First Contact
"Irons seriously used this place?" Michtell asked as the Warbird circled around the prison. Ilona eyed the building in question, trying to take in what details it could. Several empty vehicles, including prison buses littered the front of the compound, along with tall chain link fences. While she hadn't been able to read the actual name of the prison, as it was in Arabic, she had been informed that it more or less translated to "Big Prison". Looking at the buidling now, she couldn't help but be confused by this. It was a rather small structure, with only a few outlying structures surrounding it.
"Why's it called "Big Prison", if it's not even that big?" She asked, looking over to Gideon. Wearing his trademark skullcap and wielding a Pytaek light machine gun, Gideon turned to face her.
"Wrong defintion Ilona. may not be that big, but Atlas said they were holding some the most dangerous political prisoners of Iraq here." He replied, Illona nodded.
"Sound noble enough. What was it really holding?" Mitchell asked. After Atlas had been exposed to be planning Manticore strikes across the world, Sentinel had been assigned to investigate just about everything Atlas had been up to prior to that point. In more than a few cases, what they had discovered was pretty skewed from what Irons had originally said. Turns out the late CEO had quite a few skeletons in his closet. Gideon shrugged at Mitchell's question.
"Turns out the dirtbag was just stowing away political opponets, as he called them. In other words, anyone who was suspicious or opposed to Atlas presence in New Baghdad." He said, moving towards the open door of the Warbird.
"Not that that much matters now. Riot left the whole place empty. But that intel's down there somewhere. Get down there and go get it!" He shouted over the sound of the rotors. Kingpin had sent in several Sentinel operators to find out what had gotten the political prisoners thrown in there. That information was kept somewhere in the prison, and it was their mission to find it. Gideon, having been promoted to the field commander position after the original leader, Cormack, was killed in action, would be providing them with overwatch and alerting them to any new developments that were occuring. From this point on, he would be going by Sentinel Two-One Actual.
"Right. Let's do this." Mitchell said, readying his HBRa3 assault rifle, a large roll of deployable cover strapped to his back. With a mighty leap from his exo, Mitchell jumped out, landing witha hard thud on the ground. Ilona prepared her own KF5 sub machine gun, and similarly launched herself out of the Warbird, landing right next to Mitchell. Looking over to her partner, she found him smiling.
"Twenty bucks says I find it before you do." He said. Ilona gave a hearty chuckle and shook her head.
"You're on Mithcell." Quickly, they moved in through the front entrance, past the desk and into the holding area, where they found six other Sentinel operators looking through the cells. As Mitchell went to search another one of the cells, one of them, a well built black man who looked like he was in his thirties, walked over to them, introducing hismself as Sergeant Green.
"It's good to see you Captain, we'll need you for this." He said to Ilona, a deep gravely voice emanating from his throat.
"What do we have so far?" She asked, walking forward towards one the cells. The cell, as expected, was empty, carrying only a small cot and a few bathroom appliances like a toilet and sink.
"Not much, the cells are mostly empty, save for a few journals. None of them have what we're looking for though, it's just personal stuff." Green replied. Ilona nodded and looked around the sturcture, above them were several glass panes making up the celing, this was likely the only source of natural light the prisoners would have had during their incarcerations.
"Sentinel Two-One, this is Sentinel Two-One Actual , status report, over." The radio suddenly blared. Ilona turned to her shoulder, where a mic was pinned to her uniform. Pressing a small button on the side of the microphone, she said;
"Sentinel Two-One Actual, the prison is entirely deserted, there's nothing here. Our intel might have been off." She said as she continued to look around the holding center. The way to the holding yard was blocked off with what looked like bullet-proof glass, preventing them from heading out there. Not that they would likely find anything there anyway.
"Oh, there's definitely something there Atlas doesn't want us to get. We're seeing several Atlas vehicles moving in on your position. Set up a defensive perimeter and ready up. We'll try to take out as many as we can from the sky. Sentinel Two-One Actual out." Gideon said. Ilona placed her hands back onto her weapon as she turned to face Green once more, who was firmly clasping a light machine gun.
"Sergeant, Atlas forces are moving in on our position. Get everyone into defensive positions near the entrances. No one gets in." She said. Green nodded.
"Yes ma'am, I'm on it." He replied, lifting his weapon and jogging over where a majority of the operators are. He relayed her orders in aggresive shouts, as Ilona gestured Mitchell over to her. He boosted over to her.
