War…or what at least would appear to be war. Burning buildings, cars pushed over onto their roofs, thousands of empty shell casings littering the streets. Only the crackling of the fires can be heard, but it’s quickly drowned out by the sound of gunshots. Flashes from inside one of the buildings on the top floor can be seen from the windows. A view inside the building shows a man in a red coat with silver hair ducked down behind a table, reloading two platinum handguns. On the other side of the room, three Special Forces agents are firing what appear to be Uzi’s at the man in red. They finally stop to reload, one not ducking in time allowing the silver haired man to aim a perfect shot right between his eyes. He quickly ducks again as a smoke grenade is tossed out into the middle of the room. The man in red quickly grabs a walkie-talkie from inside his coat and pushes the button.
AJ: Team Alpha, this is the “devil in red”, do you copy?
Crackling can be heard over the receiver for a few seconds, and then a woman speaks.
Sarah: “Devil in red”? Since when does the rookie get to pick out code names?
AJ: Since I got this jacket on sale.
The Uzi’s begin to unload once again on AJ’s covering position.
Sarah: What was that?
AJ: Well it’s not girl scouts trying to sell me cookies…
AJ looks around, trying to cover himself from the rain of bullets that come at him. The window is his only way out.
AJ: I’m on the top floor of the grey warehouse building. I’ll be down in a minute, we’ll clear the street sector from there.
Tucking the walkie-talkie back into his coat, AJ doesn’t hear Sarah’s next transmission, which would be, “Which side?”. As the two Special Forces agents move in closer to AJ’s cover amidst the smoke, they reload their guns. AJ stands up and with a cocky grin on his face, places his index fingers over the triggers of both guns.
AJ: Sorry boys, I gotta be going.
Diving backwards through the window and shattering the glass, AJ empties both clips of ammunition into the room on his way down. After the last bullet is fired, he looks down to see that Sarah and Edward haven’t set up the safety chute for him to jump into. There’s nothing below him but asphalt and a car. Make that a demolished car, as his body completely caves in the roof and busts all the glass out. Hearing the sickening crash, Sarah and Edward round the corner, seeing AJ lying in a pile of twisted metal and broken glass. AJ rolls off the car, taking cover from the hail of bullets that are coming down the street now. Twenty or so Special Forces agents are making their way towards the trio. Sarah and Edward run to AJ and take cover behind the vehicle.
AJ: Where the hell were you two?
Sarah: You didn’t say the South side! It’s your own fault.
Edward loads the last remaining shell into his shotgun before pumping the barrel and then looks at the pair.
Edward: No offense you two, but could this wait until later? We kind of got bigger problems.
AJ: She started it.
Edward: Don’t make me shoot you already rookie.
Edward looks out over the trunk and counts an additional four targets making their way from an alleyway. Ducking down and making his way past AJ and Sarah, he looks out over the hood, spotting the two agents coming out of the grey warehouse that AJ had just exited. He sighs slightly, slumping back down into cover.
Edward: The next time you pull a hot shot move like that, make sure you try to hit something.
Standing up, Edward takes careful aim and fires a direct shot into the chest of one of the operatives that have made their way closer to the car the team was using for cover. That left one more from the warehouse. Edward pumps the barrel and goes to pull the trigger, but it jams. Ducking back down he fiddles with the trigger.
Sarah: Something wrong?
Edward: It’s jammed. I can’t believe this.
A smile spreads across Sarah’s face as she un-holsters her two firearms.
Sarah: It’s true what they say…
She stands up, pulling both triggers at once. Her guns had been modified from firing a single shot to firing a burst of three bullets from each one. All six find their way into the other Special Forces agent from the warehouse. Two hit the chest, one in the head, two in the left leg, and one in an area that no man wants to be hit with anything. She ducks back down as the other agents open fire.
Sarah: Never send a man to do a woman’s job.
Peering up through what’s left of passenger and driver side window frames, she spots one agent by himself attempting to flank the teams current position. What she doesn’t know is that it’s a distraction. Taking the bait she gets up and fires several blasts towards the lone agent. His distance from her causes the shots to only graze his arms, not enough to really slow him down. Edward looks over the front bumper just in time to see a grenade being tossed at the team.
Edward: Sarah!
Sarah: Huh?
