User:Burgerman/FanFic

This is my Metro 2033 fanfic, set in Scotland/England 2040.

Premise
From the year 2011-2013, Scotland had a large metro system built. Beneath a high-school in a backwater town, an unfinished station was built, where the military dumped supplies. After the war, this High School became a prime spot for survival in it's respective town. Eventually the school became a small, yet wealthy trading center in Scotland. The protagonist, Andrew Miler, lives here at the start of the game. Also, the Falslane Nukes were relocated to a tower named "Phi Tower", the game's prologue/ending location.

The story is told through the eyes of the Protagonist, who is attacked by an evolved breed of Dark Ones, and he gets bitten by one of the "Rabid" ones, making him a Dark One-Human hybrid, but will he continue along with the bloodthirsty humans, or the merciful Dark Ones?

Prologue
Dawn was almost near, and so was the end of my journey. Clyde and I were almost there, but was my journey worth so many lives?

We ascended the stairs to the surface. I could feel my heart beating wildly inside my chest. It was a sign... It would end here. I gazed into the distance, Phi Tower was barely visible inside the dark blanket of the fog. "So, Miller, how does it feel, knowing that hundreds of people die here?" Clyde inquired. I did not answer, but I knew that the choice ahead would be a difficult one. "Remaining silent I see. You're turning into an Enforcer." Clyde remarked. The very mention of the name Enforcer brought back painful memories. The Enforcers were basically the scavengers and mercenaries for hire trained in the former high School in Coatbridge, now known as "The Fortress". I was educated there. I lived there... I died there. "Well, no use standing around here. Shall we go?" Clyde inquired as he looked in my direction. I gave a subtle nod, and with that, Clyde and I began walking through the toxic, deserted streets of Edinburgh.

Several passed as we approached Phi Tower. The Nosalises were asleep by now. This was fortunate, Edinburgh had been infested with these vile mutants not long after the war. The weaker ones spread to the other settlements and metro stations like rats, but the stronger ones, like the plated Nosalises and the Patriarch Nosalises remained in the hive. I wondered... Is it right to refer to them as mutants, when I myself was in the process of becoming one?

Suddenly a painfully loud, tormented scream came from the sky. Demons! Flying mutants that were the 3rd most common cause of death on the surface, behind gunshot wound and suffocation. "Fuck! Demons! Get to cover!" Clyde yelled. We ran into a deserted house and covered the windows. Clyde and I were breathing heavily, the filters on our gas masks made it obvious. My heart was close to breaking the sound barrier, I kneeled down and reloaded my weapon, and caught a slight breather. Clyde was looking around. He kneeled down and picked up an object covered in a blanket. I was almost about to warm him, when he pulled the blanket off of the object and revealed a pristine, powerful Gas Mask. "Well well well, Miller, look at this. Here, it's yours." He threw the gas mask towards me. I firmly grabbed it in my free left hand. I holstered my weapon and took a deep breath. I removed my gas mask and slid the new one on smoothly. This was a rare model, used my Spec Ops forces that were still clinging to life shortly after the war. The built in respirator was quite literally a way for unlimited oxygen. Being able to breathe without constant worry was a calming thought, but it did not wash away my fear of the coming battle.

As I turned around to talk to Clyde, a Demon burst through the wall and swiped for me... I raised my weapon, aimed, and fired. But it was too late... The demon had me in it's grasp. I looked to the sky and my vision went white...

Chapter One: Beginnings
I was barely awake. The sound of a man playing the bagpipes was barely waking me up. David Macmillan, one of the caravan guards, knocked on my door. "Miller! Get the fuck up already! We need you to lead the caravan!" He shouted. He had reminded me of my recently given job, which sort of woke me up fully. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I collected a Revolver, a Bastard Sub-machine Gun, and some ammo for the two weapons from my cabinet. The rooms in the fortress were sort of divided. This was a school after all, not a housing estate. The sealed metro station below the school acted as a refuge for people of medium to high importance. I was offered a place there, but I turned it down in favor of my somewhat cosy retreat within the school.

I sat my weapons down on the table and put on my Armour. It was light and makeshift, but it did the job protecting against the lowlife bandits occupying the area. I collected some Military Grade Ammo from my desk too. Money would help if I wanted to survive. The same seemed to apply to everyone. My knife was wedged in the walled. I had been using it for throwing practice. I picked it up and sat it in the knife holster in my armor. I heard people laughing outside. Former students, probably. Many of the schools former "Students" had stayed in this place for some reason. I didn't seem to know why. I never recognized any of them. I found them somewhat annoying. But they paid in ammo and gave me a place to stay, so it helped. The place was governed by one known only as "Omega". He was a dark, secluded person, but his neutrality to all made him a good leader in the eyes of the fortress. He helped build several makeshift weapons for people to defend themselves with, and sometimes watched over scouting missions personally.

