46
Last Alarm
Chapter 46
Enemy at the Gates
Part Ten
"Firemen never die, they just burn forever in the hearts of the people whose lives they saved."
―Susan Diane Murphree
Location: Tokonosu International Airport "The Floating Island"
5 Miles off the coast of Japan
Main Terminal Building
VIP Lounge
Time: Afternoon
"FRAG OUT!" I shouted as Rika, Tajima, and I, each lobbed a heavy fragmentation grenade at the moaning, drooling horde of Infected gathered within the large lounge area near the entrance to the Sky Bridge before hurriedly ducking through the doorway and pressing ourselves against the wall as three large "WHOOMFFS!" thundered on the other side followed by a blast of hot air and assorted body parts and gore that came flying through the doorway.
I waited a moment for the dust to settle before I got up and moved over toward the open doorway for a quick look and was dismayed to see that despite the impressive blast, the grenades had actually had very little effect on slowing down the horde of Infected heading our way as the three of us then immediately scrambled to close the large emergency doors.
"Okay then…" I muttered to myself as we hastily shut the emergency doors and secured them with nylon handcuffs as best we could before I then yelled at Rika and Tajima to fall back as I glanced through the little windows built into the doors and saw that the Infected were rapidly beginning to close in.
"Great, now where the f_ck do we go from here?" I said under my breath as I moved away from the doors just as something big and heavy slammed against them and the several sets of nylon handcuffs we had used to secure the panic doors stretched against the impact and threatened to part like kite string.
It had all happened so fast.
We had been hitting the Infected with everything we had, expending hundreds of rounds of our precious ammo in the process, yet no matter how many of the Infected fell before our guns, we were still forced away from each and every defensive position we had hastily set up due to the seemingly endless numbers of Infected pouring into the complex.
And as the Infected continued to press forward, Commander Nanahara had ordered some of his men to have all of the civilians be relocated to the last remaining section of the Main Terminal where the Infected hadn't completely overrun completely yet.
And I along with the rest of the remaining SAT officers had been covering their retreat when the machine gun that I had been firing away at the Infected with finally ran dry.
I swore in frustration as I discarded the now useless weapon and then unslung my M4 carbine and then quickly reloaded the empty weapon as I then continued to blast away at the Infected trying to buy enough time for all the civilians to make it across the Sky Bridge.
And when the last civilian had passed through the doorway, Commander Nanahara wasted no time in ordering the rest of us to fall back to our last defensive position on the other side of the Sky Bridge as the remaining officers hustled through the doorway while Rika, Tajima and I covered everyone's retreat.
And as soon as Nanahara yelled that the last man had just gone through the door and began hurrying down the Sky Bridge along with the rest of his men, I then barked a command to Rika and Tajima and all three of us all lobbed a frag grenade each at the horde and then ducked through the open doorway just before the blast and concussion of the grenades going off echoed on the other side, followed by the sickening sound of wet splashes of various body parts hitting the walls and ceiling.
To my dismay though after taking a quick peek through the doorway, I observed that the killing blast of the grenades hadn't slowed the Infected down by very much as we then hurriedly tried to secure the doors with the only thing we had left which were the tactical nylon handcuffs Tajima and Rika carried on their tactical vests.
But with the pressure placed on the doors by the combined weight and strength of the Infected pressing against the doors we might as well have tried tying the doors together with yarn.
And as the Infected burst through the gore-splattered doors and then flooded onto the Sky Bridge the three of us immediately opened up on them again hoping to drop enough of their number in the passageway to at least slow them down somewhat, when the magazine in my carbine suddenly went dry.
"CHANGING!" I shouted as I dropped the empty magazine from my M4 onto the floor and reached for another in my vest as Tajima and Rika kept firing away at the Infected, covering me while I attempted to reload.
My heart pounding, I yanked a full magazine out of one of the pouches in my vest and slapped it into the magwell of my M4, but just as I slapped the bolt catch on my weapon to load a round, the bolt slammed half way into the chamber and then came to a stop, jamming my weapon and thus rendering my weapon useless.
"JAM!" I shouted to Rika and Tajima as they continued to fire away at the Infected while I tried to deal with my jammed weapon as I began swearing a blue streak at having my weapon jam on me at the worst possible moment.
Immediately I went through the process of clearing the jam which I had done so many times before over the years as I slapped the bottom of the magazine and then hit the bolt assist before pulling back on the charging handle again, all to no avail.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" I shouted as I slung my now useless carbine over my shoulder and drew my Sig P226, firing repeatedly at the oncoming horde until the slide locked back out of battery on an empty chamber as I dropped the empty mag and reached for another.
And then once again, I found myself standing with a completely useless weapon in my hand at the worst possible time, as I suddenly heard Rika shout a warning that made my blood freeze.
"RUNNERS!" Rika screamed as I glanced up in horror and saw about five, blood-splattered Infected bounding up the corridor headed straight towards us as Rika and Tajima immediately opened up with their weapons on full automatic and dropped them as I tried to hastily reload my empty pistol.
"GET OUT OF THERE!" Nanahara roared just as I had managed to reload my pistol and open fire as I saw several more "runners" push past the rest of the Infected and come dashing towards us as the rounds from our weapons dropped three of them in their tracks while other rounds merely tore bits and pieces off the other "runners" which slowed them down but not by much, as they continued to haul ass towards us with arms outstretched and jaws dripping.
"F_CK THIS SHIT… RUN!" I roared as all three of us immediately turned on our heels and ran at a dead run to the other end of the Sky Bridge with the "runners" hot on our heels as Nanahara and the other cops with him were screaming and wildly gesturing for us to run even faster as they readied themselves to shut the doors once we passed through.
"THEY'RE GAINING!" Tajima shouted as we were about two-thirds of the way across the Sky Bridge as a wild idea suddenly popped into my head.
"HAUL ASS AND DON'T LOOK BACK! I shouted to Rika and Tajima as I reached into a pouch on my vest for my last frag grenade, and pulled out the pin.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" I heard Nanahara shout as I noticed the eyes of him and every other shouting policeman on the other side of the Sky Bridge grow wide with disbelief.
"FRAG OUT!" I roared in response as I tossed the grenade over my shoulder and pumped my legs as hard as I heard Rika and Tajima gasp in horror upon seeing what I had done.
"RUN LIKE HELL DAMMIT!" I roared as the grenade bounced behind us on the non-skid hard vinyl rubber floor and then went off after a couple of seconds, the resulting blast and concussion in the confines of the passageway blasting our eardrums as bloody body parts and shrapnel flew in all directions behind us.
If given a choice, I would have loved to have been able to blow the Sky Bridge behind us to stop any further advance by the Infected, however, without any explosives available or any time to set any charges on the bridge even if we had explosives lying around, blowing the Sky Bridge was just not an option for us.
The grenade I had tossed behind us had not been a desperate attempt by me to blow the bridge, but it had bought us a few precious nanoseconds to make our escape like I had hoped, however.
And judging by the sound of bodies and body parts being flung through the air and shattering the large glass panels on both sides of the Sky Bridge, I would say that my tossing the grenade had been a good call, although the resulting damage done by the blast had also yielded an additional bonus that I was not aware of as of yet.
Despite my having tossed the grenade, we were still not anywhere close to being out of danger yet as the three of us continued to haul ass towards Nanahara and the others waiting for us at the doorway, closely followed by a couple of "runners" who hadn't been affected by the exploding grenade that were still stubbornly chasing after us.
And we had just barely made it through the doorway as Nanahara and his men were trying to close both doors behind us when both of the "runners" slammed heavily against the door, the impact knocking Nanahara and a couple of his men to the ground as some of the other cops slammed themselves against the doors in an effort to force the doors closed.
Hearing the shouts of alarm coming from behind us, I turned around saw that one of the reasons that the cops were having a hell of a time trying to close the door was due to the arm of one of the Infected was still protruding through, making it impossible for the cops to shut the door completely as I ran up and slammed my body against the door, trying to help.
And as the officers and I struggled to keep the door from bursting open under the weight of the rest of the Infected who were beginning to pile up on the other side of the door, another arm snaked through the partially-open door and somehow managed to grab ahold of my carbine that was slung around my back and yanked on it with all it's might as I suddenly found myself being pinned to the door.
Frantically, I tried to squirm out of the rifle sling but only succeeded in getting partway clear before the Infected person on the other side of the door heaved on the carbine again with all its might and the sling slipped out of my grasp and caught me in the throat, as I suddenly found myself actually being garroted by the sling as I wildly struggled to free myself.
Seeing the predicament that I was in, Rika immediately rushed forward and instinctively snatched my Merxworx knife from its sheath and then began to slash wildly at the sling, miraculously managing to severe it in the nick of time just as I was about to pass out, as I then collapsed heavily to the floor, gasping for breath.
"Daijobu desu ka, Andrew-sa….YIIIIIIIIIII?!" Rika began before she suddenly started screaming in terror as one of the Infected who had managed to squirm its head and shoulders through the door at floor-level, grabbed her by the leg and yanked her off of her feet.
Maybe it was the lack of oxygen to my brain from being strangled or perhaps I really was just losing my mind, but at that moment I almost wanted to laugh out loud at the sight of Rika Minami screaming and cursing a blue streak in Japanese as she kicked away at the snapping jaws of the Infected "runner" who had grabbed her leg, all the while the other cops were busy trying to hold the door closed and avoid being struck by the blade of my knife as Rika absent-mindedly flailed away at the air with it.
"MINAMI…!" Nanahara roared in frustration as he tried to aim his pistol at the head of the "runner" amidst the chaos of the other Infected banging away at the door and the frightened cries of his men yelling in fear at the wildly swing blade in Rika's hand.
"HOLD STILL DAMMIT…..I CAN'T GET A CLEAN SHOT WITH YOU SWINGING THAT DAMN KNIFE AROUND!" Nanahara shouted as the corridor echoed with the blast of gunfire as I fired my Sig P226 pistol into the arm of the Infected and managed to sever it with a few well-placed rounds.
Once Rika was free, I then fired the remaining rounds in my magazine into the head of the Infected man as blood, bone, and brain matter splashed all over Rika and the other officers standing next to her before they finally managed to slam the door shut and secure it with someone's leather duty belt tied around the panic bars.
"Rest in pieces…" I croaked as the door vibrated under the repeated blows of the Infected on the other side, but miracle of miracles, still managed to hold fast.
With a big sigh of relief, I tried to steady myself as the room continued to spin due to the lack of oxygen to my brain from being strangled, when the room was suddenly filled with the sound of Rika Minami screaming with rage at the top of her lungs.
"ANDREW-SAN, YOU F_CKING ASSHOLE…!" Rika screamed as she and the other cops glared evilly at me as they tried to wipe the gore off of themselves.
"What?!" I said still wheezing slightly and still feeling slightly light-headed.
"DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO EMPTY THE WHOLE MAG INTO HIM?!" Rika shouted as she ran her fingers over her uniform and then made a face as she picked off a piece of skull on her shoulder and then made a gagging noise before violently hurling it away.
"Oh quit complaining…." I said hoarsely, still struggling for breath. "I needed to soften him up some otherwise your guys wouldn't have been able to shut the door."
"BULLSHIT….YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!" Rika shouted furiously as she flicked another piece of skull from off her uniform and then grimaced as she felt something wet fall on her right ear.
"Oh shit, don't tell me….!" Rika said her eyes growing wide as she reached up and pulled out a soggy piece of brain matter from off her ear and then hurriedly tossed it away as she then once again felt the back of her head and then suddenly made a face like she was about to cry.
"YOU LIMEY PRICK, IT'S ALL IN MY HAAAAIIIIIR!" Rika wailed as she flailed her blood-covered hands in the air and started making more gagging noises after finding an exceptionally huge clump of brain matter in her hair, as Rika began to have a full-blown panic attack right in front of all of us.
When I had been Rika's trainer back when the Japanese SAT were being trained in advanced CQB techniques at Hereford, Rika Minami had been one of the few people I had ever met that had truly impressed all of the lads including myself, during her stay.
And the main reason for that was because even under the most intense pressure that we put Rika under, she had remained as cool as ice, and hadn't cracked under the strain no matter what torture we put her through.
And even long after her training period at Hereford was over, Rika Minami had still proven to be one of the most dedicated, strongest, courageous women I'd ever met.
But right now was the first time I had ever seen her become so uncharacteristically unglued, and the normally reserved SAT professional was now carrying on like a teenage girl who had just discovered a huge zit on the end of her nose just before she about to attend her high school prom.
"KNOCK IT OFF, ALL OF YOU!" Nanahara thundered as everyone then flinched as the Infected began banging even more violently on the doors as Rika stopped her wailing and then began cursing me under her breath.
"Fall back, those doors won't hold them back for long…'' Nanahara said quietly as everyone began to move away from the door as I stood up and then held my hand out to Rika.
"DON'T TOUCH ME, YOU SICK ASSHOLE!" Rika hissed angrily and slapping my hand away as she stood up, grabbed her carbine and then stormed off, cursing me in Japanese and still making gagging noises as she pulled more brain tissue out of her hair as the rest of us moved quietly away, still keeping our weapons trained on the door that threatened to splinter into a million pieces at any moment from all the pounding on it by the Infected.
"You know, I have to agree with Minami-san, that was quite a waste of ammunition there, Andrew-san…." Nanahara said with a slight smirk on his face as we both heard Rika utter an exceptionally loud oath upon finding a particularly gooey piece of brain matter in her hair as she angrily flicked it across the room.
"Perhaps…." I said as I heard a noise behind me and turned around just in time to see Rika take an angry swing at Tajima as he tried to remove a piece of skull that was still stuck to her uniform
"But then again, better safe than sorry." I said with a chuckle as I watched Tajima and the other cops immediately gave Rika a wide berth as she angrily pushed past them and then began to walk up a stairway that led to a section of the floor where the civilians were being kept, in order to wash up.
