The Division: Survival

Chapter 3

The Garment District

The three rogue agents stayed in cover behind the cashier's counter of the pharmacy as the silhouettes approached the front of the pharmacy. Their voices were just audible over the howling of the intense wind.

Osman peeked his head over the counter. He counted 7 silhouettes fighting their way through the storm's intensity from the front of the pharmacy. The darkness of the unlit pharmacy provided the agents with good concealment giving them the element of surprise.

Meghan tapped him on the shoulder.

"There's doors behind the counter leading to some back rooms. I'll pull rear security and see if I can find us an exit." She whispered.

Osman and Jason gave her a thumbs up and she scurried off slipping past a partially opened door leading toward the back of the store. By now the enemies were on the front sidewalk of the pharmacy and were about to enter. Jason and Osman were able to make out the lead man in the group. He wore normal civilian clothes of a jacket, flat rim hat, and baggy jeans. He carried a pistol in one hand and a flashlight in the other. He whispered for his group to spread out and start looting the store.

Jason and Osman assumed they were Rioters. The everyday misfits of New York City's gang population that scavenged and prayed on the weak to survive.

Meghan slipped through the back door near toward the back of the counter and found herself in a narrow hallway that lead to a storage room. There were shelves with names of medications that only the pharmacists would've had access to. Unfortunately, other than a few worthless medications, the shelves were picked clean.

Meghan picked up a random box of medicine off the floor. It wasn't the meds she was looking for.

"Damn." She muttered to herself and tossed the box to the side. She continued moving through the rows of shelves looking for a backdoor.

She turned a corner and collided with a person.

Meghan and the unsuspecting person bounced backward and stared at each other for a split-second in shock. The person was a Rioter standing at a solid 6'2" and held a pump action shotgun.

"Uh oh." Meghan's mind said. The Rioter quickly came to his senses and reacted first.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" He yelled and raised the shotgun aiming for Meghan's face.

"SHIT!" Meghan screamed and dropped her rifle. In one swift movement, she grabbed the shotgun by the barrel with both hands and pointed it up into the air away from her head right as he squeezed the trigger.

The shotgun fired into the ceiling creating a hole that showered the two in dry wall and splinters. The shotgun's blast was close to Meghan's left ear which impaired her hearing from the head splitting tinnitus.

If the Rioters entering the store didn't know the agents were in the pharmacy, they knew now. Osman and Jason picked up their heads when they heard the shotgun blast and the sound of a physical struggle.

"That sounded like Meghan." Jason said and stood up.

"NO JASON GET DOWN!" Osman yelled and yanked him back to the ground.

Rounds began to whizz over the agents' heads and land all around them as the Rioters opened fire. Osman and Jason began to retaliate firing back at their enemy as a full close quarters firefight began to ensue. The pharmacy became filled with the deafening sounds of automatic gunfire with a mix of Rioters coordinating their movements with each other practicing fire and maneuver tactics. The longer the agents stayed suppressed in cover the more ground the Rioters gained ground inside the pharmacy.

"Rioters have us boxed in we need a better strategy!" Osman yelled over the intense gunfire as he changed magazines.

Jason nodded and reached for his radio.

"Meghan how are you doing back there? Meghan? Come in? Do you read?" Jason tried hailing her. Meghan heard Jason's hails through her earpiece, but she was a little occupied. The Rioter fought for control of his shotgun, but Meghan held on tight to the barrel keeping it pointed toward the ceiling.

"FUCK YOU BITCH!" He screamed and hit her in the stomach with the butt of the shotgun. Meghan felt the wind get knocked out of her and grimaced in pain but continued to hold on to the shotgun for dear life. She twisted her body to get a better angle at the man's abdominal. Once she had the angle she was looking for she kneed him multiple times in the stomach as hard as she could knocking him backward causing him to lose the shotgun in the process. The shotgun clattered to the floor as Meghan stepped up toward the off balanced Rioter and threw a nasty upper cut. There was a loud crack as her fist connected with his jaw sending him stumbling backward. He then fell to his knees dazed and confused.

Meghan took a moment to catch her breath and casually pulled out her combat knife from her vest. She began to walk toward her helpless victim with an emotionless expression.

The man's face went pale when he noticed the recognizable pieces of Division Tech strapped to her body. That was when he realized who he was truly messing with. He sat watching helplessly as she walked toward him with the knife in her hand.

