A/N: It's been awhile since I updated, and I'm sorry about that. Figured I'd change things up and introduce a few new characters now. From here, it will be first person from the view of another Security Forces member, at least until the next chapter. Enjoy!
"Sarge, how much longer are we going to have to hike? My feet are killing me!" The guy who spoke was a pretty lazy guy named Airman Steven Henderson. He wasn't exactly in the best of shape, and he was a chain smoker.
"Dammit, Henderson, stop your bitching! It's getting on my nerves!" SSgt Alex Undercroft snapped. The Sarge was not the nicest of people, but you get used to it.
As for me, my name is Christopher Sheffield. I'm an Airman First Class with the Air Force Security Forces. I'm six feet tall, broad shouldered, and toned from years of martial arts training. I have dark brown hair, and mostly brown eyes, though the rims of my irises were green in color. Since I joined straight out of high school, and signed up for the six year enlistment, I'm only eighteen years old, though I turn nineteen in a few days. If I live that long, that is.
The three of us were one of the security patrols for Yokota AB's flightline when the outbreak kicked off. When the gates were overrun, we headed over to the armory and stockpiled on 5.56mm and 9mm ammo since SSgt Undercroft was armed with an M4, as was Amn Henderson, when the shit hit the fan. I was currently lugging around an M249 automatic rifle. When the order to withdraw was given, we bugged out in one of the Security Forces 6-packs which was one of the pickup trucks with an extended cab. Of course, Henderson had to pick the one with the lowest fuel level.
As a result of Henderson's foresight, and SSgt Undercroft's lack of proper supervision, the three of us were currently huffing it through the streets of Japan in full battle rattle while weighted down with excess ammunition.
"Staff Sergeant, yelling isn't helping us right now. Where are we even going right now? We need a plan," I said, when we halted at an intersection next to the burnt out husk of a car.
Undercroft sighed, "I know that, Sheffield. I just...I'm not sure what to do! The world has gone to hell, and the two of you are relying on me, me, to keep you alive! I just put on E5. I've never been deployed, I don't know if I can handle this pressure."
I groaned inwardly. This is great. I've got to rely on a spineless coward and a lazy POS to watch my back? I wish I was running with Mac instead of these two.
"We have to stick together, Staff Sergeant. You are an NCO, so get your act together," I said, glaring at the glasses wearing redhead. The guy has never worked security before coming here, having been a desk jockey for most of his career. I just signed up almost a year ago, and I already have a deployment under my belt. Henderson was not much better, doing the bare minimum to get by. He was nothing but a screw up, and it pissed me off that he got his alpha killed when Yokota got overrun.
Security patrols usually ride in pairs, SSgt Undercroft and I had been posted together while Henderson had been posted with a cute girl straight out of tech school and basic. She had been infected when we were hit when we were at the armory stocking up on ammo. Henderson was supposed to be watching the perimeter when 'they' got the drop on us. Poor girl.
"Sarge!" Henderson whined.
"Shut up, Henderson," I muttered darkly when I turned and glared at him. We continued hiking through the city until we came to a pedestrian bridge that passed over a highway. Down below, I could see a horde of 'them' advancing towards a humvee that was pinned against cables which were draped across the street. Several survivors were holding back the infectees, including a familiar guy in BDUs wearing a Security Forces beret.
"McAlister...Staff Sergeant, we have to help them out, give them some covering fire," I said, walking across the bridge until I reached the middle.
"R-Right. Where should we post up?" Undercroft asked.
"You post up on this end of the bridge while Henderson takes the other. Three fields of fire," I said, pointing at opposite ends of the bridge while I set up the M249's bipod and posted it on the cement railing. I flicked off the safety and, since the M249 was in a full load, immediately pulled the trigger and rained a hail of 5.56mm rounds on the horde below.
"M-My weapon jammed!" Undercroft shouted, unsure how to fix the problem. Fucking desk jockey. When I turned to see what the problem was, I saw more than a few of 'them' closing in on the NCO.
