Author's note: Gayyy, I made mistakes. Fucking Gunnery Sergeant Adam Mayweather's callsign is Echo SEVEN mike. E-7 in the Marine Corps is Gunnery Sergeant, his Echo Six meant he was a Staff Sergeant. Ughhhh, I feel so stupid. STUPID TYPOS! Other than that, I'm sorry I kept you guys waiting so long! I had to think real and hard to describe the SuperCobra's appearance and what not and how it will support them on the ground. I couldn't have done it without Shadow322, Zaru,, and Spartan 1082 being active readers and giving me suggestions. You all other readers my thanks go out to as well! Don't think I don't think about you guys as well!
I had a little Black Ops reference in me, I couldn't help but put in the Reznov speech for a little bit. It was so motivating, maybe it was the music that made it mean more? I don't know.
Hell, as I wrote this I had a Speed movie flashback. Anybody remembers that movie where there was a bomb strapped to a bus and if it goes below 50mph it'll blow up? That was a pretty intense movie back in the day, and the scene with the humvee and James on it kinda reminded me of it. Am I the only one? I don't know. Also, there will be a little reference to where the manga takes place. As the manga is currently up to them leaving the mall and the group arriving at the police station where Rei's dad works at, the next chapter will be conducted in James's eyes since I don't want to spoil too much of the manga's chapter. It will be done a bit differently since James while everyone is inside, he'll be outside maintaining everything and keeping tabs with Mayweather. Just a little notice. Enjoy!
Mission XI: Birds of Prey
Cpl. James Sullivan
1st Marine Special Operations Battalion; Bravo Co.
April 3rd, 2010
Tokonosu, Japan
The three continue to try their absolute hardest to push the humvee out of the pothole but to no avail so far as they still keep pushing. James as he kept pushing slipped on his footing again, this time without Saeko to catch him he fell flat on his face. Getting annoyed he'd slap the muddy puddle his face now occupied. Stabilizing himself on all fours he'd look over his shoulders at the never-ending horde of 'them'. Gritting his dirty teeth he'd spit out any residue that might have gotten in his mouth and stand up.
"Fuckin' shit…this never ends!" He said getting pretty sick of the sight of them over and over again.
Takashi sighed as he took a break and leaned his back against the humvee. "We're not gonna get this humvee out of this hole are we?"
Feeling already discouraged James had to realize that he couldn't allow himself to succumb to that loser mentality. He had already inspired Takashi not to quit, how would that look if he starts to get fed up. Saeko wasn't that was for sure, she still kept herself calm throughout this entire ordeal. 'She sure is somethin' else…' he thought as he fixed himself up by wiping the mud off of his face and facing Takashi.
"Don't get your panties in a bunch, we got this shit." He said as he started to rip some M67 grenades out of his pack and toss Takashi and Saeko each a grenade. "Before we start pushing this thing again, we gotta take these things out. We can't afford to waste anymore ammo. These fuckin' frags should make mince meat outta these bastards!"
They looked at the grenades in their hands and back at him who gave a quick instruction how to use one. "Alright, I don't want to see you guys doing some movie shit where you're pulling the pin out with your teeth. I mean shit, although that's pretty damn cool, this isn't the movies. Get into this position like me with your grenade." James said as he spread his feet apart and the grenade at his abdominal area, the two followed along which indicated they were ready for the next step. "Don't actually do it yet but remove the safety clip from the frag. Once that's gone press your hand firmly against the handle and pull the pin with your finger. Then, just toss that shit into those bastards and watch 'em fly. Make sure after you do that drop into cover, I don't need some stray steel fragments hitting you guys. Do you get me?"
Takashi getting out of the position looked at the grenade in his hand for the longest time, 'Has it really come to this that I have to use these tools against 'them'? Jeez…' his thought process was interrupted as James stressed the fact that 'they' had to be taken care of immediately.
"I said, do you get me?" James repeated. Takashi nodded and got in the position he had just learned.
"Yeah I get you!"
