[“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.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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...
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