Disclaimer – Resident Evil is owned by Capcom.
Chapter 4 - Jarheads
Rendezvous my ass, Jake thought scowling as he reached the rendezvous point instructed by his squad commander. The place was a complete warzone. It seems that a few infected individuals and soldiers alike managed to crash the party. The rendezvous point is situated in the middle of the town square, not too far from his patrol area. Empty and abandoned buildings lined up the side of the streets. Most of them are destroyed and falling apart. Smoke rose from one of the taller buildings at the back, on fire and crumbling. Both soldiers and the infected are battling each other in the middle of the town square. Gunfire, smoke and screams filled the air.
"Don't let any of these bastards escape!"
He turned to the voice ordering commands. The voice belonged to a man in his late thirties. Wearing a radio microphone similar to his, the soldier also carried an assault rifle and an assortment of firearms around his hips. Gun holsters, ammos and grenades adorned his waist. A radio was clipped at his back behind his left shoulder. He also wore a thick tactical vest. Squinting more closely, he noted the patch sewn on the side of the arm of the soldier's uniform. The B.S.A.A.? Things must be really out of control if they were called in for help, he thought silently. Judging by the way the soldier carried orders and stood in the frontline, Jake pretty much figured out that he's the captain of his squad. He noticed a younger man round about his age carrying a sniper rifle standing beside the captain, both of them firing furiously at the infected. A menacing growl came from his left. He turned towards it. A menacing looking infected was inching towards him.
"You wanna play? Well come and get some," he taunted it. Clenching this fists tightly he ducked as the infected monster swung a huge clawed and mutated hand towards his head. He turned swiftly and rammed an elbow to its face feeling its deformed nose breaking. It squealed and thrashed as it fell on the ground. He brought his foot down and stomped on its head. It stopped moving. He raised his foot and saw a bloody pulp of bones and flesh. Whoa, even plastic surgery ain't enough to fix that level of ugly, he thought sarcastically. He stood up straight and flexed his fists waiting for his next attacker. He didn't have to wait long.
One of the infected soldiers started firing at him. Rolling to the side, Jake leaped up and rushed to his attacker. He brought his hand up in a palm strike against the monster's chin. A couple of bloody teeth clattered on the concrete as it staggered backwards. Not giving a chance for the monster to recuperate, he hooked an arm around its head and swung his body around slamming its head to the ground. Blood began to pool around its lifeless body. Breathing heavily, Jake stood up and continued to survey the area.
Both the B.S.A.A captain and the younger soldier are still fighting against a horde of infected people. There are other B.S.A.A operatives in the area but they were too preoccupied fighting the other monsters, trying not to get infected themselves or just trying to survive and stay alive. Both the B.S.A.A. captain and the sniper soldier didn't seem to notice one infected creeping up behind them quietly holding a long machete in its hand. He raised it preparing to strike at them, the machete glinting dangerously against the sunlight.
"Hey! Behind you!" he shouted towards them. They didn't seem to hear him with all the gunfire exploding around them. Damn it, I won't reach them in time, he gritted his teeth. Grabbing his pistol from its holster he took aim and fired hitting the monster in its shoulder. The soldier holding the sniper rifle stopped and turned around, a look of surprise on his face upon seeing an infected creeping up behind him. Jake rushed towards the staggering monster and gave it a vicious uppercut, enough to lift him up the ground a little. Grabbing its head, he slammed it as hard as he could against the concrete ground hearing it crack. He grabbed its machete and stabbed it in the chest to make sure it's dead. Throwing the bloody machete aside, he turned to the soldier he saved.
"You call yourself B.S.A.A? Pretty pathetic if you couldn't even detect danger behind you." he scoffed crossing his arms. He saw the sniper studying him as he eyed the patch on his jacket.
"And you mercenaries need to show some gratitude for people who are helping you and your country. You're the ones who needed help containing the virus in the first place," the younger B.S.A.A soldier retorted back as he reloaded his sniper rifle, shooting Jake a dirty look.
