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Earth Taken by Inept Zombie
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Earth Part 1: Arrival
Date: 5 January 2004, 1:03 AM
Note: This is part one of a new series I am writing. I tried to fix the errors that were pointed out in my first fan fiction. I hope you enjoy.
Note to those title-impared readers: This is not the series I started a few days ago. It just isn't.
0736 Hours, September 15, 2552(Military Calendar)/
Brooklyn, New York, Earth
Private First Class Ray Bernard took a sip from his coffee cup. He was sitting in his house, a small building in the suburbs of Brooklyn. He was in his late twenties, had shaggy brown hair and an athletic build. He reached the height of about five foot eight.
He looked out of his window and saw a luxurious limousine hover past him.It was black and particularly ornate. It had a flag on either side of the front of it that contained the UNSC emblem. The limo was followed by two M12 class warthogs, but instead of the usual mounted machine gun, the back was empty. Ray had seen this limo before, he recognized it as a general's escort vehicle.
Ray slouched back in his chair and took another sip of coffee. A few moments later his wife walked into the kitchen and sat down with a newspaper.
"Morning," she said, "how'd you sleep?"
Ray sipped at his coffee again. "Good."
She nodded in agreement.
Ray looked out the window once again. The street was empty, save litter blowing around in the morning Autumn wind. He sighed humbly and his gaze met the sky. He could faintly see stars moving around inconspicuously among the upper atmosphere. Ray spotted a strange star that was moving awkwardly toward him. He saw another one of these strange stars. Another. And another. He squinted his eyes to make sure the weren't playing tricks on him, and he made out a very faint purple tint to the stars. He drew his head back and there were hundreds of them in a cluster. They were all moving toward the Earth. Something in his brain clicked and connected these things together: the purple stars, hundreds of them, moving towards earth. One thought sat fresh in his mind: The Covenant were attacking Earth.
Ray rushed along the streets of New York in his electric Mazda-Sedan hybrid. He quickly punched into his car's video screen the number of the New Plymouth Military Base. A message scrolled across the screen, followed by a smooth female voice.
"The phone number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later."
" 'And thank you for using Verizon Auto-Cell.' " Ray mocked along with the voice in a snide tone.
He muttered a curse word under his breath and pressed harder on the acceleration pedal.
After about a mile, he came to a magnetic word display sign.
"Now leaving New York. Have a pleasant time in New Plymouth," it said.
Ray hesitantly rechecked the stars in the sky. They were closer now, and he could easily discern that they were not stars.
He grimaced at the fact that finally the Covenant had located Earth. He always knew it would happen sooner or later, but he preferred the latter. The thought of humanity being wiped out was discomforting to him. He reassured himself that he was a Marine and would fight them off, but he realized he would be among the first to die.
He sped past the New Plymouth welcoming display and turned left. He was headed toward the military base and could see it vaguely.
Old-fashioned barbed wire lined the perimeter of the building. It was six stories tall, and had high security doors that required a pass card to open. Old statues of World War II soldiers were set up in the registration lobby. Truthfully, New Plymouth MB was thought of as an antique, or a landmark, more than an active base.
Ray slid his card into the slit and the doors clicked magnetically in approval, and before entering the building noticed the black limousine parked in front of it. He stepped in.
He made his way quickly up the stairs to the third floor and greeted the secretary.
"I need to speak with the General, immediately." He said to her testily.
She nodded and pressed the classic button on her desk.
"There's a man here who wants to see you." She said stupidly.
Ray flashed his card to her.
"Ray Bernard." She added.
The doors swung open to reveal General Coston, and an admiral who Ray hadn't seen before. He walked in and saluted.
"At ease." The General said.
Ray lowered his hand sharply. "Permission to speak freely, sir."
"Granted."
"Sir, I have reason to believe the Covenant are invading Earth."
The General looked seriously at the admiral. "So it's true." He said.
He looked up at the sky and saw the ever-closer fleet of warships.
"They want a fight, then fight we shall." He said conclusively. "Private, you're in charge of alerting the marines about this. Don't tell any civilians until those ships get closer, we don't want any chaos here. Dismissed."
Ray saluted and walked out of the room, down the stairs, and into the main lobby. He shoved the secretary aside and tapped in a COM channel on the microphone. He pressed the speak button and talked into it.
