Author's Notes -
I can't believe it's been nearly two years since I last updated this fic. It doesn't help that there hasn't been anything new for FMP or HotD, still, both are fun stories. I hope you enjoy!
Tensions filled the apartment as the former scientist and officer for Amalgam, several Mithril agents and an officer, and several civilians faced their harsh reality.
"Hello Tessa," the elder brother greeted.
"Leonard." The younger sibling attempted to stand firm but she knew that he could see the subtle tremble as she stood across from him. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, the end of the world," he smirked. "Of course that means the end of Amalgam and Mithril." The agents stiffened as their secrets were exposed. "I see you haven't told them the truth yet."
The civilians amongst them eyed the quartet.
"That Sousuke was sent to protect Kaname from Amalgam, though you had no idea we existed until recently." His smirk was replaced with a wiry smile. "That you have another covert agent protecting her from the shadows and that Sousuke was merely the decoy. Or that one of our agents was responsible for hijacking her school trip just to get our hands on her."
That caused both Shinji and Kyoko to stiffen.
"That Kaname along with the two of us are Whispered."
Kaname trembled as she fought to contain her rage. She knew that he was attempting to undermine the group's trust.
"Whispered are people with hyper intellect who have helped create the advanced technology that the world is now privy to," Saeko explained. "He tends to talk too much."
Leonard smiled at her, "I do like her Sousuke. You've done well for yourself."
It was the kendoka not the mercenary who punched the proud boy in the stomach, doubling him over. "Think about it – it makes sense. Why else would Sousuke have the skills he's shown us? Who else would deal with arms dealers and smugglers? We didn't head to Yakuza storehouses or safe houses; we went to arms dealers, warehouses with military grade equipment."
Saya nodded, "She's right. It was obvious, but we just chose not to think about it even though we accepted it."
Takashi glanced at Kaname then nodded in agreement. "I guess we just chose to turn a blind eye to it. It doesn't matter why Sousuke was at Jindai; he's been an important part of our group since we joined up. It's because of him that we were able to make it here and join up with the other three. They haven't done anything but prove that they're good, honest people."
Shinji nodded, "They are good people."
Propping himself against an antenna Leonard chuckled. "I envy you sis, you managed to surround yourself with good people. I on the other hand managed to find myself in a pit of vipers and psychopaths.
"Men like Gauron were far too commonplace in Amalgam. I don't know how but he managed to inspire loyalty amongst his subordinates as well - so much so that some of them came after Kaname when they thought that Sousuke had killed him. The ones that did the most damage though were the ones who created the mess that we're in now."
That caught the attention of the others.
"Gauron tampered with the booster shots given to Arm Slave pilots," the older of the twins stated. "His men infiltrated the companies that were contracted to create the booster shots given to the military as well as some of the labs that produced the seasonal influenza vaccine."
"Booster shots?" Saya remarked. "Why would that cause the situation we're facing now?"
"The third generation Arm Slaves run on palladium reactors," Tessa answered. "They give off low levels of radiation but since the pilots and the techs are constantly exposed to them they were given booster shots that were designed to prevent cancer."
Leonard nodded, "And the girl that Sousuke rescued in Russia managed to create a virus that mimicked the one used in the booster shot but instead of protecting against radiation it was triggered by it, causing the hosts to become those things."
"The first ones infected were military pilots," Sousuke stated. "The Americans were unveiling the third generation Arm Slaves. The Hong Kong incident pushed up the unveiling because the Americans thought that the Russians had working models ready to be deployed."
"We did not realize what Gauron had done until our newest batch of recruits was inoculated," the silver-haired boy stated grimly. "Initially our limited medical staff thought that they were simply experiencing complications from the combination of boosters. We failed to realize that it was Gauron's ultimate revenge."
"That's what happened with our recruits too," Melissa remarked. "We'd lost so many men recently that we were forced to bring up more troops and they were inoculated before they came aboard. That's why we lost contact with base."
