Merry Christmas!

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. I'm also taking a three day break starting on the 25th, Christmas Day. It''ll be my usual annual family trip. This time we'll be driving all the way to Pangkor. I'll be armed with my Sony Handycam and Canon Digital IXUS 900 Ti. Expect photos and maybe videos (if I ever have time to bloody edit them) here on my blog and maybe on Facebook as well.

Once again, Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

The Class of 2008

I was dead tired after the whole graduation ordeal. I left the house at 8 in the morning and only stepped foot home after 7 in the evening. My whole body ached after standing for a good 6 hours or so. Anyway, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to my classmates from the most awesomest course in the history of the Faculty of Multimedia Creativity: Games Design. For the count, I don't know when did those admin jokers changed the name to Games Art.

Diploma in Games Art
- Nicky Gan Soon Ling
- Kevin Justin Chai
- Lim Chiou Chow
- Moses Dwisatriadi
- Muruhanantha a/l K. Nadarajah Singham
- Neo Wei Kiat
- Ng Kai Hau
- Nicholas John Shanafelt
- Oon Teik Leong
- Oon Teik Teong
- Steven Kizito Bukenya
- Teoh Ching Chuan
- Ting Kee Biew
- Yong Boon Ping

Also not forgetting my other graduating friends and mates from other courses:

Diploma in Animation & Multimedia Design
- Irene Tan Yew Lee
- Siti Sara Hanim bt. Zarul Azham

Diploma in Sound & Music Technology
- Adeline Marie Baptist

As for me (aside from graduating with my Games Art Diploma), I'm proud of receiving the Industry Award for Excellence for being the best in Games Design. The award was presented by Microsoft (Malaysia). Also, another round of cheers and congratulations to my classmate Nicholas John Shanafelt for winning the President's Award for High Achievers.

Although, I was considering uploading pictures here, I guess I'll take my time to reconsider. Maybe they'll be uploaded to Facebook instead. With that said, I take my leave. Good night.

Graduation Blues

I'm graduating tomorrow. Oh wait... It's past midnight. Correction: I'm graduating TODAY. I may just be getting cold feet. Nervous, anxious? Maybe. Confident, proud? Maybe. Problem now is, I can't sleep. It's that feeling I usually get when something big comes up. For all I know, it maybe like this on my wedding day as well... Or maybe a lot worse than I can imagine.

But I can't be THAT bad right? I keep telling myself that. Somehow, I just don't feel like it's working. Making myself a lot more nervous? Well, that's going like superbly well. Anyway, I'll be trying to get some sleep as soon as I finish posting this. After all, it's gonna be a long day ahead.

Before I go, to all my classmates of Games Design (Semester 6):

- Nicky aka. Ms. Gan
- Nick Shanafelt
- Biew (EmoLoli)
- Neo aka. The One
- Moses aka. The Prophet
- Muru aka. Jesus
- The Brothers (Teong & Leong)
- Mr. Magical Land @ Ogre Magi
- Chow
- Xeon
- Steven Kizito
- Kevin Justin
- Boon Ping

Congratulations on graduating!

In Memoriam: Marie Rose Leong (77 yrs)

The night before, I went to bed at about 2 or so in the morning. After a full dose of Toradora!, I was pretty much satisfied. Although a little pissed because my Heroes download has been going for two days and has yet to complete. I went to sleep. Waiting any longer will certainly ruin my night's sleep. It was 3 by the time I got into bed.

I heard a brief knock on my door around 5 something in the morning, almost 6 if I recall. By the time I struggled out of bed to get the door, I can hear loud footsteps across the floor. My gut instinct told me that something's not right. I opened my room door nonetheless. My mom stood at my room door; tears in her eyes. My grandma just died moments ago. I stood at the door staring at the floor, speechless. I knew this day would come one way or another... Just didn't expect it to be this soon. My grandmother was discharged from the hospital only a day before. For minutes, I stood at my doorway, staring into nothingness.

Deep down inside, I tried to laugh, I tried to scream, I tried to cry. But nothing. Through the doorway across mine, I could see my sister sitting on her bed. In the darkness she was there, hugging the closest pillow she could find. I closed my door, turned off my lights and went back to bed. Hoping to sleep through this. I can't. My body seems to want it but my eyes just don't wanna give in. I gave up. I left my room and went downstairs to get a drink of water. That's when I saw my grandmother's motionless body lying on the bed in the hall. For the first time that morning, tears filled my eyes...

This all started about mid-July. My grandmother came down to visit. She suffered a heart attack one night just because she had forgotten to take her medication. She has been having high blood pressure and diabetes for years now. That's when she was rushed to the hospital. If I recalled, that was around 2 in the morning. It was a Sunday. She was discharged weeks later. Just days after being discharged, she fell. It was some time in the morning before noon. She fractured her hip and was again rushed to the hospital. Eventually it became a downward spiral from that moment on.

Just last week she was readmitted again to the hospital. Apparently her sugar level dropped below critical. It was about then, after 4 months going in and out of the hospital that I think she finally gave up on everything. She begged my mom to discharge her just the day before. She left us peacefully the next morning. May her soul rest in peace.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside the still waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me through the right paths
for his name's sake.

Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil,
for you are beside me:
your rod and your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me
in the presence of my foes.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me
all the days of my life,
I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
as long as I live.

- Psalm 23:1-6

Left 4 Dead Hands-On: Death Toll

"For had I wished, I could have raised my hand against you and your people, and with a similar pestilence wiped you from the face of the earth."

- Exodus 9:15

Chapter 1: The Turnpike
Getting stuck at the end of an abandoned highway isn't my idea of fun outdoor night stroll. But heck, that's where we are now and I'm not in a position to make any complains here. No soon did we began, from along the highway, the forests to the left and the hills to the right, they started to swarm us. We fought till we reached a bridge that was up ahead. Well, there was a bridge anyway. "Of course, the bridge is out," I sarcastically let out a remark while we gunned down the last of our attackers. The only way is down into the gully. As we made our way down the slope, more of them await us. We rushed to the opposite ladder. This was not what I had expected on a night like this. I expected a lot worse. But hell, for the past 2 weeks it's been this same chaos all day long. In front of us we see a turnpike and then a tunnel that seemed endless. "That's the Riverside Tunnel," one of us exclaimed. The sign says "North to Riverside. Exit in ½ mile." We entered the tunnel without hesitation. Inside the tunnel was a huge mess. Burning cars, rubble everywhere, a freaking hole in the roof. You name it. A plus, the Horde were at every corner. About halfway through, we find that the tunnel's blocked. Barricaded on one side, filled with rubble and debris on the other. There was no other choice, we made a detour. A small passageway on the side was visible amongst the debris. We decided to try our luck there. It did lead us somewhere. However, as far as we learnt, everything came with a price. No sooner did we leave the tunnels, we were ambushed again by the Horde, front and back. Boomers appeared from the corners, Smokers came out of hiding from behind. We fought them off with our lives. With an opening in front, we broke for cover. The safe house was just up ahead. We appeared back in the forest again. From a distance, a lighted building can be seen. Though the exterior were in ruins, we saw that the doors were made of reinforced steel. That was it, the safe house. With the Horde hot on our tails, we made a mad dash towards the safe house, turning every once in a while to give surpressing fire.