"The Covenant are attacking Earth. All available units proceed to nearest military complex. Repeat, Covenant attacking Earth, units proceed to nearest complex."
The channel he had set up was to the COM radios of every marine in a forty mile radius. He hoped they would come. He prayed.
0815 Hours, September 15, 2552(Military Calendar)/
New Plymouth Military Complex, Earth
They came. Hundreds of marines spilled into the base, minutes after Ray's call.
Ray met them outside the main building as they were briefed. Holding a microphone, General Coston paced outside the ranks of the marines.
"As most of you know, the Covenant are on their way to Earth, hundreds of warships strong. They plan on destroying the human race entirely. Well, today we're not going to let them. What is left of our space fleet is engaging the Covenant in the air. It's your job to fight them off on the ground."
He strolled to a huge map that had been placed outside.
"Half of you will be flown directly to Europe to defend large cities of important countries such as the UK, Germany, France, and Spain. You will have to evacuate and escort citizens to a bomb shelter. The others will stay here and be in charge of evacuating the city to the bomb shelter in this complex."
He stroked his mustache in thought.
"The Airborne divisions will proceed to the pelican docking bay on the other side of the base. Soldiers that are staying here, report to the Manhattan outpost and get started. Sergeants and Lieutenants, gather your squads and move out."
Without anything more to say, Coston added strongly, "Give 'em hell, marines."
He smiled as the entire group cheered and started moving to their assigned positions. Ray struggled through the crowd and met up with his team.
He saw Corporal Richmond, a damn good driver, skilled in everything from a Warthog to a dune buggy. Richmond was a bit taller than Ray, and had spent more years in the service. All in all, Richmond was a tougher fighter than Ray was, and Ray admired him.
One of the team's snipers stood straight, next to Richmond. Marie was her name, and killing Covenant was her game. She could hit a pill and the person who through it from 150 meters away,before they had time to think. Because of many family deaths from the Covenant, including her parents and brother, Marie had a passion for slaughtering Covies.
Jason was the heavy gunner. He was uncannily strong and hefted a machine gun that had been detached from a mount, along with an MA5B on either leg. Jason was known for completely gunning down groups of Covenant soldiers, but was useless in a stealth mission.
Sergeant Colski stood with his arms across his chest, and a cigar hung unlit in his mouth. He was notorious for being extremely enduring and hard to kill in battle. He had very high will power, and even stronger manpower. He had a shotgun slung over his back and an AR on a hip holster.
The teams second sniper, James, stood next to the Sarge. His cocky attitude was noted by authorities, but in battle he was brilliant. He was as good a sniper as Marie was, and often stole her kills, which isn't a big deal, because Marie gets enough kills on her own. James didn't have anyone to avenge, and was less determined.
There were two marines next to the Corporal, but Ray had never seen them before. They must've been knew to the squad. Ray sighed. If we're going to get through this war, we're going to need a lot more than two rookies on our squad, he thought.
As for himself, Ray was a scout. He carried a battle rifle from the base's armory, one pistol, and an SMG. Ray didn't think he was that great at recon, but he was told otherwise.
"Okay, here's the deal." Sergeant Colski said. "We're goin' up to the outpost first and we'll come up with a plan there. Let's go." He started walking towards a troop-carrying Warthog. Richmond hopped in the driver seat, and Colski took shotgun. The rest of the team piled in the back.
Richmond peeled out and turned away from the base. He accelerated and along with sixteen other troop 'Hogs, treaded down the streets of Brooklyn.
For a few minutes, the Warthog was silent. Everyone was clearing their minds, checking their armor, and loading their guns, preparing for the battle ahead. Jason broke the eerie quiet.
"Anyone got a cig?"
James nodded. Jason stuck his hand out, ready for the cancer stick.
"Yeah, I got a cigarette, but you can't have it." James said, He would need all his to steady himself while sniping.
Jason hung his head and shivered, it had gotten colder. He crossed his arms to shield himself from the wind.
Ray was sitting nearest to the Sarge, leaned to him, and quietly asked him why rookies were on the squad all of a sudden. Despite Ray's effort to remain unheard, the Sarge answered loudly, so the whole team could hear.
"Those 'rookies' make one hell of a scouting team, and if you don't like it, you can leave."
The new team members looked at him oddly. Great,he thought,just what I need, two people scouting with me, and they already hate me.