Saeko didn't say anything as she was already in the position waiting for confirmation from James to pull the pin. James nodded and stood between the two. Eying the zombies breaking their imaginary perimeter he pulled the pin and held onto it for a second before tossing it towards the inbound enemies. "FRAG OUT!"
With that said, Takashi and Saeko as if in sync with each other pulled their pins and tossed the grenades at 'them.
"GET TO COVER!" James yelled as he ran inside the pothole, diving inside and putting his head down against the muddy ground. Takashi and Saeko followed suit and jumped into the pothole as well to wait for the inevitable. Kohta and Rei looked over at the direction where James last stood, and watched the explosion eliminate their threat. Rei grimaced as she saw limbs and heads fly in all directions and bodies just fall to the force of the grenade. A couple were dragging themselves towards their direction despite the power of the frag grenade, but soon 'they' succumbed to their wounds and just died out. This gave them more time to try to push the humvee.
She couldn't take it anymore. Slinging the M1A1 on her shoulders she kicked the hatch open, Shizuka looked over her shoulder at Rei who was about to help them. "Rei? What are you doing?"
"I can't just stand here and keep shooting! I gotta help them; they need all the help they can get!"
"Rei!" Shizuka yelled as she jumped out and ran to the back of the humvee and grabbed onto the edge of the vehicle and start pushing. Takashi was the last one to get up as he saw only Rei pushing. James walked over to her side and pushed right next to her.
"Didn't I give you a direct order to stay in the humvee and keep firing at them from the front?" He yelled.
"I know but I'm going to help you guys whether you like it or not!" She said not even looking at him and just kept pushing her hardest, James shook his head and waved over at Takashi who just started at Rei in space.
"Wake up! C'mon! If she's putting out, you gotta too!"
Takashi didn't say anything as he ran over along side with Saeko who began pushing again, what surprised him even more was that Saya also joined them out of nowhere and began pushing.
"Saya?" Takashi whispered as he watched her try to help push this behemoth, she was about to slip but James caught her. They exchanged glances for a brief second before he picked her up and they continued pushing again. Takashi can already tell that she probably feels guilty for yelling at him like that and she's looking for a way to pay it off. Shaking his head he'd continue pushing, but to some outstanding sort of effort that came out of nowhere, probably the additional bodies, they started seeing progress.
"Hey! It's moving! Come on, push harder!" Saeko yelled noticing the humvee actually now getting there.
"Marikawa-sensei, keep your foot in the pedal! We almost got it!" Saya commanded as they finally felt the force of the humvee moving itself out of the hole. The last bit of mud splattered all over them but even so they never stopped, they just kept going. A new energy invigorated the group of survivors as they put all of their last remaining strength into the humvee, James yelled out words of encouragement as he felt inspired at the moment as well.
"Never lose faith, guys. NEVER!" James yelled as he watched as the wheels were finally out of the pothole now they just needed a little bit more strength so it can be fully out. "We will not pause, we will not falter, WE WILL SURVIVE THIS HELL OR DIE TRYING!"
With that they all pushed their hardest and the impossible was now possible, they had finally gotten the humvee out of the pothole. Takashi seeing their sacrifice and hard work finally paying off he fell on his butt and wiped the mud from his face. "Finally…"
Rei dropped down and wrapped her arms around him and held him close to her. "We really did it!"
James planting his hands onto the crumbled pavement from where he stood in the pothole he took deep breaths of placid air as he looked at the humvee. He didn't say anything but chuckle softly to himself, he really didn't think they'd get this thing out in time but they did. Saeko stood next to him as she wiped the dirt off of her face with her sleeve.
"Nice choice of words back there…"
James looked over at her and just smiled. He didn't know where that little speech came from, probably all from the moment. He had a little General Patton in him he assumed. But their victory was short lived as 'they' started to approach them again. Some of them tripped over the limbs and carcasses of bodies lay about from the grenades wrath. They all watched and panted, they were tired, they were spent, James wondered to himself as he raised the barrel of his M4 slowly and tiredly, he wondered if this was the part about die trying to survive.
