A month or two ago, I had to write a short story for my English class. While it's not quite Fallout, I was trying to get a bit of the FO vibe. Silencer thought it was good enough to put on the forum so...
The Land of Grey
Dust was kicked up by the wind and obscured my vision. I squinted to see ahead and saw what seemed to be bombed out buildings. Sighing with relief, I quickened my pace. For that moment I was unwary, and could easily be attacked and gunned down, not to mention that the sound of my equipment banging together would surely attract any nearby creature to my presence. Slowing my pace, I went from standing into a crouching position and moved over the sand dunes towards one of the damaged buildings. Finally, I arrived at the building and collapsed on the couch inside, letting my fatigue set in. Giving my body a rest, I scanned the room. The room seemed old and new at the same time. Old, vaguely European style furnishings covered the room as decorations, but odd, futuristic looking gadgets were strewn about the floor. The house had two floors, with a spiral staircase in one corner. If anything, it looked like a building I had seen in a picture of post-World War II Germany while in training. The rifle I had slung over my back was making it uncomfortable to lie down, so I set it on the floor. After a few minutes of lying down, I felt a little refreshed. As I started to get up, my gut gave out a horrible churning noise. I grabbed my stomach, and remembered the last thing I had to eat was some stale bread and warm water yesterday. If I were going to survive long enough to call Command and maybe get out of here, I would need to find a source of food.
So I got up, grabbed my rifle, and checked the surrounding rooms for some kind of kitchen, or, failing that, a storage room. When I found the kitchen, I was greeted with a horrible spectacle. One of them was standing in that very room. I brought the rifle’s iron sights up to my eyes. The noise must have alarmed the creature because it spun to face me. When it realized what I was, its bloodshot eyes grew wide with fear. I wasted no time and pulled the trigger. Bullets sliced through its armor and tore its spinal cord to shreds. Usually when one of the things was killed, it let out a bloodcurdling scream. This time was different. Instead, its lifeless body staggered and slumped against one of the walls. I realized I was holding my breath, and let out a massive sigh of relief. That could’ve turned out a lot worse, and a lot bloodier. The things had superhuman strength, and could rip humans in two. I shuddered as I remembered the fate of my squad mates… Couldn’t lose focus. I checked the body for anything useful, but all I found was its sidearm. I holstered it anyway, and started to strip away its armor. It was good fortune the enemy hadn’t screamed or the house would be crawling with the things. Lady Luck still smiled down on me, it seemed.
I had seen one the things only once before, while I was still training at the Academy. The creature resembled a human, but had no blood or organs besides its brain. It had no rib cage, either. The arms were attached to its spinal cord, which made up the beings’ entire midsection. Its skull was the most interesting part. Instead of having teeth, there were two blade-like bones that moved horizontally back and forth. There was also an extremely small hole in the base of their skull. While I couldn’t imagine anything fitting in there, the military doctors speculated that some sort of stimulant was injected through the hole. That would explain why they always had bloodshot eyes. Most of their soldiers wore a heavy metallic suit of armor to protect themselves in battle and probably to compensate for their physical disadvantages.
Great, now I’m just wasting more time. I dragged the body to a corner and buried it under some of the objects lying around. Then I went back to the kitchen to do what I was originally there for: eat something. After a few minutes of searching, I found what seemed to be discolored cookies. I took a whiff and grimaced. It smelled like day-old road kill. Here goes nothing, I told myself. I held my breath and took a small bite and was overcome by the wave of flavor that hit my tongue. After mashing the food in my mouth for a few seconds, I finally determined what I thought the flavor was like. It tasted like, what I believe at least, would be a mash of a cinnamon roll and grapefruit. Wasn’t half bad. Strange green ooze was coming out of the cookie-fruit where I had taken a bite. I touched my tongue to the ooze. That’s where the grapefruit taste came from. What about the smell? I took another whiff and nearly spat out the food still in my mouth. It was worse than before. Tasted pretty well, all things considered, but were very pungent. With one hand, I finished off the cookie-fruit; the other I used to cover my nose.
My stomach was now full, so I decided to look for anything that I might use to boost my radio signal. After a few hours of rummaging, I managed to pick out what looked like a small telephone pole. I considered discarding it, but I doubted I would find anything better in the house. So I hooked the mini-telephone pole on my belt and headed outside to see if I could get on the roof, the best possible place to contact Command.
