[Only this time his fingers lazily find the switch and flick off the alarm. Shortly after, a leg protrudes and Nic commits to the slow procession of waking up and crawling out of bed.]
The morning is serenely quiet as the low levels of sunlight sneak through Nic’s bedroom window. The cold air flowing in through the partly open window reminds Nic of the sadness he has been choking back from over the weekend. He thinks to himself “This house will never be okay” as he stares at the ceiling waiting for his body to give him the O.K. to continue forward and get himself ready for school. From that thought his mind digresses to the fact that he’ll never get over the emptiness that has now come over the house. He feels the tears beginning to well in his eyes and quickly rejects them, shakes off the gloom and begins moving about his bedroom gathering clothes and toiletries and heading for the bathroom. As he exits his room heading for the bathroom he can hear Stan’s faint snoring emanating from the living room. He looks down the hall into the living room at the bundle of blankets on the couch shrouding the shape of the sleeping man. Even Stan who’s always slept in Candace’s bed in her absence is driven to the wholly uncomfortable couch to sleep due to the discomfort associated with being in this house.
Nic’s emotions begin to hamper his morning productivity once again at the sight of Stan on the couch. Once more he looks to the ceiling and chokes back the tears before allowing himself to be presented with his own weakened face as he steps forward into the bathroom and turns to the mirror. Here, he is proud to see himself emitting a small smile in lieu of the fact that he know he has to do this to keep himself from breaking down. It tickles him a little bit to think of all the silly things he has to do to make sure he has defenses up against his own emotions. He breaks himself away from his thoughts and commits his mind to getting himself ready for school and the first order of business is to begin brushing his teeth.
The walk to school later that morning seemed far too arduous and long. It allotted for far too much time to think. Even the usual “hood” sights and attractions even seemed to be missing or inactive that day. There was no crazy wino outside the corner carniceria ranting at the sunrise. There was little to no early morning stereo thumping, or mothers hear cursing out their daughters for trying to wear something slutty to school. The traffic on the streets was either light or non-existent. Even the bad little kids that never seemed to go to school that lived in one of the drug-inured apartment buildings he passes were nowhere to be found. The surreal nature of the morning wasn’t helping him at all. It was taking a great deal of work to keep his mind from wondering onto emotionally sore thoughts. This is no way to start off what was already promising to be a rough week. The only counter measure he has left to use is to get away from the abnormal calm of his surroundings. Thus, he quickens his pace in an attempt to get to school faster. At least then he is guaranteed the distraction of the bustling campus in the morning.
There was still a good distance to travel and no matter what he tries, Nic’s mind can’t help but continue to try to linger on the losses he’s enduring. The more he attempts to block them out the faster his feet began to carry him. Before he could even take into account what he was really thinking, he was running at a good clip down the block. His gaze hardly lifting off the ground, as the cracks in the concrete passed under him, it was apparent he was running nearly full speed down the street. Anyone on the sidewalk was forced to sidestep him or risk being run over. The jostling of the contents of his backpack timed with the sound of his feet hitting and lifting off the pavement, built on his rhythm and propelled his faster as he blindly dashed in the direction of a safe space away from his thoughts. He successfully ran about two city blocks before the inevitable would occur and he was brought to a halt by an impact that knocked him flat on his back in the middle of the sidewalk, crushing the contents of his backpack with the force of his body weight slamming down on them.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 43
[“Ok ok, you’ve got me too interested to mess this up. Also, if you haven’t already noticed, I’m pretty screwed. If he finds out what has happened to me, him and that Doctor are going to pick me apart until they know how to copy me and make a useful weapon out of me. This whole cluster fuck with the factions is going to be the end of us all.”
“Factions? What factions?”]
“Well here’s a how you can trust me. The USEG is going to pull away from the government entirely and the biggest coup d'état known to this world is going to happen. We’re talking waaay bigger things than that whole war on terrorism fluke caused. These are the people that guard every valuable resource this nation has. Reaver is pretty much at the center of this and is poised to be the first dictator of the territory formerly known as the United States of America. All he needs is his human weapon to make it happen. That’s why he’s chasing yo- us all down to get to some one damn-near-supreme weapons grade mofo floating around out there.
So, I’ve just committed a cardinal sin in telling you that and I’m as good as dead if Reaver ever finds out. YOU had better start trusting me.”
Daniel’s face looses any form of lightheartedness and is very stern by the time he completes his sentence. He is practically starring a hole through the side of Carl’s head.
“Well that just changed the urgency of our situation. We’ve really got to get to LA. My brother is what Reaver is looking for, and if he gets to him first we’re screwed or my brother’s dead. Either outcome is not one that I want to have to endure.”
Daniels relaxes back into his seat for a moment starring bleakly out onto the road as he exhales his words.
“God, I thought all that human weapon crap was a bunch of BS. I really don’t think I’d enjoy living in this country under Reaver’s control. Whatever help you need from me you’ve got it man.”
“The biggest problem is that he doesn’t even know how dangerous he can be. None of us do”
Monday 4-21-2008
The sound of an alarm clock quickly begins to fade in to become a near echoing ringing as the digital alarm clock on Nic’s bedside table is signaling him that it is 6:30 am and time to get up and go to school. He tussles and turns over in the sheet while allowing one arm to extend and lay a hand on the top of the alarm clock depressing the snooze button. He pulls his arm back into the warm shelter of the sheet and burrows his face back into the pillow. His eyes shut and reopen to the sound of the alarm clock again reminding him of the time and that he must finally rise from his slumber. Slowly but surely, his arm creeps out of the sheet and comes to rest on the alarm clock once again. Only this time his fingers lazily find the switch and flick off the alarm. Shortly after, a leg protrudes and Nic commits to the slow procession of waking up and crawling out of bed.
“Factions? What factions?”]
“Well here’s a how you can trust me. The USEG is going to pull away from the government entirely and the biggest coup d'état known to this world is going to happen. We’re talking waaay bigger things than that whole war on terrorism fluke caused. These are the people that guard every valuable resource this nation has. Reaver is pretty much at the center of this and is poised to be the first dictator of the territory formerly known as the United States of America. All he needs is his human weapon to make it happen. That’s why he’s chasing yo- us all down to get to some one damn-near-supreme weapons grade mofo floating around out there.
So, I’ve just committed a cardinal sin in telling you that and I’m as good as dead if Reaver ever finds out. YOU had better start trusting me.”
Daniel’s face looses any form of lightheartedness and is very stern by the time he completes his sentence. He is practically starring a hole through the side of Carl’s head.
“Well that just changed the urgency of our situation. We’ve really got to get to LA. My brother is what Reaver is looking for, and if he gets to him first we’re screwed or my brother’s dead. Either outcome is not one that I want to have to endure.”
Daniels relaxes back into his seat for a moment starring bleakly out onto the road as he exhales his words.
“God, I thought all that human weapon crap was a bunch of BS. I really don’t think I’d enjoy living in this country under Reaver’s control. Whatever help you need from me you’ve got it man.”
“The biggest problem is that he doesn’t even know how dangerous he can be. None of us do”
Monday 4-21-2008
The sound of an alarm clock quickly begins to fade in to become a near echoing ringing as the digital alarm clock on Nic’s bedside table is signaling him that it is 6:30 am and time to get up and go to school. He tussles and turns over in the sheet while allowing one arm to extend and lay a hand on the top of the alarm clock depressing the snooze button. He pulls his arm back into the warm shelter of the sheet and burrows his face back into the pillow. His eyes shut and reopen to the sound of the alarm clock again reminding him of the time and that he must finally rise from his slumber. Slowly but surely, his arm creeps out of the sheet and comes to rest on the alarm clock once again. Only this time his fingers lazily find the switch and flick off the alarm. Shortly after, a leg protrudes and Nic commits to the slow procession of waking up and crawling out of bed.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 42
[Nic spoke of the accident since the funeral and it drew upon a painful irony of how they were both involved in the same wreck and had their lives severely changed as a result of it. ]
“I didn’t loose any loved ones during the crash but as a result, I did end up having to loose a beloved part of my career. I’m so sorry about your family. I don’t know what I would do if I lost Teresa. After that head trauma, things just really started changing. I, hmm, I got faster. But it started with my thoughts first. I was thinking through math problems and things much faster than I ever had before. The next thing you know I’m swatting at flies during picnics and not a single one could escape me. This whole change is what basically got me interested in studying the brain further especially in instances of trauma. Unfortunately, all this came with a serious drawback.”
He holds out his hand palm down and tries to hold it steady but his hand shakes almost vigorously.
“It’s real hard to remain a neurosurgeon with hands like these.”
“Well that could explain why after I got my head notched in by an explosion, all of a sudden my body could put itself back together in a matter of moments. It’s ridiculous. Nowadays, I eat like a maniac and every time I get hurt, shortly after healing I’m starving to death.”
“Sounds like your body’s metabolism has sky-rocketed and with it, your healing has too. Sounds like you should never skip a meal and always have access to lots of water.”
Daniels chuckles a little bit at the thought of this, but is definitely taking Carl’s hypothesis into serious consideration.
“So the plan is to get to LA and then what?”
“I have to know that I can trust you. What you are about to find out, Reaver could never know. He would stop to no end to get what he wants if he ever finds out about this.”
“Ok ok, you’ve got me too interested to mess this up. Also, if you haven’t already noticed, I’m pretty screwed. If he finds out what has happened to me, him and that Doctor are going to pick me apart until they know how to copy me and make a useful weapon out of me. This whole cluster fuck with the factions is going to be the end of us all.”
“Factions? What factions?”
“I didn’t loose any loved ones during the crash but as a result, I did end up having to loose a beloved part of my career. I’m so sorry about your family. I don’t know what I would do if I lost Teresa. After that head trauma, things just really started changing. I, hmm, I got faster. But it started with my thoughts first. I was thinking through math problems and things much faster than I ever had before. The next thing you know I’m swatting at flies during picnics and not a single one could escape me. This whole change is what basically got me interested in studying the brain further especially in instances of trauma. Unfortunately, all this came with a serious drawback.”
He holds out his hand palm down and tries to hold it steady but his hand shakes almost vigorously.
“It’s real hard to remain a neurosurgeon with hands like these.”
“Well that could explain why after I got my head notched in by an explosion, all of a sudden my body could put itself back together in a matter of moments. It’s ridiculous. Nowadays, I eat like a maniac and every time I get hurt, shortly after healing I’m starving to death.”
“Sounds like your body’s metabolism has sky-rocketed and with it, your healing has too. Sounds like you should never skip a meal and always have access to lots of water.”
Daniels chuckles a little bit at the thought of this, but is definitely taking Carl’s hypothesis into serious consideration.
“So the plan is to get to LA and then what?”
“I have to know that I can trust you. What you are about to find out, Reaver could never know. He would stop to no end to get what he wants if he ever finds out about this.”
“Ok ok, you’ve got me too interested to mess this up. Also, if you haven’t already noticed, I’m pretty screwed. If he finds out what has happened to me, him and that Doctor are going to pick me apart until they know how to copy me and make a useful weapon out of me. This whole cluster fuck with the factions is going to be the end of us all.”
“Factions? What factions?”
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 41
[Hardly able to breathe , Render wheezes out his words.
“Ok, ok, what do you want?”
Reaver’s half illuminated face grins menacingly.
“You…”]
Monday 3-12-2012
“Ok, we can either help each other or we can both die here son. It’s your choice.”
Without words Daniels is on his feet and ready to run.
“Good”
Carl dashes towards the road a few hundred feet away with impeccable speed and grace. Daniels can’t possibly keep up, but is running as fast as he can. By the time he reaches Carl’s car, Carl is already buckled in and has the car running. Daniels, quickly maneuvers around to the passenger side of the vehicle and gets in. Before the he could even shut the door Carl has already begun to accelerate well beyond 60 mph.
“So forgive me for asking this ridiculous question but, where on earth are we going.”
“Well that depends on if your boss figures out that I have you fleeing with me.”
At this thought, Daniels turns to look through the back window of the car to see if he can see the position of the chopper.
“Well?”
Carl almost impatiently awaits a reply from Daniels.
“I think he’s too busy searching the ground to look up and even notice us. Besides I doubt he even had a chance to even notice before this four wheeled rocket put us a mile away. Jeezuz. Where the hell did you get this thing?”
Carl chuckles a little bit as he replies.
“I practically built it. Anyway, to answer you previous question, we’re heading to Los Angeles and no we’re not driving there.”
Laughingly Daniels turns to face forward and slumps back down into his seat.
“It’s not that it would have taken very long in this thing anyway, but it’s good to know I won’t have to be stuck in a car for god knows how long.”
As the scenery outside goes by in a blur the two sit in the relative silence of the interior of the car for almost ten minutes before any more communication was accomplished. Daniels turns and examines Carl as he drives fixated on the road.
“So what’s your name?”
“Wha-? How do you not know the name of the man you are hunting down?”
“Your target name was Fox and that’s all I needed to know or really cared to know. It wasn’t like I had to find you from scratch. They basically just pointed out an said ‘catch him’. Pretty simple.”
Carl gives a slow affirmative nod while tucking his lips for a moment.
“I am Doctor Carl Smart. And you sir, you are?”
While still starring at the road, Carl extends his hand out for a handshake.
“Wow this is definitely cliché and corny”
Nic provides carl with a firm handshake while responding.
“Nicholas ‘Nic’ Daniels”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Daniels”
The two get another good laugh for a moment. It’s a little over eighty miles to the airfield that Carl is headed to and during the drive the two men exchange life stories and listen intently to each other’s history. It was the first time Nic spoke of the accident since the funeral and it drew upon a painful irony of how they were both involved in the same wreck and had their lives severely changed as a result of it.
“Ok, ok, what do you want?”
Reaver’s half illuminated face grins menacingly.
“You…”]
Monday 3-12-2012
“Ok, we can either help each other or we can both die here son. It’s your choice.”
Without words Daniels is on his feet and ready to run.
“Good”
Carl dashes towards the road a few hundred feet away with impeccable speed and grace. Daniels can’t possibly keep up, but is running as fast as he can. By the time he reaches Carl’s car, Carl is already buckled in and has the car running. Daniels, quickly maneuvers around to the passenger side of the vehicle and gets in. Before the he could even shut the door Carl has already begun to accelerate well beyond 60 mph.
“So forgive me for asking this ridiculous question but, where on earth are we going.”
“Well that depends on if your boss figures out that I have you fleeing with me.”
At this thought, Daniels turns to look through the back window of the car to see if he can see the position of the chopper.
“Well?”
Carl almost impatiently awaits a reply from Daniels.
“I think he’s too busy searching the ground to look up and even notice us. Besides I doubt he even had a chance to even notice before this four wheeled rocket put us a mile away. Jeezuz. Where the hell did you get this thing?”
Carl chuckles a little bit as he replies.
“I practically built it. Anyway, to answer you previous question, we’re heading to Los Angeles and no we’re not driving there.”
Laughingly Daniels turns to face forward and slumps back down into his seat.
“It’s not that it would have taken very long in this thing anyway, but it’s good to know I won’t have to be stuck in a car for god knows how long.”
As the scenery outside goes by in a blur the two sit in the relative silence of the interior of the car for almost ten minutes before any more communication was accomplished. Daniels turns and examines Carl as he drives fixated on the road.
“So what’s your name?”
“Wha-? How do you not know the name of the man you are hunting down?”
“Your target name was Fox and that’s all I needed to know or really cared to know. It wasn’t like I had to find you from scratch. They basically just pointed out an said ‘catch him’. Pretty simple.”
Carl gives a slow affirmative nod while tucking his lips for a moment.
“I am Doctor Carl Smart. And you sir, you are?”
While still starring at the road, Carl extends his hand out for a handshake.
“Wow this is definitely cliché and corny”
Nic provides carl with a firm handshake while responding.
“Nicholas ‘Nic’ Daniels”
“Nice to meet you Mr. Daniels”
The two get another good laugh for a moment. It’s a little over eighty miles to the airfield that Carl is headed to and during the drive the two men exchange life stories and listen intently to each other’s history. It was the first time Nic spoke of the accident since the funeral and it drew upon a painful irony of how they were both involved in the same wreck and had their lives severely changed as a result of it.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 40
[Starring at the watch in his hand, Nic chokes back his tears for the last time.
“Let’s go. We can’t sit here and hurt forever. That’s prolly the only thing my old man ever taught me.”]
2012
“This has become far too much of a reoccurring thought: Where the hell am I and what is going on?”
Render hardly manages to keep his thoughts concealed in his head as the only thing that exits his mouth as he thinks this is a pathetic groan.
A deep growly voice draws Render’s concentration momentarily.
“I imagine you are wondering where you are. Those shock sticks are quite effective at disruptive of a man’s ability to remember his former actions”
“Wh- why?”
“Easy. You have extraordinary abilities and I am going to find out how this country can best utilize them. No games, no lies just going to honestly figure out how you are wired up to be so, darn, EFFECTIVE.”
Sgt. Reaver begins to chuckle lightly at his seemingly villainous speech.
“I’m sorry for the odd and cliché entrance, I thought it would be kind of fun. Anyway, I am not one to really explain much to any one subject, but you have an interesting enough ability where I am highly interested beyond my normal scope of desire to learn what is going on”
“I swear I said I wasn’t going to be anyone’s guinea pig”
“You aren’t a guinea pig Mr. Reyes. You are an artifact that should be studied.”
As Render’s vision once again clarifies itself from a blur, he finds himself strapped into what appears like an electric chair of sorts. The room is dark and judging by the he faintly illuminated objects in the room, he’s in some kind of a hotel.
“I am guessing this is like hotel California or something?”
“No sir. You will check out of here when you have provided us with the knowledge we need.”
“Us?”
“Oh yes, we are all familiar here. It’s quite fine. You will remember soon enough who we all are.”
“Ok this is just bizarre. You tell me you are not about the cartoonish villain shit but you are damn near speaking in riddles to me. You really ought to have yourself a nice cool tall frosty ice cold glass of SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Render jerks forward in the chair and focuses his thoughts to render himself into a different material. He begins to glow as though becoming red hot. The straps begin to start smoking and shortly ignite. Almost straining to emit the words, Render stares at Reaver’s partially visible face with a glowing vengeance.
“All- you- had- to do. Wa- was not to kill her. And you would have saved your life.”
