The guys are talking amongst themselves in the stryker. Not me though, I am to I keep going over the whole situation in my head. Suddenly my phone vibrates. I am caught off guard by this, quickly reaching into my pocket, I grab my phone. ‘Unknown Number’. ‘How is there cell service in the city?’ I question in my head. I slide the answer button and pull it to my ear, “Hello?” I ask. “Lieutenant Thane? Is this you?” A gruff, older voice asks. “I’m sorry, who is this?”, suddenly I realize the dead silence behind me. I turn to find the entire vehicle looking at me. “Lieutenant Thane! It is you! Listen to me, there isn’t much time. I do not know how long I have before they find me.-“ the voice, it was Colonel Strand. “Colonel Strand?” I questioned. “Listen to me Thane. There isn’t much time. I- your death, I went looking into it. I found so much, there is something else to this. It's a mountain of scandal, you need to watch yourself. I don’t have time to explain. You have to -‘Stop right there!’” Shouting is heard in the background. *bang* gunfire blares through my speaker. “Colonel Strand? Are you alright? Is that Gunfire?” I ask urgently. “Thane, listen to me, your mission. Find it, find Operation Vanity!-" Suddenly the call ends. I slowly pull the phone away from me. I look at the screen then back to the platoon.

Jackson, staring right at me, says “Did you just say, Colonel Strand?”. “Y-Yeah? I think?” I say in confusion. Jackson looks back at the guys and back to me. Suddenly Hale pipes up, “Wait, isn’t he in Jail? He was detained a few days ago, right?- *Queeze*.” His face turns wheezy as he grabs his mouth and rushes out the rear top hatch. He can be heard vomiting off the side. As he does, Doc reaches into his pack and begins grabbing out a pill bottle. Hale sits back down as Doc moves across the back to get to him. “Hale, take these.” He outstretched his hand and put two white pills in his hand. Hale puts them in his mouth and takes a swig from his camelbak. After swallowing the pills he asks “What did you just give me?”. “It was Motrin, it’ll help with your fever. Now suck on these.” He outstretches his hand and slides two smaller pills in his hand. He follows Doc's instructions. “Anyways, what did Strand say?” Jackson demands. “I have no idea, he just called me and said he found stuff about me being dead, and he was on top of something big. Then I heard gunfire. And -“ I pause for a moment. ‘Should I bring up everything? What the hell is Operation Vanity?’ Suddenly I am shaken out of my internal thoughts.

“And what?” Jackson asks. “Nothing, that’s it, it was just hard to understand him.” I say, Jackson stares at me. His brow raises and his tone changes “Okay- that’s it.” He says in agreement. Suddenly, Hale pipes up again, “Well, that certainly is weird, but more importantly, Doc? What am I sucking on right now? It’s really tasty. Is it some sort of cough drop or something?” He says with great interest. “Nah, it’s two tic tacs. Your breath was killing me.” Doc retorts. Everyone begins laughing. Suddenly, they all stop when they notice the new voice laughing. They all look to find Hayley laughing along with the rest of us. She stops as the rest of the guys are in shock. Now that we are in a better light, we can really get a view of her. She couldn’t be any older than twenty. Her face is caked in grime and blood. “Would you believe it? She does have a voice!” Doc says.

I reach into my IFAK and pull out a small rag. I take my camelbak spout and force water onto the rag. “Hey, here. I say as I get out of my chair and reach for her face. I slowly move my rag close and wait for some kind of response. She shakes her head in approval. I begin wiping the grime away, as I do I reveal a large cut on her left cheek. “Doc, do you have any peroxide?” I ask. “Uh, oh yeah! I do!” He begins rummaging through and finds the bottle from the school. He pulls out a small pad and puts a bit on it and hands it to me along with a clean paper towel. “Thanks, Doc.” He shakes his head then asks Corbin how smith is. “He’s out cold, but he’s alright, I think.” He responds. I begin dabbing the medicine on her large cut and it begins bubbling up like crazy. She recoils and tears up a bit. I wipe away the residue and begin dabbing it again. I finish cleaning her face up and look at her, “There, all better!” I say as I smile. She gives me a look of appreciation and a smirk. her face turns slightly red as she looks away.

