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Footprints On The Beach: Parts Five & Six



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Tue Sep 27, 2011 10:54 am
HereBeMonsters says...



Wednesday, 22nd July 2106

Nine Days Earlier

NORWICH
A FINE TOWN

The sign marking one of the city entrances was marked now with the silver spray-painted symbol of the Jack Knife gang. They controlled this area, but hopefully would not be present in great numbers - so the family believed – due to their current conflict. This time it was with the Red Verses, an upstart group of religious zealots who had recently begun to encroach on parts of Knife territory in the east of the city. The family hoped their information on the gangs was up to date, they had paid a little too much for it.

As the small party passed the sign and entered the city proper, all eyes were open, mouths were shut, and weapons were loaded. As the best shot, Jude stayed at the head of the group, with Amelia, Fred, Matt, David, Idris and Sam following closely. While the family trusted Sam enough to accompany them on this task, they didn’t quite have enough ammunition to trust him with a gun yet. Slung around each of their bodies were large satchels containing a wealth of meat and plants. As money meant nothing anymore, they would serve as ample payment for whatever they needed.

The houses in the street they walked along were perhaps once beautiful, but time and decay had taken root across so much of what was left of the human world since the invasion that everything was beginning to fall apart. The overgrown and voluminous trees at the sides of the fragmented tarmac road and hanging over the fences and walls of the long-disused homes provided a good cover for the family as they progressed quickly and quietly along the pavement, seven pairs of eyes scanning for any signs of movement.

They were headed for a long-abandoned supermarket in the centre of the city that was now a storehouse occupied by one of their friends. Mariangela and the small group who lived there with her had only survived so long there because of their formidable defences, with two sets of fences encircling the building, both topped with barbed wire and electrified. Not to mention with the assistance of the reprogrammed Bemrothic sentry droid acquired some years previously, the gangs’ attempts to take the storehouse had never been met with much success.

Turning the corner of the street, Jude spied the supermarket’s now lop-sided sign hanging off a pair of aluminium pillars some distance ahead of them. To get there, there would have to walk down a considerably long, wide road with no tree coverage to conceal them. It was the only entrance to the storehouse, Mariangela having blocked off other routes in order to make an attack easier to repel. Unfortunately for the family, it also made them easy pickings for the gangs as was chillingly obvious from the dozen or so bodies they could see left lying on the road, each in varying states of decay; shot trying to reach the storehouse before being robbed, or worse. The closest corpse’s empty eye sockets stared blankly at Jude as he turned back to speak with the others, waiting behind him.
“There aren’t any new bodies out there, no fresh kills at all.” He told Fred, confused.
“That’s odd, maybe the Knifes are losing to the Verses big time. We could be in luck.”
“Ok, let’s do this quickly, stay close and don’t stop until we reach the gates.” As he checked around the corner again, Jude gave the others a thumbs-up, and then broke into a run. Following him, clustered together, the others sprinted as fast as they dared, the disintegrating tarmac softly crunching under their boots.

Out of breath and hearts pounding, they finally reached the gate. Fred stabbed at the intercom button furiously as everyone else continued to look around, all of them somewhat surprised that no-one seemed to see or hear them. Both sides of the road remained eerily silent. A crackling buzz burst from the intercom before a kindly, female voice appeared,
“Good to see you well, Mr. Judson, I’ll open the gate.” With a slow creaking groan, the metal grate before them slid to one side, everyone hurriedly backing inside the compound as the gate slid back again and locked with a hollow clang. The outer gate encompassed the old supermarket and its car park which was now littered with the remains of burnt-out vehicles, most of which now contained booby-traps in case some lucky intruders managed to pass the first gate. As they approached the inner compound, the gate opened before them, Mariangela’s brother, Marco swinging it back, allowing the family entrance. Everybody was so concerned with getting inside that no-one saw the small grey sphere that Sam gently let fall to the floor, kicking it under one of the cars as it silently began pulsing with a pale blue light.