"Nanahara-san….mitte…" One of the policemen said interrupting as he motioned for Nanahara to come over as we cautiously moved over to where the man stood and then looked in the direction he was pointing.
"It would seem that your tossing that grenade earlier has had an added benefit Andrew-san …" Nanahara said as I gazed out over the Sky Bridge and saw literally dozens of Infected jam-packed on the Sky Bridge, all of them still trying to push forward against the closed doors on this side of Sky Bridge.
And as expected, the Infected were all trying to force it open by using the combined weight of their greater numbers, the same way they had managed to overrun each defensive position we had set up previously.
And this situation would have ended up no differently either, had I not tossed the grenade behind me the way I had, which would have allowed the combined weight of the Infected to build up in the confined space until the pressure against the doors became too much and the doors would finally collapse and the Infected would then come pouring through.
But because I had tossed the grenade, the resulting blast had shattered several of the large panels of glass lining the sides of the Sky Bridge and now there was no longer a solid space for the Infected to crowd into and use their combined strength and the weight of their bodies to force the doors open.
It was kind of like water going through a hose, if you plug up one end with a cork, eventually the pressure in the hose will build up and force whatever obstruction is blocking the end of the hose out, as in this case with the hundreds of Infected pushing against the doors all at once.
But if you make a series of holes in the hose, like I had inadvertently done by shattering the glass panels of the Sky Bridge when I had tossed the grenade over my shoulder, then no pressure can build up strong enough to force the obstruction out, as water begins to escape out the holes.
And if the situation were not so desperate I would have probably otherwise cracked up with laughter at the scene unfolding before me as we watched literally dozens of Infected being pushed forward by the others and inadvertently being squeezed out through the missing window panels of the Sky Bridge and impacting the pavement four stories below, their bodies making a wet splash as piles of Infected began to form.
Talk about dumb luck, my earlier act of self-preservation had now made it virtually impossible for the Infected to build up enough numbers at the doors to force them open now, and had inadvertently probably saved all of our lives in the process as the piles of bodies on the pavement below continued to build up as the Infected continued their relentless effort to push through.
"Stupid wankers…." I said with a relieved sigh as the Infected kept pushing forward as more bodies continued to be pushed out the broken windows as any further disaster seemed to have been averted, at least for the time being.
"While I believe there's not much of a chance they'll get through now thanks to your handiwork, Andrew-san…" Nanahara said as the noise of the Infected banging away at the doors intensified as I pulled the empty magazine from my pistol and reloaded it.
"I still believe it would be wise for all of us to move further away from the doors, just to be safe…" Nanahara said motioning for all of his men to move back.
"Aye, this little pea-shooter isn't going to be of much help to me if they do manage to break through…" I said bitterly as I quickly did an ammo check and saw that I only had two magazines left for my Sig.
"What's wrong with your primary weapon, Andrew-san?" Nanahara asked noticing the pistol on my hand and the half-opened chamber of my carbine, as I unslung my M4 and tried to clear it again without success.
"Jammed and won't clear…." I said frustrated as I watched Nanahara remove his own personal sidearm from its holster and then handed it to me.
"Take this…" Nanahara said as I took the offered pistol from him as he then removed the spare magazines for it and handed them to me as well.
"It's not much, but it's better than nothing until we can get you something heavier." Nanahara said as I tucked the pistol mags into one of the empty pouches on my vest.
"Thanks…" I said appreciatively as Nanahara merely grunted in response as the banging on the doors increased.
"Let's move back…" Nanahara said as the doors shook with the impact of dozens of Infected slamming their bloody stumps against the doors, the sounds of their growling and snarling increasing in volume.
Despite Nanahara giving me an extra weapon to fight with as I kept the muzzles of both pistols aimed at the doors and ready to shoot if the Infected burst through as we fell back, I still couldn't help but feel a little naked with just the two pistols in my hands.
I admit, watching Chow Yun Fat armed with dual-wielding pistols and mowing bad guys down by the dozens looks awesome in all those John Woo movies he made, but despite how cool he looked as he was blasting away at the bad guys, engaging an enemy with only two pistols in your hands is really, not at all that practical in real life.
But since I only had the two pistols with which to work with, at that moment I was really beginning to wish that I hadn't been such a cheapskate and had invested in extended magazines for my Sig P226 like the ones Jim had for his pistol so that I could at least fire more rounds between reloads.
And as I was standing there cursing my luck, a sudden, garbled transmission came over Nanahara's radio interrupted my thoughts.
"Nani…?" Nanahara transmitted in response as he held up his hand ordered his men to be quiet even though the Infected still banging away at the doors were making more noise than any of his men were.
"What's up?" I said after a few moments of unintelligible static broke over the radio before it finally went silent as I then heard a low, dull, thumping sound that steadily began to grow increasingly louder as the familiar sounds of multiple approaching helicopters filled my ears, answering my question for me.
"F_cking, A….it's the Yanks." I said aloud as everyone began breathing heavy sighs of relief and began clapping each other on the back as the sudden slam of something heavy impacting the doors brought us back to reality.
"What the hell was that?" I said under my breath as the doors began to rock more heavily.
"I don't know and I don't care." Nanahara said in a low voice as he and the rest of us immediately pointed our weapons at the door.
"Right now all I want to know is if those doors will hold long enough for the rescue team to get here…" Nanahara said in a low whisper.
"I wouldn't bet money on it…." I said under my breath as all of us began moving towards the far end of the lounge where some of the cops had already begun to set up a barricade with office furniture and took our positions behind it.
"Andrew-san…" A voice said quietly behind me as I turned and saw Tajima standing there with two H&K MP5's in his hands as he held one of them out to me. "I believe this will serve your purpose better than just those pistols."
"Thanks buddy…" I said as I handed Nanahara back the Glock and the two spare mags he had given me earlier and gratefully accepted the MP5 and extra magazines that Tajima offered me, grateful for the added firepower just as the cops finished building the makeshift fortification.
"Everyone I haven't assigned to this position needs to head up the stairs and join the others…now." Nanahara said gruffly to everyone as Tajima tapped me on the shoulder.
"Andrew-san….iko." Tajima said gesturing for me to follow him as Nanahara and a few other heavily armed cops took their places behind the barricade.
"You go first mate; I'll be right behind you." I replied as Tajima quickly headed down the hallway to join Rika and the other cops who had been assigned to secure the civilians, his urgent pace fueled by the sound of increased banging coming from the doors, as I looked back to where Nanahara and his men were crouched and Iet out a long tired sigh as I took stock of our current situation.
We had now officially arrived at the only place in the entire complex left untouched by the Infected, unfortunately for us however, our so-called sanctuary was limited to this immediate area only, due to the lower floors of the building now teeming with Infected whom had either breached the lower floors at an earlier time, or were probably once office workers who had been working at this building and had been Infected while trying to hide here.
Either way, we had officially arrived at the end of the line, with nowhere else to go if the Infected managed to breach these last set of doors where Nanahara and his were making their last stand.
And unless the rescue team got here before the Infected managed to breach through there wouldn't be anything left to save, as I listened to the sounds of women and children upstairs whimpering in fear as their husbands and fathers tried to quiet them every time there was an exceptionally loud impact on the doors.
"Bloody hell…!" I swore as the sound of a large "CRACK" echoed from the lounge as women, children, and even men, immediately screamed shrilly in response.
Despite the fact that that the majority of the Infected were continuing to fall through the broken windows on the Sky Bridge and were still not capable of building up enough bodies to use their combined weight to force the doors open, from the looks of things, it might not have mattered after all as the relentless pounding on the doors by the few Infected on the other side appeared to have been enough as I noticed a large crack forming on the plaster on the right side of the doorframe.
"What the bloody hell is taking them so long?!" I said gritting my teeth as the thundering noise of the main rotors of all the helicopters sounded above us and the walls shook from the force of the rotor wash hitting the glass panels as the helicopters passed over us.
Almost immediately after the sound of the helicopter rotors sounded overhead, the banging on the doors ceased, and hoping against hope that the Infected's attention had been diverted by the helicopters, we quietly rushed over to the other side of the room and gazed out the windows.
And to our relief, we could all see that the Infected had indeed been attracted to the noise coming from the helicopter rotors and had all begun to head back down the Sky Bridge towards the Main Terminal Building.
Not wanting to make the same mistake of attracting the Infected, this time there were no loud shouts of joy and celebration as before at the sight of the Infected leaving, but the visible relief that flooded through all of us was unmistakable as some officers fell to their knees and prayed their thanks to God for our last minute miracle, while others just sank to the floor with exhaustion, and still others just quietly clapped one another on the back.
As happy as I was that the cavalry had finally arrived though, I started to become little concerned when I looked out the window and saw only U.S. Marine Sea Cobras hovering outside as they were visibly trying to lure the Infected away from the building.
But then after several minutes I could plainly see the Chinook transport helicopters coming into view and could feel my shoulders sagging from relief until I noticed exactly how many Chinooks were flying over the island.
And then I knew that our ordeal wasn't quite over yet.
And just like I figured, I watched as the Chinooks banked to their left and came around to make their approach from the front of the building as I then saw the Chinooks slowly move into position on different sections of the Main Terminal before coming to a hover and then letting their ramps down as dozens of men then began sliding down the large ropes that were tossed out the rear of each aircraft.
"What are they doing?!" Nanahara asked as the faint sound of gunfire sounded off in the distance followed by a distinct pattern of "thuds".
"The attack helicopters were sent ahead to draw off the Infected from the building" I said in reply as we watched the spectacle unfolding before us. "The Chinooks you see there meanwhile are deploying the strike teams."
"And from the sounds of it, they're meeting a lot of resistance from the Infected." I added as almost immediately we began to hear the distant echo of heavy gunfire and explosions.
"Why aren't there more helicopters landing on the ground?" Nanahara said as he noticed like I had, that the normal contingent of transport helicopters loaded with ground support troops and fighter aircraft that would normally accompany the strike teams was nowhere to be found as my fears were confirmed as to what the only possible reason for the lack of support troops could mean.
"The ships carrying the larger landing force must not be in range yet…" I said gritting my teeth as Nanahara glanced at me with a worried look on his face. "Which mean that the majority of the troops are still aboard ship, which means that the strike teams and their transports are all we have for now…."
"That being the case, there's probably only enough men out there to maybe attempt to find and secure any survivors, meaning us…." I added bitterly as I noticed Nanahara's jaw drop. "Problem is they probably still think we're holed up over there somewhere in the Main Terminal building and not hiding out all the way the hell over here."
"Where are all the transport helicopters for us at?" The sound of Rika's voice suddenly interrupted from behind us as I glanced over at her standing behind us in surprise, and noticed that she had managed to wash all the brain matter and blood from her still-damp hair which was tightly pulled back and tied with a ribbon.
With everything that was going on I had not noticed Rika walking up and standing behind us, and by this time her constant sneaking up on me without my noticing was really beginning to get on my nerves, as I then also noticed that Tajima was standing right next to her as they were both craning their necks to see what was going on.
"Yeah, I only counted eight helicopters out there, that's not going to be enough to transport all of us out of here." Tajima added as Nanahara suddenly looked as if he were about to explode, obviously as fed up with Rika and Tajima's suddenly popping up out of nowhere as I was.
"What are you two doing here?!" Nanahara snapped in irritation as Rika and Tajima flinched as if struck. "I thought I told the both of you to secure the civilians along with the others."
"We, uh….heard the noise from the helicopters and tried to reach you on the radio, sir." Rika said stammering slightly in response to Nanahara's angry gaze. "But there was no response, so we came over to report."
"They're not here to extract anyone…." I replied grimly interrupting Nanahara, Tajima, and Rika as they stared at me in horror.
"What do you mean they're not here to evacuate anyone?" Rika said her eyes growing wide. "What are they doing out there then?"
"I'm guessing that there's probably not enough available aircraft right now." I replied as we watched dozens of camo-clad troops on the other side of the complex making access into the building through the roof access doors.
"And if that really is the case…" I said with a frown.
"Then that means that they sent in their strike teams to find and secure us until the main landing force arrives."" I added as a large explosion blew out a section of glass on the extreme far side of the complex and several smoking bodies fell out of the gaping hole and landed on a cargo carrier below as we then saw a couple of smoldering chairs being tossed out the shattered windows onto the bodies below.
"Hmmm…someone must have tossed a "Willy Peter" by accident…" I said out loud as we watched the charred bodies and smoking furniture smoldering on top of the carrier as Tajima and Rika cast me confused looks.
"White Phosphorus grenade…" I explained as I pointed at the corpses still burning below. "White phosphorous burns at about five thousand degrees or so when exposed to air as you can see by those bodies down there."
"Problem is it'll burn through anything it touches, even metal." I added as a few more pieces of burning furniture were tossed out by the Marines who were hastily trying to fight the Infected as well as trying to prevent a fire from breaking out by anything that was covered in white-hot phosphorous flakes.
"Looks like they got it under control finally…." I said after a few moments had passed with no more evidence of anything else burning as the gunfire resumed.
"Anyway, might as well get comfortable, kiddies…" I said as the reality of what was going on began to hit the others as I noticed Rika and Tajima's shoulders droop as their dreams of enjoying a nice hot shower, hot food, and comfy beds while safely aboard a heavily armed warship were dashed to pieces.
"Cause I think we're gonna be here for a while yet…" I said with mirth as the distant sound of gunfire began to increase substantially when a sudden outcry occurred from down the hallway behind us followed by a loud clamor erupting from the civilians began as the sound of a man and a woman screaming hysterically then reached our ears.
"Oh, for f_ck's sakes….what now?" I groaned as the four of us ran down the hallway to where the civilians were being kept and arrived to find a man and woman who were screaming hysterically at the police officers in the room as Nanahara, Rika, and Tajima walked up to the group to see what the fuss was all about and then tried in vain to calm the couple down.
Curious, I walked over to see what was what as Rika and Tajima were trying to help calm the couple down who were yammering away in rapid Japanese until Rika had finally had enough and barked something at them that shut them up immediately.
