled a bit; I have never been this close to the opposite sex before. She flinched a little but then figured that I was not going to try to hurt her. I fitted her arm under the gun and set her thumb on the fail safe button. I hoped that I wouldn’t have to use this button ever and hoped this was a perfect design but nothing is ever perfect. Maybe except for this girl she is really interesting. I held the gun with her and waited for the beep. “Now when you hear it beep once it is done with the level 1 charge then you can pull the trigger,” He said standing directly behind her holding the gun. I looked over her shoulder and caught a whiff of the smell of her hair. She really did smell nice. Another smile ran across my face hopefully she wouldn’t see. I watched the charge get closer to the end of level 1. My heart began to pound against her back and a level of excitement rushed through my blood. Suddenly the lights of the Sanctuary shut off and emergency lights set around sprang on. I pressed Zefie’s thumb onto the fail safe shutting it down immediately. “They are here,” I said as Zefie quickly dropped the Rail Gun into my hands. She spun around and grabbed the rifle she had set down. I watched as she dashed off towards another part of the Junkyard. I was torn between rushing back to HQ, the Wall, and after her. She disappeared into the depths of the junkyard. I turned to head towards the wall but her scent was still in my system. I stood there and thought about her for a second. This girl would I ever see her again. I rushed back to the duffel bag and searched through it. I found the strap in of the pockets and quickly tried to hook on to Rail Gun. Finally, in my panic I got it to fit. I just realized I still have my goggles in my pocket. I hung the Rail Gun on my shoulder and searched my pockets for my goggles. I found them in my left pocket and pulled them out. I fitted them on my face in and flipped a switch on the side. It went into a scope mode. I looked to my left and saw a few people running away from something. A man was shot down as the rest kept across that street. Suddenly I saw They appear out of the side of my goggles. They headed towards the downed man. He begged and pleaded for his life but with no remorse They executed him in cold blood. I quickly took refuge behind some of the junk hoping did They did not see me. This group of They continued after the group that had gotten away. That route towards HQ was now obviously cut off. The scent of Zefie and her face ran through my mind again as I closed my mind and tried to figure out what to do. I pulled the goggles and set them on my forehead. I ran in the direction in which Zefie disappeared in hopes I could find her and maybe keep her safe. She didn’t really seem like one who needed protecting but I think I just wanted to see her again. I quickly dashed back into the depths of the Junkyard.

 

Yes," Jess replied slowly, looking puzzled. The silence lingered and she looked down at the table and began nudging grains of sugar into a strange pattern. “I live in an apartment with my aunt.”

Joshua opened his mouth, but closed it again as he realized he had no idea what to ask next. The woman in front of him was obviously a bit distracted. He could press her for answers, but he doubted that was the best way to proceed.

He smiled at her kindly, and opened his mouth to say something. But before he could say a word, the entire tea room went black. Joshua let out a small gasp. A power malfunction? No, that couldn’t be it. The generators where checked daily. Something else was wrong.

He looked at Jessica, who was still staring at the grains of sugar. “Are you okay?” He immediately felt stupid for asking the question.

“Yes,” she replied, looking up from the table. Joshua was amazed at how calm she was. Perhaps she was more than just a little distracted.

His thoughts were brutally disturbed by Jacob who stumbled into the main room. He was pale, more pale then Joshua had ever seen him before, not even when Joshua had first brought a girl into the tea room after his mother had passed away.

“Jacob? Jacob what’s wrong?” Jacob looked into Joshua’s eyes. What he saw scared him more than the darkness surrounding them. Terror in its most pure form. “Ribbono Shel Olom. God keep us save. They are here. They are at the wall.”

Joshua stared at the man, not fully able to comprehend what the man had just said. Then it hit him. “The rail guns. They won’t work without juice. They destroyed the generators.” He felt his knees give away. “The Wall… it’s defenseless. Good god.”

Joshua’s mind raced. What he had just said wasn’t completely true. Right now, he could hear people on the street, no doubt running towards the Wall. The Wall, the last defensive perimeter of the bunker, would not fall without a fight.

There would be fighting. He shivered even thinking about the risks. Then again… this was what every reporter dreamed of; a firsthand review of humanities’ last stand. He made up his mind. His place was at the Wall. He started walking towards the door, when he suddenly realized that his guide was still sitting at their table.

“So, are you coming or what?” She looked at him for a while, then nodded, got up and grabbed her gun. For a moment, Joshua wondered if she could truly shoot a They at 200 yards away. If it was true, he was safest around her. And so far, she had not given the impression that she was a regular liar.

The streets where in chaos. Everyone was running towards the Wall, man, woman, armed, unarmed. “I’ve got to stop at my apartment first, get some things. He led her at his apartment. He felt the blood throbbing in his veins as he opened his door and head for his vault, which he emptied on his bed.

He looked at the contents; two black folders and a MN-SA. The black folders contained all the information he needed to access two military banking accounts, one of which had belonged to his father, the other which had belonged to his older brother. The militaries banking accounts where considered to be the safest in the bunker. He put both in the gun case, then holstered the MN-SA. He ran back to his front door, stopping briefly at the pictures of his parents. He considered taking them, but decided not too; he intended to return to his apartment once the Wall was saved.

He looked at the woman that was standing at his front door. “Shall we?” He said, as he closed the door behind him.

 

The darkness was punctuated by the sound of guns shots and screaming. Loud, menacing echoes of hundreds of feet striking metal reverberated around. The people of the Junkyard were panicking, stampeding through the twisted alleyways, lost in the sudden blackout until the dim emergency lights flickered on.

Zefie felt frozen. She was vaguely aware of Bruce stood behind her, pressing her thumb down on to one of the buttons on the gun. The darkness had plunged her into the memory of another blackout, when Drey had shielded her with his body and told her to run as fast as she could and Spikey had pressed a gun in her hand and told her she had to survive. When the blood of her two best friends, the closest thing she had to family, had pooled in the streets.

