"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING" Beth yelled. Me and Joey just looked at each other like teens in trouble. "We're you trying to put us in disarray" she yelled. "You", she pointed at me, "I didn't ask you you to come here and mess up my army". Joey smiled, "and you" he hunkered in his seat. "You're suppose to set an example, and you show that it's ok to fight one another we might as well give up". "Listen this wouldn't have happened if crew cut over there didn't lock me up" I said pointing at Joey. "You attacked two of my men I couldn't take any chances" Joey said. "Oh yeah coming at a guy guns raised and having two people hold him down sounds like a real warm welcome" I snapped. "I was just following parodical", "if you didn't threaten me I wouldn't have attacked". "SHUT THE FUCK UP" Beth yelled. I gave Joey an angry glare and sat down. "Ok, now you two are going to lead a team to get supplies, while you two find a file from a safe in you fathers room Joey". He seemed to tense up and have a heart attack. "Now you two are going to work together right", we stared each other down, "Right". "Yeah whatever" I grumbled, "good now get out of here" Beth said. I shot up and sprinted out of the room in a blink of an eye.
I ran into the garage just trying to get somewhere high. I saw a sky light on the ceiling which seemed easy to get to. I jumped onto the top of a Humvee and did a 180 spin. I launched myself up onto a cat walk near the skylight. In one final jump I flung through the window and landed on the roof. Snow was falling lightly dusting the city in a white powder. I sat on the edge and rubbed my temples. "You ok", I turned to see Joey standing there. "Yeah I'm good", he walked over and sat down next to me. "You are a hard headed guy you know that" he said. I smiled "yeah but it's for the people I love". He nodded and stared out at the snow fall. "So what happened to you" I asked. He sighed "well they needed more soldiers and I enlisted". "No I'm mean what happened to you to make you a soldier" I asked. Joey looked at me "damn you, when the Maulers began to land I tried to get ya family and girlfriend to the city, my dad was a cop so he was helping the evacuation, I got about one mile away then one of those things got under the SUV and made us roll, my sister almost died in the wreck and we carried her to the gates, my Dad was holding them off when one came up behind him and killed him". Joey had some tears in his eyes, opened up my arms for a hug. He took the hug and we just sat there, after a few minutes I moved away. "Come on we got a mission to begin" I said extending a hand. Joey took it and I lifted him off his ass. I ran to the other edge and jumped off, the wind stung my face as I fell through the air. I landed on the ground and stood up, Joey wasn't far behind. I ran over to Silver, Josef, and two other soldiers. "Ok you four are with us we are going on a supply run" I ordered. They all nodded and grabbed there gear, I lead them over to two humvees. "Ok Silver and Josef you are going to hit the mall find all food, drink and medical items you can, Lansing and Meyring you two are going to the sporting goods store, we had a ammo cash there, Ace your with me we all good" Joey said. "HURA" we all yelled, Joey nodded and got in the humvee. I sat next to him as Meyring took the driver seat. The others loaded up and we headed out for the outside. I looked over at Joey and saw his eyes drooping. "Hey get some shut eye, I'll get you up when we get there" I said. He nodded and drifted to sleep, I looked out the window at the dead landscape.
After about thirty minutes of driving we stopped outside of the town. I shook Joeys arm to wake him up. He shot up and grabbed his riffle, we jumped out of the Humvee and patted the top. They drove off for their objectives as we continued on foot. "So how far are we from here" I asked. "About two miles up and one over" he said. "Damn should get walking huh", Joey nodded and we started to run down the street. We ran by empty building, abandoned cars, and blood splatters. "Huh were are all the bodies" I said aloud. "What do you mean" Joey asked. "Well there are a lot of blood splatters but no bodies" I said. Joey looked around "yeah when I was escaping there were bodies everywhere". I crouched down and put my fingers in a puddle of blood. It stuck to my glove and was still liquid. "Fresh blood" I said confused, Joey moved towards a ally entrance. "What you got" I asked,he turned around and showed me a green liquid on his hand. "Guessing someone tried to get out" he said. I nodded and stood back up. I continued down the street Joey close behind me. I saw movement on in the street and I ducked behind a car. I slowly peaked out to see what was in the street. It was a Mauler, it was standing there looking around. I was about to shoot it but two more of them jumped out of nowhere. I turned back to Joey "three tangos thirty yards ahead you see 'em". He looked over the car and nodded. "You take two I'll take the one on top of the car" Joey said. I nodded and sighted in my AK, I aimed at the one next to the street lamp. Joey patted my shoulder and I patted him back. We stood up and fired at the Maulers. The first two went down but the other one screeched at us, I sot at it and hit it in the face. I reloaded my riffle and turned in the com line "this is echo 2-1 we have just encountered three Maulers in the streets, they don't know we're here so keep it quiet" I said. "Ok we'll keep it quiet" Josef crackled over the radio. "Yeah we are nearing with our objective echo 2-3 out". I gave Joey I nod and we continued down the street.