"That's why you had your personal Arm Slaves self-destruct," Sousuke added. "Their reactors might trigger other survivors that were inoculated."
A grim smile answered the mercenary's claim. "The EMP blast took out the electrical grid, but those who are running on palladium reactors weren't hampered. The virus in the booster is triggered by the radiation emitted by the reactors, like turning on a switch to activate the virus and telling it to attack the host. There may be those infected but the virus might be dormant but once they are exposed to the low level radiation given off by a palladium reactor the virus that is inside of them will be triggered.
"I witnessed my own men go from disciplined soldiers to blood thirsty cannibals after being around my active Arm Slaves." He glanced at the remaining Mithril agents. "I assume that as pilots of the M9 and crew of the Toy Box you were inoculated with the original, correct booster, so you are safe, but if we were to have my Arm Slaves accompany us and we were to encounter anyone who has been inoculated with the wrong booster we would be triggering the virus inside of them.
"Amalgam is gone – we relied too much on the palladium reactors. I'd estimate that only one in ten were initially affected but once the conversion hit only one in two hundred survived. I'd imagine things were just as bad aboard the Toy Box and any of the bases that had their own palladium reactors powering them.
"To make matters worse the seasonal influenza vaccination also included the virus in the booster - untold thousands were infected but not triggered."
Saya nodded, though it was clear that she was still skeptical about the fact that she was no longer the smartest person in the room, "In Japan, and most of the G10 countries, the police and civil defense have AS, but they wouldn't have access to the new models. They wouldn't have been exposed to the palladium reactors"
"Most major hospitals have palladium reactors so that they are not on the normal electrical grid or at least have them as back up," Kaname interrupted.
Tessa stiffened. "We're powering this facility with a palladium generator."
"Where is it?" Leonard demanded.
"Ground level," Sagara replied as he immediately stood up.
"Has anyone had the flu vaccination?" Tessa asked as she began scanning the group.
Kiriko paled. "I have."
"Have you been near the equipment room on the ground floor?" Kotha asked.
"We all passed by it on the way to the stairs," Takashi stated.
"We'll need to keep an eye on her health," Kaname proclaimed. "She might be a carrier, but if what Leonard says is true, the virus is dormant until exposed to that special radiation."
"That's not what he said," Tessa interjected. "The virus is active, but once exposed to radiation it begins to multiply at a faster rate."
Leonard nodded, "From what I've been able to gather, it attaches itself to the nervous system. I am not sure if it misinterprets the signals or simply wires you to ignore most stimuli but ultimately the victim becomes a flesh craving zombie. Those who were initially infected had high fevers before dying."
Most of the eyes were trained on the police officer though Sagara could not help but glance at the three unofficial leaders as they each considered the situation. Tessa had credibility as a military commander but did not know the others as well, whereas Kaname and Takashi had led the others over the past few days. The new information was throwing a wrench into everything.
"We'll need to do something about the M9's," Tessa finally said as she stood up. "They're powered down for now but if we have to activate them… we'd risk too much.
"Sagara, how defensible is our position?"
"The garage door is sealed and barricaded, the front entrance is barricaded, and the back entrance has not been opened. There are two stair wells on each end of the building and the elevator and CCTV were knocked out by the EMP burst. The doors the front lobby and the entrance to the garage are both barricaded. Shinji has enough working cameras left to monitor the garage and lobby."
"How is our inventory?" the commander asked.
"I have enough rations to last all of us a week," he stated as he grabbed a map of the area and pinned it to the wall. "There are convenience stores here" he circled the closest one in red "here, and here. There are also restaurants here" he circled these in orange "here, here, here, and here. I have storage units here" he marked in green "here, and here."
"Securing the building will be our first concern," Takashi stated.
Both Tessa and Kaname nodded in agreement.
"The apartments directly adjacent to mine are vacant," Sagara stated.