"You want me to deploy my cover?" He asked. Ilona nodded, pointing towards the way they came. Mitchell nodded and let his weapon dangle from his side, as he grabbed the roll of cover from his back. As Ilona moved to follow him, he slammed one side to the left of the open doorway, and ran to the right, until it covered the entire length of the doorway. He retrieved his weapon and crouched behind the cover, while several other operators repeated their process along the two other entrances.
"All Sentinel Operatives, this is Sentinel Two-One Actual, enemy ground forces have just landed near the outskirts of the prison. Additional forces on on their way, dig in and take em' down. Sentinel Two-One Actual out." Gideon said as Ilona aimed down her sights. readying up. Mitchell crouched beside, similarly aiming his weapon at the exposed doorway.
"Got one in the chamber?" Mitchell asked, not taking his eyes off the doorway.
"This isn't my first firefight Mitchell. I know what to do." Ilona said, her eye never leaving her sight.
"Just making sure." He replied. With that, they heard loud footseps, and soon, Ilona's vision was filled by an Atlas operative, a black helmet and red goggles on his head. Ilona opened fire, firing off four rounds, killing the soldier. Soon, the sound of gunfire drowned out any other sounds, with the sustained fire of all eight operators keeping the Atlas operators from the holding chamber.
"Toss flash! Push them back!" Ilona shouted over the gunfire. Obediently, Mithcell produced a flashbang from his kit, and tossed it through the doorway. A few shouts were heard before a loud bang sounded. Leaping over the cover, Ilona quickly adjusted to the doorway, aiming her weapon. Three Atlas soldiers, blinded by the flashbang, stood by the doorway. She opened fire as Mitchell came up beside her, opening fire on them as well.
"Seargeant Green, this is Sentinel Two-One, we're readjusting to the rooftops, get your men on the move! Over!" Ilona shouted into her microphone as she pushed forward towards the front desk.
"Roger that Sentinel Two-One! We're oscar mike, over!" Green shouted back through the raido. Another two Atlas operators entered through the main doorway, exo shields extended in front of them. Mitchell took up a defensive position behind the desk beside Ilona and opend fire, bombarding the operatives to discourage further movement. Ilona prepared a smart grenade, throwing it over the counter. The grenade hissed a few seconds, then flew in between the two Atlas soldiers. The explosion cuased them to fallo over, dead as doornails.
"Clear, let's move!" Mithcell shouted as Ilona heard the distinct sound of an empty magazine hitting the floor. She leapt over the desk and jogged outside, seeing several Atlas operatives outside being fired upon by Gideon from his Wabird. While this was happening, Atlas Warbirds were doing battle with Gideon's over head. A missile launched from Gideon's and struck one of Atlas' in one of it's rotors, causing it to spin out of control.
"Sentinel Two-One, this is Sentinel Two-One Actual, what's the status on the ground, over?" her radio blared as Ilona used her exo to jump onto one of the lower ledges of the roof, with Mitchell following closely behind her.
"Sentinel Two-One Actual, the ground forces are coming in mass! We need additional support, over!" She shouted as she jumped up to the hightest point of the rooftop, seeing that Green and a few of the operators had already reached the top. The front of the bulding blocked off the middle of the roof, but the sides to the right and left were left open, allowing them room to fire.
"Copy that Sentinel Two-One. Be advised, my Warbird needs to pull out due to low fuel. Another Warbird and an XS1 Vulcan will be moving into orbit above you soon, hold out until they arrive, over." Gideon said as Mithcell moved over to help the remaining operators on the roof, while Green and two others laid down covering fire. Ilona slammed her back against the wall beside the opeators.
"Sergeant! What's the status on your men?" She shouted. Green ducked down and began to reload as one of the recently arrived operators took his place, wielding a similar HBRa3 as Mitchell's.
"We lost one man on the way here! Atlas are pouring all over us!" He shouted, a bullet whizzing over his head. Ilona broke from her cover momentarily, firing off a few rounds to keep the Atlas operatives pinned down. A majority of them were taking cover behind the cars and buses littered around the front yard of the prison. Backing behind the wall once more, she dropped her now empty magazine, reaching for a fresh one. The remaining seven operators were now all on top of the roof, two of them taking cover to reload their weapons while the remaining five found good cover and opened fire on the Atlas soldiers below. One of them, Ilona noticed, still carried their roll of deployable cover with them.