She turns to see the grenade only a few feet away. With a carefully timed spin kick she knocks it back to the three agents who emerged from the alleyway. The explosion sends an SUV skyward and Sarah ducking for cover from the shrapnel, which incidentally also takes out the agent who was trying to flank the team. AJ loads up his handguns once more. He smirks, seemingly unimpressed by everyone else’s actions. He arrogantly stands up and looks down at Edward and Sarah.
AJ: Time to show you two how it’s really done…
As he turns, a sound above him catches his attention. It’s the flaming SUV, coming right at him. His face turns white, as his fingers slip off the triggers.
AJ: Holy sh…
Moments before impact an RPG shell nails the SUV, sending a shower of flaming hot metal and debris around the team. Surprisingly though, no one is injured.
Edward: Good God. Is everyone all right?
AJ and Sarah nod, looking up at the source of the shot. A man with long, black hair is standing upon a pile of rubble. He walks down calmly to the team, grabbing AJ by the scruff of his neck and throwing him to the ground.
Andrew: Stay down. It’d be a shame to send you home packin’ on your first day…rookie.
Surveying the area and assessing the situation Andrew takes careful consideration of the street lights that illuminate the ground. A car about fifty feet or so away has the passenger side door missing, but the driver side still intact. Andrew ducks down for cover.
Andrew: The fires are mainly concentrated on the top floors of all the buildings, so I’m thinkin’ as soon as I come out on that door, you pop the bulbs in the street lights. There’s three lights, so I’m gonna need each of you on one them.
He smirks, putting a hand on AJ’s shoulder, who anyone can tell is still shaken up from the recent incident, but his cocky attitude tries to prove otherwise.
Andrew: Think you can handle that?
AJ nods, running a hand through his hair and exhaling slowly.
AJ: You got it.
Andrew: On three…
There’s a moment of silence as each member of the team aims at a street light. Sarah turns her head for a split second.
Sarah: Wait, when you come out on that door?
Andrew: THREE!
Andrew takes off running causing Sarah to focus her sights back on one of the street lights. At top speed Andrew dives feet first through the passenger side of the car, kicking out the driver’s side door and landing on it, using one hand to balance himself. Sparks fly from underneath the door and bullets whiz by him. The team fires, blanketing the street in complete darkness just as Andrew comes to a complete stop. An then…silence. AJ peaks his head out but quickly goes back to cover as Andrew opens fire. Andrew’s precision and technique and long, hard hours of training go to work here. He fires…left, right, over head, backward, forward, left, right, left again. The motions seem less, the bullets appearing to be never ending. Finally it stops. Two glowing, white hot barrels are all that can be seen in the darkness.
Andrew: That’s how it’s really done.
Edward: End simulation.
The entire war-torn street scene disappears as the room is returned its normal state. Four solid white walls inside a room that could easily fit an entire house. Andrew turns to the team.
Andrew: Edward, Sarah…nice work in there. That move against the grenade was particularly top notch.
Sarah blushes slightly at the compliment given out by the squad leader. Compliments, AJ would soon realize, were not something handed out everyday by Andrew. In fact, just by Sarah’s reaction, Andrew quickly spoke once more in a bit of a heated tone.
Andrew: Don’t get too excited. It was still a risky move…in a real life situation you might not be so lucky.
AJ: You could ease up a little…
Andrew didn’t waste anytime walking straight up to AJ and staring him down.
Andrew: Don’t ever back talk to me again rookie. If that had been a pain simulation, we’d be stuffing your corpse in a body bag right now, sending you back home with a note taped to your chest saying, “Thanks for nothing”. Reckless and arrogant behavior have no place on the battlefield. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you’ll be welcomed onto this team. Until then, you’re just another trigger happy, hot shot who’s still a virgin when it comes to his first kill. Just because you did this on your Playstation back home doesn’t make you resident ace here. A video game is a lot different than real life.
Rather than provoke the conflict any further, AJ turns away from the team leader and exits the simulation room. As he strides down the hallway, the look on his face gives away his intent. A way out…from Andrew. He stops at a door that’s located on the opposite end of the hallway. The door is marked “Sarge”. AJ marches in, the Sarge’s secretary, who’s on the phone tells the caller to wait one moment and blocks him from going into the meeting hall.
