– Ch 3 Reunion –
"We are under attack! We need any reinforcements you can send, anyone who can help, I don't know how much longer we'll last," a frantic voice cut over the radio.
That sounds like Clawhauser, Judy thought. The jovial dispatch officer was excitable on a normal day; after two and a half days of constant fighting he sounded nearly hysterical.
"We don't have anyone to send, we're barely holding the camp as it is. I'm-I'm sorry," an equally frazzled officer from Camp Hudson responded.
The sound of gunfire echoed off the tall faces of the buildings that surrounded the plaza, urging Judy and the others to run even faster. Passing stranded vehicles all around them the group approached the edge of the plaza cautiously, hoping to avoid stumbling into a trap. The mobile security towers placed at the intersections stood as silent sentries over the area, guarding an empty road; the proud NYPD badges painted on the front unmarred by the damage and dirt that the cars around them had weathered.
As they entered the plaza they could see a large group of darkly dressed thugs and rioters standing around a large decontamination tent in a loose circle. Now that they were close to the base's radio towers they were able to tap into the JTF's radio channel through Jack's ISAC. A scratching sound came over the airways, cutting off the end of the camp radio operator's message.
"Base, this is Divison Agent Faye Lau; I have an agent inbound on your position with JTF officers in tow. They're going to take care of your pest problem any minute, watch out for friendly fire."
The group came to a stop a little ways into the plaza; they huddled behind a bus which obscured them from view of the rioters, with Madison Square Garden looming to their right. Jack pulled up his watch and began pressing buttons on its surface, after a moment he turned to look at the bus and then back to everyone, the setting sun causing his shooting glasses to turn opaque as he looked around the assembled team.
"Okay we've got twelve tangos over there. Officer Hopps and I are going to sneak behind the cars and that traffic barricade on the right, giving us a chance to flank them. You guys move up from here, just keep us at your three o'clock, okay?"
Heads nodded all around the group with the exception of the sergeant who merely scowled, clearly unhappy with his command being pulled from him. As they waited for the command to move out everyone began checking their gear, pulling out clips and checking the number of bullets they carried, clearing gun chambers, and triple checking safeties - making sure they were off. All these actions were nervous, and unnecessary, habits of the soldiers; seeing as Jack was the only one to use his weapons recently.
After one last glance to his watch Jack turned to the guardsmen and their leader, "Give us 30 seconds to get into position. We fire on your word, sergeant."
With that Jack and Judy broke-out from behind the bus and together they ran from car to car, staying low to remain unseen as they leap-frogged past each other. The shouting of the group of rioters grew louder as they got closer, though what they were saying remained unclear, but it definitely sounded angry to Judy.
They successfully made it to cover just across from the entrance to the base; the guardsmen were still 150 feet back to their left, glimpses of their orange vests could be seen from behind cars and a few billboards as they too ran to their positions.
As Judy crouched behind a concrete barricade she looked back to Jack, who was leaning against a police SUV, its lights were still flashing, casting odd, blue and red shadows across his face. He looked back at her and gave her a quick wink and a reassuring nod, smirking.
She peeked around the corner of her cover getting a good, and intimidating, look at what they faced. Like Jack said there were twelve men standing around, waving their arms and guns, some even fired their guns randomly into the air as they shouted at and taunted the JTF forces trapped inside the building.
Judy winced as the sound of the gunshots assaulted her sensitive ears. The sound of her own rifle gave her a headache this morning, and a ringing in her ears that lasted most of the day. She really needed to find some ear protection before she went deaf.
Waiting for the National Guardsmen to act was fraying her nerves; she was never good at being patient. Typically when Judy had a goal in mind or a job to do she went at it full force until it was completed; but waiting, especially on people she didn't know, was testing her. She kept taking deep breaths, trying to remain calm; honestly she'd had enough fighting and killing for one day, but she was so close to home. Just one more push and she would be done, for now anyway.
Looking through the group of criminals, Judy was deciding who to focus on once the soldiers kicked over this anthill. As she watched her eyes were drawn to a man standing at the front of the group, just in front of the doorway leading into the base. He was dressed in dark clothing like the rest, but he had a big backpack on, and his hoodie looked oddly bulky, as if it were a size or two too large. He was rallying the group, apparently getting them ready to charge into the base.
