June 20th, 2552, 11:31PM

We stopped inside of someone's house a few streets down from where we had wrecked at so we could treat the wounded. The house was near empty, the people that where living here had packed most of everything they had or could take and left. No way they left by train then if they hoped to talk all the stuff they possibly had. All that was left was paper, it filled the ground everywhere. The fridge remained, it was empty though and we used it to cool water to make some ice.

I picked up a piece of paper. It was a drawing of a person, the colors sagging out of the lines here and there. In the bottom right it said 'Amy, preschool drawing assignment, A+'. I smiled at it and sat it down on the floor. I walked into the kitchen and found a piece of paper towel laying on the cabinet under some more papers. I picked it up and wet it with water from the sink. I took off my helmet and began to clean the blood off my visor with it. It got most off but left small smears on it, but it was easier to see though when I put it on.

I sat up on the cabinet on top of the paper. I tried to think of what happened and what we could do. Someone made there way to me, it was Steve.
"Have you seen Dave or Jake?" He asked.
I looked at him though his visor.
"Yeah, i've seen Jake anyway." I replied.
Steve looked off among the others.
"Well, at least we know he's good. If we..." Steve started up, I interrupted.
"He's dead." I looked down a bit to the floor and Steve looked over at me.
"Jake... Jakes dead?" He asked shocked. I nodded back.

Steve walked up to the wall and punched it, his fist when though. He pulled his hand out and walked off. He returned with a BR55 in his hands and made for the back door.
"I'm going to kill them!" He said loudly and mad.
He kicked open the kitchen door and walked out into the yard and around the house heading out into the front yard. Everyone glanced our way. Ryan jogged up and went after him, I hopped off and followed Ryan.

"Stop soldier." Ryan said as he made his way to him.
Steve continued on and out into the street.
"Come back, before you give us away Steve." Ryan said again, Steve continued on and fully crossed the street.
Ryan sprinted off at him and speared him to the ground. The two broke out into fighting in the grass. I ran up and tried to stop it before the enemy heard them grunting as they fought. I was pushed to the side by Steve, who was powered by anger.

Ryan grabbed hold of Steve and pinned him to the ground, holding him down on top of him. Steve managed to roll over and put Ryan to the ground. Steve put his hands around Ryans neck and began to choke him. I looked at the gun that lay in the grass by the sidewalk and ran over and picked it up. I dashed at Steve screaming, bashing the weapon into the side of his head as hard as I could.

Steve flopped over to his side on the ground and laid still. Ryan made his way to his feet and began to catch his breath.
"Thank you." He said to me.
Other soldiers began to make their way to us. Steve still laid there, I began to wonder if I had killed him. I dropped the gun into the grass. Ryan stepped over and sat down on the sidewalk as I slowly made my way to Steve who continued to lay there.

A medic came in by him before I got to him and checked his pulse.
"He fine." The medic said. "He's just unconscious."
Ryan got up to his feet.
"Alright, lets get him back inside before the Chinese see us." Ryan said.
I glanced around. I couldn't see any sign of the enemy but could hear the rumble of fighting going on in the distance. I began to wonder how the others did when we all came in. I hoped they where doing better than us. I jogged off to catch up to Ryan and the others.

We entered the house and put Steve with the other wounded. I sat back along a wall across from him in what I took had been the living room or the dining room. I was shaken about what I had just done to my best friend, but I had not no choice, he was going to kill Ryan if I hadn't. Ryan made his way to me and sat down beside me. We sat there for a minute, not saying a thing to eachother.

Ryan finally started.
"I owe you a lot." He said. "If you hadn't done what you did, I'd be dead possibly." He finished.
I looked over at him to find he was looking at me.
"I had no choice." I said. "I wasn't just going to let him kill one of my other friends." Ryan patted my on the shoulder.
"And i'm grateful to have a friend like you." He replied.
He stood up and made his way up the nearby stairs and out of sight.

I sat there dazed in thought about what I had done. I felt horrible. Another soldier sat down by me, it was Dave. I glanced over at him, that was it. I didn't even act like I cared he was okay and I felt bad about it a little.
"I'm glad to see your okay." He started.
"You too." I said back.
"What happened to Steve out there?" He asked after a bit.
I explained what had happened and that I was feeling down about doing it.

