Tag: Wheelchair Wars

Wheelchair Wars Pt. 12

Timothy and Audrey were in his room reviewing their next challenge. It would be against a team from dreaded Beta, who were notorious for goading the family of their victims and it would involve not only leaving their layer of the city, but the city altogether. This was beyond either of their wildest dreams or rather nightmares. The atmosphere was toxic and the planet surface was almost devoid of all life. One cut on their protective suit leading to a painful end.

Both teams would commence at the top of the feared Mount Mangerton that was littered with the skulls of the dead. It was a steep mountain, with jagged cliffs and at times they would be practically falling down the slopes on their ski wheelchairs. The first five members to cross the line win. Or in the quite likely outcome that many from either team do not survive, then it goes to four, three, two and then one. No survivors can make a great spectacle for the masses.

“What do you think Audrey?”

“Well, we are Omega, we will find a way.”

She wasn’t as fearsome when she sat in an ordinary wheelchair. Timothy mind was drifting now.

“I truly hope you are right. I think there are some opportunities to get an advantage here at these squeeze point, I’m just not sure yet.”

Placing her hand on his.

“You’ll find them.”

Her touch was warm and gentle. It sent a pulse through his body. She removed it all to quickly.

Wheelchair Wars Pt. 11

Timothy was unsure what to make of the “celebration”. He knew it felt good good but still felt somewhat confused. But he knew that he had performed his duty and that was the most important thing. Well, he was pretty sure anyway.

He wondered how the “celebration” went for the rest of the team. As they gathered in their circle in the next time cycle, some had smiles that they couldn’t hide. Others looked as poker faced as ever.

The chant this day was –

Power to the Omega

Strength to the Omega.

Timothy found the whole thing quite boring but some the others like Audrey seemed to enter a trance after a while chanting away and they definitely sounded as if they were true believers.

The next few days were spent training. This involved doing complex wheelchair maneuvers and trying different weapons. Timothy couldn’t help but notice the high turnover at the base. People would die during the fights without fanfare and then they were quickly replaced. It was like Jenny was there one day and then she was replaced by Jack. He had the same disability, but was much more loquacious, telling jokes and trying to get a bit of banter going. But how much longer would he or any of them be around?

Timothy enjoyed talking to Audrey most.

She had taken to entering his room to look over combat videos and to discuss tactics. He would have preferred to “celebrate” with her.

Wheelchair Wars (Part 10)

The journey from the amphitheater back to the Omega, which consisisted of traversing a labyrinth of tunnels of tunnels and chambers. The people emerged from their huts in their rags to cheer and there were roars of “Omega, Omega.”

They had all been watching the event on their wall-screen and they liked what they.

“You are a hero to the people,” his father whispered, his face beaming with joy and immense pride.

The other warriors were also there as they entered the compound. Those, who could clapped.

Then came the voice over the loudspeaker.

“Victory to the Omega. Glory to the Omega. Celebrations will commence within the hour. Timothy went back to his room.

“We’ll get you ready son.”

But Timothy grew confused when his father took off his clothes and put him into bed.

“What about the celebrations?”

“Son, this is for the celebration. As a warrior, certain things are expected of you. If you are successful, you’re seed must spread.”

Then his father left, and a woman entered. Her face was badly scarred on one side and most of her teeth were missing. She looked around his father’s age

“My name is Yeona. There is no reason to be nervous. Concentrate on my pretty side.”

With that, she entered the bed beside him.

Wheelchair Wars Part 9

The smell of rotting flesh was all pervasive. It went up your nostrils, into every crevice and stained your clothes. There had been much death. They were in the waiting area area waiting to enter the amphitheater and they were next. Strangely, Timothy wasn’t feeling fear. It was more a bloodlust. Neither did he sense fear in those around room.

Slowly, the large stone stone door began to lift, shining the light onto their faces. Timothy pressed pressed forward on his joystick and the others followed him.. Audrey to his left and Olsen to his right.

The crowd in the stand roared their approval. Everyone of the Omega was in a Falcon X and was armed with a chainsaw. In the distance, they could see their enemies dispersing expecting the usual one on one combat.

The omega increased their speed and headed for the middle of the enemy, which was held by two gunners of the alpha. Once they fired, Timothy roared disperse and the shots few between the wheelchair. Then they fired again and again.

One of the shots hit Jessica tearing her to shreds. There was not even time for her to roar out in agony. She was there and then she wasn’t. By by then they were bearing down on the gunners and the chainsaws cut through them. Now the Omega split in half and surrounded their cursed enemy. The crowd grew increasingly wild.

Timothy charged to meet his next opponent. This time he heard the clash of steel as two chainsaws collided. His opponent had more skill in this art form and Timothy soon found himself retreating. For the first time in that time cycle he felt immense fear.

