[SCP-6968] Act-Six: Compromised!

Day Ten

5:01 PM

500 feet from Southern Municipal Office Building, about 2 km into Chernobog

Steve felt very relieved to finally stretch his legs after sitting for God knows how long now. Granted they did make some pit-stops for answering the calls of nature or to fill up on water from the streams and rivers they passed but they were few and far between so he was glad to place his feet firmly on terra-firma. He wanted to do some warming-up exercises but considering that he is tied up to Iris.

Best not to do that.

On the topic of that he wondered why Lu didn't tie himself to them. He did understand Lu's concern about him not being as agile or unencumbered to react to threats but still...he glanced at the Junior Security Officer in question; wondering what lied behind that visor and balaclava. He didn't talk much about his life back in Earth, only here did Steve know about Lu's sister and the fact that he did serve in the United States Marine Corps before entering Foundation employment: he had a rather small stylized "Semper Fi" tattoo on his arm that Steve noticed when they were helping the Dewville villagers in their harvest. Other than that...both Steve and Iris have not even seen Lu's face albeit they did know he was Asian from his skin tone but his accent was nearly flawless.

Anyways, they all seemed...fine with things? Steve had jumped into weird and sometimes dangerous alternate dimensions so many times he had become numb to it all but Lu and Iris aren't too depressed or angry about being away from home...or they hid it well. Who knew?

Everyone has secrets in the Foundation, even him...

Oh dear...Steve suddenly had the urge to relieve himself rather quickly so he meekly called out to Iris. "Hey, Iris. I am sorry for how many times I have to ask you but would you mind following me?"

She sighed then chuckled a little before replying, "Alright, Steve. Just make it quick please, we both know this is very awkward. Hey Lu! Steve and I are going towards that part over there, he needs to do some business!"

He nodded then turned and slowly stumbled through the rubble towards a miraculously standing wall erect among the ruins of what was once a busy commercial district, Iris trailing behind him.

5:02 PM

Lu glances towards where Steve and Iris had gone and immediately spots trouble: he didn't see them anymore.

Shit, don't tell me they decided to make a break for it now!, panics Lu as he rushes towards the last spot he saw the two SCPs, his rifle gripped tightly in his hands.

"Hey! Where do you think you are going?!" Chu shouts behind him and Lu thought he also heard him start to follow him.

He nearly stumbles and fall on his way but he manages to keep his balance and slows when he neared the wall. Soft noises arose behind it so he carefully went around the wall into the shadows cast by rubble so that whoever was on the other side could not see them.

It was way worse than he initially thought.

Steve and Iris weren't running away but instead has their backs to the wall. Steve has his trusty revolver that has only 5 shots left out and pointed towards a group of 4 people. From their appearance and demeanor, they were not friendly: they were wearing gray robes with hoods as well as black tactical vests and had white masks on. They also had dark grey pants and black boots on and there was a black DNA logo on an orange square on their arms. 3 of them had machetes while the last had a crossbow that these Terrans seemed to use everywhere.

"You don't want to do this, alright? We go our separate ways and not bother each other, eh?" Steve speaks in a firm voice that slightly leaked of fear. "Okay?"

One of the unknowns, presumably the leader, steps forwards and asks with a tone of disgust, "Who are you two and what are you doing here? Just answer this question: are you Infected or not?!"

"Um..." Steve slightly stammered as his eyes cast around and sweat starting to pour out, "Yes! We are Infected. But it's not the way you think," he smoothly answered. The revolver was still pointed at them.

Lu reckons he could just shoot them but judging from the fact that they had uniforms meant that these must be Reunion troops that the Rhode Islanders seem to speak of so that means more might be nearby.

So, guess it's time to polish his slightly rusty bayonet skills.

He grabs the K-Bar knife that he borrowed from Steve and attaches it with some difficulty onto his M-16 (Thank God it was a modernized version and not a WW2 one that wouldn't fit on modern ARs). Then, the Foundation guard treads on the broken bricks and glass, careful to avoid the black cancer crystals that were all over the place, behind the Reunion group. His priority is taking out the crossbowman since they might shoot him. Kevlar can stop pistol rounds but definitely not a crossbow bolt.

"Really? I call bullshit. I think you are lying to hide the fact that you are filthy Chernos! Now, prepare to pay for what you did to us!" the leader roars as he raises his blade. Lu makes his move. Steve grimaced and pulls the trigger.

The former Marine rushes out, a hearty "YARRGH!" escaping from his lips, and thrusts the bayonet sideways right between the ribs of the crossbowman; driving it in hard.

He felt the vest give in, that confirms his suspicion that these were just full-cover rigs for carrying equipment and not proper stab vests.

Or maybe he just got REALLY lucky and found a weak spot in the vest.

Nevertheless, the guy gasps rather loudly then shout in pain. Lu quickly put his foot on his body and yanks backwards with force to get the bayonet out. He gets it out and also forces the crossbowman down, who collapses while moaning in pain and crying out.

