Alright, here's the second chapter, I hope you all like it, because it has a relatively success rate now.
Location: unknown
Scope, the only survivor of the gang that took part in the Madison Square Gardens raid that he and a large group of his men partook in, now sat on a chair with a bag over his head.
He couldn't see anything or even say anything with his mouth being gagged, but he could still hear what was going on as his ears were the only thing left off.
While he was being dragged through the cold New York streets, half-unconscious, he pretty much figured out he was being taken to their hideout, as he was kept under a headlock by one of them who also held a pistol pointed to the back of his skull to make sure he didn't try anything.
As he was on his way, he didn't hear a word from them until they got off the streets and entered a building, presumably their hideout. Which happens to be not far away from the Gardens. Possible a couple of blocks away.
What he did know was two things, the first is that he was not in the Post Office - as these guys were absolutely not JTF personnel.
And secondly, their leader recognized him from the rumors he had heard and been warned off.
Now, the only thing the lone rioter was hearing was full on talk amongst them, he was somewhere warm, and he was spared by the one person he saw before getting knocked out for a moment.
"Take it off, he's awake." The first voice said.
"Are you sure, boss?" A second voice asked the first. "He might still be dizzy."
Scope then felt a hand grabbing his head and raising it up, before he released him.
"He's up, alright. I can talk to him. Go and fetch yourself something to eat, Hoopster."
"Right, sir." The person identified as Hoopster left and the sound of a closing door was heard. Meaning he was inside some empty room as the other voices were gone.
"Alright, it's time for a little chat, but first let's remove that bag."
Scope then recognized that voice. It was from that guy, the same one who knocked him out, the person who he and his crew were warned about avoiding at any cost!
It was-
The bag was removed from his head, with the light above him getting into his eyes that made him squint his eyelids, and then when he opened them slowly, he saw the person in front of him.
Naruto stood there, on the opposite side of a metal bench, and the man recognized that the room he was in was an interrogation room, meaning they must be in a police station-
"Don't worry, we're not far off." Naruto said sitting down. "Gotta give my men some rest, and its not far away from the JTF, so don't think you'll be able to escape."
What was laid on the table surprised him, an opened can of food, with a spoon and a warm plastic cup of coffee, black with sugar cubes laying next and milk.
Looking up to Naruto, he saw the look on his face as he told him the following.
"I figured you'd like something to eat. So here." Naruto said, shoving the canned food in front of his prisoner as an offer before walking around and uncuffing him so he could use his hands. "Careful, it's hot. So don't burn your tongue."
Being hesitant, Scope was first becoming suspicious of what this person's intentions were. It only has been like a few hours how he let Hutch be executed with a bullet to the head and knock him out with the but of a rifle.
"It's ravioli, and it's been warmed." Naruto told him as he took a sip from his own coffee. "Oh, and in case you're wondering, it's Bodie's, hope that's no problem."
Ravioli, that's something he hadn't eaten in a long time, Scope looked inside the can and saw it was indeed ravioli, with red sauce and the hot air coming out of it. It was indeed hot.
The thoughts of having gone days, no, weeks-a full month without warm food, made him grab for the spoon and dig right in for the food and try to prop it into his mouth. Not caring for one moment that it was hot.
"Careful, you'll burn your tongue."
Scope did take the man's advice and began to eat a bit slower, just enough for him both to enjoy the taste and fill up his starving stomach that's been fed only with cold food and often crackers and leftovers that he found in looted stores.
"Oh, this is soo fucking good."
"Haven't eaten in a while, haven't you?" Naruto asked.
"No, not since last week." Scope admitted, while resting his head on his arm, visible tired. "Ever since we left Chelsea."
"Ah, yes, you're from the Chelsea district, right? Martin Echols?"
Scope's head stiffened when he heard that.
"Your name's Martin Echols, born in 87'. Your former occupation was being a dishwasher in a deli shop down Tenderloin. And also interesting, you've served in the NY's National Guard for three years from '10 to '13 before being dishonorably discharged for misconduct."
"What the-"
"I'm not finished." Naruto said, getting up and walking around the table with his own cup of coffee, and stood directly behind him. "Your reason for misconduct was your attempt to steal government property; weapons, to be precise."
Scope began speaking back. "Those were false accusations-"
"That was confirmed when an anonymous tip was given to where the missing ammunition and firearms were found. In your house." Naruto leaned in forward and added. "Which resulted in you being kicked out, am I correct?"
The rioter only gave a glare shot to the Division agent and then turned his face away from him to not make eye contact.
"What do you want from me?"
"Simple information."
"Information about what?-"
"Information that as second-in-command of Hutch's now neutralized group should know," Naruto cut him off. "We know that you and, Hutch, have been keeping contact with numerous other gangs who've been dying to get out of Manhattan for some time. Even going into every house, store and building to collect anything useful you can trade off." Naruto puts the cup down and holds his hands together while questioning his prisoner. "Trading anything valuable for food, water and weapons."
The amount of information that Scope was being given, was uncomfortably accurate that it made him turn away from Naruto's sight, not wanting to face him.
"Meaning something big's going to happen."
Scope's mind began to panic and he then blathered out. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You sure you're going for that path?" Naruto asked, seeming very calm about it. "Because even a former army guy like you knows how deep in legal problems you are."
"Like what, in Manhattan?" Scope shot back. "Look around you, buddy. It's total chaos, New York City's finest are either dead or gone off."
"Gone from New York City, yes. But the US military is still standing, and your looting expeditions is a capital offense." Naruto replied. "And the closest military base now is in New Jersey, with martial law in Full Force."
Scope soon swallowed those words back, as Naruto wasn't finished yet, as he resumed.
"Gets in your head, right? Well, I haven't even started on the charges you could get from my recommendation as an official US federal agent." Naruto reminded his suspect.