"Sagara, take Kohta and Shinji to set up your secondary defenses; Melissa, take Kyoko, Saeko, and Saya to clear and set up the apartments," Tessa ordered. Both of her subordinates nodded before taking their respective companions to handle their assigned tasks.
"I'd like to get some clean clothes," Kaname stated. "I know we raided that store for some clothes, but that was days ago and I didn't find much that actually fit me well." The clothes that they'd acquired had been designed to be more fashionable then durable, though the girls had been hesitant to adopt the spare fatigues as they general did not fit them well.
"I still need to check to see if my parents are alright," Takashi added.
"The last communiqué that I received said that they were evacuating survivors gathered at your mother's school to the prescient and that the military would evacuate any survivors tomorrow," the elder Miyamoto muttered.
"Okay, that's good, we can head there," there as a more hopeful gleam in his eyes as he heard the news. "Screw holing up here."
Leonard shook his head even as he refrained from smirking, "It's likely that her prescient has a palladium generator backing up its systems. If she goes, it's a death sentence for her. She's going to have to avoid going to any major hospitals as well."
Takashi froze, barely realizing that he'd failed to consider that information. "My mom got the flu vaccination – hell, most of the teachers got them the week before term started."
Tessa glared at Leonard, silencing him. "Kurz, can you get to your unit?"
The blond sniper nodded.
"Once Sagara and the others are done securing the parameter, I want you and Sagara to take your units to check out the prescient. Takashi, Kohta and Shinj will take the truck. I also want you to hit up these two restaurants for any food and supplies that you find.
"As for clothes, once Melissa and the others are done clearing out the two apartments she will take you to your apartment."
The incredible circumstances that he found himself enduring made Takashi wonder if he really had been just another ignorant teen a few days ago. Before everything that had occurred he had just been hung up on the fact that the girl he'd crushed on had started going out with his best friend. Now he had to deal with the fact that he'd killed his best friend, was attempting to co-lead a group of survivors in a zombie apocalypse, and that there had been some secret para-military groups that had both had their sights on his current girlfriend and co-leader of the survivors and that several members of their surviving party had once belonged to the two groups.
"Wow!" Shinji exclaimed.
"Those things are so cool!" Kohta added.
Both of the snipers had apparently gotten very used to their new reality as they took time to gaze in awe at the two Arm-Slaves, a task all the harder because both units had initiated their ECS – some light bending technology that made the units practically invisible. Yet somehow the two look-outs had managed to keep track of the Arm-Slaves as the diesel truck that they rode on sped through the abandoned streets.
Dead cars littered the street, most likely abandoned immediately after the EMP burst had disabled the computers in the cars that controlled all of the vital functions of the machine. The sturdy truck that they drove was one of the few models that did not have any computers in it while the Arm-Slaves had been equipped to resist an EMP.
The drive literally flew by as the five boys had encountered nothing – no rioting and looting survivors or hordes of infected. Despite their situation, Takashi just couldn't bring himself to call them what they were. That was a term reserved for the creatures in a Bio-Hazard game, not reality. Tessa and Leonard's incredible intelligence might allow them to call the infected the z-word, but he couldn't bring himself to that.
"Stop!" Shinji cried out.
Lost in his thoughts, Takashi had missed the fact that the two Arm-Slave pilots had called for a stop. A creeping sense of dread filled the teen.
"They're probably scanning the area to see where they can put their AS without being seen," Kohta suggested.
"I got three dozen infected at the south entrance," Kurz's voice came in over their headsets. "Looks like they broke through at the east entrance – the doors are completely gone. There's movement but cannot confirm if they're friendly or not."
"Let me put Al on autopilot," Sagara suggested. "I'll lead them into the building to check for survivors while you keep things clear out here."
"No," Takashi said as he parked the truck. "If anything goes down, we'd be in close quarters anyways so I doubt we'd miss much. Each of you take an entrance to guard, and give us any support that you can without endangering us."
