Short chapter, I know. But whatevs. I got school and blah blah blah. After I finish this up (ONE MORE CHAPTER), then I'll move on to Best of All Worlds and the White Album 2. Hope you'll enjoy (I think it's kinda crappy) and see you next week.
...
Tucker gripped his leg as he pulls himself back. The rest of the ride was a bit smoother without any difficulty. Saeko, Rei, and Shizuka were inspecting his wound with worry as Takashi and Kohta held Alice back, ready to put Tucker down if necessary. The parents were talking Takagi into moving out of their way to just get rid of Tucker for everyone's safety.
"He's bitten, he's done his job", Tadashi says to Saya impatiently. "We should boot him off before he turns."
"He won't turn so soon", Saya protests. "If we boot him off then his superiors may boot us off. We can't just treat the commander's soldiers like however we'd like back then, before this man went through hell for us."
Takashi sighs as his mind scurries through decisions, now hearing his mom trying to calm Tadashi with Kiriko.
"Okay, everyone stop!" Takashi finally exclaims aloud, seeing that everyone stares at their leader to await what he would say. Even the parents. "We keep him on board. If he shows any sign of turning, I'll deal with it myself before we make it to our destination. Everyone, give him room."
At the command, the girls slowly back away from Tucker as he bandaged up his leg quickly to stop the bleeding. He cursed under his breath then looked at all the staring faces. Some were of worry, some of fear, and one of prejudice. That was Rei's father. Zeke alone stares at Tucker as he wags his tail, then jumps in his lap before licking his mask. Suddenly, the convoy stopped and the sounds of doors opening and closing sounds outside.
"What's going on", Shizuka asks.
"We're establishing a temporary base in order to get a ride in the area for pickup", Tucker answers for the unknown looks on Takashi's group's faces. "Basically, we're getting ready to get the fuck out of here."
Everyone piles outside, seeing the Marines motioning the group inside a large business building. Nearby, there were sounds of explosion.
"What was that", Rei asks a Marine.
"Blockading the area to make sure no other freaks show up", he answers with a smirk. "Anyway, you're free? We can treat each other tonight to some comfort after all this shit we've been through. Looks like you need it."
Tucker limped past the Marine, bumping his shoulder against the Marine's.
"Hey, what the fuck?!"
Tucker turned to the young Marine, smiling under his mask as he held his P226 pistol up to his face. "Get moving, Marine."
As the Marine backs off while hiding his shaking fear, Saeko crossed her arms with an impressed look placed over her worried expression. Takashi held his arm around Rei's shoulder as he led his parents and the rest of the group inside the building. Tucker sighs as he holstered his sidearm back into his lower back.
Saeko gripped Tucker's shirt and kissed where his mouth would be under his mask, then hugged him tightly as Shizuka stares at Tucker with a saddened and worried look. Rei looked over her shoulder at Tucker quickly before soldiers crowds in her view to set things up.
"What are you going to do", Saeko asks Tucker, not minding the fact of her separation with the group.
Tucker grabbed her shoulders, looking down at her as he sighed. "I gotta go-..."
Tucker was cut off as Pact and Diablo pulled him from the affectionate display of Saeko's grasp and Shizuka's worrisome glance. Shizuka and Saeko were being held back by Fox, Vixen, and Reaper even as they call out for Tucker and try to brush past the Alpha Freelancer's body blockade.
"Hey, wait", Shizuka called out, but was soon pushed towards the building with Saeko.
"Shut it, you'll be heading out of here soon", Fox says to the nurse and blue haired sword-wielding high schooler. "Take it easy, don't worry about him."
They protest on and on about getting through, but that only caused more Marines and 101st troops to help calm the situation. Meanwhile, Tucker was seated in the back of an MATV with his mask at his side. His expression was expressionless as he stared at the ground, not wanting to say a word efore they put them down. He saw a Freelancer, Archer, reaching into a large box inside the MATV behind him from over his shoulder, pulling out what seems to be a pistol. Pact stood in front of him with his arms crossed, staring down at Tucker without a word. Tucker stares down at the ground, closing his eyes slowly as he awaited for the 'cure' to the infectious bite.
He felt Archer coming behind him.
He heard the sound of a click, then another, and a metallic slide.
Tucker cringed as he felt a cold piece of metal against the side of his neck.
"Relax", Archer says in a softened tone to Tucker.
Then, something like pressurized gas being released came from the pistol. Tucker kept his eyes closed as he trembles a little bit. Then, he slowly opened his eyes as he felt small needles pierce through the skin on the side of his neck. As he opened his eyes, he saw Kolveshka standing beside Pact with Diablo, Tank, and Bravo. What the hell was going on?
