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Last Alarm
Chapter 59
"The Alamo"
Part Ten
"True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice."
_Sadhu Vaswani
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Takagi Manor – Front Terrace of Takagi Mansion
Z-Day Times Five
"KOMURO-KUN!" Saya screamed shrilly as she watched in horror as the lanky teen suddenly hurled himself over the terrace wall as Saya then instinctively tried to rush after him as well when she suddenly felt her mother's hand clamp down hard on her arm and yank her backwards nearly off her feet.
"MOM...WHAT ARE YOU DOING...?!" Saya shouted angrily at her mother as she struggled in vain to free herself from her mother's iron grip. "...WE HAVE TO STOP THEM!"
"IT'S TOO LATE, SAYA-CHAN...!" Yuriko shouted as she fought to keep the squirming teen from tearing loose from her grasp. "...THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO FOR EITHER OF THEM NOW!"
"BUT_!" Saya began but was interrupted by Rei's panic-filled screams as she continued to scream Takashi's name over and over again hysterically.
"TAKASHIIII!" Rei screamed hysterically as she as she watched helplessly as Takashi bounded across the sprawling lawn after Saeko when she suddenly felt someone grab her by the arm and roughly spin her around.
"ENOUGH!" Saya's father shouted as Rei looked up and stared into the man's angry face as he held her fast by both shoulders.
"YOUR FRIENDS HAVE FOOLISHLY CHOSEN DEATH, GIRL...!" Soichiro roared at Rei who was now shocked into silence by the man's fierce gaze. "...AND IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO SHARE THEIR FATE, YOU WILL CEASE THIS USELESS POSTURING AND DO AS I SAY!"
"NOW GET INSIDE THE MANSION, ALL OF YOU!" Soichiro roared as he then roughly shoved Rei towards his wife as Yuriko immediately grabbed Rei by the arm and then began to drag both of the struggling girls towards the mansion.
"Hirano-san...!" Yuriko shouted at Kouta who was still kneeling behind the terrace wall and was in the process of reloading a full magazine into the magwell of his sniper rifle. "...there is nothing more you can do for your friends, come inside...NOW!"
"Just a minute more, Takagi-sama...!" Kouta replied as he shoved a fresh magazine into the magwell of his rifle and then slapped the bolt catch on his rifle. "...Busujima-sempai might still be able to warn Jimu-san and the other's before it's too late!"
"All I have to do is cover them for just a couple more minutes!" Kouta shouted over his shoulder as he rested the bipod of his rifle on the terrace wall and peered through the eyepiece of his scope.
"Damn these stubborn children!" Yuriko swore under her breath at the pudgy teen when she suddenly felt a sharp tug on her arm and gazed into Saya's anxious face.
"Please let him, mom...!" Saya said with pleading eyes. "...Hirano-kun is an excellent shot, he can still help them!"
"Your daughter's right, Takagi-sama...!" Rei added her eyes also pleading. "...please, you must let him try to save our friends!"
"Dammit, that's enough...we're going inside and that's final!" Yuriko shouted shaking her head as she once again began to drag both of the struggling girls towards the mansion just as a loud explosion blasted everyone's ears as Kouta once again commenced firing his rifle.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Front Terrace of Takagi Manor – Kouta's position
Z-Day Times Five
"Gotcha!" Kouta said with a grim smile on his face as the top of the skull of one of the Infected "hybrids" exploded in a spray of red mist as Kouta then settled the crosshairs of his scope on another.
"C'mon guys, hurry it up!" Kouta muttered anxiously under his breath as he settled the crosshairs of his scope on the head of another one of the fast moving Infected as Kouta slowly let out his breath and his finger began to apply pressure to the trigger of his rifle when suddenly and unexpectedly, his rifle was roughly torn out of his grasp.
"HEY!" Kouta shouted in surprise as he then turned and glared angrily at the person who had snatched his rifle and gazed into the glowering eyes of Saya's father.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT...?!" Kouta shouted angrily, not at all intimidated by the presence of Saya's father, much to the surprise of Yuriko, Saya, and Rei standing nearby with mouths dropped open in surprise. "...GIVE THAT BACK!"
"I specifically ordered all of you to take shelter indoors, did I not...boy?!" Soichiro said through clenched teeth trying to remain calm despite his anger against the stubborn teen as he motioned for two of his guards to come near.
"Get him and the others out of my sight...NOW!" Soichiro said motioning towards Kouta as the guards then began to position themselves on both sides of the teen as Kouta tried in vain to fend them off.
"WAIT...!" Kouta shouted desperately as the guards easily warded off his weak attempts to fight them off and then grabbed him by both arms and began to drag him away. "...DON'T DO THIS, WE CAN STILL HELP THEM!"
"PAPA, PLEASE...!" Saya screamed as her mother roughly dragged her and Rei towards the mansion. "...IT'S NOT TOO LATE, WE CAN STILL HELP THEM!"
"PLEASE, TAKAGI-SAN...LET US TRY!" Rei screamed as Yuriko motioned to another one of the guards to help her as the man immediately stepped forward and grabbed Rei around the waist and lifted the struggling teen into the air.
"WAIT!...STOP!...DAMN YOU, LET GO OF ME!" Rei screamed as she kicked, punched, and slapped at the guard who held her fast in an iron grip.
"PLEASE, TAKAGI-SAN...!" Rei screamed still struggling in the guard's arms as she was being carried away. "...PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"
"PLEEEEEASE!" Rei screamed desperately as Soichiro turned away as the three teens were unceremoniously dragged towards the mansion as the security chief and his men hurriedly began to push people away from the front door in an effort to let them through.
"TAKASHIIIIIIIIII!" Rei screamed once more as Soichiro closed his eyes as the three screaming teenagers were roughly dragged into the house still struggling desperately against the guards.
As the heart-wrenching cries of the teens began to fade away as they were dragged further into the confines of the mansion, Soichiro Takagi let out a deep sigh of frustration as he then opened his eyes and glanced in the direction of the other two teenagers who were still sprinting towards the small group of defenders at the exact same moment as the "hybrids" had suddenly reached the front gate.
"DAMN!" Soichiro swore as he watched in horror as the horde of "hybrids" suddenly began to pour over the wall in one large, unstoppable human wave as they then began to sprint toward the group of defenders who were almost immediately overwhelmed by the unexpected tsunami of Infected that quickly washed over them as Soichiro Takagi instinctively raised the rifle he had taken from Kouta and slammed it against his shoulder.
It was a useless gesture however, and despite his overwhelming desire to open fire and try to come to the aid of his men, Soichiro Takagi could do no more than watch helplessly as his men simply disappeared under the writhing mass of Infected as the screams of his men being torn apart echoed in his ears.
Grinding his teeth angrily in helpless rage, Saya's father reluctantly lowered the muzzle of the rifle in defeat as he then watched in stunned silence as the main body of "runners" continued to stampede their way past the spot where his men had disappeared, all of them suddenly attracted by the horrified screams of the unlucky civilians still remaining in the refugee camp, as the Infected proceeded to rush across the sprawling lawn in the direction of the camp, knocking over dozens of the oil-burning lawn torches still lying on the ground in the process as large spot fires began to flicker everywhere.
Momentarily held spellbound at the hellish sight of dozens of the Infected "runners" sprinting across the front lawn covered head to foot in flames as the burning oil began to splash onto them and ignite their clothing and burn their flesh, the Lord of Takagi Manor almost forgot about the two teens still running across his lawn when a sudden glint of light reflecting off the blade of the sword in Saeko's hands, suddenly caught his eye and snapped him back to reality.
