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Please, don't kill me.

Daniel_Infinity

New Member
Sigh. I just ran out of my trial version of MS Office 2004, which I had no idea would impact my writing so much. It turns out the nice layout and everything gave me some kind of incentive to hack away at my keyboard! The first two weeks were amazing! I did at least two thousand words a day, over the course of nine hours, but I still did it :) (so much for doing a thousand words an hour... too many mistakes that way.)
Then after those two weeks I started to slug on my writting and I also did a quick revision which really turned me off, (I went around changing the tense!! IT WAS A BUMMER!! So many was, and went, and said! Lol, I almost died!)
Anyhow, before I kill you guys with more senseless blabber I would like to know what you guys think of this piece from somewhere in the middle of my story. Please, crucify me on my grammar and everything because I want to take any and all critique and apply it to the entire story, which I do actually plan on publishing somewhere within this month, (Hehe, hello September!) Oh, and just as a forewarning, there are curse words used, tis why the fifteen warning :)


Chapter Eight (I don't know if I'll make any more chapters before it, but right now in my draft it's chapter eight.)


CHAPTER EIGHT - 2049
03/03/49: 6:00PM Wednesday

Christopher is just released from the Texas State Prison.
He is a 6’ 2½” Caucasian with a slim build and black hair, trimmed just below his ears. In the time he was there he has grown some facial hair that he couldn’t keep in check. The foul smell of prison life reeks from his torso and armpits. His face is grim from the years at the Texas State Prison, his mind weak.

Flanked by two larger guards equipped with bulletproof body armor and M16 rifles. The forty-six year old has been imprisoned since he was twenty-eight. The guards usher Christopher out, stuffing papers into his hands and forces him to sign before pushing him through the front exit.
“And don’t come back!” One of them yells out.

Christopher stops himself in his tracks, coughs and takes a breath of the fresh air. Finally, he is out! Some old newspapers flutter about the ground. A couple pages catch onto his leg. He looks down. The headliner reads, ‘CENTAUR1 TO LAUNCH APRIL 13TH!’ It is all over the news, The Centauri project, Dimensions, finding another world. Christopher disregards it until his brain fully registers what the newspaper is saying.

“Shit!” He cusses aloud. He has to do something otherwise the lives of twenty thousand people will be at the mercy of velocity. His eyes spin from side to side. He needs a car.

“Hey, what the **** are you doing out here?” An officer yells out. He had just pulled into the parking lot from a patrol. It is the end of his shift but seeing a person standing in the parking lot next to the sidewalk of the Texas State Prison wearing an orange prison jumpsuit didn’t look at all inconspicuous.

“No, wait! My clothes, here, I was released,” Christopher tries to explain, holding out some ragged pieces of clothing in his left hand and tries to show some papers in his right hand. The officer has already drawn his gun. A couple of other officers heard the commotion and rush to the scene, guns drawn.

“I’m not a fucking criminal!” Christopher cries out. He holds his arms up, dropping his old clothes and the papers he was given.

“Shut up!” One of the officers yells back. “And get on your damn knee’s!”

“Alright! Alright!” Christopher complies. He drops to his knees. No concern of the pain that rattles through his legs when he hits the ground. His eyes are weakening.
The guards are probably going to handcuff him and throw him against the curb until they go over his papers and then confirm it with the administration. All of the time some asshole will have a gun pressed against his face and probably would be assaulting him to no ends.
**** this! He thinks. There are only three guards there anyways; maybe he has a fighting chance. No way in hell will Christopher stand by and let the Centaur1 explode while he still has breath in him.

The officer that had pulled in with the patrol car, the one that first noticed Christopher; slowly lowers his gun in his left hand and pulls a pair of handcuffs off his belt with his right hand. His name is Matthew, and this is his second year as a police officer. He joined right after all law enforcement coalitions formed a general police force. It is only established through several states in America, others are still reluctant to join.

“Hands behind your fucking back!” Matthew yells. Christopher brings his hands to his back. They are slightly bent to allow movement.

“I’m not going back.” Christopher quietly assures himself. He closes his eyes for a moment, wondering if this is what he really wanted.

“Should I check his I.D.?” Matthew asks the other officers. He is referring to the electronic identification chip that is embedding in three out of four American’s. The government has promised it is for the safety of its’ people, but conspiracy theorists and human activist groups have still rallied against the chip; claiming it is for spying on the people and giving more control to the government.
One of the guards shrugs. The other guard shakes his head.
“We could check that bastard after we get him in. Now bring him over here!”