A ladder was on the ground a few feet from what I guessed was the house’s front porch. I stood it up against the house. Instead of the ladders I had seen on Earth, where both sides were slanted, this ladder had one side perfectly diagonal and the other was straight up. Also, the ladder was pretty uneven and rickety, and my body armor wasn’t exactly light. Do it quickly, I told myself. With a running start, I climbed as fast as my limbs allowed. The ladder gave horrible creaking sounds. It started to give way and I got my hands on the edge of the roof. The ladder fell to the ground with a mighty crash. With great difficulty I managed to pull myself up and over the roof. I lay there for a few minutes, recovering the strength I had just spent. When I felt okay enough to stand up again, I got my radio and the mini-telephone pole and hooked them together. Then I tried hailing the flagship. “Command on the battleship ‘Protector,’ this is Paratroop Squad 5, please respond.”
Static was my only reply. For a brief moment I was stricken with panic. What if the fleet had moved? What if the higher-ups decided this planet wasn’t worth it, and ordered the ships to pull out?
I tried again. “Repeat, Command on the battleship ‘Protector,’ this is Paratroop Squad 5, please respond!” Nothing. Then: “Paratroop Squad 5, this is Command on the battleship ‘Protector,’ we read you.”
“Command, I need a way out of here.”
Pause.
Then a deeper voice came over the radio. “You runnin’ away, soldier?”
“No, sir. The rest of my squad is gone. Slaughtered by the enemy.”
Another pause.
“Hang on son. Help is on the way.”
The radio cut off.
A few hours later, and I could see a dropship, a massive hybrid between a jet and a helicopter that resembled the shape of a Higgins Boat, descending from the sky. One of its many spotlights hit me, then flew towards the house, hovering right above the roof. Over the dropship’s loudspeaker, I could hear, “Get in. The enemy is sending a platoon to this location.”
I looked back to where my squad was killed; where I narrowly escaped with my life. They would be avenged. I hopped into the ship. As the exterior door started to close and the ship started its long trip back into space, I took a seat and leaned against a side of the ship. A few minutes later and I was fast asleep.
The Land of Grey
Dust was kicked up by the wind and obscured my vision. I squinted to see ahead and saw what seemed to be bombed out buildings. Sighing with relief, I quickened my pace. For that moment I was unwary, and could easily be attacked and gunned down, not to mention that the sound of my equipment banging together would surely attract any nearby creature to my presence. Slowing my pace, I went from standing into a crouching position and moved over the sand dunes towards one of the damaged buildings. Finally, I arrived at the building and collapsed on the couch inside, letting my fatigue set in. Giving my body a rest, I scanned the room. The room seemed old and new at the same time. Old, vaguely European style furnishings covered the room as decorations, but odd, futuristic looking gadgets were strewn about the floor. The house had two floors, with a spiral staircase in one corner. If anything, it looked like a building I had seen in a picture of post-World War II Germany while in training. The rifle I had slung over my back was making it uncomfortable to lie down, so I set it on the floor. After a few minutes of lying down, I felt a little refreshed. As I started to get up, my gut gave out a horrible churning noise. I grabbed my stomach, and remembered the last thing I had to eat was some stale bread and warm water yesterday. If I were going to survive long enough to call Command and maybe get out of here, I would need to find a source of food.
So I got up, grabbed my rifle, and checked the surrounding rooms for some kind of kitchen, or, failing that, a storage room. When I found the kitchen, I was greeted with a horrible spectacle. One of them was standing in that very room. I brought the rifle’s iron sights up to my eyes. The noise must have alarmed the creature because it spun to face me. When it realized what I was, its bloodshot eyes grew wide with fear. I wasted no time and pulled the trigger. Bullets sliced through its armor and tore its spinal cord to shreds. Usually when one of the things was killed, it let out a bloodcurdling scream. This time was different. Instead, its lifeless body staggered and slumped against one of the walls. I realized I was holding my breath, and let out a massive sigh of relief. That could’ve turned out a lot worse, and a lot bloodier. The things had superhuman strength, and could rip humans in two. I shuddered as I remembered the fate of my squad mates… Couldn’t lose focus. I checked the body for anything useful, but all I found was its sidearm. I holstered it anyway, and started to strip away its armor. It was good fortune the enemy hadn’t screamed or the house would be crawling with the things. Lady Luck still smiled down on me, it seemed.