The storehouse was not exactly filled with items that a pre-invasion supermarket would usually contain, instead, the many heavily repaired shelves now stored, among other commodities, dozens of cans of petrol, hundreds of ammunition clips and magazines along with an array of handguns and rifles, human and alien, a plethora of medicines and surgical equipment, and of course, food and water.
“I’ve never seen your stores so full.” Amelia remarked.
“It’s a miracle.” Mariangela appeared behind them, laughing, “My Gatherers have been able to bring so much to me completely uninterrupted. I don’t know what the Knives and Verses have been doing to each other, but they haven’t bothered me or any of my patrons for weeks now.”
“Seriously, nothing at all?” Jude exclaimed, “Is their little war going that badly?”
Mariangela shrugged as she, Jude and Amelia proceeded down one of the aisles, the others dividing to track down all the things they need, “Well one idea is- and I don’t really believe this,” Mariangela continued, “According to one of my Gatherers, there are some Bemrothic troops a mile or so to the east, where the gangs were supposed to be butchering each other.”
“Why don’t you believe him?”
“What reason would the Bemroth have for attacking those petty little people? They’re no threat, and in fact, they’re a pretty good deterrent to anyone living here. Norwich has become pretty deserted since the Knives took control of most of the outskirts. People like them are making more and more turn to the Bemroth for help. So why attack them then? You want my opinion? All he saw was a gang thug. He’d managed to strip a suit of armour off a long-dead soldier and was wearing it to show off. The Knives are big on trophies.”

“Did we need any more painkillers?” Idris and Sam were on their own attempting to find the medical supplies Harriet needed. He wasn’t really listening to her though; he just looked at her. “Hello? Are they on the list?” Idris asked again. He still said nothing.
Idris turned to Sam as he leant against the shelves behind him, watching her… the way he always watched her. She couldn’t look at his eyes; there was something in them, a hunger that she hated. She hated it so much.
“Look are you going to help me or not?!” She almost shouted, causing Sam to smile a little.
“Touchy! Didn’t know I got you that excited.”
Idris laughed a little unconvincingly, “Please, it takes a little more than you to get me excited.”
“How much more?”
Looking at her feet, Idris bit her lip, “Look, Sam I’ve told you. I- I don’t want you.”
“I think you do.”
“I don’t… and even if I did, what about Carly? She loves you.”
Sam grinned, “Yeah, I know.”
“But you can’t do that to her! I- I won’t let you, you can’t have me.”
Sam edged closer, putting his hands either side of Idris, her back to the wall and his face an inch from hers, “But I want you, and usually, I get what I want.”
“Everything alright?” Matt appeared at the end of the aisle, Sam quickly moving away from Idris.
“Yeah, thanks. Need any help over there, mate?”
Matt narrowed his eyes slightly, “No… thanks.” He continued on past as Sam turned back to Idris, still looking at her feet. He smiled and left.

“Well lookie here!” Amelia heard David exclaim on the other side of the storehouse, arriving round the corner a few moments later carrying an elegant silver-grey rifle, its barrel blackened and encrusted with a hard, brittle substance.
“Ah yes,” Mariangela looked over the weapon, passing it to Amelia, “A Type 17 Bemrothic Rifle. We picked up this a few months ago, thought we might be able to attach it to the droid, but it doesn’t seem to be compatible. You can take it if you like.”
Amelia weighed it in her hands, “It’s pretty light. What’s this all over the barrel?”
“Oh, well, like most hand-held Bemrothic weaponry, this gun fires bolts of superheated metal at high speed, and we presume that its former owner went and overheated it, causing the firing mechanism to malfunction and one of the bolts to be caught in the barrel rather than fire out of it. This hard black stuff is residue from the bolt itself that must have seeped onto the surface. It is in fully working condition and we have tested it; it’s just not that pretty to look at, that’s all.”
Passing it back to David, Amelia seemed impressed, “Alright, we’ll take it.”