Christopher is set on not going back. He pushes himself up with his knees, swinging his arm back creating an elbow that slams into Matthew’s neck. He does it as soon as Matthew is going to holster his pistol, to better handcuff Christopher. That gave Christopher the time he needed to execute his attack.
The gun slides from Matthew’s hand easily, and he falls to the ground holding his neck and gasping for breath. Christopher holds out his hand and receives the gun easily, flips it around, shooting one of the officers’ twice before the other officer manages to shoot him in the chest. He falls on his right knee, partly because of the shot, partly because of the body’s nervous reactions. His arms swing, bringing the pistol with them. They are now pointing at the officer that shot him. Both pistols fire! Another bullet hits Christopher in the gut. His bullet punctures the officer’s Adam’s apple. It is a lucky shot; Christopher was aiming for the torso because it was the most probable area to hit.

The alarm goes off. Footsteps of dozens of prison guards are rushing to the scene. Christopher scrambles to his feet. He grabs the electronic keychain from Matthew and dashes toward the patrol car.

“There he is!” A guard shouts out before Christopher gets in the patrol car and makes an exit down the prison lane. Some of the guards take aim and fire at the car but give up after they realize it isn’t doing any good.

The police soon take pursuit of the stolen cruiser. They try to electronically disable it but Christopher manages to jam the communication network by bending the antenna toward the floor of the patrol car, canceling out their signal. He is trying to figure out where he could go. Who could he count on? His mind races through everyone he knew nineteen years ago. Nobody comes to mind, at least not anybody that could help him with his current situation. Wait; there is a Charles guy, worked for the Navy and was an engineer with NASA years before the Centauri project. But how is he going to convince him that there is a problem with the Centauri project, how is he even going to find him? The computer! Christopher jacks the antenna back up and flips open the tough book computer. His right hand immediately navigates through the American criminal database. It is the fastest way for him to find anyone on a police computer. He types in Charles, pauses to figure out his last name, Burden? Barone? Bergen? Burgundy! The screen flashes a mug shot of a teenager. At first Christopher thinks he’s got the wrong guy until he reads the date of the picture, 2013! This must have been a crime he committed in his youth! It also states that Charles Burgundy is currently on leave from the LynDimesions laboratory in Texas. Not too far from where Christopher is.

The patrol car launches itself down a major city road, skidding before the Texas State Police headquarters shuts it down. The doors lock and the windows bar. A sleeping gas is unleashed inside the vehicle. Christopher hacks away at the computer keyboard, trying to keep it on just a little longer. The screen keeps flickering on and off but Christopher persists in finishing sending messages and hacking into the cruiser’s mainframe.

Four police cruisers surround the patrol car that Christopher has stolen. Gases are seeping through the cracks in the sealant, escaping into the atmosphere. Six police officers’ rush to surround the car with their guns drawn, two others stays at their cruisers, arched over the hoods of the patrol cars, aiming at the stolen cruiser.
The police Sergeant seems to be nervous, he makes sure not to rush any action. The big fellow stands at 6’5” and has a very defined build. He isn’t huge but bigger then the average American. His natural hair color is black, but now half of it is grey. He has green eyes and his skin is brandishing his age of forty-eight very well. “Nobody shoots unless I give the go.” He orders. After receiving a few nods from his fellow officers’ he gestures to the officer at his side.

“Alright, open it.” That officer radios to the Texas State police headquarters. All four doors swing open. Clouds of green sleeping gas escape from the confinements of the cruiser. After a couple of yells and warnings the gas is thin enough to see through to the inside of the car.

Character count reached. Will repost the rest on a reply.



Thanks for any response! And even though it's not perfect, nor stealworthy, to other writers: copywritten material, please do not use any of the intellectual property posted herein.

Thanks everyone :)
Daniel
 
There is nobody there.

“What the ****?” One of the officers’ speculates. He is the first to approach the car. He looks under the car, inside and under the seats of the car. He still can’t find anybody there. “Where is he?” The officer demands.

“That fucker’s good. He probably ditched the car before giving us back our signal. Why else would’ve he connected back to our network? Tow the piece of shit out of here.” The Sergeant relieves. He lets out a sigh and holsters his pistol before anyone else. “Damn he’s good.” He whispers before getting in his cruiser with his partner and leaving the scene.