Secretary: You can’t go in there without an appointment.
AJ: I need to see the Sarge right now.
Secretary: I already told you, you can’t…
She’s interrupted by a husky voice on the other side of the door.
Sarge: It’s okay Ms. Bellstein…let him in.
As soon as she moves away from the door AJ swings it open and slams it shut behind him. The Sarge has a hologram up of what appears to be a town. The Sarge’s eyes are fixed to it until he hears the door slam, the image turning fuzzy for a moment. He looks up at AJ.
Sarge: Something on your mind rookie?
AJ: Yes sir. Ever since I got here I’ve been treated like I have no clue how to handle myself out in a real life situation. I’ve had to listen to everyone judge me based upon my VR training scores. I want a team transfer sir. I want a chance to prove myself out there.
The Sarge smirks, folding his hands behind his back.
Sarge: Permission granted.
AJ’s look goes from anger to shock.
AJ: Sir?
Sarge: Did I stutter rookie?
AJ: No sir, I just…
Sarge: Didn’t expect me to comply so quickly? Trust me boy, I know you want more than anything to get out there and today is your lucky day. However…it won’t be with a new team.
AJ: Excuse me?
Sarge: I’m bumping Andrew’s crew back up to a special search and rescue mission. Now look…I know the other crew members are giving you a hard time, but you have to understand what Andrew’s been through. He doesn’t want anyone to risk doing anything stupid out there. He…
The door to the Sarge’s office creaks open. Andrew, Edward and Sarah step in.
Andrew: When you lose one teammate, it’s hard enough to try and go on. I don’t plan on ever losing another one.
Andrew’s eyes lock on to AJ’s.
Andrew: Permission to speak with the Sergeant in private…
He turns and looks at the Sarge.
Andrew: Sir.
Sarge: Permission granted. Please excuse us for a few moments everyone.
The rest of the team steps out into the waiting area, but before exiting, Edward grabs a folder from the table in the meeting hall.
Andrew: I got word from Jackson that you wanted to see me?
Sarge: You got it. I’m sending you back out there Andrew. Everyone here, including myself feels that you’ve had enough time to…assess what happened before. You’ve got one of the finest teams any commanding officer could ask for.
Andrew: What’s the mission?
The Sarge circles the table where the hologram is, zooming in on various points of interest.
Sarge: This is the town of Pleasant Haven . We got a call from HQ about two hours ago that they needed a search and rescue team on the ground. The landing zone is hot and there will be plenty of guns going off once your team gets on the ground. The National Guard was called in to address a situation they deemed as becoming “increasingly violent and disturbing” and then went missing. Our orders are to get in there and get those boys out. The U.S. military won’t touch this, that’s why we got called in. Seems there were some…strange reports about the people there. It’s all in a file on my desk. You’ll be fully briefed on what’s happening up until the time we got the call from the info we’ve put together. Once you find them, you’re to load them up on the helicopter that will be taking you in and come on back home. Gather up any intel you can on the way to them as well.
The Sarge walks over to Andrew and hands him the folder from his desk. He opens it, thumbing through various pages looking at reports and photographs. Then he looks up at the Sarge, shutting the folder.
Andrew: Why me sir?
Sarge: Because you’re the best.
Sarge gives a small smile from the corner of his mouth and then sits down behind his desk.
Sarge: The chopper dusts off in twenty minutes. Gear up and get out there.
Andrew salutes the Sarge and leaves his office. His team looks up at him when he steps back into the office waiting area.
Andrew: We got our orders…we leave in twenty minutes.
Sarah stands up and walks up behind Andrew, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Sarah: You sure you’re ready for this?
Andrew stares straight ahead, gripping the folder tightly in his hands.
Andrew: You have your orders…let’s move out.
Sarah let’s out a small sigh, leaving behind Andrew. As Edward stands up, AJ calls to him.
AJ: What was that all about? Our leader have some kind of problem being out there in the middle of it all?
Edward tossed the folder he took from the table in the meeting hall area onto AJ’s lap.
Edward: Read it for yourself…
He left the room soon after. AJ stared at the folder cover…”Classified”. He opened it up and saw a recount told by Andrew on his last mission:
An abandoned warehouse near the river. Snow falls softly from the pitch black night sky. Two people make their way to either side of the doors that leads inside. One is Andrew, another one kind of looks like Sarah, but there are some noticeable differences. Andrew loads up his automatic rifle. The girl readies two smoke grenades.