Henderson, who also turned to look, paled, "Fuck this shit!" He tossed his rifle aside and stripped out of his helmet and armor as he ran away and abandoned us on the bridge.
"FUCKING COWARD!" I roared as I sprinted over to help out SSgt Undercroft, only to reach him too late as one of 'them' tackled the panicking NCO to the ground and taking a chunk out of the side of his neck.
"SHEFFIELD! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! HELP MEE!" Undercroft screamed as he flailed at the thing on top of him. I drew my M9 from my drop holster and put a round in the thing's head, then shot two more of 'them.'
"You're infected now, Staff Sergeant," I muttered.
"N-No, I'll be fine," Undercroft said, his eyes widening as I took aim once more.
"No, Staff Sergeant, you won't," I said, shooting the NCO between the eyes. I quickly scavenged his ammo, even as I collected his dogtags and weapons, before I looked around for a way down to the street below. In the distance, I spotted a stair case which led to the street, though it was crowded with 'them.'
I leaned over the side of the bridge and looked at the survivors, "MAC! I'M COMING DOWN, SO GIVE ME SOME COVERING FIRE!" The Senior Airman on the street below looked up in surprise, then nodded.
I sprinted over to the staircase then stopped so I could fire the M249 and clear a path to the humvee. When I ran down the stairs, upon seeing that the path was quickly filling, tucked my kevlar covered head and slammed through a cluster of 'them' before reaching the humvee.
"Good to see you're still alive, Shef," Isaac grinned as he bashed one of the infectees over the head with a mace. Where the hell did he get that?
"For the moment, Mac," I muttered as I shouldered my weapon and hosed down the horde.
"That thing is burning too much ammo, switch to your M4," Isaac said as he gunned down several more of them with an M9.
"Jammed. Didn't have time to clear it out before I had to bug out from the bridge. Lost SSgt Undercroft up there and Henderson left us all to die," I said, setting the M249 on the hood of the humvee and drawing my M9 and shot two of them before I heard what sounded like a bus pulling up to the cables.
"GET DOWN!"
I dropped to one knee just as pressurized water jetted through the cables and collided with the advancing horde, knocking many of them down and forcing the others back, giving us time to crawl through the cables. Once on the other side, I glanced over the survivors that Isaac had with him and noticed that there were more females than guys. Then I noticed that Isaac had taken...liberties with how he wore his uniform.
"Not exactly adhering to regs, are we?" I chuckled when Isaac looked down at himself then at me.
"It got pretty bad at one point, had to ditch my armor," Isaac said, trailing off, "that was when we lost Shepard, Santos, and Rodriguez."
I looked up at the blue sky, "I see. Looks like it's just you and me now, huh? I bet the Marines are doing better than we are."
Isaac chuckled, "Most likely. They have kinship with each other, unlike us. We eat our own to make ourselves look better."
"We don't, but a lot of other Air Force guys do, I'll give you that. So, what's the plan, boss?" I asked. A pink haired girl with glasses was currently hugging a woman who was wearing a firefighter's uniform while the other survivors were catching their breath.
"Well, I'm sticking with these guys. The guy with the shotgun, he's the leader of this little group. Since I know you, I'm sure they'll let you tag along if you want," Isaac said with a grin, "after all, it has to be better than surviving alone or with a group like your previous one."
I mulled that one over for a moment as I took off my kevlar helmet and scratched the back of my head, "Couldn't hurt to stick around. Sure, why not?"
"Let's run it by the boss then," Isaac said, leading the way to a guy he introduced as Takashi Komuro. When Isaac explained the situation, Takashi looked over at me, giving me a once over before he decided.
"You were the guy shooting Them from up on that bridge?" Takashi asked.
"One of them. Another guy got infected up there, so I shot him, and the other turned and left us to die," I said without batting an eye.
"Got infected? Damn. Let me run it by everyone else, then we'll see," Takashi said, "for now though, let's just get out of here."
"Sounds good to me," I said with a nod. It'll be good to have a safe place to sleep tonight.
