Humanity's Finest
Part 2: Chapter 5
"I'm really beginning to hate that thing down there." Polonsky said in a bitter tone glaring down at Fluffy from where he stood. Her glowing crimson eyes were giving him the creeps. The way the thing just sat there, staring at him, unmoving. Roebuck and Miller were beside the Private staring at the Hellhound with a guarded expression.
"How much ammo do you guys have by the way?"
Both Miller and Roebuck ruffled through their ammo pouches. Each took out two magazines which had 20 bullets in each. Along with the magazine in their sub-machine guns they both had a total of 80 bullets. Polonsky on the other hand still had two 'bullet belts' for his M1919 Browning plus the one already in use. So that was almost an extra 500 bullets. For their secondary weapon both Miller and Roebuck had two extra magazines for them, giving them an extra 16 bullets before they run out if ammo for their side arm.
Polonsky was out of ammo for his having used it all in an attempt to hurt Fluffy.
"Not much I'm sorry to say." Miller said after showing his ammo.
Roebuck cursed. "Dammit. We'll be at their mercy if we're not careful with these from here on out."
While that was going on Nikolai was rummaging through his sack before he yanked out the cloth covered meat having only remembered it there now. After calling Tank the drunk soldier tossed the cloth covered meat over to the marine, who easily caught it and stared at him with narrowed eyes after looking at it.
"Got it while ago. Was meant to give it to you when we found you." Nikolai said when he saw the questioning look the blonde haired marine was giving him.
Looking at the wrapped up meat Tank slowly and carefully unwrapped it before bringing it to his nose to sniff it. It was a precaution. Nikolai had a lot of vodka bottles inside that sack of his and god knows what else.
Seeing there was nothing with the smell Tank picked a fairly large chunk of meat and bit in to a small piece and tore it off. Rolling his tongue around the cooked meat in his mouth he savoured the taste, making a sound of approval before looking at the other marines. They probably had nothing to eat either, and could be hungry.
Swallowing the meat in his mouth he took another bite out of the one he had in his hand as he made his way over to the trio of Marine Raiders. He tapped Roebuck on the shoulder making him grunt questionably as he looked over his shoulder.
Tank offered him the cooked meat. Blinking in surprise he gave Tank a thankful nod for the offered food and tapped Polonsky and Miller on the shoulder before taking a piece. After turning and seeing what was being offered both marines silently took a piece and gave Tank a nod before taking a bite out of it.
Their hands may have been dirtied from their previous battle with the apes and hellhounds; but they could look past it since there was food on the line. They had to get something in the stomach's after all.
The group of marines eat in silence. Then after what seemed to be an unknown amount of time the youngest of them broke the silence to ask a question, "Do we have a plan to get out of this mess?" Polonsky suddenly asked. Giving his comrades' a solemn look.
"Normally Nikolai, Takeo, Richtofen and I usually just go against the zombies guns blazing." Tank stated with a light frown beginning to form. He sighed and added, "But that is before we would hear some mysterious voice pleading us to help them escape from somewhere that ends up with us getting sent to a new location, or a piece to a puzzle where upon completing it we get sent to a new location."
Miller, Roebuck and Polonsky stared at Dempsey dumbfounded at what he told them.
"...How many times did this happen to you?" Miller asked.
Tank scratched his chin in thought before shrugging helplessly; not being able to remember.
"Dunno. The first time this happened was in a Russian Facility. We basically had to get this guy out of a dimension he got himself trapped into or something like that. Afterwards we got teleported to somewhere else that was freezing cold. The second time it happened, was when we arrived in a jungle that had a massive temple. We had to use this mechanism that could bring my team and I to the past for a brief period of time where we had to change the fate of two explorers from getting killed. Turns out the whole entire thing was a waste of our time as they were caught in a loop. Then we ended up here."
There was astonished silence. Eventually it was broken by Polonsky, "...So all you did was basically help these mysterious voices, and after you're done, your group are just sent to a new location?"
Now that Tank thought of it, it does sound pretty outrageous when its been put like that. But anything is possible right now. Samantha Maxis is haunting them still and her giant dog of doom is waiting for them.
"Pretty much." He confirmed with a lazy shrug.
Tank gazed out, frowning at the lingering fog that was beginning to thicken in some places. Where there is fog there are dogs prowling.
What was worse there wasn't enough ammo between them to attempt to take the fight to the hellhounds. If only they could find a weapon outline, or a max ammo, then they would be back in business. He contemplated on trying to wrestle Fluffy but quickly dismissed the idea. He didn't want to risk getting bitten by the dam mutt. Plus he wasn't sure if he could wrestle the hellhound like he did that dragon.
That was pretty much an on-the-spot situation. He didn't know if he could so something like that again.
Scratching the side of his face Tank surveyed the now abandoned village. A lot of buildings are made out of wood and wheat and fairly close to each other. If he was right and they took a running start and jumped off the ledge to get to the other building they might be able to stay off the ground and make their way through the village without running into any hellhounds.
The problem with that idea was, can the roofs support beams and the roof themselves support the strain they would put on it? If not then they were pretty much fucked since the dragons aren't with them anymore.
On the bright side of things the buildings aren't that high up everything considering. They were just a few feet taller than the Dragon Guardians. Who just so happened to be about 40ft tall. They can survive a 40ft fall, if they timed their knee bend once they land on the earth correctly.
