Chapter Twenty-Two: The Zero District
The cries didn't cease, and Snake and the others had all stepped forward to gape at the terrible monstrosity. Two giant plumes of smoke were fighting the clear blue heavens for total control of the vista, and the sky was losing. It was losing, badly.
"I saw C4 on the ceiling of the store," Snake voiced. His audience was unclear for the thought was not directed to any one person or thing. Instead, it was the slip of a tongue – a random flow of thought. Jack had seen it too.
"And lining the elevator shaft of the IN-Tech building," he breathed. Just as Snake, he was too taken by the sight before them to possess any true direction in his statement. "Damn! Why would they do that?" Jack smacked his thigh with the blunt of his fist and clenched his teeth as he turned t the bench where Otacon still sat – his view not obstructed by the others, for the smoke reached higher than anyone could imagine. Though he had not shown it, he was terrified.
His insides were churning like a barrel of cake batter in a mixing bowl, and his hands were shaking like mad. The slightest passing of wind made him shudder, as he knew it had come from the flames – its fluttering breeze still warmed by the burning bodies and the smell of a sickening decay lingering beneath his nostrils.
He arched his back and threw his head forward and between his knees where it hung like a wet rag. Jack turned back to the flames, trying to ignore Otacon but Snake could hear it…that terrible sound of regurgitation. 'He's been by me,' he told himself and pulled away from the others taking a seat on the bench beside Otacon.
"I'm…I'm sorry," Otacon apologized between breaths. There was a strand of brownish-green dangling from his lips, but before he had grabbed his sleeve to wipe it clean Snake's hand was offering him something. Turning up to him, Otacon could see the hair that fell over his friend's forehead, and he sensed the sudden absence of a familiar trademark.
His bandana.
Otacon saw it in Snake's outstretched palm, and while reluctant to accept, he lightly took the cloth in his hand and touched his forehead. He couldn't put it to his lips. That was sinful.
Quickly turning away from Snake he went to the fountain and urged his face forward, letting the mist cool him and the walls of water bathe his face. Snake watched him, but with a faint beep he turned to the laptop. Another message had appeared there.
'Hello, Solid Snake.'
He read it quickly, and then his eyes shot to Otacon in surprise, just as the others had turned to him. "He's coming!" Snake exclaimed and Otacon quickly jerked around to see the uneasy glares of Jack and of Fox and of Mei Ling and Naomi.
"He's here," Fox said before the four split to the sides, leaving a line of absence for Otacon and Snake. Entering Battery Park were three heavily armored vehicles – a jeep at their lead. Snake found his footing and Otacon wrapped his hand tightly around the bandana before going to his partner's side. They watched and waited as the vehicles came close.
It played like a record, its lines scratched and aged. Every second you listened closely, trying to absorb every moment, but it would constantly stall or repeat itself. Hope would always remain, though, for when you did not hope there was always the fear that the note following the one you would end on would shine brilliantly and you would miss the magnificence you had waited for.
They all stood there, hoping that it wasn't 'Him,' hoping that it was a friend, hoping that it was someone who had come to help them…someone who had come to tell them the bombing was fake and that the people of Manhattan, including themselves, were safe. But when the jeep slowed to a halt – the armored vehicles doing the same – they knew that they were wrong. They knew who had come.
All of the city froze in that moment when the jeep's passenger door opened. It was the only sound they heard. As if their eyes had taken the route of a traditionally-placed camera, they saw a worn brown boot touch the grass and then another. The blades of green seemed to stain red and were crushed violently when 'graced' by the character's presence. And when he had made his way out of the vehicle there was a slam as the door was shut.
Before them he stood. His hair was fairly short and scruffy. It was highlighted just enough to add a 'rough' look and he was coupled with an entire 'Abercrombie-style' outfit. He wore a plaid shirt – its sleeves rolled to the elbow – over a blue and gray t-shirt. His jeans were somewhat baggy, but not extensively, and his boots possessed a fake sense of age. Surely enough, this character had come out of the 'Faded' age, but he was not at all what they had expected.
He had muscles. They were not so large as to make his arms uncomfortably wave at his sides, but he was fit all right. On his face was a rather amusing smile, and under his right arm was a laptop. He was their man, but he certainly didn't fit the physical profile.
