“Warchief, this is Saber One-Six, how copy? Over!” I begin pacing back and forth. I try several more times, each getting more and more frantic. ‘Why didn’t I fucking shoot it? I had a clear shot! Fuck!’ Suddenly the static clears, “Saber One-Six, we copy, Send it.” The man’s voice was clear and commanding. “Warchief, my Platoon has been ambushed, I have been separated. But, I-“ I pause. “I-My platoon has encountered a new variation of the virus. I am unsure, but the subject-subjects showed signs of infection; Pale skin, Black veins, but these were different. Over.” I say frantically over the radio. There is a pause, then the man comes onto the radio. “Saber One-Six, interrogative, What was different about these infected? Over.” I take a deep breath and look around. I see Hayley, shivering, sitting on the ground. I pull my backpack down and begin scrambling through it to find my Wubby. While I do, I responded back, “Warchief, these Bravo Zulus were smaller than usual, they had two sets of eyes, one set were an illuminated, bright red. On Top of that, one distinguished incredible strength. Another showed some level of intelligence and coordination. Over.” I say as I pull my wubby out and wrap it around Hayley. She looks at me in appreciation.

Beyond the radio I heard more scrambling and muffled talking, then “Saber One-Six, are you confirming more than one of them? Over.” He said it with such calm. ‘Why would he ask it like that?’ My eyes open at the realization, ‘Do they already know about these things?’ I grab my radio and shoot up “Warchief, Interrogative, why did it sound like you already know about these things?” I ask, anger emitting from my voice. “Lieutenant Thane, for one, that is classified. And two there is no time for this, are you, or are you not confirming the existence of more than one.” His voice became stern. “Answer now Lieutenant Thane!”. My blood is boiling. ‘You fuckers sent us into this and knew! You knew what this was, and you sent us into a fucking meat grinder!’ My rage was immense. I need to calm down, I take a breath. “Confirmed, there is more than one, over.” I say as I bite my tongue.

“Lieutenant Thane, forget all prior missions, your mission now is to report to the Cathedral ASAP, once there, you will be evaced for immediate debrief. Are you tracking?” Another voice appears on the radio. “Solid copy, Warchief, Saber One-Six out.” I say as rage fills my body. “Fuck!” I shout, my voice echoes throughout the dead city. It is so abrupt that it causes Hayley to jump. Seeing this I immediately feel regretful. “I’m sorry. I just. Why?” I say as I look at her. She blinks and looks at me in confusion. “Why did you get out of the damn Stryker? You could be safe! But instead you’re here with me! God damn it!” I begin screaming at her. “You stupid girl! Why? Why would you be so god damn stubborn! Why would you put yourself in danger? Why would you fucking put this stress on me! You knew what that fucking thing was! Yet you didn’t warn us! You didn’t say a fucking thing until it was too late! Damnit!”. She begins crying. “I-I-“. She tries to speak but nothing comes out. “Why?” I say, a tear coming down my cheek. I fall to the ground. “What did I do?” I ask as I sit with my head between my legs.

“What did I do? What could I have possibly done to deserve this? Huh?” I ask as I look into the sky. The stars filled the sky, piercing the black veil of smoke coming up from the fires and ordinance deep in the city. “What am I supposed to do? A world war. A broken heart. A lying family. Now the fucking apocalypse? God damnit! Damn Strand! Damn Brett Winters! Damn that fucking cop! Damn the politicians and damn Warchief!” I begin crying. Everything finally cascades through me. I cry my eyes out as I feel arms embrace me. Hayley wraps her arms around me and holds me tightly. ‘Lieutenant? Doc? Am I gonna be okay?’ Kelly’s voice echoed through me ‘Mommy!’ His voice screams in my head. “I’m so sorry Kelly, I couldn’t save you. I'm sorry to all of you. It’s all my fault!” I scream through the tears. I see that little girl’s face. Then all I see is her lifeless corpse in that fucking hovel. Then I see Brett’s face. His voice says one thing: ‘Baby Killer.’ Then his face contorts to a smile.

‘Do you have any idea how selfish it is to make a fine woman like this wait?’. The words reverb through me as all I can see is Brett’s face. “What was I supposed to do Brett? Just tell the army ‘Nah? I’m not going?’. Fuck me man, I get you all thought I was dead, I had been dead for damn near two years to you people! You said it yourself, I was in Tehran, you go to that meat grinder and come out the same way you went in! It was hell and-.” My eyes lit up, my mouth opened wide as I realize. “How did he know I was in Tehran?” My voice turned into one of confusion. My arms drop as she lets me go, confused by my comment.

I got up. ‘How the fuck could he have known that? He said it specifically. But, mom and dad said they got the letter six months into my deployment? Tehran was a year after that.’ My arms drop. ‘What the fu-“ my voice is cut short by the feeling of my hand being grabbed. I look down to find Hayley holding my hand. “Please, calm down. I’m sorry I came with you. I’m sorry I’m such a burden. I don’t know why I followed you, I-I just felt safe with you. When everyone else pointed guns at me, you lied to keep me safe, when everyone else wanted to hurt me, you sat down and tried to talk to me. I just-I-.” She begins to choke up. “I didn’t know what else to do!” She grabs me and holds me tight. “Please, I’m sorry I’m a problem. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry I didn’t listen. Just please just don’t leave-.” Her voice fades as I think to myself. ‘Jesus Christ. Here I am feeling sorry for myself. And this girl literally had her entire life torn away from her. She sat in her house for God knows how long with her family’s corpses. God I’m such a dick.’ I take a deep breath. ‘My shit can wait, I need to get her and I to safety.’