"Lady! Please! I'm sorry! Please don't…I have a fam…"

Meghan stepped behind the man and cut the man's begging off short with her knife. She placed her free hand beneath his chin craning his neck upward exposing his neck and slit his throat with the knife. The Rioter gurgled and gasped as he drowned on his own blood which flowed out of his neck like a water spout. He put his hands to his neck to stop the bleeding, but it was no use. The pool of blood turned the smooth white tile floor into a red slip n' slide as the man took his last breath. Meghan kicked the corpse in the back causing him to faceplant lifelessly into the floor in the pool of his own blood. She collected her 416 assault rifle, took a second to admire her handy work, and found the door the Rioter had used to enter the backroom. She opened the door to peek outside and was immediately blasted by the blizzard's wind. She could barely hear the firefight going on in the front of the store from outside the pharmacy over the howling of the wind but from what little she could hear it didn't sound like it was going very well.

Meghan took a few more steps outside checking her corners. There appeared to be no one out back.

"Jason. The back is good. I repeat, the back is good." She keyed up on her radio.

She heard a crunch of snow from around a corner. Meghan quickly reacted and drew her riot shield from the back of her go bag. Rounds began to impact the shield as she dove for cover behind a nearby dumpster. Meghan peered through the downpour of snow and saw the silhouette of what appeared to be a heavily armored Rioter with a light machine walking out into the open. He screamed obscenities at her over the sound of the storm and fired more rounds keeping her pinned down.

"Uhhh, never mind last transmission Jason. The back is NOT good. I say again, the back is NOT good."

"Shit. Rioters have the rear exit covered." Jason said as knelt to load a new magazine into his M4. By now the firefight had been going on for about 5 minutes. The floor were Jason and Osman were standing was covered in empty shell casings as they continued to thwart the Rioter's attack. Three Rioters, feeling confident in their abilities, pushed further into the pharmacy now positioning themselves several feet away from Jason and Osman making matters more difficult for the agents.

"Osman, I'm going to pulse the area for their exact positions. See if I can flush some of these guys out of hiding with your seeker mine." Jason directed.

Jason used his pulse while Osman pulled out his seeker mine. Seven red blips appeared in their heads up display contact lenses.

"TRY THIS ON FOR SIZE!" A Rioter screamed from their right while lighting a Molotov cocktail.

"OSMAN HURRY!" Jason yelled preparing to run except there was nowhere for him to run to.

Osman threw down the seeker mine which immediately locked onto the Rioter throwing the Molotov. The seeker mine rolled to the Rioter's position and exploded at his feet sending smaller fragments of the mine up into the air in a wide arc. The small fragments exploded creating a much larger explosion than the initial one. The seeker mine's hot shrapnel ripped holes into the Rioter turning him to swiss cheese. He dropped the Molotov on the ground setting himself and a second Rioter nearby ablaze. The explosions and fire were close for Osman and Jason to feel the heat. The Rioter flailed his body around screaming in agony which spurred confusion amongst the others. Osman and Jason took advantage of their attack of opportunity and hurdled the cashier. They began their counter attack pushing the five remaining Rioters out of the store. The Rioters tried to run but were immediately neutralized by precision of the rogue agents.

Meghan peeked from the side of the dumpster and fired a few bursts with her 416 landing center mass on the tankie Rioter. The mass amounts of body armor he wore absorbed her rounds and did nothing. He began to fire another string of bullets pinning her down once more. The man continued screaming insults to mock her as he walked slowly walked toward her position continuing to fire.

If she didn't act soon she'd be dead.

She pulled out her auto turret from her go bag and placed it beside her out of cover. The turret immediately sprung to life and began to spray the advancing Rioter with small caliber rounds which had no effect and only made him angrier.

"THINK, THINK, THINK." Her mind screamed.

She peeked out from behind the dumpster to get a better look at the Rioter. She noticed that he had a belt of ammo wrapped around himself. This gave her an idea. She peeked around the side of the dumpster quickly aiming down her holographic scope for the belt of his light machine gun.

"Make this shot or you're toast!" She thought to herself.

She fired a single shot and then quickly ducked back into cover. The round traveled through the freezing air impacting the Rioter's belt of ammo snapping it in half.

He fired for a few more seconds until his gun seized.

"SHIT!" She heard the man scream.

"Now's my chance!"