"What's up?" I asked Tajima curiously as the couple eventually began to explain with much difficulty what exactly it was that was bothering them as Nanahara suddenly let out an oath, startling everyone.
"What?!" I asked as Tajima suddenly swore under his breath himself and then just shook his head and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand.
"From what I can gather…" Tajima began after a moment of shaking his head in frustration.
"The reason those two are so wound up is because they believe that their daughter is hiding somewhere downstairs." Tajima said as I my blood pressure immediately sky-rocketed at his words.
"WHAT!" I managed to sputter in disbelief as Tajima glanced over at me, the fatigue and absolute frustration he was feeling really beginning to show on his face.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" I said glancing over at the young couple who were now staring at the floor as if deeply ashamed.
"HOW THE F_CK COULD THEY HAVE NOT NOTICED THAT THEIR DAUGHTER WAS MISSING UNTIL NOW?!" I shouted angrily at the stupidity of the situation as Rika left the couple and walked over to try to calm me down.
"WHAT THE F_CK KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THIS?!" I shouted in disbelief, the anger in my voice growing as everyone in the room stared at me in horror.
"When we evacuated everyone upstairs a while ago, the couple got separated in the process..." Rika began to explain wearily. "And apparently each of the parents thought that their daughter was with the other, and didn't realize that she was actually missing until they found each other a couple minutes ago."
"OH, BULLSHIT!" I said throwing my hands up in the air in frustration and not caring one bit if the couple were embarrassed by my venting my frustration.
"Take it easy will you Andrew-san?!" Rika said chastising me for my obvious frustration over the whole matter.
"They're scared enough as it is…" Rika said scowling at me. "You don't have to rub it in."
"YOU HONESTLY THINK I GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT HOW THEY FEEL, RIKA?!" I snarled at Rika as I flashed her an angry look.
"WELL I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS HOW THEY FEEL…!" I said glaring at the couple. "IT'S BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN STUPIDITY THAT THEIR DAUGHTER'S LIFE IS IN DANGER…. AND IF THEY HADN'T_!"
"HEY, ASSHOLE…!" Rika snapped, the intense fury in her voice as well as on her face putting a grinding halt to my angry rant.
"GET OVER YOURSELF, YOU STUPID JERK…THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU, IT'S ABOUT THEM!" Rika shouted angrily as her words suddenly hit me like a kick in the nuts.
"It's not about you…it's about them." Jim had said when J.R., Chris, "Chief" Murphy who was J.R.'s right hand man on GREEN Team, and myself were interviewing Jim right after our little "surprise" at the Kill House.
At the time I was still completely against hiring Jim as the medic for GREEN Team, and while the guy had impressed me by not freaking out at the Kill House, I was still not satisfied that Jim was up to the task.
And so as he interview went on, I then asked Jim straight up if there had ever been a time when he had ever been in a situation that had been so bad that he had wanted to just quit, right then and there.
"More times than I can count." Jim had admitted much to our surprise.
"But whenever there was a time when I was most afraid…" Jim had continued. "Whenever there was a time I thought "This is nuts", or whenever there was a time I thought "I'm not going to survive this" or whenever I thought to myself "I don't want to be here", I always tried to remember one thing."
"What's that?" I asked as Jim just looked at all of us with this weird little smile.
"I remembered that I was a fireman… "Jim had then said simply. "And as a fireman, I always tried to remember "That it's not about you….it's about them."
"And remembering that always gave me what I needed to conquer whatever fears I had..." Jim had said as I found myself unable to ask Jim any more questions that day, although it wasn't because Jim had impressed me by what he had said.
In fact, up until this very moment, I had always thought that whole "unsung hero" shite Jim had uttered to all of us sitting there listening to him that day, was pure bollocks.
But immediately upon hearing my best friend's words being uttered from Rika's mouth as if to haunt me, I now finally understood the meaning behind Jim's words as a feeling of deep shame came over me for blowing up at the parents the way I had.
And then the shame I felt increased ten-fold as I then gazed into the eyes of both parents, who were still visibly frightened by my outburst, and probably also a little intimidated by my appearance as well, thanks to all the blood on my face as well as the eye patch I wore which probably only increased their anxiety.
"When was the last time you saw her?" I suddenly burst out as the parents of the little girl continued to gaze at me with fear in their eyes as I then gestured for Rika to translate my words to them.
"The mother says she last saw her daughter playing with some other children in the lobby two floors below us on the other side of the Sky Bridge." Rika translated with a quizzical look on her face as she noticed me checking my equipment, and then suddenly realized exactly what it was I was planning to do.
"Andrew-san, what do you think you are doing?" Rika asked, the alarm in her voice unmistakable.
"What's the girl's name?" I said interrupting Rika as she frowned at my blowing her off, but then translated my words to the mother as the beginnings of an extremely reckless but plausible plan began to form in my head.
"Meg…Megumi, des…" The mother responded as I nodded my head at her and began looking around the room for anything useful as I then shook my head and then cursed upon noticing nothing useful anywhere around the room.
"Onegai shimasu…!" The mother shouted hysterically probably realizing that I was preparing myself to rescue her daughter as she suddenly began to wail hysterically as her husband suddenly reached up and grabbed both of my arms.
My first instinct when the husband grabbed me was to attempt to protect myself believing that the man had lost his mind from grief and was attacking me out of pure frustration at the slowness in which we were moving, in making an attempt to try and save his little girl.
But just as I was about to roughly shove the man away, I then realized as I looked into the man's face that his intentions towards me were anything but malicious.
"Watashi no musume…!" The father of the little girl said his voice cracking from barely controlled grief as he tried to speak over his wife's wailing.
"Megumi-chan…find…our child… please!" The husband said in barely passable English as he then finally lost control of his emotions and fell to his knees, weeping bitterly.
And just like that, as I watched that man kneeling there on the floor begging me to save his daughter's life, the irony of Jim's words struck me again.
"It's not about you, it's about them…." Jim's words echoed once again in my head as a part of me that I thought I had lost forever, came back with a vengeance.
And along with it, a feeling of regret like I'd never felt before.
"Damn you, Jim…." I said under my breath as I continued to prepare myself to go through with the crazy plan I had hastily concocted earlier.
"If I ever find you again buddy, I'm gonna kick your arse for filling my head up with all that "unsung hero shite, you over-the-hill Boy Scout." I grumbled to myself realizing that I knew that what I was doing was the right thing to do, but the chances were good that I was more than likely going to get my ass killed in the process.
And as I prepared myself for the possible suicide mission I was about to undertake, I couldn't help but think that if a situation like this would have occurred on an SAS mission years ago, I wouldn't have even thought about doing what I was about to do right now.
Instead, I would have merely kept the civilians secure and in one place and advised all of them to sit tight and wait for one of the supporting rescue teams to search for the little girl and hope that they might somehow miraculously find her.
But the truth is, deep within my heart I knew that the chances of any of the strike teams somehow miraculously finding the girl were nil, due to the fact we had just barely escaped the clutches of the Infected ourselves and as heavily armed as we were, there was just no possible way that a mere child could have survived that endless wave of death roaming all around the complex all be herself.
And even if by some miracle the girl had survived after all, any attempt to form a team to mount a rescue would have been impossible with what few assets we had left, and as things stood we were too exhausted, too low on ammo, and too few in number to even consider trying to attempt a rescue of the little girl.
Sad to say, any attempt by anyone to rescue the little girl was suicide, plain and simple.
Yet here I was, checking what few magazines I had left for my pistol as I readied myself to attempt something that my brain was screaming at me not to do.
But despite every instinct within me telling me that I was being an idiot for attempting what would probably end up being suicide, another part of me refused to listen to what shred of sanity remained in me.
And it was all Jim's fault…..damn him.
"It's not about you, it's about them." I muttered sourly repeating Jim's words under my breath, imagining him having a great big laugh to himself if he could see me now.
"You just had to get the last word in, didn't you buddy?" I said sarcastically under my breath as I unslung my MP5 and began to remove all the magazines for it out of the pouches on my vest. "Bet you're having a good laugh now wherever you are too, aren't you, Jimmy-boy…?"
"Bet you never thought you'd ever see me playing the hero, did you Ji_?" I said as a sharp twinge of guilt ran through me, the irony of my use of the word "hero" and what I was doing right now twisting me all up inside.
And the reason for that was because at one time, I had deeply resented Jim being hired as GREEN Team's medic, and I had called him "hero" frequently, although when I said it, it was always meant as an insult.
And the guilt that I felt at the horrible things I had said, and had done to Jim during the first couple of weeks of his training with us became almost overpowering, as I remembered how hard I had tried to destroy him.
It had all happened back in Nevada when I was still helping the guys to train Jim to become the medic for GREEN Team, when Jim had ended up getting himself "killed" during an urban warfare scenario we had set up in an abandoned warehouse district that we often used as a training ground for urban combat training, which was located on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
The scenario we had set up for Jim was a particularly difficult one that we had thrown together on a stretch of road lined with empty office buildings on both sides, which we were using to simulate all of us driving down a busy city street where our motorcade would then be ambushed by multiple hostiles, firing from concealment.
It was a very realistic scenario that we had set up so that we could train ourselves, as well as personnel from other government agencies and the local police, to deal with the same threat from ambush by hostile forces that many military and private security motorcades serving overseas had already experienced.
The scenario we ran was one in which our "motorcade" would be traveling down a seemingly harmless "city street", when suddenly the lead car would be fired upon by a simulated RPG and then all hell would break loose as "insurgents" would then open up on us from all directions with automatic weapons fire, firing blanks, of course.
And if that wasn't bad enough, to make the scenario even more difficult, we would then have the engines of all the vehicles suddenly switch off by remote control, simulating that all vehicles had now been disabled by weapons fire, thereby forcing the security team to abandon their "disabled" vehicles and fight their way out of the "hot" zone while keeping the client, whom we referred to as "the package", safe from harm.
It was drill we had practiced countless times before, and one we all took very seriously, the memory of what had happened to the four Blackwater contractors whose motorcade had been ambushed by insurgents in Fallujah back in 2004, still very fresh on our minds.
This time however, the scenario being played out was not to hone our own skills, but in truth, it was all for Jim's benefit since he'd never known the horrors of combat and especially not having ever experienced an ambush situation either.
And the last thing anyone wanted, including Jim, was for him to "freeze up" if such a situation ever did occur, which for anyone working as a contractor overseas, the threat of ambush was a very real possibility indeed.
Experiencing an ambush in real life is pure hell for anyone who has survived one and lived to tell about it, and even the simulated ambush we ran our federal and police trainees through had often turned out to be more than most people could handle.
While the American Secret Service and most government security agencies that protect high-level personnel around the world train constantly on how to survive an attack on their motorcade, for most local police departments and even some federal agencies who don't deal with such situations in real life, it is one hell of an eye-opening experience.
Having someone who is used to working in an office or used to driving around in a patrol car all day and then suddenly thrusting them into a situation where automatic weapons fire and explosions are suddenly erupting all around you without warning can overwhelm even most veteran patrol officers and federal agents.
Besides the simulated weapons fire and explosive charges going off all around which was unnerving as it was, our simulation forced the trainee to make split decisions on how to get themselves and their comrades out of that situation, which is extremely difficult when everyone around you is shouting unintelligible orders at the top of their voice as you and everyone else are firing your weapons all at the same time at an unseen enemy who seems to know exactly where you are even though you can't see them.
It was a very realistic scenario, one based on actual incidents that had occurred overseas, and one we had all taught could very well happen someday.
Unfortunately, we did too good of a job, and it often showed in most of the trainee's reaction to our simulated "ambush".
Countless times I watched in frustration as many of our past trainees from local and federal agencies would freak out during the simulated ambush we had set up even though we had already explained to them everything that would happen, only to have them muck the whole thing up and then gripe and complain afterwards to us and to their bosses that our simulation was "unfair" and "unrealistic".
And to no one's surprise, it wasn't long before the heads of those same agencies finally decided not to renew their contract with us to train their agents, and opted to train their own people in a more "realistic" setting, devoid of explosions, weapons fire, or even harsh language that could possibly "upset" their agents.
And as I watched as several representatives of the FBI and local police agencies drove out past the gates of our compound, I couldn't help but wonder just how much more "upset" those same agents would be the first time they ever witnessed an RPG screaming towards their windshield.
That entire situation had left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, including mine, and so when I found out that Jim had been hired as part of the outfit, I had my doubts that he would want to continue working with us after the bullets started flying at our little "welcome" that we had set up for him at the Kill House, and I just knew he would immediately tuck tail and haul ass faster than he had come in afterwards.
To my surprise though, Jim had not freaked out after our little CQB "demonstration" at the Kill House on his very first day, and although I was slightly impressed that he hadn't wet his pants and run home to mommy, I still had my doubts that Jim would measure up.
In fact, I was hoping he would fail, because at the time, I was still completely floored by J.R. and Chris's decision to hire Jim, a retired firefighter with no combat experience, as the team medic for GREEN Team.
And no matter what J.R. and Chris said, I was still convinced that Jim was just another one of those "wannabe" commandos who would no doubt freak out at the worst possible time and end up getting himself or someone else hurt or killed, and I just couldn't believe that J.R. and Chris had allowed themselves to even think about letting a guy like this join our outfit.
And because of that strong belief and the resentment that followed, I did my very best to try to make Jim quit, although to my chagrin, after a week of my kicking his ass everywhere he went, I realized that he never would, even though I was trying my damndest to break him.
While I hadn't been at all that impressed by Jim's performance during those first few weeks I was kicking his face into the dirt, I had to admit to myself as time went by that for someone who had never had any prior military experience and also being an "old guy" in his mid-forties on top of that, Jim endured the torture I put him through those long weeks in Nevada, pretty well.
And as I pushed Jim and pushed him and pushed him some more without him cracking under the pressure, I couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't volunteered for the SEALs in his youth like he said he had wanted to and been paddling around in the ocean with all those crazy "frogs" instead of having chosen to spend an entire lifetime of running into burning buildings.
