Alice bolted down the corridors towards the Hangar. She whipped around a corner, almost knocking over a receptionist and a military guard. With no time to stop, she didn’t even shout an apology. She was too focused with getting back to her operative.
“Map?” Alice huffed, speaking into the com-link after jacking in to the rig and taking back control from Tripp.
“Yeah.”
The interference was still distorting the connection, “Just checking in. Ready?”
The reply was static. Continue reading
Paul was more surprised by what he saw at the air field than by the appearance of Kate or the initial call that led to him going outside. A small rocket was sitting on the runway, standing almost as tall as the control tower. The tapered tip flowed into a tube shaped body, with a rounded bump in the middle and fins reaching down to the tarmac. Paul could see small structures surrounding the rocket that looked like everything it would need to actually fly. Thick tubes ran from the ship to the different structures, but he could only guess what they were for. Short buildings, that looked like quick military constructions, were in between where Paul stood and the rocket. When he and the little girl reached the edge of the field, six large men in gear that matched the girl’s, surrounded them. Continue reading
***May Contain Spoilers***
Wow, that got out of hand. I started writing For Them and Not in April and here we are in December finally getting to the end. I hope the wait was worth it. For me, I’m mostly just excited that I was able to write that much for one story. If you talk to the rest of the group they will probably tell you how many times I said it was only going to be five parts, no six, I mean seven. I don’t think I actually said how long it would be after part seven was written. I just waved it off with an “It’s almost done, I swear.” Now it is done and I have a few things I’d like to say about it. Continue reading
Part 9
Map found the stairwell and feeling like he had nothing left to lose he ran back up to the roof. He hoped that if he was fast enough he would have the best chance at the only attack he could come up with.
He sprinted across the damaged roof draining his last reservoir of strength and ignored the pain the best he could. As he approached the edge of the building he heard the crash of the creature trying to get into the apartment he escaped through moments earlier. Before he reached the end of the roof Map jumped as high as he could, readying his axe. He swung up at the apex and came down on the creature with as much force as he could. The axe sunk deep into the thing’s head as the jolt of impact spread through Map. Continue reading
Alice strode down the ornate hallway to the Administrator’s office. She had walked past the security station and ignored the clerk at the desk. She knew how risky it was to leave Map to a backup station but he needed answers. Map was injured and up against too many uncertainties. She reached the outer door to the Administrator’s office and heard the clerk coming down the hall after her. She ignored him again and hurried into the room. She pushed past the secretary without a look and barged into the office. There was a bank of monitors on one wall and the Administrator was talking to the people who Alice could see on the screens. Continue reading
The news hit her hard. The asset she had kept alive all these years was being made obsolete; younger ones were there to take over. With the expiration of their property would come her own, and she knew it. Liaisons only worked with one operative. Once the operative’s usefulness in the field was over, their liaison’s time with the project was as well. Continue reading
Ben V.
At the top of the stairs Map turned and dropped a grenade. He only carried two preferring more precise combat, but Map felt there were times when a big bang came in handy – even when it cuts off your only escape route.
Map ducked into a bedroom leaving the grenade to sort itself out. He reloaded and checked his ammo. He’d used close to half of what he brought and felt sloppy for it. The fire had spread to the house and left Map with few options for escape. Map found himself in a room with a balcony. He went out onto it to look for a way to lower himself down. He considered jumping but didn’t want to risk turning and ankle or worse. He moved to the bed and stripped it intending to tie the sheets together but the sound of hands and feet scrambling up the space where the stairs had been told him he wouldn’t have time. Instead Map carried the mattress to the balcony and dropped it. He was gauging the jump when one of the huge hands appeared at the door. Continue reading
Ben V.
Map made his way out of the administration building and through the courtyard. Evidently the word had gotten out already; the normally chatty guards just looked at Map pityingly. Map tried to think about other things and remembered he had missed lunch. He was hungry but he wasn’t sure he was up for eating. He passed the mess hall and headed for the barracks. He tried sneaking though the side door, he didn’t want to see the same look the guards gave him again, but Ox was there.
Ox had been making leaps and bounds in the training sessions lately and Map scolded himself for not staying a step ahead. He wasn’t sure if Ox was getting that good or he was slipping. Continue reading
Originally Posted from May 5th to Dec 30th, 2013
It was hot. The heat never used to bother him but now it was hard to breath. He had to stop running, catch his breath. He never had to do that before.
The number twenty-eight stuck out in his head. He was the second oldest the program had ever seen. The younger ones were coming around again; they were going to lap him.
Each one passed, younger than the last, each an improvement on the last. He stopped at the side of the path and leaned on a tree, letting them go by. Sweat cascaded off of him, collecting in drops and dampening the dirt. Continue reading