The American People

[Admonish Misconstruction]

"If this goes off it won't be enough for thousands of innocents to die we'll be gone. Public opinion rallied against us." Pi bit his lip. He could taste raw flesh. "We'll be done for."

Where would they strike? It would be open, urbanized, and populated. It would be in a controllable environment and one without any necessary industries. It would also be away from the political hubs and the influential. Where did that leave the target, a dozen, two dozen possible locations? There was no conceivable to operate in so many locations at once. Already they were spread thin one of their safe houses destroyed, freedom-fighters taken hostage. The rebellion was quite and silent. A single overheard whisper would send their enemies after them and they would have to run. Then nobody would be around to stop the detonation of a biochemical weapon. Their movement would be finished and the corrupt would triumph.

Where was the key to the puzzle?  

[Norijitsu]

January 10th, 20XX
22:01:29 ZULU HOURS
CALLSIGN: "EPSILON"
OPERATION BUNKER HILL
Location: Codename: "The Farm", Outskirts of Albany, NY

The air stiffened with anxiety as Epsilon's boots echoed through the dining room. A slight chill could be felt through the everyone at the table; it froze everyone.

Epsilon came to a hault at the head chair, placing his gloves on the head of it and letting his hands fall to his sides. Within his lungs, the breath to bring the words in front of him to convey to his peers. Finally, a push of bravery expelled the words from his mouth, as they dripped with a cold shiver from his lips, into the ears of those listening.

"There is a bomb in New York City,"

Whatever silence lingered over the table, began to double. The moment of infinate silence stabbed through everyone like a knife. Through some of their masks, Epsilon could read their facial expressions. A bomb? This changes everything.

The slight thumping of Pi and Theta's bootsteps coming into the room. From that disruption, a murmur came from the crowd.

"What are we going to do about this?" Xi's voice arose from the croud.

"The only thing we can do... Suit up and take this on head first." Theta's voice roared in retort.

With that, the nest was sturred. Agents moved about the room without haste, grabbing weapons and ammo alike, gearing up for the enevitable. And it was their job. A vow ran deep within them that the American people would be safe under their wing.

What they didn't know was this wouldn't just be America in jepordy tonight.

***

The buzz of the Helicopter resounded in his ears and rumbled within his gut. Epsilon had a horrible feeling that began churrning with the motion of the helicopter. Something made him feel uneasy about this. A dirty bomb in NYC? This was new. From toppling government plans to attempting to save the entire city of New York, his itinerary changed, and so did his feelings on the entire matter. But, questions began to rattle in his head. Questions, that were pushed aside from the site of the LZ coming into his vision.

He switched his COM to broadband. "Alright teams listen up. Echo Team, which is, Myself, Omikron, Pi, and Lambda, are going to land in the Western corner of Central Park and attempt to check Madison Square Garden. Fireteam Foxtrot, which consists of Theta, Sigma, Xi, Chi, and Tau and Eta on Gunner with Ridgeback in the Goliath-"

A chirping sound interupted him. His cell phone began to ring.

"Wait one." Epislon said into the mic, retriving his phone.

"Talk to me."

"We've just got another text from Beller's cell. Its confirmed, Madison Square Garden. 10th floor."

"Aren't the Rangers playing tonight?"

"Affirmative, but irrelevant. Get it done. Base callsign is 'Stormcloud.' Abort callsign is 'Sheild'. Stormcloud out."

"Copy." He replied, Hanging up the phone and tossing it out the side of the helicopter.

"As I was saying, Foxtrot, we're moving to the 10th floor, your job is to land on the roof. We need to find the bomb, high civilian rate. Use caution. Lets roll boys."

The air grew thicker as the copter approched the grassly knoll. With a quick inhale and a jolt of energy, Epsilon dismounted from the helicopter, into the dark of the night, rain drenching him head to toe.  

[Admonish Misconstruction]

The UH-60 Blackhawk banked, dropped, and turned without a lurch. The four man Echo team flew in smooth silent peace. Routine reined in anxiety and fear as the team rhythmically double checked their gear; weapons check, magazine check, medic pouch, and other hardware was checked then double-checked. His secondary and primary weapons were cleaned, oiled, ranged, and loaded, his gear stowed, and the filter on his gas mask fresh. Yet Pi felt uneasy. Pi pulled the half-mask over his face till it was snug against his cheek bones. Pi clothes and gear were a dark navy blue, almost black with slashes of dark urban gray in the cloth. In black you stood out like a stupid ******** silhouette, perfect for bullet holes and other nasty tidbits. Dark, dark blue blended better with the night and slashes of dark gray with the concrete of the city.

