Dark Rain 2.0  |
| Escaping City 17; Half Life 2 | |
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| Topic Started: 31 Oct 2009, 11:28 (29 Views) | |
| Arius Daemonis | 31 Oct 2009, 11:28 Post #1 |
Beneficent Overlord
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Thud. Thud. Thud. Will's eyes snapped open and he rolled from the tattered sofa, his hand automatically slipping under the cushion. The noise came again. Hard, deep thumps. Will relaxed slightly, it wasn't the door. He pulled his hand out from the under the sofa, empty, and stood. Cautiously, he approached the window, leaning into the cracked wall at its side as though afraid of being seen. In the street below a procession of armoured vehicles and formations of Civil Protection units went by. Will watched them with utter contempt. They were the worst; those men who had betrayed their own race to join the faceless ranks of the so called Civil Protection. To Will, they were as inhuman as the grossly modified soldier units. Then came the source of the noise, and as it grew closer it shook plaster and dust from the apartment ceiling. On three gangly stalks it plodded by, taller than the apartment building, like some abominable alien spider. As he craned his neck to look up at it, a chill crawled along his spine. He had faced many horrors in his life, from the slaughter of innocents to the poor victims of headcrabs in the sewers below, but the Strider would always take first place amongst his fears. 'Why are there so many of them?' Will looked up. The tone of fear in the voice was reflected in the face of a young woman. Despite her youth though, years of suffering under the authoritarian rule of the Combine had taken its toll on her. She was gaunt and pale and her very presence exuded an aura of nervousness. Will pitied her. He knew she was on the brink of snapping. People like that did drastic things, stupid things. That was why he kept her close, to keep an eye on her. He couldn't let her compromise him, or any of them. 'It's alright Claire, they're just moving on. They're not here us,' he said reassuringly, but it failed to convince her. It always did. 'They're here for someone,' she said quietly, shrinking out of the dirty light that filtered through the grubby windows. Will sighed, turning away from the procession. 'I have to go again, will you be alright?' Claire shuddered, a slight moan escaping her chapped lips. He put an arm around her hunched shoulders and guided her into the next room. It was as filthy and unkempt as the first, a kitchen apparently. 'There are rations in the cupboard, okay? Eat if you're hungry. You need to eat,' he said, as though explaining something to a child. 'Remember, keep the doors locked and don't let anyone in, unless they know the code.' The woman muttered something meekly and nodded, sitting on a stool by the chipped kitchen counter and bunching herself into the corner. Will shook his head. She was pathetic, but could he really blame her? There were only two types of people any more. There were those who stood firm in the face of the oppressors, shrugging off the blows of the stun baton and there were those who cowered under the lash, breaking and giving it all up for the promise of a better life. If only they knew it came at the price of their souls. Looking at Claire, he knew what kind of person she was. He knew it was only a matter of time. He decided, as he unlocked the door and peered out into the dim light of the corridor, that she would have to go. The sun was harshly bright against the pale morning sky, and Will moved into the shadow of one of the columns which lined the raised platform before the exit of the train station. Occasionally, a few people would exit through the double doors of the old building and disperse into the cobbled square to their assigned living area. Will scouted the plaza with his eyes. A few Civil Protection officers stood about an obelisk at its centre and a couple of scanners drifted in the air. One of those holo-screens was mounted on the obelisk, but thankfully it was silent. Will wondered why, normally it was on a loop of Breen's latest broadcast, something for the civilians to drink in as soon as they got off of the train. He wasn't waiting for anyone off of the train, but it was a handy meeting place and an excuse for more than one person to move in the same direction at the same time. The combine had strict regulations against even two people together in the streets. If it looked like a few new relocated civilians moving towards their assigned residential block though, there would be no problems. Or at least, Will hoped so. Two new civilians had been contacted and instructed on where to go so that they could be led out of the city, and Will was to be there escort for a while. That was one of his main jobs for the underground, helping people to the canals on foot. It was dangerous, but it was the only way. From there on they were someone else's responsibility. He leaned out of the shadows once again, enough so that he could be seen by those who were looking. If they had read the instructions properly, and he dearly hoped they had, neither of them would approach him or each other. When they had seen him, they would look at the sky, as though trying to gauge the time by the position of the sun. What a great day for that, thought Will grimly, wincing in the harsh sunlight. Then he would set off and at a distance, they would follow. |
 
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| TheZamboniKnight | 1 Nov 2009, 03:39 Post #2 |
The companion cube could kick Chuck Norris' ass.
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((sorry for spelling mistakes, it's late and I'm caffinated)) Amelia looked calmly around her, blinking in the sunlight. She was far from calm though; a list of everything that could go wrong ran through her head like a song on repeat. Fear, worry, excitement, and trepedation all blended together with her scanty breakfast somewhere in her stomach and churned relentlessly. None of this showed on her face. People who couldn't hide their emotions didn't last long in her expieriance. After a moment of adjusting to the light her emerald eyes landed on her contact. She looked away again, gaunt face turned up to the sky to gauge the time. She squinted in the face of the bright light and shaded her eyes with her hand, using her peripheral vision to keep an eye on her contact. She started after him after a moment, head down and focused on the toes of her unremarkable workboats that were practically falling off her feat. Maybe that did make them remarkable, but considering everything was falling apart it was just commonplace. With her messy black hair loosely held up Amelia was able to use the stray strands as a curtain to hide behind. It was just a backup, in case her listliss mask failed and she actually dared show her determination. Slips were few and far between but she was nothing if not careful. There wasn't room for anything but perfection with such dangerous thoughts running around her head. |
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I love life But life has a boyfriend READ. COMMENT.  OH HAI LOOKIT THAT!     Bless my soul I'm out to destroy them | |
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| Wildcard | 4 Nov 2009, 15:48 Post #3 |
The veil is thin.... I'm coming through!
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The water from the can in Tom's hands was too cold and sipping too much too quickly made his throat hurt and tighten. Measuring each sip to avoid such things, he sat on the edge of the 'plaza', his back against a wall and his legs crossed. He watched as the other blue-suited lemmings went about their existences. One couldn't really call them lives, because having a life meant actually living and people in City 17 (Or any of the Cities, he suspected) merely existed. He was here early, so it was a while before he spotted his co-conspirators. When he did, he looked up at the sky with a hand shielding his eyes like a visor. He let out a sigh and waited for a pair of so-called 'civil protection' officers (Protecting you from your civic rights!) to walk past before getting up slowly. One glanced back, hearing the shuffling sound, but Tom was walking away from them, not after them. Then the officers went on their way. Tom wished he had the knife made of ceramic from an old broken plate he kept hidden at home, but he knew that if you were roughed up by the CP's when unarmed, you got a beating with a stun stick. They found a weapon on you, even makeshift? Well, not the kind of thing you get into detail on when in polite conversation. |
 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. - JOB, Chapter 30, verses 29-30  Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz. | |
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10:42 AM Nov 30
