Trapped: Cretaceous Dawn

Chapter 1: Memories

The sound of gunfire echoed throughout the empty streets of a forgotten city. A group of soldiers silently moved through a parking garage. The soldiers were part of a private army that was formed before the War for America in 2064. They were called the Raptor Militia and for good reason. The Raptor Militia loved to make orbital and aerial strikes on their enemies, but weren't afraid of ground assaults. After the war, the militia was tasked with cleaning up the insurgency that still hid in abandoned cities around the former United States. Taking the lead was a scout; Captain Logan Ross crept through the door that exited onto the roof.

            Captain Ross was a young light brown-skinned man in his mid-twenties with his black hair poking out from under a black and red bandana. His Raptor gear was also colored black with red accents, with a red hawk stitched onto his left breast plate. Logan carried a futuristic sniper rifle with tallies etched into the sides. The nickname that was given to him by everyone in the special ops unit was Red tail or simply, Red. It comes from the name of a hawk found throughout the States and one that Ross loved since he was a kid.

            Logan stalked over to the ledge and setup his sniper rifle. But before the soldier could take the safety off, something caught his eye in the form of a bright orange light. He yelled "RPG" but his words fell on deaf ears as the rocket split in multiple projectiles and bombarded the building. Logan scrambled to the middle of the parking garage as it started to collapse on its side. He clenched in fear as the concrete fell from under his feet and he plummeted towards the collapsing debris.

            Waking up in a cold sweat in his empty room, the muscular young adult panted heavily. He had played this nightmare, this memory, in his head for the past few years since it happened. His shallow breathing slowed down he realized it was just a memory. He blinked slowly as dim lights came on throughout the room.

            "Is everything alright, sir?" A robotic voice said over the loudspeaker, booming in Logan's sensitive ears. The voice came from Logan's advanced VI, Vigil. It was created by Alexander Rogers, Logan's adopted father to monitor and take care of his sons. The way Logan sees it; a babysitter.

            Logan let out a groan, "volume down, Vigil. I'm not deaf, just having trouble sleeping." He got out of bed and walked over to the dimmed windows. Outside was a city that brightened up the night sky with a beautiful display of lights. The soft murmur of the outside world whispered into Logan's ears, beckoning him to the colorful streets below his building. Suddenly, chanting started from down below, slowly counting down from ten. Numbers counted down on a giant screen attached to a building across from Logan's penthouse. As so as it got to zero, people screamed "happy New Year!" Logan walked over to the mini bar in his bed room and poured two shots of vodka.

            "Happy New Year," he said solemnly as he shot back both of them. He moved across the room and into the bathroom, took off his clothes, and turned on the shower. He began to wash for what felt like hours, but when he got out and looked at the clock, only a few minutes went by. He was still dripping wet although he had a towel wrapped around his waist. Logan rummaged through the closet and picked out his favorite attire. He grabbed his boots from the shoe rack and his necklace from the night stand. The necklace was a custom carved Maori anchor that he got while stationed in Hawaii. A knock at the door made Logan tense up for a little bit, snapping him out of a memory he was having. The door opened, revealing a beautiful redhead in a painfully tight dress suit. Her icy blue eyes were falling and rising like a wave as she checked out the young soldier.

            "How come you never wear anything I give you?" She pouted, crossing her arms. "And how many times have I told you to throw away that stupid necklace?"

            "You never buy me anything, Vanessa," Logan huffed as he walked past her and into the living room. "And second, this necklace means a lot to me and you know it. I thought you had some place to be. Why are you here?"

            Vanessa paused. "You're so hostile when you're stressed. I'm here to make you feel better." She put her hands on his back and dragged them down with her nails slightly digging into his back.

            "Vigil, did you alert her about my vitals?" Logan relaxed a little as Vanessa wrapped her arms around him.

            "I was just doing what I was programmed," Vigil replied. "Besides, whenever Vanessa is over, there is a ninety percent chance that you are feeling better by the end of the night."

            "Statistics don't lie," Vanessa whispered in Logan's ear. "Now, you want to relieve some stress, soldier boy? That couch is looking mighty comfortable."

            Vanessa stood in front of Logan, stopping him in his path. But before they kissed, a chime sounded throughout the living room. "Grayson Rogers is attempting to call, sir." Vigil said.

            Logan had a hardened look on his face before nodding to the intercom. He walked toward the large flat monitor mounted on the wall as the screen turned on and showed the face of a brown-haired twenty eight year old with a curious smile on his face. Grayson Rogers was Logan's adopted brother and the mechanical heart of his personal squad. Grayson was also responsible for reestablishing the Asteroid Colonies in the space between Mars and Jupiter. Grayson and Logan were very much competitive during their childhood.

            "Are you still a little grumpy over there, Red?" Grayson smirked, "It's been a couple of weeks since I've seen you. I got scared you high-tailed it off of Earth."

            Logan shook his head as a little grin sprouted from the corner of his mouth. "First, you were the one who went sulking back to mom after I bought the last facility on Titan. Now, what do you want?"

            Grayson's facial expression changed as he looked away from the monitor. "We had a call come in from Kenji Nuclear Engineering and Genetics. It's the facility we were hired to infiltrate a couple of years back."

            "And what do they want?" Logan asked after a long pause of silence. "We haven't bothered them since then."

            "They just want to meet us at their location on the island," Grayson motioned to the back of him to show a passport and a suitcase already packed. "Be there by tomorrow. I've informed Vigil and he's prepping a jet to the coordinates I sent."

            "I'm not going." Logan said strongly, the stubborn expression on his face looked like it was carved from stone. "I'm done with KNEG, with Advanced Genetics, with all of them. I'm a changed man now."

            "Quit being such a baby," Grayson frowned. "They didn't just call you and me in. They contacted the twins, even Vanessa." He looked toward the scarlet haired woman who stood slightly behind Logan.

            Logan turned around and locked eyes with her, a betrayed look flashed briefly in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

            "I didn't want you to worry about it and I didn't feel like you wanted to go anyway." She said sweetly, giving a glaring look at Grayson before looking back at her love. "You're already stressed out as it is. You need to relax more."

            Logan smiled, and then turned back to Grayson with a raised eyebrow. "Well, let's go see what they want."