Chapter 2: The Drains
A strong pungent smell coming from the the other side of the door tells me that we were inside a sewerage system. There was no point in going back towards the tunnels. We had no choice but to head through the sewers. Making matters worse, them Infected a crawling in these parts as well. The floors were slippery, slimy and well...smelly as far as the word smelly stretches to. The waterways and drainpipes were like mazes. Getting lost here wasn't certainly on my wishlist. As we get further in, we began to hear sobs. Right in front of us were floodgates. However, the sobs began to get louder as we get closer to the floodgates. A Witch was nearby. This certainly ain't gonna be easy. We need access to the floodgates but the Witch was in the way. The pipeway we were in was about 2 meters from the ground and the Witch was sitting right below our exit. I went first. I took a deep breath and ran towards the exit. Jumping as I reached the end of the pipeway. I landed in the water a few good feet from the Witch. Another 2 of my mates did the same thing. One guy to go. We kept watch while our final friend prepared for his jump. The klutz slipped right before he jumped and landed right on the Witch. She shrieked and started her made rampage towards the one who made her into a cushion. While my mate struggled to escape from the clutches of the Witch, myself together with the other 2 opened fire on her. Within seconds she was as good as dead, her corpse floating on the water. Our attention was then focused on the floodgates. We needed to lower them to create a bridge so that we'll be able to get to the other side. The controls were on a ledge above us. "Those gates will probably make hell lotta noise. Better get ready." We climbed the ledge and took position. As a mate flipped the switch, the floodgates decended every so slowly. The sound of the motors that lowered the gates made a racket that could very well wake the dead. Howls and roars could be heard echoing throughout the pipelines. With my hunting rifle in hand, I took aim. One down, two down, three down. One by one the oncoming Horde fell to hot lead. They swarmed the room from every opening. As the floodgates finished their decent, we moved cautiously across. Back to back, we towards the next pipeway. No sooner after we crossed the floodgate bridge, the floor started to shake. From the now accessible pipeway, a Tank was charging at us. I took aim and immediately unloaded one full cartridge at the behemoth. My mates fired their weapons as well. As the Tank entered the room, we scattered. I backed up against the wall while maintaining aim on the Tank's head. As my mates distracted it, I had all the time to aim and fire. Not long after, the hulking behemoth fell to the ground with a loud thud. We moved on. After a couple of rooms, we found ladders heading up and eventually out of the sewers. We were behind an old trainyard on the outskirts of Riverside. With the safehouse in sight, we rushed towards it. The safehouse was in a traincar. Reinforced and being to heavy, I doubt it'll ever move again. Well, at least it'll provide cover for us.

Chapter 3: The Church
The trainyard was massive. Right smack in the center was a watch tower. A good vantage point from my point of view. Being the one with the hunting rifle, that place served as a good lookout. However, we abandoned the plan. Better to get ambushed in the open with escape options than get stranded up there. We agreed and carefully walked towards the end of the trainyard. Infected lurk at every corner in the darkness. We try not to get their attention and risk getting a Horde storm on us. We entually made our way out of the trainyard and we found ourselves back on the road again. It was a rural area. Something you'd find at the edge of a forest. There were houses and little huts along the road. Not that none of them would house people anyway. However, they were a good source of supplies. We managed to find a good stock of ammo to keep our guns going. We managed to find a vacant house that still had electricity. As we approached the area, once again we heard sobs. Another Witch. This time under a tree. She was at the backyard. Taking the stealthy approach this time, we climbed out the house's side windows and back on to the main road. No sooner than we thought that we had escaped the Witch, the ground once again shook signifiying that there was a Tank in the vicinity. The Tank busted through the walls of the nearby graveyard and came charging towards us. Being the team's sniper, I was at the back of the group. Whoever that the Tank was after had to be in front of me. Having that advantage, I once again pressed myself against a nearby wall and took aim. While my other mates kept the Tank busy, I took my time and aimed for his head. Within seconds, the Tank was dead and we made ourway through the graveyard. The church on the hill was well lit and we could hear voices. We rushed towards the church to find a safehouse. But it was locked and some lunatic was in there. He kept mumbling "better safe than sorry" over and over. It was driving me nuts. One of my mate went up against the door and started to talk to the guy hoping that he would open the stupid door. "Let's see... I'm Francis and that's Grandpa Bill and THERE'S ZOMBIES OUT HERE, OPEN THE GOD DAMNED DOOR!" my mate screamed. "Only if you can prove you're immune a-a-and I know just how to do it," came the reply from the lunatic. Immediately the moron rang the churchbell and all hell broke lose. From every side, the Horde swarmed in on our location. If we weren't armed we would have been dead in less than 10 seconds. Soon the Horde died down and we proceeded to open the door. To our horror we found out that the lunatic was already mutated into a Boomer. I jumped back to get out of range of the bile he puked. My mate shot the Boomer straight in the stomach and the damn thing exploded sending guts and blood everywhere. We finally had access to the safehouse. However, things were just about to get a little more nastier as we're finally setting foot in smalltown Riverside.

Chapter 4: The Town
Climbing out of the church's belltower, I could see the abandoned town. Again, the belltower was as good a vantage point than I can ever hope for. I started to pick off the Infected one by one frm the streets. Slowly they dropped to the ground one after the other. When we saw that the coast was clear, we headed down the tower and proceeded to enter town. Our job here was to get to the edge of town and find a boat that'll get us to safety. With that said, we made our way towards the Riverside boathouse. Wrecked cars and oil tankers in town made it look like a maze. No sooner that we found ourselves in the center of town, a wrecked car came flying by us. "Shit, Tank!" one of my mates screamed. "Run! Get to open space!" I cried. I climbed a nearby car trying to get the height advatage and started to open fire. Eventhough being in open areas gave us an advatage against the tank in terms of maneuverability, that damn thing could still hurl rocks and debris towards us. One of my mates ran up towards the thing to get it's attention away from me. The Tank swung his arm is a 180° degree arc and slammed a nearby car into my mate. He flew across the road unconcious. The rest of us kept on pouring lead into the thing and eventually, he fell. We rushed to our mate's rescue. The damage wasn't as bad as it seemed and we hurriedly made our way towards the edge of town. We were lucky that there weren't any Witches to hinder our progress and we made it to the edge of town in record time. We rested and restocked at the final safehouse before we headed out to the boathouse.

Chapter 5: Boathouse Finale
The boathouse was in sight. We quickened our pace while we made our way towards our destination. The route there was without trouble. A good sign ever since this started. However, I had a bad feeling that this was the calm before the storm. We entered the boathouse only to find a radio. I radioed in on all available frequencies. Fortunately a fishing boat not far off river took noticed. It'll take the guy 10 minutes to reach the boathouse. We just need to defend ourselves until he gets here. We took up defence up on the roof of the boathouse. As the clock started ticking, the Horde started to rush us. Front, sides, they came from everywhere. Soon, the boathouse was overwhelmed with Infected. To make matters worse, there were two Tanks in the vicinity. The first Tank went down with ease as it was stupid enough to rush into the boathouse and then struggle to escape through the windows. However when the second Tank started its assault, we were caught off guard. From behind the trees a big chunc of debris came flying towards the boathouse. The impact knocked me off my feet and I fell down the stairs nearby. My three other mates went and charged the Tank head on. I got up on my feet and joined the fray. The Tank once again threw a chunk of rubble toward us. Grandpa Bill dodged it in time but slipped and fell. The Tank took the apportunity to pummel him to death. We threw everything we had at the Tank but sadly, by the time we killed it, Grandpa was long gone. Fighting hard to hold back the tears, we rushed towards the docks. Out of nowhere, a Hunter suddenly pounced on my mate that was running beside me. I took a swing at it with the butt of my hunting rifle and whipped out my pistol and emptied half a clip on the poor bastard. I dragged my mate up adn we continued to rush towards the docks. By the time we had reached the docks, the boathouse was overwhelmed by the Horde. As we see the boat inching ever so closer, so too did the Horde. I climbed on board the boat with my mate and we started to covering fire. "C'mon Francis, get on!" I shouted. He was still on the docks fighting off the Horde. He was about an arms-reach away when they overwhelmed him. I was too late. The boat pulled out of the docks and made its way to safety.

Epilogue
I've lost two friends that day. Both of them died while trying to escape this mess. We thought that by getting to Riverside, we could sought protection from teh US Army. However it was overrun and lost by the time we made it to the outskirts. Maybe we were a little too late. Maybe if the military were still in Riverside, Francis and Bill could have survive. Maybe... Just maybe... May their souls rest in peace.

Left 4 Dead Hands-On: No Mercy

"To anyone who can hear this: Proceed to Mercy Hospital. Repeat. Proceed to Mercy Hospital."

Chapter 1: The Apartments

I was right in the middle of Fairfield. On a god-forsaken apartment roof. Evacuations will be at Mercy Hospital. That's what I heard from the news chopper flying past. I can see Mercy Hospital not far off into the distance. "Looks easy enough," I told myself. There were 3 more mates stranded with me. We're Survivors, them Infected horde of zombies are all that's standing between us and Mercy Hospital. I used the butt of my shotgun to break open a nearby sunroof. It was dark down in the apartments. I jumped down to enter a room. Couple of zombies were bashing their head against the wall. I shot them straight in the chest and joined up with my other 3 mates. We slowly moved to the ground floor and finally made our way to the streets via the alleyways. From the shadows I could see wrecked cars on the streets. Hordes of them Infected littered the streets. We fought our way to the subway station. Shooting, bashing and blowing up every piece of resistance we encountered. Then, the nightmare starts. Standing in the open, walking towards us was a huge, obese and seriously stinky piece of shit you've ever seen. That thing reeks of garbage. On shot through the chest and "BOOM". The Boomer became a walking time bomb. However, the blast radius triggered a nearby car alarm. Before we knew it, we were swarmed from all sides. I ducked to the corner of a narrow alleyway giving whatever covering fire I could while some of the other picked themselves up and cleared a way down into the subways. Upon descending the stairs, we saw a fortified room in front of us. From the looks of it, that thing could act as a mini-outpost and defense point. We decided to camp there, rest and restock before going further.