"Green, get your man to deploy that cover to our right! We need to make sure Atlas doesn't get the jump on us!" She shouted to Green. The Sergeant nodded and barked out the orders to the soldier.
"Corporal Evans, get that cover to our nine o'clock! Take Hamilton and keep that area locked down!" He shouted. Bringing his machine gun back to his front, he set it on top of a small bit of cover and started firing once more. As the two soldiers got to work on the cover, Mitchell readjusted, planting himself right next to Ilona as he dropped another empty magazine.
"Atlas is dropping in drones, I can see them coming from the east." He said to her. Ilona groaned under her breath.
"Great. I hate dealing with drones." She said as she pulled out a tactical grenade, switching it from Threat to EMP. She readied the grenade as the familiar soud of whirring drones filled her ears. Looking toward the left, she saw a set of seven drones, all them locked on their location. She heaved the genade towards the drones. Detonating in mid air, the grenade sent a visible shock wave through five of the drones, grounding them instantly. The remaining two drones opened fire on one of the operators, killing him. Mitchell opened fire on the drones, quickly downing them as well.
"All Sentinel operatives, this is Sentinel Two-One Actual, get off the bloody roof, the enemy's calling in a bombing run!" Ilona heard the radio blare. Quickly, she looked around, seeing a galss pane to their left. She rushed over to it as she heard the distinct noise of an overhead plane.
"This way! Come on!" She shouted, firing several rounds to break the glass. She dropped down and ran towards the hallway farthest from it. Mitchell and Green followed closely behind, along with the two operators that had been covering the right side of the roof. Before the remaining operator could get to safety, a massive rumbling rocked the stucture, throwing the five operators off their feet. When it stopped, Ilona pushed herself to her feet, still a little off balance.
"Johnson was still on the roof... I don't think he made it..." Green said, huffing as he did. Mitchell pushed himself onto his feet, coughing as he did so.
"So that just leaves five of us, we need to move back into the holding rooms." He said, as the remaining operators got to their feet and reclaimed their weapons. To his right, a group of three Atlas soliders entered through the main entrance, which Green easily dispatched of with his machine gun. Ilona pointed to the direction of the holding cells and shouted;
"Move! Dig back into the holding area, let's go!" Quick to follow her orders, the remaing operators chased after her. Leaping over one of the deployable covers from before, and used her exo to leap onto one of the catwalks. Mitchell followed suit, while Green and his remaining men each set up on one of the remaing entrances.
"Hostiles coming in!" One of the other operators shouted. The sound of gunfire once again reigned supreme amongst all others as Ilona readjusted to get a good view on the doorways leading to the catwalks. A group of hostiles came up the stairs, only to meet the end of a voley of bullets, courtesy of herself and Mitchell.
"Sentiel Two-One, this is Sentinel Two-One Actual, you have a massive number of hostiles headed to your position. The good news is, the Warbird has arrived in your air space. It'll cut down the hostiles as they move in. Sentinel Two-One Actual out." Gideon said through the radio. The rotors of the Warbird could be heard as it rushed overhead, and readjusted to the side of the prison.
"Air support! Thank the Lord it's here!" Green shouted over the gunfire. Even from the enclosed space in the holding yard, Ilona could see the devastaion the Warbird was causing, as it strafed around the entirety of the compound. Atlas soldiers ran for the saftey of the building, only to be cut down by the seemingly neverending gunfire of the Sentinel operators within. Ilona heard the unmistakable sound of the exo skeleton and looked behind her. Mitchell was landing behind her with a loud thud, breathing hard. There was a smile on his face.
"Nice for things to start going our way for once, huh?" He said, his smile spreading wider across his handsome face. Ilona chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, that is always nice." She agreed. Suddenly, a massive explosion occured, flashing brilliantly across the skylines above them. Ilona threw her hands over her eyes to protect them from the immense light, as Mitchell rushed towards her to keep her from falling over the railing. Below them, the other three operators had also noticed the massive blast.
"What the heck was that?!" Green shouted. Regaining her balance, Ilona looked to the sky, seeing what remained of their Warbird sprialing out of control.
"All Sentinel operatives be advised, Atlas is sending three AST units to your location, they just took out your Warbird. An XS1 Vulcan will be in orbit shortly, but you NEED to hold out until then!" Gideon shouted from the radio. Ilona motioned for Mithcell to move to the stairwell, who quickly obliged. The three operators on the ground met up with them there.