It was only assuaged by the site of a chainsaw ripping through his opponent’s stomach from behind. There was no time to thank her, the slaughter had only commenced. Quickly each Alpha was isolated and slain.

The crowd clapped ferociously as Timothy’s wheels rolled over the blood soaked asphalt. He turned the wheelchair towards them, men women and children, in ragged clothes and took in the adulteration of the crowd. This is what he was born for.

Wheelchair Wars Part 8

Her response put a shudder down Timothy’s spine. The dogma that they were constantly listening to was obviously having the desired effect.

The others then called out their names and pledged their allegiance unthinkingly to The Omega. Timothy felt obliged to do the same when it came to his turn. There was no point in splitting the group. The rest of the group were made up of four males and four females.

They were all under twenty. Olsen was the oldest at eighteen years of age. He was was a heavy set fearsome looking man. The youngest Aoife was only twelve, had an angelic appeal that belied her taste for blood. Ciaran, Sean and David were the other boys. Ciaran’s body was contorted just like his own. Sean could not feel his legs and David could barely feel anything at all.

The remaining girls were Jessica, Mairead and Daire. All of Jessica’s limbs were missing and she had to use her mouth to control her chair. But, however she managed, she was a fighter of grear skill. Maire and Daire couldn’t move their legs.

Timothy immediately had an idea of what would be their idea formation. Himself, Olsen, Audrey and Jessica would be the solid centre that would pierce the enemy. Now, they just to decide on their weapons and rehearse battle calls.

Wheelchair Wars Part 7

They were left in the darkened room for some time. There was a sense of dread pervading the room. They were leaderless, rudderless. Timothy knew that it the time for him to speak. Otherwise, it would be too late.

“I have an idea on how to win.”

The rest of the group stopped talking to each other in astonishment.

The girl with Auburn hair responded derisively.

“What would you know newbie?”

For a few moments, Timothy felt convulsed by what to say next. Then, just as they were about to avert their gaze.

“Our group fought as individuals rather than as one. They didn’t have any strategy and got picked off one by one. We need to change that.”

There came cries of “How?” from some.

“We will have our best warriors in the centre and attack in a line. Destroy those that stand their ground first and then deal with those who run. It must be done at speed.”

As Timothy explained in more depth, he won them over with one caveat, he would be leading the charge in the center.

“I will, if that’s what you want. But it’s important that I know all of you in case I need to adjust things in the heat of battle.”

The girl with auburn hair was the first to speak –

“My name is Audrey and I want revenge for the Omega.”

It structure Timothy that she had not cried for her comrades but for the dishonour to Omega.

Wheelchair Wars (Part 6)

We are The Omega

We will become one

Glory to the Omega

Victory to the Omega

It was the same every time cycle. Timothy’s father would get him up and then dressed. Then to the meeting area. They would make multiple circles with their wheelchair. There were ten warriors in each circle. But this morning, there was one less circle.

After, the usual chanting, the loudspeaker ordered them to the video room. Timothy could hear some murmurings from the others as they made their way. He still had barely spoken to any of the others.

They parked in rows in the darkness before a large projection onto one of the walls. It was a group battle from hours previous. Ten participants from Omega versus ten from the hated Alpha. It soon became clear what had happened to the missing circle, they had been isolated and hacked to pieces one by one. Timothy found it hard to watch, but made sure to absorb as much as possible. The girl with auburn hair had parked beside him and he could see the tears rolling down her face.

The crowd in the video cheered voraciously as the last Omega, who had tried to escape was finally cornered and liquidated. Literally from an acidic fluid that was propelled over him. It took a few minutes for him to finally succumb.

Then the lights switch and the familiar voice spoke.

Defeat is not acceptable

Glory to the Omega,

The following are to stay, and the rest are to leave. A list ten of names were called out. His was one of them. They were all from his circle. and they had been nominated for the rematch in just a few hours’ time.

Wheelchair Wars Part 4

The hour had finally come. It was time for Timothy’s first battle. His palms were sweaty, his heart throbbing relentlessly. He was in the pit, surrounded by darkness and just moments from its massive door being opened and entering the Colosseum. There, forty thousand spectators were waiting for more blood to flow.

He had only a brief look in the distance at his opponent. He had a very small and thin torso, but had a normal sized head and dressed immaculately. In another existence maybe they could have been friends, having probably encountered many of the same issues in life but not in the here and now. One of them would live, the other would die.

Instinctively, he could feel the power of the falcon-X super wheelchair beneath him. He had felt elated, yet queasy as the chainsaw was adjusted into position in front of him over an hour previously to ensure that he could still see in front of him. Then the door was closed and he was told to wait for his turn.

