The Division: Survival
Prologue
Authors Note:
This is a new story that I'm experimenting with. If you recognize my username from somewhere, I'm the person who wrote Rainbow Six Siege Outbreak Series, Rainbow Six Siege: Undercover, and is currently writing Rainbow Six Siege: Shattered Skies. If you're new to my stories, then hello! Thank you for taking the time to read my story! I appreciate all of my readers feedback so feel free to comment away and tell me if it sucks or if its good, what you'd like to see in future chapters, and any questions. My reader's comments are my greatest sources of inspiration for my stories. There will be more chapters to come. This is only the beginning. I'm doing a change in scenery and I wanted to see what you guys think. Enjoy!
- Reactive
…
"Rogue agents detected. Advise taking evasive actions."
"I KNOW ISAC I KNOW!" The Division agent yelled with frustration.
Rounds cracked and whistled by his head as he ran for his life. He could hear the mob of boots crunching on the snow-covered pavement behind him. He heard his enemies making callouts from behind him as he ran.
"Fuck!" The agent cursed to himself as a stray round whizzed just barely over the back of his head. The agent continued to run blindly through the cover of night in the Dark Zone. He ran past piles upon piles of black CERA body bags. Some of the body bags were burning in mass graves, some were stacked on top of each other like books on shelves, while others were lined down the streets. He saw bodies strung up, some by the neck, and others upside down, on light posts and sides of buildings. Some of those people ranged from ordinary civilians, cops, firefighters, and soldiers. Bodies laid frozen solid in the streets from the arctic cold or were burning in fire pits. Biohazard bags littered the sidewalks like it was everyday trash brought to the curb for New York City sanitation. Military vehicles, abandoned cars, and crates littered the streets creating obstacles. Fires raged in some of the abandoned skyscrapers. This place was almost a literal depiction of hell in the mortal world. The place reeked of death and contamination from the Green Poison virus. The agents wore special air purifying respirator made specifically for themselves to wear over their faces to protect themselves against the toxic air which could kill any man in minutes if the PPE wasn't worn.
The rogue agents were closing the distance on the agent. He couldn't take the rogues in a fight. He was severely outnumbered. The only thing he could do was make the best of the mission gone south and stick to the plan. He followed ISAC's directions to the extraction zone at Bryant Park where a helicopter would be waiting for his signal to begin extraction.
The agent slid over the hood of a car and ducked behind a dumpster in another nearby alleyway. He checked his magazine in his First Wave Vector ACP. He had a few magazines left to defend himself with plus the few cartridges of ammo for his sidearm. The agent eased his weight back on the side of the dumpster and tried to rest for a few seconds. He began to replay all of the recent events in his head that had led to this moment.
Faye Lau had sent him over the wall into the Dark Zone because SHD intelligence had located antivirals that could be used to develop a cure to Green Poison. The mission sounded pretty cut and dry to the veteran agent. Hop the wall, recover the antivirals, and extract while using extreme prejudice. He had plenty of experience in Dark Zone Ops so he was no stranger to the area and the dangers that lurked beyond the walls. But it wasn't as easy as cut and dry as he thought. A blizzard was coming so temperatures would drop well below freezing and his vision would be poor. Plus, the other two agents coming to support him were inexperienced having never been in the Dark Zone before.
But there was one good thing that the blizzard would almost guarantee.
No rogue agents.
Or so the Division thought.
The Division believed that the rogues would be crazy to venture out of hiding into a deadly blizzard with how badly beaten and desperate they were.
"Ryan, I know I'm asking a lot from you but you're the best agent we have, and this is our only shot at a cure. The second wave is on its last legs. The few of us that still remaine won't last a few hours out there. We need to pull this win off. This isn't just to save the Division, but to save humanity as a whole." Lao's words echoed in his mind.
If Ryan had his original team, he'd be in better spirits. His old teammates, Megan and Bronson, the group he had traveled with since he was first activated in Manhattan, were long gone. Megan ended up going rogue and was responsible for bombing a JTF control point leading to massive casualties. She fled somewhere underground never to be seen again. The only thing that remained of her were voice tapes she had left behind sharing her last moments before finally disappearing for good. Bronson went MIA on a recon mission near the West Side Piers. No one was sure if he went rogue, was captured, or KIA.