"THAT STUPID, STUBBORN, SELFISH, IRRESPONSIBLE... CHILD!" Saya's father swore angrily as he watched in disbelief as Saeko Busujima and the other teenage boy, Takashi Komuro, despite the obviously suicidal situation they had suddenly found themselves in, were still stubbornly fighting their way towards the American, who by some miracle was actually still very much alive and desperately fighting for his life.
"DAMN THEM! DAMN THEM! DAMN THEM!...DAMN ALL TEENAGERS TO HELL!" Soichiro swore out loud as he hesitated a moment before quickly raising the rifle to his shoulder and peering through the scope.
"Forgive me for saying this Busujima-sensei, but that pig-headed child of yours is a real pain in the ass." Soichiro muttered sourly to himself as he took aim at one of several "runners" that had splintered off from the main group of Infected and was now was rushing towards Saeko.
"Thank the heavens Saya-chan is an only child..." Soichiro said with a snort as he took in a deep breath and then slowly exhaled as he squeezed the trigger of his weapon and the powerful sniper rifle spat out a large gout of flame from its muzzle as the blast from the gunshot roared into the night.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty (A Few Moments Earlier)
Location: Takagi Manor – Jim's position
Z-Day Times Five
Only a few seconds had passed from the time that I had finally realized that the strange sound that I heard earlier was actually the sound of something stampeding towards us, when all of a sudden, what it was that had been rushing towards us finally reared its ugly head.
"Oh...F_CK!" I shouted in horrified shock as all of a sudden a huge flood of gruesome beast-like figures came flying over the wall in a flood very much like the storm surge from a hurricane suddenly pouring over the top of the Galveston seawall.
Scratch that, the best way to describe what it was I was seeing was nothing at all like a huge wall of water but more like a f_cking swarm of hundreds of ugly-ass, pissed- off howler monkeys covered head-to-toe in blood, all of them roaring at once with a sound that would have made a full-grown lion shit itself, as they all came flying over the wall in a wave and landed in a heap on the ground.
The sight of hundreds of these things suddenly pouring over the wall and coming at us with arms outspread, mouths dripping with saliva, and teeth gnashing savagely at the air was pretty friggin scary to be honest, although it was still pretty much the same shit we had been seeing all night as we were popping rounds away at the Infected.
But what really made the pucker factor go into overdrive however, was the sight of these things suddenly come rushing at us with the speed of a cheetah the second their feet hit the ground nearly making me almost drop my M4 at the horrific sight as I quickly snapped myself out of my initial shock and hurriedly aimed my carbine at the torso of the nearest "runner".
Trying to aim at a fast-moving target in the heat of battle with iron sights is a difficult feat to begin with, but at night the difficulty is increased substantially and even with the aid of the glowing green tritium sights that I had installed on my M4 carbine, a surgical shot to the head was damn near impossible.
Unlike most people however, with all the training that I had gone through with GREEN Team back in Nevada, shooting under stress in the dark was not as alien a concept as it would have been if I was still a civilian, but seeing as how there were hundreds of these things coming at us I really wasn't all that worried about precise head shots.
In fact at that particular moment my only concern was trying to knock down as many of these assholes as I could before they tore into my ass as I hurriedly settled the glowing front sight of my M4 on the chest of the "runner" that was making a beeline straight towards me and fired twice as I noticed my first round impact the Infected in the chest while my second round caught him full in the mouth as I grunted with satisfaction as I glimpsed the thing go down and slide face-first on the ground for several feet before it finally lay still.
By this time the Takagi guards had also managed to snap out of their own shock as I heard rather than saw the report of their Skorpion machine pistols going off alongside me as I noticed a few more "runners" suddenly lurch in midstride and then spin around from the impact of the SMG rounds before falling to the earth as I quickly whipped my carbine over to the left at another Infected that was barreling straight towards me.
Talk about being in deep shit, as if hundreds of running piranhas flying towards us wasn't bad enough, adding to the suck factor of this entire situation was the fact that shooting at these "runners" was on a completely different scale compared to the Infected that we had been dealing with before.
With their animal-like movements on top of their in-human like speed it was a hell of a lot harder to acquire a decent shot on one of these mothers, unlike the slow-moving, listless, stumbling- bumbling zombies that I had been capping rounds off at up until now, as I quickly snapped off another double-tap at the Infected "runner" that was hauling ass directly towards me.
And like before, the first shot of my hastily aimed double-tap caught the Infected in the throat, doing almost nothing to slow down the brute until the second round luckily went through its left eye and put it down for good as I then swept the muzzle of my M4 over to another one of the "runners" and squeezed off two more rounds and brought that one down as well.
But just as I was about to line up my sights on another one of the "runners", three of the things suddenly launched themselves through the air at me like a pack of rabid wolves trying to bring down an elk as all three of them slammed into me with all the force of a Chevy pickup, the force of their bodies colliding into mine knocking the wind right out of me as all four of us then fell ass-over-teakettle on the ground just before the rest of the f_cking herd finally reached our position and proceeded to stampede right over our asses.
Normally being caught under the hooves of a herd of stampeding cattle would have been certain death for anyone unlucky enough to be caught in such a predicament back in the Old West days of cowboys and cattle drives.
And while being caught under the feet of hundreds of Infected certainly didn't compare to being trampled by a herd of full-grown steer weighing several hundred pounds or more apiece, it still sure as hell was no picnic either.
But fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, it was that very same frenzied rush of all those Infected hauling ass over me that actually saved my life, or at least, it had temporarily saved me from the clutches of those three other Infected that had tackled me down to the ground in the first place, because I was still very much in deep shit as the Infected who had tackled me and I proceeded to get our asses brutally kicked across the lawn in all directions by the stampeding herd.
And as my body was being kicked, trampled, and pummeled about by the herd of Infected trying their best to grind my body into dust, there was nothing I could do other than to hug my carbine to my body and try desperately to roll my body out from under all those trampling feet, which wasn't an easy thing to accomplish while my body was being ground into hamburger, plus the fact that I had lost all sense of direction as I was being trampled and had absolutely no idea if I was actually rolling my body away from danger or placing myself further in the thick of the herd.
And to be honest, my saying that I was trying to roll my body out of danger was actually not entirely accurate since "rolling" would suggest that I still actually had some sort of control over my body which was untrue since I really had no such control whatsoever as I was kicked across the lawn like a f_cking soccer ball in the middle of a death match between England and Ireland.
There was no time to think, there was no time to act, there was literally nothing I could do but bounce along with the flow of the herd as I was mercilessly kicked about and trampled underfoot, reminding me very much of the time that I had been battered about by the swift moving current of the river where I had made my near-fatal jump from the bridge just a few days earlier.
And much like that day when my body was slammed against what seemed like every single frickin rock that lay on the river bottom, my body was now being mercilessly tossed about until after what seemed like an eternity I finally found myself thrown clear from under the feet of the Infected.
It took a few moments for the gears in my head to realign themselves and start working normally again before I then painfully managed to get up to one knee, my entire body feeling like a freshly tenderized steak as I then hastily glanced around in all directions for any nearby threats.
To my surprise, despite the fact that it had felt like I had been dragged on the ground for what seemed like forever, in reality, I was merely only a few yards away from where I had been standing before as I then glanced over at the herd of Infected that were now dashing past a few yards away as I noticed even the slower moving Infected were now also pouring over the wall unchallenged.
