CARRY THE LIGHT
The Beginning Of The End
starter | introduction | long post
The sun baked down through the treetops onto the tin roof of the Appalachian home; despite the elevation, the overhead cover and the time of year, the air was thick with humidity. Ginny padded barefoot across the cool stone floor of her kitchen to the sliding glass doors thrown open to let what little breeze into the home. On the patio there was little more relief from the heat beneath the canvas roof of the pergola.Condensation rolled down the fresh glasses she carried, ice clinking as she moved. The droplets sprinkled off the bottom of the glasses, splattering the floor and leaving a trail of droplets. Others rolled down her hands and arms to soak into the loose sleeves of her cotton shirt.She paused briefly in her transit to deliver one of the two glasses to her daughter who swung in a suspended chair, her legs hung over the arm, her long brown hair dangling over the other side. Liza-May sat up with a surprised smile, accepting the glass and taking a quick sip. “Singapore Sling?” She asked with a sigh, pressing the sides of the cool glass to her cheeks and closing her eyes.Ginny settled onto the porch swing bed, stretching out and settling her own glass on the table beside her. She nodded and winked. “No booze, bug.” Ginny didn’t mind Liza-May having the occasional drink, under supervision and with her or her husband's permission but this evening was Jacks football tournament and they would need to drive the few hours down from their home to Metro-Atlanta to meet the team.The phone rang - a landline of all things, inside the house and Liza-May sprang to her feet to dash for it. The landline had become a necessity in their remote home; rare was the day that cellphones worked reliably this far out.“Hello?”Ginny listened to Liza-May’s sing-song voice as she answered, they’d been expecting to hear from her father; his tour was coming to an end in the coming few weeks and while he wouldn’t be home right away, he would at least be state-side.“Hello…?” Liza-May spoke again, sounding frustrated. “If someone is there I can’t hear you. Call me on my cell in a couple of hours, I’ll be in town!” The receiver replaced it with a click and Liza-May shuffled back into view, an annoyed look on her face. “Mama-ah!” She whined. “The phone is doing a weird clicking thing.”Ginny frowned. They’d had the occasional phone line issue in the past but she’d never heard clicking on the phone before. “Clicking? Not the dial tone or beeping for out of service?”Liza-May shook her head and opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the phone ringing again. She huffed and turned back into the house, and answered. “Hello?” The girl gave an aggravated growl. “Mama! It’s still clicking!” She called.Ginny stood from her relaxed seat and padded back into the house to take the phone from Liza-May. Her daughter hadn’t been wrong, the phone’s line crackled static on an open line but distinct clicks were audible, as though someone were tapping a piece of metal against the receiver on their end.Ginny stood from her relaxed seat and padded back into the house to take the phone from Liza-May. Her daughter hadn’t been wrong, the phone’s line crackled static on an open line but distinct clicks were audible, as though someone were tapping a piece of metal against the receiver on their end.She listened for a time, as Liza-May watched her impatiently. She knew instinctively what the noise meant and after a single repetition of the clicks she dropped the phone and bolted through the house.Ginny was well versed in communications; that had been part of her specialty while serving but every trained soldier knew morse code, if she was correct who ever was on the line had spelled out three letters: S. A. T.She ignored the calls from Liza-May as the teen girl chased her through the house, rushing past Jacks as he exited his bedroom ready with his gear for his game. In the primary bedroom, she dropped to the floor and pushed the massive king bed with all her strength. It was enough and the trap door beneath their bed, was free for her to flip open.It had started as a joke during the planning phase of their custom-built house. Extra crawl spaces around the house for storage, the designer had touted but Ginny and her husband had an ongoing joke about keeping a ‘preparedness’ bag in some, and bug-out bags in others. During the construction they’d toured the house, either together or on a video call, making plans, and thinking of what they would fill each of the rooms with.When they’d come to the primary bedroom she paused, looking at the oddly placed trapped door. “It’ll be under the bed.” She commented she’d never thought it would be needed - there were four others with far easier access than this one.“We could use it as a panic room?” Her husband suggested and Ginny turned the phone so she would be visible over the video rather than the house to roll her eyes dramatically.“You’re nuts if you think we’d fit in there!” She laughed, moving on with the rest of the tour.Ginny flipped open the trap door and dragged out the massive military-green duffle. The kids were in the doorway now, speaking over themselves but she didn’t answer, unzipping the bag and rifling through the contents to find the SAT phone. She turned it on and it rang immediately.”Roanoke Base. Now. I’ll be state-side soon, I’ll meet you there.”
One Year Later
starter | introduction | average-short post
Damn, that pig stink. Desert fatigues half damp against his sweat-slicked skin. The sun glared down on his helmet and his screwed-up face, bleaching the roof of the building he was posted at. He and one other troop who climbed up the fire escape with him, to get eyes on the area.“It must have been a cute, little place, eh?” To visit on a road trip back in the day. Now it looked like any other urban graveyard filled with abandoned vehicles and ghosts. Except, there were almost no corpses laying around in the streets. According to their intel the place was evacuated early on, leaving behind the half packed cars and open stores. If they were lucky, no survivors raided these parts yet.Comms crackled."They’re on the move.” Koval’s deep baritone was coated in static. The man was set up on a small hill overlooking the town, where the team left the truck with the doctor behind the wheel. Triples and his fellow were facing the fringes and the woods nearby. Javier wiped his wet forehead with the back of his forearm and pressed the binoculars to his face. He scanned the street and the back alley between the pharmacy and a 7Eleven type of establishment where the foliage met concrete. Three figures exited the tall vegetation.Triples keyed the mic. “Got ‘em.”