Chapter 2: The Subway

The safe-house provided decent defense against those monstrosities. It seems that they can't break through the thick walls and fortified steel doors that surround the area. We restocked, healed and pressed on. The door leading towards the streets were barricaded with desks and chairs and whatever we could find in the room. My mate then slowly opened the door leading into the subways. He was taking point and I was the one supporting him while the other two were rearguards. There was a big hole on the ceiling and on the floor. Growling and screeching noises beneath us meant that those bastards were hiding below us amidst the debris. We dropped below and took care of the bastards. As we moved towards the stairs, I noticed that something was moving above us. Coughing can be heard beyond the cracked ceiling. I shone my flashlight up only to see some hideous monstrosity lashing his tongue out towards me. I unloaded a full clip of buckshots towards the thing. He exploded into a cloud of green smoke. The smoke was like a wall. I couldn't see, breathe nor hear very well. I swear I almost died to that Smoker. To make matters worse, it seems that we were being followed. Every now and then, we could hear growls around us. It sounded different that the ones the Horde used to make. We felt like lambs to the slaughter. We were prey and there's a Hunter out there trying to get us. We picked up the pace. Hurrying through the ticket counter and making our way onto the tracks. Amongst the debris for the ticketing booth, there seem to be weapons beneath the rubble. Fortunately for us, they were working. Our luck was cut short when all of a sudden, the earth started to rumble. From behind a subway coach, a terrifying roar could be heard. I was frozen deep in my tracks. The size of that thing was hulk-like! From the looks of it, it seems like it was the alpha male of these Infected. Debris came flying towards us in all directions. Hidden between two pillars, I took careful aim with my newly found hunting rifle. I aimed for the head and let my fingers do the job. I no doubt got this Tank's attention and soon, debris came flying towards me. My mate tried to shake the Tank off me but only got thrown halfway across the platform, slamming into the wall. We lost her. The wall behind her collapsed on top of her. We fired everything back at the Tank and soon it fell to the ground. Even in situations like these, survival was top priority. There was no time for mourning. She would have done the same if she was in my place. We pressed on and found a way out of the subway. A stairs leading up could only lead back to the streets. This time, I was wrong. We approached a power generator room. The power controlling the automated gate to the top floor was out. By rerouting the power, it would mean that this building will be making a hell load of commotion. Which would also mean attracting the Horde. We've survived thus far, we'll survive the rest of it. We layed blockades around the generator room. Setup a mounted machinegun we found in one of the rooms. As we took up positions, we heard a faint cry from the stairway. I couldn't believe my eyes, neither could my mates. She who we thought had died risking her life to defeat the Tank, struggling to climb the stairway! She was in bad shape and I took it as my top priority to get her some first-aid. She was the one who saved my ass back at the Tank encounter. It was the least I could do. She offered to guard a nearby hole in one of the rooms. We decided to setup our defence there. She'd guard our backs while 2 of use will take the left and right of the machinegunner respectively. My mate triggered the power switch and hurriedly rushed back to mount the gun. The generators created a huge racket enough to wake the dead. As the security door slowly opened, the Horde rushed into the building from every opening they would find. The machinegun's barrel glowed red after constant mowing the Infected. As soon as we saw that the door was fully opened, we rushed upstairs into a small office room to catch our breath. After a good time out, we restocked our ammunitions and moved out into the next hallway. We eventually came out into the streets again. The sight of the city from the streets is never pretty. Not pretty indeed. In the distance we could hear a faint cry. It sounds like a girl crying, sobbing. We immediately cut our flashlights. It was a Witch. As our earlier encounters with her, she could be a passive equivalent to the Tank. I took aim with my hunting rifle. My mates did the same. All guns were pointing at the Witch. One of my mate threw a molotov cocktail he picked up earlier towards her. Her sobs and moans turned into shrieks and wild thrashing as she was set aflame by the molotov. Her sights set on us, we unleashed everything we had at her. This time, I had a clear shot. 5 shots to the head and she's on the ground. Just a few steps in front of us. Down the street, we saw lights coming from an abandoned pawn shop. The office were made out of the same fortified steel doors from an earlier safe-house. "So there were others before us," I told myself. We made our way into the safe-house andlocked the door behind us.

Chapter 3: The Sewer
We made our way out of the pawn shop and into some narrow back alleys again. I can see it. Mercy Hospital was just a few blocks away. Pathways back to the streets are either blocked with wrecked cars or just simply inaccessible in ways I couldn't have imagined. Sticking to the alleyways, we found ourselves at the local sewerage plant. The entrances were locked and the only way in is via the rooftops. We found a mobile lift to at least give us a height boost. My mate flipped the switch. The pneumatic system was faulty and it made horrid screech that was half as noisy as the generators. Even if it didn't seem to be a big deal at first, it sure attracted many unwanted little Infected. As we made our slow journey up towards the roof, a nearby gas station caught my eye. It very well gave me an idea. "Shoot the pumps!" I screamed. My mates fired a couple of volleys towards the pump. It was an early fireworks display that sent dozens of Infected flying in pieces. We ran across the rooftops towards the far end of the building. All the time keeping our eyes on the ground to keep the Horde from getting on the roof. As usual, we split into teams again, the rearguard was to hold off the incoming Horde at bay while myself and my other mate clear the front. Amidst the chaos, a Boomer somehow managed to slip past our sights and climbed onto a nearby truck. He puked all over the rearguard. It was indeed trouble as the asshat's vomit attracts nearby Infected towards the source of the vomit, which in this case are the rearguard team. I broke off from the point team and back tracked towards the rearguard. Taking my final pipe bomb, I lobbed it across the compound dragging every Infected that were charging the rearguard. It gave them enough time to recover and us to regroup. We made our way inside the plant. The interior was quiet, too quiet. My mates didn't like it. I on the other hand is trying to figure out what my gut instinct is trying to tell me. I found out soon enough as a forklift came flying my way. The cargo area was too clustered up for anyone of us to notice another Tank waiting at the opposite end of the room. I was saved by a pillar and a cargo holding rack. The forklist rebounded off those items and landed nearby one of my mates, almost crushing him. We splitted up trying to pull the Tank away from the exit. While the Tank was on one of my mates, myself and the other 2 gave supressing fire. We repeated this tactic till the Tank was dead. As my mate dealt the final blow, the Hunter that was tailing us finally decided to make his move, he pounced towards the Tank slayer. My was lucky. Reflex told him to pull the trigger of his automatic shotgun when the Hunter was pointblank. It sent the Hunter flying yards back, dead. With current problems settled, we decended into the sewers. The sewers were maze-like. Any attempt to split from the group will certainly get you lost. We followed our instincts and eventually found the ladder leading up. The words writted on the wall was like a gift from the heavens. It stated "MERCY HOSPITAL SEWER ACCESS." We were back on the street after climbing that ladder. However, there was good news and bad news. The good news is that we're right in front of Mercy Hospital. The bad news, the square was crawling with Infected. After coming this far, we ain't gonna let a bunch of mindless zombie stop us. We rushed towards the hospital entrance, shooting and bashing any Infected stupid enough to come close. We entered the main lobby, closed the door and bolted it shut. It looks like we'll be safe for he time being. Enough time to catch a breather.

