A lifetime

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Fri Jun 04, 2004 2:32 pm

Here?s my first attempt on writing. Feel free to post any sort of comments.

I've been around the States for a hamster's lifetime, thus the new title

************************************************************

It was an early fall, year 1975. Christopher Hyde of L.V.P.D was patrolling the back roads of Las Vegas in his somewhat rusty Courcheval Patrol Car. It was evening, but it was still hot. The car?s powerful V8 engine was purring while the rear wheels were kicking up dirt from the unused desert road. Chris was sitting comfortably in the hot leather seat, holding the top of the steering wheel with his right hand. His left hand was resting on the door. The car had seen many chases, most of which ended with an arrest. There was no sound in the car except the hush of the CB and the low-pitched rumble of the car?s 454.

Christopher was not only a Officer of the Law, he was skilled in many forms of combat. He had a wife and a kid. He liked his car. The other cops that worked with him drove new Dover patrol cars. Christopher didn?t feel like getting used to a new car, he knew his Courcheval like he knew his pocket. The car was his friend. His fellow policemen were not so dedicated to police work, instead of patrolling they?d go booze cruising, but he had a few friends among them. His best friend was an older police officer named Jack Powell. They both didn?t like their boss, cause he was getting some suspicious packages lately. Chris liked to patrol, because that was the only way to avoid his boss.

He was a mile from the T crossing where he usually ended his patrol. He pressed the button on the microphone of the CB, as he was about to report off duty. But then he heard a scream of a mighty V8 behind him. He looked into the mirror and saw a Courchelle at it?s full speed. He pressed the button on the CB again, but not to report off duty:

?Unit 16 reporting, I got a speeder on route 64 west of Vegas, near T intersection with route 57. Commencing pursuit.?

?10-4 unit 16, do you need backup?? ,replied another officer.

?No, over and out.?

As he said that, he flicked on the siren and slammed the gas. The revs went up to high 4?s. He could barely see anything because of the dust the Courchelle kicked up, but he held onto the wheel and maintained control. They were racing down the dusty road at 100 plus MPH. The pursuit was heading towards Area 49.

Chris thought this was just another chase so he wasn?t worried. He didn?t have any time to worry, either. He had to keep track with the speeding Courchelle. As the wild chase went on, the scenery around the road changed. They were now driving in some sort of canyon with turrets along it?s edges that seemed abandoned. After a few minutes the pursuit reached a big arena shaped area in the canyon with a gate on the other end. This also had turrets along it?s edges. A few seconds after Chris?s patrol car entered the ?arena? there was a loud boom. Chris looked in his rearview mirror and saw that their entrance was now blocked by huge rocks which the explosion separated from the cliffs. He realised that he should?ve went home instead of chasing this Courcheval, which now made a 180 turn and stopped. From the gate on the other end came 3 armed Phaedra trucks. The short guy from the Courchelle came to Chris?s window holding a gun to Chris's head and said:

?You?re surrounded. Don?t try to escape, or else...? he nodded his head towards the armed trucks, which have now closed in to the cop car. ?Get out of that piece of shit. Turn off that siren before you do. It?s driving me crazy.?, he added with a slight mexican accent.

Chris said, ?Piece of shit? I kept up right with you, bastard.?

He only got a punch in the nose as a reply.

The Courchelle driver took him out of the car. A man came out of one of the armed Phaedra Clydesdales, holding a rope. He tied Chris up and took him to the back seat of his Clydesdale. The gate opened and the convoy of 3 Clydes and a Courchelle went towards it. One of the Clydes turned around and fired 3 mortar shells on Chris?s patrol car. It was now an unrecognizable lump of metal.

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:00 pm

Behind the gate was another arena shaped area with many hangars and an airstrip. That?s all Chris could see before ?his driver? turned left into a wide tunnel. After a few minutes of driving through the curvacious tunnel the group of cars reached a room that had tunnels leading from all it?s four sides and an up-down moving pillar in the middle. The driver passed the pillar and went into the opposite tunnel. Chris was amazed by this place, but wasn?t exactly thrilled. Afterall, he got kidnapped. Again, after a few minutes of riding through the tunnel they got into a room that had a parking lot on one end and a laboratory on the higher other end. The Clyde that Christopher was in parked into one of the parking spaces, the remaining two Clydes left and right of the truck and the Courchelle behind it. All of the men got out and took the police officer with them towards the lab, one of them holding a .45 to his head. First, they searched him and took his badge, his pistol and his knife. They were all wearing black coats except for the Mexican that drove the Courchelle. In the laboratory was a bunch of scientists that were looking in the gizmos and computers. There was a large window on one wall, and a high security door next to it. One of the guy in the black coat stepped up to a small scientist, who had the look of a lunatic. ?Oh damn?, Chris said to himself.

?Well well, who do we have here??, said the psycho-scientist with a grin.

?This is the man you wanted us to bring to you?, replied the Mexican.

?Oh, good, good job boys!?, said the scientist.

He turned to the Clyde drivers, ?Take him to Bob.?

They started walking towards the heavy metal doors next to the window.

The Mexican said ironically, ?It was nice too meet you, fool.?