But despite the fact that Jim was obviously doing his best to forget his past life as a fireman and train himself to be a member of the team now, all six of the teams at LAIDLAW especially the eleven of us on GREEN and BLUE Team could still see that a lot of the fireman in Jim still remained.
And like myself, everyone was worried that at a crucial time Jim would not be able to put aside all his old instincts as a rescuer, and do what had to be done as an operator.
And it was that fear of what could possibly happen that finally convinced J.R. and Chris to give me the go ahead to run the scheduled ambush scenario earlier than expected.
But my wanting to push the ambush scenario ahead of schedule at the time, really wasn't because I was afraid of Jim f_cking up in a bad situation, like an ambush.
The real truth was, I still resented Jim's presence in our outfit, and I was determined to force him out, and the only way I could convince everyone, including Jim, that he didn't belong, was to show him that he wasn't capable of letting go of his old instincts.
And just as I had thought, as the ambush scenario was well underway and the whole team was on the move while under fire, Jim had indeed given in to his old ways of being a rescuer and had paused momentarily in order to reach out and drag Marcus, one of the guys on BLUE team who was pretending to be a wounded civilian, out of the line of fire.
As big and powerful as Jim was, it had taken very little effort for him to drag Marcus by the arm out of the street and behind the cover of a car as his team were pulling back, and I have to give him credit, he never lowered his eyes or broke rank, or stopped firing his weapon either as he dragged Marcus, who was screaming his head off all the while as if he were in pain, towards cover.
It would have been an awesome scene in any action movie, but this was no movie, and even though Jim had not totally lost focus of his mission by trying to help Marcus, in that fraction of a second when he stopped to help an "innocent civilian" he had still left himself wide open for me, who was playing one of the terrorists, to emerge from my concealed firing position and open up on Jim with my paintball gun as I mercilessly sprayed him down with multiple paintballs.
And then to show Jim just how pointless his attempted rescue of an "innocent victim" had been, I then pumped two paintball rounds into Marcus who then yelped in pain at being shot and then began to curse loudly at me.
"YOU F_CKING IDIOT!" I roared at the top of my voice interrupting Marcus's loud swearing as I briskly walked over to Jim and then stared angrily at him in the face, my desire to make Jim fail overpowering.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! YOU'RE NOT A FIREMAN ANYMORE, YOU DUMB F_CK!" I roared at Jim as the other guys watched without saying a word, the scenario having ended in failure at that point.
"LEAVE THAT F_CKING HERO SHITE AT HOME, YOU DUMBASS!" I yelled mercilessly as I saw J.R. and Chris out of the corner of my eye, watching in stone silence as I tore Jim a new one, knowing that I had a personal interest in wanting to see Jim fail, but not interfering because they knew that for the safety of the team it was critical for all of us to know whether Jim would take my abuse and push on, or give up on his dream of being a part of the team and go home.
"YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LOSE FOCUS, DIPSHIT?!" I yelled at the top of my lungs trying even harder to break Jim's spirit and growing all the more angry with him as Jim just stood there silently while I vented my wrath at him.
"YOUR TEAM AND THE MISSION IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY, AND YOUR ONLY PRIORITY, AND NOTHING ELSE, YOU GOT THAT SHIT-FOR-BRAINS?!" I shouted at the top of my voice as Jim just continued to stand there quietly while I berated him without mercy in front of everyone for several minutes, trying as hard as I could to push him over the edge and force him to quit.
And damn if Jim didn't just stand there and take it without a word, and despite the stinging pain of having been shot multiple times with paintballs as well as the humiliation of being dressed down by me in front of everyone as he stood there covered head-to-toe in red paint, Jim merely owned up to his screw-up, and never repeated the same mistake again in all the long months of training I put him through in Nevada.
But even though Jim worked his ass off all those long months to be accepted by all of us, every once in a while whenever there was a siren wailing in the distance from somewhere in the city, I could still see in Jim's eyes that a part of him still missed his old life.
And months later when Jim's training was finally over and everyone's attitude, including my own, had changed towards him, I always knew that despite the hell I put him through to drive that old rescuer mentality out of him, nothing I did could ever drive it out of him completely.
And even though we all knew that Jim was thrilled to be working with us, to this day I still often wonder what exactly had happened to make Jim want to turn his back on a profession he had once loved so dearly, and now want to come work with us as a mercenary medic.
And after all the shit I put Jim through to stop thinking and acting like a rescuer, now in a touch of irony here I was checking what little gear still on me attempting to rescue a little girl from the jaws of death all by my lonesome as I handed the MP5 I had been carrying to Nanahara.
"I'm afraid I need to borrow your M4 for a while Commander…" I said as Nanahara and the others stared at me with growing alarm on their faces. "I have more ammo for it than that MP5, so I hope you don't mind trading weapons with me until I get back."
"What the hell do you mean…when you get back?!" Nanahara and Rika said in alarm as I grabbed the M4 from the SAT Commander and placed the sling of the M4 over my neck and checked the optic.
"There's a certain little girl downstairs who I'm sure by now wants to be reunited with her mum and pop…" I said with a smirk in response. "So I'm gonna go see if I can fetch her before things get really nasty."
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!" Rika shouted aghast at what I had said as Nanahara hissed at her to quiet down and gave her a hard look.
"Andrew-san…I cannot allow you to do that." Nanahara said shaking his head as he turned his attention back to me. "We need every available fighter here, and we cannot afford to lose you."
"Thanks, Commander…" I said with a weak smile as I checked the M4. "But the truth is, unlike the rest of your men, I'm expendable."
"No one here is expendable, Andrew-san…" Nanahara said in a firm voice as I turned and looked him directly in the eye.
"Maybe so Commander, but as I said before, it's going to be awhile before the rescue team arrives…" I said keeping my voice low so the parents couldn't overhear. "And time is something that little girl no longer has."
"You do realize that I can have you restrained…" Nanahara said threateningly as I glanced over at Nanahara.
"Commander, you know as well as I do what's going to happen once the rescue team arrives…." I said as Nanahara was about to utter something in protest.
"Their mission priority will be to protect everyone here, not go searching through the Main Terminal amongst who know how many Infected, looking for one lost little girl who may already be dead." I added as Nanahara hesitated and then shook his head in resignation.
"And you're right…" I continued. "You're going to need every one of your men to help hold this position, and you can't afford to sacrifice any of them to search for her."
"And as their commanding officer…" I added before he could object. "You are responsible for the lives and safety of your men, and sending them out on a possible suicide mission would be unthinkable on your part."
"But seeing as how I'm just a mercenary…." I said with a smirk. "You're under no obligation to concern yourself with my welfare."
"So the way I see it…." I added as I began to pull Nanahara's spare magazines for his M4 from the pouches on his vest and inserted them into my own.
"There really isn't much of a choice now, is there?" I said as Nanahara stared into my face, his brow furrowed with a worried frown as I turned away without another word and readied myself to leave.
And while Nanahara offered no further protest as I was about to walk away, Rika on the other hand, looked like she was about to explode.
Of course, knowing Rika, it wasn't because of what I was doing, but rather it more the fact that she wanted to come along as well, although there was no way Nanahara was going to approve of her or Tajima tagging along with me.
Poor Rika, being left out of the "fun" was absolute agony for an action junkie like her, no matter how suicidal it was.
"Sorry lass…" I thought to myself a shit-eating grin forming on my face as Rika's face began to turn purple with rage. "….sucks to be you, right now, I'm sure."
The truth was, I would have really liked to have Rika and Tajima's company on this impromptu rescue, but the odds were too high against my coming back, and I found myself grateful that there was no possible way Nanahara would allow Rika and Tajima to tag along.
Because the way things were, I would never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to Rika or Tajima if they had come with me, especially seeing as how I wasn't quite so sure that what I was doing was all that wise to begin with, especially after I did a quick inventory of what I had on me.
We had expended countless rounds of ammo fighting the Infected during our retreat all the way over here, and we were already low on ammo as it was, but after I checked what arms and equipment I had left on my person, my heart sank.
I was now down to the bare bones as far as weapon and ammo went with only my knives, Sig pistol with only two full magazines left, and only five magazines left for Nanahara's borrowed M4.
On the plus side, I still had two flashbangs along with two "Willy Peter" grenades left, which would be pretty useful against the Infected as a last resort.
"So what is your plan on getting back undetected, Andrew-san…?" Nanahara asked his voice visibly tense as the noise of gunfire sounded off in the distance. "Are you planning on crawling through the ventilation system again?"
"F_CK THAT!...I mean, no Commander…" I said quickly lowering my voice after my sudden outburst as I shivered involuntarily as flashbacks of the entire "Mr. Cuddles" incident suddenly popped into my head as I noticed Tajima and Rika stifling a laugh.
"I see…" Nanahara said with a slight smile on his face obviously having comprehended the reason for my sudden outburst. "How do you plan on reaching the lower levels undetected, then?"
"Is there any other access to the Main Terminal from this wing other than walking across the Sky Bridge to the other side?" I asked as Nanahara shook his head.
"As you already know, all of the lower levels of this building including the first and second floors are all infested." Nanahara said in reply. "The only reason the Infected cannot gain access to this floor was because this floor is restricted."
"Restricted?" I said cocking an eyebrow. "Why's that?"
"This floor is mostly administrative offices which has been closed off to the public…" Tajima replied. "And as such, all points of ingress and egress can only be made through security doors that can only be accessed by airport personnel using the magnetic key on their I.D. tags."
"What about the fire escapes?" I asked as I saw Nanahara shake his head again. "Are you sure I can't just gain access to the ground floor that way?"
"Unfortunately everyone one of them has been compromised…."Nanahara said flatly. "My men checked every one of the fire escapes earlier and they could clearly hear the Infected on the other side."
"Probably office workers trying to escape who ended up getting infected somehow." Rika said with a sigh. "And they've just been wandering up and down those steps all this time."
"And there's no telling how many there are in there either…"Nanahara said glumly.
"Fortunately for us however, because this floor is restricted access, they can't reach us because the panic hardware to the fire escape was only mounted on this side of the door…."Nanahara added. "But that means that if this floor is compromised as well, then there is no place left for us to retreat to."
"Which means that the only way you can gain access to the ground, Andrew-san, is to rappel down the side of the building." Nanahara said shaking his head. "And there's too many Infected out there for you to attempt that safely."
"Now that you mention it, I wonder how thick they are out there, right now…." I said out loud as I began to walk down the hallway towards the front of the building and then upon reaching the front, I then stared down onto the ground below.
"Hmmm, looks like the noise from all the helicopters has caused some of them to lose interest in us…" I said as we all stared out the window to the scene below.
"Still enough out there to put a kink in your plans though, Andrew-san." Rika said sadly as I sighed and bumped my head against the glass in frustration, knowing she was right.
While the noise from the helicopter rotors had indeed managed to lure most of the hundreds of Infected away from the front of the building, there were still a huge mess of them shuffling around out there and probably untold numbers still roaming around the lower floors to make any type of access to the ground impossible.
"Give it up Andrew-san…" Tajima said squeezing my arm to comfort me. "It was a noble idea, but it's impossible to get to her from here."
"Not entirely…" Rika said under her breath as we all suddenly turned towards her.
"What do you mean?" Nanahara said frowning as Rika pointed to our right.
"That section over there is pretty clear…" Rika said as we all peered in the direction she was pointing. "Maybe you could rappel to the ground over there and make your way over to the front entrance of the Visitor's Center?"
"That would appear to be feasible…" Nanahara said nodding his head. "Do we have any rappelling gear for Andrew-san to use?"
"All of our tactical harnesses are back in our vehicles…" Tajima said with a frown. "Along with all of our ropes and other gear."
"We weren't exactly expecting to do any rappelling in the situation we're now in, sorry." Tajima said apologetically as I sighed in frustration and then glanced over my shoulder at a small glass door built into the wall nearby, as a sudden idea popped into my head.
"Good old Jim…" I said as I began to laugh out loud as the three SAT cops looked at me as if I'd finally lost my mind.
"Who?" Nanahara asked puzzled as I quickly composed myself before answering.
"A friend of mine who was a retired firefighter…" I said in explanation as I began to walk down the hallway headed towards the office area. "And who just happened to show me how to be able to fast rope to the ground without using a rope."
"Fast rope to the ground without using a rope?" Nanahara said with noticeable confusion in his voice.
"Andrew-san are you feeling alright?" Rika said worriedly as I began to jog down the hallway.
"Don't worry I'm fine…" I said as we reached the section of the building where Rika had pointed which happened to be near a set of elevators as I breathed a sigh of relief upon noticing that the same glass door mounted on the wall I had noticed earlier, had been installed here as well as I opened the glass door and reached inside.
"You're going to fast rope to the ground with that?!" Rika said in disbelief as I began to yank the contents of the cabinet out onto the floor.
"Yup, it's a little trick my buddy showed me on how he and his mates in the Fire Service were trained on how to evacuate a building without any ropes or ladders available…" I said with a big grin on my face as Nanahara and the others looked as if they were about a heartbeat away from attempting to lock me away somewhere and throw away the key.
"Don't worry guys, what I'm about to do with this is not as insane as you might think…." I said trying to calm their fears as I continued to yank the emergency fire house out of the cabinet.
"Here ya go Taj,…" I said to Tajima as I handed him the small fire axe mounted within the cabinet while I pulled the rest of the fire hose out of the cabinet mounted on the wall. "Pop one of those windows over there so I can snake this end out the window."
As it turned out however, popping the window was not quite as easy as the time when Jim had demonstrated it to all of us on one of the third floors of one of the abandoned office buildings we used to train at back in Nevada.
When Jim had smacked the edge of one of the large office windows there with a halligan tool, the safety glass had shattered instantly, and all it taken then was a few sweeps around the edges of the window pane with the tool to clear away the remaining bits of glass.
