NationStates Jolt Archive

The Sewers 9:00 PM

Gene looked around nervously. He had never liked the government, but he never thought that he would be doing something like this. He had led this little group into the sewers, to the direct center of this sprawling city of 100,000 people. They were going to strike at the government in a way they would never forget.

Gene unlocked another door, and came a pipe interchange. "Well, this is it. The center."

One of the men with him took the duffel on his shoulder off and put it on the ground. He leaned over it and unzipped it. He pushed the sides down around the device carried within. He began to tap in a combination on the keypad located on the top of it, carefull about which number he hit.

Gene looked at another member of the group. "So, where'd this come from? What's it supposed to do?"

"This is one of the weapons we stole from a military research lab a month ago. It's some experimental biological weapon. Once news gets out that weapons like this are being created here, the government will feel the full impact of the international community's wrathe."

"It's done." The terrorist punching in the code stood up. "The bomb will go off in exactly one hour. We should be far away by then." All of the men left the room, the bomb sitting menacingly in the center of the chamber. A red LED counted down.

50 feet directly above

The security guard locked the door. He spun the key ring around his finger, whistling to himself. He looked up at the new building. They had said that this was a place for students pursuing a career in biological science could study here. He didn't believe that. There was something else going on here.

"Well, it's not my job to ask questions." He started whistling again, and walked to the next building on the campus.

The Sewers

They had encountered a roadblock. The door between them and freedom was locked from the other side, with no lock on this side. The door was made mostly of steel, so bashing through was out of the question. Gene couldn't remember this. It must have been newly installed, and he must not of noticed it on the way through.

"F-ck! We gotta get out of here!" Gene and the terrorist started to panic.

Gene pulled up a map and a flashlight. He studied it. "Here, we can get out a mile from here. It might take a while to get there though." Gene and the terrorists began to walk in the direction of their freedom from this labyrinth.

10:00PM in the bomb room

The numbers blinked down,"5......4......3......2......1.......0" A hissing gas was released, which quickly traveled up through a ventilation duct.

The gas slowly crept into the building, filling it, trying to get out. The only window in the building was a skylight, which was open. Before the gas could get there, it had to go through a room.

The Room

A rat scurried along. This place was mostly new to the rodent, who was still trying to get the lay of the land of it's new home. It scurried along a countertop, bumping into a rack of vials. The vial rack rocked, and fell to the ground, shattering. The rat was startled and ran away.

The gas leaked into the room, but encountered something new. The gas biological weapon quickly mutated as it came into contact with the contents of the broken vials. It seeped farther, eventually reaching the skylight. It got out, and was spread over portions of the city by the wind.

24 hours later.

Dennis walked along merrily. This had been a good day. He had gotten a raise, and his girlfriend had accepted his proposal. He was smiling until he heard someone coming. He looked back, seeing a figure slowly walking towards him in the fading light. He turned around. "Hey, good evening. Lovely night isn't it." He got no reply.

Something caught his eye in the newspaper stand next to him, and he turned to look. "Ooh, another sex scandal. Crazy politicians can't keep it in their pants." He heard a moan, and looked over. The person walking along the street was going right for him.

"Hey, are you okay buddy?" Fear was hinted in his voice. Instead of a response, the person lunged at him, crushing Dennis' throat with hands. Dennis fell over, getting weaker as he suffocated to death. The man then bit Dennis, tearing chunks out.

Five minutes later, the thing that had been Dennis stood up, looking for food.

Mainstreet

Mark was cruising along in his patrol car, following his normal procedure. He yawned and looked at his watch. "Ah man, ten o'clock. Mary's gonna kill me." He turned down a side street, off duty now, and drove off. If he had stayed a minute longer, he would have seen the horde of creatures walking down the street.

Mark pulled up at the police station. He dropped off his patrol car, and got in his normal car. Luckily, it was only a short drive home.

He pulled up in front of his apartment complex. He headed up to his room, passing a door with muted bass coming from within. What he couldn't hear, was the occupants of the room within tearing a person apart.

He opened his door, and walked in. "Honey, I'm home!" He put his gun in the kitchen, and started up his late dinner. He heard a noise and looked over. It was his girlfriend Mary, already in her underwear. Mark shook his hands,"Honey, not tonight. I've had a busy day."

She didn't respond, but something fell out of her mouth and splattered on the floor. He looked down. "Blood?" He looked up again as Mary lifted her head. Her eyes were glazed over and her skin was pale. She lunged at mark.

He fell over, her on top. She tried to bite through the bullet proof vest he was wearing, but failed. He was trying to push her off, yelling for help all the while. He reached and grabbed his gun from the counter, and hit her with it. She clawed the gun away from him, and lunged at him.

He bunched up his legs and kicked, sending her flying and smashing through the glass coffee table. He got up and ran, slamming the door behind him. He heard a thump and clawing as she tried to get at him. He now heard the screams from all over the complex. "What the hell is going on here."

Outskirts

Major Frank Elliot stepped out of the helicopter, and walked across the cleared stretch of road to the hastily assembled military encampment. There were guards on the outside, with blockades set on the roads. Coming in, he had seen the blockades on every other bridge and road heading into the city.

He walked past a soldier, who saluted him. The Major flipped him the New York state bird, and kept walking. The soldier stuttered a little, but went back to his guard. The Major walked into a tent, and through a gaggle of some tough soldiers.

The Major strolled in front of the soldiers. These were Shrikes. They were the best of the best. They didn't exist. But they stood in front of him, ready to do the bidding of their country.

"Soldiers, I know this is just some little town, but there is a big problem here. Last month, a bio-weapon was hijacked by some terrorists. This bio-weapon doesn't exist, just like you gentlemen and ladies."

He gestured at the map taped up to the side of a truck. "Now, our informant has confirmed that the weapon was used in the center of the city, here." He snapped a pointer to the map. "The terrorists are still in the city, and we're pretty sure that they won't be getting out."

"We are to go in and take out any trace of the weapon, killing anyone that gets in our way. It may be a dirty job, but that's why we exist."

A young female Shrike in front rose and spoke. "Sir. Sergeant First Class Jennifer Mason. What is this weapon, Sir?"

The major slapped the pointer to a diagram of the bio-weapon's chemical structure. "I was just about to get to that. The weapon is simply known as "Moonlight Shadow". Apparently, one of the head developers played a game called Dance Dance Revolution or something, and named it from that. The virus is designed to spread rapidly, and kill within one day of exposure. There are no symptoms, the affected simply die on the spot. The virus should have dissapated, but we shouldn't take chances. I want gasmasks on during this operation."

He turned to a table, and picked up a number of folders. "Squad leaders, come to the table."

The squad leaders stood and walked to the front. The Major gave each of them a folder. "These are your orders. You will get in, do your job and get out." He turned to an old friend, Captain Percy Reed. "Captain, I shall accompany you and the rest of first squad in. We have a little extra to do." Cpt. Reed nodded, and took the folder.

The Major turned back to the men and women standing in the center of the tent. "I will walk in the darkness so you may have the light."

Every voice resounded back,"I will walk in the darkness so you may have the light!"

The Major felt stronger with the creed in the air. "Commence operations in one hour!"

OOC: Okay. There it is. I've got an entire story planned out here. It will change depending on character decisions, but it promises to be good. Thanks to Kaukolastan for helping me out with bits of this. The Shrikes are his idea, as is the creed. Oh yeah, first person to use a Katana without a damn good explanation for where they got it gets eaten.

Tag, sorry the Res Evil one fell through, real life stuff came up, and I just lost track...

.:Tog:.

8)

::Zog::

:P

(Just to rhyme, heh... Zog was the king of Albania before Victor Emmanuele III of Italy took control of the country)

First Lieutenant Thomas Drevol leaned back into the passenger seat of the High Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), commonly called the Humvee. The reinforced vehicle bounced and jolted, despite the driver’s best efforts. Drevol pushed his silver reflective sunglasses back up his nose and glanced behind him. In the back, three more soldiers waited, including Sgt. Cortez on the M2 “Ma-Deuce” machine gun. Behind the Humvee, partially obscured by a dust cloud, two more Humvees and three "Deuce and a Half" trucks rolled along, filled with more of Drevol’s unit.

Drevol glanced at his uniform for a moment, observing the urban digital camouflage, all grays. The army wasn’t issued this uniform, nor to any other branch of the service. Should someone find his uniform, they would wonder who he worked for, because none of the nation’s forces used his outfit. They would wonder more when they could not find his dog tags, nor a flag or any identification at all! The only two pieces of cloth he wore on his uniform were his silver LT bars and his single unit patch on the left shoulder. Even this unit patch was an enigma, a single blue starburst on a black field. No unit used that patch, or so the records said.

That unit was called “Shrike”, and he was leader of Shrike Team Five, under Major Fairbanks. Shrike Teams were not real. Shrike Teams did not exist. Shrike Teams were denied by every level of the government. Shrike Teams were the most reliable force the military had. They were chosen from the Special Forces, not so much for skill (which was expected), but for they’re undying loyalty and willing to go any length for the government. As such, Shrike Teams were the favorite tool for “wet works”, dirty black ops that needed to happen off the radar and off the budgets.

Their uses were plentiful. When a powerful leader was suddenly killed by his own men, a Shrike Team was nearby. When the nation’s enemies were suddenly torn apart by civil war, Shrike Teams were instigating the violence. When drug lords met gruesome ends, the bullet came from a Shrike. When rebel groups were violently exterminated, Shrike Teams were the trigger men. Had they been in a less civilized nation, they simply would have been called “Death Squads”, but this was a modern, sophisticated society. Still, the wet work had to happen; it just couldn’t be seen… Shrikes were the perfect solution. Cover-ups, assassinations, blackmail, terrorism, intimidation, and extermination were their specialties, and they performed their silent duty with cold professionalism. They did not enjoy their work, for they were civilized soldiers, but they knew it must be done. They were the sacrifice, who would stain their hands with blood to protect their nation. They would bear the burden of their acts so others could sleep in peace. No cost was too high, no sacrifice too great, no act too wrong. They would gladly commit any mission without complaint, completing depraved objectives without qualm, and if caught, dying without acknowledgement or ceremony.

…I am the one who bears the burden, who makes the sacrifice. I will do what must be done. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light… Drevol heard the creed echoing in his mind. That was his mantra, and he clung to it with each pull of the trigger. He knew he was damned for his crimes, and that the society he protected would loathe him if they knew. Fifty-four. The number was too clear, the number of men, women, and children he had killed. The images of the Congo flashed back to him. The Mubatu Rebels had risen up against the American supported government, and threatened the oil trade. To make a point, Shrike Team Five had slipped in and executed two villages of the Mubatu civilians. We lined them up and shot them with AK-47s, so the scene looked right. Then we torched the bodies and left a message in the rubble to halt the rebellion. It had worked, and the oil trade resumed, with barely a flux in prices. He had been in bush wars in Asia, supporting one dictator over another. He had been inside of the crackdowns in South America, keeping the socialist poor under control. He had been inside of the alleys of eastern Europe, giving a knife in the back of a “bad” politician to favor a “good” one. At each step, he had reminded himself of the creed. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light.

Few knew of the Shrike Teams, and none would acknowledge it. Only the Team Members, their direct superiors in SOCOM, and a few scattered Special Forces members knew of their existence. Those in the Teams and retired were bound by Oath to secrecy, and they had been chosen for their ability to keep that oath. Those over them were often from the Teams, and gave the orders. Only those able to understand the need for the Shrikes would ever learn of the Shrikes, which left few in the civilian government barring the Intelligence Chief and the Secretary of Defense. The others that knew were those unfortunate SpecForce Units left holding the ball when the Shrikes went to work. Of those, there were two groups: those who understood and respected the Shrikes, and those who viewed them as some sort of baseless relative. Of the latter, they did not speak out of duty, not out of approval. In the end, the Shrikes were little more than a rumor amid the grunt soldiers, and a whisper in the intelligence community. Conspiracy theories touched on their existence, but the Shrikes fed out disinformation to those theorists, and the conflicting accounts only discredited the theories.

Accordingly, the Shrikes were not outfitted by the military proper, but pieced together by black budgets and over-expenditures. While the normal military preferred the Colt M16 line of rifles and carbines, the Shrikes used a mix of black market H&K weapons without serials. In his Team alone, Drevol could point to G11, AG36, UMP, MP7 PDW, MSG-1, CAWS, and other exotic weapons chosen by necessity. Only the best for our best. Drevol was from the Army Special Forces, himself, and at thirty-three, he was old for a lieutenant. However, he had earned every bit of rank, coming through enlisted ranks and Officers Candidate School. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light. He touched the starburst insignia, then let his hand drift to his silver bars.

He was a bachelor by design, for he had no identity outside of the Shrikes. Family would make him a liability. There’s simply no room for that kind of weakness. He told himself again, but he knew there was more. I could not face a wife and children, not after my work. What does Daddy do? He is a killer. He is a butcher. He bit back a sneer and dropped his mask into place again. This was his duty. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light.

The trees were rushing past, one after another, with the sunlight flashing through the leaves in beams of light and curtains of darkness. His silver flash-glasses flickered in the light, reflecting the surroundings perfectly, but never allowing even the slightest hint of the eyes behind. He tapped the mic hanging from his Kevlar helmet, and patted the speaker location on his left ear. “Keep your eyes peeled.” He ordered into the mic.

“Roger that.” Sgt. Cortez replied, standing behind the Ma Deuce, gripping the dual pistol grips tightly.

Drevol reviewed what he knew of his mission thus far. Terrorists triggered a chemical spill, some sort of nerve agent. Real nasty shit, too. The army SpecForce boys are locking down the perimeter, to keep anyone from entering the contaminated zone. We are to go in and investigate the area, recover the research, and “clean house”. The terrorists must be eliminated, and the area sanitized. When we’re done, this is to look like a civilian disaster. Anyone inside is already dead. The Humvee was beginning to slow, and the driver glanced over. “Checkpoint.”

Ahead, there was a concertina wire fence and a small gate. Two soldiers in gas masks were leveling their M4 SOPMODS, and an officer, also in a mask, was advancing on Drevol’s Humvee. Drevol rolled down the window and saluted the Captain. The officer returned it and nodded. Drevol handed over his orders. The Captain glanced at them and began to speak, his voice muffled by the mask, his breath coming in clicks and wheezes. “Welcome to the Hot Zone, Lt. Drevol. We’ve been waiting. Have your boys mask up. The agent should be gone, but it may still be airborne inside the perimeter.”

Drevol nodded and tapped his mic. “Suit up.” Throughout the small convoy, Team Five pulled their gas masks on and tightened them down. Drevol placed his hand on the filter and breathed hard into the mask, cleaning the intake. Then he switched and cleaned the exhaust with another puff of breath. He turned back to the Captain. “Sir, what’s the SitRep?”

The Captain glanced warily back over his shoulder, towards the town. “Silent. The terrorists are bunkered in, or dead. Civilians are under lockdown. As for the rest… we’re letting you deal with that.”

Drevol tensed at the way the Captain had stated that. Another one of these holier than though pricks. They forget that back alley knifings are just as important as grand jousts. He replied, “Sir, we’ll take care of it. I heard another Team was operating in the area?”

The Captain nodded. “Major Elliot and Shrike Team Three. They’ve already moved into the city. He wanted this given to you.” The Captain handed over a document, still sealed in wax. If it had been broken, Drevol would have killed this officer for treason.

Drevol glanced at the paper and popped it open with his K-bar. Moonlight Shadow? What a pussy name for a bioweapon. Then again, in this military, the more innocuous the name, the worse the outcome. He scanned deeper. Our Team’s mission will be to eliminate any surviving terrorists, recover the bioweapons from inside the lab, and then evacuate. Any surviving civilians are to be killed if they pose a threat or have any compromising evidence. Drevol glanced at the exfiltration time. Unspecified. Priority of Team Three, Unit One. That’s Major Elliot. Shit. He bit his cheek a little. To the other Shrikes, Elliot was a legend in his own time. He was one of the oldest, most veteran operatives, and he refused to leave the field to pilot a desk. Drevol had served with the man once before, in the Micronesian incidents, and he had nothing but admiration for the man. Well, and a healthy dose of rightful fear. They’ve sent in the biggest gun they got. He glanced to the Captain. “Sir, what’s the operational status?”

“Well, Lieutenant, everyone is waiting on your types to move in. The Air Force boys have some Pave Lows waiting, and they’re circling the city in Black Hawks, trying to keep everyone calm. We’ve got a secure perimeter, and no one gets out or into the hot zone. Three boys tried to run the checkpoints earlier, and two Apache’s turned ‘em back.”

“How’s the town holding up? How bad was the accident?”

“Nothing too bad. No riots or looting. We don’t know the death count, because we aren’t allowed in. The chopper pilots are reporting bodies, but they seem to be in an advanced state of decay. There have been the expected shootings, but no straight out resistance. Local police are trying to keep everyone calm, and the Black Hawks are broadcasting soothing messages. Like I said, we’re waiting on you boys.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“Good luck.” The Captain waved him on, and the Humvee cleared the exterior checkpoint.

Drevol glanced back at Cortez. “Hey, Sarge, we launch at twenty-two hundred hours. Pave Low insertion into the Biolabs. We’re gonna clean it out, then clean it up, and evac. Intercept and eliminate any terrorists, liquidate any compromised civilians, recover the research, and then boogie.”

“What about back-up plans?”

“Team Three, with Major Elliot, is running that. They just told us to be ready to run for the hills at the drop of a hat.”

”Jesus. That reeks of big boom.”

“Yeah. That’s what I think, too.” Drevol smacked the paper. “Another job of shooting fu<king janitors who saw too much. At least we get to pop some terrorists.”

Cortez shrugged, leaning on the M2, “Well, LT, at least we aren’t on a purge order.”

Drevol motioned to the city. “That’s because most of them are already dead. They just don’t know it!” He sighed. “That’s why we’re here.” I will walk in darkness so you may have the light.

Above, a UH-60 Black Hawk roared past, scattering the tree branches. From the open side, the M134 minigun tracked back and forth, and a message pumped through externally slung speakers. “Attention, Romore city residents! This area has suffered a chemical spill! Help is on the way! Remain calm, and remain in your houses! We will be coming to help you soon! Please do not hinder the men trying to help you!” The message echoed into the distance as the helicopter banked away.

Drevol felt his mouth twist into a humorless smile. “That’s the most ironic thing I’ve heard today.” The small convoy closed to the outpost base, and Shrike Team Five was prepared to insert…

“Piece of junk!” said Jerry Hargreaves, Cap to his friends, throwing the cell phone down onto the seat next to him

He was on his way home from a field assignment. He was here on liaison for FOX news. His assignment was just to be a regular reporter, all he had to do was a few routine assignments, a few stories, and he'd be out of this town, away from this chicken-friend hell hole in Nowhere USA.

He couldn't wait to get home to his wife, and young son. He couldn't wait to get back to New York, back to society, back to cocktail parties, social functions... He was used to things like that. He had been an officer in the military for nearly 10 years He didn't see any action during the Golf War, nor did he see any action...anytime. Desk bound for all his career, he'd made rank not through valor and heroism, but by the political scene, in a cushy Pentagon job, what else can you do?

Cap idly passed through the green light and turned onto Main street.....and slammed on his breaks, ahead of him was a blockade of cars...some of them wrecked, others just stopped, one was one fire, people were just milling about, not doing much of anything.

“What the f*ck is this?” he said to himself, “where are the fu*king cops?”

He COULD go around it, if there wasn't this entire group of gawking onlookers standing there. He pulled his car up, and blew his horn

“Eh....waddya doing! Get outta the f*cking way! Aint cha ever seen a car accident before,e move, you sons a bit*hes!” he yelled out he window

Then something odd happened

The group, almost at once, turned, and sauntered towards his car, thats when he noticed the blood staining their clothes....maybe from the accident...? he thought, unconvinced, then, he also so the blood on their faces....what the!

he rolled his window up....one of the onlookers walked over tot he window....and slammed his face up against it....they surrounded the car....

“F*ck it!” he said, throwing it into reverse, thump thump as he passed over bodies

Then, as if this could get any odder....the men he hit, got back up.....

“Holy Mary....mothera god!” he said, as he threw it in drive and took off down a side street. He skidded around a corners, hit some oil, and lost control....slamming into a parked Police cruiser.

He sat their, eyes closed for a moment. last time i saw fu*kers this nuts was in LA...

He opened his eyes....the sun was just setting in the west. As quickly as he could, he grabbed his laptop and opened the car door

moan

He looked to his left, and saw a lone man, ahead of the rest of the ground staggering towards him....

“Hey....stop...dont make me hurt you....” said Cap

moan arms out streeched....teeth bared....blooding running down the side of his face

“Eat this, freak!” said Cap, he swung his laptop bag, hitting the man square in the face...it spun, landed in some broken glass....it rolled, moaned and staggered back to its feet....

“Holy shit....that things not human!” siad Cap, running.

He could hear it....hear the shriking...the howling...moaing, behind him, they were coming, coming for him.

He knew not where he was running, he didn't care, as long as he got as far away from those...those, things as fast as possible

OOC: So sorry. Something came up in my life. I gotta delay this til tomorrow. So sorry. Sorry! Gomen! Droevig! Désolé! Traurig! Spiacente! Pesaroso! Apesadumbrado! And that's all the languages I could get a translator to do.


I shall post my first post here tomorrow. Tag this if you want.

HEY! you forgot 'unskyld'!

TAG

He woke up in a haze, for the third time that week, he had drank too much.

“Damn it!” Don cursed “I knew I shouldn’t have had that 13th tequila!”

As he got up from the floor of a pool hall, he noticed it was empty, he looked at his watch, it was only 8:30, normally the pool hall would’ve been packed with rowdy people burning off their steam, but now, it was dark and empty, as if they had left the previous night and not returned. He saw movement coming towards him; he glanced over, and saw that it was Larry, the owner of the hall. Don didn’t like seeing Larry, mainly because he owed him so much money, $13,000 to be in fact, mainly from gambling and booze. But tonight, something wasn’t right with Larry, he was limping as if he was injured, and he was moaning ever so slightly as he lurched towards him.
“Larry, buddy! What’s up?” Don said cheerfully “Look, I know I don’t have the money, but just give me a couple more weeks and I’ll have it, you know I’m good for it!”

But Larry didn’t say anything; he just kept lurching forward…

Shit, he must be pissed, I better get outta here before he flips Don thought to himself. “Uhh, ok Larry, if its ok with you, I’m going to get out of here now, you know, make back all the money I owe you…”

Larry made a loud growling sound and jumped onto Don, attempting to bite at his jugular; Don was struggling very hard. Finally, he pushed Larry off of him, and got a good look, it wasn’t Larry at all, I mean, he was, but he wasn’t, his eyes were all glazed over, and his clothes were torn, and his face was bloody, something evil had happened. Don took a pool cue, and started beating “Larry” with it, to no avail. He truly realized the horror when he took a swing, and broke Larry’s neck, he head the snap, and his head limped down, but he kept coming. Finally, he jammed the cue into Larry’s head, and severed it, the body finally went limp, and Don backed away.

“What the hell is going on!!?!” He muttered to himself, he headed toward the door when he saw three other “Things” walking into the door and bouncing back from it, they all looked just like Larry…

“The whole town’s gone mad!” Don screamed He determined it was too dangerous outside, he would be safer camping out until someone or something came for him.

He took three of the pool tables, figuring Larry wouldn’t mind, as he glanced to the corpse, and mounted them sideways against the door, hoping it would keep the things out.

When he was finished, he went the bar, and started eating, he realized it had been a while since he had eaten.

OOC: Donny is in Larry’s pool hall which is in the middle of town, he had been passed out for roughly 34 hours, and the owner just left him there, he was widely considered the town drunk, so nobody really bothered him. He wasn’t affected by the gas due to the dangerously high amount of alcohol in his system, his body was so busy eliminating the liquor, and the gas wasn’t absorbed into his system. Therefore, he was unaffected.

Taggity...

bumpage for the upage of the postage on the threadage

If you could post over your tags, that would be dandy.

Sam Thornada step out on to the street, looking up at the sky he realized that it was getting rather late. He took a moment to look down at his watch. Sam was the head of Thoranda Inc, now Tappee largest companies, and he was here on business. Despite being out of town there were things at home that required his attention, as a result he had spent most of the day in videoconference with the other boards members. Now that his meetings for the day where done he had decide to get some fresh air and go for a walk.

He had been staying at a condo that he had owned; with his brief case his hand, and jacket draped over his arm he started his journey. For the first part of his journey he found himself occupied with thinking about the issue that he been brought up at the meeting to notice his surrounding. However, as he rounded a corner he noticed that something did not seem right.

Street that were normally bustling with activity were no empty. Sam stopped for a moment to analysis the situation, off in the distance he could hear muffled screams, and the smell of death was in the air.

Uncontrollable fear came over Sam, he found himself frozen in the middle of the street not sure what to do. For what seemed an eternity he considered his options, find that the best option would be to return home, feeling that he would be safe there.

Quickly Sam turned, and began running towards home, but only got a few feet before facing his greatest fear. The moans of the mindless hoard where like a spear driving itself deep within his soul, the dead where now walking.

In the crowd he could see a number of people that looked as if they had almost been ripped apart, their limbs where barely attached at this point, yet they continued to move among the crowd.