The three boys gathered their limited gear and headed into the building. While they lacked the training of their military counterparts, they managed to move silently and efficiently so as to avoid drawing the attention of the nearly two score infected that milled about near the east entrance. Opting to enter through a high first floor window they slipped inside the building.
Blinking florescent lights painted a grisly picture of the chaos that had apparently erupted inside the prescient. Takashi felt his muscles tense as he lead the others through the blood splattered halls. Not wanting to risk drawing undue attention with gunfire they had resorted to wielding makeshift clubs/axes that they'd pieced together with baseball bats and extra combat knives would puncture a skull just as easily as it could shatter one. Spaced out so that they could each swing their weapons without fear of hitting their companions, they steadily made their way through the building.
Discarded bits of bloody clothes and bone lined the floors while dark smears of what could only be dried blood mixed in a few bodies and the occasional bullet hole told the story of the valiant yet futile battle that the survivors had fought. All of the corpses were of those who had been infected, any unfortunate survivors had been consumed by the infected leaving nothing but broken bones and blood.
"That's why we didn't see any bodies coming here," Kohta muttered as he prodded the corpse of a woman whose head had been blown off. "They don't eat their own once they're turned, but they'll devour anything that isn't turned."
The main room where most of the police had their desks had been cleared as the desks had been used to barricade various rooms as well as the entrance. A few rolls and jackets on the floor suggested that people had slept on the ground but now only a few struggling straggling infected remained.
Bats in hand, the boys quickly dispatched the handful of injured infected. Some had clearly been alive and then turned as the other infected had begun feasting on them, but at some point the feasting had stopped. Others had suffered injuries that kept them from keeping up with the pack – broken or severed legs were the most common though a few were missing everything beneath their ribcages.
"Someone's been through here," Shinji whispered into the com. "See the remains of the police officers over there? Where are their guns? And for all the bullets that were fired there are no shells. I doubt that the police would only be using revolvers, but even then, they'd have to take out the spent shells."
Pushing aside his doubts and fears, Takashi simply nodded at the military otaku's assessment. He'd been too busy looking for a sign that his mother had been in the building to notice the other lack of details. "There's no jewelry either."
Passing through the main room and then the lobby on their way to the eastern entrance they took note of the desks. Most of the desks that had been in the main room had been moved into this hallway, some to block the doors of the main entrance, though most were makeshift barricades to obstruct the path of the infected that had breached the east entrance. A few offices lined the hallway, though the windows were occasionally splattered in blood.
"It looks like someone left through the garage," Sagara's monotone voice proclaimed over the com. "I count over fifty milling around in the parkinglot."
Back-tracking to the main room, they locked the door that separated it from the lobby before heading towards the garage. The back offices were vacant though it was evident that there had been something of a running fight as bullet holes suggested that the survivors had fled down the corridor.
Turning a corner, they spotted several infected huddled into a side room. Using some of the silent signals that Kurz and Sagara had taught them, the three coordinated their movements. Cautiously they checked the other doors to ensure that there weren't more infected around. Sure that the other rooms were clear Kohta and Takashi took their positions by the door as Shinji checked his rifle. With one final nod, Takashi signaled that they were ready.
Tapping his bat against doorway he caught the attention of the infected. One by one they scrambled for the door in their lumbering gate only to be bottlenecked at the door. Takashi brought his bat down on the head of the first of Them through the door, Kohta followed suit on the next. The bodies spilled out onto the hallway floor as the rest of Them in the room sought out fresh meat. The sound of skulls being crushed shattered the silence of the hallway as both teens swung their bats again.
A fifth head popped out of the doorway, this one untouched any markings save for the blood around her mouth. Takashi froze.
Kohta took a swing, only to connect with the arm of another infected as it reached the doorway.