“They are here.”

Bruce’s words snapped her back into reality. She looked round at him wildly, her thoughts racing. They were here again. Cooper and the other street kids wouldn’t be able to defend themselves, they wouldn’t know what to do if they were attacked by They.

Zefie thrust the gun back into Bruce’s hands, scooped her rifle off the ground and was running back through the streets. Her long blonde braid flew out behind her, loose strands whipping round her face. Her feet pounded the metal street, zig-zagging around piles of junk and rubbish, jumping over ones she couldn’t avoid. She dodged across streets, evading the groups of They – all squads of Dragoons, as far as she could tell - that marched through them mercilessly gunning down anyone who got in their way, man, woman or child, and chasing those that were unfortunate enough to catch their attention.

Hundreds of eyes stared unseeing at the ceiling, and dark stains of blood were everywhere.

Hot tears of hatred and disgust stung the corners of her eyes, but she forced them back concentrating on getting to the kids. She could see their dirty, gaunt faces in her mind, staring at her with that tell-tale mix of wariness, fierceness and hunger. But tough as they might be on the streets of the Junkyard how could they possible fight They? Even Cooper, arrogant as he was, would be a defenceless boy of fifteen. Zefie forced herself to move faster, her breaths now coming in short pants. Hardly any of them had survived the last raid. She had to get to them before They did. She just had to.

But it wasn’t to be.

As she rounded the corner, she saw the kids’ hideout further up the street. For a moment her heart swelled – she was going to make it – but then she saw the Dragoons advancing up the street. There were three of Them, which meant there would be another two around somewhere. She skidded to a halt and slipped back into the nearest alleyway to assess her options. If she went for the kids now she’d throw herself into the path of the Dragoons, and tip Them off that there were people in at least one of the shacks. She couldn’t get a warning to Cooper. Her only hope was that he’d have enough sense to keep the kids inside until They were gone.

He didn’t.

The door to the hideout burst open and Cooper jumped out brandishing two rifles. Yelling profanities at the Dragoons he opened fire, while the rest of the kids sprinted out and down the street in an attempted getaway.

One of the Dragoons was hit and paused for a moment, looking for all the world like someone wondering why a wasp is stinging them. It was only a moment, though, before the Dragoon fired on Cooper. The young boy fell where he was in the street, a grim smile etched on his features and his body riddled with bullets.

The two other Dragoons had meanwhile advanced after the younger kids. From her hiding place in the alley Zefie urged the kids to run, but gunfire knocked down a third of them before the missing two Dragoons appeared at the other end of the street, blocking the street urchins’ escape. Zefie felt numb as she watched them crumple into their own blood.

“No,” she whispered the word, horrified. “No.”

She flattened herself against the alley wall, barely feeling the tears slide down her cheeks.

The kids were gone. There was only her left. She had to get away.

But where? She looked round, and her eyes were caught by the walkways suspended above her. Mouth set in a grim line, she took a deep breath and falt out sprinted for them. Gunfire rang before her, and she tensed, expecting a bullet in her back – but there was nothing.

Using a low wall as leverage she flung herself up at the lowest walkway, pulling herself up and rolling across the metal strait. Bullets flew over her head, but none hit her. She didn’t pause for breath, rising to her knees, then feet, and running for the next walkway. She only had room for one thought.

Up Top. She had to get Up Top.

 

I lugged the Rail Gun around as if the weight didn't faze me any. Every way I turned all I saw were Dragoons flooding the streets killing without remorse. All I could think about while I was running was Zefie. Why did this one girl seemingly run through my mind like clock work already. A distance away I screaming of children began to echo in my ears followed by endless gun shots. A beep from the Rail Gun broke me out of focus as I neared close to the dieing screams of these children. I quickly turned the knob to level 2 and pulled the goggles over my eyes. In the distance I saw a figure on the roof tops of the Junkyard bobbing and weaving avoiding bullets as much as it could. I neared and the figure became clearer. It was Zefie running up there most likely trying to find position over some of They. I turned a corner and saw the alley in which she was running across. I hid behind on the corner of a house at the entrance of the alley way. I peaked around the corner and saw three of They shooting at Zefie and whatever children were left trying to escape. Hurry up please gun. I closed my eyes for a moment and waited for the sound off of my Rail Gun. I saw a flash of my brothers and mother smiling at me. I had to stay alive for them. I promised I would bring this world out of the clutches of They some way or another and I plan on keeping that promise.

 

Jess leant over the balcony and gazed down at the street below. Flashlight beams illuminated brief flashes of the mayhem as people charged past, shouting and screaming. As they watched a woman tripped and was lost beneath the trampling feet. Jess unhooked her gun from her shoulder and strode down the stairs, hearing Josh hurrying after her.

The crowd seemed to be heading towards the Wall. Without giving it much thought, she waded into the river of people. Bodies staggered into her sides and clung on, pulling and tearing at her arms. Faces gaped out of the dark curtain, mouths stretching to form silent screams. Around her, people shoved and fought, spinning and flailing in the panic. The ground struggled and writhed.

She looked down. Empty eyes reflected the occasional glimpse of light.

The tide carried her to the ramparts. Above, in the light of the emergency generators she could see the long row of soldiers and civilians, standing together and firing down at the attackers on the other side.

Jess climbed the steps and onto the ramparts. Everywhere people were crumpling under the rain of bullets, only to be replaced by others. She stumbled over the dead and dying people on the ground, looking for an empty space.

A hand gripped her shoulder. She stopped, turned and saw Josh staring at her with wide eyes. He followed me? His mouth formed rapid words, but she couldn’t hear over the whining of gunfire and screaming. It doesn’t matter.

Specks of blood splattered the side of his pale face and he froze with his mouth hanging open. Warmth dripped into Jess’s eye and she blinked it away. They both turned in unison and watched the young soldier beside them curl over his stomach. A second bullet exploded out of his back. He fell over the edge of the rampart and disappeared into the darkness beyond.

