While the city seemed to tear itself apart in a storm of violence and rage, two of the United States Army's top units had been dispatched to contain what the government still though to be just a case of civil unrest. The soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division were the first to respond seeing as they were only a stone's throw away at Fort Carson, just outside Colorado Springs. They were ordered to simply set up a perimeter and quarantine the area and that's exactly what they did. The forces of the 10th Mountain stretched across the somewhat mountainous terrain around Raccoon City, establishing check points throughout the surrounding Arklay Forest to maintain constant contact with the main HQ set up less than a mile over Raven's Gate Bridge on the outskirts of the city. An hour later a C-130 carrying the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment arrived at the airbase at Fort Carson where MH-60 Black Hawks picked them up and rendezvoused at the outpost just outside of Raccoon. Two hundred of the active three hundred soldiers from the 3rd Battalion had been helo'd in broken down on the battlefield as a Company. Their commanding officer was a Captain named Eric Hall who had been with this very same Battalion during Operation: Restore Hope in Somalia in 1993.
Captain Hall entered into the command tent that was set up to serve as the joint base of operations for the two units called upon to participate in the mission. After removing his Kevlar helmet, he was greeted by a formal nod from the CO of the 10th Mountain, Major General Steve Godwin who was currently issuing orders to his subordinates who in turn relayed them onto the roughly seven thousand soldiers currently deployed at Raccoon City.
"Sir?" The general turned to Captain Hall. "Any new developments?"
The general replied with disgust, "Negative, captain. The Pentagon hasn't authorized entry for us so we don't know what the hell's going on. Power's out all over the city and we got helos reporting fires are starting and quickly funneling out of control."
Captain Hall thought it strange how the local fire department had failed to keep the blazes under control. Usually they were commended for their efficiency when such instances as forest fires were reported but the total lack of responsiveness puzzled the veteran soldier.
"Well, sir, I received orders from The Pentagon... General Hawthorne himself, that my boys are to insert at Fort Arklay and relieve the National Guard & Reserve units stationed there. Any word from them?"
"No, I'm afraid not. We lost radio contact half an hour ago. We've been trying to raise them but it hasn't worked. The last transmissions were muffled and the gunfire made it even harder to hear."
"I'll let my men know the situation. With your authorization we'll proceed with our mission."
Major General Godwin nodded to indicate he understood Captain Hall. He then called the captain over to view the topographical map of Raccoon City.
"We've got the place surrounded, nothing is getting in or out. Fort Arklay is on the northeastern edge of town, across the Marble River and the hospital. Shouldn't take more than five minutes to get there. When you arrive I want an immediate sit-rep, understood, Captain?"
"Roger that sir."
Upon receiving his limited orders, Captain Hall exited the command tent and reaffixed his helmet over his head, securing it by a chinstrap. He returned to the staging area where his restless men gathered around and made small talk to pass the time.
"Troop, fall in!" Came the command from the senior NCO First Sergeant James Raven who acted as the company's executive officer. When the order was made, the two hundred Rangers instantly fell into formation and stood at a position of attention. Having made the order, 1SG Raven stood to the captain's left and stood at attention as well.
"All right men. You all have been briefed upon the situation and so I'll cut to the point. Our first objective is to rendezvous with the 3rd National Guard and 48th Reserve elements at Fort Arklay. Reports indicate that radio contact with the fort was lost at 1910 this evening. We will move by air to the fort and relieve those men. Hooah?"
A simultaneous "Hooah" echoed throughout the area as the highly skilled Rangers acknowledged their orders.
"Fall out."
Immediately the company was broken down even further into two platoons meaning forty-four soldiers divided equally into twenty-twenty to for each platoon. Three MH-60s were used to transport them along with one AH-6 "Little Bird" that seated two battalion snipers to provide aerial cover. Twenty minutes later the five helicopters ascended into the air and headed for Arklay. While traversing the city, soldiers that were seated next to the open door caught glimpses of the supposed rioters. One keen soldier, Sergeant Brett Robert Kennedy noticed that their movements were slow and uncoordinated. Had the others also observed this? Instead of bringing it to their attention and passing it off as nothing, Sgt Kennedy closed his eyes and tried to relax.