Andrew: Are you sure you can handle yourself in there?
Marie: It’s Sarah…
She pulls the pins and opens the door.
Marie: I’m not leaving without my sister.
Tossing the grenades inside, two loud pops go off. Andrew turns, pointing his gun inside and unleashing hell. It’s a standard military issue type rifle with a grenade launcher attachment underneath the barrel. A sweep from left to right completely mows down around sixteen to seventeen special ops agents who are on guard on the bottom floor. After Andrew lets off the trigger, the last shell that falls to the ground echoes slightly. The pair moves into position. The agents upstairs who have Sarah hostage are not coming out from their hiding place.
Andrew: You got any more smoke left?
Marie: Just one…
Andrew: Save it for outside, I’m calling in the chopper. We’ll use it to mark our position.
Andrew takes out a radio from inside his black trench coat.
Andrew: Kennings to base, I repeat, Kennings to base. We have located the building with said hostage inside, one Ms. Sarah Rivers. Marie and I are about to make our move upstairs, need a chopper for evac.
Edward: Copy that boss. Sending out a chopper now, ETA about fifteen minutes.
Andrew puts the radio away and makes his way up ten flights of circular stairs that are in the center of the room. The only floors left in the old river warehouse were the bottom and the top, which was about ten stories or so up. Voices can be heard from inside the room, but it’s unclear what they’re saying.
Andrew: You’re friends downstairs are out of commission, so I suggest you drop whatever weapons you have and come out quietly.
There’s no response.
Andrew: Have it your way…just more blood on my hands.
Kicking the door in gives way to only Sarah…tied up on a chair in the middle of the room. There’s a window behind her that’s right above the icy cold river. A small pool of moonlight filters into the room from outside. Andrew enters, quickly turns his gun to behind the door and does a sweep, left to right. There’s no one.
Andrew: What the…
Then he looks up. Three men have themselves positioned using their arms and legs up on the ceiling. They drop down, surrounding Andrew. One quickly shuts the door and locks it, keeping Marie outside. She pounds her fists on it violently.
Marie: If you so much as harm one hair on my sister’s head, I’ll kill you!
The men circle Andrew. They are dressed like ninja’s. Black hoods covering their faces. A sword is strapped to each of their backs. One has a red head band tied around his hood, signifying him as the leader. He strips Andrew of his gun, tossing it to one of the other men.
Gaiden: Hello there Mr. Kennings. You can call me Gaiden. Seems we have a small situation on our hands here. You see, I plan on killing all of you, but that mouthy little partner of yours insists on killing us.
Gaiden slowly runs his hands over Andrew’s rifle.
Gaiden: Such a barbaric weapon…and yet…so ineffective. Let me show you what a real weapon looks like and does.
He unsheathes the sword from his back. The man across the way tosses Andrew’s gun up in the air and with one seamless motion, Gaiden uses his sword to cut the rifle clean into two. After the demonstration, he walks over to Sarah, placing his hands on her shoulders. She lets out a muffled scream from her mouth gag.
Gaiden: Did you see that Mr. Kennings? I hope you were paying close attention, because that is going to be Sarah’s pretty little head here after they are finished with you.
The other two ninja’s pull out their swords, Andrew stands between the two of them, smirking.
Gaiden: Do you find this all amusing Andrew? Do you find the death of your partner’s sister, your partner herself, and more importantly…your own death to be funny?
Andrew: Not in the slightest. What I find funny is to find people who think the ninja gimmick still intimidates others in this day and age. You guys could have the most sophisticated high-tech toys, yet you choose to use swords.
Gaiden: We prefer to keep it…how they say…”old school”.
Andrew: Well then…school’s in session. Today’s lesson…
Andrew drops down, using two well placed kicks to each ninja’s calf muscle, dropping them. He nips back up, still smirking.
Andrew: Pain.