Meghan turned the corner of the dumpster and running in a dead sprint through the might of the storm toward the silhouette of the Rioter who appeared to be desperately fumbling with his belt of ammo belt. The wind and pouring snow burned her face as she ran. Once she was close enough she lowered her shoulder and body checked the man square in the torso. They both fell into the snow. Their weapons flew out of their hands landing somewhere out of reach. Meghan, who was nimble on her feet quickly rebounded onto her feet and drew her pistol. She jogged over to the Rioter who was trying to crawl away in search of his machine gun. She stepped on the man's back pinning him down to floor. She then proceeded to unload her entire pistol magazine into the back of his skull until her magazine was empty.

She stood over the corpse breathing hard as she tried to catch her breath and relax her nerves. Steam rolled off the glowing red barrel of her pistol. Her eyes darted back and forth peering through the density of the snow storm confirming that the coast was clear.

"Jason, back is clear. I say again, back is clear." She croaked on the radio before going into a major coughing fit that made her fall to her hands and knees. The fit went on for a minute. She coughed so hard her eyes began to tear up and couldn't breathe but eventually it subsided. She spat out a stream of blood into the snow turning its powdery white color a crimson red. She remained on her hands and knees breathing in the cold air feeling the oxygen return. She began to shiver as the cold weather began to take its toll on her.

"Infection spreading. Health condition critical. Advise seeking medical attention." ISAC stated.

"I know." Meghan mumbled through her chattering teeth.

She saw Jason and Osman come jogging out the back door of the pharmacy.

"Jesus are you okay?" Osman asked helping her to her feet.

"I'm fine." Meghan said wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. Meghan quickly retrieved her rifle out of the snow and took shelter inside the pharmacy to get warm.

"Look, I didn't know this place would be empty. No one has really looted the Garment District because of the massive security presence here so I thought it would be full." Jason said sensing that the group would be frustrated with how their journey was going.

Meghan turned to Osman and held out her hand.

Osman reached into his bag and pulled his last syringe of medicine.

"We need to find you more. We'll look for another pharmacy or CERA outpost somewhere." He said handing the syringe over to her.

Meghan injected herself with the medicine.

"No. We keep moving toward the Dark Zone. Scavenge the dead for ammo or anything of use. Let's go. I'll lead from here on out. I know where we are now." Meghan said sternly and walked off.

The trio continued to walk the path toward the walls of Dark Zone blazing a trail through the might of the storm. Osman and Jason followed Meghan's lead weary of how much more physical trauma she could take before breaking.

The agents walked for a while until being forced to take shelter from the snow. They wanted to make it to the walls of the Dark Zone without freezing to death. The three agents huddled around a makeshift fire Osman had made using a trash can, some flammable material, and a flare. They could feel the trash can's soothing heat thawing out their muscles and temporarily immunizing them from the storm's subzero temperatures.

"Core body temperature returning to normal levels." ISAC harped in the background.

Meghan held her hands close to the fire. She wanted to get to the Dark Zone as quickly as possible, but it felt good to stop and rest for a moment. She coughed a little bit into her sleeve which caught the eyes of Jason and Osman. She could feel her condition getting worse with every step of the way. Without her medicine the illness will only worsen to a point where she will become severely debilitated and eventually die.

"You good?" Osman asked.

"Yeah. I'm good." She said

Osman took a breath of fresh air feeling as he relaxed by the fire.

"So, what were you doing in the back of the pharmacy? Were you out shopping while we were getting our asses handed to us?" Osman joked to Meghan.

"No, I was actually whooping ass while you guys were getting your asses whooped." She fired back jokingly.

The trio shared a laugh together.

The crackling of the fire along with the colorful Christmas lights strung about the area made for a relaxing environment. It was a moment of peacefulness in a hellish environment. It was these kinds of moments Division agents learned to better appreciate while in the field. It gave them a break from the everyday brutalities New York City and the Green Poison had to offer.

"I remember back in the day sitting by the fire with my wife during Christmas time drinking eggnog." Osman said with a smile as his mind drifted back to a better time in his life.