They opened the door , put him inside and closed it quickly, after which they went to look through the window. Christopher turned his head and saw a gross, slimy creature. It looked somewhat like a bird, only without the wings and the beak. It didn?t look too friendly, either. It started gazing at Chris. He could feel his whole body lose energy and soon found himself in a strange state of sleep. None of his senses were working except his eyes. And then, all of a sudden, the window blew open and bullets were fired. The creature slowely collapsed to the side. Chris came back to his senses and saw a guy in black trousers holding a gun. "Get movin'!" he shouted as he helped Chris through the broken window. The guy gave him a .45 and they ran away from the laboratory. They ran through the tunnels, shooting guards which tried to stop them. They were almost out of the tunnels when a guy came from behind a barrel and shot Chris in the thigh. The guy shot the guard and started dragging the policeman towards his car.
Next thing Chris knew they were on the road in the canyon. Suddenly, the turrets along the edges bursted to life and started shooting the speeding Manta. The driver avoided all of the rockets. Christopher started asking the stranger questions:

?Who are the people in there??

?I don?t know, I followed your pursuit and saw that you were in trouble, so I went in and helped. I don?t like people getting killed?, replied the man without taking his eyes off the road.

?They?re gonna pay for this. I?m going to kill them all. One by one.?

?You got to get a decent car and some weapons first.?

?Well, you saved my life. Thanks. What?s your name anyway??

?You?ll know me as Fixx.?

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Tue Jun 15, 2004 1:04 pm

They were going down the same road the chase went. Fixx stopped the car and tied up Chris?s bullet wound, and then proceeded towards Vegas. The tire tracks from the pursuit were still visible. They soon reached Vegas. Chris realised that they were on the same road he used to patrol.

?You?re driving me back to the station??, he asked.

?Station? What station? Oh right --- the patrol car... No, I?m not.?, Fixx replied.

?Why? I want to get back?

?I don?t know how the Hell you haven?t noticed this, but the police in the southwest is corrupted.?, said Fixx, almost laughing.

?Corrupted??

?Tell you what. We?ll drive by your station and you?ll maybe see. What station do you work at??

?The one on 32nd street.?

The man probably lived in Vegas, as he found the station without another question asked. He slowed the car down and said, ?Open your eyes, now. You might see something you haven?t noticed before.?

Christopher started to observe the station. He looked into his boss?s office, there were three men talking to his boss, who had opened a safe in the wall and gave the men a briefcase. They shook hands, and the men left.

?Now check this out?, said Fixx.

He drove around to the station?s parking lot.

?I knew there was something wrong about my boss?,said Chris while looking at the three armed Clydes parked there. ?Let?s get out of here before they see your car. Maybe someone saw it in Area 49.?

That said, Fixx turned the car around and drove out of Vegas. Again, they were on the desert road. It seemed that they would go to Area 49 again, but they turned onto a small, barely visible, dirt road. Chris was still puzzled about where they are going to. The sun hadn?t come out yet. A pair of headlights came out of nowhere, and Fixx froze in the seat, not looking scared but ready for a fight. As the lights came closer Chris could hear bullets ricochet off the Manta?s armor plates. Fixx flicked a few switches, pressed a button and the whole car shook as the roof mounted cannon shot it?s 30mm shell at the incoming car. It was a direct hit through the windshield. The car was still moving, altough the driver was fleshly dead, so Fixx shot the car again so it?d stop so he could identify the creeper. The car was a black Royale, but he didn?t know the man. Fixx got back to his car, turned the CB on and reported:

?This is Fixx, just killed a creeper.?

?Roger that Fixx. Any ideas who that was?? ,replied the man on the other end.

?No, but it was a black Royale with two 7.62s on it?s roof and lemme see... a flame thrower on the bumper.?,said Fixx, leaning out of the car to see the weapons.

?Beats me, probably some new guy.?,said the voice, not sounding worried.

?I?ll get to the base soon. See ya there?

?Till then Fixx?

******

Read and tell what you think. It's not the end yet, I'll be posting installments when I feel like writing.

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Sat Aug 28, 2004 4:53 am

Here's the next paragraph. It's smaller than the first few ones, I didn't know how I will continue the story, but I guess I'll try to keep up with the new 1 month rule.

As they drove nearer to the base a wall around it came into view. There was a steel gate opened. Fixx drove in the base courtyard and parked next to a blue Palomino. The base looked old. There was a pretty beat up Palomino ?Chief 302? parked next to what looked like a mechanic?s workshop. Fixx and Chris walked into the hangar, there was a guy sitting at a table with a CB in front of him.

?Heya Shred!?, grinned Fixx.

?Hello Fixx mate?,the character turned around in his chair.

?I saved this guy from Solarzano?s lab.? Fixx nodded towards Chris.

?Ok mate, but why?d you bring him here??

?I?ve seen him chase a creep down the road to Area 49, he?s a pretty good driver. With a few weapons and some training, this former policeman could be pretty helpful.?

?Well then, hello.... ??

?Chris?, the cop adjusted his belt.

?Hello Chris. Want to work for us? You?ll do more against crime being a vigilante then a cop. Your boss is probably aware of the situation but gets paid not to do anything against it.?

?Ok, I guess I?ll help.?

?Come here tomorrow and we?ll settle the deal. Ok??

?Sure thing, but I don?t have a car. My patrol car got blown up.?

?I?ll pick you up.?,Fixx jumped into the conversation.

