Untitled - For Now Anyway

Chapter�?� �?�1
I was awoken from my thinking by a firm hand on my shoulder,�?� �??�?�Gear up.�?��?� �?�Theodore Hill was a huge man,�?� �?�with meaty hands and a weathered face.�?� �?�His firm cheekbones complemented his somewhat pudgy build.�?� �??�?�We�??re gettin�?��?? �?�near St.�?� �?�Pete.�?��?� �?�I grabbed my heavy boots and jet black armored pants off of the wall next to me.�?� �?�I stepped into my boots and secured my suspender straps around my shoulders.�?� �?�After this I pulled on a Kevlar vest and an armored black jacket.�?� �?�Strapping my belt around my waist,�?� �?�and fitting my silenced sidearm into its holster,�?� �?�I looked up at Teddy,�?� �?�who was fiddling around with his helmet.�?� �??�?�You ready to go big boy�?�?�?� �?�I asked a sense of comic nervousness in my voice.�?� �??�?�Yeah yeah,�?��?� �?�he muttered.�?� �?�I grabbed my customized M16�?� �?�rifle issued to our entire squad and strapped it to my back.�?� �?�Taking my jet black helmet under my arm,�?� �?�I gestured to Theodore,�?� �??�?�Lead away.�?��?�
He began walking to the open air hangar towards the back of the large helicopter.�?� �?�I followed him and saw the rest of my team,�?� �?�both members clad in the same jet black uniform as Teddy and myself.�?� �?�Benjamin�?� �??�?�Scout�?��?? �?�Nichols,�?� �?�a small thin man who had short cut blond hair,�?� �?�and Shin Chi-Shen,�?� �?�a Chinese martial arts expert with close cut black hair and an always grim countenance.�?� �?�Making Shin smile was like surviving a nuclear explosion,�?� �?�and making him cry was even harder.�?�
�??Prepare for drop,�?��?� �?�a large metallic voice rang out through the hangar.�?� �??�?�Let�??s go boys,�?��?� �?�I said,�?� �?�putting on my jet black helmet.�?� �?�Checking my routine vitals on the HUD built into my visor,�?� �?�I strapped on my parachute pack and walked to one edge of the hangar.�?� �?�To my right was Theo,�?� �?�and opposite us were Scout and Shin.�?� �??�?�Jumping in t-minus�?� �?�5�?��?��?�..�?� �?�4�?��?��?�..�?� �?�3�?��?��?�..�?� �?�2�?��?��?�..�?� �?�1�?��?��?�..�?��?�
We jumped simultaneously�?�; �?�spread our arms and legs to prepare for parachute opening.�?� �?�As we reached�?� �?�3500�?� �?�feet,�?� �?�we pulled the cords and our parachutes began to unfurl in the wind.�?� �?�Now falling more slowly,�?� �?�we began to reach�?� �?�3000,�?� �?�then�?� �?�2000,�?� �?�then�?� �?�1000,�?� �?�and finally�?� �?�500�?� �?�feet,�?� �?�we began to reach�?� �?�200�?� �?�feet and then,�?� �?�nothing.