"Look!" Saya yelled out as she pointed up to the sky, everyone else followed suit and looked up. James's tired eyes excited with energy as he saw it and all of its glory. The AH-1W SuperCobra had finally came to save them. It looked magnificent in the air as it approached their perimeter, it swooped down and encircled their area in the manner a crow circles its prey before it goes for the kill.
The large piece of Marine Corps glory was gray, smooth and sleek. On its tail had bold letters stating MARINES as it's allegiance of which it belongs to. On its wings if the Marine squints his eyes he can see an armament of missiles and rockets galore, even two Gatling guns on its side. No doubt that they probably have Hellfire missiles on that bitch.
James in the distance of gunfire and the rotors of the helicopter could hear radio chatter from the humvee. Running inside the humvee he'd leap into the passenger seat and look for the radio. "Fuck where did it go? I left it right here!" He rummaged through the dashboard and the seat for it; Shizuka looked over at James and covered her mouth.
"Eww, look at you! You're so filthy! You definitely need a bath after this." She said also covering her nose from the strong smell of dirt and mud from the Marine. Ignoring her babbling of his filth he'd search for that radio, eying it near the GPS he picked it up and started talking to whoever was manning the SuperCobra.
"Joker Two-Two, Joker Two-Two! This is Echo Four Sierra acting as Hunter Two-One Actual! We got visual start firing on those hostiles, over!"
"Two-One Actual, we need those IR strobes. We are on thermals, we can't risk firing on your friendly victor. Get those IR strobes so we know what we can hit and we shouldn't. Till you get those strobes we can't help you. Out."
"Fuck!" He said slamming the radio back he'd exit the humvee and rally up everyone else who was admiring the helicopter.
"Alright! Listen up, I want everyone inside! We are Oscar mike to the Police Station! Now move it! No questions now go, go, go!" James yelled out indicating with hand movements guiding people into the humvee like a shepherd and a flock of sheep. Everyone followed with no questions asked, except of course for Saeko who saw something suspicious about this. She stopped short and raised her hand up.
"James!"
"Just go! I never known you to question orders, you're gonna start now?" James said as he tossed her his M4 to hold.
Catching it and looking at this foreign piece of machinery and back at him, Saeko shook her head and ran into the humvee closing the hatch as well. Still staring at the assault rifle in her hands and wondering why he gave it to her. "What are you planning James…" she whispered as she looked out the porthole to see what he was doing. Kohta sat down next to her and closed the top hatch where he previously held himself with the .50 cal. He wouldn't want to get stray shells from the SuperCobra crashing on him while they drove.
"Busujima-senpai, you alright?"
She didn't answer as she watched him.
"Drive damn it!" James yelled as he pointed to Shizuka who's head was pointing out of the porthole, nodding she did so and he ran and jumped onto the back of the humvee. Fastening his grip on the railing of the fleeing humvee he held on and reached into the back of his rucksack pulling out an IR strobe and waving it around with one hand guiding the SuperCobra. It was confirmed they were rolling in. 'Well I can mark this as one of the craziest thing I ever did in my career, I wonder if I'm gonna get a medal for this shit.' He joked in his mind to begin a process of desensitization to relieve the fact that he was riding on the back of a humvee, driving in high speeds, with a SuperCobra assist them in blasting zombies that are trying to kill them.
Saya who sat in the passenger seat of the humvee looked around for James but hearing the radio chatter it answered her question.
"Holy shit, Nick! Are you seeing this shit? Look at what Echo Four Sierra is doing?" She heard on the radio, picking it up she continued to listen to the banter that the Marine pilots are having. Frank the gunner of the SuperCobra was staring into the images displayed in his facemask. The targeting aides in the system created a clear black and white picture on a small display screen that was projected on the gunner's face mask. The target's reticule zeroed in on wherever the gunner looked. Right now that reticule was zoomed in on the sight of Cpl. Sullivan holding onto the railings of a humvee for his dear life as it made sharp turns almost knocking him off. This was some crazy stuff that Sullivan was doing to make sure that they'd know that the humvee was friendly so they can start firing.
