Chapter 12: Not Dead Yet

SUV en route to Veteran Retirement complex known as "The Vault"

Franklin Woods, David Mason and Rurik Harvey scheduled to meet occupant

1300 hours, August 4, 2020

Rurik Harvey awoke in the back seat of an SUV. He calmly sat up and watched as the driver parked it in the Vault's parking lot. He looked at the driver and the man in the passenger's seat, the driver looking back at him.

"Good, you're awake. We're here." Frank Woods told Rurik. "Take off the mask, it'll make you seem less hostile."

Rurik removed the mask from his head and placed it in his pocket before opening the right door in the back row, exiting the vehicle. He pushed the door back into the vehicle as Woods and David Mason, the person in the passenger seat, opened their doors and exited the vehicle. They shut their doors and approached the building, entering it and walking to a corner room on the far side of the hall. They were stopped by the guard, who held out his palm, wanting identification.

"Identification, please." The guard asked, his palm still outstretched.

"Frank Woods."

"David Mason."

"Rurik Harvey."

The guard nodded and swiped his keycard through the terminal outside of the room, unlocking it before he twisted the knob and opened the door for them. Woods, Mason and Rurik entered the room to find a man white hair and a white beard in a wheelchair, admiring a case full of medals.

"Hey dad." Woods said to the old man, who used his hands to turn the wheelchair to greet him.

"Hey, junior. How ya' doin' Dave?" the original Frank Woods asked. "Who the hell is he?"

The old man raised his arm and pointed his finger at Rurik. Woods Jr. and Mason glanced at Rurik, who began to stand tall.

"ARM 6-1, Sergeant Woods." Rurik answered.

"What happened in Verdansk, a real tragedy." Old Woods said, staring into space. "You know, I have quite a few stories of Verdansk, if you have the time."

"Another time, dad." Woods Jr. said. "We came here to find something. What do you know about Victor Zakhaev?"

"So this is a business trip." Old Woods chuckled. "Victor Zakhaev is the son of Imran Zakhaev, a Cold War "hero", and founder of Zakhaev Arms. His father was best buds with Perseus, but the CIA put that bastard in the ground."

"We're here about his son, not the old man." Woods Jr. said, met with a chuckle from his father.

"That's all I got. If you want more, ask him."

"So we came here for nothing?" Rurik asked Woods Jr.

"We have one more card to play." Mason told Rurik before turning to the Old Woods. "Did Imran Zakhaev have any other children?"

"I think he had another son and a daughter. But it ain't a fact. I've only heard it from a couple rumors." Old Woods told them. "Good luck, Junior. Good hunting, Dave."

Woods Jr., Mason and Rurik began to leave.

"-And Armistice," Old Woods began, causing Rurik to stop and turn to face him. "Go get that bastard."

Rurik smirked and nodded before walking out through the door, leaving the Old Woods all alone. Woods grabbed a soda can and opened it, beginning to drink.

"We've received intel about the weapons supplier of Raul Menendez, the leader of Cordis Die. His supplier's name is Victor Zakhaev, also known as Mister Z., and we all know what he's capable of." Section told his JSOC team.

"So along with helping Al-Qatala, he also has the time to supply Cordis Die?" Harper asked, resting his feet on the briefing table. "Sounds far fetched."

"I know what I heard. He blatantly said "Raul" and he is known to collaborate with big terrorist groups, along with the fact that crippling the US would make sense. The US is one of the massive thorns in his side. He would just be getting them out of the way." Rogue told Harper. "I was there. He was willing to nuke Verdansk to remove thorns from his side. Supplying Menendez is child's play."

"Well, how do we find him?" Crosby asked Section.

"We don't know. All of the intel that we have is that he has a brother and sister." Section told his team. "But that's... simply too much."

"So, what do we do?" Woods asked.

Section scratched his head. He didn't know what they were going to do next.

"I have a suggestion." Rogue said, raising his hand. "We search his last known location and attempt to pick up a trail."

"And where would that be?" Harper asked.

"Verdansk."

The elevator dinged, causing the doors to open for the JSOC team to enter the computer room of Bunker 10. Section, Harper, Woods, Crosby and Rogue exited the elevator and began to examine the room. Rogue looked up the stairs from across the room and saw that the Bunker had been blown open. Section grabbed the items on the desks, finding nothing of value, while Woods inspected Cold War era technology on the walls, trying to find anything that could lead them to Zakhaev. The team found nothing in the room, so they passed through the hallway on the left side of the room in relation to the bunker door. They found themselves in a control room with a window in the middle, a window showing a missile silo with a ballistic missile inside. Crosby looked down at the floor, finding a small pool of dried blood with a trail leading to a slightly open door.

"I found something!" Crosby yelled to his team, who looked down and followed the trail of blood with their eyes.

"Oh yeah, that was open when I got there." Woods thought aloud, causing his team to turn and look at him. "What? I was occupied!"

"Yeah, he's right. I was bleeding out." Rogue pointed out, the JSOC team beginning to nod in agreement.

Harper pushed open the door, finding it to be a door leading to the Metro tunnels. The JSOC team walked through the door and into the tunnels, looking to the left and to the right, looking for any signs of light. The dim, red lights returned to normal, the Metro tracks beginning to crackle with electricity.

"So, what now?" Crosby asked.

"Now, we find Zakhaev." Section replied, cocking his XM8.

Note: The bolded sections in the beginning are meant to be black ink, which is just meant to be a reference to Black Ops, nothing more, nothing less.