Judy continued to watch him as his shouting grew louder and more senseless, causing the crowd to grow more agitated. At the end of his speech the man raised an arm in the air, something clutched in his fist; then, with a wordless shout, he slammed his fist down onto his leg and threw whatever was in his hand to the side.
At that moment the JTF guardsmen started firing on the crowd. Out of the six soldiers: one was a marksman, like Jack, two others used light machine guns, and the remaining three used assault rifles similar to Judy's.
Simply put, in the opening seconds of the fight it literally rained bullets, four of the rioters fell to the ground before the rest could react, the sound of gunfire causing them to scatter for cover.
Judy ducked back behind the barricade before anyone could see her, turning she saw Jack still standing against the car, waiting for the rioters to be fully focused on the guardsmen before firing and exposing their position.
"Jack!" She yelled to be heard over the gunfire and sound of impacting bullets. "Big guy with backpack! He did something to himself, something odd."
"Got it!" He yelled back evenly. Raising his M1A to his shoulder, he leaned out and peered down the scope, spotting the man Judy pointed out hanging around the back of the group behind a billboard. The man and several of his flunkies were shooting back at the JTF men, oblivious to the threat at their side.
Jack placed the crosshairs over the man's chest; he hadn't had time to adjust the new scope yet, so he had to settle for shooting the center of mass instead of a headshot which he preferred for finishing the job quickly. Something about this man's bagging clothing seemed off, and it gave Jack an uneasy feeling deep in his gut.
With the shot lined up Jack released the breath he held and steadily pulled the trigger three times. The man staggered as two shots connected with his chest and the third hit his leg, his pants darkening with blood; but he didn't go down. Looking up he saw Jack, then pointed and shouted something to his friends as he hid behind some cover that blocked him from view of everyone.
Jack ducked back behind the SVU as bullets began flying his direction. He began to worry, the man should have fallen, three hits with .308 caliber bullets at close range and the man was still standing; it just wasn't right. Deciding to get answers Jack left the cover of the SVU and ran up to the barricade, sliding in next to Judy he dropped his rifle and pulled out his MP7.
"Hopps, you said the man did something to himself," Jack said, holding his gun over his shoulder and firing randomly, encouraging their enemies to keep their heads down. "What did he do?"
Judy popped out and fired a couple of bursts, dropping a man who hadn't realized he'd been flanked yet. "You shot him didn't you?" She asked as she pressed her back up against the concrete again, looking at Jack next to her.
"Yeah, two in the chest but he didn't go down. I think he's wearing armor."
"Shit," was all she could say as concrete chips began to fly from the bullets that struck their cover. The guardsmen renewed their assault from the left, pulling the rioters' attention back down the street, freeing up Judy to look over the wall. She saw the man with a backpack jump up and run towards the soldiers, seemingly unfazed by the wound on his leg.
A thought came to her mind as she watched him run, and it was not one she liked. Facing Jack again she voiced her concern, "Jack, I think he hit himself with a med-pack stimulant shot. That explains his aggression and disregard for being hit. Also I didn't see blood on his chest."
"Damn it." He stood up and fired at the last lackey while the armored thug sprayed bullets at the guardsmen, who were sensibly keeping their heads down. Somehow a round must have slipped through an ad board, causing one of the officers to fall on the ground, screaming as his clutched his stomach.
"Cortez!" They heard the sergeant yelling over the radio. "Adams, get over there and help him!"
Jack cued up his own mike, "Sergeant that man is wearing body armor and doped himself with something, probably one of our own med-packs. I'm going to toss a flashbang and then we hit him simultaneously."
"Understood agent," replied the guardsman, suddenly losing his former animosity.
"Cover your eyes and ears everyone," Jack yelled. Standing up again he primed a grenade in his right hand and tossed it in an underhanded throw. It landed several feet away from the man who was oblivious to the trap as he continued to keep the guardsmen pinned down with his light machine gun. Jack then pulled up his submachine gun and fired at him, getting the man's attention and causing him to look just about where the grenade landed.
Jack dropped to the ground as the man fired back at him, he grabbed his rifle and then crouched next to Judy; who rightfully, but comically, was crouching with her eyes scrunched shut and her hands clapped over her ears. Jack smiled and began to chuckle at her expression.