X.X.X.X
Hunter was one of the best archer's in Avalar. He had seen things that other cheetah's would never believe. Been to places that had never been used since the dark queen's reign. He had helped Spyro and Cynder get to Warfang when they woke up from their crystal 'prison' three years after defeating Gaul, and he along with the tribes in Avalar helped the soldier's of Warfang fight off the armies of the Dark Master when they attacked the dragon city.
So when he heard several villages all across the Realm allied to Warfang were going missing, along with scouts that belonged to the city and their allies vanishing without a trace, he and seven other's went out to investigate and if possible put a stop to it. Every village, big and small, that was hit was deserted.
Disturbingly a lot of these abandoned villages had the streets and walls covered in blood that had long since dried. There was even the stench of death and decay. Commonly if there was a lot of blood then there should be a body nearby. Instead the cheetah's found nothing.
This had been going on for months now. This was their fifth month out and they were still not getting close as to finding out who was doing this. It was dammed frustrating.
Then they came across a small wooden building that looked like a cabin. When they tried to get close one member of the group accidentally tripped and howled in pain when she cut her paw on one of the tree branches.
Hunter cursed and quickly covered the felines maw. But the damage was done. Not knowing if there was someone inside that building Hunter quickly guided the group into the bushes and hid. Looking over his shoulder he took in stock of their equipment.
Out of the seven only four had crossbows and a pouch filled with bronze bolts. The rest had bows and a quiver filled with arrows. They all did have iron swords for close range so they weren't going to use their paws in close combat.
Seeing the door of the cabin open everyone tensed and lowered their breaths. The cheetah's who had crossbows, armed their weapon with their bolt and took aim. Being trained to be the best shooter's among their tribe, these cheetah's can head shot a person from 100 yards away.
What they saw leave the building made their eyes wide.
They heard the stories about these creatures that were related to apes. Spyro and Cynder encountered one months ago and befriended him. Then three more appeared out of nowhere and the one they befriended turn on them for some reason. The last time Spyro and Cynder saw them was when they were being crushed by a building.
Now two of these creatures, humans they were called, had walked cautiously out of the cabin with weapons they have never seen before. They moved as one, each covering their blind spots while scanning their surrounding at the same time. The crossbow wielding cheetah's aimed their crossbows at the humans in case they turned out to be hostile.
The anthropomorphic animals held their breath as the humans walked past their hiding place. Luckily the cheetah's are able to blend in well with their tropical surroundings making them ideal guerilla fighters. So the two human soldier's were not able to see them.
The soldier's stopped in the middle of the path and scanned their surroundings again. They did this for about five minutes or more before the one with the strange and odd pattern painted on his arm and a bandana wrapped around his head tapped his comrade on the shoulder.
The cheetah's watched as the two humans started talking inaudibly before they began to jog back to the cabin. When they were finally back inside the building and out of sight the cheetah's exhaled in relief.
"I thought humans were mere rumours. I never thought they were real." One of the female archer's in the group breathed out in an awed tone.
"You all forget that the Dragon of Legend found one of them months ago." One of the male members of the group pointed out. "Then three more appeared in Warfang out of nowhere and all four of them retreated to where Spyro found the first one. We all know what happened then."
They all knew what happened afterwards. The place that Spyro found the one in green collapsed on top of them and they seemingly died. There were no bodies however when they searched through the rubble so everyone assumed they managed to escape somehow.
Having been away from contact for months they were pretty much ignorant of recent events and didn't know the humans not only survived, but the human Spyro found was captured and was taken to Warfang as an oddity.
Hunter decided that the group would follow these humans from a distance and if possible discover if they were hostile or not. If they were hostile then they will make sure they won't threaten anyone again. If they aren't, they'll try to make contact with them and make themselves as less imposing as they possibly can. They didn't want to get unnecessary casualties because of a misunderstanding.
Hunter quietly ordered the company to take to the trees and shadow them from above once the humans re-emerged from their cabin. This way they would be able to keep track of them and try to find out what their intentions are at the same time. They would soon find the humans would not leave the cabin until the very next day.
Sometime during the night it began to rain and continued through the night and well into the morning. Thankfully the cheetah's had taken shelter under the trees, which did its job at keeping the rain at bay through the night, and their fur coat had kept most of the cold away.
The next day the humans finally emerged from their cabin. The cheetah's were surprised when two more humans emerged from the cabin. These two wielded weapons that are different than the other two. From what they could see these two had attachments that on top that are similar to a telescope.
Looking at his comrades Hunter silently signalled the others to take to the trees. Nodding the cheetah's put their bows and crossbows away before bending their knees and leapt up into the air. Grabbing on to one of the thick branches they swung around before flipping themselves on top where they landed in a kneel. They did all this in a span of ten seconds without making a noise.
As the humans got close the cheetah's from their place in the trees could see the first two had a machete strapped to their waist. And they all were armed to the teeth.
Silently they followed the humans. Keeping themselves out of sight and manoeuvring as stealthy as possible the cheetah's were quick to realise they are heading Northwest. Hunter recalled there is a small settlement in that direction. It would take all morning, afternoon and evening for them to get there on foot.
It helped the humans stayed in the clearing. If they moved through the trees then he and his company would have difficulty keeping track of them. The rain was constantly washing their scent and washing the trail they left behind away.
As the morning passed and went into the late afternoon the human wearing the bandana stopped and raised his hand. The rest stopped and knelt down. Seeing this Hunter quickly gestured his group to stop moving; they then knelt down on the branch and took out their bows and crossbows just in case they were made.