Five minutes had passed since the platoons left the safety of the staging area and now it was go time. The helos began their descent one hundred meters from Fort Arklay. Even with the power supply cut the pilots had no problems maneuvering in the dark thanks to the NV equipped birds. After circling twice above the army base, the pilots found an open area and prepped for their landing. Once the helo touched the ground the Rangers unloaded and scattered out away from the dangerous main rotors of their transports. When all forty-four men had been unloaded, the pilots quickly lifted off and headed back to their base, leaving only the one Little Bird to provide cover.
Captain Hall glanced around without the aid of night vision. No sounds were audible and certainly no movement was seen. His soldiers kept quiet as did he while they proceeded away from the open grounds and towards the mess hall. Captain Hall signaled for one of his men to open the door while the rest covered. Sgt Kennedy wrapped his gloved hand around the silver handle and turned it slowly before pushing it inward. The Rangers filed in behind him and moved to the corners of the mess hall. Closer observation showed that deceased bodies littered the floor. Some of the windows had been shot out and thus the rays of the moon shone in and brought faint light to the fallen. Captain Hall walked slowly through the mess hall making sure not to accidentally step on any of the numerous bodies that were scattered about. The commanding officer took notice of the bullet holes in the wall, M4 rifles laying about, empty clips, full clips, casings of the 5.56mm rounds that had been fired... and the massive amount of blood. He knelt down beside one of the bodies and turned it over, revealing the form of a young woman, probably in her early twenties though he couldn't be too sure since her face and half of her head had been ripped apart looking as a wild animal had feasted upon her. The blood seemed to be stagnant and her cranial matter was in a scattered trail across the once clean and sparkling marble floor. He touched his gloved finger to the puddle of crimson liquid and closer to his face for examination.
"Jesus, what the fuck happened here?" He asked himself in a quiet tone.
None of the Rangers seemed to take notice that one of the bodies was slowly starting to stir. Its limbs were twitching and the creature's eyes opened once more, revealing a pale blue iris. Quietly the body defied all logic and lifted itself up enough to crawl towards the nearest living form.
"AAAGH!" came the scream that pierced that silence of the night. Captain Hall and the others immediately turned their attention to the northwest section of the mess hall to decipher what on earth was happening. Hall rushed across the hall and to a corporal who had collapsed to the ground. He was kicking at the dead body. Why the hell? To his horror, the captain watched as the reanimated corpse ripped into the flesh of his young corporal right below the knee. It tore a piece of muscle from the kid's calf and held it between its teeth, gnawing on it as if it were a starved Nigerian child. A pool of blood was forming where the young soldier fell. He had already gone into a state of shock, which prompted action from the platoon's medic. The captain just stood there in amazement as the creature swallowed the muscle tissue it had just collected then seemed to come back for more.
"Son of a bitch, what the hell is going on? Medic, I think this guy has rabies or something." Hall certainly was smarter than his comment would lead one to believe. But the situation he was faced with and not having knowledge of the situation within the nightmare that had become Raccoon, anyone could have so easily made such an outrageous claim.
The second medic attached to the platoon carefully stepped by his commanding officer and cocked his head to the right as he stared down at the man who replied with a faint groan.
"I've never seen a case of rabies like that. Looks like Ebola to me," observed the second team medic. Captain Hall shot an aberrant stare over to his comrade that could have stopped a licker dead in it's tracks.
"The fuck you just say, doc?"
"The Ebola, these systems are reminiscent of the virus."
"Thought that shit was limited to Africa."
"It's supposed to be. Almost as if it's in seclusion but this is formidable evidence. I want to call it back to base. We might have an epidemic here."
"Alright, get on it."