As he peels through the burning straps and stands on the carpet igniting the carpet as he moves. Sgt. Reaver backpedals into the darkness further and out of his sight.
“Don’t run you coward. This is just the beginning of your end”
“A cool glass of water right?” Another voice comes from the darkness.
“What do you intend to gain from a cool glass of water. Yes. Just water. I don’t think water will do you any good right about now, my friend. You have to concentrate too hard when it comes to water. It flows too freely. It is, unbridled”
“Who the hell are you? What’s your fixation with water you freak.”
“Just think…Water my friend. A cool glass of water right? …A cool glass of-“
Before the strange voice could finish their last statement, Render begins to choke on what seems to be his own saliva, the flames almost instantly are extinguished and shortly it starts to sound like he is gagging on water. Reaver steps forward holding out a bucket just in time for render to vomit what seems like liquidized flesh. The strange voice interjects amidst the now frantic chocking and instructs Render on how to right the situation.
“Go ahead, drink it all back in and then I’ll save you from your dilemma.”
Without hesitation Render consumes his own vomit without letting a single drop escape him.
“Now you’re human again. Solid and sound. Flesh and bone. Correct?”
Exhausted Render falls backwards into the smoldering chair.
Hardly able to breathe , Render wheezes out his words.
“Ok, ok, what do you want?”
Reaver’s half illuminated face grins menacingly.
“You…”
“Let’s go. We can’t sit here and hurt forever. That’s prolly the only thing my old man ever taught me.”]
2012
“This has become far too much of a reoccurring thought: Where the hell am I and what is going on?”
Render hardly manages to keep his thoughts concealed in his head as the only thing that exits his mouth as he thinks this is a pathetic groan.
A deep growly voice draws Render’s concentration momentarily.
“I imagine you are wondering where you are. Those shock sticks are quite effective at disruptive of a man’s ability to remember his former actions”
“Wh- why?”
“Easy. You have extraordinary abilities and I am going to find out how this country can best utilize them. No games, no lies just going to honestly figure out how you are wired up to be so, darn, EFFECTIVE.”
Sgt. Reaver begins to chuckle lightly at his seemingly villainous speech.
“I’m sorry for the odd and cliché entrance, I thought it would be kind of fun. Anyway, I am not one to really explain much to any one subject, but you have an interesting enough ability where I am highly interested beyond my normal scope of desire to learn what is going on”
“I swear I said I wasn’t going to be anyone’s guinea pig”
“You aren’t a guinea pig Mr. Reyes. You are an artifact that should be studied.”
As Render’s vision once again clarifies itself from a blur, he finds himself strapped into what appears like an electric chair of sorts. The room is dark and judging by the he faintly illuminated objects in the room, he’s in some kind of a hotel.
“I am guessing this is like hotel California or something?”
“No sir. You will check out of here when you have provided us with the knowledge we need.”
“Us?”
“Oh yes, we are all familiar here. It’s quite fine. You will remember soon enough who we all are.”
“Ok this is just bizarre. You tell me you are not about the cartoonish villain shit but you are damn near speaking in riddles to me. You really ought to have yourself a nice cool tall frosty ice cold glass of SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Render jerks forward in the chair and focuses his thoughts to render himself into a different material. He begins to glow as though becoming red hot. The straps begin to start smoking and shortly ignite. Almost straining to emit the words, Render stares at Reaver’s partially visible face with a glowing vengeance.
“All- you- had- to do. Wa- was not to kill her. And you would have saved your life.”
As he peels through the burning straps and stands on the carpet igniting the carpet as he moves. Sgt. Reaver backpedals into the darkness further and out of his sight.
“Don’t run you coward. This is just the beginning of your end”
“A cool glass of water right?” Another voice comes from the darkness.
“What do you intend to gain from a cool glass of water. Yes. Just water. I don’t think water will do you any good right about now, my friend. You have to concentrate too hard when it comes to water. It flows too freely. It is, unbridled”
“Who the hell are you? What’s your fixation with water you freak.”
“Just think…Water my friend. A cool glass of water right? …A cool glass of-“
Before the strange voice could finish their last statement, Render begins to choke on what seems to be his own saliva, the flames almost instantly are extinguished and shortly it starts to sound like he is gagging on water. Reaver steps forward holding out a bucket just in time for render to vomit what seems like liquidized flesh. The strange voice interjects amidst the now frantic chocking and instructs Render on how to right the situation.
“Go ahead, drink it all back in and then I’ll save you from your dilemma.”
Without hesitation Render consumes his own vomit without letting a single drop escape him.
“Now you’re human again. Solid and sound. Flesh and bone. Correct?”
Exhausted Render falls backwards into the smoldering chair.
Hardly able to breathe , Render wheezes out his words.
“Ok, ok, what do you want?”
Reaver’s half illuminated face grins menacingly.
“You…”
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 39
[After rendering Jason unconscious the nurse returns to the nurse’s station. She takes down a few notes and then dials an extension on the phone. She converses very briefly with someone on the phone noting that Jason was awake and has been safely incapacitated.]
2008
Nic stares down at the pocket watch in his hand. He could feel the ticking in his hand and is taking notice to the fact that his heart is beating at what appears to be exactly the same pace. It’s been exactly a week since the accident and he still stares at the watch for what seems like hours hoping that he could maybe roll time back just far enough to where he could remember what it’s like to feel again. He feels numbed almost to the core and can’t even remember what it was like to be angry sad or happy prior to the day of the accident. His arm is riddled with small wounds that are the telltale signs of his mental anguish as he has been cutting himself in an attempt to fell something more than the nothingness he has been experiencing since shortly after he watched Keisha die.
The house seems relatively unchanged since that day aside from the flowers scattered about and the disturbances caused by family friends attempting to clean up a little bit and being unfamiliar with the house.
In the doorway stands Stan Reicher, Candace’s good friend. He watches Nic as he sits on the couch and stares at the watch. He wants to give him all the space he needs but it is time to get a move on to the funeral.
“Stan” Nic speaks down towards the floor softly but just audible enough to startle Stan.
“Yeah?” Straightening himself out from a position leaning in the front entry doorway, Stan slowly starts to approach Nic.
“You loved her right?”
“Of course I did Nic. She was practically my best friend”
“But I mean, you loved her right?”
Stan sighs and sits down on the couch next to Nic. He too is now starring downward at the floor. His words tremble at the end of his sentence as he speaks.
“God. Was it that obvious?”
Laughingly, Nic replies
“Obvious was an understatement. You two were ridiculous how you played the role of being just friends.”
“I really thought she wasn’t into me to that extent and that I was playing off how much I cared about her well.”
“No man, you sucked at it. But so did she... Why didn’t you do something about it?”
“Ha, you want me to be your step dad or something?”
“Hey don’t mess with me on the father crap. I’m just saying it was obvious that you two had some kinda thing going on.”
Stan begins to loose his composure further as the two continue to converse.
“What did we do to deserve this? Why should we have to loose the ones we have loved the most in our lives.”
Starring at the watch in his hand, Nic chokes back his tears for the last time.
“Let’s go. We can’t sit here and hurt forever. That’s prolly the only thing my old man ever taught me.”
2008
Nic stares down at the pocket watch in his hand. He could feel the ticking in his hand and is taking notice to the fact that his heart is beating at what appears to be exactly the same pace. It’s been exactly a week since the accident and he still stares at the watch for what seems like hours hoping that he could maybe roll time back just far enough to where he could remember what it’s like to feel again. He feels numbed almost to the core and can’t even remember what it was like to be angry sad or happy prior to the day of the accident. His arm is riddled with small wounds that are the telltale signs of his mental anguish as he has been cutting himself in an attempt to fell something more than the nothingness he has been experiencing since shortly after he watched Keisha die.
The house seems relatively unchanged since that day aside from the flowers scattered about and the disturbances caused by family friends attempting to clean up a little bit and being unfamiliar with the house.
In the doorway stands Stan Reicher, Candace’s good friend. He watches Nic as he sits on the couch and stares at the watch. He wants to give him all the space he needs but it is time to get a move on to the funeral.
“Stan” Nic speaks down towards the floor softly but just audible enough to startle Stan.
“Yeah?” Straightening himself out from a position leaning in the front entry doorway, Stan slowly starts to approach Nic.
“You loved her right?”
“Of course I did Nic. She was practically my best friend”
“But I mean, you loved her right?”
Stan sighs and sits down on the couch next to Nic. He too is now starring downward at the floor. His words tremble at the end of his sentence as he speaks.
“God. Was it that obvious?”
Laughingly, Nic replies
“Obvious was an understatement. You two were ridiculous how you played the role of being just friends.”
“I really thought she wasn’t into me to that extent and that I was playing off how much I cared about her well.”
“No man, you sucked at it. But so did she... Why didn’t you do something about it?”
“Ha, you want me to be your step dad or something?”
“Hey don’t mess with me on the father crap. I’m just saying it was obvious that you two had some kinda thing going on.”
Stan begins to loose his composure further as the two continue to converse.
“What did we do to deserve this? Why should we have to loose the ones we have loved the most in our lives.”
Starring at the watch in his hand, Nic chokes back his tears for the last time.
“Let’s go. We can’t sit here and hurt forever. That’s prolly the only thing my old man ever taught me.”
Monday, November 9, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 38
[ Daniels Immediately knew that it was Sgt. Reaver returning to look for him with the stealth drive systems on the chopper turned off so as to make it easier for Daniels to position himself to be found.]
2008
The still and darkness of the hospital seems consume all sounds that are attempted. Even the light that is entering through the louvers of the blinds seems to be diminished by the stiff darkness that looms within the room. In the pale light cast over the bed by the combination of the light entering from the window and the glow of the monitoring equipment bedside, slight movement can be noted. The sheets on the bed raise and lower in rhythm with Jason’s somewhat erratic breathing. A clock on the wall shortly strikes 11:30. The low click of the minute hand falling upon the 6 seems as thought it was the one thing just loud enough draw Jason out of what everyone was sure was a coma. Jason springs into an upright position and looks about the room much more calmly than his initial actions suggest. His seemingly calm demeanor is belied by the high activity levels on the heart monitor.
Not long after his rising, a nurse enters the room. She immediately urges Jason to lay back down and to try to remain calm.
“Do you know where you are?”
“Judging by your scrubs, I’m in a hospital.”
“good” The nurse cracks a smile that is barely visible in the light entering from the open door.
“Soooo I passed out and hit my head. What’s the big deal?”
“I see. Do you know what day it is today?”
“Hmm, I doubt it is even sill today. Last I remember it was morning and it is now dark all over again.”
“Ok, so what is your best guess as to what day it is?”
“Ugh, oh god, uhm… well that was about Saturday when I went out, so it’s gotta be about Monday.”
“Ok”
The nurse takes his blood pressure and his temperature then leaves the room momentarily. She later returns with syringe and begins to inject its contents into Jason’s I V.
“Whoa, wait a minute. What’s that?”
“It’s just some antibiotics and something to help you sleep”
“I’ve been asleep long enough I think I really shou-…”
Before he could finish his sentence the contents of the syringe were running their course and Jason was once again unconscious.
After rendering Jason unconscious the nurse returns to the nurse’s station. She takes down a few notes and then dials an extension on the phone. She converses very briefly with someone on the phone noting that Jason was awake and has been safely incapacitated.
2008
The still and darkness of the hospital seems consume all sounds that are attempted. Even the light that is entering through the louvers of the blinds seems to be diminished by the stiff darkness that looms within the room. In the pale light cast over the bed by the combination of the light entering from the window and the glow of the monitoring equipment bedside, slight movement can be noted. The sheets on the bed raise and lower in rhythm with Jason’s somewhat erratic breathing. A clock on the wall shortly strikes 11:30. The low click of the minute hand falling upon the 6 seems as thought it was the one thing just loud enough draw Jason out of what everyone was sure was a coma. Jason springs into an upright position and looks about the room much more calmly than his initial actions suggest. His seemingly calm demeanor is belied by the high activity levels on the heart monitor.
Not long after his rising, a nurse enters the room. She immediately urges Jason to lay back down and to try to remain calm.
“Do you know where you are?”
“Judging by your scrubs, I’m in a hospital.”
“good” The nurse cracks a smile that is barely visible in the light entering from the open door.
“Soooo I passed out and hit my head. What’s the big deal?”
“I see. Do you know what day it is today?”
“Hmm, I doubt it is even sill today. Last I remember it was morning and it is now dark all over again.”
“Ok, so what is your best guess as to what day it is?”
“Ugh, oh god, uhm… well that was about Saturday when I went out, so it’s gotta be about Monday.”
“Ok”
The nurse takes his blood pressure and his temperature then leaves the room momentarily. She later returns with syringe and begins to inject its contents into Jason’s I V.
“Whoa, wait a minute. What’s that?”
“It’s just some antibiotics and something to help you sleep”
“I’ve been asleep long enough I think I really shou-…”
Before he could finish his sentence the contents of the syringe were running their course and Jason was once again unconscious.
After rendering Jason unconscious the nurse returns to the nurse’s station. She takes down a few notes and then dials an extension on the phone. She converses very briefly with someone on the phone noting that Jason was awake and has been safely incapacitated.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 37
[No, I KNOW. I know what situation I’m in and really only have gotten a chance to see it from the other side since this accident. I have tried to help end this in other so many ways. Believe me. I have tried…]
Carl turns to face sun making it’s way up and of over the trees casting a series of patterned shadows on the ground. Amidst the shadows he notices Daniel’s Sidearm laying in the fallen leaves just a few feet away. He turn back to Daniels and asks
“What do we do now?”
“You die”
Daniels utters his words in such a calm manner Carl almost doesn’t catch it. Daniels springs to his newly healed legs and lunges for Carl who immediately side-steps him and throws him to the ground. Daniels returns to his feet and beings to throw a barrage of punches and kicks at Carl who gracefully dodges and blocks them with hardly an effort made.
“Are you tired yet?”
Carl poses this question while still blocking every attempt Daniel’s makes to harm him.
“I could very well continue to block you and pick up this gun and shoot you long before you could land a single punch. You have to remember we are both gifted individuals. I can’t permanently hurt you and you are too slow to hurt me.”
Daniels grimaces at Carl’s logic and desists from attacking him. He then proceeds to sit down on the ground and laugh. Carl stands puzzled at the sight and begins to chuckle lightly.
“What’s so funny?”
Barely able to vocalize his thoughts through the laughter, he chokes out his words.
“C-C’mon, you have to think this shit is funny. Could you imagine watching this shit go down?”
The attempt to explain only makes the situation funnier to Daniels and he begins to loose his words all over again trying to explain. His laughter increases in volume and he begins to roll over onto his side on the ground. Tears begin to form in his eyes and roll down his cheek. Watching, Carl begins to chuckle a little harder and is slowly succumbing the seemingly infectious laughter as Daniels tries to produce more comprehensible words through the convulsions of his now hysterical laughter
“Oh man, oooohhh man! I had to look like a huge dumb ass throwing punches and getting blocked every time. I mean this is like a comic book or cartoon. Oh god…”
Carl at this point completely surrenders to the laughter. The two laugh for what seemed like five minutes before they were both startled by the sound of an approaching helicopter. Daniels Immediately knew that it was Sgt. Reaver returning to look for him with the stealth drive systems on the chopper turned off so as to make it easier for Daniels to position himself to be found.
Carl turns to face sun making it’s way up and of over the trees casting a series of patterned shadows on the ground. Amidst the shadows he notices Daniel’s Sidearm laying in the fallen leaves just a few feet away. He turn back to Daniels and asks
“What do we do now?”
“You die”
Daniels utters his words in such a calm manner Carl almost doesn’t catch it. Daniels springs to his newly healed legs and lunges for Carl who immediately side-steps him and throws him to the ground. Daniels returns to his feet and beings to throw a barrage of punches and kicks at Carl who gracefully dodges and blocks them with hardly an effort made.
“Are you tired yet?”
Carl poses this question while still blocking every attempt Daniel’s makes to harm him.
“I could very well continue to block you and pick up this gun and shoot you long before you could land a single punch. You have to remember we are both gifted individuals. I can’t permanently hurt you and you are too slow to hurt me.”
Daniels grimaces at Carl’s logic and desists from attacking him. He then proceeds to sit down on the ground and laugh. Carl stands puzzled at the sight and begins to chuckle lightly.
“What’s so funny?”
Barely able to vocalize his thoughts through the laughter, he chokes out his words.
“C-C’mon, you have to think this shit is funny. Could you imagine watching this shit go down?”
The attempt to explain only makes the situation funnier to Daniels and he begins to loose his words all over again trying to explain. His laughter increases in volume and he begins to roll over onto his side on the ground. Tears begin to form in his eyes and roll down his cheek. Watching, Carl begins to chuckle a little harder and is slowly succumbing the seemingly infectious laughter as Daniels tries to produce more comprehensible words through the convulsions of his now hysterical laughter
“Oh man, oooohhh man! I had to look like a huge dumb ass throwing punches and getting blocked every time. I mean this is like a comic book or cartoon. Oh god…”
Carl at this point completely surrenders to the laughter. The two laugh for what seemed like five minutes before they were both startled by the sound of an approaching helicopter. Daniels Immediately knew that it was Sgt. Reaver returning to look for him with the stealth drive systems on the chopper turned off so as to make it easier for Daniels to position himself to be found.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 36
[Carl laughs hysterically at Daniels’ failed attempt to get up and walks over to taunt him further but is stopped in his tracks when he notices the mangled appendages begin to straighten themselves out. ]
“Holy shit… You’re one of us. AND YOU’VE BEEN WORKING FOR HIM!!”
Carl’s face reddens and begins to shake with rage. The sheer thought that Daniels had been working for Sgt. Reaver makes Carl want to kill him. If he was in possession of a weapon he surely would have used it. However, it may very well be to his advantage to keep him alive rather than kill him. So long as he cooperates…
Though rapidly healing, Daniels knows that until his legs are fully healed, it’d be futile to feed Carl’s aggression at the moment. He decides that given the nature of the grand scheme of things he would be much better off assumed dead by Reaver.
Carl’s aggression is still far from faded but he can’t help but be distracted at Daniel’s legs as they continue to straighten themselves out. Noticing Carl’s fixation on his legs Daniels turns his attention to them also. As he stares he begins to explain himself to carl.
