Walking through the baron streets the agent took in his surroundings. Manhattan the once bustling city was now a ghost town. Thick layers of blood covered snow and destroyed shopfronts for as far as the eye can see. For any native to the city itself the sight was weird to say the least. Walking forward the only sound being the soft crunch of snow under his boots the agent pulled up his SHD watch to ensure his objective was still marked.
Objective: Secure CEDA Files on Green Flu
If intel was to be believed CEDA was close to a major discovery involving the Green Flus Mutation capabilities before there outpost in central park was overrun. All he had to do was get in let ISAC pull the files and extract. Simple enough but nothings ever that simple. The green flu had started out a common flu like every year but quickly changed into something far worse. Those infected turned feral attacking and in some cases consuming those not infected. At first reports said the virus was airborne but that was quickly ruled out when CEDA had reports of their staff becoming infected while in full hazmat gear.
Turning the corner, the agent paused and quickly hid behind an old mail truck. In the middle of the street was a group of infected. Five in total all huddled by a burning dresser swaying side to side while occasionally groaning and swiping at the air around them. The agent found it odd then the infected did things like this while idle. The reports said those infected were technically brain dead unable to talk or feel but on multiple occasions he watched as they would huddle in groups as if to stave off the cold or fight one another for a few moments then turn and shamble off. He peaked over toward the group again and watched as one infected stiffly reached up and grabbed his shoulders leaning slighting toward the fire as if trying to warm itself up.
But maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to him he couldn't remember the last time he got a full night's rest. Puling his rifle up he fired five quick shots and watched as the infected dropped into the snow. Just as he was about to step out from behind the mail truck he froze. He saw the top of head move from behind the dresser and when the figure came into view, he saw it was a kid. Skin pale with milky eyes and it staired right at the infected that was grabbing its shoulders earlier. The kid knelt down and grabbed the hand of the dead infected and started to pull as if trying to usher it somewhere. After a few attempts it stopped then slowly sat down and began sobbing. The sight itself was unsettling to say the least. The agent brought his rifle up and trained it on the kid and rested his finger on the trigger. But he couldn't pull it. It may have been infected but he couldn't bring himself to shoot it. Slowly the agent crossed the street and continued to make his way toward his objective as the sobs grew fainter with each passing second. There supposed to be dead right and the dead don't feel.
The treck to central park was quit after that encounter as the sun began to dip under the massive sky scrapers. Occasionally he would hear sound of an engagement elsewhere in the city, the sounds of unsuppressed firearms and angered screams would bounce off the buildings all around him but nothing he wasn't use to by now. Reaching the fence of the once beautiful park now turned mass grave the agent quickly scaled it with the aid of a few stacked black coffins. Inside were a few infected dawning hazmat gear their gurgled groans being the only indictor of their status. He had to be careful with them one stray round could pop off their oxygen tank and the blast would alert all the infected to his location. Hopping down as quietly as he could he pulled his knife from the holster on his chest rig and made his way toward the command tent taking out any infected that came too close.
The command tent was easy to find due to the large radio tower erected next to it. It was in rough condition though only a few pieces of tarp wrapped around a busted frame remained along with what could have been remains of those caught by the infected. It was nothing but piles of frozen tenderized meat at this point. What really caught the agent's eye was the large slab of rock that crushed the right half of the tent itself. Far too large for a few people to move and there was no construction equipment nearby to explain why it was tossed here. It made him uneasy. Stepping inside he scanned around for any infected before his eyes landed on the main command computer. Stepping forward he quickly began the uploading process. After a few minutes ISAC informed him that the upload was complete and just as he was about to return to where he entered, he heard it.
Breathing.
Not just normal breathing or even labored breathing but angry breathing, then he felt it footsteps but each one made the ground quake under his boots. Snapping his rifle up he quickly took cover behind the large slab as the rumbling steps grew closer. And that's when he saw it.
IT WAS MASSIVE.
A wall of muscle maybe seven or eight-feet tall walking on its knuckles like an ape would. Its body was covered in craters left by small arms fire and possibly some explosives. It groaned deeply and snorted as it moved near the tent before tearing a large chunk of earth from the ground. It yelled then slammed it down turning the slab into pepples. Luckly, it seemed to not notice the agent hiding behind the bolder it must have thrown earlier. Slowly the agent began to back up opting not to fight with the thing that skipped leg day when he bumped into a desk.