Realizing that I was still very much in danger, I attempted to quietly get to my feet when I suddenly noticed out of the corner of my eye that a bunch of Infected were all piled up on top of one another as I then realized with horror that the Infected were all situated on the same spot where the men whom had bravely come up to relieve Ogata-san and his men earlier, had been standing.
And it didn't take a genius to figure out that the reason the Infected were piled up on top of one another like that was because the group of men who had fought so bravely by my side earlier had obviously been completely overwhelmed by the "runners" when the herd had rushed us and had been unable to get clear as I had and were now being savagely torn to pieces and consumed before my very eyes.
And that being the case I realized that there was nothing I could do but turn away from the grotesque sight of the tangled mess of squirming bodies as I then tried to block out the awful high-pitched screaming that was drowning out all other sound in my ears that I could tell was coming from the refugee camp behind me.
And it was then that I realized that as bad as the predicament I now found myself in was, the only reason I hadn't been completely overwhelmed and torn apart limb-from-limb like the Takagi guards had been by the large stampede of Infected that were now still running around all over the place was not because of the way I had tried to roll out of danger.
Rather, it was because the vast majority of the herd had suddenly been attracted by the loud screams of the hundreds of civilians still unlucky enough to have remained at the refugee camp and had immediately changed course and began to swerve in that direction in search of easier prey.
And while from the Infected's point of view, the Takagi guards and I made for a nice appetizer, the combined shrieks of over three hundred men, women, and children filling the night air was just too tantalizing for the rest of the Infected who didn't even bother to slow down as they hurtled past me from several yards away, all of them hell-bent for the refugee camp.
However, even though the majority of the Infected were more interested in the screams coming from the refugee camp at the moment, that still didn't mean that I was completely out of danger one bit as I noticed out of the corner of my right eye several Infected running straight towards me with arms extended and jaws drooling and screaming their heads off with that blood-curdling howling of theirs.
Despite the pain I felt all over my body, I quickly slammed my M4 to my shoulder and quickly snapped off two rounds in rapid succession at the nearest "runner" as the Infected's lower jaw suddenly explode in a spray of blood and gore, and then fired once again at the "runner's" chest just as the bolt of my carbine suddenly locked back on an empty chamber with a loud "CLACK!"
"SHIT!" I swore loudly purely out of reflex knowing that I had no time to reload as my left hand flew towards the trigger of the Masterkey attached to the bottom of my carbine and I quickly fired a breacher load shotgun shell at another of the Infected rushing towards me at point-blank range.
The double-ought buckshot caught the "runner" full in the chest and knocked his ass backwards against one of the other "runners" as I saw both of them tumble to the ground in a heap as I shifted my weapon in the direction of another "runner" when I was then suddenly tackled by the remaining "runners" and knocked sprawling to the ground.
Once again I found myself knocked flat on my back as my hand flew towards my pistol but was unable to draw it out of its holster before the Infected began to pounce on me again as I was then forced to beat them off with my bare hands as the fight had now taken a horrible turn for the worst, becoming up close and personal which is a position no combat soldier ever wants to find himself in no matter how well trained in hand-to-hand combat he or she may be.
But under the circumstances with my primary weapon empty and no time to draw my pistol from its holster, I really had no other choice other than to duke it out with the bastards and try to get them off me as I began to kick and punch away at them as frantically as I could.
While there are many forms of unarmed combat taught to military units all over the world, of which I myself had been fascinated with Togakure Ryu Ninpo many years ago and had practiced many of its basic techniques, what I had taught myself was more out of an appreciation for a little known historical fighting art that even today was still shrouded in mystery and was most often completely ignored by the more 'popular' martial arts that are taught in dojos today.
But even then what few skills I was able to master in ninpo was still not enough for suitable mercenary work, and it was with one of the guys on GOLD Team who had been a former member of Sayaret Matkal, who had trained me in some of the finer points of the Israel's own little deadly contribution to the martial arts world...Krav Maga.
And while I still enjoyed the study and practice of ninjutsu, like all guys who've been in combat will tell you, including Hatsumi Masaaki-sensei the current Soke of Togakure-ryu Ninpo, technique doesn't mean jack shit when you've knocked down flat on your back and are being pounced upon by multiple attackers.
And while I always did enjoy watching all those early Steven Seagal movies where he would take out a whole group of bad guys with all those graceful akido throws, wrist locks, and koppojutsu strikes that he specialized in, my current situation required that I forego any such fancy techniques and just do whatever the hell it took to get these assholes off of me and get myself the f_ck out of that position as quickly as I could.
And the beauty of using a fighting art like krav maga in that situation is that the way you gain victory over your opponent is not by flowing movements or rigorous kata, but by quickly and efficiently overwhelming your enemy by any means possible with whatever you have at hand until your enemy subdued...
Translation...you beat the shit out of the guy however way you can as fast as you can until the asshole can't react anymore to defend himself and then you kill the son of a bitch.
Easy-peasey...
Swearing a blue streak as I fought desperately for my life, I savagely kicked the three Infected away from me as I then quickly rolled over to my right and then got up on one knee and jammed the muzzle of my carbine into the chest of one of the Infected who had gotten up and was lunging at me and sent it flying away as I then clubbed another one in the face as hard as I could with the butt stock of my M4 just as the third one tried rush me from my left.
Fighting purely by instinct more than technique, I then quickly fell backwards onto the ground on my back and brought my left foot up as the thing came flying at me and caught it in the chest as I then shoved it away from me as hard as I could.
Quickly racking the action of the Masterkey as the Infected was flying backwards I quickly squeezed the trigger, the double-ought buckshot catching the thing in the lower abdomen and nearly cutting it in half as the thing spun around in the air from the impact of the double-ought buckshot and then fell to the ground, its upper body twisted grotesquely in the opposite direction of its lower half.
Once again quickly racking the action of the Masterkey, I then rolled over to my right and raised myself up on one knee and swung the muzzle of my weapon up and fired at an Infected that was in the act of lunging at me and blew it's head clean off its shoulders before I was then knocked down to the ground again by two other Infected that came out of nowhere.
Quickly raising my M4 up and using it as a shield to avoid being bitten, I punched one of the Infected in the chest as hard as I could and then kicked away at it so that I could attempt to draw my pistol and shoot them both when the other one suddenly lunged at me and clamped its teeth onto the front handguard of my M4 and bit down with a loud "CRUNCH!" as blood and bits of teeth splattered everywhere as its teeth shattered.
I'll say this for the Infected, they never cease to impress when it comes down to how badly they want to kill you as I watched with a mixture of fear, amazement, and utter disgust as the Infected bit down on the high-tensile strength aluminum picatinny rail of my carbine with such force that its teeth began to shatter and dark, putrid-smelling blood began to rain down on me.
Revolted beyond words at the sight and the smell of the Infected, I began to struggle even more desperately against my attackers as I then felt a tug on my right leg and then began to kick away at the face of the "runner" whom I had blown in half earlier who had apparently crawled towards us and was now trying to take a bite out of my leg.
"Mu-therf_cker...don't you f_cking things ever f-cking die?!" I roared in frustration as I continued my desperate struggle on the ground against the three Infected still trying desperately to sink their teeth into me, the screams of terror coming from the civilians quickly rising in pitch and becoming screams of pain as the "runners" began to attack them.