The world erupted into sound and blood. Protect the civilian. Jess reached out, grabbed a fistful of Josh’s collar and dragged him to the ground. Around her, it seemed everyone was dying. Bloody bodies piled up, some twitching, all leaking blood. Jess pressed her back against the rock at her back and calmly checked her gun. Ready to go.

Pausing to take a toothpick from her pocket, Jess stood and raised her rifle to her shoulder.

The swimming mass of Dragoons rushed towards the base of the ramparts, a scene from their worst nightmares. Taking aim, she started shooting.

 

V had been awake for about an hour, wishing that there was food in the apartment. She found a half-empty jar of nut butter and some tasteless crackers to take the edge off, careful not to finish the food. Her mother would be hungry when she returned from work, too.

She dressed neatly, intending to spend some time just walking, searching for some feeling of being free. She brushed her hair and fastened it back into a ponytail, checking her reflection critically in the mirror. Gray jeans and a wheat-colored jersey, a tiny gold locket at her throat.

Turning away she lifted her bag and put it around her so that it rested at her hip. When she reached for her carbine there was a long low booming sound followed by another and another. A deep tremor ran through the floor and V reached out reflexively, grasping the edge of the counter as she looked around the room, wondering.

It had to be an attack. She listened for the rail guns but there was nothing where their booming chatter should have been. The lights flickered, dimmed, and went out leaving her in velvety blackness.

V yelped at the shock of sudden blackness and went to the window, knowing where everything was in the dark of her home.

She looked out in time to see the lights of Sanctuary going out in a wave. She heard screams. And then she saw something she never thought she’d see.

A crack was appearing in the blackness. Beyond the Wall a huge hole appeared, glaring grey in the deep blackness of Sanctuary. She saw small lights begin to appear as people lit their way with flashlights, candles, whatever they had.

The tiny lights swirled here and there as They broke into the ranks of civilians but most of the little lights were headed straight for the wall.

V whirled and picked up her carbine, going to the cabinet and fumbling through it for a loaded ammo belt. All of the people of Sanctuary lived knowing that this day was likely to come at any time.

Her fingers found a tiny light and flipped it on, saving the batteries on her rifle-mounted light. She grabbed a pre-packed medical bag from the next shelf down, strapped it on, and headed for the door.

At a time like this people were going to need a fully armed doctor.

V barely needed the light and she didn’t bother counting steps as she hurried down them. She hoped her mother had been late at school. She would have stood a better chance in that building than out on the street.

At the door to the outside of the apartments, V waited and listened. She was almost run down by two people who ran inside.

“They’re coming!” A woman screamed, holding a small child tight. Another woman, probably a relative, gave V a grim nod.

“Let’s get you hidden,” the second woman said and they hurried away.

V pushed her way outside. The scene was picked out in shades of darkest grey with the occasional tiny light skittering through it. Shapes were indistinct and at first she was unsure…and then she saw her mother.

“Varenna!” Her mother called to her and then swung to fire at something that V saw with horror were Dragoons. She brought one of them down as V brought the carbine up and rapid-fired. A second one went down.

That left one that was bellowing like a bull as it fired…

And V saw the dim shape of her mother crumple to the ground.

V shot the dragoon over and over, reloading as fast as she possibly could. Other people around her brought there fire to bear on the thing as well. She finally realized it was dead.

Going to her mother, she cradled the fallen woman’s head in her hands, her tears falling on her mother’s face. She shone her small light and saw that her mother’s pupils were fixed and staring.

She was gone.

Biting her lip, V closed her mother’s eyes and cradled the body in her arms, smoothing back her mother’s hair and rocking her as a high keening burst from her lips.

“Get to the Wall!” the screams were all around her and someone hit her hard on the back, they were trying to get everyone there, “They need our help! GET TO THE WALL!”

V reluctantly laid her mother’s head down. As much as she wanted to care for her she could do nothing right now but help to save the remaining scraps of human civilization.

Dashing the tears from her eyes, V clutched the carbine and ran for the Wall.

 

Jack walked calmly down the steps into the Rows, looking about him, enjoying being active. His mind was clear and his thoughts focused and deliberate; a form of meditation he practiced often. It was the only thing that gave him any warning of what was to come. He felt the explosion a second before it occurred, and he crouched reflexively. Along with everyone watching the streets, Jack turned his eyes toward the Wall.

"Oh god, no..." He charged back up the steps of the Rows, taking them four at a time. It was then that the lights began to go, and soon the entirety of Sanctuary was plunged into darkness. Jack groped about, feeling for railings and steps as he climbed his way out of the Rows. When he finally emerged, the worst of his fears were confirmed. The rail guns had been disabled along with every other electronic device in the Sanctuary. And at the Wall, a legion of Dragoons was beginning to break through.

Jack charged forward, his pistols coming out of their holsters and into his hands. He charged up to the ramparts and began to work the triggers rhythmically, firing into the sea of rising They below. As he fired and reloaded, he worked his way down the ramparts, looking for General Erikson. There seemed to be no end to the Dragoons as they came ever onward. Jack saw soldiers and civilians alike fall dead and wounded as he passed.

Eventually he caught sight of the general, who was firing a sniper rifle into the crowd of They below. He just looked over as Jack ran towards him. And as he turned his head, a scattering of small steel orbs shot up from below, driving through the general's head and torso. Blood splashed across the rampart as he fell.

Jack heard himself cry out as he reached the general's body. It was no use; he had died instantly. In a rage, Jack spun, both guns outward as he fired into the crowd below.

As satisfying as it was, he knew they'd need something heavier to fight them off. He ran down the rampart and eventually found the armory. Without power, he was able to push the sliding door open by hand. He found instantly what he was looking for. He replaced the pistols at his sides and hefted the monstrous gun. He tucked a chain of ammo under one arm as he lugged the thing back out onto the ramparts. He flipped down the bipod, hooked up the ammo box, and began to fire into the crowd below. The muzzle flash lit up his face like flickers of lightning.