"Yeah Frank, I'm looking. Sullivan is one crazy SOB riding on that humvee as if it was a fuckin' bull, but hey…you know what our orders say? Light up anything that doesn't have an IR strobe. Techniquely that humvee have one so let's start the gun show."
"Ready when you are."
After hearing what she heard, Saya threw down the radio and took off her glasses. "Are you serious?" Saya said whilst opening the hatch's porthole and looking out to see a glimpse of James's boot hanging off of the back.
"JAMES!"
In the meantime, James whilst holding on with one hand on the humvee and the other on his M45 CQB M1911 pistol shooting off some resistance he was having on the road that tried to come up on them as they drove about. He'd muttering something incoherently due to the flashing IR strobe he bit down on in response to the pinkette's worrisome yells. He was about to start flipping the pilots above the bird till he started hearing the roars of cannon fire from above turning the resistance down below into stacks of meat. James did cringe under the fact that some of the heated discharged casings of 20 mm from the Gatling gun was falling around him and on top of the humvee, he hoped not to get hit by one of them that was firing so close to them. But hey, that's what close air support is all about.
Back in the air, the SuperCobra strafing buildings and towers as it swooped in more closer to the road would start pouring more explosive rounds of its Gatling gun onto Zulu Charlie, which stood for in the NATO alphabet Zombified Civilians. Charlie was getting lit the fuck up by the multiple tiny explosions made by its Gatling gun, bodies were just dropping left and right, just for the hell of it and to suppress the zombies on Hunter Two-One's rear Frank fired off a salvo of Hydra rockets that went straight in blowing up 'them' up and cratering the road and sending dozens upon dozens of shrapnel to any other zombie nearby. Frank noticing a truck on the road ahead of Hunter Two-One that held massive amounts of Charlie standing by waiting to ambush them.
"We got a truck a couple of meters from Two-One's position. I count twenty Charlie down there waiting for Two-One." Frank calling out after he spotted the numerous amount of zombies just walking around aimlessly till they heard the sound of tires moving towards them.
"Two-One, if you're still headin' to that Police Station make a right turn here. We're gonna blow up that truck, it's gonna make a big bang so go make that right turn as quick as you can. This missile is gonna come in hot, danger close, over." Nick said to his radio so they could at least be a couple of meters away from the explosion so he wouldn't hurt Sullivan who was holding onto the back of the humvee.
Saya listening to the radio chatter from the receiver she threw down on the floor would instruct Shizuka to turn right; she'd obey and make a sharp turn which almost threw James off of the back of the humvee from the force of the turn. Saya picking up the radio would think of what to say and how to say it, listening to James talk and what not she was able to deduct what a military person would say and how to say on a radio.
"Copy that, Joker-Two-Two! We're turning! Over!" She said as she looked out the porthole to see James still infact holding on.
Hearing the confirmation that they were somewhat out of the killzone, Nick would look at Frank and nod. "Hit it."
With that said, an AGM Hellfire missile was launched from its left wing. Moments later, the truck went up in flames and the explosion so large it rose the large heaping truck off of the ground and slamming onto the pavement on top of blown up bodies of zombies. James put his head against the metal surface of the humvee so he wouldn't see the explosion and any stray rocks don't hit him. Feeling his grip get weak he'd fix himself on the back once more and try his best to hold on. Just how far was the Police Station in the first place?
Satisfied with the escalation of violence that their beast of a helicopter brought upon this outbreak, the two Marine pilots whooped and cheered on. "Whoo! Did you see that shit blow? Now that's what I'm talking about!" Screamed out Frank, Nick replied with a solemn Oorah as they continued their duties that consisted of Air-Ground support.
"Yo, Frank I'm going to take us for a spin. We got a massive uprising in Hunter Two-One's rear. That Crazy SOB Sullivan is trying to shoot at them with his pistol again, since one of them nearly got close enough to grab his boot." Nick said jabbing his thumb towards their own six 'o clock towards the large group forming up again behind the humvee.
