RE-UPLOAD
8th Ave and W23rd
Chelsea
We quietly crunch along the snowy streets, turning left onto 23rd. Jay and I both carry duffel bags for any books we find, along with a laundry list from Kelly and the resident librarian, who we now know as Gabby.
The Muhlenberg Branch of the New York Public Library is neatly nestled between a gym, a small plaza for several phone service providers, and a makeup salon. An SUV with three of its doors open and a running engine make us stop. We duck behind a school bus and Jay uses her rifle scope to size up the threat.
"One driver." She says. "Looks like Rioters. They're probably in the phone place."
"Any way around?"
"Don't think so."
I click my safety to 'off' at this response. We slowly advance, Jay taking the left side to flank any attackers. I go right, further into the open. Jay approaches the car as I find a spot to set up.
I silently slink along the sidewalk towards the waiting car. The driver, who looks hardly a day over fifteen, darts his eyes around nervously. I use the side mirror to watch his movements. He checks his watch several times, and each time I move closer, eventually drawing my sidearm as I reach his car.
"Hands!" I hiss at him. He jumps and his hands quickly leave the wheel. He looks at me, eyes wide with terror.
"Please don't." He stammers. "I'm just their driver! I never hurt anyone!"
I quickly eye him up and down. Seeing no obvious threat, I open the car door.
"Get out of here." I say quietly. "Don't let me catch you with these idiots again."
"You don't have to tell me twice, lady." He says, relieved. But before he can leave…
"Jay watch your back! I got no shot!"
I whip around to see four more Rioters approaching from an alley behind the plaza. They haven't noticed us yet.
"Stay cool and stay down." I say to the driver, closing his door and taking cover behind a nearby planter. He obeys and tries to return to how he was before my arrival. The group walks past my planter, each one with a bag likely filled with cell phones, money and accessories.
"All quiet out here, Squirt?" one asks.
"Y-yeah, fine." 'Squirt' replies. He quickly shoots a glance in my direction.
The Rioter looks around, then at the tracks I left on the ground. His gaze follows them all the way up the street, where me and Sarah came from.
"These tracks weren't here before." He says, looking back at the driver.
"I didn't see anyone." He tries to defend himself. 'Mister Vigilant' narrows his eyes at him, then looks down at the tracks again. He slowly begins to follow them towards me, stepping away from the car. As he does, I pop up, rifle drawn, and fire a burst center mass. 'Vigilant' stumbles backwards, landing in the snow.
"JTF!" Someone shouts. I fire again as the next Rioter draws her weapon, an MP5. My rounds hit first and she falls, the flinch squeezing the trigger and spraying the car. Sarah makes short work of the remaining Rioters and I return to the car. 'Squirt' opens his door and stumbles out, covered in blood. He falls down, landing next to the leader 'Vigilant'. I rush over and roll him onto his back, leaning him against a nearby wall. Sarah jogs over at the commotion as well.
"Ow…" Squirt croaks after a bout of coughing. His eyes flutter closed and his head droops down, his hand going limp in mine.
"Damn." Sarah mutters, turning off the car engine. I squeeze Squirt's hand before standing up.
Jay looks at the dead driver glumly. His blood coats the inside of the car and has formed a large puddle under him, turning the snow a dark crimson, like a cherry flavored slushie.
"Come on, Jay." I coo, tugging her arm. She hesitantly follows after a long, hard look at the dead Rioter. We reach the library to find the door partially barricaded, as if someone set up camp inside. The telltale scent of decaying flesh causes us to quickly don our masks.
"Virus?" Jay asks.
"Think so." I say simply, reaching the top of the steps.
*ALERT: CONTAMINATION DETECTED* ISAC confirms.
The unblocked door has a large rainbow finger painted on it, which I look at with curiosity. I push on the door, but instead it opens and a woman greets us with a big smile. Her face is pock marked with pox blisters and the whites of her eyes are now yellow and bloodshot.
"Welcome my friends." The woman says warmly, a slight deliriousness in her voice. "Welcome to Enlightenment!"
I shoot a worried look at Jay.
