Obeying Orders

"Obeying Orders" is the 11th episode of Sweet Escape.

Plot
"''For a time the humans of Earth knew the illusion of peace."

We see an overshot of some of the most beautiful cities in the world. We see the gorgeous city of Venice and its unique and beautiful buildings. Their beauty is only enhanced by the reflection of the sparkling blue canals. We see Paris and numerous people gathered around a luscious garden observing the historic Eiffel Tower. And in Lisbon we see the sun shining down on the people walking through its maze of colourful, picturesque streets.

"''Until the Emergence…"

As people go about their normal everyday business such as shopping and eating lunch at local cafes, a giant hole bursts open in the ground and a large spider/insect like creature emerges, soon followed by dozens of armed, grey and brown scaly skinned drones. Chaos breaks out as they begin to slaughter every person around them. Years later, a massive war has broken out between the humans of Earth and the underground dwellers. Once beautiful cities have now turned into a burning battlefield as the humans and creatures fight to the death using guns and fists and chainsaws, anything they can find.

"''In time…their valiant defence was crushed."

We see a group of human soldiers struggling to take control during a fight when the creatures bring large scaly gorilla looking like beasts with heavy machinery on their backs that shoot out bullets and rockets.

"''With billions dead, humans denied their enemy control…by destroying their own civilization."

In a burning city, destroyed by the war, three orange laser beams shoot down from the sky and move together to form a bigger beam. This happens in other parts of the same city and eventually it is filled with giant deadly beams from the sky. The city is burned to the ground by the very people that made it.

"''Now…the long struggle against overwhelming odds approaches a final, desperate stand."

- Josh Bennett

A young, lone soldier makes his way through the wreckage of a destroyed city and singlehandedly starts taking down all of the enemy creatures around him. They put up a good fight, but they’re no match for this man who ends up mowing them all down.

Twenty-Two Years after the Emergence.