He had nearly emptied the box when a force on his shoulder slammed him onto his back. He now had a sizable hole through his shoulder, and he winced as he tried to get back up to the gun. Way to go, Rambo, he thought to himself. The jerking of the gun shot more pain through the wound, which in turn killed his accuracy. He let the big gun go and drew one of his pistols. He yelled at one of the men on the ramparts to take over. He fired shots from his pistol with his right has he dashed across the rampart, and into one of the guard towers. He took the stairs to the ground level.

He'd be no more good as a combatant. Time to help fix some of this mess. He dashed up and into the HQ, navigating almost automatically to the computer room.

"The UPS up?" He asked, half yelling as he burst in. The other techs looked at him, slightly taken aback.

"Yeah, but the whole system's been screwed over! Whatever they did, it was more than just kill power." Jack practically threw the tech out of the chair in front of the terminal.

"Get me some coagulant or something." Jack ordered one of them. He pulled off his jacket and shirt, baring the wound. "And some programming fluid." His hands touched the keyboard, and within seconds he had an appraisal of the damaged systems.

"Coffee maker's toast, Jack..." One of the tech's said.

"Rig it to the UPS! I'm gonna need some." He began to sort out the mess of systems, running diagnostics and beginning to hack solutions.

"Okay, we got most of the secondary power supplies up. I need to write some new routines to get it moving where we need it." Jack said. One of the techs arrived with some packages of coagulant. Jack tore one open and applied the powder to the wound on both sides. It hurt like coding COBOL. He yelled, and then breathed deeply.

"I need that coffee." He said through clenched teeth as he continued to hack away, trying to restore the broken systems.

 

Death. The whole area smelled like death. The air itself tasted like death. Joshua had never felt anything like it. This sensation; it was beyond being afraid. It was beyond terror. It was something more. It was as close as someone could come to dying a painful death without actually dying a painful death.

Josh was only partly aware that Jess pulled him to the floor by his collar. He was only partly aware of the blood that covered his face and clothing. Instinctively, he raised his camera and started snapping pictures.

A picture of a pile of corpses, a soldier on top of it, aiming at the base of the Wall.

A picture of a soldier, bleeding from his stomach, trying to crawl away.

A picture of a blue haired warrior, her eyes without passion, without remorse.

Joshua put down the camera. He must have died, for this was truly Hell. He turned around and looked down. This was Hell, and They where the demons.

 

Muscles burning with tiredness, Zefie hauled herself up onto the next walkway. Rolling over onto her back, she simply lay there for a few minutes, gasping for breath, gunfire ricocheting around her. Closing her eyes, she wondered how humanity had come to this moment.

A ragged cough distracted her. Pushing herself up on one elbow, she looked around for the source. There – a man, lying prostrate on a walkway branching off from the one she was one. She couldn’t make out his face clearly, but he seemed to be watching her.

He coughed again, a low rasping sound. “Z-Zafrira ..”

He knew her?

Keeping her head low she dashed along the suspended metal walk to were he lay. As she got closer she recognised with surprise the brown, lined face, the salt-and-pepper hair. Thomas. He’d run a repair shop in the Junkyard, fixing trinkets and gadgets and, like V, helping out the street kids where he could.

Zefie saw with horror that three bullets had punched holes in his broad chest, and the blood was rapidly soaking his shirt. She flung herself onto her knees beside him, lifting his head into her lap.

“Thom! Thom, no!” she moaned.

“Zafrira,” he was struggling to speak, his eyes drifting shut. “Th-the other child … children. Are they … are they …?”

Zefie nodded, tears flowing freely down her face.

“I was coming to – to help …”

“Thom …”

“I brought … the gun,” he whispered. With one hand he reached blindly out and, looking up, Zefie saw the rifle lying at his side. Sleek and black, it had been Thom’s pet project. He’d found it abandoned in a junk pile and for years had worked to fix it up, bartering for ammo and spare parts, even modifying it to attach a grenade launcher.

“Take it … Zafrira,” he said now. “And my … belt.” He patted the utility belt around his waist, in which he kept boxes of spare ammo, the couple of grenades he had, and a pocket knife.

“No, Thom --”

“Promise me!” He rasped, his tone fierce, if quiet. “Promise me Zafrira.”

“I promise.”

He let out a long sigh, and was still. It took Zefie a moment to realise he was dead. With trembling hands she unbuckled his belt and strapped it round her much skinnier waist, then swapped her shoddy rifle for his prized one.

She stood up, knowing he had to leave Thom. Up Top, she told herself again. Get Up Top.

Already she could hear the faint cry going round, “The Wall! GET TO THE WALL!”

She starting running again, along the walkway. She looked down at the Junkyard as she ran over it, and caught sight of Bruce. He was hiding at the corner of an alleyway, much the way she had, clutching his super-gun in his hands, eyes closed as though he was praying.

What is he doing? He needs to run! A Dragoon was approaching his corner. Hefting Thom’s rifle up, Zefie took aim and squeezed off several rounds, shooting over and over until the Dragoon fell. She couldn’t be sure if it was dead, but she could stand still amidst the hail of gunfire without becoming an open target. That was all she could do for Bruce. She hoped he’d get out okay.

She took off again, clambering up the walkways towards the Rows. She thought of V – she was finally coming Up Top like the medic had wanted, though it wasn’t at all what her friend had meant.

Pulling herself up the final level into the Rows, Zefie found herself engulfed in an even bigger, more panicked stampede than in the Junkyard.

Grimly she clutched Thom’s rifle and started pushing her way through the crowds.

 

There were too many people and there was too much to do.

V kept going, holding the small light like a dagger, pointing more down at the ground - and the bodies - than ahead where she could easily be targeted.

There was shooting everywhere. Screams, groans, the thunder of large arms and small and throughout the crowd one singular hardening purpose.

