Chapter 5
It was day 3 of Samantha's improved game, and the eight men were still stuck in the hut, with the juggernaut still waiting for them outside. Everyone was slouched against the wall, contemplating their gloomy situation. Everyone, that is, except Richtofen, who was reading some documents on the tables to the side of the room.
"Zhis is one of zhe most amazing discoveries I have ever made!" he softly said with glee. Meanwhile, Nikolai the Drunk was off complaining about his hangover, again.
"Oooooohhhhh, I feel so bad," he moaned.
"Do you have to drink vodka every night before you go to bed?" Takeo said.
"Of course I do! Without my vodka I'll die!" Nikolai the Drunk replied.
"Yeah, sobering up is the most deadly thing ever," Dempsey said sarcastically.
Nikolai the Drunk jumped up. "HEY! Don't you ever insult my drinking again!"
Dempsey jumped up too. "Stop being so god damn sensitive about it!"
Nikolai the Drunk balled up his fists. "Sensitive? SENSITIVE? I'll show you sensitive!" He promptly lunged at the marine and sent him sprawling to the ground. The others cheered "Fight! Fight! Fight!" as if it was an elementary school playground. Takeo shook his head sadly and thought to himself that if they didn't find a way out of here soon, they would start killing each other.
Richtofen turned to the seven with some papers in his hands. "Attention, please." Takeo took notice of him, but not the others, and definitely not Dempsey and Nikolai the Drunk. "Attention, please," he repeated in a louder voice, but to no avail. "VILL YOU ALL SHUT UP!" he screamed. Finally everyone turned their attention to them. The two men that had been fighting had some bruises and blood, but they had managed to keep themselves from killing one another.
"Zhank you," Richtofen said, as if this was a lecture hall. "Now, I am about to tell you some amazing news. These papers –" he waved his hand that held them "that I have gathered and examined off zhese tables contain information on the Russian version of Group 935, which zhey called, Group C." He paused to let everyone digest that information. Nikolai the Pilot spoke up. "What's Group 935?"
Richtofen smiled. "Group 935, my friend, was a secret Nazi organization zhat created zhe zombies. I worked zhere, actually. Ah, zhe memories." He looked away as he fondly remembered killing those failed experiments and wiping Dr. Maxis off the face of the physical world. He continued thinking these deep thoughts until Takeo cleared his throat.
"Pardon me, vhere vas I? Ah yes, Group 935. Anyvay, this Group C served a purpose similar to Group 935, only zhat zhey vanted to clone soldiers, not create super-soldiers."
Price asked, "Do those papers say who's in charge?"
Richtofen sadly shook his head. "No, zhey do not go into details like zhat. I vould also like to know more, but…" he shrugged. "However, zhey do contain a map of zhis outpost, and according to zhem, zhere is a control tower in zhe northeast corner. Perhaps zhere are some more documents zhere."
Yuri snorted and said, "Yeah, only problem is, there's that juggernaut still waiting for us outside."
Price snapped his fingers. "I meant to tell everyone about this. Last night I devised a plan on how to get that juggernaut."
"Oh? Vell zhen, tell us," said Richtofen.
"Alright everyone, listen carefully…" Price began. Over the next ten minutes he told the other men his plan. When he finished, Takeo said, "Well, it is not guaranteed to work, but it is better than nothing."
Price agreed with the Japanese man. "Let's ready up for this."
Five minutes later, the men were ready to carry out Price's plan. Soap and Yuri were gripping the door handles with a flashbang and a frag grenade, respectively. Price was prone with his PKP Pecheneg out, fully loaded, with Nikolai the Pilot by his side, also prone. Takeo and Richtofen were to their left, while Dempsey and Nikolai the Drunk were to their right (they had to promise not to restart their fight before they could take up their positions). Soap looked at Price and said, "Now?"
Price nodded. "Now. Don't forget to shut your eyes, everyone."
