We fight, even against insurmountable odds, because sometimes we win. -Billy Parish
Lone Sniper, Pittsburg, October, 2031
Anya struggled to drag Molina further away from the apartment building, toward a white van parked not far away from her. Damn it, don't die on me too! Dale seemed to notice her dragging the soldier, leaping from the driver seat and rushing over to her, helping her carry him the last bit of the way and load him into the back of the van.
"What happened Anya!?" she couldn't think, her eyes focused on the bleeding wound on Molina's chest. She had already pulled the release handle on his armor, leaving the ruined plates behind. Despite the gauze she had tried to wrap to him, blood was still flowing freely from the wound, already starting to pool on the floor of the van. "Anya!?" she looked at Dale, tears filling her eyes.
"Th-they're gone…" she barely managed to whisper that to him, the former trucker letting out a stream of swear words.
"Get in and keep pressure on his wound, we're leaving." She nodded and climbed in, slamming the doors behind her before placing both her hands on Molina's chest, keeping them pressed in place, and hoping she wasn't stopping his ability to breath. Blood had started leaking from his mouth as he coughed, more blood spurting out.
"Turn me on my injured side." His voice was sharp and raspy, almost inaudible as the van's tires screeched on the pavement. She did as she said, realizing that he was bleeding from his back to, his tattered T-shirt stained red with blood already.
"Wh-what do I do!?" he coughed again, more blood spattering across the deck, just before she was slammed into the weapon rack to her left, the van feeling like it was about to roll over.
"G-G-Get… tape… and… and two sheets of… of plastic…" the man could barely speak, Anya quickly grabbing the thick plastic cover from a military ration and using her pocket knife to cut it. her brain was panicked as she tried to search the cramped interior of the van for any kind of tape, nearly cheering when she found some duct tape in an old tool box. "N-now wi-wipe the blood away, and press the… the plastic to the wound, tape the edges down." She scrambled to what he said, using her bare hand in lieu of anything else to try and wipe the blood away. as soon as she had, she pressed the plastic over the wound and taped the four sides down, creating an impromptu chest seal, not that she really knew what that was at the time. Before she could move on to the wound on his back, a flurry of gunshots ripped at her ears, several rounds ripping though the van. She instinctively threw her body over Molina's, trying to shield him from the fire.
"Damn it, get those bastards off us!" Dale shouted from the drivers seat as the van lurched and swerved, trying to stay out of their line of fire. Anya cursed, grabbing Molina's rifle from the rack and smashing one of the rear windows out. There were two unarmored Humvees racing after them, likely repainted US military vehicles. Both had machineguns mounted into turret brackets on the vehicles roll cage, no soft or hard top to provide any protection for the soldiers within. These two Humvees were set up to chase down vehicles. Anya took aim at one as soon as she had smashed to glass out, firing a burst of fully automatic fire at the truck. The passenger side wind shield shattered from her shots, but as near as she could tell, she didn't hit the gunner or driving. Her second burst of fire yielded better results, killing the driver. When he slumped against the wheel, the truck started to lazily drift to the side before slamming into a telephone pole. Anya didn't really get to see the results, as the other gun truck had opened fire, bullets tearing through the van again. Anya let out a curse as she aimed at the second truck, her fire again killing the diriver, not that she would get to see the results. Just after she fired, one of the van's tire's popped, sending the van wildly out of control and into a building front. The next thing onya was aware of, she was lying in the bed of the van, her entire body feeling like one giant bruise. She panicked as she realized that Molina was still beside her. she rushed to apply the second chest seal, only to realize that he had stopped bleeding already. She started sobbing into her hands, barely noticing Dale as he wretched the side door open, grabbing her and Molina's rifles before dragging her out and away from the wrecked van.
Wanderer, Supply depot, December, 2031
My head continued to reel with every shot I fired, finding myself less and less accurate as the battle wore on. The enemy had shelled us only one more time, and it had been a very weak barrage compared to the first. More corpses than I cared to count littered the ground, at least two tank husks burning in my field of view. The area beyond the two access routes was nothing but smoke and fire, the occasionally artillery round still landing amongst the ruins. Between the fighters and the Hi-Mars, I doubted they would try to send any more armor at this time. Although, I did know at least one of the jets had been shot down, several KPA birds now engaging the friendly craft. Half a dozen magazines lay in the dirt below me, all emptied, brass scattered all around the two of us, blown about by the wind or explosions after being ejected from the rifle. I could feel the heat bleeding off the barrel of the rifle, despite holding the weapon by a vertical fore grip, the shear volume of rounds fired in such a short time starting to make the weapon steam in the frigid air, intermixing with the cordite smoke and creating a thin fog about the area, making it all the harder to spot the white troopers still rushing at our positions. Even as I watched, even more enemy troops were flooding into the area.