"What now ma'am? We're not equipped to deal with ASTs." Green asked. To his right, the operator Ilona recognized as Hamilton pulled an MDL grenade launcher from it's bindings on her back.
"The best I have is this, and it's not going to do much against an AST with it's trophy system." She said. Ilona motioned with her hand for them to quiet down.
"We move back up to the roof, they won't be able to reach us from there." She said. Mitchell shook his head.
"That's suicde, their swarm missiles would be on us in seconds." He said. Before she could respond, she heard the thundering footsteps of one of the ASTs from one of the entrances, and instantly turned to look. The shadow of the massive machine was planted on the front wall. Instincitvely, Ilona rushed towards the side entrance, rushing through it.
"It's almost here, move!" She shouted. The remaining operators quickly followed her lead and moved towards the entrance. An explosion could be heard as they moved, and Ilona used her exo to jump onto one of the smaller buildings, only for a flurry of bullets to rush past her. Boosting backwards, she landed hard on the ground, barely managing to stay on her feet.
"AST! Right in front of us!" Mitchell shouted as he turned to open fire on the mechanized unit. Ilona tunred to face it as well, seeing the massive machine firing away with it's machine gun.
"Focus fire! Focus Fire!" Ilona shouted as she turned her weapon towards the AST and pulled the trigger. Within an instant, every weapon was trained on the AST, firing until there were no more bullets in any of the weapons. Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fire, the AST dropped to it's knees and went off in a series of sparks and electrical shortings until it fell over, it's operator dead behind the metal armor. This brought them no relief, however, as the previous AST had caught up to them. A section of the armor came undone, revealing a large assortment of small missiles.
"SWARM missiles! Take cover!" Ilona shouted as she boosted around the building, with the remainder of the operators boosting in multiple directions, searching for anything to get away from the missiles. With a hiss, the AST released it's payload, the missiles spiraling as they exited the launchers. The missiles heading for Ilona, Mitchell, Green, and Hamilton crashed into walls or barriers to impede them. But the one headed for Evans crashed into the ground below him, blowing him towards the wall, and making him slam into it. Amazingly, he wriggled on the ground, somehow not dead.
"Corporal!" Green shouted as he rushed out to retrieve him. Ilona prepared another EMP grenade and threw it at the AST, shutting it down momentarily, allowing them to move. Green picked up the wounded Evans and rushed off with the remainder of his team, as Mitchell covered them with his freshly reloaded assault rifle. As they entered a new building, Ilona and Green escorted Evans downstairs as Hamilton and Mitchell shot out a glass pane in the roof and boost jumped up to the roof of the structure. At the bottom of the stair well, Green set Evans down, who Ilona could see was bleeding profuesly from his head, as well as having his leg completely blown off.
"Evans, are you alright?" Green said, his voice relaxed. Ilona already knew the answer to that quiestion, but she was surprised to see Evans tiredly shake his head and wave away the question.
"I... I just got the wind knocked outta me... I-I-I'm fine..." He slurred.
"Sentinel Two-One, this is Sentinel Two-One Actual, be advised that the Vulcan has entered your orbit and is ready to fire, let us know where to put it, over." Ilona could hear from the radio. She quickly reached for her radio.
"Sentinel Two-One Actual, there is an AST to the left of the prison giving us more than we can handle, take it out!" She shouted, able to hear the gunfire that Mitchell and Hamilton were providing from the roof of the structure.
"Got it Sentinel Two-One, firing now." Gideon said. Ilona could hear a loud buzz, then flinched as she heard a large boom sound from outside. Boost jumping up to the first floor, she looked outside to see a massive red beam completely incinerating the AST, less than five meters from where the other AST had gone down. Within seconds, the beam ceased, and the charred and completely fried mech collapsed to the ground.
"Screw that guy..." Ilona said to no one in particular. She heard the bursts of an exo, and turned to her right, seeing Mitchell and Hamilton jogging towards her.
"There's still one more, what do we do now?" Mitchell asked as Ilona finally got the chance to reload her KF5. As she did so, she motioned towards the grenades Mitchell wore along his waist.
"We ned to short out the trophy system. Mitchell, you and I will toss as many frags as we can at the AST. Hamilton, when it stops stopping them, use every grenade in that launcher, and TAKE IT DOWN." She said, placing emphasis on the final words. Hamilton nodded and pulled her launcher loose. The three operators boost jumped back onto the roof of the structure. Shortly, from the right, the final AST came into view. Ilona and Mitchell rapidly threw their grenades, not bothering to hold them for even a second after they were set. The series of small explosions went off several meters away from the AST. At last, the sixth thrown grenade smacked into the AST and fell to it's feet where it detonated.