The ninja’s n** up just like Andrew had and swing their blades. He ducks at the last second, the sword’s clashing inches above his head. He rolls forward and turns to face them. They decide to take him on one at a time. The first ninja comes at Andrew, his blade close to his face. A moment before he’s ready to swing, Andrew falls backwards and kicks the sword out of the ninja’s hands, sticking it into the ceiling. He delivers a sweep quick like earlier. He does a back roll over the ninja who returns to his feet quickly. Andrew jumps up and holds onto the sword’s handle and kicks the ninja in the face, dropping back down to the floor, the sword now in hand. He uses it to meet the other ninja’s blade. The steel slides to handles before they push each other away. They rush at each once more, each deflecting the other’s moves perfectly. The other ninja begins to stir and runs after Andrew. Seeing his reflection in the sword, Andrew quickly drops down to both knees. The ninja he was currently dueling with stabs his partner in the chest by mistake. Andrew takes his sword and drives it up through the other ninja’s jaw, the tip poking out from the top of his skull. He retrieves the sword from the fallen ninja’s chest and stares at Gaiden across the room.
Andrew: Next…
Gaiden laughed a bit as he let his sword come to his side.
Gaiden: I will not be taken so lightly.
Andrew: Good.
Gaiden: The sound of confidence in your voice is truly a change from the countless others that I’ve killed. What makes you so sure of yourself?
Andrew turns to the ninja with the sword in his jaw and removes with one smooth motion.
Andrew: Because I’ve got more swords than you do.
He makes an X formation with them in front of his face and smirks, allowing them to come to his sides. Gaiden approaches him, Andrew flips the swords around by their handles in his hands.
Gaiden: I see you’ve been trained in many ways of killing. Why not join me?
Their blades clash. Gaiden is quick to block the offensive by both of Andrew’s blades. Andrew once again holds the X formation in front of his face, Gaiden’s blade pushing down the center. Andrew delivers a straight and hard kick to his chest, causing Gaiden to do a backwards roll away from him.
Andrew: ‘Cause I’d rather kill you.
Gaiden: Such anger…maybe it will be your downfall.
Gaiden charges once more, flipping over Andrew and cutting his right shoulder, causing him to drop one of the swords. Gaiden picks it up and turns, firing it into the door that separates them from Marie. The force he used makes it impossible for anyone to get it out. Andrew recovers, spinning the remaining sword in his hand by the handle. Blood slowly trickles down his shoulder. As their swords meet, Gaiden notices Andrew’s weakness now in his defense block. He attacks more feverishly. Andrew tries his best to block but his sword is knocked away. Gaiden delivers a roundhouse kick, then a straight right fist to his back. Andrew falls to his hands and knees. He is quickly kicked in the ribs and rolls near his rifle. His eye catches something. The grenade attachment had been cut in half leaving easy access to one. Andrew slides the grenade out, holding it behind his back and gets into a kneeling position. Gaiden makes his way over and backhands Andrew…hard. Blood flies from this mouth, splattering on the wall near the window. Gaiden then sticks his sword into the floor and picks Andrew up by his injured shoulder, almost causing Andrew to drop the grenade. He walks over to the window with him in hand and begins to laugh. He looks at Andrew who spits a mouthful of blood at Gaiden’s mask. Using his free hand, Gaiden removes the mask. The man underneath is well tanned with a crew cut and a five o’clock shadow. His blue eyes pierce into Andrew.
Gaiden: Your reckless attitude reminds me of those foolish heroic cowboy movies. Except you won’t be the hero in this one, will you? That river will be your tomb.
He puts more pressure on the right shoulder of Andrew.
Gaiden: So then…any last words…cowboy?
Andrew: Yippee Ki Yay…
Using all of his strength left, Andrew uses his right hand to grab Gaiden’s arm, break it on his injured shoulder, then stuff the grenade in his mouth holding onto the pin with his left hand as he kicks Gaiden in the chest sending him out the window, pulling the pin out. He watches Gaiden plummet to the river below and halfway down, the explosion rocks the warehouse, as pieces of flesh, shrapnel, and bone are sent skyward. Andrew ducks down to cover himself from it all. He unties Sarah and removes the tape from her mouth. They run to the door and open it. Marie hugs her sister as soon she sees her. Overhead they can hear a chopper.
Andrew: C’mon, let’s get going.