The window panels that surrounded this building however, were laminated safety glass designed to withstand the force of a typhoon, and so when Tajima took a swing at the corner to shatter it, the axe literally bounced off the glass without even so much as a scratch.
After a few good swings though, the safety glass finally shattered, but the plastic film that covered the glass still held the glass in place much to our dismay, and it ended up taking quite a bit of effort to chop a hole big enough for me to duck through finally as I then tossed the end of the hose out the window and let it fall all the way down to the ground five stories down.
"Damn, that sure took a lot longer than I thought it would." Rika said looking at her watch as I walked over and cracked the water valve open, filling the hose with water until the water pressure began to build up enough that it was almost as stiff as a metal pipe.
"No shit, now I really gotta hustle…" I said in reply as I slung the M4 behind my back and tightened the sling before walking over to the edge of the hose and yanked on it a couple of times to make sure it would hold my weight.
"Andrew-san, are you sure about this?" Nanahara said warily as he looked at my make-shift "rope" with extreme concern.
"I agree, this seems unnecessarily risky…" Tajima said with a frown.
"You sure this fireman friend of yours knows what he's talking about?" Rika said with obvious concern in her voice. "I've never heard of anyone doing something like this before."
"My buddy said that it's a common "bail-out" technique used by firemen back in the States whenever they have to evacuate from the top floor of a building and don't have any ladders or ropes available…" I replied as I sat on the floor near the edge and donned my pair of leather shooting gloves so as not to burn my hands from the friction once I began my slide down the hose.
"And while it's normally used only as a last resort…" I continued as I peeked out the window and to the glass-paneled ledge below. "It worked out pretty well for us when we practiced doing it back at our compound in Nevada."
"I still think we should perhaps re-think this plan of yours…." Nanahara said as a loud thump sounded somewhere nearby.
"Sounds like the cavalry is getting closer, Andrew-san…" Rika said as the faint thump of the grenade echoed in the distance.
"Which means it's time to move now or not at all." I replied as I swung myself over the edge and slid down the fire hose before anyone could protest further, as it suddenly occurred to me at that exact moment that perhaps I might have acted a little too hastily, after all.
I suppose it was possibly my eagerness to rescue the girl that caused me to rush things a wee bit before I had a chance to remember exactly what Jim had warned all of us about the dangers associated with using a water-filled fire hose as a make-shift fast-rope.
Because if maybe I had slowed down a bit and put a little more thought into what I was doing, I would have probably remembered Jim warning us that unlike a rope used for fast-roping which is easy to maintain a good grip on, a fire hose is slicker than snot and it's almost friggin' impossible to slow your descent on one once you get going.
Which truth be told, was a bit of useful information that I wished I had not forgotten as I shot down the side of the building like a f_cking bolt of lightning, trying desperately to tighten my grip on the hose with my hands and feet in order to slow my rapid descent.
Fortunately for me, the way the hose had paid out at a steep angle away from the building instead of straight down, I was finally able to slow down enough so that I didn't end up splattering myself all over the ground like a squashed bug, as my feet finally touched the ground.
And even more fortunate for me, Rika and the others hadn't seen my near-fatal goof as I glanced up just as they were poking their heads through the window.
Acting as if everything had gone off without a hitch, I quickly gave them a thumbs-up as I then proceeded to skirt the edge of the building and headed over towards the front of the Main Terminal, moving silently so as not to attract any of the Infected still lumbering nearby.
I had to hand it to Rika, her call to make my approach to the Main Entrance from this angle had been a good one as there were roughly only a dozen Infected roaming the area, all of them wandering aimlessly in all directions as they tried in vain to follow the sound made by the helicopter rotors which were now echoing over the bay and making it impossible for the Infected to pinpoint exactly which direction the noise was coming from.
And now that what few Infected left in the area were wearing themselves out trying to find out where all the noise from the helicopters was coming from, I had no problem whatsoever moving stealthily past all of them undetected, and after a few minutes of silently skirting around the building I finally found myself right back at the Front Entrance of the Main Terminal.
And as luck would have it, here were no Infected in the immediate area that I could see probably due to the majority of the Infected having toddled off earlier to follow the helicopter noise.
But just because there were no Infected visible anywhere other than the dozens all shot to hell that were littering the front of the building, I still couldn't allow myself to let my guard down since there might be a few, or maybe even hundreds of Infected, still skulking around inside.
Realizing that a lot of time had already passed as I noticed that the position of the sun had caused dark shadows to form all around the building, I cautiously moved forward towards the two gaping holes in the front of the building where the Infected had broken through earlier, and then stopped just before I reached them as I then switched on the weaponlight and laser unit mounted on the M4 and did a quick sweep of the interior before proceeding any further.
While every part of me wanted to hurry up and find the girl, years of experience in the field had taught me never to rush things, especially into the unknown, and seeing as I was all alone with no back-up, I was extremely worried that a "runner" or group of "runners might suddenly come flying out from the interior of the building.
And as I stepped forward I couldn't help but feel like a lone hunter about to enter the cave of a vicious animal just lying in wait to devour me as I paused for a moment to steady my rapidly beating heart and slow my breathing, wishing even more that Rika and Tajima had joined me after all.
"Woulda…coulda…shoulda." I grumbled to myself as I swept the muzzle of my carbine all around the interior of the building before slowly advancing forward as the beam of my weaponlight and the red dot of the laser unit pierced the darkness.
And as I moved deeper into the interior of the building my progress became maddeningly slow due to my having to make my way over the possibly hundreds of bodies and parts of bodies completely littering the floor, some of whom were still moving as I tried to avoid them and also try not to slip on the sea of blood which literally covered every square inch of the floor.
And then even more valuable time had been wasted trying to make my way up the large escalators leading to the second floor, which were completely littered with bodies and parts of bodies.
And as if trying to make my way up the escalators by walking over the backs of Infected and parts of Infected wasn't bad enough, I also had to resist the urge to begin blasting away with my carbine whenever I stepped on an Infected who wasn't really dead after all, and tried to make a grab at me.
And being that I was racing against time as it was, I didn't even bother trying to dispatch any of the Infected who hungrily reached out to make a grab for me as I just hopped over all of them as fast as I could, trying not to slip and fall over their blood-covered bodies until I finally made it to the top of the escalators and then turned and gazed upon the huge mess of bodies I had just climbed over, breathing heavily from the effort.
"The clean-up lady is gonna have a f_cking stroke when she sees this mess…" I muttered to myself as I glanced at all the moaning, squirming bodies on the large escalators I had just climbed as well as on the floor downstairs, as I turned and swept the light of my carbine down the second floor corridor.
It had been bad enough what I had been through just getting up to this point, but now before me lay the almost impossible task of hopefully finding one small girl hiding in a virtual labyrinth that was still filled with prowling monsters.
The task was monumental to say the least, and once again I questioned my sanity for even attempting something so suicidal as the sound of distant shots echoed from somewhere above, followed by the dull "thumps" from grenades going off as I aimed my carbine down the corridor, expecting at any moment for the Infected to burst around the corner and start tearing towards me.
But after a few heart-stopping moments with none of the Infected making an appearance, I breathed a long sigh of relief and smiled to myself despite my fear, as I realized that the Infected had more than likely been lured away from my immediate area by the gunfire and sounds of battle coming from the rescue teams.
And that being the case, the chances were good that I was in no immediate danger, as I cautiously moved forward, my anxiety level lessened somewhat, although I was still a little freaked out about the spookiness of my current situation, not to mention the danger I was in.
And as I moved even further into the darkness, I began to curse Jim under my breath for ever letting him talk me into watching those f_cking movies, ALIEN and ALIENS with him that one night back in Vegas.
Of all the f_cking things to do in Vegas…gambling, drinking, women, all of which were more suited to my taste, when the guys of "BLUE" and "GREEN" Team decided to take a night off in Vegas, Jim had made the decision to split off from the rest of us saying that he was going to some place called the "Alamo Drafthouse" where they were having some sort of sci-fi marathon or some crazy crap like that, and that he'd meet up with us later.
And like the rest of the guys, I was stunned by Jim's decision to go watch a movie when there was so many "other" more "fun" things to do as me and the guys desperately tried to convince Jim to screw that nerd shit and have a real good time for once in his life, as Jim just laughed at our insults and began walking off by himself despite our jeering.
Under normal circumstances I would have just told anyone who didn't want to hang around with us to piss off and then continue on my merry way, but as we watched Jim walking down the street all by himself, something kept nagging at me that perhaps something might actually be wrong with Jim as I told the guys to go on without us, and then yelled for Jim to hold up.
Jim denied that anything was wrong of course, and I didn't press the issue as we made our way to the movie theater.
But a few weeks later when I discreetly asked Jim why he never drank with any of us or would excuse himself whenever we invited him to drink a beer, eventually after much urging, he explained to me why.
And after that, whenever we invited Jim to come have a drink with us, we always made sure there was always a pot of coffee there, just for him.
But on that night, Jim being Jim, he didn't want to ruin our night with his personal issues and had opted to go off on his own under the guise that he just wanted to watch a movie, instead of partying with us.
But in truth, as I later came to realize that night, Jim actually was quite a bit of a nerd after all, and those two movies that we both ended up seeing that night were actually two of his favorite films as well.
And as pissed off as I was at the prospect of missing out on an entire night of drinking and women with the rest of the guys even though it had been my decision to accompany Jim in the first place, I became even more pissed off once we arrived at the movie theater.
I have always absolutely hated ever going to the movie theater, even for a movie I wanted to see, but as I sat there in my seat I could feel my blood boiling as I grew sickened by the behavior of all the sci-fi geeks dressed in weird costumes sitting all around us just before the movie began.
Jim knew of course, that I had no desire to be there and was doing his best to keep me from exploding at the silliness of the other patrons by offering to pay for my food and drinks.
And I have to admit, the joint had some pretty decent beer which I eagerly helped myself to, and after a few pints, I was pacified enough that I no longer wanted to reach over and beat the shit out of the four-hundred pound bald guy sitting in front of us whose belly bulged underneath his Star Trek costume, and who absolutely insisted on giving his food order to the waitress in Klingon.
Truth be told, I actually enjoyed watching both movies after all, although I think it may have had more to do with the beer in my system than anything else, as I drained Jim's wallet ordering round after round as the movie rolled on.
I had never seen either movie before, and I had to admit the cheesy spookiness of both movies was kinda cool, although I was glad when it was all over and we were finally able to flag down a cab, just in time for us to get a phone call from J.R. telling us to head over to the Las Vegas Police station and bail out the guys on BLUE and GREEN Team who had obviously been having a lot more fun than me.
Damn them.
And while I hadn't been freaked out by either movie like some of those geeks in the theater had been, I have to admit as I was crawling around the air ducts a couple days ago during the "Mr. Cuddles" incident, I couldn't help but remember that scene in ALIEN when the ship's captain was in the exact same predicament I was in as I tried to outrun whatever the hell it was chasing me.
And now as I moved forward alone down the dark corridor with only the light mounted on my carbine to serve as illumination and the small red dot of my laser hovering over the dozens of dead bodies littering the corridor at my feet, I couldn't help but be reminded of that scene in ALIENS when the heroine, a woman named "Ripley" decides to go on a similar suicidal mission all by herself to rescue a little girl.
Just like me.
"F_cking Jim and his f_cked up movies!" I swore angrily under my breath as I realized that my memories of those movies was making me paranoid and that for the last few minutes I had been unconscientiously kicking each body in the ribs as I walked past, in order to check and see if it was still alive.
"If I ever find him again, I'm gonna tear him a new asshole for ever having made me watch that shite!" I said with a growl as I shook my head in frustration and tried to keep my thoughts focused on finding the girl again, just as one of the Infected suddenly shuffled around the corner.
Immediately I froze in place and held my breath so as not to attract the lone Infected person shuffling blindly out into the lobby as I watched it silently for a moment, considering whether to risk taking it out silently or leave it alone and not risk being accidentally detected in case there were others still skulking around, especially any "runners".
The Infected were bad enough on their own with their superhuman strength and the ability to begin swarming towards any sound they thought could be prey, but now that we had all witnessed their ability to sprint after their quarry, the last thing I needed was a bunch of "runners" coming after me.
That being the case, I opted to remain silent and wait until the Infected shuffled off on its own until it was far enough away to no longer be a threat to me as I watched it move slowly across the lobby and then turn and head over towards the restrooms as I nearly had a heart attack when the damned thing tripped over a piece of furniture and fell flat on its face.
And I swore under my breath and cringed at all the noise the stupid wanker made as it got back to its feet and then began blindly walking into tables and chairs and other pieces of furniture and knocking them over like a bull in a china shop.
Fortunately for me however, there were apparently no other Infected in the area since none of them showed up despite all the racket the twit was making, but just the same, I couldn't take the chance of him making any more racket and risk being compromised.
And so after taking a quick look around to make sure no company was coming, I sprinted quietly towards the Infected who was trying to negotiate itself around a large lounge chair and slammed the blade of my Merxworx knife straight into the back of its skull, as it twitched once and then went limp as I grabbed it and quietly lowered the body to the ground.
Making a quick sweep of the room to make sure no unwanted company was sneaking up on me, I then yanked the knife out of the Infected's skull and returned the knife to its sheath as I stood up and then kicked the thing in the head in disgust.
"Bloody idiot…" I growled as I raised my carbine to my shoulder and began to move forward again with more purpose now, keeping the beam from the Surefire M900 weaponlight attached to the carbine pointed ahead of me as I moved across the lobby towards the restrooms on the far end, which I figured would be the most logical place to look.
But just as I reached the restrooms I happened to notice that the door leading into the men's room was open a tad and there was a faint light flickering inside as I pointed the beam of my weaponlight at the door and then cautiously pushed the door forward with the muzzle of my carbine.
And as the door slowly opened I noticed a slight trail of blood seeping out from under the door as the sound of softly shuffling footsteps and slurping noises coming from within told me that opening the door any further was a definite no-no, and from the different sounds I that I could hear moving around within, I could easily tell that there was possibly several of those things inside.
