Author's Warning: CAUTION! This chapter contains scenes of inhuman violence, including but not limited to: Decapitation, evisceration, loss of limb, and the brutal slaughtering of masses of civilians. If you choose to SKIP this chapter, and move directly to Chapter Six: "Declaration of War", you will NOT loose any plot points, as the entire chapter will be covered in the next chapter. Skipping this chapter will not be criticized or frowned upon in any way. If you do not like the idea of such an atrocity as I will describe being given to you in such plain English, I suggest you skip to Chapter Six: "Declaration of War".
Five: "Quarantine Zone Phi"
My head still hurt from my whole 'rising from the grave' shenanigans. I haven't even been awake for a week, and they were sending me back into the thick of things. Seems like we've finally pinned the Unholy in one of their Quarantine Zones, and we're going to flash it.
"Plan's simple. We move in and destroy the Unholy before they react. Ferals are to be shot on sight, and Revenants are to be captured, unless they fight back. Any Revenant which draws weapon, is to be shot and killed. I want a clean attack, with as few casualties as possible. Keith; how's your head?"
"Still hurts, but I should be fine..." I responded, giving the Acting Commander an affirming nod. He returned the gesture, and turned to the rest of the soldiers awaiting their orders.
"Excellent. I want you all suited up and ready within the hour. We move once all helicopters are at capacity.
Fitting my armor over my chest, and the helmet to my head, I heard the group on the opposite side of my locker explode into laughter.
"...This is the kind of shit I live for! I just hope those damn Revenants try something. My wife just left me, and I'm itchin' to kill me something!" He called, the sound of a submachine gun cocking affirming his positing. Deep inside me, something squirmed in my gut. Something told me this was not going to go well. After suiting up and arming myself, I walked to the helipad where five helicopters waiting, rotors spinning, for their occupants. Each Modified Chinook carried three squads of ten men, thirty people total. Five times thirty... was a hundred and fifty men really needed to secure a Quarantine Zone?
Shaking my head, I tried not to think about it too much. I just sat in my seat, MP5 on my lap, psyching myself up for the mission ahead. And before I really knew it, I was dozing in and out of sleep.
I was awoken by one of the men in my unit tapping the side of my helmet.
"Kieth! Yo, Kieth, wake up! We're almost ready to drop!" Shaking the sleep from my eyes, I stood, weapon tight in my grip. My radio cracked on, as did I suspect the radios of everyone else.
"Attention all soldiers. Rules of engagement have just changed. Our contact inside has informed us that the Revenant disease is too well-grown into the ecology of the Quarantine Zone. We're to purge the entire zone of Unholy of all persuasions, and all who side with Revenants. No one surrenders. If someone puts their hands up, you put a bullet in their brains. Copy?" We all answered with 'copy'. I didn't even think about what my orders pertained to at the time. It was just a job. And I was going to do it. Things got a little complicated once we repelled down to the Quarantine Zone.
Intel was wrong. This Quarantine Zone was not a military installation. It was a converted city block. Most of the houses were carved out of the existing buildings, and people walked around on the street. When my squad landed at first, we found ourselves at the town center. We fanned out, weapons at the ready. Several civilians stared at us with confusion. I heard someone's safety click off
"You heard the commander!" He called. "No prisoners!" It was right then when his gun fired, a steady stream of bullets leaving the weapon, ripping into the civilians' clothing. Women shrieked and men cried out in pain, white-hot lead shredding flesh and shattering bone.
After the first group of people we met lay dead on the ground, I looked them over. None of them looked like Unholy. Most retained human shape. I took hold of my radio.
"Uh... Commander?"
"Yes, Mr. Showers?" He answered in a dull voice.
"We've just landed in the Quarantine Zone, and so far, I've only seen civilians."
"Reports have indicated that the F.E.V. has mutated to the point where it no longer affects physically. They're infected, already, though you may not be able to tell." As he spoke, he quelled my churning gut. I nodded.
"Yes, sir. Continuing with mission." I responded, taking my weapon back up.
"Alright, listen up. We're going to break off into groups of three to better cover ground." He began running off groups. "And finally, Keith and Cally will be with me." He tucked his weapon farther into his shoulder.
Breaking off and splitting up into our groups, we filed into one of the buildings. Cally took point, and I took rear, our Commander in the front. While Cally waited outside, Gregs, our Comamnder and I, went inside. The first apartment was filled with a small group of people, most of which were asleep. Gregs drew his machete, and slipped into one of the rooms. Although I couldn't see what he was doing, the dull 'shink' followed by a thud, and something heavy rolling told me exactly what he did. A few more similar sounds, and Gregs walked out, cleaning the weapon on a cloth.
"Clear. Move on." He muttered. I took the next, walking into the next room. Here, people actually were awake, watching reruns of some old television show. As the door swung open, they turned to look at who came in. One reacted.
"Hey, you can't just-" Leveling my SMG, I fired, the first couple of rounds landing with such power as they nearly took his head off. Blood splattered against the woman of the group, and the opposite wall. The child reacted first, sprinting into her room. The woman stood and tried to run, but was gunned down in the process. I resolved to not bother trying to shoot the quick little target, and just pull the pin off one of my grenades, toss it inside and shut the door. The explosion and sound of thick liquid against wall told me it had found it's mark. I peeked my head inside, the scene of blood and bits of flesh clinging to the walls let me know my ears didn't lie. I clicked my radio on.
"Keith here. This room's clear. Moving on." Cally echoed a similar confirmation to us.
We regrouped later in the town center, most of the squads covered in blood. Gregs spoke when we all arrived.
"Alright, one last area to clear. Mr. Showers, while you clear that area, the rest of us will secure an evac zone here. Once you are finished, return for pick up."
"Yes, sir." Commander Gregs unsheathed his machete, handing it to me.
"Here. Just in case." Giving him a nod, I took the weapon and walked to where I was needed to clear. It was a cafeteria, built out of a hotel lobby. Of course. Being built out of a hotel lobby, there was only one exit. As I entered, several people stared at me over their food. Lighting a cigarette, I took up my MP5.
"Hello." I spoke crypticly. Everything after that was just a blur.
I began by unloading the SMG into the crowd, several people dropping from the hail of bullets. Some collapsed to their knees, holding stumps where arms once were, some falling from loss of legs, or crippling spinal shots. Once the MP5 was empty, I discarded it, drawing the machete. Most of the people tried to run past me, through the only exit. As they did, they were cut down. Some of the more memerable kills involved one man trying to struggle past me, the weapon slicing his head clean off. Another was a woman who tried to rip the machete from my hand, which I answered by driving it into her chest, twisting it a few times, and ripping it out, most of her insides coming out with it. A child screamed, and tried to hide behind a counter. Drawing my side arm, I fired six times, all the bullets striking her in the back. Cleaning the machete off, I sheathed it, and clicked my radio on.
"Commander Gregs. Mission Accomplished."
"Roger. Return for pickup."
Ending Author's Note: If I still have you for this chapter, let me make something clear. I would NEVER support the mass slaughter of civilians in ANYTHING. As a matter of fact, I support games which make targetable civilians invulnerable (Like City of Villians). As a matter of fact, unless I felt it nessecary, I wouldn't have written this chapter, but I felt that, to at least those who could read it, it was important to state why the EFH and the Revenants go to war.