The cheetah's held their breath when they heard a twig snap followed by several more. The bandana wearing human turned to his comrades and using what Hunter identified as sign language and hand signs the humans all took cover in the nearby bushes.
Several seconds after the humans hid themselves a group of elephant sized apes appeared out of the bushes nearly 40 metres away. They were covered in heavy armour from head to toe, armed from swords to spears, crossbows to bows and had a large round black shield that covered most of their back.
When the apes were out of sight the humans emerged from their hiding place.
"That was close. I never thought I'd say this; but those monkeys were fucking gigantic!" The human wearing an eye-patch exclaimed.
The human who replied was the one who was with the bandana yesterday. "I know. I'm just as surprised as you are Weaver." He said in a surprised tone. "That was the first time I saw baboon's of that size."
"Kinda makes you wonder what we got ourselves into." The human with the bandana said seriously. "If there are mammals that are that big, then what else is waiting for us? How dangerous are the other wildlife? Tiny lizard like geckos could be large predators for all we know!" He added after the other three had given him questionable looks.
It was then that one of the humans looked up, noticed it was getting dark and told the others they needed to get out of the woodlands before the sun goes down. And after asking for a compass they checked the direction they needed to head and went on their way.
The cheetah's of Avalar despite using the trees to navigate and keep out of sight were easily able to keep their pace with them. If they kept moving at the pace they were at, they would reach shelter within five hours at the most. Three at the least if the humans decided to run the rest of the way.
X.X.X.X
Samantha stared down at the excavation site with eager excitement. They were close to uncovering the weapon. She could feel it. Siberia now renamed Dante's Freezer was the last place the V-R11 was sighted.
It didn't look anything like the Siberia Samantha remembered however, as the continent had corroded to the point where it was smaller than it was a million years ago, and the entire landscape had changed to ice and snow preserving what remains of humanity under ice and snow.
The weapon is capable of bringing zombies back to life, seemingly removing all traces of element 115 from their bloodstream. Making them healthy. It was one of the inventions Group 935 had made to combat the undead if they had gotten out of control. But the ship that was transporting the device was lost at sea and one of the weapons capable of turning the tide against her undead minions was seemingly lost for good.
Then half a century later four actor's had unknowingly uncovered the sight. As they were making an apocalyptic zombie based movie on the Second World War, they accidentally unleashed the then slumbering hordes and coincidentally found her sworn enemies trapped behind a door that was frozen shut.
It was here that Samantha saw the V-R11 in action and seeing the effects it had against her minions knew it would be a thorn in her side if they somehow managed to mass produce it. The celebrities despite fighting ferociously were eventually overwhelmed and killed by her undead horde. It was a shame too. They were pretty entertaining to watch and the V-R11 was once again lost to the world.
If it was found again amongst this frozen wasteland she would be able to modify it to reverse it's effects, turning living healthy beings in to her undead servants.
Samantha shivered with excitement at the idea. She would be unstoppable with the V-R11 in her grasp.
For some reason however she can't help but think she has forgotten something very important.
X.X.X.X
Sparx floated in front of his adopted brother his arms crossed as he contemplated on what he had learnt. To Spyro's surprise the dragonfly was being surprisingly serious. As he brought Sparx up to speed with the current events, from missing villages and scouts going missing, to Dempsey's sudden return to Warfang. The dragonfly just listened.
He guessed Sparx knew how serious this was.
The dragonfly did almost panic when he told him about the undead dragons appearing and attacking the city. But he reassured that they managed to beat them back and Warfang didn't sustain as much casualties as they first thought.
They were lucky the damage and the death toll weren't substantial. Their Ancestors must've been watching them since there wasn't any casualties among the dead. Many a mole and dragon were injured defending Warfang but there weren't any deaths.
"This... is bad, Spyro." Sparx finally said after several minutes. "First I hear Cynder, the evil she dragon, is missing. Then the villages allied to us are going missing and scouts Warfang sent out are dropping off the face of the earth. And then human's returning and these undead showing up out of nowhere..."
"I know." Spyro said tiredly. "It's beginning to take its toll on me Sparx. I mean Dempsey has these strange new abilities, more human's are appearing out of thin air... What else is there? The apes are following some ancient evil spirit that is controlling the undead and bent on destroying all life?" He had no idea he had gotten it right on the mark.
Sparx looked around worryingly before floating beside his adopted brother. "Let's hope not." Seeing Spyro looking at his with a scaled brow he elaborated. "The Dark Master after he escaped from Convexity was physical. If there is someone controlling the dead, using them to wipe out all life, then how are you going to fight him if you can't see them?"
That actually was a good point. If there was someone controlling the dead behind the scenes, then how is he going to fight someone that could be invisible?
As he mused on this Sparx frowned thoughtfully as he began to contemplate on the similarities this had to the Dark Master. Whoever was doing this was willing to wipe out all life, just like the Dark Master. And like the Dark Master, there's an army doing the dirty work. Though in this case there are two armies: the apes who are somehow no longer cursed and the risen dead.
As he thought of that he began to assume the worst: that the Dark Master may also be behind this. It made sense. He was willing to murder millions to bring about a prophecy and what a better way to do it than have an army of undead to do the dirty work for you. As he relayed this to the purple dragon, Spyro shook his head negatively.
"I can see the similarities and why you would think that. But I don't think the Dark Master has anything to do with this. When I fought the apes, they kept referring to their master as 'The Holy One'. They didn't make any mention to the Dark Master."