"Good afternoon," he said. He had obviously taken notice of Mei Ling and Naomi for his voice seemed almost too low to fit him. "It's a shame." He shook his head. Otacon wanted to spring forward but Snake's stern presence prevented his offensive.
"Why?" Jack asked, then. 'He' smiled in return, but Snake's heart fell when he heard that feeble voice. It was innocent. So innocent. So hurt.
'He' looked over his shoulder and watched the burning Tribeca in the background before returning a concerned stare to the others. He had his answer. "Failure to comply with demands. Retaliation. Treason. All of those could fit the mold." He began to pace, as it seemed all villains did.
"What else was I supposed to do? You cannot negotiate with a million angry rioters. It simply does not work," He claimed before continuing. "And it is obvious that tear gas won't stop them all. The first hundred would soak it all up, anyway. We'd run out of stock. And that would put us in a bind, would it not?" He stopped and pondered for a moment before turning to them, his hands folded as if in prayer.
"There comes a time when you have to lay your cards out for everyone to see," he proclaimed. "Until someone knows you're not bluffing, you're at risk. And in a card game as critical as this, the risk is always there. So, eliminate the margin for bluffing, and let everyone know your limits are far from breached. Let the people know that you are willing to bring down them, their city, and even yourself before you let them take control. That's when they stop. That's when they listen."
"What do you want?" Snake pursued, trying to find some rational behind their influence. 'He' was quick to answer.
"What do I want? I think you know…or at least your Colonel Campbell certainly did." He was grinning wide. Snake's stomach began to turn. "Surprising…he told me about you the moment he contacted me. 'Battery Park,' he said. Told me you had your hands on my software. With a few incentives and some guns to his head, he was an easy egg to crack." His smile was sickening, and just as Snake felt furious toward the Colonel, he felt furious toward 'Him.'
"Oh look," He pointed into the vast black and blue sky as a red and white figure came through the smoke, "here he is now."
There was a voice on a radio within the jeep and a man stepped from the driver's seat, the radio in his hand. "Are they clear?" he asked, and the man nodded. "Augusta Care Flight, you are cleared for landing."
"Roger that," another voice called. "Care Flight entering descent." There was anything but silence as the helicopter – an Augusta model, commonly used for medical transportation in the United States – began its descent.
The way the wind broke through the Ferris Wheel and the other rides and attractions that were not far away made it somewhat difficult for landing there. "Uh, the wind seems to be picking up. This landing site appears a little iffy." 'He' looked up at the helicopter after hearing the voice on the radio within the jeep.
"Land," He ordered, blatantly. There was no sympathy in his voice as his message was relayed to the pilot of the helicopter through the jeep's driver. And within the next minute the Augusta had touched down, sending the weak grass into the air, and blowing the water that fell from the fountain through the air in mid-flight.
There was movement around the helicopter as people moved from the hull to Him and then to the driver of the jeep and so on and so forth before they had gotten enough confirmation. And then, as His smile grew wider a man stumbled out of the helicopter, falling onto his face. Two men pulled on his collar and he quickly gathered his balance before they pushed him forward again.
His army jacket was gone, and so was his hat. Its absence showed off his balding head, and there was no hiding the disheveled look of his clothes. They had been ripped, torn, and bled upon. From His story, the Colonel had required minimal incentives, which led Snake to believe that he had undergone the beating after his untimely confession. 'No,' Snake thought.
"No!" Snake cried, jumping forward but the Colonel's arms went up, telling him in a gesture to stop. For that, he was hit across the face by one of the men that held him, and then He stepped beside the Colonel and felt the hair that was left on his head.
"You're one old man," he said, turning to the others. "You, Solid Snake, are old as well. It seems both of you have surpassed your prime. There is no sense in going against my orders at this point. If you were to defy me once more, and were to turn down your mission your friend would find death in the temple faster than you could find green in this park." Snake struggled forward, but Fox stopped him.
And then, though Snake wished the moment would last longer, the Colonel was taken back to the helicopter.