?Ok, till? tomorrow Shred.?

?Cya tomorrow boys.?

Fixx helped Chris limp to the Manta and they drove back on the rough and dirty road. The new vigilante tried to remember where to turn to reach the base, because the dirt road meshed with the desert terrain. After about 20 minutes they reached the asphalt road, Fixx spun the car, pointed the nose towards Vegas and pressed the pedal to the metal. Chris navigated the way to his apartment and in a few moments he was home. Fixx put the Manta into first and left. Christopher climbed the stairs, unlocked the door and put his jacket on the hanger. He washed his hands and went to the eating table.

?Hi, honey. I got involved in a pretty long pursuit.?

?I see. There?s some chicken in the fridge. Want me to warm it up??

?Yes, I?m starving.?

She warmed the meal, and sat next to Chris.

?Listen?, Chris put his hands on the table, ?My boss --- He set me another patrol area. It?s variable working hours too. But it?s also more dangerous than before.?

?How do you mean, more dangerous??, his wife looked worried.

?Well it?s not exactly dangerous...? he realised he shouldn?t have said that, ?It?s farther than my old patrol area...?

He went to sleep. It was hard for him to fall asleep, he kept pondering about how dangerous it really is to be a vigilante. After a good two hours of turning in his bed he fell asleep.

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Sun Sep 19, 2004 12:59 pm

He woke up early the next morning, he glanced at the clock which was showing 5 : 30 AM.

?Sleep, Chris, you idiot? he said to himself, but it was impossible. He was somehow tired and fresh at the same time. Maybe it was the excitement and/or fright of the oncoming day. He went to the kitchen, flicked the light on, and opened the fridge. He made himself a sandwich and sat to the table. After a few minutes, Peter, his son, came out of his bedroom.

?Peter, it?s no time to walk around, go back to bed.?

?But why aren?t you sleeping then, daddy??

?I can?t? Chris took a bite out of his sandwich.

?I can?t sleep because of the light.?

?Sure you can sleep, go to bed Peter.?

The kid went back to his room, leaving Chris with his problems.

?What if I die? What will happen to him then?? he thought.

He cleared his mind of these thoughts, like he was taught in police academy, and sat on the couch for a nap.

The sound of a car horn woke him up. He took his jacket and went outside, still having a bit of a limp because of his injury. Fixx opened the passenger door from the inside. Chris sat in the comfortable bucket seat and they were on their way to the base.

This time there were three cars at the base, and the Chief 302 was in better shape than yesterday. Fixx parked his Manta next to a grey Cavera with a dragon painted on it?s hood. Chris got out of the car and joined Fixx as they walked into the hangar. Now there were 2 men aside Shredmaster, who wasn?t at the CB today.

?Hello Fixx! Hello Chris!? Shred stood up to shake hands.

?Hi Shred? Fixx shook his hand with Shred.

Shred then followed, ?This is Jon-Factor, and this is Jay. Jay, Jon, here are Chris and Fixx.?

?Hello mates! Chris, you are the new guy that Shred told us about??

?Yes, I believe so.?

?Well then, lets get out into the desert and see what you can do?, Jon suggested.

Out on the parking lot, everyone got into their cars. Chris sat in the driver?s seat of Jay?s Cavera, Jay sat next to him. Chris crunched the shifter into first gear and went out the gates. Shred and Fixx were each on one side of the car, Jon was behind.
Jay flicked on the CB and took the microphone.

?Now, can you show us a 180 turn followed by reverse driving?? the CB crackled with Shred?s voice.

Chris stepped on the gas, steered hard to the left and pulled the emergency brake, and when the car spun, he kicked the clutch in, put the stick into reverse and stepped on it again.

?Not bad?, Jay approved.

?Now, Chris, I want you to do a reverse 180.?, the CB sounded, this time with Fixx?s voice.

Chris released the gas pedal, kicked the clutch in and steered hard to the right. The car spun, he put it into 2nd and drove on.

?You?re pretty good, but don?t get cocky, there?s still room for improvement?, Fixx added.

?Now get the car spinning, and shoot the guns while you?re doing it. To shoot them, press the button on the wheel.?, Shred said.

Chris slowed down, put the car into first, steered and stepped on it. The car started spinning and Chris pressed the button on the wheel. The car shook as the machineguns fired. He spun a whole circle before Shred said it was ok.

?Now?, Jon said, ?You?re going to duel me. No worries, we only have blanks, so there?s no danger. And Mr. Damage is set to acknowledge the blanks as real damage.?

Shred and Fixx stopped their cars. Jon stepped on it, passed Chris, spun his tail, and started shooting. Chris swerved, slid his tail and shot. Jon-Factor spun back, accelerated, Chris followed, but Jon spilled oil onto the sand, and Chris spun, his tires everso trying to regain traction. Jon was shooting him, and Mr. Damage was blinking with yellow, red and green. Chris?s Cavera regained traction, and jumped towards Jon. Chris shot his machine guns, Mr. Damage was beeping louder and louder until Chris?s car stopped.

?You made a mistake. Never drive towards a car that?s shooting at you while you?re at low armor.?

?Well mates, it?s time to decide. Is he in or not??, Shred called.

?I?d let him in. he?s a good driver, and we?ll work on his fighting skills.? That was Fixx.