As they run down the stairs, dust and old rotted parts of the warehouse begin to fall from overhead due to the helicopter. They are down the stairs and almost to the door. Sarah bursts through it into the arms of an agent who takes her aboard the chopper that’s hovering a few inches from the ground. Marie and Andrew are walking towards it, smiles on their faces. Andrew pats her on the back. Then the unthinkable happens. One of the gunmen on the ground floor starts to stir. Wounded heavily, though not dead, he sits up and lets out a scream. Andrew and Marie turn. Marie dives in front of Andrew right at the man pulls the trigger. She takes the bullet directly in the throat. Andrew grabs the handgun from her thigh holster as she flies by, he doesn’t notice she’s been shot. He unloads the entire clip into the gunmen’s head and turns, smirking to Marie. That smirk quickly fades as he notices Marie clutching her neck, blood gushing out all over hands and creating a pool on the floor.
Andrew: MARIE!!!
He scoops her up and runs to the helicopter.
AJ: Holy sh…
Edward busts into the room with a bag full of ammunition for AJ’s guns. AJ startled shuts the folder and catches the black bag that’s thrown at him.
Edward: Hurry up, we’re about to dust off.
AJ runs down the hall with Edward and jumps into the chopper. Andrew and Sarah are already inside.
*One hour later*
Helicopter Pilot: Sir, we’re approaching the city limits.
Andrew: Alright. When we get there, you keep this running. Sarge just wants a quick sweep to rescue our boys and if intel is correct, they shouldn’t be too far. I figure ten minutes…in and out deal.
Helicopter Pilot: I thought the landing zone was hot?
Andrew: You forget…he’s sending in the best
The helicopter smiles and gives a thumbs up to Andrew.
Helicopter Pilot: You got it sir.
Andrew thumbs through the files on the city.
AJ: So what kind of details can you give us about this whole ordeal?
Andrew: Sorry rookie, can’t do that. All this stuff is on a “need to know” basis.
The helicopter zooms over the city. The team looks down but doesn’t see a single person even walking about.
Edward: I thought you said we’d have to run and gun our way to these guys? I swear I heard Sarge say there’d be a lot of action on the ground.
Andrew: Maybe you heard wrong…you were outside the door. This a small town Edward.
Edward: It’s a city with a population of five thousand eight hundred and not a single one of them is outdoors. That’s a little odd, don’t you think?
Sarah: I’ll say…Andrew, what happened here?
Andrew: I told you already…it’s on a “need to know” ba…
A deafening explosion stops Andrew mid-sentence. The helicopter shakes violently, spinning out of the control. Black smoke plums out of the tail. Alarms sound, the dash begins to glow red.
Helicopter Pilot: We’ve been hit with an RPG!
Andrew: What? How? From where?
Helicopter Pilot: Got me, but I can’t get her steady, we’re going down. Everybody hang on to something!
The team grabs onto whatever is near them as the front of the helicopter clips a nearby building taking out four floors with the nose and blades before it crashes to the ground, sliding about fifty feet in the dirt before it stops. The fire is concentrated mostly in the cabin.
Andrew: C’mon, go…everyone through the open hatch there, hurry!
Sarah and Edward hop out, followed by AJ, then Andrew. The chopper is de-commissioned, fire bellowing out from the cockpit. The worst would appear to be over, but then Andrew spots fuel pouring out, heading straight towards the fire.
Andrew: Oh hell…take cover!
Ducking behind whatever they can, all four members get to cover right as the chopper explodes completely. The ammunition for all of the guns is sent skyward, exploding sending out a hail of bullets and more explosions above their heads. About two minutes later everything goes silent once more. Only the crackling of the fire can be heard.
Andrew: Is anyone hurt?
The others signal to Andrew that they’re okay and regroup near the burning chopper.
Andrew: Did everyone put at least one clip of ammo into their firearms before we boarded?
Sarah: Locked and loaded.
Edward: Yup.
AJ: Good to go.
Andrew: Okay, good. Obviously whoever was trying to kill us only managed to give us some minor cuts. I can’t say that much for the pilot however. We’ve got no transportation and no communication out of this city.
Sarah: They could still be lining us up now.
Andrew: Doubtful…we’re on the opposite side of the chopper and a good distance from where that RPG came from. The smoke for now is good enough cover from whoever fired that. I don’t see anyone either…damn it though…now we have no way out.
