Containment in Skyscrapers Chapter 15

[tankicola 111]

Chapter 15

 

There was a shocked silence as everyone tried to digest the meaning of the words. Leo was the first to speak. “What does this mean?” he asked. 

Redman shook his head, looking dazed.

Cherry’s cough brought him out of his reverie. 

“We need to leave Skyscrapers,” he said. 
 

“Justin!” barked Field Marshal Arthur Macleen. 

Major Justin Tyranniaca held up a hand to the person talking to him. 

“Yes?” he called.

“I need a meeting with you, Redman, George, Rosemary and Molly,” Arthur said.

Justin nodded and turned away. Arthur rubbed his hands together. 

“Good,” he muttered, seemingly to himself.

 

Minutes later, Justin, Arthur, Rose, George and Redman were all behind two smooth locked doors. 

“So, when will the plan work?” asked Arthur. “They have not left. They are still patrolling the city perimeters.”

“Well, sir. I have some good information about that matter. We have successfully isolated them in the SPP.”

“Good,” mused Arthur. “But when will Atra’s reinforcements arrive? We need that crucial piece of information.”

“We do not know, sir. But Atra’s forces have proposed a date. The ninteenth of November.”

Arthur sneered. “The ninteenth! By then we would either be dead or we would have defeated them. That date is irrelevant for the time being. We should focus on their plans now. Now tell me,” said Arthur, turning to Justin. “Have you managed to take back control of the compound?”

Justin shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Well, sir. We haven’t. And we can’t try.”

“Why not?” asked Arthur.

“They have already stationed their tanks and guns there. They think we might target the place first.”

Arthur looked disatisfied with this information. “Why did you not tell me this earlier? We could have stopped them.”

“We only got the information today, sir.”

“Then we must act sooner. The plan we have been hatching must be changed. We will have to act on the sixteenth.”

There was an outbreak of mutinous and incredulous muttering.

“But sir! The sixteenth?! All of our troops have been-”

“You misunderstand, Michael. Our plan will not work if we revert back to the old one. You will tell all the other troops the plan. We have two days.”

Arthur raised a hand as Redman began to protest.

“Silence, Redman. Now to Rosemary. I was under the impression that most of the forces are isolated in the SPP’s grounds.”

“You would be right to assume so,” replied Rose.

“Is the leader of the group there?” asked Arthur.

Rose nodded.

Arthur smiled. “Go and gather your troops.”

 

“Why?” asked Leo. “I though the whole point of-”

“We need to leave,” repeated Redman. 

“Why?” asked Cherry.

“It’s too dangerous to stay here,” said Redman. “We will have to leave soon, maybe even today.”

Rose nodded. 

“But first we all need some sleep,” said Redman. 

“Wait,” said Cherry. “Can I try and get the CCTVs working? I can check if any of the crazy people are approaching.”

“Sure.”

“Wait, can I join?” asked Leo.

Redman looked at Rose.

She nodded.

Leo and Cherry exchanged excited but also fearful glances.

 

Once the door had closed behind them, Cherry and Leo went around the room, connecting wires, trying to get the monitors to work. 

After many failed attempts, a reasonable amount of cursing, a few damaged cables, and a bruised fist, they had got the computer-like objects to work.

Their screens flickered feebly, then all turned razor-sharp in detail. 

Cherry high-fived Leo. 

Both of them sat down on dusty chairs and observed the screens. There was nothing interesting about what they showed them. 

Disappointment swept over the duo, but then Cherry gasped. 

“Look! There’s a playback sign! You can play all the footage back!”

Leo clicked on the option. 

There was a wide range of dates, spanning from 2492 to 2509.

Leo played it all back. 

They made an agreement to always skip the daytime, and if there was nothing interesting in the first ten minutes of the night, they would skip the day.

After three hours of staring, Leo and Cherry were feeling extremely tired.

Yawning, Leo skipped another day. 

Cherry was rubbing her eyes.

Cherry was about to drift to sleep when she saw Bill’s figure on camera 3. 

She stared longingly and intently at him. 

Bill was running.

She saw him glancing backwards, and was about to shout a warning before he hit his head on a metal pole. 

The pole split, causing water to gush out. 

Spluttering and cursing madly, Bill stood up, waving his hands above his head and spitting.

Then Cherry saw Redman running down the alleyway too.

As he ran, he drew something black from the inside of his pocket.

“Oh my-” gasped Cherry.

There were five loud gunshots. 

With a loud splash, Bill staggered backwards and hit the floor. 

Blood was mingling with the water now. 

[Person_Random 4,991]

Approved.

Woah, that was a lot to digest. It's a shorter and more dialogue-heavy chapter, but the style fits really well, opening up parts the plot with description mixed in there. Overall, your writing is amazing; I'm especially impressed with the way that the plot is developing. If I remember correctly, this looks to me like a dark twist has just come. This feels only like a small spoiler to the start of some huge action - I can't wait!

Edits: minor spacing fixes, added Oxford commas.