Slowly regaining consciousness,�?� �?�I opened my eyes to find myself enveloped in complete and utter darkness.�?� �?�I blinked hard and opened my eyes again,�?� �?�still finding a pitch black curtain in front of my face.�?� �?�Groping around with my hand I found my sidearm,�?� �?�and my rifle.�?� Holstering my sidearm and replacing my rifle on my back, �?�I felt my surroundings.�?� �?�It was apparent that I had fallen into some sort of box,�?� �?�as I could feel four steel walls around me.�?� �?�It felt like I was sitting on something soft and squishy in a bag.�?� �?�As I removed my helmet to investigate whether the city of St.�?� �?�Petersburg was as dark as it had first appeared,�?� �?�I smelled the horrible stench of rotting garbage.�?� �??�?�Great,�?��?� �?�I muttered,�?� �??�?�I landed in a dumpster.�?��?� �?�Coming to realize that the dumpster could have saved my life from the crash landing,�?� �?�I suddenly thought about the rest of my team,�?� �?�and if they had experienced the same difficulty that I had in landing.�?�
As I tried to stand,�?� �?�my entire body groaned and a sharp pain shot through my left leg.�?� �?�As well as I could without putting pressure on that leg,�?� �?�I stood up and exited the dumpster.�?� �?�I replaced my helmet on my head and noticed,�?� �?�for the first time,�?� �?�that my HUD was completely blank.�?� �?�Not only that,�?� �?�but my night vision was not working and the routine beep of my communicator made was silent.�?� �?�I checked my digital watch,�?� �?�nothing.�?� �?�Drawing my rifle,�?� �?�I looked into the sight.�?� �?�What should have been dotted with readings and night vision capabilities was a pitch black magnifying glass.�?� �?�Realizing how useless my helmet was,�?� �?�I removed it.�?� �?�Sitting down in the small volume of snow that had accumulated on the ground,�?� �?�I began to think.�?�
�??OK,�?� �?�so we were traveling almost directly north when we dropped.�?� �?�Teddy was immediately to my right.�?��?��?� Looking straight up,�?� �?�I was able to glimpse Polaris,�?� �?�The North Star.�?� �?�Turning to face west,�?� �?�I groped around in front of my face for the dumpster in which I landed.�?� �?�Feeling the freezing metal against my gloved hand,�?� �?�I began cautiously moving north.�?�
I took the�?� �?�40�?� �?�paces that Theodore would have been away from me and softly called,�?� �??�?�Teddy,�?��?� �?�no answer,�?� �?�I heard a small rustling noise coming from what appeared to be,�?� �?�in the inky blackness,�?� �?�a large snowbank.�?� �?�Drawing my sidearm I called again,�?� �?�this time louder,�?� �??�?�Teddy.�?��?� �?�The snow piled up on the side of the road groaned.�?� �?�Grabbing a nearby branch,�?� �?�I slowly walked over to it and poked around.�?� �?�Wiping the snow from the top,�?� �?�I saw a hulking mass of man crumpled at the bottom.�?� �?�Seeing the jet black uniform that stood out against the snow,�?� �?�I moved closer.�?� �?�Removing the helmet,�?� �?�I saw Teddy�??s face.�?� �?�He struggled to open his eyes,�?� �?�and I tried to help by giving him a shake.�?� �?�He slowly stirred back in to consciousness,�?� �?�and his eyes blinked ferociously before opening.�?� �?�Seeing my face he calmed down a bit.�?�
�??What hurts�?�?�?� �?�I asked gently.�?�
�??What doesn�??t hurt,�?��?� �?�he replied.�?�
Rephrasing my question,�?� �?�I asked,�?� �??�?�What hurts the most�?�?�?�
He replied,�?� �??�?�Probably my back and right arm.�?� �?�I landed on those,�?��?� �?�a pause and a groan,�?� �??�?�pretty hard,�?��?� �?�he finished.�?�
�??See if you can�??t get up,�?��?� �?�I said.�?� �?�He struggled for a minute,�?� �?�then using his left arm to support his upper body�?�; �?�he was able to stagger to his feet.�?� �?�Taking his arm over my shoulder,�?� �?�we used his legs and my torso to maneuver ourselves to what looked,�?� �?�in the dim light,�?� �?�like a bench.�?�
We sat down and Teddy asked,�?� �??�?�How bad are you hurt�?�?�?� �?�After a small grumble I replied,�?� �??�?�I got lucky,�?� �?�landed in a dumpster.�?� �?�My leg hurts�?�; �?�it�??s probably broken,�?� �?�but nothing else is worse than aches and pains.�?��?�
After this we were silent,�?� �?�trying to nurse our injuries as best we could.�?� �?�We fixed Teddy�??s arm into a sling,�?� �?�and stretched out his back a bit.�?� �?�After the worst of our pains were subsided for the moment,�?� �?�I asked,�?� �??�?�Should we look for the others�?�?�?� �?�Theodore replied,�?� �??�?�Yeah,�?� �?�they should be behind us.�?��?� �?�Raising our destroyed bodies off of the bench,�?� �?�we turned and squinted into the blackness behind us.�?� �?�Stepping forward I heard the crunch of snow under our heavy boots.�?� �?�As walked what would have been the width of the hangar and then some,�?� �?�we saw the glow of a fire.�?� �?�Racing down to the campfire,�?� �?�I saw two silhouettes outlined by the glow of the fire.�?� �?�Before coming too close,�?� �?�our training seemed to rush back into our head.�?� �?�We slowed,�?� �?�and drew our sidearms.�?� �?�Coming to a halt about�?� �?�5�?� �?�feet from the fire,�?� �?�we called,�?� �??�?�Scout,�?� �?�Shin.�?��?� �?�Turning the figures drew their guns and stood up.�?� �?�Reacting instinctively,�?� �?�Theodore and I dove for cover behind two trees.�?�
�??US Military�?�!�?� �?�We yelled.�?� �?�Peeking around the tree,�?� �?�I saw the men replace their guns at their holsters,�?� �?�and approach our cover.�?� �?�Shin grunted,�?� �??�?�You fell�?�?�?� �?�I judged from the voice that he was on our right.�?� �??�?�Well c�??mon now,�?��?� �?�Scout�??s southern drawl piped in from the left,�?� �??�?�Hop on over to our fire here.�?��?� �?�Holstering our guns now,�?� �?�Theodore and I approached the duo and our now reunited team walked together to the fire burning in the distance.

« Last edited by Yogi_Bear on Nov 17th 2010 »

Coolio. Lets see so far a good read for me. By the looks of it an EMP has hit the city or the equipment was damaged. But probably an EMP. it seems around our time within a couple years before or after. War between two places or something. But I like the story so far. Your short and sweet introduction of the characters was well done. Hope to see the next chapter.

Chapter 2
Sitting around the blazing fire, our equipment began to dry and we felt warmth return to our freezing bones. The fire rejuvenated not only our bodies, but our souls as well. Although things were looking up, our situation still looked pretty bleak. None of us had power to our gear, and all of our communications were down. We began thinking about would would have caused our mishap. Our systems could have been shorted by an EMP from the ground, but that would mean someone knew we were coming and that someone must have gotten out of there pretty quickly, I mused, contemplating other options.
�??It could�??ve been a malfunction.�?� Scout offered,
�??Impossible,�?� I said, �??We double and triple checked everything.�?�
�??What if it was sabotage?�?� Teddy said, voicing the thought that was running through everyone�??s mind but nobody else was going to say.
�??It doesn't matter what happened, �?? Shin said, �??All that matters is finishing this mission, and then-and only then-will we be able to investigate this goddamn situation.�?�
We all nodded in agreement and I put my head in my hands and wiped my brow before looking up at the rest of my team who was staring at me. Of course they expected me to come up with the answer here, I was considered the tactical genius. �??There is no way in hell we will be able to stick to our plan.�?� I said, �??We're going in there completely blind, and we still need to achieve both of our objectives. Do I think this will be possible? Yes, because we are the best at what we do, but it sure as hell will not be easy.�?� I looked around, Scout nodded, Teddy grunted, and Shin's eyes seemed to consent ever so slightly. �??OK men, we'll start a bit later, I estimate its about 200 hours so we still have a few hours of night left to rest this evening. Our first objective is reaching Moscow, we can probably catch a train around 6. Lets get into our civvy clothes and we'll need to get some tickets. I'll head with Ted for those while you two find somewhere to store our gear until we can catch a train a bit later. We'll buy a few disposable phones to keep in touch.�?� I paused, �??OK men, Teddy and I will go into town and grab some phones, you two stay put, we should be back in 30 minutes at the most.�?�
We changed into civilian clothes from our backpacks and holstered our pistols so they were hidden under our long winter coats. We bid farewell to our comrades and headed in the direction of St. Petersburg. We reached the outskirts of the city fairly quickly and found a shop that was open at this time and still likely to sell us some cell phones.