Get to the Wall. Push them back. Defend.

In doing so a heavy price was exacted. She almost stumbled over yet another fallen person, a blonde young man lying haphazardly like a broken doll. His hand fluttered and she stopped, crouching quickly to catch him in the thready beam of her light, the carbine in her other hand.

He tried to speak and she saw that part of his throat and the side of his head had been blown away. He was bleeding out and couldn't be saved without a surgical team. Probably not even then. Still, she trained her light on his face and saw his lips move as his eyes went vacant.

Mom...

There was a semiautomatic pistol lying at his side. She quickly shoved it in her waistband and took the second magazine from his pocket.

"Be at peace." She said but she was already moving again.

Checking the faces. Making sure that Zefie and the pleasant man from the net cafe...Jack...were not among them. She had liked him and didn't want to find him amongst the dead.

What was he doing now? She briefly wondered before a bullet zipped by and she saw a knot of people converging on a tall figure ahead. Dragoon.

She snapped the carbine up and shot from reflex. The bullet went over the heads of the crowd and entered the thing's head. Even with that it took it a moment to fall.

She kept going. The Wall was just ahead. From the number of Dragoons that seemed to be getting by she hoped it wasn't too late.

V fought down the morbid thought that it had been too late before anything had even happened. This was too well planned.

 

The bunker was rife with chaos. Humans ran back and forth, defending their city in a futile attempt to save humanity. To much had gone into the planning of this for it to fail. No, this would be the last day for these people.

Blood splattered across Ohdran's helmet as he literally tore the spine out of the defenseless woman with his bare hands. She had been hiding in one of the apartment buildings, whimpering like a dog. That was the thing with these humans, they had no honor. Still, Ohdran couldn't help but indulge himself occasionally. After all, it wasn't often that a Hunter-Killer came in contact with a human, and he wanted to savor every moment of their destruction.

Ohdran slipped up onto the roof of the complex, the surrounding area was as clear as day inside the the heads up display of his helmet. It was laughable how the humans stumbled about one another. Filthy creatures deserved every bit of what was coming to them. After all, the humans were demons.

Ohdran tapped a few buttons on his wrist panel. His objective was to secure the item called "Magnus Disc" at all costs. A simple job that any mindless Dragoon could have carried out, but for whatever reason he had been chosen for it.

Sticking to the shadows, Ohdran silently made his way along the roof tops of the apartment buildings, blending in with the shadows as he went.

 

Darmetrius, waking up to the smell of bacon and eggs, was delighted that his baby fixed the breakfast he almost dreamed of. A big grin crept on his face as he released a long yawn. He breathed in the scenery, fascinated by the beautiful candles that were lit the night before to make way for a romantic evening. He nodded in approval of taking her out before the candles. He looked at her dresser drawer that had a mirror on it. He got out of bed, peeling himself from the satin sheets that felt phenomenal against his body.

Looking into the mirror, his reflection revealed a handsome young man, shirtless and ripped. He flexed his biceps a little, kissing them playfully. He poked himself in his pecs, checking his muscles. He put the rest of his clothes on and placed his bag of dynamite over his shoulder. After winking at the image before him, he went into the kitchen to meet his lady. Once in the kitchen, he spots his lady pouring herself a glass of juice. She had already finished breakfast, so she took a moment for herself. He drank her beauty in. Or perhaps her booty. He saw her ample backside and smiled to himself again, thoroughly pleased at the sight. He goes behind his lady and gives her a warm embrace followed by a kiss on her cheek.

"Mmmm... morning, lazy bones." she said in the sweetest voice, rubbing his arms as they were wrapped around her. "I was just about to wake you."

"I'm sorry to spoil your surprise, babe. It smells incredible in here." Darmetrius responded.

She turned around to face him. Her face was gorgeous, smooth soft skin and high cheekbones. Her hair was shoulder length, brunette and full of bounce. Her skin tone was a light brown and her lips were full and cherry red. He couldn't resist touching them with his own, moving in for a kiss.

"Come on, baby, sit down. I want you to eat before it gets cold." she said.

He took her advice, and took a seat.

"Want some juice?" she asked.

"Yeah, juice sounds good." he said with a smile.

She smiled back. When she smiled, the darkest corners of the Earth lit up instantly. Radiant , genuine and sincere, she had a way of taking control of him. She grabbed a pitcher and got ready to pour him some juice, when he stopped her movement and pulled her on his lap.

"Let me get that, Angie. You spoil me so much.'' he said, taking the pitcher from her hands to serve himself.

After a small prayer, he took a bite of the eggs. Delicious. He couldn't help but let out a grunt of pleasure.

"Mmmm, your eggs are awesome, babe." he complimented her culinary genius. He scooped a forkful to feed her. She took it, smiled and nodded. "See?" he said to her.

"What are you gonna do about your mother and brother?" she asked with a cautious look, careful not to sadden him.

"I don't know, babe." he said looking down.

She lifted his chin up to look into his eyes. "Are you alright?"

He nodded with a smile, trying to convince her not to worry about him.

Just as this happens, the lights went out. Angie jumped off Darmetrius' lap, and let out a scream.

"Shhhhh, stop all that hollerin'." he said quietly. "Don't bring any attention over here."

It was pitch black in Angie's apartment, and quiet. Too quiet. Darmetrius had never come in contact with They, and had no desire to do so then. He stood up slowly, trying to avoid bumping into something and causing a stir. He whispered to his lady to let her know it would be him touching her.

"This is me, Angie. Don't scream."

He managed to grab her hand and slowly felt his way through the kitchen and to the door. Once there, he looked out the peephole, and saw an armored figure. This was odd, because it was rumored They didn't appear until night time, not liking the lights. Was it a soldier? Why would a soldier put the lights out? No, this had to be unfriendly.