Chapter 4: The Hospital
Mercy Hospital was in a much worse condition that we had originally thought. The hospital staff and patients have mutated into mindless zombies. Our destination was the helipad at the top of the hospital. However, the only way to the helipad is via a special elevator located on the fourth floor. We knew what we had to do. We fought our way to the fourth floor elevator. Every step we take, the close we are to being rescued. The elevator was on the 24th floor. That's the helipad level. Recalling the elevator will be risky. Every sudden move we make, the Horde appears. They greet with full force. I swung my hunting rifle over my back and whipped out both my pistols. "This is the only way up. We make a stand here!" I told my mates. As the elevator started its slow decent, we could hear the Horde rushing through the fourth floor towards us. Within seconds, we were being assaulted from the left, the right and the front. With the elevator slowly reaching the fourth floor, we moved ever so closer, with out backs towards the elevator door. As the door slided open, we rushed in and slammed on the close button. The hole in the elevator roof gave me a bad feeling. True enough, a Smoker landed on the roof. My pistol shots threw the Smoker off balance and his foot was soon caught between the cables. Within seconds, the Smoker was nothing but a pile of green smoke. The elevator door opened up. It was dark. We flashed our flashlights around. The area looked like a half complete construction project. Cement bags were everywhere. It looks like the helipad wasn't on this level. It was on another level above us. After travelling through loads of construction equipment, we finally saw the ever familiar fortified steel doors. I made my way towards the safe-house, the first time with a smile on my face. My mates did the same. Our hopes were short lived however. From behind a nearby wall, another Tank came crashing through. Smashing everything in its path. With this tight space to navigate, it was hard to dodge the Tank's rampage. We didn't want to rish the safe-house. With a brute this size, I doubt that door will hold. We adapted to an earlier tactic, one of us will act as the bait to lure him away from the safe-house while the other 3 provided supressing fire. It worked but not without casualties. I had like tons of steel bars thrown towards me, 2 of my mates were smashed towards the wall. Another was almost thrown off the side of the building. Nevertheless, we made it. The helipad was just above us. This is the final stretch.

Chapter 5: Rooftop Finale
The steel door opened to a half ruined helipad. Even this area were infested with zombies. From the corner of my eye I saw a radio tower. We rushed towards the radio tower. My mate flipped the switch to contact the earlier chopper we encountered. We had 15 minutes to defend ourselves while the chopper closed in on our location. 15 minutes. This will seem like an eternity. We started to place obstacles around the radio tower: petrol bottles, propane tanks, etc. To our luck, there was another machine gun in the tower. We immediately deployed it on the roof. We utilized the same tactic back at the generator room. One mans the mounted gun, two will guard the gunner's left and right respectively and the final person will act as the rearguard. I can hear the pilot's voice over the radio. At the very same time, growls of the Horde can be heard from all around us. "It's do or die people!" I gave one final shout and let loose everything I had. That 15 minutes was the longest 15 minutes in my entire life. The Horde came from all sides, Smokers lashed out at us from great distances, Hunters pounced on anyone who had their backs turned. Worst of all, there were two Tanks. Two god-damned motherfucking Tanks! We fought as our lives depended on it. In fact, it did. It was our job to clear the landing zone. In the distance, we could see the chopper closing in. We abandoned our posts and made a quick dash to the helipad. Limping and struggling as we are, we made it towards the evac zone. As the chopper made it's way down towards the helipad, the growls that we all learned to hate so much echoed behind us. The Horde staged their one last assault to ensure that nobody made it out of Fairfield alive. I snatched my mate's automatic shotgun and started to shoot into the Horde as my mates slowly climbed on board the chopper. They screamed my name, telling me that I was the last one. I ran like I've never ran before. I was just a skip away. I stretched out my hand but it was in vain. From behind, a third Tank emerged and grabbed me by the legs. I was pinned to the ground. I whipped out my pistols and emptied my barrel onto his face. It apparently did nothing except anger him more. He started smashing the floor with his bare hands. My legs weren't spared the carnage. One of my mates came down from the chopper and picked up the shotgun I dropped. He unloaded a full clip in the back of the Tank. The Tank roared in pain and started to thrash about. I took this as an opportunity to escape while I'm not the main focus anymore. I used my arms to pull myself towards the chopper. My other two mates that were still in the chopper rushed down to help me up. Within seconds, the Tank seeing my body no longer on the floor, went towards my mate that shot him in the back. The Tank took a piece of rock debris and hurled it towards my mate. My mate was knocked out cold. Just as the Tank could finish his job, two of my mates that helped me up the chopper took up their weapons and fired upon the Tank. The bullet spray of the assault rifle in the Tank's face at point blank should have blinded the thing. My mate was hurt badly, he was bleeding like there's no tomorrow. I took out both my pistols and gave them covering fire as my injured mate was dragged back to the chopper. As soon as the three of them we on, the pilot took off, leaving Mercy Hospital far behind.

Epilogue
My mate who was injured died minutes after we left the hospital. A post mortem concluded that his ribcage was smashed which in turn punctured his lungs. He died of internal bleeding. As for me, my legs were to be amputated. Apparently, the damage was slightly more severe than I thought. Even my spinal cord took a full hit. I was told that I'd be paralyzed for life. As for my other two mates well, they're safe and that's the important part. Fairfield will no longer be how it's used to be. I can't really say much about the rest of Philadelphia. For all I know, CEDA would have already decided to nuke the state...

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 1 Day Remaining

The clock ticks as I write this. The apocalypse approaches. I've made my final preparations. Everything is set. My mates are ready. By the time the clock reaches 2am. There will be approximately 11 hours before it begins.

I wait ever so patiently. The seconds go by... I wait, and wait, and wait...

Deadline: Tuesday, 18th November 2008. 1:01pm (GMT+8)

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 2 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 2 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My head felt heavy as I woke up. Just the night before, I was up digging up my tech papers on various old data I had sometime in the past. I wasn't too keen on handing this to the Underground yet. I've learn not to simply trust someone just because both you and them share a common goal. By the time I was about done, it was already past noon.

I was extremely tired and decided to take a break. Sadly, my nap was a short one. Storm clouds were brewing over the horizon and soon, it was a massive downpour. To make matters worse, a thunderstorm soon followed. Massive thunderstorms like these will only fry my system. I've learned it the hard way a long time ago. Immediately, I rerouted the a portion of the main power grid to the backup generator. In this case, if there's a power overload, it'll be sent to the generator.

The storm left as quickly as it came. From my window I could see the damage Mother Nature has done. The nearby river was overflowing. The construction yard down the street wasn't doing any good either. Mud from the site overflowed, leading to a very messy road. With just two days left, things aren't looking any good either. HQ's gone. I've got no word from my colleagues. Even the streets are quiet now.

Night came a lot sooner. Maybe because of the rain clouds. But that didn't change the fact that those things will start their prowl soon. I sat there at my workstation sending out encrypted messages that only my mates would know. Some of them already knew the end was near and there was no hope of staying here. Others, well... Others just don't seem to care anymore. I left the signal on my workstation on hoping that someone will pick up the signal. I've got a feeling that none of them knew about the Underground and it's about time they do. For tomorrow is the final day. 1 day to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 3 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 3 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Waking up with a hangover wasn't exactly on my mind. It was raining. A relief since the past few days were scorching hot. The rain washed away the stagnant smell of death. Something to lighten up my mood. I didn't notice it was way past noon until I check my communicator for sent messages. There was a few. The first couple of 'em were just plain spam. People will do anything for entertainment these days. Cheap thrills I'd call them. However, the final few did open my eyes. Quite a number of people would like to join forces. To combat whatever that's been happening in the last few days, and maybe for the days to come.

They'd already formed an underground resistance. Only thing missing were the knowledge of those monstrosities roaming the streets after sundown. Apparently, I was one of the few how have the data. Actually, almost everyone back at Lab 6A have the same data. It's just that after yesterday's ordeal, my database became more like an archive. Nobody else knows of this except my ex-partner. Someone who I felt leaked this to the Underground.

Nevertheless, I was keen to know them. Any extra hand for the coming apocalypse would surely be helpful. Very, very helpful. I returned the message to contact me on my secure line via my workstation. They did. They decided on a meeting place. It was at a construction site just down the street from my place. Kind of a weird and suspicious area to hold a meeting but I couldn't care less. The appointed time was 5pm. I got there at 4, just to scout around a little bit.

I was approached by a familiar guy at the designated time. He kinda looked like an old friend of mine. He shook his head, saying that he didn't know me nor did he knew the name I mentioned. He said that he was a representative of the Underground. He assured me that he wasn't armed. Neither was I. I asked him to come over to my place to check out the data. He agreed.

I relayed my current database to the Underground. I was smart enough to keep the other info I'd attained the day before hidden. Until I can fully trust these guys, I ain't risking such valuable data to them. The guy eventually left and I got another message from the Underground. They were grateful that I was willing to share what I'd learned with them. However, they can only arrange a meeting inside their HQ in 3 days time. That's when the apocalypse will happen.

