A young African girl leads her family and a few survivors to "The White Zone"
Opening 1[]
In the Ice Room: Opening One
An unexpected winter had showered us
It felt unnatural, unreal
The world is not a cruel place, it’s the people in it that are cruel
The month is July, and the country belongs to the Chimera
Everything we cared for—wiped away like powder atop a table—is gone
My mother and I are the last survivors in our village
We were walking along a dirt road when a….a…a VTOL arrived
My mother held me close, she was very cautious
A masked soldier stepped out
His mask was painfully scary
I wanted to see the face behind it
Were these the X-Ray soldiers that the newspaper kept referring to?
“M’am, we need you to come with us.”
“Why?” my mother asked.
“We are collecting survivors for extraction out of the country. You will be taken to Southwark Peak and from there you will be protected.”
“Southwark Peak is a refugee camp!” I said loudly.
I read enough of The Projector to know about Southwark Peak and the Chimera invasion. My mother stepped up to the soldier and held her hand out. The soldier looked at her hand, then back at her, and I could sense some slight confusion. I stepped up and looked at my mother. The soldier beckoned for someone in the VTOL and a rather strange-looking man stepped out.
“Sergeant Major Blake, you need to see this.”
I guess he commands them. He held my mother’s hand and said, “how did you get this?”
“Sergeant Redmond Grey did this to me. He said if anything should happen to my village, I should go to the White Zone.”
Major Blake stiffened, “the White Zone?”
My mother nodded. Major Blake sighed.
“Get into the VTOL. We will make sure you will arrive there safely.”
My mother and I stepped into the helicopter and I saw three other soldiers and two more survivors, a middle-eastern man and a young blonde woman. The VTOL took off, and I felt slightly motion sick. We reached Southwark Peak in an hour, and it was eerily quiet. The VTOL slowly descended to the helipad and Major Blake stepped out with three soldiers following behind him. The iron gates were torn open, so they took caution. Major Blake held his M5A2 Folsom Carbine close as he and the soldiers stealthily walked into the compound. I knew what type of rifle he had because of the newspaper I read. The Projector had stated it was popular with SRPA soldiers.
I twiddled with my fingers and spoke out, “who are you two?”
The blonde woman spoke, “my name is Esther Pierre. My father was French and my mother was British. I was helping at the camp when I was asked to accompany the soldiers in this vtol.”
I looked at the Middle-Eastern man, whom said, “My name is Mohammad. Just Mohammad. My family died when those weird-looking spider bugs tore them apart. I couldn’t watch it, but I hid away. I hid away like a coward.”
He shook his head in despair and hid his face in his hands. I saw the soldiers coming back rather hastily. “Get this VTOL into the air! And fly towards those trees!” shouted Major Blake.
I saw the giant four-legged Chimera they call Widowmaker. It was terrifying to think about but beautiful to stare at. Because of the name, I think every Widowmaker is a female. The VTOL took off before the Widowmaker could attack us. I closed my eyes, wishing it were over sooner.
But it was not over sooner As soon as we headed to the trees for cover the Chimera unveiled themselves. I heard Major Blake shout, “We have to head for the White Zone.” At fist I silently rejoiced, but a rocket, possibly from a Stalker, had collided with the VTOL and sent it crashing down. I held onto my mother and she held onto one of the handlebars. The crash wasn’t as frightening as the quick, whirling descent towards the ground.
I wasn’t knocked out by the crash, but Esther and Mohammad were certainly unconscious. My mother stood up but her walk was limping. Major Blake had survived, and so did three of the four soldiers.
“The White Zone isn’t far from here.” I said.
I started walking north, but when I felt no one following I looked back. The soldiers had to carry the unconscious survivors, and they had to salvage their weapons. My mother started shivering and I saw her mutter something.
Cold.
I looked up, snow was falling from a cloudy sky. The Chimera are doing this. I read about that, too. We walked the whole day, the weather growing increasingly colder. By night we were…maybe four miles away from the White Zone. We had to travel through the savannas, but our trekking was interrupted. A lone Leaper let out a shrill scream and an army of Rollers were on our tracks. “Rollers!” I whispered. We broke into a run but kept low in the grass. Red dots had come out of nowhere and I heard their disgusting growls. I heard the loud, rapid firing of a Carbine, and I knew there had to be humans around. But where was all this coming from?
Opening 2[]
In the Ice Room: Opening Two
An unexpected winter had showered us
It felt unnatural, unreal
The world is not a cruel place, it’s the people in it that are cruel
The month is July, and the country belongs to the Chimera
Everything we cared for—wiped away like powder atop a table—is gone
My mother and I are the last survivors in our village
We were walking along a dirt road when a….a…a VTOL arrived
My mother held me close, she was very cautious as a masked soldier stepped out
His mask was painfully scary
I wanted to see the face behind it
Were these the X-Ray soldiers that the newspaper kept referring to?
“M’am, we need you to come with us.”
“Why?” my mother asked.
“We are collecting survivors for extraction out of the country. You will be taken to Southwark Peak and from there you will be protected.”
“Southwark Peak is a refugee camp!” I said loudly.
I read enough of The Projector to know about Southwark Peak and the Chimera invasion. My mother stepped up to the soldier and held her hand out. The soldier looked at her hand, then back at her, and I could sense some slight confusion. I stepped up and looked at my mother. The soldier beckoned for someone in the VTOL and a rather strange-looking man stepped out.
“Sergeant Major Blake, you need to see this.” I guess he commands them. He held my mother’s hand and said, “how did you get this?”
“Sergeant Redmond Grey did this to me. He said if anything should happen to my village, I should go to the White Zone.”
