Chapter 4

Reunion

The trio walked through the smashed-open doors, Captain Price taking point, and Captain Terasov following him closely. Lieutenant Barshai was covering their backs, glancing around alertly, eyes open for an ambush.

"He's over here. Let's go." Price muttered under his breath.

Terasov pulled out his Kalashnikov, flipping its tactical light on as he took point.

"It's this room...put the gun down, Sergei. No need to scare them."

Price opened the door, smiling, and he was met by a pair of questioning eyes.

"Captain Price...what's with that look? Did you get my jerky?" Nikolai questioned in a quizzical manner.

"I got you something much better than just chewy dried meat, old friend." Price said, the corners of his lips curling upwards subtly.

Captain Terasov walked in, and Nikolai's jaw fell open.

"Sergei! You're here!" the Russian pilot exclaimed joyously.

He squeezed his older brother in an enormous bear hug, which Sergei gladly returned.

"It is good to see you too, Niko. Now...what is this matter about Soap being hurt?" Sergei asked, concern evident in his tone.

"As I told you, he was stabbed by Shepherd. The old general still had some fight in him. He did some serious damage to the kid." Price explained, a shadow passing over his features.

"Hm...this does not seem too bad...you did a good job so far, Captain Price. I think within a few days he should be good as new." Sergei said, taking a look at the stitched-up wound.

"That's promising." Price muttered cynically.

In the meantime, Nikolai and Dimitri were snacking ravenously on the salty jerky, and the pilot was chatting about his experiences in the war. A little bit of flavor was a welcome change from their usual wartime diet of stale, bland, uniformly gray C-Rations.

"So, Nikolai. Long time no see, little brother. Where have you been?" Sergei asked, leaning on a countertop, clearly glad to see his younger brother.

The younger Terasov bit off another piece of jerky as he spoke.

"Flying missions for Task Force 141, doing some mercenary work, the usual...what about you?"

"Stuck at base, waiting for a deployment with nothing to do except shoot targets and run the obstacle course over and over."

Soap mumbled and stirred, and everyone's eyes fell on him as the room grew silent.

"Wha...where am I...Price...Nikolai..." he grumbled hoarsely.

"Soap...Soap. It's me. Price. I'm here." Captain Price growled softly, moving next to his friend, placing a reassuring hand on the Scotsman's shoulder.

"Price...I'm thirsty." Soap panted.

The bearded SAS captain removed the canteen from his belt, handing it to Soap, who gulped down all the water in one mouthful.

"Thanks..."

"Do you need any more?" Sergei asked.

"More would be nice..."

He motioned to Barshai, who threw him a bottle of water.

"Here." Sergei said, passing the plastic bottle to MacTavish.

Soap slurped down half the water bottle without taking a breath, then looked at the new arrivals.

"Who are you chaps, anyway?" the Scotsman asked, eyes darting from face to face.

Price motioned to the older, mustached Russian as he spoke.

"This is Captain Sergei Terasov, leader of the Spetsnaz Fox Squad, and Nikolai's older brother. And this is Lieutenant Dimitri Barshai, also from Fox Squad. They're both on our side."

"That's good to know, but what brought you lads here?" Soap asked somewhat suspiciously.

"We were sent to investigate this town; there were reports of civilian disappearances around here. We come here, and what do we find? A city that used to have 25,000 residents, now a ghost town. It seems the disappearances weren't all at once...nor were they peaceful." Sergei explained.

"What do you mean, brother? I thought they evacuated this place?" Nikolai piped up, his mouth still full of jerky.

"Nikolai, swallow before you talk." Sergei reprimanded sternly.

"Da...sorry." Nikolai said apologetically.

"And no...there was no official evacuation; everyone in the military knows that was a coverup. By not peaceful, I mean that there is a lot of blood but no corpses."

"Maybe something ate them?" Nikolai interrupted.

"Nikolai, I am going to bite your head off if you keep talking with your fat mouth full." Sergei snapped, already annoyed at his younger brother.

"Fine...fine..." the pilot mumbled.

"As I was saying...the people around here were killed in a very violent way. We thought it was the Americans. But then, Dimitri found a survivor. An old shop-owner. He was rambling on about blood demons killing the residents. Apparently, he had been attacked. He was seriously injured...did not make it to the hospital."

Sergei's eyes were a bit sad by this point in his story.

"I used to live here...knew the old man personally. I used to stop by his store after school. It was...difficult..."

There was a tense silence in the room.

Captain Price sighed, glancing at Soap, who was now asleep once more.

"How did you three get into this town, anyway?" Captain Terasov asked Captain Price, breaking the tension.

"Nikolai flew us in on a Shadow Company Pave-Low. It ran out of fuel, and we had a rough landing...I don't think it'll be flying any time soon. What about you guys?"

"We drove a Russian army truck; the engine shut down after we were inside the city boundaries."

"Do you have heartbeat sensors?"

"Da, I have one. It has not been working ever since we entered the town; all it shows is static."

"So it isn't just our monitors. How about your radios?"

"They don't work either. It is like everything that grabs a signal is not working; my cellphone says no signal, the truck radio picks up static, the UAV control rig cannot get to the UAV..."

"So someone, or something, is jamming all signals in the town...a scrambler tower?"

Dimitri shook his head as he answered Captain Price's question.

"There are no locations here where someone could set up a jammer that powerful. And this isn't just a scrambler or jammer. The heartbeat sensor doesn't need radio signals; it uses electromagnetic forces emitted by humans to determine locations. Something's causing really powerful interference on all wavelengths, including EM," the Lieutenant answered coolly.

"Could this have anything to do with the disappearances?"

"I do not know, Captain Price. Whatever caused those disappearances, I think it was not human." Sergei replied.

"Come on...wild animals? In a town of this size? I find that hard to believe." Price retorted.

"We do not even know if they are wild animals, or bio-modified animals...or some sort of laboratory monster." Sergei countered.

"There is no reason to argue about this. We do not know what killed the citizens. Let's find out before we jump to conclusions." Nikolai interjected, his mouth empty for once.

"All right. Who's going with me?" Captain Price surveyed, glancing about the room.

Sergei raised his hand, as did Nikolai.

"We need two people to protect Soap. Captain Terasov, you're coming with me. Nikolai and Dimitri, stay here."

"But..." Nikolai stammered.

"That's an order, brother." the Spetsnaz captain interjected.

"Fine..." Nikolai moped.

"We will be back within about two hours. If we don't come after two hours and fifteen minutes, head out and look for us." the older Terasov added.

"No. Whatever killed those people is still out there. If Nikolai goes after us, he risks his life. Stay here, Nikolai. Protect Soap alongside Lieutenant Barshai." Price commanded.

Nikolai glanced to Sergei, seeking his older brother's approval.

"Fine. Stay here, protect Soap...don't get killed." Captain Terasov sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Grab your weapon, Sergei. Let's go." Price said, checking his M1911's ammunition.