He stood there in awe at the sight before, and then it happened. Up until this point the hoard had been moving away from Sam unaware of his presence, but in a passing glance one of the creature saw Sam standing there. The creature yelled out to the others signalling that it had found new prey.

For a moment Sam lost his breath as he realized what had happened, dropping both his brief case and jacket he began to run. The only escape that he could find was a fire escape on a near by building. Using all his might he climbed up the ladder, as he got to the top he pulled the ladder up so that he could not be followed.

The only way he could go now was into the building, an option that he didn’t like very much, but a glance down at the sea of undead below him reminded him that it was for the moment better then being down on the ground.

Crawling through the window and in to the apartment hallway way he could again hear screams of pain. As he passed door it unexpectedly swung open knocking him the ground, looking up at the person who had come out he let out a sigh off relief to see a police officer standing there, from what he could tell the man seemed to be ok. “Please officer I need your help

http://img.atpictures.com/gary/tn_gary87.jpg
Sam Thoranda

“Wheel of Fortune,” sprang from the T.V. in the cheap motel room right before it went static. The T.V. went “ssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

“What in tarnation!” yelled Victor towards the T.V. “I come all the way out here to get combine tiller blades and bush-hog blades and I don’t get any cable for my trouble. Gosh-dangit I hate the city. No one puts a day of hard work in anywhere and everything goes broke. That’s just a bunch of hogwash. I can’t believe this darn place. Well blast I am a goin to have a man to man talk with that darn attendant.”

Victor gets up and puts on his clothing. His hair is still wet from his cold shower since the water-heater was obviously out. “If I didn’t give a hoot I would just leave and not care about the money I spent to stay in this piece of crap,” he mumbles to himself.

He is putting just puts on his duster and hat when a banging is at the door. “What in sam hell now,” he softly speaks to himself as he walk over to the peephole to see whose hitting the door. As he walks to the door he hears moaning coming from the other side. This better not be a joke or some cheap whore since I ain’t in the mood, he thinks to himself.

As he looks through the peephole, the small window shatters on the front wall 4 feet from him. A head tries to pierce its way through. The face on that head was one of pure gore. It looks at him as it moans. Victor jumps back as he yell’s, “Oh flying hell what the f*ck is that!” HE stands in shock as the banging on the door continues and intensifies. The door shakes ever more violently with each passing slam. Victor then runs over to the chair and grabs it. He walks over to the window ever so cautiously and waits for the head to come back through. When it appears he swings the chair with all his might and the chair breaks into several pieces. The head though flies out that window and he see the body there on the ground as he sees two more figures outside slowly walking to his motel room. He picks up the two legs on the ground from the chair and puts them on the bed. HE then walks over to the T.V., unplugs it, and waits a few feet from the door. The door moments later busts open and a horribly gory man walks towards them. HE momentarily hesitates and then throws the T.V. straight at the figure. The T.V. slammed into the creature and the T.V. explodes from the impact. He grabs the chair legs and runs for his truck.

As he is sprinting the short 15 feet away he trips over a body. The body is limp and horribly gnawed. He frantically gets up as a figure slams him into the side of the truck. Its one of those things, and its trying to knock him down he realizes. Victor then pushes himself off the truck and pushes the thing with all his might. The figure flies back a few feet and falls. Victor then grabs one of his chair legs and bashes the figure. The figure keeps trying to get up after each slam. It just won’t quit he thinks to himself as he keeps on swinging. He looks up and sees more of the figures 25 feet away coming straight for him. He decides that this isn’t going to work and runs over to the passenger side of the truck, unlocks it and gets in. Victor then slides over to the driver’s seat and starts the truck. Once he does this he notices that the figures are right upon the truck.

He then puts the truck in reverse and slams on the gas. He hears load thuds as he slams into several figures. The figures do not get a second look as he spins the steering wheel around and the front of his truck spins around. He puts it into drive and punches the gas with his foot. The truck's tires burn rubber for a second and he is on his way. “What in sam hell were those things? They were humans but not. This makes no freakin sense. Why did they eat that person? Why did I come to the city? I hate the city. I shoulda went back to da farm right away. Oh hell.”

He stops the truck and grabs his old backpack from behind the seat. He takes the .357 revolver out of its box, loads it and puts it in his belt. He also takes one of his boxes of ammo and puts it in his pocket. At that moment he sees a black helicopter fly overhead towards the center of the city. Speakers from the chopper screamed, “Attention, Romore city residents! This area has suffered a chemical spill! Help is on the way! Remain calm, and remain in your houses! We will be coming to help you soon! Please do not hinder the men trying to help you!” Victor says to himself, “What in tarnation now. This is hog-wash. I shouldn’t have stayed for that extra part. Chemical spills my ass.”

He looks around the outside of his truck and sees that no figures are lurking about. He then gets out of his truck, grabs the chair leg, and heads back to his tool box. As he reaches over to get into his tool box a hand grabs his arm from the bed of the truck. He hears a weak moan and then realizes one of them has been hiding in the back of his damn truck. “You sonuvab*tch.” He says out loud and pulls his arm back. The figure lumps over the side of the truck mashed up from all the gear in the back of it. He then takes the chair leg and starts swinging into it. The figure moans and goes limp after a few hits. He then grabs the figure and throws it to the ground.

“That just ain’t right. Why did you have to go and get into the back of a truck fully loaded with expensive parts? Now I got to clean them when I get out of here.” He says to himself as he gets into his box and grabs a lug wrench and a large monkey wrench. This should be more efficient he thinks to himself. He throws the two wrenches, a socket set and a few screw drivers into his backpack. He places the bag right next to him on the driver seat and puts the chair leg on top of it. Well now its time for me to high-tail it out of this city, he thought to himself. Hopefully this ain’t a bad idea. Well shoot got to try something. It’s not like I know anyone in this Godforsaken town. He closes the door to the truck as he sees figures slowly limping their way in his direction. At least they’re behind me this time, he thinks, as he puts the truck back into drive and tries to find a route out of the city or somewhere to hide for that matter.

The heat had been stifling in the bus, the whole journey back into the city had been unbearable, the heating had been jammed on and no matter how many windows had been opened, there was still no air circulating. A fly buzzed around the interior, bashing against the window in a futile attempt to gain its freedom, the noise grating on the nerves of an elderly woman sitting nearby, her knitting needles competing with the insect for most irritating sound.

Madison Walsh moved against the plastic cover of the seat, her skin sticking against the hot material. She had taken her sweater off, leaving her vest style t-shirt her only defence against the harshness of being totally glued to the seat. But it had been a choice between that and bathing in her own sweat. Sighing to herself, she shifted again, squeaking as she turned to face the window.

She had returned home, a family crisis dragging her away from her university course, but she knew that she would soon catch up on anything she had missed, her friend and roomie had promised to collect all the notes and other bits that she needed. Not that there was really that much too miss, she had only been gone for a week, the problems at home turning out to be less urgent than she had been led to believe.

Her mother had been panicking over her father’s health, he on the other hand had been alarmed to see his daughter leaving her studies over nothing, and ordered her back on the next bus. She had managed to fob him off with some tall tale about having a midterm break, of course it meant that she would be unable to return home in a few weeks for the real one. Her father was keen for her to follow in his footsteps in a medical career, and she had covered the first three years of her course so far.

Staring out of the window, she watch the scenery change until the familiar sight of the city could be seen up ahead, and she immediately heard the hustling and bustling as the other passengers moved around getting all their stuff gathered together ready for disembarking. Maddy remained still, just gazing at the rapidly approaching buildings, suddenly feeling a little homesick. It always amazed her how just a week could affect her so much.

As the bus moved deeper into the city, Maddy instantly felt that something was wrong, the streets were not as full of everyday pedestrians as normal, and cars seemed to be dotted about the streets, not in the usual fashion, in fact some of them looked abandoned. Passing a shop doorway, for a moment, Maddy was sure that she had seen a man huddled over another who was lying on the ground, the fallen man’s neck ripped as blood trickled down from the mouth of the other.

Damn, I must be more tired than I thought. She shook her head trying to clear the image in her head, as she heard the old ladies voice edge into her consciousness.

“Oh, it’s so good to be back home, don’t you think dear?” She was standing struggling to get her bag down from the rack. “Would you be so kind, it seems to be caught on something?” She tucked at the handle, trying to dislodge her luggage.

As Maddy stood up, her hand resting on the back of the chair in front, the bus swerved suddenly, throwing her back into her seat, and the old lady onto one the other side of the aisle to her own. Calls to the bus driver could be heard travelling up the length of the bus, as Maddy reached over and helped the lady back onto her feet, her eyes falling upon the reason for the bus’ manoeuvre as they drove past a woman standing in the middle of the road, her expression blank.

What the…?! Helping the old woman to her feet, Maddy turned and watched the strange figure disappear out of view, when the vehicle lurched again, flinging the passengers her other way. “Ah!” The groan wrenched out of her mouth as she was tossed against the window, her hand clasping her shoulder.

But even before they could straighten themselves out, the bus swerved in the other direction, this time the driver was unable to recover control as the vehicle skidded, the momentum sending it racing into a car parked across the road. The driver was fighting the wheel, but it would not respond, and with a cry of panic from one of the passengers up front, the bus made contact with the blockage, the sound of searing metal filled the interior, mingled now with more anguished screams as realisation of what was happening spread quickly among the passengers.

Maddy felt herself thrown to the other side of the bus, for once she was grateful for choosing the back seat, as she made contact with the other window, this time the wind was knocked out of her body as she fell back onto the seat. Her eyes barely took in the items that came tumbling out of the racks, as the other passengers fought to return to the safety of a sitting position.

The force of the bus against the car, managed to flip the larger vehicle, tilting precariously for a moment, before landed with a jolt on its side, its speed carrying it sliding down the street. Sparks flew from the metal casing as it made contact with the tarmac covered road, etching its path into the surface.

Inside the screams reached fever pitched as people were thrown around the interior, items flying. With a resounding crash, the front of the bus ploughed through the main window of a large department store, the window frame piercing the windscreen, impaling the hapless driver into his chair, his mouth frozen open in an eternal scream.

Maddy felt her head pound against something hard, and then all went black…

Mark jumped as the man spoke. He reached for his gun, but remembered it was still in the apartment. Mark looked down. It was just a civilian. He seemed alright, and he was talking. Mark didn't know what he was supposed to do. There was nothing on this sort of thing in the police manual. "I'm thinking alot of people need help." He was still shaken at his girlfriend's condition.

He looked back at the man. "Do you have any idea what's going on here, cause I sure as hell don't."

He thought back to his revolver sitting in his apartment. He couldn't go back there. Not now. Not with her there like that.

He realized he didn't know who this man was, he had never seen him before. "Officer Mark Perry, RPD." His introduction was informal, fitting the current situation.

Sam quickly got to his feet got to his feet “Nice to meet you officer Perry, my name is Sam Thoranda.” The murmurs heard from the outside reminded him of the current situation “I have no idea what going, but I would suggest that it might be wise for us to keep moving, and try to find people at are” he tried to find the right word “Normal”

OOC: Come on people. Join. Since more than half of the people who signed up haven't done anything (I sent each and every one a TG) I'll just let whoever join. 1 W1LL N07 L3t TH15 D13 0N TH3 F1R5T D4Y!!!!11!!!1!!oneBANG11!!!



IC: Mark nodded. "We need to find others. Sounds like this whole area is filled with death. We need to find a way out." He grabbed a nearby wooden chair and bashed it against a wall. He hefted one of the broken legs, noting the nails on the end. He gave a practice swing, pleased with the power he could get into it.

"There are a few ways out of here, and it sounds like the front isn't a good idea. Let's leave out the back." He gestured and began to walk down the stairs.

((OOC: Fine be like that :P ))

BZZT-BZZT-BZZT...

Ah f*ck, what time is it... Kurgan thought as he squinted at the clock, Cr*p! I'm late for work! Rushing through his daily routine he scrambles to throw on cloths while brushing his teeth while at the same time throwing in a Hot-Pocket into the Microwave.

Finally ready to get to his car he rushes down the stairs of his condo to the garage. Thats odd, all the cars are still here... But he didn't have time to ponder it as he slapped open the car door. Pulling up and out into the street the oddity of the day began to sink in, the streets seemed empty save for a wreck here or there.

Did I miss something? Like the apocolypse? he mused. Reaching the station he finds some hope in the fact that he found a space right out infront of the door. Rushing up the stairs he enters the building, "Hey Bob, look alive," he calls out as he runs past the security guard slumped on his chair. A moan stop him in his mad dash for his desk, "Bob, are you allright?" Kurgan asks as he turns around.

"Bob?!" Kurgan exclaimed. The man had several bullet wounds in his body and the greyish flesh hung lose like a wet sack. "What the hell?"

He runs down the hall to the armory, Sh*t, its been stripped! Nothing in here but an old 38 magnum and some bean-bag shot for a shotgun. Hearing the moan behind him once more he grabs for the 38.

Please let it be loaded, please let it be loaded... he thinks to him self. A single glorious shot rings out, nearly knocking the gun out of his hand. As the phiff of smoke slowly was sucked away by the vents the body of Bob was found on the ground, his head a good 6 ft away.

Slightly calmer now that he was out of immediat danger he checked the pistol, five more shots left, he darkly mused as the reality of the situation slowly began to sink in.

Following Marks lead Sam reached down a grabbed one of the broken chair legs. Something is better then nothing he thought to himself, he regretted dropping his brief case. There were a number of thing in there that he could have used as weapon, such as envelope openers, his cell phone, not to mention the fact that the heavy briefcase could have been used as a weapon, but in haste he had dropped it, and it was not much good to him now.

As the two began there journey Sam looked at the club that he was holding in his hand, it could be seen shaking, his hands were shaking so bad that he could barely keep hold of it. Closing his eyes he told himself that every thing would be ok, and that had been through worse, although he couldn’t think of it at the moment.

As the two passed a door there was a loud thud on the other side, and was quickly followed by a second, what used to be a human smashed through the door. Wooden splinters came flying a Sam. Fortunately the rest of the creatures body was held back by the, however it continued to struggle towards the two men in the hallway, the whole time trying to bit them.

Sam never considered himself a violent man, unlike most youths in Tappee at the time he had never considered military service, instead choose the exploit the benefits of being part of the upper class. Seeing that creature coming through the door triggered some sort primal defence mechanism, almost without thinking about it he lashed out at the head protruding through the door.

Clenching the stick with both hand he swung it downward across the top of the zombie’s, the force of the impact nearly caused the stick to come out of Sam’s hand. Sam’s blow had drove the zombie neck down into the jagged wood edges that had been created when it’s head had punctured the door, blood could be seen running down the door.

To Sam’s Horror the blow had barely slowed the creature down. This time Sam changed his angle of attack, swing the chair leg like a baseball bat striking the creature directly in the temple. Last blow coupled with the pervious nearly took the creatures head clean off, silent the creature fell back in the room from wench it came.

Satisfied that he was for the moment out of danger he turned back to mark “Let just get out of the hell”

Suburbs

Rainier opened his briefcase on his temporary kitchen counter with a sigh of relief. After two weeks of aimless wandering about this country, he had arrived in a small city whose name had escaped him. It did not matter. In a week, he'll be gone. Until then, though, he'll stay in this nice yet ordinary apartment. His violet eyes scanned the lightly furnished room as Stroganoff, his Welsh Corgi, sniffed around the new environment.

"I don't know why I had to fall in love with a noblewoman..." sighed Rainier. His light blue hair was a rare sight in Valeria, and even more so outside of his country. "Damnit, why couldn't I have fallen in love with the flower girl?! Ah... at least falling in love with her... gives me motivation to succeed." Rainier took out a picture of his love interest. Stroganoff looked up at his master with meager interest.

"Stroggy, you hungry?" inquired the young man to his pet.

Rainier was interrupted when a looming figure bursted into the room. The door was nearly busted from its hinges. It took Rainier a while to recognize that the looming, dark figure was the landlord. He had his head bowed low. Funny, since Rainier just moved in... it was already rent time!
"Damn, you scared me, Tom. Boy, are you people in this country money-grubbers. Already want the rent for next month, right?"

The figure did not answer.

"Well, I guess you want to talk then?" Still no answer. A moan emitted, but it was inhumane. Rainier closed his briefcase after removing his saber. It was snapped in half, rendering it little more than a dagger with a fancy Valerian hilt. Stroganoff growled and barked. Without warning though, the figure began to lunge towards Rainier. Rainier's eyes widened in shock as he dodged the creature. Then, with all his strength he could muster, Rainier picked up the briefcase and gave the fiend a smack on the back. The thing crashed to the floor and muttered another moan. Rainier took no chances and quickly plunged the blade into the man's neck. A sickening black ooze flowed out on the floor. It smelled of rot, and it made Stroganoff utter a sign of discomfort.

Once he was certain this shambler did not move anymore, Rainier turned the creature over, face-up. It was the landlord, but he was also not the landlord anymore. His eyes were pale, devoid of life. Red liquid flowed out of his mouth. Fresh blood. Rainier turned back in slight shock: it was a zombie! He only heard of them in fantasy, but now they're real! And they're hungry! Rainier knew he had to try and escape the town as quick as he can... he cannot stay here.

With Stroganoff in tow, he headed for the apartment lobby. The saber was inbetween his belt and hip; he'll need it. He also carried his briefcase of valuables with him. Yet, what will await the Valerian?

Dodge Fenrick slowly combed his gray hair, in the mirror, as he drove down the freeway. A former military commander, Dodge had fought in the Second World War, rising to the rank of Colonel, commanding the Ranger detachment that participated in the Normandy beach landings. Decorated for heroism, Dodge was discharged after the war with excellent commendations. Dodge then returned to the states, working as an insurance sales agent, rising swiftly through the ranks, because of his optimistic, happy nature. By the time he was 70, Dodge had amassed a fortune of some US$500 million, enough for him to retire and begin his solo trip around the world.

Dodge's Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV sped down the freeway, moving at 65 mph. Dodge's vehicle arrived at the small town of Tappee (before the military set up the blockade). Nonchalantly, Dodge had parked his vehicle at the curb and exited the vehicle, heading for a nearby cafe. But Dodge could feel that something was not right. Maybe it was some sixth sense gained during his tour of duty during World War II or maybe it was just the goddamn awful stench that emanated from the cafe. Slowly and silently, Dodge moved towards the cafe entrance and peered inside. What he saw would be etched his mind forever... Several decaying beings that obviously had been in better times the townspeople were lumbering around, slamming into things and in general destroying the cafe.

Shocked Dodge, slowly backed away and ran for his vehicle, only to see two more fo these decaying creatures atop his worn SUV. Freezing, Dodge cursed his bad luck as he considered his options. Slowly, Dodge's hand moved to a small bowie knife hidden in his pantsleg. Moving quickly for his age, Dodge moved quickly towards the two zombies. With quick slashing moves, Dodge dismembered the first zombie with slashing cuts and kicked him in the head, sending the head flying, skills learned from practicing Akido for some thirty years. Next, Dodge roundhouse kicked the second zombie, his feet smashing through the decaying chest. Groaning in disgust, Dodge lashed out with his knife and began to strike into the exposed head. After several cuts, the head had been cut off. Removing his leg from the zombie, Dodge quickly dived into his SUV and immediately began to start it up. But suddenly a headless zombie slammed onto the windshield. Swearing colorfully, Dodge turned on his windshield wipers, smacking the zombie several times. Recklessly, Dodge started his SUV and drove at some 50 mph and then stopping suddenly, sending the zombie flying.

Wiping his head in elation, Dodge began to look around...

The base encampment that Major Fairbanks was using was a series of pre-built structures arranged around a series of helipads made from packed dirt and quick-dry cement. On each building, large pumps kept positive pressure, and air scrubbers kept the air clean. In the command geodesic dome, Lt. Drevol stepped from the decontamination antechamber into the main room. As he entered, he pulled a Marlboro from his pocket and placed it in his mouth. He flicked his Zippo and lit the cigarette, taking a drag.

In front of him, Major Fairbanks turned from his aide to face Drevol. “Ah, Lieutenant, you ready for the mission?”

“Always, sir.” Drevol blew the smoke into the air, only to have it whisked away by the artificial draft of the building. “Just hoping for more info before I deploy.”

Fairbanks nodded and grimaced at the cigarette. “Damn dirty habit, that.”

“Keeps the stress down, sir.”

Fairbanks snorted and continued. “Unfortunately, we know little. From the Black Hawk reports, the looting has started, and we’ve got mobs wandering around the city aimlessly. We’re thinking that the agent, Moonlight Shadow, has some sort of psychedelic effect, because these people are behaving very oddly.”

“Damn pussy name, sir.”

”Lethal as hell, Drevol, lethal as hell. And it was only one of the little toys being cooked up at the Romore Biolabs.”

“And that’s our job, to recover those toys.”

“Correct. We gave you the list.” Fairbanks pointed to the PDA Drevol carried. “Names, dates, locations. Everything you need to know.”

“I’ve looked over it. Lists of personnel that should be evacuated if they’re alive. Lists of personnel who should be liquidated if they’re alive. Records to be purged. Maps the labs, and locations of objectives. But what is this “Abaddon” virus?” Drevol pointed to the screen, under “Key-Objectives”.

Fairbanks glanced to make sure no Rangers were around. “That is Command’s real objective. Next-generation bioweapon, highly classified. They’ve been working on it for years, but it doesn’t seem to work right. Most of the research was done here, in the city. It needs to be recovered, just as much as Moonlight Shadow. Get a sample of each, and destroy the rest.”

“What about the final clean sweep and evacuation? Major Elliot is running that?”

“Just be out of the city when he says, Lieutenant. And, you should know, we’ve blanketed the city in jamming. We’ve left our frequency clear, and we’re keeping it encrypted. Landlines are cut, and we’ve got a blackout on satellite comms over this area. Don’t worry about them getting a signal out. They can’t.”

”Shit, sir.” Drevol inhaled sharply. He knew better than to ask any more questions, but the loaded words that Fairbanks had spoken rang a different tune in Drevol’s head. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light. “Yes, sir.”

Drevol saluted and turned on his heal, marching for the door. He put his Marlboro out on the back of his own hand, and then threw the butt into the disposal bin with a harsh motion. He pulled his mask back over his face as he prepared to re-enter the Hot Zone. From behind him, he heard Fairbanks call out, “Thomas!”

Drevol stopped and turned. “Yes, sir?”

“Take care out there.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Drevol emerged from the command dome and stepped into the fading light. Outside, a black Pave Low helicopter sat on the prepared pad, while two Comanches waited, flanking the large transport. With a whine and roar, the rotors began to warm up, whirling faster and faster in a series of rapid thuds as the blades smacked the air. Inside the open hatch of the Pave Low, Team Five waited, while Sergeant Cortez waited outside for the Lieutenant.

Drevol touched his gas mask, wishing he could get one more cigarette in before this job. He glanced up at the setting blood-red sun that seemed to stain the horizon as it vanished. The settling light, cut by the blades of the spinning rotors, was an image that would be burned into his mind for the rest of his life, and he watched that glimmer of light vanish. The night came quickly, enveloping the base and woods, and the town on the horizon. Few lights were on tonight.

Cortez ran in a crouch from under the blades. “Sir! We’re all set to move out.”

Drevol held his answer for a moment, watching even the purple after-glow of evening vanish into the blackness. He looked up at the cloudy sky. One thick cloud after another drifted in front of the moon, making the pale moonlight a sparse occasion. He glanced back to Cortez, “Easy run, tonight. Not much moonlight.”

“Aye, sir.”

Drevol chuckled. “Alright, Sarge, I can take a hint, we’ll get rolling.” He glanced at his watch. “Twenty-one, fifty-eight. You’re a little early.” He grinned behind his mask as he stepped aboard the waiting helicopter. He buckled down and called up to the pilots, “Ready!”

The crew chiefs looked them over and flashed thumbs-up to the cockpit, and the Pave Low lifted from the earth. The great black helicopter ascended into the night, and below it, the smaller Comanches followed, like mosquitoes buzzing around a raven. In the cabin, the two crew chiefs and the flight engineer manned the three M134 miniguns, while the two pilots controlled the cockpit. Twenty-four soldiers were strapped into the seats. There was no light in the cabin, and the cockpit had only a dim red glow from various instruments. All aboard wore tactical goggles under their gas masks, and the pilots flew by Night Vision and sensors alone.

The copilot called back, “Thank you for flying SOAR. Your captain tonight will be CWO Wilcox, and copilot will be WO Krieger. Your flight attendants will be Master Sergeant Grimes, Sergeant Masterson, and Sergeant Badeu.”

At this point, one of the crew chiefs waved nonchalantly. “The only in-flight meals will be C-rations, so take care. Tonight’s movie will be “Slaughterhouse Romore”, rated R for graphic violence.”

One of the Shrikes commented, “Damn it, why can’t we ever get one with excessive nudity?”

“Shaddup, Jones. Do you really want to see naked dead people? Cause that’s what we got here.”

There was a series of chuckles, and CWO Wilcox continued. “Please remember, this is a Silent Running flight, so please, no lights or excessive noise.” At this, the engine baffles kicked in, and the roar dropped to a murmur. The thump of the blades dropped to a muted smack as the blades tipped and exposed the dampening strips. The great helicopter now moved quietly against the sky, and ahead, the city was approaching.