With no time to spare and not really wanting to tangle with any of the Infected anyway, I quickly glanced around for something to block the door with, as I grabbed a small plastic table lying nearby and placed it in front of the door as I then looked around for something to keep it in place.
Unfortunately my choices were few due to the fact that most of the furniture lying around were made out of cheap plastic and aluminum which was way too light to effectively block the door, until my eyes finally fell upon a couple of large potted plants standing nearby next to a pair of large garbage canisters, opting to use the canisters to block the restroom door.
While I actually would have preferred to shift one of the larger plant pots to place behind the table and block the Infected within so that the strike team could find them later and dispose of them accordingly, I didn't want to risk making any noise dragging the pot across the floor nor did I want to waste any more time either as I carefully slung my carbine behind my back and carefully propped the garbage cans behind the table.
While I doubted that the table and the garbage cans would be heavy enough to keep the Infected confined to the restroom if they slammed themselves against the door, I figured they would at least be good enough to keep the Infected contained if they merely bumped into it, or at least alert anyone of their presence if they managed to get out.
Satisfied that the Infected in the men's had not heard me moving about, I then walked over to check the ladies room to see if it was clear on the off chance that the little girl had perhaps somehow made it this far as I carefully moved towards the door leading into the ladies restroom and then pressed my ear against the door for a few moments, listening for the sound of anything moving within.
The tension I was feeling at this point was so thick that I could actually feel myself shaking slightly at what I might find on the other side of this door, as I took a deep breath to steady myself before I then slowly pushed the door open with the muzzle of my carbine.
And then after sweeping the interior of the restroom with the beam of my weaponlight and not seeing anything moving within, I then cautiously stepped inside.
And as the door closed quietly behind me, I couldn't help but feel like a rat caught in a trap as I continued to silently move forward, listening for the slightest hint of movement.
Adding to the spookiness of my situation, for some reason, the lights in the restroom were not working, and the beam of light coming from my weaponlight was casting some weird shadows everywhere which only added to my anxiety as I tried to keep myself calm, expecting something to come lunging at me from the darkness.
Fortunately for me, unlike the men's room, the women's restroom appeared to be completely empty with no visible signs of a struggle ever having happened in here as I stepped further inside the room, which turned out to be even larger that I had thought.
Like all public lavatories you find in an airport as large as this one, the restrooms were extremely spacious, designed to accommodate large crowds of people with a minimum of congestion.
The size of the restroom was indeed impressive, the layout designed in the shape of a large "horseshoe" with the lavatories constructed in the middle of the room while the toilet stalls themselves were lined up against the wall all around with the doors to all of the stalls flung open.
It was indeed impressive in size and design, but unfortunately for me, it also meant that it would be that much more time consuming for me to thoroughly check it.
Rather than risk searching each and every stall and possibly flush out one of the Infected that might be lurking inside instead of the girl, I knelt down on one knee instead, and then shined my light across the bottom of all of the stalls.
While many toilets in Japan are still of the traditional type requiring the person to squat to relive nature, fortunately for me, the toilets at this airport were of Western design so that the stalls were open at the bottom so that I was able to see if there were indeed any legs sticking out from underneath.
Not finding any signs of anyone or anything standing in one of the stalls, I then quietly walked over to the other side of the restroom and checked the stalls in the same fashion with the same result, as I then decided to risk calling out to the girl in case she might be hiding in one of the stalls, just to be safe.
"Hello?" I said quietly and then winced as it seemed that even though I had spoken in a low tone, my voice seemed to almost echo in the cavernous room.
"Anyone there?" I said in a whisper which still seemed awfully loud to me.
Silence.
There's an old saying that "silence is golden" but in this case it was causing me even more anxiety as I carefully took a few steps forward and pushed open each of the cubicle doors just to make sure that they weren't occupied, until I had searched each and every stall as I then gritted my teeth in bitter disappointment.
Nothing….the restroom had been empty after all.
"F_ck….!" I said under my breath trying to keep myself from kicking one of the stall doors in anger.
The girl was not at all where I was told she was last seen, and since there was no blood or any signs of a struggle, that meant either the parents intel was wrong, or the girl had run off somewhere else while I had wasted valuable time clearing one restroom out of the literally hundreds of hiding spots the girl could be hiding in…if she were still alive.
It was impossible, even with an entire battalion at my disposal, it would have still been an almost impossible task of trying to search the entire building for one lost little girl while also engaged in fighting the Infected every step of the way, and there was just no way I could even hope to do it alone.
That was it then….mission failure.
I had put my life at risk for nothing and now getting back to the others or waiting for the rescue team to find me was all I could do now.
And then a horrific sense of dread came over me as the image of the two parents eagerly awaiting my return with their daughter at my side popped up in my head, as I envisioned the despair I knew would be on their faces when they realized when I came back empty-handed, that my so called "rescue" of their daughter had all been in vain.
"What the f_ck was I thinking?" I said to myself as I leaned back against the bathroom wall and slid down to the floor, letting the carbine drop into my lap as I put my head in my hands and sighed, frustrated with the realization that for the first time in a long time I had no f_cking clue what I should do next.
I had been so hell-bent on finding the little girl that I hadn't stopped to think about what I would do if I had failed, and now that I had, I dreaded the fact that I would now have to face the parents with this awful truth, which frightened me now more than anything.
And all I could think of doing now was to scream and shout in anger at my failure and vent all of my hatred, my fury, and every emotion I was feeling right now which could probably bring down a f_cking mountain if I had…not to mention every Infected on the island to my location.
And as I sat there alone in the dark alone, I reflected on the events of that week and pondered on how things had gone so horribly bad so f_cking fast.
The plane engine catching fire, the Infected showing up unexpectedly, our desperate helicopter escape to get away from them, the crashing of our chopper in the park, my desperate escape to the British embassy and the flight here to the island, the cops shooting at me after I'd been compromised, and then being on the run from airport security and the Infected underground.
And then the past couple of days of trying to help the small handful of police left on the island protect a bunch of scared civilians while the Infected relentlessly attacked us.
And now that we were all so close to being rescued, I completely buggered myself by trying to be a hero and save a little girl, when every fiber in my being screamed at me not to do it.
And then I reflected on something else that was tearing me apart as well.
Jim…
So many times Jim had spoken of experiencing a situation similar to my current one, when after he and his fellow firemen and paramedics tried everything they could to help someone, but then everything they had done had been in vain.
And then came the hardest part of the job of having to tell the family that despite everything that had been done, their loved one had not survived as they then tried to comfort the family who were often inconsolable.
And as I sat there in the darkness, the thought of going back and giving the family the bad news was agonizing , and for the life of me, I don't know how the hell Jim did it again and again throughout his entire career.
And as I pondered on that, I leaned my head back against the wall and wondered to myself for the hundredth time of what exactly had happened to Jim after our escape from the park after all, and then once again I began to feel like the world's biggest prick for having left him behind at the park when Infected had attacked the police.
I snapped myself out of my funk quickly though, because I know sitting here blaming myself for what happened to Jim and the little girl would solve nothing, and despite how much I hate to think this, its best I not dwell on what happened to Jim or the girl and move on.
And even if Jim had made it, there were more than two million people in Tokonosu City bfore the Outbreak city and trying to find Jim and the other guys in the middle of all that chaos would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
The sound of gunfire coming from one of the floors somewhere above me immediately jolted me back to the present, and as I listened the sounds of battle getting louder, I paused for a moment to contemplate my next move.
Obviously, I didn't want to spend the night here, and the smart thing to do would be to wait patiently for the rescue team to show up and then lead them back to the where the SAT had secured the civilians if none of the other teams had reached them yet.
Or, I could just go back the way I came, and skirt around the building until I could find some sort of access back to the rooftop and either rejoin the others, or worse come to worse, pop one of my flares and wait for either the rescue team or a helicopter hovering nearby to come pick me up.
Either way, I was screwed, because in the end I would still have to eventually face the family with the bad news about their daughter, and as much as I wanted to get back to the others, a big part of me hoped that all of the civilians would somehow already have been extracted off the island before I got back so that someone else could deliver them the bad news, instead of me.
But as much as I dreaded going back to face the family, I realized that there was no way I was going to intentionally avoid them, knowing full well they were probably on their knees right now praying that I'd found their daughter.
And even though I had failed in my mission to save her, they at least deserved to know what happened even if the news would devastate them.
I at least owed them that.
My decision finally made, I walked back towards the exit door of the restroom and listened carefully for a few moments for any noise coming from the other side before I cautiously opened the door a crack and peered outside.
Seeing that the coast clear, I emerged from the restroom and made a quick sweep of the lobby and noticed that several barstools lying on the floor nearby were no longer in the same position as they were when I passed them earlier.
"Shit, there's another one around here somewhere…" I muttered to myself as the hairs on the back of my head rose as the sound of moaning came from down the corridor.
"Sonuvabitch…why didn't I hear that bastard earlier?" I swore under my breath as I moved towards the sound, keeping a careful eye out for any more Infected lurking about.
And after a few moments of searching, I finally found the Infected making all the noise who was standing near an open ventilation shaft nearby and acting as if he were trying to grab at something within.
"Hello there, sunshine…" I said angrily, my heart beginning to race with renewed fury as I took a quick look around and then seeing that the coast was clear, ran up behind the Infected man and gave it a swift kick in the ribs knocking it over and away from the vent.
"Looking for someone, neighbor?" I said with a sneer, all the fury within me threatening to explode as the Infected man fell onto its back from the force of the blow and let out a moan almost as if it were in pain.
"Well congratulations mate, you found me." I said sarcastically as the Infected lay there for a moment before trying to get back up.
"Forgive me though if I don't offer you a *brew…." I said as I gave it another swift kick to the ribs for no other reason than it made me feel better.
(*Beer or cup of tea)
And then all at once my pent-up emotions came spilling forth as I then slammed the butt of my carbine into the Infected man's face over and over, grinding his face into mush until all my energy was spent as I then fell to one knee, breathing heavily for a few moments.
Suddenly I heard a rustling sound coming from the ventilation shaft next to me which spooked the hell out of me as I instinctively jumped away from it in response.
"What the bloody hell?" I gasped in surprise as I raised the muzzle of the carbine with one hand towards the vent cover as the beam of light illuminated the inside of the shaft and my eyes immediately went wide at what I saw.
"Ojisan….tasukute…" A small voice said from the vent opening as I quickly crouched down and found myself looking into the frightened, tear-filled eyes of a young girl of about seven or eight years of age.
"Hey sweetie, daijobu desu ka?"?" I said with a smile on my face so as not to scare her as I set the blood-splattered carbine aside and then both of my hands up in full view so as not to scare her as the little girl nodded in response.
"What's your name sweetie?" I ask the frightened girl in English as she sat there behind the vent cover and just stared at me blankly from inside the vent and then began to sniffle before crying out loud.
"Shhhh…..shhhhh….don't cry baby." I said anxiously suddenly afraid that her wails were going to attract every Infected within a hundred miles, as I hurriedly pulled my Leatherman multi-tool from its sheath and opened it up, and after selecting a flat-head screwdriver from all the others, began to quickly unscrew the screws holding the vent cover in place as I tried to quiet the girl down as best I could.
Bless the poor little mite, as scared as I was of her cries giving our position away, I couldn't blame her bawling like that after all she'd been through.
Hell, seeing her so frightened like that was tearing me up inside, although I have to say, I was thrilled beyond words to see that she had survived after all as I blew a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have tragic news to tell her parents after all.
"Anata o namae wa?" I repeated again in Japanese still trying to calm the girl down as I finally loosened the last screw and was finally was able to yank the vent cover away from the wall.
"Me…Megumi desu…" The little girl said sniffling as big crocodile tears continued to pour down her face.
"Hiya Megumi-Chan…." I said in Japanese, still smiling so as to not appear so frightening knowing that my appearance must be scaring her almost as much as the Infected did.
"My name is Andrew…." I continued in Japanese as the girl wiped her eyes. "Listen, you're parents sent me to find you and I've come to take you back to them."
"Would you like to come with me?" I said trying to appear friendly but wondering if perhaps I may have sounded more like a f_cking creeper or something based on the frightened look on the girl's face as she stopped crying and stared back at me in horror.
"Megumi-chan, we need to go hon…" I said a little firmly as I began to grow impatient as the girl seemed to just stare at me as if paralyzed in shock when I suddenly noticed that her eyes weren't actually focused on me but on something just over my left shoulder as I quickly grabbed my carbine and then spun around and leveled the muzzle in the direction she was staring.
"Oh shit, where did he come from?" I muttered as an Infected came shuffling into the lobby and then began heading towards us, no doubt attracted by the girl's crying.
I cursed myself silently as he approached realizing that I had been so preoccupied with trying to coax the little girl out of the air shaft that I hadn't even heard it coming as I kept my carbine leveled at the approaching Infected and then leaned closer to the air vent.
"Megumi-honey, listen to me…." I said the urgency pretty evident in my voice I'm sure. "We've gotta go now otherwise you'll get trapped in here and I won't be able to help you."
"Please Megumi-chan…" I pleaded noticing that the girl hadn't moved probably because she was too scared to move as I began to grow even more anxious as the Infected drew nearer and suddenly three more came around the corner increasing the threat from one Infected to four.
"Megumiiiii….!" I hissed anxiously as I picked up the carbine and pressed the bloody stock against my shoulder as I switched on my laser unit and let the red dot of the laser hover over the forehead of the closest approaching Infected who had now closed to within 100 feet of our position as I suddenly heard the welcome sound of the girl emerging from the duct as I glanced over at her as she stood up, and dusted off her clothes before picking up her backpack and a small teddy bear.
"Ojisan…iko?!" Megumi said in a hushed but undeniably anxious voice which was all I needed to hear as I quickly took her by the hand and we began to hurry down the corridor towards the escalators leading to the front entrance of the Main Terminal.
