Ruined Future - Chapter II

Chapter II: Prison Break 

While several men interrogated Darkwater, Brigadier General Kovacs headed off to meet the other recently returned soldier. Grendel Wallus. Kovacs entered a room reminiscent of Darkwater's, where Wallus sat constrained in a metal chair. 
"Corporal Wallus," said the General, stomping the remains of his cigarette and drawing a new one. 
"You were a late arrival to the Anchorage Reclamation. Later than Darkwater and Alpha Platoon, anyhow. Am I correct?" 
Grendel just stared blankly at the General, his thin eyebrows angled downward in outright disgust. Grendel spat in his general direction. Kovacs replied with a wicked grin.

"We can play it like that, Wallus� if you want," he began, stopping to take a long drag of his cigarette. Kovacs released the smoke, a billowing grey cloud, into Grendel's face. Then Kovacs pushed the burning hot end of the cigarette into Grendel's eye. The Corporal shouted in agony as it seared through the socket. The General just cackled as he pushed the smoking cigarette deeper into his eye.

Finally, he removed it, and Wallus slumped over, unable to cover his ruined left eye. 
"Filthy bastard," he spat. Then he shook the chair furiously, trying to break free of the chains. Again, the General chuckled in response. 
"Good luck with that," he said, and tossed the crumpled cigarette to the floor. Kovacs then drew a semi-automatic USP .45 handgun from his waist, and pistol-whipped the side of the Corporal's head with incredible force. He toppled over onto the floor, the chair with him. But he didn't groan or shout. Grendel was tough, and he had been tortured and interrogated before. 

Kovacs bent down low, and forcefully pushed the barrel of the gun to his head.
"Now you tell me just what the hell you two were doing frozen stiff in that military base, or I may have to call in the cleaning crew after I'm finished with you." Grendel mustered up his courage, and again spat at the man.
"I ain't tellin' you [censored], so [censored] off," he grumbled, swerving his chair onto its back to avoid the coming pistol-whip. 
"Why you little bastard!" 

Kovacs stood up, and planted the sole of his combat boot roughly onto Grendel's jaw. Again and again he kicked, ruthlessly stomping the man's face. Then when Wallus tried to rise, Kovacs swerved a fist into his gut, blasting the air from him. Grendel groaned and the chair flipped over, Grendel now on his chest, the chair above him. Kovacs lifted the chair up with his free hand, and, while holding on to Grendel, began bombarding his face with punches. Kovacs finally tossed the chair, Grendel still chained to it, at the wall. Grendel collapsed, and unbeknownst to the general, his chains came loose. 

Meanwhile, the General had placed a pair of brass knuckles on each fist, and was slowly approaching the nearly unconscious form of Wallus. Wallus sat up, and spat blood on the bleached white floors. After wiping his face, Grendel noticed his chains were free, and so he waited as best he could for the right moment. Finally, when Kovacs was only feet away, Grendel swung free from the chair, and sent it flying at the General. It slammed into his gut, knocking him flat on his back. 

Wallus took his chance, and grabbed the knife from Kovacs' hip. He would have gotten the gun, but it had been thrown across the room. Wallus backed up, concealing the knife, as the General stood. 
"You tricky son of a [censored]," said Kovacs, reaching for his knife strap. But it wasn't there. Grendel took his chance, and rushed forward. With one quick swipe, he rendered the man's right hand useless, by slashing open the knucklebones, and with another, he had cut a deep gash across his left eye. 
Kovacs roared in pain, and covered his bloody eye with his uninjured hand.
"Payback's a [censored], eh?" said Grendel, who then whirled forward with a kick to the General's chest. The man hit the wall, and slumped down onto the floor, where he groaned in pain.
"[censored]," said Wallus, making for the door. The soldiers, who were standing on guard outside (and were on smoke break) didn't even notice Grendel as he slipped into a shadowy corridor and disappeared from sight. 