“It… happened two years ago I think. I was on assignment in Cuba. An explosive went off when I was engaged with an enemy... I should have been killed. There wa- “
“So why the fuck are you out here trying to kill us- trying to kill ME!? So many lives have been lost in this artificial war and here you are running around helping the man who’s been perpetuating it making people like me and my-“
“STOP! You think I don’t know this already!? You think I need a fucking lecture on this shit? Maybe I’m just dumb enough to black and oblivious to being a minority all over again in a totally new aspect. No, I KNOW. I know what situation I’m in and really only have gotten a chance to see it from the other side since this accident. I have tried to help end this in other so many ways. Believe me. I have tried…
“Holy shit… You’re one of us. AND YOU’VE BEEN WORKING FOR HIM!!”
Carl’s face reddens and begins to shake with rage. The sheer thought that Daniels had been working for Sgt. Reaver makes Carl want to kill him. If he was in possession of a weapon he surely would have used it. However, it may very well be to his advantage to keep him alive rather than kill him. So long as he cooperates…
Though rapidly healing, Daniels knows that until his legs are fully healed, it’d be futile to feed Carl’s aggression at the moment. He decides that given the nature of the grand scheme of things he would be much better off assumed dead by Reaver.
Carl’s aggression is still far from faded but he can’t help but be distracted at Daniel’s legs as they continue to straighten themselves out. Noticing Carl’s fixation on his legs Daniels turns his attention to them also. As he stares he begins to explain himself to carl.
“It… happened two years ago I think. I was on assignment in Cuba. An explosive went off when I was engaged with an enemy... I should have been killed. There wa- “
“So why the fuck are you out here trying to kill us- trying to kill ME!? So many lives have been lost in this artificial war and here you are running around helping the man who’s been perpetuating it making people like me and my-“
“STOP! You think I don’t know this already!? You think I need a fucking lecture on this shit? Maybe I’m just dumb enough to black and oblivious to being a minority all over again in a totally new aspect. No, I KNOW. I know what situation I’m in and really only have gotten a chance to see it from the other side since this accident. I have tried to help end this in other so many ways. Believe me. I have tried…
Friday, November 6, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 35
[Finally, the tears for his father, for his lost friends, the daily struggles, for every time he felt like he wasn’t going to make it, for every time he had to see his mother struggle, for his family, for Keisha – fell from his eyes and run red with blood. He will never recover from this and for this thought he no longer considered himself among the living. ]
2012
The impact with the soil was far less painful than Daniels thought it would be. The inside of his head is ringing like a church bell and his vision is blurred to the point where everything is golden yellow and white blur. The sound of the USEG stealth chopper under fire from Dr. Smart quickly fades into the morning silence. Daniels concedes himself to lay there in the dirt crater he has created in hopes that the ringing in his head will stop and that his vision is restored. He dares not to even attempt to stand as he is sure his legs are probably broken and shattered.
The near silence of the morning is disturbed only by the sound of the wind blowing the tall grass and causing the trees to wave eerily overhead. Daniels marvels at the fact that the only thing he can distinguish in the blur of his vision is the difference between the ground and the sky. The white haze succumbs to a blue haze of the distant horizon so long as he is not starring to the east, directly facing the sun or at one of the surrounding trees that create a rather disturbing amorphous blob of a shape in his field of view.
Slowly, the ringing subsides and Daniel’s vision begins to fade back to sharpness. It is simplistically amazing to watch the individual blades of grass slowly come into focus for Daniels. The sight, he frankly believes is beautiful. With all the destruction that has come around him it is amazing to see something be “created”.
Marveling at the ground doesn’t allow Daniels the opportunity to hear Carl approaching.
“I was sure you were going to be a nice pile of paste with some useful weapons and maybe a damaged but still usable radio.”
“Got damn…” Daniels mumbles under his breath before attempting to rise and defend himself. His attempts however, are met with failure as his legs refuse to follow the orders his brain is sending them. Carl laughs hysterically at Daniels’ failed attempt to get up and walks over to taunt him further but is stopped in his tracks when he notices the mangled appendages begin to straighten themselves out.
2012
The impact with the soil was far less painful than Daniels thought it would be. The inside of his head is ringing like a church bell and his vision is blurred to the point where everything is golden yellow and white blur. The sound of the USEG stealth chopper under fire from Dr. Smart quickly fades into the morning silence. Daniels concedes himself to lay there in the dirt crater he has created in hopes that the ringing in his head will stop and that his vision is restored. He dares not to even attempt to stand as he is sure his legs are probably broken and shattered.
The near silence of the morning is disturbed only by the sound of the wind blowing the tall grass and causing the trees to wave eerily overhead. Daniels marvels at the fact that the only thing he can distinguish in the blur of his vision is the difference between the ground and the sky. The white haze succumbs to a blue haze of the distant horizon so long as he is not starring to the east, directly facing the sun or at one of the surrounding trees that create a rather disturbing amorphous blob of a shape in his field of view.
Slowly, the ringing subsides and Daniel’s vision begins to fade back to sharpness. It is simplistically amazing to watch the individual blades of grass slowly come into focus for Daniels. The sight, he frankly believes is beautiful. With all the destruction that has come around him it is amazing to see something be “created”.
Marveling at the ground doesn’t allow Daniels the opportunity to hear Carl approaching.
“I was sure you were going to be a nice pile of paste with some useful weapons and maybe a damaged but still usable radio.”
“Got damn…” Daniels mumbles under his breath before attempting to rise and defend himself. His attempts however, are met with failure as his legs refuse to follow the orders his brain is sending them. Carl laughs hysterically at Daniels’ failed attempt to get up and walks over to taunt him further but is stopped in his tracks when he notices the mangled appendages begin to straighten themselves out.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 34
[He looks up at Monica’s fear stricken face and into her tear filled eyes almost as if silently begging for help moments before he collapses onto the bathroom floor unconscious. ]
2008
His knees hitting the ground sends a jarring sensation up his spine that springs Nic back to his feet and sends him sailing towards the crushed wreckage that contained all he ever could consider family, screaming a “No” that could barely be detected under all the rage filled noise that carried in the air that escaped his mouth as he plunged forward.
Nic grabs the driver side rear passenger door handle and tugs with all his might. The strain and intensity of his pulling is met with bulging veins on his arms and neck, the sound of his straining sifting through his grit teeth and the slow moan of sheet metal beginning to yaw under the seemingly unyielding force behind his rage-driven pulling. Within moments the door springs open and throws Nic to the ground. Before making much contact with the ground he’s back on his feet and lunging into the now open cavity of the wrecked car’s backseat to find Keisha pinned forward against the back of the front passenger seat gasping for air as blood trickles from her left ear and mouth. She stares bleakly at him as her gasps get slower and slower. She appears as though she can no longer see him but knows he’s there. She chokes as though attempting to emit words and her eyes blindly pan back and forth.
“No… Baby. Don’t”
Nic chokes on his words and his voice cracks as tears are welling into his eyes. He knows he can’t save her. He can’t want her to live past this moment to endure the short remainder of life with her mangled body fighting for survival only to give up on an operating table. Even if she lived, she would never recover from such an injury. He would never recover from the death of his family and thus he could never hope for her to live to see that of him. He can only hope that she is comforted by his presence as she slowly slips from this world. He returns the bleak stare devoid of tears in his eyes. They are meeting eye to eye but seeing past her broken body and his already broken heart. Loving each other for the last time in this world. He stares so hard into her eyes he cannot see her mouth silently and slowly utter the words “I love you” before under the chocking blood and the last breaths she takes, her pupils contract and her eyes close in departure. Nic dares not look at the fate of his mother and sister and stares down at the debris littered floor of the car allowing the rage to return to him and drive him out of the car away from the possible sight of the rest of his dead loved ones.
Nic slowly backs out of the car falling to the ground with his limbs shaking. He clenches his arms around himself in an attempt to bottle the pain causing himself to roll side to side in the sharp debris on the road. He feels no pain and shuts his eyes so tight he almost cant breathe thus forcing them back open to look at the pandemonium on the roadway. His scream is so loud, the world is silent to him. His ears ring with pressure, and the only thing telling him he’s still alive are the vibrations the sound of his breaking voice creates in his chest. Finally, the tears for his father, for his lost friends, the daily struggles, for every time he felt like he wasn’t going to make it, for every time he had to see his mother struggle, for his family, for Keisha – fell from his eyes and run red with blood. He will never recover from this and for this thought he no longer considered himself among the living.
2008
His knees hitting the ground sends a jarring sensation up his spine that springs Nic back to his feet and sends him sailing towards the crushed wreckage that contained all he ever could consider family, screaming a “No” that could barely be detected under all the rage filled noise that carried in the air that escaped his mouth as he plunged forward.
Nic grabs the driver side rear passenger door handle and tugs with all his might. The strain and intensity of his pulling is met with bulging veins on his arms and neck, the sound of his straining sifting through his grit teeth and the slow moan of sheet metal beginning to yaw under the seemingly unyielding force behind his rage-driven pulling. Within moments the door springs open and throws Nic to the ground. Before making much contact with the ground he’s back on his feet and lunging into the now open cavity of the wrecked car’s backseat to find Keisha pinned forward against the back of the front passenger seat gasping for air as blood trickles from her left ear and mouth. She stares bleakly at him as her gasps get slower and slower. She appears as though she can no longer see him but knows he’s there. She chokes as though attempting to emit words and her eyes blindly pan back and forth.
“No… Baby. Don’t”
Nic chokes on his words and his voice cracks as tears are welling into his eyes. He knows he can’t save her. He can’t want her to live past this moment to endure the short remainder of life with her mangled body fighting for survival only to give up on an operating table. Even if she lived, she would never recover from such an injury. He would never recover from the death of his family and thus he could never hope for her to live to see that of him. He can only hope that she is comforted by his presence as she slowly slips from this world. He returns the bleak stare devoid of tears in his eyes. They are meeting eye to eye but seeing past her broken body and his already broken heart. Loving each other for the last time in this world. He stares so hard into her eyes he cannot see her mouth silently and slowly utter the words “I love you” before under the chocking blood and the last breaths she takes, her pupils contract and her eyes close in departure. Nic dares not look at the fate of his mother and sister and stares down at the debris littered floor of the car allowing the rage to return to him and drive him out of the car away from the possible sight of the rest of his dead loved ones.
Nic slowly backs out of the car falling to the ground with his limbs shaking. He clenches his arms around himself in an attempt to bottle the pain causing himself to roll side to side in the sharp debris on the road. He feels no pain and shuts his eyes so tight he almost cant breathe thus forcing them back open to look at the pandemonium on the roadway. His scream is so loud, the world is silent to him. His ears ring with pressure, and the only thing telling him he’s still alive are the vibrations the sound of his breaking voice creates in his chest. Finally, the tears for his father, for his lost friends, the daily struggles, for every time he felt like he wasn’t going to make it, for every time he had to see his mother struggle, for his family, for Keisha – fell from his eyes and run red with blood. He will never recover from this and for this thought he no longer considered himself among the living.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 33
[Two stories up above Sergeant Reaver watches as Render is incapacitated at Daniel’s feet. The sound of the impact and the crackle of electricity slightly echo towards him. Satisfied, he heads down to retrieve his latest guinea pig.]
2008
The sound of an alarm clock breaks through the silence of the room. Jason rolls over in the bed from his side onto his back and lays his hand on top of the source of the noise depressing the button to turn off the alarm. The early morning sunlight is piercing through the gaps in the bedroom window blinds. As Jason settles his face rolls into direct alignment for of the streams of light to land on one of his eyelids. There's no use fighting it. It's time to get out of bed.
He rolls over in the sheets to lay eyes upon Monica. A small smile falls upon his lips as he gazes at her sleeping face. A few strands of her hair drape across the smooth olive skin of her face and are lightly being teased with each breath she takes in slumber. Jason lays a soft kiss on her forehead before quietly sliding from under the covers and out of bed.
It's about 7:45 am on a rather cold October morning. The hardwood floors of their apartment feel icy under Jason's feet as he sleepily makes his way to the bathroom. Trying to make the least contact with the cold floor as possible as he stands, Jason scratches his head and yawns standing before the toilet preparing to relieve himself. His fingertips brush across the scar on the top portion of the back of his head. A sudden flash recollecting on the crash occurs in his mind as his fingertips navigate the uneven surface of his skull. Jason is constantly plagued with these brief but startling flashbacks of what happened that day.
Jason flushes the toilet and begins to wash his hands. He stares bleakly into the mirror as the cold but slowly warming water is pouring across his hands. He notices his right eye is beginning to twitch. It is the tell of an impending massive migraine headache. Yet another painful side effect of the accident. He closes his eyes and clenches onto the edge of the sink bowl bracing himself for the headache. The pain seems to slowly creep from the base of his skull and move towards his forehead where it seemingly explodes with ripples of pain radiating outward within his skull. Jason opens his eyes to find something in the room to focus on to drive his mind away from the pain. He fixates on the rusty steel chain attached to the stopper for the sink, trying to pilot his mind into thinking about the length of the chain, the shape of the loops, the color of the rust, and the steel the chain is
made from. As the thought of steel passes through his mind, Jason can feel his grip slowly making indentations in the sink. The pain in his head surges higher and the porcelain sink bowl explodes under the force of the grip of his hands. Shocked, Jason stares down in disbelief at what just happened. The water is pouring out of the remaining portion of the sink bowl and spilling onto his feet and broken debris. Noticing this, Jason quickly grabs the lever to the faucet and turns the water off sheering off the lever as he reaches the closed position of the valve. He is in complete awe as he slowly raises his left hand to more closely examine the broken handle in his hand. As he stares at the handle in his periphery he can capture the reflection of Monica in the mirror standing in the doorway behind him. Her hands are covering her mouth as though she were attempting to muffle a scream. Jason slowly turns around to her stammering.
“I – I- Don’t know what this is…”
Monica slowly lowers her hands and tears start to well in her eyes.
“Oh my god. Your skin…”
Jason stares down at his hand with the faucet handle still in it. Starring for a moment at the jagged edges of the handle where it was torn from the rest of the faucet, then noticing the inside of his hand. His skin, while still maintaining its natural color has taken on an eerie metallic sheen. He slowly closes his hand around the handle and begins to crush it with ease. Suddenly the pain begins to subside. As it retreats back towards the base of his skull, the metallic sheen fades away to reveal the normal texture of his skin and the pain of the remaining jagged edges piercing into his hand began to grow. A small stream of blood begins to flow from his closed fist causing a light “pit pat” on the floor in the near dead silence of the situation.. He looks up at Monica’s fear stricken face and into her tear filled eyes almost as if silently begging for help moments before he collapses onto the bathroom floor unconscious.
2008
The sound of an alarm clock breaks through the silence of the room. Jason rolls over in the bed from his side onto his back and lays his hand on top of the source of the noise depressing the button to turn off the alarm. The early morning sunlight is piercing through the gaps in the bedroom window blinds. As Jason settles his face rolls into direct alignment for of the streams of light to land on one of his eyelids. There's no use fighting it. It's time to get out of bed.
He rolls over in the sheets to lay eyes upon Monica. A small smile falls upon his lips as he gazes at her sleeping face. A few strands of her hair drape across the smooth olive skin of her face and are lightly being teased with each breath she takes in slumber. Jason lays a soft kiss on her forehead before quietly sliding from under the covers and out of bed.
It's about 7:45 am on a rather cold October morning. The hardwood floors of their apartment feel icy under Jason's feet as he sleepily makes his way to the bathroom. Trying to make the least contact with the cold floor as possible as he stands, Jason scratches his head and yawns standing before the toilet preparing to relieve himself. His fingertips brush across the scar on the top portion of the back of his head. A sudden flash recollecting on the crash occurs in his mind as his fingertips navigate the uneven surface of his skull. Jason is constantly plagued with these brief but startling flashbacks of what happened that day.
Jason flushes the toilet and begins to wash his hands. He stares bleakly into the mirror as the cold but slowly warming water is pouring across his hands. He notices his right eye is beginning to twitch. It is the tell of an impending massive migraine headache. Yet another painful side effect of the accident. He closes his eyes and clenches onto the edge of the sink bowl bracing himself for the headache. The pain seems to slowly creep from the base of his skull and move towards his forehead where it seemingly explodes with ripples of pain radiating outward within his skull. Jason opens his eyes to find something in the room to focus on to drive his mind away from the pain. He fixates on the rusty steel chain attached to the stopper for the sink, trying to pilot his mind into thinking about the length of the chain, the shape of the loops, the color of the rust, and the steel the chain is
made from. As the thought of steel passes through his mind, Jason can feel his grip slowly making indentations in the sink. The pain in his head surges higher and the porcelain sink bowl explodes under the force of the grip of his hands. Shocked, Jason stares down in disbelief at what just happened. The water is pouring out of the remaining portion of the sink bowl and spilling onto his feet and broken debris. Noticing this, Jason quickly grabs the lever to the faucet and turns the water off sheering off the lever as he reaches the closed position of the valve. He is in complete awe as he slowly raises his left hand to more closely examine the broken handle in his hand. As he stares at the handle in his periphery he can capture the reflection of Monica in the mirror standing in the doorway behind him. Her hands are covering her mouth as though she were attempting to muffle a scream. Jason slowly turns around to her stammering.
“I – I- Don’t know what this is…”
Monica slowly lowers her hands and tears start to well in her eyes.
“Oh my god. Your skin…”
Jason stares down at his hand with the faucet handle still in it. Starring for a moment at the jagged edges of the handle where it was torn from the rest of the faucet, then noticing the inside of his hand. His skin, while still maintaining its natural color has taken on an eerie metallic sheen. He slowly closes his hand around the handle and begins to crush it with ease. Suddenly the pain begins to subside. As it retreats back towards the base of his skull, the metallic sheen fades away to reveal the normal texture of his skin and the pain of the remaining jagged edges piercing into his hand began to grow. A small stream of blood begins to flow from his closed fist causing a light “pit pat” on the floor in the near dead silence of the situation.. He looks up at Monica’s fear stricken face and into her tear filled eyes almost as if silently begging for help moments before he collapses onto the bathroom floor unconscious.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 32
[...Upon impact into the soldier’s midsection, Render hears his teeth clack and the dry huff of all the air suddenly escaping his lungs as the two of them meet the pavement. He releases a small volley of heavy punches into the face of the soldier shortly before hearing the racket and ricochets of bullets being fired at him and bouncing off of his back. ]
Daniels unloads an entire magazine before render slowly rises to his feet and turns to face him. His knuckles are coated in the blood of his fellow Guardsman, and the intensity of the moment is almost amplifying the “pat” it makes as it drips from his fists and falls to the pavement. Each breath Render takes is filled with rage and the desire for vengeance. The late evening air is warm but his breaths make large plumes of steam as they exit his body.
