Chapter 2
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MESSAGE FROM: DELETED PER RGS REGULATION 3.12
MESSAGE TO: 2982 CARRIE
Dearest Carrie,
I hope there is enough bandwidth for you to get this message before reports of what happened to us reaches you through the grapevine. Hopefully, being the wife of a RGS captain will be enough to insure that you do. God knows that they sure don't pay enough to make it worth it.
Anyways, I just wanted to write you and let you know that I am okay. We lost 15 guys in the last fight in Ottawa. No, that's not the right way to say it. Colonel deleted wasted 15 guys on a suicide mission that had no value what so ever. I swear, that man will kill every last one of us if he gets half a chance.
It's not good enough for him that we are finally fighting back. No, not good enough by far. This motherfucker wants to make sure he has a great big body count to take back to the RGS council. I know that you tell me that I need to not let things get to me so much. Nevertheless, when you watch an entire platoon of men die like those men did, you cannot help but question the reason we are here. I mean, are we any better than the zombies are? They don't care if a single member dies. Hell, I have seen an entire town full of them climbing over one another to try to get to a FOP even though they had to cross a field full of land mines and covered from three different angles with 50 cal machine guns. The cross fire was deadly, but, they just kept coming; they kept dieing.
I am sorry; I know that you do not want to hear about that. I will try to keep the gore to a minimum.
Anyways, how are the kids? I miss you guys so much. I will be glad when we finish this mission and I can come home. I will tell you something that I never thought I would have admitted 10 years ago before the Pulse hit. I wish I could go back to that crappy job in that warehouse. You remember the one? The one that I hated? I could not stand that fucking place. God, if I knew then what I know now. Oh well, I guess we have to play the cards we have been dealt.
A couple of days ago, we came across a little town near the Canadian-US border. This town was completely untouched. We where walking down some little 2 lane blacktop road, trying to reach Buffalo before sundown. The Major called SH and everyone cleared the road and hid in the surrounding bushes. (SH is short for Stop and Hide. Not very imaginative, but, hey, what do you expect?) Only two people stayed in the middle of the road. One was the Major. The other was a forward scout. They stood there talking for a few minutes, then, the Major shooed the scout away. He looked back to the end of the column, back towards where my company was. Even though his eyes where hid by the brim of his booney hat, I could tell he was looking for me. (After what happened in Ottawa, the Major seemed to pick my company for the "interesting" assignments. And, that's not always a good thing.)
He signaled for my company to move up and we did. Carrie, I have to say, I am amazed at how far my company has come. When we where first formed, we could not even march in a straight line. Now, after 3 months in the field, my company is the best one in this whole army. You wouldn't think 45 men would be able to move without making at least some noise, but we moved up that road like cats stalking a mouse.
When we where with 10 feet of the Major, I signaled my company to stop. After making sure my men where spread out in a defensive position on each side of the road, I continued on. The Major watched me and my men's advance with a slight smile of approval. I stopped in from of the Major, slinging my rifle.
"Captain deleted , reporting sir," I said.
The Major didn't say anything to me at first. He looked back in the direction that the scout came from for a minute. Over the Majors left shoulder, I saw the Colonel and the other major standing near the back of the ISV (Infantry Support Vehicle). The ISV is a Command and Support Vehicle that the Colonel uses to keep in contact with the Council. It has a direct satellite uplink and is heavily armored and armed. The Colonel refused to use it in Ottawa. He said that it was too valuable to risk loosing. If he had just moved it forward, we could have saved some of them.
The Major noticed me looking at the Colonel and snorted a small laugh.
"If he had moved the ISV forward, it wouldn't have done any good. The Zombies mercs had us dead to rights. Their arty was too good. The had us zeroed in before we even got to the city limits. Once we entered, there could only be one outcome. They didn't want us to get to that cache, and, they would have destroyed the ISV if we moved it within range. You know this. It would be best if you just let it go," said the Major gently, as if he could read my mind.
The look on my face must have amused him, because the Major laughed loudly, startling the Colonel. The Colonel's head jerked towards us, and he scowled. The Major turned back to look at the Colonel for a second, and then turned back to me.
"Even though he was right about the ISV, he is still a prick," he said.