A pair of dazed eyes open at the sound of grumbling and growling, only to discover two small, grey, scaly, monkey looking creatures, about the height of a wolf climbing around the caged roof of his prison cell. The small creatures stare down at the man and growl viciously at him, wanting to kill him. As they open their mouths, drool pours through the caged roof and drips onto the man. The man sits up from his rock-hard bed and looks around his small dark cell. The smell of rotting, dampness and mould is overwhelming, but unfortunately the man is used to it. A sound is suddenly heard coming from the prisoner’s door and he looks towards it to find another young man he recognizes stood on the other side. He is able to view the second young man through a small window slot in the door, “Bolt, rip that door” the second man orders. A robotic beeping sound is heard and then a bright sparking light beams through the lock of the door. Within seconds, the second man is able to open the cell door and then he enters, carrying a large duffle bag. A hovering grey robot follows him. “What’re you doing here?” the first man asks the second, who happens to be Joe Carpenter. Joe explains that he’s getting his friend out and then orders him to put on the stuff in the bag as he’ll need it. Joe throws the bag in front of his friend, who points out that he could get into a lot of trouble for doing this as he equips several amounts of armour on his body. “Not anymore, things have changed” Joe explains, “We better go”. The first man asks what they’re going to do about the other prisoners as they can’t just leave them here, “They’re gone. Wheeler pardoned everybody” Joe explains, “Is that right?” the man sarcastically asks, as it’s clear that he wasn’t pardoned. As the man finishes putting on his equipment, he walks past Joe, holding his gun and they begin to leave. “Welcome back to the army, Nick” Joe tells his friend. Nick moans with displeasure, “Shit…”. The two begin to make their way out of the prison, but before they make their way into the main hall, Joe turns to Nick and reveals that they can take two routes out of the prison; through the guard’s quarters which takes time but is safe, or through the prison blocks which will get them right into the fight. “Let’s take the prison blocks…I’m ready to kick some ass” Nick says roughly. “Hell yeah, let’s do it!” Joe responds eagerly. As they head towards the prison blocks, Joe stops to announce via radio that they’re on route. The man on the other end states that he’s beginning his run. Soon enough a helicopter flies over the prison. Joe and Nick are able to see the helicopter through the glass roof, but they’re suddenly stunned when small bombs are dropped down into the main hall. They both dive for cover, narrowly dodging the explosions and heavy debris. “Six-Four this is Delta Two, hold your fire! We are inside the prison! Over” Joe angrily tells the man. The man replies over the radio and suggests that Joe relocate ASAP. The communication is cut off and then Joe and Nick proceed to make their way out, “Man if Command knew I was here to get you, I’d be in some deep shit” Joe chuckles, “C’mon, let’s go” he states as they kick a door down. However, as the door slams open, they’re met by the horrific sight of rotting and chopped up corpses hanging from the roof, “Nice…” Nick moans nonchalantly. “What the hell’s been going on in this prison?” a slightly disturbed Joe asks. “You don’t want to know…” Nick says, indicating he’s seen some horrible things. They move through the door, entering the prison blocks and are immediately met by two patrolling scaly creature drones, armed with guns. Before they can react, Joe and Nick instinctively shoot them square in the head, killing them. The sound of gunshot provokes a reaction from several more drones that are standing outside the locked room. The creatures begin to cut through the door. Joe notices the sparks flashing and warns Nick that they’re coming through so he should take cover. However, the stubborn Nick refuses to do so and simply stands there, holding a grenade, waiting for the creatures to break through. “Here they come!” Joe yells from behind some rubble caused by the bombs dropped on the prison. The second the door is kicked open Nick throws the grenade in its direction, blowing up most of the drones straight away. The few remaining injured drones that enter the room, attempting to kill the two soldiers are almost all gunned down by Joe from behind rubble or Nick, who is stood in open space and completely vulnerable. When all appear to be defeated, Joe tells Nick to make his way through the door, outside. However, as they approach the door, Joe hears the sound of grunting coming from nearby. He turns to see one of the creatures crouched on the ground in pain, having been shot in the stomach. Joe pulls out his pistol and cocks it, ready to shoot and put the creature out of its misery, but Nick puts his hand in front of him, indicating for him to stop, “Let it suffer” he says carelessly. Joe looks down at the dying creature and thinks for a moment, “Let’s go” he says, putting his gun away and leaving the creature to die slowly. As they make their way outside into the courtyard, they’re met by several more creatures, which Nick singlehandedly fends off as Joe finds cover while requesting extraction from the area. Within moments, a ready helicopter makes its way to the area, shooting down any remaining creatures as it lands. After effortlessly gunning down the creatures in the area, the helicopter is able to land peacefully on the ground, just outside of the prison’s exterior walls which have been blown up, causing holes to appear in them. As Joe and Nick make their way to the helicopter, the pilot explains that he’s picking up large movement from underground, adding that he doesn’t know what it is. Joe tells Nick to hurry up, so they both start running towards the helicopter. The jump into the open back seating area and immediately begin to take off. However, as they do, the ground starts shaking, causing them to get very nervous. The helicopter takes off into the area, but as it does, one of the large spider like creatures bursts through the ground, roaring savagely with its large teeth at the helicopter as it flies away. It tries to reach out and knock the helicopter down with its long armoured legs, but it’s just out of reach. It then lets out an even larger roar of frustration, almost shaking the air.

A while later, the helicopter they’re arriving in has left the Los Angeles Maximum Security Prison and it is now flying over the city of San Diego, which is under attack from the underground creatures. As the helicopter flies at a safe distance in the sky, Joe and Nick sit quietly opposite two other soldiers who came to rescue them; Lieutenant Matthew Sanders and Private Bradley Sonya. The former sits in silence and the latter shoots down at the ground, trying to eliminate the few enemies he can see. Matthew hands Nick a canteen of water and the ex-prisoner drinks from it ungratefully, not saying thanks or acknowledging Matthew, “Welcome to Delta Squad” Matthew tells Joe and Nick kindly. Nick rolls his eyes, “Where are we going?” he asks. “Diego Square. Colonel Wheeler’s waiting for us” Matthew explains. Nick is disgusted at the mention of Benjamin Wheeler’s name, “Wheeler? Ah, shit…” he groans. Joe can’t help but smile, “This is gonna be awesome” he says sarcastically. After a moment of silence, Bradley Sonya takes a break from shooting down at the ground and turns to Nick “Hey, are you the Nicholas Knight? The son of Professor Elizabeth Knight?” he asks, starstruck. “Yup…” Nick responds, sighing at the young soldier, “Wow! Cool” Brad says excitedly before continuing shooting at the ground. Nick turns his head away from Brad, silently adding “Not really…”. Nick looks down at the ground and sees that they’ve reached their destination. He carefully watches a landed helicopter that appears to be waiting for them. Out of the helicopter steps Colonel Benjamin Wheeler. Nick sighs.