Sparx stroked his chin. His eyes narrowed in thought. "Ok. So let's say that the Dark Master isn't involved. Is this 'Holy One' who is behind the vanishing villages, the missing scouts? Bringing dragons who were dead for a long time, back from the dead?"
"It is likely this 'Holy One' is the person who is behind all this." Both Spyro and Sparx turned when they heard Terrador speak. The Earth Guardian, along with the Ice and Electricity Guardians approached the brother's. "Malefor hated his own kind with a passion. He wanted to do everything he could in destroying all of us. Even reducing the corpses of the fallen to ashes as a final insult. Bringing our kin back from the dead, and fight us, is something not even he would do as his hatred is so great." He added as he, Volteer and Cyril sat down in front of the two with a dark expression forming on his face.
"Indeed and if I recall there were similar beings to the humans where Dempsey was first located correct?" Cyril questioned.
Spyro nodded a little uncertainly. There were corpses at that place. They weren't after the building collapsed. But they never had a problem this big. Dragon's being brought back and being used against their own kind. The apes freed of their curse and working for someone who created the undead dragons.
One of the ape's he fought hours ago practically exclaimed their new master is capable of bringing the dead to life. He was glad they weren't exactly smart as they wouldn't have divulged that information otherwise. But he had no idea if this person was the one who wiped humanity off the face of the Earth.
It was disturbing to think about. An ancient being capable of killing off an entire race. They just fought one that is capable of destroying the world and creating a new one in its place not to long ago. He was not keen on the idea of fighting another one.
"Nevertheless, we have dealt the enemy forces a savage blow when we repelled their attack with little to no casualties." Cyril exclaimed, trying to brighten everyone's spirits. And it worked if the slight smile everyone had was of any indication.
"Something tells me it isn't over yet." Terrador replied grimly. "It feels they were testing the water's of our defences. I have a feeling they will be back."
And just like that their spirits dampened again.
X.X.X.X
With Dempsey and Co.
Location: Unnamed village
Time: unspecified
As he sat there on the ground Dempsey couldn't help but think how lucky they were to have found some shelter. They had managed to use the portable roll up ladder to cross to another rooftop. However one of them – mainly him – had to get off the roof, run to another building and climb up the wall and onto the roof. He was just lucky to have gotten out of that in one piece.
Fluffy was still pissed at him for shooting her in the face. There was many times where she had come close to taking a chunk out of his leg.
After he got the hell out of dodge and scaled the wall like a badass-mother-fucker, Takeo and Nikolai tossed the bottom end of the roll up ladder to him after they pinned the top end on the ledge of their building. It was a pretty straight forward process. He just make sure the bottom end of the ladder was secure on his end and they would be able to cross. Which they proceeded to do after he secured it.
Unfortunately getting from one building to another took a bit as one person at a time could cross. Some took their time in getting across. Polonsky and Nikolai being two of them.
Polonsky because the M1919 Browning put on a LOT of weight on him. He couldn't get rid of it because it was a valuable weapon against the undead and if he just tossed it away then they would be a weapon short, which means less chance of survival.
Nikolai's problem in getting across was pretty darn obvious: he is as hammered as a college student who went binge drinking. Plus he was fat. You cannot forget him being overweight! So include them two and the assault rifle it made the whole experience nerve racking and somewhat tedious.
There were times that the ladder would sway dangerously causing Nikolai to almost fall off. But in the end the drunk managed to get to the other side.
So by the time everyone was on the other building it was beginning to rain and the sun was about to go down. Luckily the roof they were on had a large shed that was absolutely cleared of all its contents. The apes likely cleaned everything out when they invaded the village. Thankfully everyone was able to fit inside and take shelter from the rain. Although there were gaps in the woodwork. So there was always a draft that would make them shiver.
At least they were dry and not wet.
"We need a plan here." Roebuck suddenly declared. He looked at the others with determination. "We can't let that thing waiting for us outside stalk us anymore. We need to get rid of it!"
Takeo slowly opened his eyes and calmly gazed at Roebuck from where he sat cross legged in the furthest corner from the others. "Indeed we do, American. But how do we deal with a creature that cannot die through conventional means?" It wasn't a question. It was a statement.
Fluffy was meant to be the top dog of the hellhounds. The bitch who birthed them so to speak. The dog managed to shake off several bullets to the head. That much told Dempsey Fluffy was no ordinary hellhound and they needed some serious fire power to deal with it.
A weapon that was on the level of a wonder weapon. Like the Ray Gun. Or the electric gun Richtofen made; the Wunderwaffe DG-2.
"To deal with the dog we need some serious fire power. Fire power that can easily tip the scales in our favour and wipe out our enemies in a shot." Tank said, getting everyone to stare at him. One half in curiosity and the other half in realisation.
The one's who realised what he was talking about were his own group: Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen. For they have seen and used these weapon's first hand. Richtofen even designed some of them.
The marines however were in the dark on what Dempsey was talking about. So it wasn't surprising to see them looking at Dempsey with confusion and curiosity. Except for Miller. He remembered finding a side arm that appeared as a toy. It wasn't long until Miller realised just how deceiving its appearance was when he first used it. A pull of a trigger unleashed a green like ball of energy – that looked similar a ray of energy - that instantly disintegrated an entire group of Imperial soldiers. It destroyed a tank with two to three shots from almost a mile away.