“Aw! Look at the lovebirds! Damn lieutenant I didn’t know you liked war zone chic-“ Tex is stopped short by a black object slamming right into his face. “Ah fuck!” He grabs the bridge of his nose. I look to find the offender was none other than Doc. “What was that for?” Tex questions as he reaches down and picks up the object. “Deodorant?”. “Yeah, Your BO already makes me contemplate opening the hatches and risking getting eaten for a single breath of fresh air. And you’re gonna start shit talking too? Man you gotta pick one before I break out my CBRN gear for the levels of rank in this Vic.” The vehicle erupts into laughter. “You just gave Hale Tic Tacs! The fuck?” He says. “Yeah, but I really wanted to hit you in the face with something!” Doc retorts. “Hey! What about the Aristotle oath?” Tex says. “Okay one, it's the Hippocratic Oath. Really showing your education there aren’t you, and two! I can do whatever I want to you as long as I fix you up! How do you think doctors get away with cutting people open to save them!” The guys are laughing even harder. “I- hey Williams, is that how that works?”. “Dude i have no idea but I think he has a point.” Williams says “You think?” Tex seems surprised. “Yeah, you really did show your intelligence there.” “Oh come on!” Tex shouts over the entire platoon dying of laughter.

Everyone is looking like their old selves, even for a minute, except Wilson, that is. He hasn’t said anything since the incident. And I don’t blame him. “Oh shit, right, Doc, Here!“ Williams throws him a few IFAKs that he found earlier. “Oh my God! Williams I could kiss you!” Doc gets excited and eargerly rummages through them. “Hey I found those too!” Tex said. They all began zoning out as I check my phone again. ‘Thirty seven missed calls’ from my mom, dad, and Mr. Roberts. Along with several from other unknown callers. I shake my head. ‘I’ll call them when we are safe.’ ‘I should check on Trenton.’ I get up and head towards the driver's seat. I crouch down and put my hand on his shoulder. “How are you doing?”. I ask. As my hand hit his shoulder he jumped. “Jesus Christ you just scared me!” He says as he takes a deep breath. “Shit, I'm sorry, I should’ve announced myself.” “Nah it’s fine. And no, we are doing good. The Stryker still has plenty of gas and so far the engine sounds great. These thermal optics help too. Shit, hold on!” Suddenly the Stryker bobs up and down, almost throwing me down. “God damn, what the fuck Trent?” Jasper shouted from the back. “Well I’m sorry there are wrecks all throughout the road! You wanna drive?”. Jasper says a half silenced “No.”.

“But yeah, I’m fine, I’ve been listening in behind me. Did you say Strand called you?” Trenton questions. “Uh, yeah, I’m not entirely sure how. But it sounded like he was in trouble.” “Yeah, that tracks, fucking CID kicked in his Home door on base and took him out in handcuffs. They took tons of documents and shit. Apparently he was selling secrets to China! Man is a traitor. I suggest you forget that call ever happened.” Trenton says. “Wait? What? Where the hell did you hear that?” I ask. “Oh, one of my drinking buddies on base is an MP that was in the raid. He told me all about it.” He says. “What the fuck? Oh shit!” Trenton screams. The screech of the brakes fills the vehicle as everyone is jolted by the sudden stop. I personally found my face deep Into the back of the driver’s seat. “What. The. Fuck. Trenton.” I say as I dig myself out of his seat. “There’s something in the middle of the road!” He exclaims. “What?” I say. “Take a look for yourself!” He exclaims. The vehicle erupts with complaints and issues with the random stop.

I move to the CROWS Camera. “Yo, why the fuck did we stop?” Jackson yelled above the voices. “There is something blocking the road.” I say. “We are in a twenty ton weapon of war with reinforced armor, what in the fuck is there that we can’t blow through?” He retorts. “Dude, I have no idea. I’m checking now. The camera pans over the immediate area around us. I move the joystick to the right. On the right side there is a drop off, which looks like a canal of some sort. I move the joystick to the left to reveal a large brick building. It seems we are in some sort of industrial district. I center the camera to find Whatever is stopping us. It is about three cars all sitting sideways blocking the entire road. I take a deep breath. “God damn it.” I mutter. “What is it?” Jackson asks. “There is a fucking accident in front of us. Guys pop your hatches and cover me, I’m going to take a look.” I say. “Hang on. Let’s go together!” Jackson demands. “No, if something happens I need to make sure all of you can get away. I’m just going to see if this shit is moveable. If it is, we can probably move them and get back on our way.” I order. I take a look around us, Surprisingly there are no infected. “I don’t see any infected, if any appear just pop them. Keep your eyes peeled though, I don’t want a retread of what happened in the alley.” I say.

