Chapter II: Deployment

Axl stepped out of the office, closing the door behind him as he turned to walk back to his room to get ready. His mind was preparing itself for the mission ahead, so he hadn't noticed the woman leaning against wall by the door.

"Hey Ax."

He turned to look and said, "Well good morning Alex, too early for your Ls'?"

She disregarded his statement, and looked straight at him. "So you're off on another mission, I see."

"You aren't jealous, are you? The mission should be dangerous. I'll receive further briefing on the way."

She shrugged her shoulders, her black jumpsuit moving perfectly with her motions. "Pfft, why would I be jealous of you? If anything, I should be worried. I've read parts of the report they purposely left out; I took it from the guy with glasses. You haven't seen the numbers you'd be up against if you got stuck down there." She forced a laugh.

"Well that's the reason they called me and not you, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to get in my way this time." He began to walk past her, breaking eye contact.

Alex picked up her rifle she had placed against the wall beside her and held it out in front of him, stopping him for another moment. "Wait, Axl. Take this. You may need the firepower."

He stared at her again, but this time she wasn't looking back. For some reason he noticed how nice she looked in the morning light. The sun managed to filter into the hallway as it danced across her lightly tan face framed with her semi-long ebony hair. Her light brown eyes were looking to the side, she almost looked sad to see him go on this mission.

He laughed a bit and gently pushed the M-16 she held back to her. "What use would I have for that? A .223 won't do much against a Viral. The rifle is good against the living but not zombies; their physiology changes with the mutation of the virus." He moved her face with a soft movement of his hand, so she could look at him. His voice took a slightly harsher tone. "And against Tyrants, the round doesn't have the kick to bore through deep enough to cause serious damage. It's knowledge like this that makes me the superior hunter." He then turned to face the hall and resumed his walk back to his quarters, not allowing her to retort.

Alex put the rifle's strap on her shoulder and walked over to Barry's door, speaking softly, "Idiot, any Viral hunter knows it depends on where you shoot."

-

The room he had left less than fifteen minutes ago no longer had the restful feel it had when he awoke. He looked for his gear, his weaponry and special belt for holding items.

"I'm bringing all my artillery, Alex may hate me but she wouldn't lie to me about a mission."

He put on his holsters, keeping his favorite .357 revolver in his shoulder strap and his Colt .45 semi auto on his side. He could only carry three rifles, so he decided on his Benelli M1 tactical shotgun, placing it on his back along with his late father's M-14. He decided the third rifle should be his AK-47, still remembering his last mission and what it did to that group of MA-121 Hunters.

However, he still looked as if he wanted to bring something else. "This still won't be enough, even if I stock up on ammo. I'm taking Bolt Sword with me." He walked into his closet and hung on the wall was a sheath meant to hold a sword on the back. Above it rested a 32-inch longsword, made of lightweight titanium with a black handle and decorative carvings of serpents along its blade. He put the sheath on and slid the razor-sharp blade into its holding place.

After taking as much ammunition he could carry along with four grenades and several provisions, he pressed his intercom and sent a message to the helipad, "This is Colonel Axl, have the helicopter fueled and ready for my departure."

The voice on the other end replied, "Affirmative sir."

He adjusted his hat; everything was ready.

It was time to rock and roll.

-

The steady beat of the chopper's blades cutting through the air filled the space within the helicopter. Axl held onto his hat with his left hand while holding his Kalashnikov rifle's strap over his shoulder with his right as he sat by the large open door. Mr. Jeremiah was sitting opposite Axl in the center of the vehicle, strapped in tightly, holding several documents.

Jeremiah spoke up, yelling over the blades, "Colonel! Your mission is to be dropped a half-mile from where Miss Chambers is allegedly being held. This town was fair in size and had a penitentiary on its far end, bordering the woods. We can't risk being any closer due to the risk of enemy military personnel guarding her, if any." He handed Axl a few papers, including maps with distinct markings for where the helicopter would drop him off and where he and Rebecca would rendezvous with it again. "Radio contact is strictly forbidden. You'll only have a window of 5 hours to complete this mission, so you have no time to waste, Colonel."

Axl remained silent and nodded, affirming Jeremiah that he understood.

Mr. Jeremiah then looked as if he remembered something. "I almost forgot! We've built a new device to check for T/G-virus infection." He produced a small gun-like device with a readout on the top. "Just stick this into a person's arm and let it draw a few drops of blood. Don't worry about sanitation, it self-cleans."

Axl took the readout and placed it in one of the pouches on his belt. He just looked out the door again, staring at the passing forest below. He couldn't make out anything specific in the trees, there were just passing streaks of green and brown under the shadow of the airship. Though the mission seemed set out well enough before him, something didn't feel right. He only hoped he could save Rebecca and complete his mission with as little difficulty as possible, but something told him it wasn't going to be that easy.

The pilot yelled back to them, "We've almost reached the city, ETA 5 minutes to the outskirts. There are some hills we'll pass over, so when we hit that you'll know we're close."

Axl gripped the strap of his rifle tightly, knowing it'll be what stands between him and the horror thirsting for his blood. He spoke up, as he thought of a way to ease him a bit before he went into combat.

"Hey pilot, could you play that tape I gave you? I could use some theme music."

The pilot shouted back, "No prob, buddy!" and hit the play button on the audio player by the controls. On came "All Along the Watchtower" by Jimi Hendrix.

There must be some kind of way out of here

Said the joker to the thief

There's too much confusion

I can't get no relief

Business men they drink my wine

Plowmen dig my earth

None would ever compromise

Nobody of this world

No reason to get excited

The thief he kindly spoke

There are many here among us

Who feel that life is but a joke

But you and I we've been through that

And this is not our place

So let us stop talking falsely now

The hour's getting late

All along the watchtower

Princess kept the view

While all the women came and went

Barefoot servants too

Outside in the cold distance

A wildcat did growl

Two riders were approaching

And the wind began to howl

Minutes passed in moments by the time they reached the rolling hills. Axl could see the buildings, mostly homes, fast approaching. But a half-mile before they reached concrete, a beeping noise went off in the chopper.

The pilot yelled back to the passengers, "RPG's! We're under fire!"

Axl peered through the other door as the helicopter swerved to the right to avoid a few rockets, seeing six paramilitary soldiers firing upon them, running out onto the field. A pair of vapor trails flew from two of the soldiers and headed straight for the helicopter.

"We're going to be hit!" the pilot yelled as he tried to dive but found it too late. A second later a shock jolted the chopper, after a rocket struck the back rotor and sent the vehicle into a spin.

The scenery flew by at blazing speeds as the helicopter descended at a rapid rate. Axl checked his watch and then held on tightly to the metal bar next to him as he braced himself for impact.

"MercenariesGod I hate being right about these things" mumbled Axl.

The helicopter crashed and everything went black.