The group traveled by foot from the Base of Operations to the Dark Zone. Ryan's brown and grey bomber jacket, black skull cap, blue weather pants, and shoes kept him warm as he trudged through the blizzard to the Dark Zone. The poor visibility ended up being an advantage for him as it provided him excellent cover to slip over the wall and traverse the Dark Zone out of sight of any thug daring to explore the area. The two rookie agents even made it through with ease. Once Ryan had gotten a hold of the antivirals in the Dark Zone was when things went wrong.
It turned out that the rogue agents had found the antivirals weeks in advance and had been plotting to bait the desperate Second Wave into sending more agents into their clutches in hopes of being swayed to join Aaron Keener's ranks. The rogues were surprised to find that the Division would only spare three agents to retrieve the antivirals. The rogues made quick work of the rookie agents killing both of them but in the fighting Ryan was able to secure the antivirals and make a run for it.
And now Ryan was here. Cowering behind a dumpster. Completely outgunned and surrounded by people that he had trained with. People that he had once trusted with his life. People that he had once called brother and sister. He dug his gloved hand deep into his jacket pocket and pulled out the clear vial of liquid.
"Good. It's still intact." He thought to himself reassuringly.
He prayed that the small vial of antivirals would work. The citizens of New York didn't exactly look upon the Division the way they used to. With agents going rogue and the Division suffering one defeat after the other, the citizens of New York had lost their trust in the Division's ability to keep them safe and were taking matters into their own hands with revolt. They had lost all hope in a cure ever being invented.
Ryan exhaled hard through his filtered mask. A long stream of breath blew out of the exhalation valve on the front of his mask. He took the vial and placed it back in his jacket pocket. He propped himself back up into a squat and peered around the edge of the dumpster. The city streets had fallen quiet again. Only the sound of the wind and snow through the buildings could be heard with a few barks from stray dogs here and there. The snow fall had slowed down enough for his vision to slightly improve.
"ISAC, scan the area for hostiles." Ryan whispered.
The bright orange ring on Ryan's go bag strap released a 360-degree pulse of the surround area acting like sonar seen on a submarine.
Ryan waited a few seconds for his Shade Tech to do its job.
"No hostiles found." ISAC replied.
Ryan exhaled a sigh of relief and stood up. The rogue agents must have run past him.
Ryan shouldered his vector to ready and crept out of the alley. Once he determined the coast was clear he began the long walk toward Bryant Park following ISAC's turn by turn directions.
After several minutes of walking he finally made it to the park.
Bryant Park looked deserted which made Ryan feel uneasy. Usually this place was full of Rikers who would hang around and ambush people passing through the area. Ryan figured they were taking shelter from the storm.
Ryan walked to the middle of the helipad stationed in the center of the park. He looked down at his wrist watch and pressed a button on the touch screen to pulse the area for hostiles.
At first the watch didn't obey. Instead, the orange ring on the watch began to rapidly flicker on and off. Ryan tried the button again and this time it worked.
There was a moment of silence as the pulse scanned the entire landing zone.
"Rogue agents detected." ISAC said out of nowhere.
"WHAT? IT CAN'T BE…" Ryan felt a rifle smash into the back of his head knocking him off balance. His vector flying out of his hands. More punches were thrown at him.
Ryan fell to his knees in pain. He felt dizzy and vision was blurry. He could hear footsteps and whispering voices all around him. The silhouettes of rogue agents emerged from the concealment of the blizzard and darkness. Their blood red Shade Tech wrist watches and ISAC nodes distinguishing them through the darkness.
Ryan slowly drew his pistol, but he knew it would be no use. The rogues from the ambush had finally caught to him and there was nowhere to run or hide. He was injured and outnumbered so fighting would be suicide. The rogue agents encircled Ryan like wolves surrounding injured prey.
Ryan's eyes darted back and forth to each rogue agent studying their appearance and weaponry. From the rogue agents more militaristic look and advanced weaponry, they were First Wave Agents. Second Wave agents like Ryan usually wore normal civilian clothes with their kit. This information gave Ryan a feeling of impending doom. The First Wave was hardcore when it came to carrying out their jobs. They were better trained and better equipped than the Second Wave hence why they were the ones deployed into Manhattan first so any small chance of him winning a fight was gone.