A few minutes later, they came upon the outpost. It contained a guard tower, and a small strategic building. The tower was taller than most buildings, so observers could see a distance. At the top, a speaker was on each side of it. They would use these to contact the civilians.
The men piled out of the Warthog and entered the small building next to the tower.
Inside, there was a projector, six eight-person tables, and a desk. At it sat a middle-aged man in a gray uniform. He stood up to greet them.
"Welcome. I'm been expecting you. In the tower are three guards, just tell me and they will sound the alarm."
Ray noticed on his uniform that he was a major, and saluted along with his comrades.
"At ease, men." The Major said. He saw Marie frown and added, "and women." She smiled and lowered her hand. The Major continued. "I have to fly to a board meeting, so this outpost is now under your official control. I'll be going now." He exited the building.
Lieutenant Moruko prodded through the marines and sat at the desk. He motioned for someone to turn the projector on. A marine stood up and did so. Moruko drew on a paper a small plot of the city and arrows and circles pointing in various directions. He placed in on the projector, and the map appeared on the other side of the room at large scale.
"Two squads will set up on Main street, guarding one of the large ways in the city." He looked at the group of marines, "That'll be Marin's squad and Colski's squad. Another main route in is Intersate-38. Three teams will cover that. Mine, Johnson's, and...Washington's squad. Seven squads will evacuate citizens to the shelter back at New Plymouth, those would be Smith's, George's, Polaski's, Warren's, Judd's, Seths, and Lawhon's. The remaining squads will stay here and redirect any civilians that the evacuators miss. Move out, Marines!"
The Marines gathered their squads and came out of the building. They got into the Warthog and drove to their assigned positions. On the way to Main Street, the Sarge told them what to do.
"Marie and James, as soon as we get there, find a good sniping post." The snipers nodded. "Scouts, seek alternate routes or alleys that the Covenant could use to sneak in. Jason, find a good place that won't get you killed, but you'll be able to shoot out of. Richmond, take the Warthog and find out where they are. Ray, I want you as the passenger."
Ray opened his mouth to protest, but Sarge stopped him.
"That's an order." Sarge said. Ray slouched back into his seat.
"Yes, sir." He said solemnly.
The Warthog halted, and the marines jumped out and found positions. The snipers sat in adjacent buildings, Jason hid behind a closed alleyway, the scouts walked away quickly in search of their objective. Ray, on the other hand, walked to the passenger seat of the Warthog in solemnity.
Immediately, the 'Hog sped off on Main Street.
Ray sat back in the passenger seat and looked idly to the sky. He gasped as he saw dozens of Covenant dropships closing in on New York. He sat up hurriedly and cocked his rifle.
Earth Taken Part 2: Defense
Date: 5 January 2004, 7:49 PM
0820 Hours, September 15, 2552(Military Calendar)/
Brooklyn, New York, Earth
The Covenant dropships were about a kilometer above and away from him. Ray became nervous, as he always did before a battle. This was the largest amount of enemies he had ever fought.
Richmond remained calm and banked left. Ahead of them, a dropship came down on top of a Coca-Cola sign. The purple hatches opened slowly to reveal Grunts, Jackals, and worst of all, Elites. Ray gulped and clutched his battle rifle more tightly. The aliens dropped down from the craft, stunning them from the small fall. Richmond pressed harder on the gas.
They were 20 meters away now. 15 meters...10 meters...5 meters...
The Covenant soldier's shrugged off the fall and looked up at the incoming Warthog. Elites dove, Jackals rolled, but a few Grunts were not quick enough. The Warthog ran into two of them, and the two ton 80-mile-an-hour projectile splattered the aliens like a axe in butter.
One of the Grunts took the bumper straight to the head, killing it instantly. The other was impaled in the chest by the Warthog's towing grapple. It stuck on the car like a hood ornament.
Richmond turned right and jack-knifed. He struggled and almost caught an Elite, but it's catlike reflexes motivated it to quickly sidestep out of harm's way--- but straight into the line of fire of Ray. He unloaded into the Elite, it's shield flickered and died, and bullets pounded into it's chest. It fell over and Richmond sped forward.
"Get out!" Richmond said, "Find a spot and keep firing. I'll keep 'em distracted." He looked at a grenade on his belt. Ray nodded and hopped out.