With all of my gear packed, I opened the door to my room and walked through the halls with Macmillan. Even the apocalypse didn't seem to dampen the spirits of these people. Some of them were laughing, some of them were listening to people, play bagpipes, others were doing their jobs, like preparing food or selling gear. As I passed into the main hall, a man who was siting against the wall looked up at me and said "Sir... Would you kindly give a sick man some money?" He held his hand up, as if knew I was going to fufill his request. He was wrong. I walked past him and proceeded to the armory. The merchant was standing behind the counter, with some equipment on the table. "Miller! Going out on a caravan trip again? Here, take this gas mask for the danger zones, and this charger, for your flashlight. That's all that's free. Do you want to buy something?" For sale he had a Silencer for the Bastard, which cost 15 bullets. An extended barrel for the revolver, along with a silencer. Both of them cost 5 bullets each. There was also a med-kit for sale at the price of 5 bullets. I decided to purchase the silencer for the Bastard, and the silencer for the Revolver. This depleted me of my bullet reserve, but the silencers would help me greatly.

With my gear ready, I went to the Caravan set-up point at the front gates of the school. Macmillan was waiting, as was the rest of the caravan crew. The cart was loaded with the supplies we were taking to Regal Station, not far from the Fortress. I boarded the cart and sat down, Bastard at the ready. The cart moved to the fortress entrance. We all put on our gas masks as the gate rose from the ground. "Good Luck", I faintly heard from the gatekeeper. Despite the radiactive gas, the air seemed cheery. Nobody on the caravan seemed to have any worries at all. How wrong they would be very soon.

Chapter 2: Evolution
The air grew colder as we grew closer and closer to our destination. Something was wrong. Very wrong. As we reached the road near the local supermarket, which was a popular looting location, our cart stopped moving. The guards were alerted to this and rose to their feet, weapons at the ready. Suddenly the lights on the sides of the cart stopped moving. We could hear a growl. A deep, mind-penetrating growl. I stood up as well, and reached for the rifle on my back. I looked around cautiously. I could feel something tingling deep inside my mind. "... he is coming!... he is coming?... he will do!... he will do..." I heard in my mind. The other guards, they did not here this.

Suddenly a blood curdling scream tore through the silent night air. What was it? Was it human? Was it after us? I began to panic, looking around frantically. Nothing, still. At that moment, I wished I had paid less attention to the route. A human-like creature with long arms began following after the cart. We aimed at it, but we did not shoot. This was more than a fatal mistake. The creature jumped at the cart, and with a mere motion of it's neck, tossed the cart aside like a rag doll. I landed slightly farther away from the cart than everyone else. My Bastard SMG fell from my hands. As I stood up and moved to pick it up, I was bitten on the back of the neck by another one of those creatures. It disappeared after the attack, and fled the seen with it's counterpart. I was heavily damaged by the bite. My vision had began to die, my hearing was slowly fading. My ability to stay standing, fading slowly. I limped weakly towards the guards, who had already restored the cart to a working state. I attempted to call out to them. It was futile. I collapsed to my knees, and fell onto the cold ground. I was fortunate that Macmillan had noticed me and dragged my limp body to the cart.

When I came to, I woke up in Regal Stations Med Station. I attempted to move, but my spine sent a burning pain throughout my body. I remained still on the bed. A few minutes passed, and a Doctor approached me. He looked over at me briefly, before lifting my arm and injecting me with something. "There, that should help the pain." He said in a quiet voice. I attempted to move once again. The pain was gone. I moved off of the bed and proceeded into Regal. Regal was a station founded within a BnQ, a DIY store. The materials there helped it forge defensive plating for the building and other minor things like furniture. It was basically defenseless though, as none of it's inhabitants were actually trained for combat. So, the Fortress set up an agreement with Regal. In exchange for trained combatants and other things such as humanitarian goods, Regal would provide useful materials for the Fortress. I was on the the cart, supposed to be delivering the aforementioned goods to Regal. Upon remembering what I had to do. I began searching for my team. I searched the armory. Not there. I searched the gate. Not there. I finally discovered them drinking in a bar on the other side of the station. As I approached them, Macmillan turned around, Buckfast in hand. "There he is. Glad to see you're still alive. Listen, we've gotta go to another station, but the big O has asked you back to the Fortress. You can walk back, right? Here, take some ammo just in case." Macmillan took his backpack from the chair next to him. He removed 30 military grade rounds from the front pouch and 60 "Dirty" rounds. I pocketed the ammunition, and proceeded to the armory. For sale, there was basically nothing new. I left the armory and proceeded to the front gate of Regal. I stood there as the gate opened and the post apocalyptic town of Coatbridge became visible once more. I moved out of the station, Gas Mask placed firmly on my face, and into the wasteland.