"You got it; I'm ready when you are." Frank said as looked behind him getting a good scan of the targets of opportunity on his HUD.
James felt himself slipping as he holstered his pistol back, now that he ran out rounds and he couldn't afford to reload his sidearm while trying to hold on.
"Alrighty then, enough is enough. I need to get inside, if I stay out here any longer either I'm going to fall off or a stray round is going to hit me." He reasoned with himself as he took off the IR strobe in his mouth and slammed it onto the humvee's topside. Now that their humvee was good to go in friendly matters, he needed to get inside of the humvee while they drive not daring to tell them to stop. But the question was how would he be able to accomplish this?
The MARSOC Marine now shimmied his way to the right side's edge of the humvee. Panting from trying to keep his feet stabilized and move without slipping was hard work. Now catching his breath he'd swing his body over to the right side of the humvee and plant his boots upon the porthole of the right side's humvee's rear hatch. From his perhical vision he could see Saeko looking up at him from the corner of his boot in a worried manner at him. Noting saying a word he'd try to reach the top hatch's handle so he can open it up and just climb in from the top. But another sharp turn changed that plan up drastically.
As Shizuka turned left, such a hard turn that even made the humvee tilt a little, James's footing was lost and he struggled to hold on with his life on the line.
"Ahh, damn it!" He yelled as he held onto the edge of the humvee the best he can, feeling his gloves try to betray him. But James still held on adjusting his grip and what not and kicking his legs in the air attempting to get his footing back but to no avail it didn't happen.
Saeko seeing this untied the sword that was strapped to her backside and toss it to the ground along with James's rifle before opening the porthole a little bit to tell him that she was coming. She couldn't let James go out like this; it was unbecoming for a warrior like him. He sacrificed his life plenty of times for them, making this one of them. It was her turn to return the favor.
"Hold on, I'm coming!" She yelled as she climbed over Kohta who with Takashi looked over Saeko as if she was nuts.
"What are you doing! You're going to get yourself killed with all those stray rounds flying, Busujima-senpai! You need to stay in the humvee!" Kohta yelled.
"What's going on?" Takashi asked as he was busy holding Alice making sure she was okay amidst all the chaos.
"James is about to fall off the humvee!" She said completely ignoring Kohta's warning and just telling Takashi what was going on. Saeko opened up the top hatch and climbed up to the top of the humvee. Now on all fours she steadied herself as she crawled over towards James, they went over a bump which caused Saeko and James to lose their bearing for a second. Saeko nearly slipping but her grip on the .50 cal's bolt saved her. But James grip was dying faster because of the bump they went over, in fact he now only held on with one hand because of it and his boots were dangling in the air almost touching the ground.
"Hold on!" She yelled as she began to crawl towards him again. Reaching him she'd hover her hand down to him, James would look up at her hand than at her. "Grab on!"
Without hesitation, he swung his arm up and grabbed her hand. Now that she had him she needed to pull him up, looking behind her she placed her foot on the humvee's top hatch's opening to try and stabilize her as she tried to pull him up. With much effort from both of them, Saeko was finally able to pull James out of trouble.
Both of them on all fours panting heavily and catching their breath, James was the first one to talk; he looked up at her with a wide grin on his features. "You are a crazy son of a bitch!"
"You shouldn't be talking." She heaved out as she looked up at him with a smile.
"Thank you." He said but then looked up at the sky seeing the SuperCobra angle itself downwards towards them and swooped right over them and was now ahead of them, James could already see it that they were making it's attack run but they were gonna turn it around and fire right past them to hit the large group of Charlie behind them. His eyes opened wide at the realization of the terms 'whatever the cost' truly means to the Marine pilots and to him as he grabbed Saeko and planted her against the humvee's frame, he got on top of her slightly and yelled out.
"GET DOWN!"