"NOW!" Ilona shouted to Hamilton. Within seconds, she fired off several of her grenades, all of them slamming into the AST, overwhelming it. As this was happening, Ilona and Mitchell fired on it until their mags ran dry. When the smoke from the AST, it could be seen slowly walking forwards, though it was clear that it was heavily damaged. It fell to it's knees, and with one final, loud metallic groan, it fell to the ground. Ilona gave a sigh of relief, and once more heard the familiar sound of the exo. Turning behind her, she could see Green, a somber expression written across his features.
"Evans is dead." He said quietly, Ilona frowned smypathetically. She hand't known any of Green's squad mates, but she could understand how he was feeling. All but one squad mate wiped out in a single mission, it could wipe a lot out of a solidier. Hamilton walked up to her field commander and placed a hand on his shoulder. Green simply nodded and looked up to his last squad member. Before anyone could decide what to do next, the radio suddenly blared;
"Sensors are showing manticore signatures headed your way! Eyes to the sky!" Gideon shouted. A loud whirring sounded, and Ilona could see several small drones surrounding them.
"HIT THE DECK!" She shouted, dropping down into the building. She quickly raced down the stairs, trying to get as low as possible. Being former Atlas employees, the manticore wouldn't affect her and Mitchell, but she had to make sure Hamilton and Green got out. As she dropped down, she watched her remaing team mates follow her down, only to see the drones follow them down. Turning around, she was about to order them to follow her. However, right in her face was one of the drones. And before she could react, it detonated, blowing her into the back wall, and sending the world into a void of black...
...
"Team! Report status, REPORT STATUS!" Ilona could hear in the void... Sentinel Two-One Actual...
"Allied forces, this is Gideon, does anyone copy?" He said. Gideon...
"Is anyone out there? This is Gideon, do you copy?" She heard. Her eyes opened gently, and she could see a kneeling figure beside her. It was a person, she could tell that much. It's arm was outstretched, it was reaching for her.
"Ilona... Are you okay?" She heard the voice say. Mithcell... She could tell right away. It was Mitchell.
"Ilona, please, say something." He said. Blinking several times, Ilona's vision cleared, and she could see him. His helmet was missing, allowing his black hair to fall freely to the back of his neck. She breathed heavily for a moment before responding.
"Mitchell... I'm okay... I'm not hurt..." She said. She felt a comforting warmth agaisnt her arm. She now realized that Mithcell was softly squeezing her arm. He smiled at her now.
"Thank God... I was worried, thought you were done when that thing blew right in your face." He said. Illona chuckled at that.
"I'm not one to submit easily, especially to death." She said. Mitchell smiled wider.
"I'll be sure to remember that." He said. With those words, he reached to his shoulder, turning his head slightly that way.
"Gideon, this is Mitchell. We're okay. Even Hamilton and Green are okay." He said. Illona frowned slightly at this.
"Thank God... You were starting to make me think you were all dead. I'm gonna get an extraction crew ready. We're bringing you all home. Be advised, your exos will be offline for a few minutes, we'll have them back online soon." Gideon said through the radio.
"Well thank goodness for that..." Ilona heard Hamilton say. Looking behind Mitchell, she could see both Hamilton and Green standing near the exit of the building. Both of them still had their helmets on.
"But... The manticore... Shouldn't it have..." She began to say. Mitchell nodded and looked into her eyes.
"Yeah, it should have. Best I can figure, it was targeted at hostiles only. Blast was still enough to knock us all unconcious for a few minutes." He replied. Ilona nodded at this, unsure what to think of it. Why would Atlas take the strongest weapon in it's arsenal, and use it on it's own soldiers? While she was pondering this, she felt Mitchell's arms lifting her off the ground, moving her to stand.
"You feeling good enough to walk? Because I'm perfectly fine if you don't." He said with a smile. She smiled back at him.
"I'm fine, thank you Mitchell." She said with a chuckle. He gave a half shrug whlie still smiling. 'I tried', the gesture seemed to say. Looking down at the ground, she noticed the dropped HBRa3 and KF5 on the ground. Following her sight, Mitchell reached down to pick the weapons up. Taking back his assault rifle, he held out the KF5 for her to grab.
