The city was only a few miles away and our anti-heros were close enough to see black smoke rising in the sky. The city looked eerily beautiful from the front view of the agency's truck that rattled with ambition down the lonely road of Nevada. Sanderson's friend, another agent, drove the truck towards the city as Sanderson sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle, looking at a cell phone.
The other agent had a white suit with a black tie around his neck that was partly hidden by the jacket. He had a pair of red smith shades on that shined in the light of the day. This was an uncommon agent, a special one sent from the Control branch of the agency. The two were just finishing up a conversation as they near the city limits. A conversation that would carry on into their real mission.
"So then when we got to the party," Sanderson went on. "I realized that we left SI's car at the office and he had to stay with us the whole night."
"I see..." the other agent said as he tried to focus on driving. "So why not just stay at the station and let Control handle this?" Sanderson looked out his window at the passing desert scenery. It looked too peaceful a land for an outbreak of monsters to be happening here.
"I have my reasons." Agent Sanderson stated. "I was requested to come handle this as a test." He turned his head to the driver. "I had a few artificial enhancements done on me after an…. incident." a long pause followed his words before he continued. "These enhancements involved increased reflexes, speed, and my skills in hand to hand combat."
He turned his head back to look out the window, the cool wind blowing through his manhair.
"Those skills won't be needed too much against zeds." the white suited agent said as the sign for the city flew past them while they speed closer to the city.
"I didn't say they'd be used against zeds." the former politician said. the other agent was silent at this. What did this man mean? Sanderson pressed a button on the screen and an ATP engineer appeared on it. "SI, we are approaching the city. Has circle team taken position yet?" The engineer on the phone nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, Willy." The engineer said in a dull quiet tone. He pulled up his mask and placed it out of the screen view. "I got a new mask." He pulled out of the corner of the screen an ATP mask with an orange lens instead of the standard yellow. It had become a new think for the ATP to have special colored masks to add uniqueness to themselves. This one was no acception.
"Circle team has cleared a path in the streets for you to enter in." SI stated as he slide the mask over his head and adjusted it to his face. "Just make sure you get any survivors as well as any survivors of the agency's SB."
"Wait, what?" Sanderson looked over at his driver then back at the screen. "I wasn't aware that we had a lab in the facility." SI shrugged then tugged on his mask.
"Well, that's the thing." He responded. "It was a secret lab on the top level. They were advancing the soldat program. If any members of the agency survived this, you'll find a few soldats huddling together somewhere."
"What exactly were they advancing in them?" the truck started to slow as buildings became visible on both sides of the vehicle. Apartments and gas stations with cars swerved into them. One gas station on their left has a semi smashed right through the building, its a wonder the thing didn't catch fire and explode. Another apartment had two cars pulled up next to it with a substantial amount of red and yellow blood in front of the door. The agency tried to contain the situation when it started, but it failed… miserably. As the truck turned around a corner to avoid a car pile up with mutilated corpses in them, they found themselves in the business section of the city. Office buildings on either side with a few hotels here and there. That's when they saw the dead standing in the road.
"Hold on." Sanderson said to SI as he held up his hand. "Stop right here. We'll continue on foot." The white suited agent obeyed and put the brakes on. "SI, i'll have to call you back."
"Oh take your time." the ATP agent said a little bored. "I'll just watch the Blair grunt project, get a couple of hot dogs, play cards with Gale and the other boys. Just don't get killed okay." SI said a little softer as he leaned into the screen. "We don't want to hear the amazing Willy Scagels is dead." with that the screen went black. Sanderson opened the inside of his coat and tucked the phone inside for safe keeping.
"Willy Scagels?" The driver said confused then started to laugh. "That's your name?! Hahaha!" Sanderson opened the withered passenger door and hoped outside.
"It's a family name." He said. "Get the boys out of the back, I got this one." The driver opened his door and slipped out still chuckling at the name he just heard. Sanderson pulled his coat open again and reached in the retrieve the Beretta from earlier. He had a large number of mags hidden on his person, courtesy of the survivors he met earlier, but he was still about conserving ammunition.
The three zeds in front of him were recently infected, you could tell from the fresh blood on their shirts. One of them was an agent with red smith shades that had large cracks in them and a ripped up suit. He probably had struggled to fight off the other two which were regular zeds, however one of the had satchel on his left side. These corpses reeked of decomposition and other foul sents that follow you after death. Their rotting green flesh would have frightened Sanderson in his younger years, but he was older now and had survived the agencies intense training to be a stronger leader.
He waited for the undead to start to shamble towards him before raising his pistol to take aim at the closest one, the agent.
Agent Sanderson casually squeezed the cold trigger ejecting a round from his gun, sending it in the general direction of the zed. The white flame shot out a foot from the barrel as the bullet left it and dug itself into the skull of the decaying enemy. The zed went a couple more inches before Sanderson fired off another two rounds. One skimmed the top of the zed's he and the other blew through it's eye and out the other end. This time, the zeds hands dropped to it's sides as it fell face first onto the pavement. The the grey haired agent shifted his pistol at one of the other zeds and took a number of shot at his head. Two rounds penetrated the zed's head and the other bullets up and down it's neck. The corpses were still shambling at him, the last one hung back behind the other.