And as I listened to those heart-rending screams of fear and pain coming from the camp, I doubt that even Dante himself could have envisioned something so hellish as to what occurred that night as I heard scream after scream of all types coming from the camp as men, women, and children alike were savagely being torn to pieces and eaten alive.
There are few things in this world that are as gut-wrenching as a human being screaming in pain, and despite the fact that I too was desperately fighting for my own life, my heart was still torn apart at the sounds of all those people dying in the camp, especially when some of the very high-pitched screams that I heard could have only come from that of a child.
And despite the fact that perhaps I myself only had mere seconds to live, it dawned on me at that exact moment that it had actually been my suggestion to Soichiro Takagi earlier to keep things as quiet and orderly as possible with the evacuation of the refugee camp so as not to antagonize the Infected.
And even though I knew that it had been the right call back then, I knew that it was also because of my advice that the Takagi's hadn't evacuated the almost three hundred people that were still located in the camp yet.
Three hundred.
Three hundred men, women, and children,
No, actually it was even worse than that.
I had almost forgotten the over two hundred people that had already sought shelter within the mansion who would probably not last much longer themselves with only a few guards armed with handguns and a few machine pistols to protect them.
But even more heartbreaking for me was that my seven young friends, Takashi, Kouta, Saya, Rei, Alice, Shizuka, and Saeko, were now all condemned along with the others to a horrible, excruciating death, and all because of my failure to keep the monsters at bay.
More than five hundred souls...all them of them about to die less than a few hundred yards away from me.
I've never believed in hell, but even if there was such a thing, it would pale in comparison to what was going on around me right now and I could think of nothing more cruel and horrifying than what I was experiencing, as I roared at the top of my voice in frustrated anguish at the sound of all that awful screaming coming from the camp.
And as the screams of the dying intensified, every fiber of my being wanting to tear myself away from the three Infected I was still struggling with and kill every single one of the Infected on earth with my bare hands.
And as I listened to the sounds of death all around me, my despair at all the lives lost and my failure to help them finally began to get the best of me as I suddenly began to feel my body growing weary as my struggles against the Infected began to weaken.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty ( A Few Moments Earlier)
Location: Front Lawn of Takagi Manor – Saeko's position
Z-Day Times Five
She had barely run more than a few meters before Saeko witnessed the wave of Infected suddenly come flying over the brick walls surrounding the mansion and immediately bound towards the small group of defenders as Saeko screamed with a mixture of terror and rage as she saw the American and his men almost instantly overwhelmed by the enormous numbers of Infected who proceeded to stampede over them like an enormous herd of cattle.
Her resolve to save her adopted father overwhelming her sense of reason, without any hesitation whatsoever the teenage girl immediately increased her speed running as fast as her legs could carry her, her one hope that she could still rescue her adopted father from the jaws of death as Saeko smoothly drew her katana from its scabbard and charged fearlessly forward as what seemed like more than a hundred Infected began to stampede to her left, all of them no doubt attracted by the terrified screams erupting from the hundreds of unlucky refugees still loitering about in the refugee camp.
Fortunately for Saeko, because the attention of the Infected was so focused on the shrill screams of their terrified prey, that the majority of the Infected took scant notice of the teenage girl bounding past them as they rushed with drooling jaws towards the camp as the screams of fright that drowned out all other sound in Saeko's ears were suddenly replaced with piercing shrieks of pain as the unfortunate victims still remaining in the camp were being savagely attacked.
Yet despite the fact that the majority of the "runners" were sweeping past the running teen, dozens more of the Infected were still scattered all about on the enormous lawn of the mansion as Saeko fearlessly charged towards a small group of "runners" that were now quickly charging towards her from her right.
Without realizing it, a thin smile formed over Saeko's lips as she expertly swung her katana and smoothly lopped off the head of one of the "runners" who had charged towards her as she then dodged past another of the Infected "runners" and then swung her katana in a downward stroke, cutting the "runner's" leg off and sending the creature tumbling to the ground as she then swung her katana upwards again, swiftly decapitated the head of another of the Infected without even slowing her pace as she continued to charge forward into the night.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Front Lawn of Takagi Manor – Takashi's position
Z-Day Times Five
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit...Oh, SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Takashi screamed as he ran desperately after Saeko as he dodged past the fallen bodies of the Infected that she had cut down as he tried to ignore the literally hundreds of "runners" sprinting past him on his left a mere ten meters away, all of them far too distracted by the panicked screams coming from the unlucky survivors remaining in the refugee camp to even bother with him.
His heart already pounding against his chest from fright, Takashi quickly jumped up as high as he could to avoid the clutches of one of the Infected that was lying on the ground whom Saeko had apparently severed one of its legs earlier as Takashi managed to land on the ground without falling and once again tried desperately to catch up to the fleeing girl.
"Damn...just look at her." Takashi thought to himself as he continued to sprint towards Saeko who was now only a few meters away in front of him.
Scared nearly completely out of his mind and questioning his own sanity for chasing after the running girl, Takashi still could not help himself but admire just how graceful Saeko moved as they both continued to run towards the spot where Takashi could now see the American lay, who miraculously, was surprisingly still alive and still desperately fighting for his life.
Unlike all the hack and slash movements in all the samurai movies he had seen at the movie theater when he was still just a kid, Saeko's movements however, as she swung her katana at the Infected charging at her was more like that of a dancer in a ballet than that of a warrior on a battlefield, every swing of her sword seemingly effortless, every movement calculated, every cut...deadly.
"Dude...she is so freaking awesome." Takashi thought to himself a sudden movement suddenly catching his eye from the right as he then noticed that a "runner" was swiftly charging towards him from his right and the reality of his situation came back to him like a punch in the gut.
"OH, F_CK!" Takashi screamed as he lifted his right arm and hastily aimed his pistol at the Infected just as the Infected's head suddenly exploded and tumbled to the ground as Takashi blew out a sigh of relief and mentally thanked Kouta for once again apparently having come to the rescue as he quickly ran past the fallen corpse and continued to pursue after Saeko.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty (Now)
Location: Front Terrace of Takagi Manor – Soichiro's position
Z-Day Times Five
"If they somehow manage to survive this, I am going to kill both of them myself!" Soichiro Takagi muttered sourly to himself again as he raised the muzzle of the sniper rifle that he had seized from the pudgy teen earlier and pointed it in the direction of the teenage boy and girl still bounding down the hill as he noticed several "runners" suddenly separate themselves from the main body of "Infected" sprinting towards the refugee camp and began charging towards the two running teens.
Gazing intensely through the eyepiece of the Leupold Mk IV mounted on his rifle, Soichiro quickly settled the crosshairs on the chest of a "runner" who was sprinting towards Saeko from her left just as she was in the act of dispatching another "runner" approaching her from her right, as Saya's father slowly let out his breath and gently squeezed the trigger of his rifle as a large flash of flame erupted from the muzzle of his rifle and his weapon slammed hard against his shoulder.
Even before his intended target had begun to crumble towards the ground from the impact of the NATO 7.62 match-grade round, Soichiro had already zeroed in on his next target as he quickly settled the crosshairs of his scope on the head of another "runner" that was sprinting towards Takashi and quickly fired a single round, sending the "runner" tumbling to the ground.
"Hmmmm...my shooting skills are still as sharp as ever." Soichiro said with a thin smile on his lips as he immediately switched to his next target that was sprinting towards Saeko and sent a round through its face before he spotted a sudden flurry of movement to his left and hastily shifted targets as he then opened fire at three more "runners" that had suddenly began charging towards Takashi, and sent them spinning to the ground.
