Location Unknown, Eastern Slavic Republic, Europe, 2011.
I kept studying Buddy and his friend while they were either chatting or keeping an eye on the ceiling before Buddy left the room, seeing that it could be a while until Leon and I was forced to another location but the elderly man started coughing pretty bad and I noticed just how pale and sickly he was like he was infected with something before I looked at the shorter man.
"Hey, your friend doesn't look too good," I informed him and the man looked at his older friend before he faced us with a shrug.
"He always looks like that and the name's JD, although that's not my real name," JD introduced as he took a sip from Leon's canteen.
"Let's hope you're right about the old man," Leon commented but I could see a slight look of concern in his eyes as the elderly man kept coughing, just as JD put away the canteen and approached us.
"Anyways, what are you two really doing in this country?" JD inquired eagerly and Leon looked up at him.
"Hey, a different question for a change," Leon remarked dryly and JD groaned as he started pacing.
"Ugh, what I meant was being in America is a lot more fun than being here, right?" JD asked with a grin and I stared at him calmly.
"I wouldn't know," I responded stoically and JD sighed.
"The hamburgers, the fried chicken, the food in your country's fantastic and I could eat it every day!" JD cried happily while I didn't show any sign of a reaction to his excitement.
"Thanks for the valuable insight," Leon said sarcastically as JD leaned forward and grabbed his shoulders.
"And the Hollywood movies, I love those things and I have fifty DVDs that aren't even pirated!" JD exclaimed excitingly while I shot him a deadpanned expression.
"I thought you all hated America," I pointed out.
"Sure, we hate it, but things made in America...that's different," JD stated just as Leon's phone went off and JD patted down the vest before pulling out the phone and looking at the screen.
"Whatever you do, don't push that button," Leon warned and JD started frowning at us.
"I'm not falling for that shit because there is no way that I'm allowing them to trace the call!" JD declared before he threw the phone onto the ground and started stomping it, causing the phone to break and JD grinned at us with Leon smirking back until Buddy entered the basement and we all looked at him.
"How are things out there?" JD inquired as Buddy shut the door.
"Looks like they have this whole part of the city completely surrounded, so we better wait and see how the situation pans out," Buddy notified him as he unslung his AK and put it on the table with my weapons and gear before he started examining them.
Suddenly, the elderly man coughed violently as he leaned forward and JD walked over to Buddy until he quietly chatted to him, but my sharp hearing picked up him talking about the man and admitted his concern that it might be too dangerous to move him and he gestured at us while he added that we were becoming suspicious about his illness. Just as he said that, the older man named Ataman raised a hand to get their attention.
"You don't...you don't have to worry about me, we can't stay here forever," Ataman wheezed as he weakly stood up and went right back to coughing as he gripped his chest, just before someone banged on the nearby door.
"Who's in there?! Open the door, now!" a male voice ordered as JD looked slightly panicked and unslung Leon's rifle while Buddy tried to hold him back but JD moved him out of the way and quickly headed to the door while the man was shouting that he and his fellow soldiers were coming in unless someone opened the door.
Just as JD stood near the door and aimed at it, Leon quickly stood up and shoulder tackled him out of the way just as the door was blown open by a breaching charge and soldiers came pouring in with their AK-74s as they aimed at everyone and me while barking orders for us to not move.
Ataman kept coughing and it turned into full-on hacking as three soldiers aimed at him, then he jerked from one violent cough as his shades flew off and he stood still after that with no sound as I knew that he wasn't sick with a normal disease and Leon appeared to have come to the same conclusion while his eyes widened in realization.
"Get the hell away from him, he's infected!" Leon alerted urgently as the soldiers aimed at Ataman and when he looked up with slight growling, I tensed up when I saw his eyes were completely red and the soldiers started looking alarmed at the sight.