"So you see what I want?" He asked. "Just a few blocks south of here is the warehouse. We have come to call it and the area surrounding it, 'the Zero District.' I want you to take a stroll that way, and get us a little inside look on what's happening. You take the disc you all ready have," he said, reminding Snake of the disc that remained in a pocket around his waistline – one he was supposed to use early that morning. "And you insert it in the Compilation. It will run on its own. Then, you remove the disc and bring it to McMillion's Coffee House. I'll be there waiting for you."
Snake and the others looked at him, sternly. That was their only reply. "I only want Snake and Jack going in. Otacon and Fox may accompany them, but only as backup." They finally nodded, and He smiled not with amusement, but with victory. "Come on," he said, then, and Naomi reluctantly let go of Fox and Mei Ling quickly glued herself to her friend. The two of them were led by other men to the armored vehicles and disappeared within.
The four others stood there, not wanting to go, but without a choice. They wanted to stay there and to grip the moment so that they could be sure that the meeting with Mei Ling and Naomi – may it be their last – would be a fulfilling one. But that didn't happen either.
And then Snake stepped forward as He walked to his jeep. "What's your name?" Snake asked. 'He' was not something he wanted to address him as any longer.
He looked over His shoulder and smiled. "Dante," he finally said. There was a stirring of thought before he took a seat in the passenger seat of the jeep and peeked out his head. "Better get a move on."
And then, their last memories and their last hopes were carted away with the sound of a dying helicopter's groan and the cry of rubber on the grass. There was a chill of anger and desperation lifting in the air as Otacon moved to the fountain again and let Snake's bandana soak in the water's torrents. Then, as Snake stepped over to him he tore it down the center and after tying one strip over his forehead he turned to Snake who smiled. Then, he took the other, which Otacon offered up to him, and tied it around his own – the cold water soothing them both.
Smiling at each other they nodded as if a substitution for their handshake and then turned away from the fountain, and from the departing vehicles, and from the death that still lingered. And not letting the sadness ensue, Snake and Otacon turned to face south and began walking. Seeing the picture that was being painted, both Jack and Fox followed, their minds set on one mission, one objective, one adventure.
They were going to the Zero District, but not just going there…they were going there as friends…
The Zero District.
The cries didn't cease, and Snake and the others had all stepped forward to gape at the terrible monstrosity. Two giant plumes of smoke were fighting the clear blue heavens for total control of the vista, and the sky was losing. It was losing, badly.
"I saw C4 on the ceiling of the store," Snake voiced. His audience was unclear for the thought was not directed to any one person or thing. Instead, it was the slip of a tongue – a random flow of thought. Jack had seen it too.
"And lining the elevator shaft of the IN-Tech building," he breathed. Just as Snake, he was too taken by the sight before them to possess any true direction in his statement. "Damn! Why would they do that?" Jack smacked his thigh with the blunt of his fist and clenched his teeth as he turned t the bench where Otacon still sat – his view not obstructed by the others, for the smoke reached higher than anyone could imagine. Though he had not shown it, he was terrified.
His insides were churning like a barrel of cake batter in a mixing bowl, and his hands were shaking like mad. The slightest passing of wind made him shudder, as he knew it had come from the flames – its fluttering breeze still warmed by the burning bodies and the smell of a sickening decay lingering beneath his nostrils.
He arched his back and threw his head forward and between his knees where it hung like a wet rag. Jack turned back to the flames, trying to ignore Otacon but Snake could hear it…that terrible sound of regurgitation. 'He's been by me,' he told himself and pulled away from the others taking a seat on the bench beside Otacon.
"I'm…I'm sorry," Otacon apologized between breaths. There was a strand of brownish-green dangling from his lips, but before he had grabbed his sleeve to wipe it clean Snake's hand was offering him something. Turning up to him, Otacon could see the hair that fell over his friend's forehead, and he sensed the sudden absence of a familiar trademark.
His bandana.
Otacon saw it in Snake's outstretched palm, and while reluctant to accept, he lightly took the cloth in his hand and touched his forehead. He couldn't put it to his lips. That was sinful.
Quickly turning away from Snake he went to the fountain and urged his face forward, letting the mist cool him and the walls of water bathe his face. Snake watched him, but with a faint beep he turned to the laptop. Another message had appeared there.
