Fort Benning, Georgia, Day 19, 11:34 PM
Sergeant Foley sat next to a radio, listening to news chatter.
"According to the last report, we heard from the Federal Rescue Service a few days before comms went dark. Pennsylvania Stage 10 catastrophe. The Armed Forces have pulled back from the area. The infection has reached Baltimore and authorities have set up fortifications to prevent it from reaching Washington D.C. Virginia has suffered a serious breach and hostile Infected are now rampant in the streets."
As Foley listened, Colonel Marshall came in and turned off the radio.
"It's outdated." said the colonel. "They've already reached the South and pretty much the whole damn country. Louisiana, Michigan, and even D.C…..all overrun. Only Atlanta and New York are still combat effective in the East Coast. It's been eight days and not a single word from Shepherd. All we can do is somehow hope he got out of D.C. or if he even has a contingency plan. Desertion rates are going higher, Sergeant. I need you all to stay in line."
Foley looked up to him and gave a reassuring nod.
"I'll see to it Colonel. No worries."
Marshall nodded.
"Good. Now get some rest, Sergeant."
"You too, Colonel. You too."
Fort Benning, Briefing Room, Day 20
The soldiers geared up in their Army Combat Uniforms. They also equipped gas masks and loaded their assault rifles and DMPs.
Colonel Marshall gave everyone a briefing.
"Alright, soldiers! The entrapment operation will happen at the Rayford Port. Our outpost there has been overrun for days. We have a capture objective on four HVIs. According to the report given by Corporal Annie, there are four individuals. Three males and one female. Former criminal last seen wearing a vest and black jeans, an African-American bald man last seen in office attire, a young brunette woman, most likely in her late teens to early twenties, last seen wearing a pink jacket, and an elderly man, former spec ops member last seen wearing a Vietnam War era uniform. Proceed with caution! Wheels up in four mikes!"
Several hours later, The Sacrifice
The survivors shot at the oncoming horde from the rising bridge. All was well until the generator broke down. Bill watched as his teammates desperately fired at the horde.
"There's too many of them!" yelled Francis.
With a look of vengeance on his face, the old man brought out a Molotov and charged towards the edge of the bridge. Zoey was quick to notice him and tried to hold him back, to no avail. Bill jumped off the bridge and threw the burning Molotov at the three Tanks charging towards him. After he did so, he pushed the button of the generator. The bridge slowly began to rise. Bill looked back up at the bridge and stared at his teammates.
"You guys are the only family I've got! Take care of each other!" he said to them.
"I'm not leaving you, old man!" yelled Francis.
"Bill!" cried Zoey, tears starting to come out of her eyes.
As he watched the bridge slowly rising, Bill closed his eyes and prepared to embrace his fate.
"I won't make it back…"
The emotional moment was suddenly interrupted by gunfire in the distance. Everyone took cover. The Infected dashing towards the bridge turned around and began running in the opposite direction.
"What the hell?!" yelled Francis.
"Where're those shots coming from?!" said Louis.
There was only one answer to that.
The Rangers and the National Guard had reached their destination, and had their objectives in sight.
"Go! Go! Go! Hustle up! Keep moving!" yelled Pvt. Wade.
The large group of soldiers fired at the oncoming horde of Infected. So far, all was going well. And some of the soldiers were having fun doing their job.
"WOOHOO!" shouted Sergeant Macey as he fired a mounted minigun at the Infected wave. "Hooah, baby! HOOAH!"
"That's it!" laughed Private Slayback as he stabbed an Infected with a knife and threw it over his shoulder. "Die, you ferocious cunts!"
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a concrete rock landed on a Humvee containing members of the National Guard, injuring everyone inside. That Humvee also happened to be in front of another Humvee, which was carrying Foley, Dunn and Ramirez.
"WHOA! WHAT WAS THAT?!" cried Ramirez, who ducked down back inside the vehicle.
He once again got back up through the hole in the roof of the truck to observe what was happening outside. Dunn and Foley stepped out of the vehicle to see where the rock came from.