Parts of the city were burning, and very few lights were on. Inky smoke rose against the dark sky as several Black Hawk helicopters banked through the city, panning searchlights through the mostly vacant streets, still broadcasting soothing messages. Corporal Jones leaned from the side of the Pave Low, glancing down into the devastated city. “Christ.” He stated through the muting of his gas mask, “There’s somethin’ wrong with my thermal imaging, L-T.”

Drevol glanced over. “What do you mean?”

“I see these people on NVG, but not on Thermal.” He pointed into the city below.

Drevol glanced out as well, and sure enough, there was a small group of people, shambling along the alley. He could see their forms in the green-lit NVG, but they didn’t glow through the thermal sensors. He leaned back into the cabin. “Okay, people, looks like the Thermal Imaging software has bugs, so don’t rely on it too much.” He glanced back into the darkness.

The pilot called back quietly, “Two minutes to target zone.”

Drevol nodded. “Okay, people, get ready. Weapons check.”

Around the cabin, the soldiers began to tighten the straps on their Kevlar and ceramic shock plates. There was the click of weapons being readied, and clips slipped into the assorted guns. Drevol tested the parabolic grenade launcher on his AG36, and it swung fine. He pulled a 40mm grenade from his vest and slipped it into the chamber, then swung the breech closed. Another motion, and the translucent clip popped into the receiver; this clip was taped to two more clips, bound by duct tape for easy change in battle. Around the cabin, the Shrike Team prepared, and the crew chiefs stayed on guard.

From below, there was little chance of spotting the triad of helicopters that rushed over the city. The moon barely peeked through to expose the black aircraft, and with all of the commotion below, who would have looked into the empty spots in the sky? Had they had the fortune to look up at just the right instant, they might have spotted the glimmer of motion. With enough concentration, they might have identified the glimmer as a helicopter. Had they possessed military training, they might have even identified the three silent runners. If they had, they would have known that the military was indeed coming into the city, but it was not to aide them…

The Biolab was rushing towards them, now, and Drevol tensed slightly. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light. The helicopter stopped in midair, swaying slightly. Wilcox called back, “Rigged in hover! Clear!”

Drevol closed his eyes for one last moment of calm, and then released his harness. At this, the entire squad unclipped their own, and the motion became a blur.

“Ropes!” Four ropes fell from the helicopter, snaking onto the roof of the biolab.

“Clamp!” Each of the members latched into the ropes.

Drevol smacked the ceiling with his hand. “Go!” The first four soldiers grabbed the ropes and kicked out, into the darkness. They vanished with a snap of the rope, and the sizzle of leather gloves on rope. “Go!” The next four vanished into the nothingness.

Below, the first members struck the ground, releasing the fast-rope and unclamping from it. They turned outward, forming a small perimeter. Their assault rifles drifted back and forth, and behind them came the impacts of more team members. With each landing, the perimeter expanded, with soldiers seeking cover and firing lines. With one last round of landings, the Team was ready. The ropes pulled back into the Pave Low, and the black helicopter vanished back into the night, circling high above.

Drevol glanced at the door into the building. “Let’s move.”

Apartments

MArk led to the back door. He grabbed the handle and turned, but it didn't open. "Damn thing's locked." He backed up a little and braced himself. A strong kick to the lock, and the door ripped free. He headed out into the night. Off in the distance, he could see smoke lit by a fire. Things were getting way out of hand around here.

He looked around the alley they had come into. It was completely devoid of people, alive or otherwise. They had to get to a car. They could head to the campus that way. That was the designated emergency gathering point. Everyone who lived here knew that. That's were people should be.

"Okay, we gotta be careful out here. As far as we know, the whole damned city is like this."

Student Records Building

Major Eliot nodded at the squads techy. The soldier wired his handheld computer into the key card lock. Running several cracking programs at once, he got the door to open. Two soldiers went in and swept the room. One gave the 'all clear' signal and the rest of the squad moved in. This room was where the student records were kept.

One of the Shrikes took off the pack he carried, and put it on the ground. He opened it, and removed the cover. Inside was a complicated device, and only the Major knew what it's true purpose was. The rest of the Shrikes were told it was to eliminate traces of the virus in the air.

One of the latest military weapons, this could vaporize 10 square miles of land instantly. No radiation, no side-effects. Just nothing. The Major knelt next to the device and punched in his code. When a light blinked green, he took off the key around his neck.

Inserting the key into the device, he turned it, and a large 'Armed' light flashed on. He hit a few more buttons, and closed the cover. This part of the mission was accomplished.

He gestured 'Clear Out' and they all left the room. Hacking back in, the tech locked the door, allowing absolutely no access. It would take at least 36 hours to open it again. The Shrikes moved out, unaware they had just killed 100,000 people, substantially more than they had ever done before.

OOC: Nobody knows about this. Not even the rest of the Shrikes.

Eastern Romore

The terrorist glanced back at the door, sweat running down his face. He had a huge gash in his side, from where one of those creatures had gotten him. He had barricaded himself inside this building a while ago, but they were almost to him.

He took off his vest, revealing the large amounts of SEMTEX he carried underneath. He spread it all out on a table, hastily rigging it together. He would take as many of those things with him as he could. He started laughing as he rigged in the detonator. He could be heard a block away when he pressed the trigger.

He was unaware of the large amounts of flammable chemicals stored in the building, but it wouldn't have been of any use to him anyways.

30 Feet Above Eastern Romore

SFC. Jennifer Mason was a little nervous. Sure she had killed before, but never civilians. But the mission had to go on. She looked out the window at the city. Fires could be seen, chaos everywhere. She looked down at the warehouse below her, just to see the roof explode.

Flames shot up, parts of the building colliding with the helicopter in mid-air. There were yells as the helicopter's tail was cut off and the helicopter went into a spin. She watched the ground fly at her, before blacking out as the copter hit the ground at high speed.

Don awoke from his rest to the sound of a very large, very loud blast. I earth shattering boom ripped through the pool hall, breaking all the windows and shattering all the glass in the hall. When Don looked up, thier was a gapping hole in the east wall, and further out was a smoldering crater, where the building that housed used chemicals from the old mines used to be.

"Shit" Don muttered under his breath, he was not prepared for this to happen, his fortress hall was no longer secure, he aready heard the moans of the Zombies coming for fresh meat.

He thought quickly, he looked around the room, and he got an idea, using Duct tape Larry aways kept under the bar, he fastened several large shards of broken glass onto a pool stick, satisfied he headed out.

As he was wandering the streets, looking for new shelter, he came apon a crowbar, ignoring the fact it was large and heavy, he picked it up, and was glad he did. Seconds later, a group of Zombies came after him, they charged at him and knocked him down, but before they could get any bites in, he hit the lead out with the crowbar, it cleared its head right off, but as the body fell on top of him, he realized it only pinned him down....

He was trapped now, screaming for some sort of help, he didn't hear the helicopters anymore, but maybe somebody in the city was still sane. He was fighting them off the best he could, but on a second swing, he missed and lost the bar down the street, and his spear was slowy getting reduced to it's stub. He was desparate now, he was screaming violenty for help, for anyone to save him, and he could only hope. Even if he did fend them off by himself, thier would be more waiting for him, and he would then be defenceless. So he was left their, pinned down by a dead zombie, and fighting off two more, he could only hope God had a plan for him.

If only he realized he was only blocks away from the campus, and saftey...

A blood-stained Crown Victoria rolled slowly down the streets of the city. The Police Interceptor's white paint was streaked with red, bits of flesh still clung to the fender where the driver had rammed several of the citie's former occupants.

'F**k "Protect & Serve"... That shit ends when someone tries to take a bite out of me...'

The occupant, Officer Dekker Bray, thought to himself as he turned a corner. His .40 Glock rested on his calf, half the clip spent. Brass casings littered the passenger seat, which had gone from grey to dark red pretty quickly after he'd shot his zombie-fied partner & kicked him out into the street with half of his head missing.

Dekker wasn't a man to be screwed with. Weighing a muscular 280 lbs & standing at 6'1", he cut an imposing figure. He'd become a cop a year or so after he'd retired from the military, first serving as a Marine, then as a SEAL in the Navy. The letters 'USMC' where still tattoo'd on his right shoulder, under the trademark Eagle & Anchor. His left bicep bore a likeness of the American flag. His blood type was inked into his left palm, as a precaution during his time as a fighting man.

He cruised the city, looking for surviviors. As an after thought, he activated his lights, keeping the siren off to maintain something of a low profile...

The door to the Biolab roof access was locked. It didn’t slow the Shrike team down at all. Cortez simply laid a strip of thermite across the latch and hit the ignition. With a flash and sizzle, the metal beneath turned red-hot, then white; it began to sag and dip, and then simply vanished as the door swung into the building lazily, then dropped from its hinges. Pools of melted steel began to cool on the floor, and the Shrike team entered.

Inside the stairwell, the lights were out, but for a few flickering bulbs and tubes. Specialist Carver raised his chemical “sniffer” and glanced at the PDA screen. He glanced back, “Air’s clean. No remaining agent.”

Drevol nodded and motioned. “Move on. Level four is our first stop.”

The team continued down the stairs, deeper into the building. As they got lower and lower, they began to find bullet holes in the walls, and there were blood smears on the metal gangways. Drevol glanced back to the squad, “Looks like some terrorists survived, after all. Be on guard.”

Cpr. Jones stopped, rubbing his leather gloved finger on the blood stain. “Sir, this is blood dust.”

“What?” Cortez asked. “What you talking about, Jonesy?”

The young soldier leaned his CAWS on his shoulder. “It’s not dried blood splatters. It’s like someone coagulated the blood and then ground it down and sprayed it on the floor.”

“That makes no sense.” Cortez stated. “Why would they do that?”

Drevol narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know, but the Corporal is right. Could be a contaminant. Keep your gloves on, people.”

The squad pushed on, checking each step of the way for a survivor. They reached the level four access, and Drevol pointed to the door. “Enter and clear!”

Cortez slammed his booted foot into the door, and Jones swung through, the CAWS swinging to pan the room. Behind him, Carter and Duval slid in, their G11 Assault Rifles covering different angles of fire. The squad quickly filed in. There was no resistance, for obvious reasons…

”Jesus Christ.” Someone whispered loudly, glancing across the heaps of bodies. This had been an office section of the complex, housing the data processing centers. Now, it was a charnel house. Bodies lay dropped on desks, people were slumped over their computers. A man was lying on a still running copy machine as it spat out macabre copies of his contorted face. A woman had collapsed in the elevator, and the doors opened and closed on her prone form. Everyone in this room had simply died where they stood, cut down by some unseen killer in the air system.

For all his years in the field, Drevol had never seen this. He had seen brutal massacres. He had orchestrated those same operations. But this was something new. Everyone here had simply died, death sneaking up behind all of them in seconds of each other, and cutting them down with disdain. The squad began to file through the room, looking for an access terminal.

“Well, it works.” Cortez stated in total understatement.

Drevol pulled a man from his desk, shoving the corpse to the side to access the computer. As he did so, his breath caught in his throat. From across the room, there were cries of shock and revulsion. These people had suffered some calamity as they died, and it had mutilated their bodies. Blood vessels bulged and had burst, their eyes were dilated blank holes. Their skin was gray and loose, and their limbs withered. Hair was falling out, and teeth were missing. It appeared they had been dead for months, not a day.

As Drevol moved the man, he noticed another fact. There was more blood dust on the desk, coming from the man’s mouth. “Squad, I found our dusters.”

Cortez called back, “But how did it get all over the hall? This makes no sense!”

In the corner, by the still running copy machine, Jones inquired. “Hey, any of you read “The Stand”? It was just like this. They all just died…” he paused. “Uh, L-T, in “The Stand”, gas masks didn’t help them…”

Drevol didn’t need this. Jones was an excellent soldier, and he shouldn’t be as affected by this. “Jones, are you having dreams of a Dark Man?”

“No, sir.”

“Then can it.” Drevol glanced back at the man on the machine. “And turn that damn thing off!” I shouldn’t be this bothered.

Jones killed the copier and looked back over the piles of bodies. From behind him, Carter stated, “Got the security terminal. It’s got battery power.” The Specialist threw the body in front of the glowing screen to the side and sat in the chair, connecting his PDA. Schematics of the building began to flash past, and Carter maneuvered through the code with swift efficiency.

Drevol stepped up behind him and glanced over his shoulder. “Status?”

The computer man responded from behind his mask. “Almost got it. Security system’s got this place bottled up tight on the lower levels… There.” He smacked the return key with a victorious flourish. “All doors unlocked and security disabled. Moonlight Shadow is Level Zero, Vault Two. Abaddon is Level Zero, Vault Three.” He tapped a few more keys. “Cameras are out down there, but there are no thermal readings.”

Drevol nodded. “Right. Good work.” He turned to the squad. “Duval, Jones, stay with Carter and get the data dump. Everyone else, we’re going to Level Zero.”

There was a series of acknowledgments, and most of the squad filed out. Carter slipped a gigabyte cable into a portable hard drive and then into the back of the computer. He tapped a few more keys, and the mainframe began to dump its contents. The task bar put the process at ten minutes.

Jones dropped onto the desk next to Carter, while Duval watched the room with cold precision. Jones asked, “Hey, how are you getting all that into the little drive?”

Carter shrugged. “Easy enough. I’m using one of those new holographic drives. It’s got exponentially more data per micron. This little baby can hold six terabytes.” He patted his whirring drive with pride.

Jones whistled. “Hey, put something on the speakers. Whada they got on here, anywho?”

Carter opened WinAmp and began to file through the playlist. With a wry glance back into the room, he clicked twice, and “Don’t Fear the Reaper” began to play softly. Duval scowled and commented, “Hey, kill it, man. This place gives me the creeps.”

Carter chuckled and reached to change the song, when he noticed his sniffer acting up. “What’s this?”

“What’s what?” Jones asked, gripping the CAWS a little tighter.

“I’m not getting just Moonlight Shadow or Abaddon traces in the air… I’m getting some sort of Chimera! It looks like a hybrid virus of sorts…”

“Well, Moonlight shouldn’t do that to people.” Jones pointed to the grotesque corpses.

Duval tipped his head. “But I thought Abaddon didn’t work?”

“I don’t know.” Carter stated. “Seven minutes left. Let’s just get this download and get the hell out of this place.”

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The door on Level Zero blew open with the force of carefully arranged Semtex explosives, and the Shrike Team erupted from the smoke, ready to put down any opposition. Again, there was none. Again, the bodies were their only greeting. In this level, though, the sniffer was going wild, reporting Moonlight, Abaddon, and the new Chimera strain.

As Drevol led his team through the halls, his radio crackled. “This is Jones. We’ve got some sort of hybrid virus in the air. Heads up.”

Drevol replied. “We’re seeing it, too. Thanks. Drevol, out.” He killed his transmission and glanced about the room he was in.

Ahead, Cortez was crouched over a body. “Hey, L-T, they didn’t all die at once…”

Drevol approached his Master Sergeant. “What do you mean?”

Cortez pointed to the situation before him. A single dead security guard lay on the floor, his M9 still in his hand. His flesh was ragged and torn, and there were chunks missing, as though something had bitten him. Drevol grimaced a little and looked down the hall a little further. There, three more bodies lay. Two scientists, and a civilian with an AK on his back, were laid out, chunks of their heads blown away by gunfire. That was a wound Drevol knew from experience. It was a 9mm wound. His gaze snapped back to the M9. “What the hell happened here, Sarge? Security guard, shooting his charges, who were working with terrorists? And he’s bitten! How did some animal get past the security?”

From behind him, there was the creak of a vault door being swung open, and three soldiers entered it. Across the hall, the exact same was happening. Drevol glanced into the first vault. On a lab table, several test tubes were sealed, and labels on the side read, “Moonlight Shadow”. Inside the tubes, a fine mist swirled. One of the soldiers picked a tube up carefully, while another opened an armored metal briefcase. The test tube was placed gingerly into a slot in the case, and then a series of layers was closed over it, to cushion and seal.

The soldiers closed the briefcase, and headed across the hall. In this room, there was a different sight. Most of the tubes were shattered, and there were several broken cages. “Looks like some rats got loose.” Someone stated as the soldiers scoured the room for a sealed vial.

“Got one.”

This test tube was loaded like the other, into another briefcase slot, and it was likewise sealed. The case was closed, the bolt thrown. Cortez pressed the “Seal” button, and a small ring of thermite flared for just a moment. The metal flashed and sagged, then began to cool. The case was no longer able to be opened without precision instruments, with the vials literally sealed inside a solid block of cold-pressed steel. Cortez glanced at the side, and flipped a small screen on. The readings were simple, a series of green lights, indicating perfect seal and intact cargo. “Got it, sir.” Cortez offered up the case to Drevol, who took it.

Drevol pulled a set of high tensile steel handcuffs from his pocket and clamped them on his own wrist, then clipped the other end to the case. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light. This case was his personal duty, and he would see it from the city.

He clicked his radio. “This is Drevol. We’ve got the package, and we’re on our way up. Status?”

“This is Carter. We’ve got two more minutes on the data dump. Jones and Duval planted the Semtex, and we’ll be ready when you get here.”

”This is Wilcox. We’re holding position, and we’ll lower when you reach the surface.”

“Good work, people. Let’s get out of here.” Drevol killed the channel and turned to leave, slinging his AG36.

Ahead, there was a sudden yelp. “Sir, look at this!” Jeffries called out.

Drevol looked over. “What is it, soldier?”

“Sir, I found what bit the guard.” Jeffries sounded sick, and when Drevol approached, so did he. On the floor, there was a body, with multiple bullet wounds from a 9mm, and chunks of flesh in the man’s mouth. “Sir?”

Drevol felt his lip twitch slightly as he tapped his radio. “Let’s pack it up and get the hell out.”

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Carter watched the download click towards complete with a bored expression, mindlessly playing solitaire, while Jones and Duval appreciated each other’s handiwork, remarking on how well the mainframe looked, coated in two inches of Semtex. Duval was explaining how they should build little snowmen from the plastique when he froze.

“Hey, you alright?” Jones asked.

“Yeah.” Duval shook his head. “It’s just… I swear that the body wasn’t by the door when we came in.”

Jones glanced back at the open door, and at the corpse in front of it. His reply was quick and breathy. “There wasn’t. I would have stepped on that thing.” He paused. “Carter!” he called out. “Look at the door. That corpse wasn’t there!”

Carter turned from his game of solitaire. “Sure wasn’t.” His voice was tense. “I think something’s still alive here.”

From the stairwell, there was a slight shuffling thump, and the three soldiers glanced at each other. Three weapons snapped into placed, and they gathered at the computer. Jones stated, “Listen, you two stay here. I’ll go check it out.” He patted the CAWS.

Duval nodded, tensing on his G11. “Careful.”

Carter nodded his assent, glancing back at the download.

Jones pumped the shotgun once, and then began to pace forward. Each of his steps landed softly, with catlike grace. It was a predator’s pace, and Jones was ready for anything. He reached the doorframe, and pressed to the right side, looking left. Nothing. He switched. Nothing. With a burst of motion, he swung into the stairwell, swinging the gun from side to side, then up and down. Nothing. “The hell?” he asked himself.

Back in the room, Carter saw the download click over. “Got it.” He stated, pulling the plug. He dropped the holodrive into an armored case, and picked it up with one hand, holding his UMP in the other. “Let’s get out of- Duval?” The other man was several feet away, staring into the darkness.

“I swear I saw movement.”

”Come on, let’s blow this shit.”

“Right.” Duval began to step back. “Just my imagi-“ his statement ended in a scream and a spray of automatic fire. The caseless G11 had a particular flash due to the hex ammo, a jet of blue instead of orange. With the blue muzzle flash, Carter saw the horrific features of something not quite human. It slashed down with its hand-claw, and Duval was split in two, the G11 clattering to the ground.

“Fu<k!” Carter screamed, hoisting the UMP. The .45 caliber submachine gun snarled, striking the thing in the chest, and it fell back. Carter spun to run, but something lunged from the ground to catch his leg-

One of the “dead” office workers held his leg with its withered hand, and it sunk its teeth into his leg. Carter screamed and fired the UMP into the thing’s head, and pulled his bloody leg free. “Holy shit! Jones! Get in-“ Another thing came from the darkness and plowed into him, sending the UMP clattering off into the darkness. Tens of them descended upon him with snarls. Carter screamed as his flesh was stripped from his bones, but the scream became a gurgle, and then nothing.

In the doorway, Jones stared stupidly, his mouth agape. The things were hurling pieces of Carter and Duval in all directions, and they were turning to him, now. He felt terror in his soul, but there was something else. “Oh, fu<k, no!” The CAWS racked, and he raised it to his shoulder.

The CAWS was the H&K Close Assault Weapons System, an automatic 12 gauge shotgun, fed by brass shells with explosive loads. It had been dismissed by the military as “too dangerous” for normal use. But it proved its worth in this instant. The things began to rise to face Jones, and his eyes narrowed. The CAWS spoke.

The first thing was hurled in all directions, its chest exploding. The next lost its head. The one after caught a shell in each leg, then finally met the chest shot. The shotgun roared again and again, pitching the things back and apart, splattering their rotting guts in all directions. Jones snarled and advanced, using the CAWS as his staff, parting the sea. The gun fell silent.

Smoke curled from the barrel, and Jones slapped another twenty round box into place. Blood dust drifted through the room, and parts of bodies were scattered through the room. Jones kicked a limb from his path, grabbed the armored holodrive case, and backed from the room. He tapped his radio. “Lieutenant, we got a big problem.”

“What?”

“Carter and Duval are dead. Sir… they were killed by zombies.”

”Jones, are you alri-“

”Sir! The bodies came to life, and ripped them apart! I would suggest getting the fu<k out of there, now!” There was a clatter on the stairwell. “Shit! More of ‘em! I’m going topside!” Jones racked the CAWS again and glared defiantly upwards, as he began to climb.

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Drevol lowered the radio. Cortez glanced at him. “Sir? You buy it?”

Drevol swallowed a bit of bile that tried to rise in his throat. “I don’t know… but…” he pulled his Mk23 SOCOM from its holster and moved the slide. He called out. “We’ve got a problem. Jones says the corpses aren’t corpses. Start putting bullets in them as you go.”

Jeffries asked him. “Sir, what do you mean?”

Drevol aimed the SOCOM at the nearest body, and blew the thing’s head clean off with a single .45 ACP. “Like so.”

The men glanced about. This was insane. But, they had sent he bodies below, with the flesh in their mouths, and they trusted Drevol… Guns began to cough at sporadic intervals as the team pulled back.

They were two junctions from the stairs when they heard the moaning. “What the-“ Jeffries got out before the glass next him shattered. Five zombies spilled through, and the burst of AG36 fire was cut short by a bloodcurdling scream.

“Holy shit!” Drevol screamed, firing the SOCOM offhanded. Three shots caught his target in the chest, but it simply turned and began to advance on him. The SOCOM coughed again and again through its suppressor, but the zombie ignored the eruptions of blood dust from its chest as it closed. Drevol shifted his aim, and put two in its head. The thing toppled back, limp. “Aim for the head!”

The hallway was filled with gunfire. The snarl of AG36s, the blue crash of G11s, and the stutter of UMPs turned the corridor into a cacophony, and the walls flickered with the flashes, interrupted only by the roar of the CAWS. The zombies disintegrated under the wave of fire, and the squad began to reload. Cortez demanded to no one, “What the fu<k is this? I didn’t sign up for this shit!”

I will walk in darkness so you may have the light. The creed was soothing to Drevol, but only slightly. Fear was creeping into his mind, a foreign emotion to this cold soldier. “Double time it!”

The soldiers need no encouragement, and they were nearly sprinting to the stairwell. Behind them, the moaning began again, rising louder and louder. Drevol turned around to see, out of morbid curiosity, and his legs froze. A wall of the things was shambling forward. They were in varying states of decay, and many were missing arms. Drevol could only watch, dumbly, as they advanced. From behind him, he could hear his squad calling for him. There was a ka-thunk, and a bolt sailed over his shoulder, streaking into the horde. The explosion of the 40mm incendiary grenade shook him from his stupor as the center of the mass burned in horrid screams.

He spun, seeing Cortez close the breech on the parabolic launcher. The two began to run, even as the inhuman wave behind them recovered. They hit the stairs at a full sprint, booted feet clanging from steel, breath huffing. Drevol pulled a fragmentation grenade from his vest and armed it, dropping it down the shaft. Below, the explosion was echoed by the tormented wails that made every man shudder.

Above, the door on Level Eight opened with a crash, and three ragged forms stood there. One soldier was smacked with the falling door, and she crashed back into the two behind her, as the zombies reached for them. Their screams ended in blasts of gunfire from their comrades, and they jumped the mangled bodies of their fellows as they ran for their lives. More zombies were stumbling into the stairs now, and each level was a brutal shootout.

There were cries among the lead soldiers now. “I’m out!” Rang clear, and was followed by a bellow of pain and terror. There was a crunching noise, and a limp body plunged down the side of the shaft. Drevol watched it fall and saw the mass below descend upon it. Oh, my God. I’m going to die here. “No!” he screamed aloud. “Keep pushing! Frag and clear!”

Grenades bounced into the Level Eight doorway, one after another. The entire building seemed to shake, and the horde emerging seemed to pause for a moment. But that was enough, and the Shrike Team charged up another level. They reached Level Ten, and the open door…

The lead soldiers charged through. Right into another battle zone.

On the roof, six Shrikes, the rear guard, were fighting another mass of zombies that were emerging from another exit. Drevol staggered onto the roof, the last man out. He screamed to two of the soldiers, who were manning an MG3, “Get over here! We’ve got the fu<king army coming up this shaft!”

