Chapter 2 Introductions
The sun was setting over the horizon as the international force charged with investigating North Korea was setting up camp inside the North Korean outpost. They had reinforced the chain link fence and had placed range markers out in the grassy area in front of the base in case of zombie attack. Up in the guard towers machine guns had been placed in case of North Korean attack, a UAV flew overhead but there was no sign of any movement apart from nature. The North Korean flag had been taken down replaced by a deep blue UN flag. Inside the base two Humvee and an MRAP where having final preparations done, each one was loaded down with supply packs. Inside main building a briefing was underway.
"Now I know you all know the general mission but it is time to go into more detail." stated Major Lefeld as he looked out at the other twelve members of the squad that he would be leading into North Korea. "Our goal is simple we are to travel east to the capital of North Korea, Pyongyong looking for signs of what happened to the people. If we are unable to find anything on our route or in the capital itself we are to head to a main government bunker north of the city, if there is answer it will be there. From Pre war information we know that this bunker is where the leadership were suppose to fall back to incase of a war."
"Sir, why the hell are we even doing this?" asked Lieutenant Alec Fagaly "Because if they are alive we are just going to be shot at and if they are zombies then they will just be releasing a shit load of zombies."
"Because sooner or later those bunker doors will open and it is better to be the one opening it so that we can close it." explained Major Lefeld "Now I am the commander of this mission but you have each been chosen for your skill set in a key area. Now let's go around the room and introduce ourselves."
"What are we now in kindergarten?" laughed Alec as he got a glare from Major Lefeld
"I am Major Robert Lefeld American Army, I am a member of Delta force and an expert in small squad warfare." stated Robert as he looked around the room.
"Well I might as well go first." stated a man, he had short red hair with on his face freckles, his nose was offset problem from being broken and not set property "My name is Second Lieutenant Ian Taylor British SAS and I am the dog handier."
"Well I'll go next." stated the second British member of the team, he had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes as his sniper rifle lied beside him "I am Sergeant Michael Morton Royal Marine Sniper."
"Lance Corporal Jaan Gurski of Poland's GROM." stated Jaan at the age of 21 he was the youngest member of the group but there was only eight years between him and the commander of the mission Major Lefeld "If you need to get on reach someone on the radio I can get them."
"I am Eun Gang." stated the Korean man "Unlike most of you I am not military but twelve years ago I lived in a village 50 kilometers east of Pyongkoung."
"Your North Korean?" asked Alec
"No I am South Korean but I fled the North only a year before the great panic started." explained Eun "I moved across the country avoiding patrols and swimming across the border to china, than I caught a boat to South Korea and tried to start a new life. Then the outbreak happened."
"So you're the local guild and translator?" asked Ian
"Yes." explained Eun as they moved down the line to the Japanese woman dressed in camouflaged pants and a white shirt, a short sword hung from her belt.
"Kagami Tanaka of the Japanese's Tatenokai medical division." stated Kagami
"Tatenokai those crazy people who don't use guns to put down zombies only hand weapons and their hands." laughed Alec only to suddenly feel a sword pressed against the bottom of his neck.
"We honor the spirits by removing the undead filth from the world." stated Kagami as she pulled the blade back from the seal's neck.
"I wasn't aware that the Tatenokai had a medical unit?" asked Jaan
"We need to take care of the sick and the dyeing all the while provide spiritual healing before the ends. If they are infected we provide healing and then we cure them of the infection" explained Kagami as everyone knew what she meant by that, normally it meant a sword though the head. Not that the western nation had anything better anyone bitten by a zombie either killed themselves or they were shot in the head before they turned "I will provide healing to anyone we find."
"So a crazy core woman who will kill us if we needed." stated Alec
"You know you have been talking all this time but still haven't said who you are?" asked Ian
"Fine I am Lieutenant Alec Fagaly of the US Navy Seals and I have no real idea why I was chosen to go along with you all on this crazy mission." stated Alec
"I am Jaime Chaffee." said the blonde hair French woman who looked like she should be model if it wasn't for the grease covered blue jeans and shirt soaked in motor oil. "I built our ride and I am the best driver in the world."