"Command, tell those arty batteries to pick up the fire, the enemy is starting to break through!" it was several seconds before a response was heard, enough time that I had finished off the magazine I was on.
"One-oh-fives have one more volley, no more rounds after that, how copy?" I cursed, still reloading as I shouted into the mic.
"Roger that, divert all targets and remaining munitions to my position, wait for my call, over!" I didn't wait for a response as I looked to the guy beside me. "Start telling everyone to retreat into the tunnels, I got our left flank, you get the right." He nodded and we both took off running. Bullets cracked by far closer than I was comfortable with as I slid into the first shell hole, startling the two fighters hunkered down in it. thankfully, neither one tried to shoot me, both nodding as I told them to fall back. As soon as I had, I leapt back out of the shell hole and to the next one. I heard one of the fighters ahead of me screaming for help, sliding into the hole with him. "What's wrong?" I almost felt stupid for my rushed question as the man was pressing his hands against his team mates chest, trying to stem the flow of blood. I reached for my aid kit, realizing I had already yanked it out earlier, leaving it in the other shell hole. "Stay here, cut his shirt off and keep pressure on that wound, I'm going to be right back." He nodded and I was on my feet yet again, right back into the maelstrom of bullets criss crossing back and forth. I had barely even made it half way to the other shell hole when I felt an impact on my thigh just before my foot made contact with the ground. The second my weight went onto the leg, excruciating pain ripped across my leg, sending me tumbling to the ground. None of my muscles wanted to respond, all tensed from the shock of the bullet and the adrenaline now totally flooding my veins. I could feel my pulse pounding away in my head, my vison blurred out to the point that I could barely see. Despite the pain, despite knowing how hard it was to move, I forced myself back to my feet, half limping, half running the rest of the way. As soon as I was in the crater, I grabbed the IFAK off the ground and hobbled as fast as I could back the way I had come. Amazingly, even moving slower as I was, not a single bullet found it's mark on me. I dropped back into the crater with the wounded soldier, ignoring the blood and pain streaming from my thigh as grabbed the two chest seals from the kit and the roll of gauze. The uninjured fighter gotten the injured soldier's shirt off and was still pressing on his chest.
"Here, take the gauze, wipe away the blood." He nodded as I prepped the first chest seal, slapping it in place before gently rolling him over, searching his back for an exit wound. I near instantly found one, signaling the fighter to wipe the blood away again as I slapped the second seal in place. As soon as I was done, I shoved a roll of medical tape into the fighter's hands, instantly shouting again.
"As soon as you are in the tunnels, tape down all four sides of those chest seals, any time you set him down, put him on his side, injured side down, got it?" he nodded and I continued before he had any chance to speak. "Now fall back, I'll cover you."
"But what about you!? your hit too!" I almost ignored him, grabbing Anya's rifle out of the dirt as I fell onto my stomach, able to just aim over the lip of the crater.
"I'll be fine, now go!" as soon as I shouted at him, I opened fire, between the shaking in my muscles, the head splitting head ache I had, and the inability to really see straight, I wasn't exactly hitting the enemy, but the near miss's still made them duck for cover. as soon as the magazine was empty, I slid further into the crater and grabbed the one bandage in the medical kit, wrapping it around the wounded leg as tight as I could before securing. I knew it wasn't going to stop the bleeding, but at least it would slow it down. a quick glance to my left and right told me that all of the surviving resistance fighters had fallen back, the KPA starting to swarm into the area. Now or never. I slid down into the bottom of the shell hole before keying my mic again, hating myself for what I was about to say.
"Everything left on my position, now!" I heard Command acknowledge, myself just waiting for the explosions to begin raining down.