By the time the clock strikes midnight, it will be 2 days to the Apocalypse. With just 2 days to go, I feel that thing will get pretty interesting around here...

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 4 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 4 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up with a heavy feeling in my heart. Deep inside me there was regret. However, I tried not to make it too much of a big deal. "What's done is done," I told myself. What I need to do now, is concentrate on the task at hand. I switched on my workstation and began studying the security videos I've received a day ago. Everything just doesn't make sense.

I contacted a few of my colleagues. Some had some theories. Although without proof, they're just as good as bullshit. I had my theories as well. Sadly, they're without proof either. I decided to head over to the station one last time. This time determined to find something that may push this investigation forward. Within minutes, I was standing at the entrance. Luckily, the sun was still up. Thoughts of the horrid event came back to haunt me. I shrugged it off and pressed onward.

The inside was just as how it was the day before. Untouched. Looks like nobody's been here. From the looks of it, I doubt anyone will ever come here again... Ever. The stench of death and decay filled the air around me. It was unbearable. I left the premises immediately. As I walked towards the entrance, I noticed from the corner of my eye that someone or something has been following me ever since I entered the place. I place my hand on the pistol I had been carrying. With yesterday's events, I can't be too carefree anymore. Self-defense, is a must.

I took deep breathes to calm my nerves. Pulled out the pistol from the holster and released the safety lock. I scanned the area carefully, trying to pick out notable ambush points. I carefully walked towards my car. I stopped as I heard footsteps nearby. I turned, pointing the gun towards the source of the noise. I held my breath. My fingers were already on the trigger, getting ready to pull it at any second. From behind the broken pillar, my stalker emerged. "Fuck, hell!" I exclaimed. It was my ex-partner. Somehow, he miraculously survived last night's ordeal.

He was bruised and battered. His clothes were tattered and torn all around. He could definitely pass of as one of them. He said that he managed to break free from the horde that came rampaging down the basement carpark and hid in a nearby storeroom or some sort. I gave him two shots from my pistol. One on the arm, another on his thigh. "Those are for being trigger happy last night which almost cost me my life. Also, to make sure you're not one of them," I told him. He was groaning in pain. A good sign. It means that he was still human. "Fuck you, bro," he said.

I laughed and offered him a ride home. In his make-shift sanctuary in the storeroom, my partner managed to somehow study the behavior of those things. He compiled it and then uploaded it into my database. I placed the data under lock and chains. It was password protected. The code was encrypted. "This data goes down with me," I told myself. That's if those things get to me before I complete this investigation and let my mates know of it.

Again, I worked till midnight. "3 days to the Apocalypse," I said as I slowly walked towards the bed. I let out a heavy sigh and went to sleep.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 5 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 5 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My communicator's constant buzzing woke me up at around 3 in the afternoon. I was in no mood to move my ass up and head over to HQ. After all, what's there left of HQ now? That biohazard outbreak we had the day before must have tore the whole place down to ruins. I've had no contact with whoever that were in the labs since I've stepped foot back home at 3 this morning.

I turned on my workstation only to find an anonymous message flashing on my screen. It was the security videos to yesterday's outbreak back at the lab. I was shocked to see the damage that was done. They came from all sides, pounded on the glass doors. Smashed through the plaster walls like cardboard. Then I remembered my ordeal this morning at the abandoned train station. It was just as bad. Suddenly, I began to felt thankful. Thankful that I've lived this long. Thankful that I'm still alive after all this bullshit.

I've had cuts and bruises before but the wounds I had this time were... Well, let's just say that they're non-fatal. I kept watching the security videos. My feelings did not change. I was scared, true. But deep down, the determination to survive grew stronger. I will fight my way out. Dying now will only let my efforts thus far, die in vain.

I headed back to the station hoping to see things I might had missed when I was in pitch black...and also the paranoia of being mauled to death from the back when you least expect it. I rushed towards the station. Hoping to actually find something before the sun actually set. Somehow, these things don't show their ugly faces when the sun's still up. I received a call from my ex-partner. Seems that he's interested in the station and the recent biohazard outbreak as well. A helping hand will always be welcomed within my party. But something does bother me and it's been bothering me for a long-long time. He's known to be a real disaster magnet and he's hopeless in those kind of situations, especially if he's the cause of it.

The first half hour went fine. Well, it all went fine till we left the main building and approached the carpark. The sorry ass found a shotgun from the corpse of a security guard. As luck would have it, he has no firsthand experience whatsoever on firearms. "Just great," I sighed in disbelief. I told him to hand the gun over. He ignored me and continued to press ever forward. I took a rock and threw it towards him. It got his attention sure enough, with a bleeding head to spare. I pointed upwards signifying the sky's getting dark. I'd syncronized my watch earlier, before leaving my place to beep 5 minutes before 7. It did and we're at the far end of where we entered the building.

It was clearly dark outside. The faint glimmer of light seeping through the cracks between the pillars and walls seemed to have just vanished. I called out the bastard's name. He stood there, stared at me and walked towards me like he owned the place. "Fuck, bro. Move your ass. Sun's down," I told him. He gave me his trademark clueless face-look. "Right..." came the reply. I drove my knee straight into his groin and hurriedly jogged back towards the entrance. The ass took aim with the shotgun, and fired twice towards me. The first hit the pillar beside me. While the second, ricocheted off the floor and hit a nearby abandoned vehicle. The car alarm went bonkers. "Geez, asshole. If you wanna shoot me, do it point blank!" I screamed at him. Now the whole godforsaken station is gonna wake up. I picked up my pace and was soon running for my life. Growls and silhouettes can be seen in the darkness. I got out of the place still in one piece.

I opened my room door and black out on my bed. I never did know what happened to the asshole back at the station. If he hadn't been such an ignorant dumbass, we would've made it out without much trouble. Plus, we found nothing. However, what I do know is that come midnight... It'll be 4 days to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 6 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 6 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was rudely awakened from a knock on my door. It was my ex-partner. "We've got a problem," came the words from his mouth. Something I wouldn't wanna hear the first thing in the morning. Especially right after waking up. He said that there'll be an informant waiting at the abandoned train station. I was to pick him up.

HQ was bustling with people, surprisingly. My superiors we apparently waiting for me at the lab entrance. They wanted me to hand in my report. Finally, after numerous attempts to get to their freaking brains that were hiding beneath those thick skulls. However, it was too late. Doom was inevitable ever since they turned their backs on Lab's 6A recent research regarding the outbreak. They say it's not too late to save the rest. I say that we're pretty much screwed.

A biohazard warning alarm went through the roof. There was a breach at the main entrance to the labs. I wasn't gonna stick around waiting for death to come and claim me. I signaled my colleagues and we escaped via the emergency exit. We left HQ and eventually ended up somewhere nearby yesterday's meeting area; coordinates: SK-TE-J. One of us called the emergency line that connects directly to the mainframe core in HQ. Status report was bad. A majority of the facility has been wiped clean of life. Without much thought, we left for home...preparing for the worst.

Back home, my workstation decided to be a bitch. Before it died, I saw multiple anomalies around my current area. Waiting for the inevitable won't help. So, I decided to investigate. My destination was the abandoned train station along the highway. Seriously... It has been traced back from every other incidents that has happened a week ago: biotechnology, the recent power plant investigation and more. As the days come ever so closer, the nights grew longer. Heck, it wasn't even dusk yet and the sky's already pitch black as night. As I ventured closer towards the station, a poster stuck on the wall caught my attention.

No mercy. What irony. None given, none taken. I continued onwards. My communicator beeped signifying midnight. "5 days to the Apocalypse, and still alive..." I sighed and forced myself onwards.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 7 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 7 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The morning was busy as usual. Two consecutive buzzes on my communicator. I almost forgot that I've promised my colleagues that I'll be heading in to work today. I was late as usual, just to piss off my superiors. They never give a shit anyway. I've just got enough proof about the outbreak. It happens today. Just as I was about to hand it over to them, they smack it back right back in my face. Cool. Best thing that's happened to me. "The god damned fucking assholes just don't give a shit do they?" I shouted as I walked out of the administrative office. Every sorry excuse for life on this planet gave me a cold unpleasant stare. "Stare on, assholes!" I shouted. True enough, security busted into the hallway to take me out.