It's been several months since he got that weapon just moments after he stepped on the beach of Peleliu. With him losing the gun sometime during the landings and all the fighting against the Japanese soldier's he had forgotten about it.
Now that he thought of it... he lost the gun when he threw it aside in a fit of rage after watching Sullivan get stabbed in the stomach with a bayonet from a Japanese soldier. Oddly no one made any mention on where the weapon was. He guessed the grief of watching someone they personally knew die in front of them made them forget about it.
"You wouldn't be talking about a weapon that can fire glowing green balls do you?" Miller asked
Both Roebuck and Polonsky gave him confused looks. Wondering what the hell he was talking about. It wasn't surprising that they forgot about the Ray Gun. Given what they all went through it felt like years had passed.
The crew of zombie slayers however were looking at him with a great measure of surprise. As if they weren't expecting someone outside of their group to know what he was talking about.
The four looked at one another in tense silence before Dempsey asked, "You know about the Ray Gun?"
"Know about it? I found one on Peleliu shortly after the landings. I lost it on the same day."
Dempsey frowned a little at that and gazed at Roebuck and Polonsky. The two were frowning. Their brows were creased as they tried to remember Miller having this weapon. After several minutes of tense, but patent silence, Polonsky was the first to remember. Then Roebuck followed shortly after.
"I remember... seeing you using a gun that looked like a child's toy." Roebuck stated. He gave Miller what looked to be a thoughtful look. "What happened to it?" Polonsky was curious to know too. As was everyone else in the room who was giving Miller their full attention.
"It's just as I said. I lost it the same day I found it. After... Sullivan died I guess everyone was too distressed to remember about it." The marine stated helplessly; pausing and looking depressed when he mentioned his old sergeant.
Roebuck stroked his chin. "Do you remember how you lost it?"
"No sir, I don't." Miller lied convincingly with a shake of his head.
"Before we get carried away; we need to bring our attention back to our little problem that's just outside." Dempsey deadpanned at the marines. The blonde man paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back. "With the mutt hunting us being able to shake off our bullet's we are almost out of options. We need better weaponry."
Polonsky was about to make a suggestion when Nikolai all of a sudden butted in.
"Can't you just pull a highly advanced weapon out of your ass like you did last time? Or get this 'author' you keep talking too to help us out?"
"To your first question: no. It doesn't work like that. I can only use it once per day, twice depending on how powerful the weapon is. Two: I have no idea who you're talking about." He explained for the first question. Then he dismissively waved Nikolai's second question off while adopting a clueless look.
Takeo and Richtofen groaned to themselves in irritation but didn't say anything. Nikolai on the other hand had crossed his arms against his chest while giving the marine a sceptical look. The Marine Raider's were gazing between the four with clueless looks.
"I just wonder how long you are going to keep up this façade of yours, American. Even before you were inside that stasis pod, you were always speaking to someone we could not see." For the first time they were with him everyone was shocked Nikolai spoke in a clean, clear sentence without being drunk.
"...What?" Dempsey was too shocked to say anything else. His mind was still trying to comprehend that Nikolai, frickin' Nikolai, had spoken in a clear sentence.
"What? What did I say before? Ohhh, where are we?" And just like that Nikolai reverted to a drunk. "What the fuck you all are looking at? It is something I wear?" Nikolai asked upon noticing everyone staring at him as if he had a second head.
"Nothing. Nothing at all."
Richtofen was giving Nikolai a hard look when no one was looking at him. It wasn't the first time this had happened to his test subjects. Nor would it be the last. During the first few months when he injected Element 115 into their blood stream his test subjects would sometimes go in these phases where their original personality would surface for a short period of time.
At times their original personality would appear for several seconds. Lasting up to several minutes before they are submerged back into the deep recesses of their subconscious. There were times that Takeo would under go this phase.
During these phases they had to resort to putting him in restraints when the samurai resisted them. Group 935 had quickly learnt to restrain all their test subjects when they went through these phases, as they all fought with such ferocity that was akin to a demon.
It was during these phases that Richtofen concluded that some people are naturally resilient to Element 115.
He quickly learnt that Takeo, Nikolai, Dempsey and Samantha are the minority of the test subjects who are naturally resistant to Element 115. Samantha more so than others. The side effect's that all previous test subject's had after they were injected were not present in her.
"We need to do something!" Richtofen was taken from his thoughts and looked Polonsky with mild annoyance on his face. "We got weapons with us. Let's use them!"
"I pretty much said our weapons have no effect on the mutt outside. She took a whole clip from my pistol and she just shook it off." Dempsey retorted with crossed arms. "But..." He trailed off, looking at everyone's equipment and mentally listed off what they all had in their possession.
Richtofen has the MP-40. Nikolai and Takeo has the AK-74u. Polonsky has the M1919 Browning. Roebuck has the B.A.R, and Miller has the Thompson.
All of them are fully automatic. Alone their weapons might not work completely on the hellhound. But if they are used together they might be enough to hurt her and make the hellhound flee.
Tank nodded to himself as a plan formed in his head. He took his place to the nearest wall where he could see everyone. "Ok. I have an idea. It's a long shot. But if I'm right then this can work." Everyone looked at each other before they leaned in to listen with curiosity.
20 minutes later.
The plan Dempsey came up with was simple: from the roof Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen were to open fire on Fuffy at the exact same time. Miller and Roebuck would then open fire on the ground behind Fluffy when it looked she was about to run. Making her back up into the range of fire.