The two gunners swiveled the powerful machine gun on its bipod, pointing towards the door. The MG3 was the direct descendant of the MG42 machine gun used by Nazi Germany in WWII, and it proved its heritage in this moment. Instead of cutting down Allies assaults, it blazed against the sea of the undead, putting a wall of lead into the doorway.

The bodies were stacked like cordwood now, piling thick and oozing. But more were clawing through the MG-made dam, emerging to press on. Davis and Harrigan kept the fire pouring from the MG3, while the other Shrikes held off the zombies on the roof. Drevol was screaming into his radio, “Wilcox! We need evacuation, ASAP! We’ve got a firefight up here! With the God damn undead! Get the fuck over here!”

”We need a clear space! Give us forty seconds!”

”I need that yesterday, Wilcox!” Drevol holstered his pistol and pulled the AG36 from his back. The assault rifle snarled, and the grenade launcher coughed. The wall was shaking, but still coming. To his left, Riggs raised a M27 semi-auto grenade launcher, and began to lay fire into the horde. From the mass, a sudden motion cut out, spearing Riggs in the chest. The grenade launcher pointed to the sky, lobbing three rounds into the city proper, where they exploded in the darkness. Drevol blinked twice, as he saw what was attached to this lance… it was a tongue, from some creature in the mob. He fired his AG36 again, switching to the third clip by now, and the thing fell back…

The horde was closing, and at the door, the MG3 clattered empty. “Out!” Davis screamed, pulling his MP7 out and opening fire. Beside him, Harrigan followed suit. Another tongue flashed from the doorway, and Harrigan was bisected in a spray of blood and bone. Davis saw his friend cut to pieces and froze for a second, then began to run from the MG position.

Overhead, there was a sudden rush of wind, and the quiet clatter of rotors. With a sudden, brilliant burst, the roof was hit with the roar of a 7.62mm M134 minigun. The gun sliced back and forth across the hordes as the Pave Low hovered, and a crew chief called with a bullhorn, “Get on!”

The Shrikes began to fall back in a hasty retreat, hauling each other onto the hovering helicopter. Drevol was the last one on, again, and he barely hit his seat when the Pave Low roared up, into the night sky. Below, the battle-scarred roof was still visible. There was tremendous shriek, and a wall of yellow lances hit the building-

The explosions jolted the helicopter, and blinded anyone watching the blast. The two Comanche helicopters flashed over the building, their cannons blasting, and their rocket pods folding back into their stealth skin. A tremendous secondary explosion billowed into the sky, hurling chunks of concrete and steel over the city, as the Semtex laden computer core detonated. Drevol glanced over the cabin, spotting Jones. “You got the data?”

”Yes, sir!” Jones hoisted the armored and sealed case.

“Good! Wilcox, get us the hell outta here!”

“Roger that!” The Pave Low tipped forward slightly, flying away from the Biolabs. Wilcox was speaking into the radio, “This is Talon One. We have the Packages, and we are outbound. ETA, ten minutes. Command, we’ve got a situation here, it looks like we’ve got some sort of zombie-type reaction running amok. From what we’ve seen, it’s fluid-born-”

There was a sudden motion, and something dark moved through the cabin.

“Fu<king crow!” someone bellowed, enraged at this final insult. But it wasn’t right-

The crow turned its red eyes through the compartment, and Drevol felt fear return. It’s a zombie. Oh, fu<k, it’s a zombie. The bird swooped into the cockpit and dove into Wilcox’s lap, attacking the pilot. It snapped at his skin, moving under his helmet and snatching at his eyes.

“Shit! Shit! Get it off!” Wilcox was screaming, trying to get the bird free, but it was under his helmet, and blood was now flowing from his mask. Wilcox managed to rip the helmet free, and bat the bird away, exposing his mauled face. The crow swung into Krieger, who managed to get his MP7 free. The PDW snarled, and the rounds stitched the undead bird, but the shots also punctured the roof, embedding in the rotor gears.

The rotor performance changed, and the Pave Low suddenly dipped to the right, swerving without warning. The helicopter dipped dangerously close to the building tops, and jerked back into the air, but the tail struck a wall as it cleared. The Pave Low seemed to right itself for moment, regaining altitude-

The tail shook apart, and the rotor ripped clean, shrapnel striking the fuel tank-

Deprived of its secondary rotor, the helicopter began to spin horribly, twirling about like some unholy gyro, throwing everyone to the side of the cabin. Krieger was screaming into the radio now, “This is Talon One! We are going down!” Fuel was spraying from the tanks, a burning mist that scoured the sky-

In the cabin, Davis was still trying to get buckled when the spin began, and he was hurled to the side. He grabbed the minigun mount, his feet swinging over the dizzying cityscape that rushed past, closer and closer. Drevol grabbed his soldier’s hand, but his own straps gave out, and both of them were flung into space-

One strap held, and Drevol was dangling over empty space by a loop on his foot, with Davis barely clinging on-

Another soldier was hurled clear, and the minigun was activated, spewing lead across the town-

The strap broke, and Drevol felt himself fly, just for a moment. The dark surface was rushing towards him, and he tried to shield his face-

The helicopter smashed into the ground, the main rotor flinging clear to pinwheel down a street, smashing cars and trucks, only to embed itself into a store. The main body slammed into a substation, and the generators flared brightly. The body crumpled, and a fiery blast scoured the sky. Secondary eruptions followed as the generators in the substation gave out, sending the city’s power down in a sudden cascade-

There was darkness.

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Drevol broke the surface of the water with a gasp of pain. He opened his eyes and ripped his mangled gas mask from his face. Where am I? He was floating in some sort of reservoir, and he was in a city…

There was a fire on the shore, and he could smell smoke- Chopper! My squad! He tried to move, but his chest hurt. Just bruised ribs, or I’d be dead. He dragged himself to shore, towards the wreck. His leg gave out, and he collapsed onto the concrete.

He lay there, gasping in pain, partially surrounded by the flames. Oh God, it hurts. He grimaced and pushed himself to his feet. You are a Shrike! He looked at his hand, and the case was still clamped there. Good. You must get that to base. He dug through the wreck and the bodies, searching for the holodisk. There! he grabbed the case.

From behind him, there was a shuffling noise. “No!” he screamed, clawing for his gun. There was nothing there. He looked down, shoving a hot piece of metal away from a G11. But the G11 was mangled beyond use, and the noise was closer-

There! Drevol grabbed the first object he saw, a simple flare gun. He whirled and fell to his left knee, raising the flare gun like a pistol. Thunk The phosphorous flare smashed into the zombie, hurling it back down. The flare burst into white flame, and the zombie’s rotting flesh was engulfed in seconds. It fell, shrieking to the ground. He shoved the flare gun into his belt and continued to scavenge.

It took him twenty minutes, but he had recovered everything he could. A Mk23 SOCOM, with five shots and no suppressor; a K-bar knife; my Zippo and cigs; a flare gun and no flares; a backpack; and a busted ass radio. Plus, a briefcase on my wrist and a holodisk in the pack. He tried to turn on the radio, but the signal was washed in noise.

One last Black Hawk roared over, panning its lights across the crash, but Drevol knew it wouldn’t land. It couldn’t. Only the Shrikes were to enter the city. The others would have to be killed if they did. They won’t be coming for us. We don’t exist. I have to get out myself. He glanced at his small arsenal, and tried to plan his route. I can’t simply walk to the blockade. The Rangers don’t know me, and they’re under kill orders. After that last transmission, other Shrikes will come, but they will be careful, cautious. Drevol glanced at the case on his wrist. This is my guarantee. They can’t do anything to this city without the samples and the data. The Biolab is gone. They need these. As long as I have them, my survival is paramount. In the distance, the moaning of the zombies began, closing on the crash site. I need to go now. He readied the SOCOM and began to hike. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light. Now, more than ever, Drevol clang to that creed. I will succeed. I must.

Meh, I'm not gonna be able to write up a decent RP for a while. I might have to pull out. :(

Piece of crap PC.

Darkness slowly grew into light as consciousness returned. The sounds of moaning, and crying crept into her mind, as the haziness began to disappear. Moving joints sent searing pain rushing through her body, as her eye flicked open, causing her head to explode, her hand moving quickly to her forehead, feeling the already growing bump.

Struggling to sit up, it took a moment for her to recall what had happened, the noises of people in pain quickly brought realisation to her. She groaned as her body finally reached her desired position. She ran her eyes over her surroundings, and found herself lodged in between the back seat and the one in front, where she could just make out the form of the old lady. She couldn’t see down the length of the bus, but it didn’t take a genius to work out that it was lying on its side.

Giving herself the once over, checking for any serious injury, Maddy assessed that she had come away lightly with only a few cuts and bruises, but that didn’t stop her whole body protesting when she eased herself onto her feet. I’m going to pay for this tomorrow. She stretched her body, trying to rid it of some of its stiffness.

As soon as she was standing, she bent over the seat to check on the condition of her fellow passenger. She grimaced as she saw the angle that the woman’s head was in, it didn’t take a qualified doctor to know that the woman was not going to wake from her sleep, but she manoeuvred herself until she could confirm it by checking her pulse. She ran her fingers over the woman’s eyes, closing them.

Righting herself, she felt suddenly nauseous, her head spinning slightly as she grabbed the back of the chair to steady herself. I can’t help her, but perhaps I can be some assistance to someone. She knew that travelling down the bus was going to be difficult, and would involve a lot of climbing. Sighing, she looked up to see where the next victim was positioned.

Before she could move, a high pitched scream filled the interior of the bus, causing her eyes to be drawn to the entrance, and in an instant, Maddy wished that she hadn’t. The owner of the scream was fighting off the attentions of a young man, but even from this distance it was obvious that his intentions were not amorous. The man’s skin was paling, and there was an odd look about him, he reminded Maddy of the woman they almost hit. Her gaze was fixed as the man opened his mouth, and ripped through the woman’s throat, her cries for help cut off.

“What the…?”

Turning away from the sight, bile rising causing her stomach to churn, Maddy caught sight of movement through the back window. Help had arrived. She sighed relieved, but it didn’t last, as the appearance of the newcomers matched that of the man feasting on one of the other passengers.

“F*ck!”

There was only one thing to do, she couldn’t remain in the bus, but she also couldn’t leave through the main door. For the second time in the day, she was grateful she had chosen to sit at the back of the bus, as above her head was the emergency exit. It was the only way out, the fact that it was also pretty much out of reach didn’t take long to dawn on her either. Casting another glance at the approaching people from the back of the bus, and the cries of horror from the other passengers, Maddy knew this was her only chance.

Climbing precariously on the back of her chairs, using the gaps as foot holes, she manage to reach the handle of the door, pulling it free of the catch, pushing upwards. Releasing her hold, she let the door rest unlocked as she gathered her strength to push it open, knowing that it was going to some effort. But whether it was fear for her life or luck on her side, she pushed as hard as she could, forcing the door up and open, almost falling backwards off the seat. Climbing down, she grabbed her bag that was lying on the floor and with once last look at the situation fought to drag herself up the seats and out of the bus.

Sitting on the top of the bus, she crouched down gasping in some air, her eyes instantly surveying, her mind already working out her best course of action. She could hear the strange moaning of the people moving towards the bus, could see the look of hunger in their eyes.

What is this…?

She just managed to stop from pinching herself in case she was actually in some kind of nightmare, sure that she would wake shortly to find herself curled up on the backseat of the bus, but her aching body and the cooling breeze on her skin convinced her otherwise.

Looking about her, she knew that her best option was to aim for the inside of the department store they had ploughed into. There was probably someone inside who could help, and if not, there were plenty of other exits which she could leave by. Once out, she would report to the nearest police station, and leave the situation in their more than capable hands.

Moving over the length of the bus, walking carefully not to stand on the windows, her gaze was drawn to the mass of twisted bodies and strewn luggage, her eyes catching several of those silently begging for assistance from within. But she knew that the only way she could help them, was by seeking assistance from others. Passing over the front of the bus, she averted her eyes so as not to witness the gruesome sight of that poor woman, not that she needed to see it again for the nauseous feeling to arise.

Looping the strap of her bag over her head and arm, Maddy glanced about her, the area was quiet, which was strange considering the fact that there was a vehicle lying in a shop window. Bracing herself, she lowered herself quietly to the floor, and as soon as she felt her feet on solid ground, she took off into the store, not even looking back to see if anything was following.

.:Bump:.

Join people!

Cap walked through the door into Bob's Sporting Goods store

“I hope they have what i need here” he muttered

He walked slowly into the store, keeping his eyes open for any of those abominations, it was quiet, the lights were on, the intercom played Bye Bye Miss American Pie but, this place was deserted, no beeping from cash registers, no sales associates walking about, no chatting costumers, nothing, devoid of life, a moaning in the distance, well, devoid of human life that is

okay, mental checklist
-scoped rifle, preferably a 30.06, Remington would be nice...got to have a good scope though....i can use iron sights worth a shit...needs a strap too
-Maybe a shotgun...if i can find a small enough one...i can put the rifle across my back....and carry the gun.....
-Ammo, as much as i can carry
-food, MRE's if they got em,
-Water, should be able to raid a cooler near here, grab some Aquapure or something, don't want to drink from the faucets
-A camping backpack, to carry this crap
-a lantern and propane refills, maybe i can improvise them as incendiary grenades too....
-shreds of clothes and bottles
-A lighter, preferably a Zippo
Thats all i can think of

Cap set out to complete his shopping list

He went right to the hunting department, and there, in the case, where all the rifles he could ever need.

The song switched to Paint it Black

Taking his laptop bag, he smashed open the case, and grabbed for a bolt action Remington 30.06 hunting rifle, going to the next case and breaking it, he took a simple, pump-action, 8 shot Winchester Shotgun, grabbing as much ammo as he could, and a hunting vest a floppy hat he walked back out of the department....just iin time to hear a distant explosion and see a plume of fire shot into he sky nearby, promptly the building was plunged into darkness

fu*k

More pressing than that, though, was the 10 or 11 zombies which had come out of nowhere, a rather annoying trait they posses, and we're bearing down on him.

oh shit...this is it...imma fu*cking die he thought wishing desperately stores kept loaded shotguns on display

No sooner had that though entered his head then something odd happened, the front window of the store smashed in, and whirling metal blades spun into the room, dicing the incoming horde, Cap dove back into the alcove, and set to work loading his shotgun, in case any more of those Zombies arrived. He gt back up, dusted himself off, and peeked back out, there was one zombie crawling free, Cap walked up to it, and blew its head off with the shotgun.

He continued on collecting his things, and finally had all that he needed

He left via the back door, and walked down the street, shotgun at the ready, he cam to a patrol car, inside,e was a SPAS 12....Cap took the butt of his gun and hammered the window, over and over, it refused to give, and the doors were locked

go fu*king figure he thought

After blasting many zombies, he finally found what he was looking for, a nice, 4 story building overlooking a main intersection, he went inside, found it deserted, moved up to the 3rd floor, opened the door, used a dresser to barricade it, searched the apartment, and finally and propped himself up in the window with his rifle

Bang

A zombies head pops

Bang

Another one bites the dust

So Cap sating, hoping some humans would come along, until then...

Bang

Donny, weak from shouting, had fought off the Zombies....

Well, not exactally fought off, a loud explosion in the distance drew them off, proboly a larger car accident.

He needed to get to shelter now! If he wandered the streets anymore, he would end up looking like the walking dead that were stalking him. His glass tiped pool cues were in fragments now, so he walked over to the ajacent car and picked up his lost crowbar.

He was deciding where to go, deturmining the Student Center wasn't safe, since that's where all the Zombies were coming from.

It was then when he heard the Sniper shots, coming from the direction of the Apartment complex a few blocks away.

After a quick sprint, not wanted to encounder another group of Zombies, he entered into the building. He didn't know where to go from there, if there was someone in here, they had been very carefull not to disturb the existing mess, he must've been on another floor.

Not wanting to go searching in the dark, he decided to get the Apartments occupant come to him.

"Help!! Anyone! Is anybody in here! I don't know what the hell is going on! I need help!"

After locking the main doors on in the lobby, and the bakc doors to make sure his yelling didn't attract any Zombies from the outside.

After he was sure he was fairly safe, he continued his yelling, hoping to draw out the building occupant, if there was one.

Helicopter Crash Site

Jen slowly opened her eyes. She looked slowly around, checking her surroundings. Everyone in the helicopter was dead, except for her. He tried standing up, but a sharp pain shot through her leg. She looked down and found a piece of shrapnel sticking out of her thigh. She grimaced and looked for the med kit.

She found it under the body of another Shrike, and slid it towards her. She opened it up and began to tend to her wounds. She sprinkled a coagulant into the wound, and felt the bleeding stop. Once it had stopped, she wrapped her thigh with gauze.

Finding a sniper rifle that had had the grip and firing mechanizm torn off in the crash, she propped herself up on her crutch. She checked the SOCOM in her holster, finding it had full ammo. But she didn't have any clips, nor could she find any in the helicopter. She looked at the bodies.

"Eric's missing...." She looked around for her squadmate. "Eric! Are you here?" No answer. He must have taken all the other weapons and ammo with him.

"Bastard."

Bang

This one a miss, the Zombie stumbled off in the direction of the shots ricochet

bang

The 2nd shot took it in the back, dropping it

Cap had found a CD boom box and batteries in the apartment, and he was listening to a random mix CD that was in it, the current song was: The Coming Curse by Iced Earth,

Godamn irony hr thought

He had it blasting, you could most likely hear it through out the building, he was sort of hoping it would attract huamns....or more zombie targets, whatever

Cap had also found a flood light in the apartment next to him, he rigged it up in the window of the neighboring apartment, pointing up, so that the beam blazed into the night sky. He'd also found a strobe light a floor up, and also rigged it up to flicker out the window, this, plus the music, he hoped, would attract people, he knew only in groups would they have a chance

“Help!! Anyone! Is anybody in here! I don't know what the hell is going on! I need help”

Holy Mother of God...its a freaking human thought Cap excitedly

“Hang on” he called, hoping the man could hear him, Cap grabbed his shotgun and un-barricaded the door, he made his way down the sitars, he came to the lobby to find a lone man, looking beat as hell, bleeding from several small cuts...No teeth marks, thank god

“Hello, i, ummm, i am so frickin happy to meat you.” said Cap

The song switched, now playing: Guns and Roses, Welcome to the Jungle

“Oh for Christ Sake!” he muttered

“Well, come on, you can have an apartment all to yourself” a lopsided grin “or, we can all hole up together, im going to go back to sniping, gotta keep this road clear, hopefully, we can gather some people, and make a break for it.” said Cap

He went back upstairs

Bang

Left, right, left, right… Lt. Thomas Drevol repeated these words to himself, over and over, using them as a metronome to his pace. In that steady rhythm, he was able to find solace in the charnel house this city had become. I will walk in darkness so you may have the light.

To his right, the river waited. It did not flow, for the military had dammed it up downstream, to prevent contamination, but it sat, stagnating. A form floated by, bloated and disfigured. Drevol simply gave it a cursory glance and kept his steady pace. Ahead, more buildings were burning, and he could hear the cries in the distance. God, I hate this city.

He kept his determined, regulated pace, and he approached a bridge over the river. On the banks, two figures rose. They had been bums, and they were now undead bums, and they didn’t want money. With an icy glare, Drevol’s Mk23 rose and fired twice. Two heads popped with the impact, and Drevol lowered the weapon. You killed my men. He disgustedly kicked the headless bodies from his path and contemptuously walked past. Three shots left.

Overhead, a Black Hawk roared past. The loudspeakers were still blaring, “This city is under quarantine! Do not attempt to flee the city! Help is coming!”

Drevol threw back his head and laughed loudly. The helicopter’s light panned onto him, and he called up to it, “Bullshit! Oh, and you can lose the gas masks! The virus isn’t airborne anymore!”

There was a pause, and Drevol could imagine the crew chief debating with the pilots. The voice boomed back to him, “There is no virus!”

Drevol laughed almost hysterically and kept walking. Around the corner, attracted by the noise, a decomposing dog came charging and snarling for him. Again, the SOCOM rose and coughed, and the dog flipped over, onto its back. He sighed and called up to the Black Hawk, “You chair-force boys want to make that minigun useful?”

There was a simple reply. “Uhh…” and the helicopter banked away, heading for a less contesting individual.

“Stupid fu<king grunts.” Drevol snarled. Two rounds. He marched forward into the city. I need to find a radio or television station. Maybe I can boost a signal through the jamming, and get an evac.

On the river, a burning yacht was floating past, illuminating the corpses around it, bobbing in the water. And I thought Cleveland was bad. With a snort at his own humor, he started hiking again. In the light of the burning boat, Drevol spotted a body on the road, lying in a pile of wreckage. Is that one of mine?

Drevol cautiously approached the body. Indeed, it was PFC Davis, lying facedown on the cement, his guts streaked across the street for a good twenty meters, a bloody streak through the turning lane. “Poor bastard.” Drevol muttered as he bent to pick up Davis’s G11. As he knelt, Davis seemed to shudder a little. He’s been bitten. Drevol calmly pulled his SOCOM, and then, using his boot, flipped Davis’s body over.

The dead Shrike sat bolt upright with a snarl, lunging up to tear flesh from his former commander. But Davis’s forehead was stopped by a waiting circle of cold steal, his lunged stopped by the barrel of the SOCOM. The zombie’s eyes crossed on the gun, and Drevol smiled. “Good night!”

BANG

Davis’s head exploded like a melon, and the body flipped back down. Drevol stripped the G11 from the corpse, as well as the man’s SOCOM ammo. One G11, three clips. Four .45 clips. Two flares. Another busted ass radio. Drevol shrugged and stood back up, holstering the Mk23 in favor of the G11 assault rifle. He leaned against a pole and restacked the clip in his pistol. As he pushed the last round into the double stack, he heard music begin to drift over the town. Some heavy metal. Don’t know the song, but it sounds pretty depressing. Christ! It’s about the coming antichrist! He murmured to himself, “Fu<king A.”

Still, if there’s survivors in the city besides myself, that improves my odds. Strength in numbers. He began to head for the music. Note to self: don’t tell them that they’re already dead. He pondered that thought. You know, they ought to get amnesty for surviving this shit. Maybe I can get them simply quarantined? Nah. He continued to trudge forward.

As he hiked, he spotted a department store, with a city bus plowed through the side. He chuckled to himself, noting the fact that a sign nearby stated clearly, No Parking. He glanced at the store. Maybe I can get some bottled water to drink, some food, and some ammo. Or gasoline! Ooh! Gasoline! He grinned slightly, a devious glint in his cool eyes. Oh, gasoline, how I love you so.

As he climbed through the new entrance the bus had made, he noted a footprint in the grime. Unlike most prints in this God-forsaken town, this one was clean, like a planted step, not the dragged shuffle of the zombies. Someone survived the crash. Glancing about, he noted the presence of other, more staggering, prints. And they’re either dead or running like hell by now. He cocked the G11 and flipped the safety off, heading into the store.

He moved carefully and quietly, in a low crouch. As he moved into the store, he heard noises from up ahead, in the automotive department. He slipped up to the end cap and peeked into the aisle. A single woman, a little younger than him, was fending off three zombies with a bag and a stick. That’s not going to work. The G11 rose to his shoulder, and he flicked it over to three-round burst. He drew the 4x scope to his eye, held his breath, and opened fire.

The gun snarled, and three 4.73mm caseless rounds salvoed from the barrel in a single blue blast, the clip reciprocating parallel to the barrel. He didn’t feel the recoil until the third round was clear, and then his aim was already changing. The gun roared again, three shots sounding like a single round, and the second zombie was thrown down. The gun swung to the side, and the blue fire lanced again, carving the last target down with ease. He lowered the smoking assault rifle and glanced at the corpses, then to the woman in the aisle.

He put on his best impression of John Wayne and stated calmly, “Howdy, ma’am. It looks like you might need assistance.”

Sewer Exit

Gene pulled himself up out of the hole. He looked down, really freaked out. They had run into some military down there. They just came around a corner and started firing. Gene ducked out of the way, but the terrorist he was with was damn near vaporized by the hail of gunfire.

Gene had scrambled away through a pipe, and eventually came out somewhere near the east side of town. He was knocked out as an explosion or something happened almost directly above him.

He woke up when he heard some noises. He stood up, and looked back in the pipe he had come through. It was the terrorist. Gene freaked out as the bullet-ridden body crawled towards him, and he ran off.

He finally found a manhole he could remove, and pulled himself out.

He looked around, glad to be above ground. They had been down there for more than a day. God he was tired.

He looked around, hoping to find some help, but was dismayed at the sight around him. Fires everywhere, the night sky was completely covered by illuminated smoke. He spotted the gutted remains of an old warehouse that was issuing forth most of the smoke in this neighborhood.

He looked around and saw a helicopter crash. He could see more of those soldiers in it, all dead.

He started to look away, when he saw movement. A soldier was alive. He pulled himself out and ran to a nearby building. He looked at the soldier. She was pretty. Really pretty. But she would still try to kill him.

He slunk into the building, oblivious to the strange lack of people.

Back of the Apartments

Mark was busy trying to start up the car. Sam was keeping watch for any creatures, but the street was clear. He tried hotwiring once again.

"Come on....."