He slowly and quietly as possible opened the door. Upon taking a peek, he saw nothing. The mysterious figure must have gone about his or her business. He let out a sigh of relief and closed the door quietly. Just as he tried to lock the door back, it was knocked off the hinges, forcing Darmetrius and Angie backwards.

The armored figure made a lightning fast charge towards the two. Angie screamed, while Darmetrius reached for his AK-47 and attempted to get back up. Once he reached a squatting position, he was instantly knocked back down, this time he did a backflip and was stopped by the stove. The AK slid under the table, only visible with the aid of an occasional flicker.

"ANGIE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!?!? ANGIE?!?!? ANGIE!!!" he said, pulling out his .45 and setting to shoot on the second call to his woman. On the next flicker, he let his eyes run to find the AK. The next flicker after, he saw his lady with her mouth covered by the figure, quickly yanking her neck far beyond its threshold. Basically, her face was aligned with her back. It was too quick to save her, but he'd soon join her if he didn't act fast himself. He fired in the last spot he saw the shadow, then scurried to the table to retrieve the AK. He heard a charging sound followed by another flicker that revealed it was aiming a rifle at him.

He rolled to the side and heard what had to be the table crumbling. He felt the door and cut a quick corner, listening for the monster to come out. He heard it come out and, upon the next flicker, squeezed the trigger at its back until he felt a liquid splatter in his face. Then he aimed the gun downwards and squeezed a little more, making sure the bastard wouldn't get up. Having no idea where a flashlight was, he had no choice but to feel around for the stairs and hope the flickers would help him if anymore of They surfaced.

 

As he walked down the street, thoughts swarming. Why did I have to act so weird? I'm probably going to get arrested some day. Artemis shifted through his papers. He couldn't wait for people to finally say, "That Artemis has some great ideas". Of course he could just flub the whole thing, people skills was never his thing. It was proven with the conversation of the man named Jack. He looked like someone who was ODD on drugs or something. Artemis noticed as he swung around passed the Wall, a light dimmed. He wondered if they were testing something, of course he wasn't going to ask someone on the streets he would just look like another drug addict. The lights seemed to dim more and more until Sanctuary stopped breathing. At first it felt as if time had stopped. Then the Wall itself seemed to bend like a flabby piece of rubber. He seemed to see people who knew almost what to do as they came out of total darkness with their own flashlights, their own weapons, or taking weapons from those who had fallen. He hadn't even seen the soldiers fallen it was because it was so dark, he even found himself on the ground looking for something anything to light the way. Instead he found himself kinda crawling on the ground, was he even to nervous to see what lie before him. Was he scared? Artemis wondered about this knowing these thoughts were not appropriate thoughts for this moment in time, if it wasn't words he said at inappropriate times it was thoughts. Then he felt a old hand on his hand in complete darkness. They were illuminated by the light on their gun, he was an old man who had a smile on his face. Like he was going to go and do something great. And something of his face morphed into his father, he found that a little more horrifying then the old man grabbing his hand. Then again, he was more afraid of people even at this moment in time then what was making the wall itself break and fall.
"Looking for a weapon, here ya go sonny boy," the old man said placing a pistol in his hand.
Artemis just stared at the gun for moment and then he heard more scuffling on the ground a group of people came behind. There were three strange men behind the old man.
"You rounded up another dad," they said, "Hey buddy, welcome to the group."
He wanted to protest and tell them he didn't want anything to do with this, but then again he may seem like a city traitor. He was now part of the group whether he like it or not. The old man seemed to sweep him up with this unknown strength. No Artemis allowed the man to take him to the Wall. The old man held his position very good and the three men seemed almost to proud to follow. Standing here in position he could almost feel a quake that the Wall gave and sitting here in total darkness with men with guns illuminating their light almost seemed to familiar. It was something his father had always wanted him to practice with him "You'll never know when the Wall falls" his father yelled. He hated to think about, but his father was right at least this once. Suddenly as quickly as the old man his group came, they disappeared or rather Artemis wanted to think of it this way. A thing that he had never seen before was illuminated from the gun, only heard about called the They, killed the men and the old man. They had gotten in on this side. Artemis didn't know exactly what to do, was he to hit it with the pistol?
Even so the thought didn't register his body, he felt his body almost quiver in fear. Was he afraid of dying or was he afraid of killing. He had to control the urges in his body as he stared at the creature that had just killed people he didn't know. And even so as They began to turn around, he was only able to keep the shaking to a minimum he scurried off before They could see him. He was in the corner of somewhere he didn't know, or he probably knew, but it was so dark he couldn't see it. He held his knees tight and closed his eyes. It was already dark, but he didn't want to risk see anything like that again. He also didn't want to believe this was happening. He was trying to convince himself that this was a dream, but it was all to real to deny. He could still feel himself quivering and could almost feel his heart crawling out of his chest. He couldn't move and he refused to open his eyes. Even if he heard the whisper of a human, he wouldn't open his eyes.

 

Roger Gordan

Roger was still working on his system when it suddenly shut itself. Everywhere lights went off. It was a power failure. He rushed to the window and saw the whole Sanctury was black. This had been a major power failure. He thought this was dangerous as this would make the rail guns useless. He shouted for someone to repair those. But then he heard gunshots. This meant that They are attacking. He stood there shocked for some time. He quickly moved to his Uncle's room. His uncle was shouting frantically. "We need to defend the wall, uncle otherwise everything would be lost. They are attacking. The whole army, civillians are rushing to defend it. The rail guns are now useless", shouted Roger as the noise outside was too high. His uncle yelled, "As I suspected."Roger's uncle picked his megaphone and started ordering. Roger didn't wait for his Uncle. In the complete darkness he went down the stairs and at last reached ot of the HQ. The whole Wall was bending like a rubber. He removed his weapons from his jacket. Clutching the pulse gun in the right hand and shock rifle in the left he stood ready to attack. He ptook out some belt type thing and placed it on his head and pressed a button. It was a headband with a powerful beam of light. The wall would fall anytime now he thought. For a moment he thought he saw a shadow move through the buildings bit he shaked his head and put it out of his mind. He thought to himself, "Looks like this is the final attack. They have also cut out the power supply. If They are attacking with full force They would have already broken the Wall. It is suspicious. What if it is a diversion?" Just then the Wall had broken and the Dragoons stormed the Sanctury. "Only Dragoons. No way. Are They mad?", he yelled. It was just as he thought, a diversion. He rushed back to the HQ. The power supply needed to be restored. There at a place he saw Jack. He went to him and said, "Quick. Whatever your name is. They did not only cut the power supplies. They damaged many systems as well. I have got some batteries. Use them. These batteries are powerful." Saying so he handed a battery to Jack.