"You're a federal agent? What alphabet soup agency got a cripple like you?"
"Off the grid Black ops, more secret than the SEALs and more...civilian friendly. But you're in more trouble than you realize
"Like what?"
"First of all, 1st Degree Murder." Naruto coldly stated. "The bodies of the murdered medical personnel and patients in the Madison Square Gardens Field Hospital are found, with surveillance footage of your group doing the killings. Attacking a field hospital with civilians is a war crime no matter where you are. All of that is caught on surveillance cameras, which we now have a full copy of."
Scope could only slump back into his chair as he heard all of this.
"And all that, brought in front of a military court, as an dishonorable discharged veteran, could get you straight to the ultimate - Death Penalty. If not Life."
"...Fuck…" Scope's eyes began wandering around, he suddenly felt himself with his arms across his face, staring down at the ground.
"And the shame that will bring upon your family would perhaps be worse. Especially your father who's an retired Navy officer."
"Please don't-"
"A veteran, to be exact, from the Vietnam War." Naruto kept on putting pressure on the guy's already crumbling situation. "I know for a fact thanks to little digging, your family successfully was evacuated from Manhattan just before the island went on full lockdown, so if they got word of your trial-"
"STOP!"
SLAM!
Scope's sudden move to smash his naked hand on the table, showing his white, damaged frail hand, got Naruto to stop talking, as he watched what he was going to do next.
Defeated, Scope gave in and answered. "What do you want from me?"
"Like I said, information." Naruto told him again. Before leaning his head forwards while moving the prepared coffee cup in front of the prisoner, he offered him. "Now, be honest with me, and if you do, I'll do something in return."
"What's in for me?" Scope asked.
"Well, for now, you can be my informant on the street, and bring me anything valuable of intel you can gather. Meaning, I can provide you with essentials like food." Naruto offered. "And once the situation in Manhattan is turning for the better, you might even see the outside world in twenty years after serving time in a federal prison."
"And what if I refuse?" Scope asked, curiosity perhaps, but also fear. "What if I refuse to be a rat?"
"You'll be immediately handed over to Camp Hudson, which you surely know is the only district under full control of the JTF." Naruto added sternly to the prisoner and with glossing over. "And you'll be facing the powerful might of the US military judicial system. A more effective and less compassionate one, if I may add."
Scope growled and looked away. Knowing his choices were bad - but one was clearly worse, so he picked the lesser one.
"Fine, I'll play your game."
"Good," Naruto nodded and resumed his questioning. "Now, tell me. What were you and Hutch involved in?"
The prisoner sighs as he took a moment to think and then took one mental note:
'Whoever would've thought I'd come across this guy.'
While the interrogation kept ongoing inside the closed off room, outside, something else was happening.
"Alright, Tony, you're up."
A backpack was flung on top of the table, with a hand pulling out all the material out of it. "Those guys were carrying all kinds of stuff, so we got a big catch."
"Like what?" The redhead female asked her Hispanic fellow agent. "Come on, tell me what you got."
"Nothing out of the ordinary. Some ammo for some rifles, mainly 7.62's and 5.56mm, some canned food again, water and a few soda cans. A few unopened packs of cigarettes. A phone loader, which can be useful in the future".
"Which one?" A man asked passing by and took a look at the cord and shook his head. "Nah, not the right one.
Tony shook his head and continued to unpack. "And for the rest, some chocolate bars, a lighter, some batteries, matches, beef jerky, and this." He reaches deep inside his bag with a smile. "You're going to love this."
The female agent, Cecilia Ann, narrowed her eyes at the Hispanic agent and guessed. "What is it?"
"Here." He pulls out a hairbrush, a new one, and hands it over to her. "For your hair, I thought you might need it."
Ann smiled at seeing this and took the hairbrush. "Finally, something to work with. A bad hair day is never good."
"Thought you might need it." Tony Garzia smiled at his teammate. "What are partners for?"
The place they were the group, who committed the raid on MSG, was the abandoned 14th precinct headquarters, several floors up with sight on the former arena.
With most of the group, having moved several sofas around a burning fire that was made of legs of broken tables they ripped them off from, anything to keep themselves warm in this cold old place that was lacking gas to heat up the building.
With one of them using the fire to make a metal cup of black coffee warm, having to make do without a coffee maker or heating pad.
"You mind?" The cop with the military cap over his face complained, laying back to the sofa as he tried to take a nap. "I'm trying to sleep for a bit.
"Whatever." Sutton replied, the person who was making the coffee. The man's name was Dough Sutton. He was among First Wave Division agents, and leader of Noble Squad. It was now busy making some coffee for himself and a few others. Seeing it would be needed for those who were just getting started on their watch.
Pouring into four cups, all black coffee. With some milk poured in and only a few sugar cubes he managed to find. He started putting them on a metal plate he found and began going to the first two he made the drinks for.
Sitting near the smashed up windows of the 14th precinct, were two young men. Both were wearing police uniform jackets with no body armor, because they were lacking it. But they both were armed, one with a sniper rifle and the other with a shotgun, aiming down the street.
"Here, guys, to keep you awake." Sutton said, giving the two their drinks.
"Thanks, sir.' The first person, a white haired male cop who was holding the Remington 870 Pump-Action shotgun, accepted his drink before taking a sip from it.
"Put mine next to me, sir." The young black cop said, with his eyes still focused on the scope of his Remington MSR sniper rifle. Watching the street like a hawk for anything suspicious. Sutton puts the drink next to the sniper.
"Seen anything yet?" Sutton asked as he looked through an unbroken window.
"Negative, sir. Nothing out there." The sniper confirmed to him. "Except for some civilians wandering around. Nothing else out there."
He looked up to see the familiar arena,he watched directly at the rooftop, seeing the bodies of the dead rioters that were killed only a few hours ago, yet were already attracting the attention of the crows.