A tow truck brings the stolen patrol car to the Texas State police garage. The Sergeant is waiting for it. He orders the other officers’ to leave the preliminary investigation to him. That requires for him to be alone. After the tow truck releases the car, the driver gets a signature from the Sergeant then leaves. At first glance it doesn’t look like there is any damage. The police Sergeant then peers under to see if there was anyway Christopher could’ve escaped that way. There is nothing there. Then he remembers when something similar happened to him in 2020, and what he was advised by Christopher.
The police Sergeant takes a glance around to make sure he is alone and then pops the trunk open.

“Christopher!” He astonishes.

“Hey Macaw.” Christopher replies. He is in a bloody mess, literally. But his smile is still brandishing the young soul and energy inside.

What Christopher did was use crawl under the driver’s seat into the back, and then pull down the cover that separated the backseats from the trunk, and crawled into the trunk. It wasn’t something he could do easily, but it was still something he could do. The reason he was at the police tough book was merely to erase any trace of his search for Charles Burgundy, otherwise the police would know where he was planning to go and to who. Also to contact Macaw and let him know the situation he was in. Throughout the ride he fell unconscious once for five minutes, the bumpiness of the ride woke him. He had to clench himself tightly to suppress the pain and blood loss from his wounds.

Sergeant Macaw leans over to pull Christopher from the truck. There is blood all over the trunk, all over Christopher’s shirt.

Macaw still owes Christopher for the bust he made in 2023 that really paved the way through his career. He had been working on an undercover case with a powerful organized crime unit over the period of four years. Christopher had assisted him in priceless ways that saved his life and aided in his mission. Macaw became a Captain easily and was on his way for promotion before the entire department went under. Because of the boom of population the government had revised every department and ranking. They brought in superiors from other states and recruited two hundred more officers’ over the course of two weeks. Nothing was stable in the department and Macaw was shuffled around until they finally decided on throwing the rank of Sergeant on him. He didn’t keep his salary either. It dropped, immensely! The state department needed the funds even worse and so Macaw had to settle with a lower pay and was promised that he’d receive good benefits. He didn’t. It was just an improvement for senior ranking officers’ or newly recruited officers’, a mere gimmick to get them to join or come over from other states.

“****. I can’t believe seeing you like this!” Macaw sympathizes.

“I’m alright.”

“You can’t even go to a hospital. Shit! You know I tried to get you out of that fucking prison earlier but my department is all messed up! And I knew that guy who let you go too! What an asshole! I can’t believe I trusted him!” Macaw confesses.

“I’m alright!” Christopher assures.

“Let me get you some bandages, at least.”

“Thanks.”

03/03/49: 11:32PM Wednesday
Macaw and Christopher are dining in a Japanese restaurant. Macaw is having a Teriyaki chicken, chow mein course and Asashi imported beer. Christopher has a California roll and a small apple juice. He doesn’t have an appetite, but Macaw really convinced him to get something to snack on. The restaurant is practically empty, save a couple, four tables down sitting in a booth sharing a bubble tea. The tables are all dimly lit to create a mood that goes nicely with the Japanese string music playing tranquilly through the speakers on the ceiling. The waitress is a young Japanese miss. She has short black hair and a fair complexion. All the employees’ wear heritage-traditional clothing, or Kimono’s. The type of clothing that the history books claim the Japanese wore a hundred years ago.

“So, what are you going to do now?” Macaw asks. He is no longer in uniform. Instead he is wearing plain clothes, a pair of black jeans and a white semi-dress over shirt. Christopher is wearing one of Macaw’s black over shirts and a pair of blue jeans. He has a white undershirt and his entire torso is done up in medical bandages but the blood still managed to seep through. He keeps his over shirt buttoned up so that his injuries weren’t noticeable.

“I’ve got to find a guy named ’Charles Burgundy.’” Christopher informs. He does his best to sip his apple juice, even in all the pain he is in.

“Damn, I can’t believe you! You’re lucky the bullets went right through. And you’re still pursuing this shit? You could’ve been killed back there! You could be dead!” Macaw argues.
?“But I didn’t, and I’m not!” Christopher exclaims. “I’m not giving up until I am fucking dead.”