"Don't be." He said. "You did what you had to do." I looked over at him and smiled to him though my visor.
I made out him smiling though his. I heard footsteps coming down the creaky stairs, it was Ryan. He made his way to us.
"You boys want to do some window shopping?" He asked. We glanced up at him.
"Sure." I replied quietly.
"Good, get a gun and meet me at the front door at midnight." He said and walked off.

That was only about five minutes away. We borrowed some guns from some soldiers and went to the front door. Ryan came up to us.
"Good, your ready. Lets go." He said and we made our way out the front door and down the sidewalk.

We where being careless. We walked down the sidewalk in the open holding our guns and merely scanned the area. We knew most of the enemy was way ahead of us, fighting members of the 23rd.
"So what are we doing?" Asked Dave. "Why only us?"
Ryan looked over at him and looked back ahead.
"We found out theirs a store down the road here that may come in use. Its a gun store." Ryan announced.
We easily understood what he was getting at and continued on down the sidewalk carelessly.

We dashed off for cover when we heard the yells of the enemy up ahead we thought. We heard them talk again and learned they where on the opposite side of the house to our right. I was hiding behind a tree in the lawn, Dave behind a yellow fire hydrant which didn't do much good, on the other side of the sidewalk from me and Ryan had jumped into a bush.

We made our way to the house by us and sat there listening, they where defiantly on the other side of the building, in the back yard. We decided we better take them out or they may find our medical setup about seven houses down. We made our way around the corner of the building and made down the drive way that was beside the building. We came up on the corner, the enemy was on the other side.

Ryan kneeled down, I was behind him and Dave behind me. Ryan came up and got into a firing position on the corner and I stood above him, aiming over his head. The enemy noticed us and looked over. They where members of The Royal Troop and a few seconds later, they where the Royal Dead. All four of them dropped to the ground, Ryan and my BR55 where smoking slightly.

We quickly moved under the cover of night down the street, scaling over small fences and jumping a creek that was in the back yard of someone's house. We soon came out on a street that ran the opposite way than we where heading.
"Just beyond those buildings that lay before us, thats where the target is." Ryan said.
We looked all directions before crossing the street, something I had never really took seriously until now.

Ryan dashed across while Dave and I covered him. Nothing happened. Dave went and I covered from my side and Ryan from the other, he made it okay too. I dashed out, headlight came around the corner down the street and fixed on me. I made it across the street and to the others. They where in between two house, a small wall blocked them from cutting between. We where stuck there.

I heard doors open and slam shut, the voices that I did not know filled the air again. Ryan came up to the corner of the building and fired out on them from it.
"Go! Now! I'll hold them off!" He yelled. "Get guns and ammo and get the supplies back to the others!" He screamed.
The enemy fired back and Ryan took cover and re-loaded his gun.
"Now, thats an order!" He yelled and peaked back around and started firing.

Dave and I bolted our and cut left down the house line. Bullets flew everywhere by us. There was a explosion as a grenade went off by the vehicle, another grenade went off by it and the vehicle erupted into a giant fireball. Gun fire that was casing after us stopped. We came to the end of the house line and cut left down another. We found a gap in between two houses and took it, it lead out into a open field.

We stopped and looked out over the field. Across from us where more housing and to the right down the house line we could see the buildings of shops and restraints. We assumed thats where it would be. Off over the field we saw a building with lights on top of it that read 'DAOL DNA KCOL' -- Lock and load backwards.
"That must be it." said Dave.
"Yeah." I replied and we where off.

We bolted off for the building though the field at about a one-hundred-thirty-five degree angel from where we had been. We ran as hard as we could, the sound of fighting between Ryan and the enemy came to a end. We stopped in the middle of the field and looked back for a second.
"Come on lets move." I said and we took off again.

We soon arrived at the back of the shop. Tires and broken beer bottles lay everywhere. Thick wood had been laid up against the building and bullet holes where in it. Must be where people tried out the guns I thought. We went up to the back door. I tried to turn the handle to it but it was locked.
"I'll check the front." Dave said and made his way around the building, he soon returned.

"The doors locked and the front windows are bared up." He told me.
I glanced at the door and thought back to what Steve had done.
"I hope there's no alarms." I said and kicked in the door.
I half expected an alarm to go off and give us away but none did. We slowly stepped in. The place was a mess. Broken tables and chairs, glass, and about anything else lay everywhere.