"You know I had tickets to the Rangers opening night, the weekend the world ended."
"Everything that could go wrong did and now, we're stuck in a city no one cares about anymore. If NYC got like this, can you imagine the rest of the world? New York was literally the crossroads of the world."
"Right," The sniper cop replied before saying. "Have we ID'd the bastards who attacked the Madison Square Field Hospital yet?"
"Hoopster's onto that." Sutton commented. "Why?"
"Because I recognized some of those sonsofbitches when I was going through their bodies." The cop with the cap replied, with a hint of anger in his face. "Arrested them a couple of times, always some punks who were making trouble."
"I'll talk to Hoopster about it." Sutton said as he decided to walk away from the window when the cop with the shotgun brought up,
"If one of those fuckers got to the Rikers, we might be in a shitload of trouble." The white cop nervously added. "I don't want to come across Larae Barrett anytime soon."
"Fuck that bitch, I honestly cannot wait to come knocking at her hideout." The black cop stated, with a clear grudge against her. "That cop-killer had it long coming to her."
"Where do you think she's holding up?" The white cop asked. "Not at Rikers Island, that's for sure.
"I don't know, she keeps moving around, from what I heard." The sniper replies as he scanned the area. "Can't pinpoint her location, but she's believed to be still in Midtown Manhattan."
The white cop gulped. "I hope we don't run into her anytime soon."
"I hope we will, because I got a bullet ready for her ugly-ass carved-up face." The sniper commented. "I tell ya, even if she surrendered, I still put four bullets in her chest, and two in the head."
"You keep an eye on the streets, boys." Sutton said, tapping both their shoulders before making his way to someone else.
That somebody else? The guy waiting at the entrance of the one interrogation room that was in use. Sitting on a bench while waiting for the boss's talk to end.
"Akil."
The African American turned his head around, to see he was offered something to drink.
"Coffee?"
Akil nodded and took one. "Thanks, Doug." He turned back to the door and took a sip from the drink and noticed the taste. "Hmm, a bit strong."
"Yeah, sorry. Last bit of powder that was left." Sutton told him. As it was the last bit of coffee powder left indeed.
"I can work with it, Doug." Hoopster replied as he took another sip from it, having to stay up for the work he's got to do anyway. "Was taking a break anyway from my task."
"Hmmm, speaking about it." Sutton began to ask whilst turning around to the bench. "Got any ideas who these folks are? The ones we just neutralized, I mean."
On the bench table, laid a significant amount of intelligence that was collected over the last few weeks, the lamp on the desk shining over them. With, among that evidence that laid on top of it, was a few dozen wallets. ID's, driver licenses, pictures, anything useful for identification was taken by the Division Agent to identify the piles of bodies."
"Nothing much, just that some of these punks were what you expect, trouble making locals who are terrorizing and extorting their own neighborhoods." Akil stated, shaking his head. "Which still doesn't answer my question why they decided to attack the field hospital."
"Guess crooks don't need much reason for their actions." Sutton pointed out. "One of the cops did mention he arrested some of these guys - suspects one of them might be running with the Rikers."
"Well, got nothing on that." Hoopster said, having taken another sip before putting the drink aside. "No link to Barrett's people in any sense. Most likely they were just independent crooks. Also, none of our drones spotted anybody fleeing the area around MSG. So that fear for now is gone."
"Good," Sutton said, relieved. "I don't want a repeat from what happened last time."
"Don't remind me, please." Hoospter said, removing his cameo hunter's hat from the head and thinking back. "If it weren't for you, we'd be dead in that repair shop."
"Don't thank me, Akil." Sutton corrected him. "Thank our commander inside." Sutton pointed to the door. "If it wasn't for him….."
"We'd be all dead."
Flashback
Few weeks earlier
Kip's Bay, North of East 32nd Street.
"We got them trapped, boys!"
The members of Noble Squad were trapped in the Tools repair shop, right behind the counter with multiple Rikers shooting at them with their firearms, pinning the three agents down with immense firepower.
"Don't kill them yet! Try to take them as prisoners!"
The desk the three First Wave Division agents were hiding behind, with the shattered glass of the office's windows shot out.
Down below, laid one of the Rikers' who was handcuffed and forced on the ground with another friend and was trying to dodge the pieces of glass and dust that was falling on his head.
"Aim higher, god damnit!" He shouted before getting shoved into the ground by Ann. She kept her pistol aimed at the captured Riker' their skulls as bullets kept flying over them.
"Shut it!" She threatened them loudly. "Or I'll blow your damn brains out!" Pressing her Beretta M9 at the prisoner's skull before looking over to her friend. "Tony, you alright?!"
Tony Garzia laid wounded, next to the two prisoners, he was holding onto his leg, where he was hit by a bullet while caught off guard, and was trying to stay down even while clinging in his teeth.
"I'm alright."
"But-"
"I'm alright!" Garzia shouted back. "Just keep them back!"
Hoopster, who just dropped his rifle to the ground, had run out of ammo and reached for his PF45 pistol and puts the safety off and turns to his wounded friend.
"Tony!" The wound looked bad, as blood was oozing out. But his comrade seemed less concerned about his own life, and more to his friends.
"Go fight." Garzia told him, his voice weakened, "Go fight!"
Then a grenade was thrown right into the room, and landed precisely next to Garzia's leg, with Hoopster having spotted it!
Reacting fast, he quickly grabbed it and threw it back at their attackers.
"Look out-"
BOOM!
The grenade blast hit two approaching Rikers. With screams of pain getting heard from the ones who were hit. Forcing the escaped convicts back for a short moment.
"Stop using fucking grenades! We're still here!" One of the cuffed Rikers yelled out to his friends.
"We're here too!"