Macaws’ cell phone rings. His ring tone is the latest hit single from the band MISPENTZ. The music is solemn and paced; the vocalist is vibrant and captivating, somehow the track is perfectly balanced and everything uniquely coincides with each other, even the lyrics that are about living, loving and losing everything. Christopher grabs Macaws’ hand as Macaw raises the phone to answer it. Christopher closes his eyes and rests his head on his chair. Macaw understands what Christopher is going through so he just lets the phone ring.

“I’m not standing in the crowd waiting for someone to go and try to extinguish the fire before I do myself, afraid to be different, afraid to get burnt. I’m fucking burning, and I’ll go to hell knowing that I have a conscious.” Christopher confesses. He opens his eyes as the phone stops ringing. “I love that fucking group.”

The waitress comes around and lays a small electronic bill on the table with two mints. She smiles and walks away. Macaw pulls his VISA card out of his wallet and sweeps it over the bill then scribbles his signature and a tip amount of four dollars. He takes one last sip of his beer before getting up, grabbing the two mints and pocketing them. Christopher struggles to push himself to his feet. He is still in great pain, but he could manage.

“Can you drop me off at the NASA research lab?” Christopher asks.

“You mean LynDimensions? Yeah I can.” Macaw replies. “The least I can do. If you ever need my help, you know how to reach me.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t sweat it. Just keep yourself alive.”
The two enters the blue unmarked Crown Victoria. It is an older model from 2043, but as always it is the standard police cruiser. The caprice was as good as old history now. The engine revs to three thousand rotations per minute as soon as Macaw pushes the start button. The reason it revs that high is so that it is ready ‘on-call.’ The engine has a sophisticated cooling system to prevent overheating in the summer when the engine starts.
The rpm’s slowly lower to two thousand rotations per minute and Macaw shifts into reverse, pulling out of the parking stall he is in.

“Lyndon B. Johnson, here we come!”

04/03/49: 2:14AM Thursday
A blue unmarked Crown Victoria pulls up along an alleyway near LynDimensions. The entire surrounding area hosts commercial and apartment buildings. From being practically deserted save the Lyndon B. Johnson facilities, to becoming a thriving commercial and residential junction. The Crown Victoria is parked four blocks away from the eight-foot barbwire fence around LynDimensions. Macaw doesn’t want to get too close to avoid suspicion. Christopher peers down the alley, past a couple buildings, to catch a glimpse of the fence.

“Fucking crazy.” He comments.

“Wait a second.” Macaw warns. He has been navigating through the computer databases. “Charles Burgundy right? He’s on temporary leave!”

“Oh yeah, now I remember. That’s what it said on the computer in the other cruiser.” Christopher recalls. He sighs then takes another glimpse at the fence. At least this way he wouldn’t have to try and scale that thing.

“Come on, I have an address.” Macaw informs. He starts the Crown Victoria and heads south away from LynDimesions. They cruise down a few major routes and turn down several empty streets. There are hardly any cars out at this hour, but still, Texas has its share of night dwellers. Christopher’s eyes are getting heavy. It’s been such a rough day his body is slowly shutting down. Macaw glances over every five minutes to see when Christopher falls asleep. He notices with his third glance that Christopher has fallen into a deep sleep. He doesn’t snore, nor did he move, but Macaw could tell he isn’t going to get up from or for anything before five hours through.

“Goodnight buddy.”

Character count reached. Will repost the rest on a reply.


Thanks for any response! And even though it's not perfect, nor stealworthy, to other writers: copywritten material, please do not use any of the intellectual property posted herein.

Thanks everyone
Daniel
 
04/03/49: 8:15AM Thursday
Christopher jumps awake. His eyes swing from side to side. He feels a warm, thick blanket over him. He is in a bed. He is in a bedroom, somebody’s house? Who? His mind is racing as to what situation he could be in. He starts breathing heavily aand his heart is pounding. He is on a single bed in a small room, just enough room for a small dresser at his feet. The walls are light tan and the flooring is laminate. There is a window with sunlight blaring through, over shining his face. The door opens.

“You’re up?” Macaw asks. He comes in with a plate balanced in his left hand and a cup squeezed in between his arm and chest. His right hand he used to open the door. Christopher sits up and takes another look around. This doesn’t look like Macaw’s home.
“This is your house?” He asks curiously, accepting the breakfast. It is two slices of toast and an apple, with an orange juice, extra pulp.