What the three of them saw in front of them shocked them to the very core.
"Oh my God…" said Sergeant Foley.
One of the three Tanks that was once heading for Bill was now heading toward the large squad of soldiers, several of whom were retreating and frantically firing at the twelve foot tall monstrosity.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING?!" Dunn screamed in terror as he pointed at the Tank.
"Ramirez! Lay down some fire on it with the 50. Cal!" Foley ordered the young private.
Ramirez immediately did as he was told, firing at the Tank with great accuracy. But despite his best efforts, even the 50. Caliber machine gun did nothing to stop what the Rangers had encountered for the very first time.
"It's not stopping! KEEP FIRING!" shouted Corporal Dunn, panicking.
The shots the Tank took only seemed to have made it angrier, and it began rushing towards the vehicle Dunn, Foley and Ramirez were in.
"GET OUT NOW!" ordered Sergeant Foley.
He, Dunn and Ramirez managed to jump out of the Humvee in time just as the Tank reached it and smashed it aside, knocking down a chain-link fence in the process.
"Everyone! Focus your fire on it!" ordered Foley.
Immediately, five Rangers began firing on the Tank, riddling it with bullets. But to their horror, the creature did not go down.
"Holy fucking shit!" screamed Dunn.
"What the hell is that?" Private Sandler said aloud.
The Tank let out a roar and rushed furiously towards the squad. It punched Sandler, sending him 40 feet away and hitting a wall, knocking him unconscious. Foley's eyes widened as he saw the other two Tanks coming in the distance.
"Shit! Two more of them! We have to move now!" said Foley as he picked up Sandler.
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Dunn screamed as he saw the other two Tanks.
Foley looked at one of the functional Humvees as an idea came to his head. He ran to a National Guard sergeant and gave him an order.
"Get in the Humvee and lure them away from here! We can't take all three of them on! Just go and we will meet you at Fort Benning."
The National Guard sergeant nodded. He got into the Humvee, turned it on, and proceeded to drive away as the Tank furiously ran after him.
Meanwhile, after being inadvertently saved, Bill decided that now was the time to make a run for the bridge. He was barely able to make the quick jump to hang on to the ledge of the bridge just before it got too high.
"Hang on! I got you, old man!" said Francis as he grabbed Bill's hand and helped him up onto the bridge.
"C'mon. We have to go run and cross the bridge or they'll either kill us or worse." said Bill as he stood up.
"Those soldiers from Millhaven followed us all the way here?" questioned Louis.
"I hate the Goddamn military." said Francis for nearly the millionth time.
"But….I can't run with a busted leg." said Louis, gesturing to his injured leg.
"Don't worry about it." said Bill.
He was caught off guard by Zoey, who hugged him briefly, before letting go a few moments later.
"Bill, let's get out of here." she told him. "You okay?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry." Bill assured her. "Now let's go."
Zoey nodded, and looked down at Louis.
"Louis, I'll help you. Come on. Let's get you up."
As the survivors made an attempt to flee, the Rangers fired on the same Tank they had been struggling with.
"I got AT! Rocket out!" said Cpl. Keating.
The Tank roared and was crippled as the RPG hit him. It let out a final groan as it was finished off by gunfire.
"Don't celebrate just yet!" said Foley. "Get the other one!"
As the last Tank rushed forward, the Ranger squadron managed to slow it down with loads of machine gun fire and kill any other Infected with it. Mere seconds later, the Tank let out a growl and collapsed to the ground, moving no more.
"Hold your fire." ordered Foley.
Slowly approaching the dead Tank along with two other Rangers with his M4A1 pointed at it, Fahey fired two shots into its head in order to ensure and confirm that it was dead.
"Clear!" he yelled.
"Hostiles down!" said Sergeant Macey.
Foley ordered Dunn and Private Morgan to help the injured National Guard members in the first Humvee, whereas he and the rest of the Ranger squadron began running after the survivors.
"I see them!" Private McCord, pointing at the survivors who were running in the distance.