Lone Sniper, Homestead
Anya continued to gently stroke the dog she had tightly clamped to her chest, able to feel that the dog was still quaking, despite her best efforts. Little did Anya realize, the dog wasn't the only one shaking. Even so, she had managed to calm the dog down enough that she wasn't whimpering any more, just the occasional whine. The distant booms had ceased a little while ago, starting to make Anya nervous that she hadn't had any word yet about the situation. Shouts outside gained her attention, causing her to finally release the dog and hobble her way outside. The entire cul-de-sac was a flurry of activity as twenty or so people were helped out of the tunnel network, almost all of them injured in some way or another. Her heart sank when she realized that none of them had on the brown green and tan splotch camo Wander wore, nor his helmet. The dog had trotted a few steps ahead of her, staring intently at the tunnel exit as if she fully expected for Wander to come bursting out of it. the whined several times as she patiently waited for her master to appear, her tail between her legs.
"Anya…" she glanced upon hearing her name, noticing the local cell leader, a frown on his face. "Damien… he… he stayed behind. We don't think he made it." the dog seemed to hear what he said, looking back at them before lying down, her nose toward the tunnel as her whining increased.
"I'm going after him." the cell leader tried to stop her but she yanked her arm out of his hand, glaring at him. "Roxy, come on, let's go find him." the dog instantly launched to her feet, trotting up beside her.
"Then I'm going with you. if even half what the other said is true, I owe him that much." She shrugged about to head for the tunnel when she hear him shout. "Get me that KPA Hummvee!" she stopped and waited as she hear an engine get fired up, the vehicle rolling out of one of the house's garage. As soon as it stopped near them, Anya hobbled over and opened the door, gesturing for the dog to jump in. the dog didn't need a second invitation, leaping right in, Anya following her. the interior of the up armored Humvee was as cramped as the last one she rode in, the dog sitting in the seat across from her as a gunner dropped into the hatch, the cell leader taking the driver's seat. it didn't take them long to find the remains of the supply depot, Anya's heart sinking when she saw the almost see of craters and bodies. It seemed like the KPA had fallen back for the moment, Anya sliding out of the vehicle as soon as it stopped, the dog dropping out right behind her.
"Go find him roxy." The dog barked once before taking a sniff of the air, suddenly taking off at a mad sprint, barking the whole way. Anya cursed to herself, trying to trot after the dog, the pain in her leg slowing her down. the dog stopped on the rim of one of the craters, barking once before disappearing inside. Anya's gut lurched at her potential discoveries in that crater, her imagination working entirely against her as she thought of more and more ways he could be dead in that crater. That caused her to start full on sprinting, despite the pain, freezing at what she saw inside the crater. An armored soldier was lying face down in the dirt, his uniform almost black from dust and debris, Roxy sitting across his back, like she was guarding him. Anya could hear the faint whine emanating from the dog, taking a second to compose herself, trying to prepare for the worst, before sliding into the crater herself. "Roxy, move." The dog gave her a sideways glance before looking away. Anya sighed, trying to gently shove the dog aside, only to earn a sideways glare from the dog, Roxy growling slightly. Anya instantly stopped trying to move the dog, suddenly very afraid that Roxy was about to attack her. what she got instead caused tears to flood out of her eyes.
"Roxy… Bad… Girl…" the faint whisper was enough to cause the dog to leap to her feet, tail between her legs, giving Anya a chance to slowly roll Wander over. Now that she could look at him, he was covered in shrapnel wounds, a bandage wownd tightly around his thigh, her rifle still clutched tightly in his hands. She instinctively searched his throat for a pulse, just to be sure. As soon as she found one, she pulled his torso up into a hug, sobbing into his neck, just glad he was still alive.
General Kai glanced up at his door as someone knocked, instantly shouting for them to come in. a terrified looking private stepped in, holding a manilla file folder, saluting the second he entered. Kai returned the salute, beckoning the kid forward.
"I was instructed to bring you the report on the depot raid from yesterday sir!" he nodded at the private, grabbing the report and waved him off, not even returning the soldiers second salute as he opened the folder, skipping the written report of the events, most of which he was already aware of, and going straight to the intelligence photo's snapped by a drone during the battle. It showed several resistance fighters fighting from shell holes, but they weren't what had grabbed his attention. The soldier running between craters in a U.S. military uniform, and gear he had only ever seen special forces use, however, held his full attention.
"How interesting…"