"Guess neither one of us is getting that twenty dollars huh?" He asked, amusement evident in his voice. She chuckled and took the weapon from his hand.
"I don't mind so much." She said, pulling back the bolt of the weapon, making sure there was still a bullet loaded in the chamber. Sure enough, there was. Mitchell turned around as Green and Hamilton walked over to them. Ilona eyed Green, still wielding his Pytaek firmly in his hands.
"What's the plan? Wait here till' evac shows up?" He asked. Before anyone could respond, the radio suddenly blared;
"All Sentinel operators, be advised, you have enemy fast movers closing in on your position. More than I can even count! Get your weapons and ready up!" Gideon said through the radio. Ilona, unsure what to think. Reaching to her radio, she pressed the button on it and turned to her shoulder.
"More Atlas soldiers?" She asked. For a moment, there was no response. For a few long, tense seconds, only silence reverberated across the walls of the nearly empty building. Then;
"No... These signatures are different, there's no heartbeats, but the'yre not drones either. I'm not even sure..." Gideon started saying.
"LOOK OUT!" Green shouted as he raised his weapon. Ilona jumped out of the way to the left as Green fired a few rounds. Looking to where he fired, Ilona saw something that horrified her. The dead corpse of Evans had somehow stood up, and nearly grabbed her. If not for Green's actions, it would have. The corpse still stood for a few moments, before crumpling to the ground, lifeless.
"Evans was dead... How did he...?" Hamilton began to say, but Green cut her off.
"We need to get out of here, I don't like where this is going." He said. Ilona nodded in agreement. Quickly leading the way out of the building. To their horror, the group discovered a massive group of previously dead Atlas operators, now bloody and rotted, standing before them. The operators stood, paralzyed as the corpses slowly moved towards them.
"What..." Mitchell said in a stupor.
"Shoot them!" Ilona shouted as the reanimated corpses began to charge them in a full out sprint. The team needed no further prompting, they raised their weapons and fired. The hail of gun fire cut down the horde in front of them.
"More behind us!" Hamilton shouted as she turned to fire on the hostiles now coming from behind them. Not sure of what else could be done, Ilona shouted the one thing she could think of.
"RUN!" With that she charged forward. Mitchell and the others quickly followed suit, sprinting as fast as their legs would allow them. Agonized screeches and groans filled Ilona's ears as she saw more corpses leaping from the ground, some even from outside the fence begining to climb over. Mitchell opened fire on these as Ilona looked across the yard, seeing even more reanimated corpses rushing towards them.
"What the heck are you fighting out there?! What the heck's going on?!" Ilona heard from the radio. She gave no answer however, she merely opened fire upon the oncoming horde in front of her. She was soon joined by Hamilton, while Green opened fire on hostiles behind them.
"What are these things?!" Green shouted. Ilona could give no answer as she heard the unmistakable clicking of an empty magazine. She reached for a new one when she made a horrifying discovery. There were no more. She was dry. Unable to think of what else to do, she threw the empty weapon at one of the corpses, causing it to stumble and fall over. She reached for her sidearm, the Atlas 45, and aimed down her sights. She picked her shots carefully, making sure to kill each one with a single well placed shot to the head.
"Team, we've hacked into the security systems, get to the prison yard! Our extraction team with be there in less a minute!" Gideon shouted throught the radio. Upon hearing this, Ilona fired one last round, clearing the way of the undead husks for the moment.
"Forward! Let's go!" She shouted as she slipped the empty clip of the pistol out, replacing it with a fresh one, thankful she still had that. Mitchell and the others followed her into the main entrance where dead corpses were also begining to rise up. Rushing past them, Ilona turned into the holding area, where two corpses stood reanimated, and blocking their way. Beyond them, lie the door to the courtyard. It was open! After firing two rounds to their heads, Ilona ordered her team to stay close and follow her. As they reached the mid way point, one of the undead activated the exo, boosting right onto Green. Before they realized this had happened, they had already reached the door.
"GAH!" They all suddenly heard. Turning to see behind them, they saw Green being devoured by a group of five undead corpses. Horrified, Hamilton tried to rush to go get him. Mithcell's arm swooped in and held her back, as more and more corpses began to feast on a still screaming and thrashing Green, ripping the flesh from his bones.
"There's nothing we can do!" Mtichell shouted, trying to hold back a now sobbing Hamilton. Devastated, Hamilton resorted to screaming Green's name in desperate attempt to somehow reach him.