Ray ran quickly into an alcove of a building. He peeked his head to the side. The Warthog went quickly past the group of Covenant. The Covenant were alert now, and clear out of the way of the vehicle. They splashed the Warthog with fire. It veered and smashed into a sign pole. The Covenant jeered, but soon saw a frag grenade rolling on the street. The jumped backwards, but were too late. It detonated, and smoke filled the street.
Just then, Ray popped out from his corner and open fired.
The aliens fell as they were cut unawares. They tried to see what was firing, but the smoke from the grenade hadn't cleared yet. Ray spotted a few Elites rushing towards him. He used his scope's night vision feature and rapidly fired into the neck of one of the aliens. It clutched it's jugular, but persisted to run towards him. Ray switched to his pistol and targeted its head. The Elite's shield hadn't recharged yet, and he took the bullets headlong, killing it.
A red Elite and a blue Elite where two meters away from him. Ray hid back behind the alcove. Please don't see me...,he pleaded. They did. The red Elite stood in front of the alcove, a foot away from Ray. It growled and leveled its plasma rifle. Ray gulped as he saw the plasma on the rifle begin to charge. He closed his eyes.
Ray heard a revving engine, a groan, and felt liquid splash onto him. He nervously re-opened his eyes.
In front of him sat Richmond, a small bump on his head, but grinning, in the Warthog. At the last second, Richmond had smashed into the unsuspecting Elites, crushing both of them.
"Hop in!" he said cheerfully.
Ray did so. Richmond wheeled the vehicle around, allowing Ray to take out the remaining Jackal. He slapped a fresh clip into his battle rifle and cheered.
0820 Hours, September 15, 2552(Military Calendar)/
Brooklyn, New York, Earth
Marie sat steadily and silently at her perch by the window of an abandoned house. She had her sniper rifle out, and was gazing through the scope, ready for any foe that came near her.
She gazed across the street in search of James. He was adjacent to her, but she could only see the barrel of his rifle, the rest of him had been enveloped in shadows. She noticed a hint of smoke through the window. James preferred to use chemicals(in this case, cigarettes) to calm and steady himself while sniping, Marie didn't need them.
She looked into the sky and saw the incoming dropships, three of them, less than a kilometer away. One of them came down onto a roof a few houses away from Marie, and across the street. A few seconds later she saw a blue Elite on the edge of the roof.
She steadied her sniper rifle and lined up a shot.
"Enemy sighted." She said quietly into her COM.
The Elite peered over the edge of the building. It retrieved something from a clip on its waist. The alien kneeled down and attached the thing to the edge of the roof. Two beams of plasma formed about a foot apart. They made their way down to the ground; a ladder. The Elite turned around and started backing down it.
Marie shook her head. She was stalling. She lined up her crosshairs on the alien and squeezed the trigger quickly.
Their was a loud crack as the round fired, it connected with the Elite, who was still for a moment, then slid down the plasma ladder and crumpled into a heap at the ground.
Marie smiled. One.
"Nice." Said James over the team frequency. "I let you have that one."
"Yeah, whatever." She responded.
Another alien started coming down the ladder. It was a Jackal, and it's shield was covering its body in a way that if Marie shot, the round would ricochet.
"Tricky, tricky." Remarked James. "But you forgot about me."
There was another crack, and the Jackal was blown off the ladder. It flew toward the ground, leaking blood from its chest.
The Covenant, having realized that if they went down the ladder, they would just get killed, stayed back. The only thing that came over the roof was a great green ball of plasma. And it was heading right towards Marie.
She scooped up her rifle and dove back, her hands on her neck. The plasma fuel impacted into a wall next to her window. The building shook, the metal dented.
Marie stood up and saw her window shattered. She wiped dust from her armor and retained her place.
"You all right there, Private?" came Colski's voice through the COM.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She said casually.
She noticed that four more dropships had landed, on another roof, and three down the street. 30-some aliens ran towards the team with plasma pistols charged.
Marie readied her rifle. She noticed the head of a Grunt on a roof. She shot it quickly and moved on to the ground soldiers. There were numerous cracks as alien bodies fell, but they kept coming. When they were sixty meters away, Marie saw Jason pop out from a corner, holding his heavy machine gun, as hey mowed down the soldiers.
The Covenant continued down the road and open fired on Jason. He took a few splashes of plasma and fell back behind his alley. Marie rapidly targeted an Elite, but it fell from James' bullet before she fired. She took out two charging Grunts in one shot, giving her five kills in this battle so far.