We walked further in and found a dead Royal Troop on the floor, his blood still wet. We drew our guns and got ready. I peaked around the corner of the small passage way that lead into a larger room and made out an ammo locker. I stepped out and heard someone breathing heavily and stepped back in behind cover.
"WWMF military!" I yelled. "Drop any weapons you have and step out where I can see you!" I demanded.
"What are you doing your going to get us caught by the Chinese." Dave said to me, I shushed him.

"You are.. American?" A shaky voice asked us.
"I am Thomas Steel, team commander of 5th squad, 15th airborne troop, American Division." I replied.
Lights came to life overhead. And I heard someone starting to move around.
"Okay, i'm by a table in the room here." The voice said.
I peaked around and saw him. I slowly stepped out into the room.

"What are you doing here?" A man asked nervous.
He stood up and he had a M90 Shotgun in his hands. I stopped and asked him to put it down, he did.
"We need some weapons and ammo." I said. "We are running low on supplies and need them badly." I told him.
The man stepped out, leaving his shotgun on the floor where he had been.

"You guys gave me a scare when you kicked in my door." He said making his way to us. "I thought you where more of the Chinese forces." He stopped in front of me. "I got some weapons and ammo. I will give it to you to use and fight the Chinese."
We accepted and he grabbed his shotgun and lead us into another room.
"These are dangerous times." He said, as though we didn't know. "I will give you guns and ammo if you leave immediately after and leave me be."
We again accepted to his terms.

This room was too trashed a lot.
"I didn't get to finish hiding all the bodies of the enemies I had killed." He continued as he lead us into another room. "They had come in when nearby fighting broke out down across the field."
We knew what he was talking about.
"They came in and I shot them down in the hall. I started hiding the bodies incase more came and then I heard someone snooping around the front doors. So I went back to into the room and you guys kicked in the door."

We stopped at the front desk by the front doors. Four dead enemies lay there.
"One had something that may be important information." I looked at the man.
He reached in under a counter into a area that was big enough to hold a small stack of papers and pulled a folded sheet and handed it to me.
"It says something about getting this letter to a nearby commanding officer. The letter covers something about a general named Max and his movement." I froze and took the letter.

I glanced at the paper and put it in a pouch on my belt.
"Thank you." I said.
"This way if you will?" He asked and lead us into another room.
This room was a little bigger then the main lobby. He turned on some lights. This room was very clean. To the right where a bunch of cabinets and ahead was a rack full of guns, to the left where cabinets with sliding doors, inside where ammo magazines, belts and whatever else.

"Help yourselves." He told us.
"Dave." I said and he replied. "Go check the guns and name them off for me, i'll pull out ammo for that gun."
He replied again and made his way to the guns and I went to the ammo cabinets.
"Just bust it opened." The man said. I smashed the glass door open.

"M6D." Dave started and I pulled out the ammo for that gun as he called them off. "M90, M6C, and BR55."
I laid out all the ammo for the guns called in front of me. Ammo for others guns he didn't have I left.
"And." Dave started up again. "Snake Wires." He said as he pulled out a clear container full with them and looked over at the man. I looked over at him too.
"Your lucky where at war or you be in prison for a very long time." I said to him. He laughed uneasy a bit.

I picked up the ammo and put them into pouchs until they where full, Dave did as well. We left extra M90 ammo behind for the man and thanked him for everything. Dave handed me a few guns and I held them in my hands.
"We better not get caught or where in trouble." I said.
"Tell me about it." Dave said back. "No way we can fight back and carry all of these."

We made our way out and to the back door, from which we had entered. Someone stepped in as we came up to it and I stopped.
"Don't talk, lets just go." The man said, it was Ryan.
I smiled under my visor and let out a small sigh. We followed him out and he took some guns.
"The others moved out." He said to me and Dave. "There just down the way here, waiting for us."
He stopped and looked up at the man who had given us the guns and ammo.
"You coming along?" Asked Ryan. The man turned down the offer.
We thanked him again and we departed for the others.

We made our way into another alley and stopped at a back door of a huge building. Ryan knocked on it and it opened, a allied soldier stood on the other side. We entered. We came into a gymnasium, everyone stood out in the middle of a basketball court. We made our way up to them and put the guns down and laid ammo around the floor. Soldiers that could fight began to pick up weapons and ammo.

