Chapter 1: Tundra
The soft and whispy snow whipped across the women's face as they marched through the deep and freezing mounds of snow. Their scarves flapped in the wind, and they could barely see two feet in front of themselves. "Hurry up, boys!" shouted Kailey, the woman in the lead who was wearing a full suit of tundra camoflauge Kevlar. The four men in the back of the group sped up, catching up with the ladies. Their guns and bags clanked with eachother and echoed throughout the vicinity. Kailey could see a small wooden shack not so far ahead. She hastened her pace through the snow, evetually reaching the porch and trying the door. The door seemed to stay shut, however, after many attemps, she managed to free the door from the frozen ice that had built up and kept it closed. The hissing noise of wind and snow ceased as they entered the slightly warm and very small shack. The tables and chairs were undersized, and the fireplace had been ransacked. A couple of the soldiers took seats on the weak and small tables. The rest stood, or crouched, to avoid hitting their heads on the roof. A faint musical tune could be heard coming from the shelf on top of the fireplace. A small radio was visible. One of the men perked his ears, grinning and crossing his arms starting to quietly sing. "In my heart I have but one desire." He carried the I on 'desire', as a two other soldiers hopped in, starting to hum and sing. "I don't want to set the world on fire." Kailey looked at the men, crossing her arms and chuckling slightly. One of the men looked at Kailey jokeingly, and opened his mouth, looking into her eyes. "I don't wanna set the world on fire, honey." He continued, "I love you too much." Kailey facepalmed. "I just wanna' set a big, big flame in your heart."
The second woman joined in with the singing, pitched at a higher level. Most of the men had wide and amusing grins on their faces, while Kailey stood there, shaking her head. "You guys are the best." Chimed Kailey towards the men who were now holding hands and swaying jokeingly. A couple of foot steps were heard slowly creaking up the porch, as Kailey held up her hand in a closed fist. The men silenced and formed light defensive positions and Kailey unholstered her revolver, aiming it at the door frame. The door handle turned as it lunged open, and snow burst into the room. "What the hell?" Said a raspy and confused voice. Kailey kept her revolver raised at the slightly deformed and decomposed person who had walked through the door. A Ghoul, they called them. The men looked slack-jawed at the figure, as he was alarmed, slowly raising his arms. "Look, guys, I don't want any trouble" He stared blankly at them, slightly worried. "My name's Trevor, but people call me Trev." Kailey continued to look at him, having developed a deep hate for ghouls a long time ago, when they had tricked her many times. She flicked the safety for her revolver on, and slowly lowered it, easing it into the holster. The three men noticed her lower the gun, and lowered their own arms. "Uhh, this is my shack, and I was just wondering what all the commotion was." Kailey nodded, looking at the other men. "We're sorry for intruding then" Spoke up Corporal Tedd. "Don't worry about it-" Trev started, but stopped, noticing the heavy glare given to him by Kailey. "Any time." He sounded agrrovated. "Pack up boys." Kailey said after several awkward seconds of silence. They looked at her and frowned. "But we just got here, sergeant." Said Private Desmond. Kailey let him continue. "The ghoul said we could stay. Also, if we leave, we couldn't just leave him here to freeze to death." He finished. Kailey looked at Private Desmond, then back at the ghoul. "Fine."
"Pack your shit up Ghoul, we're going now."Desmond and Tedd sighed. The other two soldiers nodded. Trevor frowned, and walked, kneeling down slowly, sweeping the floor with his hand, revealing a small square in the floor. Kailey took note of this, squinting at Trevor mischeviously. "Watcha' doing?" Trevor looked up at Kailey's question. "Just watch, smoothskin." He ephasized the word 'smoothskin' by giving it a long cast. Kailey drew her eyes upon the square. Trevor's finger caught onto a small wire, tucked into the harsh wooden floor. He tugged hard, as dust and bits of swdust spread through the air. Kailey coughed, and swiped her hand through the air to clear the dust. She finally figured out what the square was. It was a trap door. Revor began to walk down the stairs, calmly. He stopped mid way down, turning his head to the guests. "You guys coming, or am I the only one taking the safe way out?" Kailey looked at the soldiers, as Desmond and Todd looked at eachother. "We're right behind you." Replied Kailey hesitantly. Private First Class DelPilar finally spoke up, speaking quietly. "Beats freezing our asses in the snow." Trev put on a smug face. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Smoothskin."
Soon enough, the seven companions were all trudging through mud, dirt, manure, and rotten flesh.