"Sir. Brenner just came back from scouting. He's reported that the group known as Hyenas have been eliminated by agents of the Division."
"Good. They're doing more for us than I thought."
"Sir, would you like me to send Brenner's report to you?"
"Yes, thank you. Dismissed."
"Sir." The subordinate responded before leaving.
Picking up a phone, the other man dialed a number. "Sir. You were right. The Division has freed up some of our responsibilities." Waiting a few more moments in silence, he responded. "Of course, yes sir, I'll take care of it." He hung up the phone. He looked at one of many photos of some Division agents.
"Shame, y'all would've made excellent operatives."
Raptor was sitting across from Thunderclap in the mess hall. It had been a couple hours since they had returned from the arena and Hemorrhage was in a meeting with Manny as the acting team leader. Thunderclap on the other hand, this fucker can eat! Shit. Thunderclap was on his fourth bowl of vegetable soup and just finished an entire loaf of bread.
"Hey, Gooch', can I ask you something?"
He looked up from his bowl. "Sure, what is it?" If it wasn't for his skill and what he did pre-poison, you'd think he was one of them 'special' people.
"How are you capable of eating everything in your sight?"
"Well." He wiped the edge of his mouth with his napkin. "In 2010, my team and I were sent to Africa to deal with some terrorist dealing with a dictator."
He stood up and put the finished bowl in one of the bins. "The operation went south, and I was captured. They were awful interrogators I remember." He chuckled a bit. "But the they starved me. When I was finally rescued, I had lost nearly 50 pounds."
His face was set into a more serious scowl now. "When a person goes through that, they change. Now, psychologically I have to eat everything when I can 'cause my brain will think this is that last time I'll be able to eat."
"Wow, sorry you had to go through that."
"Oh, it's fine. All it means is I eat more. I always loved eating any way. It's a win-win if you ask me."
Raptor was astonished that a man could go through that and still be in good spirits. Just then, Hemorrhage entered the mess, quickly finding them, he walked over to them.
"Hey, how's the boss?" Raptor questioned.
"The militia got her here in record time. She was rushed into surgery and appears that she'll make a full recovery. She is still under for some time though. However, we just got our new orders."
"Oh?" Thunderclap said.
"For now, we're to avoid the True Sons." He put his hands up defensively when Raptor showed displeasure. "I know, I know, but Manny says we have to deal with those Outcast fucks first. As such, tomorrow at first dawn, we have need to take some enemy control points and open up the Campus for trade. That's all for today, y'all are off but I'm gonna help teach some of the militia."
With that, Hemorrhage walked off, back down to the basement and presumably to the firing range.
Both Raptor and Thunderclap sat in silence for a few moments before the latter stood up.
"Fuck it, it ain't like I got anything else to do today." With that, Thunderclap walked away.
Wonderful, just fan-fucking-tastic. Raptor stood up and followed her teammate.
Alpha Tango thought it best that the militia learn in a classroom instead of the firing range where they found them. It was time to learn the other aspects of combat. They had set up an impromptu classroom in the west wing in the old cabinet room. Hemorrhage was teaching them about talking on the radio.
"When someone says that a location is a 'Hot Zone', it means that it is a danger area. So watch out. Further, many of you are confused by callsigns in general. We have them because we are agents of a top-secret government agency. Y'all probably won't need them but a squad may have a callsign, you'll need to know these if you get an emergency call."
"And again." Raptor interrupted. "We are division agents. As per Presidential Directive 51, Section 102-XV, agents have supreme tactical authority. As such only the President, executive director, coordinator, and any others appointed by the President can tell us how to operate. As such, if anyone of us gives y'all a direct order. It is legit."
Off to the side was Thunderclap and Captain Bill McClanahan, the head of security at the White House. He was a retired civilian, but he had been a SWAT officer and used to be the head of his own private security company before the outbreak. As such, Manny had appointed him due to the fact that no one else had such experience. Captain McClanahan was technically the Commander of the United Militia.
"Never ever be afraid to loot an enemy. When you're out in the field, supplies may be hard to find." He was about to go on when the captain interjected.
"Remember, this is a very different world now. You aren't soldiers in the field that have a whole government behind them. Everything you see here is what you get, so do what you need to survive.
At that point, Thunderclap started talking. "You also need to feel confident. When I was first starting to learn how to drive, my father always said to have no hesitation, 'if you're gonna pull out of a turn, than do it. If you hesitate, you can cause an accident.' Same thing here, have confidence in yourself, your weapon, and your team. Saying that, overconfidence will also get you killed."
The team spent another couple of hours going over stuff, breaking halfway through for a quick lunch.
"You think they'll get upset?" Stryker asked.
Stryker, unlike what Manny told Hemorrhage, was awake and fully operational. She was standing in the command room, looking out of the window at the team instructing the civilians.
"Well, it doesn't matter. We have a problem, and I see this as the best solution." Manny responded.
"Let's go over it one more time. Tonight, when most everyone is asleep, you're to exfil, and head west. Once deep in hostile territory, you'll have full tactical authority to do whatever you wish to cause fear and disorientation in the hearts of the outcasts. Any. Means. Necessary."
Stryker got the point. He wouldn't ask questions about what she did, and she didn't have to enlighten him on how she got information.
"Here, take this. When on operations, never take it off. This'll help with the intimidation." As he was telling her, he went over to a box and retrieved a mask. It was black but looked to be made out of some durable material. Not unlike the hunter that she had the misfortune of engaging.
"Who are you gonna replace me with?"
"Most likely Hemorrhage, but they'll need another agent to compensate for the loss of you."
"What are you gonna tell 'em when they realize I'm not here anymore?"
"I'm sure I can come up with something."
"Am I gonna join them again?" She asked hesitantly. Despite what people see, she had grown attached to her team."
"Agent. At this point, I don't know anything."
"Understood." With that, Stryker left to put up her façade in the med wing.