I was escorted to the plaza. The area was a deadzone, literally. Not a soul in sight for as far as I can see. Eventually, my colleagues appeared behind me. Everything they've worked for now down the drain. Why? It's because they themselves, assisted me with a portion of my work. They believe in the coming apocalypse. And at what cost? Getting thrown out of our own labs? The higher-ups call this "justice". I call it "retarded bullshit". We packed up and was about ready to leave. What else can we do? Orders are absolute. Unless we wanna risk getting our own head shot. We just had to face the facts that we were banned from conducting research in the labs for a whole day.

One of us suggested we head over to a secluded spot to continue on our work. After all, we weren't in the authoritative zone of HQ anymore. Their rules don't apply to where I was standing. We drove off. Our destination were coordinates: SK-MD-DT. It was my first time in the area. I was like a lost child and so were some of my colleagues. I wasn't sure about the meeting area in the first place. However, I was assured that it was safe. My gut instinct kicked in. "We leave. Now!" I exclaimed. Without a second to waste, we left the area and splitted into two groups. From a distance, we could see agents ransacking the place. "Good job, we were followed," someone exclaimed.

I suggest that we split, lay low and regroup the next day. For all we know, our names might already be on the blacklist. Pushing any further will risk either one of us being shot dead...or maybe worse. I volunteered we head home, have some rest and maybe, just maybe...get over this bullshit. A few of the guys decided we head over to my place. Infact, we did. Although nothing progressed. I had a bad feeling that my entire room was rigged with trackers and the sort. Nothing would surprise me anymore. Well, that's what I thought.

Apparently, I did some personal investigation on my own. Strangely, all links have been traced back to one, same, single source. Although it's too early to confirm anything, I'd pretty much say that this "Company" has alot more secrets that's connected to the recent outbreak. I decided to stop. Although curious to go deeper into this mystery just when I've found an excellent lead, I remembered... "Curiosity killed the cat," a voice said at the back of my head. I shook the thought off. Cats have nine lives. Then again, I on the other hand don't. I stopped. This time for real.

Midnight is just minutes away. The day of reckoning dawns ever so closer. Only 6 days to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 8 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 8 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My communicator buzzing the first thing in the morning is always bad news. True enough. I was called back to work. The people at HQ aren't actually giving me two shits about the coming apocalypse and also that someone's after my head. I decided to sleep in. The report about the early outbreak happening worldwide tomorrow can wait. Heck, I actually said that and went back to sleep.

Half-past noon. My communicator buzzed again. This time it was my colleague. He was expecting me to show up today. We promised to discuss the Light Quantum Modulator we discovered a couple days ago. I turned down his offer, told him that I'll be taking another day off just to piss them off back at HQ. I promised him that I'll show up back at Lab 6A first thing tomorrow morning. No response. The line's been cut. I walked towards the window only to see something, a shade of black disappear behind some foliage. "Shit. Line's been tapped," I cursed silently.

I went back to bed. Seems like the more I sleep, the more tired my body becomes. Could be something that happened yesterday. I brushed off the idea and went back to sleep. By the time I woke up again, it was past 7. I headed towards my workstation and turned the thing on. There was something I needed to clarify. I tried to establish communication connections with a few of my known and trusted contacts. "FAILED. RETRY?" was the damned bloody words showed on the screen. I kicked the mainframe core angrily. The damn thing went dead. I manually turned it on again. It seems like the auto-reboot went dead as well the moment I gave the thing a nice kicking.

I decided to started working early. I booted up my data samples from weeks ago. Compiling them into my report. If I'm to give my report about the global outbreak tomorrow, I'd better be convincing. Them asshats at the administrative department won't let anything get through to the higher-ups unless they see it fit. Seriously a load of bull. The data load was massive. I was left working till midnight. I couldn't care less. I turned off my machine and went to bed. "If the admins don't see this as important, I'll just take things into my own hands." I prepped myself for bed. "7 days to the Apocalypse. Global outbreak begins huh? I don't wanna wake up..."

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 9 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 9 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With 9 days left, my days starts off with even more chaos. My workstation flared off the annoying beep that can only mean that there's an incoming message. "Coordinates: MD-IKP-I. Proceed with caution." Sender anonymous. I went alone. Somehow I felt like this was indeed a trap. Heck, if news got out that Lab 6A was in possession of a Light Quantum Modulator, I've no doubt that even the local government would bloody send goons out for my head.

The location was another massive structure then the previous day. However, this looked like it was in better condition than the last as well. There weren't any doorways along the main building. So, I headed towards the underground entrance. The labyrinth stretched for miles. Corridors made this place like a maze of doom. With my tracker on, I've managed to find my way towards the stairway that leads to the ground floor. Instantly, my tracker went crazy. Just like my colleague's when we were in the vicinity of the modulator. "What now?" I asked myself. Red dots showed up all around me on the tracker. This time, they were moving. A slow start, then they started to pickup the pace. Without a second thought, I bolted through the nearest doorway I could find and locked them behind me. Then, the lights went out.

Through the darkness, I could make out shapes of humanoid figures running rampant. The keyhole wasn't as good as a window but it worked nonetheless. The pungent smell of rotting corpses filled the air around me. I choked and fell face first to the floor. "Incoming transmission," said the AI from my communicator. It was a data stream being downloaded to my communicator. I traced the source. It led me back to the anonymous sender of this structure's coordinates.

The message read: "As you can see, what's happening now around you has now spread to certain parts of the world. This officially began 3 days ago. In another 2 days, this phenomenon will be global. This is the initial onslaught of the coming apocalypse." The message ended there. There was apparently no reason for me to stick around here any longer. I guessed whoever that sent me the message wanted me to see this. I did and now I'm leaving.

"Global meltdown in 2 days huh?" I asked myself while i made a dash back through the winding corridors. This has to be reported to HQ. Something I'll be doing the first thing tomorrow morning. If this was the initial onslaught, I can't imagine what would happen 9 days later.

I went home and pondered on the subject. Eventually I drifted off to sleep. "8 days to the Apocalypse." I heard a faint whisper in my ear. It was midnight...

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 10 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 10 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I awoke to the abrupt sound of my communicator. Well, I thought that it came from my communicator. Apparently I was dreaming. It was 8 in the morning. Eventually, I went back to sleep. Around 9, I awoke to the sound of my communicator, again. This time it was real. It was a distress signal coming from a very familiar location: the abandoned train station along the highway. Although I was supposed to lay low for the time being, this signal was urgent. But to be on the safe side, I decided to call for backup. Apparently, there was this one time partner of mine. He was eventually reassigned due to certain internal mishaps. Whether this was a plot against him or something else, I can't say. I called him.

We made our way towards the station. It was harder to navigate through the ruined pathways now as the pile of worthless rubble has seemed to have gotten a lot more bigger than the previous time I was here. I was surprised to see that my colleague was the one who sent me the signal. We were to be working on a top secret military project called the HGL Project. His research eventually led him to the station. It looks like this worthless pile of rubble they call a station apparently has more connections to various incidents that I had originally imagined. He synced his communicator with mine. I downloaded the data he had collected prior to the events here at the station. "So where to?" I asked. "Coordinates: BU-1U-NW," he replied.

A huge structure stood in front of us. "Here's the place," I exclaimed. The huge building has seen it's share of the chaos through the years. It's exterior paint and structure shows exactly that. We went in despite the fact that the very roof could come crashing down on us. "Where now?" I asked. "Top floor," came the reply. The top floor of the building was a lot smaller than the previous floors. Searching this area will certainly be easier. Or so I thought. I don't even know what the hell were we looking for in the first place. I asked him. He was looking for a Light Quantum Modulator. "You mean a photon generator?" I asked him. He shook his head, "No, a Light Quantum Modulator." My ever silent partner eventually spoke out for the first time since the trip. "The modern name photon derives from the for light, φῶς, (transliterated phôs), and was coined in 1926 by the physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis, who published a speculative theory in which photons were uncreatable and indestructible." I was shocked. That bloody ass actually knew about photons. His reassignment actually did some good for him.

"If we ever find this Light Quantum Modulator," I said. "Photon generator," interrupted my colleague. I gave him a piercing stare. I continued while giving my colleague the stare. "If we ever find this device, then I can say that we've proved Gilbert N. Lewis wrong."

For 2 whole hours, we were searching the top most floor. Eventually after much searching, we found the device. It wasn't in good shape but it was definitely working. It's slight malfunction jammed the tracker on my colleague's communicator. Which was one of the reason why the search took longer than expected. It was giving off false location readings. I was tired but relieved somehow. If this LQM or photon generator would function, it will prove to be a great performance boost to the HGL Project. Maybe even for the coming apocalypse.