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“Hayley?” I ask. She loosens her grip a bit. I put my hands on her arms and gently pull her off of me. I turn around, holding her arms. Her eyes stare at me through her long bangs. I sigh, “I’m sorry I lost my cool. Look, you’re not a burden. And you’re not- two weeks ago I was coming back from the war. I lost friends, brothers over there. And I blame myself. I have a lot of issues I’m working through. But I’m not going anywhere. I promise. Look, this entire situation is fucked. I can’t promise to keep you safe. But I swear, I will do everything in my power to get you to safety.” I say with a smirk. I grab her shoulders and look into her eyes. “I promise I’m not leaving you here. Besides, I don’t know anything about this city. I need a guide! So how about you and I-“ she tilts her head down. I grab her chin and gently pull her gaze up. “So how about you and I get through this together and get out of here?“ I say with a smile. My smile gets a mirrored smile. She shakes her head and says “okay.”. “Alright then, let’s find out where we are, and how to get to that damn church.” I say.

I let her go and begin looking around. Suddenly I stop, I reach into my pack and pull out Ackerson’s sidearm. “Do you know how to use a gun?” I ask. She shrugs and says “No, I don’t really like guns.”. “Well, that’s gonna have to change and fast.” I chuckle. “Have you ever taken pictures on your phone?” I grab the three or four mags for the pistol and stand up. “Uh, yeah?” I look around and see a cardboard box down the way a bit. I walk to her and hand her the pistol. “Same premise. This is a Sig P320, military issue. With an additional suppressor on it, making it quiet. It fires nine millimeter rounds. Usually we wouldn’t be given these as they were deemed impractical. But they gave us these for this mission. Take aim, line up the front post in between the two back posts. They’re called iron sights. If you look, they illuminate in the dark. Making it easier to shoot. Line them up with that box over there.” She takes aim, her posture is atrocious and she is holding it with one hand. Her head is kicked back and twisted away from the gun as if it were going to explode. “Hang on.” I move towards her and straighten her head. I relax her back and give her a better footing position. I grab her shoulders and pull them forward slightly. I put both her hands on the pistol. “Now, that’s better. Now Inhale.” She breathes in. “Are you lined up?” She shakes her head. “Now squeeze the trigger as you exhale.” She squeezes the trigger, exhaling as she does. She jumps as The pistol goes off. The round is sent down range. The round hits the box on the left corner.

She begins smiling, “I hit it!” As she swings the pistol around at me. Her finger is still on the trigger. I freak out and grab it. “Whoa! Alright! You did awesome, but allow me to help you out a bit. Take your finger and put it on the frame, like this.” I extend her index finger and lay it against the pistol frame. “See, now the gun won’t go off. And right here is the safety.” I point it out. “Now, never put your finger on the trigger unless you are about to fire. And when you are finished, your finger goes right back to that position. Get it?” She shakes her head in agreement. “As my dad always said, ‘Keep your booger hook off the bang bang switch until you're ready.” I smile. And she laughs a bit at the crude humor. “Alright, perfect. Don’t use it unless you have too, but if you do, aim for the head.” She shakes her head again as I hand her the rest of the ammo. I quickly explain how to change out magazines as well as what the round in the Chamber is. I then start to look around to find a way out of the canal.

“I don’t suppose you know where we are, do you?” She looks around. Suddenly she lights up. “I do! We are heading to Saint Ignatius’ Cathedral, right?” I shake my head, “Yeah.”. “My ex and I used to come here to use the tunnels! I know where they all go!” She says as she begins quickly moving down the canal. My wubby hanging off of her like a cape. I follow eagerly. I scan left and right as we walk down the long, spray painted walkway of the canal. “So, do these tunnels take us to the Cathedral?” I ask as we continue moving. “Well, kinda, it takes us a block away! I know because I used them at my graduation to get away from all the large groups of people!” She says as she walks. “Not a people person?” I ask. “Not at all!” She retorts. “Explains the shitty attitude towards literally everyone.” I say. “I was not that bad!” She says with a slight anger. “You bit Corbin.” I chuckle a bit. “That isn’t fair! You guys broke into my house! What was I supposed to think?” She explains. “You. You got a point.” I admit.

She stops suddenly. I, not paying attention, walk into her back. I quickly grab her, stopping her from falling over. “Sorry.” I say. “This is it.” She says as she looks to our right. I turn and shine my light at the entrance. The entrance is a giant storm drain hole that is big enough to drive an Abrams through. The inside was pitch black. I take a deep breath and debate my next move. “Of course it’s a dark tunnel.” I say under my breath. She looks at me confused. “Yeah, tonight’s already been checking off plenty of movie tropes, what’s one more for creepy passage that definitely is going to cause me nightmares for the rest of my life. Fuck it. At least I have night vision.” I pull down my Night vision Goggles and turn them on. They are cracked beyond use, it must’ve happened when I was thrown from the road. ‘Of fucking course.’ I think to myself. “Well, that plan is a bust.” I lift the goggles off my eyes. “Flashlights it is.” I say. “Let’s roll.” I order as we begin into the dark tunnel.