With Megumi glued to my hip I led the way keeping my carbine at the ready as we hurriedly ran over all the bodies and pools of blood on the floor, the little girl showing no signs of apprehension whatsoever at the sight of all the bodies littering the floor as we hauled ass as fast as we could, the option of sitting tight and waiting for the rescue teams to find us no longer an option.
I had to admit, even though she was just a little kid, Megumi showed no sign of fear or squeamishness as we stepped over the still forms piled wall to wall in the corridor, nor did she hesitate as we then scrambled over the dozens of bodies clogging the escalators as we hurriedly made our descent down the escalator steps before finally reaching the Main Lobby of the Visitor's Center.
Then again, perhaps it was just the fact that maybe she was just as anxious to get the hell out of there as I was as we finally climbed through the panel of broken glass and out onto the front entrance.
We were now in the clear, but still not out of danger, and as I was pondering my next move, a loud roar sounded overhead and an Augusta-Westland AW101 helicopter suddenly roared into view out of nowhere and passed over us before making a right bank turn and then headed towards us before coming to a hover roughly one hundred meters away from our current position.
"That's no JSDF helo…." I thought to myself as I stared at the black painted helicopter and noticed that there were no visible markings on it anywhere.
"No…it couldn't be." I thought to myself as I peered closer at the hovering aircraft as the helo suddenly turned until I was now staring at it from its port side as it began to descend to the ground.
"Looks like the cavalry's here at last, Megumi-chan." I said flashing a smile at Megumi who was covering both of her ears with her hands because of the rotor noise as I noticed the cabin door of the heli swing open about twenty feet from the ground and several people inside dressed in black coveralls with black hoods and tactical goggles over their faces and armed with various assault weapons and sniper rifles, suddenly leveled their weapons at us.
"F_ck me…!" I said stunned at the unexpected hostility of the so-called "rescue team" as I instinctively reached over and yanked Megumi behind me using my left arm to keep her behind me while I tightened my grip on my carbine with my right hand, using the sling to stabilize my weapon.
It was a move made purely out of instinct, and would have been a completely useless gesture if the men aboard the heli had indeed intended on opening fire on the both of us.
And as I stared back at all that firepower aimed at us, there was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't have even had a chance to squeeze off a round before Megumi and I would have been riddled with bullets.
But even though we were completely outgunned and my defensive posture might indeed have been a futile one, I still kept my weapon trained on the open door of the helicopter cabin just the same as I watched the helicopter continue its descent.
And immediately as the wheels of the landing gear touched down the men inside the cabin of the helicopter quickly jumped out of the AW101, and with weapons in hand, quickly formed a security perimeter around the helicopter as two others ran towards me as I continued to keep the muzzle of my M4 trained on the pair of soldiers walking towards me.
"Still doing everything with one eye I see…" One of the masked men said in a voice I could barely hear over the roar of the helicopter's turbines, not to mention that his mask muffling his voice as he spoke as he kept his M4/M203 combo weapon aimed at me.
"That would explain why he's being so hostile to his rescuer's…." The second man said under his mask, who looked like he may have been a professional wrestler at one time thanks to his stocky build. "Of course, he's always been an asshole."
"Aye…" The first guy agreed nodding his head.
"Who the f_ck are you guys?" I growled keeping Megumi hidden behind me as I noticed the shrieking noise coming from the AW101's turbines were drawing the attention of the dozens of Infected who had been still skulking around the area earlier as I also turned around and noticed a whole bunch of them suddenly come streaming out of the shattered glass panels in the front of the Main Terminal and now making a beeline straight for us.
"We can worry about who's who later….right now we have bigger problems…" The stockier of the two who was evidently the team leader said as he aimed his weapon at the Infected behind me as did the second soldier next to him.
"Time to go, mate…!" The other masked man shouted as I turned and grabbed Megumi by the hand as we both bolted towards the AW101 without any further argument and then jumped into the helo.
I had just sat on one of the canvas seats on the starboard side of the cabin and placed Megumi on my lap when the rest of the black-clad commandos began to pile in as the Infected drew closer and closer until finally everyone was aboard as the door was finally slammed shut and the team leader shouted for the pilot to take off and I felt that familiar, and most welcome, tug in my stomach as the helo suddenly rose up into the air.
"It's alright Megumi-chan… you're safe now….it's alright." I said soothingly to Megumi as I felt her little body trembling against mine as the helicopter made a sharp bank to port, the pilot aiming the nose of the craft back towards the roof of the West Wing of the Terminal as I sagged back against the wall of the cabin, completely drained physically, mentally, and emotionally.
"Thanks guys…whoever the hell you are." I said as I cast a glance at all the men in the cabin who were all staring at me for some reason as my blood suddenly turned cold as I noticed the subdued black and green "Union Jack" on the shoulder of each man's coveralls.
Of course.
The way they moved, their choice of weapons, their tactics.
F_cking A, they were SAS.
And as if to confirm my suspicions, the chatter that came next drowned out any lagging doubts I might have had.
"See…what did I tell you?" A familiar voice that I now recognized even behind his mask now that the rotor noise no longer drowned out everything. "Not a bloody word…..not even a "thanks a lot, assholes."
"Yeah…not even a f_ck you….oops, sorry lass." One of the guys sitting next to me said patting Megumi on the head.
"Aye… not f_cking a drop of gratitude on him anywhere." One of the other guys holding a sniper rifle said nodding his head as one of the other guys slapped him on the shoulder.
"Mind the language mate, we've a little bird on board." The man said as the man with the sniper rifle flipped him off.
"She doesn't speak English you wanker… what does it matter?" The sniper said to the other fellow with mock disgust.
"How do you know, you twit?" The other man said indignantly. "You think she's not smart enough to know more than one language?"
"The f_ck I know whether she speaks more than one language…what do you care if she hears me swear?" The sniper said as the other fellow punched him in the chest roughly.
"Because she's just a kid you asswipe!" The other fellow said indignantly as he warded off a blow thrown at him by the sniper.
"So what if she's a kid?" The sniper said rubbing his chest as he glared at the guy who hit him.
"It means she's an innocent kid and your mouth could traumatize her for life puss nuts, so shut the f_ck up!" The other guy said as I noticed several of the other guys rolling their eyes at the two arguing men.
"Hey, f_ck you Ricky!" The sniper said flipping off his assailant, confirming whom the loud mouth was, even though I had already figured it out.
"No, f_ck you Jem!" Ricky said as the exchange between both men began to grow even more heated.
"Both of you shut the f_ck up!" The voice of one of the man sitting next to me said in frustration whose voice could only be that of Pete.
"F_ck you Pete!" Both men said at once as Megmi looked up at me and looked as if she would have rather stayed back on the ground with the Infected.
"All of you shut the f_ck up!" The team leader growled, his voice definitely unmistakable. "What the hell's wrong with you guys, screaming like that in front of a kid?"
"But it's his fault!" Every man in the cramped confines of the helicopter said as they all pointed their fingers at me.
"Why the fu…. uh, I mean, why the hell is it my fault?" I said growing pissed at the way everyone was carrying on in front of poor Megumi.
"BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!" Everyone in the cabin roared in unison as the cabin was suddenly filled with the sound of cackles of laughter.
"You've gotta be f_cking kidding me…" I said forgetting that Megumi was still sitting on my lap, as the eyes of each man changed from the steely gaze that had been present all this time into a look that appeared to be one of amusement.
"Well I must say…" The team leader said as he removed his googles and then his black balaclava. "I can understand why you wouldn't want to remember these wankers…."
"But I can't help but feel a little hurt that you don't remember me, Andy." Henry "Henno" Garvie said with a smirk as I watched the rest of my old teammates in Red Troop remove their balaclavas from off their heads, revealing the faces of my old friends whom I had fought, sweat, and bled with so many years ago.
Jamie, Ricky, Jem, Alex, and Pete, men I'd served with for years, men I would have given my life for in a heartbeat.
Brothers I hadn't had the courage to look in the face again after I'd left The Regiment.
And now here they were, after having saved my life yet again.
"What are you guys doing here in Japan?" I asked still more a little in shock as Henno chuckled before he began to explain.
"We were over in Okinawa involved with a joint-training operation involving the Japanese SF, a platoon from the GSG-9, a couple of Spetznaz teams and the SEALS, when the training simulation was suspended and the next thing we knew we were sitting in the officer's wardroom of the "Bonny Dick", being briefed by the Americans that the whole world had gone to shit."
"And that's where we've been ever since…" Pete replied. "With no foreseeable way home, at the moment."
"Why?" I asked as Ricky then piped up from where he sat.
"Like the man said, the whole world's gone to shit, mate." Ricky said grimly. "Any and all NATO ships and planes were immediately recalled and everyone left without so much as a "by your f_cking leave."
"And while we were paddling around out there in the ocean trying to make our approach on an abandoned oil rig with the SEALs, we just happened to miss the last flight out…." Alex said with disgust. "So now we're stuck here sitting on our asses aboard that floating tin can."
"You're kidding…" I said as everyone stared back at me with grim looks on their faces.
All of them except Jem of course, who suddenly began laughing.
"He's not lying mate…" Jem said still chuckling. "His ass has been glued to the toilet seat the past two days with the "runs."
"Hey f_ck you, Jem!" Alex said flipping him off as Jem blew him a kiss in response.
"Knock it off…" Henno growled as I heard the landing gear began to deploy as we began to make our descent onto the roof.
"How did you guys know I was here, by the way?" I asked trying to change the subject as Henno chuckled.
"When that SAT Commander radioed in his sitrep to the JSDF a couple days ago, he mentioned that his men had captured someone whom he believed may have been former SAS…" Henno replied.
"And after Dempsey did a little further investigating…." Henno went on. "He was able to figure out that the chances were good that it was probably you that they had captured."
"Dempsey's here?" I asked nervously as Henno nodded his head.
"On board the "Bonny Dick" waiting for you with open arms, mate." Henno said with a smirk.
"I'll bet…" I said with a grimace remembering how less than cordial I had been the last time I had seen my former commander.
"Actually it's true, mate…" Henno said his face becoming serious as he leaned over. "He wants to make you an offer you can't refuse."
"What kind of offer?" I asked a little suspiciously, as Pete uttered the words that I'd always dreamed about hearing one day.
"The kind of offer that gets you back onboard with RED Troop, Andy-boy." Pete said with a grin as I stared wide-eyed at the others, who were all grinning broadly at me.
"*Pull the other one…" I said in disbelief as the guys began to laugh.
(*Basically, "You're pulling my leg aren't you?)
"We're serious mate…" Pete said with a wink. "The Colonel wants you back in the fold."
"Why does Dempsey want me back for?" I asked, not really caring but still eager to hear. "I thought_"
"The assholes in charge of the OP after it went tits up, were the ones who wanted your blood mate, not anyone in The Regiment…." Henno said seriously. "…and especially not any of us or Dempsey."
"And now that everything's gone to shit…" Henno added. "Dempsey's been given free rein to do whatever he pleases, without anyone from up above to muck things up."
"You really have been out of the loop haven't you Andy?" Henno said laughing at the look of disbelief on my face as the helicopter hovered about ten feet above the roof as the pilot tried to maneuver the helicopter in place despite the stiff sea breeze blowing against the hull of the aircraft.
"The whole world has seriously gone ape-shit, mate." Ricky piped up. "Right now even the Taliban is helping to help us fight the Infected."
That last bit of news actually came as no surprise to me, I mean if you think about it, fighting over ideals seems kind of a moot point when you're suddenly facing an enemy whose only interest is eating your face off.
"Still doesn't explain why he'd want me back after everything that's happened." I said as the pilot began to ease down on the collective and we finally started to land.
"The truth is Andy, right now we need all the good guys we can get to fight against the Infected, and especially now we've been tasked with helping the JSDF get as many survivors as we can out of the city." Henno replied realizing that the offer being presented to me was quite a bit to swallow all at once.
"Fact is, we need you, mate." Ricky said as I let the words sink in and then leaned back against the cabin wall and let out a heavy sigh.
So…they want me back, but only because they're desperate." I thought to myself as I leaned my head back against the interior of the AW101 and I gazed out one of the windows on the port side of the cabin at just about the same time as the American F-18's had begun their bombing run on the Infected as a far section of the island suddenly erupted in flame as thousands of Infected were instantly engulfed in fire.
I turned my attention away from the spectacle as the landing gear of the helicopter finally touched down with a bump on the helipad located on the roof.
And as the pilot and co-pilot then began the sequence of shutting down the helicopters turbines, as Ricky opened the port sliding door of the helicopter and we all began to disembark from the passenger compartment.
And as we all piled out of the helicopter, every one of us stopped to gaze in awe at the huge fireball rising slowly into the air at the far end of the island when I noticed out of the corner of my eye, a dozen or so heavily armed men in U.S.-issue cammies, walking towards us with Rika, Tajima, Commander Nanahara, and Megumi's parents walking amongst them.
"Andrew-san!" Rika shouted as she, Tajima, and even Commander Nanahara waved at me with huge, tired smiles on their faces as a loud shout of joy came from my left as the little girl Megumi let go of my hand and ran straight for her parents who immediately enveloped in their arms as they all began to sob hysterically in relief at the sight of their little girl alive and well.
And as I watched the happy reunion, it was at that moment that the full weight of how tired I actually was finally hit me as I felt my legs begin to wobble slightly and I quickly leaned against the helicopter with a tired grunt.
And as I stood there watching Megumi being held by her parents who were sobbing and smiling at the same time in relief, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time.
Satisfaction.
But even though I was happy that I had been successful in rescuing Megumi and reuniting her back with her family, and I was also happy my friends and I had all survived this nightmare, I couldn't bring myself to even crack a smile back at everyone, despite the happy occasion.
And as I watched Megumi being smothered with hugs and kisses by her family and all the guys in RED Troop including Rika and the other SAT were watching the family with broad smiles on their faces, I realized as Henno gave me a big thumbs up, that I didn't really feel any joy at all.