Jason and Meghan shook their heads in agreement thinking back to those times as well. Meghan remembered her fiancée and how they were going to get married, raise children in a quiet house away from the city, and live a happy life together. Meghan's fiancée loved Christmas too and Winter was his favorite season. But now she was here, and he wasn't. In a world turned to shit. The Green Poison took him away from her. He was one of the first people to die after Black Friday. Meghan also thought about Ryan, Bronson, and their families as well. She wished she could go back in time and give Gordon Amherst the slow painful death she thought he deserved for causing all of her misery. She also wished she could have a shot at fighting the First Wave Agents responsible for attacking her old squad and breaking them up. Now, the things she carried and her motivation to kill anything that stood in her way were the only things she had left in this world.

Jason thought about his mom, dad, and four brothers. Luckily for Jason's family, Jason had sensed that something bad was going to happen and made them leave the city before the JTF closed it for good. He remembered the days after his family had left. Sitting in his house all alone watching the news. Listening to world fall apart around him. Praying for his family's safe travels as there was no way for them to contact each other. Feeling the anticipation and anxiety build inside of him as he stared at his Shade Tech wristwatch waiting for that ring to glow orange. He ended up being one of the last Division agents to be activated for the Second Wave. The weeks of waiting felt like an eternity to him.

"Hey, if we pull this off then the world will turn back to normal before we know it. You can go back drinking all the eggnog you want." Meghan said with a twinge of hope.

"No." Jason said coldly.

"What makes you say that?" Meghan asked.

Jason took a breath and collected his thoughts before speaking.

"After a cure to Green Poison is created and order is brought back to the world, what happens to us then? Do we just move on and forget about what we've seen and experienced? The mass graves. The murder. The betrayal. Christ, what about the things we saw in the Underground? Remember that cannibalistic community we ran into? How do we go from shit like that to getting cozy by the fireplace with eggnog? This topic has been on my mind for a while now. This is the only world that Division agents will ever know of, and we'll die in it, so the rest of humanity can move on to better things. And besides, we're rogue agents. The government has us labeled as terrorists and the Division is actively hunting us. When this is all over we're not getting pardoned for our efforts today. We'll be arrested and executed. But that's only if we live long enough. What the heck is the life span of a Shade agent today anyway? Like a month?"

"Try two weeks." Osman corrected him.

"Jesus." Jason said shaking his head. "Listen, we're different. We're not ordinary people. Its why the Division chose us. But once we've fulfilled our purpose the government will dispose of us because we're dangerous. I think that's what those things in the masks suddenly appeared."

"You think those things in masks are hunter killers? You're crazy Jason. Seriously, you should listen to yourself speak." Osman said dismissing Jason's case.

"No, I'm not. No. I'm. Not." Jason said frustratedly. "New York City is getting better every day now that the faction leaders are dead, so the Division's services will no longer be required by the government in New York City. We already know way too many secrets that we were never supposed to know plus there's highly lethal agents like us are going rogue every day. The JTF is cleaning house to cover their asses and they're using the Hunters to do the dirty work in secret. It makes sense. It all makes perfect sense."

"So, if you're convinced that your conspiracy theory is true, then why are you so eager to help find a cure? Wouldn't you want things to stay shitty, so you live longer?" Osman asked.

"No. The faster we put an end to the Green Poison, the faster I can guarantee the safety of my family if they're still alive. Even if it means I die in the process or never live to reunite with them. And Osman, if you're going to keep thinking that way than maybe you should've joined Keener when he gave you the chance." Jason replied.

Osman put thought into Jason's statement reevaluating his previous thoughts. He adjusted the baseball hat on his head.

"Fair enough." Osman said.

Meghan nodded her head in agreement but stayed silent. She understood where Jason was coming from. She was adamant about the level of corruption in the JTF and US government but there's no physical proof that Jason's theory is true. Nobody knows anything about the Hunters and their motives which is what makes them so lethal. All Meghan knew is they're an agents biggest rival right now and fighting them isn't easy. She also thought about how she would adjust back into civilian life if she lived long enough to see the end. The image of placing the diseased little boy's hand back into the body bag from when they were in the Underground graveyard played in her head and sucked whatever remaining warmth she had left right out of her body.

"I'm ready to go guys. We still have a bit of walking to go." Meghan said turning away from the fire. She was done with the deep conversations. The storm was beginning to pick up even more obscuring whatever was waiting for them ahead. Meghan began to feel a tingling sensation in her neck while she walked. It wasn't from the intense cold. It was something else. It was the feeling she got when she thought something was watching her. Meghan lightly coughed into her arm and continued walking toward the Dark Zone.