No one knew how it all started. The virus mutated so fast and spread at such a alarming rate that patient-zero was lost through the masses of infected brought in. At first they tried to contain them and treat them. But those infected we're growing more aggressive and more powerful for them to be held under control. Next step was to eradicate those infected and hope that the disease will be stopped from extending. Cities will have to be evacuated while the military will try to keep the situation from escalating. It was Berlins turn to be evacuated. The Sanctuary Network sent Will Zimmerman to help with the evacuations. But here , like in the rest of the world , things escalated too fast for the army to handle.
A cold winter wind touched Will's face. He needed a bit of fresh air and to stay away from all the chaos that unravels around him. Survivors are flocking from any direction. In case the infected started to gain more ground inside Berlin , the German army set and the Sanctuary network set the evacuation area in the Charlotteburg-Wilmersdorf borough. Set neat the center of the city , this borough its surrounded completely by waters and it links with the rest of the town using bridges. The military destroyed almost all the bridges , keeping those that connect the C-W borough with the Moabit borough , for the survivors to use to arrive in the safe zone.
He leaned on the surface of a wall and tried to detach himself from all the chaos. The way things escalated caught many off guard and now they must struggle to save as many as they can. But winter arrived and supplies are running low. Plus the weather makes things even more complicated , sometimes forcing the aircraft to stay on the ground.
Breathing heavily , he observes how in front of him , his breathes become visible in the form of small clouds of steam. The first lights of the morning start to reach his face , feeling their warm for the first time in a few hours. He looks at the sun and lets out a large gasp of air. It's time to go back to work.
Magnus sent him here to help the Berlin Sanctuary with the evacuations and research. She also told him before he left , that he will also have some back-up. At first he thought that maybe , the Big Guy or Henry will be sent with him. He remembers how hard was for her to say their name. The Bastards. A information search on them came out almost empty. The only piece of file that he found , only mentioned their name. Magnus went on a mission in Mexic and was accompanied by them. The rest of the file was erased. It seemed that their presence was being kept well under wraps.
But there are more important manners to attend to than thinking about a group that is only mentioned in one document. Entering the building again , he made way through the crowd of people that occupied the entire area of the warehouse. Looking at their faces , he saw the same expression. Fear. He could only see the fear in their eyes. And nothing else. Their hope seemed to have drained away , leaving behind only hollow bodies. They saw what the virus did and how the military couldn't stop them. He stopped in front of a young mother and her child. The girl couldn't be more than four years old. The mother looked like she was in her early twenties. But he saw they weren't moving. Moving closer , he was startled when he realized that they weren't breathing. Moving quickly to check for a pulse , Will pursed his lips together in resignation as he made the verdict. Both of them were dead. They waited to be rescued. And now are dead. A cloak over their bodies was the only thing he can do.
A hand on his shoulder caught his attention. Turning around , he saw a medium stature seized man , in his twenties , short blonde hair that connected with a small beard and with light blue eyes. The man immediately addressed to him.
" Dr. Will Zimmerman? " Said the unknown man.
" Yes? " Will said , questioning the man back.
" Great. Philip Beike." The man said extending his right hand towards him. " Helen told me to look for you around here. "
" Sorry. Magnus didn't told me about you." Will said , observing a small smirk forming at the corners of his mouth.
" Aye. She did. But I think she might have used a more general term that my actually name. I'm the leader of The Bastards. " Philip said , knowing that now , Will knew that his presence was announced.
" And who are they? " Will questioned him. He wanted to know more about them. Only their name made Magnus uneasy in her chair.
" Let me introduce you to them. And after that I will tell you more about us. " Philip gestured with his right hand forward , asking will to follow him to his team.
At the entrance of the warehouse , four persons stand out from the rest. They weren't scared. That was the first that jumped out , when Will saw them. The second thing was that there were three men and a women but none of them seemed very old. They were all soldiers or formers soldiers. Will could tell by the look on their faces. Most of the people here frightened , scared by what the infected were and what they were capable of. But will could see little or no emotion in their eyes. As he was getting near , he realized that even Philip, who was taller than him , was small in comparison to one of them. The man was a mountain and had the look of a dog ready to strike. The only thing needed was the command. He was the first to be introduced.
" Ralf Grunewald. He is responsible with the fireworks." Philip said pointing at him. That last comment made the giant smile.
" Nice to meet you. " The giant said , taking will by surprise.
The next person was a little smaller but he had the same deranged look the giant man at the beginning. Short curly hair , small beard and with a muscular build , the man didn't even bother to look at Will , preferring to look inside the warehouse.
" Romildo Jiminez. And don't expect for him to talk too much." Philip passed without even bothering to look at Romildo.
" Ganelon Cantin. " For Will Canelon seemed to him the most normal to him , besides Philip.