The SuperCobra jerked left and turned around in a 180 degree angle and opened fire on Charlie. It was almost in slow motion as the SuperCobra let out almost its entire payload on the Zulu Charlie threat. Rounds and rockets streaking above Saeko and James's head, they could almost feel the heat of the rockets and the 20mm shells flying above them so dangerously close to their backs and heads, the Marine could swear he heard the streak of a another AGM-114 Hellfire missile flying above them too. James and Saeko looked up only for a couple of seconds to see the entire area erupting in a cloud fire and debris as the zombies were killed by the blasts. One of the rockets hit a gas station on the side of the horde and two blocks away from them igniting thousands of gallons of fuel, the result of that was a series of explosions that was as big as a two block radius. Also, one of the rockets had hit a little corner store on the other side of the block, it collapsed with the explosion and crushed some of the zombies in its debris.
"The world as we know it is over." Saeko whispered as she watched the chaos ensue and the destruction of homes caused by this viral outbreak and the destructive response to such a threat. She shook her head and planted her chin onto her forearms.
"Damn right it is. It's actually pretty sad. To think I probably have shopped there before, that little corner store deli makes the best beef patties with cheese in Japan." James said trying to add some humor into this dark scene, even with some truth. He has bought food from that corner store deli before back when he was in Tokonosu with his Marines and Special Assault Team when they had their downtime.
After that they watched the world burn in silence, the flames of destruction was growing more and more distant as much as their sanity did. Can anyone truly still be called normal after being immersed into situations like this? It's better to just shut up and watch the world burn then attempt to retain what normality you had left before the outbreak, and that's Saeko Busujima and James Sullivan did as they lay on the top of the humvee together holding each other tightly.
The SuperCobra stopped firing rounds and silence lingered in the air, the rotors of the bird and the tires rolling on the pavement was the only sound in Tokonosu as they pressed on.
"Uh, Two-One? You see anything down there, over?" Nick said as he grinned at their performance of how they handled their close air support.
Saya shook her head and raised the receiver to her mouth. "Nope, I don't see a damn thing! Good work, Two-Two. We're about five miles away from the East Police Station, can you watch over us over?"
"You got it, Hunter Two-One. But once you reach the Police Station we'll stay for a little bit. We're almost on bingo fuel, till then you're on your own. Out." Nick said as he tapped on his cyclic and looked over at Frank who looked as tired as they came.
"Keep your eye out for anything, shoot whatever moves."
"Aye, Skipper." Frank said acknowledging his superior officer's orders; Capt. Nicholas Flynn wasn't one to mess with. He was the serious one of all since he had to do all the flying while the fun-loving Marine flyboy like 1st Lt. Frank Dillinger does all the shooting and co-piloting. To him the shooting and the blowing up stuff is the best part of the job, especially playing with his HUD that reminds him of playing those good 'ol first person shooters like Call of Duty whenever they get to the aircraft levels.
With that said the SuperCobra circled around the area of responsibility looking for anything to shoot, but Frank had a revelation. Turning on his comms he called out to Hunter Two-One victor.
"Hunter Two-One, we got a sit-rep for you, break, this comes from Echo Seven Mike, you do not have to proceed to the route to the FOB after going to that Police Station but you still need to go around that route to take the highway. You'll be heading to Okinawa, to the town of Kin. Orders from the top are that 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, 1st Recon Battalion, a couple of Marine Infantry units, and etc has been relocated to Camp Hansen. It houses those grunts and a couple of civilians that were saved, they plan to hold them till further notice, scuttlebutt states that there is some evac planned. Also scuttlebutt says that you'll be encountering some fuckin' doggies. Fuckin' Army Rangers, Delta Force, and your run-a-gun 82nd Airborne Infantry dogfaced grunts are also there too. Fuck my life, I feel sorry for you. Do you copy all of that? Hey…Sullivan! Are you there over?"
Saya and everyone in the car was so entranced with all this military intelligence they were listening that the Marine pilot was babbling about they forgot that they had to respond. More so James had to respond. Snapping out of her deducting of what to do about to this and how they can use this to their advantage, Saya would crawl over to the middle of the humvee and poke her head out of the top hatch opening to get James's attention.