"Is she serious?" She whispers.
"Looks like it." I say back, deciding to follow the delusional lady.
"The Green Poison is a green light!" The woman explains as we follow her inside. "We see visions of the future. Of the past. Others experiences!" She spins around in place, hands high above her head.
All around, the library looks like a dilapidated slaughterhouse. Piles of bodies everywhere. Bizarre graffiti coats the walls. Those that aren't dead wander around in a stupor, stumbling over objects and into each other.
"What the….hell?" I whisper to Jay.
"It must be a symptom." She says. "The fever from the Green Poison." Jay keys the comm. "Lighthouse...Xray 1-0...We've got a...problem at Muhlenberg."
"Problem?" Faye replies, sounding confused. "Could you be more specific?"
"There are infected here. They're...acting crazy. Like a cult almost."
"The fever is making them delusional." Says Dr. Kandel. There's a hint of fascination in her voice. "How interesting. I'll dispatch a science team to-"
"Not so fast, Doctor." Faye interjects. "Is there any hostility with the survivors?"
"It doesn't seem like it." Jay replies. "They're all….lucid. Just wandering around."
"Take any books you can. Children's ones if you see any. We'll decontaminate them when you get back. Want some backup?"
"Yeah. That'd be great."
"Understood. There's a foot patrol two blocks south. They're on their way. Lighthouse out."
"Let's wait for them." Jay mutters. I quickly nod.
The woman turns back to us.
"Take off your masks, and breathe deeply. Breathe...and see the WORLD!" She says, taking a deep breath and holding it. A trickle of blood begins to flow from her nose and instead of exhaling, she simply collapses lifelessly.
"Holy shit…" I say, not taking my eyes off of the woman who was alive and speaking just moments ago. A man now approaches, looking down at her.
"Margaret...is now among the stars." He says, turning his gaze to me. "She has reached...ENLIGHTENMENT!"
"Xray 1-0, this is Hotel 4. We're right outside." Our radio announces. "Everything cool in there?"
"No." I answer after a moment. "No it isn't. Come in and try to control these people, Hotel. We'll head upstairs."
As the crazed man continues preaching, we simply push past up to the second floor. There are no...cultists up here, so we begin filling our bags with books. Down below, the man continues his rant to the JTF officers, one of which quickly rushes up the stairs.
"Agents!" He says. "We got company!" He gestures to the windows facing the street. I move to them and see a large yellow garbage truck parked outside.
"Cleaners!" I call to Jay. About a dozen hazmat suit-clad men disembark the truck and approach the library. Jay begins working faster as the officer and I head downstairs. I reach the door first and confront the lead Cleaner.
"I didn't know the JTF harboured infected." The man says with a thick New Yorker accent.
"We aren't here for them." I reply, standing firm. "My team and I are here for the books."
The Cleaner looks around at the front of the building.
"This whole place is contaminated, and now so are you. You look like you've been around." He gestures to my red plaid jacket, which has tears from grazing rounds on the shoulders and arms. "I'm sure you know what has to happen."
"The whole time you've been dawdling," I say matter of factly. "my people have been lining up shots." I point to the windows of the library. "So how's about you lot hop back in your clown car back there and leave while I'm still in a good mood?"
"Not happening, sweetie." The Cleaner says with a grin. He snaps his fingers and one of the men behind him throws a Molotov cocktail through one of the windows. The lead Cleaner dons a facemask and raises his flamethrower, but is cut down by someone inside. I scramble back inside, where a fire has started and is quickly spreading. I lean out into the doorway and open fire on the Cleaners in the street, concentrating on one with a fire axe and a riot shield made from a steel drum.
Several rounds bounce off the shield as she charges forward. She bashes me to the floor and raises the axe. At the same time, I lift my SAW and use it to block the incoming strike. The blade stops just in front of my face, which seems to infuriate the Cleaner, who shouts loudly at me through her mask. I defiantly scream back, shoving the axe to the side and reaching for my pistol.