"Shut up!" Garzia yelled while swinging his free arm over the shouting Rikers, with Ann even joining in by smacking the but of her sidearm on their backs to stop them from yelling. She then laid over their bodies to reach her wounded friend in hope to comfort her friend.
"Don't be afraid!" She said to him reassuring words. "All is good!"
"Akil!" Garzia screamed at her. "Help Akil!" He forced her back to her side of the desk.
Hoopster, with his PF45 pistol, was aiming through the holes of the wooden desk and picking targets that were closing in. One Riker was seen trying to run his way for the desk-
POP! POP!
The two shots hit the sprinting Riker's body twice, making him collapse to the ground with the bullets slugged into him.
The bastard tried to stand back up, but made a mistake when he moved his face towards the desk.
Just when Hoopster aimed it right at his head.
POP!
"UGH!" The Riker's head yanked back with a bullet drilling through, jolting his dead body backwards.
"HE KILLED ADAM!"
Ann quickly reacted by going out off her cover, and quickly fired back at the charging inmate, hitting him three times in the upper body.
She then fired every bullet she had left in her chamber at anything that was moving, until the clip was fully emptied and she was forced to duck back for cover as the bullets began getting dangerously close to her cover.
"I'm out!" Ann cried out.
"Shouldn't have used every bullet!" Hoopster shouted back, putting a new clip inside his sidearm while warning her. "My last clip!"
"Here, take mine!" Garzia yelled as he hands over Ann his own sidearm, an custom-made X-45, She tried to grab for the gun-
Until-
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
These gunshots got closer, with one of the bullets hitting with straight luck the pistol, and ripping it in half as it nearly had hit Garzia's hand.
"Fuck!" Ann shouted as she
"They're out of ammo!" One of the cuffed men shouted with luck. "You just shot one of their guns!"
"Shut up!" Garzia punched the guy across the face.
"Move in!" One of the Rikers could be heard shouting. "Keep them under fire, and fuck them up!"
With the inmates continuing their attack, they got the members of Noble Squad trapped in a corner like rats in a cage.
"Where the fuck is Doug!?"!" Ann shouted in the chaos. Checking and seeing she's out of ammo. "I'm not going to die like this!"
"Then grab something to hit them with!" Hoopster told her while reaching for a sharp war knife he held. Ann pulled out a ledger and watched the door.
"Come in now! They're out of ammo!"
The two Division agents grabbed their weapons, ready to fight to the end. With each having something sharp. The shooting continued as the Rikers were heard moving in towards the room.
The Division agents were going to jump then until-
RTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT!
"The garage doors-Ugh!"
"Look out-"
A sudden burst of gunfire erupted outside the room the Division agents were in. The Rikers immediately turned their attention towards where the new gunfire was coming from.
In a matter of moments the louder gunfire was the dominant one that was heard, causing the First Wave agents to be in shock, and hearing it out as it continued on for another few moments.
Then the gunfire stopped. Causing an uneasy silence that causes the two Division agents to turn to each other.
No word was uttered out, until it was coming first from their wounded comrade.
"Help" Garzia asked, groaning in pain. "Please, I don't feel-"
"Wait a moment, Tony." Ann said to him, holding her partner's wound and comforting him. "Just hold still, we'll get you patched up."
"Please help me… It hurts."
"Clear?"
That voice stiffened the members of Noble Squad, afraid to answer at first.
"Clear?"
Hoopster turned his head to Ann, who nodded back to him, giving him the go.
"Clear." He responded while putting his pistol up. "Clear." He looked over and saw the first person to enter the garage was somebody they knew-
"Sutton!"
The Division agent spotted them and was running up towards them and checked on his team.
"Akil, Ann He then noticed his wounded comrade. "Tony..."
"Where were you?" Ann demanded while holding her partner down. "We were almost dead!"
"Sutton! They alive?"
The voice made the three Division agents turned back to the only opening, seeing all the Rikers inside of the garage, were all laying on the ground, with all the garage doors that were closed, covered in holes. With the inmates having met the same fate as the old rusty metal doors: filled up with countless holes.
"Jesus Christ, they didn't see it coming." Hoopster said, seeing the damage the shop had been given. "Doug?"
Two of the armed men aimed at the Division agents and one called out. "We got a few here, commander."
Then, entering the shop, was Naruto. He turned back to a few men behind him and ordered them to cover the entrance as he walked past the floor that was riddled with dead or dying Rikers inmates.
It was then when Naruto stopped over the dead body of a Riker, who was shot in the head, and used his foot to roll the corpse over as he grabbed for the man's ammunition, as he held the same rifle as his and continues walking further.
"Check the bodies." Naruto ordered his men as he turned to the team he just rescued.
Hoopster noticed the gear the person was wearing, and saw, he was wearing SHD gear. Yet, he has never seen him before.
"Okay, who the hell are you and why are you wearing SHD tech?" Hoopster shot that question straight away.
"Hoopster!"
The immediate hostile questions got the members of Naruto's group to raise their weapons and tone against the member of Noble Squad.
"You ungrateful little-"
"Let it, Gamble." Naruto halted the altercation while holding his good arm up. "Go help this wounded man up, now."
Gamble nodded and helped up Garzia with the support of the female Agent, and brought them away from the desk. Leaving Naruto, two of his other men, and the two other Noble Squad members.
It was Sutton who began. "Hey look-"
"Don't, Doug." Naruto told him before turning to Hoopster. "Alright, I see you don't trust me, do you?"
Hoopster shook his head. "No. I don't."
"Good, because I don't trust you either." Naruto said, talking back to the distrusting First Wave agent. "But I do know Doug here, so if you got any questions you want to bring up, you're free to do so."
"Okay, to begin with your name, who are you?" Hoopster asked straight away. "I see you're wearing SHD tech, yet I've never seen you."