?I?d say that aswell.?, Shred approved.

? Seconded?, Jay joined.

?Well then, Chris, what handle would you like??, Jon asked.

?Hmmm... the guys at the police used to call me Wheeler... How about that then??

?Wheeler it is.?

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Thu Sep 30, 2004 1:11 pm

Wheeler ignited the engine again.

Jay extended his hand ?Welcome to the base then, Wheeler!?

They shook hands, Chris spun the car around and drove back to the base. They all parked in front of the hangar again.

Getting out of his car, Fixx called ?Chris, I mean Wheeler... Come here, I got to show you something.?

They walked to the Chief 302, ?This is the car that one of our old friends got killed in. You can take her, but take good care of her.?

?Well thank you... I always kinda liked Palominos? Wheeler couldn?t hold his grin and proceeded towards the car.

Shred opened the door and popped the hood, revealing a stroked 302.

?Here?s the engine of this baby, and here? Shred pointed at two empty spaces behind the grille ?are the weapon mounts. In here you can fit two 7.62s or two FireRites... You can also mount a cannon on the roof. There?s a bit of a downside, the hood is made of fiberglass, so I?d avoid mortars if I were you. That is, until you get some armor mounted. Oh yes I forgot, there?s a fire dropper mounted under the back of the car.?

Wheeler took the keys and sat on the driver?s seat. Fixx was on the passenger seat this time. He stepped on the gas and the car roared loudly and catapulted itself out the gate. A few moments later, the car was screaming and the speedometer needle was touching 150. Wheeler kicked the clutch in an spun the car around, put it into first as the tires sought for traction, the car everso moving backwards.

Back at the base, Jon left already, Shred was preparing to leave, and Jay sat by the CB, it was his shift on the microphone. Fixx sat in his Manta, Wheeler sat in his new Palomino and they went out the gates.

?So, Wheeler... how about a little race to Vegas??, the CB asked with Fixx?s voice.

?Was just thinking the same thing, Fixx. Go!?, Wheeler stomped on the gas pedal.

The two cars were speeding in the desert, Fixx?s Manta getting slowly ahead as minutes passed by. They reached the road to Vegas, Fixx put in into third, the exhaust popped with a yellow flame, Wheeler left his Palo in fourth. Wheeler saw Fixx get onto the road, but Fixx spun out and stoppped 60 feet off the road. Wheeler pulled the emergency brake when he realised it was oil.

Fixx shouted ?No hold up, race?s still on!?

Wheeler sped down the road leaving the Manta in the desert, but kept wondering who spilled that oil there.

A few minutes later, ?Wheeler, get back here!?, the CB sounded.

He turned around and got back to the place to see Fixx fighting one of the Clydesdales that was in Area 49 a few days ago. The Clyde was reversing and shooting, Fixx was swerving to avoid the bullets and mortar shells. Wheeler drove behind the creeper and spilled napalm on the sand. The clyde passed through the napalm and got on fire.

?Now, Wheeler! Shoot his driverside window with your .45!?, Fixx fired his MGs at the Clyde.

Wheeler got to the left side on the car and shot the window. The first shot hit the mirror, the second hit the driver right in the head. His head fell on the horn. This wasn?t the first man Chris shot, but it was the first one whom he killed. Feeling of disgust and joy of revenge filled his head simultaneously. After a moment of just sitting there in the car, he just drove back on the road.

?Wheeler, want to finish that race??, his fellow?s voice barely reached him over the CB.

?I guess...?, he replied as he cleared his mind of thoughts.

They accelerated again, and the lights of Vegas appeared on the horizon as the sun went down. They were driving at 150 miles an hour side by side and flew into Vegas.

?I guess it?s a draw, Fixx?

?Fair enough. Was a nice race though.?

?Sure was. See you tomorrow at the base, Fixx.?

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Thu Oct 14, 2004 12:48 pm

Wheeler let out a sigh as he was climbing the stairs to his apartment. He looked out the staircase window onto the street once more to admire his red Chief 302 Palomino. The old stairs were creaking under his weight and he took the key out of his pocket. It was around 2 AM. He went to the bedroom without turning on the light, his wife sound asleep by now. He lied on the bed, and today?s events came into his mind. He didn?t feel comfortable about killing a man at all, but he convinced himself it was for the best. He rolled over to his wife and fell asleep.

He dreamt a fairly strange dream. He was sitting on a window of a skyscraper, then someone pushed him out and grabbed his hand... Wheeler looked up to the man and saw an evil, but well dressed guy...

The next morning he walked in the kitchen giving a loud yawn, kissed his wife and sat to the table.

?What do you want to eat, Chris??, his wife opened the fridge. Then she mumbled to herself something about buying groceries...

?Two eggs over easy ?ll do. Some bacon aside that, honey?, Chris scratched his numb leg.

He went to the bathroom, washed his hands, then sat down to watch the morning news.

?Keep blabbering about that casino fire...? he turned the TV off just as breakfast was ready.

He sat to the table again, his wife giving him his food.

?So, anything interesting happen yesterday??, his wife attempted a conversation

Chris dug in, ?Not much... how about you??

?Oh, I went to the playground with Peter, he hurt his knee?, his wife glanced at their son, who was playing with a set of toy trains.

?Was it bad??