What I didn't know was the Souichiro Takagi did NOT like us, not one bit. Now, while we were thanked for out parts in insuring Saya Takagi's survival, we were asked to leave the grounds of the mansion on the grounds that neither Isaac or myself were of Japanese descent.
The others didn't take that well, but Isaac was quick to take control of the situation, "Hey, Shef and I understand where your dad is coming from, Saya. We'll camp outside the mansion's walls near the gate if you need us."
I stayed silent, angry at Takagi's father for denying us entry though I could do nothing about it since this wasn't America or a US base. He may be a bastard and a hardcore Nationalist, but he's within his rights as a Japanese citizen to deny us entry to his home. Prick.
Isaac and I set up a tent near the gate to the mansion grounds, as well as a little campfire using kindling from a nearby house. Sure, we may have been shafted in this deal, but we were going to make the best of it.
After close to two days had passed, Isaac and I watched as a bus rolled by just as the rain began to fall. We had been left alone, more or less, by those that followed Saya's father. Takashi's group still sneaked us a meal after dark each day we spent out here. After an hour, the bus drove back out the gate, the driver looking extremely pissed. Then the EMP hit.
I knew it was an EMP due to the altitude at which the missile detonated, and due to the fact that the M68 red dot sight one my M4 no longer worked. Isaac took his NVGs out of their pouch and checked them out, only to toss them aside with a sigh.
"So much for that advantage," Isaac muttered. We killed time playing cards until we saw a guy running up the hill towards the gate. We looked past them, then at each other.
"Aw shit," We said simultaneously, Isaac reaching for his mace and sidearm while I donned my armor, disregarding my ABU blouse as I shouldered my M4 and flipped up the iron sights. The guy ran past us, shooting us a grateful expression as we fired into the growing horde as we backed up through the gate, then covered the gate guards as they slammed the gate closed.
"Thanks for that," The guy muttered just before we could hear the metal of the gate groaning from the sheer amount of bodies that were beginning to press against it.
"Fall back!" I shouted, backing up and shouldering my M4 again as the gate collapsed inwards, allowing dozens of them to spill into the courtyard. As I backed up, firing round after round into the horde, I was suddenly aware of the purple haired girl that was with Takashi's group. She stood next to me, silently, as she unsheathed a sword she must have gotten from someone in the mansion.
"So, what's the plan, boss?"
I glanced over my shoulder as I reloaded and saw that Isaac had made contact with Takashi.
"We're leaving," Takashi said, "the humvee doesn't work now, but the mechanic was working on a buggy."
"A buggy. Will it fit all of us, or are we going to have to find an alternative?" Isaac deadpanned.
"Uh, I'm not sure," Takashi said as we retreated to the garage. The buggy, as it turns out, was just big enough to carry Takashi's group and Isaac. I, on the other hand, was screwed.
"We can't just leave him here," Saeko said when they were piling into the buggy.
I looked around the garage and spotted a dirtbike along the back wall, then turned to the mechanic, "Does that thing work?"
The mechanic nodded, "Should be alright. Got it working after I fixed up the buggy."
"Mind if we take it?" I asked.
The mechanic frowned, glancing from me to Saya, then nodded, "Go ahead. Make sure you guys take care of Saya-sama."
"Got it. We ready to go?" I asked as I slung my M4 across my back and mounted the bike after tossing my rucksack into the buggy with the others.
At Takashi's nod, I kickstarted the dirtbike and roared out of the garage, followed quickly by the buggy. As we left the estate grounds, I had a feeling everything was going to be okay. Maybe not immediately, but soon. After all, when you hit the bottom, things can only go up from there, right? Too bad I forgot this saying: it is always darkest just before dawn.
A/N: A different spin on the story, along with a different POV from the first OC. Tell me what you guys think and which of the two Security Forces members you like more. There will be a few more changes, but this story will follow the manga, more or less. Anything you guys think I should add, or do, just submit it in a review or a PM. Later!