After saying those words, Jackson, Patterson, Jasper, and Carmine all got on their radios.
“First Squad, Head to the front entrance.” Patterson commanded.
“Alright boys! It’s time to roll, link up on the first floor!” Jasper said.
“Everyone listen up! Change of plans! We are going out the back of the school, we are diverting to support second platoon.” Carmine barked.
“Hey, Doc, it’s time to-“ Jackson began to speak but was quickly stopped by the sound of a large stomp behind him. We all quickly turned to find a large brooding man with face paint behind Jackson. The man’s eyes were a stark white with brown irises. He stood up with his rifle in his hands, two feathers attached to his scope. Along his rifle were dozens of tally marks and skulls etched into the receiver. He looked directly at me, “Where do you want us, sir.” His deep voice seemed to shake the men around us.
“Feathers! I want you and Hale to provide overwatch for us, keep distance but I’m giving you full control of your movement and positioning.” I said with a slight bit of confidence.
“Understood, sir. Permission to move out ahead of the platoon?” He said as Sergeant Hale dropped down next to him. Hale was an averaged sized man, an expert hunter from Kentucky, he always enjoyed the thrill of being recon.
“What do you think, Jackson?” I looked at him.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not.” He said with a smirk.
Just then Jasper pipes up, “Hale, how are you feeling?” He said with a look of concern.
“Oh, I’m just dandy, the usual, throwing up, fever, usual combat ready status!” He said as he gags and recoils.
Feathers looks at him and says, “I told you to go to sick call and stay back, you’re more of a liability than an asset.”
“Yeah! I tried that, they wouldn’t let me!” Hale said as he took a deep breath.
“Wait what? Who wouldn’t let you?” I said in shock.
“My request went all the way to Regimental Command, they said and I quote “you will be fine, we need all hands on deck for this one”. Look, just forget it, I’m fine! I’ll deal. Come on Feathers, let’s move.” Feathers agreed and they began to move out.
Afterwards, the entire platoon began moving to their respective positions. As I walked through the hallways, I am spooked by a hand that reaches out and stops me. I jolted back to see what just reached for me, I found myself staring back at Doc. “Hey, Lieutenant! Sorry didn’t mean to scare you!” He said with a smile.
As I saw him I took a sigh of relief. “Doc, you can’t be doing that shit, you almost gave me a heart attack.” I said. As I said this Gomez began laughing in the background. “Doc, I think you made Lieutenant shit himself!” He exclaimed.
“Sorry, lieutenant, I didn’t mean to, I was just stopping you because I asked around and found you some new clothes.” He stops for a minute and looks at my chest, looks like you can still use your name tapes too, there are no serious amounts of blood on them luckily! They’re right on that cot, even managed to snag you some socks!” Doc explained.
“Oh shit! Sweet, hand em here, you go link up with Jackson, and I’ll get changed real quick.” I said. He agreed, him and Gomez grabbed all their stuff and began heading towards the entrance. I changed into the new clothing and headed towards the front. As I walked towards the front door, I could see the lockers and doors of the school, busted up and dilapidated, silence embracing every hall. I had this feeling of unease as I slowly walked past the nursery. I stopped and looked inside for a moment. Multiple desks and chairs had piled up in the corner of the room. As I walk into the room I begin to think back to when I was young enough to be in one of these rooms. Memories of my family and I flood my mind, then I think about Julia. “Was she even still alive, what if she’s one of those fucking corpses?” A wave of depression hits me as I I begin to question what exactly I'm supposed to do here. Then I heard a loud noise just outside the window of the nursery. I rushed over and frantically looked outside, but there was nothing. I looked at all of the two and three story buildings around me, but there wasn't anything. As I took a deep breath, I could feel all of the hairs on my neck stand up, it felt as though something was watching me. I shook my head to get a hold of myself, but as I did I saw something in the window of a building adjacent to me. Two red eyes staring right at me. I attempted to get a better look but Just then a hand hit my shoulder. I recoil back and raise my rifle. I met Jackson, standing in front of me, spooked by my reaction. His eyes are the size of grenades as he attempts to figure out what is going on. “Lieutenant, you good?” He says with his hands in the air. I quickly lowered my rifle and looked back towards the window, but there was nothing. I was unsure of what to say.