Daniels drops his P-90 on the ground and pulls his sidearm from its holster and carefully lays it on the ground. He does not take his eyes off of Render as he bends over and does this. As he rises up he holds his hands up palms out towards Render.
“We ain’t even gotta do this.”
“We already are you fucking piece of shit.”
Render begins to slowly advance towards Daniels.
“You and me ain’t so far apart in the way we feel. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be fighting anyone. Hell, I damn sure don’t want to be fighting you, whatever the fuck you are.”
“You bastards just can’t be satisfied can you? I told you I did not want to be your fucking guinea pig. I said leave me out. I just wanted to live a normal life. But no, you make sure I have to contend with my newfound lack of normality... I ought to rip your heart out of your chest and stomp it to paste. Where the fuck is she?”
Render shakes with anger and fear as he stops advancing and waits for a reply.
“You already know. She’s dead. Reaver made sure y- “
Render lunges towards Daniels but falls short of him. His unfocused mind renders his body into several various material characteristics that stop him from moving as easily as intended. His lack of focus near cripples him temporarily. He struggles to regain his control and slowly lifts his head towards Daniels.
“He left us all no choice. You can either die here trying to fight for someone who’s already dead or you can help the world in being a ‘guinea pig’ for a few hours. What’s it going to be tough guy?”
Daniels reaches across his chest over his left shoulder and unsheathes a shock stick. A weapon designed to combine the compact hitting power of a small baton and the capability to incapacitate through the use of electricity like a stun-gun. Raising his arm slightly above his head, Daniels is poised to strike Render over the head with the shock stick.
“Grrrrr, fuck you!”
Enraged again, Render surges up off of the ground towards Daniels and is quickly dispatched.
Two stories up above Sergeant Reaver watches as Render is incapacitated at Daniel’s feet. The sound of the impact and the crackle of electricity slightly echo towards him. Satisfied, he heads down to retrieve his latest guinea pig.
Daniels unloads an entire magazine before render slowly rises to his feet and turns to face him. His knuckles are coated in the blood of his fellow Guardsman, and the intensity of the moment is almost amplifying the “pat” it makes as it drips from his fists and falls to the pavement. Each breath Render takes is filled with rage and the desire for vengeance. The late evening air is warm but his breaths make large plumes of steam as they exit his body.
Daniels drops his P-90 on the ground and pulls his sidearm from its holster and carefully lays it on the ground. He does not take his eyes off of Render as he bends over and does this. As he rises up he holds his hands up palms out towards Render.
“We ain’t even gotta do this.”
“We already are you fucking piece of shit.”
Render begins to slowly advance towards Daniels.
“You and me ain’t so far apart in the way we feel. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be fighting anyone. Hell, I damn sure don’t want to be fighting you, whatever the fuck you are.”
“You bastards just can’t be satisfied can you? I told you I did not want to be your fucking guinea pig. I said leave me out. I just wanted to live a normal life. But no, you make sure I have to contend with my newfound lack of normality... I ought to rip your heart out of your chest and stomp it to paste. Where the fuck is she?”
Render shakes with anger and fear as he stops advancing and waits for a reply.
“You already know. She’s dead. Reaver made sure y- “
Render lunges towards Daniels but falls short of him. His unfocused mind renders his body into several various material characteristics that stop him from moving as easily as intended. His lack of focus near cripples him temporarily. He struggles to regain his control and slowly lifts his head towards Daniels.
“He left us all no choice. You can either die here trying to fight for someone who’s already dead or you can help the world in being a ‘guinea pig’ for a few hours. What’s it going to be tough guy?”
Daniels reaches across his chest over his left shoulder and unsheathes a shock stick. A weapon designed to combine the compact hitting power of a small baton and the capability to incapacitate through the use of electricity like a stun-gun. Raising his arm slightly above his head, Daniels is poised to strike Render over the head with the shock stick.
“Grrrrr, fuck you!”
Enraged again, Render surges up off of the ground towards Daniels and is quickly dispatched.
Two stories up above Sergeant Reaver watches as Render is incapacitated at Daniel’s feet. The sound of the impact and the crackle of electricity slightly echo towards him. Satisfied, he heads down to retrieve his latest guinea pig.
Monday, November 2, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 31
[...The surrounding ambient light from the nearby buildings reflects off his face and hands in a manner that gives him an eerie iridescence as he begins to accelerate toward the ground and the unsuspecting group of men below.]
On the ground the only sign of what is about to happen was the nearly inaudible whistle of the air coursing past Render’s body as he came careening out of the night sky down onto two of the four men. The sound of shattering bones and tactical gear is almost completely stifled by what sounded like a one thousand pound ingot of steel crashing into the concrete of the sidewalk.
Ears ringing from the sound of the impact, the two remaining men are startled into confusion. They are United States Elite Guardsmen dressed in urban drab and armed with subcompact machine guns. They take aim towards the windows above them attempting to get a location on their assailants.
“Fuck! Daniels, where the hell did that come from?!?! Where the heck are they?!?”
Daniels, far too calm for the situation peers upwards to the skyline scanning the windows of the building for whoever attacked them and almost instinctively, responds to the other soldier without taking his eyes or mind off the situation.
“Not they. He. He is the whole reason why we’re in this shit situation anyway…”
As the two soldiers continue to search the windows above, the sound of metal scraping concrete can be heard as Render slowly lifts himself off the decimated bodies of the two fallen soldiers and out of the crater in the sidewalk he created. His dark jeans and long sleeved tee are torn in various places and are matted to him where blood bonds them to his metallic body.
Render focuses his mind on aluminum and bounds towards one of the soldiers while he was still focused on the windows above. Upon impact into the soldier’s midsection, Render hears his teeth clack and the dry huff of all the air suddenly escaping his lungs as the two of them meet the pavement. He releases a small volley of heavy punches into the face of the soldier shortly before hearing the racket and ricochets of bullets being fired at him and bouncing off of his back.
On the ground the only sign of what is about to happen was the nearly inaudible whistle of the air coursing past Render’s body as he came careening out of the night sky down onto two of the four men. The sound of shattering bones and tactical gear is almost completely stifled by what sounded like a one thousand pound ingot of steel crashing into the concrete of the sidewalk.
Ears ringing from the sound of the impact, the two remaining men are startled into confusion. They are United States Elite Guardsmen dressed in urban drab and armed with subcompact machine guns. They take aim towards the windows above them attempting to get a location on their assailants.
“Fuck! Daniels, where the hell did that come from?!?! Where the heck are they?!?”
Daniels, far too calm for the situation peers upwards to the skyline scanning the windows of the building for whoever attacked them and almost instinctively, responds to the other soldier without taking his eyes or mind off the situation.
“Not they. He. He is the whole reason why we’re in this shit situation anyway…”
As the two soldiers continue to search the windows above, the sound of metal scraping concrete can be heard as Render slowly lifts himself off the decimated bodies of the two fallen soldiers and out of the crater in the sidewalk he created. His dark jeans and long sleeved tee are torn in various places and are matted to him where blood bonds them to his metallic body.
Render focuses his mind on aluminum and bounds towards one of the soldiers while he was still focused on the windows above. Upon impact into the soldier’s midsection, Render hears his teeth clack and the dry huff of all the air suddenly escaping his lungs as the two of them meet the pavement. He releases a small volley of heavy punches into the face of the soldier shortly before hearing the racket and ricochets of bullets being fired at him and bouncing off of his back.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 30
[“Someone needs to call my fiancé, and you need to find yourself another guinea pig.”]
2012
“This superhero stuff was really only meant for television. It’s nothing like they say it’s supposed to be. You’re not normal and you have to remember that every time when you approach someone with this. That wonderment and appreciation that you’d expect someone with abnormal abilities to receive is barely in the eyes of children. Men and women, hold a scorn, as if, they’re mad at you. Like you were given something they’ve wanted their entire lives, and by some random chance based in the scorn of god you were given that gift in their face as a means to make them feel inferior. By no means did God do me a favor over you when she did this to me. In no way did I ever plan to have to take this path with my life and pay this price…”
Render leaps down from the rooftop he was reminiscing on, gliding through the air with a grace unseen as he positions himself over a small group of men standing outside of a military HUMMVEE. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, his mind is bouncing back and forth between the thought of Styrofoam and maintaining aim on the group. He only opens his eyes momentarily between thoughts to maintain his course until he glides above them eight stories up and his eyes burst open with dilated pupils filled with rage blended with fear as his mind shifts from Styrofoam to steel.
In a wave that starts at his face and moves outward to his extremities, Render’s skin shifts away from its natural look to taking on a metallic sheen and smooth texture. The surrounding ambient light from the nearby buildings reflects off his face and hands in a manner that gives him an eerie iridescence as he begins to accelerate toward the ground and the unsuspecting group of men below.
2012
“This superhero stuff was really only meant for television. It’s nothing like they say it’s supposed to be. You’re not normal and you have to remember that every time when you approach someone with this. That wonderment and appreciation that you’d expect someone with abnormal abilities to receive is barely in the eyes of children. Men and women, hold a scorn, as if, they’re mad at you. Like you were given something they’ve wanted their entire lives, and by some random chance based in the scorn of god you were given that gift in their face as a means to make them feel inferior. By no means did God do me a favor over you when she did this to me. In no way did I ever plan to have to take this path with my life and pay this price…”
Render leaps down from the rooftop he was reminiscing on, gliding through the air with a grace unseen as he positions himself over a small group of men standing outside of a military HUMMVEE. Gritting his teeth and closing his eyes, his mind is bouncing back and forth between the thought of Styrofoam and maintaining aim on the group. He only opens his eyes momentarily between thoughts to maintain his course until he glides above them eight stories up and his eyes burst open with dilated pupils filled with rage blended with fear as his mind shifts from Styrofoam to steel.
In a wave that starts at his face and moves outward to his extremities, Render’s skin shifts away from its natural look to taking on a metallic sheen and smooth texture. The surrounding ambient light from the nearby buildings reflects off his face and hands in a manner that gives him an eerie iridescence as he begins to accelerate toward the ground and the unsuspecting group of men below.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 29
[“Quite frankly it’s amazing that you don’t suddenly feel any smarter or are seeing things that others can’t or some, some, some kinda superhero-ish stuff like that. I mean, you do, still feel the same right??”]
The pause seems immense for Dr. Miramar as he waits for Jason to reply. Meanwhile Jason is still lost in the puzzlement of the news he was told before. His mind trips across his lack of understanding of how he survived the accident in the first place and the whole scene begins to replay in his head once more, but is abruptly stopped when he sees the image of the female motorist in his head again.
“Wait. You said I could be seeing things?”
Anxiously the doctor replies “Yes”.
“Did you see something abnormal?”
“Maybe. There was a girl in another car that hit mine. That was the whole reason I was even stopped there in the first place. And after everything was said and done, skhe was nowhere to be found. I may have been a bit shaken up and all, but I definitely didn’t see anyone noticing a dead body that belonged to her or helping anyone else outside of a vehicle that was injured.”
“Not to be morbid or anything, but my best guess for her is that she’s dead and probably was so tangled up in the two cars that no one even noticed her at all.
“Well, isn’t that the most reassuring shit to hear from a doctor. Can I go home?”
Hesitant, the doctor closes Jason’s medical file
“We’d like to uh, keep you for some uh… further observation if you’d allow it…”
A strong aire of annoyance overruns Jason as he flops backwards onto his back in bed and stares bleakly at the ceiling with his hands still fingering the texture of the bandages on his head.
“Someone needs to call my fiancé, and you need to find yourself another guinea pig.”
The pause seems immense for Dr. Miramar as he waits for Jason to reply. Meanwhile Jason is still lost in the puzzlement of the news he was told before. His mind trips across his lack of understanding of how he survived the accident in the first place and the whole scene begins to replay in his head once more, but is abruptly stopped when he sees the image of the female motorist in his head again.
“Wait. You said I could be seeing things?”
Anxiously the doctor replies “Yes”.
“Did you see something abnormal?”
“Maybe. There was a girl in another car that hit mine. That was the whole reason I was even stopped there in the first place. And after everything was said and done, skhe was nowhere to be found. I may have been a bit shaken up and all, but I definitely didn’t see anyone noticing a dead body that belonged to her or helping anyone else outside of a vehicle that was injured.”
“Not to be morbid or anything, but my best guess for her is that she’s dead and probably was so tangled up in the two cars that no one even noticed her at all.
“Well, isn’t that the most reassuring shit to hear from a doctor. Can I go home?”
Hesitant, the doctor closes Jason’s medical file
“We’d like to uh, keep you for some uh… further observation if you’d allow it…”
A strong aire of annoyance overruns Jason as he flops backwards onto his back in bed and stares bleakly at the ceiling with his hands still fingering the texture of the bandages on his head.
“Someone needs to call my fiancé, and you need to find yourself another guinea pig.”
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 28
[Daniels knows well out that his secret is going to be revealed if he removes his hands from his face. Feeling the yawing of the Chopper he uses this opportunity, to attempt to stand and allows the force of the evading helicopter to throw him out the open door.]
2008
“Well Mr. Reyes, it’s been a while to get all these results read for you, but the MRI came up clean. There’s just a little bruising going on in there that will dissipate after a few days and some anti-inflammatory drugs.
“That’s a friggin’ relief doc. Does this mean I get to go home and start the process of figuring out how to calm my insurance carrier down?”
Nervously, the doctor closes the door to the room and replies.
“Not quite sir. Uhm, the cat-scan uh, revealed some abnormal activity in your brain”
“What do you mean ‘abnormal’ Doc?”
“Well, uh how can I put this in layman’s terms…uhm… well the activity patterns are registering in regions that should not be registering when we performed some test for neurological response.”
Upon ending his statement, the doctor buries himself in Jason’s medical file.
Jason sits up in the hospital bed with an aire of aggression.
“What the fuck do you mean and you had better be really clear and make it real simple”
Startled, the doctor quickly searches his brain for an appropriate reply.
“Basically, it’s like a brand new section of your brain has just turned on for the very first time”
Jason lightly grabs his head with one hand starring down at the bed sheets in a state of awe and disbelief. As he allows his fingers to navigate the contours of the bandages over the gash from the accident he lets out a very deep almost distressed sigh
“Oh my God…”
As if not even paying attention to Jason, Dr. Miramar rambles on about the injury.
“Quite frankly it’s amazing that you don’t suddenly feel any smarter or are seeing things that others can’t or some, some, some kinda superhero-ish stuff like that. I mean, you do, still feel the same right??”
2008
“Well Mr. Reyes, it’s been a while to get all these results read for you, but the MRI came up clean. There’s just a little bruising going on in there that will dissipate after a few days and some anti-inflammatory drugs.
“That’s a friggin’ relief doc. Does this mean I get to go home and start the process of figuring out how to calm my insurance carrier down?”
Nervously, the doctor closes the door to the room and replies.
“Not quite sir. Uhm, the cat-scan uh, revealed some abnormal activity in your brain”
“What do you mean ‘abnormal’ Doc?”
“Well, uh how can I put this in layman’s terms…uhm… well the activity patterns are registering in regions that should not be registering when we performed some test for neurological response.”
Upon ending his statement, the doctor buries himself in Jason’s medical file.
Jason sits up in the hospital bed with an aire of aggression.
“What the fuck do you mean and you had better be really clear and make it real simple”
Startled, the doctor quickly searches his brain for an appropriate reply.
“Basically, it’s like a brand new section of your brain has just turned on for the very first time”
Jason lightly grabs his head with one hand starring down at the bed sheets in a state of awe and disbelief. As he allows his fingers to navigate the contours of the bandages over the gash from the accident he lets out a very deep almost distressed sigh
“Oh my God…”
As if not even paying attention to Jason, Dr. Miramar rambles on about the injury.
“Quite frankly it’s amazing that you don’t suddenly feel any smarter or are seeing things that others can’t or some, some, some kinda superhero-ish stuff like that. I mean, you do, still feel the same right??”
Sunday, October 25, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 27
The new display consists of an outline of the car with small icons that indicate weapons installed and where they are installed. All the icons are displayed in red to indicate their current inactive status.
“Arm AA batteries.”
The computer emits two short beeps as the icon for the anti-aircraft armaments begins to blink yellow on the portion of the vehicle diagram that is the trunk. The rear deck lid of the Bentley splits open along the centerline of the car and a pair of High Temperature Incendiary Round Mini-guns rise from within the trunk. The weapon system icon turns green and the computer chimes to signify the guns are ready.
In the chopper, Reaver is caught off guard at the sight of the weapons emerging from the trunk of Carl’s car but does not say anything. PFC Daniel’s immediately opens fire.
The crackle of bullets hitting the back of the car does not startle Carl as he is confident in the bullet proofing job he performed on the car. Shaking his head, he smirks at the screen and emits a confident “Auto-lock target and fire at will”
“Oh fuck, oh fuck – shit! We’re being painted!”
The pilot of the chopper frantically exclaims this and attempts to evade the eminent gunfire. The barrels of the mini-gun begin to spin up to speed and a moment after begins to belch out a stream of incendiary rounds. The rounds go streaming past the cabin of the chopper with some bursting in mid flight. One round flies into the cabin of the chopper and strikes one of the soldiers in the breastplate of their TESS and explodes. The small but potent blast is enough to render the soldier unconscious and burn the face of another. The blast startles the pilot and he weaves away from the highway in an attempt to escape the barrage of HiTIR fire. As the chopper yaws to the left one more round slams into the side of Daniel’s P-90, sending the pieces of it into his face and knocking him to the floor of the chopper. Reaver for first time in what seems like decades expressed fear at the sight of Daniel’s down in the chopper.
Sgt. Reaver un-straps himself from his seat and quickly makes his way over and grabs Daniels as he lays clutching his face writhing in pain. The tone of Sgt. Reaver’s voice becomes devoid of the years of combat and aggression, cracking and quivering with fear as he checks on Daniels.
“Shit, soldier. You’re going to be alright. Hang in there!”