 

Vishka ran his gloved hands over the threshold of the door, savouring this sweet moment of freedom. Was it merely the guards toying with him? Or was it Dre? And what was that sound? Gunfire? Had they caught him?

Dre, I heard a loud crash, are you okay? Why have the main lights gone out?

The lights made no difference to him. When they were on, his visor compensated, and when they were off, he could see even better. Vishka tread carefully, afraid of alerting anyone to his presence. With every step, he expected a shock to knock him out, if not from a guard, then from some automated system. Perhaps Dre had taken both out of the equation. The man could be quite resourceful. It was a trait Vishka admired in the man, being a former scout.

Round another corner, a man stood against the wall, catching his breathe. Or perhaps he was hyperventilating in that odd way humans did when panicked. The whole diaphragm thing was a mystery to Vishka. Strange mechanism.

"Drenki! You breathe still? What transpires?"

Vishka sensed the answer. Attack. He could hear it now; the pulse rifles. They had come. And They would kill him as soon as any of the others. But his would be a slow, painful death. He remembered that much.

"We need guns. Many guns. You have knowledge of this facility?"

"Yeah."

Vishka didn't know why he kept making sounds instead of just thinking, must have become a habit. It had been a long time since Vishka had a proper conversation.

They unlikely pair moved silently through the secret base. It was abandoned. Anyone who could fight was out doing so. Anyone who couldn't was hiding or dead. Dre led the way to the armoury, drawing the path in his mind. Before long Vishka had his shock rifle in his hands. It made him feel more whole. He also took three human pistols, a shotgun, and a sniper rifle, storing this personal arsenal in the dorsal compartment of his armour.

Dre seemed to have his own weapon, which he favoured. Vishka could sense that he was amused.
"Think you got enough firearms?"
"No," Vishka replied earnestly, "I wanted explosives, but I could not find. 'Tear gas' is useless."

 

Mission Three: Apprehension
Min Word Requirement: 200 Max Words: 600
Players must:
*Get to the steel door in front of the Command Center located on the East end of the Wall.(opposite of the section of the wall where everyone is located.)
---------------------------------------------------------------
The disk...
General Douglass had only barely managed to make it to the Command Center on the complete opposite end of the wall from the ramparts. The backup generators had managed to kick on and were keeping at least a few parts of Sanctuary up and running, but Douglass knew that they could not recover from this. It was truly the final assault.

Stumbling and coughing up blood, Douglass pushed in his pin number on the pad near the giant steel doors and was rewarded with the sound of the door's magnetic locks shifting open. There was a mechanical whir as the doors slid open, revealing the Command Center. The General limped in and slumped down into one of the chairs, running his eyes over the screens and all the flashing lights. He was able to somehow infer from the partially scrambled readouts that the Coms systems were still operational, if a little shaky. The disk...

Douglass leaned forward and tapped a few keys on the panel, establishing the com link with HQ all the way on the other side of Sanctuary. The General grabbed up the microphone.

“Hello? Is anyone there? This is General Douglass. I need someone to pick up...please...”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Operations Officer Kerrington was frantically typing away at the control panel in the HQ Coms room, working with various other programmers from around Sanctuary to try and restore the system to full functionality. He couldn't understand it though. They had tried everything, but it seemed as though there were some unseen force that was blocking all of there programs from operating correctly. Something was actively keeping the power suppressed.

Suddenly the speakers fuzzed to life. It was faint and barely intelligible, but that voice was unmistakable.

“...lo...Anyon...This is....I need someone to pi...please...”

It was General Douglass. He had managed to survive to attack on the Wall somehow. From what Kerrington had heard so far, the Wall had been almost completely overrun. What few survivors there were had since decided it was better to try and fight from the Rows than run to certain death at the Wall.

Kerrington picked up the microphone. “Douglass? I never thought I'd say it, but its good to hear your ugly voice sir. Whats the situation?”

The speakers were quiet for a moment, but soon fuzzed into life. “Smart ass...The Wall is lost. I repeat...the Wall is lost. You have to get to the Vault and recover the Disc. Get out of here Kerrington, its our only hope.”

The grim reality of the situation hit Kerrington hard. This was it. Without the wall, Sanctuary would fall. They would be looking for the disc. Only the Rows and the Junkyard now stood between Them and the Magnus Disc.

Just as Kerrington put his hand on the microphone, the door to the Coms room burst open. Kerrington never even had a chance.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General Douglass felt his stomach turn as he heard the screams and gunfire and some other inhuman noise erupt through the microphone. This was it...Sanctuary was done. This disc would fall into Their hands and then humanity was through for.

Suddenly gunfire erupted just outside the Command Center. Douglass could hear the human screams and the very inhumane growls produced by Them. They were coming closer. Douglass limped to the steel doors as quick as he could. He tried to enter his pin number, but his loss of blood was starting to get to him. His vision began to blur and his motions were sluggish and imprecise. He couldn't seem to key in the numbers quick enough. Then the thing came around the corner. It was the terrifying hulking mass that was a fully armed Dragoon.