...
Takashi looks around the room. It wasn't a business building. No, instead it was a western five-star hotel. He and his mother took this room as everyone else went for the others. The room was rather large with two king-sized beds, a couch, a fried TV, large bathroom, a kitchen area, and a lounging room. The hotel room seemed more like a condo.
"Wow, this place is nice", Mrs. Komuro says, going to the bed before dropping herself onto the plush mattress. "Don't you think?"
"Yeah, sure is", Takashi agrees with awe. He sat on his own bed, looking to the floor as he thought about everyone else. Alice, Zeke, Kohta, and Saya had gotten a room to themselves as Rei and her parents had their own room. He was not sure if Shizuka and Saeko had their room. Either way, they were yet again in a safe zone full of highly trained professional killers. Things will be okay once more. Things will be better once they leave out the area.
Mrs. Komuro sat behind Takashi on his bed, wrapping her arms around him in a close hug. "We're finally safe now, Takashi... We'll leave soon and be surrounded from more protection. Guaranteed protection."
"But what about Dad? Do you think he'll be where we're going?"
Mrs. Komuro sighed, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Like I've said, I'd hope so. I'd love it if he would be there, waiting for us."
"And what about Tucker? Is he going with us?"
"I... Don't worry about him. He's infected. He can't be saved."
"But they set up the cure. He'll be fine, right?" Takashi asked with clenched fists. He was infuriated that he couldn't help the one that helped him and his group. Numerous times. "He has to be fine. He has to be okay. As long as they don't know-..."
A knock was heard at their door, then it creaked open with Rei's head shown in the cracked. "Hey, do you mind if we join in?"
"We", Mrs. Komuro questions.
As Rei fully opened the door, her parents were in view with everyone else but Saeko and Shizuka. Tadashi still had on his sling but Saya's bandage was removed from her head. Supposedly, she was fine.
"We wasn't feeling right sleeping without everyone", Rei says with a shrug and smile. "And we couldn't get the sight of blood out of our minds in our room."
"Wait, so where's Saeko and Marikawa-sensei", Kohta questions, looking amongst the group.
Takashi sat up from his mother's grip, then went beside the door. "Everyone come in. I'll head downstairs and see if they're down there with Tucker."
Tadashi sighs as Takashi mentioned Tucker, then they all enter. Alice clutched her stuffed donkey beneath her chin as she went to Takashi's bed, laying down and automatically going to sleep right beside Mrs. Komuro. Rei and Kiriko went to the kitchen, surprised at the amount of food stored in the freezer. Luckily, they were all still in their thawing phase.
Tadashi and Kohta was in the lounging area with Saya. Mrs. Komuro watches Alice sleep with a soft smile, brushing her hair from her face just as Zeke curls up in front of Alice. She felt a sense of pride build up inside her. A pride that was burning towards her son. She never knew such a trouble maker like Takashi was able to bring the group close, alive, and moving.
Takashi brushes past the Marines, Army soldiers, MARSOC Marines, and Rangers as he made his way to the lower floors. He came closer to a ruckus. Then, in the main lobby, he found a group of soldiers surrounding Shizuka and the unarmed Saeko. They were harassing them, threatening them, saying things that they'd thing would draw sexual attention from the two females. Though, all they got was scorn and fear.
Takashi clenched his face, then shouted aloud, "HEY", as he hurries towards the group.
Suddenly, an uproar and warning shots were heard at the entrance. The sudden disturbance had silenced everyone, bringing their attention to the entrance. There were Alpha Providence mercenaries standing there with their rifles trained at the crowded soldiers. The masks of Geist and Snegurochka was among the group of mercenaries.
"Silence and listen", a loud, deep voice shouts loud enough for anyone in the lobby and the next rooms over to hear. "We do not tolerate sexual harassment! Alpha Providence DAMN SURE does NOT tolerate rape! If you are so caught making another attempt as this, we will open fire and sever ties with absolutely every non-Alpha Providence mercenary. DO YOU ALL UNDERTSAND?!" Silence. "Good. Now carry on, our ride out of here arrives in an hour."
As the mercenaries disperse, all other soldiers sigh, mutter curses, and left off to their own business. Takashi went to the two girls, taking their hands and moving them away from the area. "Come on, we're getting out of here."
Though, after a few steps, both girls stop.
"What's the matter", Takashi asks as he turns to the two girls. "Do you really want to stay here any longer?"
"They took Tucker", Saeko says quietly.
"What?"