Daniels knows well out that his secret is going to be revealed if he removes his hands from his face. Feeling the yawing of the Chopper he uses this opportunity, to attempt to stand and allows the force of the evading helicopter to throw him out the open door.
“Arm AA batteries.”
The computer emits two short beeps as the icon for the anti-aircraft armaments begins to blink yellow on the portion of the vehicle diagram that is the trunk. The rear deck lid of the Bentley splits open along the centerline of the car and a pair of High Temperature Incendiary Round Mini-guns rise from within the trunk. The weapon system icon turns green and the computer chimes to signify the guns are ready.
In the chopper, Reaver is caught off guard at the sight of the weapons emerging from the trunk of Carl’s car but does not say anything. PFC Daniel’s immediately opens fire.
The crackle of bullets hitting the back of the car does not startle Carl as he is confident in the bullet proofing job he performed on the car. Shaking his head, he smirks at the screen and emits a confident “Auto-lock target and fire at will”
“Oh fuck, oh fuck – shit! We’re being painted!”
The pilot of the chopper frantically exclaims this and attempts to evade the eminent gunfire. The barrels of the mini-gun begin to spin up to speed and a moment after begins to belch out a stream of incendiary rounds. The rounds go streaming past the cabin of the chopper with some bursting in mid flight. One round flies into the cabin of the chopper and strikes one of the soldiers in the breastplate of their TESS and explodes. The small but potent blast is enough to render the soldier unconscious and burn the face of another. The blast startles the pilot and he weaves away from the highway in an attempt to escape the barrage of HiTIR fire. As the chopper yaws to the left one more round slams into the side of Daniel’s P-90, sending the pieces of it into his face and knocking him to the floor of the chopper. Reaver for first time in what seems like decades expressed fear at the sight of Daniel’s down in the chopper.
Sgt. Reaver un-straps himself from his seat and quickly makes his way over and grabs Daniels as he lays clutching his face writhing in pain. The tone of Sgt. Reaver’s voice becomes devoid of the years of combat and aggression, cracking and quivering with fear as he checks on Daniels.
“Shit, soldier. You’re going to be alright. Hang in there!”
Daniels knows well out that his secret is going to be revealed if he removes his hands from his face. Feeling the yawing of the Chopper he uses this opportunity, to attempt to stand and allows the force of the evading helicopter to throw him out the open door.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 26
[The firing of the cannon is fierce. It literally slows the chopper's flight. However, the detonation of the charge is far greater as a blue flash turns into a fireball and the police interceptor is fragmented sending semi-melted shards hundreds of feet off of the roadway.]
Carl doesn’t even blink as he watched the police vehicle disappear in the near blinding explosion. He turns his attention to the road ahead as the trees along the side of the road encroach on the chopper’s ability to aim as they create a partial canopy over the road.
“Son of a bitch!”
Daniels swears as the targeting systems on the canon refuse to let him lock onto Carl through the trees. The technology of the cannon is fairly new. The safety system won’t allow you to target anything through varying obstructions to prevent the chance that whatever is between the target and the cannon is dense enough to slow the charge down to where it may detonate too close to the cannon. A direct result of the disaster at the Nevada testing grounds when an operator fired at a moving target the moment it wound up behind the remains of a tank from a previous shot taken.
Grinning, Carl looks up through the sunroof at the chopper.
“You like them trees don’t you, you fuckers”
He continues to race down the highway with the chopper over-head watching his every move. On board, Daniels irritated with Mag-Pulse cannon’s limitations, pulls out his P-90 and takes aim on Carl’s car.
“Permission to fire sir?”
Starring bleakly out the windshield at Carl’s car, Reaver raises a hand gesturing to him to wait.
“Hold your fire Private. I want to give him a moment to feel fear. I want him to know that his options are gone. And that he can’t run anymore.”
As the coverage of the trees begins to clear, Carl knows he has to act and the hesitation above is giving him the moment he needs to turn the tables and test the weapons system in his car for the first time. He reaches under the dash to press a switch that causes the navigation screen in the center console of the dashboard to flicker and change to display the weapons armaments. The new display consists of an outline of the car with small icons that indicate weapons installed and where they are installed. All the icons are displayed in red to indicate their current inactive status.
Carl doesn’t even blink as he watched the police vehicle disappear in the near blinding explosion. He turns his attention to the road ahead as the trees along the side of the road encroach on the chopper’s ability to aim as they create a partial canopy over the road.
“Son of a bitch!”
Daniels swears as the targeting systems on the canon refuse to let him lock onto Carl through the trees. The technology of the cannon is fairly new. The safety system won’t allow you to target anything through varying obstructions to prevent the chance that whatever is between the target and the cannon is dense enough to slow the charge down to where it may detonate too close to the cannon. A direct result of the disaster at the Nevada testing grounds when an operator fired at a moving target the moment it wound up behind the remains of a tank from a previous shot taken.
Grinning, Carl looks up through the sunroof at the chopper.
“You like them trees don’t you, you fuckers”
He continues to race down the highway with the chopper over-head watching his every move. On board, Daniels irritated with Mag-Pulse cannon’s limitations, pulls out his P-90 and takes aim on Carl’s car.
“Permission to fire sir?”
Starring bleakly out the windshield at Carl’s car, Reaver raises a hand gesturing to him to wait.
“Hold your fire Private. I want to give him a moment to feel fear. I want him to know that his options are gone. And that he can’t run anymore.”
As the coverage of the trees begins to clear, Carl knows he has to act and the hesitation above is giving him the moment he needs to turn the tables and test the weapons system in his car for the first time. He reaches under the dash to press a switch that causes the navigation screen in the center console of the dashboard to flicker and change to display the weapons armaments. The new display consists of an outline of the car with small icons that indicate weapons installed and where they are installed. All the icons are displayed in red to indicate their current inactive status.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part: 25
[The police interceptor cannot keep up with Carl’s anymore and the gap between the two rapidly begins to widen. Reaver turns to the pilot and gives him a nod. He then turns to PFC Daniels.
“Give him a warning”
“Yes Sir!”]
Daniels grabs the handle of the 105mm Mag-Pulse Cannon mounted in the chopper. Leaning his weight on the cannon causes the sensors in the hydraulic mounts to kick on and begin to glide the cannon over to the side door of the chopper that opens automatically once the cannon is close enough.
The pilot maneuvers the chopper sideways while still maintaining it’s forward momentum and giving Daniels a clear view of the two cars. Daniels presses his face into the targeting goggles of the cannon and pulls in halfway on the trigger to charge a round while taking aim at the chase. As he draws in on the trigger, a high pitch whine quickly makes its way to whistling buzz signifying that the round is charged and ready to fire.
Sgt. Reaver almost breaks a grin at the sight of the efficiency that PFC Daniels readies the weapon and locks on a target. Shortly after locking the target, Daniels draws in on the trigger fully and the cannon lets off a high pitch metallic bang that’s succeeded with a hiss accompanied by the light crackling sound reminiscent of arching electricity.
The cannon is one to be feared. It is a deadly efficient tying of magnetic-rail technology with tactical fusion pulse explosives. The magnetic rails allow the explosive charge to be fired fast enough to reach its target before it self detonates. From the moment the charge is fired a fusion reaction begins and emits a brilliant blue light and immense heat. The reaction only lasts about half a second before the charge detonates. Thus, the charge creates a blue streak right into the back window of the interceptor, in an instant burning a flawless hole in rear window, the driver’s seat and the driver just before detonating as it began to cut through the dashboard.
The firing of the cannon is fierce. It literally slows the chopper's flight. However, the detonation of the charge is far greater as a blue flash turns into a fireball and the police interceptor is fragmented sending semi-melted shards hundreds of feet off of the roadway.
“Give him a warning”
“Yes Sir!”]
Daniels grabs the handle of the 105mm Mag-Pulse Cannon mounted in the chopper. Leaning his weight on the cannon causes the sensors in the hydraulic mounts to kick on and begin to glide the cannon over to the side door of the chopper that opens automatically once the cannon is close enough.
The pilot maneuvers the chopper sideways while still maintaining it’s forward momentum and giving Daniels a clear view of the two cars. Daniels presses his face into the targeting goggles of the cannon and pulls in halfway on the trigger to charge a round while taking aim at the chase. As he draws in on the trigger, a high pitch whine quickly makes its way to whistling buzz signifying that the round is charged and ready to fire.
Sgt. Reaver almost breaks a grin at the sight of the efficiency that PFC Daniels readies the weapon and locks on a target. Shortly after locking the target, Daniels draws in on the trigger fully and the cannon lets off a high pitch metallic bang that’s succeeded with a hiss accompanied by the light crackling sound reminiscent of arching electricity.
The cannon is one to be feared. It is a deadly efficient tying of magnetic-rail technology with tactical fusion pulse explosives. The magnetic rails allow the explosive charge to be fired fast enough to reach its target before it self detonates. From the moment the charge is fired a fusion reaction begins and emits a brilliant blue light and immense heat. The reaction only lasts about half a second before the charge detonates. Thus, the charge creates a blue streak right into the back window of the interceptor, in an instant burning a flawless hole in rear window, the driver’s seat and the driver just before detonating as it began to cut through the dashboard.
The firing of the cannon is fierce. It literally slows the chopper's flight. However, the detonation of the charge is far greater as a blue flash turns into a fireball and the police interceptor is fragmented sending semi-melted shards hundreds of feet off of the roadway.
Friday, October 23, 2009
A Series Of Unfortunate Events Part: 24
[Nic stands only to be sent back down to the ground when his knees buckle with fear at the sight of the remains of a red Impala protruding from underneath the semi-trailer's cab half-way up the embankment ]
2012
The scenery flies past the windows as the speedometer gracefully moves its way towards one-hundred and twenty miles per hour. Carl's face is devoid of emotion, he stares bleakly out onto the road. The two-lane highway is barren. There is no traffic as the morning sun is turning the landscape a near blinding gold.
As the road bends to head due east, Carl tips down the sun visor avoiding the rising sun.
In doing so he looks up at the visor, and an odd shape in the rearview mirror catches his eye. On the horizon over the road behind him, a dark object about a mile back is lurking over the highway.
“Fuuuuuck” growls Carl as he identifies the shape as a helicopter approaching. The two-lane highway runs through a near barren portion of the landscape. Here he is an easy target if that helicopter reaches him before the road passes through a line of trees ahead where the canopy of the trees provides enough cover to interfere with the helicopter's view of his car. He looks in the rearview mirror again and sees the clearly defined shape of a USEG stealth chopper bearing down on him. The steep rake of the chopper suggest it is preparing its combat systems and Carl's car is more than likely being targeted. Unmoved by the danger he is in, Carl presses harder on the gas pedal murmuring to himself.
“I guess they don't want me alive this time”
The tachometer surges forward and the cabin of the car begins to be filled with the growl of the engine and the high-pitch whine of a supercharger surging horsepower to the wheels as Carl continues to accelerate. Again his attention is brought to the mirror as the flashing lights of a police interceptor behind him catches his eye. The unit is quickly covering ground closing the gap between the two of them. Carl must have not seen him as he passed the previous on-ramp.
Carl’s eyes finally show a reaction to situation in the mirror when they spike with a small amount of anger while he is clunking the shifter from fifth to sixth gear. Even with the sudden lurch of the car falling into sixth gear and surging forward, Carl’s gaze is unaltered.
Aboard the chopper, Sgt. Reaver Is looking down upon the two cars coursing down the road. The police interceptor cannot keep up with Carl’s anymore and the gap between the two rapidly begins to widen. Reaver turns to the pilot and gives him a nod. He then turns to PFC Daniels.
“Give him a warning”
“Yes Sir!”
2012
The scenery flies past the windows as the speedometer gracefully moves its way towards one-hundred and twenty miles per hour. Carl's face is devoid of emotion, he stares bleakly out onto the road. The two-lane highway is barren. There is no traffic as the morning sun is turning the landscape a near blinding gold.
As the road bends to head due east, Carl tips down the sun visor avoiding the rising sun.
In doing so he looks up at the visor, and an odd shape in the rearview mirror catches his eye. On the horizon over the road behind him, a dark object about a mile back is lurking over the highway.
“Fuuuuuck” growls Carl as he identifies the shape as a helicopter approaching. The two-lane highway runs through a near barren portion of the landscape. Here he is an easy target if that helicopter reaches him before the road passes through a line of trees ahead where the canopy of the trees provides enough cover to interfere with the helicopter's view of his car. He looks in the rearview mirror again and sees the clearly defined shape of a USEG stealth chopper bearing down on him. The steep rake of the chopper suggest it is preparing its combat systems and Carl's car is more than likely being targeted. Unmoved by the danger he is in, Carl presses harder on the gas pedal murmuring to himself.
“I guess they don't want me alive this time”
The tachometer surges forward and the cabin of the car begins to be filled with the growl of the engine and the high-pitch whine of a supercharger surging horsepower to the wheels as Carl continues to accelerate. Again his attention is brought to the mirror as the flashing lights of a police interceptor behind him catches his eye. The unit is quickly covering ground closing the gap between the two of them. Carl must have not seen him as he passed the previous on-ramp.
Carl’s eyes finally show a reaction to situation in the mirror when they spike with a small amount of anger while he is clunking the shifter from fifth to sixth gear. Even with the sudden lurch of the car falling into sixth gear and surging forward, Carl’s gaze is unaltered.
Aboard the chopper, Sgt. Reaver Is looking down upon the two cars coursing down the road. The police interceptor cannot keep up with Carl’s anymore and the gap between the two rapidly begins to widen. Reaver turns to the pilot and gives him a nod. He then turns to PFC Daniels.
“Give him a warning”
“Yes Sir!”
A Series Of Unfortunate Events Part: 23
[This triggers in her mind that her mom is at least attempting to stay afoot on the latest music and she hence cracks a small smile and emits a low chuckle. Candace looks at her with a grimace and replied to Nahlia's reaction with an "oh hush hon. Let me be". Nic and Keisha Join in the laughter momentarily.]
The warm moment of laughter in the car alerts Candace to the fact that she is going to miss her son when he moves and she looks into the rear view mirror to admire her "fine parenting". Nic sees her eyes in the mirror and greets them with a small smile that quickly bends into a frown as he sees a big red pickup truck several car lengths ahead loose control and smash into a parked car on the side of the highway. Candace's eyes bulge at all the calamity that is beginning to occur ahead. The road quickly goes laden with smoke and skidding cars. She quickly gauges how far the nearest car behind her is and slams on the breaks veering to the right to avoid a car ahead. It is almost in slow motion how their car narrowly passes by the slowing car ahead and begins to careen towards the freeway shoulder. The brakes on the old Chevy Impala are weak and aged as they skid almost two-hundred feet before coming to a stop a little off the right shoulder. Around them the mayhem continues as another car is skidding next to them and crashes into Keisha's door causing her head to whip violently close to the shattering rear passenger window. Nic grabs her and holds her tightly against him away from the window. Peering past her he can see the other motorist is barely conscious as they try to feebly fight down the deployed airbag in the car.
A few moments pass and it seem as though the chaos is ending. Nic looks around and sees that everyone in his car is ok. Nahlia is paralyzed with fear but unscathed. Candace is starring out the driver side window at all the mayhem that has occurred. She is awe stricken. Nic turns to Keisha while she is clenching him. She has a few small cuts on her face but ultimately is fine. He then turns his attention to the motorist that hit them and jumps out the car to check on them. Before he could even reach the other disabled vehicle his ears are met with the sound of a semi-trailer locking its breaks due to the poor decisions of its tired inattentive driver and emitting the horrid howling of eighteen tires skidding across the ground pleading with the concrete to get the massive truck and it's load to stop. Nic is just rounding the left rear driver side corner of his mother's car. The sound causes him to look up to see the semi bearing down on him. Without a thought he throws himself out of the way of the truck and into the path of yet another motorist whose attention span was not broad enough to detect and react to the large accident ahead. Nic closes his eyes and covers his face as he lands on the road in front of the on-coming car. The horrible tune of chaos plays out through the sound of crushing metal and breaking glass backed by the sound of screeching tires.
The light patter of small debris hitting his face allows Nic the pleasure of knowing he's not dead. He opens his eyes to evaluate the bug riddled bumper and grill of a well traveled Toyota Corolla that stopped just a few inches away from killing him. Nic stands only to be sent back down to the ground when his knees buckle with fear at the sight of the remains of a red Impala protruding from underneath the semi-trailer's cab half-way up the embankment
The warm moment of laughter in the car alerts Candace to the fact that she is going to miss her son when he moves and she looks into the rear view mirror to admire her "fine parenting". Nic sees her eyes in the mirror and greets them with a small smile that quickly bends into a frown as he sees a big red pickup truck several car lengths ahead loose control and smash into a parked car on the side of the highway. Candace's eyes bulge at all the calamity that is beginning to occur ahead. The road quickly goes laden with smoke and skidding cars. She quickly gauges how far the nearest car behind her is and slams on the breaks veering to the right to avoid a car ahead. It is almost in slow motion how their car narrowly passes by the slowing car ahead and begins to careen towards the freeway shoulder. The brakes on the old Chevy Impala are weak and aged as they skid almost two-hundred feet before coming to a stop a little off the right shoulder. Around them the mayhem continues as another car is skidding next to them and crashes into Keisha's door causing her head to whip violently close to the shattering rear passenger window. Nic grabs her and holds her tightly against him away from the window. Peering past her he can see the other motorist is barely conscious as they try to feebly fight down the deployed airbag in the car.
A few moments pass and it seem as though the chaos is ending. Nic looks around and sees that everyone in his car is ok. Nahlia is paralyzed with fear but unscathed. Candace is starring out the driver side window at all the mayhem that has occurred. She is awe stricken. Nic turns to Keisha while she is clenching him. She has a few small cuts on her face but ultimately is fine. He then turns his attention to the motorist that hit them and jumps out the car to check on them. Before he could even reach the other disabled vehicle his ears are met with the sound of a semi-trailer locking its breaks due to the poor decisions of its tired inattentive driver and emitting the horrid howling of eighteen tires skidding across the ground pleading with the concrete to get the massive truck and it's load to stop. Nic is just rounding the left rear driver side corner of his mother's car. The sound causes him to look up to see the semi bearing down on him. Without a thought he throws himself out of the way of the truck and into the path of yet another motorist whose attention span was not broad enough to detect and react to the large accident ahead. Nic closes his eyes and covers his face as he lands on the road in front of the on-coming car. The horrible tune of chaos plays out through the sound of crushing metal and breaking glass backed by the sound of screeching tires.