“Not exactly.” Another voice replies. An older man enters the room. He is definitely fifty or older. He has gray hair and a wrinkled body. But Christopher can tell that this man has at one point been very physically fit. Even in his old age he is slim and doesn’t seem the least bit sluggish. He has a standing out trait, a large scar on his face, it looks like one of those life scars that never went away.

“My name’s Charles. Charles Burgundy.” The man introduces himself. His hand outstretches to shake Christopher’s hand. Christopher nods and takes the hand with pride.

“Now, the officer here informed me you have something to discuss with me?”
Christopher nods and stands up. It is bit of a struggle with his wounds, but he manages. Macaw takes the food away so it doesn’t spill when Christopher stands.

“The Centauri project is faulty.” Christopher says.
“You mean the Centaur1 spaceship we’re building?” Charles replies. He seems serious but Christopher could tell he isn’t the believing type.

“Yes. I’ve done my bit of research. That insurance company they went with in the beginning screwed them over. They changed the original blueprints for several of the spaceships components. Everything is just barely suitable for the conditions the spaceship will be experiencing, everything except the fuel lines. They’re using inferior material and didn’t judge the heat the lines will be experiencing while escaping the earth’s velocity.” Christopher explains. Charles laughs.

“Bullshit kid. I’ve been working on that project for almost twenty years. My area includes the fuel lines. I’ve been going over the engine compartment and components for the past three months. We’re prepping for an early launch.” Charles fought. There is no way he is ready to accept that the part of the spaceship he is majoring in is the one part that would be detrimental to the entire Centaur1.

“Look, I’ve got some information about the insurance company and the deals they made, along with the blueprints, original ones as well, that they exchanged with Dimensions. The problem is they’re in Canada and I can’t do this by myself.” Christopher argues.

“So what’s that supposed to mean to me?”

“Well it’s some solid fucking information to prove my theories that all you goddamn people keep pushing aside! What is so fucking perfect with you assholes?” Charles raises his voice. He coughs a little, Macaw reaches out to hold him up.

“Get the **** out of my house!” Charles demands. He is about to turn and walk away.

“My fight’s almost over.” Christopher quietly informs. He undoes the buttons his shirt and lets it slide down his arms onto the bed, revealing a blood drenched t-shirt. Charles pauses to take a look at his statement. “I can’t do this shit for much longer.”

“I’ve got to get to work you two.” Macaw mentions. He is two hours late already. The Texas state police has an internal search for him going on. Nothing public. “I can take you back to your apartment Christopher. But that’s as far as I go from here. I have a family.”
?Charles glances at Macaw momentarily. That last statement struck him where it hurts most. He doesn’t have a family. Ever since he was twenty-seven he had been trying to get children. Either he is cursed or something, because it’s been more then a decade and a half and he still doesn’t have any children. He’s had three wives and was now living alone. His second wife was Olivia.

Christopher nods to Macaw. He reaches down and puts his shirt back on.
“Alright. I want to see this solid shit you have first. What plane are we catching?”

“You two can’t take a plane. You have to drive because then at least you could sneak by the border. Christopher is flagged so it’s the full shit treatment if you get caught.” Macaw replies. Charles nods.
“While you’re driving then, all the way.” He tells Christopher, who chuckles in response.

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT

Thanks for any response! And even though it's not perfect, nor stealworthy, to other writers: copywritten material, please do not use any of the intellectual property posted herein.

Thanks everyone
Daniel
 
Daniel_Infinity said:
Sigh. I just ran out of my trial version of MS Office 2004, which I had no idea would impact my writing so much. It turns out the nice layout and everything gave me some kind of incentive to hack away at my keyboard!

Try downloading Open Office. It's free, open source, and will read MSWord files (and save to that file format too). Then you can blissfully "hack away" again:)
 
tundra said:
Try downloading Open Office. It's free, open source, and will read MSWord files (and save to that file format too). Then you can blissfully "hack away" again:)

Whoa! I didn't even know about OpenOffice! I just downloaded it last night when I read your reply, and even though it doesn't look the same it does have all the features and yeah, I love the fact that it can read my word files. Thanks a lot, it's helping! (I decided I'm going to try and add two more chapters in between seven and eight... so this would be chapter ten then!)

Hmm, not much feedback. I hope it's at least alright by you guys, though I would've love some critique that I would be able to look at while I'm revising, but tis okay.

Daniel
 
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