The Drifters

Chapter 4: Calibration

The jump came quick. I watched as my running space was getting shorter and shorter by the second. As the edge came close, an explosion erupted, shaking the training room. The shaking threw my balance off, causing me to miss the ledge and fall off. As I fell, I looked for a way to stop my descent. Looking at my arm, I pointed it at the wall and tensed my muscles, similar to before. The spike popped out, with similar pain as before, but not as severe, and hooked into the wall. The sudden stop swung me into the wall, causing me to crash full force into it. I screamed in pain, my body taking most of the blow and my arm feeling as if I pulled a muscle. I dangled there, finding each breath as a task, looking for a way back to the roof or a way to the street safely. "Chase?" I heard from above. Looking up, I saw Croix looking back at me. "That arm seems to be helping youa fair bit but get up here, the entrance has been breached and we need all we can to repel the attack." I noticed a window above me, under Croix. I pulled myself up with the turned arm, feeling pressure and pain on the spike, and grabbed a hold of the windowsill. Loosening the muscles in my arm pulled the spike back, leaving a crack in the wall. Croix held an arm out, willing to help me up. I jumped up and caught his hand, who pulled me up to the roof. After I planted my feet, we ran to the exit, followed by Carson who was mid reloading his shotgun as we went, and I saw someone not in the Drifter uniform. I ran closer to get his attention, but Croix yelled out "Don't!" The person noticed us, allowing me to see the X on his neck. This person was a Fallen. It started after me,causing me to run the other direction, back to Croix and Carson. "There's another way out, let's go!" Croix commanded, running down the hall. I followed, but the Fallen tackled me before getting to far. The Fallen pulled a syringe out, filled with an orange clear substance, holding my arms down. But before jamming it into me, a gunshot went off followed with his head exploding, leaving a small portion left. The blood covered my face, with fear holding me still. Someone pulled me to my feet, breaking me from my frozen state. "Lets go kid!" Carson yelled, running after Croix. I was close behind, practically breathing on him. I somewhat got the layout down for the tunnels, but more of the Fallen were everywhere. Each one carrying a set of these syringes, with the same fluids in them. We found our way to the exit,  running up towards the darkness above. Once we made it out and took a breath outside, several Fallen ambushed us, planting the syringes in us. The syringe was put into my arm, I attempted to swing at them, defending myself, but soon I felt too tired to move. Croix and Carson already fell, with me slowly following their steps. I looked around, watch all three of them. The substance finally took over as I fell back, falling asleep.

I started to wake up, vision clearing a bit more as I scanned the area. Sitting up to look around, I noticed the room was a prison cell, and it had no lights, the only light being outside the bars. I got up to test the bars, feeling them spin around as I move them. The hall was quiet, but with nothing to do, I sat back in the bed and started testing my arm over and over, putting holes around the cell. Each punch echoing in my cell. The back wall seemed to be the thinnest, offering the least resistance to my spike. I stopped, listening to a few sets footsteps closing to my cell. I put my spike away, feeling the little pain as I started getting used to it extending out of my arm. Soon 2 guards and a large one appeared which I expected was the warden. There a V-shape scar on his neck, which confused me as Fallen usually have an X-shape scar. The Warden cleared his throat, then began speaking in a low, robotic monotone. "You're calibration will begin shortly. You'll be given a lunch, then the calibration will begin." Just like that, he went to the next cell, with the two guards. They walked down several cells, and the Warden repeated his speech. I went back to the back wall, punching my spike into it more. The wall crumbled, allowing me to enter freely. The other side was a narrow opening, littered with a series of pipes that went up and a few gaps below. I climbed through, looking around. Using the pipes, navigation was simple. I went to the next couple cells, knocking and waiting for a response. After 5 attempts, someone yelled "Hello," which allowed me to punch through his wall. I punched it three times with the spike to make a small window. A face emerged, revealing this was Carsons cell. "What the hell kid, you're making that arm be more useful than our tools." He commented.  All I did was grin as I punched a hole big enough to get him out. He climbed out, then up. "We need to get Croix out before the hero and the calibrates get to him." He said, climbing higher. I was confused as to what are the calibrates and I could only guess what the hero is. He continued, "You were a stranded, thats right, well Calibrates are just Upgraded Fallen who they use on missions like captures. Guardians are top of the line Calibrates who have special abilities or skills. Then the heroes are Augmented Fallen, strong as hell, and hard to down. You can usually tell between a Fallen, a Guardian, and a Hero by the scar on their neck. Fallen has an X, Guardians a T, and Heroes a V." I was taken back by all the info I was hit by, but it stopped mattering when an alarm was raised.