Soap said to Yuri, "Three, two, one, GO!" The two men opened the doors at the same time and tossed their grenades at the juggernaut. The flashbang detonated and with a cry of pain, the juggernaut was blinded. The frag grenade then detonated a few feet away from him and hurled him to the ground. Meanwhile, Price, Yuri, Richtofen, and Nikolai the Drunk opened fire on him. Still blinded by the flash bang, the poor juggernaut was helpless as bullet after bullet smashed into his armor. When the four men were out, their partners took over for them, and vice versa. Price found himself reloading in a flash, and Nikolai the Pilot was burning through magazines like a hot knife through butter.
"Looks like those perk things work," he remarked to himself.
The juggernaut managed to recover and returned fire at them. Price watched the bullets flying into their force fields and hoped that they would be the victors in this race. His hopes came true. Eventually, the continuous barrage was too much even for the juggernaut, and a bullet penetrated his armor and smashed into the center of his chest, killing him almost instantly.
Richtofen wiped his forehead. "Vell, my friend, looks like your plan has succeeded."
"Yeah! Nice going Price!" Nikolai the Pilot cheered. The other men clapped and Price accepted their praise with a grin on his face.
"Thanks everyone, we all did a great job."
Samantha laughed and said, "You think that you have von? Vell, let's see how you do vith THESE!"
Nikolai the Pilot tilted his head and said, "I think I hear helicopters…"
Two Little Birds appeared over the skies and drew curses from everyone. "Wow, we just can't get a break, huh?" remarked Dempsey.
The two helicopters opened fire with their nose-mounted miniguns and the eight men ducked back into the hut.
"Well, if anyone has an idea, the honorable thing to do is to tell us it," said Takeo.
"That crate with the perks included an RPG," remembered Soap. "How about half of us stay behind here to distract those choppers while the other half run over to that crate and get the RPG?"
"You sure? It's pretty much open ground from here to there," Dempsey said.
"The force fields should provide protection to an extent," Soap replied. "I'll go. Who else is willing to come with me?"
The other Task Force 141 men volunteered. Price said to Soap, "I'd better come to make sure you don't die again."
"You watch yourself, old man," Soap replied.
On the count of three, the Task Force 141 men sprinted out of the hut. The choppers started swinging towards them, but soon turned back as the zombie killers fired on them. It looked like Soap's idea would work, until the enemies smartened up and one helicopter detached itself from the other and began pursuing the Task Force 141 men.
"Dammit! Run faster!" Soap called out.
They cut through a building and came to the crate, with the chopper hot on their heels. "Soap, grab the RPG! We'll cover!" Price said as he aimed his PKP. Soap quickly scrolled down on the laptop until he found it. He stabbed the "Purchase" button and the crate opened, and the RPG floated out.
"Come on Soap! Our force fields are almost gone!" Nikolai the Pilot shouted.
"Coming, coming!" Soap lifted the RPG, took careful aim, and fired.
The projectile streaked towards the helicopter, a trail of smoke behind it…and missed. What was worse, the helicopter had noticed Soap and decided to shoot at him. Soap flopped down on the ground and watched with fear as his force field became a translucent red.
"Oh no you don't!" He reloaded his RPG, got off the ground, and fired again. This time the projectile slammed into the helicopter's body, and the vehicle exploded in a spectacular fireworks display.
"Quick, let's get the other one!" Yuri said.
The group hurried back to support their comrades. Soap fired the RPG, and this time he destroyed the helicopter on his first try. The four men re-entered the hut and rejoined the zombie killers.
"Okay, now zhat zhe enemies are dead, ve can investigate zhat control tower," Richtofen said.
The eight exited the hut, turned left and walked off the porch. They passed another building with a high catwalk around it and saw another hangar before coming to the control tower. However, the group was dismayed to find that the metal door was locked from the inside.
"Well, now what?" Dempsey said. "I don't think even Nikolai the Drunk can break that down."