"That's because I'm supposed to not been known amongst your agents." Naruto answered. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki."
"Uzumaki, right?" Hoopster didn't buy it. "Never heard of you, which Wave? First or second?"
"Akil, he's none of them." Sutton replied, shaking his head. "He's Steel Fox."
"S-Steel Fox?"
"Bullshit, they're supposed to be dead."
The whispers of the two captured Rikers did not get unnoticed. As they got picked up from the ground and forced on their knees.
"I guess these guys know about Steel Fox." Naruto said, looking at the two frightened looking inmates. "I guess you can figure out who I am, right?"
The two convicts just kneeled there in silence, making glances at the Division agents, and not paying attention to the two, NYPD officers in SWAT gear standing behind them with their hands reaching for something.
Naruto then shook his head at the inmates not giving a response and then got closer to the first one and whispered something in his ear.
To the two Noble Squad members' their confusion, until they then saw the eyes widen of those two inmates as Naruto stopped whispering into their ears.
"Wait, wait!"
"No-"
SPLASH!
The two officers behind them dug their knives deep into the inmates' throats, the only sounds being their gurgling as they choked on their blood. Much to the horror of the Noble Squad member, Hoopster.
"What the fuck-"
"Consider this payback for all the cops you killed.
The two cops threw their bodies to the ground, one even kicking it in the back, watching as the escaped Rikers inmates were choking and gurgling on their own blood in their last moments on earth.
"Jesus." Sutton looked away for a moment, not having seen something like this happen. He almost had the urge to vomit but could keep it in. Hoopster on the other hand, looked more disgusted at what they just did and saw how their commander was not minding it.
"Give me the list, now." Naruto asked, getting a piece of paper being given by the cop with a cap. "Thanks."
"Why did you do that? They were prisoners."
"Directive 51. These guys were causing trouble, plus we don't have the luxury to take prisoners." Naruto answered. "Let alone letting them go off."
Hoopster protested. "Still, this isn't right."
"Tell that to them," Naruto told the agent, rather annoyed by it, but didn't show it directly as he flipped pages. "These scumbags have killed more good cops than you can count. So it's only fair to return the favor."
"How many of them have you killed?" Sutton asked, fully recovered, he asked the question. "The inmates, I mean, how many?"
"..I don't keep count, that's all I can say. But I believe we've killed a good quantity of them." Naruto replied vaguely before asking. "Can you tell me your names, please? It's for the list."
"A list?"
"Short answer, I don't trust ISAC. It's at this point that I rather use the pen and paper to know who I am coming across." Naruto responded and explained. "This is a list of all the First Wave agents who were activated and entered Manhattan."
The Noble Agents looked at the list. Some of the names were crossed out in red, others circled in black while some had both. "What's the list for?"
"Encircled in black names are traitors, crossed out in reds are dead, both means they were eliminated. My unit was designed as a way to keep the Division honest. Because quite frankly, they were asking for trouble putting our men in civilian life like this.
"We're not deserters, we're patriots." Hoopster raised his voice. "We wouldn't-"
"So was he. He too , she, her too. Him, and him." Naruto pointed at one random name, and went through a few, all of whom were encircled in black and crossed out in red. The two First Wave agents took a good look at that list and noticed it weren't a few black circled, but rather a lot.
Almost like half the page was filled with black circled names, and nearly all of them were crossed out.
"Jesus H. Christ." Hoopster said, beyond disbelief. "All these from the First Wave?"
"Currently, yes." Naruto informed him before taking the list back. "Now, tell me what your names are."
"Doug Sutton."
"Akil Hoopster."
Naruto wrote the names down. "Good, lets hope you don't end up like the rest."
A quick look at the Rikers members' dead bodies told them that staying loyal to the US might be better for their health.
Gamble came back armed with his M4 rifle and told him. "Sir, that Division agent, Garzia, he's in bad condition."
"How bad?"
"Gunshot in the leg, a flesh wound, but he's bleeding." Gamble, the former LMB operator told him. "Permission to let him and the others go back to the fallback point?"
"Permission granted."
*Gunshot!*
Everyone snapped to their weapons. Where that shot was coming from was unknown, but then the radio chat could be heard.
"Fox Leader! We have multiple Tangos inbound! What are your orders?"
Naruto talked through his radio. "Are those Tangos firing at you?"
"No, they just shot and killed an elderly woman on the street," The person over the radio replied. "I spot six tangos, ID them as Rikers."
"Do you see where they are moving?"
"They're going North of East 34th Street, sir. Close to Park Avenue, to be exact- wait, I see one of them carrying something with them."
"What is it?"
"I spot a woman, they got a woman captive."
Naruto wanted confirmation and asked. "How many, and where are they going?
"They're stopping and going into one of the apartments, they seem to be happy with their captive." The disgust in the man's voice could be heard. "Permission to engage?"
…
"Wait for us, we'll join you guys up there." Naruto ordered through the radio. "Gamble, on me. The rest of you, return to the hideout. Patch up the wounded and wait for further orders.
"Roger that."
"Got it, sir." Gamble nodded.
Naruto turned his head towards the two Noble Squad members. "You two, go with the rest. We'll catch up with you."
"But-"
"That's an order." Naruto said before walking out and tapping Gamble on the shoulder. Leaving the agents as they continued on.
"Let's move. North of East 34th Street, Close to Park Avenue."
End flashback
The two Noble Squad members had thought back on what had happened, and they could conclude that after they had left the auto shop, the amount of bodies they came across, it was luck that was provided to them when they got saved.
"Still, I got my doubts about him." Hoopster commented. "How he let his men easily kill those prisoners. Letting them bleed to death like that."
Sutton shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, man. If what he said was true, what he did to them was a mercy what they could have done to us."