"Martin Fischer of Germany KSK my moto is, the larger the explosion the better." stated Martin
"Mig Tang." stated a short Chinese's woman as she held a hunting rifle over her shoulder "I was a scavenger during the war living off the remains of society, I can find almost anything and I have been to Pyongyang on a trip."
"I didn't realize you could take vacations to Pyongyang before the war?" asked Jaime
"I would rather not say how I got there." stated Mig as they looked toward the tall black haired woman with a Star of David around her neck thin.
"Hanna Aas I am a member of the Israeli intelligence group Mossad." stated Hanna "I am the one who will report any intelligence back to all the different agencies."
"Hello everyone, my name is Dr. Adora Silva." Stated the last woman on the team in a soft voice "I am here to study the environment for signs of the zombie infections and study the remains of any dead ones."
"What can you learn from studying those things?" asked Alec
"A lot." answered Dr. Silva as she pushed up her glasses "Like the one your group put down came from the area of Tokyo and given his rate of decomposition he had at least another decade and a half until he stopped moving and died on his own."
"He died a long time ago." stated Alec as they turned to the last member of the group.
"Corporal Bircher of the Swiss Guard." stated the brown hair man with deep green eyes "I am going to be charge of the drones and other unmanned vehicles we are using."
"Swiss Guard like the ones who guard the pope in those silly uniforms?" asked Alec
"Alec that is enough." ordered Robert as walked over and turned on a portable projector. Instantly a map of North Korea was projected on the cinderblock wall. "As you can see we are 100 miles North of the South Korean city of Gangneug. Using the roads we have from satellite photos we have a five day journey to the capital with stops every night."
"How are we refueling?" asked Jaime "Because I modified these rides for range but it will needs gas."
"We are in luck." explained Robert "We have the location of three underground fuel depots which was made with the help of building crews from the People's republic of China along our planned route and seven other know ones along our four backup routes."
"They could be empty." Stated Dr. Silva as the Brazilian scientists pushed up her glasses "Underground bunkers could be using it as a fuel source."
"No…they are full with around a 150 thousand gallons of fuels each." stated the Israel Spy Hanna Aas "The west wasn't the only one spying on the North Koreans, so was the Chinese's and they placed small broadcast markers in the fuel so they knew the level. The new Chinese's government gave us the information, they haven't dropped since the zombie outbreak."
"That doesn't hold well for any human being alive." stated Ian
"The North Korean government was military first, the fuel they did have was all saved for the military. In this case fuel for a drive south in the next Korean war." explained Robert "We will use them to drive North."
"Air coverage?" asked Jaan Gurski as the polish radio man
"I will be handling the low level UAV and the ground level attack drone." explained Serge Bircher as a the Swiss military man looked at Jaan
"For higher level air support we will be clearing a path by disabling automated missiles and AA batteries along this path." stated Robert as he pointed to four military bases.
"What happened if we come into contact with Zombies and we can't seal them back up?" asked Jaime
"That is why we are clearing the air route." stated Robert "Waiting on Kyushu island are two B2 bombers loaded with nuclear warheads."
"But Nukes did nothing to stop zombies in Iran or Pakistan?" asked Michael "It only makes them radioactive."
"Those zombies were outside in the open, these are underground and hopefully a Nuke dropped right down the tunnel entrees will seal them inside." explained Robert
"What is our escape route if it comes to that?" asked Mig
"We don't." stated Hanna "There first worry would be to seal an entrees and a B2 would get to us sooner than any helicopter."
"Well this mission just got worst." stated Alec "Anything else we need to know?"
"Nothing operational" stated Robert "Now let me get something straight, when we head out tomorrow morning, I am in command followed by Ian Taylor but we are to work together as a team because we have no idea what we will find. Whatever it is we will have only each other to count on. We leave at sunrise so get something to eat and some sleep."
It was nearing four in the morning as Colonel Robert Lefeld walked out of his tent. He could see troops dressed in their blue uniforms which made them look more like civil war reenactors then the standing army of the United States of America, however even five years after the end of the zombie war they were still busy rebuilding everything and since no nation on earth was in the mood to have a war.