'Hello, Solid Snake.'
He read it quickly, and then his eyes shot to Otacon in surprise, just as the others had turned to him. "He's coming!" Snake exclaimed and Otacon quickly jerked around to see the uneasy glares of Jack and of Fox and of Mei Ling and Naomi.
"He's here," Fox said before the four split to the sides, leaving a line of absence for Otacon and Snake. Entering Battery Park were three heavily armored vehicles – a jeep at their lead. Snake found his footing and Otacon wrapped his hand tightly around the bandana before going to his partner's side. They watched and waited as the vehicles came close.
It played like a record, its lines scratched and aged. Every second you listened closely, trying to absorb every moment, but it would constantly stall or repeat itself. Hope would always remain, though, for when you did not hope there was always the fear that the note following the one you would end on would shine brilliantly and you would miss the magnificence you had waited for.
They all stood there, hoping that it wasn't 'Him,' hoping that it was a friend, hoping that it was someone who had come to help them…someone who had come to tell them the bombing was fake and that the people of Manhattan, including themselves, were safe. But when the jeep slowed to a halt – the armored vehicles doing the same – they knew that they were wrong. They knew who had come.
All of the city froze in that moment when the jeep's passenger door opened. It was the only sound they heard. As if their eyes had taken the route of a traditionally-placed camera, they saw a worn brown boot touch the grass and then another. The blades of green seemed to stain red and were crushed violently when 'graced' by the character's presence. And when he had made his way out of the vehicle there was a slam as the door was shut.
Before them he stood. His hair was fairly short and scruffy. It was highlighted just enough to add a 'rough' look and he was coupled with an entire 'Abercrombie-style' outfit. He wore a plaid shirt – its sleeves rolled to the elbow – over a blue and gray t-shirt. His jeans were somewhat baggy, but not extensively, and his boots possessed a fake sense of age. Surely enough, this character had come out of the 'Faded' age, but he was not at all what they had expected.
He had muscles. They were not so large as to make his arms uncomfortably wave at his sides, but he was fit all right. On his face was a rather amusing smile, and under his right arm was a laptop. He was their man, but he certainly didn't fit the physical profile.
"Good afternoon," he said. He had obviously taken notice of Mei Ling and Naomi for his voice seemed almost too low to fit him. "It's a shame." He shook his head. Otacon wanted to spring forward but Snake's stern presence prevented his offensive.
"Why?" Jack asked, then. 'He' smiled in return, but Snake's heart fell when he heard that feeble voice. It was innocent. So innocent. So hurt.
'He' looked over his shoulder and watched the burning Tribeca in the background before returning a concerned stare to the others. He had his answer. "Failure to comply with demands. Retaliation. Treason. All of those could fit the mold." He began to pace, as it seemed all villains did.
"What else was I supposed to do? You cannot negotiate with a million angry rioters. It simply does not work," He claimed before continuing. "And it is obvious that tear gas won't stop them all. The first hundred would soak it all up, anyway. We'd run out of stock. And that would put us in a bind, would it not?" He stopped and pondered for a moment before turning to them, his hands folded as if in prayer.
"There comes a time when you have to lay your cards out for everyone to see," he proclaimed. "Until someone knows you're not bluffing, you're at risk. And in a card game as critical as this, the risk is always there. So, eliminate the margin for bluffing, and let everyone know your limits are far from breached. Let the people know that you are willing to bring down them, their city, and even yourself before you let them take control. That's when they stop. That's when they listen."
"What do you want?" Snake pursued, trying to find some rational behind their influence. 'He' was quick to answer.
"What do I want? I think you know…or at least your Colonel Campbell certainly did." He was grinning wide. Snake's stomach began to turn. "Surprising…he told me about you the moment he contacted me. 'Battery Park,' he said. Told me you had your hands on my software. With a few incentives and some guns to his head, he was an easy egg to crack." His smile was sickening, and just as Snake felt furious toward the Colonel, he felt furious toward 'Him.'
"Oh look," He pointed into the vast black and blue sky as a red and white figure came through the smoke, "here he is now."
There was a voice on a radio within the jeep and a man stepped from the driver's seat, the radio in his hand. "Are they clear?" he asked, and the man nodded. "Augusta Care Flight, you are cleared for landing."