"True, true," the vodka lover replied.
"I still have one more round for my RPG," said Soap. "Stand back everyone, I'll use it to destroy that door."
The other men complied and Soap loaded the rocket launcher. He fired, and the door was blown off its hinges, revealing a staircase. He tossed the now ammo-less weapon on the snow-covered ground.
"Let's go," said Price.
The group began their climb to the top of the tower. The winding staircase took them about six minutes to conquer. Once they had reached the end, a door that was suspiciously open greeted them. They cautiously entered the control room, guns at the ready.
They had arrived at a scene of chaos. Tables were flipped, papers were scattered, computer terminals smashed in. Several dead bodies lay around, all wearing scientific outfits. Richtofen bent down and examined one of the unfortunate men.
"Hmmm…from my initial observations zhis man died less zhan a veek ago."
"Of course you would know, Doctor Death," Dempsey said.
"Doctor Death? Zhat sounds like a good new nickname!" Richtofen laughed evilly.
The Task Force 141 men were examining the intact computers. Yuri moved the mouse for one to bring it out of screensaver, and was greeted by a login screen that required a password. Annoyed, he moved on to the one beside it. Soap and Price were having the same problem too.
"Hey guys, look at this!" Nikolai the Pilot said.
Everyone hurried over to where he was standing. The Russian pilot had a smile on his face as he revealed a computer that was already logged in. He took control of the mouse and moved the cursor over a file that was titled, "IMPORTANT!"
"Let's find out what this is, shall we?"
He double clicked and a video popped up. Everyone's attention was drawn to the harried-looking man in it. He was in a scientific suit identical to those of the bodies they had found, and his eyes were wide with fear. In the background were the computer terminals and tables of the control room. The man shakily started speaking, and revealed a truth so stunning no one had ever even thought about it.
"If you are watching this, than I fear that I am dead. The date of this recording is August 13, 2016. I am a scientist with the secret Russian Group C. We have been working on mass cloning and we succeeded in making two machines that do just that two days ago. We had to take out an old Nazi teleporter, captured by the USSR at the end of WWII, to take some technology from that also. However, one machine soon broke down and we discarded it." He paused and licked his lips before he continued, and the group just noticed that there was distant gunfire in the background.
"Yesterday, a bright light flashed from the hangar containing the teleporter, and several people that were supposed to be examining it were found dead in the hangar. We also found footprints that seem to be those of a child leading away from the hangar, but vanishing into thin air." The gunfire sounded closer now. The man fearfully glanced away from the camera, no doubt worried about the gunfire, and continued speaking.
"Today, when we woke up, a demonic girl's voice asked us if we wanted to play a game. Naturally, everyone was freaked out, until a comrade rushed in with news that the discarded cloning machine had disappeared. Then we found ourselves under attack from Russian soldiers, our own countrymen. A literal wave of them attacked this base. Our own defenses have so far proved ineffective and they have already breached the base itself." The gunfire was definitely closer.
"This is the gunfire that you no doubt hear in the background. We are planning to evacuate what men remain and activate the base's self-destruct from this control room. I have programmed this video to appear and the computer to automatically log in if it remains inactive for more than a day. Also, if the camera suddenly disconnects, the computer will still save what has been recorded. Therefore, if we are killed, at least the world will know of wha – " The eight men heard a door being kicked open and the man whipped his head around. "No! No! Please don – " A gun roared and the poor man was flung out of the camera's field of vision, blood spurting out from his wounds. It was silent until a Russian soldier looked at the camera, raised his gun, and shot it. The video ended.
Everyone was silent for a full minute, digesting what they had seen. Finally, Nikolai the Drunk summed it up with two words: "My god."
The others nodded in agreement. Takeo said, "The demonic girl they heard must have been Samantha. Somehow, she arrived here before us, even though she teleported after us. Again, we have bben dishonored by her!"