And the sad truth was because I didn't feel I deserved to be celebrating along with them.
At the end of the day people would hear about what had happened and they would all think that I was a good person because I took it upon myself to bravely go into the gates of hell alone to save one little girl lost in a building full of flesh-eating monsters…
But the real truth was anything but that.
When I joined the Army, and then later the SAS, I had been taught that the mission and the team came first, no matter what.
Protecting the civilians against the Infected had been the mission, and many brave police officers had died horribly trying to keep the otherwise defenseless civilians safe.
And I had willingly risked my own life as well, to help the meager police force to do exactly that.
And by some miracle, we had succeeded, miraculously beating the odds against us that we could have ever survived such a desperate situation the way we had.
And yet when the situation had become extremely desperate, instead of keeping myself focused on the bigger picture, which was the overall safety of the civilians, I had gone completely off the reservation and taken on a near-suicidal mission to rescue one little girl who had been accidentally separated from her parents.
At any other time, if this had been a situation similar to all the ones I'd been involved in before with RED Troop, the girl would have unfortunately been given up as lost and left behind, any kind of rescue attempt under such similarly desperate conditions considered too risky to undertake.
And if anyone had asked my opinion, I would have been the first to agree that rescuing the girl was too much of a risk, and Megumi would have just ended up being another casualty among the many millions of people dying around the world while her parents were kept safe.
And while Megumi's parents would live, they would be forced to live the rest of their lives blaming themselves over the tragic loss of their daughter, yet another tragic example of the horrors of warfare and its effect on the innocent.
And I would have pushed any thoughts of regret aside and continued on with the mission of keeping Megumi's parents and the rest of the civilian's safe.
And then later I would try to convince myself that keeping all of the civilians safe and not compromising the lives of my mates in an impossible rescue attempt to save one little girl was the right call to make, and I doubt anyone one would disagree with me, either.
And that would have been that, even though I knew that my decision would still haunt me later.
But when Megumi's parents were begging for help, and then Rika yelled those words at me that Jim had uttered once before, immediately the image of the last time I saw Jim popped into my head right after our little confrontation with the police when all of us were trying to *di-di the hell out of there after the Infected began to attack.
(*Run away – extract)
And then I did something I would have never thought of doing before.
And it was all because of Jim.
When we were back at the park after our helicopter had crashed and the local cops that had confronted us were being attacked by the Infected, Chris had ordered everyone to run for it, now that the cops focus was no longer on us.
As I had done several times before when forced to break contact from a larger enemy force, I immediately turned on my heel and began running away from the chaotic scene as did all the others, as the sound of gunfire and bullets whizzing over our heads followed by the screams of pain coming from the cops being attacked, sounded behind us.
I didn't look back when I ran because I knew that there was no need to, all of the guys who were with me were veteran operators who could very well handle themselves and make it to the rendevouz at the American Embassy in Tokyo.
I wasn't even worried about Jim anymore at this point either because countless times the boys and I in GREEN and BLUE Team had drilled Jim constantly on how to break contact with an enemy force, and Jim had practiced that drill even on his down time in order to react instinctively, until it became second nature to him.
And so when J.R. gave the order to run, I hadn't given it a second thought that all of us would get away without a hitch, and besides, these were local cops we had encountered who were armed with police-issue pistols, and not the usual heavily-armed bandits or militia we usually encountered overseas.
And seeing as how the cop's attention was focused mainly on the Infected attacking them, we should have easily gotten away scot-free and every one of us have been well on our way to safety.
But after running a short distance, I realized after coming to a stop that Jim who had been standing near me earlier wasn't anywhere around that I could see, and as soon as I realized he wasn't just lagging behind, my first instinct was to turn back and look for him.
But then I stopped myself, and then kept on going.
It wasn't fear that stopped me from going back, I'd been in worse situations before.
It was because I knew in my heart exactly what had happened to Jim, and I knew that there was nothing more that I could do.
In any mission where a team leader has deduced that his team is in danger of being overwhelmed and there is no possible way his team can survive with all of its members intact, he may have no other choice but to give the members of his team the order to split up, in the hope that at least some members of the team will make it back home alive.
Such a situation only occurs if the situation is truly desperate and there is no other choice, and if such an order does arise for the team to split up and it's every man for himself, then each man knows that the odds of making it home is low and the chances are high that you or some of your friends are probably not going to make it back.
Jim was my best friend, and like all the guys at Laidlaw especially the guys on BLUE and GREEN Team he was also my brother, and every fiber in my being wanted to go back and find him.
But when I remembered Ben screaming "Pappy, run!" earlier, I knew that it could only mean one thing.
Jim had heard the screams of the cops as they were being killed, and had stopped to help them.
Firemen, cops, and anyone Military view each other as "brothers", but usually only to those who serve in the same service as themselves.
Jim was different however, and as far as he was concerned anyone who was a fellow fireman, cop, paramedic or Military was a "brother" or "sister".
"Anyone who has the guts to run towards danger and put his life on the line for people who can't help themselves, is my "brother" as far as I'm concerned..." Jim had said when I asked him why he felt that way. "And it doesn't matter to me whether he's a cop, fireman, or soldier."
"Oh yeah, why's that?" I said chuckling at the way Jim was being so serious all of a sudden.
"Because there's so few of us left in the world willing to do that, Andy…." Jim had said as I stopped laughing and pondered about his words constantly over the weeks that followed afterwards.
And so when Jim hadn't shown up behind me as I stopped at the edge of the park, I had no doubts as to why he wasn't anywhere around, and I knew in my heart that Jim had made the decision to go back and save his "brothers".
And I also knew that decision of his…. had also killed him.
But the guilt I was feeling now however, wasn't because I hadn't gone off to find Jim back at the park or the fact that he had died trying to save others while I di-di'ed off to the British Embassy.
The guilt that I was feeling was because it was that very same unselfish quality in Jim that I had tried so hard once to destroy.
And what made it worse, I did not try to destroy the core values that Jim believed in all his life because I truly believed that his sense of compassion for others would cause him, or the other guys to suffer harm in a crisis.
That wasn't my real reasons for the things I had down to Jim, at least, not in the beginning.
All I really wanted…. was for Jim to leave.
And I did everything I could to crush that self-sacrificing spirit that I could see was the real source of Jim's strength, and which I constantly gave him hell for, under the guise that I was just training another recruit for the rigors of combat..
The same self-sacrificing spirit that in the end, had killed my best friend.
And I'll never forgive myself for the way I acted towards him when the time finally came to throw our little "surprise" for Jim while was standing alone in the Kill House on the day he first arrived on Laidlaw's doorstep.
I was absolutely rabid about how I was going to go about scaring Jim off and I was practically cackling with glee when all of us got ready to blow the door leading into the Kill House.
And it shames me to admit, that I was really hoping to see Jim start screaming like a little girl and begin wetting his pants in front of all of us as the bullets started flying, and I just couldn't wait to see what happened once we made our dramatic entry into the Kill House.
And just like we had planned, I was the first one through the door after the breaching charge blew and I made sure that my aim was the truest it had ever been, as I placed three perfectly aimed shots from my MP5 at the closest target, a mere three inches away from Jim's head.
And as the last round was fired and we all yelled "CLEAR!", no one in that room was more surprised than I, as Jim casually glanced over at the bullet-riddled targets near him and then broke into the biggest shit-eating grin I'd ever seen and begged us to teach him how to shoot like that.
F_ck me, I have to admit, I actually liked the guy immediately, although I didn't let that stop me from kicking Jim's ass every moment of every day that he was training with us.
But when the training finally came to an end, a friendship like I'd never known before had been forged, and a good man that I had come to respect greatly over time, became someone I could truly say, was my very best friend.
And even though I never told him, it was that quality in him to care for others, especially someone like me, that over time I came to admire about him.
Jim's being killed for what he believed in was tearing me up inside, and I knew that it was the loss of my best friend that had been the real reason I had gone to save Megumi.
My saving Megumi hadn't been an act done out of duty, kindness, compassion, courage, or even pity on my part.
Saving Megumi was something Jim would have done….not me.
My only reason for saving Megumi was because it was my way of honoring my friend's memory.
And it was also my way of telling Jim, goodbye.
"Jim, forgive me mate…." I said as I walked over to the other side of the helicopter and stared across the bay to the city beyond.
"I understand now why you always said that it's not about you, it's about them…" I said trying to fight back the sorrow I felt.
"But I'm sorry my friend, that was the code you lived by…not me." I said as I fought back the tears threatening to fall down my face.
"You were the best friend I ever had mate, and I know you never held it against me for everything I did to you…." I said still gazing at the city watching as multiple plumes of smoke continued to rise into the air from all the buildings that were still burning in the city.
"And you'd probably say you'd be proud of me for saving that little girl…" I said with a laugh as a single tear ran down my cheek as I quickly wiped it away so no one would notice.
"But the truth is, brother…."I continued trying to keep my emotions in check. "I am, and always will be a cold-hearted mother-f_cker, who will never put my life at risk like that for another stranger, ever again."
"I'm sorry Jim…." I said lowering my head. "All I want now more than anything in this world is to be back with The Regiment and my mates in RED Troop, and that will never change."
"Forgive me brother…." I added. "But soldier or mercenary, this is who I am, and all I'll ever be."
"I'll miss you, buddy…" I said finally as I began to walk over to where everyone was still gathered around Megumi.
And as I joined everyone as they were still standing there talking with Megumi and her parents, I knew that I would never hesitate to come to the aid of any of my friends if they were ever in danger, and I would do anything for them, even if it cost me my life.
And despite my feelings of guilt, deep down, I was glad to have saved Megumi, even if it had been more to honor Jim's memory than anything else,
And I would always remember it as one of the few good things I ever did in my life.
But saving Megumi would be the last time I ever put my life at risk for a stranger in this world again if it meant putting my mates at risk like I had earlier when I left Rika, Tajima, and even Commander Nanahara and the other cops alone, tin order to rescue Megumi.
The success of any mission was still a priority as always, but for me, the lives of my brothers and sisters-in-arms would always be my top priority above anything, or anyone, else.
The loss of my best friend had hit me almost as hard as it did when I lost my wife and baby several years ago, and now all that mattered to me were the lives of my friends standing with me right here and now, including my buddies on BLUE and GREEN Team that I hoped were still alive out there somewhere.
From now on their lives and no one else's mattered to me anymore, at least, not in this world.
And I didn't care if anyone else in this world hated me for it.
As far as I was concerned….
F_ck the world.
DISCLAIMER: PLEASE…PLEASE…PLEASE!
DO NOT attempt the "bail-out" technique I described earlier in this chapter, please!
While it really is a technique that firemen everywhere, including myself, have been trained on, it is only used as a last resort in case we have to evacuate a multi-story house that is falling around us and there is no other way out and the risk of getting a broken bone is preferable to being roasted alive.
Believe me, it is a very dangerous technique and some guys have gotten seriously hurt in training doing this, so please…..DON'T DO IT!
And for your information, the hoses we use to slide down with are actual Fire Service hoses which are thicker, and stronger and can take that kind of abuse.
The emergency fire hoses you see in hotels and office buildings are THINNER and used only for emergencies by trained personnel.
We don't use them when we arrive on scene because they are not built to withstand the rigors of serious firefighting use and THEY WILL NOT SUPPORT THE WEIGHT OF A HUMAN BEING ON THEM AND THEY WILL COME APART!
Many of you might be laughing at my even mentioning this, but truth is, there is always someone who will try it if they haven't done it already.
Which is why Police, Firemen, and Paramedics never worry about being laid off.
And is also why we came up with the term "Job Security".
So please, don't be…"that guy".
Author's Notes: Poynton90 was the one who wrote this chapter originally, but I "tweaked" it here and there to add some suspense, comedy and drama that I thought could really bring a little more light and "Andrew" and his friendship with "Jim" as well as his own inner turmoil.
However, I realize that it took me much longer to post this chapter, and it was all mostly due to sickness, work, and other things that have robbed a lot of time from me lately.
But another reason why it's been taking me so long to post new chapters is also because unlike when I first started posting "Last Alarm" here on FF and had a new chapter posted almost every month, I've decided to focus more on the quality of my chapters versus the quantity, and so it's taking longer to post new chapters.
Thank you for your patience, and thank you for your support, I truly appreciate it.
On another note, "Last Alarm" was originally meant to basically follow the same plot as "HOTD" since it was that anime and manga that was initially my inspiration for writing "Last Alarm" in the first place.
However, as I've been writing "Last Alarm", it has been my sincere desire not to just re-hash the same story or plot from HOTD, although my sticking to the same outline, more or less, like the original series, was meant more to honor the original writers of HOTD.
But just re-hashing the same story with the new characters and slight changes is no fun for anyone, and so after this arc is over, you'll be seeing a lot more original work.
And as all of you have read up to now, there have been a lot of differences in my story compared to the original HOTD series being made in Japan, although the characters and some other things have sorta been canon.
But just re-hashing the same story with the new characters and slight changes is no fun for anyone, and so after this arc is over, you'll be seeing a lot more original work.
And just so all of you know, there are a few more chapters left in this arc which I have decided will be entitled "Last Alarm- Book One" when I am finally done.
"Last Alarm-Book One" was meant to introduce the main characters to each other and also establish their relationship with each other as well, which was why there was so much drama written in it.
But when "Last Alarm-Book Two" is finally posted, you will notice immediately that it will be vastly different from the manga, and hopefully in a good way.
"Last Alarm-Book Two" will still have drama, but it will be more about survival, than relationships.
Personally, I can't wait to get started on that.
So bear with me, the fun is only getting started.
And as always, thanks guys for all your support, while this story was originally only meant for my younger brother, I can't tell you how it feels to see people from all parts of the world are reading this story, and hopefully enjoying it.
From the bottom of my heart...
Thank you. Jim
Coming soon: Last Alarm: Chapter 47- "Darkness Falls"