After a little more than ten minutes, everything the family needed had been packed into the satchels, and they were ready to leave. As the outer gate clanged shut behind them, Jude took the lead again, there still didn’t seem to be any sign of the gangs. Maybe Mariangela was right, he thought, maybe this city had seen the last of them. Starting back to the camp, they had barely reached the end of the road before Idris stopped dead in her tracks,
“Stop! Everyone, now! Listen.” In the distance, there was a low rumble, with what sounded like footsteps, many footsteps, running towards them.
“Quick, in here!” Jude vaulted through an empty window frame and into a disused shop, “Come on!” Following him, they crouched down low, below the edge of the window as the footsteps became clearer. Poking the very top of his head out, Jude needed to see what was going on. They were gang members, both Red Verses and Jack Knives, dozens of them; their ragged clothes stained with dust and blood. They looked terrified as they continued running past the shop and away as the low rumbling grew louder and louder. It was then that Jude realised why he recognized that noise.
“We have to go, NOW!”
“What about the gan-” Sam started.
“We’ve got bigger things to worry about, literally!” Sparing no time, Jude leapt back over the window frame again, the others likewise as he cautiously looked back around the corner at the road leading to Mariangela’s. Hovering slowly towards the building was a Bemrothic starship, its spiny black mass illuminated by innumerable blue lights. As it cast its shadow over the compound, the family could only look on helpless. Amelia whispered under her breath,
“Get out, get out, get out, get out.”
Suddenly, a hail of weapons fire hit the building, not from the ship but from the now visible group of Bemrothic soldiers who had emerged from where the gangs were fleeing. The screaming flood of bolts perforated the walls of the supermarket, the sentry droid barely having time to aim in the right direction before it was reduced to a heap of molten slag. Seconds later, the bolts hit the fuel supply as a ball of flame erupted from the building, blowing the inner gates apart as noxious black clouds engulfed the whole compound. Within the space of thirty seconds, the storehouse and everyone in it had been razed to nothing but scorched steel and ash.
“OH GOD!” Amelia couldn’t help but scream in horror. Hearing her, a group of Bemrothic troops split away from the others, and began heading straight for them.
“GO! MOVE!”

The next few minutes were a blur. Panting… never looking behind them… sides aching… sprinting as fast as their exhausted legs could carry them… praying desperately for the searing bolts of light to miss. The family needed to get out of the city.

At their rear the four Bemrothic soldiers tried to keep up with them, their metal boots pounding the ground, the lames of their armour clinking and clanking with each stride. One of them fired a shot at Sam- the bolt screaming hideously as it erupted from his weapon- but missed, blasting a smoking hole through a nearby phonebox instead. Turning another corner, the family realised they now had a good position to fire back, the still solid brick walls on either side of the street providing cover. With Sam hiding behind them, the others took up firing positions, their gun barrels protruding from broken gaps in the wall. They only had to wait a few seconds before the soldiers came into view. Jude was the first to fire off a shot, ricocheting away off its armour, the others following suit. One of the soldiers was caught off guard, a dozen bullets cutting through its chestplate and with a guttural howl it fell. The other three were more lucky, or prepared, as they activated their shields, an oval shaped wall of blue-white energy streaming from each of their left arm-pieces, the bullets melting as they hit them. Expecting this and reaching into his satchel, Fred produced a Bemrothic grenade, hurling it over the wall at the soldiers where it detonated in a earth-shattering flash of sonic energy that sent the Bemroth flying in all directions, one of them impaling itself on a spike of bent metal sticking up out of a long-destroyed car at the side of the road. The final two were blown into the wall across the street. One of them appeared completely undamaged while the other seemed unable to pull itself up, struggling to breathe. Taking advantage of the explosion’s deactivation of the shields, Amelia and David aimed their weapons at the last active soldier as it attempted to find cover behind the burnt-out chassis of a van. Missing, David swore as he reloaded, the soldier quickly emerging and firing a bolt at him. It passed through his shoulder as he reeled away, gasping, the intense heat of the blast cauterising the wound. Before he could recoil again, the soldier’s helmet was punctured between the eyes by one of Idris’ rounds. It convulsed and slid backwards onto the pavement, dead.