The Campus

The rat that altered this whole incident had been undergoing changes of it's own. Having been at the point where the bio-weapon was at it's most potent, the rat underwent a violent transformation. No longer possessing bones, its entire mass was muscle and organs. It had been sliding through the piping connecting the college buildings, until it came to the history building.

It crawled out of a vent, it's oozing mass leaving behind a trail of slime and blood. It was looking for a shell.

It came to the medievil era, and found a suitable shell. A suit of armor carrying a fairly large sword was propped up in the corner, gathering dust. The rat-creature slid in throught the open view slot, and began to fill the armor with it's being. Some oozed out onto the massive sword and took shape around it. An eye appeared on the sword, and it blinked. There was too much creature to fit and it flowed out onto the right arm, forming a new hand. This was a good shell.

The armor took it's first steps, getting use to using it's newfound muscles. The sword swept through the air, the eye looking around. The sword imbedded into a table, and the creature looked at it through another eye that formed in the now closed view slot. The creature was intrigued at this. It brought up the sword, but the table came with. It swung the sword again, this time the table shattered as it impacted the ground.

"What's that? It must be one of those things." A voice came from a closed door. The armor looked at the door. Food.

The armor moved towards the door.

"Okay, on the count of three, we go in and kill it."

"One...."
The armor took another step.
"Two...."
The armor stopped, sensing the prey on the other side.
"Three!"

The door busted open and two security guards rushed inside. They both stopped and stared.

http://fuelthefire.sifen7.com/images/soulcalibur2/nightmare1.jpg

"Ah cra..." His voice was cut short (pardon the pun) as the blade went through his waist in a horizontal arc. Blood sprayed, much getting on the armor. The blood reached gaps in the armor, and the creature drank deeply.

The other security guard stumbled backwards and ran as fast as he could. The armor wanted more.

It took three bounds and reached out, it's arm extending quickly. It grabbed the guard by the head and pulled him back. The hand squeezed, and the guard stopped fighting as blood was absorbed into the hand from the now crushed skull. Once it had sucked him dry, it threw the guard to the side, the body smashing through a window, falling two stories to the ground.

The creature went wandering, looking for more prey.

Somewhere else in The Campus

Maj. Eliot and his men hid behind a row of hedges. He glanced around again. There where people all over their chopper. He couldn't see the pilot.

He gestured, and all soldiers stood up and leveled their rifles. He snapped and they opened fire. Bullets tore through the crowd, but none dropped.

The Major looked at this puzzled. "What the f-ck?" The crowd was now heading at them. "Draw back!" He yelled out the order, and all soldiers turned around. Into another crowd.

The soldiers were quickly overtaken by the mob. The soldiers began to scream as the mob tore them apart. The Major stumbled back, surprised. Another Shrike next to him also escaped the fate of the others, and the two ran off towards the closest building. The sign over the door said Library.

The major and the Shrike closed the thick double doors behind them and pushed several book cases over in front of it. Confident that it would take quite a bit to get through the door, the major turned to the Shrike. "Soldier, we need to find a better way out of here. Stay sharp. Whistle when you find one, I'll do the same."

Outside, hundreds of the creatures feasted on the dead Shrikes. When they were done, they followed the scent of the food that got away to the door. They began to bang on the doors.

I should have been out of this city by now, Victor thought to himself after driving for a while. He looked down and saw that he had a quarter of a tank of gas left. "Well I better stop and get me some good ole octane," he spoke to himself, then pulled into a gas station. He got out of his truck and grabbed his monkey-wrench out of his backpack before putting it on. He scanned the area and saw no movement so he headed over to the pump and inserted the nozzle to fill his tank. He flipped the switch and began to fill his tank. Well I might as well stock up on supplies while I am here, he thought as he finished filling his tank and walked inside. As he opened the door a moaning figure charged him from the inside. He quickly backhanded the wrench towards its head and knocked it down. He then proceeded to continue bashing its head in till it stopped twitching. Once he felt it was good and dead, he walked over to some bottled water and cleaned himself off with it.

Once he accomplished that he proceeded over to the cash register. As he walked behind it he saw a .45 caliber pistol on the floor. "Holy Mother of God it’s Christmas." He picked it up and saw that there were two casings on the floor. Well I bet the attendant didn't have much of a chance. He took out the magazine and saw that there were five shots left. Well this will be convenient. He put it in his bag and started loading his back pack with cigarettes and lighters. He then grabbed a few shopping bags and proceeded to fill them with water and crackers and whatever else seemed good to him. "Eww, beef jerky." He filled another bag with just that and put all the bags in the truck. He then continued by unloading the parts from the back of his truck since there was no use trying to keep them.

Well time to get some propane. He grabbed about 20 tanks of propane and secured them in the back of his truck. Well I might as well get some grub for now and gets a few overcooked hotdogs and eats them.

As he walked back to his truck to leave he heard much more moaning coming for him. "Well crap, they found me again. Why don't these damn things get a life to bother besides mine? This is just hogwash." He got back into his truck and proceeded down the road.

He was only driving for a few minutes as he comes across a wreck of vehicles on the side of the road. He scanned over the variety of cars, and he noticed a cop car badly hit from the front. He stopped the truck and walked over to it. The officer inside looked quite dead as his head was in the wrong position for his body. He opened the door since it already unlocked and pulled the lifeless body out of the car. He then proceeded to take the equipment belt off the officer and his Kevlar vest. He also grabbed the shotgun and put it all into the truck. He then took the keys and walked to the trunk of the car and grabbed the first-aid kid. This may come in handy, he thought. He was almost back into his truck when three zombies pounced on him from above.

"Well crap!" He yelled as he grabbed his wrench and swung it at the zombie on top of him.

The zombie was knocked back and he quickly got to his feet. He then dropped the wrench and grabbed his .357 and shot the closest one in the head. He turned and shot the next one three times and it dropped. As he aimed for the last one it knocked his gun aside temporarily. Victor then quickly kicked the zombie in the knee and broke the cap. As the zombie was on the ground he grabbed the wrench and just bashed the thing until it didn’t scratch at him any more. "This damn place is one big freakin’ zoo!" He yelled as he got quickly back into the truck, and more zombies got within ten feet of him.

He slammed on the gas and spat dust at them as he sped away. "Damn it! Cain’t a boy stretch his legs in peace without worrying about being ambushed? Hot damn I hate cities. I hate the city folk. Why in Sam Hell did I come here? What in tarnation was I thinking?" As he came around the next bend he noticed that there was a strobe light in a top apartment and a bunch of bodies on the ground. "What the hell is going on here?" He murmured as he realized that someone here wasn’t one of those messed up city folk. He rolled down the window of his truck and heard a load crack from a rifle. "This is awesome, someone who can speak." He parked the truck on the curb and proceeded to reload the .357.

He put on the Kevlar vest and the equipment belt from the cop. "Damn it, I feel like I a pig now. Well at least I got some decent stuff." He looked down on the belt and noticed that there was no place for his huge belt buckle. "Well you can't get all that you want from this damn hell hole." He noticed had a skull cracker, a tazer, mace, handcuffs, a .40 caliber pistol, and two extra clips. Well this will come in handy, the thought.

Victor then grabbed the shotgun and double checked that it was loaded and put it back in his pack. "Well I ain't going to find anyone down here so I might as well head up." He got out of the truck and proceeded to the stairs inside the building. He climbed several flights of stairs before a figure charged him. "Ah crap." The zombie got within five feet before he butt whipped it over the side of the stairwell. The zombie fell down several flights of stairs and slammed into railings on its way down. It hit the ground with a loud thud and stopped moving. "Wow, that was close." He continued walking up the stairs until he reached the top floor. He found the door that has the rifle fire from the other side and started knocking. "Hey is der any folk in der?"

With haggard breaths, the two officers of the Romore PD ran for their lives. Behind them, the shrill screams of their companion filled the night sky as those... things... ripped him apart.

"What the hell are THEY?!" Jessica Smith cried, fighting to hold back her tears.

"How the hell should I know?! The sons-of-bitches ain't human, that's for sure!" Her companion, Jake Crawford roared back, frantically attempting to reload his hotgun. Behind them, the sound of moaning follwed, as in the dying light shuffling figures could be seen.


"We shot them! We shot them, but they didn't die!" Jessica cried again, the tears flowing, "God help us!"

"Fuck God, we gotta get ourselves out of this! Down here!"

The two cut off down a side alley, slowing their pace after several hundred metres. Jessica leaned against a store window, sliding down as she cried softly. Jake moved next to her, shotgun hanging limp at his side.

"You okay?" He asked bluntly.

"They took Freddie, Jake. What the hell are we going to do? I mean, first thing we lose contact with the station, then we suddenly meet these... things."

"Yeah, well, first thing we need to do is find better weaponry. I don't know what these things are, bt it took four shots from this baby," he raised his shotgun, "to take one of the bastards down."

For a few moments they stood in silence, broken only by quiet sobs. Finally, after what seemed an eternity Jessica stood.

"Right, I'm okay, Jake. Where do you think we should start?" She smiled, a shaky little smile and Jake grinned back.

"Well, the first thing we ought to do is try and get back to the station, see if there's anyone else maybe holed up in there -" A sudden movement behind her caught his eye, and his eyes widened.

"Jessica, look out!"

Then the whole world seemed to slow; Jake raised his shotgun, even as the window shattered, covering them both in glass. Jessica only had time to scream as two, tattered hands grabbed her by the hair, pulling her backwards into the embrace of one of those monsters. She twisted and struggled, her eyes looked to him, pleading, even as the creature leant down and drove its teeth deep into her neck. Several zombies shuffled past it, through the shattered window display as Jake fired, tossing them backwards like ragdolls, blood spraying across the alley.

"No!" Jake cried, as the world sped up to its normal rate once again. He leapt forward, spinning the shotgun and driving its butt into the creature's head. It fell backwards, tearing a great gouge of Jessica's flesh with it as it fell. Jessica also fell, lifeless, to the ground. The creature tried to rise, then slumped down as its head vanished into red mist.

"Jessica..." Jake whispered, the gun falling from his hands as he knelt next to her. She didn't move; her eyes were open, filled with terror as her lifeblood seeped into the murky ground. "I'm sorry, Jessica, I'm so sorry..."

Jake never saw the zombie shuffle up behind him; it made no moaning sounds, simply staring at him until it reached behind him. Its cold, clammy fingers reached around Jake's neck and pulled, tearing out his throat. As the officer fell, gagging, the zombie fell upon him, its fellow members of the damned not far behind.

Bang

Cap was still sniping, still killing zombies when her heard the knock at the door, Cap paused the CD player, stopping Kashmir at about the 4 minute mark....long ass song he though

“Donny, get ready with that shotgun, if i open the door, and something not human is outside, shot it.” whispered Cap

Donnt got up and got the shotgunand leveled it at the door, Cap moved aroudn and ripped it open quickly

“it...its human.” said Donny, lowering the gun

“Well thank god” replied Cap, and stepped around the door, extending his hand

“Names Cap, that there is Donny, we're human, and hapy as hell to met you. Come on in, we got food and drinks, and if you have any other supplies with you, we'd appercaite you sharing.”

Cap walked back tot he window, settleing back in, he turned the CD player back on, changing the song...

The next song was Pink Floyd One of These Days

Irony sucks thought Cap

Bang

Apartments

Rainier popped out of the apartment complex with Stroganoff in tow. He decided to head into the alley on the side of the apartments. "Damnit! Where the hell should I go?" shouted Rainier. He began running down the alleyway with his companion trying his best to keep up with his short legs. Rainier's eyes saw the flickering, distant flames of a fire in the distance. And, as he turned his gaze towards the alley, he saw a car. It seems that two figures were in it. (OOC: Mark and Sam)

"Damnit. Is it some of those things again?"

Rainier skidded to a stop on his feet. Those zombies were smart, trying to start up a car like that in the alleyway. Yet, why would they need a car for? Do they want to start a Human Buffet with that vehicle? No. Those things can't be that smart enough. They're dead. Their only impulse is to kill and devour flesh. They are only driven by the scent of fresh blood, and they wouldn't drive a car...

Rainier approached towards the car slowly. Stroganoff barked softly. The young Valerian hoped that he will not be mistaken as a zombie if those people in the car were human.

Sam shouted and Mark pulled out of the car. He instinctively reached for his gun, but he remembered he didn't have it."Identify yourself! Human or not?"

As Rainier approached, the man from the driver's side of the care emerged and reacted quickly to the approaching Valerian. The young man then decided to answer before he was killed or something. "H-Human," he stammered. "I would have asked you the same if you didn't respond." Stroganoff whined as he approached Mark. "Don't mind him, he's my pet." Rainier approached to observe Mark better to make sure that he truly was human.

"Do you know how we can get to safety? I've only been here for a few days... and damn, I should not have dropped off at this town!" Rainier was dressed in a white shirt and a red tie. His pants were a midnight blue. He had not a spot of blood on him, but his broken saber hanged haphazardously from his belt and his right hand carried a heavy-looking breifcase. Both of the items could be crude weapons, but Rainier has gun skills as well. It's just that he doesn't have a gun.

"Yeah, if we can get to the campus, that's where everyone should be." He gestured back at the car. "We're trying to get this thing started, so we can get there faster."

He once again had forgotten to introduce himself."My name's Mark, and that's Sam. I'm an police officer here in Romore."

"Th..Thanks for allowing me to stay, I really don't know whats going on out there..." Donny Muttered

"I mean, I just woke up and those...those things were everywhere. I had myself barricaded in the pool hall, but then the old chemical warehouse blew to high heaven, and destroyed the hall. I thought I was a gonner when those Zombies attacked me, but I managed to fend them off."

Just then, there was a sound outside the door, Cap told him to man the Shotgun, which he did, and opened the door, it was human, and Cap Introduced himself.

Donny was getting restless, he coudln't stand staying in one place for so long anymore, he felt as if the Zombies could attack any minute....

I suppose being on the third floor of an apartment building is the safest place to be...

"I'll a few minutes, I just need to go check something out." Muttered Donny was he walked out the door."

He wandered from room to room untill he finally found what he was looking for. Someone, or something had left their Laptop in their room, and seeing as the owner was probably dead, he took it, and headed back to the secure room.

He booted up the computer, and encountered a password. Donny sighed and sliped out a small disk and slipped it into the computer, the programs password cracking algorithms quickly deturmined the password, the guys phone number: 653-9045. He attempted to gain access to the internet, but failed, every time he got the same, infamous "This page cannot be displayed" page, he hit refresh several times, and rebooted the computer again, same problem. He through the computer down in disgust and turned to his silent sniper friend.

"Looks like the internets out too, I don't think anyone is coming to help us out anytime soon"

Fire. Fire and sparks that flash blue and red against the smoky sky. My view shifts to show the sparking power grid. Bodies. Oh, God, there are bodies. We’ve crashed!

Moaning, shuffling shapes. I am afraid. Gunfire.

An alley. My view is jumpy and cluttered, seeing the world in flashes and bursts. I am alone. A door that opens.

His eyes flew open, and he started awake from his fever dream. Corporal Jones gasped in shock and snapped the CAWS to his shoulder, ignoring the pain. It was dark, and he was lying behind some sort of counter. His eyes began to work, and he noticed shattered glass and blood on the floor. There was a body in the corner opposite him, and shotgun patterns on the wall. Where am I?

Jones dragged himself to his feet, pulling himself up on the counter. Before him was a small lobby, a restaurant of sorts. Fu<king Dunkin’ Donuts. Outside the large window storefront, there was a darkened, burning city, deprived of power and filled with the various moans of the virus victims. Oh, damn. Why couldn’t it be a bad dream? Jones checked his CAWS. Four box clips left. That’s plenty. He reached for his MP7 PDW, but it was gone from his underarm holster. He glanced down, and spotted the small weapon lying on the floor, empty casings piled around it. He grabbed the PDW and holstered it. Only one clip. Shit.

He checked himself again, making sure he wasn’t bitten. Nope. Plenty of cuts and punctures from the crash, but no bites. Yay. Jones pulled a bar stool around to the back, so he could watch the outside world. He grabbed several bottles of orange juice and three donuts from the display case. He paused for a moment, and ran his sniffer over the food. It was clean, and Jones sat down to enjoy his midnight snack.

As he ate, he glanced to his left, to the headless corpse in the corner. “Sucks, don’t it.” He stated calmly, taking another bite of fritter. He sighed and turned back to his juice, draining the first bottle. “Well, Eddie Jones, what now?” he asked himself. “Leave the city? You think the Rangers would let me?” He snickered a little. “Find survivors? Then what? Ooh! Maybe I’ll slip out through the river! No, they dredged it downstream…” Once again, he turned to the corpse, “What do you think, Bob? Do you mind being called Bob?”

Bob just sat there, headless.

“Ok, Bob. I guess I go find survivors. Any other ideas, Bob?”

Bob was silent.

“Settled, then. Thanks for the donuts and juice.” Jones dropped a couple of bucks in the register and tipped his helmet to the dead shopkeeper. “Have a nice night, Bob.” Jones cocked his CAWS and stepped out into the night.

Upon stepping outside, he looked into the street. He wished he still had his gas mask, but that had been damaged somewhere in the earlier night run. But, he didn’t have it, so he didn’t waste anymore time crying over it. Jones narrowed his eyes and stepped into the street.

He was promptly set upon by a moaning shape. The CAWS barked, and the shape blasted backwards. Jones shrugged, glancing at the headless corpse, and stated simply, “No brains for you.” He smiled at his own joke and set off again, whistling Dixie as he walked.

About a block away, he spotted a Ford Expedition parked at a drive through, and Jones quickly realized the ease of travel that the SUV guaranteed. As he walked towards the vehicle, he heard the faint sound of music, floating through the air between the beating of the Black Hawk blades and the moans of the city. Jones paused, tilting his head. He heard the distinct pulsing beat of “Becoming Cold” by Mushroomhead, and he began to headbang along, throwing up the rock symbol with his gloved left hand. “Good shit.” He declared.

By now, he had attracted the attention of several undead denizens, and the crowd began to gather. Jones glanced around, into the dark alleys and buildings, watching the growing mob with grim fascination. “Fu<k.” He began to sprint.

As he raced for the Expedition, he could hear the closing wall of the damned, and he locked his eyes on his goal, building even more speed. From the shadows by the red vehicle, a woman stepped out, her bloody mouth agape. Still running, he leveled the shotgun and fired, sending her topless legs flipping onto the ground. He vaulted the corpse and ripped open the SUV door, giving a quick glance to make sure it was clear inside, and he jumped in, rolling in the air. He landed on his behind, facing out the door.

A hand swiped for him, but the flash of the CAWS sent the zombie tumbling back. Jones slammed the door shut and reached for the ignition. Shit. No keys. “Fu<k!” he screamed, slamming his hands on the wheel. Around the Expedition, the horde was gathered, pounding on the windows with growing ferocity. “Fu<k!” he bellowed, opening the glove compartment, then yanking the ashtray out. No keys. He reached under the passenger seat. “Fu<k!” He reached up and flipped the visor, and a set of keys fell into his lap. “Thank God!” he jammed the key into the ignition and twisted.

The engine roared to life, and the crowd redoubled its efforts. The windows began to spiderweb, and Jones layed the CAWS across his lap, pointing it to the driver-side window with his right hand, while gripping the wheel with his left. He slammed the accelerator, and the SUV plowed forward, crushing zombies under its wheels. Jones cried out, “Now this is Off-Roading!”

The vehicle bounced and jostled, and there was a constant sound of crunching bone. The vehicle burst from the crowd, and all Jones could think of was the ending scene of Star Wars IV, when the Millenium Falcon burst out of the Death Star. He grinned at the comparison with more than a normal amount of gallows humor, and glanced in his mirrors. The crowd was vanishing behind him, but two zombies were still clinging to the mounting rails on top of the SUV. Jones slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel, and the bodies were hurled free, plunging into the night. The vehicle accelerated again. “At least they weren’t Firestone tires.”

Jones gave one more glance into his mirror, and stopped in shock. The SUV screeched to a halt, and he stared in the mirror. “Hell, no!” he declared in shock. In the back seat, strapped into a car seat, was a baby. A zombie-fied baby.

The baby stared at him, then opened its mouth and emitted the tiniest “Rawr” Jones had ever heard. Jones simply stared at the strapped in creature and burst out laughing.

“Jesus Christ. I thought I’d seen everything.” He removed his seatbelt and moved into the backseat, pointing his CAWS in the baby’s face. The small zombie promptly began to suck on the barrel, and Jones laughed harder. “That’s not a good bottle to suck on, kiddo.”

However, Jones noticed that the baby had not yet teethed. He reached over and pulled one of its hands up. There were no claws. He sighed slightly. “You’re harmless.” He leaned back and stated, “You know, I bet Command would love to get their hands on you. A live, harmless zombie. Damn, this could be payday.”

The baby began to wail, and Jones glanced about. “What? Do you want mommy? Mommy got ‘sploded by the CAWS!” The zombie began to motion with its pudgy, dead arms, and Jones had a revelation. “Food! Of course!” Then he paused again. “What do zombie-babies eat? Hell, what do babies eat?”

He thought for a moment. “Zombies eat people. This one has no teeth.” He glanced around the cab. As he looked at his pockets, he had a revelation. Taking a piece of diaper-rag from the glove compartment, he picked one of his many scabs and soaked the blood up with the rag. He then placed the stained rag in the baby’s mouth, and it promptly began to suck on the moist cloth.

“That’s temporary. Now, I think you need a name. I dub thee... Junior!” Jones restarted the SUV and headed down the street, looking for another living human. As he drove, he listened to the music, and tried to move in that direction, but it was far from him. In the back seat, Junior continued to nurse on the cloth.

bang

Donny had gotten up and left the room a bout 5 minutes ago, and Cap had returned to the window, and took up his rifle

Two here, hopefully more soon, I figure we can hold up here till around noon tomorrow, or at least until dawn, then head out to....well, wherever.

in the mean time, the CD player queued up Hells Bells

bang

Rushing off into the department store, Maddy had assumed that she would be able to find some assistance of some kind, but as she slowed down a safe distance from the bus, listening for sounds of being followed, she was stunned to discover that the store was deserted. The normal crush of consumers was noticeably missing.

No wonder with the strangeness happening outside. Everyone‘s probably safely at home, where I should be.

Catching her breath, she looked about her, wondering which exit would suit her plans best, when she heard noises coming from behind her, the sound sent a chill through her body. Turning around briefly, she could make out a kind of wailing, like crying. Cautiously she moved towards the noise, her hand instinctively reaching out for some type of weapon, her hand falling upon the handle of a broom. With a little effort, she managed to free the stick from its head, and continued to creep forward, unsure what she would find at her destination.

Rounding the corner of the aisle, Maddy instantly realised her mistake as she came face to face with another woman, her facial expression and paler identical to that of the man on the bus. Walking slowly backwards, Maddy retreated silently the way she had come, trying not to draw attention to herself, as the other woman bent over something that Maddy really didn’t want to think about.

Just about to turn and run, her foot came in contact with the end of the broom, causing it to slip along the floor. Losing her balance, Maddy hit the ground with a bump, the stick clanging beside her. “Shit!” Scrambling to her feet, she was not surprised to hear the sound of footsteps coming towards her.

Looking back she saw the woman appear at the end of the aisle, and turned urgently to run, only to find her exit blocked by two other creatures - she could no longer think of them as fellow humans. Bending down, she grabbed the fallen stick, and debated her best course of action. She looked across at the shelves to either side of her, wondering if she could make her way over the top, her mind working overtime as the others drew closer.

Damn it! I refuse to be someone’s lunch.

Rushing to the side, Maddy had just managed to get both her feet on the first shelf, when it tilted, her weight dislodging its balance, sending her and its contents back onto the ground. Her body jarring against the hard floor for a second time, knock the wind from her. Gasping hard, she tried to catch her breath, as she again rose from the floor, her hand grabbing the stick.

The creatures were no closer, causing her heart to pound loudly in her ears. She began to swing the stick in an arc around her, trying to force the others to keep away. But even when the stick caught their bodies, they continued to keep coming.

I don’t want to die!

As is in answer to her silent prayer, the sound of gunshot filled her hearing. The man nearest her fell to the floor at her feet, a whole blown thrown his chest. And within minutes the other two had followed suit. Maddy opened her eyes, unsure of when she actually closed them, and saw her rescuer standing before her. Although she knew he had spoken, she couldn’t really make out what she said, so busy was her focus on his look, checking for the now familiar telltale signs.

Secure in the knowledge that he was still, in fact, human. Maddy smiled nervously, her body trembling as she realised just how lucky she had been. Stepping carefully over the bodies before her, not wanting to touch them, she moved closer to the man with the gun.

“Thank you.” She breathed heavily, her hand shaking as she ran it through her dishevelled hair. “What are they?” She looked back to the three corpses lying on the floor. “What has happened here?”

---

Dekker slammed the Crown Vic into overdrive & plowed through a crowd of zombies, he fired a few rounds through the windshield to get one of the more persistant ones off of his vehicle's hood. casually, he drove on, slapping a fresh magazine into his Glock as he did so...

Library

Eliot jumped onto the table. The Shrike above helped him through the skylight. On the roof, they had a clear view of the city. Fires ran rampant, the sky was covered with smoke. Looking over the edge, he saw that hundreds of zombies were out front of the library, trying to get in.

"Damn these things are persistant."

He lobbed one of his Fire-Frag grenades over the edge, watching as it cleared a hole with the initial blast and burnt down any who were caught in the flames.