The light patter of small debris hitting his face allows Nic the pleasure of knowing he's not dead. He opens his eyes to evaluate the bug riddled bumper and grill of a well traveled Toyota Corolla that stopped just a few inches away from killing him. Nic stands only to be sent back down to the ground when his knees buckle with fear at the sight of the remains of a red Impala protruding from underneath the semi-trailer's cab half-way up the embankment
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 22
[he briskly walks to the passenger side of the jeep and grabs the case before running over and jumping aboard. The pilot does not hesitate to quickly lift off the ground as soon as Daniels had enough of his body on board to safely fly away. ]
2008
The late afternoon sun is taking the temperature down with it. However, it is remaining very warm as the sun slowly creeps down and across the LA skyline. Nic and his family are coasting southbound down the infamous Crenshaw Boulevard towards the 105-freeway. Nic peers stoically out the passenger window at the passing neighborhood. They approach a red light near the intersection of Manchester and Crenshaw and he watches as people go about their business. The intersection is busy with life. Not the most productive life to Nic's standards though. He counts the number of people who appear to be gang related. Some stare back at him attempting to be intimidating. He shifts his gaze to an old woman on the bus stop. She is disinterested in anything that is going on around her. She is dressed in an old fashioned floral printed dress that hints of days past when LA didn't even know what a gang problem was. She watches the traffic pass awaiting her bus. Her graying hair wisps a little as the hot breeze causes it to shift across her forehead that has the sticky glaze of sweat from the heat of the day.
Watching the intersection go by as Candace drives through the now green light, Nic can't help but feel himself slump with relief as he is comforted by the notion that he will be leaving for college soon. With the new news of his acceptance he was already planning to stay with a relative that lived near Stanford for the summer. Thus shortening the time he has to spend in the venerable hellhole city he called home.
A few blocks later they are cruising up the on-ramp to the 105 to reach freeway speeds. The wind and noise of the highway notions Candace to roll up the windows and take on the added fuel expense of running the air conditioning at full blast as the late afternoon sun can still quickly bring the temperature inside the car up to a sweltering 90 degrees. The traffic is thick but moving briskly. Candace, as the seasoned driver she is, carves her way through the traffic as this is the route she always takes to work during rush hour. She moves with a familiarity of the road like a racer at their most favorite track. Nahlia looks on with disinterest in the road. She ignores her mothers aggressive driving and decides to turn on the radio. The radio is an aging OEM General Motors radio with faded buttons from years of station changing. The speakers in the car come to life with the sounds of Her favorite Hip-hop station. This triggers in her mind that her mom is at least attempting to stay afoot on the latest music and she hence cracks a small smile and emits a low chuckle. Candace looks at her with a grimace and replied to Nahlia's reaction with an "oh hush hon. Let me be". Nic and Keisha Join in the laughter momentarily.
2008
The late afternoon sun is taking the temperature down with it. However, it is remaining very warm as the sun slowly creeps down and across the LA skyline. Nic and his family are coasting southbound down the infamous Crenshaw Boulevard towards the 105-freeway. Nic peers stoically out the passenger window at the passing neighborhood. They approach a red light near the intersection of Manchester and Crenshaw and he watches as people go about their business. The intersection is busy with life. Not the most productive life to Nic's standards though. He counts the number of people who appear to be gang related. Some stare back at him attempting to be intimidating. He shifts his gaze to an old woman on the bus stop. She is disinterested in anything that is going on around her. She is dressed in an old fashioned floral printed dress that hints of days past when LA didn't even know what a gang problem was. She watches the traffic pass awaiting her bus. Her graying hair wisps a little as the hot breeze causes it to shift across her forehead that has the sticky glaze of sweat from the heat of the day.
Watching the intersection go by as Candace drives through the now green light, Nic can't help but feel himself slump with relief as he is comforted by the notion that he will be leaving for college soon. With the new news of his acceptance he was already planning to stay with a relative that lived near Stanford for the summer. Thus shortening the time he has to spend in the venerable hellhole city he called home.
A few blocks later they are cruising up the on-ramp to the 105 to reach freeway speeds. The wind and noise of the highway notions Candace to roll up the windows and take on the added fuel expense of running the air conditioning at full blast as the late afternoon sun can still quickly bring the temperature inside the car up to a sweltering 90 degrees. The traffic is thick but moving briskly. Candace, as the seasoned driver she is, carves her way through the traffic as this is the route she always takes to work during rush hour. She moves with a familiarity of the road like a racer at their most favorite track. Nahlia looks on with disinterest in the road. She ignores her mothers aggressive driving and decides to turn on the radio. The radio is an aging OEM General Motors radio with faded buttons from years of station changing. The speakers in the car come to life with the sounds of Her favorite Hip-hop station. This triggers in her mind that her mom is at least attempting to stay afoot on the latest music and she hence cracks a small smile and emits a low chuckle. Candace looks at her with a grimace and replied to Nahlia's reaction with an "oh hush hon. Let me be". Nic and Keisha Join in the laughter momentarily.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 21
[The men exiting the building begin to fire upon him in a futile attempt to thwart his escape. Daniels is accelerating too fast for anyone to get a good shot at him and he quickly is fading into the dark distance.]
Once to the safety of the drop-zone, Daniels assesses his wounds. The drop-zone is not far from where he was caught off guard by the explosion. It is in an empty parking lot of a ravaged shopping center. He steps out of the jeep and stands in front of it to examine himself in the light of the headlights. His left leg is soaked in blood but it doesn't hurt. there is a large area of flesh exposed through the remains of his TESS that was caused by the blast. There is no sign of any damage. Astounded he tears off his helmet and feels his head for the big scar he felt earlier, but its gone. Even the hair in that region of his head is already beginning to grow as he feels light stubble underneath his fingertips searching for scar tissue. Everywhere he has bled from before has healed. He picks up his helmet from the ground and peers through the hole blown in it as the whisper of a USEG stealth drive chopper approaching from just beyond some buildings begins to grow near. This strange anomaly of his wounds does not need to be discovered by anyone just yet so he quickly rips off most off the bloody parts of his suit and tosses them along with his helmet off into a nearby pile of debris. As the chopper emerges from over a building across the parking lot and maneuvers to land for his extraction, he briskly walks to the passenger side of the jeep and grabs the case before running over and jumping aboard. The pilot does not hesitate to quickly lift off the ground as soon as Daniels had enough of his body on board to safely fly away.
Once to the safety of the drop-zone, Daniels assesses his wounds. The drop-zone is not far from where he was caught off guard by the explosion. It is in an empty parking lot of a ravaged shopping center. He steps out of the jeep and stands in front of it to examine himself in the light of the headlights. His left leg is soaked in blood but it doesn't hurt. there is a large area of flesh exposed through the remains of his TESS that was caused by the blast. There is no sign of any damage. Astounded he tears off his helmet and feels his head for the big scar he felt earlier, but its gone. Even the hair in that region of his head is already beginning to grow as he feels light stubble underneath his fingertips searching for scar tissue. Everywhere he has bled from before has healed. He picks up his helmet from the ground and peers through the hole blown in it as the whisper of a USEG stealth drive chopper approaching from just beyond some buildings begins to grow near. This strange anomaly of his wounds does not need to be discovered by anyone just yet so he quickly rips off most off the bloody parts of his suit and tosses them along with his helmet off into a nearby pile of debris. As the chopper emerges from over a building across the parking lot and maneuvers to land for his extraction, he briskly walks to the passenger side of the jeep and grabs the case before running over and jumping aboard. The pilot does not hesitate to quickly lift off the ground as soon as Daniels had enough of his body on board to safely fly away.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 20
[The remaining survivor is reduced to screaming in the writhing pain of being mortally wounded as blood is surging from the remaining portion of his left leg. Everything from the kneecap down has been reduced to bone fragments and liquidized human debris sprayed into the night air. ]
Daniels emerges from his cover advancing towards the downed officer with his M-16 trained on the door to suppress any support the guerrillas that may emerge could provide. He gets to the officer who refuses to let go of the case. Daniels shoots him in the face at point blank range. The sight and sound of the officer's face bursting into pieces and coating his right leg in facial fragments does not faze him. Two more men burst out the door of the building and Daniels quickly mows them down with a few well placed 7.65mm slugs to their chests. He rips the case from the officer's warm but dead arms and retreats to the jeep with his rifle in one hand still trained on the entrance door and the case in the other. Rapid fire can be heard from his left and hits him in his thigh taking him to the ground falling backwards. He leans over and fires off about five shots of return fire. A guerrilla in the distance falls to the ground. He turns his attention to the main entrance again as another soldier rushes out the door. Daniels squeezes off another few rounds and drops him before he could even raise his weapon to aim.
Daniels can hear more men approaching from the interior of the building. Scrambling to his feet he hobbles over to the driver's side of the jeep and tugs the dead driver's corpse onto the ground. The jeep is still running as the driver never had a chance to turn it off before Daniels gave him a copper jacketed lead tumor. He jumps in, quickly lays the case on the passenger seat, put the vehicle in gear, proceeds to execute a u-turn on the narrow street and starts to accelerate away. The men exiting the building begin to fire upon him in a futile attempt to thwart his escape. Daniels is accelerating too fast for anyone to get a good shot at him and he quickly is fading into the dark distance.
Daniels emerges from his cover advancing towards the downed officer with his M-16 trained on the door to suppress any support the guerrillas that may emerge could provide. He gets to the officer who refuses to let go of the case. Daniels shoots him in the face at point blank range. The sight and sound of the officer's face bursting into pieces and coating his right leg in facial fragments does not faze him. Two more men burst out the door of the building and Daniels quickly mows them down with a few well placed 7.65mm slugs to their chests. He rips the case from the officer's warm but dead arms and retreats to the jeep with his rifle in one hand still trained on the entrance door and the case in the other. Rapid fire can be heard from his left and hits him in his thigh taking him to the ground falling backwards. He leans over and fires off about five shots of return fire. A guerrilla in the distance falls to the ground. He turns his attention to the main entrance again as another soldier rushes out the door. Daniels squeezes off another few rounds and drops him before he could even raise his weapon to aim.
Daniels can hear more men approaching from the interior of the building. Scrambling to his feet he hobbles over to the driver's side of the jeep and tugs the dead driver's corpse onto the ground. The jeep is still running as the driver never had a chance to turn it off before Daniels gave him a copper jacketed lead tumor. He jumps in, quickly lays the case on the passenger seat, put the vehicle in gear, proceeds to execute a u-turn on the narrow street and starts to accelerate away. The men exiting the building begin to fire upon him in a futile attempt to thwart his escape. Daniels is accelerating too fast for anyone to get a good shot at him and he quickly is fading into the dark distance.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 19
[...There are four men outside smoking cigarettes, talking and patrolling the entrance. Their meaningless conversations are no true precursor to what awaits them tonight.
]
The darkness of the street provides Daniels excellent cover as he weaves between abandoned cars on the road and the debris from collapsed buildings. He ducks behind piles of rubble attempting to mask his approach towards the outpost guards.
Once within 50 meters of the men undetected, he quickly decides his course of action. He doesn't have the time, patience nor the gear to get past the men without a fight. Luckily, the Beretta he recovered from the dead guerrilla is silenced. Rising slightly above the pile of rubble, Daniels takes aim on the farthest Guard. The sights of the pistol line up on the unsuspecting victims face behind a cloud of freshly released cigarette smoke. Slowing his breathing and timing his exhales with the gathering pressure on the trigger, barely allows him to recognize the distant sound of an approaching vehicle. Momentarily falling back into cover and peering through the spaces in the large chunks of building material that make up the rubble, he can see the headlights of an approaching vehicle wash the dark portions of the ground in front of the entry to the building with light. Approaching from Daniels' right on a street that intersects the one he had followed, a small jeep comes into sight and makes a right turn at the intersection. The four men guarding the building quickly change their posture and extinguish their cigarettes. The jeep slowly rounds the corner and stops in front of the outpost. The passenger gets out and begins to approach the entrance to the building. He has the demeanor of a senior officer and is carrying a case that looks like a field computer. This must be Daniels' target. PFC Daniels quickly springs up, takes aim and shoots the driver in the back of the head and then turns and puts two bullets into the legs of the officer, The four men are stunned and confused. They have no idea where the shots came from. They all backpedal from being too close to the jeep scanning the darkness in all directions in hopes of acquiring a target. The officer is on the ground struggling to get back up and is beckoning the other men for help. They continue to move away from him. They move just far enough away for Daniels to throw the grenade at their feet. The men, clumped too close together see the grenade land and cannot jump out of the way in time. A brutal explosion ensues. Limbs are strewn across the sidewalk and sent flying into the street. All but one are killed instantly. The remaining survivor is reduced to screaming in the writhing pain of being mortally wounded as blood is surging from the remaining portion of his left leg. Everything from the kneecap down has been reduced to bone fragments and liquidized human debris sprayed into the night air.
]
The darkness of the street provides Daniels excellent cover as he weaves between abandoned cars on the road and the debris from collapsed buildings. He ducks behind piles of rubble attempting to mask his approach towards the outpost guards.
Once within 50 meters of the men undetected, he quickly decides his course of action. He doesn't have the time, patience nor the gear to get past the men without a fight. Luckily, the Beretta he recovered from the dead guerrilla is silenced. Rising slightly above the pile of rubble, Daniels takes aim on the farthest Guard. The sights of the pistol line up on the unsuspecting victims face behind a cloud of freshly released cigarette smoke. Slowing his breathing and timing his exhales with the gathering pressure on the trigger, barely allows him to recognize the distant sound of an approaching vehicle. Momentarily falling back into cover and peering through the spaces in the large chunks of building material that make up the rubble, he can see the headlights of an approaching vehicle wash the dark portions of the ground in front of the entry to the building with light. Approaching from Daniels' right on a street that intersects the one he had followed, a small jeep comes into sight and makes a right turn at the intersection. The four men guarding the building quickly change their posture and extinguish their cigarettes. The jeep slowly rounds the corner and stops in front of the outpost. The passenger gets out and begins to approach the entrance to the building. He has the demeanor of a senior officer and is carrying a case that looks like a field computer. This must be Daniels' target. PFC Daniels quickly springs up, takes aim and shoots the driver in the back of the head and then turns and puts two bullets into the legs of the officer, The four men are stunned and confused. They have no idea where the shots came from. They all backpedal from being too close to the jeep scanning the darkness in all directions in hopes of acquiring a target. The officer is on the ground struggling to get back up and is beckoning the other men for help. They continue to move away from him. They move just far enough away for Daniels to throw the grenade at their feet. The men, clumped too close together see the grenade land and cannot jump out of the way in time. A brutal explosion ensues. Limbs are strewn across the sidewalk and sent flying into the street. All but one are killed instantly. The remaining survivor is reduced to screaming in the writhing pain of being mortally wounded as blood is surging from the remaining portion of his left leg. Everything from the kneecap down has been reduced to bone fragments and liquidized human debris sprayed into the night air.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 18
[...The gangster collapses flat convulsing on the ground. Nic turns and waves to his neighbor who nods in approval then gets into the car behind his mother and pats the seat signaling her to drive away.]
2010
Daniels is awe stricken by his finds of who his enemy was or wasn't for that matter. He finds that there is no time to waste if he was going to accomplish his mission. His job was to track and eliminate a guerrilla official who was carrying data on a new strike plan against the US that was using a new "secret weapon". He is then to bring that information back for analysis. Daniels picks up the M-16, collected all the remaining ammo, a silenced Beretta 92F and a fragmentation grenade off the dead guerilla's body as he proceeds with his mission. He pulls out a half burned area map and illuminates it with the tactical light on the assault rifle. He notes his position and the target location in relation to it. It's not far but with his leg in the condition that its in, it is going to take him a bit longer than anticipated. He places the map back into his pocket and moves along down the dark Cuban streets.
The war had left the place as a ghost town. Judging by his map, intel has placed his target in a building 4 blocks away on the right corner across the street from a building gutted from bombing. Continuing down the street it has come to his attention that he has not had to limp to avoid being in pain. Also, he no longer could feel extreme pain in his leg when he touched it. Only a dull pain remained. His head did not hurt as much either. Pausing momentarily he questioned what was occurring but quickly returned his thoughts to his mission objectives. There's no time to waste questioning this change. The only thing that matters is that he can move faster towards completing what he was set out to do. Time is far too limited especially as all his communication gear was destroyed in the blast and he no longer has any communication with the extraction party. He must complete the mission and return to the drop-zone in what was now less than three hours.
The small outpost the guerrillas were using was an old bank building. Dilapidated and ravaged by gunfire and explosions. The building could barely be identified as a bank short of the scorched ATM machine threatening to fall out of the wall and the bullet-proof glass that remains standing next to the crumbling bricks that surround the entryway.
It was a rather lightly guarded facility with a very well lit entrance. Entry should be fairly easy. There are four men outside smoking cigarettes, talking and patrolling the entrance. Their meaningless conversations are no true precursor to what awaits them tonight.
2010
Daniels is awe stricken by his finds of who his enemy was or wasn't for that matter. He finds that there is no time to waste if he was going to accomplish his mission. His job was to track and eliminate a guerrilla official who was carrying data on a new strike plan against the US that was using a new "secret weapon". He is then to bring that information back for analysis. Daniels picks up the M-16, collected all the remaining ammo, a silenced Beretta 92F and a fragmentation grenade off the dead guerilla's body as he proceeds with his mission. He pulls out a half burned area map and illuminates it with the tactical light on the assault rifle. He notes his position and the target location in relation to it. It's not far but with his leg in the condition that its in, it is going to take him a bit longer than anticipated. He places the map back into his pocket and moves along down the dark Cuban streets.
The war had left the place as a ghost town. Judging by his map, intel has placed his target in a building 4 blocks away on the right corner across the street from a building gutted from bombing. Continuing down the street it has come to his attention that he has not had to limp to avoid being in pain. Also, he no longer could feel extreme pain in his leg when he touched it. Only a dull pain remained. His head did not hurt as much either. Pausing momentarily he questioned what was occurring but quickly returned his thoughts to his mission objectives. There's no time to waste questioning this change. The only thing that matters is that he can move faster towards completing what he was set out to do. Time is far too limited especially as all his communication gear was destroyed in the blast and he no longer has any communication with the extraction party. He must complete the mission and return to the drop-zone in what was now less than three hours.