Major Blake stiffened, “the White Zone?”
My mother nodded. Major Blake sighed.
“Get into the VTOL. We will make sure you will arrive there safely.”
My mother and I stepped into the helicopter and I saw three other soldiers and two more survivors, a middle-eastern man and a young blonde woman. The VTOL took off, and I felt slightly motion sick. We reached Southwark Peak in an hour, and it was eerily quiet. The VTOL slowly descended to the helipad and Major Blake stepped out with three soldiers following behind him. The iron gates were torn open, so they took caution. Major Blake held his M5A2 Folsom Carbine close as he and the soldiers stealthily walked into the compound. I knew what type of rifle he had because of the newspaper I read. The Projector had stated it was popular with SRPA soldiers.
I twiddled with my fingers and spoke out, “who are you two?”
The blonde woman spoke, “my name is Esther Pierre. My father was French and my mother was British. I was helping at the camp when I was asked to accompany the soldiers in this vtol.”
I looked at the Middle-Eastern man, whom said, “My name is Mohammad. Just Mohammad. My family died when those weird-looking spider bugs tore them apart. I couldn’t watch it, but I hid away. I hid away like a coward. I let them die. I saved myself.”
I jumped out of the VTOL and ran towards the iron gates.
My mother shouted my name but I didn’t listen.
I rushed inside and went into the deepest parts of the compound.
Inside, the door to the control room had been ripped off it’s hinges
And blood splatter had tainted the walls
The men controlling the radio transmissions were dead One of them happened to be my Father Or so I thought at the time I held his lifeless body in my arms and cried The bullet wounds were burnt, possibly from the plasma rounds of a Bullseye I stood up, trying hard not to mourn, and explored the rest of the area
I came to a door that said Science Lab and I pushed it open
Inside were many demonic experiments
Deformed men mixed with Chimeran strains,
Dead bodies on gurneys,
And I spotted a few Leapers in a discrepancy over a dead carcass
I kept silent and left that room
But something told me to up upstairs
I felt my mind tingle and my eyes started to burn
My mind was taken over and images of somebody else’s memories were flashing through my head
Upstairs, there was something upstairs
I gazed at those stairs, they were placed conveniently above the Leapers
I tip toed up, my heart beating fast, I couldn’t imagine those things biting into my flesh
Upstairs, the hallways were lit up by light filtering from windows in open rooms
It was dirty there, like there had been some sort of battle
I looked in the rooms and saw belongings that had been left abandoned
And beds were left untidy and some of them were bloodstained
I came to room #107
I opened the door and saw legs
I stepped into the room and saw a young man sitting against the wall
He was shirtless, his chest bloodied, and a red head with golden eyes
“Hello.” I spoke lightly.
“Kill me.” He whispered.
I shook my head.
I dragged him out the room, but I saw his face make an anguished expression
I tried my best to carry him out, but being a little girl, it was hard
The Leapers were gone
To me that was not a good thing
They could be anywhere
I carefully carried him down the stairs, and I used the rail to lean against to avoid falling
I left the compound and saw Major Blake and the soldiers running back to the VTOL
“Hey!” I shouted.
Probably the dumbest thing I did that day
I ran with the red head in my arms and tried hard to reach the VTOL
One of the soldiers came to me and took the red head boy
I could hear Major Blake shouting, “Get this VTOL into the air! And fly towards those trees!” shouted Major Blake.
I looked behind me and saw the giant four-legged Chimera they call Widowmaker. It was terrifying to think about but beautiful to stare at. I jumped into the VTOL and it took off before the Widowmaker could attack us. I closed my eyes, wishing it were over sooner.
But it was not over sooner
As soon as we headed to the trees for cover the Chimera unveiled themselves.
They were firing at us with their weapons. I could see those terrifying red dots.
I heard Major Blake shout, “We have to head for the White Zone.”
“But what about the package?” asked one of the soldiers.
Blake shouted loudly but the wind made his voice nearly inaudible, “She can make it!”
At fist I silently rejoiced, a rocket from a nearby Stalker, had collided with the VTOL and sent it crashing down. I held onto my mother and she held onto one of the handlebars. The crash wasn’t as frightening as the quick, whirling descent towards the ground.
I wasn’t knocked out by the crash, but Esther and Mohammad were certainly unconscious. My mother stood up but her walk was limping. Major Blake had survived, and so did three of the four soldiers. The red head was unconscious but a moment later he opened his eyes.
“The White Zone isn’t far from here.” I said. I started walking north, but when I felt no one following I looked back. The soldiers had to carry the unconscious survivors, and they had to salvage their weapons.
“Why did you save me?”
I stopped walking and looked back at the red head
“I don’t know. Because I wanted to.” I said.
My mother started shivering and I saw her mutter something.
Cold.
I looked up, snow was falling from a cloudy sky. The Chimera are doing this. I read about that, too. We walked the whole day, the weather growing increasingly colder.
We walked for hours along the dirt road
And we followed a stream into a forest for safety
The jungle would usually be teeming, but it was eerily silent
Not even fireflies were awake
Major Blake had held his hand out and we all stopped in our tracks
There was that sound again…
Life would betray us yet again…
Sccccccccccccrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeecccccchhhhhhhh
I looked up and saw the Widowmaker nearing us
At first it hadn’t noticed us, until Mohammad shouted, “What the hell is that?”
Esther threw her hand over his mouth but the Widowmaker had spotted us
There was no use fighting it
“This way!” I shouted.
I lead them into the deepest parts of the jungle,
and father away from the Widowmaker and the White Zone
I lead them to the cave I used to visit before the Invasion occurred
I know the Widowmaker could not find us here
Night was not on her side