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Beneath the Dead Sky
Loss of a City

Loss of a City

Logan left his men after briefing them on their current mission, giving them time to study the information. He had an important call to make, so he stepped outside to the rooftop. Pulling out his phone, he dialed a contact named Sarah. As it rang once, then twice, and a third time, his heart nearly stopped. Finally, she answered.

"Logan, what is it? It's like 10 in the morning. You know I have—" she started but was abruptly cut off.

"I need you to listen to me," he said in a serious tone.

"What's going on? You're scaring me," she replied, her voice filled with concern.

"The thing I told you about that happened in Jersey is happening again. I need you to promise me you won't leave the house, and you won’t let anyone in. Lock the doors and barricade them. Do whatever you need to do to keep them out. I'm coming to get you," Logan urged.

"What? What's happening?" she said, struggling to comprehend his words.

"Promise me," Logan insisted.

"Fine, I prom—" A loud crash interrupted her. "What the hell? There's been a crash outside. I have to go," she said.

"NO! Do not go outside. Lock the door," he implored.

"Logan, there are hurt people out there. You know I need to help," she started, but he cut her off again.

"It's not a car crash. It's an outbreak. Please, don't go outside," he begged.

"You're overthinking this," she began, but then she saw it. "Oh my God, they're attacking each other out there!" she screamed.

"LOCK THE DOOR!" Logan yelled.

After a moment, her voice came back. "It's locked, and I pushed the couch to block it."

"Don't forget the back door," he urged.

"Done. What now?" Sarah asked, her voice trembling.

"Close the blinds and gather the food and water you'll need. Lock yourself in your room. It won't be for hours, but I’ll come for you," Logan instructed.

"Okay, I will," she replied.

"I need to go. Stay safe," he said, hanging up and re-entering the room to his men. The group of five men looked up from the papers and pictures, their eyes on him. This would be a big ask, but these men were his brothers.

"I have another mission. It's personal, and none of you need to follow me," he started, but was interrupted.

"We already assumed you’d ask us to help you get her. We all agreed—we go where you go. Don’t worry, Cap, we'll get her back," came the reassurance from Lt. Riker.

Logan looked at all his men—Tyler, Bullseye, Riker, Goose, and Ace. They each gave him a small nod. With that, he gave them a big smile and said, "Well then, let's see what plans you’ve come up with.”

—————————————————————-

James awoke in a different cell, this one devoid of blinding lights, just a small room with a bed. As he slowly came to, he noticed his head still pounded but significantly less than before he fell asleep. The cell door opened, and John walked in, handing him some medicine.

"Here, take these," John said.

James looked at him suspiciously. "What is it?"

"Don't worry, it's just some Advil. I need you to be in the right mind for this."

James took the Advil and swallowed it. "What do you want, John?" he asked.

"Something big has happened. Follow me," John said coldly.

James got up and followed him. As they walked, he saw troops moving and people packing up papers or burning them. "They were in a hurry; something must have happened," James thought to himself. "What's going on?" he asked, but John didn’t reply. They reached a room already stripped of anything important, leaving it barren. John pointed to the only chair at the end of a long table.

"Sit," John ordered in a flat tone.

James sat down and asked, "What the hell is going on?"

"We're leaving, but that doesn't matter. Look at this," John said, throwing a phone at him.

"What the hell?" James exclaimed.

"We don’t know who did it, but someone released RTV-1 in Atlanta. Sound familiar?" John asked.

"Yeah, it does. It was a drop-off point," James replied.

"Who did you give the sample and drive to?" John demanded.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I gave it to Zero," James answered.

"Are you stupid? Why the hell would you give it to him?" John said angrily.

"Because he was the only one you couldn’t get to. He was dead, after all," James replied.

"He was compromised in Baghdad. You shouldn't have trusted him," John retorted.

"What the hell are you getting at?" James asked incredulously.

"I'm saying he was in captivity with the Zicons for four years. Because of your decision, one of the worst weapons ever conceived by man is now in the hands of terrorists," John said, cold fury in his voice.

"Bullshit. He’d never turn his back on us," James replied.

"It doesn't matter what you think. That’s what happened. Your man was killed before he could deliver the package to the CDC, and now there's an outbreak of RTV-1. It wasn’t my men who took it," John said incredulously.