"Jimmy, Jimmy!" She was screaming over and over again. Ilona held her pistol and fired a few rounds at the corpses who ignored Green's body.
"Come on we have to go!" She shouted. Mithcell pulled Hamilton along with them, still sobbing for her leader. Ilona lead them out to the back of the courtyard, containing two basketball courts and several benches, and waited for Mithcell and Hamilton to cross. Asd they exited the building the doors slammed behind them, again with bullet proof glass.
"Evac will be arriving in twenty seconds, get ready to bail out!" Gideon shouted into his radio. Illona nodded and slumped up against one of the walls. She watched Mitchell lean against the door, panting heavily, while Hamilton, curled into a ball against the opposite wall her, crying softly to herself. Slowly she became aware of a low humming noise, and looked to the arm of her exo.
"Exos are back online." She said, exhausted from the whole ordeal. Just as they were able to calm down, a loud banging sounded from behind Mitchell, who jumped. Looking toward the door, Ilona saw a mass of at least ten reanimated corpses slamming against the glass, cracking it greatly. Looking above her, she could also see zombies running out to the cat walks.
"Run!" She shouted, hurling herself to the middle of the courtyard. Mitchell followed, Hamilton following him. The undead dropped off of the catwalks, now chasing after them as the remaining three operators stopped at a wall blocking their path.
"It's a dead end!" Mtichell shouted. Panicked, Ilona searched for any kind of possible out.
"No it's not!" A familiar voice shouted. A blaze of gunfire lit up the night sky, and Ilona could see a Warbird hovering overhead. The Warbird's minigun fired at the oncoming horde, as did Gideon with his Pytaek.
"Jump on board, now!" He shouted. The operators needed no further encouragement. With one last might leap, they each boosted themselves onto the Warbird, Hamilton almost falling off before Mitchell succesfully grabbed her, pulling her into the Warbird.
"That's all of them, get us the heck out of here!" Gideon shouted. At those words, the Warbird began to lift high into the air, out of reach of the undead. Some of them were able to boost jump towards the vehicle, but Gideon quickly dispatched of them with his weapon. The hostiles dealt with Ilona exhaustedly slumped along the back of the Warbird, tears welling in her eyes. She had tried not to show it, but during that entire experience, she had been petrified with fear. Mitchell put down his weapon and made his way over to her.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay. I'm gonna check you for bites real quick, okay?" She heard him say, she sniffed, and nodded her head. He felt her move her arms, check around her midsection, and inspect her legs, making sure that nothing had gotten to her. She could hear him give a relieved sigh, and he faced her.
"You're clean, nothing on you." He said. Tears continued to well up in her eyes, and she was crying softly now. Concerned, Mitchell placed his hand on her cheek and gently rubbed it, calming her down slightly.
"Hey, we're okay now, alright? We're safe." He said witha reassuring smile. She nodded, taking comfort in Mitchell's smile, voice, and touch.
"Jesus..." She heard Gideon say. Her and Mitchell turned to face him at the same time, seeing him crouching below the opening in the Warbird. Both turned to see what he was looking at, Ilona grew wide eyed, terrified even further by what she saw.
"You seein' this?" Gideon asked to the members of the Warbird. Ilona panted heavily. Just beyond the courtyard, right outside the fence, was a giant mass of undead corpses, hundreds by the looks of them, piling on top of one another, spilling into the courtyard and running around, all of them emitting awful screeches, moans and groans that haunted Ilona to the very core. Before any of them could decide what to think about this, a corpse, screeching an awful screech, boosted up to the Warbird, grabbed hold of Gideon's arms, and ripped him straight out of the Warbird. The eyes of all three operators stared in absolute horror as he was pulled down to the massive hoard.
"NOOOOO!" Ilona shouted as she reached for her friend. She felt herself being pulled away, and locked into an embrace in Mitchell's arms.
"NO! Gideon! Please NO!" She shouted in anguish, Mitchell closed his eyes, tears flowing from them as he hugged Ilona harder, praying that Gideon would somehow be alright. Sobbing, Ilona threw her arms around Mitchell, searching for what little comfort she could find in his protective arms. Hamilton curled into a ball and stared in abject horror, begging fo everything to be a dream. As the Warbird pulled away, Ilona let out a anguished, terrified scream, echoing amonst the closed in walls of the Warbird... Terrified of what was to come next...