Gears of War

CHAPTER 1 I swear I thought the place was a museum when I walked in. I mean, it was huge, full of books and old paintings. And deserted, you know? That kind of dead silence that says just shut your mouth and feel the awe of history. And then Marcus's mom came through the door like she hadn't seen us, reading some papers she had in her hand, and she says, "Hi sweetheart, you brought some friends home? I'll catch up with you later." Then she was gone. I saw the look on Marcus's face, and knew right then that the guy needed a brother a whole lot more than he needed a library. (Carlos Santiago, describing his first visit to Marcus Fenix's family mansion at the age of ten.) Ephyra, present day14 A.E. Dom Santiago decided that there was one good thing about a phantom sniper blowing a Locust's brains all over his face. It took his mind off worrying how many Locust were still around. His legs were shaking as he moved to the edge of the pit that had opened in the paving and aimed his rifle below, just in case the grubs had backup on the way. The shakes were just the aftershock of the adrenaline, but Liar. I nearly shit myself. The grub was choking the life out of me, a round missed my brain by inches. That's fear. Forget the adrenaline. No, it never stopped being terrifying. The day it did, he'dreallybe dead. In the tangle of broken pipes and cables below, nothing stirred beyond the clicking of settling soil and stones. Dom couldn't feel anything under his boots now except the slight rocking movement of broken paving. The vibrations from deep in the planet had vanished for the time being, and the smell of chargrilled dog had been overwhelmed by shattered bowels and pulverized concrete. "Hey, smart-ass," Baird called to the empty street. "Nice shot. Now show yourself." "Better shout louder," Cole said. "He could be a mile away." It was always hard to spot a sniper. But in this maze of destruction and shadows, there were a thousand places to lay up and wait for trade. Marcus squatted down and examined what was left of the Locust's skull again. Then he looked up and gestured in the general direction of the south side of the street. "No, a lot closer. The round went in near the top of the skull. High angle, and a lot of kinetic energy left." Dom looked where Marcus was pointing, trying to work out where the sniper would have had clear line of sight. Marcus backed slowly to the nearest wall and pressed his fingers to his earpiece. Dom listened in. "Delta to Control, any sniper teams to the south of Embry? Any Gears at all?" "Negative, Delta." It was Lieutenant Stroud: Anya Stroud, still on duty after eighteen hours. The woman never seemed to sleep. If Delta Squad was awakeso was she. "Need one?" "Not anymore." "Don't leave me in suspense, Sergeant..." "We've got a joker loose with an obsolete sniper rifle. He's helpful now, but he might not stay that way." "Thanks for the heads- up. I'll put out an advisory." Cole was still focused on the roofline. Baird lowered his Lancer and started walking again. "Let's get out. Maybe they got a sudden dose of patriotism and realized they owe us, now the war's nearly over." "Maybe," Marcus said, "he was aiming at Dom and missed. And it's not over." "Stranded never fire on us. They're not that dumb."Traviss, Karen is the author of 'Gears of War' with ISBN 9780345499431 and ISBN 0345499433.