?No, just a scratch...?, the sound of a car horn interrupted.

Chris finished up his breakfast, said goodbye to his wife and son, grabbed his brown leather jacket and went out the apartment door. He rushed down the stairs and pushed the heavy wooden door. Fixx?s Manta came into view. Wheeler nodded at him and got into the Palomino. With a turn of the key, the stroked V8 roared to life. Wheeler just sat there for a moment, revving the engine and enjoying the wonderful sound. They went down the street and through the mesh of Vegas streets, ending up on Route 64. After driving for a while, they arrived at yesterday night?s battle ground. The Clyde was now a burnt down lump of metal. The driver was probably nothing but ashes. Fixx and Wheeler stopped to see if any of the weapons were salvageable. The mortar was completely destroyed, only one .30 caliber gun in the grille was in good shape. Fixx took the tools out the trunk of his Manta and unmounted the machine gun.

?Here? he handed the gun to Chris, ?This?ll help you out for starters, until you get some real guns.?

?Thanks...? Wheeler threw it in his trunk, ?You?ll show me how to mount it at the base.?

Fixx checked the Clyde once more, ?Fair enough... Well, nothing else is salvageable, we might as well get going...?

That said, they drove onto the dirt road and drove towards the base. As they passed between scrubs and small desert bushes, a big black car appeared. They stopped , pointing their guns at the car. Wheeler heard Fixx say over the CB: ?Friend or Foe?? There was no answer. Fixx took his pistol and carefully exited his car. He proceeded towards the blown black car, which Wheeler recognized as a Jefferson Sovereign. Keeping his aim at the driverside window he got to the car. A man was sleeping in the drivers seat. He was snorting loudly, his mouth opened. The window was a little open, to let the air in. Fixx knocked on the window rather loudly, and the guy inside woke up slowly, holding his head.

?Grumble... my head... Yaaaawwnnn... where the heck am I... whoa! Who are you??, the character inside noticed Fixx pointing a gun to his head.

?Murdock? What the hell are you doing out here? And what happened to your Lightning?? Fixx lowered his gun.

?What? Where... oh, hey Fixx... I dunno, last thing I remember is seeing everything over the bottom of a beer bottle.?

?Uh huh... But don?t come crying to me when you?re out of gas money...? Fixx rolled his eyes.

?Nah, don?t worry about that. Who?s the guy in the Palomino??

?He?s a new recruit. Goes by the nick Wheeler.?

Murdock flicked his CB on and taunted, ?Good morning America!? then proceeded, ?Wheeler, why don?t ya come over here, I don?t bite ya know.?

?Never know if your weapons do... Here I come anyway.? ,Wheeler grunted.

?And you would be?? Wheeler asked as he approached the car.

?Howling Mad Murdock, or just Murdock for short.?

?It isn?t safe to just walk around out here, let?s get to the base.? Fixx warned.

?Yeah. Race??, Murdock knew Fixx loved to race.

?Sure thing.?

Murdock started his blown Jefferson, a mighty roar came out of the tailpipes. Fixx and Wheeler got to their respective cars and lined up with Murdock. Murdock counted ?3....2.....1....GO!? The engines roared, Wheeler?s Chief 302 getting a head start , Fixx?s Manta followed suit, and the heavy Jefferson Sovereign was a bit back, sand coming out of it?s rear wheel wells. Fixx was lined up with Wheeler as their cars were hitting the 90 Mph line. Murdock?s tires had gained traction, and the Sovereign leaped towards the two lighter cars. Wheeler was getting ahead of Fixx due to the fact that his car was unarmed and therefore lighter, but he hit a ball of tumbleweed, slowing down a meaningful 20 Mph while maintaining control over the Palo. The base was now less than half a mile away, and Murdock passed Wheeler as Fixx was reaching the redline on his Manta, his speedo showing 135 miles per hour. Wheeler was pushing the gas pedal hard into the floor, hoping to regain the time he lost after hitting the tumbleweed. Murdock was catching up to Fixx, Wheeler by now not more than 150 feet behind him. ?I love this car...? Wheeler sighed to himself as he sped on with a smile on his face. He had almost catched up with now tied Murdock and Fixx. He got close to them to draft behind, so he can have some extra power to overtake them. But the base was getting close, and Murdock was getting away. The tail of the Sovereign went to the right, and the big black car slid into the base. ?Yeeeehaww!? was heard over the CB as Murdock slid to a stop. Fixx entered the base, Wheeler a car length behind.

?Nice race guys?, Murdock congratulated his two fellows whilst tapping his car on the roof.

No other cars were there.Though, there were tread marks on the sand, and sand was scaterred over the hangar floor. They entered the hangar, Fixx mumbled ?This can?t be good, Shred?s almost always here.? There was a note sticked on the CB saying ?Jon and Jay in trouble at the ammo barn, need assistance? The vigilantes ran to their cars and sped out the gates.