“Yes, I’m fine, my mind is just playing tricks on me.” I said half heartedly.
He looked at me and said “Bullshit! We are in the middle of a zombie apocalypse and your ass was staring out a window. In fact you have never been that jumpy before, not even in Iran! I know you too well and I know damn well a horror movie scene when I see one and I’m not about to be the first black guy to die. Thank you very much! What were you looking at?” He said with a look of shock and seriousness.
“Fine.” I pointed to the window across the street, “I saw what looked like two red eyes staring at me in that window. I know, it sounds crazy. That’s why I am summing it up to just a reflection.” I said sheepishly.
“Uh Huh, okay.” He quickly hit on his radio. “Carmine, before you leave send a Fireteam to check out the three story building, red awning, to our west bearing two, nine, zero. Lieutenant and myself thought We saw movement, over.” He said, looking at me.
“Why did you do that?” I asked curiously.
“Because you said you saw something, I trust your gut, we all do. And if you thought you saw something, it doesn’t hurt to send out Vasquez and give him something to do. Even if there is nothing, it’s better to be safe, than sorry. We all trust you, you should trust yourself.”
Just then the radio popped on, “You got it Jackson! I’ll send my AT team to check it out. Over.”
“Solid, we aren’t moving until you report back.” Jackson responded.
A few moments passed as I saw Carmine’s team stack up on the building. I saw a hand hit the point man’s shoulder as they kicked in the door and rushed in. I tuned into Carmine’s squad radio chatter.
“This is Henderson, lobby area is Clear.” Henderson said as they entered.
“We have multiple doors, moving to clear.”
“Set, preparing to enter.” A few moments passed then. “Entering!” “Clear”.
About ten minutes passed, all the same. Suddenly Carmine popped onto the radio.
“Henderson, did you find anything?”
“No, there isn’t shit here.” He responded.
“Understood, link back up.”
“Shit- Break!”. He said sporadically.
A few minutes passed.
“Henderson? What’s going on?” Carmine said.
“Fuck we gotta get over there right now.” I said as I readied myself. But a hand hit my shoulder.
“Just give him a minute.” Jackson jogged me back to a calm state.
“Henderson, Respond!” Carmine demanded.
“Fuck me!” A sigh can be heard, followed by “False Alarm, saw movement to our left, turns out it was just a big ass rat. Building’s clear, We are moving to regroup now.”
I clicked off the squad net and sat there for a second. “What the fuck did I see?” I thought to myself as I turned to Jackson. Just as the platoon net kicked on.
“Sergeant Jackson, Building is clear. Apparently movement was a big rat. ” Carmine said to us over the radio.
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“Solid, Jackson out.” He responded.
“See, better to be safe than sorry. You probably just saw light or something reflecting. Don’t think too much into it. Now come on, guys are waiting for us.”
“R-Right.” I said, I took one last look at the building, shook my head, and followed Jackson down the hall.
We finally reached the other side of the school, where We found the guys spread out along the hallway with Vasques’ Fireteam watching the side door and Corbin’s watching the main entrance. The main entrance was two large metal doors with tiny slits for windows, Jasper was looking out the windows as we walked up.
“Jasper, Patterson, on me.” I said as I knelt down.
The two walked over and Patterson said “What’s the game plan coach?” While Jasper just stayed quiet. I could tell something was up.
“Listen, the play is simple! We are gonna move out the same way we did when we left the hospital in Tehran. I want tighter spacing though. Keep the squads together. We don’t have the ability or manpower to gamble with our lives. We stay together, and no matter what you see, call it out. If a fly lands on a random car, I wanna know about it. And remember, Verify contact is hostile before engaging. Alright, Jackson, you wanna bring up center or rear?”
“I’ll pull front, actually.” He said to the shock of the NCOs.
“Jackson I’ll be up front, just like always.” I said in retort.