"They took Tucker." She said it a bit more louder with teary eyes. Shizuka didn't want to speak.
Takashi's mind was processing the words, then he clenched his teeth. "Come on, we're going upstairs with everyone else."
Finally, the two girls follow behind Takashi upstairs in silence.
...
Tucker was lying on the floor of the MATV, held down by Bravo, Kolveshka, Diablo, and Tank as Archer applied shots after shots along Tucker's arms, legs, neck, and chest. Tucker tried to kick and flail his arms in attempt to get away from the strap-down. His body was so tensed and his veins felt as though they were going to explode. He was also gagged so he wouldn't scream out to cause attention from absolutely anyone. Pact watched silently from outside the rear of the MATV, his arms crossed.
Finally, after minutes of excruciating painful shots, Tucker lies there as he passed out from the pain.
"Sir, Phase One is done", Archer reports to Pact. "Once we head to home base, we'll have him undergo Phase Two to becoming a true Freelancer."
"Good", Pact replies, still staring at Tucker. "Let him rest up for now."
As Archer left with everyone else, Pact sighed as he rubbed his bite mark on his shoulder. He had gotten it a few days before as an attempt to prevent an Alpha mercenary from blowing herself up.
"Who would've known that our augmentations were a cure..."
...
As night was dawning over, everyone was packing up. Takashi and his group were eating in his room.
"So, kids, what should we do after this", Tadashi asks, trying to break the eerie silence.
Then, suddenly, gunshots sounded off outside.
Takashi and Kohta sprang up, grabs their weapons and headed out into the hall as they heard rummaging and hurrying movement. DEVGRU operatives were rushing through the hall as the gunfire grew fierce outside.
"This is Team 1, we're heading to the hot zone, out", a DEVGRU team leader says into his mic.
Hot zone, Takashi thought to himself in question.
"Sounds like more of 'them' got through their blockade", Kohta says in a monotone voice. "We're under attack."
"What? Should we go help?"
"Hey, what's going on", Kiriko asks the two boys.
"This place is getting raided", Saya answers aloud as she looked out the window. She saw muzzle flashes down below. And they were all seemingly directed to each other. As if they were killing one another.
...
"Sir, we've been compromised", Kolveshka says to Pact, who sat beside the passed out Tucker. "There are infected inside the perimeter."
"Copy that, Kolveshka", Pact replies with a sigh. "Gather your squad and stick close. Use your FLIR to see who's infected and who's not. Kill all that shows no heat signs."
"Yes, sir."
Kolveshka and Bravo both left Pact and his squad alone with Tucker. The gunfire was erupting close by. And in Pact's mind, he knew it would draw intense, unwanted attention.
"Pact, let me out there", the voice of Tucker says behind Pact.
Pact didn't even turn to look, but he knew that Tucker was now standing, ready to hop out and get into action.
Archer, Reaper, and Diablo held looked to Pact to await how he would answer Tucker's permission. "Affirmative. I'll be evaluating you."
Then, like that, Tucker ran off ahead. Without a weapon.
...
"Fucking shit", a Marine yells, firing his M1911 to one of his battle buddies, hitting him in his chest. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" He turned to an Army airborne soldier, who stumbles towards him quickly as the poor Marine reloads. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
A DEVGRU operative shot the zombie through its temple, making it drop onto the marble floor of the lobby.
"Shit, thank you", the Marine says to the SEALs, out of breath.
Neither of the three SEALs responded. Instead, they kept a nice and tight formation of one in the middle aiming ahead, one at his side aiming diagonally across his back and the other watching the rear. As they made their way inside, brushing past the retreating Marines and 101st Army troops, they began firing at anything that moved at an irregular pattern. Their precision was so accurate. It was as though each three DEVGRU individual were mentally collected as one, taking out each infected that were just close enough.
Inside the main lobby, a Marine was leaning against the wall, breathing hard as everyone else was trying to get into the higher levels for their evac. That Marine fell to his knees and went limp against the wall. His fellow buddy held his shoulder, shaking him.
"Hey, brother, get up", the fellow Marine says to his partner. But as a response, he got a chunk of his flesh chewed off of his neck, making the surrounding soldiers jump back as they reach for their sidearms, shaking in fear. But, one was too late as the once fellow Marine jumped up at him, biting at his shoulder and throat as the other did nearly the same to a Ranger.
Outside, there were still soldiers fending off the undead of their friends and those that got through the barricade.
"Holy shit, there's too many of them", a MARSOC Marine soldier blurts as he fired off his M110 marksman rifle at the undead that pushed itself through the rubble of debris that was blown off a building, supposedly to be used as a barricade.