He clicked his radio on and talked into it. "Sun, this is Sunlight. Mission accomplished, requesting pickup."

The radio crackled a response,"No can do Sunlight. You're SOL down there."

He was slightly peaved at this."May I inquire why?"

"Well, came in from on-up-high that no one was to leave the city. Not even you Sunlight."

Eliot turned off his radio angrily. "Goddamned government."

The Shrike with him spoke up,"Sir, it's our duty. We will walk in darkness so you may have the light. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. Just thought they woulda told us before-hand."

The Streets

Jen hid inside an overturned car. She watched as hundreds of civilians walked by. Something must have gone wrong with the virus, these people were insane instead of dead. One had bitten her before she blew a hole in its head.

"God, this hurts." She grimaced as she pulled the bandage made from her undershirt tighter around her arm. "Gotta get to one of the extraction points soon."

After the people went by, she crawled out and went to the intersection. She looked in all four directions. One she had just come from. Another was where the people had come from. There were bodies strewn all over that. She didn't want to go that way. Then there was the way the people were headed. Not safe. She opted for the fourth option. She ran down the empty street, jumping over a body in the street.

"Jen?" She looked around when someone called her name. She saw a figure in the doorway. She went closer. It was Eric.

"Eric? Why'd you run off with all the weapons?"

He looked at her. "Well, when.......I woke up I thought........everyone was dead, so I..........gathered the equipment and left. Didn't know you lived."

She smiled,"You shoulda checked more."

He grimaced. He coughed and blood speckled the ground. He waved her in, and she followed. She noticed he had a bandage wrapped around his entire torso. The back was soaked red.

"What happened to you?" She looked around front and noticed that it was red too.

"Well......I was running.......and got attacked by one of those.......... things....Damned thing........bit a hole in my gut.......got attacked from the other side.........one of 'em sliced my back up.....pretty good...........Don't know if.........I'm gonna.........make it."

He sat down in a recliner in the room he came to. She saw several rifles piled next to it. The recliner was also covered with blood. She went over to him. "You just sit tight, I'll come back with help. Mind if I borrow one of the rifles."

"Sure.....go.......ahead." He was losing blood really fast now. He didn't have long. Jen looked at him and left the room. She went to the front, but stopped short. More people were there. She looked closer. These weren't people. They couldn't be.

The closest one moaned as it saw her, it's lower jaw hanging loosely by a few muscles. She turned around and ran back to where Eric was. He was slumped over in the seat. She shook him.

He grabbed her hand, and she smiled. But he began to tighten his grip. She tried to get out of her grasp, when he looked at ther. His eyes were white. He was one of those things now. He opened his mouth in a loud hungry moan, but she shoved a pistol barrel into it. She pulled the trigger, and his grip let loose.

She looked back right as the first of dozens of these........zombies lurched into the room. She dove through the open window and ran. The zombies quickly filled the room and began to eat, oblivious to the weapons and ammo sitting at their feet.

Drevol lowered his G11 as the woman walked towards him, staring at the bodies. “Thank you.” She said. “What are these things? What has happened here?”

Drevol rested the rifle against his shoulder. Time to set my story in stone. Obviously, I can’t tell her it was a government FUBAR. However, the best lies remain as close as possible to the truth. Keep it true. Just not the whole truth. Drevol answered her, “These things, near as I can tell, are some sort of reanimated corpses. What caused them? There was a terrorist attack, and they released some disease on the city. In the blast they set off, they managed to aerosolize some unknown chemical, and the two managed to hybridize… producing this result.”

He paused, seeing the look of horror on her face after the word “aerosolize” came out. He quickly explained, “It’s no longer in the air. If it was, we’d be dead and moaning by now. Near as I can tell, it’s spread by fluid to fluid contact. If you’re bitten, you’re infected. It may spread from scratches, too, but I don’t know. And, I’m pretty sure that it could be transmitted sexually, although that doesn’t seem a likely cause of many infections…” he nodded his head to the ghastly corpses.

He leaned on the wall. “Don’t drink the water or eat exposed food. Don’t get bitten.” He exhaled heavily and began to restack the clip in the G11. “By the way, my name’s Lieutenant Thomas Drevol, United States Army. We came in to investigate the source of the chemical spill, and we ran into those zombie things. Most of the unit was killed. Our chopper went down in the city, and I’m the only one alive, I think. Now, we’re stuck here too.” With a sudden motion, he slammed the clip back into the receiver. “I think we’d do better working together. More firepower, better odds of escape, and probably less chance of going nuts in this hell hole.”

He glanced at her, “So… what’s your name, and can you shoot?

Oh thankgod, finally someone who can talk.
"Well howdy, you don't know how glad I am that I finally have found someone. The names Victor and I got more equipment in my truck. If you don't mind covering my rear, I would be obliged and go get the food, water, and first-aid kit from my truck."

Cap replied, "Well that works. I'll cover you from here."

"That's good enough for me." Victor then turned around and went back down to the ground floor. He went out front and started to shuffle through his truck behind the front seat. He grabbed an empty duffle bag and filled it with the supplies that he aquired from his recent escapades. He was almost finished when he heard a stick snap. Damnit can't I get a few minutes to rest without being interupted. He then quickly swung around grabbing his .357 and readied it as he was just a few feet from a teenage zombie. THis sucks. Another youngin. As he thought that, the .357 discharged and the head of the zombie snapped back violently. The body quickly fell to the ground and was motionless. I am getting sick of this hogwash.

Another bang went off overhead as Cap bagged yet another zombie. "Will this ever end." He tucked the .357 back in his belt and put the shotgun in the dufflebag. He went to the back of the truck and grabbed a heavy crowbar, that he had in the back of his truck. He went back upstairs and dropped the bag by Cap. "Well that's what i picked up on the way over."

He grabbed a piece of jerky out of the bag. Finally some grub. He wasted no time comsuming it and then grabbed a piece for Cap and handed it to him.

As he was there reloading the use shells from the .357. "So what in tarnation is happening here? I knew that city folk were messed up and such. Well crap, this takes the cake in my book. Plus what do you suppose we do? I am sure as hell know that I am lost for answers."

OOC:

Sorry about not being up with the thread; I warned that I had testing at school, and I'm embroiled in it. I might squeak in a post tomorrow if I can.

bang

As Ridding the Storm Out blared out of the CD player, Cap bagged another Zombie off of the redneck Victor's back.

Victor came back in, and handed Cap a piece of Jerky, Cap looked at it...and handed it back...”To ironic for me.....kinda like eating meat....”

he drifted off slightly

“Anyways, as for your questions...cityfolk aren't messed up...just these weirdos....we'll, i take that back, I saw stuff back in NYC, people on PCP, i saw one of them devour a kid once....nasty stuff.....the cops shot him later....Maybe everyone in this town OD'ed on PCP? Naw that don't make sense, does it? I figure we'll hold up here till morning, or noon tomarrow, and gather as many as we can.....then...i have no friggen idea!” said Cap

He went back tot he window, wondering what tomorrow would bring

The song Hold at all Costs cast its shadow of irony over the scene

bang

The shot..missed

Suddenly, Caps vision vlurs, the scope goes dark...

gah, im so tired....i need to sleep....

Cap turned to look at Victor

“He man, you wanna watch this window for me?....i need to get some sleep...i cant shot anymore”

"Yea sure. THat's probably a good idea. I am still hyped up from my drive so I will be up for a few more hours anyhow." He grabbed the rifle and quickly took up position.

Bang

The zombie that Cap missed fell to the ground. This is much better then being face to face with one of those freaks. "Sleep well Cap. I will wake you if i have any problems or notice something that you should know."

Bang

"right" Cap said, as he picked up his shotgun and went into the bedroom

As he lay down, Creeping Death began to play on the player

That damn thing has a mind of its own....when i wake up, i need to shot it was his final thought before he drifted into an uneasy sleep

Dodge swore as he drove his Mercedes-Benz SUV through the deserted streets of the small town. This is bad... This is very bad... What was I thinking when I took this trip!?! As Dodge inwardly swore, he accidently plowed into a mailbox, destroying the blue box, denting the fender of his SUV and sending mail flying into the air.

Swearing loudly, Dodge drove his SUV as he sought to escape from the nightmare. I thought I saw everything during World War II, but zombies!?! What the hell is going on!?!

Donny came back in the room and was suprised that another stranger had come in his absence, he was now manning the hunting rifle, as Cap had fallen asleap, the CD player was still churning out tunes.

He looked at the older man with the gun, not wanting to startle him, he came up beside him and smiled at him grimly.

"Hi, The names Donny, what brings you to town? Or whats left of it, it really was a much nicer place before this happened..."

He noticed the sac of Jerky by his side, he grabbed a piece and munched at it hungrily. The Man gave him an odd look as he ate the Jerky

"Hey, we all need to eat don't we? and shouldn't we share resources in this kind of situation? Anyway, after Cap wakes up, I think that we should make our way to the University, it was the designa..."

At that point, a loud flash appeared and part of the lower town was englufed in a large flame, the University was around there, and the sound of Pained moanings could be heard.

Donny looked back to the Old man

"As I was saying, we should make our way to the University, it was the designated Safe point for the town in an emergency. And by the looks of it, someone there is already putting up a fight!"

---Post deleted by NationStates Moderators---

Dekker followed the sound of rock music to some sort of building. If only he could get to the trunk... He had at least a dozen magazines for his Glock, as well as a police carbine & a riot gun. Hopefully where ever the music was coming from had a secure parking area... He drove on, keying up his sirens to let people known he was there...

The old man looked tired, his shots were begining to go off target, and he was dozing off.

"Why don't you go off and sleep like Cap, I was passed out for 34 hours, I think I have a bit more burn left in me."

He looked back at Donny and nodded in agreement, he put the rifle down, and wandered off to the room adjacent to Cap's. Cap should be getting up soon, he had been out for almost 6 hours now.

Donny was looking through the rifle, it was empowering. Every time he saw a Zombie stumble towards the building, he shot and it's head exloded like a Pinyata filled with red and pink confetti, he chuckled to himself as he took out Zombie after zombie, he was sure he had the hang of the whole situation.

Then it happened.

It was a slight shake at first, but then the vibration grew more and more steady untill it was a veritable Earthquake, the whole building was shaking. He also heard the sirens of a coming car, he hoped that whoever was driving wasn't going to get mixed up in whatever was happening.

"What the hell is going on!" Donny yelled

By now Cap and the Old man we up and about too, it seemed the whole building was rattling now.

He saw it a few hundred meters out, one of the building collapsed, and in its wake was one hideously large monster of a snake. It was wounded, probobly from one of the Helicopters encircling the city. But it was still going. The snake was easily ten feet tall, ten wide and thirty feel long, it also had several large organs that didn't beling on the snake, that were sticking outside its body, pulsating and oozing. As is slithered along the ground, it bled out an acidic substance from its wounds, you could tell because the road was crubling and cracking beneath it, but they could simply be from the sheer weight.

It heard the loud music, and saw the bright lights, Donny got about three shots in it (Like that would help) Before in plowed into the building. It was like a bomb went off, chunks of wall and ceiling fell, and the floor began to give way, this building wasn't going to last long.

"Grab as much supplies as you can carry and lets get out of here!" Yelled Donny, the other two complied as they grabbed large handfulls of food and grabbed as much equiptment as they could carry.

The building had stopped shaking, and they could hear the rattling of the main floor being demolished by the snake moving around, in search of the prey. The group began to move out when the massive snake reared upwards and came crashing above onto thier floor, the massive head popped out from behing them and let out a massive hiss as it lunged for them, the building was beging to give.

"RUN!!!" Donny screamed as the charged toward the fire escape, the burst open the door and Jumped out, coming crashing on top of two Zombies in a dumpster, killing them and softening the groups fall, they lit fell on top and provided adequate cover from the building that they had escaped from.

They could hear it finally give way, as it crashed in a pile of debris below, presumable killing the mammoth lizard. The group slowly opened the dumpster and looked around, there wern't any Zombies around for the moment, and the Snake seemed to be dead, there was no trace of it.

"Lets get going, we need to find somewhere safe before they find us, and suggestions?" Donny Muttered as he looked at his two coleages setting off on foot for another safehouse. Also on the lookout for the mysterious car with Sirens.

Dekker wheeled the Crown Vic up behind the crumbling building, cutting the wheel sharply to avoid the snake-critter... The flashing lights & loud sirens should attract someone...

Then, as if by magic, three people appeared out of the smoke & dust of the falling structure. Suspiciously, he rolled down the drivers' side window, leaning out with his Glock leveled at the trio...

"Get in."

Dekker said sharply, keeping an eye out for the shambling maggot-farms that infested every corner of the city...

Cap felt the rumble, he didn’t think much of it at 1st probably just another chopper When pieces of the ceiling began to fall, and his bottle of water flew off the table, Cap knew there was trouble. He jumped from the bed and rushed out to the main room, where Donny was at the window, with the rifle, and Victor was to his left, grabbing as much food as he could.

"Grab as much supplies as you can carry and lets get out of here!" said Donny

Cap ran back into the room, and grabbed the shotgun, and slung it over his back. He saw a small duffel bag, grabbing it, he ran back out to the main room, and threw as much food into it as he could

“Someone grab that rifle!” he yelled

he was throwing the ammunition in when a huge snake head burst into the room, hissing and lunging at them

“Holy shit! What the hell is that thing!”

“RUN” Donny yelled

The three burst through the fire escape door, and leaped down, they landed on a group of zombies in a dumpster, killing them.

The entire building gave way, and came crashing down

“Where the hell is the snake?” asked Cap

“I dunno….I hope hit aint ‘ere, we better git outta ‘ere” said Victor

"Lets get going, we need to find somewhere safe before they find us, and suggestions?" said Donny

“Umm, I heard sirens that way” said Victor, pointing left

“And I remember hearing some shooting off in the distance.” Cap said “In times of emergency, most cities have a designated safe area, where people should gather should something….like this happen. Maybe we ought to find a public building, a police station, post officer, or town hall, and find out where exactly that is, but, also, maybe we need to hit up a Wal-Mart and re-supply”

As the group began to move away from the demolished building, a car screamed up to them, and the man inside told them to get in, Cap got into the back of the car

"My names Cap, This is Donny, and the big guy is Victor, and thanks for picking us up"

"Name's Dekker Bray..."

Dekker said as he rolled up the window. Dekker is a large fellow, a heavily muscled 283 lbs, with a height of 6'2". The inside of his right arm bears a tattoo of the letters 'USMC' written in black. Beneath it, the letters 'SEAL' are also written in black. To the observant, his blood type in also tattooed on the inside of his left palm, under his thumb.

Dekker is dressed like an average patrol officer, with the exception of the fingerless gloves he wears. Specially made for patrol officers, the gloves are made from kevlar to prevent needles from sticking the hands of the wearer. Lead rods in the gloves also act as a brace when punching something. (Same concept as a roll of quarters). A Glock handgun is held in his right hand, numerous brass casings & blood cover the front passenger seat...

"We ain't going to any public buildings, they're probably infested with these f**kin' maggot farms. People bring infected relatives with them, and they die & infect the others there. That's why I'm picking up your sorry asses instead of heading for the university..."

Listening intently as the man before her spoke, Maddy’s eyes opened in wonder as she took in what he was telling her. The city had been infected by some strange disease and only a stoke of luck had stopped her from being here at the time. The thought that she could have been turned into one of them creatures made her shiver with fear.

Clearing her mind she focused on his questions. “I’m Madison Walsh, but my friends call me Maddy.” She didn’t think now was the time to explain that it wasn’t just for a shortened version of her name. “I have fired a gun on the ranch, but more for pleasure than necessity, Lieutenant Drevol.”

Her eyes scanned the area, her ears searching for sounds of someone approaching. “Has this affected everyone?” She shuddered at the thought of her friends being in that state. “I mean, it’s not just us is it.” This was too much to take in. Terrorists. Airborne infectious disease. Flesh eating humans. She felt the bile rise in her throat as she recalled the man on the bus.

“What are we going to do?” Her fear was more than evident as her voice quivered as she spoke. “Where the hell are we going to go?”

"Alright, Officer Brey" said Cap

"There have to be more survivers, there have to be, the only way we're gonna survive this is to stick togeher"

The Campus

Deep in a building on campus, a lone man was working. "Bloody virus, going and mutating like that. The army should've protected Moonlight Shadow better than that."

The glow from the computer screen reflected off of the thick glasses he wore. Ever since the sensors he had placed around the campus picked up the mutated virus a day ago, he had been hard at work changing around his vaccine. It was difficult work, since he didn't know what it had mixed with.

Purifying Light Gamma was nearly complete. He had been a lead developer of the military's Biological Research and Development and had worked on Moonlight Shadow. As a side project, independent of his employers, he had created a vaccine to fight his creation. If it was taken before the 24 hour mark, the victim would be perfectly fine. He had tested it on a colleague he had introduced the gas while the man was asleep. He had never known he was a carrier.

Another roar came from within the building. It had been getting steadily closer. "Crap. Bloody monsters."

He tapped a few more keys and hit enter. The words 'Synthesis Complete' flashed up on his screen. He watched as several vials filled with an orange liquid. "Done!" He removed the vials and put them into a satchel. There were 20 in all. He put the satchel over his arm, and turned to save the files to his computer.

A cracking sound came from the door. The scientist turned to his computer. Another hit, and the door splintered and cracked. He quickly brought up a word processor. Rapidly typing, missing a few letters, he typed.

[code:1:f80c259d0e]I have found a cure to this virus. If anyone finds this note, use the orange liquid in the vials. It will cure anyone who uses it of the virus.[/code:1:f80c259d0e]

He hit print, and set it to 50 copies. The first one came out and he shoved it in the satchel.

The door exploded inwards, and the scientist looked at what would kill him. "What the? Isn't that the armor from the History department?" The armor stepped in the room, and he stumbled backwards. The creature stabbed forwards, impaling the scientist on the long blade. The blade hit the wall, imbedding into the concrete. It pulled back the blade and the satchel came with it. It slid down to the hilt of the sword, but the creature didn't care. It picked up it's prey and sucked him dry. Once done, it dropped him.

Turning, the creature left the room. It had cleared out every section it had found so far. The rat part of it remembered the outdoors. Plenty of food there. It headed towards the nearest stairwell, and proceeded up.

OOC: Thought I'd make it a little difficult since I've been absent. Enjoy getting the cure.

College Avenue

The car skidded to a halt as it came to the campus. Those things were all over this place. Mark could see police cars and barricades, but they were surrounded by the dead. "Damnit! They got the safe point. Guess nowheres safe now." He put the car in reverse, and drove backwards. A thump as one of the creatures in the street was run over.

Mark was about to drive off when he caught motion out of the corner of his eye. The main doors of one of the buildings exploded outwards. Standing there, was a suit of armor. "What the?" The armor's head pivoted until it came to the car. The armor let out a roar, and started running. "Oh SHIT!" Mark slammed on the gas, and the car layed rubber. The creature faded into the background as the car picked up speed.

"What the hell was that? WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS TOWN!?"

"If we're not going to the University, where are we going to go? I haven't seen any other humans aside from the ones in this car, and I saw barricades put up all over the city, were not going to get out of here easily."

Donny shifted in his seat

"I mean, if we go to the University, they were working on a bunch of projects involving Genetics and Biological mutations, maybe they were working for the governement or something? Maybe the experiment got out of hand and we ended up with this? I mean, if they were conducting these experiments, perhaps they have a cure for it? I mean, you don't make a poison without an antidote!"

Victor turned to face Donny.

"Donny think. If a snake that big came just after us. WHat could be over at the University? Seriously we are not prepared for anyhting. We can't go jump into the damn frying pan now. We need to resupply and and think out a plan. We can't just run around like chickens with their heads cut off whenever we do somehting! We also need to find more people. We can't do this on our own and you know it. Why is the government barricading us in. I don't know or care. I am gettin sick of their damn helicopters and crappy messages. I am getting a feeling that they aint here to help us. I don't know or care anymore. I hate the damn city and this just proves why. No let's find another gun store and plan out some strategy."

"Alright, Officer Brey" said Cap

"There have to be more survivers, there have to be, the only way we're gonna survive this is to stick togeher"

'No shit...'

Dekker thought to himself...

He stepped on the gas, and the cruiser shot forward...

"Where to?"

Cap looked at Dekker

"I think, 1st we need to rearm, and resupply, we kinda lost a lot when that damn snake thing came crashing down on us. Maybe we should look for a gun store...or a Wal-Mart...or something?"

Cap turned to Vic and Donny, seeking approval

Donny sank back in his seat, resigned, there was no barganing with these people, he couldn't convince them to go to the University! There would be Zombies, but he had a friend there that told one day while he was loaded that whenever the University was handling dangerous Biological chemicals, they always had an antidote for whateverthey had, he was sure there would be something for this...

Donny looked back at Cap "Sure, lets got Hit-up the Local Wal-Mart, looting everything it's worth, and thinking of a regrouping plan. Lets hope there are no more Giant Animals."

“What the hell are we going to do?” Maddy demanded of him, and Drevol could only shrug.

He bit his lip a little. I will walk in darkness… “Survive.” Just walk away, Thomas. You’ve seen this thing before. Get yourself out, and don’t worry about it. He glanced around the aisle. “The military has this city bottled down. If we can get out, we’ll be fine. The problem is getting out.” No. I’m sick of that. So many blank ideals, so many theories of America. How about one thing done right for someone, not for a faceless system. He twisted the metal briefcase. “But this is the ticket. The chemical’s the terrorists released are in here, in pure form. This case guarantees survival, and if you can stick with me, and say what I say, do what I do, I can get you out.” One life, Thomas. For one life, I’d do anything. Let me save just one from this inferno. “Can you do that?”

He glanced at her, and he could feel himself deflating inside. Everything I’ve done, has lead to this. The shadows and darkness, the knives in backs. I’ve been a priest in the temple of the state, and this is the ultimate high holy day. Enough is enough. I’ll do this for what is right, not what is required. He held out the G11. “This is a G11 assault rifle, most advanced in the world. Take it. Aim for the head.” He passed it over and tugged the briefcase cuff up his arm, sliding the case into his pack, with the cuff at his shoulder. He showed her the clip release and the charging handle. “It has a fifty round clip, and a four power scope. Fire on three round burst.” As she held it, he pulled his SOCOM and glanced down the aisle again. “Call me LT, or Thomas, or Drevol. No need for formality. I think we need to find a radio station.”

Eyes fixed firmly on Drevol’s face as he spoke, Maddy tried to calm herself enough to concentrate on his words. The man before her was a professional, a soldier who had probably dealt with similar situations in the past, if she could rely on anyone, she could rely on him. She knew she had no chance of surviving on her own.

“Yes, I can do that.” She smiled, for a moment she felt oddly safe. In her heart she knew that she was far from safe, trapped in a city where the people she had possibly smiled at before were more than willing to kill her today. The thought caused a shudder to run through her body. “I’ll do whatever you say, just please get us out of here.”

As he passed her the weapon, she looked wide-eyed at it resting in her hands, focusing on his explanation, trying to stop her hands from visibly shaking. I chose a profession to save lives, I never dreamt that I would have to take one. But her survival and that of her companion revolved around such an item, and she silently vowed that she would do nothing that would jeopardise that.

“Okay, Lieutenant.” She shifted the rifle in her grasp; it didn’t take a genius to know the firepower she was now holding. Watching as he surveyed the area, her own gaze shifting uncomfortably about her, she made ready to leave. “Lead the way.”

Dekker turned left at a still fuctional stop-light, ironically running through on red.

"I've got a riot gun (shotgun) & a police carbine (M4 knock-off) in the trunk, with plenty of ammo. Wal-Mart's gonna have shotguns & cheap bolt action rifles. I say we head downtown, and raid the PD's evidence room & armory. Your call..."

Dekker knew there was an AK-47 or two in the evidence room, along with a few SMG's of assorted types, as well as a few handguns. The PD armory most likely had a few riot guns, police carbines, MP-5's, and plenty of Glocks. Ammo would also be in abundance...

thinking about that, Cap nodded

I like bolt action rifles... but, you're right, Officer, that makes sense, maybe there will be something like an SKS or AK there...or something...most likely find some 9's and .45's, but, I heard shooting comming from the direction of the town where the Wal-Mart is...of course that doesnt mean theres people there....or mean their still alive. Oh well, something will come along...i agree, im for the PDHQ

Donny? Vic?" Cap asked

BUMP for Ideas

-Edit-

I agree to go to the Police Station, no complaints about arming ourselves to give us better odds. But wouldn't it be in total lockdown?

“Well, before we take off, we should gather supplies. Rifles, shotguns, flares, batteries, flashlights, bottled water, canned food… you understand. We’re also going to want to find a pressure washer, or a high pressure paint jet.” He shrugged. “They’re decaying bodies. Why not burn ‘em?” Reaching over, he grabbed an abandoned cart and dumped it. “Special one day sale. Everything’s free.”

(OOC: Don’t want to write about grabbing every little piece of stuff. :wink: )

"Donny, thats a good point, I'll bet Dekker here has some keys, but....what do we do if they have something like blast shutters or keycard readers in place, with no power, we'll be screwed."

"Cap, if a situation like that arises then we could always get a cutting torch or somehting from an auto-mechanic shop. Plus we can use a wrench to force doors open. I have to say that it's the best idea yet. Plus we can get into the impound lot and find a truck or something that can get us threw those damn zombies better then a car. I also recommend stopping at a leather supply store so we can get soem heavier clothing, so it would be harder for those freaks to bite us."