What she saw kind of put her back a bit as she watched James and Saeko lay on the top of the humvee hugging each other with their eyes glued to the road behind them. She didn't see this coming, the pinkette stared at them for a little bit listening to them talk.
"Dear god…I'm so filthy." Saeko whispered up to James as she felt so little in his arms, James nodded in agreement as he brushed some of the dirt and dust off of her long flowing purple locks.
"Look at the bright side; at least you don't have to brush your teeth now." He said as he remembered the taste of the mud in his mouth, she giggled quietly and rested her head against his armored chest. The femme fatale can feel multiple magazines against her chest as her body mingled with his so perfectly. For once throughout this crisis, she can finally relax with someone. Wait, no that's not true. This wouldn't be the first person she felt this ability to let herself go with. The first was Takashi Komuro, could that next person be James Sullivan?
That moment of serenity was interrupted when the pinkette had enough movie-time from the two, she whistled to get their attention which caused them both to whip their heads in Saya's direction. Their cheeks lit up in response of getting caught in such an intimate moment like this.
"It's about time! Those guys in the helicopter are trying to talk to you. They said something about changing direction to another base after we find Rei's dad?"
James nodded and let go Saeko with her following behind in getting inside of the humvee. Switching seats with Saya he picked up the radio and cleared his throat. "Say again, Two-Two? I didn't copy. Over."
Frank repeated his sit-rep and James absorbed every bit of intel that he was getting. What was Mayweather planning for him exactly? Sighing as he grabbed a stack of sticky notes and a pen he'd rip out the couple that had bloodstains on and write the details and routes that needed to be typed up later for the GPS once they reach the Police Station.
"Uh-huh…uh-huh…Echo Four Sierra copies all. Out." James said as he shut off comms and placed the sticky note memo on the edge of the computer screen for later. Now that was done he dropped back to his seat and sighed. "What a rush right?" He said to the entire group regarding on what had just happened, with them running into such heavy resistance, the pothole incident, and him hanging from the side of his humvee all in one day.
"And the amazing thing is…" Takashi noted as he picked up James's M4 from the ground, handing it to him and looking at his watch. It was only 8:00AM. "It's only 8. What a great way to start the morning right?"
James looked a little shocked as he held his M4 and looked at his own watch that read the exact same time. "No way, after all we've been through so far it's only 8AM? Shit…we still got a long day ahead of us." He said putting his M4 down between his legs and taking his canteen out, unscrewing it he'd wash his mouth out and spit the residue into the streets from the open porthole before drinking some.
Upon reaching the front entrance of the East Police Station finally the humvee skidded to a stop in front of the entrance. James opened the hatch and grabbed his M4 scanning the area, his eyes looked up at the SuperCobra who still circled around their area. "Clear!"
Kohta nodded and guided everyone else out of the humvee and led the way with Takashi and Saeko following close behind, Rei in the back with her carbine scouting out anything as she looked over her shoulder at Alice and Zeke, Shizuka, and Saya making sure they were good to go. With everything clear, they all circled around James and Takashi for the next course of action.
"Alright! Lets clear this place and look for Rei's dad; also since we're running low on ammo we're going to stock up a bit too. This is a Police Station, I'm sure there is some ammo, maybe even some new weapons that the police didn't take with them that we can happily take." Takashi looked over at James who stood there watching their group with a cold look in his eye, the way James stood next to him just screamed out leadership and faith in his Takashi's leadership. Not once did James ever question any order or any plan that he gave out, and him standing by him watching the group for any sort of outburst and being some sort of hand of discipline put him at ease. "Sullivan, I want you to stay out here and watch the humvee. Keep in communication with your superiors on anything, not to mention keep me in the loop."
James turned to Takashi and looked him in the eye, "Anything else?"
"Oh and I remember you saying about you were going to call in for an airdrop of supplies, you know? Like ammunition and stuff? We could use some more of that."
"If that's all, consider it done, Komuro." James said as he turned and faced the group.