"CHIKUSHO!" Soichiro swore as he immediately shifted his aim and fired at four other "runners" that he spotted that were sprinting to where the American was still lying on the ground fighting desperately against several Infected lying on top of him as Saya's father grunted in satisfaction as each round he fired met its mark before he was then forced to shift his focus back towards Saeko and Takashi who were already being chased by even more "runners" that had come running out of the darkness.
But before he even had a chance to aim his weapon towards a new target, Soichiro's eyes suddenly widened in horror and his jaw dropped in shocked disbelief as disaster finally struck the two teens before his very eyes.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty (Now)
Location: ( "It's" Position )
Z-Day Times Five
The creature once known as Officer Rina Matsushima growled like a savage beast as she shoved, clawed, and slashed her way over the heads and shoulders of the other Infected as she tried desperately to get to the prey that she had so desperately hungered for all day.
Unlike before when she and the other "alphas" had commenced their long climb at the bottom of the hill, for a brief moment of time their progress had been far easier due to the humongous pile of bodies littering the road several layers deep, which made it much easier for the "alphas" to traverse over than it had been for them earlier when they were forced to scramble over the heads and shoulders of their slower-moving brethren.
And now the loud noises of battle that had commenced as hundreds of her fellow "alphas" had poured over the walls of the structure that had blocked their path before had now whipped her and all the other Infected into a frenzy unlike anything ever witnessed before as the "alphas" continued to charge forward towards their prey despite the heavy weapons fire being unleashed at them.
However, once again disaster struck for the creature once known as Rina Matsushima as several of her fellow "alphas" that were just ahead of her were suddenly strafed by automatic weapons fire, the bullets slamming into their bodies and knocking them backwards as they fell heavily against "Rina" and fell on top of her.
The hunger greatly overwhelming her, "Rina" roared savagely in rage as she struggled desperately to free herself from the pile of bodies lying on top of her, only to be hampered by the heavy bodies of the other "alphas" who were clawing their way over her in their attempts to reach their prey.
Enraged at being trampled upon by all the other "alphas" as they continued to scramble over her and deny her the ability to reach her prey, the beast-like sounds she made as she struggled to break free would have even had a lion cower, as "Rina" finally managed to free herself from underneath the bodies of the other slain "alphas" and then once again began to scramble towards the sounds of her prey.
This time her second attempt was more successful as she managed to scramble up and over the bodies of her slain brethren without being forced aside by the other "alphas" as she then hurled herself over the wall of the compound and landed on her feet as she then immediately sprinted to the familiar sounds of her prey.
And despite the cacophony of loud sounds that would have deafened the ears of a normal human being., "Rina's" advanced hearing allowed her to skim through the loud explosions and beast-like roars of her fellow "alphas" and home in on a target that was fairly close to her proximity as she locked onto her desired target, and charged towards it before she then leapt through the air with one powerful jump...and struck.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty (Now)
Location: Takagi Manor – Jim's position
Z-Day Times Five
I couldn't fight anymore.
But then again, maybe a part of me didn't want to anyway.
I mean, after all, I had failed them...all of them.
And worst of all, I had failed her.
And now Saeko and over five hundred helpless civilians were all going to die because of me.
Who the hell could possibly live with that on their conscience?
"F_ck it." I muttered to myself as I closed my eyes and waited for the end to come, my ears filled with the sounds of heart-rending screams of fear and pain and the guttural growling sounds and loud snapping of the jaws of the Infected as they clawed away at me.
But just as I was about to finally resign myself to my fate a voice that I had not expected to ever hear again suddenly filled my ears and instinctively made my body go tense as I craned my head up in the direction that the voice was coming from and my jaw dropped in shock at the lone figure running upside down towards me.
"Oh no... sweetheart, what the hell are you doing?!" I groaned with despair at the sight of the familiar teenage figure still wearing that horribly inappropriate mini-skirt coming towards me at a dead run with sword in hand.
"SAEKO...DON'T!" I yelled at the top of my voice as I lost my grip on the throat of one of the Infected, who immediately lunged at me again as I tried in vain to hold it off once again.
"GET OUT OF HERE, BABY...RUN!" I yelled at the top of my voice as the horrible thought of Saeko dying before my very eyes in a vain attempt to rescue me caused the adrenalin in my body to go into overload as I then began to struggle mightily against the Infected on top of me when a sudden jolt of pain suddenly exploded from my left hand causing me to cry out in pain.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty-
Location: Front Lawn of Takagi Manor – Saeko's position
Z-Day Times Five
The "runner" let out a snarl as it leapt towards its intended prey with arms outstretched as a sudden whoosh of air sounded and the body of the Infected fell heavily to the ground, the top of its head from the upper jaw onwards sent spinning in the air as Saeko rushed past.
It had been a hard fight to get to where the American lay who was struggling desperately against three Infected that were savagely clawing away at him when Saeko was suddenly forced to come to a halt as a trio of "runners" suddenly came sprinting out of the darkness towards her from her right as Saeko immediately readied herself to face the oncoming threat as she smoothly raised her katana to shoulder height and prepared to strike.
But just as she prepared herself to swing her weapon, one of the "runners" whom had been attracted to the noise coming from the struggling bodies nearby, suddenly and unexpectedly swerved to its left away from Saeko.
And as if time itself seemed to slow down to a crawl, Saeko watched in horror as the "runner" suddenly leapt into the air and with jaws drooling fell heavily upon the tangled bodies on the ground.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Saeko screamed in horror as watched helplessly as the Infected man lunged toward the American and then with jaws opened wide, clamped down on the man's left hand as her adopted father then screamed in pain.
"JI-SAN!" Saeko screamed as she instinctively rushed forward in a desperate attempt to aid her adopted father, completely forgetting about the oncoming threat to her right as she suddenly heard Takashi shout a warning to her just as the two other "runners" suddenly slammed into her, sending all three of them crashing to the ground in a tangled heap.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty- (Now)
Location: Front Lawn of Takagi Manor – Takashi's position
Z-Day Times Five
"SAEKO, LOOK OUT!" Takashi screamed, his warning coming too late as he watched in horror as two of the Infected "runners" that had come sprinting out of the darkness suddenly launched themselves into the air towards Saeko and tackled her, the force of the impact as the Infected slammed into her knocking her katana out of her hand as they all crashed heavily to the ground.
"SHIT!" Takashi shouted in rage as he slid to a halt and then tried to aim his pistol at the head of one of the Infected but was unable due to the violent struggle going on between the pair of Infected and the teenage girl as Saeko drew the large knife the American had given her earlier and began wildly slashing away at the Infected.
"SAEKO, HOLD STILL...!" Takashi shouted at Saeko in frustration as Saeko fought desperately against the Infected as Saeko managed to sink the blade of the knife into the eye socket of one of the Infected. "...I CAN'T SHOOT THEM UNLESS YOU HOLD STILL FOR A SECOND!"
"THEY KILLED HIM...!" Saeko screamed in a voice filled with anguish kicking away from her the limp body of the Infected she had just dispatched as she then continued her struggles against the other Infected which continued to claw away at her.
"SAEKO, HOLD STILL DAMMIT, THERE'S MORE COMNG!" Takashi shouted in near panic as he noticed several other "runners" heading their way, no doubt attracted by the sound of the scuffle.