“Solid” They respond. I get up and lift the gunner’s hatch. I lift myself out and stand on top of the vehicle. I take a deep breath and walk to the edge, jumping off and landing on the ground. I straighten my back and begin walking towards the wreck in the intersection ahead of me. I make it half way before I hear Jackson shout, “Get back here.” I thought he was shouting at me so I turn around to find Hayley rushing up to me. “Jackson, wait!” I outstretch my hand before he gets out of the Stryker. “Stay there, I got her.” I say. She rushes up and stands in front of me. “What are you doing!” I ask her urgently. “I-I’m safer with you.” She says. ‘Are you fucking kidding me right now.’ I think to myself as I roll my eyes. I point to the Stryker and say “That is literally an armored war machine, you are quite literally safer in there!”. She looks down and says, “Well, you still need help out here!” ‘You can’t be serious right now.’ I sigh. “Hayley, you need to get back in the Stryker right now.” Her face turns to a scowl, “No! If you want me to get back in there-“ she looks around, then points to my rifle. “Y-you’ll have to shoot me!”. “God fucking damnit! Why? What do you have to gain from this? Just get back in the Stryker.” She shakes her head violently. “No!”. She says with vigor. “God damnit, fuck! Fine! We don’t have time to argue this.” I say, “Stay behind me, and Do not go ahead of me.” ‘God damn this chick, what is this bullshit tantrum?’ I think as I slowly make my way towards the crash.

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My flashlight moves over the cars. The street is giving me the creeps. I sway my rifle left and right, scanning the surrounding area. ‘Nothing, how can it be nothing?’ I ask myself as I bring my light back into the crash. It is a Chevy Silverado that T Boned a Grand Cherokee. The Chevy was coming from our direction, it looks like he slammed into the Cherokee when it was trying to turn. In the driver’s seat of the Grand Cherokee is the body of a middle aged man. His head slumped to his side. Every step felt like a mile. I took a deep breath to calm myself. I couldn’t see anyone in the truck. So I kept getting closer. *Thud* I quickly turn around and point my rifle at the direction of the noise. I see Hayley, she dropped a small cylinder. She stares at me like a deer in headlights. I lower my rifle as she says “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to drop it.” She quickly kneels down to grab it and clicks a button on the back. It is a flashlight. “See! I can help!” She exclaims. I take a deep breath and sigh. I turn back around and continue towards the wreck. My light shines back on the driver of the Cherokee, his head now up. His milky white eyes staring directly into my soul. He is attempting to get through his half opened window, I, without hesitation, open fire. A single round leaves my barrel, the round hits the BZs head, shearing off the left part of his skull. The sight is grizzly, Hayley lets out a shocked gasp. “I told you that you should’ve stayed in the Stryker.” I say in response.

I close the distance on the vehicles. As I do, my stomach starts to churn. Something is wrong, every single hair on the back of my neck stands up. My entire body is in fight or flight, and I don’t know why. I shake my head, trying to get rid of the feeling. But to no avail. Before I know it I’m already at the wreck. I move around the wreck as if I am looking for some sort of IED. I look through the windows as I scan. It looks like the truck is empty. And he was the only passenger in the cherokee. ‘I need to move his SUV first, if I do, I can just pop the truck in neutral and it’ll roll out of the way. I move to the Cherokee’s driver door. Hayley keeping up the entire time. I attempt to open the driver door. It doesn’t budge, I can see parts of the rear are so fucked up it is not allowing it to open. I pull my crowbar and pry the door open. I strain to open force the door open, then suddenly*slam!*. The door swings open. I take a few deep breaths to compose myself. My radio quickly pops on, scaring me. -“Contact, two BZs, fifty meters, six o’clock, engaging!” Corbin says, I hear the firing of his suppressed rifle from here. “Targets down.” He iterates. “Solid” Jackson comments, “Good kills.” Jasper commends him. I take another deep breath as I lower my rifle.

“Shine your light in here.” I command Hayley. She does instantly. I reach in and grab the lifeless corpse, I heave him out of the seat and push the body away from the car. I sit in the seat and realize the key is in the ignition, but the battery is dead. ‘Must’ve idled to death.’ “Shit.” I complain. I look around, then quickly come up with a plan. “Sit here. You steer it, I’ll push, just keep it in neutral.” I order. “Okay, are you sure you’ll be strong enough?”. She questions. “Yeah, I’ll be fine, I once ran out of Gas and had to push my car a quarter mile to get to the nearest gas station. I did that alone, so like thirty feet should be nothing.” I say while thinking ‘I hope.’. She goes and slides right into the driver’s seat. Tell her to put it in neutral as I put my hand on the door and interior. I take a deep breath. I hear her click it into neutral as I begin to push with everything in me. I feel my muscles strain from exhaustion. But I keep pushing, suddenly I feel the vehicle start to move. “Turn the wheel!” I shout. She begins twisting the wheel to the right, but then suddenly stops. “J-J-Jason.” She barely is able to speak, only fear in her voice. “What?” I say as I suddenly feel the brakes hit and I shoot forward into the door.

