Brothers In Arms

"Man, where have you been all this while?"

"Sorry, Harrison. Don't worry. I'm on my way now."

The Subaru 99 Forester SUV darted from one end of the starlit highway, to another, within 3 flashes. Cooper Black the legendary hombre o' the hills handled Harrison on the phone, while his elder brother Demonstar controlled the ride, sitting at the steering wheel. Rogue Jacob, Li'l Jacob, and Carl Jason were also onboard at the back of the SUV (long story), who kept an eye out for the glowing megacity, in the distance. The Kor Ondrone was yet suspended atop the sea of skyscrapers, buzzing with its field of energy.

"Hmm... looks pretty stuck-up, back there," Rogue Jacob focused on the giant aircraft, through the binoculars. "Do what you wanna do, but I ain't goin' in there, even if you bring a chainsaw from my uncle Fred's shed, and imitate to slice me down with it! I'm no fool, 'cause I'm not talking. Or am I?"

"Oh, just shut up, RJ!" Demonstar Black wasn't in a good mood. "That pile of zombie-alien crap will be bleeding metal scrap, when Coop'll detonate it with the '5:FT'! Now keep your quiet, and also eyes on 'that' thing!"

The last few words must've insulted the Kor Ondrone, but the SUV kept on gaining more and more speed. Then, out of the American sky, there was a loud sonic blast, and the Kor Ondrone released one of its deadly purple lightning bolts. A lightning bolt, that had set its destination onto the SUV.

"Wholly, Black! Quick! Bank hard to the left!" Rogue Jacob yelled out, in alarm.

They made some confused expressions on their faces. For one thing, both Cooper and Demonstar, seated inside the Subaru was by the surname of Black.

"Which Black are yah talkin' about, ma'?" Li'l Jacob was busy setting up his Saiga 12k shotgun.

"That Black!" Rogue Jacob pointed his gun at the bulky giant of a man driving the SUV. "Demonstar, look out! Buddy, watch for that---"

Brother Black yanked the steering wheel to the right, and shifted his body weight to the left, to make the entire SUV tilt over. For just one hair's width, the purple energy bolt missed them, by luck. But due to luck, they still had to suffer.

The Subaru tilted to the left, by over 45°, and then Slam! The SUV hit the black asphalt of the highway road, on its side. Glass shattered from the windows as Demonstar Black punched his way out from the ruins of the vehicle.

He coughed and waved his hand, to clear the dust cloud away. "Black, Jacob, Jason, you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Roger."

"Copy that."

"Yeah, man."

D.Black stood up. His M4A1 assault rifle was perfectly fine, thank the God. He loaded a magazine onto it, before gesturing to the others to follow him.

The road beyond was a total mess. No, not the 'mess' in your room; this 'mess' was a major dump mess. The sidewalks had collapsed, with sewer water leaking through cracks. Cars, buses, freightliners, bikes, everything was scattered like a giant mass of giant vomit. Instead of the stinky slippery liquid you find in your regular throw-up, this mess was floating on a sea of bits of concrete, glass, tar, gravel, metal, and... coins?

In the far-off distance, a BOBCAT truck had crashed with an electric pylon. Its rear box-like compartment had been smashed open and was spilling fresh American coins from the mint industry. {mint = government money-making factory; not the flavor or herb!}

The result: about $85000 worth of currency being left to rot on the national highway. There was no sign of life anywhere. Nothing seemed to move.

Street lamps, and nearby bushes, shrubs, and buildings had been all mixed up in an endless jumble of Lego. Sewer pipes, parklot machines, and garden fences formed a mess within a mess.

The destruction grew more intense, and more powerful, the closer the road wound its straight path, into the main city. In the nocturnal sky, overhead, the Kor Ondrone released more and more sparks, in all directions, over Manhattan and nearby areas. The view from the road wasn't so good, so they had no idea what might be going on inside the city, inside the tall wall of skyscrapers.

"Brother, it's no use," Cooper Black collected his AEK-74. "We must find another way in. Looks like that UFO-thing over there can sense infrared rays, or something. I mean, look at all this," he spread his arms wide to show Demonstar the widespread remnants of destroyed cars. "See that? The only thing those alien-zombies can sense, is the heat. The heat from the car engines! That's why the lightning strikes the cars, including our Subaru Forester. Man, I loved that car. We humans do give off little amounts of heat, so we might get noticed somehow. We need to be fast. We need to be... cooler."

"What do you mean to say? Just cut to the chase, Coop!"

"Well, we might need to split up for this. Two squads. One will enter the city through the sewers and drainage systems. Nauseating, I know, but it has to be done. The other squad will enter the city... by force! They'll destroy stuff around to catch the Kor Ondrone's attention, and whoever's inside that giant thing."

"WHAT?!! SPLIT UP?!!!" Demonstar (let's call him D.Star) boomed. Nearby glass frames rattled. Everyone held their ears. "Yeah right! Nice one, Cooper! Now the UFO-thing will blast us off, one-by-one. I say, why not all at once?"

Everyone glared at him.

"Oh... oh, yes! Yes!" D.star gave Cooper a thumbs-up sign. "Okay, CB, you're coming with me. We'll take the sewers. Jason, RJ, LJ, you're barraging your damn way into NYC. Good luck with your bang-banging! Gentlemen, move out!"

Without a word of complaint, everyone followed his orders.

The ground was cracking open in some places; lava glowed deep below. Half a mile off, the asphalt had broken off the road, and the gravel layer remained. The 3 C.D.s (City Dogs) carried their gear and guns, and continued the path, into danger.

Cooper Black and D.star lifted off a one-meter diameter sewer lid, and began their descent. The ladder-like rungs in the cylindrical wall stopped at a meter above flowing water. Nasty sewer water.

Cooper took out a flare, and plonked it into the rushing watery garbage, to emit a reddish glow, within. The blow torch flare was a special edition Symbiocyte product, purchased for free. (hell, they were saving NY, so obviously they'd get it for free!)

D.star went down, first. He attached a rappel hook to the lowermost rung, gave it a brief tug to check to see if it was secure enough, and released his foothold. His hands hung onto the last rungs, and released grip. But sadly, he hadn't locked the other end of the rappel hook to such a secure part. He'd attached it to his backpack. Hence, the left side straps of his backpack tore off, and he went down, down, down, into the stream of shitty waters.

"Brother!" Cooper tried to reach out and hold his hand, but it was too late. His brother was taken by the dark current of the rushing sewer water. Only the rappel hook, with a piece of backpack strap, remained.