The woman's head jerked back as a round went through it and the back of her head exploded. There was something to be said about Shinji's skill with a gun as the same bullet had managed to blow off the arm of the other infected that Kohta had struck.
Takashi could only watch as his mother fell to the ground. Only the gunshot marred her beautiful face. His vision blurred, but he found himself swinging his up into the jaw of another infected. Using his bat to fend off the woman's hands, he reached into his picket to extract the combat knife. Just as she slipped around his bat he managed to drive his blade forward into her skull. Just like the other infected woman, this woman's face had been touched until he drove the knife into her eye.
Six corpses blocked the doorway, keeping the other infected from reaching them.
Had he been able to listen to anything over the sound of his own vomiting, Takashi would have heard Shinji exclaim that the rest of the infected in the room were just kids. Wiping the bile from his lips as he stood up, Takashi immediately regretted it.
"I don't want to waste ammo," Kohta said. "Besides, they're trapped in the room."
"For now, but they could get out," the other boy countered.
"It would be best to eliminate the threat," Sagara chimed in over the com.
"Once we leave they're not a threat to us," Kurz stated. "Can you guys use a desk to block off the hallway on your way out?"
"No," Takashi said as he finally cleared his lips. "They're in the armory. We'll need to clear them out if we want to get the weapons."
"Make every shot count." Of course the sniper would say that to the other sniper.
It took just a clip for Shinji to clear the room of hostiles. The unfortunate idiots that had arrived at the police station before them had done most of the work gathering the guns in the lobby and main room before trapping themselves in the armory with over twenty infected. Maybe they too had frozen at the sight of the two untouched women or at the sight of the dozen or so infected children. Whatever the reason, one of the two men had opted to put a bullet into his own brain while the other had not managed to figure out how to get past the safety on his semiautomatic.
X
Time seemed to seep by as there was little for the girls to do other than check their supplies and weapons, and fry up some chicken patties. The quick raid on Kaname's apartment had helped the teal haired girl acquire more clothes, but that was it. The hardest part had been setting up the two zip-lines to ferry Kaname and Melissa across the two parking lots that separated the buildings.
Even the quick lessons that Melissa had provided the girls it seemed as though each of them save perhaps Kyoko could handle a gun with live ammo. The petite girl was instead given two powerful weapons packed with non-lethal rounds. Each girl was taught how to handle each of their weapons and how to maintain them.
For her part, Rei could not help but wonder about her mother. Yes, the dependable woman had shown great courage and resolve helping the group since she had joined them, but the knowledge that she had been infected had splintered the rag-tag group. Little had been said about that since the Takashi had taken the boys sans Leonard to check the police station but Rei could not help but notice how the other girls seemed to distance themselves from her mother. There was still so much that they did not know about the supposed virus that was behind the infection. While Leonard was supposed to be the smartest one in the room he also had this air of arrogance that made him unapproachable.
"What do you think about what Silver-boy had to say earlier?" she found herself asking Saya. Before encountering Tessa and Leonard, the buxom younger girl had been the smartest person she knew and thus a reasonable person to approach.
"It makes sense," Saya shrugged. "It's hard to believe but when you consider how advanced technology has gotten in just the last few years – giant mechs used to just be on anime shows but the military and the JDF. Palladium reactors which used to just be a science fiction became reality to the point that they're being used to back up hospitals and police stations – in that context it's believable that someone was able to engineer a virus to essentially turn humans into zombies. At least it's not something like magical curses or an act of some unseen god."
Saya suddenly turned from Rei to Leonard, "You said that one in roughly two hundred were immune – how did you get that figure?"
Surprised that anyone was actually speaking to him, Leonard turned his attention to the pinkette. "Following the Hong Kong incident, the Russians wanted to speed up their Arm Slave program. They ordered a thousand units and had a thousand pilots trained and inoculated. They of course were the first to get sick, but five of them survived. Perhaps those five were fortunate to not have any of the z-virus in their inoculation, or they were simply immune to it. We weren't able to get any real data as the five were amongst the first to die when the breakouts occurred.