* * *

"That's it alright," said the man, looking through his binoculars.
"Are you sure, Jack?"
"Positive. I mean, it sure looks like a military base, doesn't it?"
"Alright. Sylvia, Jonathan, head out, we need to�"
"Wait, wait, wait," said Jack suddenly, lowering the binoculars. 
"We can't just rush in the place, we have to do some recon, we gotta know what's in there!" 
The old man sighed. 
"Jack, we know what's in there. The Enclave. Henry saw men in armor with big guns, it can only be them!"
"Morris, listen to me," said Jack Harding, grabbing the weary old man's shoulder.
"The Enclave is gone. The Vault Dweller's descendant saw to that."
"Who else could it be though?" asked Jonathan. "Who else has Power Armor?" 
"Someone from Arroyo City, maybe?" suggested Sylvia, a young girl with a scoped .44 revolver in hand. 
"She's right," said Jack. "Arroyo has a lot of guards in Power Armor. It could have been them."
Morris just shook his head and sighed again. 
"I know it's them, Jack. I know it. My father lost his family and village to those cruel bastards, and I've heard enough stories about their appearance to know it's them. I know, Jack."

Jack closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. 
"Alright. So it's the Enclave. We still can't rush in there. They'll annihilate us!"
"So what do we do?" asked Jonathan. "We can't let them take Klamath! Besides, they have too many of our people in there!" 
Suddenly everyone was looking at Sylvia. She looked around at everyone, especially Morris, who had a hopeful gleam in his blue eyes. 
"No," she said, stepping back. "No, no, no, no. No!" 
"You have to Silv, we don't have any other options! You're the sneakiest person in Klamath!" said Jack, who had raised Sylvia since she was seven. "I remember when I found all that stolen stuff in your room. Sure, it was wrong, but your talents are too useful at this critical moment!"
"He's right, Sylvia," said Morris, clasping the girl's shoulder.

She sighed. 
"What do I do?"
"Get in there, and find our people. Get 'em out, and we'll come back and take them out," explained Jack, dropping his Gauss rifle as he approached the girl. He hugged her, silently sobbing as he did. 
"Good luck, Silv," he said patting her on the back.
"Now go!" he whispered after her, as she hopped over the threshold and took off towards multilayered complex. Jack looked to Morris for support. Even his determined blue eyes didn't assure him that his little girl would be safe.

* * *

Roland sat, totally restrained, several new bruises marring his stoic features. Roland was a young man, with short, cropped brown hair, thin eyebrows, and a well defined face. He had olive green eyes and a short stubble on his chin. Roland sighed and watched as soldiers passed by his door. Or was it a window? All he could see other than bleach-white walls was a small, glass box in the wall. So� others had been frozen too. A Grendel Wallus, being one of them. Roland didn't know this man, but he was likely a unit placed in Alpha Platoon after Roland was hauled off. They probably died thinking Roland was dead. Well, except Morgan, Gunny, and the two Commanders. They were the only ones who knew that Roland hadn't died that day.

Poor Weasel probably died thinking his drugged up Stimpack ended Roland. For that was how Roland was "Killed", or rather, surgically revived and put in a cryogenic healing machine. He was in a near-death situation, where his fellow allies were off fighting the Chinese. His good friend, Private Stevens, was in danger. Roland injected himself with one of Weasel's Stimpacks, figuring it would save him. Instead, the small doses of varying drugs within it made him a killing machine. 

Before "dying", Roland killed several Reds, and almost saved his friends. They probably had held a funeral for him. Well, maybe Morgan told them about the operation, about his freezing. Or Gunny. That would be more likely. Or maybe� maybe some of Alpha Platoon had been frozen with him. Roland chuckled at the thought, and lay back in the chair. Goddamned Enclave� whoever the [censored] that was. 

* * *

Grendel Wallus snuck behind a guard, and quickly pressed a complex set of codes on a keypad. It was a password he had found in the General's archive room. Despite his large frame, Wallus was quite the stealthy one. The guard heard the beeping, and spun around, but by then Grendel had already pumped two bursts into him with a fully automatic Uzi he had found in the General's dresser. Luckily it had a sound suppressor with it. 

Grendel finished the code, and a loud ringing echoed across the Prison Block. Soon, every electronic lock in that section of the base was deactivated, even the Guard Barracks. It didn't take long for the prisoners to notice, and break out, or for the guards to spring into action. Grendel snuck past the conflict, gunshots and explosions ringing out behind him. But before Grendel could make it for the Entrance Block, a young woman walked out from a doorway. She had a loaded .44 magnum aimed at his chest.