Ryan couldn't see the agent's complete faces due to the APR masks they were wearing but he could tell the ages of the men and women that stood before him. It appeared their ages ranged from early 20s to late 30s. Despite their differences as people, the look in their eyes told the same heartbreaking story. A story of pain, suffering, anger, betrayal, and hopelessness. It was something that the brass would never understand. While the Division saw these agents as traitors, Ryan saw them as normal people who just wanted their voices to be heard. The First Wave believed in freeing the people of New York from their doomed existence and were willing to sacrifice everything to do so. The First Wave gave everything just so the JTF and the rest of the Division could turn their backs on them to save themselves. Leaving the First Wave to either die by the hands of each other or the infected people still left alive in the Dark Zone. And if that didn't kill you, the prolonged exposure to Green Poison eventually would. To have to live in the harsh conditions of the underground of the Dark Zone to survive not seeing the surface for weeks was criminal. Its why joining Aaron Keener made so much sense these days.
Ryan understood why these people made the choices they had made. Why they hated the Second Wave and the JTF.
They were just trying to survive like anyone else would.
One of the rogue agents in the pack stepped forward and lowered his assault rifle to his side. He appeared to be the oldest in the group.
The senior agent held his hand out like he was expecting something out of Ryan. Ryan noticed the red light of the corrupted Shade Tech wristwatch beginning to flicker on and off like Ryan's had done minutes earlier.
"The antivirals. Give it here. Keener needs it." He said in a low voice.
Ryan reached down toward one of his thighs.
He quickly grasped the grip of his flare gun, pointed it, and shot it into the stormy skies above. The orange colored flare climbed high into the sky and exploded illuminating the landing zone in an orange low light.
The First Wave agents recovered from their brief surprise and began to laugh to themselves. The senior agent shook his head and reached for his pistol. He aimed the pistol at Ryan's head.
"You think the JTF will come and save you?" He asked with coldness in his heart.
Ryan didn't answer.
The senior agent pulled back the draw on his pistol.
"You Second Wave agents never learn, do you?"
"Hey, I have something on pulse scan. Something I don't understand." A young female rogue said interrupting the moment.
The senior agent turned to the female with a quizzical look.
"What? Is it the Division?"
"I… I don't know…" The young female said studying her watch. Ryan looked around at the rogues he was surrounded by. He noticed all of their Shade Tech watches were beginning to flicker on and off now. Ryan looked down at his watch too noticing it was blinking as well.
Something was wrong.
"Sir, our Shade Tech has gone dark." Another agent said with a bit of panic.
All the agents began talking at once as they realized all of their equipment wasn't working. Ryan looked up into the night sky toward the flare. The flare was almost out now. Soon they would be enveloped in darkness again. That's when he would make his escape.
The clattering of a bottle on the pavement silenced all of the agents and caught their attention. The bottle rolled along the helipad and stopped at an agent's feet.
It was a smoke grenade.
The grenade exploded enveloping the entire group in smoke. The senior agent's face turned to horror.
"EVERYONE SCATTER! GO, GO, GO, GO!" He screamed and began to make a run for it.
The agent's scattered in all directions trying to escape the landing zone. Ryan looked around trying to figure what was happening. His field of vision began to disappear has the smoke became increased with density around him. He tried to move but he couldn't. The injuries he had sustained were not allowing him to move.
"Is it the JTF? More Second Wave agents?" He thought to himself.
Ryan tried to work the pulse on his Shade Tech wristwatch but the orange ring on his watch was no longer glowing. It was as if someone was jamming his tech.
"Come on you stupid thing. Come on." Ryan muttered as he continued to press buttons on the watch.
Finally, the bright orange ring on his wristwatch began to glow and ISAC began to power back up.
"ISAC, what's going on? Are there any friendlies in the area?" Ryan asked looking around in the smoke. He could barely see anything. Ahead of him he could see the young female rogue agent who had detected the anomaly in the first place frozen in fear.
"High threat hostile in proximity." ISAC said before immediately being jammed again.
