LIVECrack! Kale quickly sat upright. He reached into his holster and withdrew his weapon with lighting speed, before placing an ear to the wall. Silence. Had it been his imagination. No, something was there. He waited. Whatever he heard waited as well... Crack! Again! Kale wiped his forehead, he was sweating now. Slowly each bead of sweat rolled off his forehead falling to the ground where it collected, forming a small pond. It reminded Kale of a time not so long ago. He remembered running across a pier, the wood surface rocking back and forth with every step. He remembered jumping from the edge, arms stretched to the horizon, touching the heavens before plummeting downward into the water sending a wave off in all directions. And suddenly a tear was added to the small collection of water at his feet. Kale closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. He pictured his surroundings. He was leaning against a thin white wall dividing a bedroom. To his left an old shelf hung on the wall, covered with the dirt and ash. Books were scattered all over the floor, worn from days of turning. In front of him a bed, its sheets ripped and shredded. Kale wondered how many times it was slept in, its occupant snug and at peace. Never worrying that this sleep might be their last. Crack! Kale shook himself to reality and opened his eyes. This was not the time for reminisce. What was done, was done. Whoever is dead is dead. He could not reverse time. It was now only time to focus on survival. The trooper's were searching methodically most likely, one room at a time. They were most likely armed with a standard rifle or pistol; enough to leave a gaping hole in ones head. They don't know I'm here yet, so it sets me at an advantage, Kale thought. He listened, but the cracking noise of feet on decayed wood was nowhere to be heard. Kale began to stand, and very slowly he stepped side ways toward the door at his right... He approached the doorframe, expecting to see the nozzle of a blaster appear, but there was nothing. He swallowed; he couldn't stay here any longer, If the troopers don't find him a Bio-Dread would and then he would either be dead or digitized, and the former was much more appealing then the latter. Kale had only heard stories of what it was like inside "the machine". He did know, however, that it was hell itself. No one left "the machine" and if, on the rare occasion, they were set free. Little of their sanity remained. The stories told of a dark and cold place, where you are constantly in agony. When you are digitized into the machine your cells implode, storing your mind upon millions of others in a memory bank. You can hear the screams around you, cries of pain. And in the mist of the voices lies your own joining in chorus with the others for eternity. Kale shuddered and stepped back from the doorframe. He had done enough waiting. If the enemy was out they're waiting for him then so be it. If it was his time to go, let God take his soul and not some machine. How old was he now, 20 "something"? Kale smiled, he honestly didn't know. The smile died almost instantaneously. All he could remember was war, the machines, and the blood. If that was his life he deserved to die, make room for someone with an actual life. Kale slid, with his back against the wall to the doorframe. He tried to picture what might be coming. If the troopers are not expecting me they'll be triangulating and searching the area, most likely. Kale knew that meant that if he spotted one, he could easily spot the others. However, they could be setting up an ambush or merely staking the place out. If so, they'd move in small clumps, each group taking a corner around the building, making little chance of any escape. He would live if they didn't know he was coming, he would have a hell of a harder time if they were expecting or just staking out the area. He opened his eyes now aware that his fate was marked the moment he walked through the door. He held his blaster up close to his face and darted through the doorframe. He saw it's bulky metallic feature staring straight at him a few metres from the door. It stood obscurely slightly lob sided almost unaware of the organic creature starring at it. It lifted its torso upward toward Kale, as if noticing him for the first time. It went suddenly rigid and lifted its gun slightly upwards. It didn't have time to fire or call out for reinforcements, in mere seconds three bolts of light went through the orange energy screen flickering on its chest. Sparks of light exploded in all directions, as the machine fell backwards. It smashed towards the ground, knocking over a pile of rubble. They're still searching the area, Kale realized. He thought back to the plan. They hadn't expected him, so they were triangulating the area, then. Suddenly, he realized what that meant. As he dove to the ground, laser fire streaked over his head. Two troopers at his right, just as he had predicted. Before hitting the ground he turned his head to the right and saw a trooper fall to the blasts of a fellow squad mate opposite to him, who was most likely facing the same fate. Three troopers down, and for Kale's sake he hoped that there would be little left to go. The last two troopers probably had the chance to radio some type of distress signal, so he could count on the fact that he would facing some cold reception very soon. He needed to find a way out before then, and the time was quickly ticking down. He scanned his surroundings, three ways out, without including where he had just come from. He breathed in deeply and trusting his instincts, dashed forward leaping over the smoldering body of the first trooper he had downed. Its orange screen still flickering palely. Now a hallway confronted Kale, on either side of the wall, 5 doors stood. At the end of it, another door, this one was made metal though at appeared to have some type of combination box keeping the door closed. Standing in front of the door, two troopers