"No, damn it, Zero," James said. "What are you going to do now? Are you finally going to kill me?"

"No. Today's your lucky day. It seems they want you back. They made a trade for you. Don’t be mistaken, this isn’t over. I will get what I want eventually, and I will kill you for what you did," John sneered and left the room. "Get your stuff and get out. They're waiting outside."

James looked around and saw his gear. It wasn’t much, but in the pile, he saw his crowbar. James smiled, grabbed it, and left the rest; it would be replaced anyway. He headed towards the exit, opening the door and momentarily blinded by the light. When his vision cleared, he saw a black SUV with a woman leaning against the car. She got up and walked over to James.

"You James?" she asked.

"I am," he replied.

"And your confirmation?" she asked.

"Echo, Charlie, Foxtrot, Alpha, Tango," James replied.

"Let's get going. We have a lot to do," she said.

As they got in the car, he asked, "What's your name?"

"Veronica," she replied, "but right now, I'm going as Dr. Maley."

"Where are we going?" James asked.

"We're heading to Peachtree Logistics Center. There, you'll give some advice on the best way to deal with the infected, get a medical check, and then wait for further instructions," she replied.

"Understood," James said. With that, the car went silent. He wasn't sure about her, but he wasn't one for small talk. He decided to use this time to get some much-needed sleep.

———————————————————-

Ratatatata!! Gunfire echoed through the air as Zack shouted, "Hold them off!" He turned to his men. "You two, with me. We need to get the mayor," he commanded. "The rest of you, we're heading for the roof in five, with or without the mayor. Do not stay behind to die; City Hall is lost." With that, Henry and two men left.

In his office, the mayor was still in a heated discussion with the city's chief of police and a National Guard commander. They were yelling, trying to set up defensive lines and strong points when Zack burst through the door.

"We need to go now. The outer front line is gone, and the internal one is nearly overrun," Zack said urgently. A loud boom thundered from downstairs, drawing their attention to the windows overlooking the entrance to City Hall.

"What the hell is that?" someone exclaimed.

Down below was a hulking monster, well over 7 feet tall and 400 pounds of rippling muscle. It had smashed a massive hole through the wall, and infected swarmed through the breach. The troops downstairs stood in shock for a moment before opening fire in desperation, but it wasn't enough. They began falling back to the last line of defense, some even started to run.

"As I said, we need to go now," Zack insisted. The men in the room grabbed their maps and followed the troops. By the time they reached the stairs, some of the men from downstairs had just arrived.

"Let's go! The helo is waiting on the roof," Zack commanded. The group of 15 people rushed to the roof, where the Chinook helicopter they had used to get to City Hall was waiting.

"Move, move, move!" Zack ordered, ushering the mayor and others on board. He took one last look to make sure everyone who was going to make it was on, then hit the button to raise the door. With a thud, thud, thud, the helicopter lifted off the roof and headed to the nearest stronghold.

"Why aren’t we heading out of the city?" the mayor asked.

"The whole place has been shut down. Nothing in or out," the National Guard commander replied. "Not even we are allowed to leave. We received orders to hold the exits and entrances to the city. Most of our men are there, reinforced by troops outside the city. We've been told by higher command to abandon all other defensive lines and hold our headquarters."

Zack looked out the window. He had come with 30 men and was leaving with only ten. The voices and conversations around him faded as he watched the chaos below. Law enforcement officers and citizens were fighting, some running around, and a few areas had makeshift blockades. It wouldn't be enough; the city would fall. Their job was to keep everyone in. This would test his resolve, but he would follow orders.

——————————————————

"Come on, men, move it! No time to waste! Get on that chopper!" Henry yelled at his men. "One, two," he began to count off as his men boarded. "Four, five." He got on the helicopter and tapped the pilot. "That's everyone. Get us up." Henry looked out and saw Logan's team entering their helicopter.

After a long flight, they finally landed on the roof of Peachtree Logistics Center and got off the helicopter. They were now just over 11 miles from the outskirts of Atlanta, with the wall to contain the city six miles away. This location had rapidly expanded well past its expected use, transforming into a strategic military installation. Military tents and prefabricated units sprawled beyond the fence, housing strategic command for the containment wall and providing accommodations for troops on the front line, holding everything in until the more permanent structure was completed the next morning.