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Tue Oct 26, 2004 2:28 pm

When they got there, Jon?s car was already badly smoking, Jay?s car was riddled full of holes and Shred was just finishing of one of the two creepers left. Wheeler slid infront of the remaining creeper that was driving a Rattler, spilling napalm on the desert as he slid. A few bullets from the creeper?s .50 caliber turret embedded themselves in the Palomino?s lightly armored body plating. Murdock shot an Aim-Nein missile at the Rattler, but missed, only causing splash damage to the nimble sports car. Fixx spun his car and shifted into reverse, drove backwards and shot his 7.62s while aiming at the Rattler. Wheeler heard bullets ricochet and dig into the Rattler?s bodywork, as he shot his .45 at it. Murdock launched a mortar shell and the creeper gave his last, blood-curling scream over the CB.

?Everyone ok?? Shred asked.

?Yeah?
?I?m fine?
?No damage here?
?I guess so.?
?My car?s almost as good as dead, but I?m not hurt.?

The two last responses were Jay?s and Jon Factor?s, the ones that had been fighting for the longest time. Wheeler opened the door of his car and put his foot out. ?NO! Don?t get out! Wait!? he could hear Fixx both over the CB and out of his car.

Murdock looked around with his binoculars for a minute, ?Coast is clear?

Then they all got out to look for parts that could be salvaged.

Wheeler looked at the Rattler, ?This turret?s toast. Doc?s mortar must have directly hit the roof.?
Then he took a still warm part of the weapon and used it to open the hood. There was a lightly damaged 7.62 machine gun in there. The car had a pretty impressive 432 SHO engine.

?Fixx, can you give me a hand here??, Wheeler looked over to his fellow.

Fixx approached the Rattler, ?Got anything worth taking??

?This machine gun looks pretty good. Should I take it??

?Yeah, I think we got some tools in the barn to mount it to your car aswell.?

?Will do. I?ll check the rear too.?

He literally ripped the 7.62 out of the car, because the mount was twisted, making it impossible to take the gun out in any ?civilized? way. Glancing towards Shred and Jon who were walking towards the barn and mumbling something about a Moth Loadmaster truck, he put the weapon in the trunk of his car, next to the .30 caliber Fixx took from the Clyde whose driver Wheeler shot yesterday. That reminded him of his first kill in his short vigilante ?career? but now he didn?t regret it at all. That creeper would have killed him if Wheeler hadn?t pulled the trigger faster. That?s one of the few rules out here: ?It?s you or him.?
Closing the trunk with a loud click, he went towards the barn to see what?s in there. He didn?t see anything, because about halfway there, Murdock alarmed, ?Creepers in sight!? Wheeler ran back to his car and slammed the door shut. Starting the engine, flicking the CB, Mr. Damage and the radar on, he prepared for combat. But as he did that, he saw a big Moth truck drive out of the barn, leaving the doors open and nothing else in the barn. Jon said, ?We have to hide this truck somewhere safe.? Shred added, ?Protect the truck!? Soon enough they were driving in a formation, Wheeler didn?t know where they were going. He didn?t ask either. Murdock was up front, Fixx and shred were driving at the sides of the Moth, Jay and Wheeler were at the back, because Jay had oil slick installed and Wheeler had the napalm dropper. Wheeler looked in the rearview mirror every now and then to check on the creepers? distance.

?They?re closing in on us.? he said, somewhat disturbed. ?Where are we heading, anyway??

Fixx answered, ?You?ll see.?

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:49 pm

After a few minutes, he could recognize the cars. There was a Courchelle, 2 Clydesdales and one Glenn Bushmaster closing in on the convoy. Wheeler was looking in the rearview mirror as the truck shut it?s engine and swerved to the side. He was puzzled for a moment, but then he saw why Jon did that: a missile flew over his car, almost hitting the roof.

?Holy shit! That Glenn?s got missiles!? Wheeler had never been in such a situation before.

?No need to worry Wheeler, just keep your hearing focused, and if you hear something blip, turn your engine off and move to the side.?

There was no blip though, there were sounds of bullets hitting metal. Wheeler started spilling napalm on the road, and hoped that would slow down the Courchelle that was getting hot on their tail.

?Guys, there?s a clearing after the curve ahead, when we reach it, Jon will try to avoid these creepers? fire, and we?ll kill them.?, Fixx gave the tactics.

Murdock accelerated, passed the curve and spun his car. He cracked his fingers while waiting for the creepers. He started humming a melody to himself, he was not the nervous type. Soon he saw the truck and his colleagues. ?Damn creeper scum! Eat lead!? he shouted as he shifted into reverse, shooting his mortar. He locked his Aim-nein to the oncoming Courchelle and fired it. The impact caused the Courchelle driver to lose control and spin out, letting Murdock blow his cars to pieces with his mortar. ?One down.? He acknowledged.

As Murdock was killing the creeper, the moth and the group had reached the clearing. Wheeler spilled napalm all over the road. One of the Clydes slid into it, but the Bushmaster avoided it. The other Clyde came speeding, chased by Murdock. The Clyde shot a rear mounted mortar, which blew off the blower scoop off Murdock?s engine and cracking the whole bullet proof windshield. Murdock swerved hard and avoided the next shot, but the shrapnel blew his rear left tire. Jay was shooting at the Clydesdale that had slid into napalm and Wheeler took three shots at the passenger side window. All of them missed. He sped up again, spilling napalm and trying to pass directly infront of the Clyde, but he was too close and the Clyde hit his rear left quarterpanel. He spun out and started going backwards, but it happened too fast for him to ease off the napalm trigger, so he made considerable damage to the wheels and chassis of his car. Jay?s shots were doing damage to the Clyde, and that fight had now turned into a front-to-front shootout. After a few seconds, both of their engines shut off. The Clyde driver jumped out of his car in an attempt to shoot Jay and Wheeler ran him over. The Glenn was the only creeper left now. It was racing towards the Moth while shooting it?s Aim-Neins at it. Jon avoided 4 of the 6 rockets the Bushmaster launched, before Shredmaster shot his rear. The driver spun the Glenn and raced towards Wheeler and would?ve crashed into the Palomino, but Wheeler avoided the crash. As he passed Wheeler, the Glenn driver accelerated and sped back on the road to the barn. Wheeler attempted to chase him, but he was too damaged. Shred and Fixx also tried, but the Glenn was too fast.