Chapter 3: Carnage
At sunrise, there was strange beauty in the deserted Coatbridge wasteland. The area where Regal was located had little to no mutant activity, so it was a sort of peaceful spot to wander through. I set off from Regal towards The Fortress. I passed car wrecks, charred skeletons and fellow wastelanders searching for loot. I'd stop for a few minutes to give the occasional team directions, but aside from that, my journey was a relatively lonely one. As I reached Coatbridge High Street, the sky vanished underneath a blanket of cloud. My head burned with a throbbing pain that seemed to cut into my mind. I walked forward 2 steps, before collapsing to my knees. Reality began to twist around me. Was I hallucinating? Was I mutating? Was I... Dying? I fell to the ground, unconscious.

I woke up in what seemed to be a stone hallway. The air was ice cold, far colder than the wasteland could ever be. I walked forward towards the hole in the path in front of me. As I approached it, the stone's in the path behind me moved to allow me to continue forward. What was this world? WHERE was this world? I proceeded down the cold stone path, through the colorless world that I had been trapped in. Quiet, ghostlike whispers filled my mind, but from where? What was this oddity?
 * "... He is turning!... he is turning?... he will be one of us!... he will be one of us?..."

These whispers began to torment me. I grasped my head in pain, and slowed to a shuffling walk. The whispers continued, and therefore, continued to torment me. I was on the breaking point. I screamed and swore at mere shadows, slowly feeling as if I was going to lose my mind. A loud ring echoed throughout my mind, and continued for several minutes. As it ended, I fell to the ground, and blacked out. I thought to myself... Was this it? Was I going to die?

I rose where I fell, my body feeling numb. Whatever I had just been through, it seemed to affect my body, for better or for worse. My head still burning ever so slightly, I continued on my journey to the fortress. However, my body had not taken food or water for hours, and I stopped for a slight breather next to the wreckage of a truck. That is when the pain returned. It burned through my body, almost as if lava had replaced the blood in my veins. I raved around furiously for all but 30 seconds, and that, is where it began. I turned around as the pain stopped, to the wrecked truck floating in mid-air. I moved my hand, and the wreckage seemed to follow it. I spread my palm into the air, and thrust it forwards. This sent the wreckage flying violently towards a half-destroyed shack. It seemed that I had developed telekinetic abilities.

As I stood and reflected on my new-found abilities, I looked to the skies. I had been knocked out for hours. It was night time now. This was bad if you were on your own. The Nosalis horde would be out for you. If not, then the raiders would. I drew the Revolver still holstered on my thigh. I activated the flashlight on the shoulder plate of my Armour and began searching the area, and proceeding forward slowly. After I reached the hill close to the Fortress, a loud howl came from behind me. I turned around and caught the sight of a large Nosalis horde charging viciously towards me. I took aim through the slight dirt covered scope attached to the revolver. I managed to kill a mere 5 of the Horde, and by the time the Revolver was empty, the Horde was almost at me. I ran as fast as I could towards the Fortress, using all of my energy to at least reach the gate. As I approached the gate, a bright line shone upon me. I covered my eyes and froze. "Fuck, he's brought a horde with him! Get the turrets ready, and form a perimeter! You there! Move your ass up here, on the double! I moved my arm away from my face, holstered my revolver and ran towards the light. As I was close to the gate, I tripped a fell to the ground, slid 2 meters and dislocated my left shoulder. The horde reached the gate, and the carnage started...

Bullets were flying, explosions were going off everywhere, Nosalises clashed with Guards. The guards were well armed and powerful, but even they did not stand much of a chance soon. I stood up, and focused solely on the horde. Letting out a scream of anger, I slammed the ground with my fist, causing a large shock wave to rise from the ground. The purple tinted shock wave caused the Nosalises to disintegrate into dust. I was amazed, at both the ease in which it destroyed the horde, and the amount of energy I used. I was weakened heavily by this attack, so I stumbled towards the gate. The guards looked at me in awe, before opening the gate to allow me entry to the Fortress. I proceeded inside the gate, but as I entered, a guarded slammed the back of my neck with the butt of his shotgun, knocking me unconscious.

Chapter 4: Omega
My senses eventually returned to me, but my body did not wake. I heard voices talking. As they talked, a door opened, and I heard heavy footsteps. "Is this Project Sigma?" A mysterious voice boomed.
 * "Yes sir. He decimated a nosalis horde at the gate. We haven't discovered how he did this, but we're close."
 * "Nevermind that. Release him, and then leave. I need to have a chat with him."
 * "Yes, sir."