“Something’s wrong.” Did Epsilon feel it too? The uneasiness clawed up Pi’s throat until it lashed out. On its way up it had taken form, picked up facts, and pieced itself together in a disturbing realization that they were ********. This was going to be a trap but they had no choice but to follow the lead. “They intended to kill the Senator, they knew we took him hostage and yet… why did we get those messages?”

The bomb could easily be real; the Senator had little reason to lie for his superiors after they tried to put a bullet through the Senator’s head. And so, like a dog after they would chase it and probably stumble on a landmine in the process.

“Think about it, the Senator isn’t a loss to them now. He’s a new tool. They already took down one safe house and now they can take out another chunk of our operation. This could be their Trojan horse, and we’re falling for it.” Pi didn’t talk over the COMs, he didn’t want anyone else to hear except for Echo team. If others had figured it out they were probably keeping it to themselves. Pi didn’t know whether that was good bad.

As Pi finished the helicopter began to hover above their destination. He looked at his team one last time, sighed, and leaped out of the side of the helicopter and off into the night. He landed with a thump, the sound of the Black Hawk’s rotors drowned out by their down force. He made a line for a section of concrete potted plants and set for over-watch scanning behind a pair of night vision goggles.
 

[Norijitsu]

January 10th, 20XX
23:48:10 ZULU HOURS
CALLSIGN: "EPSILON"
UNKNOWN OPERATION
Location: Western Corner of Central Park, New York City, NY

As Epsilon's boots hit the ground, so did his idea of all of this. Pi was right. None of what was happening made any sense. His instincts began to wobble off balance.

The cold January air nipped at every breath Epsilon took. A light frost began to accumulate over the grass beneath his feet which flooded through his veins. Within the back of his mind, he could feel some sort of problem begin to arise.

"Pi's right." Epsilon sighed to himself.

Behind him, a rustle. Like the snap of a twig, everything snapped in place. The phone, the senator. It was a trap. They were on stage, and about to get the curtain.

"AMBUSH!" He ordered, and brought his rifle to firing position before watching Omikron get tackled by what looked like an accountant with a muffled cry for help.

Epsilon swung around to take out the new foe, but it was too late. The man in the buisness suit was ripping through Omikron's neck with his teeth, ripping through flesh as it clung to his teeth, his eyes bloodshot, and his face wore the mask of a crazed man.

With a sharp RATATAP, Epsilon silenced the civilian with 2 rounds to the head.

Suddenly, out of the dark night, 3 more people began running towards them in a blood-craving fashion. They tripped over their own craze as they rushed towards the now 3 men.

"Open fire!" Epsilon called out in a hurried manner.  

[Admonish Misconstruction]

Pi's weapon instantively leveled the M4's muzzle balancing the first tango in its sights. The weapon coughed in a triple-tap, the first tango went down in a explosion of bloody confetti. Pi looked at the women he killed. His assault rifle had turned half her face into a bloody wreck and her blouse was now soaking in thick pool of blood. Dressed in a attractive cocktail dress she couldn't have been older than Pi, attractive, young, and dying. The remaining half of her jaw twitched as she breathed her last. As she passed her remaining eye didn't open in fear. Her face was clammy, caked with makeup, sweat, and mascurra.

What the ******** sound of gunfire echoed around them as the derranged and insane sprinted through the courtyard. In a instant the civilians became targets, weaponless, but dangerous. He only had to look back at Omikron's to be reminded. Who was it going to be? Pi's answer came with a in the ratatatat of his gun.

What was happened to these people?

"Yo, Omikron how you doing man?" Pi bellowed over the blasts of gunfire. The derranged were coming in slowly, two by two, three by three. His teamates were already busy reloading and the tangos weren't dropping fast enough.

Even as Omikron held a thick whad of gauze to his torn neck the blood wasn't stopping. It flowed a gruesome red. "Not good man, not good..." Omikron spoke in nothing but a murmur, so weak Pi almost couldn't hear. He crouched next to the dying man. "But I got this." Omikron hands fumbled around for a incidenary grenad his bloody gloved fingers wrapping around its pin. "I got this."

All Pi could do was nod, and give the man a final smile.

"ECHO TEAM! MOVE!" Pi bolted his boots smashing across the pavement. Behind them a thick fireball went up the remnants of Omikron charring in the blaze.
 