He walked past the sleeping soldiers in their tents their SIRs nearby in case of an attack however the outer perimeter had seen nothing apart from some wild animals. He moved past the sleeping quarters until he reached the center of the base, there sitting there in the center of the base was the two Humvees and the MRAP. As he neared them he could see the stacks of ammo, food and other supplies stacked high both inside and outside the vehicles. As he just stood there looking at the vehicles a figure moved out from behind one of the Humvee, she opened up the hood and started checking the engine.
"Shouldn't you be in bed Jamie?" asked Robert
"Not until I make sure the oil level is correct." said the French woman "Besides shouldn't you be in bed."
"As the commander of this mission I need to be up before everyone else." explained Robert
"Ya…I was going to ask you aren't you a little young to be a colonel?" asked Jamie as she looked at the man, he was probably only in his late twenties.
"Well they lost a lot of people to the zombies and that meant a faster rise though the ranks." explained Robert "I had just finished training when the great panic started."
"I know what you mean I was only had my license as a mechanic for two years when the outbreak started." Explained Jamie "What did you do during the war?"
That question had become a common question for when people first meet, around the world it had become so common of a question that no one was offended by asking. Some phyicisted had said the willingness for people to share their stories was a copping method that allowed painful memories to get off the chest.
"I spent most of my time helping the people who made Bois Blanc and Mackinac Island their safe zones." explained Robert
"Where are those island at?" asked Jaime having forgot about working on the engines.
"It's two islands located between upper and lower Michigan inside Lake Huron." Explained Robert
"That's one of your great lakes right?" asked Jaime
"Yes." said Robert "A group of refugees had made the island their home, there is a fort there dating back to the Revolutionary War and once we set up nets to stop the walkers from coming out lake."
"I was a NSCAR Driver." Explained Jaime
"NSCAR Driver?" asked Robert as he remembered watching a handful of races before the zombie outbreak.
"It's what we called my job." explained Jaime "I drove a modified vehicles though the zombie infected streets leading them away so that search teams could go in and find supplies. We got called NSCAR drivers since we have to outrace the hordes while dodging abounded cars and overrun roadblocks. I made over a thousand trips and wretched ten vehicles before my area was reclaimed by the military. I just thank God that my father was with me to help keep the cars going."
"Your father's a mechanic?" asked Robert
"Yes…he taught me everything I know, he wanted boys but all he got was my two other sisters and myself." explained Jaime "I followed my father into his shop while my sisters went into business."
"If I can ask what happened to them?" asked Robert
"My oldest sister is still alive if you call it that." said Jaime as she lowered her head as some tears rolled down her face.
"Sorry you don't have to tell me." Said Robert
"No..it's ok." Said Jaime "She is in a mental hospital in Toulouse, she is what you Americans call a Quisling."
"She thinks she is a zombie?" asked Robert knowing that there were hospitals's full of those people back in the states.
"Yes…they found her and identified her by her photo id." said Jaime "I tried talking to her but she tried to bite me. The last I heard from my other older sister she has hiding in the Palace of Versailles and it was on fire."
"I heard no one made it out of Versailles once the Paris horde arrived and the fire broke out." said Robert as Jaime nodded her head.
"Your right that is why her name and the name of her son and husband are on the list of the dead." explained Jaime "How many family members did you lose?"
"I am probably the only person in the world who could say this but no one." said Robert as Jaime looked at him "My father's family was having a reunion on the islands I went to protect when the outbreak happened. My Parents, my sister, her husband and kids, my grandparents along with all my Aunts, Uncles and cousins were getting together for the first time in five year. Same thing was going on, on my mother's side in a resort near Traverse City in upper Michigan. We were planning to travel between the two when the outbreak happened."
"And you got word for them to go to the island?" asked Jaime
"Yes, they got back in their cars and went to the island, they didn't even lose their dogs." laughed Robert as he lowered his head a little ashamed of his stroke of luck "I didn't lose family to the zombies but I lost a lot of friends and teammates."
"What where you doing before you made it the island?" asked Jaime
"I was in Chicago pulling out the old VP." explained Robert
"I bet that was a mess." said Jaime
"It was hell on Earth." stated Robert as he remembered the burning skyline of the windy city.
Well I hope you liked this chapter, next chapter will be the first flashback chapter in which the personal events of world war Z for all my OC will be told. Now please keep reading, thanks Wilkins75
