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Chapter 1: Awakening
What is it… this feeling? My body… is so
weak… why…?
“Hey, are you okay?”
A voice… in my mind?
“Can you hear me?”
Who are you? Get out… of my head…
“Stop thrashing around, idiot! I’m trying to
help you!”
Nemo awoke on his back with his arms raised into the air, as if he had
been trying to fend someone off. Nobody was standing over him, but a scraping
sound to his left made him bolt upright. A man in a dirty green uniform was
sitting on the ground next to him, rubbing his cheek. He looked like some kind
of soldier, and there was a machine gun on the ground next to him.
“Damn, you don’t look very strong but that’s a mean left hook you’ve
got.” He said, standing up. “Are you okay? What happened?”
Nemo didn’t answer; he was too focused on the building they were in. It
looked like it might have been an apartment at one time, but the couch was
overturned, the lone window in the room was broken in places, and what looked
like the remains of a table and chairs was littering the floor. The walls were
beginning to fall apart, and were covered in what looked like bullet holes and
bloodstains.
“Looks like they got this one good, huh Sam?” Nemo jumped at the voice of
a second person. A woman in an outfit similar to the man’s had appeared in one
of the doorways, holding a shotgun. The room behind her looked like a kitchen,
but it was in no better condition than the room they were currently in.
“Can’t blame him. Some people aren’t exactly keen on this fight. Caroline
was on the verge of tears when we left her, remember?” The man said, turning to
the woman. “We can’t all be as sadistic as you, Rachel.”
“Now that’s just rude. Didn’t anyone ever teach you how to treat a lady?”
“I’d hardly call you a lady.” The man muttered under his breath, turning
away from her.
“What was that?”
“I said you should be keeping a lookout, we don’t want to be taken by
surprise.”
“Oh, yeah.” The woman mumbled, turning and walking back into the kitchen,
out of view.
The man grinned at Nemo, but it was obviously
forced. “Sorry about her. I’m sure she’s as anxious about this as we are, she
just doesn’t like to show it. I’m Samuel, by the way, but everyone calls me Sam.
That was Rachel, just don’t get on her bad side and you’ll be fine.”
“I’m… ah… Nemo.” Nemo mumbled, still feeling
extremely confused about what was going on. “Where exactly are we?”
“We’re in an old apartment building. Rachel and
I found you in the hallway just outside, we thought you were dead at first.
There was a hole in the wall across from you, looked like a grenade made it. You
must’ve been knocked out in the blast.”
Nemo felt even more confused after hearing
this. The last place he was wasn’t even above ground. He scratched his head,
wondering if this was all just some sort of joke. He glanced out of the window;
a clear blue sky was visible in the gaps between other tall buildings he
couldn’t see the tops of. If it was a joke, someone went through a lot of
trouble to pull it off. “What town is this though?”
Sam gave him an odd look before answering.
“You’re kidding, right? Did you hit your head or something?”
“Why don’t you get thrown by a grenade blast
into a wall and see if your head feels normal afterwards.” Nemo grumbled. He
knew it wasn’t the truth – it couldn’t be – it was probably one of his friend’s
stupid jokes. He always did go to far when it came to this sort of thing. Still,
it seemed like he might as well play along for now. Maybe it would be fun.
“Fair point. A blast like that could do some
damage to the best of us.” Sam chuckled. “This is-“
A blast of gunfire interrupted him, and Rachel
came running into the room. “Sam! They’re coming!”
“Damn it!” Sam grabbed his gun and dashed over
to the door, aiming into the kitchen. “Rachel, give the kid your spare piece,
we’re going to need his help.”
“Right.” Rachel pulled a pistol from her belt
and dropped it on the floor next to Nemo. “Get ready, you can cover the window.
If you see any C.P. running around down there, put a bullet in them.” She said,
before joining Sam at the door.
Nemo stared at the pistol for a moment before
awkwardly picking it up. He’d never fired a gun before, but convinced it was all
a gag, he got up and casually walked over to the window, looking into the
alleyways below. They were deserted from what he could see. “All clear here.” He
said, leaning against the wall and continuing to peer outside.
“Good. The only way inside is through here.
We’ll hold them off; you pick off any backup coming from the alley.” Sam said,
running into the kitchen. The sound of gunfire soon followed.
Nemo watched Rachel go through as well and
shrugged, figuring they must be using blanks for the sound. He was convinced
this was another of his friend Jamie’s stupid pranks. He never did learn how far
was too far, this whole setup was probably costing him a small fortune.