…
BOOM
The flashbang went off, causing the sky to brighten as if a lightning bolt crashed into the middle of the battlefield. Jack immediately stopped laughing as the concussive sound echoed off the buildings and hit his eardrums, it wasn't bad enough to bust them but now there was a slight ringing coming from the ear that didn't have the in-ear mike to protect it.
Next time I'll cover my ears and instead of laughing at Hopps, he thought, miffed at his own carelessness.
Wasting no time, Jack and Judy leaned out over the concrete barricade, pushing off what little snow had gathered along the top as they rested their arms, giving themselves a stable platform to shoot from. Then they fired on the blinded man in slow, controlled bursts and semi-automatic trigger pulls along with the other four JTF soldiers.
Under fire from six people the man struggled to remain standing, but he did for a few seconds, before dropping his gun and falling to his knees. Modern body armor, even high-end stuff, could only take so much punishment; trauma plates cracked, and Kevlar weave broke down after enough shots. The combined efforts of the JTF force brought down the riot ringleader despite his heavy armor and drug induce strength.
The street became quiet as the last member of this group of rioters died. Everyone took a second to catch their breath; Jack slung his rifle over his shoulder as he ran over to the wounded guardsmen, Judy followed him after a moment of hesitating. She could run inside the base and get help, but maybe she could be useful now.
The snow and water slush around the fallen guardsmen was already stained red with the blood coming out of the exit wound on his back. Adams had taken off Cortez's vest and was currently trying to stuff of wound with gauze to staunch the bleeding.
"How is he?" Jack asked, kneeling down next to Adams.
"I d-don't know," Adams stammered, "I'm not trained past basic first aid."
"Okay, a couple of you grab his arms, I'll grab his legs. Let's run him inside, there's got to be a doctor in there."
Following Jack's lead, Adams and the sergeant picked up Cortez by his shoulders and began moving as fast as they could, trying not to open his wounds any farther. Cortez tried to remain quiet but he couldn't help from crying out periodically as they moved towards the base.
"Hopps! Lead the way for us," Jack called out.
Judy nodded, her eyes wide as she jogged forward and pushed the plastic strips in the doorway aside as she yelled up the ramp, "It's Officer Hopps with friendlies, we've got wounded!"
"Judy?!" A deep voice called out, it sounded like Delgato. A slight smile crept onto her face, the familiar voice already beginning to make her feel at ease.
Continuing up the ramps she rounded the awkward corners of the oversized room, and at the end of the hallway, through the actual doors of the post office, she saw Delgato and Fangmeyer. The two detectives pointed their M4 rifle barrels up and to the side once they saw her.
"Holy shit, it is Hopps!" Fangmeyer nearly shouted.
Judy turned around, looking back down the ramp as Jack rounded the corners with Cortez's legs beneath his arms. She waved at him to follow her down the hallway and into the base proper.
"Come on," she said still leading the agent and JTF soldiers, "the medical wing is over here to the left."
Passing through the deserted post office foyer, the group burst through the doorway into the medical wing, startling a dozing EMT who had his head down on a table. Judy looked around frantically searching for a table or bed or anything for Cortez to lie down on. Spotting an open gurney she pointed over to it; and then, trying to stay out of the way, she walked over to the paramedic.
"We have a soldier here with a gunshot wound to the lower abdomen."
"Two gunshots," Adams corrected over his shoulder as they slowly set Cortez down on the gurney.
"Two wounds," she amended, "is there anyone who could help you?"
The EMT shook his head as he walked over and started checking Cortez's vitals. "No, it's been just me and my partner ever since Dr. Kandel and the rest of the medical staff went over to the field hospital."
"How long have they been gone," Jack asked as he stepped back from the gurney.
"Ahh…three, maybe four days now. I can't keep it the days and nights straight anymore."
Jack nodded before leaving the room, he wouldn't be of any help in there, but Kandel and her team would be. He needed to go rescue them, now; but first he needed to restock on ammo before staging a daring rescue operation. Walking around the lobby looking for an ammo cache he noticed a couple dozen officers standing around the once empty room, staring at him, or past him he realized as he turned around.
After a moment Judy walked through the doorway from the medical wing; straightening her jacket and pulling off her backpack before looking up. She was greeted with the sight of her co-workers standing around and staring at her as though she were a ghost. "Hey everyone," she said, tentatively raising her hand and gave them a small wave.