"Tsk, tsk. Tell your captain that the next time you guys send reinforcements, we need actual soldiers who can fight in the battlefield." He made a gesture towards the rest of his squad fighting the monsters with a nod of his head. "Pay some goddamned attention to what you're doing, boy scout." The sniper opened his mouth to protest but before he could say anything, the captain spoke up.
"Alright! We're getting there. Move in!" the captain ordered as he turned to his comrade. That's when he noticed Jake. He narrowed his eyes as if studying him.
"Hey captain! We're almost done. Got a few infected left. Some of us needed medical attention but no fatalities so far," another B.S.A.A. operative called as he approached the group. The captain returned back to his squad.
"Scoop out the area. Make sure you take them all down. We can't make any mistakes and risk the lives of anyone in this city." Ordered the captain. The remaining squad members nearby left and began scouting the area. Those still fighting were aided by them finishing off any monster still breathing.
Jake's eyes combed the area. The hell is my squad commander? And where are the other mercenary squads in this area? He thought as he felt his annoyance rising. He heard beeping in his tiny radio microphone. Taking it out of his pocket and putting it up against his ear, he turned up the volume to hear better.
"Jake, are you there? This is officer Mihaloff," came a curt call at the other end of the line. Officer Mihaloff is the second in command after his squad commander. He wondered why he was calling him instead of Captain Blajasevic.
"It's Jake. I'm at the rendezvous point. Where the hell are the others? Don't tell me they left without me. Coz that will really piss the shit out of me, over." He answered.
"That's just it. Only a few members made it to the rendezvous point including you. I've been trying to contact them for the past hour and so far only you have responded. Over."
Does that mean I'm the only one who survived in this whole fucking mess? He wondered with mixed emotions. He couldn't decide if he was more alarmed that he was the only one who made it alive or relieved that he made it in one piece. He looked around the area. He spotted the other mercenaries belonging to his faction by the uniformed jackets they wore with the spider symbol patch on their shoulders. He noticed either they were dead or gotten infected which the B.S.A.A. are now trying to contain.
He cursed out loud. "What the fuck now? I'm the only mercenary left, the B.S.A.A are also here and I'm sure as hell not gonna sit around with them holding hands and singing kumbaya," he replied shooting the others a death glare, particularly aimed at the sniper. He in turn returned the glare at him.
"We're sending a black hawk chopper on your way right now. It'll take you back to base, over." Replied the officer. He sighed in relief. He couldn't wait to get the hell out of here.
"Roger, that. I'll stand by and wait, over." He replied. He switched off his radio microphone and put it back in his pocket. He folded his arms across his chest as he watched as a couple of the members of the B.S.A.A. made their way back to the captain. Still alert and carrying their rifles they began reporting their situation to him. Apparently most of the infected monsters had been taken care of. That's not to say that there won't be any more sprouting up around the place though. Edonia is a high risk infected area and more and more monsters are appearing every minute. As they gathered around, a medic began treating the wounds of the soldiers. One of them has a pretty big gash along his forehead. Most of them are being treated for cuts and abrasions. Even a simple wound such as a cut could be fatal. Infection could arise and before you know it, you're one of the mutated monsters. Another statistic to add to the list of casualties.
After a few minutes he heard a loud whirring sound. He turned towards the sky as a black hawk chopper descended near him. Great, my ride's finally here, he thought relief washing over him. As he turned towards the chopper, he noticed the B.S.A.A. captain studying him closely. His eyes narrowed watching him as if reading him like a book and scrutinize the pages. He felt a twinge of annoyance stir within him. "What?"
"Have we met?" he asked.
He pointed a finger towards them. "Nah. All you jarheads look the same to me, pal. Sorry." With a careless shrug he backed away from the group and made his way to the chopper. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the sniper open his mouth to protest and started forward. His captain held him back. Smirking a little, he felt a little satisfaction in managing to irk the B.S.A.A. Closing the door behind him he stood by the large bulletproof glass window and held on as the chopper ascended. He couldn't really care less about the B.S.A.A. He just wanted to get the hell out of here. He watched the group getting smaller and smaller as the chopper left the battlefield, all too aware that the captain's curious stare never left his face.