The small outpost the guerrillas were using was an old bank building. Dilapidated and ravaged by gunfire and explosions. The building could barely be identified as a bank short of the scorched ATM machine threatening to fall out of the wall and the bullet-proof glass that remains standing next to the crumbling bricks that surround the entryway.
It was a rather lightly guarded facility with a very well lit entrance. Entry should be fairly easy. There are four men outside smoking cigarettes, talking and patrolling the entrance. Their meaningless conversations are no true precursor to what awaits them tonight.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 17
["Baby don't! Just get in the car!..."
Grabbing her by her shoulders Nic exclaims
"What the fuck are you doing?!?!"
"Fuck yo bitch nigga!"]
At this point the gang member has gotten within a few feet of Nic and Kiesha and he has drawn his gun and is pointing it at Kiesha and closing in until the barrel is within inches of her head. By the large "P" tattooed on his forearm Nic can tell he's affiliated with "Parks" a gang that is prominent in the Hyde Park area and one that has been pressuring him for quite some time.
"What's up now nigga!?! Say no to Parks and Imma blow this bitch’s shit across the street. I put that on Parks Five-Eight nigga!"
Nic flinches to feign the gangster, causing him to turn and attempt to point the gun at Nic who in a single stroke grabs the top of the pistol pressing the magazine release with his thumb and pushing back the slide using his palm, thus causing the magazine to fall to the ground and ejecting the chambered round long before the gangster could even think about pulling the trigger. Before the gang member even realized he had nothing to fire Nic was already delivering his first of two black eyes. As the first punch collides with the gangster's left eye -still holding the gun- Nic twists his assailant's wrist breaking it in a flinch and tugging him towards the next punch headed for the right eye. After pounding the right side of his face, while still holding his broken right wrist, Nic plants a knee in his stomach collapsing his diaphragm and allowing him to fall to the ground staggering to catch his breath. Nic briefly looks around to see who has witnessed any part of the thwarted attack and sees only his neighbor across the street who has been against gang violence since he's know him.
Taking Kiesha by her arm he tugs her to the car and pushes her in into the back seat of it. He then reaches through the front passenger window past his sister and into the glove box and pulls out a stun-gun and storms back over the gangster gasping for air as he lifts himself off of the ground. He walks up behind him activating the stun gun and taps him on the back of the neck with it. The gangster collapses flat convulsing on the ground. Nic turns and waves to his neighbor who nods in approval then gets into the car behind his mother and pats the seat signaling her to drive away.
Grabbing her by her shoulders Nic exclaims
"What the fuck are you doing?!?!"
"Fuck yo bitch nigga!"]
At this point the gang member has gotten within a few feet of Nic and Kiesha and he has drawn his gun and is pointing it at Kiesha and closing in until the barrel is within inches of her head. By the large "P" tattooed on his forearm Nic can tell he's affiliated with "Parks" a gang that is prominent in the Hyde Park area and one that has been pressuring him for quite some time.
"What's up now nigga!?! Say no to Parks and Imma blow this bitch’s shit across the street. I put that on Parks Five-Eight nigga!"
Nic flinches to feign the gangster, causing him to turn and attempt to point the gun at Nic who in a single stroke grabs the top of the pistol pressing the magazine release with his thumb and pushing back the slide using his palm, thus causing the magazine to fall to the ground and ejecting the chambered round long before the gangster could even think about pulling the trigger. Before the gang member even realized he had nothing to fire Nic was already delivering his first of two black eyes. As the first punch collides with the gangster's left eye -still holding the gun- Nic twists his assailant's wrist breaking it in a flinch and tugging him towards the next punch headed for the right eye. After pounding the right side of his face, while still holding his broken right wrist, Nic plants a knee in his stomach collapsing his diaphragm and allowing him to fall to the ground staggering to catch his breath. Nic briefly looks around to see who has witnessed any part of the thwarted attack and sees only his neighbor across the street who has been against gang violence since he's know him.
Taking Kiesha by her arm he tugs her to the car and pushes her in into the back seat of it. He then reaches through the front passenger window past his sister and into the glove box and pulls out a stun-gun and storms back over the gangster gasping for air as he lifts himself off of the ground. He walks up behind him activating the stun gun and taps him on the back of the neck with it. The gangster collapses flat convulsing on the ground. Nic turns and waves to his neighbor who nods in approval then gets into the car behind his mother and pats the seat signaling her to drive away.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 16
[...Not the female he thought he saw. Next to the body was an old generation M-16 commonly used by a guerrilla faction against the US government that consisted of mostly ex military from the war. Not the AK-47 he heard. To complicate things more, the man's throat had been slit and he appeared to have been dead for hours...]
2008
"Alright yall, let's get this party started"
Nic announces this as he and Kiesha enter the living room. Candace and Nahlia both rise from the couch and head for the front door. As they are exiting Nic remembers something.
"You guys go ahead and get in the car, I gotta grab something"
Nic darts back into the house and into his room he opens the drawer to the nightstand next to his bed and pulls out an old silver pocket watch. Staring at it briefly he mumbles to himself.
"I don't know where yo ass is, Pop, but this is probably the only thing that would make you proud of me, so I'm letting you come along this time."
He clenches the watch in his hand momentarily before shoving it in his pocket and heading out the house. As Nic steps out of the house, the afternoon sunlight feels perfect. He's caught for a moment just starring at the sky just over the rooftops. He grins to himself locks the door to the house and begins to walk curbside to the car.
"Ay nigga!!"
A voice calls out from two houses down the street.
"Shit!"
Nic exclaims to himself as he tries to walk faster to the car.
"Ay Nigga! I'm talking to yo bitch ass! Where you from nigga!"
A neighborhood gang member is quickly approaching Nic. He is wearing a black t-shirt and black khaki pants with white shoes. His hand is underneath his shirt near his waistline suggesting he was carrying a gun.
Nic knows he can't dive into the car with his family if this thug is ready to shoot. He'll only endanger them if he did. He stops short of the car standing in the middle of the sidewalk starring at the ground. Seeing this, Kiesha jumps out of the car and runs to grab Nic.
"Baby don't! Just get in the car!..."
Grabbing her by her shoulders Nic exclaims
"What the fuck are you doing?!?!"
"Fuck yo bitch nigga!"
2008
"Alright yall, let's get this party started"
Nic announces this as he and Kiesha enter the living room. Candace and Nahlia both rise from the couch and head for the front door. As they are exiting Nic remembers something.
"You guys go ahead and get in the car, I gotta grab something"
Nic darts back into the house and into his room he opens the drawer to the nightstand next to his bed and pulls out an old silver pocket watch. Staring at it briefly he mumbles to himself.
"I don't know where yo ass is, Pop, but this is probably the only thing that would make you proud of me, so I'm letting you come along this time."
He clenches the watch in his hand momentarily before shoving it in his pocket and heading out the house. As Nic steps out of the house, the afternoon sunlight feels perfect. He's caught for a moment just starring at the sky just over the rooftops. He grins to himself locks the door to the house and begins to walk curbside to the car.
"Ay nigga!!"
A voice calls out from two houses down the street.
"Shit!"
Nic exclaims to himself as he tries to walk faster to the car.
"Ay Nigga! I'm talking to yo bitch ass! Where you from nigga!"
A neighborhood gang member is quickly approaching Nic. He is wearing a black t-shirt and black khaki pants with white shoes. His hand is underneath his shirt near his waistline suggesting he was carrying a gun.
Nic knows he can't dive into the car with his family if this thug is ready to shoot. He'll only endanger them if he did. He stops short of the car standing in the middle of the sidewalk starring at the ground. Seeing this, Kiesha jumps out of the car and runs to grab Nic.
"Baby don't! Just get in the car!..."
Grabbing her by her shoulders Nic exclaims
"What the fuck are you doing?!?!"
"Fuck yo bitch nigga!"
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 15
[Holding his hand they both exit the room to the living room where Candace and Nahlia are waiting...]
2010
PFC Daniels returns to consciousness in a pile of rubble. His Tactical Environmental Survival Suit (TESS) is nearly shred to pieces. his weapon, radio and much of his survival gear is either destroyed or completely missing. Either he is deaf from the explosion or the street is completely silent. As he lays there he can hear nothing. As he raises his head to examine himself he can feel a sharp pain coming from his head.
He reaches up to feel how bad he's hurt and can feel a large hole in the top of his helmet encrusted with blood. The helmets of the TESS are made from a carbon-titanium interlock polymer that is designed to be able to resist the fire from a Barbel-Hutch LDR60, a .60 Cal high powered rifle developed during the first years of WWIII. It is the most powerful sniper rifle anyone can get their hands on. No handgun can penetrate the TESS helmet and they'll absorb most rifle fire if not all of it at close range although the user may sustain a concussion. To have a hole in your helmet while it's on your head means to be dead. Daniels reaches into the opening expecting to feel his own brain only to feel a large scar caked in dry blood. He quickly Jumps to his feet startled by his situation. He can feel the cold of the night through the holes in his suit and is for the first time in a long time unnerved. Slowly, the memory of what just happened comes back into his head. Understanding where he is once again he creeps out of the rubble back onto the street. The remaining fire from the explosion mildly keeps the area illuminated. As he moves he realizes that he feels his leg may be fractured and a searing pain shoot up his leg as he tries to continue to walk. Noticing a body on the ground near the corner of building where he was receiving enemy fire from, Daniels limps to go see what faction his assailant belonged to. As he comes up on the body he notices that the corpse is a male. Not the female he thought he saw. Next to the body was an old generation M-16 commonly used by a guerrilla faction against the US government that consisted of mostly ex military from the war. Not the AK-47 he heard. To complicate things more, the man's throat had been slit and he appeared to have been dead for hours...
2010
PFC Daniels returns to consciousness in a pile of rubble. His Tactical Environmental Survival Suit (TESS) is nearly shred to pieces. his weapon, radio and much of his survival gear is either destroyed or completely missing. Either he is deaf from the explosion or the street is completely silent. As he lays there he can hear nothing. As he raises his head to examine himself he can feel a sharp pain coming from his head.
He reaches up to feel how bad he's hurt and can feel a large hole in the top of his helmet encrusted with blood. The helmets of the TESS are made from a carbon-titanium interlock polymer that is designed to be able to resist the fire from a Barbel-Hutch LDR60, a .60 Cal high powered rifle developed during the first years of WWIII. It is the most powerful sniper rifle anyone can get their hands on. No handgun can penetrate the TESS helmet and they'll absorb most rifle fire if not all of it at close range although the user may sustain a concussion. To have a hole in your helmet while it's on your head means to be dead. Daniels reaches into the opening expecting to feel his own brain only to feel a large scar caked in dry blood. He quickly Jumps to his feet startled by his situation. He can feel the cold of the night through the holes in his suit and is for the first time in a long time unnerved. Slowly, the memory of what just happened comes back into his head. Understanding where he is once again he creeps out of the rubble back onto the street. The remaining fire from the explosion mildly keeps the area illuminated. As he moves he realizes that he feels his leg may be fractured and a searing pain shoot up his leg as he tries to continue to walk. Noticing a body on the ground near the corner of building where he was receiving enemy fire from, Daniels limps to go see what faction his assailant belonged to. As he comes up on the body he notices that the corpse is a male. Not the female he thought he saw. Next to the body was an old generation M-16 commonly used by a guerrilla faction against the US government that consisted of mostly ex military from the war. Not the AK-47 he heard. To complicate things more, the man's throat had been slit and he appeared to have been dead for hours...
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 14
[He draws in on the trigger attempting to fire. An explosion goes off right next him. Life returns to full speed as he is blown clear across the street and through a brick wall of a burned out building...
]
2008
It is Friday afternoon, a week after Nic broke the news to his Mother and sister. The house is alive with energy as Nic is bouncing around his room listening to music and getting dressed. He pulls a nice silk tie out of one of his drawers and admires it as he holds it against himself in the mirror.
In the other bedroom Candace is sitting putting on makeup as if her hands were in autopilot. She is not concentrating on what she's doing. She stares into the mirror with a thousand mile-gaze. The cell phone laying just below the mirror begins to vibrate breaking her trance from the mirror. She stares at the phone until it begins to emit a caller identifying melody that prompts her to put down the makeup pad and pick up the phone and answer.
"Hello hon"
Through the static of a shaky connection Nahlia responds,
"Hi mom just letting you know I'll be there in a minute or so. Are you guys ready?"
Closing her makeup kit and glancing over herself in the mirror, Candace replies to Nahlia.
"Yes Dear, well at least I am. I have to check on your brother"
"That's cool mom, I'll be there to rush the sloth in just a second, and I've got an even better reason for him to rush cus I have Kiesha with me."
She lets out a quick giggle as Candace responds
"Oh lord he's gonna wet his pants knowing she's coming with us."
She laughs with Nahlia at the thought of this.
"Ok hon, I'll see you in a bit"
She ends the call and puts the phone in her purse as she heads out her bedroom and down the hall to Nic's room to check on how dressed he is.
"You ready?"
Candace says as she leans into the room.
"Yup, I think so"
Nic replies as he straightens the knot of the tie he's wearing and smoothes the collar of his shirt.
"Are you excite- "
Candace's sentence is cut short by the sound of women's voices entering into the living room.
"Oh good, they're here."
"They?"
Nic is largely puzzled as to who could be with his sister in the living room.
Candace turns and exits the room. Before he could recover from his puzzlement and go see who's there, Kiesha comes into his room and closes the door behind her.
"Hi, Baby."
Completely thrown off, Nic barely utters
"H-hey I-"
Before he could complete his thought Kiesha rushes to him and gives him a deep kiss pressing her body firmly against his and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Their embraces only lasts about ten seconds but displays a depth of love and affection that rivals that of couples married for over 20 years.
"I'm sorry, for surprising you like this, I was scared to go at first because I felt I would get emotional about this being one step closer to us being very far apart. But I realized it would be wrong of me to not be there to support you. I didn't want t-."
Nic places a finger on her lips
"Shhhh. Baby, I love you. All that matters is that you're here. Let's worry about the rest when the time comes ok? We're about to be late. Let's go."
Kiesha gives him one more brief kiss.
"Ok"
Holding his hand they both exit the room to the living room where Candace and Nahlia are waiting...
]
2008
It is Friday afternoon, a week after Nic broke the news to his Mother and sister. The house is alive with energy as Nic is bouncing around his room listening to music and getting dressed. He pulls a nice silk tie out of one of his drawers and admires it as he holds it against himself in the mirror.
In the other bedroom Candace is sitting putting on makeup as if her hands were in autopilot. She is not concentrating on what she's doing. She stares into the mirror with a thousand mile-gaze. The cell phone laying just below the mirror begins to vibrate breaking her trance from the mirror. She stares at the phone until it begins to emit a caller identifying melody that prompts her to put down the makeup pad and pick up the phone and answer.
"Hello hon"
Through the static of a shaky connection Nahlia responds,
"Hi mom just letting you know I'll be there in a minute or so. Are you guys ready?"
Closing her makeup kit and glancing over herself in the mirror, Candace replies to Nahlia.
"Yes Dear, well at least I am. I have to check on your brother"
"That's cool mom, I'll be there to rush the sloth in just a second, and I've got an even better reason for him to rush cus I have Kiesha with me."
She lets out a quick giggle as Candace responds
"Oh lord he's gonna wet his pants knowing she's coming with us."
She laughs with Nahlia at the thought of this.
"Ok hon, I'll see you in a bit"
She ends the call and puts the phone in her purse as she heads out her bedroom and down the hall to Nic's room to check on how dressed he is.
"You ready?"
Candace says as she leans into the room.
"Yup, I think so"
Nic replies as he straightens the knot of the tie he's wearing and smoothes the collar of his shirt.
"Are you excite- "
Candace's sentence is cut short by the sound of women's voices entering into the living room.
"Oh good, they're here."
"They?"
Nic is largely puzzled as to who could be with his sister in the living room.
Candace turns and exits the room. Before he could recover from his puzzlement and go see who's there, Kiesha comes into his room and closes the door behind her.
"Hi, Baby."
Completely thrown off, Nic barely utters
"H-hey I-"
Before he could complete his thought Kiesha rushes to him and gives him a deep kiss pressing her body firmly against his and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Their embraces only lasts about ten seconds but displays a depth of love and affection that rivals that of couples married for over 20 years.
"I'm sorry, for surprising you like this, I was scared to go at first because I felt I would get emotional about this being one step closer to us being very far apart. But I realized it would be wrong of me to not be there to support you. I didn't want t-."
Nic places a finger on her lips
"Shhhh. Baby, I love you. All that matters is that you're here. Let's worry about the rest when the time comes ok? We're about to be late. Let's go."
Kiesha gives him one more brief kiss.
"Ok"
Holding his hand they both exit the room to the living room where Candace and Nahlia are waiting...
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 13
[Candace steps over and hugs Nic almost painfully tight. "Yes, we are definitely going"
The tears are streaming down her face now and Nic feeling her warm tears against his cheek begins to cry also.]
2010
PFC Daniels checks the magazine of his P-90 as the AK racket dies down for a moment. He peers over the trunk of the abandoned car and can't see much in the darkness in the direction of where the gunfire seemed to be coming from. He strains to detect any kind of movement but before he could see anything the enemy began to open fire again. Seeing the muzzle flash in the near distance and hearing metallic crackle and pop of an newer generation AK-47 opening fire, he ducks back under cover and thinks aloud, "fifty yards is risky soldier, but that's probably the reason why they sent you on this mission alone anyway... fuck it" Daniel scoots himself towards the front of the car in preparation to blitz his target. He sits with an itchy trigger finger as he finds the perfect defilade to advance towards peering past the front bumper of the car at the entryway of the building the enemy is firing from the corner of.