It was a light bump barely noticeable unless you were paying close attention. But it was paying real close attention. It snapped toward the agent and snorted like a bull about to charge and then it did just that. The agent turned and bolted out the back of the tent and the behemoth charged forward demolishing the rest of the tent as it galloped after the agent leaving large fist sized craters. He ran, He ran as fast as he could occasionally dodging the stray infected to jump in his path. Those that stood in the way of the walking tank were swatted away with the velocity of a spiked volleyball.
The agent knew he had to put something in between him and the thing behind him so as he ran his eyes scanned the fence for some type of opening. If he got back to the streets he could slip into an ally or even into the sewers if need be. His lungs began to burn as the icy air made it near impossible to breath and the thing behind him grew more frustrated the longer the chase went on.
It stopped for a second before tearing another piece of earth from the ground and flung it toward the fleeing agent. The agent jumped to the left and rolled as the cluster of frozen earth pounded into the metal fence warping it slightly. It wasn't large but the hole made was enough for the agent to squeeze through. As the infected reeled back to beat on its chest the agent darted for the opening unclipping his back and flinging it over before squeezing through.
Just as he popped out on the other side a massive fist smashed though the opening thrashing wildly in an attempt to grab him
It succeeded.
The agented yelped as the arm lifted him up before slamming him back down onto the snow and ice. The agent felt his bones rattle as pain shot from his sized leg up to his back. He began slamming his boot against the infected hand in an attempt to loosen the grip only to have it squeeze tighter. He felt a pop in his ankle then searing pain shot up his leg as it began to drag him back through the opening. Bracing his foot on the bar of the gate he leveled his M4 at the infected head and held down the trigger. The flesh of its face and chest began to peel off as it roared loudly releasing the limb in its grasp in order to shield its face. Using the opportunity, the agent shuffled back out of its range and grabbed his bag. Pulling a blue injector from one of the medical pouches he pressed it to his neck popped it. The pain quickly faded and he threw his back on and began to limp toward a nearby ally loading a fresh magazine into his M4 as a small hoard rounded the end of the street.
Screeching they charged toward the wounded agent as the larger one began to pry the bars apart and force itself through. Stumbling down into the ally the agent quickly jumped up onto the latter of the fire escape and climbed up jumping to one of the near windows and forced it open dragging himself inside as the infected poured into the ally. He watched as a few looked around for him before the large one came barrowing in crushing those too slow to get out of its way. It yelled in rage and began pounding on the floors, walls, even smacking a dumpster into the building next to it. After its spurt of anger and rage it turned and charged out of the ally its thudding steps growing faint after a few minutes. Once it quieted down the agent out breath, he didn't know he was holding and began panting loudly. The meds he took were beginning to wear off so he had to be quick checking his ankle he was relieved to find it not broken but when he tried to stand on it, he dropped.
He wouldn't be running any time soon.
He also felt like shit.
With a deep sigh he looked around and found himself in what used to be a living room. Most of the furnisher was stacked against the front door and the room itself was dimly lit by the streetlights outside. As his eyes began to adjust to the dim light, he saw a small kitchen and a door to his right and a larger room connected to his left. The room to the left was shrouded in darkness but he was able to see the red numbers of an alarm clock on what could have been a dresser or counter. Up in the corner he saw a bright red dot that must have belonged to the smoke alarm system. That meant this building still had power and the time was ten to eight. Which was good he thought reaching up to close the window he crawled through. As he got his breathing under control, he pulled his bag off grunting as his body began to ach. He had enough supplies to last him a few days so he would keep quiet rest up and move once his ankle could support it.
Reaching into his bag he pulled out a can of chili he nabbed from one of the safe rooms a few days back. Popping the top, he grabbed his spoon and began to eat. Half way through the can he stopped when out of the corner of his eye the agent saw a slight shimmer in the darkness to his left. He turned and for the second time that day froze the red light of that smoke alarm was now on the ground a few feet away just out of the faint lights reach. Not only did that red light move.
It blinked...