“Sir, this isn’t a normal enemy, I’m not comfortable with you being in the front. You’re too important for the command element, especially since Gomez still doesn’t know how to use that damn radio.” Jackson said.
“Hey! I can hear you Punta!” Gomez said from across the hall.
“Oh yeah? Well how about you use real English over comms! Fuck, if I hear command ask why you want an Empanada again I swear to-“
“Cut it out!” Jasper Shot up and said. “Fuck me! Can we just get on the goddamn move? I’ll take front, Patterson you bring up rear! Lieutenant, stay in the middle! Fuck, it’s not like there are snipers! God why are you two bickering about such bullshit!” This wasn’t the same Happy Go lucky Jasper, something changed. I wasn’t sure what to say. Everyone in the hall just kind of stared at him. It shocked all of us. The silence of the school only broke when my radio shot on.
“Uh, Lieutenant, are we cleared to move?” Carmine said over the radio.
“Uh, yeah! Head out. Thane Out.” I clicked my radio then looked at the men.
“Let’s move!” We push the door open as we barrel out of the school. First squad pulled rear security as second was slightly ahead of us. The night became a dark green as we moved throughout the dilapidated city. We moved quietly from street to street as we made our way towards our first objective. The city was so quiet. Every street we went down seemed abandoned, devoid of any life. No BZ’s, humans or even corpses. I kept getting this weird feeling of dread. I attempted to call the other platoons and whenever I did, Warchief would just give bullshit sitreps and say keep on mission. Eventually we reached “13th Street” . I had had enough. We needed to stop and figure out what the fuck is going on. I ordered Jasper to take us into an alleyway just off the road. We needed adjust and figure out what was going on and I needed to check in on Carmine. Jackson walked up towards me. “Lieutenant, I don't like this.” He pulled me off to the side “We haven’t seen a single hostile contact.”
“I know; I am not sure what exactly is going on. I’ve been trying to reach literally anyone.”
“What about Carmine?” Jackson said.
“Hang on. Saber one three this is saber One six, how copy, over?”
My radio was just static, until the bleep of my radio jogged my attention “Sa-B-Er O-N Si-x, W-We Ca-nno-t H-ea-r bzzt.. over.”
“Fucking interference?” Jackson and I look at each other.
“What in the fuck is going on in this city.” Jackson said.
“Feathers, do you copy?”
“This is Overwatch, send it. Over.”
“Why the fuck isn’t there static for them?” I thought to myself as I began to relay orders. “Anything to report?” I ask.
“Negative sir, Infact, there is a lack of anything. I don’t see anything in the immediate area sir. Not even friendlies.”
“Solid keep me posted if anything changes.”
“We will, overwatch out.” My radio clicked off again.
After that, I wasn’t sure what was happening, we should’ve ran into something by now, I know we should’ve. So where the fuck are they?
“Hang on, let me check something.” I tap Jackson’s plate carrier as I move towards Patterson.
“Patterson, get someone to scout out this alleyway.” I said as he shook his head in agreement.
“Vasquez take your team and scout that route.” Patterson said as he pointed to where he meant.
“You got it.”
All of a sudden Wilson shot up, “God damnit! Who in the fuck okayed these shitty box mags for this fucking gun!” His voice filled with frustration.
“What’s the problem Wilson?” Vasquez rushed over to figure out what’s going on.
“Dude you see this shit? Look at how Unwieldy and annoying this shit is.” He pulls out his outdated metal ammo boxes and said “why can’t they at least give me a fucking softpouch instead of this heavy bullshit!”
“Oh shut up and hand me some, Jesus you scream any louder and you’re gonna sound like my momma when we found daddy with the Pastor's wife!” Tex said.
“Tex, why was that super specific?” Asked Vasquez as they left.
I thanked Patterson and walked over towards Jasper, who was with Doc a bit away from the rest of the guys. He had taken off his helmet to expose his slightly kept up hair. His hands on his face.
“Jasper, there was nothing you could’ve done man. It’s not your fault.” Doc said in a caring voice.