Shortly after, I heard a beeping noise, similar to that of a watch. I heard fluid draining, and then I woke. I was in a tank, with a breathing mask covering my face. The room I was in was grey, and faintly lit. There were men wearing greyish-blue lab coats, checking clipboards, analyzing computer data. And in the center of them, was a dark figure, his face vaguely obscured by shadow. He was wearing a black polo shirt, open, with black cargo pants, a set of boots, and light body armor covering his torso. He also wear Elbow and Knee pads, with one of the knee pads emblazoned with an Omega symbol. On his back were two lethally sharp katanas, sheathed. He had a customized Colt pistol in the holster on his thigh. This was Omega, the leader of the fortress...

As my tank emptied, the scientists left the room, and the tank opened. I fell from the tank to the floor. My armor was removed, and so was my shirt. Omega stood in front of me, wearing a blank look on his face. His black beard seemed recently shaven, and his eyes were lightly glowing red, with a catlike pupil in the middle. He turned his head to the side, and back.
 * "So, you're Project Sigma? Or should that be Andrew? Yes. I know you, Captain of the Caravans. Your record speaks for itself. But that bullshit doesn't mean anything to me. What interests me is your powers. These pencil pushers may not know it, but I do. You've been infected by a Dark One, as we call them. You survived, something that very few people ever have. Take the Russians, for example. They followed the correct path. They lost their people as they destroyed the threat of the Dark Ones in a wave of nuclear fire. A kid named "Artyom" did it I believe. He's here, in Britain. I want you to find him. He's somewhere in the Airdrie area, which is also a Nosalis Hive now. Leave now, and go get gered up. I had some special supplies sent to your quarters. Use them well."

He notioned to the door with his head, before leaving himself. I took a white T-shirt from the table to the left of me, and slipped it on. I exited through the door into the hallway. It was midnight. Barely anybody was awake here. I proceeded through the hallway and into the main hallway. My room was just up ahead. I proceed through the pressure-locked double doors and into the staff hallway. This is where I lived. Where anybody of decent, but not major, importance lived. I opened the door to my quarters. It was still the same as I left it. However, there a larger silver trunk on my bed, with a key on top. I took the key and slotted it into the keyhole in the truck. I turned to key ever so slowly to the left. The trunk jumped open with a click.

Inside was an M4 Carbine Assault Rifle, and a pre-war H&K Mk.23 pistol. I switched out my Revolver and Bastard for the weapons in the Trunk, and took the ammunition provided. Also inside was a gas mask, a model with a skull and crossbones engraved on the side. Inside of it, it said "Property of the Rangers". I had no idea who the "Rangers" were, but I slipped on the Gas Mask, and left my old one in the trunk. A few throwing knives and explosives were at the bottom, along with a sealed letter. I took the equipment, and kept the letter in my pocket. I equipped my back-up armor and moved the letter from my pocket to the satchel on the armor. I noticed that a Radio was fixed onto the strap on the left-side of the chest plate. Nonetheless, I exited my room and went back to the main hall. There were three men harassing a young girl, of probably 17 years of age. It soon erupted into violence. I ran towards the attacker and sunk my fist into his face, sending him falling to the ground. The second man attempted to punch me from behind, I ducked, drew my trench knife, and used the brass knuckles to cause a split in his throat. He fell to the floor, bleeding slowly. My senses suddenly sprang to life. The third man had a knife, and was sneaking up on me. I felt as if I could see it, even though I did not see it. Going on my instinct, I jumped into the air and delivered a kick behind me. I heard a loud crunch, and then a thump. I turned around to the shattered jaw of the third man spread into pieces across the ground, and the man himself lying unconscious on the ground. I smirked and then exited the building. I signaled the gate guards to let me out, and they opened the gate. I saw figure dressed in heavy armor standing next to a cart. He motioned his head to the passenger seat. I followed his notion and sat myself in the passenger seat. The figure got in and started the cart. He reversed from the gate and proceeded towards Airdrie. I closed my eyes to get some rest, as I had a feeling that there was something bad up ahead.

Chapter 5: Artyom
I awoke to the cart driver shaking my shoulder furiously. When I woke, he pointed to the front of the cart. I followed his direction and ahead I saw Airdrie, now a hive of Nosalis activity. The driver brought the cart to a sudden stop, and then moved his head to the front, as if he was telling me to get off. I shook my head to wake myself up properly, sat up, and departed from the cart. I reached for the rifle on my back and removed it from it's holster, and held it firmly in my two hands.