Suddenly, Buddy lunged at the distracted soldier that was aiming at him and grabbed his gun, causing the man to misfire by accident and his wild shots killed a couple of soldiers as I was forced to move off my seat and roll out of the way to prevent getting hit while Buddy and the soldier struggled. Leon took advantage of the confusion by headbutting one soldier and kicked another as three soldiers aimed at me.
I instantly disarmed one soldier by grabbing his rifle and easily throwing him to the ground just as I slammed the stock of the AK across the second one, and he spun to the ground from the force while I kicked the third one into a wall just as Buddy aimed at me and fired before I was forced to drop the rifle as I ran and dove into cover with Leon just as soldiers from above the ceiling started firing into basement and I kept him pinned back with one arm.
After a few seconds of gunfire, everything went silent and soldiers started moving around above us as I peered out to see that the three rebels were gone and no signs of any threats got me to move out of cover with Leon right behind me as I went to the table with my weapons and gear, then I slipped on my vest and put my shotgun in its rig while holstering the USP and Desert Eagle.
I slung my MP5 and took out the combat knife before I walked over to Leon and used the knife to break his zip-ties before I holstered the blade and gave him my shotgun.
"Thanks, guess I'll be holding on to this until I get my gear back," Leon remarked as I unslung my MP5 and motioned my head at the door in a gesture for us to move.
We moved through the open doorway and found ourselves in a lit-up underground tunnel as we kept walking cautiously and aimed at other pathways while we searched for the exit, then we heard the sounds of unknown people up around the next corner and held up a fist as I carefully peered around to see Buddy and the other two rebels while Ataman was sitting on the floor and resting against the wall.
Buddy tried to get him to stand up while requesting JD to help him, only Ataman stopped him and reasoned that he was a lost cause before telling him to keep going and create a better future for this country just before Buddy stood up and took out his sidearm. Buddy chambered a round and aimed at Ataman with an expression of resignation before he killed him by firing several times.
Once Buddy was finished, he and JD had left the area and Leon kneeled to pick up a flashlight that was on the ground before turning it on, then we headed over to the body of Ataman and I looked down at him while shaking my head and signaling Leon to keep moving. We moved through the tunnels and I turned on my flashlight attachment as I aimed around for any threats and we arrived in a large room that looked like it was being used for storage.
I aimed at the nearby dead body on a table that had been impaled by a pickaxe and a loud clatter made us duck down while we shut off our lights and quietly moved around, then we took cover and I saw movement across the room until I turned on my light and saw that it was JD as he shushed us and pointed right behind us with a look of urgency.
"Do you really think we're going to fall for that crap?" Leon questioned as we stood up and he rolled his eyes, then I looked behind us and saw someone breaking through wooden paneling against the wall with a growl before JD screamed in alarm and I quickly reacted by pushing Leon out of the way and jumping back to avoid getting eviscerated by the shears that were aimed right at my torso.
"Do we look like we need a pruning?!" Leon exclaimed while I was slinging my MP5 and avoiding the swings that were intended to decapitate me, then I grabbed the infected and did a palm strike in the face before quickly disarming him and threw him to the ground with a hip-toss just as Leon and I aimed at him with our weapons.
"Don't kill him!" JD pleaded and we paused for a second.
"That's one request we can't grant," Leon told him just before we both destroyed the infected's head simultaneously with 9mm rounds and 00 buckshot while JD yelled in horror.
"Mr. Chenkov! I told you two not to kill him because he was my teacher!" JD exclaimed in grief as I looked back to see him aiming at us.
"Let me give you a piece of advice, quit seeing these things as people because they're not anymore so the sooner you do that, the better chance you'll have of surviving," I lectured coldly and JD lowered the rifle in frustration before a pair of arms grappled him from behind and lifted him in the air.
The infected swung him around while JD was flailing his legs in a panic and he was thrown across the room into a wine cabinet just as Leon and I were also forced to dodge another infected that tried to ambush us suddenly, then the infected knocked Leon to the ground and went after me with a knife but I dodged the attack and slammed the stock of my MP5 across his head as Leon blasted his head apart with the shotgun.