Polonsky would open fire on Fluffy at the same time as Takeo, Nikolai and Richtofen. They had to do this carefully however. Given their ammo shortage they are allowed to use one magazine. After that they weren't allowed to open fire. With the most powerful weapon in their possession so far being the M19191 Browning they were sure to send Fluffy back where she came from.
So here they were. Knelling at the ledge of the roof with the rain battering against their faces drenching them from head to toe. The sun was down and the sky was beginning to darken. Combined with the fog it made the search for the annoying mutt difficult. The rain was likely dousing the flames that covered her making the dog even more difficult to find.
Dempsey narrowed his eyes when he heard the familiar growl. He gazed at his fellow zombie slayers. He saw the three tense up and with a steady breath they took aim. They wouldn't be able to kill her, that's what Samantha said. But they are able to hurt her. So taking that into mind they might be able to hurt Fluffy enough that the dog has to flee to heal.
Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen knew what they were looking for. Having been through this several times already. So when they saw glowing crimson eyes glaring at them from the mist, they didn't hesitate opening fire.
The combined assault from two assault rifles and one sub-machine gun was damaging to Fluffy. Even with the fog concealing the entire of her body the bullets were able to strike true in the one place that would deal the most damage: the head. Howling in pain Fluffy swiftly turned and was about to make her escape.
Roebuck and Miller quickly put a stop to that. When the fog began to thin out the marines were able to make out where the hellhound was. The two as planned fired at the ground in front of Fluffy the moment she was about to run off. This forced the hellhound to back up in the opposite direction of where she intended to go. Right back in the range of fire.
Polonsky partook in the assault. Firing on the hellhounds torso. The combined assault started to tear off the already torn flesh from her bones. Another pained howl was sound and Fluffy made another attempt at retreating. Miller and Roebuck quickly opened fire and put her back in the line of fire.
Takeo and Nikolai ran out of ammo at the same time with the two of them having the same weapon. Richtofen out of the three had the most ammo in the magazine was the last to run out. Now it was up to Polonsky.
With Miller and Roebuck doing their job in keeping Fluffy in the range of fire, the Dempsey lookalike was able to keep on firing.
Several moments later the group heard another pained howl from Fluffy. This time they all heard a wet' thud' that was companied with pained whines.
Thunder sounded through the sky before the group was taken by surprise when they heard Samantha cry out at them in concern and distress. "FLUFFY! VHAT HAVE YOU SCHWEINHUND'S DONE TO HER!?"
Dempsey smirked cockily as he looked up. "I think you know what we did. Now why don't you be a good little girl and take your mutt away from here?"
"...Zhis isn't over. Not by a long shot!" She promised, growling dangerously.
Dempsey crossed his arms glaring up at the sky with a deep frown as the rain pelted his face. "And we'll beat you back again like we did the last time."
"...Ve shall see. At zhis moment my army are excavating a site for a weapon zhat vill tip the scales in my favour. Let us see how confident you are when zhe odds are against you. Again."
Before anyone could make a retort the group jumped back in surprise when they all saw a bolt of lightning strike down from the sky. Right where Fluffy was lying. Reigning in their surprise the humans ran to the ledge of the roof and stared as another bolt of lighting struck the ground in the same place as the first.
Neither of them heard the dog howl out in pain. Another bolt of lightning struck. Once again in the same place. This time however they noticed the hellhound was gone. Samantha took Fluffy away. The group of humans breathed out in relief as they watched the mist that covered the entire of the village begin to thin out and clear.
"We won...?" Miller said, purely in disbelief. He looked at the others for comfirmation. "Did we actually win this?"
Takeo nodded. "Indeed we have American. For now."
"Yeah." Dempsey said nodding in agreement. "For now. But I don't like what the girl said about a weapon that could tip the scales in her favour." He turned and looked at Richtofen with a frown. "Do you know anything about this, Doctor?"
Richtofen shook his head with a deep frown looking confused as to what she meant. "Nien. I unfortunately have no idea what the little brat is talking about." After the sentence left his mouth the Nazi scientist frowned and rubbed his chin in thought. Narrowing his eyes he tried remembering what Group 935 created that was capable of tipping the balance.
There is quite a few of them. His DG-2 is one of the weapons capable of tipping the odds in the favour of whoever wields it. The Geresh Device was another. A machine that could open up a black hole. The Thunder Gun is able to unleash a blast of highly concentrated wind that was capable of shattering bones and blowing people off their feet.
And then there is the Ray Gun that could disintegrate multiple people with a single shot. It could even destroy a small sector of a concrete wall. Which is nothing to sneeze at mind you.
But at this point in time those Group 935 creations won't matter. They would have been completely and utterly useless to them from the corrosion of time. Unless they had the mystery box. Or they were somehow preserved.
"If zhere vas a veapon zhat could tip zhe scales in Samanth's favour, it vould have been useless to her in zhis point in time. Zhe corrosion of time is inescapable." The doctor added after his thought process was complete.
Dempsey shook his head. "I dunno. Remember how I ended up here the first time?" He said, referring to him being in a stasis pod that remained functional for a million years.
"You may have a point, American." Reluctantly conceded the Nazi.
"So what do we do now?" Polonsky asked.
Roebuck gazed at the village with a contemplative look on his face. They had nowhere else to go and this place was now abandoned after some... rather strange events. What with everyone apart from them suddenly vanishing. Plus the fire that was heading toward them was taken care of by the dragon's and if it wasn't then the rain would have stopped it in its tracks.
