Posted by Kromey at 2:55pm Nov 2 '11This is an excerpt from the prologue, wherein the very first "grays" are encountered -- so obviously the characters have no clue what's going on, and certainly are not equipped to deal with this new and unique threat. Two relevant pieces of context not in this excerpt:
1) Carol's a cop; Einhard Haack [I'm probably going to change that name in editing, I don't really like it] is her partner.
2) Carol's off-duty but responded anyway when she heard her partner order a quarantine of his location -- hence why she can't get through the door to try and help him.
-----
Taking the stairs three at a time, Carol was soon sprinting across the skyway that joined the towers, and slammed into the door leading into the floor her partner was on; it didn't budge. Peering through the window, she could see someone dragging themselves across the floor, a gun in his hands. He looked up at the noise of her hitting the door, and she recognized her partner, Einhard Haack. "Einhard!" she screamed, pounding her fist on the glass in the door.
"Get out of here, Carol!" he shouted, his voice muffled from the other side of the door. "Keep everyone clear!"
"What's going on?" she demanded. She could see that his right leg was torn up pretty good, but was surprised how little blood was seeping from the wound. Surely an injury that large had to have hit a major artery?
Haack dragged himself to the door and sat up, letting his back lean against it. Carol kneeled down so she could peer through the lower window. Her partner coughed, and she saw a faint trail of blood dribbling down his chin from his mouth. "Keep everyone out of here, Carol," he said, then broke into a convulsive fit of coughing. When he straightened up again, Carol could see a lot more blood. Clearly he was bleeding internally, but she didn't see any external injury other than his leg.
"Einhard, what happened?" she demanded.
He shook his head. "Don't know," he gasped, his voice taking on a slight gurgling sound from the blood in his throat. "They came out of nowhere, took us by surprise. They went after Gene first, tore his gut wide open with their bare hands." Carol knew Gene; he was one of their informants, a former small-time drug peddler who's still in touch with his black market contacts, feeding she and Haack information.
"Who?" Carol asked. "Who attacked you?"
But Haack didn't seem to hear her. "I fired four shots at the nearest one," he gasped. "It barely even noticed them, they certainly didn't slow it down any." That shocked Carol; police rounds carried a powerful capacitor inside each bullet, which delivered an electrical shock when they hit their target. Not nearly the same level as a stunner, of course, but more than enough for you to feel it when one hit you, let alone four. "I guess it got their attention, though," he continued. "They turned away from Gene and started coming after me. Knocked me down. Tried to bite me."
Carol noticed his sentences were starting to get shorter, his breathing shallower. He was struggling to stay conscious. "Stay with me, Einhard," she said.
"I threw one of them off me. Shot the other one point-blank in the face. Stopped it attacking me, but it was still moving. Clawing at its face. I think I blinded it. The other one came back. I pulled my baton and hit it over the head. Didn't stop, just kept coming. Jammed the baton into its open mouth. Then pushed the button." Carol knew he was talking about his stun baton, which was capable of delivering a powerful electrical jolt, more than enough to put even the biggest of bad guys, no matter what drugs they were on, down on his ass. "Never heard anything scream like that. Both of them did. Then it fell over, not moving anymore. I got out of there."
"Why'd you call for the quarantine?" Carol asked. "Can you lift it so we can get you out of there?"
Haack shook his head. "They didn't bleed," he said. "At least, not blood." He lifted his hand and pointed to several big smears of a silver-gray substance on his shirt. "This came from them. It's all over me. If this is a contagion of some kindÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâæ" His voice trailed off as another coughing fit wracked his body. He turned his head to look straight at Carol. "I'm infected, Carol. Whatever this is, I'm infected." She noticed that the blood trailing from his mouth had taken on a different hue. Instead of being dark red like it was earlier, she noticed it was much paler. But not a lighter shade of red; this was definitely tinged with grey.