The door began to slowly open. The light shone through, squelching his eyes. He pushed the joystick forward and drove into the amphitheater. The crowd were raucous baying for blood. His opponent was coming towards him and armed with what Timothy quickly realized was the feared steel pellet gun. A direct hit would slice through Timothy’s body and he knew it. The weapon had a drawback though, it only fired every few seconds.

Timothy drove towards his opponent but in large loops out to the left and then to the right. He would simple stop if a pellet looked like it might hit and then watch it aimlessly pass by. But this got more difficult the closer and closer they became. Timothy realized that his opponent was firing as furiously as he could and that it took seven seconds to reload. The shots were getting closer to him now. One, just missed him and instead of continuing his ark, he went straight at his horrified opponent. Timing was everything.

Timothy’s chainsaw cut through his body just before he could fire again. The impact jerked Timothy forward drenching him in blood. The crowd roared its approval. For a few second, he soaked up their approval. Timothy reversed his wheelchair and was embraced from behind by his father shouting –

“You’ve done! You’ve done”

But Timothy could also hear cries of anguish and despair in the distance.

Wheelchair Wars (Part 3)

Between a further fit of coughing his father just about managed to splutter something out.

“Your next battle, it’s in two days’ time. You’ll be fighting in the falcon X Remember I showed you the video of one of them before. The one that goes really fast.

Timmy’s heart was beating faster.

“But what about..?”

“I told you before, there can be no ifs and buts. There are only those who win and those who die.. I don’t want you to be part of the latter group. Come on, let’s get you out of that bed for a while. You need to be watching videos and thinking about strategy.”

He then went through the long routine of getting him out of bed and dressed, all the time making sure not to injure Timothy’s perceived fragile body. Then he lifted him into his dilapidated wheelchair.

After a bite to eat, it was video games to aid with his strategic thinking and then highlights of a recent wheelchair duel that hes father had managed to secure.

The two fighters were briefly shown before the fight. One was a girl about Timothy’s age. She had long, auburn hair that draped her shoulders. Timothy thought she was beautiful. Her disability was difficult to gauge.

Her opponent had a large head, totally disproportionate to his twisted body.

Then it began. Both had top of the range machines. For the first few moments, it was unclear what was happening but then one wheelchair rammed the other in the side, causing it to crash to onto its side. It was over and fast.

“Now look Timothy, she does the right thing and kills him quickly. That’s an important act of mercy. Otherwise, he would have been left for the ratis to feed on.”

Ratis were Timothy’s worst nightmare. He feared them attacking him while he was stuck in his bed alone but his father always reassured him that that their quarters were probably locked. He had only seen them a handful of times feasting on dead bodies. They were rumored to have come to the planet with humanity but then evolved to become bigger and more aggressive.

Timothy had much to ponder, but he also wanted to savior this time with his father, he might not have much left.

Wheelchair Wars – Part 2

Timothy tried to move his body over to the other side in the bed. But it was of little use, he just couldn’t get the thrust to do it. He would just have to wait for his Dad to return. Sometimes he wished that he was born like everybody else but then he would remind himself that too would take its own toll.

His father would often remind him that he was blessed to have his disability, and that it’s severity was a good thing. The malformations and contractures were not something that could be acquired by an able bodied person like a missing arm or leg. He was beyond suspicion. That it could open a whole new existence for him and the family. That was when a family still existed. He used to have a mother and two older brothers. His first brother died at the age of seven in an industrial accident. It must have been grizzly as nobody ever told him what happened. A few years later, the other brother died. His lungs were filled with a toxic mucus.

Then, not long before the present his mother had died. The poisonous air had gotten to her too. Timothy thought his father was going to die from a broken heart but stoically he has carried on. Timothy was now just thirteen years old and had just his father. He knew that if his father didn’t come home from his shift that starvation awaited him.

The only way to get out of this hellish existence was through winning at Wheelchair Wars. It gave Timothy a sickly feeling. He did not want to have to hurt others but knew that he didn’t have much choice. This was why he was born. And most of all, he couldn’t let his Dad down. He had already been assigned a Team – The Omega.

His first trial was trial was six months previously. His mother was still alive then but she never looked at him the same way again. He had been put in a wheelchair with saws on each side. The task was simple. Kill a few prisoners. Dad said it was a test of loyalty, Mom said it was butchery. But, both agreed that needs must.

Timothy heard the familiar sound of his father’s footsteps approaching the door to the little, dark room they call home. His end had not yet come.

As the door opened, his father burst into a fit of coughing. His face was tinged red and looked frail and old, for someone barely 40.

“How are you son? I’ve got some news.”