“Doc! You don’t get it man, she couldn’t have been older than eight! She looked so much like my daughter man, so fucking much. I barely even spent any time with them, and we got thrown back in! Fuck, I even promised them we’d go to universal this week.” His head laid in between his knees. I wanted to go over and say something, but Patterson and Jackson rushed to me frantically.
“Lieutenant, Vasquez found something.
“What did he find?” I asked confused.
“They looked at each other and back to me. Jackson spoke up, “you’re gonna wanna see it for yourself.”
“Lead the way?” I said confused by the two of them. They took me down the quiet alley as we began to turn a corner, I saw Vasquez’s Fireteam standing over several bodies. As I got closer, it became apparent that the bodies were adorned in CBRN gear with full military kit. A few were ripped into and eaten, but most were in reasonable condition.
“Look what we found, these guys are some kind of spec ops shit!” Tex shot up saying.
“What the fuck are you talking about, who are these guys?” I said.
“Well, if the tags are to be believed, this poor bastard with his chest ripped out is “Staff Sergeant Frank Pollings.
“Yo! Why did these guys get CBRN kit? I thought this shit wasn’t contagious!” Vasquez said in anger.
“Alright chill! Let me just take a look please.” I said, trying to calm the situation down. I began to look over the bodies, but something was off, if they were killed by BZs they would’ve turned. I stopped myself when I saw a gunshot wound. My eyes grew as I began to call for Doc. “Get Doc right now!” I shouted.
“You got it!” Said Jackson as he rushed down the alley back towards the platoon.
As he did I started moving from body to body, every single one had a gunshot wound. I then quickly looked at the walls of the alley, there were obvious signs of a firefight. Bullet casings all over the ground as well.
“Lieutenant, what the hell are you doing?” Tex questioned.
“Looking for information.” I said as I scoured the bodies for information. Eventually I found the Pollings’ body. As I patted him down I found a silhouette though his clothing that was about the size of a credit card. I reached into his pocket and pulled out the card. It was blue and white with the word “Vascorp Pharmaceutical”. My eyes became wide, as I had the realization. This was the same card I had been given to enter our objective. Just as I began to realize the gravity of this, Doc and Jackson rushed up.
“What’s up Leiut- holy shit.” His words became shallow as his jog became a slow step forward.
“Doc! I uh- I need you to check these bodies for-“ I was abruptly cut off by Vasquez.
“Jesus Fucking Christ Tex! If you don’t stop that Goddamn clicking right now I’m going to rip you a new asshole!” Vasquez said with a rage emitting from his body.
Tex looked back confused, “What are you talking about?” Then a quick gasp is heard, Tex, his breathing now erratic, said “what the fuck is that?”
As Vasquez became more irate I looked towards him, I froze. A manhole cover behind Vasquez began to move as four long appendages began to rise from below him. A pale white apparition with the manhole cover attached to its back like some Frankenstein science experiment stood behind Vasquez as he continued to yell. Its sunken eyes are black with red Iris’. We all stopped and stared at this monster, none of us could move. As Vasquez looked at all of us, his face turned to one of confusion. Then he heard “Click, Click, Click.” Vasquez’s face turned a pale white. I attempted to raise my rifle, but it was too late. In an Instant, the monster's teeth were in Vasquez as a spray of blood and a scream was heard. It shook him around as he attempted to fire on the monster. Tex and Patterson rushed to Vasquez in an attempt to rip him away from the monster. But as Vasquez was firing his rifle, Patterson’s head exploded from a stray round. His lifeless corpse fell to the floor as the alleyway echoed with screams and gunfire. As Jackson and I attempted to fire on the monster, it turned its back and our rounds just bounced off the manhole cover. It rose its head and dove back into the abyss as we could still hear Vasquez screaming. As I attempted to get back up to my feet, I stumbled.
“What the fuck was that?” Jasper said
I quickly turned around to find that, in the commotion, the rest of the platoon rushed to find us. As I attempted to find the words, I was cut short by the sound of running and groaning. I looked behind me to find at least five or six dozen BZs rushing at us.
“Contact!” I shouted.