She saw Jason's figure pop out again and fire. Numerous Covenant fell.
They where twenty meters away now, almost under her. There were still half of the original group of aliens. Sarge's silhouette popped out from behind a corner she hadn't seen before, and he pumped shotgun rounds into the opponents.
Marie saw shields of two Elites flicker and die, she took the opportunity and killed both of them. Seven.
She smiled and killed the remaining of the advancing aliens. She heard a loud whir and looked around. In the sky, she saw four Banshee flyers closing in fast.
0837 Hours, September 15, 2552(Military Calendar)/
London, England Aboard Pelican
Steve sat strapped in his crash seat in the Pelican. He looked down at their destination. There were numerous Covenant dropships that had landed, and some were in the air. The Private spotted members of the United Kingdom Defense Corps(UKDC) engaged with aliens, falling in the dozens as the Covenant mowed them down. He would soon be there, and would soon be in the face of death.
He had two HEMP grenades strapped to his belt that would come in handy. High Explosive Multi-Purpose Shrapnel Grenades were more powerful than the regular frag grenades he was used to. They packed a punch twice as strong and when detonated, a layer of glass inside them exploded and showered opponents. Marines called them "Hemps".
His other equipment included an MA5B Assualt Rifle, he had four clips not counting the one loaded in it. He also had an anti-grav device that would lower him to the ground savely. Provided he didn't get killed in the air.
Steve saw a Covenant dropship firing at the Pelican. The Pelican dropped lower to the ground and dodged the incoming plasma fire. It's left side tipped, and it almost barreled, but the pilot brought it back up. The craft gradually got closer to the ground.
A little ways away, a dropship was pounded with plasma. It's right wing started burning, and it spiralled away. He saw a few marines fall out of the crashing dropship. They fell for a few seconds and were crushed by the pressure.
This is just like D-Day.He thought, and remembered history he had read about World War II.
"23 third! Are you ready to dive?" Sergeant Milton asked.
Steve joined a chorus of "Sir, yes, sir!"
He wasn't ready. Butterflies were swarming in his stomach. He regretted ever joining the Corps.
"I'm goin' first!" Sarge yelled.
He released the crash seat restraint and held on to the handle by the edge of the dropship. He pushed a button on his waist and it blinked green.
"Rendezvous at the bottom!" he shouted. "See you there!"
He jumped. The anti-gravity device formed an invisible shield around him as he quickly raced to the ground.
Two more marines jumped, and it was Steve's turn. He gulped. He clutched the handle and pressed the button on his device. It blinked green. He cautiously looked down. They were about a kilometer away from the ground. He suddenly felt acrophobic, and stepped off the Pelican.
He fell face first through the air, cold wind blowingly through his hair. He thought he was going to die. All of a sudden, he was picked up by an invisible hand. It didn't slow down his fall, but it kept him from exploding from the pressure. He ducked his head as plasma bolts flew past him. He turned his head and saw the Pelican.
It was engulfed in brilliant orange flame. The incoming plasma splashed into it, and it shook violently. The wings crumpled and melted. It propelled towards the ground.
He saw two figures where the Pelican was, they were falling quickly, but steadily, much like he was. One figure clasped it's leg in pain.
Steve glanced toward the ground once more. He was a few meters from it. His body inadvertently flipped, and he managed to bring his knees into his chest.
He desperately closed his eyes in fear of the impact, but the anti-gravity glove around him gently set him down uninjured.
He was in a field, just outside England. He looked around for the team. He saw the marine that had fallen crouched next another marine who was clutching his leg. He ran over to the soldiers.
It was Corporal McKinney, and he was tending to Georgia Foster. She had a bloody leg, Steve assumed it was fractured.
McKinney stood up to talk to Steve. "Hit her leg on the way out. It's a crack, but she'll be alright. You seen Milton yet?"
Steve shook his head.
"Well, we'll have to find him first. I don't know about the rest of the team. I think they went down with the Pelican." he looked dismal at the thought of their friends being dead.
Steve realized his rifle was gone, and he searched the field for it. He found it by where he had landed and returned to the Corporal.
"Think you can walk?" he asked Foster.
She nodded in pain as he helped her up.
"Then let's go find the rest of the squad. We should search the field first. Move out."
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