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The gunfire caused the entirety of Charlie company to throw themselves in the grass. Even through their hoods they had heard the gunfire coming from inside the Monument. The mortar crews, closest to the base of the Monument, were the first to begin heading towards the entrance.

Lieutenant Jacobs waved them off and motioned for them to return to their positions. "Sergeant Willis! Get your squad in there now!" he shouted. The Lieutenant also began issuing orders for the rest of the Company to return to digging, made possible by the fact he was the next highest ranking officer after Captain Moresby who had led his Headquarters section inside. Presumably it was their guns the Company was hearing.

"First Squad move up!" Shouted the Sergeant. Corporal Blaylock and Specialist Kenworth were the first grab their rifles and stack up on the open door. Sergeant Willis took position behind Jamie. In seconds the rest of the squad was in place.

Behind them they could hear Lieutenant Jacobs trying to contact Captain Moresby. "Anvil 5-1 do you copy over? Anvil 5-3 this is Heartbreak 3-1 please respond." Silence. "Sergeant get your ass up there now!"

The Sergeant nodded but didn't look away from the door. "Blaylock, take your fire team and clear the stairs. I'm going to take the rest of the squad up the elevator and clear the Observation Deck. Try not to shoot us when you reach the top."

Silently, Danny flicked off the safety of his weapon and entered with his M4 at the ready. The rest of the squad did likewise and followed him inside. The stairs were on the immediate left and formed a spiral towards the top. A brass handrail followed the wall on both sides, throwing light from Danny's rifle mounted flashlight. Otherwise the stairway was dim, lit only by orange emergency lights.

Danny heard the already distant sound of the elevator door opening behind him. In his earpiece he heard Sergeant Willis' voice. It was now tense, nowhere near the calm one he'd had moments earlier.

"Be advised, we've found Staff Sergeant Hartman. KIA in elevator." The soldiers behind him paused in their ascent. Most of them were new to the unit and had never been in a situation where someone had actually died.

Without taking his eyes off the space in front of him, Danny chastised them. "He's dead. Nothing you can do about it. Keep your head in the game." Without another word he resumed his ascent, Specialist Kenworth right behind him.

The marble steps continued, rising and rising. The paratroopers began panting from the heat and exertion. MOPP gear makes everything about three times more difficult due to impaired visibility, bulky gloves, and difficult breathing.

Roughly halfway to the top, a thin trail of blood appeared out of the darkness. It looked fresh. Extremely fresh. Raising his rifle, and the flashlight attached to it, higher Danny saw it was a stream that climbed the stairs.

Cautiously, he advanced. Half a rotation later the blood formed a large still pool. Danny took care to step around the pool to avoid slipping. He proceeded even slower.

Loud rustling caused him to raise his fist to signal the soldiers to stop. The rustling continued undisturbed and he lowered his fist and flicked off the light on his rifle.

When he continued ascending the rustling got much louder. Danny flipped off his radio, the only other sound in the tight stairway.

Finally, another rotation around, Danny saw a dark shape moving. It looked like a hand. After motioning a warning to the others, he tensed his body. In one fluid motion he jumped up to a firing position and clicked his flashlight back on.

The scene was gruesome. A woman was crouched over a soldier who lay unmoving with his head lying limp. His mask and hood had been ripped off and his NBC suit was torn open. The woman was greedily feeding on the man's intestines. Blood and gore covered on all the walls.

The woman jerked her head up. Her face was missing the skin on the right side of her face as well as a large portion of her neck. Blood and chunks of meat covered her mouth and chin. Hair was matted against her forehead. Blood, both dried and fresh, covered her shredded clothes.

She bared her teeth and hissed at Danny. When she tried to leap down the stairs at him, his rifle barked once. The bullet shredded its way through her forehead and lodged itself in the marble wall behind her. In an instant her body went completely limp and slid down the stairs. Danny planted his foot on her head to stop her descent and kicked her body to the side.

Raising his rifle once again he approached the solder's body and felt for a pulse. Feeling none he clicked his radio back on.

"Stairway Team, one KIA located, identity unknown. One hostile eliminated. Proceeding." Danny ripped off one of the man's dog tags and gently pushed the dead soldier to the side to allow the rest of the team to follow him and continued climbing. Without looking at them he pocketed the thin metal ID tags.

Behind him he heard another gunshot. Quickly turning he saw Specialist Kenworth's smoking rifle barrel over the woman's head. "Just making sure," was Jamie's only reply. Danny nodded and returned his view to the front.

The light from his rifle now showed the true extent of the carnage. Apparently there had been quite a struggle leading to the scene down the stairs. Danny found the soldier's bloody hood. Further up he found a jammed carbine. Danny picked it up, cleared the jam, hung the extra gun at his side.

At last, panting and filling their suits with sweat, the soldiers arrived on the cramped Observation Deck. Sergeant Willis' half of the squad was already there. Two soldiers were lying with their hoods off while medics looked over wounds on their faces and arms. Another four soldiers were lying in a corner with ponchos covering most of their bodies. Blood covered the floor everywhere and made walking difficult.

Corporal Blaylock walked up to Sergeant Willis who was standing behind the medics. "What the hell happened?" He asked.

Sergeant Willis just shook his head. "The room wasn't empty. Captain Moresby is dead, along with most of the HQ guys. Corporals Trevor and Donaldson are still alive but they have severe wounds. Six dead...I don't know what the fuck to call the monsters." He pointed to a pile of dead bodies in the corner. Private First Class Miller and Specialist Jackson were watching them closely with their Squad Automatic Weapons shouldered.

"There was one in the hall eating Sergeant Perez." Danny said after pulling out and reading the late Sergeant's tags. Sergeant Willis nodded.

"The Lieutenant is sending up another squad to retrieve the bodies. I'll let them know. Take the rest of the squad back to their positions. They need to get their holes dug and sandbagged before nightfall. Make sure Miller and Jackson are in good positions with their SAWs."

"I'll get it done." Corporal Blaylock insisted. When the relief squad arrived in the elevator Danny held the door until the last of the squad was in and pushed the down button.

When they exited the building they gave a collective sigh. It wasn't much but it was a little cooler outside. At least it was better than a stone building baking in the sun without AC. When the squad reached their positions they found they had already been completed.

They looked around in confusion but only saw the two squads on either side of their positions just finishing their own holes. They also noticed razor wire had been strung up around most of the Company's perimeter.

The squad dispersed as they each went to their two-person foxholes. Corporal Blaylock sat in his and put down the extra rifle he picked up earlier. Jamie collapsed with a huff beside him. In silence they looked over the city.

Gunfire was still echoing in the distance, though noticeably less than earlier. Many of the fires seemed to have burned themselves out or spread to other areas. Everyone was silent with their thoughts or talking quietly to their buddies.

The only sound left was Lieutenant Jacobs giving a Situation Report over the radio. "Roger. Anvil 5-3 confirmed KIA, Heartbreak 3-1 assuming command. Total casualties; six friendly KIA, two friendly WIA, nine infected put down. All bodies secured, over."

There is Chapter 3. Hope you enjoy and review