"Keep going after them! We need them alive!" said Foley.
Louis immediately looked back and saw the Ranger squadron chasing them.
"They're chasing us!" he informed his companions.
"Keep running! GO!" shouted Bill.
Minutes later, they made it to the other side of the bridge, only to encounter members of the National Guard standing in front of them. With the Rangers right behind them, the survivors realized there was nowhere left to go. They were now cornered completely.
"Got'cha." muttered Foley as he ran towards the survivors.
"Shit." said Zoey.
Looking down at the water, the survivors were now faced with a very tough decision.
"Should we jump off? What do we do?" asked Zoey, looking for a solution.
"We can't risk it." said Bill. "I don't think Louis can make that jump."
"Ah HELL!" said Francis.
Zoey reloaded her handgun and Louis cocked his Uzi as the four prepared for an intense confrontation. The military had all their weapons pointed at the survivors while a designated marksman and his team rushed to a vantage point.
"Drop your weapons or we will fire on you!" ordered Private McCord.
The survivors just looked around, looking for a way out.
"Drop 'em, dammit. Just drop 'em." Dunn whispered to himself.
"Please just listen to us! No one has to get hurt here!" said Foley.
"Hunter 2-1, this is Echo 3. In position with a tranquilizer and ready to assist." the Marksman told Foley.
"Copy that, Echo 3." said Foley.
As the survivors contemplated, Echo 3 took aim at the survivors with the tranquilizer gun. At that moment, Francis decided that now was the time to get out of cover. He did so and fired two shots with his combat shotgun.
"Get down!" yelled Foley.
The other soldiers took cover just in case Francis fired his gun again.
"FUCK YOU, YOU COOKIE SCOUT PRICKS!" yelled Francis, aiming his gun at the soldiers around him.
"Echo 3! Do it now!" ordered Sergeant Foley.
Echo 3 immediately complied, and fired a dart at Francis, hitting him in the chest with a dart. The survivors gasped.
"ACK!" Francis gasped in pain.
Francis collapsed on the ground and passed out within seconds.
"Francis! No!" shouted Zoey.
"Shit!" exclaimed Louis.
At that point, Bill decided to comply with the military's orders.
"We have to turn ourselves in. If we don't, we might as well kiss the world goodbye. We don't wanna risk that." he told Louis and Zoey.
Louis and Zoey were reluctant, but eventually gave in. The three conscious survivors stepped out of cover with their hands up and their weapons down on the ground.
"Don't shoot, soldiers. We're coming out." said Bill.
The Rangers walked towards the three standing survivors and handcuffed them, while Dunn and Ramirez placed Francis on a stretcher. The four were then placed in an MRAP.
"You three better not do anything stupid." said Dunn to the three conscious survivors, before closing the door.
Sergeant Foley walked towards him to check in with him.
"Casualties?" the sergeant asked.
"Zero, Sarge." replied the corporal. "But several are hurt bad and two of our Humvees are fucked."
Suddenly, Foley picked up something on the radio.
"Hunter 2-1, we made it out." said the voice of the National Guard Sergeant. "Goddamn…they were hauling ass. I don't think we can outrun them next time around. I'll see you at base."
"Thank God." said Foley. "Copy that. Glad to hear you, Alpha."
As the radio went dead, Foley's attention was brought to the arrival of Echo 3, who brought their Bradley infantry vehicle to Foley's side of the bridge.
"Wait here, Dunn." said Foley.
"Hooah."
Foley approached Echo 3, whose team seemed to have appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the bridge during the confrontation.
"Thanks for the assist. Who sent you?" Foley asked the group commander as he shook hands with him.
"Captain Jane, 1st Platoon, Maryland National Guard." replied the commander of Echo 3. "We were sent by Colonel Marshall. I'll tell you more on the way back."
Suddenly, every soldier was alerted by the sound of the Infected howling in the distance.
"Ah shit." said Dunn.
"That doesn't sound too good. We should get the hell out of here." said Captain Jane. "C'mon. You and a few of your team can ride with us."