"I WAS TOO LATE, KOMURO-KUN...!" Saeko shouted shrilly her voice sounding more like a pitiful wail than one filled with anger as Takashi suddenly noticed to his surprise that tears were actually streaming down Saeko's face. "...THEY KILLED HIM!"
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, SAEKO?! Takashi shouted not comprehending Saeko's meaning as he tried desperately to aim at the other Infected that Saeko was wrestling with as Saeko suddenly reached up and grabbed the Infected by the throat and began to stab wildly at the Infected's torso with no effect.
"HE'S STILL ALIVE, SAEKO...!" Takashi shouted as he leveled his pistol at one of the Infected's head as the Infected continued to claw away at Saeko. "...WE CAN STILL SAVE HIM...JUST HOLD STILL FOR A SECOND!"
"IT"S TOO LATE...!" Saeko screamed with a loud wail as she plunged the long blade of the knife into the Infected's chest and began to cruelly twist it back and forth. "...THEY KILLED HIM!"
"DAMMIT SAEKO... SHUT THE HELL UP AND STAY STILL!" Takashi said still trying to draw a bead as Saeko suddenly paused in her desperate struggles and turned to look at him as their eyes suddenly met.
"Takashi..." Saeko said in a lowered voice filled with despair, her eyes filled with tears as Takashi gazed at her helplessly. "...they killed my dad."
"WHAT?!" Takashi shouted in confusion as he gazed into Saeko's tear-filled eyes when he suddenly noticed Saeko turn her attention away from him and then her eyes suddenly grew wide.
"TAKASHI...LOOK OUT!" Saeko screamed in warning as Takashi immediately snapped his head around in the direction that Saeko was looking but was unable, as he saw out of the corner of his eyes as a shadow suddenly launch itself through the darkness at him and slam into him as the teenage boy and his attacker bother fell heavily to the ground as Takashi cried out in a mixture of despair and terror as he felt his pistol slip out of his hand and tumble away from him across the lawn.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: Front Terrace of Takagi Manor – Soichiro's position
Z-Day Times Five.
As he stood on the marble terrace alone, Soichiro Takagi suddenly let out a ear-shattering roar of anger and despair at what he just witnessed as he suddenly attempted to fling the heavy rifle out onto the lawn out of frustration at his failure but then stopped himself as he then slowly gazed over in the direction of the refugee camp as the screams coming from the remaining survivors being slaughtered by the Infected began to intensify.
Screams of fear by over three hundred me, women, and children coming face-to-face with a horror of the like none had seen before this moment.
Screams of pain as they were all ripped to shreds.
Screams that would haunt him for the rest of his life.
"I'm so sorry..." Soichiro said sadly as he gazed over in the direction of the camp as flames began to erupt from several tents that had apparently been ignited by the oil lamps that had been overturned, the eerie shadows thrust about by the glow of the flames adding to the hellish scene.
"Please forgive me." Soichiro said turning away from the sight of several figures screaming maniacally as they ran through the camp, their bodies completely engulfed in flame as the Lord of Takagi Manor then focused his gaze in the direction of the three people still somehow fighting desperately for their lives on the front lawn.
"Busujima-sensei, my dearest friend...I am so sorry..." Soichiro said slowly raising the rifle to his shoulder as he then peered through the scope. "...I truly wished to keep your daughter safe from this nightmare."
"But I have failed you..." Soichiro continued as the crosshairs of the scope drifted towards the head of the Infected still struggling with Saeko.
"And now all I can do for your dearest child..." Soichiro said as he lowered the muzzle of his rifle until the crosshairs of the scope finally settled on Saeko's head. "...is give her an honorable death."
"Forgive me, my old friend..." Soichiro said as he then slowly let out his breath as his finger began to tighten on the trigger.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location: *MQ-4C Triton UAV Operations Control Room of U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard LHD-6 (aka "The Bonnie Dick")
Currently Anchored near the Northeastern section of Tokonosu International Airport (aka "The Floating Island")
Z-Day Times Five
"See anything through these clouds yet, Dee?" Lt. Commander Rich "Duck" Banduch, the pilot of the US Navy MQ-4C "Triton" UAV grumbled sourly as he gazed at the HUD on the TV monitor mounted in front of him as he flew unmanned his craft over the downtown area of Tokonosu City headed toward its next intended target area located on the furthermost section of the dead city.
"Nothing yet, sir..." Lt. Banduch's Flight Tactical Coordinator, Lieutenant Junior Grade Denice "Dee" O'Connor, replied from her seat directly next to him as she continued to scan the smaller screen mounted in front of her which displayed the feed from the unmanned vehicle's observation cameras. "...got a pretty good size heat field popping up about thirty "clicks" or so ahead of us on "IR", but so far nothing on visual."
"So much for that cool front that was supposed to be clearing away the cloud cover over the city..." Banduch muttered into his headset sourly.
"Oh, come on now,"Duckie"..." The young female officer replied with amusement, a smile forming on her face at her partner's frustration. "...it's already started clearing up in some spots, maybe it'll be clear enough where we're going to confirm whether that heat field is actually human or not."
"Yeah, well it better..." Banduch grumbled. "...I really don't like the idea of accidentally crashing this multi-million dollar flying camera into the side of a skyscraper once we make our descent."
"Ah, you worry too much "Duck", besides, according to our current coordinates we should be clear of all high structures in about another minute at our current speed..." Chief Petty Officer Theodore "Ted" Kaiser who was one of the Triton UAV's Mission Payload Officers replied from his console as the unmanned aerial vehicle soared over the silent city at 200 knots. "...and I'll bet you a case of Jameson's it'll be clear as a bell once we reach our intended target area."
"Teddie, you're on." Banduch replied as he continued to monitor his airspeed and heading as both UAV controllers continued the rest of their flight in silence before the Triton's pilot realized that once again, he'd lost another bet against his a member of his flight crew.
"Aw, shiiiiit!" Banduch groaned in defeat as the UAV flew over a large break in the clouds and out into clear skies as he heard the voices of his entire flight crew snickering loudly over his headset.
"See?... Told ya so." Kaiser quipped as "Duck" raised his left hand in the air and flipped him off.
"By the way, I want real Jameson's this time, not that cheap-ass-Costco-bullshit you bought last time...sir." Kaiser replied with a grin, enjoying yet another victory over his commanding officer.
"Yeah, yeah...shut your yap, Teddie." The UAV pilot growled in mock disgust as he heard the sound of his co-pilot snickering loudly over his earphones.
"F_ck you too, Dee..." Banduch growled in mock anger as O'Connor quickly composed herself.
"Well, now that you just got your ass kicked by Teddie, again, "Duckie"..." O'Connor said wiping tears from her eyes from laughing at her pilot's misfortune. "...are you ready to begin your descent, now?"
"Aw kiss my ass, all of you..." Banduch growled as he pushed his right joystick forward as the electronic horizon indicator on his viewscreen began to spin as the unmanned craft made its descent.
"Dropping to three-zero-zero-zero feet..." Banduch sounded off as the UAV dove sharply towards the ground before the pilot leveled off at three thousand feet over the city.
"Man, even with the moonlight there's really not much light down there at all, is there...?" Kaiser said as the rest of the flight crew gazed through their screens at the dark city below.
"Yeah, no kidding..." O'Connor replied shaking her head. "... "IR's" still showing one hell of a large heat signature about 20 clicks ahead of us though."