I saw JD hesitating to shoot the infected that threw him and didn't waste any time in aiming and killing the infected with multiple shots to the head as JD flinched at that, just as I stormed over to him and roughly tapped his shoulder with a hand to get his attention.
"What the hell are you carrying that weapon for if you're not even going to fucking use it?! The one thing you should never do in this situation is to hesitate because that is the quickest way to get yourself killed!" I scolded harshly and JD snapped out of it before backing up and glaring at me.
"Don't worry, I'll use it next time," JD vowed as I stared at him and started checking my MP5 just as growling echoed into the room.
"If you ever decide to shoot one of those things, shoot them in the head," Leon informed him as he kneeled down to get the flashlight he dropped, along with a crowbar, and we started to go into the next tunnel.
"Wait, this way," JD called out and we looked back to see him gesturing for us to follow him.
I looked at Leon and he shrugged before we went back to JD and he led us down a tunnel that was barely lit while we kept our guns ready for any ambushes, then we went into a tunnel on our right and I could see that it led to a big metal door as JD and Leon headed to it with me turning around and aiming down the tunnel to the opening.
"Two grown men should be able to open it," JD stated and I looked back at them.
"Okay, you two get that door open while I cover our six," I instructed and they nodded while slinging their weapons and gripping the handle before struggling to pull the door open.
"So, what the hell is this place?" Leon asked with a grunt.
"Folks used to hold up here back in the day," JD groaned in exhaustion.
"They sure knew how to keep the enemy out," Leon said with a strain in his voice until he backed up and added, "This thing isn't going to budge...stand back."
Just as he said that, Leon took out the crowbar and jammed the curved end into the crack of the door before straining as he struggled to force open the door with JD pulling at the handle to help and a loud growl echoed to our location while I tensed up and they stopped to listen.
"Hey, you two need to pick up the pace because it sounds like we have a lot of unfriendly contact approaching our location," I alerted them as I got my MP5 ready.
"You don't need to tell us twice," Leon stated as he and JD went back to trying to open the door while the growling got louder until three infected came around the corner and I shot one that was charging at us.
"Get that damn door open!" I exclaimed as I looked back to see that the door was open enough for JD to try and force his way in but his weight prevented him from getting in as he struggled to get through.
"Shit, I knew I should've laid off the junk food," JD groaned as the infected I shot stood back up with its head exploding and a creature with flailing tentacles emerged as it started approaching us.
'Fuck this!' I thought as I spun around and slung my MP5 before rushing over to the door.
"Out of the way!" I ordered and Leon moved aside as I gripped the edges of the door and pulled hard, the door easily swinging open with an ear-piercing screech while Leon's jaw dropped open at seeing me do the impossible.
JD rushed inside and I pulled Leon in quickly before grabbing the handle and quickly closing the door just as the infected started banging their fists on it in an attempt to break it down, then I brushed off any dirt that was on my uniform and vest before looking at the others and seeing them staring at me like I was an alien.
"What?" I questioned while they shook their heads to try and understand what they witnessed.
"Jesus, are you hooked on steroids or something?" Leon asked in disbelief as I saw a ladder that led up into the streets.
"That's classified, now let's move out," I ordered as I grabbed the ladder and started climbing.
After I climbed up the ladder with the others following suit, I made it into a tiny building with a grate and pushed it open while climbing out with the others right behind me as I saw that we were in a courtyard surrounded by apartment buildings and noticed a church that was nearby.
'That must be the location where the other rebels are dug in,' I thought while checking my ammo count and then loud whimpering caught our attention as we turned to look at who was making all that noise.
I saw a lone soldier stumbling into the courtyard with a group of infected chasing after him as he yelped and begged in terror, then he tripped and collapsed to the ground while desperately trying to get away until the infected swarmed him and he was grabbed as he screamed for help.
"What the hell is happening?!" JD demanded as he started running to help the man, but Leon grabbed him by the back of the vest and pulled him back before shaking his head in a gesture not to take the risk.