After she spoke the crowd erupted into a mass of questions and surged forward swarming the young officer.
"Judy where have you been?!"
"What happened in Brooklyn?"
"Why did it take you so long to get back, are you okay?"
These and a dozen other inquires clamored for her attention, she tried to answer the ones she heard but kept getting swept up in handshakes and even a few hugs from her co-workers. Everyone was clearly excited that the siege was broken, but almost as important, their very own Judy Hopps had returned.
Jack edged his way to the side of the group of people, trying to escape the wave of humanity that threatened to swallow him along with Judy. Breaking free he found himself standing near the center hallway, beside a desk and a crate that sat against the wall, the crate caught his eye; it had the Divison logo on the side along with a glowing orange ring on the center of its lid.
Looking over his shoulder, Jack saw that Judy seemed well at hand with her friends and co-workers. As he watched a rather portly officer broke free of the crowd, running right past Jack with a big smile on his face as he jogged down the hallway.
Turning his attention back to the crate, Jack decided to see if there was anything useful inside which he could use on his next task. Kneeling down he lifted his left hand up to the circle, holding his watch in front of the scanner. After a second of waiting the circle flashed and gave a quick beep-beep, Jack then gripped the sides of the lid and opened it.
Inside there were only a handful of things left; he saw a couple of ballistic shields, a portable cover stand, a few launchable first aid tubes, and even a support station sat at the bottom of the crate. Amongst what was left behind from the first wave of agents Jack did find what he needed, from within the crate he pulled out an automated turret and a hand-held grenade launcher designed for the Divison's remote-activated sticky bombs.
Closing the lid, he turned around and used the crate as a chair, and then picking up the turret Jack placed it in his lap and began to put in his ISAC activation code. Before Jack could use the turret he needed to program it to his ISAC, marking himself and other JTF personnel as friendlies. These tools would help him rescue the medical team, especially since he was going in alone.
The crowd around Judy grew quieter as she began to tell them of her adventure in Brooklyn, she explained how things spiraled out of control until today; she then went into detail on how Jack saved her, and then how together they saved the borough. As she told her story she pointed at Jack, who was still sitting on the crate, working on the grenade launcher now.
When he heard his name Jack looked up and waved to the assembled police officers, receiving a mixture of expressions. Most gave him nods of gratitude, from a few it was distrust or disinterest, but from two to three individuals he received looks of barely hidden hostility.
Everyone turned back to Judy as she continued telling them what else happened today, leading up to the fight just outside; but as she talked she grew a little anxious. Her brow furrowed as she looked over the faces in the crowd, she wasn't finding what, or who, she wanted.
Jack was watching Judy as he heard uneven footsteps approach from the hallway. Poking his head around the corner of the wall, he saw the portly officer from before, Clawhauser his nametag read, returning from some back office. Next to him was a man dressed in a hoodie and a pair of sweat pants. Clawhauser had one of the man's arms draped over his shoulder as he helped the tall redheaded man come down the hall. The man leaning against him walked with a limp on his right leg, and his left arm was suspended in a sling; his head was bowed as if he was still asleep.
The two stopped at the entryway, standing there facing the group in the lobby. Jack stood up as they stopped, the motion causing the redhead to look at him, they stared at each other for a moment. Jack maintained eye contact while the man's eyes flicked down and then back up, sizing up Jack; when he looked at Jack's shoulder, where his Divison badge was located, the man scowled.
"Clawhauser, why are we out here? Did you really need to wake me for… whatever this is?" He said as he finally broke eye-contact, turning his head back to the officer beside him. The air between them grew tense as Jack felt waves of animosity come from the man.
"Yes I did Nick," Clawhauser said excitedly, "look in the middle, look who's here."
Nick sighed, looking crossly at the shorter man, and then turned back to the crowd gathered by the front doors. As he watched, the group grew quiet and parted down the middle, revealing a short, easy-smiling young woman with grey hair.
Nick suddenly stood upright as if someone shocked him; he pushed off of Clawhauser and took a step forward, disbelief and surprise shown clearly in his wide eyes.
"J-Judy?" He said softly, almost a whisper.
Judy turned, looking up through the gap in the circle of people around her, she raised a hand to her mouth when she saw the tall redhead.
"Nick!"
Next time: – Ch 4 Teaming Up –