[Norijitsu]

January 10th, 20XX
24:02:58 ZULU HOURS
CALLSIGN: "EPSILON"
UNKNOWN OPERATION
Location: Outer Central Park, New York City, NY

His breath halted in the back of Epsilons throat. Each step he took echoed in his ears as he ran through Central Park. The chilled and silent night began to erupt in a chaotic scene as an explosion ripped through the side at the edge of the park. Pi was the first to hit the edge. He was always the fast one out of them all.

Epsilon, Pi, and Lambda stood at the edge of the park and beheld what stood in front of them.

Fires, cars exploding, but the most potent image: People ripping through people. Men, women, children, and police were either running from the frantic and posessed people, or WERE those people. It was horrific, but the image was soon diverted to a defense as Epsilon and party soon became the target of not only people, but gunfire.

"DOWN!" Epsilon barked as a bullet streaked past him. Leveling his rifle, he sunk 3 rounds into an oncoming police officer.

They needed an escape plan, and they needed one fast. When suddenly, they heard the overhead roar of a chopper, and the hum of its miniguns.

"Mayday, mayday, requesting code red EVAC. I repeat, we are being over-run. Requesting EVAC."

"Copy that Epsilon, we see you now. We have no place for EVAC as of present, but you need to get out of way, NOW. Tango's are flooding the park fast behind ********, EVERYONE MOVE NOW!"  

[Admonish Misconstruction]

The gunfire and tearing flesh, and the moans of those getting torn consumed the air. It was as if they were moving through a bubble, their own piece of hell. Outside Central Park families were together, spending time with one another. Lovers old and new were taking solace in the warmth of another while others spent their night in the could, homeless, and desperate. But here it was a special hell. None of them deserved this s**t, nobody deserved to see people attack people in blood lusting rage. Pi didn't bother trying to think it away. Instead, he'd just shoot it.

"Yes sir!" Pi bellowed, opening fire. His first magazine removed several tangos, saving a few civilians in the process; the non-violent crazy type.

The entire park resembled something out of a horror movie, or simply a bad dream. The rumble of diesel in the distance picked at his senses and the sound of unfriendly helicopters rotors didn't help. In the distance he saw a plume of smoke and fire where their evac should have been. The team's Blackhawk fell from they sky, a carcass of burning metal screaming into the streets bellow.

Three large six-wheel transport vehicles drove into the park. Their rear gates opened and soldiers began to dismount from the rear wearing fatiques, vests, and gas masks. Almost as soon as they got out they began to open fire on the "derranged". Pi ran for cover, trying to buckle down out of their sight.

"We're going to get spotted, we have at least fourty men to contend with here and two choppers. Our evacs out... what's the order boss man?"  

[Norijitsu]

January 10th, 20XX
24:59:12 ZULU HOURS
CALLSIGN: "EPSILON"
UNKNOWN OPERATION
Location: East 124th ST, NY

Gunfire, screams, and shouting filled the air around him. Taking cover behind a plant divider, Epsilon couldn't even begin to count the number of heartbeats that jumped into his inner ear. A subtle bite of fear nipped at the back of his neck. Not because of death, but the unknown. This was nothing more than another brick on the pile of his already growing problems.

"Thats a good question!" he hollered over a bullet ripping past the side of him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a building, going up at least 15 stories. That was their escape.

He thrusted a finger in the direction of the building. "Make a Bee-line for it boys! Lets move, move, move!"

Energy burst forward as he began to run fast in the direction of the building, only thinking about being behind those double doors a few meters away.  

[Admonish Misconstruction]

Echo’s escape plan was easily over a hundred meters away, one fifty if Pi’s measurement was correct. Maybe it was a way out, maybe it wasn’t. Either way it was better than here. The soldiers were busy with the civilians, rescuing half, blowing away the second in a hail of clack, clack gunfire. Pi tapped Lambda with a gloved hand, fingers signaling towards the building ahead. As Lambda made a run for the building Pi looked for their other teammate while giving cover to his comrades. He looked once more then remembered Omikron was dead. ********.

Pi finally took his run leaving the park behind. He rarely dreamed about his missions but this was going to appear one night. It wasn’t going to be enjoyable. Assault rifle tucked to his breast he slipped through a half open double glass door. The lobby was wide decorated in proper modern stile: glass, stone waterfall, and metal and leather couches and seating. All it was missing was any sign of life.