As the gunfire ceased momentarily, Daniels can faintly hear the sound of reloading taking place. He waits just long enough to give the shooter time to expose their self enough to take aim on his position, then he lunges out and opens up with a volley of bullets on the enemy position as he advances towards the door. The P-90's rate of fire is astonishing as in such a short run, over 60 bullets were sent sailing off into the darkness. Daniels tucks himself into the doorway only long enough to reload his weapon. He jumps back out and begins firing again. Time appears to begin to crawl as he is advancing and firing. The sound of the shell casings hitting the ground have gone from being quick "clings" on the ground to being long and hollow sounding rings over the ground. Daniels notices this strange feeling and uses it to take better aim, on the target who seemingly from the distance is a woman. She is no longer firing at him but instead watching intently as he is rushing towards her steadying his aim. She turns at what seems like normal speed and starts to walk away as he is still moving slowly. He draws in on the trigger attempting to fire. An explosion goes off right next him. Life returns to full speed as he is blown clear across the street and through a brick wall of a burned out building...
The tears are streaming down her face now and Nic feeling her warm tears against his cheek begins to cry also.]
2010
PFC Daniels checks the magazine of his P-90 as the AK racket dies down for a moment. He peers over the trunk of the abandoned car and can't see much in the darkness in the direction of where the gunfire seemed to be coming from. He strains to detect any kind of movement but before he could see anything the enemy began to open fire again. Seeing the muzzle flash in the near distance and hearing metallic crackle and pop of an newer generation AK-47 opening fire, he ducks back under cover and thinks aloud, "fifty yards is risky soldier, but that's probably the reason why they sent you on this mission alone anyway... fuck it" Daniel scoots himself towards the front of the car in preparation to blitz his target. He sits with an itchy trigger finger as he finds the perfect defilade to advance towards peering past the front bumper of the car at the entryway of the building the enemy is firing from the corner of.
As the gunfire ceased momentarily, Daniels can faintly hear the sound of reloading taking place. He waits just long enough to give the shooter time to expose their self enough to take aim on his position, then he lunges out and opens up with a volley of bullets on the enemy position as he advances towards the door. The P-90's rate of fire is astonishing as in such a short run, over 60 bullets were sent sailing off into the darkness. Daniels tucks himself into the doorway only long enough to reload his weapon. He jumps back out and begins firing again. Time appears to begin to crawl as he is advancing and firing. The sound of the shell casings hitting the ground have gone from being quick "clings" on the ground to being long and hollow sounding rings over the ground. Daniels notices this strange feeling and uses it to take better aim, on the target who seemingly from the distance is a woman. She is no longer firing at him but instead watching intently as he is rushing towards her steadying his aim. She turns at what seems like normal speed and starts to walk away as he is still moving slowly. He draws in on the trigger attempting to fire. An explosion goes off right next him. Life returns to full speed as he is blown clear across the street and through a brick wall of a burned out building...
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 12
[His only goal was to survive high school and make it to college. His mother worked exceedingly hard to make sure that this would still remain a possibility for his future. However, a rather unfortunate chain of events led him to join the military instead...
]
2008
"Mom?... Mom?.. Gotdamnit she never has a set work schedule..."
Nic has just entered his mother's house in Hyde Park. It's quiet and very still in the late afternoon. The house, while being very old and not too well cared for, is well appointed when it comes to decorations and furniture. There is much art spread throughout the house in the form of statues paintings and objects that are of various cultural influences. It is a little after 4 o'clock in the afternoon and he is just getting home from school. He places his bag on the sofa in the living room and heads for the kitchen. In the kitchen Nic digs through the refrigerator searching for an afternoon snack. The refrigerator is very well stocked with food and there are seemingly a plethora of choices that can be made. Nic grabs a bottle of cola and turns and grabs a bag of potato chips off of the counter before heading back into the living room where he flops on the couch and clicks on the television.
Nic flips through the channels disinterested in everything he sees. He appears to be too anxious to sit and watch television and is constantly looking at the clock in between changing channels. He doesn't even touch the food he has in front of him. Five thirty slowly rolls around and Nic is still firmly planted on the couch in front of the television as his mother Candace Briggs and older sister Nahlia come through the front door. Candace is dressed in a gray flight attendant's uniform. Though tired, her face remains vibrant and age defying.
Nic exclaims
"Mom! Nahlia!"
Candace bursts into a big smile as she remarks
"Why hello to you too sweetie..."
"Whaddup booger!"
Nahlia cuts in while she jumps onto the couch next to Nic and gives him a big hug.
Nic is ecstatic and quickly tears into his backpack and pulls out a large white envelope.
"You're not gonna fucking believe this! I... I... mean, friggin, I mean sorry mom, but you have to understand..."
Laughingly Candace interrupts.
"Breathe son, I'd pop you in your mouth for that any other day but this has to be important and I can't help but laugh at how you are about to pee your pants over this. Take a deep breathe and tell us what the envelop is about..."
Before Candace had a chance to say another word Nic explodes in joy while saying the good news.
"I GOT INTO STANFORD! Can you believe that!?!?!? I got into motha-F- ..."
"Watch it!"
interjected Candace
Nic eeks out.
"Stanford!"
He shyly hands his mother the envelope. Nahlia is in awe with a huge grin on her face.
Candace's face remains glowing as tears start to form in her eyes as she pulls the acceptance letter out of the envelope and reads it. She mumbles
"My baby did it."
Re-gathering himself, Nic elatedly points out,
"There's an acceptance dinner next week at the Airport Marriott for all the folks they're accepting in the LA area. Can we go?"
Candace steps over and hugs Nic almost painfully tight. "Yes, we are definitely going"
The tears are streaming down her face now and Nic feeling her warm tears against his cheek begins to cry also.
]
2008
"Mom?... Mom?.. Gotdamnit she never has a set work schedule..."
Nic has just entered his mother's house in Hyde Park. It's quiet and very still in the late afternoon. The house, while being very old and not too well cared for, is well appointed when it comes to decorations and furniture. There is much art spread throughout the house in the form of statues paintings and objects that are of various cultural influences. It is a little after 4 o'clock in the afternoon and he is just getting home from school. He places his bag on the sofa in the living room and heads for the kitchen. In the kitchen Nic digs through the refrigerator searching for an afternoon snack. The refrigerator is very well stocked with food and there are seemingly a plethora of choices that can be made. Nic grabs a bottle of cola and turns and grabs a bag of potato chips off of the counter before heading back into the living room where he flops on the couch and clicks on the television.
Nic flips through the channels disinterested in everything he sees. He appears to be too anxious to sit and watch television and is constantly looking at the clock in between changing channels. He doesn't even touch the food he has in front of him. Five thirty slowly rolls around and Nic is still firmly planted on the couch in front of the television as his mother Candace Briggs and older sister Nahlia come through the front door. Candace is dressed in a gray flight attendant's uniform. Though tired, her face remains vibrant and age defying.
Nic exclaims
"Mom! Nahlia!"
Candace bursts into a big smile as she remarks
"Why hello to you too sweetie..."
"Whaddup booger!"
Nahlia cuts in while she jumps onto the couch next to Nic and gives him a big hug.
Nic is ecstatic and quickly tears into his backpack and pulls out a large white envelope.
"You're not gonna fucking believe this! I... I... mean, friggin, I mean sorry mom, but you have to understand..."
Laughingly Candace interrupts.
"Breathe son, I'd pop you in your mouth for that any other day but this has to be important and I can't help but laugh at how you are about to pee your pants over this. Take a deep breathe and tell us what the envelop is about..."
Before Candace had a chance to say another word Nic explodes in joy while saying the good news.
"I GOT INTO STANFORD! Can you believe that!?!?!? I got into motha-F- ..."
"Watch it!"
interjected Candace
Nic eeks out.
"Stanford!"
He shyly hands his mother the envelope. Nahlia is in awe with a huge grin on her face.
Candace's face remains glowing as tears start to form in her eyes as she pulls the acceptance letter out of the envelope and reads it. She mumbles
"My baby did it."
Re-gathering himself, Nic elatedly points out,
"There's an acceptance dinner next week at the Airport Marriott for all the folks they're accepting in the LA area. Can we go?"
Candace steps over and hugs Nic almost painfully tight. "Yes, we are definitely going"
The tears are streaming down her face now and Nic feeling her warm tears against his cheek begins to cry also.
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 11
[Carl slowly rolls the car out of the barn and stops. He looks to his left and sees billowing smoke rising above the tree line - his home being burned to the ground in the distance. Carl shakes his head and heavily accelerates down the dirt road leading away from the barn connecting with the main road beyond a line of dogwood trees and an old beaten fence. The roar of the speeding Bentley quickly fades off into the early morning.]
2010
Gunfire lights up the darkness of the deserted streets of Havana. The signature racket of AK-47 fire can be heard coming from the eastern corner of a building raining bullets down on Private First Class Dominic (Nic) Daniel's position behind an abandoned car on the street. He is un-phased by the heavy chunking sound and ghostly whizz of bullets crashing into the side of the car and flying past his head.
He hasn't been exposed to much combat since he's been a part of the United State's Elite Guard but he has nerves that have been hardened to the point as though they were forged of steel. Raised in the worst streets of Los Angeles, California, Nic was a tough as nails brawler. He refused to succumb to the violence of the street gangs that plagued his neighborhood and was continually confronted to pick a side growing up. So he chose his own. Fighting and in some cases shooting for his own survival becoming a one man army. His only goal was to survive high school and make it to college. His mother worked exceedingly hard to make sure that this would still remain a possibility for his future. However, a rather unfortunate chain of events led him to join the military instead...
2010
Gunfire lights up the darkness of the deserted streets of Havana. The signature racket of AK-47 fire can be heard coming from the eastern corner of a building raining bullets down on Private First Class Dominic (Nic) Daniel's position behind an abandoned car on the street. He is un-phased by the heavy chunking sound and ghostly whizz of bullets crashing into the side of the car and flying past his head.
He hasn't been exposed to much combat since he's been a part of the United State's Elite Guard but he has nerves that have been hardened to the point as though they were forged of steel. Raised in the worst streets of Los Angeles, California, Nic was a tough as nails brawler. He refused to succumb to the violence of the street gangs that plagued his neighborhood and was continually confronted to pick a side growing up. So he chose his own. Fighting and in some cases shooting for his own survival becoming a one man army. His only goal was to survive high school and make it to college. His mother worked exceedingly hard to make sure that this would still remain a possibility for his future. However, a rather unfortunate chain of events led him to join the military instead...
Monday, September 28, 2009
A Series of Unfortunate Events Part 10
[At the thought of Casius, Carl Opens his eyes and becomes angry.
Fucking Casius! That's why they came looking for me.]
Pacing the lab for a moment before digging through drawers looking for something, Carl thinks aloud to himself about the soldiers.
"They had to have come looking for me because I know what happened to Casius and I'm sure the same thing had to have happened to the other guy..."
Carl pulls a cell phone and a battery for it out of one of the drawers in the rear of the barn lab and attaches the battery to the phone. After impatiently waiting for the phone to turn on he begins to dial a number.
He is pacing around the lab as he speaks:
"Hey sweetheart, bad news hun, I think we lost the house. I..I.. I know. I'm sorry, you know how dangerous the research we were doing was. It was only a matter of time before the military would find interest in it and want it for themselves... Yes baby, I know. But it was freaky, there was a girl... Yeah, Yeah...OK. Look just don't come back too soon. You're much safer where you are. For all we know they will come after you for me. This is a dummy phone, and it's safe, but don't call it unless you need to. Get another dummy from Gerald to call me from. I may need information and help, because I have to go get Casius... I know it's dangerous, but I have to...Ok... I love you hon."
Murmuring to himself
"I guess it is time to use all of this..."
Carl opens a cabinet and pulls out a dark trench coat a black beanie and a pair of driving gloves and puts them on. He turns and pulls a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of a drawer adjacent to the cabinet, takes one out lights it and heads over to the car.
Seeing his own reflection in the driver's window of the car, Carl gives a menacing and mischievous grin before entering the car. As the car is started the quiet humming of the fluorescent lights and lab equipment is broken up by the roar of a heavily modified V12 engine. The car emits a jet a like whine underneath the growly exhaust note notifying the attuned ear to the presence of a heavy-duty supercharger. The large main doors of the lab begin to open exposing a mildly glowing skyline as the day is approaching.
Carl slowly rolls the car out of the barn and stops. He looks to his left and sees billowing smoke rising above the tree line - his home being burned to the ground in the distance. Carl shakes his head and heavily accelerates down the dirt road leading away from the barn connecting with the main road beyond a line of dogwood trees and an old beaten fence. The roar of the speeding Bentley quickly fades off into the early morning.
Fucking Casius! That's why they came looking for me.]
Pacing the lab for a moment before digging through drawers looking for something, Carl thinks aloud to himself about the soldiers.
"They had to have come looking for me because I know what happened to Casius and I'm sure the same thing had to have happened to the other guy..."
Carl pulls a cell phone and a battery for it out of one of the drawers in the rear of the barn lab and attaches the battery to the phone. After impatiently waiting for the phone to turn on he begins to dial a number.
He is pacing around the lab as he speaks:
"Hey sweetheart, bad news hun, I think we lost the house. I..I.. I know. I'm sorry, you know how dangerous the research we were doing was. It was only a matter of time before the military would find interest in it and want it for themselves... Yes baby, I know. But it was freaky, there was a girl... Yeah, Yeah...OK. Look just don't come back too soon. You're much safer where you are. For all we know they will come after you for me. This is a dummy phone, and it's safe, but don't call it unless you need to. Get another dummy from Gerald to call me from. I may need information and help, because I have to go get Casius... I know it's dangerous, but I have to...Ok... I love you hon."
Murmuring to himself
"I guess it is time to use all of this..."
Carl opens a cabinet and pulls out a dark trench coat a black beanie and a pair of driving gloves and puts them on. He turns and pulls a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of a drawer adjacent to the cabinet, takes one out lights it and heads over to the car.
Seeing his own reflection in the driver's window of the car, Carl gives a menacing and mischievous grin before entering the car. As the car is started the quiet humming of the fluorescent lights and lab equipment is broken up by the roar of a heavily modified V12 engine. The car emits a jet a like whine underneath the growly exhaust note notifying the attuned ear to the presence of a heavy-duty supercharger. The large main doors of the lab begin to open exposing a mildly glowing skyline as the day is approaching.
Carl slowly rolls the car out of the barn and stops. He looks to his left and sees billowing smoke rising above the tree line - his home being burned to the ground in the distance. Carl shakes his head and heavily accelerates down the dirt road leading away from the barn connecting with the main road beyond a line of dogwood trees and an old beaten fence. The roar of the speeding Bentley quickly fades off into the early morning.
A series of unfortunate events Part 9
[From a child, Carl has always been extremely talented at anything he did. He was more than a genius as his excellence has been far more than just academic. Carl could just pick up any task and adapt with ease and efficiency. It is no wonder why he entered college at the age of sixteen and cut through medical school 3 times faster than the average person usually would. It continues to be no wonder why that barn existed the way it did...]
As Dr. Sharp enters the interior of the barn a large cross-over of a garage and a lab can be seen. There is plenty of equipment whose purpose can't readily be determined amidst metal working materials and run of the mill shop tools. Near a large door at what would be the front of the barn is a seemingly brand new Bentley Continental. The car has been heavily modified to be in the most minimal description, a very defensive vehicle. Along the wall adjacent to the parked car is a workbench littered with parts that have been pulled from the car and replaced with aftermarket and custom parts.
Carl walks over and runs his hand across the car reflecting on the memories that the car conjures and mumbles the name Teresa, under his breath. He closes his eyes and flashes back.
Teresa Amador, a lab assistant at Georgia Tech was 24 when she met Dr. Sharp. She, a slender Salvadorian woman who moved to Georgia to attend school, was a quick witted yet quiet woman of extraordinary inner and outer beauty. She never made any great effort to alter her looks with make-up or styling her hair. She was by Carl's description, a plain beauty, she need not do anything to be attractive because she was plainly so.
The two first met when Dr. Sharp was invited as a guest by a professor, Gina Silman, to Georgia Tech's campus to speak before one of her psychology courses. Gina and Teresa had become acquainted through mutual friends and often did lunch together. The day of Dr. Sharp's presentation, Gina invited him to one of her and Teresa's lunches. The moment the two laid eyes on each other, history was already in the making. Gina, who was also very fond of Dr. Sharp remained her rather professional self and watched the two get their fill of each other for lunch that day.
It only took two years for Carl and Teresa to fall in love and marry. It was shortly after their wedding that Carl's career ending accident occurred. It was only by a chance mix-up that Teresa was not on the trip with him. Somehow her airline ticket was booked for the wrong date and there was an emergency at the lab. Unfortunately, Carl's half brother Casius was with him.
At the thought of Casius, Carl Opens his eyes and becomes angry.
Fucking Casius! That's why they came looking for me.
As Dr. Sharp enters the interior of the barn a large cross-over of a garage and a lab can be seen. There is plenty of equipment whose purpose can't readily be determined amidst metal working materials and run of the mill shop tools. Near a large door at what would be the front of the barn is a seemingly brand new Bentley Continental. The car has been heavily modified to be in the most minimal description, a very defensive vehicle. Along the wall adjacent to the parked car is a workbench littered with parts that have been pulled from the car and replaced with aftermarket and custom parts.
Carl walks over and runs his hand across the car reflecting on the memories that the car conjures and mumbles the name Teresa, under his breath. He closes his eyes and flashes back.
Teresa Amador, a lab assistant at Georgia Tech was 24 when she met Dr. Sharp. She, a slender Salvadorian woman who moved to Georgia to attend school, was a quick witted yet quiet woman of extraordinary inner and outer beauty. She never made any great effort to alter her looks with make-up or styling her hair. She was by Carl's description, a plain beauty, she need not do anything to be attractive because she was plainly so.
The two first met when Dr. Sharp was invited as a guest by a professor, Gina Silman, to Georgia Tech's campus to speak before one of her psychology courses. Gina and Teresa had become acquainted through mutual friends and often did lunch together. The day of Dr. Sharp's presentation, Gina invited him to one of her and Teresa's lunches. The moment the two laid eyes on each other, history was already in the making. Gina, who was also very fond of Dr. Sharp remained her rather professional self and watched the two get their fill of each other for lunch that day.
It only took two years for Carl and Teresa to fall in love and marry. It was shortly after their wedding that Carl's career ending accident occurred. It was only by a chance mix-up that Teresa was not on the trip with him. Somehow her airline ticket was booked for the wrong date and there was an emergency at the lab. Unfortunately, Carl's half brother Casius was with him.
At the thought of Casius, Carl Opens his eyes and becomes angry.
Fucking Casius! That's why they came looking for me.
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