Contription (1/2)
Posted By: Kalexon<xelak@earthlink.net>
Date: 15 July 2006, 5:08 am
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Mark looked around the woods, listening for any sign of Covenant. He had been on the run for three weeks now, after fleeing his own house he had moved into the woods in the area. He had had to come out of the woods several times though to scavenge food and other supplies from stores. Unfortunately the Covenant had taken over the local Mall, so Mark couldn't use that. And scavenging operations were risky, while the Covenant had taken little to no interest in the stores, he still had to get into and out of the store undetected and with additional supplies. The last time he had scavenged he had nearly been shot seven times. Not a very comforting thought but he was running out of food. Water wasn't a big issue. One of the first things he had grabbed from the stores was camping equipment, which included a small tent, several large water bottles, and a water filter.
There, a sound. Sounded like the noise traps he had put up around the camp, which consisted of dead wood, dried out leaves, and twigs all bunched up together. No, that was simply something setting it's foot on a leaf. crack! There, that was the sound trap being set off. Mark dived behind a tree and listened. There was muffled cursing, but not of a human. Mark recognized it as a Jackal's voice, or more accurately, Jackals voices. Two of them. Mark risked a look around his cover and was reward to see two Jackals standing a few feet away. As soon as they saw him they opened fire. Mark quickly dodged back around the tree again. At least mark was caught without a weapon. He had left the Plasma Pistols he had captured in the tent but he still had a Plasma Rifle looped on his belt. He drew it and waited for an opportunity to fire his own weapon. Suddenly the fire stopped. Mark thought about using now to return fire was thought better of it when he heard the familiar whine of a Plasma Pistol being overcharged. However when they released the shots he knew they wouldn't be able to use there weapons for a short while because the battery would be to overheated to fire. Sure enough the Jackals dumbly released the overcharged shots into the tree. Mark then burst out from his cover. Both Jackals were trying to cool there respective weapons as fast as possible so they could fire again. Mark brought his Plasma Rifle up and shot one of them in the torso four times. The Jackal let out a sort of high grunting sound and died. Mark swiveled in place to fire at the next enemy but he was smart enough to bring his shield up. Mark fired against that for a second, the Jackal stumbled backwards a bit from having energy blasts slapped up against his wrist. Mark used shot him in the head. The Jackal fell, his face still smoking. Mark stepped over the corpses and started for his camp. Then thought better of it and first stripped the Jackals of there wrist shielding and weapons, hid there bodies, and then headed back to camp. He'd have to move again for the tenth time this week. For the last few weeks simply surviving had been a real challenge. One that had strained him to the utmost.
Mark hid most of his belongings, the tent, his sleeping bag, pillow, everything besides the Plasma Rifle, Two Plasma Pistols (and there holsters) and one of the shield generators he had stole from the Jackals. He attached it to his left arm to free his right arm to hold a weapon. He kept it off though, as not to attract any attention. He also took two backpacks to carry supplies in. Mark set off at a fast pace. He needed to be back by dark and it was already mid afternoon, and he did not want to get caught after dark with the Covenant crawling all over town. The way he took however when the trees began thinning enough so he could see all the way to the road had been wrong because there was a group of Covenant patrolling around. Mark got ready to bug out when something stopped him. The patrol started shooting at something. Something in the air. Mark squinted through the trees and saw two UNSC 'Pelican' Dropships hovering about fifty feet above. The passengers in the belly of it were firing down at the Covenant forces trying to clear the LZ. Mark was relieved. Finely he could get the hell out of here. Everyday life wouldn't be a constant struggle to survive. But the Marines were having trouble clearing the area. And if more troops came it would force the dropships to fly off and search for a clear area to land. Mark began trying to think of a plan to help that wouldn't mean a high risk of being killed. He idly stuck a hand in his pocket and his fingers brushed against something smooth and round. Mark dug into his pocket and withdrew three Plasma Grenades. He had collected these over the weeks of hiding, although he hadn't wanted to use them as they would make a high level of noise that might draw unwanted attention, but now..? Mark considered the risks. If this worked he might be able to get a ride the hell out of this place. If it didn't work he'd probably be dead. Mark stood up and began dodging from tree to tree until he was within throwing distance of the patrol. The dropships looked ready to get out and Mark was not going to let that happen. He quickly hit the button to activate them and threw them one after the other. The grenades landing in the middle of the patrol but only a few noticed them. A few seconds later they detonated and sent the whole patrol flying. Mark watched as the dropships slowly descended and touched down. Troops began filing out. But then something inhuman came out. At least to Mark's eyes. The thing stood more then two meters tall and was wearing some sort of green plate armor. It took him a second to recognize the thing as the one he had seen again and again on the news. Mark wasn't so sure now about approaching the dropships but he knew they were his only way out. Mark slowly came out of his cover. When he came into view there was a flurry of motion and every single gun was pointed at him. Mark slowly raised his hands.
Mark saw the disbelieving looks on the faces of the Marines as Mark came out into full view. "It's a friggen kid?!" One of them shouted.
"Lower your weapons. I said lower them Marines!" A man shouted. He came forward to get a better look at him. "What's your name son?"
"Err, Mark,"
"And what exactly are you doing here Mark?" Mark told them about how he hid in his house's garage when the Covenant had invaded. How he had escaped and had been on the run for three weeks now, and he ended with finding them. "So it was you who caused the little 'welcome' door mat, eh? You accomplished more then could be expected of you. But we need one last thing from you,"
"What do you need?"
"We're here to take back this area from the Covenant. And we'll need a guide who knows his way around here, and you're the last civilian left it seems,"
Mark thought about his words for a minute then asked "Who are you?"
"Me?" The man smile "Name's Johnson,"
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