As I was emptying ammo out of my pouch and giving it to soldiers, I pulled out the letter.
"Ryan!" I yelled. "This letter was retrieved from a dead soldier, it covers movement of the enemy general Max." I said.
He opened it and looked over it.
"How do you know... its all in Chinese?" He asked.
I told him that it was what the man at the guns store had said.
"Maybe he can read Chinese." I said to Ryan.
He put the letter in a pouch on his belt.
"Good find, well give it to command when we can, the'll find out what it says."

Another CO walked up to Ryan and whispered something to him. Ryan nodded and the CO walked off.
"Get ready, where moving out to the command post in the north of the city." Ryan said.
Ryan walked over to the stands and stood up on the first row.
"Listen up." He said and everyone gazed up at him. "Members of my squad that been issued as capable to fight, make your way to the back door. Those that are under the command of Stephen Willaburg that have been issued under my command, make your way to the door as well." Ryan announced and hopped down and made his way to us.

People began to make there way for the back door. We did to, Ryan walked with us. We all stepped out side and we all knew what we where going to do, which was make our way all he way to the command post in the north part of town where the CP was. We locked and loaded our guns and in a line began to make our way down the alley. We now held important intel on the enemy and it was all the more reason to get there.

June 20th, 255212:46 AM

A enemy vehicle passed by at the end of the alley, we stayed still and they didn't see us. Ryan had point, I was behind him and Dave was behind me, a trail of seven others followed him. We heard footsteps running down the alley behind us, we all shifted out attention down that way. A allied soldier was jogging up to us, it was Steve. He had a M6D pistol and he fell in behind Dave after asking a soldier for the spot.

I glanced at him uneasy and so did Ryan. Ryan looked away and checked the corner, it was clear. We began to cross the street. I glanced to my left and though the night street lights, small fires burned on wreckage and a building with a blown out on the side where still visible. It gave the place a creepy tone. We crossed the street and continued down the alley on the other side.

To our left another building line went blocked us and to our right was housing. We went on for about forty-five minutes of crossing streets, walking down houseline, and cutting though buildings. Soon after we could hear gunfire ahead. We moved on and it got louder. We soon started to enter the metropolises sections of the city. The buildings got bigger, turning into skyscrapers and large stores. We must be in the center of the city I thought.

The broadcaster said the city was owned half-and-half a bit before we dropped in, but there was no sign of enemies or allies in the area. Fighting could be heard further out in the distance, the Chinese must of taken more ground from the 23rd and supporters. Soon we saw enemies. They where walking down a street in a two columns, a CO stood in the front on the right and a man holding a flag stood beside him on the left.

They where on there way to the front. We counted them, there was about thirty. We decided to follow them and see where their lines where. We followed them down street after street and then finally we made out a mobie HQ. The troop we had been following continued on and we stopped. We cut across the street to our left and entered a shop on the other side. The wall had been blown out so it was easy to get into.

I glanced around and I just noticed the destruction that lay before me. Cars and stores where on fire, and smoke blocked the sight of stars thought the entire sky. A dog ran by us in fear and down the street where we had come from. The sidewalk in front of the store was cracked everywhere, all the sidewalks where. I looked further down the street, away from the enemy HQ and saw tons of crater holes. Trash blew though the air and half a building lay in the catered street.

I looked back at the HQ and then to Ryan.
"What are we going to do?" I asked while he observed the HQ with his binoculars.
"Where not going to fight this one." He said. "Well cut more to the left and go around and flank the enemy attacking our HQ ahead of us."

We cut though the building and into another alley, this city was full of them I thought to myself. We exited the alley rather than go down it and headed down a nearby street. After heading west for awhile, we cut right and made our way north to where our HQ was. A pocket of enemy infantry stepped out around a corner in front of us and where making their way down the same street, heading for the same area we where, it was also the troop we had been stalking earlier.

They didn't notice us and we took the advantage and fired on them. They started to scatter, some even ran into each other as they tried to find cover. In a matter of seconds they where all dead on the sidewalk and street. Cover was everywhere, they had just panicked and didn't see it and payed with their lives for their fear. We continued on ahead, making our way over the dead enemy bodies in their blue armor.