Slavers
interaction | action | average-short post
Damn, that pig stink. Desert fatigues half damp against his sweat-slicked skin. The sun glared down on his helmet and his screwed-up face, bleaching the roof of the building he was posted at.“It must have been a cute, little place, eh?” To visit on a road trip back in the day. Now it looked like any other urban graveyard filled with abandoned vehicles and ghosts. Except, there were almost no corpses laying around in the streets. According to their intel the place was evacuated early on, leaving behind the half packed cars and open stores. If they were lucky, no survivors raided these parts yet.Comms crackled."They’re on the move.” Koval’s deep baritone was coated in static. The man was set up on a small hill overlooking the town, where the team left the truck with the doctor behind the wheel. Triples and his fellow were facing the fringes and the woods nearby. Javier wiped his wet forehead with the back of his forearm and pressed the binoculars to his face. He scanned the street and the back alley between the pharmacy and a 7Eleven type of establishment where the foliage met concrete. Three figures exited the tall vegetation.Triples keyed the mic. “Got ‘em.”
Slavers
interaction | action | average post
It hit hard. A deep rumble close by that snatched his gaze. It rattled his heart like the shockwave rattled the trees behind the building. Chief felt the weight of his gun being yanked out of his drop-leg holster and his stomach clenched. He whipped around. His tan FNX in the woman’s hands now, aiming directly at—FucSearing pain slashed across his cheek, making him recoil. The gun blast left him momentarily stunned despite the ear pro tucked in his ears. The sharp stench of gunpowder bit his nostrils, his mind clouded. Shit. He snapped towards the scene. Never saw the bullet going through Rizzo’s skull—his target’s body now crumpled in the grass like a sack of meat—but a faint red mist lingered in the air. FUCK. He needed him alive!Chief’s instincts kicked in and he dropped the act. He spun back to the woman, driving his elbow into her face while ripping the gun from her grip. No time for the countdown, he threw them both into the closest cover, yelling, “KILL KILL KILL”. His words hit the microphone hidden in his baseball cap. Before they touched the ground, one of the gangsters doubled over with a bullet tearing through his gut. The gunshot echoed across the fields, accompanied by another local’s holler.“SNIPER!” A .300 Win Mag polymer ballistic tipped round went straight through his head seconds later. It fragmented on impact, tearing the man's face and bursting his eyeballs before it ripped through the back, taking the entire back of his head off.
Little Things
interaction | exposition | average-long post
He was relieved that Fiona came over - he needed some kind of worthwhile distraction from these guys, someone a little bit more like him and a little bit less like them. No shade on them, of course, but a guy could only take so much. He started to rise to offer his chair to Fiona (since of course nobody else at the table did) but she seemed content to hide behind him. He got it. He didn’t blame her. Distance and space, while still pretending to be engaged in the activity. He’d done that more often than he cared to admit.Of course these dumbfucks didn’t know rubbers expired. Had they ever even seen one? Handled one? Did they ever get to that part in sex education or health class at school where the teacher demonstrated how to put one on using a banana? Judging by the caliber of some of these dipshits, he’d be surprised if any of them actually graduated from high school, let alone stayed awake in any particular class. Hell, some of them had southern twangs that twanged hard enough to make him decide they probably came from places where sex ed amounted to reminders to leave room for Jesus and to save yourself until marriage. Hell of a lot of good any of that did.The thing that really separated him from those young-buck clowns was how easily he noticed Fiona going a few shades pale - save for the red flush that was nothing but alcohol induced. Alex was no dumbass, he put two and two together. The topic of conversation wasn’t sitting with her. Why, exactly, he didn’t know. Sex in general? Diapers? Or just kids in general? If he had to guess, he was willing to bet kids in general - because he wasn’t too keen on this conversation himself. Not even a hint of a smile was on his face.
Alex didn’t stop Fiona as she stepped away, loaded up her arms with two more beers, and scooted out of the Legion. Suddenly, he wanted to be headed right in the same direction.“I’m pretty sure that’s what your parents said about you too, ‘cause let me tell you - the only kids that suck, are the ones that grow up to be like you guys.” Alex leaned on the table as he stood, looking them all in the eye - especially the one that said kids fucking suck - and made damn sure they got the message before he walked away. Their smiles faded quickly, half of them looking like they got caught by the teacher and were going to be sent to the principal’s office, and the other half just looking confused.Alex grabbed one of the guy’s bottle openers - a nifty little thing on a keychain - and helped himself to a second beer and stepped out the same way Fiona had moments ago. Along the way, he found two folded up lawn chairs resting against the side of the building, so he nabbed those under his other arm and took them with. Like hell he was sitting in rocky dirt and grass tonight.
It wasn’t hard to find her, down the path and where the ocean was louder than civilization. Wordlessly, he sat his bottles down on the ground and unfolded the lawn chairs, giving each a little shake to loosen them up before setting them down. A little adjusting so they sat flat and fully unfolded, and only then did Alex take a seat and clear his throat.“Brought a bottle opener, in case those aren’t twist off.” He offered quietly. “Cause… y’know, if this were a movie, this’d be the scene where I sit down and share some wisdom, or something. I haven’t come up with that wisdom yet so at the very least I didn’t want you to break more teeth trying to get caps off.”Alex patted the seat next to him, empty and reserved for Fiona should she want it. “Do you want to talk? Or should we just listen to the sound of the ocean and the beer going flat in record time?”
~