"Of course the Russians didn't want word of what happened at one of their bases to get out so they covered it up. It wasn't until shit hit the fan everywhere else that we put two and two together."
"So there's a chance that I won't turn?" Kiriko exclaimed.
"It's possible," Leonard answered. "If there was no chance I would have put a bullet in you the moment you admitted to having been inoculated. There's also the chance that Gauron's men didn't contaminate every batch of vaccine. You have to realize, they were working out of Singapore and Hong Kong. There are over a hundred different national influenza centers testing year round to see which strains of influenza virus are most likely to affect the populace.
"You also have to factor in the distribution of the vaccine batches. For them to have added the virus into the batches they would have had to add perhaps one syringe to a batch, but not every dose from the batch contains the z-virus or has small enough numbers of the virus that the host is unaffected or affected at a slower rate. It is also possible that if it was an insufficient amount of the bad virus that the host's immune system was able to develop an immunity from the virus."
"Basically there are too many variables to say for sure if she was infected or not or if she might actually be immune," Saya concluded.
"Exactly, that's why we should observe Kiriko. We should also limit our own chances of exposure by covering our mouths when in the field and covering our own wounds so as to minimize the risk of becoming infected. From what I've observed, it is mainly transmitted via fluid exchanges – when an infected bites someone else, but it might be transmitted through direct blood contact."
A renewed sense of optimism made the afternoon go by easier for Rei as she and her mother talked about guns and how to maintain their weapons. As the sun began to vanish behind the buildings to the west the girls began to prepare dinner, mixing in bits of the hardtack rations that Sagara had stocked up on with some of the food plundered from the fast food joints that they had hit up on their way to the apartment.
"How does anyone manage to eat this stuff?" her mother exclaimed as she cut a biscuit into portions.
"You'll need to get used to eating it," the military brat stated. "It looks like Sagara's stockpiled enough for six months, so it should last all of us a month."
"This isn't even the stuff they sell at the stores," Rei remarked as she crumbled a bar rather than cut it. The brittle bread fell apart easily.
"It's Russian," Tessa stated as she pointed out the label on the first box. "That one's Korean, those two are English, this one's from the Americans and the last one is Japanese."
"She knows ten languages," Leonard stated. "She was the commander of a submarine with crew from several dozen Trans-Pacific countries."
"Was," the shorter twin stated. There was a hint of sadness in her tone as she set down the package of hardtack.
"We've yet to be contacted by anyone from the ship," the hardened Melissa added. "We were supposed to rendezvous at the warehouse but just as we were evacuating the EMP hit, disabling our GPS. We only managed to make it here because the three of us have been here before. We'll need to stay here a few more days to monitor the radio for any other survivors. That's why we can't get rid of the M9's despite the problems that they may cause."
The teens stood frozen, unsure what to say or how to react to the burden that Tessa had to bear. Yes, she was only as old as they were, but she had to bear the burden of leadership for all the soldiers under her command.
"That's find," her mother finally said with a forced smile. "We all need a few days to get our bearings as well."
Kaname nodded in agreement. "Besides, we'll need to make sure that Kiriko is fine before we go back to the Takagi compound." Leaning forward, she embraced Tessa just as bullets hit Sagara's window.
"Everyone get down!" Leonard shouted as several more shots hit the resistant window. "Turn off the lights!"
Everyone ducked for cover, thankful that the scarred mercenary had somehow fortified his apartment with bullet-proof glass.
"Someone, check the cameras!" Kaname ordered.
"Shooters from across the parking lots," Leonard stated as he upended the desk by the window. "Given the angle they're in Kaname's apartment building.
Rei was amazed at the fact that the glass was holding up under the barrage.
"Nothing on the cameras," Saya reported. "Garage and lobby are clear."