Two Years Ago (Twenty Years after the Emergence)

Nicholas Knight, Joe Carpenter, Takeo Mari, Jason Mirlo are all running up several flights of stairs as fast as they can, armed with their guns. They pant heavily as the armour weighs them down every step they take. Quietly running behind them is Mary Castillo in her simple grey suit. Nick, Takeo and Jason lead the way and Joe lags behind a bit, eventually coming to a full stop. He looks down the stairs, frustrated, and tries to hold back his tears. Jason notices his ally has stopped moving so turns back to him and tells him to keep up as the evacuation party won’t last long. Joe bites his lip with sadness and frustration, “I can’t do it…” he moans. Jason walks sympathetically towards his friend and puts his arm on his shoulder, “I know you miss her” he begins, “But we have to leave now. For all we know she’s not even here” he says, trying to comfort his friend. Joe leans his head back and takes a deep sigh, “How long?” he asks, “How long do I keep looking…?” Jason doesn’t know how to respond. There is silence for a few seconds, “We’ll find her, Joe. And if you stay here, then you’re going to die… then you definitely won’t see her again” he tells his friend. Joe thinks for a moment and then nods. He and Jason continue to run, catching up with Nick and Takeo, who have reached the roof of the building they’re in. They arrive on the roof to find Nick, Takeo and Mary waiting by two helicopters that have been sent to rescue them. “Mirlo, you get in this helicopter with Mari” he instructs pointing at a helicopter that Takeo is already waiting in, “Me, Joe and Mary will wait for Wheeler to arrive” he explains. Mirlo does as he’s told and gets in the helicopter with Takeo, “Good luck” Takeo wishes the trio they’re leaving behind before the helicopter sets off. A short while after the helicopter has taken off Benjamin Wheeler arrives on the rooftop from the staircase inside the building, holding his wounded arm with his hand. Mary is shocked by the sight of blood pouring down her Colonel’s arm, “What happened to you?” Nick asks nonchalantly. Benjamin ignores this question and simply holds out a piece of military equipment for Nick to take, “What’s this?” he asks. Benjamin explains that it’s a targeting laser, “We need to get it to the chancery and give it to the Chairman before those grubs overwhelm our position and take over the city” he adds. Nick asks what he wants him to do with it, so Ben rolls his eyes, “I just told you to take it to the Chairman” he says frustrated, “And I’m coming with you” he adds. Benjamin turns to Mary and tells her to call in for another helicopter as they’ll be taking the remaining one to go to the chancery, “Take it and return to Los Angeles. It’s safe there” he orders her. Mary simply nods and steps aside to call in for another helicopter. Nick takes one look at Ben’s wounded arm and shakes his head, “You’re not coming with me, Colonel” he tells his superior. Benjamin seems insulted that he’s been told what to do, “You do not give me orders, Sergeant” Wheeler huffs. “Your arm…you’ll only slow me down” Nick points out, “It’s too dangerous, sir”. Ben looks at his wounded arm, “I’ll be fine, soldier” he says bluntly, “Now get in the helicopter” he tells him. Nick begins to head to the helicopter to join Joe, who is waiting inside already. Ben begins to follow and turns around to Mary, “They sending one for you?” he asks her. However, Mary’s face is of pure shock when she looks at the group. “What is it?” Joe asks, confused. Mary is speechless for a few moments, “It’s your mother” she says, looking at Nick. Nick’s heart is filled with fear. “What about her? Is she okay?” Nick asks, nervous. “She contacted me…she, err, she said she wanted to say goodbye” she explains. A confused Nick asks what she’s talking about, “She said her estate was under attack…” she begins, “But before she could finish I lost radio contact” she explains. She gives Nick a look of sympathy, “I’m so sorry” she tells him. Nick doesn’t know what to say, “I have to rescue her…” he says quietly. However, he’s not quiet enough as Ben hears him. “You will do no such thing, Sergeant!” Wheeler says sternly, Nick is shocked, “You get in the helicopter and you take that laser to the chancery. Do you hear me?” Ben says angrily. Nick becomes angry and steps up to Ben, squaring up to him, “You want me to just abandon my mother?! I won’t do it!” he says, enraged. “If you do not get in the helicopter I swear to God I will have you court-martialled” Ben says in a threatening tone. “Go ahead” Nick says bluntly before heading to the helicopter. As he walks away, Ben rushes up to him and spins him around, “Your mother is useless and not worth the life of any soldier! Especially yours” he yells in an attempt to stop him. Nick is silent for a moment but that soon changes when he thrusts his fist into Ben’s face, knocking him to the ground. Mary helps her superior to his feet. Everyone is utterly shocked at what they just witnessed. Even Nick himself is in shock, but he maintains his confident appearance and simply places the targeting laser on the ground. “Take Wheeler to the chancery with the targeting laser” he tells Mary before heading towards the helicopter. “What do you think you’re doing?” Mary asks, completely shocked. “I’m doing my duty” he tells her before turning to Joe and the pilot of the helicopter. “We’ve been assigned a new mission” he begins, “Set your course to the Knight Estate” he tells the pilot, “We’re going to save my mother”. The helicopter begins to take off and slowly flies away, leaving Mary and Benjamin on the roof of the building. As they fly away, Ben calls over on Nick’s radio, stating that he’ll regret this. However, Nick simply switches his radio off, ignoring the Colonel’s threat.