As they emerged from their hiding places, Matt helping his father, David up, the family checked to see if the soldiers were all dead. Deep blue blood poured from the holes in their armour. Walking over to the only soldier left alive as it lay on the ground, Amelia kicked its weapon away and knelt by it. She could tell by the manufacture of this one’s armour, particularly the helmet, that it was not like the others. She could hear its heavy breathing as she unfastened the clasps fixing the helmet to the body-suit, removing it to reveal a young human man. Amelia’s hand leapt to her mouth as he looked down at him. Trying to speak, nothing but a spluttering gurgle of crimson came from his mouth. His expression… Amelia could not work out. He wasn’t angry at her; he wasn’t in agony- or at least didn’t show it- it was as if he was simply… sad. He hadn’t chosen to join the ranks of the Bemrothic military, a slave soldier, and now he’d been reduced to this. Moments later, he stopped blinking, his reddened tear-filled eyes unknowingly staring at Amelia and the others who joined her, as his body gave up. Swallowing, she closed his eyes; he was barely older than Carly.
“Let’s go, take their weapons.”


Thursday, 23rd July 2106

Eight Days Earlier

“High Master, I have some… potential good news for you.”
The Governor raised a bushy, feathered eyebrow at Sep-Nhv’s hesitancy. “Well?” He barked.
“My informer with the Yates humans has proved himself to be reliable, his actions yesterday allowed us to pinpoint the location of a somewhat elusive supporter of the Yates, who it seems has been providing assistance and sustenance to numerous other humans as well.”
“Oh, we can’t have that.”
“Indeed not, High Master, therefore I took it upon myself to issue the order to terminate her.”
“Very good, First Superior,” Lyh-Jas eased back into his seat, several other Bemroth becoming visible behind him, on the bridge of his personal cruiser. “I am on my way to Earth as we speak; I shall be with you in a few days. Neutralising a minor player is all very well, but would you kindly have something more… impressive to give me when I arrive, First Superior?”
“Of course, High Master, in fact I am well on the way to procuring something rather special for you.”
  





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133 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 2296
Reviews: 133
Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:20 am
PiesAreSquared says...



Ok, very well written, but first the nitpicks.
The family hoped their information on the gangs was up to date, though they had paid a little too much for it.
A though would make the sentence flow much better
As the small party passed the sign and entered the city proper, all eyes were open, mouths were shut, and weapons were loaded.
Weapons may be loaded and yet be not ready.
As the best shot, Jude stayed at the head of the group, with Amelia, Fred, Matt, David, Idris and Sam following closely.
Nice names, Jude’s my elder brother’s name :P
While the family trusted Sam enough to accompany them on this task, they didn’t quite have enough ammunition to entrust him with a gun yet.

Mariangela and the small group who lived there with her had only survived so long there because of their formidable defences, with two sets of fences encircling the building, both topped with barbed wire and electrified.
It would be better to say with electrified barbed wire, but that’s my opinion.
That is all the small problems I could find inside.
Okay, the dialogue is very well written. The characters could use a little more personalization, though. They seem to not have any personalities of their own, so. The story plot is very tense. With the kind of suspense this plot gives, it could do with a little more length and more intrigue, but that’s just what I like in stories, so. The details are very well written into the story and does not burden the reader. That is the thing I like best about your stories, and is the thing I probably will have to learn, fast.
It is a very great piece of work, and I hope this review helps. Keep writing!
ZLYF
The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better than another, you are, in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other. C. S. Lewis

I used to be ZLYF
  





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15 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 1332
Reviews: 15
Thu Oct 06, 2011 1:19 pm
HereBeMonsters says...



Thanks for the review, ZLYF! :)
Getting personality across seems to be one of my major problems... need to work on that.
  








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