"This does it; we're getting out of here." Price said.
"Not so fast!" Samantha replied. "You have discovered my little secret; but you vill not escape to tell it to the vorld!" She laughed before going on. "Tomorrow morning I vill send out an entire army for you to fight, but because I am nice, I vill allow you zhe remainder of zhe day to prepare…not zhat it vill help you!" She giggled, likely in excitement and anticipation.
"Nice, my ass," Dempsey muttered.
"Shut up Dempsey! Do you vant her to send out zhat army right now?" Richtofen snapped.
"Guys, we have the rest of the day to prepare for it," Price said. "So let's make the most of it."
"We need to have a defense position near the control tower below." Soap said.
"What about all of us being snipers?" Nikolai the Pilot offered.
"Too risky. If we can't kill them fast enough they'll surround the tower, and then we're truly dead." Yuri said.
"Nikolai the Pilot's idea does have some merit," Richtofen said. "Ve could have half of us up here sniping vhile zhe rest are down below."
"I think we should have more on the ground. The snipers should be more of a support unit," said Takeo.
"The guys on the ground should have machine guns. Then they can truly kick ass!" Dempsey said.
"I'd like some exploding things, too," Nikolai the Drunk said.
"Okay everyone, I've got it," Price said. He grabbed a blank piece of paper and a pencil off a table and sketched a map of their corner of the base, with an octagon as the control tower and rectangles as the neighbouring buildings.
"First, we'll have a ground defensive position." He drew an L on its side a short distance from the control tower's southwest. "We'll make the position out of tables, crates, whatever we can find."
He then drew three Xs in the control tower. "Me, Soap and Yuri will be snipers up here."
Next were five circles behind the L representing the defensive position. "Everyone else will have machine guns and will be in the defensive position. Nikolai the Pilot, you maintain radio comms with us snipers." Nikolai the Pilot nodded.
Finally, Price drew a line between the other hangar and the building with the catwalk. "Last but not least, we'll plant C4 along this line and trigger it when the first enemies get to the kill zone."
"Hooray! I contributed!" Nikolai the Drunk cheered.
"Wait. Even if this plan is successful, we still have to escape out of here," Takeo said. The group quieted down as they realized that he was right.
"Vhat about more of zhis C4 near zhe concrete wall and breaching it?" offered Richtofen.
"We'll need a vehicle to drive if we're busting out of here," Dempsey said. "It's gonna be a cold place out there."
"We'll explore as we get our stuff," Price said.
The rest of the day was spent preparing for the final battle ahead. The group was delighted to find a humvee near the hangar where they were originally located. They drove the vehicle to the control tower, near the spot where they had planted the breaching C4. Every building and room of the base was cannibalized for the defensive position, which was a collection of tables, barrels, metal sheets, crates and more. At last, everything was complete. However, Richtofen had secretly added on his own personal twist to the group's plan, and he was anticipating it so greatly that he had to fight from laughing with glee.
"I vill make zhat Samantha pay for her incompetence, just like I did vith her wretched father."
Soap's Journal, entry date 08-19-16
I'm writing this in a control tower. We're still stuck on this accursed base, but if things go well, we'll be free tomorrow. Today we killed that damn juggernaut and two choppers. The story of this base was also finally revealed to us.
This base was used by the Russian Group C, a group that was trying to perfect mass cloning. They created two cloning machines, but one was "defective" and discarded. We don't know what happened to the second one. Anyway, they also had the teleporter that we arrived in, and from a video clip we watched, Samantha somehow got here before us, took control of the discarded machine, created soldiers with it, and invaded the base, killing everyone that was here. And guess what? We're next on her hit list. Luckily, she decided to give us the rest of today to prepare, and we did. I won't write it all down, but I will say that it involves C4, machine guns, snipers and a Humvee (the latter is for our escape).
Hopefully I'll still be around tomorrow to write another entry in this journal. Hopefully. Soap out.