I had seen one the things only once before, while I was still training at the Academy. The creature resembled a human, but had no blood or organs besides its brain. It had no rib cage, either. The arms were attached to its spinal cord, which made up the beings’ entire midsection. Its skull was the most interesting part. Instead of having teeth, there were two blade-like bones that moved horizontally back and forth. There was also an extremely small hole in the base of their skull. While I couldn’t imagine anything fitting in there, the military doctors speculated that some sort of stimulant was injected through the hole. That would explain why they always had bloodshot eyes. Most of their soldiers wore a heavy metallic suit of armor to protect themselves in battle and probably to compensate for their physical disadvantages.
Great, now I’m just wasting more time. I dragged the body to a corner and buried it under some of the objects lying around. Then I went back to the kitchen to do what I was originally there for: eat something. After a few minutes of searching, I found what seemed to be discolored cookies. I took a whiff and grimaced. It smelled like day-old road kill. Here goes nothing, I told myself. I held my breath and took a small bite and was overcome by the wave of flavor that hit my tongue. After mashing the food in my mouth for a few seconds, I finally determined what I thought the flavor was like. It tasted like, what I believe at least, would be a mash of a cinnamon roll and grapefruit. Wasn’t half bad. Strange green ooze was coming out of the cookie-fruit where I had taken a bite. I touched my tongue to the ooze. That’s where the grapefruit taste came from. What about the smell? I took another whiff and nearly spat out the food still in my mouth. It was worse than before. Tasted pretty well, all things considered, but were very pungent. With one hand, I finished off the cookie-fruit; the other I used to cover my nose.
My stomach was now full, so I decided to look for anything that I might use to boost my radio signal. After a few hours of rummaging, I managed to pick out what looked like a small telephone pole. I considered discarding it, but I doubted I would find anything better in the house. So I hooked the mini-telephone pole on my belt and headed outside to see if I could get on the roof, the best possible place to contact Command.
A ladder was on the ground a few feet from what I guessed was the house’s front porch. I stood it up against the house. Instead of the ladders I had seen on Earth, where both sides were slanted, this ladder had one side perfectly diagonal and the other was straight up. Also, the ladder was pretty uneven and rickety, and my body armor wasn’t exactly light. Do it quickly, I told myself. With a running start, I climbed as fast as my limbs allowed. The ladder gave horrible creaking sounds. It started to give way and I got my hands on the edge of the roof. The ladder fell to the ground with a mighty crash. With great difficulty I managed to pull myself up and over the roof. I lay there for a few minutes, recovering the strength I had just spent. When I felt okay enough to stand up again, I got my radio and the mini-telephone pole and hooked them together. Then I tried hailing the flagship. “Command on the battleship ‘Protector,’ this is Paratroop Squad 5, please respond.”
Static was my only reply. For a brief moment I was stricken with panic. What if the fleet had moved? What if the higher-ups decided this planet wasn’t worth it, and ordered the ships to pull out?
I tried again. “Repeat, Command on the battleship ‘Protector,’ this is Paratroop Squad 5, please respond!” Nothing. Then: “Paratroop Squad 5, this is Command on the battleship ‘Protector,’ we read you.”
“Command, I need a way out of here.”
Pause.
Then a deeper voice came over the radio. “You runnin’ away, soldier?”
“No, sir. The rest of my squad is gone. Slaughtered by the enemy.”
Another pause.
“Hang on son. Help is on the way.”
The radio cut off.
A few hours later, and I could see a dropship, a massive hybrid between a jet and a helicopter that resembled the shape of a Higgins Boat, descending from the sky. One of its many spotlights hit me, then flew towards the house, hovering right above the roof. Over the dropship’s loudspeaker, I could hear, “Get in. The enemy is sending a platoon to this location.”
I looked back to where my squad was killed; where I narrowly escaped with my life. They would be avenged. I hopped into the ship. As the exterior door started to close and the ship started its long trip back into space, I took a seat and leaned against a side of the ship. A few minutes later and I was fast asleep.
Nice. The first thought I had when reading "Hang on son. Help is on the way" was "what if the radio transmission was received/intercepted by the enemy, who pretended to be the home ship (after all, the hero started the call with his and his ships name, so they would know it), and the pickup sent was actually enemies kidnapping him?". Would have been a nice twist, probably.