"Roger that," another voice called. "Care Flight entering descent." There was anything but silence as the helicopter – an Augusta model, commonly used for medical transportation in the United States – began its descent.
The way the wind broke through the Ferris Wheel and the other rides and attractions that were not far away made it somewhat difficult for landing there. "Uh, the wind seems to be picking up. This landing site appears a little iffy." 'He' looked up at the helicopter after hearing the voice on the radio within the jeep.
"Land," He ordered, blatantly. There was no sympathy in his voice as his message was relayed to the pilot of the helicopter through the jeep's driver. And within the next minute the Augusta had touched down, sending the weak grass into the air, and blowing the water that fell from the fountain through the air in mid-flight.
There was movement around the helicopter as people moved from the hull to Him and then to the driver of the jeep and so on and so forth before they had gotten enough confirmation. And then, as His smile grew wider a man stumbled out of the helicopter, falling onto his face. Two men pulled on his collar and he quickly gathered his balance before they pushed him forward again.
His army jacket was gone, and so was his hat. Its absence showed off his balding head, and there was no hiding the disheveled look of his clothes. They had been ripped, torn, and bled upon. From His story, the Colonel had required minimal incentives, which led Snake to believe that he had undergone the beating after his untimely confession. 'No,' Snake thought.
"No!" Snake cried, jumping forward but the Colonel's arms went up, telling him in a gesture to stop. For that, he was hit across the face by one of the men that held him, and then He stepped beside the Colonel and felt the hair that was left on his head.
"You're one old man," he said, turning to the others. "You, Solid Snake, are old as well. It seems both of you have surpassed your prime. There is no sense in going against my orders at this point. If you were to defy me once more, and were to turn down your mission your friend would find death in the temple faster than you could find green in this park." Snake struggled forward, but Fox stopped him.
And then, though Snake wished the moment would last longer, the Colonel was taken back to the helicopter.
"So you see what I want?" He asked. "Just a few blocks south of here is the warehouse. We have come to call it and the area surrounding it, 'the Zero District.' I want you to take a stroll that way, and get us a little inside look on what's happening. You take the disc you all ready have," he said, reminding Snake of the disc that remained in a pocket around his waistline – one he was supposed to use early that morning. "And you insert it in the Compilation. It will run on its own. Then, you remove the disc and bring it to McMillion's Coffee House. I'll be there waiting for you."
Snake and the others looked at him, sternly. That was their only reply. "I only want Snake and Jack going in. Otacon and Fox may accompany them, but only as backup." They finally nodded, and He smiled not with amusement, but with victory. "Come on," he said, then, and Naomi reluctantly let go of Fox and Mei Ling quickly glued herself to her friend. The two of them were led by other men to the armored vehicles and disappeared within.
The four others stood there, not wanting to go, but without a choice. They wanted to stay there and to grip the moment so that they could be sure that the meeting with Mei Ling and Naomi – may it be their last – would be a fulfilling one. But that didn't happen either.
And then Snake stepped forward as He walked to his jeep. "What's your name?" Snake asked. 'He' was not something he wanted to address him as any longer.
He looked over His shoulder and smiled. "Dante," he finally said. There was a stirring of thought before he took a seat in the passenger seat of the jeep and peeked out his head. "Better get a move on."
And then, their last memories and their last hopes were carted away with the sound of a dying helicopter's groan and the cry of rubber on the grass. There was a chill of anger and desperation lifting in the air as Otacon moved to the fountain again and let Snake's bandana soak in the water's torrents. Then, as Snake stepped over to him he tore it down the center and after tying one strip over his forehead he turned to Snake who smiled. Then, he took the other, which Otacon offered up to him, and tied it around his own – the cold water soothing them both.
Smiling at each other they nodded as if a substitution for their handshake and then turned away from the fountain, and from the departing vehicles, and from the death that still lingered. And not letting the sadness ensue, Snake and Otacon turned to face south and began walking. Seeing the picture that was being painted, both Jack and Fox followed, their minds set on one mission, one objective, one adventure.
They were going to the Zero District, but not just going there…they were going there as friends…
The Zero District.