Edward: Can’t we just drive out?
Andrew: Negative. The town’s been quarantined.
Sarah: Quarantined? Andrew, tell us, what’s going on?
Andrew: Look, if those soldiers could find a way to get word out that they were still alive here, then so can we. I say we find them, find a radio, and then get the hell out of here. Conserve your ammo as well. Who knows what we’ll run into here. Got it? Edward?
Edward nods to Andrew.
Andrew: Sarah?
Sarah: Yeah…
Andrew: AJ?
…
Andrew: AJ?!
The team looks around them. During Andrew’s short speech, AJ had slipped off and was about a block away behind a building and out of the team’s sight. He was looking for anyone who might be able to help them. He walks among the quiet street, debris from the nearby helicopter flying overhead. Keeping a steady hand on one of his holstered guns, he sees someone in the middle of the street on their knees.
AJ: Excuse me, sir.
He walks closer to him, the man is making odd sounds, as if he was eating something, but AJ can’t tell what it is. He puts a hand on his shoulder.
AJ: Sir…oh hell…
There is a corpse of another human being that the man is eating. Flies buzz over it. As AJ catches the man’s attention, he turns with half a lung in between his teeth and jumps at AJ violently and nearly bites him, but AJ’s quick to react and draws his gun, firing three shots into the man. Sarah’s head perks up.
Sarah: Was that…
Edward: Gun shots…
Andrew: MOVE!
When he drops AJ starts to run the other way, back to the team. They’re in hot pursuit of where they heard the shots come from. AJ rounds the corner and runs straight into Edward. Both fall down.
Sarah: What’s going on?! We heard gunshots, are you okay?
AJ: There’s a…civilian…he’s…
Edward: You shot a civilian?!
AJ: He was eating someone!
Sarah: WHAT?!
AJ and Edward stand back up and run towards where AJ had shot the man. He was gone though…and so was the corpse.
AJ: What the hell...where’d they go?!
Edward: Highest in VR shooters eh there rookie? Maybe you’re not such a hot shot when it comes to the real thing.
AJ: I shot him three times.
AJ attempts to catch his breath, still dumbfounded by the fact that the man he just fatally shot is gone. As was his “lunch”.
AJ: Two in the chest, one in the head.
Sarah: You sure?
AJ: I know how to aim a gun damn it, I know where I shot him.
Edward: Well dead people just don’t get up and walk away, rookie.
AJ: Oh go to hell already with that rookie stuff!
Edward: Don’t get pushy with me or I might have to put two in your chest and one in that big mouth of yours.
AJ: If you think you got the pair, then step up!
Andrew: Enough…
Andrew walks in between AJ and Edward and kneels down near the blood.
Andrew: AJ’s right, he did shoot him. Two in the chest, one in the head, just like he stated.
Edward: Then where’s the body Andrew?
Andrew: Gone…
Edward: Gone?
Andrew stands up and faces the team.
Andrew: Was hoping it wouldn’t come to this, but now it’s become “need to know” circumstances. The reason we were called in was to rescue those boys from the National Guard and the reason they were called in was because of disturbing police reports. The citizens in this town were becoming increasingly violent. Riots would break out frequently and it became too much for the police department to handle. When the guys from the National Guard showed up, the town was much like it was now. No sign of life what-so-ever. Then they were attacked by what appeared to be…well, they weren’t really sure. They opened fire on the attackers and dropped them, only to be surprised several moments later when the suspects rose back up to their feet and ran back into the darkness. Later on they discovered remains of humans that had been…eaten.
Sarah: You told me Sarge said this was going to a “hot spot” zone.
Edward: I knew it! I knew I was right.
Andrew: Quiet down, both of you. Listen, Sarge said that and I told you all that so you wouldn’t think we were going on some way out there ordeal. It was supposed to be an in out thing…no one knew our chopper would get taken out. Besides, we’re talking about people who are getting shot, coming back to life, and then eating other human beings.
Edward: Are you trying to tell me we’re dealing with zombies?
Andrew: No…I don’t know what we’re dealing with. The National Guardsmen were lucky enough to find a radio and call us in. So the mission still stands. We find them, find a radio, and get the hell out of here. Remember…conserve ammo. Doesn’t look like it does much good here anyhow.