We probably wouldn't of seen them in the dark if it wasn't for the fires that burned everywhere and gave light to the surrounding area.

A squadron of dropship made their way overhead and we jumped to the ground for cover. We took it as the enemies and they headed off down to our HQ, there was about eight of them. We got up and continued on.

We soon came up on the main street that lead to our HQ. We followed it into Section B of the city. We entered and found a giant lake off to our left, buildings extended out into the water on concrete platforms, it looked like the ten story buildings where floating on water. I quickly realized that it was the ocean, not a lake. Ahead of us lay a row of palm trees that followed along the street. The street sloped down and a walkway stood above it. Allied soldiers stood pinned on the catwalk by gunfire.

We quickly looked to our right and saw a enemy MG shooting at them from the corner of a building.
"Assault the position and take it!" Ryan yelled and we all bolted at the MG from the rear flank.
We shot as we went. The gunner didn't realize the incoming fire at him until his mate fell over dead on him. It was also confirmed when a bullet shot in though his visor and killed him.

The soldiers on the platform looked at us and then started to shoot up at the building on the side we couldn't see.
"Breach the building!" Ryan ordered and we moved into the building entrance though a wall opening.
The lower level was clear and a ramp extended up onto a second level. We went up carefully. To the right wa a passage that lead to a walkway out of the building and ahead was another exit along the wall.

We went up to the exit in front of us and leaned up on the wall. We could hear a MG firing on the other side and people talking. We came up on the corner and peaked around. Across from us where the other walkway led into another building was a long window seal where the enemy stood shooting out. Ryan exited around the corner and kneeled down, we followed him out. He took aim at the MG gunner and fired, killing both him and his mate in a few bursts.

I took aim on the infantry that was firing at the men on the walkway. Standing over ryan's head I fired. Killing the two of them. We where on a platform and below us was another enemy position with a MG. We could also heard them talking. We walked on the platform above them and made our way across the walkway into the other building where the enemy was using the long window seal for cover against our other allies.

This must be the headlong of the fight I thought to myself.
We quietly came up on the enemy, they didn't even notice us. They where kneeling up and down to fire over the seal and take cover behind the small wall, there where two small pillars in the room behind them. We crept up behind them and each picked a man. We stood behind our targets and pulled out and fixed our bayonets on our guns, the enemy was so focused on the position of the other teams that they never saw it coming.

We looked at each other, those without a target stood behind the pillars and we all nodded. We took a step forward and at the same time we hacked our enemy up with our bayonets. I stabbed mine into the person in front of me, putting the knife though the rubbery weak spot of the armor. He screamed and shot upward, he turned his head and looked at me and said something in Chinese and fell to the ground. I stabbed him again and he let out another scream, I stabbed him until he quit moving.

Together we all lined up along the window seal like the enemy had. We slowly lifted our weapons over the seal and all took aim at the enemy MG that was below the platform with the MG we had taken out. We fired. The gunner and ammo feeder dropped, infantry around them too went down quickly and without warning. We all re-loaded our guns and continued on down the building. Heavy fighting still filled the air.

The building feed off into a street oddly. We looked down the street and it lead into a tunnel, we glanced off down the street and it headed down to where the walkway was... or was supposed to, the bridge had been blown off. We crossed and entered the building on the opposite side. We made our way down and came upon another catwalk, this one lead us to friendly soldiers.

"Friendly!" Ryan yelled and we stepped around the corner and made our way down the catwalk.
Enemy forces came into view below us. We crossed the catwalk and came onto the platform where the allied soldiers where taking cover against pieces of concrete that feed upward on the outer edge of the platform.
"Damn good to see some friendly reinforcements." A soldier said.

"Where's your command post at?" Ryan asked the man.
"Just past that building." The soldier said and pointed off down the platform and to the building that was across it. "On the other side." He added. "We got troops on that walkway out there, follow the street straight down and it leads to the gate entrance, the CP is on the other side of that gate."
Ryan nodded to show he understood.

"We also got Germans off that way on the flank of our CP..." The soldier started.
"Germans?" Ryan interrupted.
"Yeah, they came in suddenly by dropship over the east coast."
We now knew what the unknown air team was, it was the Germans arriving to join the fight.
"Well just have to take care of the Germans too." Ryan said.
The soldier looked at Ryan.
"Take care of? They're on our side now." He replied.