Back in the present, at Diego Square, Colonel Benjamin Wheeler stands on the ground by his helicopter, waiting as the helicopter containing Nick, Joe, Matt and Brad lands. Once it does, Nick is the first out and he approaches his superior, “You! A traitor like you doesn’t deserve to wear the uniform” Ben says with a scowl. “Looks to me like you need all the help you can get” Nick points out, “Step aside” Ben says sternly and slowly as Lieutenant Matthew Sanders steps out of the helicopter, approaching Ben. As Ben and Matt walk away to talk in privacy, the former states that he has good news, stating that they have a plan to end this war once and for all. “Sensors are picking up enemy movement, sir. Close by” a woman’s voice says from over the radio. With that, Mary Castillo emerges from the helicopter that was waiting with Benjamin Wheeler. Her and Nick’s eyes meet instantly, this being the first time they’ve seen each other in two years. Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire is shot in the direction of everyone in the area. Matthew orders everyone to take cover, so Mary rushes back inside the helicopter. Nick, Joe and Bradley hide behind the same sandbag while they begin shooting back at their enemies which are coming from a large stone staircase leading up to a large building. Meanwhile, Matt and Ben hide behind a separate sandbag whilst the former is informed off the plan to end the war. “We now have a bomb, a targeting bomb! It’ll take those bastards out in one shot! But it can’t work if we don’t have the targeting data” Ben struggles to explain whilst he’s being shot at, “That’s why we need the resonator” Ben explains. Suddenly a small explosion booms from just feet away from their sandbag, knocking them to the ground. They get back to their feet and Nick, Joe and Brad continue to defend them from the gunfire. “It’ll map their tunnels so that we can hit those sons of bitches where they live!” Ben yells, referring to the resonator. “We’ve lost contact with Alpha Squad. Last transmission was from Diego Square” Ben begins, “I want you to get in there, find those men and deploy that resonator” he finishes explaining to Matt. “Will we have air support?” Matthew wonders, shocking Ben, “What, are you kidding? You are the support, son!” he points out. “Enemy missiles are keeping our helicopters out of the area, you’ll have to move in on foot” Ben tells Matt. Suddenly, Nick shouts that they’re down to two enemies, so recklessly stands up in open space, giving him a better chance to gun them down. They drop instantly, “All clear” he says nonchalantly. Pointing towards Mary, Ben explains to Matt that she’ll be feeding him with intel via radio. “Yes, sir. And the smart thing to do right now would be to leave” Mary tells Ben, cowering from the helicopter in fear of being ambushed again. “You, get it done!” he instructs Matt before moving to his helicopter. Nick, Joe and Brad stretch themselves off once they’re sure all the enemies are gone. Ben notices Nick and approaches him, “I expect you to give me one-hundred and ten percent, Knight” he says sternly, “I’m not doing this for you” Nick snarls before walking away from his superior. Joe and Brad follow Nick and they begin talking to Matt, who informs them of their job. Ben heads back to the helicopter he came in and he and Mary evacuate the area.