"The rest of you, let's go!" Takashi said leading the way into running to the Police Station's front entrance, the group followed behind stacked up against the wall. Kohta switched Takashi's position and took point since he and Saeko knew how to clear rooms. The Marine watched as they employed his tactics as he Takashi patted his back indicated that they were ready to breach. Kohta nodded and kicked the door open and entered the Station with the group following close behind.
"Go get 'em!" James muttered as he holstered his M4 on his person and walked up to the humvee, picking up the radio he looked up at the sky as he talked to the Marine pilots.
"This is Echo Four Sierra, what do you got for me?"
"Echo Four Sierra, we're bugging out. We are on bingo fuel; you guys got everything under control. Call us if you need anything on your way to getting to Camp Hansen. Good luck, Marine. Out." With that James shut the comms and waved at the pilots above who he knows they saw him say goodbye, James watched them fly away and take a deep breath.
"What a crazy ass mornin', shit…" He said as he took off his helmet and ruffled his dirt filled hair before jumping on the humvee's hood and sitting there with his M4 on his lap. After what that SuperCobra did to Charlie, he doubts they'll be receiving any resistance for a while, at least in this area. James was tired, physically and emotionally. After everything he has been through in the past couple of years he's been in the Corps, he would have thought his skin would have become harder and he'd become a salty ass Marine. But no, he's not hard but he's far from soft either. The Marine doesn't know what he is, but all he knew was that he was just tired. If only he could end this himself. James took a look at his M4 and comtemplated, if he wanted to end this is all just how far would he take it? Is he braver than his hero, his best friend, his brother Johnny Beckett? Does he have the courage to put the chrome to his dome?
"The M4A1 service rifle is a lightweight, air cooled, gas operated, selective fire, magazine fetched shoulder weapon. Fires a 5.56 millimeter ball projectile. Muzzle velocity is 2,900 feet per second." He looked and recited the specs of his M4 as he put his rifle between his legs and pointed the barrel upwards towards himself.
"This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than any enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will…" James was reciting the Rifleman's Creed, the USMC doctrine. All Marines are required to learn this creed while in training, male or female. The tone of his voice as he recited his doctrine was monotone as he stared down into the barrel with no emotion in his eyes. He recited the creed as if it was his last prayer. "My rifle and I know that what counts in this war are not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, nor the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit…"
"Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but Peace." As finished the creed he put the barrel up to his chin and tightened the grip on the barrel as his other hand lingered on the pistol grip. Many thoughts flashed in his head, like his past life. His days in High School with Lance Corporal Mina Choi back in New York, his boot camp experience with Mina and Beckett, his days in the Special Ops community with Beckett and his unit going to every hotspot in the world to defend peace behind the scenes, his latest mission in Japan with SAT and meeting Rika and Tajima for the first time, seeing his Lieutenant die in his arms along with many more Marines because of this virus, seeing Beckett sacrifice himself for him, things like that flashed in his head. But the happier moments flashed in his head, meeting these crazy Japanese survivors' people he can call friends, their adventures and antics they've been through so far.
But what made him stop more so was the last image in his head that was Beckett's bloody face staring at him in anger. With that image in his head he threw the M4 onto the ground and panted heavily. He couldn't kill himself; he knew he wasn't as strong as Lance Corporal Allen who did so earlier. He still had responsibilities, such as the safety of his new friends, how would it look if Alice came back here and saw his body lying there with a bullet in his head? Or if they do get Rei's dad and they talk to the police officer about this Marine who saved them and all and now he lies on the ground dead by his hand. Plus he remembered the promise that he made to Miller and Beckett as he watched the life of their eyes leave them, he couldn't go out like this.
"Ju-just what the hell am I thinking!" He said as he laid himself against the humvee's windshield and planted his hands on his face. "I need a vacation…I'm tired of this shit…"
He needed a break, or rather a vacation but in this day and age. The word vacation doesn't exist as he already watched the world burn, now it's time for the aftermath.
x—Devil May Cry