"Okay." Cap looked around

"So, the basic idea is to
-Get leather clothes
-Get a wrench and cutting tourch from a auto shop
-and raid the police station
-steal guns and a car from said police station"

Cap considered

"Hell, we can even split up, diffrent cars, i mean, Me and Vic in a truck and Dekker and Donny i here. That way, if we find mroe people, we can pick them up too."

Dekker nods, he did indeed have a set of keys for the HQ...

"F**k keys, use the shotgun. I'll bet they've got a few more short shotguns downtown. Ya'll do whatever, I just need someone to watch my back while I break into the place. We can split up, but let's hit the HQ first, so the other group can grab a squad car & a walkie-talkie or two. That way we can stay in contact with each other."

Dekker ejects the clip from his Glock, taking a quick glance at the back of the magazine to determine how many rounds he has left.

'Nine in this one, and twelve in the last... Plus thirty-eight 00 shells, and three clips for the carbine... Should be plenty till we reach the HQ...'

"Alright, that sounds good. So let's do something. We have been driving around for a while now and nothing much has been done. Well, aside from my truck being missing cause of that damn snake. Damn snakes and damn city."


I am gonna be glad getting out of this car. I hate being stuck behind this metal mesh. For once I didn't do anyhting to get stuck in hte back of a damn police car. I hope that my truck isn't banged up too bad. Well if I can eventually get my tools that would be good. Until then I will aquire a different truck and load up at the evidence room.

THe car jumped again after running over another body. Vic hit his head on the roof of the cruiser. "Hey can you not like run over every body you see. Its not like we can prepare for it back here." This is just too much. I have barely gotten any sleep in the last day or two and now I am slowly get a concussion. THis is just hogwash. I hate the city.

Dekker grunts dismissively...

"Ain't my fault... I'll roll down the window & you can bitch at the zombies for puttin' 'em there..."

Following his instructions, just as she promised she would, Maddy began to collect the items that Drevol indicated. She felt a little uneasy about taking things without paying for them, still she was sure the staff wouldn’t notice, they seemed to be far too busy with other things, like saving their own lives, if they hadn’t been affected.

Some time later, and with everything gathered, they made their way through the department store, Drevol leading and Maddy following closely behind, her eyes and ears working overtime as she scanned the area for threats. She couldn’t help wishing she had stayed back at her parents house, everything seemed so normal there.

“So, do you know where we can find a radio?” She shifted the bag she was carrying slightly on her back. “And if we do, who exactly are we going to call? I don’t see anyone wanting to come in here to get us out.” There was a hint of fear in her voice.

When they got to the Police station, they jumped out of the cruiser and waited impaitently for Dekker to open the door. When he did open it, everyone rushed into safety, Donny was getting Paranoid by simply standing outside without protection.

Once they got inside, they discoverd that the majority of the doors were locked, just as Donny suspected. When he walked over to the terminal in the main waiting area, he was informed that the Police station security network was activated, and all doors had been locked and secured...

"Great, Just Great! What are we going to do now?" Muttered Donny

Standing behind Donny, Cap shouted across the lobby to Dekker

"Heeey? Do you have a password or keycard for this computer, so we can override the security lockout?"

Then Cap had a though

"I dont wanna scare you all, but...when and if those doors open, I wouldnt, at all, be surprised if there were hordes of these creatures behind them, so," he cocked his shotgun for effect "Be ready."

"No need" Said Donny

"I just remembered, it was my company that installed the security system on the station, and the police commission specifically asked for a backdoor on the system, incase someone barracaded in the station with hostages, all the SWAT would have to do was hack into the backdoor login, and unlock everything..."

Donny sat down at the computer typing intently at it. After a few minutes, a black DOS screen pops up displaying:

WELCOME TO THE POLICE STATION NETWORK....

PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD....

Donny pulled his most treasured posession, the only thing he had from his former life where he had been a successful comptuer programmer. It was a small disk, a code breaking algorithm, he had gotten it at a party where he had befriended a hacker, he supplied him with this jewel of technology. Donny then slipped the disk in..

READING...
...
...
...
WELCOME TO THE DATABREAK PROGRAM Ver 2.64
DETURMINE PASSWORD?
...
DETURMINING..
..
...
THE PASSWORD IS dsje36gjb..
ENTER PASSWORD?
...
...
PASSWORD ACCEPTED

WELCOME TO THE POLICE STATION NETWORK CONTROL
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO?
UNLOCK DOORS... <---
UNLOCK ARMOURY...
DOWNLOAD pdf. MAP FILE OF TOWN...
CHANGE ALERT STATUS OF TOWN...
SOUND DISASTER ALARM...
LOG OUT...

Donny looked up at Cap and Dekker, with a grin on his face...

"Well, what would you like to do today?"

OOC: Bump...Where'd everyone go?

OOC: I'll try to keep it going.

OOC: Still here, just got finals. :D
IC:

"...so we're fighting off the rebels, and the chopper can't land because the rebels are burning the huge tire-fires to blacken the sky. We've got six wounded men, three rescued prisoners, and about one hundred rounds to go around. Well, I grabbed my rifle, jumped into a truck, and went destruction derby on those punks. What I couldn't run over, I braced my G36 on the wheel and blasted. I think I got most of them, and the rest ran from the lunatic in the truck-" Drevol halted his little monologue, turning away from the high pressure painter. He scratched his head and fiddled with the gasket's he'd removed, then glanced back to Maddy, who was standing guard with the G11. Seeing her expression, he changed the topic from the exploits he'd had in the Rangers. "You got those packing peanuts yet? How about the gasoline?" He bent back over the air compressor and tube assembly. "So, what's your story, ma'am?"

Maddy had been listening to Drevol as he told his stories, feeling better as she took in his tales of military life, knowing that there was a good chance he could get them out of this mess, and hopefully without too much of a problem. It took her a moment to realise that he had stopped talking about his life and had asked her a question. It took a few seconds more before the question sunk in.

“Oh, yeah, I have them.” She looked about her for the items he had mentioned, recalling picking them off the shelf. Her frantic check soon brought up results. “Here they are.” She smiled as she indicated their whereabouts to Drevol.

“As for me, I’m a medical student, well, I guess I was a medical student, not sure what I am at the moment.” She ran her hand agitatedly through her hair. “I was returning from home, when the bus…” She visibly shook as thoughts of her experiences flooded her mind. The man…the screams…the sight. She just managed to stop herself gagging on her rising bile. “When the bus crashed.” She sighed as she tried to wipe the image from her mind.

Shaking herself out of her thoughts and back to reality, she smiled as she began picking things up. She looked around nervously. “We should go.”

"Agreed. Help me wheel this thing out." Drevol opened the intake for the liquid paint and poured it mostly full of gasoline. He then dropped a handful of the styrofoam peanuts into the opening. "Do you know what polystyrene and gasoline make?"

He let the pause hand. "Napalm. Good old fashioned burning jelly." He patted the compressor. "Stick this in the bed of a truck and we have an instant flamethrower vehicle." A slight wolfish smile broke on his face, like a man watching an opponent move into check. "We can keep ourselves alive."

As they entered the parking lot, Drevol spotted an F250 and pointed. "There. We'll ride in style-" he was cut off by a moan in the distance. His eyes narrowed, and his pace quickened. "Cover me as I load this, then get in the passenger side. Hurry!"

He began to shove the assembly onto the bed, and to tie it down. Behind him, he heard moans, closer now, and gunfire. He dared not look, but with the last strap tied down, he whirled and drew his pistol, firing. In his other hand, he whirled the armored case like a mace, smashing a creature away. "Get in!" he bellowed, the mk.23 snarling. "We gotta go!"

Looking about her, Maddy stood watch as Drevol loaded the compressor on the vehicle, the weapon ready in case anything came at them. She could hear the sounds, the moans growing louder as the victims of this disaster approached. She watched opened mouthed as her companion beat back a man and then yelled at her to get into the car.

Running around to the passenger side, she slipped quickly into the seat, pulling the door closed, the resounding clank as it shut made her relax slightly, though it did nothing for her pounding heart, racing as she tried desperately to bury the fear. “So, how are we going to use that?” She flicked her gaze temporarily at the compressor. Not that she was overly concerned with anything other than putting a substantial amount of distance between them and the zombies they had managed to escape from.

Drevol jumped into the truck, slamming the door shut on the arm of a zombie, and it fell inside the car. "Shit!" he yelled, ripping a piece of the steering column away with his K-bar. His eyes scanned the wires. "Where's the matched pair?" He jammed the knife into the dash, cutting away a larger section on the colum. The knife flashed again, stripping the two red wires. Drevol grabbed and twisted them together, not touching the exposed surfaces. There was a roar, and the engine came to life. Drevol threw the vehicle in gear and slammed the accelerator down, and F250 jumped forward, throwing the zombies clear.

The truck blasted from the parking lot, it's lights flicking on into the darkness. Drevol sat back in his chair, let out a sigh. "Can't kill me." He whispered. "They still can't kill me yet." With a glance in the rear view mirror, he saw that the road was empty behind them. "You alright, Maddy?" he asked as he roloaded his pistol. "I think there's some activity by that police station over there..." He pointed to the building, glowing with the emergency lights.

"Hmmm" Donny mumbled, he had been looking around the main area since the other two were making up their minds on what to do.

"Eureka!" He shouted, he found an emergency riot kit with mace, a large night stick, and a huge sheild, plus some flares. Donny put on the gear and headed outside.

"We should proboly light these up to tell people we are here, since we don't have any more music" Donny said

He went outside and struck some matches he had in his pocket, it lit all three of them and threw them out onto the street, the lit up and started wailing, anouncing to the town that the police station has people in it.

Somehow, Donny felt safer knowing the people might be coming, plus, the riot gear helped too.

Mark hadn't seen anyone or anything in the streets for a while. He was driving 50 down a road, and flashed by the police station. He saw people and lights, and slammed on the breaks. The car screached down the road for a few dozen feet, then stopped. He pulled a u-turn and drove back to the station. Getting out, he waved to the person with the riot gear on. "Hey! How many people are here?"

“Yes, I’m fine.” Nodding her head slowly, Maddy looked to where Drevol had indicated. The police station did look like a hive of activity, but then on closer inspection so did the department store, just not the right kind of activity. Laying her trust entirely on her companion, she turned to face him, her eyes contained a haunted look, one that spoke of her lingering fear.

“Do you think we’ll find any other…” Humans. As the word popped into her head she laughed, her nerves making the least funny thing humorous. What do you think they are, Maddy? They are humans. Even the ones you are running from. “Uninfected people?” She turned her attention back to the view out of the window. “Will we be safe there?”

Donny jumped at the sound at another human voice, outside. He did not recognise this one, but the man was definately not infected with whatever it is making people crazy.

He Tore off his mask "Hello there! There are only two other people besides me in the Station, your a sight for sore eyes! First human we've seen in hours. We were just attepting to access the Stations armoury, but everythings locked tight, I solved that though. I'm just waiting for them to decide what to do. Maybe you can help them, come on inside!" Donny shouted, as he motioned happily for the other man to follow him in...

"Yeah. Normally I'd arrest you for breaking into this. But this time, I'll make an acception." Mark followed him in. Once inside, he introduced himself. "Name's Mark Perry, Officer of the Romore PD."


(I'm just gonna say the two that were in the car don't exist. No activity from them in a long time.)

Drevol heard the little nervous giggle as he killed the truck's lights, to lower its profile. Hysteria, mild. He grinned to himself. It is kind of absurd though. He watched the police station carefully. "I don't know... either the man outside is trying to signal us, or he's infected and blindly fumbling about." Another car rolled up, and Drevol watched intently. "Someone is driving. The infected lack the motor skills... at least one is alive."

So, there's more alive. Do you go there? You know that they will all have to die. NO! One person, you could talk out of this- NO! Survivors could be beneficial to the research of this- NO! Thomas, these people have been through enough- NO!

I will walk in darkness-

NO! I'll decide later. For now, we're safer in groups. Even as he came to this conclusion, a little voice spoke inside. If they start to question too much, you know what has to happen. He turned on the lights and began to roll towards the station. "Let's see if we can find other survivors. Remember, Maddy, if they're bitten, they're infected. You have to shoot them in the head, no matter what they say." He glanced at her, and seeing her he felt a pang of guilt. She shouldn't have to see this, do this, or be this. I should to bear this burden alone.

They closed with the station. And pray that they're smart enough to not ask the questions I can't answer.

Donny saw the truck out of the corner of his eye, they had been watching him the whole time, so he assumed they knew they were going inside.

"Hello Mark, the names Donny. Come over here and maybe you can help us decide something"

He lead Mark over to the computer the two were standing over the comptuer.(unless they don't exist) and showed him the screen.

WELCOME TO THE POLICE STATION NETWORK CONTROL
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO?
UNLOCK DOORS... <---
UNLOCK ARMOURY...
DOWNLOAD pdf. MAP FILE OF TOWN...
CHANGE ALERT STATUS OF TOWN...
SOUND DISASTER ALARM...
LOG OUT...

"Well, Mark, here are your choices, Wer'e afraid that if we open any of these places, Zombie officers will come pouring out. What's your opinion?"

Hugging the gun, Maddy watched as the police station grew closer. She breathed deep, wishing more than anything that she was somewhere else, miles away. The thought of having to kill another human being filled her with dread. Hadn’t she picked her career to save lives not take them. But she knew that it would be them or her, and she didn’t want to die.

Perhaps I’ll wake up and find it’s all a dream.

Turning her head towards Drevol, she tried to smile, but it was only half-hearted. “I will.” She bite her lip as she thought of the prospect, and only just managed to suppress a shudder. “Thank you for getting us this far.” The smile that she then gave him lit up her face, before the fear of the unknown took over her features again.

I would have died in the store if he hadn’t come along.

She didn’t know how she was ever going to be able to repay him for saving her life.

A military officer…here? thought Cap

Cap had been a Captain in the Air Force, but this man didn’t look right to him.

His uniform isn’t right, that’s digital urban camo…. only Spec For Marines should have that, but not for several more years…. and his unit patch…that blue starburst on black…. no unit I ever saw used that…. and…that girl with that rifle…that’s an H&K G-11! I don’t know where she got it but if she got it from him, that’s not an American Service weapon, and that SOCOM he’s got…only Special Ops carry those. The only thing I do recognize is his damned rank, he’s a Lieutenant…and, oh my god! Threes a handcuff on his wrist…and a chain and….oh lord…the Navy uses briefcases to transport nuclear activators and launch codes in…I don’t see a case but….what….who the hell is this man?”

Cap spoke up

“Hello, my name is James, or Cap, and this here is Donny, Vic, Officer Brey, and Mark….glad to see you” he said, not taking his eyes off the Lt…not sounding like he particularly meant it.

Ummm…Lieutenant? can I have a word with you.” He glanced around “privately?”


Almost as an after though

"Maybe a few of you ought it barricade the door, and set up a defensive position in the window? Also, Donny, my 1337 hacking friend, can you selectively lock some of the doors…maybe keep whatever Zombie in here trapped where they are…. I hope we haven’t already let them out."

"Well, I can try, I'm not going to Guarentee anything though..."

After several failed attepts, he finally got something, it was the Open all doors mechanism, but he couldn't do that without locking some, so he pulled up a map of the station, with all the doors in red, meaning locked. He clicked on all of the doors in the main hallway (There is five) and turned them to green, unlocked, although those were the only ones, all the others would remain closed, for now.

Donny looked up

"Alright, I haev all the main doors open, I can open more, but we would risk setting Zombies loose, so you are free to go into the main parts of the station, but if you need more vauge doors open, we're going to have to come back here. Unless someone has a working Communicator. In that case, I can stay here, and you can just beep me in to unlock more doors. But since I haven't seen anyone with a working one, I find that highly doubtful."

Bump, did this die again?

Watching as the man approached, Maddy tightened her grip on the weapon, unsure of anyone around her other than Drevol, although on inspection she saw that the man walked and spoke normally, more than the others could do. She kept her eyes on him as he addressed her companion, there was something about him that made her edgy, his whole persona, although seemingly friendly wasn’t quite right.

She glanced at Drevol as if willing him to tell her what she should do, having decided to place her trust fully in the man who had saved her life. “Drevol?” She spoke softly, little more than a whisper, but loud enough for him to hear, as she ran her hand the length of the gun, shifting its weight in her grasp.

Bump, will post when K-stan does, come on man, before I come beat you up ;)

Post will arrive sometime soon. Sleep calls. And Trans, like to see you try. :wink:

Dekker waited in the lobby, the riot gun in his hands & the police carbine strapped across his back. The Glock had returned to its holster, a trusty standby for when he needed to reload...

"Open the f**kin' door... If anything comes out I'll put somethin' new in its head, and it ain't gonna be knowledge..."

Dekker leveled the shotgun at the locked door, lining the ghost-ring sight up with the most likely location of a target. He crouched on one knee, attempting to keep his aim as steady as possible...

OOC: Damn forum won't post anything I ask it to.

"Alright Dekker, but don't say I didn't warn you..." Donny Muttered

He quickly typed in a chain of code commands into the computer, and the echo of simultaneous locks opening could be heard around the station.

"Here" Donny said as he handed all the Survivors copies of maps of the police station. "Use these if you get lost, we can't afford to loose anyone."

Dekker waves his hand slightly...

"One of ya'll come with me... We'll save maps that way."

The former SEAL glaces down a long, darkened hallway... Thankfully, it was empty...

As the man asked to speak, alone, Drevol felt a weight around his neck. Great, he's got questions. He didn't have to look to know his SOCOM was ready. Might have to have a "zombie" accident. Behind him, Maddy called his name.

That snapped him from his lethal reference for just a moment. He responded calmly, "It's fine. These people aren't infected. You know the rule of thumb, and I'll be right back." He glanced back at her, trying to impart some sort of confidence to his words, even in this desolate waste. "Be careful." he stated, his voice losing a degree of calmness, revealing something more human beneath. He stepped back a few steps, asking the man, "What can I do for you." He maneuvered to place his own form between the others and the new man.

Cap regarded the man, and put on his best authoritative voice, not to intimidate, but to show this man that he knew what he was saying

“Lieutenant, my name is James Hargrove, I’m a former Air Force Captain, currently a military analyst for Fox news. In one way, I’m happy to see you, but…and I want to keep this quiet, as to not spoke the rest of the people, or compromise you, but, you, my friend, are not what you appear. “

“You’re uniform isn’t right, digital camo has not been deployed yet, and shouldn’t be until 2008. You’re weapon, a SOCOM 23? Not standard issue to anyone save for Special Forces, and, you’re unit patch doesn’t match anything I’ve seen. That G-11….I have a hard time believing that lady owned it…or could find it here in this Podunk town, or could even tell me what it is, that means, she got it from you. Now, the US, not even SpecFor, use H&K G-11’s,, what? 30,000 a gun? Don’t think so. Worst of all, is this chain on your wrist….you know as well as I do that nuclear device firing codes can be transported that way…and the Navy always handcuffs them to their wrists…now, don’t think I’m accusing you of being a Navy man, god forbid, if you are, we’re all dead. I just want to know what the hell is going on here, and, how one lone man, dead to the world, ended up here without his team. Humor me, Lt?”

Maddy watched as Devrol exited the car, and moved away to talk to the other man. Even though he had told her that this man was still normal, she couldn’t help the growing concern she had felt growing inside. She felt unsafe and unsure sitting alone in the vehicle, her weapon now held even tighter in her hand.

Please don’t let this turn bad. Please make everything alright.

She kept her eyes focused on the one person she trusted, if anything happened to him, she didn’t know what she would do.

Dekker shifted the shotgun from a ready position to a casual position on his right shoulder...

"Leave him the f**k alone, man... He's in the same boat with us."

Dekker didn't trust anyone he didn't know any farther than a snake could shit, but he was stuck with this motley crew indefinitely. He'd just as well make the best of it...

Cap had the bearing of a military man, a flyboy by his lingo & physical condition. He seemed to have a pretty cool head under pressure.

Donny seemed like an average colledge-age hacker, somewhat whiny & arrogant, but he seemed to have a knack with the computer system that ran Dekker's former place of employment.

The soldier, definitely an infantry guy, special operations by the situation & his physical condition. Dekker couldn't ID the branch or country of his origin, not that he cared. He outranked him by any standard, an officer against Dekker's retired Sergeant Major. He found it odd that the guy was lightly armed, just a .45 Mk 23 from H&K.

The soldier's female companion seemed as jumpy as a jackrabbit, sitting quietly in the trooper's car & fingering a weapon of some kind, hidding from Dekker's view by the steering wheel. He made a mental note to keep an eye on her, no telling when she'd snap & start blasting away. He hoped it didn't come to that...

Cap hadn’t realized that Dekker had been listening to his and Devrol’s exchange.

Keeping his voice low, so as not to scare the others, he looked from Dekker, back to Devrol

He’d also noticed Devrols companion, holding her wicked looking G-11 tightly, glaring at him, he hoped to go she didn’t jump the gun and shot him.

“I’m sorry, I’m just wary of what I don’t know, now, at least, we’re all in the same boat, it doesn’t matter if we’re former military, current military, police, or, even some hick from out of town.” He said, glancing at Victor, who just been kind of sitting, guarding to door…and urging people to let him into the impound lot at some point. “So, obviously, its in our best interest to work together, My apologizes Lieutenant.” Cap holstered his pistol and, slowly, extended his hand, smiling as best he could.

“But,” he continued, picking his voice up. “Everyone who hasn’t already met him, this is Devrol, he’s on our side, meaning, he’s human, I believe “some snickers at that one. “Anyways, the longer we stay in one place, the bigger the odds those zombies…or something bigger, finds us, I suggest then we begin our operations here.”

His voice shifted, back when he was leading Operations officer for the 188th Fighter Squadron, he’d given many tactical and sit-rep briefings, his wing had been stationed in South Korea, so, tensions had run high, at times. He’d also been attached to the 171st bomber wing in Operation: Desert Storm. He didn’t fly, of course.

“We have the map, we are here.” He said pointing to the piece of paper Donny had printed out. “What we need to do is send in a team, possibly, two, comprised of, maybe, 2 people each. Team 1, you’d head to the Evidence Room, and procure whatever it is you think we could find of use. I would recommend using something like a mail-cart, or laundry basket, if available, to haul the weapons and supplies in. Dekker, it’d be best if you went on that team. Also, along the way, please procure bottles of water, open vending machines get us everything you can, should those be available.”

“Team 2, you’ll head to the impound lot, shown here to be adjacent to the station, and see what kind of vehicle there are, we’ll want those to make our escape, I figure the police parking lot is pretty empty, and, squad cars are the best idea, though, they could be raided for shotguns, Dekker, your keys should open all the squad cars, that’s police procedure in most towns, to have keys work on all cars. Anyways, we need something like a Ford SUV or Truck, preferably a truck. Victor, you’ll go with that team. I’ll need volunteers to fill slots 2 and 3 on Teams 1 and 2, the rest of you, you’ll remain here, and guard our prodigy Donny, Donny, I don’t think you have to be told what’s needed of you, my friend. Are there any questions? Complaints?

Cap hoped they didn’t think he was being too authoritative, but, this group needed a leader, Cap was used to being a leader, Devrol and Dekker looked capable of leading as well, but hadn’t stepped up to the task…. granted Devrol just got here. So, he decided he would. The rest of the group looked intelligent and competent, given a little luck, and some sharp shooting…and, glancing at Devrol, some co-operation on the part of the military, maybe, everyone would be going home….of course, the rumors of military cover-ups emerged in his mind…


OOC: Posting will be spotty over the next few days

Drevol glanced at the Cap, then at the hic behind him. I’m trained in CQB. I’m willing to bet my life that the old man isn’t. Snap the arm, gun to the chin, fire twice, spin the body into the incoming rounds from the hic’s shotgun, then fire again. Two down before they have time to process. But then what? Jump back in the truck and drive off before the others arrive? How would I explain to Maddy? “Oh look, they were infected!” No, I would have to kill more. It wouldn’t be worth it. There’s been enough death. Two more men emerged, a small man and a large one. The larger one had USMC tattooed on the arm, and he reeked of Force Recon or SEAL from the looks of him, with the swagger and all. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t couldn’t pull the outnumbered CQB chance with that man around.

The big man stopped Cap, and Drevol felt relief flood into him. It doesn't have to go badly.

Drevol smiled and spoke, “Lt. Thomas Drevol, 2nd US Army Rangers. I was part of a Long Range Recon Patrol investigating the site of the explosion. We believe terrorists were responsible, but a collision with some sort of unknown bird caused a chain reaction and chopper failure. I think everyone else is dead, and most of the equipment is fragged.” All of that was true. It just wasn't the whole truth. He turned back to the F250. “Maddy, it’s safe!” He looked back to the others. “That’s Maddy, and we’ve modified the truck into a homemade flametank. Gasoline and polystyrene, styrofoam, is all we need, plus diesel for the compressor.”
He pointed to Cap's papers. "Perfect for perimeter control."

He looked around, “So, what’s the SitRep?”

Cap looked at the lieutenant

there’s no 2nd Ranger…oh fu<k it.