At the same time, the leader gets knocked down as his mask cracks from the steel-hardened rubber ball fired from Steve's air-revolver which only made a small "pop" sound. The remaining two melee soldiers were split between Lu and Steve but decided to press their "advantage" by attempting to attack Lu. Steve was busying emptying his remaining shots into the leader's face.

Gotta give credit to them, they aren't dumb, Lu thinks as they both rush at him at the same time and not use Hollywood tactics. One of them swings their machete up and attempts to bring it down but too slow, Lu already saw it from a mile away.

He quickly closes in and smacks the soldier in the chin with an uppercut with the rifle butt, followed up with a left-to-right slash across his body (their vest actually held up) then rushing the bayonet right into their groin area (no point in trying to go around their vest).

Ouch.

The idea of trying to not make too much noise went out the window since the ear-shattering scream of the guy could be heard back in Site-17. At least he had the courtesy to fall down and clutch his jewels that were skewered by the K-Bar, freeing Lu's "spear" to react to the next guy's hook swing by parrying it and deflecting the blade downwards.

The machete barely clears his groin (Oh, how ironic would that have been if it had connected) but the Reunion soldier must be barely trained, for they lost their balance and collapses in a heap. A quick thrust through the eye socket finishes the guy off.

"Lu, watch out!" Steve and Iris both shouts.

He was bearhugged from behind and he felt his body begin to rise. Almost instantly, he swings his left and right elbows behind and connects twice with the attacker's head. Stunned, the hugger drops him and he turns around to-

His yellow tinted vision became clear as part of his visor was seared away and melted.

"FUCK!" he screams as the overpowering smell of burnt plastic filled his nostrils. He grabs the remaining chunk of the visor and rips it away. The rifle falls away from his hands.

What the hell was that? And where is tha-

"Oof," he grunts as he was tackled by the hugger (who turns out to be the crossbowman he just bayoneted) and immediately gets pummeled hard. He raises his arms to deflect the blows and uses his hands to direct their fists away from his face.

Then he swiftly lunges forward and grabs the body of the Reunion grunt and at the same time pivots his right leg so that it pins their left foot.

Overhooking his right arm (they were still trying to punch him) to trap their left arm then employing the combined leverage of his hips, left leg and right arm to push them over and throw off their balance.

Textbook Brazilian Ju-Jitsu sweep.

Now he was on top of...her.

The mask must have fallen off during the struggle and he can now see the crystals on her right cheek, the fear in her eyes and her black hair and bear ears. However, her face was gnarled in anger as she thrashes out, trying to claw Lu.

He stops her with a hard hook to the jaw.

He feels heat passing behind his neck.

He jerks his head around and finds a lone Reunion soldier about 40 yards away from him, kind of dressed the same as the others but theirs were darker. They were unarmed though, which was strange.

Lu didn't like the answer he got.

The guy...summoned a ball of black energy, crackling and sparking in his hands. Then he threw them like he was some cas-oh shit.

Great, there is fucking spell magic here in this world.

Lu falls flat and saw the energy ball sailing above his head. He then quickly got up, unholsters his pistol and put three 9mm rounds into the mage's chest in rapid succession.

This got messier than expected. And very loud.

5:03 PM

Lu surveys the carnage that he wrought. The crossbowwoman was out of the count, the castrated man was still and One-Eye was definitely dead. Steve and Iris were coming towards him, their eyes wide open. He reholsters his Glock then picks up his rifle from the ground.

"Oh my God, Lu...I mean, we both know you were a Marine but still..." Iris speaks softly, still in mild shock.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Chu rushing towards them, his crossbow raised. He looks hella pissed but it falters slightly when he takes in Lu's handiwork.

"Well, I blew it; didn't I?" Lu mutters with a heavy tone.

"Well...maybe but reports say that screams can often be heard in the city due to Reunion finding and eliminating any Uninfected survivors and maybe even some Infected. But gunshots might bring them out in full-force," Chu replies.

"...Rho...des...Isla...nd..."

They all turn around to find the leader, his face bruised and bloody from Steve's rubber bullets. How the hell did he come back up?

"RHO...DES...ISLAND!" he screams as he took out a tube with string attached at the middle.

"SIGNAL FLARE! STOP HIM!"

Bullets and crossbow bolts pepper his body but it was too late.

The orange flare shoots up into the sky and illuminates the entire area.

Well, shit just decided to put itself into a cannon and launch itself at the fan as the Rhodes Islander and the Foundation trio make a run for it towards the truck as the slowly rising sounds of bootsteps permeates their ears.

Author's Notes: Sorry for not making the deadline since I made this extra meaty. Anyways, this fight may seem dirty but in real life, there aren't quite any rules. Also, sorry to any Marines out there who might be reading this. I watched a few videos on MCMAP and one video on the BJJ sweep so my hand-to-hand fighting knowledge might not be up to scratch.

Anyways, see you in the next Act!

UnderpaidMook