What was meant was that these inmates, called 'Rikers' because they were mainly criminals who escaped Rikers Island, were on a pathway of anarchy and revenge, especially against anybody in the justice system and the NYPD.
Of which many had died gruesome and despicable deaths, to which they cheered every time, lingered their bodies around and used them as decorations. Sometimes even hanging them from anything high like trees.
Something that changed the surviving remaining cops to be as equally vicious at some times with retaliations, like what the two agents had witnessed.
"Still, a bullet would be better. A quick death." Hoopster said, looking at the others.
They all were relaxing for the moment, with some eating the rations, and others checking their weaponry. Some of New York's finest were, in his eyes, acting like a bunch of vigilante death squads, settling scores against the inmates.
"This isn't right, not one bit." Hoopster states, having a clear conscience against what was happening and was disgusted. "We're supposed to secure these streets, not roam around."
"We're not roaming around, Akil." Sutton protested. "We're waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"The Commander-"
"That asshole to do what?"
Hoopster's words were a little too loud, being heard by everyone else in the room.
Clang!
"It's not nice to call somebody an asshole."
That came from behind, as Naruto just exited the interrogation room, and locked the door right behind him as he walked up to the leader of Noble Squad.
"Especially if you're not saying it into someone's face." Naruto stood now face to face, and questioned. "Now, I see you don't trust me. Do you?"
Hoopster didn't hesitate. "No, I don't."
"Good, nor do I, like the rest of my team." Naruto made it clear. "Just because you were caught in a Riker's ambush, does not mean me or my men will start liking you, for the reason you First Wave agents don't trust me. You think I'm a rogue, you saw me kill those Rikers brutally and you're aware my team, Steel Fox, are basically the Division's boogeymen."
"...In not so many words, yes."
Naruto patted his shoulder. "Good again. It may not be any consolation, but this squad here is probably the one squad that you won't fear going rogue. Because if one of us did, they'd be dead in an instant."
"... Understood, Mr. Naruto was it?"
"Yes, but right now you can call Commander Uzumaki, clear?"
"Crystal, Commander.
"Alright then, what's our status?"
THUD!
"Tony!"
The room turned right back to where they saw Garzia had dropped to the ground, with his colleague, Ann kneeling by his side as she began checking on his pulse.
In a matter of moments, a group descended around the wounded agent, with Gamble sitting by Garzia's other side.
"Lemme check." The man commanded as he began rolling up the shirt, after having removed the equipment on the Hispanic's and began to check on his wound, that was covered in a band-aid and a blood stained that was placed over his leg where the gunshot wound was located.
"Let me through." Naruto made his way through and saw the state of the agent. "Shit, Gamble."
"He needs medical treatment now, sir." Gamble told him, checking the wound. "The bullet must've moved and opened the wound again."
"Fuck, we need to move him to Farley!"
"Wait, we're going back by the Garden?"
"It's the only spot with the materials we need. Otherwise, we would need to go uptown!"
"Not the Gardens, I'm not going back there."
Gamble grabbed the dissenter. "Its either Farley or we add another body to this city of death!"
"Silence!"
Naruto got everyone's attention as he saw the young man's face was covered in sweat, with his body trembling and his skin looking frail.
"Commander, we got to decide fast." Gamble told him. "If we don't transport him now, he'll die in the next hour from blood loss."
"And you suggest the Garden?" Naruto asked his second-in-command.
"Post Office got a medical bay set up, last I heard." Gamble replied. "And Uptown is too far."
The whole group watched as they wondered what their commander was about to decide.
Then he said the following.
"Let's move out."
James Farley Post Office - Medical Wing
The post office, located in the center of Pennsylvania Plaza and just across the Gardens, had turned into a Base of Operations to coordinate the situation of Midtown Manhattan with all the remaining JTF forces.
Or that was the plan on paper, while in reality it was a complete mess.
"Ugh, great." Dr. Kandel groans as she looked through her material. "From one shithole to another."
Dr. Jessica Kandel, now was in the medical wing of the Base of Operations, with being given: an rundown working area, with garbage and used medical supplies everywhere and some of the CERA personnel that was left were busy trying to clean up the mess.
Her medical team was also busy, with patching up the very few remaining JTF personnel that hadn't left, with their numbers dwindling.
One of the nurses walked right up to the virologist. "We got to talk."
"If you're going to complain about the lack of supplies, don't bother." Kandel said, looking up at the nurse. "Try and see what's in the emergency boxes, maybe something's there."
"I hope for you, because this is getting ridiculous." The nurse said, leaving very frustrated as this only left the virologist also to the point of boiling up her nerves.
Walking back towards the room, she opened all the drawers and was met with nothing but empty bottles, expired antibiotics, empty boxes of bandages and used syringes. This was way worse than what she worked with, and it has only been a month since this damn virus broke out.
In less than a month, the entire medical infrastructure and healthcare system had collapsed like a house of cards.
"Just fucking great."
"Dr. Kandel."
Looking out, she saw who it was that called it out, it was Asian American woman, Faye Lau, an active member of the Division Second Wave. Only, she was in bad shape. Walking on crutches with her face halfway covered in bandages. She supposedly arrived like this, her chopper into Manhattan got shot down by a missile.
She was the only survivor, with the Second Wave commander and the rest of the structure having been killed.
"Agent Lau, I see you're using your legs properly, or are you ignoring my recommendation?"
"Sorry, but I wanted to check on you." Agent Lau replied, wincing as the pain was still present in her damaged leg. "Your doctors told me you were in a tough spot."
"Look, I've been in hostile work environments before, but this last month, plus just a few hours ago, takes the cake." She points around the workplace. "This place right here, has fewer materials than in the Gardens, antique equipment that's barely running, an exhausted short-handed staff, and I haven't even mentioned the line of patients that are waiting - This isn't going to cut it."