“It’s a SNAFU, L.T, we got the main lobby of the Police HQ secure, our man, Donny,, a hacker, it seems, as achieved us access to the police stations computers, the doors were locked by electronic locks, he’s managed to circumvent most of the locks. Were hold up, and safe, for now”

“I’ve suggested this: One team of three is dispatched to the Evidence room, to raid it for equipment and arms, and to hit up any vending machines, I’m sure I don’t have to tell you its not safe to drink the water. Team 2, comprised of another 3 people, will move into the vehicle impound lot, and secure us, one more truck, or vehicle of some sort. With your truck, we have some leeway, I’m glad you came. Anyhow, the rest of us will remain here, to secure the lobby.” Said Cap

“the only problem as is see it, is communications, RF seems to be jammed, so…how should we stay in contact, any ideas people?” asked Cap

*double*

"Yell loudly." Drevol quipped. "Seriously, the jamming is wide band. Unless you got a powerful enough transmitter, like a radio station, you ain't punching through. So, either we drag around microwave relays in pickup trucks - don't try - or we get used to alternative comms. Lights, shots fired, screaming like a baby." He shrugged, "Sorry, but the jamming is 2048 bit rotating encryption on three second cycles." Another shrug. "On a better note, we got a stockpile of canned foods and bottled water in the truck, but we need to ration it. No nervous eating, and please, don't hit the alcohol, it'll cloud the mind, and we may need it to sterilize. We do have a stash of cigs if you're in need of calming."

He narrowed his eyes. "We don't know much about this contagion, but it's fluid borne. If you're bitten, you're infected, and you'll soon turn. It's not a chance, it's a definate. If you're bitten, you're already dead."

“Right, understood, LT, if you want, I suggest you go with Team 1, you, and Dekker, would have the best CQB training, that’s the team most likely to be inside the longest.” Said Cap

“If you want, I’m perfectly happy to be third man on your team…” he added

"Dekker and I should be on seperate teams. We're both cops, and we know the layout here better than anyone else here."

He looked at the weapons carried by the others and realized something. He had nothing. "Hey, do you have any extra weapons? I don't want to go against one of those things unarmed."

(OOC: Pretty soon I'm gonna steer this RP towards the climax and ending. I gotta get writing. Also, if any of my words are mispelled, it's because I've switched into summer mode. I once forgot how to write the letter 's'. Nothing that bad will happen tho.)

Drevol flicked a glance back to Maddy. She'd get mauled inside, and I'm not going to abandon her here. "I'll head up the perimeter force, so we're not putting all our shooters in one area."

"Alright, then, if you want the team here, Dekker, why dont you take Team 1? I'll take Team 2, Victor, you're with me, and, could you please supply Mark here with a pistol? Mark, you're with me too, Dekker, pick you're team."


((OOC theres enough for 2 teamd of 3, arent there?

(OOC: I don't know. And it's Mark. I went back and looked.)

((OOC: Now, theres not, theres 6 people
Victor
Dekker
Cap
Mark
Maddy
Devrul
Donny

Dionny cant leave, Maddy has to stay with Kstan, well, doesnt have to, but, it would fit her chara thus far. And Kstan wants to remain behind with her, so, we put them on the guard, Dekker and I go get the guns, and Mark and Victor head for the inpound lot?"

my bad about your name, i didnt go back and look ))

Maddy sat in the car, she could see that Drevol was in heavy discussion with the other man, and she needed to stretch her legs. She looked over at her saviour as he glanced in her direction, and finally decided to leave the car. She was sure she was as safe in it as out of it, and she really wanted to know what was happening. There was nothing worse than being in the middle of something but then being left out of the game plan.

She walked around to the front of the van and leant against the bodywork, keeping Drevol in view, but not getting in his way. He had told her to stay in the car after all.

Donny blushed a bit, he had never recived so much attention for anything he had done, especially hacking into a Police stations memory core.

"Well, I suppose you guy's should get going, I mean, I'm sure there's lots of stuff in the evidence room, and getting another vehicle would be grand. Also, if anyone wants to make a side trip, in the basement, There is the Police station's emergency generator, its desiel powered, right now it's off, probably out of gas,but there should be a barrel or two in the room with it. If you could get it on, I'd have access to the Survalence Cameras and possible the emergecy shutters for the doors and windows, which could come in handy, in the event that we're stuck here for longer than anticipated..."

Dekker pitched his shotgun to the other 'officer'... The carbine on his back would work for the close quarters ahead, but not as well as a shotgun. Hell, he preferred the carbine anyway, it was a bit more like the M4 he used back when he was still a fightin' man...

"I don't give a f**k... But I ain't gonna babysit either. If you don't think you can cut it inside, stay in the lobby & cover our asses. I don't take kindly to some rotten-ass maggot-farm sneakin' up behind me..."

Drevol grimaced as Dekker ripped into the techie. It wasn't a pained expression, but a memory of his enlisted days, before Officers Candidate School. It was hell being bitched by Sargeants, but it was more hell being the Noncom, because you had to keep the grunts in line. At least they didn't catch the fallout when things went wrong. That was why officers were paid more. It was their head on the block if there was a FUBAR. And this was a FUBAR.

"Okay, I'm going to need a third person out here." he declared. "I can drive, and Maddy can use the flamethrower, but I'm going to need an auxilliary gunner and compressor maintenance man."

He glanced around again, some movement in the shadows catching his eye. He dropped to his knee in a blur, the mk. 23 snapping up and coughing. In the darkness, there was a meaty thump. "They found us. We need to hurry!" He called to Maddy. "Get the compressor running! Let's cook the bastards!"

He ran for the bed of the truck. "Someone get the flamethrower!"

Dekker calmly strode over & put a pair of 5.56mm's in the head of Drevol's 'kill'...

"An' stay the f**k down..."

Withsomething between a groan & a sigh, he kept tabs on the doors, watching for movement...

"Stay sharp, ladies & gents... We got dinner guests, so somebody had best set the table..."

It was coming back to Dekker, the pure adrenaline thrill of combat, heading a squad like he had back in his SEAL days as a Master Sergeant. His CO hadn't had a taste for battle, so he had usually hung back in the rear, leading from behind. Inronically, that was what had gotten him killed, his throat cut by some Afgan rebel as he barked out orders...

With a yank and kick, the compressor roared to life, and the hose jerked as fluid filled the paint spray machine. Drevol pointed the nozzle at the darkness, making sure that Dekker was clear. "Flame inbound!" He called, then commented, "Let there be fire..."

As his finger pressed the trigger, the contraption kicked slightly, and a stream of viscous fluid emerged. With another flip of his middle finger, the spark generator attatched through a sheet of blue amid the dark fluid, and the stream became an inferno of orange and red. The liquid fire splashed into the alley, and in the sudden light, the burning forms could be seen dropping. The hose traversed, cutting the alley from the parking lot. Drevol released the flow, and looked back. "That will slow them down. Move it or lose it!"

Dekker chuckled slightly...

"Guess that makes them the main course..."

He waves for a few of the survivors to follow him into the station...

"You heard him, that thing ain't gonna hold 'em forever..."

"Alright, it's time to get movin it seems. We all know where to go so break up and let's move."

Vic splits off with the other two heading out to the impound lot.

With his shotgun at his hip, he turned to Mark. "I'll take the lead just tell me where to go. My boomstick should stop our unexpected residents."

He also tossed the officer the .40 cal.

Alright, well, it seems we have no purpose for sitting around at this terminal, our position seems to have been "Comprimised" So I suppose we should better get moving. Just point me in the direction and I'll follow.

Dekker set about kicking in doors & clearing rooms. Eventually he & his team reached the armory...

"Load up... Take what you can carry & all of what you can't..."

He begins slinging a few MP5's over his shoulders, then replaces the carbine with a more durable M4. For good measure, he slings a pair of spare M4's on his free shoulder & shoves a few Glocks into his belt. The others grabbed a few extra shotguns & as much ammo as they could possibly carry. Dekker struggled out of the armory, dragging a duffel brimming with ammo boxes & spare magazines behind him...

Maddy’s heart was pounding loudly in her chest, if it were not for her listening to and following Drevol’s instructions, she was certain this situation would have driven her insane. She was still finding it hard to comprehend that everything happening around her was real, and not some nightmare that she would soon wake up screaming from.

Having done as he instructed, Maddy tried to stop herself gagging at sight of the aftermath, now was not the time for her to empty her guts. Swallowing hard and taking some huge breaths, she managed to control her churning stomach. She looked at Drevol, relying on him to guide her.

Donny had followed the other officiers and accociated people to the impound police parking lot, it was filled with cars, Old Beat up cars, new sparkly cars, and there was one Hummer, which must've been impounded due to the drivers terrible driving, judging by some paint missing on the left side.

He looked at the other people and said "I belive the H2 would do us well, even though it's proboly not going to get us really far on one tank of gas, It would be able to plow through those Zombies pretty well...

Maj. Elliot whipped around when he heard the noise. He raised his pistol and leveled it at the figure. A quick glance at the details, and he realized it was a Shrike. "Identify yourself soldier."

SFC. Jennifer Mason looked up groggily at him. "S.....sir. Wh..what are you...doing here.."

Maj. Elliot noticed the bloody rag she had wrapped around her arm. "You've been bitten." He sighed,"Since you're not going to be leaving here, I'll tell you." He walked nearer her and aimed his pistol at her head. "Well, sergeant, my squad and I planted a bomb."

She looked weakly at him,"Sir? A.....bomb....s..sir?"

The major nodded,"Yes, quite a powerful one. In a few short hours, the bomb will detonate, taking this entire city, including these creatures and the infected, with it."

Jennifer reached for him,"How....cou....could you? There....are...still people....here."

The major stepped back,"Just following orders sergeant. This is also in my orders. Keeping all of the infected in this city." He raised the pistol to her forehead and put his finger on the trigger.

Jennifers eyes opened wide and she drew a large breath. Maj. Elliot realized she wasn't looking at him, but past him. He whirled around and saw the creature behind him.

The rat creature looked at him through the eyes that had formed in the eye slot of the armor. Food. It reached for him and grabbed him around the torso, pinning his left arm to his side.

Jennifer turned and stumbled away as fast as she could in her weakened state. Elliot shouted after her,"Damnit soldier! Get back here and help me!"

He raised the pistol to the things head and began to fire. The creature let out a roar of pain as the bullets tore through the soft parts of it's body. It turned him sideways and swung him into a wall. With a sickening crack, his skull took the full force of the blow, cracking the bricks in the wall. Blood splattered over the wall on impact, covering an impressive portion of it. The creature pulled back his body and absorbed the flowing blood through it's hand.

Where other? Hungry.

The creature looked around but couldn't see the other that had left. It noticed a blood trail on the ground and began to follow it. It would find more food.

As Donny was talking about the Various cars he wished he'd owned as they were touring the police impound lot, a sickening idea came over his mind. He tossed it away as a paranoid accusation, but it slowly became more and more untill it possesed his whole mind, he had to ask some one for their opinion.

He turned to Cap and inquired, "Say, in your opinion, being a military man and all, if you had an infection or some sort of contaminate, and you had no way of controlling its spread, or how far it will reach, what steps would the military take to prevent it from escaping a contained area?"

Dekker struggled back into the main lobby, clanking & crashing noisily...

"They'd turn this city into one big-ass smoking hole in the ground..."

Donny glanced at dekker, He did not expect him to show up so soon, he could walk fairly quickly for a man loaded down with ammo.

"Exactally, so wouldn't all of those soldiers flying around in Helicopers out there be prepared to incinerate this city in the event the virus could not be contained? If so, where could we find said Bomb, or how could we escape being blown into itty bitty pieces...?"

At this comment, Drevol burst into laughter from the back of the truck, the bitter laughter bred from dark irony. He wiped the tears from his eyes, glancing at the people standing below, staring back at him. He held his breath for just a moment. "Pieces? You're worried about being blown to pieces? Sorry, I find that highly amusing." He paused, leaning on the emitter. "And don't even think about disarming whatever device might be set up. Number one, you wouldn't have a chance. Temperature gauges, mercury switches, electrostatic mesh, barometric sensors, everything you could think of and so much more... so, unless you happen to be certified in bomb disposal, forget it. Number two, that device is going to keep everyone alive. Imagine if this disease were to spread, to get out into the populace? Do you want the Four Horsemen galloping through the world? The only chance to stop this is here and now. Is there a device in the city? I would bet my life on it. Should we stop it? Hell no."

Drevol turned back to Donny. "The only way to survive is to escape before this invisible timer clicks over. Then, we have to convince the very scared and very armed soldiers to let us out. So, if anyone has any ideas, please share." he paused, chomping on a piece of jerky. "I say we head to the radio station, try to jury rig a transmission to punch through the jamming. I can try and talk us out. Oh, and anyone have a gun? I do believe I've only got a couple of shots left."

Maddy looked at Drevol and handed him the weapon she was carrying. She had not fired it, and knew that it would be better off in his hands than hers. “Here, take this.” She let the words of his speech swirl around her head, numbing her senses, as panic began to well in her stomach. “We’re going to die, aren’t we? If we survive those monsters we are just going to die anyway! What’s the point?!” Her voice rose in pitch as she spoke. “We’re all going to die!!”

(OOC: Get everyone moving....)

The building rose before the creature. The letters RPD meant nothing to the creautre, but the fact that it sensed life inside did. It began walking to the nearest door, swatting one of the non-nurishing ones aside with it's sword. The zombie slammed into a dumster, sending the dumster, zombie imbedded in the side, rolling out of the alley and into the street.

The creature came to the back door and smashed it's way in. Walking throught he splinters that had been the back door, the creature let out a roar.

Mark heard the roar and spun in the direction of the back of the building. "Shit. It's that thing again."

He turned to the others,"We have to get out of here fast, that thing is really fucking vicious. Let's just worry about getting away from it, then we can find a way out of this town."

Donny Jumped

"Um, yeah, I;'m going to take your word for it, lets get moving everyone!"

Donny began to pick up the pace as he coud hear the stomps of the creature getting closer.

Dekker piled his load of M4's & MP5's into the back of the Hummer, slinging the ammo-loaded duffel alongside the weaponry. The police carbine he had been carrying had been left in the armory, so Dekker took up one of the M4's...

"Who's drivin'? Ain't gonna be me..."

The crashing was closing in quickly... Dekker took careful aim with his weapon...

After several moments of awkward standing around by the veichle, with the Crashing comming ever closer, Donny Snapped.

"Ok! If none of you are gonig to drive away before whatever the hell is coming comes to eat us, then I will!!!"

He ripped open the door (which was unlocked) and jumped in, he then proceeded to hotwire the car, in which a normal occasion would get him arrested, he didn't care, he was sure neither did the police officers.

"Alright, anyone coming? or should I just leave you to become breakfast?"

OOC: I just want to finish this so I don't have a lingering sense of failure.

Mark followed Donny and jumped into the car. That thing was going to kill them all once it found them. He yelled at the others to get in.

(OOC: Good point.)

Watching the others closely, it seemed to Maddy that if she wanted to get out of this situation alive, she would have to do as the others did. So with little thought other than that she jumped up onto the vehicle, hoping that they could all get out safely. She held on tight and listened for further instructions.

OOC: Sorry about not posting yet. Computer problems. Will post, I promise!

OOC: I'm just assuming everyone got in the car. If Kaukolastan posts otherwise, I'll edit it.

IC: Donny slammed down the accelerator and sent the car crashing out onto the street from the impound lot, he went whirring down a corner and eventually ended up on a strech of road littered with Debiris but still drivable, he was convinced they were away from that...Thing, for now.

Calmed down, he looked into the back at his occupants

"Well, that bought us a little time, any one have any good ideas?"

In the back seat, Drevol cradled the G11, aiming the weapon at the back window, waiting for the demon to materialize. Come on, fucker, you want some. He heard Donny ask, and he bit his lip. "We can't run forever. We either get the hell out of the city, or we fight this thing and then get the hell out of the city. Unless anyone wants to become ashes, that is."

Still watching for movement, he spied a burning wreck by the road. "That's a crashed helo! Pull over there, they might have an encrypted radio I can use." He turned back to front, pulling the Holodrive from his jacket. "Hey, hacker, you ever seen one of these? It's a multi-terrabyte holographic drive. On this is a list of people. This list spells out every person in this city who is a retrievable asset." He let the others figure out that statement. "When we get somewhere safe, put yourselves on the list. That's the bus pass."

He grimaced slightly. Now I've done it. I've broken the oath. He ignored himself. Fuck it. There's a higher oath. Protect and serve. Drevol had made his choice.

Maddy watched on silently, and although she thought she understood what Drevol was suggesting, she could not totally trust her brain to take in all the facts, especially with all the excitement that she had experienced today. She could not shake the feeling that she would wake up shortly and find this had all been a bad dream, and she would wake up on the bus as it pulled into the depot, where her friend would meet her.

She turned to Drevol, a questioning frown creasing her forehead. “Are you saying the way out of this mess is to make ourselves important?” She could not believe that the government would allow people to die while they rescued the ‘important’ few. “Damn it, don’t they care about us? They are just going to stand back and let us all die!” She shook with anger, and took out her frustration on him, barely holding back from hitting him as an example. “What do you know about this?”

He grimaced, not wanting to go into details. I've stepped into the ferry. Now I pay the toll. "These weapons that were dispersed into the city, by the terrorists, they were not developed by the terrorists. An abandoned project, the name is inconsequential, was located here. Unfortunately, the parties involved did not halt the design of the weapons, even when we pulled funding and cancelled the operations. When this mess happened, the government needed to clean it up."

Again, he let the almost-innocent phrase hang. "This was a tragedy, one which no one desired, but when it occured, we needed to lock down the area. This entire city is quarantined by Special Forces, no transmission is getting out. SOP dictates that this city will be incinerated, most likely by a pure fusion or large GSX explosive device. Nuclear terrorism is growing threat, you know." His mouth twitched.

"But not everyone was infected by the agents, nor was this reaction supposed, this undeath. There are people, or were people, who knew about these programs, who understood these weapons, in this city. They were to be recovered, interrogated, and perhaps utilized to develop an antigen, or a new strain. There were also powerful businessmen, politicians, people tied to the power in the halls of DC, people who could be trusted to not speak of this disaster. These useful, trusted people would be evacuated. The others... collateral. Infection was probable, survival was not likely. We didn't have the resources to save everyone."

He took a breath, seeing the others staring at him like he was the boogie man incarnate. "Obviously, that approach was flawed. I'm trying to get everyone out of here, but we don't have time to talk about who knew what, and who said what. You want to crucify me, go ahead... once we're all safe." Call me ruthless, call me a monster. Perhaps I am. But I am trying to be a good man here.

Stepping back, Maddy looked guiltily at Drevol. She knew she would not be standing there in front of him now if he had not saved her from the store. She would be dead, lying in the stomach some infected person. She lowered her head, and blushed slightly, embarrassed over her outburst.

“I’m sorry. I don’t blame you.” She frowned slightly, as she raised her eyes to his and smiled slightly. “It’s just…too much to take in. I mean, this morning I was on my way back to university and now I don’t know what I’m doing or if I’ll even wake up tomorrow.”

She sighed softly, knowing that she had overreacted, and stepped slightly away, giving herself a little time to think as their next move was planned.

"Over there? Yeah, sure." Donny replyed, as he turned into the flaming wreck

"Don't know if anything in that box still works, but if your going to try, be careful not to burn yourself. As for the Holodrive, that'll defineatly come in handy when we try to get out of here..."

(OOC: Wow, thanks K-Stan. That way to get out makes so much more sense than any of mine. Seriously.)

OOC: No prob, Sigma. :cool:

IC:

As the vehicle rolled to a stop, Drevol reached for the door, ready to fling it open with a barage of firepower, but nothing was waiting in the flames. He turned back to Maddy. When he spoke, his voice had lost the edge, and he sounded tired, "It's alright. I've done some terrible things. Just please, remember why they were done." To Donny, "You'll need a good computer. Those drives aren't going to roll out for another two years or so, but they interface through standard USB three point aught. Use the password Theta Omicron Sigma Seven as commander access. You'll have to hack Carter's firewalls, because he's long dead." He placed the G11 on the seat.

Drevol swung the door open, stepping into the raging fires. Ringed in the inferno, he made one last comment. "Someone, please give me cover, at least." With that, he ducked into the wreck.

Inside, the shattered plastic and bent metal had created a small alcove against the flames. It was blisteringly hot, and he was careful not to touch anything, even with his gloves. On the ground, a pair of mangled legs was diced by a metal sheet. Drevol felt sick, seeing his comrades this devastated.

In the back, he spotted a helmet. Ducking under a red hot piece of the craft, he reached out. His arm brushed the wall as he pulled the helmet back, and the burn made him cry out, but he stifled the sound as the first gasp of air passed his throat. Inside the helmet, there was the comms gear. Holy God, it's here. Damaged, and underpowered, but here. He tucked it under his arm and headed for the front when it happened.

There was a sudden crash, the steady thump that had made them flee the police station. The monster. He could smell it, too, here in the smoldering ruin. There was a scent about it, one he had smelled so many times before, when he was left in the aftermath of a battle. That's the sickly sweet smell of death. That's the scent of death. The thump struck again, and a portion shifted, caving in his entrance.

The frame bent, opening another passage on the opposite side from the parked car. Clear your mind, Lieutenant. This is war. He tucked the helmet transmitter into his jacket and jumped through the flames.

The tongues licked at him, scorched his side. He struck the ground, the soft grass of a public square, burnt into brown shards. He rolled, dousing the flames, and kicked out, popping to his feet. His vision flickered around, searching for the creature hunting them. There was nothing, but he could hear it, coming ever closer.

As he started to run, he spotted a crate, thrown from the helicopter. A grin flashed over his face, and he kicked the top open. Inside, a stack of Shrike Team weapons waited. Ok, Mr. Hunter of humans, time to become fair game. Drevol grabbed as much as he could carry, and shuffled back to the car.

Arriving, the others were in various states. Drevol stood there, silhoutted on the fires, covered in guns and ammunition that hung from every point on his body. He grinned maniacly and declared, "Santa Claus is very real, kids. Merry Christmas."

Throwing the gear into the back seat, on top of those waiting back there, he ducked in, slamming the door. "I have the transmitter, but it needs a power booster to get out. Maybe a radio or television station, or perhaps the hospital helicopter pad would work." He paused, thumbing the locking pin onto the parabollic launcher on his shiny new AG36. There was another crash behind them, and he whirled, pointing the assault rifle out the window. Behind, a wall crashed down, and a large armored thing stood in the moonlight. The grenade launcher thumped in Drevol's hand, and the view became fire.

Someone screamed. Something roared. There was chaos.

OOC2: Sorry, Sigma, I had to bring the AG36 back for the finale. :eek:

A list of the weapons he snagged:
-2 CAWS
-1 AG36 (in use)
-1 G11
-AMMO
-1 UMP .45
-7 katanas (just kidding, Sigma)

Donny looked as Drevol left the Veichle and went to the Helicopter.

I hope he gets out alright, that Helicopter looked mighty dangerous

The Second he got for thinking was cut short, Drevol came hobbling out with shiny metal objects slung around every part of his body, it took him two seconds to register what they were, lots and lots of guns. He threw them uncermoniously into the back seat and got in, saying they needed to get to a signal booster. Also, in that moment, a Hideous metal beast broke out from the wall.

"Oh crap" Muttered Donny as he put the clutch in, right before he took off, Drevol fired a Grenade Launcher at the thing, but not before it got a chunk of roof off.

As the car screeched away Donny looked back and said "Well folks, looks like were driving a convertable, and grab a gun guys, we're going to need all the help we can get where we are going.

He looked at Drevol and said "I know just the place that you need, the University Tech building, it was where the radio station was located, and there is also a Computer room where I can hack into your little thingy. Unfortuneatly, as Dekker already pointed out, the University was the designated Emergency Building, so I'm sure we'll encounter more than one of our undead friends there. Also, no there is no alternative in case you were thinking, the only other two places with a strong enough transmitter to punch through whatever your people put up where the Hospital and the Police station. The Hospital was beside the Warehouse downtown that exploded, so there's not much left of it. The Police station, well, you were there, so I don't really have to say anything.

Donny countinued driving in Silence untill they reached the university, hitting his fair share of walking corpses. He stuck his head out, and he could see at least three Zombies wandering around inside the Universities large glass windows.

"Well, looks like thats the only way in, so everyone, to use Cliched words, lets 'Lock and Load'" He said with a grin as he picked up one of the CAWS.

OOC: Bump... Not again...

Mark hopped out and proceeded towards the front door, pointing his gun in all directions, checking for zombies, armor, whatever. He got to the front door and tried to open it, but it was locked. He leveled the shotgun to the lock and fired, blowing it away, and the door open. He motioned everyone to get inside.

(Damn you......katanas.......anyone says anything about touching those, they get a face full of nightmare sword.....)

Donny was one of the first to dismount from the Veichle, he hastily ran towards Mark at the entrance to the University, and awaited the others.

"I hope we get this done soon, this place is starting to give me the creeps..."

Dekker laughed once...

"And the flesh-eatin' motherfuckers outside don't?"

The M4 was on his shoulder, in a relaxed position...

OOC: Figured this was dead after several weeks of inactivity...

Donny ran inside the University, encountering many Zombies, he fired his Gun in an Uncontrolled fashion, seeing as he had no experience with guns. After about 1 Minute of random violent shooting, the Zombies were dead on the floor. Donny wiped a bead of sweat off his brow and continued inside.