?Shit! He?ll tell the others where we are!? Fixx exclaimed.

?How about we get to our base, get all our stuff and split?? Murdock suggested.

?We?ve got too little time for that. The creepers come back really fast. I think our best bet is to run to our base and defend ourselves from there.?, Jon?s suggestion was taken.

Shred took Jay into his car, and they all drove back to the base.

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 2:44 pm

After a long pause, I decided to get back to the story. Here's the new paragraph.

*******************************************************8

When they arrived at the base, Fixx proceeded to close and block the massive steel gate. Shredmaster went into he hangar and switched an electric switch on. Wheeler was looking around for the effect of this, and realised that their base had lots of turrets like the ones he had seen back in Area 49, all of which opened their doors with some screeching, it would seem they hadn't been maintained for some time. There was one on top of each side of the steel gate. Jon and Jay climbed into them, replacing their battered automobiles with hard metal shells with two heavy machine guns. Murdock went to the CB in the hangar, carrying a 12 gauge shotgun. Wheeler was instructed to spill napalm under the gate, incase the creepers blew it open, and then he too climbed into a turret, which was ground level and integrated into the wall. He gazed unknowingly at the joystick and a fair share of buttons inside.

"How the hell do I operate this?", he shouted up to Jay.

"Control it with the joystick and fire with the big button on it. Don't mind all the buttons, they're no use." Jay seemed like he had been in lots of situations like this before.

Just about the time that Shred parked the Moth in the hangar and shut the hangar door, the first creepers came into view, an enormous dust cloud behind them. The vigilantes had the advantage of having the sun behind their backs, because it was evening and the sun was low in the west, while the creepers approached from the east.

Wheeler was looking through the little window in his steel "cabin", trying to count the creepers, but no use. There was too much dust to see the cars behind the first three. He heard gunfire from Jon's and Jay's turrets, and began to shoot the incoming cars aswell. The creepers started to swerve and slide in an attempt to avoid the bullets, shooting their automotive arsenal at the same time. Bullets were digging into the brick walls around Wheeler's turret, his face frowning while holding the trigger relentlessly. He was able to recognize some of the cars now, he was shooting at a brown Dover Lightning, and he was doing a good job too, the car burst into flames and flipped over its nose. He must've hit the gas tank. As he paused to find his new target, he saw that they were under siege of roughly about fifteen cars. Six or seven of them were the Area 49 Clydes. One of them blew up and Wheeler heard Jay taunt "Come get some more, dirt bags."

The former policeman found his new target in the form of the Glenn that escaped them earlier. It took him some time to kill him, considering the damage it took earlier. There were now 11 cars left, Shred had climbed onto the base wall and fired a rocket into an ABX Leprechaun. The vigilantes were fighting a lossless fight uptil now, and it seemed that it would end in that fashion. But then a Courcheval van sped towards the base, Jon was shooting it but inflicted little to no damage as the van slammed the gate open, blowing it off hinges and turning the gate into twisted metal. The van driver however didn't expect the napalm and caught fire. Shred fired a rocket, and the van turned into a fiery wreckage. The creepers outside quickly concentrated on the vigilantes' cars, which were now in the line of fire. Shred's blue Palomino got destroyed very quickly. Wheeler paid no attention to this, he was occupied with shooting the creeper army outside. "What is in that truck that they want so badly?" he kept thinking. Fixx managed to get to his car and defend the other cars. He shot the Manta's cannon at the creepers, killing one of them instantly. The shell hit directly through the driver side window, tearing the driver into pieces.

It was not a pretty sight for Wheeler, he seemed to doubt the righteousness of all this everso deeper into the fight. He knew that it wasn't good, and that the creepers would have killed him instantly had they been given the chance, but still the feeling that he judged over the lives of people wasn't a good one. His grip on the trigger wasn't so tight anymore. Maybe creepers were forced to do this...?

Something happened then, something that made Wheeler furious: Shred screamed in pain and fell to the ground. Wheeler couldn't see where he was shot, or was he even alive, but he looked at the remaining six creepers and muttered to himself: "Forced or not, you're not shooting my fellows."

The 7.62mm bullets were ripping into one of the Clyde's front quarterpanel. Smoke started billowing from under the hood, the engine must've been shot. Soon after, as more bullets hit their target, the big Phaedra truck exploded into pieces. Jon and Jay were doing their share of defending very well, there were now only a Vikea wagon and a Manta left. It was hard for Wheeler to shoot them at ground level, the field was full of wreckages which made good hiding spots for the two creepers. He managed to blow one of the Vikea's tires, and it spun out. The driver turned dead-on to Wheeler's turret and shot with his roof mounted rockets. One of the turret's machineguns got destroyed, leaving him with the other, which was getting low on ammo. Being a good shot, he aimed at the driver and killed him instantly. Fixx killed the Manta soon after.