"We're doing the best we can, Dr. Kandel." The wounded agent replied. "Any suggestions you might have, I'm happy to listen."
"I know, I know. Beggars, choosers, all that crap." Dr. Kandel took a moment to calm down. " What matters is beating this thing, but I can't do that without knowing more about it."
"Here's a good place to start." Lau raised up a dossier and planted it on the table. For Dr. Kandel to open it. "CERA is pretty sure Dr. Gordon Amherst had something to do with the outbreak."
Flipping a few pages, the virologist cussed.
"Oh, God, that asshole. Saw him present a paper at Colombia once. He nearly started a riot." Knowing exactly who he is. She picks up the dossier to start at somewhere.
"But if he's part of this, I need to talk to him. Anything of his you can find - notebooks, laptops, close personal friends -"
"Sorry doc, but you're going to have to wait for that." Lau shook her head and showed her bandaged leg. "With my leg broken, I'm not going anywhere."
"What? You serious?" Dr. Kandel asked, dropping the dossier and staring at her. "You said the Second Wave was activated-"
"With me being on the forefront as the first team in, yes." Lau clarified. "But my team, including my commanding officer, has been fully wiped out by the missile that hit us at Brooklyn-"
"Jesus Fucking Christ! Are there any commanders left that hasn't decided to screw the US?"
Lau frowned. "There...might be one left, but that comes with their own risks."
"Why does it feel like a deal with the devil?"
Lau hummed. "The unit's name is Steel Fox. If there was one unit guaranteed to not be a traitor, its them. But that's because they're the unit that gets sent in when Division agents go rogue. If he's with the First Wave then I bet he's in the city somewhere."
"Then why not contact this Steel Fox team?" Dr. Kandel asked. "Please, call them in, any help is welcome." but seeing the look on Lau's face, caused the New York doctor to looked confused.
"They went dark in the past few weeks, haven't heard anything from them since then. Probably something to do with the rumors ISAC being compromised." Lau told her, "The moment that rumor was out, his team had gone dark, with no response, no location or even surveillance footage having caught them on camera. There is a chance they might also have gone Rogue…"
Having told this all at once, the state of the First Wave really made Lau's morale degrade to a terrible degree. Having heard that the situation in Manhattan had gotten bad, she did not expect it to come to this. With the First Wave most likely totally destroyed.
"A Rogue hunting unit that has gone rogue...the irony cannot be more than that." Dr. Kandel said, trying to resist the urge to facepalm at this failure she was hearing. "This is just getting worse and worse…"
"Tell me about it."
"Dr. Kandel!
Kandel groaned. "What now?"
"We have a group claiming to be Division agents, one of them hurt badly!" The nurse said standing by the door. "They're saying they're Noble Squad. Come quick!"
"Noble Squad?" Dr. Kandel asked before turning to agent Lau. "Your people already here?"
"We've got no Noble Squad, only…." Lau said before realizing. "First Wave has a team called like that."
"Wait, you mean-"
"Let's check out."
"Ugh!"
In the middle of the hallway, Noble Squad members Doug Sutton and Cecilia Ann were by Tony Garzia's side, keeping their hands on Tony's leg to keep the blood pressure while Hoopster was waiting for the medics of this building while being in an unwilling onversation with the JTF.
"Sir, I need to know where-"
"And I need a fucking doctor now before my friend is bleeding dry." Hoopster responded back before shouting. "Where's that goddamn doctor!"
"I'm here!" Dr. Kandel said, walking up with an EHBO kit and approached the victim. "Brief me."
"Gunshot in the leg, has it for a week or so." Ann replied. "The bleeding stopped for few days, but must've reopened I think.
"Looks like it nicked the vein. I'm surprised he's alive!"
"You were our only option, if you have any spare supplies, we'd appreciate it."
Lau looked down and sighed. "We don't have much, but I'll see what I can do. Where's the rest of the squad?"
"We're it." Doug responded. "But can we discuss this later after Tony has been fixed?"
"Agreed, bring him up and follow me." Dr. Kandel said before turning to the nurse. "Get me a table ready now, some anesthetics and new bandages. We've got a bleeder."
"On it."
"We also need some blood." She turns to the agents. "What's his blood type?"
"AB."
"Good, let's move, now." Kandel ordered as she escorted them to the medical wing with Sutton and Ann moving their friend. "Out of my way, everyone!" She barked as the crowd moved aside, leaving Hoopster alone with Lau who took the chance to speak with him.
"Okay buddy, let's cut to the chase. Faye Lau, Second Wave agent." She introduced herself. Getting the Noble Squad leader to look at her with surprise.
"Second Wave, you say?." Hoopster replied with a sigh of relief and shook her hand, and introducing himself. "Akil Hoopster, First Wave, Noble Squad. So Second Wave's finally activated?"
"Yeah, just a few days ago. Just finished cleaning up Brooklyn." Lau responded. "We've lost contact with the First Wave, you're the first agents that I've come across, care to elaborate?"
"Short answer; everything's gone to shit." Hoopster answered. "The moment Time Square went dark, almost every agent basically disbanded. With every agent either being dead at this point by now, missing or gone off by their own."
"You mean they went rogue?" Lau asked, needing clarification. Hoopster nodded.
"A big amount of them went rogue, yes."
This answer got those to listen in to standing disbelief, the JTF, CERA and remnants of New York's finest couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Back to work everyone." Lau ordered, making everyone disperse before turning back to the Noble Squad member. "What do you mean by 'a big amount of them' it sounds like you have a good idea what happened out there."
"I've seen a list."
"ISAC doesn't have any list-"
"Not ISAC's, Uzumaki's." Hoopster told her. "I saw his list, he confirmed many of the First Wave agents their status. Of which many have died by now." He added. "If it wasn't for him, our names would've been crossed off by now."
Lau listened carefully and quickly puzzled together who he was talking about and asked.
