Project Blackwater: File Ø
Resident Riptide: Chapter 1
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
I'm in the dark, I'd like to read his mind
But I'm frightened of the things I might find
Voices Carry, ‘Til Tuesday
Appalachian Mountains, 2027
SRV1 operative Scott Chambers cut the pickup truck’s engine, abruptly plunging himself into darkness as the vehicle’s headlights blinked out of existence. Mud squelched underneath his boots as he stepped out of the vehicle into the rain soaked avenue that ran through the heart of the derelict village. He switched on the flashlight clipped to his jacket, and swept its powerful beam over his surroundings. Dilapidated buildings, waterlogged and long since abandoned, populated either side of the street, spreading out to the nearby foothills of the surrounding mountains.
“What kind of backwater have they sent me to this time?” Chambers wondered aloud even though, ostensibly, nobody was around to hear him. He cursed as his earpiece crackled to life unexpectedly.
“Riptide, West Virginia.” The terse voice of his handler, Billy Mason, sizzled over the radio. “Founded as a coal town in the late 1880’s, and humorously named for the fast moving creek that runs nearby. Abandoned in the early 1900’s after an explosion at the coal mine killed off most of the working men. For Christ’s sake, didn’t you read the mission brief?!”
“Damn, Billy, I wasn’t talking to you,” Chambers drawled. “There’s no need to be so hostile.”
“Should’ve thought of that before you started talking to yourself with your radio on,” Mason responded incisively. “Now, since you apparently didn’t read the brief, the reason you’re in this particular backwater on this particular night is because a government satellite passing overhead several days ago picked up a convoy of cargo trucks driving out of town. Awfully peculiar for a place that’s supposedly been empty for the better part of a hundred years, wouldn’t you say?”
“For the love of God, I know where I’m at and why I’m here. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“Then I suggest you get to work on finding out where those trucks came from, and what they were carrying.”
At the outskirts of the decrepit town, the creek was swollen from the evening’s downpour. The murky water, on the verge of spilling its banks, rushed by with astonishing speed. I can see why they would name this place Riptide, Scott Chambers thought to himself as he observed the cascading flow. He crouched, studying the water closely under the intense glare of his flashlight.
“Billy, there’s something strange about this water. It’s pretty damn dark…almost black.”
“Well, geological scans show that the creek runs through the coal mine just to the east, so it’s not entirely shocking the water would be polluted with black dust.”
“No…I don’t think that’s what it is. It’s like this isn’t water at all, but something else entirely.” Chambers stood and retrieved the XEM122 assault rifle he had previously set on the ground, slinging it over his shoulder. “You say the mine is just east of my position?”
“Affirmative.”
“I’m going to check it out. I want to know what the deal is with this creek.”
The cavernous entrance to the coal mine loomed several hundred feet ahead. Roughly twenty minutes at a brisk pace had brought Scott Chambers to a bend in the creek where, upon turning the corner, the colossal portal had revealed itself behind the trees that crowded the creek bank. He pulled out his monoscope, peered through it, and was thoroughly surprised at what he saw. The mouth of the cave was bustling with activity, and he could see flood lights strung along the walls leading deeper into the tunnel.
“Billy, are you getting this?” Chambers asked as he scanned, the camera in his monoscope automatically uploading images to his handler’s monitor.
“Looks like some sort of private security force.” Billy Mason’s awestruck voice crackled in his ear. “Zoom in on one of the shoulder patches. I want to know who we’re dealing with.”
Scott Chambers focused his attention on the nearest figure, adjusting the monoscope’s view until he got a clear shot of the insignia that Billy wanted to see: a white eye with a red pupil on a field of blue, the initials T.F.E.3 stitched underneath. “Well, what do you think?”
“That white eye is the logo for Elysium, a biotech slash pharmaceutical company here in the States.”
“Why would they need paramilitary? And what are they doing out here in the middle of nowhere?”
“Wait…you said there was something strange with the creek water, right?”
“Yeah, it was black and…almost sludgy.”
“That must be why they’re here!” Mason declared animatedly. “Chambers, you have to get inside that mine and find out what’s going on.”
“What about the heavily armed mercenaries?”
“What about them?”
“How am I supposed to accomplish anything with a damn private army skulking about?”
“Chambers,” Billy Mason began, speaking slowly and patiently as if Scott Chambers were simply an unruly child he had to reason with. “This kind of job is exactly why SRV exists. It’s what you’re trained for. It’s just what you do.”
“You know something, Billy? You’re damn right it’s what I do.”
Afterword: To enhance the impact of this story, listen to the song below after you read.
Author’s Note:
has initiated this incredible collaborative effort for us Substackers to take part in, which revolves around the quite possibly (probably?) nefarious company Elysium and its cryptic Project Blackwater. Since I got major Umbrella Corporation vibes from the stuff I’ve read so far by others, I decided that my own meager contribution should be something akin to Resident Evil. Hopefully, I don’t step all over the lore that has already been imagined for this project.If you enjoyed reading my Thoughts, consider showing your appreciation by contributing to my retirement fund.
Special Regiment Vanguard
eXperimental Elite Model 12
Task Force Elysium
Interesting. I wonder if you'll pick it up again one day. I won't get too attached but I was sucked in!
Fun to see a different slant on it, looking forward to seeing what happens next!