As the two groups of men disembarked from the Blackhawks, they were met by a woman in a lab coat whose name tag read Dr. Carter. "Come with me. You need to get your inoculation," she instructed, turning to lead them to the room for their shots. After a short walk, they arrived at a conference room and took their seats.

"I have been ordered to inoculate you with the VRTV-1 vaccine. This will stop you from being infected when bitten; however, you are still susceptible to the airborne virus, so do not take off your mask at any cost," she explained. "This is a time-limited vaccine. It will only be effective for 48 hours, so don't stick around too long." She walked over to a silver box, opened it, and a fog of cold air flowed out. Dr. Carter grabbed a bottle, pulled out several syringes, and closed the box. "Roll up the sleeve on your right arm." They did as commanded, and she went around injecting them. When she was done, she disposed of everything and said, "Stay here for further instructions," before leaving the room.

Some time later, Luke entered the room followed by James. "Gentlemen, in four hours, you will be heading into Atlanta. Things have gotten bad there a lot faster than we had expected." Luke pulled out a map with areas circled and lines marked. "These are holdouts that were still standing two hours ago," he pointed to the circles, "and these are blockades. It is unknown if they are still manned or not. Make any changes you need to your plans now." Luke gave them some time to discuss, but it seemed none was needed. "If that's all, let's move on to the next part. This is James, a name you all know. He's already dealt with the infected, so he'll be giving you some pointers."

James stepped forward and began to speak.

—————————————-

Ratatata! "We can't stop them, we need more firepower up here now!" came over the radio.

"We have no men left to spare," the radio officer replied.

"Commander, the front is being overrun. They can't bring them down fast enough," another voice reported.

"Call high command and ask for some aerial support or something!" the commanding officer yelled.

"This is Bravo. We need close air support. The infected are overrunning the frontline. We won't be able to hold the hospital," the radio officer reported.

"Negative. No CAS available currently," came the reply.

"It's a no-go, sir," the officer said.

"Give me it now," the commander ordered. The radio officer handed over the radio. "Grab a rifle; we need everyone in the line," he instructed, and the radio officer saluted and headed off.

"This is Sergeant Hector, and I repeat, I am ordering a CAS," he commanded into the radio.

"No go, sir. As I said before, none is available currently," came the reply.

"Then what can I get?" he asked, desperation in his voice.

"Nothing. Good luck," came the response.

"Fuck you, you useless asshole," Hector slammed his fist on his desk. He switched back to his men's channel. With a heavy heart, he gave the command, "All men fall back to group point one. We've done all we can here. We're getting the hell out." He looked at the rest of the men in the tent. "Let's get moving. We don't have much time to get everyone loaded on the trucks."

"Understood, sir," they all replied.

All at once, the soldiers on the front started to fall back, causing confusion among the police left on the front. Real pandemonium started when the Humvees and troops ran onto the M1126s. The police tried to run after them, but they were hauling ass, and with that, the front was gone.

"How many have met up at the point?" Hector asked.

"232 men, sir," came the reply.

"How long until they are all loaded up?" Hector asked.

"Not long, sir. They're nearly all on," came the reply.

"Okay, once they all are, we're heading out the east exit in convoy formation three," he commanded.

Within minutes, the remaining troops were in their trucks and vehicles, heading out the east road with the M1126 at the front. "Sir, we're coming up on the blockade."

"Ram right through it. We don't have time. We need to keep our speed up to get through the horde. Once we are, take a left," Hector said.

With a thud, the makeshift blockade was thrown open, and then the convoy hit the horde. .50 caliber gunfire was barely audible over the thuds from hitting the bodies. With the M1126 clearing the path, the Humvees were able to get through. They made it out of the horde and took the left turn to avoid the larger one behind it.

"This is Company 412. We are on the move. I need some direction," Hector asked.

"Head to Hartsfield Airport," came the reply.

"Understood," Hector said.

Without the support of the military and the now-breached blockade, it didn't take long for the remaining police to get overrun. Within minutes, the hospital was breached, and the sound of gunfire died down. Yet another holdout was gone.

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