"Uzumaki you say? Like-"
"Naruto Uzumaki, yes." Hoopster confirmed her suspicion. "Leader of Steel Fox, the Hunter-unit."
"They're still alive…" Lau mumbled, before getting her head straight and asking the direct and important question. "Where are they now?"
"I don't know."
"Let me contact them-"
"They're off the grid, ma'am. Intentionally." Hoopster added. "So I don't know precisely where they are at now."
"Then where in Gods' name could they be now?"
7th and 31st
In the cold streets of the Garment District, a few people were seen coming outside ever since the outbreak, but for those who were on their breaking point, were forced to go out and look for food.
That was what one man tried to do, a resident of the neighborhood who was looking for something useful. Food, water, anything really.
Instead, he found nothing, on an empty stomach, he fell to his knees. Having not eaten H anything for days, and the cold was unbearable, as he had been shivering from the brutal cold for weeks with no gas working and even with his winter clothing on, he was practically slowly dying from under cooling.
"F-Fuck."
Dropping down to the cold street entirely, it was witnessed by people standing by the windows of their houses. He watched as they turned away, compassion having long disappeared.
His eyelids began to grow heavy on him, as he slowly succumbs to the cold winter, the hunger and the inept service of his own community, his fellow countrymen.
The man slowly started to accept his fate, and as his eyes began to close down for one last time, he suddenly got grabbed.
"What-"
"Get him up."
The man was set down on his butt, and looked right up as he felt a blanket around him and was given a warm thermos cup in his hand. It was Naruto who was helping him.
"Drink it, it warms you up." The blonde told the man as he offered it. "Its coffee."
The man took the thermos cup, and drank from it, the satisfaction could be read on the guy's face as he felt the warm liquid drop from the corners of his mouth.
"Ah…" The man felt like he had been given a second chance. "T-thank you."
"Don't thank me. It's what we're supposed to be doing as New Yorkers." Naruto said as he began reaching for his backpack. Allowing for the man to get a look at the Division emblem.
Seeing him flinch, Naruto sighed. "How many have screwed you?"
"I...too many, its enough to ruin any trust in our... country. That our own military was basically spying on us...and then they went rogue because the country disintegrated.":
"We're slowly building up, I can tell you that." Naruto said handing over rations to the man with two bottles of water. "Here, if you conserve these long enough, you can reach Camp Hudson."
The civilian man accepted the rations and drinks. "Thank you…"
"Like I said, no thanks." Naruto replied as he stood up and reached for his AKM. "Let's move."
"Huh?"
Naruto walked past the man, as he allowed the civilian to see he wasn't alone, with numerous armed men going past him. All armed to the teeth and looking stoney. As the last man walked by, the man got some courage. "Thank you."
Naruto glanced behind him and nodded slightly, before heading down the street. With Gamble right behind him, aiming his M4 down the street.
"You know that was you last coffee, right sir?"
"I know, but I don't mind." Naruto said, aiming upwards with his AKM, "Poor bastard was about to go out in the worst way possible if he laid down. Hunger, cold and neglected, all while the others watch."
"Cruel world this has become, so where are we going?"
"Got an informant that I'm meeting up with, he's coming from the Subways."
The Subway, once New Yorks most famous mode of transportation, today it's turned into their version of Paris underground tombs. So many people died so quickly, that bodies were dumped into the underground waiting for the families that won't come to identify them.
"Informant you say?" Gamble asked. "Which one?"
"Brandon O'Reilly." Naruto replied. "He's the Cleaner guy who we busted up two weeks back."
"O'Reilly? Related to Bill O'Reilly by any chance?"
"I don't know, did not ask." Naruto commented. "While we're there, our second team is supposed to link up with us. Just on 34th street, next to Herald Square."
"Hm...to think Santa used to be on that street...we need a miracle just to return to normal."
"There won't be a new normal. Just...what's left. Anyway, this station is really close to the Dark Zone. "
The mentioning of that, only made the others, including Gamble to not think about that place, as it was intended as a massive quarantine area, but it turned into a wild zone within a wild zone that was Midtown Manhattan.
"I don't want to go back there again."
"You and me both, Gamble. That place is perhaps worse than Mosul." Naruto answered. As he spoke out of experience of what he meant.
"You mentioned once you were in Mosul," Gamble brought up. "When was that?"
"For the first time, as a contractor, in 2008, I believe." Naruto said, remembering it. "And last time was in 2017. Just when the Iraqi army liberated it from Daesh."
"2017, you mean you were there?" Another person in Naruto's group, a cop asked. "Why were you in a warzone?"
"Tagged along a Iraqi SWAT unit who were fighting in the Old City." Naruto told them, keeping his sights clear. "Was there since the beginning of the offensive, really. Had to avoid Iraqi officers and the PMF."
"PMF?"
"Popular Mobilization Forces." Gamble answered instead. "Shia militias. Not entirely friendly to the US, but they despise the Islamic State, mainly because they are the prime target. But back in the full swing of the Iraq War, those are some nasty bastards."
"Permission to speak, sir."
"Granted." Naruto responded to another random member. "What is it?"
"Why were you in Mosul anyway?" Asking this question, got the other members to listen in, as it was an interesting question that was waiting for a response.
"Helping out a friend." Naruto commented on the question. "A friend needed help, so I offered my help."
"Stop."
The whole group stopped right in the middle of Herald Square, near the entrance of the Subway, where the meeting point was supposed to be.
"We've arrived." Naruto told them. "This is where we're supposed to meet. So secure the area, and wait for the second team to arrive with O'Reilly."
The subway entrance on herald Square looked like the entrance to Dante's Inferno. Bodies lied piled high and decaying, a sign of the end times.
This was the Subway Morgue.
That was it for this chapter, I hope to see many reviews like last time. Good evening.