I then headed home. My body gave way the minute I saw the bed. I was sleeping till 9. Deciding to turn in early, I checked my doors and windows to see that they're bolted nice and tight. "9 days to the Apocalypse," I sighed and drifted to sleep.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 11 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 11 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The night before, I felt my heart sinking way below my gut. Morning came and I thought that the horrid feeling down below remained. However I woke up with a sense of hope. Something deep within me said that it will turn out alright. Just the day before, I had to deal with freaking asshats. That totally broke my concentration and basically my patience.

I headed to HQ as usual. Today was the day that 6A will be having their final mark-up inspection. I felt confident, even if my report was only half complete. Half complete, but not half-assed. It was something to be proud of. Unlike them newbies who only cared about nothing; they get things done just for the sake of getting it done. Not someone I'd want on my team. After all, I don't think they'll even survive the initial blow if they were caught right smack in the middle of the chaos 11 days later.

By noon, Lab 6A was almost cleared out. About an hour later, the count dropped to just 7 people. The tension between colleagues became a lot more intense as the days drew closer. Still, we struggle to keep ourselves sane. So far, everything's going smoothly...but for how long? I've decided to take a two day break. For health reasons. Working my ass off will get me killed long before the dawn of the apocalypse.

I left the lab not long after the sun had set. It was clear that someone (or something) either wanted me out of the picture or worse, dead. My car was rigged. I was then left stranded for hours, off-course just because I decided to take a detour. I knew something was bound to happen when I started receiving cold stares behind my back. I swear that sometimes, I could bloody feel them breathing down my neck. Watching my every move quietly in hiding, wishing that some misfortune befall me. My research proved that I was unto something. Something that someone else doesn't want me to solve or reveal to the others.

Nevertheless, I reached home countless hours later; myself still in one piece fortunately. I've decided to lay low for the time being. Continuing my research and investigation via my own underground networks of "informants" and sources. Whoever who rigged my car must still be out there looking for me. I can't fake my own death. Many who know me knows where they'd be able to find me. I just have to play it safe. Just another hour to midnight. I bolted my room door and windows. "10 days to the Apocalypse," I muttered. "The fun begins now," I smiled sarcastically to myself and tucked myself to bed.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 12 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 12 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Once again I woke up to the scorching noon sun. Dull and hot. Not to my liking. Just before I could lay my head back down, my communicator started buzzing. "Damn, duty calls..." I muttered and made my way out of my room. HQ was back to it's gloomy and quiet self. Lab 6A however, was filled with new unfamiliar faces. "Ah crap, fucking new recruits," I sighed as I headed to my designated workstation. Them retards think they know a whole load of crap but in reality, only their ego are as big as that big mouth of theirs. It's what an old friend would call all talk, no action, and what I would call bullshitting retards with seriously no respect.

The day progresses slowly. Furthermore, them new recruits ain't helping brighten up my already stressful week. I overheard them talking about a new discovery. Some sort of new technology. "Wonderful. Some jackass just unearthed something that could very well annihilate the entire planet and they don't even have a clue what that thing is," I spoke out in sarcasm. The entire lab shifted their gaze towards me. I gave the newbies a cold piercing stare. Regardless, they continued their rambling. On and on and on. What I would do to seriously have my SK-4B Tesla Rifle ready and built right about then. The words I once said to my ex-guildmates years back replayed in the back of my mind: "Respect is not bought but earned." I then decided to leave them newbies be.

Eventually their shift was over and they left. Music to my ears. Many of my other colleagues would gladly agree with me. Research has been progressing a little better ever since the newbies left the lab. I decided to not work in late today and packed up the minute I saw the sunset. No less than half a mile after leaving HQ, they sky decided to let loose on me. It started to drizzle and soon it was pouring. The weather's been bonkers since last week. My theory would be that these are signs of the coming apocalypse.

Upon entering the sanctuary of my own room, I noticed my workstation giving off a strange beep following with a few light flashes. I turned on the screen. "1 INCOMING MESSAGE" was what's being displayed on the screen. It was my female colleague. Apparently, she was having trouble with some technical stuff. Much to me NOT being a technician, my advice can only help her get as far as my personal experience. As our conversation ended, I decided to hit the sack a little early. As of tomorrow, it will be 11 days to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 13 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 13 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was already way past midnight. Perhaps I'm the only one that is still up. My surroundings were quiet, like I was living in a ghost town. Despite that, I continued to work on the finishing touches of my research. By the time I was done, it was already 6 in the morning. Deadline in 4 hours. I decided to hit the sack.

I was awake a mere 2 hours later. My head was throbbing and my eyes felt like they were about to fall out from my sockets any second. I was that tired. But nonetheless, I woke up and pushed myself to freshen up in the bathroom. By the time I got to HQ's Lab 6A, it was already bustling with activity. Something you don't get to see anymore in this kind of time. Apparently, I wasn't the only one tasked with this. This mass research on anomalies popping out due to the coming apocalypse gave me an glimpse of the what's to come: from abandoned church grounds, to derelict underground mining shafts. What's more, there were even places that I even I didn't expect to be investigated: a ruined temple archive that was believed to be from another civilization with technology far greater than ours! Heck, it exists. I can't bring myself to believe that. Suddenly, the coming apocalypse only seemed to scare me even more. But somehow, deep inside me... There is anxiousness. Anxious of the arrival of this event that would change our very lives, forever...

I left HQ as soon as everything was over. I needed some immediate sleep. Pronto. The journey back seemed like an eternity. With the regular brainless moronic bastards rampaging the streets, it's even more life-threatening than ever to drive in my current state. Nevertheless, I made it back. Heck, I can't even remember what was the time I reached home. I instantly knocked out when I stepped foot into my own room. I woke up a lot later, but to just check on the time. The clock showed that it's way past midnight already. "12 days to the Apocalypse," I quietly exclaimed and went back to sleep.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 14 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 14 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I woke up to the buzzing sound coming from my communicator. Feeling that this was just a little too early to head off for work, I grabbed the communicator and threw it aside. Then came a knock on my door. I opened the room door only to see the guy from yesterday. I slammed the door to his face and went back to sleep. I dozed off only to wake up an hour later. To my surprise, that asshole was still standing in front of my door. "I need help with biotech research," the asshole said. Without a second thought, I let him in and booted up my workstation. "The data is in the primary core drive," I told him as I headed off to the bathroom to freshen up. Apparently, he wasn't just interested with the biotech research. He was also studying the cause and effects of the coming apocalypse. I told him that there'll be more to discuss back at HQ, and we left.

The usual morning at HQ's Lab 6A was like any other day. My mates were early as usual. True enough they're all deep into their soon-to-be-dued biotech research report. My female colleague on the other hand was tasked with something else. "New orders eh?" I asked. "Advanced weapon development," she replied. "Firearms?" I asked again. She nodded her head. I was then approached my another of my mates. "Brought the stuff?" he ask. "Mainframe core drive," I said while pointing to the direction of the mainframe device that I left on the frontdesk. The atmosphere in the lab was as tense as I could ever imagine. Maybe it was due to the fact that everyone was under pressure due to the fact that we have a slavedriver as our XO.

As evening came, the lab was as empty as ever. Only four of us remained aside from the other three technicians working at the back of the lab. I left soon after. The sky was dark and my surroundings were quiet. It'll be far less quieter than it is now in the days to come. As for me, I'd stay put and watch as how things will unfold. How will fate carry out its duties once the apocalypse hath cometh? I sat at my deskchair, thinking... "Come midnight, it will be 13 days to the Apocalypse..."

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 15 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 15 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

By the time I woke up it was half past noon. The sun was blazing through the tattered curtain holes covering my window. I picked up my communicator to check for messages. There was a list of names. Amongst them all, one stood out. I gave him a call. The conversation was a little hard to hear due to static. The call ended abruptly but I traced the source to an abandoned lightrail station up north by the highway. The area was littered with scraps and junk. Mostly debris from the station itself.

We headed to HQ to check in. The poor sob apparently had an urgent meeting with the higher-up and rushed on the minute I stopped the car. I slowly mad my way to the research labs to further on my already delayed abandoned powerplant research. The labs were as dark as usual when I stepped in. I pushed the metal door and walked into Lab 6A. Immediately I was embraced by the cold stale air that's been circulating in the room ever since the labs were open in morning. A female colleague told me that the rest of my team headed out for lunch. "Why the hell would anyone think about having lunch in a situation like this?" I told myself.