I had not, up to this point, had much of a chance to talk to the Major. From what I have heard, he isn't one for many words. Yet, for some reason, I felt myself drawn too him. Have you ever been around a person that you know is destined to change the world? Someone that has the personal strength to move mountains for his beliefs? That's what it is like being around the Major. In the staff meetings we have had, the Colonel is in charge, but you can tell that the Colonel looks to the Major for approval. The sad part is, I think the Colonel cannot help himself for feeling that way. More than that, I think the Colonel is ashamed of feeling this way, maybe even disgusted with himself. The rumor running around currently is that the Colonel messaged back to base asking to have the Major removed after Ottawa and he was refused.
I have noticed that when an order is handed down, even though it comes from the Colonel, almost every man subconsciously looks to the Major for some sign that he agrees with the order. That simple fact has brought the Colonel and the Major to many one sided shouting matches. (Usually with the Colonel doing the shouting and the Major standing there calmly, as if he is standing on a beach somewhere a million miles away.)
The Major sighed, pulled a cigarette from a pack in his pocket. He light it, inhaling deeply. He exhaled the smoke with a sound that was the most sorrowful sound that I have ever heard. I know that you could tell the mood of a person from just the sounds that they make, but, I have never heard a man sound so sad.
"Well, Captain, we seem to have a unique opportunity ahead of us," said the Major. "As you might or might not know, supplies at RGS are getting a little thin. This winter is a lot harder than the council thought it was gonna be."
"Yes sir."
"Good. And, you are also aware that part of our mission is to find supplies to help everyone back home to get through till spring."
"Yes sir."
"Forward scouts have reported that down this road about 5 miles," said the Major, pointing down the road, where it disappeared into an unseen valley, "is a town that from a distance looks to be in remarkable shape."
A town, I thought with mixed emotions. After what happened in Ottawa, I wasn't too keen on going into another town.
The Majors blue eyes watched me take in his announcement.
"I suppose you are wondering why I decided to share this information with you," he said.
"Well, sir, you are telling me this because you need a group of men to enter this town, recce it and report back to you without alerting any local populace to our presence."
"Yes Captain that is exactly what I had in mind. Any idea why I chose you?" he asked with a slight grin.
I stood a little straighter
"Because my men are the best that you have, SIr."
"The best?"
"Yes sir, the best. A mission like the one you described requires the best. So, when you need the best, get the best," I said with pride.
The Major nodded approval.
"I am glad to see that your moral is high."
I didn't say anything else. I know that my men are good, and, from the Majors reaction, so did he. I didn't think it would be a good idea to brag too much.
"What I need you to do is to take a small force of men, no more than 10 men, and scout out the town." The Major looked at the setting sun, then, back to me. "Wait till dusk, then, enter the town how ever you think is best. I want you to look around only. Do not try to collect any supplies. Try your very best to not be seen…."
The Major was interrupted by the Colonel
"…. And, under no circumstances are you to fire upon any civilians." The Colonel stood there looking at the Colonel, smirking.
"Yes Captain, we do not want any civilian casualties if we can at all help it," said the Major, looking at me.
"No civilian casualties at all," interjected the Colonel. "For any reason. If you are shot at, you evade and escape. You do not return fire. At all. Do you understand Captain?"
"Yes sir." I said, looking straight ahead.
The Colonel looked at me, then to the Major. "Carry on then," he said, then, walked away.
When the Colonel had walked away, he looked at me. I turned to him, wanting to object to the rules that had been placed on my men and me but I didn't want to give the Major the wrong idea. So, I just stood there. The Major continued to look at me for a minute. He then motioned to me to follow him to one of the HUMVEE's that held the supplies for our army. He looked around to see where the Colonel was, then, opened the back tailgate of the truck. He rummaged in the back for a few seconds, looking for something. When he found it, he pulled a large black box from the corner. He looked around one more time, then, opened the box. Inside the box, stacked side by side where 15 small, deadly looking compact SMG's
"Do you know what these are?"
"No sir."
"These are P90 sub machine guns. I am not going to go into the technical details, cause, you do not need them. You and your team will be outfitted with them when you hit that town. They can be equipped with a silencer, which, I would highly recommend. They have 50 round box magazines, fire 5.7mm shells and are best used at close ranges. Since you are not supposed to be seen, this should not be a problem. I will leave the fine details to you, but, I would recommend leaving 2 men outside of town to provide sniping support." The Major closed the lid of the box, pulled another box out of the back, and set it on top of the first one. "Here is the ammo. Send over some of your men to get these. Good luck Captain." He reached out his hand and I shook it.
"Thank you sir."
I turned to walk back to my men.
