From his perch in the cavity of a blown out top floor of the OMNI bank building, Zack could see pretty much everything that was happening down in Jackson Square and it seemed to be wrapping up by the time the explosion went off. At first he thought the Troopers had gotten to his teammates before they could escape with the other squad but then he noticed a small, black blob moving across the desolate highway about half a mile from where the team was supposedly holding up. He tracked them through his sniper's rifle's scope and increased the magnification by a bit to get a better view of who was aiming a gun out of the left middle window of what he had now positively identified as a Toyota SUV. Medium blonde hair, anxious face, yet somehow serene, almost glassy, as if the person were in some sort of adrenaline fueled, aggressive state. Was he sure this could be his brother and consequently the rest of his team?
"Only on way to find out then," he murmured and refocused his aim on the boy in the driver's seat. Shaggy dark brown hair, stone cold face, focused in every way. The boy turned to face the backseat and Cody pulled his head from the window he had been patrolling as the SUV slowed to a stop. Zack had just managed to identify the driver as Ryan, the precise, extremely meticulous leader they had, whether stubbornly or rightfully was yet to be decided, followed since they met only a few days ago on the ship they once called home. A ship now sitting at the bottom of the mouth of the mighty Mississippi. Brackish water is one hell of a corrosive element so it could very well be rotted past recognition by now and yet it had only been but maybe 2 days since it had exploded. So the crazed looking teenager in the backseat was his brother. Creepy, Zack shuddered, it's so unlike him to be so… bloodthirsty.
He decided to hail his leader to check in and inform him that he was preparing to leave post and head home, "Hey Ryan, Zack here. I'm just checking in, I currently have eyes on you guys and I was wondering why you stopped. Oh and as soon as you confirm that you're ok, I'm gonna pack up and get on back to the dome, over."
"Acknowledged Zack. We ran out of gas so I sent Cody and Noel to find some at the Shell station just down the street. We should be moving again in a few minutes don't worry."
"Aye cap'n, this 'ere sailor's gonna drop mast an' head fer land. Until then cap'n." Zack jokingly replied, tipping his head at the last sentence.
"All right, take care."
Zack picked up his rifle and slung it across his back. He strode towards the stairwell with confidence that this mission was going just as planned. He was a little too confident.
BRRRRRR! BRRRRRR! BRRRRRRR!
The alarm had sounded, signaling that someone had tripped his makeshift tripwire, which in turn clicked a circuit into place and sent the alarm on overdrive. He could hear voices swearing from somewhere several floors down and the rushing of feet on metal in what was obviously intended to be a silent approach. Well, the stairs are out of the equation. Elevator shaft? Zack bounded over to the shaft and peered down. Oh, no thank you voice in my head. Scared of heights.
"Well shit. That rules out scaling, they'd cut the rope before I could make it down anyway," Zack thought aloud.
"Hey you! Lower your weapon and kneel on the ground, hands behind your head!" someone shouted from behind him, he could feel their presence: at least 10 armed men, guns trained on him. He turned, placed his weapon on the ground and held up his hands, arrest style. Then he heard the whirring. It was like the biggest bumblebee in the world had been held up to a microphone with a gigantic stereo amp system. Zack didn't dare look down because his blood ran cold when he heard it. He didn't have to look to know that what was beneath him was something that would most likely be the death of him. The word flashed across his mind: helicopter. A Russian Hind to be exact, he thought as he turned and witnessed it rising from the depths of the ruined city streets below. He looked the pilot dead in the eye. A solid stare that he locked down for almost a minute before whipping around to face the troops. Most of them were of normal stature: medium-built, broad shouldered, generic soldier types. The only outliers visibly were the CO, a heavyset, stern-faced man who looked like he shot puppies for fun and a small, scrawny guy who was shivering slightly and looked quite nervous. Rookie, Zack thought, I'll focus on him.
"Hey friend," Zack addressed the nervous soldier. "You don't really wanna shoot me. I can tell. Look they're gonna make me," he gestured towards the rest of the ten man team, "but I can tell you don't want to. You're not like that. You don't kill. For that, I salute you." Zack held up two fingers and signed off to him. He then, hand on his hip where he had hid his handgun, bent down and hefted his rifle. He slowly turned, lifted the weapon, and fired two rounds into the helicopters cockpit. A ballsy move, but the now out of control and tumbling helicopter started to twirl in his, and consequently the enemy's direction, creating impending doom for all in its path. He whipped back around to face his foes, drew his handgun, and Western-style fired a shot into the enemy CO's head. The others were still awestruck at what this seemingly defenseless kid had done and barely seemed to notice their Sarge drop dead. Zack backed to the edge of the crevice of the building's top floor and signed off. Then he jumped.
Well hey there everybody. I'm back! Yup, new chapter with Zack's POV not long after the explosion of the cathedral where he gets cornered by a squad of troopers who traced his shots and decided to flush him out. Cliffhanger at the end to try and keep it suspenseful and I realize the chapters could be longer but honestly they do in Word, the format on this website makes them look smaller because they come out wider. Oh well, it is what it is. So how's it goin'? I haven't been doing too much but I have family over for the next few days and I ended up finishing this chapter tonight (well this morning technically) because I got an idea while at dinner. Side note: I kinda feel like I've changed since the post before last that had been about 5 months before the last chapter. I don't know how or why but I can tell I did. I sincerely hope that doesn't change my stories in any way and I really wanna get to my endpoint in this story, not because it's stressful but because it's absolutely amazing in my opinion. It's all ok though, it'll be good, I promise. Bye for now.
- Ryan