Ignoring the fact that my mates left me, I walked towards my workstation. I took a glimpse at my surroundings and I knew that some unauthorised personel was in the labs. "Some fucktard was at my place!" I shouted, much to the disapproval of my female friend. Soon, my mates were back. From what I can see, they're into something about biotechnology. Not that I care much about. Since my report was way overdue, I decided to ignore their petty chatter and concentrated on my reseach instead.

By the time I was done, the sun has already set and I decided to make my way home. The weather was finally a little more forgiving as it started to drizzle at about halfway through my journey. The days before was scorching hot. I reached home not long after and headed upstairs back into my room. Logging on to my personal workstation, I noticed that there was an incoming video transmission. "Oh, great... Biotech shit..." I grumbled to myself. Apparently that whole biotech research thing that was going on back at the lab was another team research project the higher-ups decided to force into my already tight schedule. The final words shown on screen at the end of the message was dreadful indeed: "DUE IN 2 DAYS."

Just great. First up was the research report on the abandoned powerplant I received months ago. Now this. Worst of all is that both are to be handed up on the same day, handed up to the same XO and seriously, I don't look like I have the time. Cramming all up would be a possible choice but I myself like to take things slow and steady. Call me a perfectionist of somesort. The clock already shows that it's 10 minutes to midnight. I've been staring the screen for more than an hour already thinking of a possible way out of this one.

"Midnight... 14 days to the Apocalypse," I said.

I turned off the monitor and headed into the shower...

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 16 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 16 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The idea of a beautiful morning was cut short when there was a knock on the door. I was sleeping, yet I was awake. The last that I remembered was the white ceiling and the ever noisy fan spinning. Somehow, my body went to sleep long before my eyes. It was the fatigue from the day before. Never have I felt so exhausted in my life. The second knock brought me back to reality. I moved out of bed to turn the lights on. I flipped the switch once, then twice. Nothing. "Bloody bastards cut the power," I said to myself while walking to the bathroom.

I got back into my room soaking wet and cold. Even the damned heater broke down. "Just great," I muttered as I headed towards my workstation. It was attached to a backup generator and it kicked in as soon as the power died. I turned on the monitor and scrolled through my midnight activity logs. Scans showed that there were less attacks compared to the week before. I loaded up the security protocols and let the machine handled the rest. Grabbing my portable workstation and my communicator, I left my room.

I headed to the local hospital. Ever since the news of the coming apocalypse surfaced, that place has been on high alert. Paranoia runs rampant within those four walls. Entrance security was sloppy as usual. However, they were pretty tight on the upper levels. You needed proper identification to access the higher levels, even the cafeteria on the top-most floor. I was supposed to meet someone there, an informant. Apparently, that "someone" didn't show up. Perhaps trouble with security or maybe personal problems. I never did trusted anonymous tip-offs anyway. As I made my way back to the ground floor, my communicator buzzed. The text message stated that I was to head over to the entrance of the church next door.

As I thought, my "informant" was having a little security trouble back at the hospital and couldn't even make it past the first floor. His information was regarding an earlier assignment of mine: a thorough investigation of a nearby abandoned power plant. With this info, I will be finally be able to continue on my investigation. I took the data disc he had and headed home to further analyze it.

I was hoping that the power was already restored once I got home. But then again, I was hoping too much. My backup generator died only moments after I popped the disc into the drive to be analyzed. Without having much choice, I laid down and I dozed off. I woke up to the sound of raindrops hitting hard on the sidewalk. But there was more. The creaking sound of the turning fan was music to my ears. "Power's back," I smiled as I began to analyze the contents of the disc.

The amount of data my informant managed to find out was massive. "This could keep me awake all night," I told myself. I worked nonstop trying to figure out the mess that was created and sorting out a majority of errors. Soon, the clocked showed midnight. Another 15 days to the Apocalypse.

Countdown to the Apocalypse: 17 Days Remaining

I sat in my chair hoping for the best. Thing hasn't been going my way ever since the news on the coming apocalypse. 17 days. As the deadline comes ever so closer, excitement overwhelms. I want it to come, yet part of me wants it to just stay; never approaching. But alas, times moves forward.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The morning started out with a deafening ringing to my ear. It was a call from a friend. A wake up call. There was supposed to be a briefing that was gonna happen in M-23 at around 10am. I ended the call as I slowly made my way to the bathroom. Signs of fatigue clearly showed as I looked at myself in the mirror. I sluggishly walked back to my room, got changed and headed downstairs.

I headed downstairs, grabbed a few bites and got into my car and left. "Quiet morning," I thought to myself. As luck would have had it, the ever deserted road became infested with loads of brainless morons in a blink of an eye. Ignoring the chaos I pressed on. Leaving the chaos behind, I checked the clock. It clearly showed 10am. "Late," I said to myself. Making matters worse, I was barely even halfway.

I reached my destination around 15 minutes later, parked my car and got out. My surroundings were quiet. Subtle sounds of rustling leaves being blown by the wind can be heard into the distance. I carefully walked across the stone lot, eyes looking around for anything suspicious. After minutes of walking, I found myself staring at a door with the sign M-23. I opened the door and walked into the cold room.

There were five people (not including myself) in the room, sitting and minding their own business.There was a lone female sitting at the front of the room. I knew who she was, a colleague of mine for a good two and the half years. I took my seat behind her. The guy who called me in the morning was seated to my right, also a colleague of a good two and the half years. Thankfully, the briefing hasn't started as there were a few "unforeseen problems" which delayed the briefing a good 30 minutes.

It was noon when the briefing ended. The skies were dark that morning when I left home. But it looked a little brighter. My friends called for a meeting over lunch. Without anything else to do, I agreed. My bowl of noodles was the best thing I had since... Well, I can't remember. Glad too. By the time this is over, I'll be happy to forget the hell I've been through.

The weather was unkind. I took a slow drive home under the hot blazing sun. My fatigue kicked in. Thought of my previous near death experiences flashed past my sight. Pulling myself together, I tried to fight off the fatigue that was slowly consuming my body. I reached home in one piece, thankfully.

I walked up to my room and turned up the air-conditioning. I fell face first on my bed and dozed off to sleep. By the time I had awaken, it was already dark outside. God knows how long I've been out. An hour? Maybe a day? What about a week? I turned on the lights and squinted at the small corner of my PC monitor. It was still the same day. I walked out of my room and into the hallway. Pitch black and pin drop silence. I fumbled in the darkness looking for the light switch.

Time passes by ever so quickly. Soon, it was an hour before midnight. Just as I thought I can turn in for the night, the annoying beep coming from my room told me that there was an incoming message. It was from my female friend and the guy that woke me up in the morning. Apparently they're both having weapon troubles. I told them that firearms just ain't my thing but I'd help them in anyway possible. An hour has passed without any progress. To make matters worse, my line got cut off. Everything was silent once again. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breathes. "They should be fine on their own," I assured myself. However, doubt lingers in my heart. I don't think anyone will be okay. The situation will only change from bad to worse.

I took a look at the clock. It was 10 minutes to 1am. The chilling night air prompted me to go for a hot shower. Again I made my way to the bathroom. I turned on the shower. The hot water had a stinging sensation to my back. I sighed and softly said "16 days to the Apocalypse."

Force of Nature

Seriously, kinda fucks you up when not only your modem goes off during a thunderstorm but you also find out the next day that even your network card goes up in smokes... Got a new modem this morning (heck only ADSL routers are available these days...) and burned two hours of lunch time sitting in Starbucks staring at the bloody ceiling.

First call came in, got a call from The Software Boutique saying that my Red Alert 3 pre-order card was available for the taking. W00t! Best news I've had since winning double on Mother Nature's "Russian Roulette" and also don't forget it's "shocking" as well. Mind you, the picture was taken with my Handycam so picture quality kinda sucks.

With the launch party coming ever so closer, I can't sit still. Can't wait for November as well since Left4Dead is keeping me at the edge of my seat as well. Only problem is that while I can't wait for November to come, I don't want it to come either. Sem's ending soon and deadlines are near. Do I look like I've completed any of my final assignments? *smiles*

As for those who're interested to attend the Red Alert 3 Launch Party, click here for details.
Until next time!