(S) Fallout: Under the blood-red sky

Under the blood-red sky, the resplendent city-by-the-bay glittered like garnets and rubies. The spires of building ruins formed a truly remarkable sight; catching the amber rays and sent them coalesced into a stunning beam of light. From the seaward side, it shone like a beacon guiding lost ships-or a portent of death. There were signs of battle everywhere, bullet-marked walls and blown-out doorways being the most prominent features. This was especially so in the middle of the city, wherein lay a massive crater of gargantuan proportions. The force that resulted in the crater’s formation must have blown bits of glass from windows, for pieces littered the street everywhere, scattered throughout the city. A layer of dust carpeted everything outdoors and indoors, loose wiring hung out of holes in false ceilings, with paperwork strewn amongst office floors.

There was no sign of human habitation.

Far off, towards the city fringes, reverberated gunshots. The narrow streets amplified the noise and it ricocheted around, booming mercilessly through abandoned houses and offices alike. The source of the fight could be traced over to a cross-junction at 73rd street, wherein two groups of people fought, a confusing sight due to the apparent desolation of the city. In the middle of the cross-junction, three light tanks and a mobile first-aid vehicle were doubled-up as barricades to the four adjoining streets. A group of combatants periodically fired towards other soldiers a hundred metres down each lane. The constant cascade of empty shells sounded like the patter of raindrops on a downcast day, exactly matching the moods of the soldiers.

On a hill several hundred metres away, yet another group of soldiers were making their slow advance towards the bunkered down soldiers. Probably back-up for the forces trying to breach the barricade.

New York, 2016, 1915hrs;
“How goes the radio effort?” yelled a soldier in his 40’s.

He wore a gas mask and had bulky armour that protected against the radioactive environment. He was lean, tall and had eyes of emerald blue that seemed to pierce one’s very being. You could not lie to these kind of people, even if u weren’t compelled to tell the truth. His rank said he was a Sergeant, yet he exuded an inner-strength and leadership that bespoke of a Major. He paced-as if oblivious to the situation at present- over to where another soldier was frantically speaking into a mouth piece in his hand.

“Sir, I still can’t get through! The enemy seems to have blocked all radio channels, we can’t get help in sir, we’re trapped damnit!” sobbed the frantic soldier.

A soldier firing from the rear end of one light tank suddenly gave a shout. Dropping his rifle, he clutched at his side. A well-placed bullet had shot through the weak armour under his left armpit and exited out of his back. After a momentary lapse, blood started spewing in rapid spurts out from his back and armpit, only to hiss and evaporate a split second later from the radio-active air. He doubled over as if genuflecting, and seconds after the wounding, collapsed to lie prone on the tar road. The Sergeant walked over to the soldier, boots crunching on empty shells, and picked up the dropped rifle. He reached up to his gas mask and toggled the controls on his tactical overhead view into night-mode. Placing the butt of the rifle against his shoulder, he leaned against the side of the tank and started firing rounds with pin-point precision into the evening horizon.

“Well, that’s not going to stop us now is it?” he grunted.

“Ye..yes sir!” replied the soldier, renewing his efforts to get through the radio channels.

New York, 2016, 1930hrs;
100 metres away from the convoy.
Four soldiers advanced prone on the debris-strewn streets. They all had their tactical overhead view switched to night-mode, holding rifles out in front of them. The lead soldier, leaning on one side, turned to look back at the rest of his men; he related several finger commands and switched to a crouching stance. Together, they ran, doubled over, to the side of a building, crouching in the shadows.

“Hold, surveillance team just managed to upload a satellite shot on the block of buildings ahead, hang on while I transfer it to your tactical overheads.”

The gas mask goggles glowed a pale green as the satellite images displayed themselves on the tactical overhead. The red glows indicated the presence of soldiers, likely to be USSR’s, as the US ones were under siege in the middle.

“Pick your targets men, from here we split, we meet back here after we clear out this street. That will give one less avenue of attack for the convoy to worry about. Move out.”

One by one, the soldiers emerged from the shadows, running in differing directions but all general to the convoy. The lead soldier was the last to move. With great dexterity, he scaled the fire-escape platforms on the side of the
building and reached the top of the three-storey building. Going prone at the edge of the roof, he took aim with careful precision. The targets were not hard to spot, as they were periodically illuminated by the flash of gunfire as they shot at the convoy. Several were shooting from alleys between building blocks and took cover behind the walls when they reloaded. Others were rolling forward a garbage dump, firing blindly over the edge of the dumpster. Generally, they all wielded Mac-Ingrams, a rapid fire sub-machine gun that could rip a person into pieces in seconds.

Careful not to attract attention, the lead soldier attached a scope to the top end of his rifle and peered through it. The stationary ones at the alley were easy enough to take down, especially since their attention was focused somewhere else and their backs were to him. It was the ones with the dumpster that proved a challenge. He just could not take a clear shot at them, as their movements kept him swivelling his rifle around trying to get them within the crosshairs of his scope. It was pretty much a give-away as soon as he missed his first couple of shots. The soldiers might not have known he was there, but the ricochet of bullets off the side of the dumpster away from the known enemy was enough to warrant attention. They crouched and spun around, aiming around frantically.

His next shot took one of them down, the flash of gunfire alerting the other two to his location. Raising their barrels at him, they prepared to shoot. It was just at that point in time when a well-thrown flash-bang erupted in a dazzling array of light. Scintillating orbs flashed across his vision, this was made worse due to the thousand percent light amplification ratio of his night goggles. Pushing himself away from the edge, he reached up as if to pull off the gas mask. As if remembering the implications of that, he veered off at the last second, only to deactivate the night-mode on his tactical overview. Launching back onto the edge, he immediately took aim at the two soldiers below, who had dropped their weapons, clutching their faces.

The final two shots resounded loudly in the now empty street, fainter sounds of gunfire resonated from the other streets, however, he was safe for now.

Upon regrouping, the lead soldier pulled out a flare gun; the flare loaded inside was specifically tailored to match the soldier squads of the respective bio-domes. He pointed it at the sky as if to shoot. At that moment, another soldier reached out and pulled his hands down.

“Wait Jinx! Are you sure about this? Lighting the flare will reveal our position to the enemy units around us!” he blurted, without reasoning.

Jinx turned his head and fixed the soldier a long stare.

“Oh, sorry sir, I wasn’t thinking.”

Raising his hands to the sky again, he pulled the trigger. The night sky exploded in a dazzling spray of blood-red flares. Dropping the flare gun, he picked up his rifle and motioned for the group to follow. They set off at a quick trot down the street towards the convoy.

“Say, why did Lance Corporal Jinx do that?” Whispered a soldier at the back of the two by two formation.

“Isn’t it obvious? If we’re gonna join the convoy, they need to know we’re coming. And don’t worry about alerting the USSR units. We’re joining the convoy, and they already know where that is.”

The four soldiers side-stepped over the dead USSR soldiers, travelling quickly towards the cross-junction.

Above them, the blood-red flares lingered in the night sky.