Broken - Vague spoilers re: situation on Earth infelixsororMarch 21 2012, 17:54:34 UTC
Transmissions had been dodgy ever since the first attack. Most of the time, there was nothing on the air but static. The rumours that the Reapers could track signals made even switching on the damn thing terrifying, never mind using it to broadcast. But sometimes people risked it. When they had information that needed to shared, when another city fell or another tactic failed. Making a single mistake could get you killed, but other people's mistakes had saved their lives a dozen times over.
But there was one signal, faint and intermittent, but undeniably there. Coming from London, of all places, hinting at some sort of resistance. It was as likely as not to be some sort of trap and even if it wasn't, fighting their way out of Oxford just to fight their way into London seemed ridiculous. Although not quite as ridiculous as that moment when they'd actually had to put their zombie survival plan into effect.
That night, once they'd safely barricaded themselves into an abandoned house somewhere in Kingston, she pulled the radio back out of her bag and started flicking through the channels. The London signal jumped about, rarely appearing on the same frequency twice in a row.
"What if we get there and there's no one left?" she asked, as frequency after frequency gave her nothing but static.
"Then we'll go back to Plan A," he replied.
"Doesn't it seem wrong to you that our first plan is to cover ourselves in high-grade explosives and head for the nearest Reaper stronghold?"
"Usually I'd agree, but compared to the apparent zombie apocalypse and the complete lack of tea, well." He shrugged. "You don't have to come with me if it comes to that, you know. Your brother might still be out there."
"He was on duty when the Reapers hit London," she said. "You know that they targeted the emergency services first. There's probably not a single police station left in England by now. A part-time constable didn't stand a chance."
"Maybe. Only I would've said the same about an arts' student and you're still here."
She laughed despite herself. "I'm so glad that that the arts-science rivalry has apparently survived the end of the world as we know it."
"The Reapers are going to have to do more than just break the word for that to ever stop."
They both jumped as the radio crackled to life.
"... Rendezvous at Canary Wharf. Be advised, heavy husk presence reported in all Underground tunnels and station. Repeat, do not attempt to use the Underground. Repeat, rendezvous at Canary Wharf..."
"That settles that," he said. "Plan A's back on hold. Central London it is."
xxx If you can hear this ... We few, we happy few Boldly they rode, and well
Transmissions had been dodgy ever since the first attack. Most of the time, there was nothing on the air but static. The rumours that the Reapers could track signals made even switching on the damn thing terrifying, never mind using it to broadcast. But sometimes people risked it. When they had information that needed to shared, when another city fell or another tactic failed. Making a single mistake could get you killed, but other people's mistakes had saved their lives a dozen times over.
But there was one signal, faint and intermittent, but undeniably there. Coming from London, of all places, hinting at some sort of resistance. It was as likely as not to be some sort of trap and even if it wasn't, fighting their way out of Oxford just to fight their way into London seemed ridiculous. Although not quite as ridiculous as that moment when they'd actually had to put their zombie survival plan into effect.
That night, once they'd safely barricaded themselves into an abandoned house somewhere in Kingston, she pulled the radio back out of her bag and started flicking through the channels. The London signal jumped about, rarely appearing on the same frequency twice in a row.
"What if we get there and there's no one left?" she asked, as frequency after frequency gave her nothing but static.
"Then we'll go back to Plan A," he replied.
"Doesn't it seem wrong to you that our first plan is to cover ourselves in high-grade explosives and head for the nearest Reaper stronghold?"
"Usually I'd agree, but compared to the apparent zombie apocalypse and the complete lack of tea, well." He shrugged. "You don't have to come with me if it comes to that, you know. Your brother might still be out there."
"He was on duty when the Reapers hit London," she said. "You know that they targeted the emergency services first. There's probably not a single police station left in England by now. A part-time constable didn't stand a chance."
"Maybe. Only I would've said the same about an arts' student and you're still here."
She laughed despite herself. "I'm so glad that that the arts-science rivalry has apparently survived the end of the world as we know it."
"The Reapers are going to have to do more than just break the word for that to ever stop."
They both jumped as the radio crackled to life.
"... Rendezvous at Canary Wharf. Be advised, heavy husk presence reported in all Underground tunnels and station. Repeat, do not attempt to use the Underground. Repeat, rendezvous at Canary Wharf..."
"That settles that," he said. "Plan A's back on hold. Central London it is."
xxx
If you can hear this ...
We few, we happy few
Boldly they rode, and well
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