"My guess is the window can only take a few more rounds before it shatters," Leonard cried out. "Is Sagara's furniture bullet-resistant?"
"The bed frame is made of Kevlar sheeting and the walls and counter all have Kevlar lining," Tessa stated. "The table and desk also have Kevlar lining sandwiched between solid wood. That desk won't hold out long against a 50."
"Really!?" Kaname shouted as she tipped over the table. Rei wasn't sure what Kaname was surprised by that the desk and table were fortified or that they wouldn't last long against heavy caliber guns.
"Kalinin owns the building," Leonard muttered. "Of course he'd have the three apartments fortified."
"Wait, what?"Melissa asked as she crouched behind the upended the table so that Kyoko, Tessa, and Kiriko could get some cover.
"Kalinin was my mole," the taller twin stated. "How do you think Sagara got such a nice apartment? Kalinin purchased the building and had the three apartments renovated once Sagara was assigned as to Kaname. He rented the other apartments out to former members of both our factions as well as former and current military."
"The hallway's clear," the pinkette declared just before the window began to crumble under the continuous barrage.
"Who the fuck would be shooting at us?" Kiriko asked as she grabbed a rifle from the chest of weapons.
"You haven't been around Sagara enough," Melissa sighed as she peeped out from behind cover.
"Gauron's men, at least some of them I'd guess," Leonard stated Melissa tossed him an RPG. "Fifth floor, third window from the end – I spot two shooters. I'm guessing there's one or two in each of the adjacent rooms as well. They were probably waiting for the sun to go down and for us to use our lights so that they could shoot at our silhouettes. I guess they didn't count on the fact that Sagara would have fortified his apartment."
"I've lost the feed from the stair well!" Saya shouted from behind the kitchen counter.
"They probably zip-lined over!" Melissa said before popping out from behind cover to return fire.
"I think the shooter's using a M107," a voice cut in over someone's discarded walkie-talkie.
"Who the hell is that?" Kiriko demanded as she ducked behind the table as another barrage of shots forced the survivors to seek cover.
"You've got six on the fourth floor directly above your position, at least three shooters still in the other building."
"Saeko, Rei, get some body armor on and cover the hallway," Melissa ordered the younger girls.
Adrenaline pumped through her body as she nodded at the other girls. The kendoka grabbed a pack as she rushed for the door. Though younger, Saeko was taller and faster as she rushed into the hallway and claimed the doorway of an empty apartment. Rei quickly threw her vest over her head. It was uncomfortable and definitely not designed to be worn by a busty woman, but it probably was better than getting shot. "Here," Saya said as she helped her adjust the straps so that the vest was on properly.
"I can't believe Sagara keeps an RPG around," she heard Leonard remark. Waiting for the gunfire to subside, he took the opportunity to return fire. Rei could smell the exhaust or whatever the smoke was called as the silver haired boy sought to being an end to the gunfire.
"That's Wraith," Kaname explained as she strapped on some armor. "I think she called Sagara soon after everything happened and warned us to get out of the school."
The muscles in her hand were tense and tight as she gripped her rifle and kept her eyes glued on one of the stairwell doors.
"I think they're regrouping," Leonard called out between bits of gunfire. "Was there anyone over there when you girls went there earlier?"
"We were only in Kaname's apartment," Melissa replied as she gripped one of the overturned table's legs. "We didn't see if there were other survivors."
"Hallway is clear," Rei stated.
"Secondary positions!" Tessa ordered as Melissa and her mother pulled the table towards the corner of the apartment so that Kyoko and Tessa could carry the chest of weapons and ammo.
"Give me a Pete," Leonard called out.
"Pete?" If the petite girl's hands were trembling as much as her voice she would not be able to hold anything much less a gun.
"This one," Tessa was the complete opposite as she remained calm and collected, a sign of her capability as a military commander, "it's an incendiary, or SIP grenade."
"O-okay," she said as she grabbed the case, then pushed it towards Leonard.
