DOG OF WAR
Chapter One: A Lonely Game
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
4 September 2010, 19:07 hours
L/Cpl. Charlie Stevens, scout sniper attached to Alpha Company, 1/6
Day 254
It was raining out. Pouring. Lance Corporal Charles D. Stevens, USMC, loved the rain. It scrambled the senses of the Infected.
600 yards away, groups of grey, bald former humans bounded out of their daytime hiding places in search of food. Anything with blood would do, but they seemed to prefer humans. Shit, just plain fucking human blood did the trick. Charlie wasn't sure if the KV bug was melting their brains or what, but every day it seemed they fell for simpler and simpler traps.
630 yards away, a mannequin was hunched over a toy baby. Both were dressed so their faces couldn't be seen, and sprayed with some perfume and some blood from his personal reserves. The Infected caught one whiff and raced for the human-sized dolls.
The sun finished it's descent into the horizon, and the world was submerged once again in darkness. Being a city boy, Charlie had never really appreciated just how fucking dark the world could be until he enlisted in the Corps. In Iran, you couldn't see 20 feet on a moonless night. Like tonight.
Charlie rolled his shoulders and flicked the IR scope on his Mark 11 Mod 0 sniper's rifle and through the scope, seven bright orange blobs stood out against the purple-black cityscape. They reached the mannequins and swarmed over it. The Infected tore 'Mary' apart, ripping open packets of blood plasma and lapping it like dogs.
He sighted the nearest vampire and pulled the trigger. The Mk. 11 coughed through its suppressor and the Infected jerked like a puppet. It smacked onto the asphalt street. The others snapped up, sniffing the air in their hyperventilating way. Four more dropped in the next six seconds.
Somehow, one of the SOBs spotted him, through all the rain, and despite his urban MARPAT cammo. Fuckers had excellent eyesight. It opened up its mouth and shrieked, a loud and shrill sound. It pierced the deceptive quiet of the city right before the 7.62mm round ripped the back of its skull out.
The survivor of the pack leapt onto a wall and it didn't move, it moved. Charlie knew from personal experience that a pissed-off Infected male could run at about 40-45 miles per hour.
"Fuck fuck fuck," he repeated. That had been his mantra almost since day one, as he could find no other that could appropriately fit the situation as well. "Fuck fuck fuck!"
Charlie began cranking off rounds. Three near misses. Dammit, Marine! You're leading too much. He adjusted and fired again. Two fist sized holes appeared in the hood of a car that the Infected bounced off of.
"Fuck fuck fuck!" Charlie hissed through clenched teeth. He hit the mag release and slipped a new one into the receiver. By now, the male had covered more than 3/4 of the distance and was manically climbing a fire escape. From the top of that building, it was practically a straight shot to Charlie's location.
One hand gripped the top of the building and the Infected began to pull himself up with surprising strength. Charlie put the crosshair of the modified AN/PVS-14 MNVD scope over his adversary. The rifle coughed for the last time, creating a jagged hole in the Infected's right bicep. With a scream of rage, the former human dropped four stories and hit the ground with an audible wet THUNK.
Charlie breathed a sigh of relief. In the blackness outside scope, dozens of Infected screeched, actively in pursuit of his blood. He knew it was too much to hope that the cry would go unanswered. Charlie folded his rifle's bipod closed and slung it across his back. Taking from his holster his sidearm, a reliable MEU SOC .45 cal, the sniper humped it back to his base, a fortified apartment basement near city hall. He reported no further enemy contacts, and grabbed some rack time. It had been a good hunt tonight, but there would be more work to do tomorrow. There was always more work.
A/N: So I saw I am Legend yesterday. Thought it was alright. Anyway, as I disappointed with the amount of action in it, and this popped into my head during a discussion with my friends. Let me know what you think. Cheers.
GLOSSARY
1/6- First Battalion, Sixth Marine Division
AN/PVS-14- A battery-powered night vision monocular normally mounted on a helmet bracket. Can also be used as a scope. Detects heat.
Mark 11 Mod 0- A US Navy variant of the SR-25 sniper rifle. Specially designed M-16 with longer barrel. Can be fitted with a silencer. Fires a 7.62x51mm NATO round, as opposed to the M-16A4's 5.56x45mm NATO.
MEU SOC pistol- Marine Expeditionary Unit, Special Operations Capable. A .45 caliber pistol based off the M1911.
MARPAT- MARine disruptive PATtern. Digital camouflage designed to disrupt a Marine's outline and make him a harder target. Uses small blocks of color as opposed to large swaths because of the operation of the human eye. Example: TV pixels.
Scout sniper- Specially trained Marine observers and snipers. Operate in pairs. Typically attached to Recon platoons or Surveillance and Target Acquisition units.
Rack- Military slang for a bed.