Hall walked away from the medic and shook his head. "Ebola. What the fuck?" the thought to himself as he rejoined the fallen corporal who by now had been treated for shock and was slipping in and out of consciousness. One of the soldiers had been ordered to help the diseased man to his feet but refused to comply with his order. Under normal circumstances that would be called insubordination but it was obvious these weren't your normal circumstances. Captain Hall weighed his options on what to do with the man. Should they leave him here to possibly die? Take him with them and risk infection of the ebola? Decisions, decisions. About that time a single shot from an M4 Carbine, 5.56mm NATO Full Metal Jacket pierced through the diseased man's skull and exited through the back of his head, spraying a red mist over the boots of the captain, causing him to look down and see the thing release its grip from the captain's leg.
"You're welcome, sir." Sergeant Brett Kennedy said sharply to his commanding officer.
Captain Hall looked from the deceased man, to Kennedy, and back to the deceased man then kicked its hand away.
"This shit just keeps getting weirder." The Captain pointed out the obvious to the younger brother of U.S.S. commander, Owen "The Baron" Kennedy. "I'm going to radio back to base. Check for any survivors," ordered the captain.
"Hotel 1-1 this is Echo 1-1, over?"
"Echo 1-1, this is Hotel 1-1, what you got for us?"
"Well sir... base seems dead. We're in the mess hall and there are numerous casualties, at least thirty. Looks like a battle took place. Bullet casings, holes in the wall, the works."
"Roger that, check for survivors and we'll send in an evac."
"There's one other thing..."
"What's that?"
"There was an incident, Corporal Smith was attacked by one of the survivors. Appeared to be rapid, one of the medics said it looked like ebola."
"That's not possible, there haven't been any ebola outbreaks in years."
"That's what I thought too, sir but the evidence is conclusive."
"Alright I want you to..."
The general was abruptly cut off by the sound of semi-automatic firing on the other side. Back at the mess hall it seemed that all those presumed deceased were somehow standing up and trying to attack the soldiers. A few Rangers had been bitten by those crazy bastards and weren't about to risk any more casualties. The mess hall lit up from the flashes produced by the muzzles on all of the M4A1 Carbine rifles, giving a better perspective as to what the disease carrying civilians looked like. They began dropping as rapidly as they rose up and while firing his rifle right through their faces, Sergeant Kennedy noticed how awkward they looked, even for victims of the ebola virus. One infected he had busted open seemed to be missing a large chunk of its abdomen; flesh was rotting from its bones and its eyes looked glazed over. They didn't seem to feel any pain unless you fired at their head. Surely even a deathly ill victim of the killer virus would still feel the pain of a full metal jacket slug through the chest.
When the fire had settled down and the previously thought deceased bodies were finally confirmed to be dead, the Rangers regrouped and took a casualty count. The medics were busy as at least four more soldiers had been attacked and bitten by the infected. Having the policy of leaving no man behind, they helped their comrades up and exited the mess hall as more of the fallen victims seemed to have a new spark of life return to them.
"Get that fucking door locked!" The Captain ordered as a private rushed to the door and pressed his body weight against it. On the opposite side at least a dozen of the infected were trying to push him backwards, trying to escape from the "kitchen of death." A few more Rangers helped their young brother to reinforce the double doors and finally get them locked. A sigh of relief came over the platoon as they gathered around their captain like a flock of sheep to a shepherd.
"Ok, there's some crazy shit going on here but just keep your calm and we're all going to get through this. A medivac is on its way and should be here soon. I want six volunteers to head to Bravo's position. The rest of us will wait here to the helo arrives. I have any volunteers?"
Most of the men would have been hesitant, but not Sergeant Brett Kennedy. He immediately stepped forward and volunteered for the task, followed quickly by five more men who knew and trusted Kennedy.
"Now that's what I like to see. You guys report when you've met up with Bravo, Hooah?"
Sergeant Kennedy replied, "Hooah sir... Rangers Lead The Way."
"All the way, son."
After a quick salute from Sergeant Kennedy to Captain Hall, he and his squad began jogging off towards the area Bravo had been assigned. Deep inside, Brett felt something was horribly wrong... Bravo hadn't checked in since they arrived at Fort Arklay over forty minutes ago and such an extended amount of radio silence could never be a good thing. He only hoped his fears would prove to be false, but with what he had just encountered in the mess hall, Sergeant Kennedy was prepared for the worst.