Bismarck and the shipgirls ran to catch up with me, and noticed the missing rations and the opened hatch.
I looked back at the table in the middle, and noticed a piece of paper. I bent down to pick it up, and looked at it.
IOU twenty rations of fish -Blake
Damnit.
"was somebody in here before us?" Saratoga questioned from the back, and I nodded.
"Around a hour ago, the panzerkampfwagen was attacked by three combatants. One combatant was wounded by a gunshot to the leg. The other two were eliminated." I gestured to the open hatch.
"And now the one that was wounded got away." I peered out of the hatch and looked around, before slamming and sealing the hatch. I turned to look at my new companions, who were now sitting around the table. Warspite seemed to be drinking tea; I had no clue where she got it from, but I wasn't going to complain. Prinz Eugen was animatedly talking with Bismarck, who seemed to be reading the files that I dropped earlier. Saratoga seemed to be cooking something that smelled good; apple pie. I sighed and climbed back into the driver's seat, restarting the engine as we went along through the forest. As we rumbled past, however, I couldn't help but think about what the hell Blake had been doing in some god-forsaken forest like this.
Hours passed, and I could hear snoring from all of them. I stuck my helmet between the gas pedal, and walked over to the table. Warspite had dozed off, teacup and teapot empty. Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had both fallen asleep, Prinz Eugen leaning on Bismarck's shoulder. Saratoga had climbed up to the gunner's seat, curled up in the rather large chair. I glanced back at the table and noticed a freshly baked apple pie, along with a note. I picked up the note along with a slice of pie, taking a bite and reading at the same time.
Thank you for saving us! -CV Saratoga
I still couldn't get used to the fact that they were apparently people with enough firepower to obliterate a entire city. I grabbed my helmet and my G-86, and popped the hatch to look outside. It was nighttime; we had left the forest long behind, and had began to enter what seemed to be the remains of a city. We entered through what once had been the mighty ramparts of a wall, abandoned and left to crumble at nature's devices. I looked in wonder at the buildings that had fallen into disrepair, the panzer crushing debris under it's tracks. I pulled down the goggles attached to my kevlar helmet, the HUD glowing to life. The night vision flickered in the moonlight, as the brightness adjusted. And as the night grew brighter, I realized how deep we were in the shit. the Grim has surrounded us, and had been stalking us this entire time. One of the wolf things jumped at me, and I poured lead onto it as I retreated inside the tank. I slammed the hatch shut just in time, as the sound of claws screeched against the hatch. I looked down to see all four of them wide awake, with looks of confusion on their faces.
"Hostiles! Hundreds of them! Help me man this panzer!" I shouted, as I grabbed a FABARM FP36, loading a shell into it's chamber. I popped the hatch and fired, lead shredding apart the wolves on the turret. I heard scrambling from downstairs as they ran to man the panzer. The panzer lurched backwards, slamming me against the rim of the hatch. The turret swung around, blasting a 220mm shell down the street, throwing Grim and concrete everywhere, and showering me in a fine dust of rock. I blasted Grim left and right, as they tried to clamber on top of the Panzer. I chambered shell after shell, as the nearly endless horde of Grim charged the panzer. I pulled a grenade and tossed it, the grenade blasting apart some of the Grim. Someone apparently finally figured out how to use the machine gun at the driver's seat, as 8.72 rounds shredded apart the tide, as the panzer sped forward. I set the FP36 down, and drew my G-86. The Grim still chased after us; I fired into the horde, as we left the ruins and entered what seemed to be a tunnel. The panzer roared down, turret now aimed behind us as the Grim continued after us, howling for blood. The floodlights flashed on, illuminating what seemed to be a unfinished station, along with a fairly old steam engine parked at the tunnel. I questioned what a train of such primitive technology was doing here, at least, until the main gun swung around and emptied a shell into the train, causing it to explode and sent shrapnel pinging everywhere. I ducked under just as a large piece of jagged metal embedded itself into the wall, causing some rocks to crush some Grim. The coaxial MG82 roared, 7.62 rounds tore into the horde, killing quite a few. However, it still wasn't enough. I ducked under the hatch, slamming it shut as I went to the driver's section. Bismarck was at the greeted me at the Gunner's seat, her compatriot Prinz Eugen helping to load in a 220mm shell without much effort. I noticed Saratoga at the driver's seat, her expression one of concentration as the panzer plowed through piles of concrete or abandoned construction equipment. Warspite sat at the command chair, watching the Grim chase after us with a seemingly amused look on her face. I gestured for Warspite to come with me, as she daintly walked over to me. We walked back to the small armory, and I opened a container with the words 'Warspite' engraved on it. In the container was what appeared to be rigging, with some ridiculously large cannons on it. Warspite carried the cannons in one hand, and began to put on the rigging. I looked around and noticed what appeared to be a set of doors on the back of the panzer. I took a step, and was instantly thrown backwards as the panzer came to a sudden stop, Warspite tripping and falling onto me. While this would have been a wet dream come true, having metal rigging fall onto you was not fun. I stumbled back up, and opened the back hatch. Warspite walked out, her 15 inch. guns on display in all it's glory. I grabbed a Infantry support MG8 I found in the armory, and walked out behind her, Ready to pour lead onto the incoming horde. Or at least, I would have, until Warspite blasted apart the horde with all of her firepower at once. 15 inch and 6 inch guns all fired, obliterating the horde of Grim from existence. Warspite turned to me, a proud smile on her face.
"Will we be able to do this again? I haven't had this much fun in ages." I took her hand and turned to inspect what had stopped our path. I stopped and stared, as the hatch opened and the rest of my companions climbed out.
A giant rock wall had blocked our way, and I could hear the sounds of civilization from the other side.
"Was in gottes namen is a rock wall doing-" I was interrupted by the the main gun firing, as we ran back into the Panzer. A sheepish Bismarck sat at the gunner's seat, looking fairly apologetic. I looked out of the hatch, only to see what appeared to be fifty policemen with riot shields surrounding the newly built entrance.
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" A officer shouted, and I shook my head.
"NEIN!" I hollered back, and the officer looked in confusion. I took out a german flag, the Black, Red, and Yellow recognized quickly by Bismarck. I hoisted it out, and shouted back.
"Let us pass! Unless you wish for a bloodbath, Let us find a place to disembark!" The officer looked struggled; He eventually nodded, and the SWAT line parted to let us move.
"Sara! get this Panzer moving!" The panzer rumbled to life, startling the SWAT line as we rumbled down to the road, and stopped right at the park. I got out, G-86 in hand as I helped the girls out as well. The SWAT line moved towards us, and I shouted out.
"This gun shoots 7.62 millimeter rounds, that are more than capable of penetrating your shields and killing you instantly. Any threatening moves to them and I'll gun you down. Understood?" the SWAT line was visibly nervous; Their hands were shaking, as they stopped in front of me.
"Alright." I looked around, and walked towards the line, before walked up towards one of the men. I shoved aside the shield, as the girls and the riot police looked curiously as to what I was doing.
"What the hell are you doing-" I slung my arm against his shoulder, and grinned.
"Now how about you tell me where the hell I can get a cup of coffee."