We entered the 24-hour store and walked to the front desk. I bent down and picked four cheap phones and minutes cards from the shelves underneath the counter and placed them in front of the clerk. Meanwhile, Teddy had pulled some cocoa and a few bags of beef jerky off the shelves and placed them on the counter next to the phones. I placed 5000 rubles on the desk and muttered, �??Keep the change.�?� in fluent Russian. Turning and exiting the store, the plastic bags of our recently acquired goods in our gloved hands, we began to make our way to camp. We reached the fire fairly quickly and handed a phone to each of our team members. Scout produced a knife from a pocket in his trousers and cut through his packaging, offering it to the rest of us as well. Shin had already removed his phone from the layers of its packaging with his own knife and Teddy was in the process of prying it off with his teeth. I accepted the knife from Scout and quickly sliced through the plastic packaging, exposing the cheap cell phone. While Teddy was struggling to unpack his phone, the rest of us explored the limited functionality of the go phone and soon had three contacts and 400 minutes. He looked up and surveyed the expressions on his teammates' faces. Shin was bored, he had clearly finished long ago, Scout had recently finished, and Teddy was swearing under his breath because his large fingers made it nearly impossible to navigate using the small buttons on the phone. When he finally looked up, we shared a laugh and, after a moment, set back to our planning in a brighter mood. �??So, will you two head into town and grab us some tickets for the earliest train you can find?�?� I asked.
�??Would be my pleasure,�?� Scout said and Shin nodded his consent. The two headed off in the same direction we had just come from, following our footprints in the snow until they disappeared behind the white wall of the light snowfall.
We huddled around the fire, sipping mugs of cocoa we picked up in town. �??Damn,�?� I said, �??None of us were prepared for this. I mean, somehow we landed ourselves blind in Russia.�?�
Teddy touched my arm, �??Calm down man,�?� he said.
�??I know, just, I don't even know if we should finish the mission or just cut our damn losses and get on the nearest plane outta this hellhole,�?�
�??Freeze! Put your hands where we can see them!�?� said a gruff voice, speaking bad English with a strong Russian accent.

Teddy raised his hands and turned slowly, he tapped his foot lightly in the snow twice. I raised my right hand first from my lap and then brought my left up. Spinning quickly I turned and fired three quick rounds from my pistol into the chest of our first assailant. By the time the other uniformed officer, clearly a young policeman, realized what had happened, Teddy had him in a headlock, his Spetzna pistol on the ground at his feet. The young officer, showing more skill than expected, elbowed Teddy in the stomach and punched him in the face. While he staggered back, our assailant turned and charged at me. Before I could pull the trigger, I heard a pistol shot from the direction of town as the attacker fell, a bloody hole in his head.
�??Well damn,�?� I said, �??You've still got it Scout.�?�
�??Damn straight, partner,�?� he said, grinning. �??Who the hell were they anyway?�?� he asked, carefully stepping over the dead bodies.
�??Must have been local police,�?� Teddy said, �??But how did they know where we were?�?� he asked.
�??They probably saw the fire, or that damn shopkeeper thought we looked suspicious and called the cops,�?� I said. �??Regardless, we have to keep moving, they'll definitely come back and it'll be a helluva lot easier if we aren't sitting here with our thumbs in our asses.�?�
�??Well we've already got the train tickets,�?� Shin said, �??So lets pack our **** and get out of here.�?�
We agreed and packed our things into inconspicuous suitcases. We departed toward town and disappeared into the blizzard, leaving our fire and makeshift seats behind.