I witnessed the soldier struggling to get loose while one of the infected forced his mouth open and another one walked up to him, then her mouth bulged before a flower-like thing emerged from it and she reached inside until pulling out a small creature that looked like an ugly worm and reached down to shove it into his mouth.
I didn't know what the hell I was seeing, but I wasn't going to stand by while that man suffered a fate worse than death so I charged at the infected before the others could react and shot the worm out of the infected's hand which got the group's attention and most of them snarled as they came at me with sharp weapons while the other two kept restraining the soldier.
I ducked under a swing and promptly slung my MP5 before pulling out my knife and USP sidearm, using a combination of slashes and marksmanship to take down the infected that tried to kill me but I successfully killed them all and turned my attention to the two infected before throwing my knife at one in the head with expert aim and shooting the other with a single shot just as the slide locked back.
I dumped the mag and loaded the gun with a fresh one until I holstered it and unslung my MP5, just before I headed to the soldier that was currently sitting on the ground in shock and pulled out my knife that was in the infected's head.
"You good?" I asked the man while wiping the bloody knife on the dead infected's pants and I holstered it as he snapped out of it before looking at me.
"I-I'm fine...thank you for saving me," the man stuttered as he stood up and picked up his rifle.
"Get out of here and watch your sectors, there's no telling how many infected are wandering around in this city," I warned and the man nodded gratefully as he took off to the nearest exit and I headed back to the others, who were staring at me with looks of astonishment.
"If you two are done eyeballing me, then let's go," I said and they snapped out of it.
"R-Right...what happened to everyone?" JD wondered.
"Anywhere we can hide?" Leon questioned and JD nodded as he gestured at the church.
"This way, everyone else is taking shelter in the church," JD informed us as we started moving to the church.
After avoiding any infected that were wandering around, we made it to the church and I opened the doors with my MP5 up just in case the place was overrun by infected while Leon and I swept the area with our guns. Once it appeared that it was clear, we lowered our weapons while looking around for any signs of the rebels.
"What the hell did you two do to everybody?" JD demanded and we looked back to him aiming at us.
"I'd say the Plaga you were hiding got loose," Leon responded and JD gritted his teeth.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" JD exclaimed in outrage as we turned around.
"Your precious townsfolk are being controlled by a parasite that attaches itself to the central nervous system via the spinal cord," Leon exclaimed bitterly and JD looked horrified to hear that.
"You mean everyone in town is..." JD trailed off hesitantly and I decided to say something.
"What he's saying that those people who were your friends and neighbors, they'll never be human again and shooting them is the only mercy we could ever give them," I added stoically while my sharp sense of smell picked up scents of many people that were hiding in the building.
"There must be something we can do," JD said.
"You can destroy the spinal cord but the best you could hope for is paralysis or death," Leon stated.
"You're lying!" JD exclaimed in denial and I shook my head.
"if you really believe that, then why did you kill the elderly man?" I questioned and JD was at a loss for words.
"But...that was-" JD tried to say something and was cut off.
"Because, some part of you knew that he would never be human again, so wake up...this is the reality of using BOWs and it'll always end in anguish," I told him just as a nearby door opened and Buddy entered the room with two other rebels as the two men aimed their rifles at me and Leon.
"What he says is true but I still have some more questions to ask them," Buddy stated just as I caught a glint from above and saw that snipers were aiming right at us, causing us to sling our weapons and raise our hands since we were surrounded and there was no way of fighting back without Leon getting caught in the crossfire and getting killed.
"Maybe this time, we can get to the truth," Leon remarked and Buddy didn't appear to find that funny since he walked over and slammed his fist into Leon's face as the other rebels walked over and took our weapons and gear.
A/N Leon and David just can't catch a break but they'll find a way to escape this new situation they're in since they've been in much worse situations over the years. Anyway, I know who the Telomere agent is and I think you'll be pretty surprised by what species that individual is, so try and guess who it is since it'll be interesting.
So, let me know what you think so far and stay tuned.