Movement behind him caught Carol's eye. Looking up, she saw a familiar figure walk around the corner. She'd only met Gene two or three times, but she immediately recognized him, despite the blood-stained clothes that hung in tatters from him. "Einhard, didn't you say that they tore open Gene's stomach?" she asked. Haack nodded. Although it was smeared in blood, Carol could clearly see that the skin on Gene's torso was whole. "He looks okay to me," she said, watching as Gene looked at them. His skin was a strange, almost alien grey hue, and his eyes didn't seem to be focused on anything, although he was clearly looking at them. Two more figures walked around the corner behind Gene: the first didn't seem to have any eyes, or really a face at all, although somehow the gaping hole in his skull didn't seem to be slowing him down any, and a thick, viscous, silver-grey fluid was oozing from the wound; the second looked far more intact, although her partner's stun baton was still jammed deep down its throat.
Haack raised his gun and fired at the nearest one, Gene. Carol could clearly see the wounds appear where his rounds struck, but Gene barely twitched, and instead of blood the same silver-grey fluid oozed thickly out of the new wounds.
Haack's gun clicked empty, and in that instant all three figures charged forward in perfect synchronicity, moving impossibly fast. Carol leaped back from the door in surprise as they slammed into her partner and the door. She could see all three of them biting and clawing at her partner as he tried futilely to fend them off, but he didn't have a chance against three attackers, especially with his strength already sapped from his previous wound.
Then, just as suddenly as they started, all three figures ceased attacking her partner and stood up, turning to face her through the door's window. Blood and chunks of flesh hung from their mouths, and they just stood there motionless, staring at her. Although she knew it was irrational, she knew the door was far too strong for them to get through, fear took over and she scurried backwards on the floor, pushing herself away from them. In the distance, she could finally hear the approaching sirens of other responders.
Then Carol noticed her partner twitch. He's still alive! she thought. But her joy was short-lived, as she watched Haack suddenly start to convulse, before going still. Then he slowly stood up, and when he turned around to face her, she saw the same unfocused stare in his eyes, and the same silver-grey fluid oozing from his wounds. Then, impossibly, as she watched, his wounds closed themselves. She then noticed that the faceless figure was similarly beginning to close his wounds.
The sirens were getting closer, but Carol knew they were already too late to save her partner.
Suddenly all four of them turned, and sprinted out of sight. Carol, still sitting on the floor of the skyway, turned to her right as the ambulance came around the corner.
The world seemed to slow down then. She watched in slow motion as one of the exterior windows of the tower shattered, the force of the pressurized air in the building rushing outward propelling the glass impossibly far. Four figures came flying out the window with the glass; three of them landed on the roof of the ambulance, while the fourth, her partner, landed on the windscreen. He punched through the glass and grabbed the driver by the throat, all in one motion, while the other three tore open the rear door and disappeared inside.
The ambulance, already tumbling out of control, rushed under the skyway so close that Carol felt the roar of the engines in her bones. Turning toward the other side, she watched as the ambulance slammed into another tower, several floors below her. The fuel cells that powered the aircars' engines exploded into a furious fireball so bright Carol had to look away. When she looked back, she could see a fire burning on three floors around the giant hole the ambulance punched into the wall of the tower. It was an inferno, fed by the volatile fuel cells and the air in the tower rushing out, forming a wind that whipped the blaze into a raging inferno.
Carol simply sat there and stared, so deeply in shock that she barely heard the synthesized voice of the dispatch VI in her ear dispassionately summarizing the horror she had just witnessed:
"Aircar collision at tower alpha-delta-seven-eight, floor 178. Fire in tower alpha-delta-seven-eight, floors 177, 178, and 179. Fire suppression system is damaged, functioning at only 13%; manual fire suppression required. Emergency personnel please respond immediately."
"This came from them. It's all over me. If this is a contagion of some kindÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâæ"
is supposed to read
"This came from them. It's all over me. If this is a contagion of some kind..."