"No kidding there, brother", another MARSOC Marine replies over the gunfire of his MK48 LMG rifle, spraying down a small horde of 'them' at their rear. Some of which had civilian clothing and other had clothing similar to the MARSOC standard issue combat uniforms. "Fuck, they got some of us too!"
"Shit!"
As they fought and fought, they soon ran out of ammo. The two Marines steps back, back-to-back with their KABAR knives held up.
"Oorah", they both shout as the horde of undead reaches for them.
"We don't know where 1st MSOT are", Snegurochka says to Kolveshka. "We're putting them up as KIA along with Team 2 of DEVGRU forces."
"Got it", Kolveshka replies, holding up her AN-94 rifle across her chest. Her squad, including herself, were staying behind a Humvee right by the entrance to the lobby of the hotel. "Now, where's Tucker..."
"He's in the midst of the horde",Tesla answers. "Unarmed."
Tucker drop kicks one of 'them' with a running charge, thinking it would just fall on its ass. But instead, it went back a couple feet with the feel of its rib cage cracking inwards. Tucker quickly got to his feet, bring a hard left hook to the jaw of another undead, snapping off its jaw and giving a uppercut to another. Feeling the wind from behind, Tucker spun around, slamming his elbow into the nose of a recently turned DEVGRU soldier, bashing in its slowly rotting skull.
"Holy shit", Tucker says, breathing hard out of adrenaline.
Finally, he picked up an M4A1 carbine rifle and went to the entrance of the hotel, firing single-shot rounds to any of 'them' that he passed, whether or not 'their' attention was on him or not. Once he made it inside, he found the lobby being a total mess of scattered flesh, bones, corpses, and bullet casings covered in blood. Then, it dawned on him.
"Oh shit..." Tucker hurriedly ran to the stairs, hoping he would make it to Takashi's group on time.
...
Pact tapped on his wrist computer and sighed before speaking. "My Alpha Providence mercenaries. It's a slaughter here in Tokyo. We have been compromised, we lost a great amount of our forces, and our ride is late." He was standing atop the same MATV with his squad, squatting down with a pistol held in hand. "Our barricades didn't hold up. Due to that, it has led this. Now here this." Archer loaded his M40A1 sniper rifle, looking down below from the roof of the vehicle. "Back home, we lost family and friends. And now here, we are losing brothers and sisters. These brothers and sisters will not be coming home. My Alpha mercenaries are being slaughtered because of my poor decision." Diablo loaded in a mag in each of his Glock 40s, glancing down at the massive horde that were reaching up at them, several of which wearing hardened masks and dark combat attire. "This sudden turn of events dramatically brought down our survival rates. But... We will not use this as an excuse to keep fighting. We will fight until each bone in our bodies are broken and each flesh from our skin are torn off." Fox and Vixen pops a flare each, holding it up as it lit up the area. It was like a sea of reaching arms. "We will make it to the top of the hotel and get the hell out of here. All DEVGRU, Rangers, Green Berets, Marines, and 101st are pronounced KIA. Two squads of Alpha Providence are gone, and MARSOC soldiers MIA. But. In their honor and name, we will fight. We will tell their sons and daughters the stories of their bravery. We will tell their husbands and wives their valor service and duty. We will keep fighting. And we will keep remembering." Tank held up his M60 LMG, loading back the bolt as Reaper slammed his fist into his palm. "Let's wash ourselves in our enemies blood. And let's bring home the memories of the fallen and save the cries of needing calling. Ooyah."
Pact voice was monotone. He closed his eyes as he stood, his wrist computer still held at his mouth. Then...
"OOYAH!"
Fox and Vixen tossed up the flares into the crowd as Reaper threw a gas canister to each flare, fires a shot into the canister, then all ducked but Pact as the two explosions went off. Then, they all charge into the crowd.
...
Takashi held the door with Kohta and Tadashi, Kiriko shoving a book case underneath the door handle and Saeko shoving the fridge directly in front of the door with the help of Saya, Mrs. Komuro, and Shizuka.
"Oh my, that was heavy", Shizuka says, rubbing her arms.
"Now what do we do", Rei asks, stepping back after grabbing her Springfield M1A1 rifle with its fixed bayonet.
Takashi first considered using the window, but not at this height. Wait... Takashi looked at the ceiling then pumped back his M1014 shotgun starter pump and fired into the ceiling. He shuts his eyes and looks away as dust and debris fell all around. "Everyone, climb through here and make it to the roof of the hotel, now! Their evacuation helicopter should be here any minute!"