"Well, I hate to say it, but I'm beginning to think that our target is gonna end up being just like the last one..." Banduch said with a grimace. "...I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to be out on the streets at night, not to mention the amount of people it would take to make a heat field that big."
"Always the optimist, aren't you "Du_"...OH SHIT, did you see that?!" The young female officer suddenly shouted excitedly into her lip mike, startling the rest of the four man flight crew.
"What, what...what did you see, Dee?" Banduch said glancing all about his screen as the two crewmen seated behind them also closely scanned their screens for whatever it was that had excited his copilot.
"Looked like a red signal flare at heading two-eight-five...!" O'Connor replied pointing at the lower left corner of her viewscreen. "...it only flashed for a second before it disappeared, but it definitely looked like a flare."
"Are you sure...?" Banduch said dubiously seeing nothing but the distant dark horizon on his screen. "...I didn't see anything."
"It only lasted about a second, and it was also pretty far away..." O'Connor replied. "...but I'm telling you "Duckie", it was right there!"
"All right Dee, if you say...whoa!" The veteran pilot said as another red flare rocketed into the sky in the far distance to the left side of his view screen.
"See...?!" O'Connor said triumphantly. "...I told you it was a flare!"
"Yeah, I got it...coming left to course two eight five...increasing speed to four-zero-zero knots." Banduch said as he tilted his joystick to the left and kicked in the left rudder pedal of his flight console as the UAV banked slightly to the left and then straightened out at its new heading as it increased speed.
"There goes another one..." O'Connor said with a frown as another red flare climbed into the sky before arcing back towards the earth. "...it almost looks like whoever's down there is actually trying to signal us, or something."
"How?...They shouldn't be able to see or hear us at this distance and altitude..." Kaiser replied staring at his own screen with a frown. "...it has to be someone just shooting flares at random."
"Could be, hey Dee, how far ahead is that heat source...?" Banduch asked as the young woman re-checked her screen. "...are the flares coming from the same spot?"
"No, they're coming from somewhere much further ahead..." O'Connor replied. "...it actually looks like it might be coming from the other side of...whatever this large heat source is."
"Hmmm..." Banduch said as he flew the unmanned aircraft in silence for a few moments before speaking again.
"Well first things first, how much longer till we get to the heat field Command wanted us to investigate?" Banduch asked as his copilot did a quick calculation in her head.
"At our present speed and heading, we should be reaching the outer edge of it in about sixty seconds or so..." O'Connor replied as she looked at her screen and zoomed in on the ground below as her partner continued to pilot the craft. "...suggest you reduce speed before we get there."
"Roger that, reducing speed to one-five-zero knots..." Banduch replied as he pulled back on the throttle and the Triton UAV slowed to its normal cruising speed of one hundred fifty knots.
"Looks like I got some movement on the ground..." O'Connor said after several seconds had passed as she adjusted the zoom on the UAV's camera as the unmanned craft flew over their intended target.
"Whoops, scratch that...make that a lot of movement on the ground." O'Connor said as the few stragglers she had noticed shuffling about on the streets below grew into one large writhing mass of movement that seemed to stretch for miles.
"Human?" Banduch said holding his breath as he glanced over at the young woman who was closely scanning the streets below until he then heard his partner mumble something to herself before replying.
"Negative..." O'Connor said finally with a heavy sigh as Banduch noticed her slump slightly in her seat in visible disappointment. "...looks like every single one of them's a "Zeke".
"Damn..." Banduch swore under his breath as all four of the Triton UAV's flight crew sat silently in their seats as the image of thousands of Infected filled their view screens.
"Looks like there's at least a few thousand of them down there, from what I can tell..." O'Connor said her voice distant. "...no way there could be anyone alive down there in all that."
"Yeah..." Banduch responded as he turned his attention back towards his HUD as he scanned the moonlit horizon ahead. "...with all of them packed together like that it's no wonder they got picked up by satellite."
"Yeah..." Kaiser replied dejectedly from behind them. "...makes you wonder if all those heat fields the satellites picked up are all "Zekes"?"
"Geez, I hope not..." Banduch replied with a tired sigh. "...with a population of over one and a half million people, I just can't believe there's not at least one survivor down there somewhere."
"Neither can I..." O'Connor replied as they all continued to watch their screen as their craft continued its flight over the horde of Infected. "...with the "Zekes" giving off a heat signature like a normal human being, it's gonna be a bitch trying to figure out who's infected and who's not."
"Yeah, no shit..." Ed said with a nod of his head. "...who'd have figured that the "Zekes" gave off heat like a normal human being?"
"Maybe 'cause they're not really dead...?" Mitch "Mini-Me" Consentino, the other Mission Payload Officer of the four-man flight crew seated next to Kiaser finally piped up from behind his console. "...you know, like maybe this "virus" or whatever it is doesn't actually turn them into zombies, it just changes them into frickin' cannibals or something like that?"
"Damn, 'Mini-Me' I was wondering if you were still alive back there...!" O'Connor said whirling around in her seat to glance at the smaller man sitting quietly behind his console and studying it intensely. "...I was beginning to think you had fallen asleep again."
"With all due respect... kiss my ass, ma'am..." Consentino replied with a sardonic grin never taking his eyes off his monitor as he flipped his senior officer the bird. "...that was a long time ago."
"You consider 'last week' a long time ago?" O'Connor quipped as Banduch rolled his eyes in mock frustration at the usual banter that always occurred between his crew, especially during tense situations.
"You're guess is as good as mine, 'Mini-me'..." Banduch interrupted the pair before the situation could begin to escalate as it often did, as he pushed the throttle controls of the UAV forward and the aircraft began to accelerate. "...maybe all those eggheads aboard the Nathan James can figure this mess out."
"I doubt we'll like the answer they come up with..." O'Connor mumbled aloud as she zoomed her cameras away from the horde below and positioned them forward as she began to scan the horizon ahead, looking intently for signs of any more flares being launched.
"Well, since this recon was a bust let's go see if we can at least find out where those flares came from..." Banduch said as he adjusted his throttles until the UAV was cruising at two hundred and fifty knots. "...maybe there's some survivors stuck on the roof of a building or something."
"Yeah, maybe..." O'Connor replied dejectedly as she panned the camera mounted on the nose of the Triton UAV around. "...although I haven't seen any more flares popped since that last one."
"Maybe they ran out...?" Banduch replied as he continued to pilot the aircraft towards the same general direction where the flares had been spotted. "...you know, maybe they only had so many on them?"
"Maybe..."O'Connor replied as she continued to scan the ground and seeing nothing but Infected packed tightly in the city streets below.
"Hmmmm...looks like some sort of lights glowing on top of that hill just up ahead..." Banduch said gazing at his viewscreen as the rest of his crew followed suit. "...kinda looks like a bunch of campfires burning, or something."
"Campfires...?" O'Connor said as she spun the lens of the UAV's high-powered cameras forward and focused them on the horizon ahead until the image of dozens of small winks of light could be seen glowing on top of a hill.
"Hmmm...well, they are showing up "hot" on IR"..." O'Connor said a frown forming on her face as she zoomed her cameras in even more. "...but at this angle of approach it's hard to tell just what exactly they are, Skipper."
"Agreed...climbing to six-zero-zero-zero feet for a better look..." Banduch said pushing his throttles forward again as he then pulled back on his joystick and the unmanned vehicle began to climb into the air. "...and if it turns out that they are just campfires, we can at least get a much better view of just how widespread they are."