"Something on your mind sir?" Miller asked getting Roebuck glance at him for a moment before turning his gaze back on the village.
"Yeah. We could make this village into our HQ. Or at the very least an outpost." He suggested, getting everyone to look at him with interest. Even Takeo was paying attention and not outright ignoring him. "We have nowhere else to go and this place is now abandoned. If we set up shop here we have a place to fall back too. Plus it has some areas that overlook the streets and it's easily defensible."
"Hmm. I see what you mean." Dempsey said now peering over the village with keen eyes. "These roof tops are good for spotting enemies from afar and you can see the streets fairly well from where we are. The buildings - though most of them are made out of wood and wheat - are easily defensible."
"But where are we going to get the equipment and materials needed to fortify this place?" Polonsky asked out of curiosity.
"There's seven of us altogether. Four can go out and see what they can find. Be it food, water or just some plain wood to keep us warm at night and bring them here. The other three can stay and see what they can scavenge from these buildings."
With that being said. The seven soldiers looked at one another. Everyone, apart from Dempsey who suggested this, was looking a little unsure as to who should go out and look for food, water and wood.
Dempsey was the first to volunteer. Nikolai followed up almost automatically. Takeo knowing just how the other American's would react with him close by, with great reluctance joined with Dempsey and Nikolai.
Richtofen merely shook his head and joined the other three. He was with them from the very beginning and while he hated their guts, a lot of the time, he had to admit they were one shockingly effective team once they fought side by side as one instead as four. Plus with Dempsey showing side effects from being inside the stasis pod he had to be there to make sure it didn't go out of control. Nikolai's original personality resurfacing was also a concern for him. As Richtofen didn't know just how this would affect Nikolai's psyche.
As much as he would like to keep Nikolai's original personality suppressed he didn't have any Element 115 in his possession to do that. But in Dempsey's case he had a supply of Syrettes on him. Just in case the side effects begin to have negative effects on him.
The group climbed down the roof and then separated to do their assigned tasks. One group to scavange and the other to look for wood, water and wood.
X.X.X.X
Unnamed Village.
Sometime around midnight.
It was dark out by the time the members of the Studies and Observation Group, along with the cheetah's shadowing them them finally encountered an abandoned village. Using the shrubbery nearest to them as cover, Hudson and Weaver peered through the bushes and used the scope on their rifle to search the roofs and streets for any activity.
"It looks abandoned." Weaver announced as he lowered his rifle. Hudson however keep scanning for activity, having been through many operations to know that looks can be deceiving.
"Looks can be deceiving, Weaver." Woods said lowly. He carefully scrutinised the layout of the village as much as he could from his position. While he didn't like how abandoned the place looked, it was the first settlement they encountered in nearly ten hours. They didn't know if the residents – if there are any – were hostile or not.
With that in mind the Master Sergeant began to lay out orders, "Alright, Mason and I are going to approach the village to see if there are any residents occupying the village. You two will be staying here just in case they are hostile. If they are cover our escape."
"And if they're not hostile?" Mason asked getting himself ready to move out.
"Then we hopefully will have somewhere to stay."
Nodding Mason and Woods moved out and cautiously approached the village with Weaver and Hudson covering them from within the bushes. They didn't notice their stalker's above listening in on their conversation.
"So these humans aren't complete barbarians." One of the female cheetah's said lowly as she and the others watched Woods and Mason slowly approach the village. "Good thing we can understand them when they speak, otherwise we would think they were preparing to attack."
When they got to the village the two operatives took cover beside a building nearest to them. Peering over the edge Woods squinted his eyes as he scanned the area. It was suspicious. There was no one about. There were no lights. No patrols or outposts. Nothing that would tell them the village was being occupied.
Signalling to his friend they were about to move, Woods went out of cover but hugged the wall so they wouldn't be attacked but made sure to check all the corners they came across just in case someone was lying in waiting for them.
It wasn't until they were halfway in the village that their noses were assaulted by an awful stench that almost made them gag. The stench smelt like burning flesh, but with something unfamiliar added to it. Looking at one another, both Woods and Mason nodded once as one, before following the smell.
If there was something or someone burning, logically there would be someone there doing it. If there wasn't they wouldn't be far away.
Right turn. Straight forward for several metres. Take a left through an alleyway. Then continuing straight ahead before coming to a clearing that was on the other side of the village. The S.O.G found in front of them a large pile of corpses made out of apes, similar to the ones they encountered hours earlier that was well out of the way of the village.
However these ones weren't as as tall. And were stripped of their weapons and equipment.
Also they happened to be the main cause of the nasty stench. Given they are all on fire.
Just as they were about to make their approach they were taken by surprise when they heard a gruff American voice say, "Don't. Move." in a threatening manner behind them.
Tensing Woods with a scowl growled in frustration while Mason scoffed in irritation, remembering they have gone out of Weaver and Hudson's line of sight. The two let go of their weapons, letting it hang from the sling and raised their hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Polonsky, Miller, make sure they don't try to do anything stupid."
"Understood sir."
"You got it serge."
The two S.O.G operatives took a double take when they saw two marines' wearing slightly outdated military uniform step in front of them. The youngest of the two – a teenager they noted - was aiming his M1919 Browning at Mason's face and the other aiming at Woods with his Thompson sub-machine gun.
Both Woods and Mason recognised what era those uniforms.