The gunfire continued in the next room. Nemo
was about to ask what was taking them so long when he noticed movement in the
alley. Two figures were moving around down there, obscured by a shadow so he
couldn’t see what they looked like. Nemo glanced at the gun in his hand for a
moment, raised it and began shooting what he figured were blanks at them. One
dropped almost instantly, which made him even more convinced it was staged. The
fact that he’d never fired a gun before, coupled with the fact he didn’t even
take the time to aim properly, made him sure he wouldn’t have even hit the
person, much less take them down in two shots.
The second person quickly turned and began
firing toward the window Nemo was standing at. He shifted him aim slightly and
fired at him as well, dropping the other gunman with relative ease as well, but
not before he felt something nick his left arm. He glanced down and saw a tear
in his sleeve, blood staining his tan coat.
There was a heavy clunk as he dropped to the
ground along with his pistol. At that moment, he couldn’t tell was what scaring
him more He had noticed too many things at once. That the graze on his arm,
along with the fresh bullet holes in the wall, showed that the people below had
actually been using live ammo. That the clothes he last remembered wearing, a
black sweat-suit and boots, had been replaced with a tan uniform with a Red
Cross emblem on his right sleeve. And that he might have just-
Nemo grabbed the pistol off the floor and fired
once at the wall. It left a bullet hole and he promptly dropped it again. He
lifted himself up and stared out into the alleyway at the people still laying on
the ground, small pools of blood now noticeable even from that height. He fell
back onto the floor, feeling extremely sick. He had actually shot someone…
killed someone… there’s no way this could be just a joke.
He was so shocked and confused about what could
be going on, that he didn’t notice the gunfire in the next room had stopped
until Rachel walked back into the room and dropped a machine gun on the floor.
She gave the overturned couch a firm kick, righting it, and sat down.
Nemo stared at her for a moment, then looked
into the kitchen. Sam was slumped on the floor with his back to them, his once
green uniform stained red.
“Damn them!” Rachel yelled, startling Nemo.
“Damn them all!”
Nemo hesitated, wondering if he dared to ask
who she was referring to. He was trying to figure out what to say, when she
looked up at him. “Yeah, go ahead.” She sighed, leaning back on the couch and
gazing at the cracked ceiling.
“Go ahead and what?” Nemo asked, not knowing
what she meant.
“Take his gun… I prefer my shotgun and it’s not
like Sam can use it anymore.” She said quietly, closing her eyes. “That’s what
you wanted to ask, isn’t it?”
“Actually… I wanted to know who-“
A heavy clunk from the next room distracted
him. Rachel leapt to her feet, aiming her shotgun at the doorway. A faint voice
came from whatever room was beyond the kitchen, but he couldn’t tell what it had
said. Still, there was something oddly familiar about it.
Rachel pressed herself against the wall, so
whoever was out there wouldn’t see her when they looked in. She motioned for
Nemo to do the same, and he complied without argument, still somewhere between
confusion and fear. Footsteps slowly made their way into the kitchen, coming to
a stop just on the other side of the doorframe.
“Is anyone in there?” A voice whispered.
Nemo froze. He knew that voice… he had only
heard it a few times before, but was almost positive about who it was. “Amelia?”
He whispered back.
They heard a gasp on the other side of the
doorway. The voice spoke again, this time in slightly more than a whisper. “Guy
with the odd name?”
“You’re going to have to be more specific.”
Nemo replied in a normal voice.
A girl with long, blonde hair and dark brown
eyes peered around the corner. “It is you… but who’s she?” Amelia asked, looking
at Rachel, who was aiming her shotgun at Amelia’s face.
“Put it down, Rachel… she’s a friend… well,
acquaintance of mine.” Nemo said, glancing at Rachel. She hesitated, then
lowered her gun slightly.
Amelia walked around the corner, wearing the
same kind of uniform as Rachel was. “This is all too weird… I’m glad I’m not on
my own anymore though. It was scary… I was running through the streets, trying
to escape those gun-wielding maniacs.” She muttered, walking over to the couch
and sitting down. “How did we get here, anyway?”
“I’d just like to know where ‘here’ is, to be
honest.” Nemo grumbled, leaning against the wall.
Amelia looked up at him, a look of confusion on
her face. “You haven’t figured it out yet? I thought you’d be the first to know,
considering what Jamie told me.”
It was Nemo’s turn to look confused. “How would
I know?”
“Go over to that window and look to the…” She
considered for a moment. “left. Lean out a bit if you have to.”
Nemo walked over to the window and did what she
suggested, looking between the few buildings in his line of view. It took him a
moment to notice it, but when he did he didn’t know how he could have missed it.
He followed it up into the sky with his eyes, until the upper area was obscured
by clouds. He turned back to Amelia. “This… this isn’t possible… it’s all a
set-up, right?” He stuttered.
Amelia slowly shook her head, never taking her
eyes off him. He turned back to the window, staring at it again. He was brought
out of his stupor by Amelia’s voice.
“Welcome to City 17.”
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