We finally got to the subdivision where Joeys house was. We walked down the road watching out for Maulers. "The house is five up lets get there, grab the file the get the fuck out of here" I said. "Yeah lets not be here longer than we have to be" Joey said. We started down the street but was quickly stopped by a blockage of cars. We looked around for another opening or route. I saw a broke fence in someone's yard and moved towards it. "Found a way around" I said pulling a board of a fence wall. Joey walked over and frowned, "this really". I rolled my eyes "you have a better idea". He sighed and squatted down, he slipped in between the boards into the back yard. I followed him making sure nothing followed us. I stepped in the back yard and looked around. It was a small yard but enough for a small family, wonder if I should buy a new house for Sal and me I though. "Hey Ace", I snapped out of my thoughts and turned to Joey. He was peaking through the fence into the next yard. "I got something weird here" he said. I walked over my goggles bumping against my neck. "You see that pool there" Joey said pointing out the pool. I nodded and looked at it, I saw a bunch of little pods next to the edge. "What are those eggs" I asked, Joey just shrugged. I pulled of a board and threw it aside, Joey slipped through and I followed watching our six. I walked over to one of the pods and examined it. "What ever the hell these things are they can't be good" I said. Joey nodded in agreement, we continued by them but I made a mental note. We crawled through another hole in the fence lie into a back yard that was filled with black gunk. "Ugh what is this shit" Joey said. "I don't know", I crouched down near a pile, "I'm going to take a sample and get it to the lab for analysis". I scooped some in my hand and poured it into a glass vile. I put the vile in my pack and motioned to move forward. Joey gave a thumbs up and we walked to the side yard. I looked across the street and saw the house we needed to infiltrate. "This is Echo 2-1 we are nearing objective how are your ends" I said over the mic. "This is 2-2 we almost died due to unstable fixtures and ground but other than that we are loading the supplies up now" Silver said. "This is 2-3 we are rounding up all ammunition we can see and are loading it up" Lansing said. "Ok we are almost at he house we may need extraction out of here" I whispered. "Ok thanks for the heads up we'll head put your way when we are done" Lansing said. "Alright see you in ten", I got off coms and moved to the edge of the front yard. "Joey move up I'll give you cover" I ordered. He moved in front of me, he looked down both streets and then crossed the road. All the while I was making sure no mauler sneaked up on him. When he reached the front door he turned around and gave me thumbs up. I nodded and proceeded across the street. Damn it's quiet, too quiet I thought.i got about half way across the street before I herd a screech. I turned to see two shadows moving towards us. I sprinted as fast as I could and tackled Joey into the house. The door splintered to pieces as we flew through it. We landed with a thud, Joey pushed me off and got on his feet. I stood up and looked outside, I saw the Maulers walk past the house not giving it a second thought. "Shit that was close" I huffed, "too close if you asked me" Joey said. "Where's the file" I asked keeping my sight on outside. "Upstairs in my Dads safe" Joey said. I nodded and walked towards a room, I rounded a corner and stopped dead in my tracks. There was a Mauler hunched over a body, I pulled out my knife out of its seethe. I crept up behind it and ran the blade though it's neck. It fell to the ground it's green blood spraying out of its neck. I stepped over it and continued to the hallway. About half way down there was a set of stairs leading upstairs. "After you" I said to Joey, he just rolled his eyes and started up the stairs. They creaked under his foot steps, "move slow they don't look stable" I said. "Listen I know my house it's not going to breaaaaaaaaaaaa", a board under Joey gave way and he fell. I herd him bounce off the stairs going down stairs. When he finally stopped moving he let out a groan. "Hey Joey you ok" I asked looking through the hole he fell through. "Ugh yeah I'm fine just get to the safe and get the file, I'll find away out of here" he groaned. I nodded, looking up the stairs I ran up the first three then leaped over the hole. I landed on the other side, I continued till I was on stable ground. When I got to the second level I trained my AK-47 down the hall. I slowly stepped forward, "Joey which door is it" I asked. "Second one down on your right" he whispered. I walked up to the door and held my breath. I opened the door and was met with a tail. "Oh fu" I wrapped around me and flung me at the wall. My AK clattered to the ground and I landed on the ground with a thud. I looked up to see a Mauler staring me down, just my luck. It hissed and began to move closer to me. I reached for my AK but the Mauler grabbed me and