stood each equipped with a long slender black rifle. "Aw, hell!" Kale muttered, speaking for the first time in hours. He strafed to the right and opened fire. He hit the first one square through the chest. It fell sideways, knocking into the trooper on the left . The second trooper fell against the wall, reoriented and opened fire. At that moment Kale hit the wall and dropped to the floor. The laser fire pierced through the wall mere centimeters above Kale's head. One shot was all Kale would allow to have against him. He squeezed the trigger three times, his rounds removing the upper lobe of the trooper, revealing its circuitry and wireing. He mentally counted the time he logically had if reinforcements were on the way. He guessed in the area of a two minutes and cringed at his negativity. There was no sign of a Bio-Dread, which was a good thing. That made the chance of digitization unlikely. Also, he had just downed five, normal squads consisted of around fifteen, he'd already cleaned out a third of it. Kale suddenly lightened up. He had a chance, a small one, but never the less he had a chance. He aimed his blaster at the first door to his right. He cocked the weapon and then suddenly stopped. There was something protruding from hinges. He lowered his gun and placed his free hand toward the door. His hands met a wire streaming down the border, before disappearing into the wall. He placed his ear to the door and heard a slow mechanical ticking sound. The door was wired with explosives. Kale ran to the next door and listened... The sound was the same. He tried the other side of the hall and again he met the same noise. The place was wired with explosives. It's a trap! Kale thought. All they need to do now is press the button. Kale kicked a doorframe in anger before rushing down the corridor. Ideas shot through his mind, of ways to get out of the situation. A sense of paranoia swept through him. He was trapped. The rooms full of explosives, for all he knew were just about to explode. What was he going to do? Kale thought anxiously, he felt his earlier optimism slowly slip away and his negativity was taking hold of his reins. He thought long and hard and finally something came to him. He decided to try to use his situation as an advantage. If the bomb was large enough and if there were more in the building then he might be able to create some kind of chain reaction moving opposite to him. A well-placed shot to his right could send explosions down the hallway moving away from him. However, there was a remote chance he'd survive the first explosion. He leaned on the door behind him to think the plan over. He began to fall. Kale caught himself and turned around. The door he had just leaned on began to open up. He was wrong about one door. This one hadn't been wired. He hoped this was the one door he was wrong about or his plan was useless. At least now he would have some cover when the building started to fall. He surveyed the room for a safe position and found only old chair lying on its side in the corner of the room. The room had been looted of all, if any, other possessions. He placed the chair up on an angle close to the door. He crouched behind it making sure he could see the furthermost door in the hall. He wondered how long this was taking and why the Dread troopers hadn't blown him by now. He decided not to jinx it and shook the idea off. He pulled out his blaster and rested on the arm of the chair. He moved his eye right above the barrel and aimed it at the door closest to him, so as to have the bombs exploded, consecutively down the hall and not toward him. He motioned the gun to the left of the door and then to the right. He was not sure the bomb was placed exactly, so there would be more shots involved then in theory. Kale closed his eyes and pulled the trigger. Time slowed down as he opened his eyes. He saw a bolt of light leave his weapon and make for the door. He saw it embed it self through the door, before disappearing into darkness. He heard a spark and the sense of heat. He got up lifting the chair and ran backwards to the end of the room, the chair in front. Before he got there fire suddenly grew from the door and the room was filled with light. Kale was thrown the rest of the way through his wall. The blast from the first room was followed by another an another. Fire flowing, like water, poured through the hallways setting off fuel barrels and other explosives planted elsewhere. Orange, red and yellow, shown everywhere. In the room Kale had once been hiding in the bed came alive with fire, the books falling from the shelves in a blast of light. The centre of the building filled momentarily with blue light before the building itself began to crumble. Out of every window, spat fire, pushing remnants of Dread Troopers with it. There was a tremendous bang, when everything came to a halt and the cement walls hit the ground. The only sound that remained was that of fire burring away at dry wood. Kale lay in the mist of the inferno, bruised and battered. Blood spilled from his mouth and piece of the chair stuck out of his leg. He writhed in pain within the centre of fire. He tried to keep his eyes open, to see what had happened. His plan had worked all to well. Kale began to laugh nervously for he could find nothing else to do. He was alive. His laughter became joyous as he praised the thought. He lay in a midst of rubble and scorching heat, but he had been spared. He would be saved he thought. His friends would find him and protect him; he would live into his hundreds. He would defeat the machine; he would defeat all that threaten life. He would fall in love and marry and raise a family... He saw himself do this in the fire that surrounded him. He was alive... Kale eyes began to close... and his body relaxed. Around him the noise of the fire died away. He was, after years and years of death and blood shed, at peace... And his laughter echoed through the desolation of the wreckage... END |