Wheeler ran to Shred immediately, ignoring Jay's shouts "No! We have to check if anyone of them is alive!..." Shred was muttering unrecognizable words, he was alive, but in great pain. There was a puddle of blood mixed with dirt around his right shoulder where he was shot. Wheeler took his T-shirt and wrapped an 8-knot from Shred's armpit to his neck, stopping the bleeding.

The others ran to see how Shred was.

"Is he alive?" Jon asked, visibly worried.

"He's badly hurt, but he's going to live. We just need to get an adequate wrap." Wheeler knew about injuries, afterall, he was in the police for a long time.

They took a piece of the steel door, placed Shred on it and carried him inside the hangar.

"No one's in CB range!", Murdock had been trying to call in help from other vigilantes.

"What is in that truck?" Wheeler asked, looking at the big red Loadmaster.

"A lot of ammo and... well... yeah, a lot of ammo." Jay seemed to hesitate about answering.

Wheeler noticed this and realized that it was because he was only a vigilante for two days. They couldn't know if he was trustworthy yet.

He said goodbye to the others, and went to his car. The sun was slowly integrating with the desert. He drove through the graveyard with burning steel coffins with disgust. He had killed 6 people in two days. This bothered him, but he drove his thoughts away from that with some music on the radio.

The Palomino purred as Wheeler drove off down the dirt road.

Wheeler · Post by **Wheeler** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 7:56 am

His car a bit damaged by creepers' bullets, Wheeler got onto Route 64, the road toward Vegas. His right arm was resting on the shifter, his face sporting a worried expression and his whole body tired. He wasn't in the mood for driving, even the kind of driving that gets him to his relatively safe apartment. The engine was gurgling at a mere 500 rpm higher than idle. This gave 50 mph in fourth gear. He heard engines roar behind him. This gave him a slight d?j? vu. He was surprised to see his fellow vigilantes speed by. The CB cracked with Jay's voice:

"C'mon Wheeler, catch us if you can!"

"Not now, I'm too tired to keep my eyes open, see you guys tomorrow." Wheeler spoke in an exhausted voice.

Kssshhhhh. He turned off the CB. He watched the taillights of the war machines dissapear into the growing dark. Seeing the vigilantes brought his mind back to today's, it's safe to say, war. He was thinking about the fight at the barn, the chase, defending the base; and then he thought about the truck. This bugged his mind more than anything. An idea popped into his head: he could go back and see what's in it, since there was no-one there anymore. Or was there? He wasn't sure of the number of taillights he had seen. He was only sure that he hadn't seen the truck. But he was willing to take the risk. He turned his car around and sped up slightly. He wasn't feeling like snuffing around the base in the dead of night with the possibility of some creepers still alive.

The car graveyard came into sight as he drove nearer to the base. The big metal gate was replaced by wreckages and parts of the destroyed door. It wasn't possible to get in with his car, so he drove around and between the destroyed creepers' cars to check if someone was still alive. There seemed to be no one. He parked his car and climbed over the improvised gate. "Crap" he muttered to himself as he saw Murdock's car still in the base. It was getting dark, so he used the shadows along the walls of the base to hide himself. He looked around, but he couldn't see the truck. Then he remembered that Shred parked it into the hangar before the battle. He looked around once more in hopes of spotting Murdock, but he couldn't see him. "Damn" he thought, "he must be in the hangar, on the CB." He had to lure him out somehow. He didn't think too long when he saw a rock on the floor, just the size to fit nicely in his hand. Picking it up, he noticed a door hanging off of one of the wrecks that made the "gate". With a swift movement of his hand he hit the door hinge, separating the door from the car and making a nice amount of noise. He ran as quick as he could to the closed hangar. There was a flashlight beam soon after, coming from the back of the hangar. Wheeler realized that Murdock must have went out the back door. He ran around the other side, and entered the hangar. He closed the door and put the table with the CB against it and blocked the handle with a cannon that must have been salvaged off one of the metal carcasses outside.

With the door now properly blocked, he examined the hangar for a bit. He'd never say it was big enough to store a Loadmaster, but that wasn't of any importance now. He had to open the container on the truck. There were 2 locks on it. Grabbing another piece of salvage, an LMG this time, he jammed it into one of the locks like a crowbar and pulled with all his might. After a good three seconds of pulling, and he was already tired, the first lock broke, which made a noise. Soon, there was banging on the door. Murdock must have heard him. Paying little to no attention to this, Wheeler broke the upper lock on the truck and opened the door. There was a lot of crates inside, and a little aisle along the left side. He wondered how everything looked untouched in here, considering the few rockets and bullets the truck took earlier that day. Looking at the crates, he proceeded along the aisle, his heart pounding with what was almost excitement, he was about to discover what was in the truck. Reaching the end, he dropped to the floor in shock: it wasn't a "what", it was a "who". And two of them, to be precise. Their limbs bound and their mouths taped, these were no ordinary "whos". It was someone he knew very well.

It was his wife and his son.

******

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