slammed me up against the wall. It brought its mouth close to my face but I punched it in the jaw. It screeched in pain and dropped me. I grabbed my Colt 1911 and fired at the Maulers head. The bullet went strait through its forehead, the Mauler slumped on the ground. I holstered my pistol and grabbed my AK-47 off the ground. "Ace you ok I herd a lot of commotion" Joey asked. "Yeah I'm fine just ran into a pest" I said. "Ok go to the nightstand and pull it away from the wall" Joey instructed. I grabbed the sides of the stand and pulled it out of the way. I saw the safe "now you want to", before he could finish I punched my hand through the metal door and ripped it off its hinges. "I got the file and I'm moving to the front yard" I said. "Um ok I'll meet you there" he said. I walked out of the room and back down the stairs. I opened the front door and crouched on the front porch. I herd movement and saw Joey come around the side yard. "We good to go" I asked, "pack it up and move it out" Joey said. I nodded and started down the road with Joey at my heels. "Echo teams report in" I said, "this is Echo 2-2 we are loading up the last of the supplies and are heading out" Silver said. "Good 2-3 where are you at", there was no response, "2-3 do you copy". Only static came through, "Echo 2-3 do you copy" I repeated. "Damn it Silver fall back to the first point me and Joey will investigate" I ordered. "Ok we are moving now" he said. "Good see you in twenty", I turned to Joey. He had a worried look on his face, "come on lets move" I said. He nodded and we started to run down the street.
I looked around the corner of a building and saw 2-3's humvee. "Joey up ahead" I informed. He nodded and crept forward, I followed watching our six o'clocks. "The Humvee is empty" Joey said. I looked at the ground and saw a streak of blood, I bent down to examine it. The blood was fresh and fairly warm still on the cold ground. "Stay with the Humvee" I ordered, I started to follow the trail of blood. "Don't go to far" Joey called out. I gave him a thumbs up still following the trail. As it lead me towards a alleyway the blood began to get heavier and in bigger puddles. I took six steps into the alley and the blood just stopped. I looked left and right making sure that I didn't miss anything. I saw no other trail start, I almost walked away but I felt a drip on my head. I brought my hand up to it and felt it, it was warm and wet. I looked up and I almost screamed. There hanging from a street light was what was left of Meyring. His eyes had been gouged out, his chest cavity was completely open, and his throat was slit. I slowly backed up not taking my eyes off the corpse. I kept going not taking another glance at the body. "What did you find" Joey asked. "Nothing good we need to find Lansing and fast" I said. Right then a scream filled the air. Me and Joey grabbed our weapons and ran towards the scream. We rounded a corner and saw a Mauler on top of Lansing. "No" I yelled, Joey and I opened fire on the Mauler easily putting 30 rounds into it. It fell over as we reloaded our guns. I ran over and pushed the body off Lansing, Joey rushed over and started to pull him out from under it. As he stood up he let out a gasp of pain, "ugh my leg, fuck it's broke" he groaned. I looked at his right leg and saw it was both broken and slashed opened. I crouched down and grabbed my gauzes from my bag. I started to wrap his leg so the bleeding would stop, I grabbed a board of wood next to a dumpster and split it in two. I placed one piece on each side of his leg and tied them together with duck tape. "Your going to make it but you need medical attention ASAP" I said standing up. Joey wrapped his right arm around him as Lansing wrapped his left arm around him. "Get him to the Humvee I'll cover you GO" I said. Joey started to help Lansing to the Humvee. I watched the road making sure that Joey and Lansing made it to the car. I saw a Mauler exit a building, I fired at it until it went down. Another one crawled out of a sewer, I lit it up and filled it up with lead. "Joey hurry up these things are starting to notice" I said shooting at two Maulers. "I'm trying not to make his leg worse" Joey snapped. "God damn it" I said, I walked over with a syringe in my hand. I plunged the needle into Lansing thigh and injected the liquid into his blood. "That will help with the pain and he'll be knocked out know move" I said. Joey nodded and started to drag Lansing faster. I turned around and saw a hoard of Maulers running towards us. "Oh my god" I whispered. I grabbed a frag, pulled the pin out, and I chucked it at them. The grenade landed about 30 yards ahead of the hoard. Right as the the first few stepped over it, the grenade exploded. The shrapnel launched into the first four Maulers. They flopped on the ground knocking the next few over. I pulled the trigger and fired my bullets at the incoming Maulers. One after another fell to the might of my lead. The more I put bullets into these things the more of them come at us. "Uh Joey did you him in yet" I