“Alright boss, what’s the plan?” Pi lowered his assault rifle. It hung limply from his side. He chose and leather chair and slumped into it. Three thousand dollar leather didn’t feel as comfortable in your ballistic vest and full combat gear. Omikron was dead and there weren’t answers for those things that did it. Unless if someone was holding intelligence back. “There are a good forty men out there but they weren’t sent for us. Where’s ours?”

Pi expected a team of to come busting through the doors, but for the moment he wasn’t concerned. If the enemy decided to bite hard enough they were as good as dead. In combat you couldn’t think about your family, loved ones, your dreams, or anything that would hold you back. Such thoughts were selfish and would get you and your team killed.
 

[Norijitsu]

January 10th, 20XX
00:02:09 ZULU HOURS
CALLSIGN: "EPSILON"
UNKNOWN OPERATION
Location: The Barnaby G. Montgomery BLDG. East 124th ST, NY

What to do. That was a fine question indeed. As the sounds of gunfire and chaos rang from just outside the glass doors. From the ground beneath him, he could feel another explosion, this one couldn't be more than a mile from their current location. And with the chaos brewing already outside, the options became slim.

"Lambda, do you still have your landline?" Epsilon commanded.

His brain kicked in with a plan. With one motion, he placed his GOPAK on the ground, unstringing his rope and placing it on the ground, while Lambda tossed him the burner phone from his upper vest pocket. Epsilon quickly dialed the number to home and placed the phone to his ear...

The sharp ringing came in... Once, twice...

And then silence.

Their options went even slimmer. But he had another trick up his sleeve, when suddenly, a crash came through the window. A man, looking like he was going to the Rangers game, burst through the front window, blood caked his mouth and hands as he glared at the trio with hate... that was until the stacatto of bullets tore through his midsection from Epsilon's pistol.

"Ok, wrap it up. Head to the stairs. Pi, use the rope to tie the door up. We'll call the other team up on the roof. Move boys!"

His voice barked loud as he broke into movement, tossing the bundle of rope to Pi.  

[Admonish Misconstruction]

Pi pulled himself from his seat his right hand curled around the handle of his M4. His senses were back on full alert. Like a power nap that thirty second break restored Pi's brain back high gear. Pi investigated the corpse of the Ranger fan pelting the corpse's midsection with a trio of kicks. Though the body was dead it still screamed. What was he thinking? Pi wondered if the man's family was looking for him before catching Epsiolon's bundle of rope. It wasn't his business but that didn't make all these bodies suck any less.

Steel and cracked jagged glass was all that was left of the front door. In the darkness a little stumble would mean a dozen jagged blades of ten inch glass protuding from your midsection. Kinda like what happened to the poor ******** now riddled with Epsilon's bullet holes. Pi threw the rope around the horizontal handles, pulled the rope taunt, a threw in a few knots. By the time he turned around his comrades were already moving up the stairs.

"Coming up behind boss," Pi warned over their com. He didn't want to die from friendly fire now did he?

Pi looked back every ten feet at their rear, checking for any flashlights or the sound of footsteps. It was dark, but Pi's eyes had a habiit of adjusting to the darkness faster than they did the sunlight. Underneath Pi's layers of ballistic armor, ammo pouches, communications equipment, first aid kit, and weaponry he was still a pale white smaller than average kid from English decent. Despite the brutal punch he could throw, the gear he could run miles in, Pi still looked closer to a limp sock than a body builder.

"What's the plan boss?" Pi asked as he trailed a floor beneath Epsilon covering their rear. "That is, if we don't have a ride off the top of this place."
 

[Norijitsu]

January 10th, 20XX
00:03:12 ZULU HOURS
CALLSIGN: "EPSILON"
UNKNOWN OPERATION
Location: The Barnaby G. Montgomery BLDG. East 124th ST, NY

Pi was right. If they couldn't get out of this building, they were done for. But for right now, they needed to find a place to think.

The team continued up the dark stairway, their boots scuffing along the staircase, echoing through the narrow and dark corridor. Everything began to close on his vision as his only guidance up the stairwell was the metal railing sliding through his hand as he ascended into the darkness.

Finally, a small sliver of light came through the top of the stairwell. The door was ajar at the top.

Epsilon found a boost in stamina after seeing the light and waved his team to follow. "Come on boys, lets move." He called, but being cautious got him this far. With a swift signal to line the wall, the remains of his team leaned against the concrete.

"Pi, you're on breach." Epsilon said, signaling him forward, prepping his rifle for a fight.