The Marine Raiders. From what Alex remembered, his father was part of the Marine Raiders. But they've been defunct after the Japanese were defeated. So it wasn't surprising for Mason to be confused.
"Name and rank?" The man behind them demanded.
"Frank Woods. Master Sergeant." Woods answered.
Polonsky and Miller shared a quick, unsure glance before looking back at Woods and Mason.
"What's the name of your unit Master Sergeant?" Polonsky asked as he narrowed his eyes with scepticism.
"Studies and Observations Group." The Master Sergeant replied honestly.
Miller and Polonsky shared another look before looking at Roebuck who was just as clueless as them.
"I have never heard of that group. Sarge, you and Miller were in the military longer than I. Have you heard of this... studies and Observations group?" Polonsky asked, gazing between Miller and Roebuck with an expectant look.
Miller shook his head negatively. "No. I haven't." He frowned in thought before he looked at their weapons. They were advanced. Much like the weapons the Jap, and Soviet were using. Narrowing his eyes Miller asked, "Roebuck, do you think these two got here the same way we did?"
"What do you mean?" Mason asked.
"Were you blinded by a bright light before you lost conscious? And the next thing you knew, you woke up in an unknown location?" From their surprised expressions' Miller guessed it got it right on the first try. The private shook his head while letting out an exasperated sigh. He lowered his weapon a bit as he sighed, "Great. They are just like us. Out of time and out of place."
"Out of place and out of time?" Woods asked, gazing between the marines in front of him with a surprised expression. He was so surprised that he lowered his arms. Neither of the marine raider's did anything about it though. "What do you mean by that?"
"What he means is you were both taken from your time period and were brought here for reasons unknown." Roebuck explained as he finally stood in front of the two. Signalling Miller and Polonsky to stand down the two complied and lowered their weapons, and relaxed their posture allowing Woods and Mason to do the same. But they still looked at one another warily. "Apart from us three there are four others here, but they left to hunt some food, and gather water and wood. One's a fellow marine like us."
"Who are the other three?" Mason asked.
"Believe it or not, a Japanese, Russian and German." Polonsky made a face when Roebuck referenced to Takeo and Richtofen. He wasn't surprised to see the two men narrow their eyes at the mention of the German. Given what they've done.
"You're working together with a Kraut?" Woods asked them with a frown. Though it sounded more like a demand than a question.
"It's not as if we like it." Polonsky admonished him with a heavy frown. "Even more so with the Tojo. But given where we are and what we've seen, not working with the Kraut, Soviet and Imperial would have been unfavourable to our survival."
After what both Mason and Woods seen before they got here. They could understand. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. After seeing the giant apes they would have, rather reluctantly, cast aside their differences with the enemy to survive if they found them.
"Do you know when the other four will be back?" Mason asked with curiosity.
"Right now." The four looked to the right and found the very people they were talking about staring at them.
The Japanese, Takeo was giving them a look of indifference beneath his cap. Though he did take a moment of interest in their weapons, noting they were the M-16 assault rifles that Dempsey was so found of. Given their attire the Imperial officer deduced they were time a different time period.
Nikolai like Takeo he noticed they had an assault weapon that Dempsey was fond of. He also noticed their attire and how different they were compared to the marines. They were more futuristic. However being himself he quickly lost interest and in a drunken gaze he looked around the village.
Richtofen looked almost amused at the glares the S.O.G operatives were giving him. He out of the others took a great interest in their military attire, noting how different they are to what he and the others wore. Like Takeo he quickly deduced these men were from a different time period.
Dempsey was giving the duo curious glances and inwardly smirked when he saw the two of them glare at Richtofen. He was glad there was at least someone else, apart from the other marine raiders' who showed their distain for the German.
"So who are them two?" Dempsey asked curiously as he gestured to Woods and Mason.
"The one in the bandana is called Frank Woods. He and the other guy is from a unit that calls itself 'Studies and Observations Group'. I never heard of it though." The Dempsey look alike said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Perhaps they are from the future?" Takeo suggested now giving the two men a look over with great curiousity. It was in interesting theory. One that isn't completely impossible. Group 935 has made several major technical breakthroughs; and one of them teleporters that had somehow transported himself, Dempsey, Nikolai and Richtofen several years into the future.
Their weapons supported his theory too. Since their weapons weren't deployed after they got themselves sent through time.
"Yeah. That's possible." Dempsey agreed with a nod. "The seven of us were from the 1940s after all and we were brought here." He added as he scratched his left cheek.. "So it's not surprising these two came from a different era, given their attire and weaponry."
"Speaking of weaponry, don't the Imperial and Soviet have advanced weaponry with them too?" Miller asked, motioning to Takeo and Nikolai respectively.
"Yeah, actually they do." Dempsey confirmed with a nod. "The AK74u I think the weapon is called. Don't know where they found it though. My guess is they found it off of some poor bastard who fell fighting against, you-know-what." He lied. He didn't want the other six to know he, Takeo, Richtofen and Nikolai time travelled to the 1960s after fighting zombies before they suddenly found themselves back in the dragon realms again.
Oh yeah, he can totally see that going down well. Note the sarcasm. Plus the way the S.O.G operatives were giving Richtofen 'the look' it would have been unwise to tell them that. More so if they happened to be searching for any remnants of the Nazi party after the Second World War ended.
...And Richtofen happened to be in a Nazi uniform. Fucking great. He would have to keep an eye on them two from now on.