4. Chapter 4 (1/1)

act ii - resist

we walked through the dark cave area until we came to a lit area. we turned right into what seemed like a drop off. but beswick pushed a button and i heard the sound of metal clanking. soon enough there was a lift in front of us. beswick stepped on and i followed him. he pushed a button and the door closed and we started going down. i looked through the metal grating of the lift and i saw some people below behind barricades. they were armed too and were wearing vests. the lift came to a stop at the metal flooring. although i could see that we could have gone further down. the huge cave had a ramp leading up into 5 tunnels. but the vested people were standing on the far right tunnel. the tunnel had a sign over it that said steelyard. we passed the two guards who were looking at me as we passed. one had a face wrap and the other was wearing a gas mask. we kept walking down the tunnel. unlike what i thought a normal mine would be like this one had flat flooring and power. as we walked further down the tunnel i heard tons of voices and saw some people standing in the midst of 5 shacks. i looked in awe towards the sky once we came to the big opening. there was vegetation growing throughout the walls and the sky looked so clear, compared to how the cities sky looked. beswick turned to me. "listen alexei... this is the last hope for mankind. everyone here who isn't doing their part here is a refugee. anyone else, that would be the vested. the lambda. of course, refugees that don't necessarily like the name refugee make their own groups. we try to include everyone's ideas and groups here. but we can't just have everyone voting. we have two people from every faction in our council. if you can't deal with all this we understand. you can leave. but we'd rather you stay so you aren't helping the combine by working in your city. so, what do you say?" i looked at him intently and said "i'm staying. but my soul purpose here is to run people to and from the city. i have been to cities where the combine fuck over most people. i'll be damned if i let one more person fall to them without me having a chance to save them." "alright then, good. at least i know you can be persuasive. come, we need to get you out of those clothes. we have a place where we can get you some winter coats, jeans, beanies, and gloves." he pointed over to a shack. "you can ask the woman at the desk to get you clothes." i nodded. and walked off. through the gate there were more people than i would imagine in the caves. i walked up to the woman and asked, "beswick told me you can get me out of these clothes." she looked up with a stern expression. as if se were at this for days. "yeah. i can get you some basic clothing that can be passed as legal in the city. here," she handed over a

own jacket some dirty jeans a beanie and some gloves. "you will also need this." she handed over a red and white piece of cloth. "what is this for?" i asked. "well normally what we do in the city is illegal. so what we do is we cover our facial appearance as to stay hidden. don't wear it outright though. they are illegal in the city. only wear it when you are running or in the canals." "alright thanks for the tip. i had better get back to beswick now. goodbye." i walked to a corner where i didn't see anyone and changed. the clothes for almost perfectly, but still felt pretty worn. i headed back to where beswick was. as i walked up to him i saw the guard from outside, finley, and jack with him. they all looked at me and jack smiled. "now you look better. here. i know you just got here and all but you did say you wanted to smuggle people out of the city. i've made another map for you. here." he handed me a piece of paper that had a colored path that led to a place labeled "city". i took it and put it in the coats pocket. "thanks. i will remember this. now i had better get back before they notice i'm gone or something. i won't be gone long though. goodbye." they nodded and looked back to each other. i walked to the lift and left the caves.

- back at the city -

i slipped through the metal grating that led back into the city. there were another four people out this time. they just looked at me and nodded though. no words. i climbed the ladder back onto the catwalk and went through the doorways. as i emerged from the sewer entrance the sun was low in the sky. i had to work fast. all i needed was to grab some supplies from the ration distribution center and get some water. then maybe i'd even find someone to take with me back. i went to the rations distribution and i was the only one in line. i approached the counter and the guard asked "name and cid." i remember i needed to look at that. i pulled out the paper that the woman from the nexus gave me. i said "alexei vladislav, 24240." they looked at me for a second. then went back to punching in numbers. he handed me a bag labeled "rations" and a poster. "get out of here" he said. i walked off. outside i opened the bag. inside i found some credits, beans, and some water. i opened and took a sip of the water and threw it away. as well as the bag. all i needed to do now was get some water for the group. i went to a vending machine and put in 21 credits. three waters popped out of the machine and i took them and put them in my bag. i turned around and a guard was walking up to me with his stun baton out... i stood as still as i could. when he got up to me he looked me up and down. "get on the wall." he said. i did so. he started patting me down. i stood there, clearly i had nothing to hide. the face wrap was legal as long as i wasn't wearing it. "what's this?" he asked. i turned around and saw him holding it. "that's just my handkerchief." he started laughing and threw it back at me. "put it away and come with me. we are going for a little walk." just then i saw a citizen creeping up behind him with a pipe. i stood there, looking at the guard. waiting for this guy to do something. "well what are you waiting for? put it away and let's.." the man thrusted his arms up and

ought it down on the guards head. the guard fell to the ground. "come on let's get the hell out of here." the man said. i picked up my face wrap and started running from the nexus. i turned around and saw some guards look from the body to us, they drew their pistols and started shooting. i put on my face wrap. the man was bobbing and weaving through all these bullets. just barely missing him. we turned a corner and he went through a doorway. but as i came through we saw the combine inside. but that didn't stop him. he raised his pipe and crashed it down on the guards head. he fell to the ground before he even knew what was happening. just then, the door

oke down and a small little can rolled in. it had a red light beeping on top of it. the man grabbed me by my shoulders and threw me behind a desk. i heard a loud explosion and the combine soldiers rushing in. the man dragged me to my feet and we took off running to the other exit. he bashed down the door. we were headed straight for district two. i turned around, and there were 4 cps behind us. one raised his pistol and i remembered, bob and weave, bob and weave. we made it to a new entrance to district two. we ran past two unsuspecting citizens who looked at us as we sprinted past. the man jumped down off a wooden platform. and i realized, we were at the construction site. i ran into the sewers with him. we stood behind a wall so we were away from the entrance. gasping for air, i managed "th... thanks. who the hell are you?" "don't mention it. i'm raven."