said a little concerned. "I just got him in" Joey said. "Good cause we need to go" I yelled. Joey turned around, "holy shit" he yelled. I reloaded my AK then grabbed him by the collar. "You drive" I said pushing him into the driver seat. "Uh yeah" Joey said scrambling to start up the Humvee. I grabbed the side of the hummer and shot towards the Maulers. The engine roared to life and we speed off down the road. The wind rushed in my ears as the Maulers ran after us. Still holding the side of the Humvee, I aimed with my left hand and pulled the trigger. The bullets flew out of the barrel, through the air, and into Maulers. One by one they fell. I laughed maniacally as I pumped lead into them. "What you got bitches what you got" I yelled. The magazine fell onto the ground and I loaded a new one. We zoomed by buildings attracting more Maulers towards us. "Uh Joey you might want to go faster" I screamed over the wind. "I'm flooring it" he said, I fired at the Maulers again hitting three of them. Two of them jumped on the top of the Humvee. I climbed on top and shot at the Maulers. I hit the first one and the second one ducked. I wrapped its tail around my leg and yanked me to the ground. I hit the cold metal surface sending a slight pain through my right shoulder. The Mauler jumped on me trying to bit me neck. I pushed it away but it kept struggling. I reached my right hand down and grabbed my knife. I stabbed upwards and into the beasts mouth. I pushed it even harder shoving the blade into the brain. The Mauler went limp, I pushed it off my knife and it rolled on the ground. I fired what was left of my clip as we exited the town. I saw Silver and Josef driving on our left. "Good to see you guys made it out" Josef said. "Yeah I don't want to go back" Joey huffed. "Me and you both" I panted, I slipped my legs through the passenger window and landed on the seat. "Ugh my leg", I turned around and saw Lansing looking down on his leg. "We are about twenty minutes away from Solis you'll get treatment there but for right now rest" I said. He nodded and closed his eyes, I sat back and stared out the window at the bleak and frozen land.
When we got back, Joey and I helped Lansing on a stretcher. The doctors ran him to the medical tent to get inspected. Silver and Josef were unloading the supplies they had put in grocery bags. Joey started to get the guns and ammunition out of the back of our Humvee. I grabbed the file from my backpack and walked down a hall. Man I hope Lansing can walk again his leg looked pretty beat up I thought. Some soldiers waved at me and I returned the wave. I just want to get this file to Beth and get some shut eye, the thought of sleeping made me smile. I entered the war room to drop off the file. Beth and So it were talking and looking at a map of Choris. "Hey" I said, Sonic looked up, "oh you made it back, did you get the file" he asked. I tossed it on the table "I went through a lot of trouble for that file it had better be worth it" I said. Sonic chuckled "it will be, go get some sleep you look beat". "Now that's an order I can follow" I said. Sonic nodded and I took my leave. Walking down the hall I saw Silver coming out of the operating room. "Hey Silver", "hey Ace" he said. "Is Lansing going to be good" I asked him bluntly. "Yeah he might need a few days but the brace we out on will help him out" he explained. I nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did good to day man, get some rest you'll need it" I said. He let out a yawn "I'll take up your offer". I smiled and patted his back. We walked towards our bunks "so Ace can you help me I'm having problems with Blaze" he said. "What is she pregnant" I said sarcastically. "Thankfully no, but it seems like she is distant got any advice" he said. "You know Silver women are a big mystery to most men but you came to the right guy, give her something nice and tell her she means the world to you as a start" I said. He stopped in front of his door "thanks Ace I owe you one". "Don't think any thing of it" I said. He nodded and walked into the bunk. I walked a few more doors down and opened my door. I was met with a hug "didn't think I would make it back" I said. Sally smiled "no just happy to see you". We kissed for a few second then I walked in the small bunk. "Sorry if I'm not chatty tonight but I'm tired" I yawned. "Don't blame you we help out around here getting defenses up" she said. I nodded and practically jumped on the bed. I let out a sigh as Sally laid down next to me. "It's really cold outside" she said shivering. I grabbed her and brought her closer to me. "I will always be here to warm you up" I whispered. She smiled and kissed me, we held that kiss for a minute or two before she broke apart. "Night killer", "night Princess". I let my eye lids fall and I slowly fell asleep with the sound of the wind in my ears.
hey guys i'm sorry it's taking a while to get this published, I have school and it's cutting into my typing time. And I'm working on two other stories after this so those will come out faster. Thanks