The Cleaner quickly recovers, kicking my pistol away and striking out with a right cross. I grab her hand before she can hit again and swing my own, hitting her mask dead center, making a spider web of cracks in the glass visor . She appears dazed for a moment, so without thinking, I pull her mask off and throw it across the room before punching her again and rolling us over so I come out on top. She shows a mixed expression of despair from losing the mask and sheer terror of being so suddenly overpowered.
I deliver blow after blow into the Cleaner's now battered and bloody face, before taking her pistol from its holster. She reaches out suddenly and grabs the barrel, pushing it towards my face as I try to push back down. At this moment, a line of the armed forces oath goes through my head.
'...to defend this nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic.'
I push the pistol down so that the muzzle is just below the Cleaner's chin. She gives me one last look of pure fury as I squeeze the trigger.
"...Xray 1-0 and Hotel 4 are under attack by Cleaners at West 23rd and 7th! Requesting immediate assistance!" I shout over the gunfire. Behind me, a plume of smoke is rising up the stairs, with the glow of fire close behind. I try to ignore it, along with the fact that I haven't heard or seen Sarah's machine gun fire in a worryingly long time and the violent scuffle coming from below.
No reply comes over the radio, so I lower myself further into cover, glancing at the JTF officers along side me. One takes a hit and falls, and his partner is occupied with firing into the street, so I join him. On the truck outside, I eye a large red tank, likely for the napalm they use. I slowly raise my rifle and settle my sights on it, squeezing off a few rounds. A cone of flame shoots out of one of the holes.
"DOWN! EVERYBODY DOWN!" I hear someone scream. Before I get a chance to react, a massive explosion blasts everyone off their feet. The remaining windows shatter, raining glass on us. I open my eyes to see the Cleaner I just finished off, her eyes still open and slightly crossed. A pool of blood has formed under her head. I push myself up, ears ringing, and look out the doorway.
The garbage truck the Cleaners brought is now a burning wreck, sitting in a small blackened crater. Several car alarms ring out and most of the windows on the other buildings are gone.
One Cleaner stumbles around in the street completely enveloped by fire. He screams in pain and terror, flailing around wildly. A couple of officers raise their weapons to finish him off.
"Don't shoot!" Someone shouts. "Let him burn!"
Several agonizing seconds tick by, until the Cleaner finally drops to his knees, then falls onto his face, still smouldering.
"Street clear." Says Jay upstairs. "Xray 1-0 to all callsigns, disregard previous message. Area clear, all contacts neutralized."
One of the officers picks up a fire extinguisher and uses it on the fire that has been eating away at the stairs. On the other side of it, Jay appears with an officer in tow and two duffel bags full of books. I take one of them and retrieve my pistol. Looking around, we see that the sick survivors were all killed in the shootout, as well as one of the officers.
"You two head back to The Lighthouse." an officer says, handing me the deceased officer's badge. "We'll stay here and wait for transport."
I nod and pat the officer's shoulder, before leaving with Jay.
"Was that you?" I ask, gesturing to what was once a garbage truck. Jay nods and takes off her mask. "Maybe." She says sheepishly.
*NOW LEAVING THE CONTAMINATED AREA* Says ISAC.
I remove my mask and look down at it. The mask, as well as my gloves, are spattered with blood from the Cleaner I had fought with.
"You got a little somethin'." My companion says cheekily, pointing to most of her face. "Right here."
I try to wipe it away with my hand, but it's covered with blood too.
"Stop. You're smearing it." Jay says, picking up a handful of snow. "Here."
Using both hands, I stuff the snow into Sarah's face.
"Stop!" She squeals, batting my hands away. "That's cold!" She wipes the snow away, exposing her now rosy cheeks and nose.
Here's my first attempt at the bold-letter-for-POV-swap thing. I hope it helps with clarity, but I would separate the lines further if I knew how.
So much for an "Easy Mission" huh?
I got the deliriousness idea from an actual fever dream I had once. I woke up at around one AM and stumbled around the house thinking I was on a derelict spaceship.
Let me know if the bold letter thing helps or hinders your reading experience. Hopefully, it's the former.
Thanks so much for reading!