Ryan tried to stand but his head injury was felt swimmy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ryan thought he saw shadow dart through smoke. At first, he thought it was after effects from his head injury but the girl must've seen the same thing he did because she raised her rifle frantically sweeping it back and forth hyperventilating like crazy.
Ryan thought he saw another shadow dance through the thick smoke screen. Suddenly, like out of a horror movie, he watched a gloved hand knock the young rogue agent girl to the ground and drag her away into the smoke by her foot out of Ryan's sight leaving nothing but her distant screams.
"WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" His conscience screamed.
In the distance Ryan began to hear chopper blades above him.
"The extraction chopper!"
Ryan began to feel a twinge of hope that maybe he'd get out alive.
As the chopper began its decent toward the landing zone, the rotor wash whipped the smoke around dispersing it. Its spotlight shined on silhouettes he could see in front of him.
Ryan froze in fear at the image before him.
He watched as the young rogue girl frantically crawled away from the landing zone leaving a trail of her own blood behind her. Pursuing her was a man with his back turned toward Ryan dressed in all black standing about 6'4" with a tomahawk in one hand and what appeared to be a taser in the other hand. He walked toward the girl acting like he had all the time in the world.
The girl begged at the man for mercy, but he wasn't fazed a bit. The man shot her with the taser freezing her in her tracks. She convulsed on the ground screaming in pain. The man made it to the girl and kicked the girls arms out from underneath her forcing her to lay on her belly.
"You're the ones Keener warned us about. I don't why you're doing this but if you're looking for Keener, you'll never find him, and I'll never tell you where he is." The girl said with intensity.
The man didn't speak. Instead he raised his tomahawk over his head onehanded without hesitation. Ryan and the helicopter pilot watched helplessly as the man plunged the tomahawk downward straight into the girl's cranium.
There was loud crunch as the blade of the tomahawk ripped through the young girl's skull abruptly silencing her screams. A geyser of blood shot up into the air on the impact showering the man in black. Ryan could hear her body take its last breath.
"Rogue agent neutralized." ISAC chirped.
Ryan's face turned a ghostly shade of white as he watched the man in black kneel down and pull the girl's Shade Tech wristwatch off her wrist. He turned his attention to Ryan who was still on his knees. The man in black wore full body armor and wore a black ballistic mask over his face that was dotted with the blood of the girl he had just killed. Ryan couldn't look the man in the eyes because where his eyes should be in the mask were blacked out giving him a look lifelessness. The man strapped the girl's wristwatch to his body armor were several other Division wristwatches dangled like he was showing off trophies. Ryan noticed that the watches were a mix of blood red watches and orange watches meaning he didn't care if the agent was rogue or not.
He had never seen an enemy like this before. Someone who used Shade Tech and killed other Division agents for sport. Ryan tried to aim his sidearm but the man in black was faster. He shot his taser hitting Ryan center mass. The electrocution paralyzed him. He dropped his pistol in the snow and stared at his feet as muscles began twitching uncontrollably. The man in black approached him with his bloody tomahawk taking his time as he had done before.
"AGENT….. OUT…. THERE! GET OUT OF…." Ryan's comms went in and out as the helicopter pilot circled the landing zone watching the whole event unfold.
As the man in black approached, Ryan's hearing began to fade out as a soft sound of tinnitus picked up in his ear. He couldn't hear his comms anymore or the helicopter circling above him. All he could hear were footsteps crunching in the snow moving toward him and the wind blowing past him. Ryan assumed shock was taking in.
The footsteps suddenly stopped. Ryan could see the tips of the man in black's boots.
Ryan slowly picked up his head to get a better look at this new foe. He wasn't afraid. He was ready to meet his maker. He was finally done with the epidemic, the Division, the fighting, and the killing. It was all about to end. The man in black stared him down not saying a word.
Ryan took in a shaky breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial of antivirals.
He was humanities only hope and he had failed.
"Do it. Get it over with." Ryan said looking him dead in the eye.
The man in black exhaled and raised his tomahawk above his head one handed.
Ryan squeezed his eyes shut ready for whatever was next. He thought about his friends and family. How he had failed all of them.
"Cascading trauma detected. Life signs not found." ISAC chirped before shutting down.