He was laid-back , large smile on his face , always talking to the last member of the group. Like the rest of them , he also seemed to have some military background. Muscular , he was also the smallest of the men. But that didn't seem to bother him. The man was confident and you could tell only by the way he was gesturing and acting. Reaching to him , he gladly grabbed Will by the hand and shook his hand , putting some strength in the grip.
" So you are the one our lady boss is so worried? " Ganelon winked as Philip pulled Will onwards.
A large hand landed on his back , causing Will to stumble and almost fell to the feet of the last member of the group. If Philip seemed to best normal of the men , she seemed to not belong at all with them. Small in stature , long curly red-hair , hazel eyes and a somewhat fragile build , she seemed to be too fragile and innocent for a group like theirs.
" And this is Sarah Kastner. " Will smiled as she shook Sarah's extended hand. Taking two steps back , Philip gestured to the group with his arm towards the group before pursuing to finish his introduction. "And we are the Bloody Bastards."
Will sat at a table waiting for Philip to come back. After meeting his team , Philip invited Will to discuss more and sent his team to eat and rest before going on their mission. His decision was respected and his team left the warehouse , accompanied by a member of the Berlin Sanctuary , and headed towards their assigned rooms. As will was going deeper in his thoughts , mostly concerned by the infection , he didn't notice the cup of coffee Philip extended to him. Philip noticed will succumbed in his thoughts and called him by his name.
" Dr. Zimmerman? " Will snapped back as he heard his voice and looked at him a bit surprised.
But as he saw the cup of coffee he was offering him , Will nodded and took the cup of coffee in his hands. The warmth of the hot cup of coffee brought some of his senses in his hands. Despite wearing gloves , they proved to be almost useless. Taking a sip of coffee , he felt how his entire body reacted to the hot liquid. He felt how he can again move properly again. Looking at Philip , he noticed how he pulled out a cigarette and lighted it up in front of him. Smoking was one of the bad habits he couldn't stand. But being in a more open space , the smoke didn't bother him as much and choose to not say anything regarding that matter. The silence between the two men was broken as Will addressed his guest.
" So… How long have you known Magnus? " Will asked , deciding to take things slowly.
" I've known her for about three years and worked for her since then. We met her when she went on a mission in Mexic." Philip paused as he let out a puff of smoke from the cigarette. " Back then we we're mercenaries. Working for the highest bidder. For us it didn't matter what was the purpose of the mission. We we're only in it for the money. "
"I tried to find information on you guys but it seemed like you guys never even existed." Will looked at Philip with a puzzled look.
" Oh... We existed alright." Philip couldn't help smiling at what Will said. " Somalia , Mexic , Congo , Thailand , Libya , Venezuela , Nicaragua , Irak , Afghanistan. The last with the German Special Forces. The rest with them. Each of us deserted because of different reasons from their respective countries and we're branded as traitors in Jiminez case." Philip didn't seem to bother to talk about these.
" We met in Irak. We we're part of a mission involving the French , Germans and Brazilians. Jiminez is a expert in Hand-to-Hand combat. Ganelon was our sharpshooter. Ralf was the fireworks man. Sarah in communication , while me I was their leader. The mission went wrong because of some misleading information and we we're forced to witness something that neither of us could have accepted. That's when we decided to leave the army and go rogue. Hired by different governments we we're deployed in several countries , bought to offer protection or to annihilate a target." Will saw no remorse in Philips eyes. He didn't regret anything he done. Philip continued his story. " Magnus heard about us and hired us to offer her protection and maybe even to kill some targets. Things went out of hand in Mexic as some drug leader had a very dangerous abnormal and decided not to give it to the Sanctuary. We killed him. And all of his men. When we left , there was not a single breathing body in that building except us and Magnus. "
" Magnus let all of that happen? " Will couldn't believe what he was hearing.
" She actually made the order. From that mission , she hired us as the Sanctuaries personal elite squad. She offered us a large sum of money to accept only the Sanctuaries missions. Also , she used her connections to be allowed back into our countries. " Philip said as he finished his cigarette and crushed in the ash tray.
" I can't believe Magnus went along with all of these. " Will said , obviously repulsed by her previous actions.
" Peace is something hard to maintain. Sometimes there are certain actions that need to be taken. That's our job. To keep the Sanctuaries hands clean. We take care of the more dirty jobs. Jobs that the Sanctuary isn't proud to admit. Magnus also asked us to keep the mission details to ourselves. She wanted to know as less information as possible. She doesn't like it but we're necessary. We are the necessary evil in their plan in their plan to maintain the peace between humans and abnormals. You can judge her or us as much as you like , but the things we've done were for purpose that required drastic actions." Philip ended.
As he finished his story , he rose up and left the table , leaving Will alone. He was a bit shocked about what he just found out. But he needed to put all aside. They will be really useful in all this. A peaceful and moral approach to all this infection is the wrong course of actions. They aren't facing humans anymore. They are facing a enemy who was ruthless , deadly and growing in numbers. As Philip said , drastic actions might be needed.
This is the first chapter. Hope you like it. Reviews and feedback are welcomed as always.