"Why the hell would anyone be camping outdoors with all those frickin' things running around...?" Consentino asked out loud gazing through his view screen as the pilot leveled off at six thousand feet as the distance closed between the unmanned vehicle and their target area. "...I sure as shit wouldn't want to be camping out in the open at a time like this."
"Maybe they're signal fires?" Kaiser said in reply as he continued to study the small winking lights on his view screen closely.
"Hell of a lot of effort just to get someone's attention, if you ask me..." Banduch said as he glanced over at his copilot. "...see if you can zoom in closer, Dee."
"Aye-aye, sir..." O'Connor acknowledged as Banduch looked at his instruments for a moment as he suddenly heard a loud gasp over his headset coming from his flight crew.
"OH, SHIT!" O'Connor shouted into her mike startling her pilot for the second time that night.
"Dammit Dee, will you quit shouting into your f_cking mike like that...?!" Banduch snapped at O'Connor as he turned his head and glared at her in annoyance as he frowned at the way his junior officer was just staring open-mouthed at her screen in apparent shock.
"Dee?...yo Dee, what the hell?" The veteran pilot snapped his annoyance quickly turning into one of concern for his junior officer and then into one of shock as he glanced over at his view screen and finally saw what it was that had caused such a strange effect over his crew.
"Ooooooh,...shit!" The UAV pilot said under his breath in shocked disbelief as he witnessed for himself the horrific scene of human carnage occurring on the ground six thousand feet below.
Time: Zero Dark Thirty
Location:
Andrew Poynton's Stateroom aboard U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard LHD-6 (aka "The Bonny Dick")
Currently Anchored near the Northeastern section of Tokonosu International Airport (aka "The Floating Island")
Z-Day Times Five
It had been a long day.
And even though every brain cell in my head was fried from all the planning and organization involved in the "Op" I was about to implement in in just a few short hours, my mind was still whirling over every possible detail and every possible worst-case scenario that could possibly encumber our mission to rescue the Takagi family and their staff.
But eventually, the wheels in my brain had finally decided that enough was enough and had decided to shut down all on their own just long enough for me to drift off into a deep slumber.
Unfortunately, my slumber didn't last very long because the next thing I knew I was being jolted awake by the sound of a loud electronic buzzing coming from the telephone handset mounted on the wall in my stateroom.
Swearing under my breath at being awaken from the most peaceful sleep I've had in ages, I yawned deeply and then rubbed my eyes before finally reaching over for the handset and pulling it from its mount on the wall.
"Poynton…" I growled sourly into the handset as a familiar voice responded on the other end in a tone that immediately made the hairs on the back of my head stand up.
"Andy...it's Caroline." Caroline Walsh said in a voice that was unmistakably grave, even for her.
"Hey Caroline, what's up, lass?" I replied with apprehension knowing that the shit must have really hit the fan for Caroline to be speaking to me in a voice filled with such bleakness as I quickly snapped on the lights in my room and then reached for my trousers.
"Colonel Dempsey just called from the *CIC, Andy…" Caroline went on the growing urgency in her voice causing me to freeze momentarily just as I was in the middle of putting on my trousers.
(*CIC – Combat Information Center)
"And his orders were for me to tell you that you have exactly three minutes to get your team and your kit together for an emergency action response on the Mainland…" Caroline added as I absentmindedly lost my grip on my pants in shocked response to what she had just said.
"He wants me to do... what?!" I sputtered in shock as I quickly grabbed my pants just as they were sliding down my hips, accidentally dropping the handset onto the floor in the process as I heard Caroline saying something intelligible in the earpiece of the handset before I finally managed to pick it up off the floor and then place it against my ear again.
"Sorry love, could you repeat that?!" I said as I heard Caroline grumble in frustration under her breath on the other end before she then repeated herself.
"I said that Dempsey wants to brief you and your team in the hangar deck at Aircraft Elevator Number Two immediately…!" Caroline said the urgency in her voice now becoming even more noticeable than before.
"Brief us about what, exactly Caroline?!" I said growing increasingly anxious not just at the extremely odd order being handed down from Dempsey all of a sudden, but also at the way Caroline sounded so uncharacteristically shaken on the phone, which was the exact opposite of the normally cool, reserved woman who somehow always managed to remain calm no matter how chaotic the situation might be.
Now however, the same woman whose voice could freeze the air around her if anyone was ever foolish enough to piss her off sounded almost like she wanted to cry on the other end of the receiver as I waited impatiently for her to answer me.
"Caroline…!" I said half-shouting into the handset growing even more worried with each passing second as I heard quickly Caroline suck in her breath before finally answering me.
"It seems that about a short while ago, the Americans had the ship's last remaining *UAV do a fly-by over the city after they had re-established contact with our people at the airport, Andy..." Caroline finally continued as I pressed the earpiece of the phone even harder against my ear as I hung on to her every word.
(*UAV- Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Commonly referred to as a "drone")
"And from what I gather, it seems that the UAV operators had spotted a series of flares being fired into the sky from a certain section of the city where it seems a very large concentration of the Infected are currently located…" Caroline continued as the wheels in my head suddenly stopped spinning as the reason for Caroline's strange behavior suddenly became clear.
"What section of the city did they see the flares coming from, Caroline?!" I said practically shouting into the mouthpiece, although in truth I already knew the answer especially when for the second time in all the years I'd known her, Captain Caroline Walsh actually hesitated in answering me, something she had never done before except for that one other phone conversation we had on the day when my entire world had suddenly come apart.
"Caroline, is it…?!" I said loudly into the handset as I heard Caroline draw in a deep breath once again before answering.
"I'm afraid so, Andy..." Caroline replied in a voice filled with something that almost resembled despair. "...the coordinates given by the UAV crew confirm that the flares are coming from Takagi Manor, and_."
"And what, Caroline?!" I said my heart racing knowing already what her next words would be.
"They're being overrun, Andy…" Were the last words I heard from Caroline as I immediately let the handset drop to the floor before she could finish as I quickly grabbed my boots and quickly hurried out through the door of my stateroom to wake up Rika and the others.
Author's Notes:
Yeah, I know how ya'll hate cliffhangers, but I really hope all of you enjoyed this latest chapter of Last Alarm-Book One, especially Poynton90 and myself are working very hard to make the last few remaining chapters of Book One even more exciting as everyone's world at Takagi Manor comes crashing down around them.
For those military buffs who are wondering about the UAV crew scene, I really didn't have a lot of time to do as much research into UAV's like I wanted to, so I basically used what little info I could get on the US Navy's new Triton UAV, and since it has a 4-man crew to operate it, I basically used the movie "A Good Kill" as a basis for the way the crew interacted with one another although since this was a recon mission and not a "search and destroy" mission, I had the characters more relaxed than the actors in the movie.
Maybe a little too relaxed I admit, since they all sound more like an engine crew on a fire truck than a UAV flight team.
And of course for legal reasons, I must mention that "A Good Kill" is not owned by me.
Anyway, hope you like the chapter, especially my buddy Poynton90 who is of this moment, preparing to board a flight headed to the United States to do a little shopping and sightseeing in the great state of Texas and meet his old fireman buddy...me.
I'm really looking forward to his visit since it'll give us a chance to finally sit down and bounce some ideas off each other for the story, as well as give me a chance to show off my hometown attractions and of course...the local FOOD.
Anyway, thanks again for all your support over the years, the end of Book One is just around the corner and so is the beginning of Last Alarm-Book Two!
Until next time...Take care! Jim