Gears of War: Exile (fanmade novel)

Act 1 Chapter 3: A Night of Violence

23:15, Major Burger

Me, Vance, Jeff, Jerry and Dom walked up to the counter. The cashier raised her eyebrows and said, "What can I get you?"

"Five Classic sets, please" Jerry said

"That's all?"

"Yup"

"Great, that would be $19.45. You guys are at booth six" Jerry handed her a $20 bill "Keep the change," he said. I saw Dom grab a kid's menu off a rack that looked like an oversized napkin holder. Jerry gave Dom a look. Dom smiled and said "What? These little kid's menus are full of history of these restuarants" We walked over to our table.

Dom started reading the kid's menu.

Me, Jerry, Jeff and Vance exchanged small talk for a little bit until our food arrived.

Jeff and Jerry started talking about comparing MRE's to burgers. Meanwhile, Dom was still reading the kids menu. It was only when he got done eating his fries he put the menu down.

"How do you think we're gonna get back to Ephyra?" I asked Vance

"I don't know. We could always steal a car from a nearby dealership."

I laughed, "Yeah...no." There were two explosions, followed by gunfire and screaming.

"Godamn it , I just started eating my fries" Jeff said, obviously frustrated. He reached for his rifle which was under the table. The civilians that were sitting down to a damn good meal were already leaving the restaurant.

Hell, some of the goddamn employees started mantling over the counter.
"Shit! Now the civies are going crazy!"

Dom pressed his earpiece "Control, this is Dom, Andius is under attack.....Andius is getting attacked! We need some goddamn help......I don't give a shit who you send, just tell 'em to hurry their asses up."

Alina must've been off duty. The other comms officer, Gina Lawrance was probably filling in for her.

Alina had this reassuring and sweet voice that could calm anyone, even the Gears who were extremely on edge. Gina however was the exact opposite. Her voice was raspy and somewhat deep. She sounded like a Locust drone who had just inhaled some helium from a balloon.

We exited the restaurant. I heard the chuckle of a drone followed by a distressed woman calling for help.

"There!" Jerry pointed over to a Cougar Interceptor Sports car. The woman had her back against the front of the vehicle. There was a Locust drone pointing its rifle at the woman, getting ready to shoot.

"I got 'im!" Jeff nudged me aside and shot the drone in the shoulder with his Lancer.

The drone growled in frustration and turned to face us. It raised its rifle. Before it could shoot, Jeff shot it again, square in the face. It dropped dead. Jeff and Jerry rushed over to help the woman. "It's like fucking E-day all over again!" Vance said

"I hear you man," I replied. I turned to Jerry and Jeff "Hey, you two! I need you to gather up any civvies you can find and take them to a safe place!"

"Got it boss!" Jeff shouted back.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Vance asked me

I turned to him and said "We're gonna clean these streets"

"Sounds like a plan bro" Dom said excitedly

"We're spreading out. One at the the other side of the street, one in the street, and one on the sidewalk we're standing on right now"

"I got the street" Dom said even more excitedly

"I guess I got this sidewalk"

"Okay, keep moving up the street and take out any grubs you find. Shoot in short controlled bursts, we got civvies running around. Alright, let's go"