A short while later, Matthew, Nick, Joe and Bradley are making their way up the large stone staircase, “Hurry up, Alpha Squad are waiting" Matt says in an urgent tone. As they climb the staircase, they’re surrounded by nothing but silence, “Are you sure more of them won’t come?” a nervous Brad asks. Joe points out that reinforcements will probably be on their way, “You ready? You think you’ve still got it?” he asks Nick, who replies, “We’ll soon find out”. The group make their way around a small corner and then arrive at another set of stairs. Once they reach the top, they’re met by a large stone building with giant columns supporting the roof which is around one-hundred feet in the air. They’re all amazed by the size of the building and the fact it has survived twenty-two years, “Pretty amazing, huh?” Brad says, astounded by the buildings beauty. As they continue walking, Joe wonders why Brad is wearing a helmet, a helmet that was specifically designed for the soldiers armour covers most of his face, “We have them for a reason” he tells Joe, who is not wearing a helmet. “I don’t like them. They ruin the vision” Matt adds, to which Joe and Nick agree with as they’re also not wearing helmets. “Well I’d rather be alive then waste a few bullets” Brad says before being stunned by the sound of a bullet grazing against his helmet. A rain of bullets soon follows and the four men take cover, “Told you” Brad says, feeling the chip in his helmet. From behind stone walls, Matt, Nick, Joe and Brad shoot at their enemies, taking them down one by one. The scaly enemies lack intelligence and strategy, they simply run out into open space, firing every bullet they have on them. Some even dare run up to the human soldiers to attempt to rip their limbs off. As they take down their enemies, Joe shuffles towards Nick and points out that he’s just realized this is the first time they’ve seen each other since “it” happened. Nick gets an uncomfortable look on his face, “Yeah…” he moans. Joe doesn’t know what to say for a few moments, “I-I’m sorry for what happened” he says sympathetically. Nick gets a look of sadness, “Yeah, me too” he says. However, Nick’s sadness soon turns into a look of rage and he clenches his teeth before violently mowing down the remaining enemies before him.