Shaking his head, he loaded one of the explosive rounds, turned, and fired before rushing towards the box and bringing it back to his previous position. "They're spread out through three rooms. I hope you don't need to get anything else from your apartment Chidori."
"Don't you dare ruin my apartment!"
"There are still shooters in the rooms adjacent to Chidori's," Wraith stated. "Be glad that they don't have any Arm Slaves."
From her position by the door Rei spotted some movement, "We've got company!" She took aim with the rifle – M7, no that was the bayonet, the gun was M16. As the door swung open she squeezed the trigger. Across the hallway Saeko did the same though she took aim at the other door. Only Melissa's firm, strong hands managed to pull Rei back into the apartment as an explosion rocked the hallway.
"Give us a heads up next time," the female mercenary muttered as she pulled the pin off of a grenade. "Fire in the hole!"
Even with her ears covered, Rei was disoriented by the explosion as a combination of sound and light filled the hallway. She couldn't imagine how bad it had been for those in the hallway. Blinking her eyes even as she shook her head and tried to get her bearings, Rei could see Melissa and Kaname taking turns shooting into the hallway.
"Are you alright?" It was her mother.
She nodded, taking hold of her rifle.
"Reload," her mother suggested.
Melissa's training earlier in the day was paying off as Rei ejected the spent clip and inserted a full clip. Though her hands ached, the rifle seemed to feel as though they had grown accustomed to the weapon.
Bursts of light filled the hallway as the intruders began to exchange fire with Melissa.
Rei wasn't sure why her mother was smirking. "There are only four of them left."
Unsure how her mother could tell the difference, Rei just nodded. She watched as Melissa signaled for her to cover the door, waited for the gunfire to subside, then tossed another flash grenade into the hallway. As the attackers recovered from the explosion the fearless mercenary leapt through the doorway, tossed another grenade, and then leapt into the empty apartment opposite of Sagara's. The third grenade did not have the force as the first two, instead it hissed as gas or smoke filled the end of the hallway.
She spotted a figure emerging from the smoke and automatically she squeezed the trigger. Before she blinked she'd emptied her clip but the figure was still standing. Before she could replace the clip the man stumbled forward then fell over.
"Duck!" The teal haired girl was surprisingly strong and forceful as she tacked Rei. A sudden explosion shook the building. "At least the fire suppression system didn't go off."
"Figures," Leonard grunted. "Gauron always had a knack for recruiting suicide bombers. I wasn't able to apprehend any of his subordinates – they all chose to die before being captured."
She didn't know how they could do it, though she supposed that it was because they were used to being in gun fights. She could barely keep up with the action as there was so much going on.
"Here," Kyoko said as she pushed another clip into Rei's hands.
Feeling the other girl trembling, Rei understood that they really weren't that different, just that they had some more experience with crazy shit hitting the fan. Ejecting the spent clip and replacing it with a fresh one, she returned her attention to the hallway.
The Kevlar sheeting had been durable enough to take whatever it was that their attackers were dishing out plus the explosion from the first suicide bomber. Time was now measured by the changing and refilling of ammo clips as Kyoko fought to keep up with the three shooters. Rei couldn't help but wonder how Melissa and Saeko were dealing with their ammo situation as both were on their own in different apartments.
An explosion rattled the apartment, this one originating from the other end of the hallway. Suddenly the building was quiet except for the ringing in her ears that drowned out her heavy breaths. "Is that all of them?"
"There's nothing from outside," Leonard stated.
"I counted four," Tessa whispered.
Melissa held out her hand, wiggling five fingers.
"Six!" Saeko shouted from the next apartment over. "I count two in my stairwell, the third in the hallway, two more in the other end of the hallway and one in that stairwell."
Melissa poked her head out of the other apartment as she took a quick count. "Six."
Rei shook her head as she surveyed the destruction, "We're going to need to relocate to another apartment."