My editor automatically turns '...' into a single ellipsis character ('…'), and I missed that in my copy-paste.
1) Carol's a cop; Einhard Haack [I'm probably going to change that name in editing, I don't really like it] is her partner.
2) Carol's off-duty but responded anyway when she heard her partner order a quarantine of his location -- hence why she can't get through the door to try and help him.
-----
Taking the stairs three at a time, Carol was soon sprinting across the skyway that joined the towers, and slammed into the door leading into the floor her partner was on; it didn't budge. Peering through the window, she could see someone dragging themselves across the floor, a gun in his hands. He looked up at the noise of her hitting the door, and she recognized her partner, Einhard Haack. "Einhard!" she screamed, pounding her fist on the glass in the door.
"Get out of here, Carol!" he shouted, his voice muffled from the other side of the door. "Keep everyone clear!"
"What's going on?" she demanded. She could see that his right leg was torn up pretty good, but was surprised how little blood was seeping from the wound. Surely an injury that large had to have hit a major artery?
Haack dragged himself to the door and sat up, letting his back lean against it. Carol kneeled down so she could peer through the lower window. Her partner coughed, and she saw a faint trail of blood dribbling down his chin from his mouth. "Keep everyone out of here, Carol," he said, then broke into a convulsive fit of coughing. When he straightened up again, Carol could see a lot more blood. Clearly he was bleeding internally, but she didn't see any external injury other than his leg.
"Einhard, what happened?" she demanded.
He shook his head. "Don't know," he gasped, his voice taking on a slight gurgling sound from the blood in his throat. "They came out of nowhere, took us by surprise. They went after Gene first, tore his gut wide open with their bare hands." Carol knew Gene; he was one of their informants, a former small-time drug peddler who's still in touch with his black market contacts, feeding she and Haack information.
"Who?" Carol asked. "Who attacked you?"
But Haack didn't seem to hear her. "I fired four shots at the nearest one," he gasped. "It barely even noticed them, they certainly didn't slow it down any." That shocked Carol; police rounds carried a powerful capacitor inside each bullet, which delivered an electrical shock when they hit their target. Not nearly the same level as a stunner, of course, but more than enough for you to feel it when one hit you, let alone four. "I guess it got their attention, though," he continued. "They turned away from Gene and started coming after me. Knocked me down. Tried to bite me."
Carol noticed his sentences were starting to get shorter, his breathing shallower. He was struggling to stay conscious. "Stay with me, Einhard," she said.
"I threw one of them off me. Shot the other one point-blank in the face. Stopped it attacking me, but it was still moving. Clawing at its face. I think I blinded it. The other one came back. I pulled my baton and hit it over the head. Didn't stop, just kept coming. Jammed the baton into its open mouth. Then pushed the button." Carol knew he was talking about his stun baton, which was capable of delivering a powerful electrical jolt, more than enough to put even the biggest of bad guys, no matter what drugs they were on, down on his ass. "Never heard anything scream like that. Both of them did. Then it fell over, not moving anymore. I got out of there."
"Why'd you call for the quarantine?" Carol asked. "Can you lift it so we can get you out of there?"
Haack shook his head. "They didn't bleed," he said. "At least, not blood." He lifted his hand and pointed to several big smears of a silver-gray substance on his shirt. "This came from them. It's all over me. If this is a contagion of some kindÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâæ" His voice trailed off as another coughing fit wracked his body. He turned his head to look straight at Carol. "I'm infected, Carol. Whatever this is, I'm infected." She noticed that the blood trailing from his mouth had taken on a different hue. Instead of being dark red like it was earlier, she noticed it was much paler. But not a lighter shade of red; this was definitely tinged with grey.