In a flashback, Joe and Nick are flying in the back of the helicopter they just took from Ben as they head to the Knight Estate, the home owned by Professor Elizabeth Knight. They eventually reach the manor, which is under attack by several scaled monsters. As the helicopter hovers above the manor, Nick and Joe prepare themselves, “We’ll drop down from here!” Nick yells to the pilot, trying to speak louder than the roar of the propellers, “You stay in the air and cover us” he finishes. Nick and Joe drop down from the helicopter via ropes, avoiding the barrage of enemy gunfire that is headed in their direction. They safely drop to the ground and swiftly eliminate the enemies in the area, “My mother is inside!” Nick begins, “Split up and search for her” he orders Joe. They both rush into the house, knocking the front door down on their way, but they’re instantly met by a highly frightened Elizabeth Knight, who was about to rush out, holding a briefcase in her arms, “Nick!” she smiles with relief before hugging her son, “We’ve come to rescue you, mom” Nick explains, “Now follow me, hurry” he states, pointing towards the door. Liz is reluctant to go, “We need to get my research first” she tells him, but before Nick can respond, they hear a large explosion coming from outside, “They’re inside the estate, mom, we have to go now! Work doesn’t matter anymore” he urges her. He tells his mother to follow him again as he begins to head outside, this time Elizabeth listens. “At least give me your side arm” she asks, wanting to protect herself, “Don’t worry mom, we’ll protect you” he says, looking at Joe. Joe gives Liz a comforting nod. As they proceed to head outside, Nick receives a radio message from Takeo, who explains that the enemies are grouping outside but not attacking, “Me and Jason can rope down from our helicopter to help eliminate them” he offers, but Nick states that they’ll just be easy targets. “Then you better distract them then” Takeo says before cutting off contact. Nick realizes that they’re coming to help either way, so he and Joe rush outside and begin to gun down the enemies before them, avoiding the incoming gunfire. As they shoot at the group, Joe is stunned to see a furious and determined Valentina leading the charge, ordering all of the simple minded beings around her. Nick notices the look on Joe’s face, “What? What is it?” he asks. Joe shrugs it off and shakes his head with anger, “It’s nothing. I, just, well… I know her. We have history” he snarls. Nick looks over to the woman leading the charge and asks if he means her, Joe nods. Nick is confused. They continue to shoot at the enemies, eventually defeating them all and causing Valentina to retreat on a flying black creature that resembles some sort of squid. Once the area is clear, Nick calls in the helicopter that brought them to the manor, asking for evacuation. The helicopter soon arrives and begins to land, but as it lands, Liz notices that the enemies have returned with more dangerous weapons; grenade launchers, “Look out!” she yells, pointing in their direction, but it’s too late. The weapons shoot directly at the helicopter, causing it to crash straight into Liz’s manor. The propellers spin out of control and the explosions cause giant pieces of debris from the building to fly everywhere. Nick turns around and helplessly watches as his mother is crushed by the debris, “Noooooo!!!” he screams in horror at the death of his mother. Joe is in utter shock. However, before they can both react with any tears, more of the debris from the building heads their way and knocks into their heads, knocking them both out cold. Everything turns to black.

Back in the present, the group make their way further through the city of San Diego, finally coming across a bridge that leads to another large building. As they walk across the bridge, Joe approaches Nick, “Your mother was a good person” he tells his friend, “I know” Nick replies bluntly. Joe is unsure if he should continue to talk about this subject with his unstable friend, “There’s nothing you could’ve done, Nick. Don’t blame yourself” Joe assures his friend. “I don’t” Nick grunts, “I blame them. I blame her; that woman. And I’m gonna get revenge for my mother” he states confidently. They continue to cross the bridge in silence until Bradley suddenly points out something on the ground below the bridge, “Look!” he screams. Everyone looks in his direction to see a group of bloody corpses; soldiers. “Is that Alpha Squad?” Joe asks, “Are we too late?” Brad worries. “I don’t know” Matt says sternly, “We need to go down there and check them out” he says, before heading towards a locked gate at the end of the bridge that leads to a staircase down to the ground below the bridge, “Don’t worry, I’ve got the codes” he says before unlocking the gate. They proceed to make their way down to the corpses.

In a flashback, Nick awakens in a haze to find Colonel Benjamin Wheeler staring down at him with an angry glare. Lieutenant Mary Castillo is stood by his side and Takeo Mori and Jason Mirlo stand opposite them. “W-Where am I?” Nick asks as he rubs the injury on his head. “Your defiance cost the lives of all but two soldiers stationed at the Chancery” Ben simply states to Nick. Nick doesn’t know how to respond, “What?” he asks, confused, “What happened to me? Where’s Joe? Where’s my mother?” he asks, suddenly, it comes back to him. Flashes of Elizabeth being crushed by debris enter his head and he almost breaks down in tears, “Oh my God… she’s gone” he says, almost throwing up. Mary, Takeo and Jason give him a look of sympathy, but not Ben, Ben is furious. Takeo explains that he and Jason soon arrived in their helicopter and they killed the rest of the enemies before finding him and Joe unconscious. “What about my mother… Did you find her?” Nick asks, fearing the answer. Jason simply shakes his head. Nick begins to cry. There is silence while the man cries for a moment until Ben interrupts him bluntly, “Knight, you are charged with a dereliction of duty” he tells him before continuing to explain his charges for abandoning his duties. None of this matters to Nick and it goes in one ear and out the other… All he can think about that moment is that his mother is dead.