The beast instantly caught sight of Douglass and began walking calmly towards him. The General fumbled around with the keypad frantically as the monster neared. With his free hand he drew his pistol and began firing on the creature. It paid the bullets all the attention it would pay an insect, only picked up speed until it was almost at a dead run. Douglass at last managed to key in his pin, but the doors weren't closing fast enough. The Dragoon would get to him before the doors could close. Douglass limped back and emptied the clip at the creature, but it only sped up. In a frantic attempt, Douglass grabbed the chair and flung it at the creatures legs. The Dragoon stumbled, but that was all the time that was needed. The monster paused and roared as the doors closed in front of it.

Douglass collapsed into the corner of the dimly lit room and closed his eyes.

The wall had finally been overrun. The people, soldiers and civilians alike, that had managed to survive the initial assault had begun to flee back into the relative safety of the Rows and the Junkyard. They had completely infiltrated the city and had begun to hunt down the survivors.

 

Hunter sat crouched on a rafter alone in the darkness. The drop would kill him should he fall but one thing Hunter had learnt and that was how to control his body to battle gravity. His head slightly tilted listening for noise. Here it was peaceful often Hunter came to these high places for self thought. These days times were different the poor suffered while the wealthy seemed to prosper. Things he sensed would be set to change.

Hunter listened for prey things scum anything. The thirst of a new kill gripped his very veins he longed to leap from rafter to rafter and drop using his bare hands he would make his kill.

But today was quiet enough for him. Soon and before this day would draw a close Hunter would kill again. And that thought pleased him. He’d spent a lifetime in the darkness mastering the shadows to become one himself.

He knew people feared him but he also knew those that feared him had reason. Hunter was no cold blooded murderer of the innocent. But he was a cold blooded killer of those that were the scum the evil dwellers the invaders. Hunter prayed for a kill to come along and quick. A gathering of people was held this day, some had expected him to be with them.

He took out his blade at the sound of movement. He took hold firmly of the hilt. A silent kill he favoured those. But not this moment. A small rodent passed by below. Nothing worthy of his reactions. Hunter released his grip from the hilt and rose to full height. He would wait no more. He leapt from one rafter to another keeping his balance steady and trained. From below he was nothing more than a shadow in the darkness.

 

V saw a flash of blonde in the light from her riflescope, a long tail that she thought looked like it might be Zefie. She hurried to her, bumping into people, almost getting shot for her pains.

"Zefie!" She yelled against the din, "Zefie!"

The face turned toward her and she saw the headband and the distinctive features of her friend.

From mere feet away came a long ululating scream and both of them turned toward it. The tall shape of a dragoon bulked against the grey of the hole where the bunker wall used to be. It raised something that looked very twisted and...organic...in one hand and she saw the small lights of his weapon swing around toward the group she was standing in.

V, Zefie, and her neighbors snapped up their weapons and returned a volly of fire that felled the thing without a sound.

"Come on!" V called to Zefie as it fell. She already had her friend by the sleeve and was hurrying her along the Wall, "My father told me about the disk. He said if this happened we need to get to the command center."

"Command Center?" Zefie hoped V knew her way around.

"Yes, I know where it is. Come on."

They shoved, pushed, and eventually ran to a small door that appeared to be locked. V turned the knob in a certain sequence, though and it opened. The two women ran down a narrow corridor, dimly hearing dripping water. The walls were a patchwork of stone and block, pipes piercing and lacing them. A utility tunnel.

V listened hard as they went, the sound of the crowd was muted here, even the gunfire and screams were hard to hear. It was tempting to just hide but she knew that it would be dangerous if and when the dragoons decided to check this space. They'd be caught like rats in a trap.

She counted her strides under her breath as they hurried, the tiny light lacing the darkness, until they came to another door. This one opened with no problem and they climbed as short set of damp stairs, coming to a metal door at the top.

V and Zefie leaned against it, listening, and looked at each other. It sounded quiet but that didn't necessarily mean anything good. They snapped off their lights and waited, hoping to gain a little night vision before walking into whatever they were going to walk into. When V figured their eyes had dilated as much as possible she whispered a question to Zefie.

"Ready?"

"You bet." Zefie's voice was grim.

V twisted the knob in another complicated sequence. She had to do it twice but eventually it opened with a muffled click. She didn't have time to feel too much satisfaction over getting it right. They had to get to the Command Center - and the disk.

They emerged into yet more noisy slate black, seeing darker, moving shadows, weapons up. V hoped they would find other survivors and she didn't want to shoot them. They kept stumbling over fallen bodies and V refused to turn on her light, refused to look. There was nothing she could do for them anyway.

The disk was all that mattered now. Her father had been clear about that.

As they turned a corner they saw struggling bodies and one bulky shape silhouetted darkly against the glimmer of a steel door. A dragoon was trying to claw it open with both hands. V grabbed Zefie and ducked back around the corner. No use wasting ammo if the thing just gave up and went away.

 

The rifle clicked empty. Jess lowered it and looked around. Most of the soldiers had died or ran away long ago. The nearest live soldier was two hundred metres to her left and getting closer by the moment as he stumbled away from the pursuing Dragoons, screaming.

A sound drew her attention and she looked down. Josh sat amongst the corpses, hyperventilating and staring at the camera he held in trembling hands. She crouched and peered at him. “Joshua?”

Nothing.

“Josh?” Pause. “The other people are running."

His haunted eyes flickered to her. It was the look of a blind man.

Jess turned and looked down the Wall. One hundred metres. The Dragoons ran along the carpet of bodies with practiced ease. She looked East at the Command Centre, where drills had taught her to go in emergencies such as this. Then she looked at Josh. The drills taught you to survive. He will slow you down.

He was kind to me.

To her own surprise, she reached down, grabbed a fistful of his shirt and dragged him to his feet. Gunfire exploded nearby followed by panicked screams. The Dragoons had caught the soldier and proceeded to hack him to pieces. Jess took a handgun from one of the bodies and started to tow Josh along the Wall, heading East.

Ahead, Dragoons raced up the next set of stairs, ready to cut them off at the intersection.