“What the fuck are you-.” I begin as I lift my head, I see what she is so fearful of. I look down the road to find two red eyes staring right at me. My heart sinks. I can see this thing, clear as day. Its skin was a pale white, its head is bald, and several black veins easily seen through the skin. It has two sets of eyes, there are two on the flanks of its head, almost like a cow, but then the red eyes were in the direct center. As if it was a wolf staring at its prey. Its torso is small, yet muscular. Its appendages are longer than its torso. It stood on all fours. The arms of this thing end in large serrated claws. I then realize, it doesn’t have a mouth. Not taking my eyes off this thing. I grab my radio, “Jackson, move the Stryker back, right now.” I order. “Why? What do you see?” He responds “Jackson, it’s the fucking thing, the red eyed thing, Im staring right fucking at it. Move the goddamn Stryker now, we are coming back to you.” As I spoke, I saw it’s head tilt, then quickly motion to the left. As soon as it did, something large slams into the opposite side of the car, ripping me away from the vehicle as it spins towards the edge. Hayley’s screams filled the air. I am hit so hard I fly over the guard rail, into the canal. As I do, I hear. “Holy fuck! Lieutenant! Shit! Engage!” I hear Jackson scream as the M2 Browning tears rounds through the air.

I hit the ground and roll towards the canal. I fly off the side, rolling down ten feet, then flying off a ledge to slam onto a concrete platform five feet lower. I lay there for a moment, my entire body hurts. I quickly get jarred back by the sounds of machine gun fire. I stagger to my feet as I look up to find a wall, at least fifteen feet tall. I can't see the road I was on, but I can see the tops of the buildings. My heart sinks as I see several more of those things running across the rooftops, all heading towards the Stryker. I hear the Stryker go into reverse and skirt away. Those things keep rushing after the Stryker. Soon after the sounds all disappear. Before I could comprehend what just happened, I hear muffled screams. I look around, I see the Cherokee, sinking in the canal. Hayley is desperately trying to get out. “Shit!” I say as I rush to help her. The car is already halfway submerged. But it’s close enough to jump to. I get a running start and jump to the hood. The vehicle was already submerged too far to try and open a side window. I begin kicking the windshield, punching it, everything I could think of, but Nothing I attempt works. I look at her, her eyes are full of fear. Tears filling her eyes as she isn’t sure what to do. I quickly grab my crowbar, “Back away from the windshield!” I say as I begin slamming into it with the crowbar. I hit it repeatedly as it cracks and shatters. But the water is rushing in even faster now. Water is starting to cover my boots. ‘Fuck!’ I scream in my head ‘Not again, I’m not letting her die!’ I become frantic, and suddenly I realize there is a sunroof. I rush on top of the roof. She looks up at me through the glass. I motion my arm, telling her to get out of the way. She moves as I grip my crowbar tight and I wind back. I slam the crowbar into the glass with so much force it completely shatters the sunroof.

She begins to rush out, but I tell her to stop. I slide the crowbar along the sides to remove glass shards. I put my arms down and grab her, I lift her out as if she weighs nothing. I look left and right, I see the platform, it isn’t far from where we are. I lift her up and back up to the edge of the car. Water begins flowing through the sunroof. I run as fast as I can forward and jump! I am barely able to clear the gap to make it to the concrete platform. As my feet hit the ground, I fumble over, falling with her in my arms. I land on my back with her on top of me. I release her and she rolls off of me. I slowly begin to get up. I feel every single muscle in my ache as I do. “Are you okay?” I ask. Hayley, now soaking wet, begins crying. I rush over and crouch down. I put my hand on her shoulder. As soon as I do, she looks at me and throws herself at me, embracing me while she cries. She doesn’t say anything, she just holds onto me as she cries. “It’s okay, you’re okay. I promise.” I say as I slightly rub her back, attempting to comfort her.

She releases me. I look at her and say “Take a minute, I am going to attempt to figure out where we are.” I stand up and look around. I see several pathways that lead in different directions. I then see a small door that goes into the wall about sixty feet from us. I grab my radio and attempt to contact Jackson. “Jackson, do you copy?”. “Lieutenant! You’re alive? Thank fuck!”. “Listen, we are okay, where are you guys?” I ask. “We are-“ the radio turns to static once again. “God damnit!” I say. Hayley walks up behind me and grabs my arm. She grips me hard and stands behind me. Suddenly, I hear it. “*Click* *click* *click*”. My eyes grow wide as I slowly look up at the large wall. There, set atop the wall stood the thing from the road. Its red eyes staring right back at mine. Its claws piercing the concrete above. It tilts its head again, watching every move I make. It stands up on its hind legs as I aim my rifle at it. *click* it makes one last noise then four more go to its flanks. ‘Is that fucking thing controlling them? Wait, can it control Infected?’ This thought sends a chill deep into my spine. It drops something on the ground, then it snaps its head to the right and they all rush away. “What. The. Fuck.”. I slowly move towards the thing it dropped. I shine my light onto the ground, fear grips me as I see what it dropped. It’s Patterson and Miller's Dog Tags.