Movement behind him caught Carol's eye. Looking up, she saw a familiar figure walk around the corner. She'd only met Gene two or three times, but she immediately recognized him, despite the blood-stained clothes that hung in tatters from him. "Einhard, didn't you say that they tore open Gene's stomach?" she asked. Haack nodded. Although it was smeared in blood, Carol could clearly see that the skin on Gene's torso was whole. "He looks okay to me," she said, watching as Gene looked at them. His skin was a strange, almost alien grey hue, and his eyes didn't seem to be focused on anything, although he was clearly looking at them. Two more figures walked around the corner behind Gene: the first didn't seem to have any eyes, or really a face at all, although somehow the gaping hole in his skull didn't seem to be slowing him down any, and a thick, viscous, silver-grey fluid was oozing from the wound; the second looked far more intact, although her partner's stun baton was still jammed deep down its throat.
Haack raised his gun and fired at the nearest one, Gene. Carol could clearly see the wounds appear where his rounds struck, but Gene barely twitched, and instead of blood the same silver-grey fluid oozed thickly out of the new wounds.
Haack's gun clicked empty, and in that instant all three figures charged forward in perfect synchronicity, moving impossibly fast. Carol leaped back from the door in surprise as they slammed into her partner and the door. She could see all three of them biting and clawing at her partner as he tried futilely to fend them off, but he didn't have a chance against three attackers, especially with his strength already sapped from his previous wound.
Then, just as suddenly as they started, all three figures ceased attacking her partner and stood up, turning to face her through the door's window. Blood and chunks of flesh hung from their mouths, and they just stood there motionless, staring at her. Although she knew it was irrational, she knew the door was far too strong for them to get through, fear took over and she scurried backwards on the floor, pushing herself away from them. In the distance, she could finally hear the approaching sirens of other responders.
Then Carol noticed her partner twitch. He's still alive! she thought. But her joy was short-lived, as she watched Haack suddenly start to convulse, before going still. Then he slowly stood up, and when he turned around to face her, she saw the same unfocused stare in his eyes, and the same silver-grey fluid oozing from his wounds. Then, impossibly, as she watched, his wounds closed themselves. She then noticed that the faceless figure was similarly beginning to close his wounds.
The sirens were getting closer, but Carol knew they were already too late to save her partner.
Suddenly all four of them turned, and sprinted out of sight. Carol, still sitting on the floor of the skyway, turned to her right as the ambulance came around the corner.
The world seemed to slow down then. She watched in slow motion as one of the exterior windows of the tower shattered, the force of the pressurized air in the building rushing outward propelling the glass impossibly far. Four figures came flying out the window with the glass; three of them landed on the roof of the ambulance, while the fourth, her partner, landed on the windscreen. He punched through the glass and grabbed the driver by the throat, all in one motion, while the other three tore open the rear door and disappeared inside.
The ambulance, already tumbling out of control, rushed under the skyway so close that Carol felt the roar of the engines in her bones. Turning toward the other side, she watched as the ambulance slammed into another tower, several floors below her. The fuel cells that powered the aircars' engines exploded into a furious fireball so bright Carol had to look away. When she looked back, she could see a fire burning on three floors around the giant hole the ambulance punched into the wall of the tower. It was an inferno, fed by the volatile fuel cells and the air in the tower rushing out, forming a wind that whipped the blaze into a raging inferno.
Carol simply sat there and stared, so deeply in shock that she barely heard the synthesized voice of the dispatch VI in her ear dispassionately summarizing the horror she had just witnessed:
"Aircar collision at tower alpha-delta-seven-eight, floor 178. Fire in tower alpha-delta-seven-eight, floors 177, 178, and 179. Fire suppression system is damaged, functioning at only 13%; manual fire suppression required. Emergency personnel please respond immediately."
added on 7:53pm Nov 2 '11:
Gr, stupid 4K not handling UTF-16..."This came from them. It's all over me. If this is a contagion of some kindÃÆÃâÃââÃÆââââ¬à ¡ÃâìÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâæ"
is supposed to read
"This came from them. It's all over me. If this is a contagion of some kind..."
My editor automatically turns '...' into a single ellipsis character ('…'), and I missed that in my copy-paste.