Sanderson shook his pistol at the zed as it walked in past his range and was now too close to shoot at. Sanderson raised his pistol up as the zed grabbed him ready to bite into him. Sanderson, with all his might, brought the pistol butt down on the skull of his opponent and caved in half of the creatures head. As the zed shook a little stunned before dying again, it let go and fell backwards, it's head squishing softly on the ground.
Sanderson looked down at the body and instead of taking aim and attacking the other zed that neared him, he dusted off his coat with his free hand that the zed had dirtied. That's when a loud gunshot filled the air. Sanderson looked up to see blood pouring out of a large newly formed bullet hole in the remaining zed's head. Sanderson turned his head behind him and saw the ATP engineers that were in the back of the truck still getting all their equipment together.
"Did you guys do that?" Sanderson asked them. They didn't even seem to hear what he said or just wanted to ignore him. Sanderson looked back at the zed and saw it had fallen to the ground and was spilling blood everywhere. He looked up to the right and saw something he didn't expect to see, the barrel of a sniper rifle. Sanderson began to examine the building, since from where he was standing, couldn't see the sniper himself.
He was on top of a three story hotel with a big billboard on the top that was advertising a man holding a hot dog in his hand, but it had the words 'Save us' written over it in what appeared to be black paint. The windows in the lobby area, or first floor, were all boarded up and decorated with dark red blood from zeds who were piled up around them. It must have stunk like hell in there. The door was luckily made of steel or something and was sturdy enough to not need a barricade.
"Anyone in there?" Sanderson said as he stepped over the zed at his feet and walked over to the door that faced the road. The agent turned back at his fellow co-workers and hollered: "Hey guys! We got survivors!" This time instead of just standing there, the four ATP engineers sprung into action and fell in line behind Sanderson, all of them carrying Mp5's fully loaded.
Sanderson raised his gun at the door and stepped on the sidewalk, the other members of his team spreading out on either side of their leader. They pointed the guns at the door as Sanderson pointed his gun in the air then stopped in front of the door. "We're here to rescue any survivors! Hello? Can you open the door? Please, please. Sir!"
A few seconds passed before the door actually shot up, revealing an ATP soldat standing there with a g36.
"Oh," he said disappointed and a little unimpressed. "It's you. Why aren't you holding some sort of fundraiser right now?" Sanderson almost burst out laughing but held it inside. "Well, come in I guess." The soldat stepped to the side, out of the doorway and let Sanderson and his agents in.
Upon entering, Sanderson saw the reception desk before him and a hallways running horizontal to the back of the desk. On the desk were a number of weapons and ammo laid out very carefully. Standing beside the desk was an 1337 agent holding a Deagle in his right hand which hung at his side, and a survivor in a worn out padded vest and a red sweatband. He was holding SR-3 with an attached laser sight in his hands but was missing the magazine.
The engineers walked in and started going down the hallways to check the area. "We heard on the TV you'd be coming but didn't believe it." The soldat informed sanderson "Then again," he continued as he walked over to stare through the boards that covered the window in front of him. "you wouldn't leave your precious ATP personnel behind would you. After you left up to clean up your mess."
"Our mess?" Asked the white suited agent who just walked inside as the door closed behind him. The soldat turned his body to face this other agent and said in a cheerful tone.
"Baldy!"
"My name is Balard." The agent stated as he walked up to the soldats face. "And we didn't leave you. You had your orders and I had mine. But now I have new orders." He put his hand on the soldats chest and pushed him up against the wall. "Where is he?" the soldat was confused at this question.
"Who he?" The soldat asked with a feeling of surprise in his voice.
"Doctor Eric. I know you know, he was with you last time I saw you." The soldat clenched his fists in the spare of the moment.
"But I don't know. That was a while ago." Agent named Balard pulled a bowie knife from his coat pocket and brought it up to the soldat's neck
"Oh please don't insult my intelligence, it makes me irritable." A hand reached over from behind and grabbed the blade of the knife then pulled it back, causing Balard to look back. William stood there and shook his head but that was enough for Balard to snap at this man who he apparently didn't want to listen to.
He jerk the knife out his fellow agents hand, cutting it, sending orange blood through the air and onto the wooden planks over the windows. Sanderson pulled his hand back and held it close to him while Balard and the soldat stared in awe at the newly colored blood soaking into the wall. "Oh shit." Balard said as Sanderson let go of his bleeding fist.
"You bitch!" Sanderson said angrily. "I should punch you in the damn face!" The agent clenched his fist and brought it back, preparing the hit the Control agent for his actions. Balard dropped the knife and jumped out of the way, holding his hands up. Sanderson lowered his fist again and let the blood run down his soft sensitive fingers.
"Okay, okay, just calm down before someone gets shot!" the soldat said holding his hands out. "Lets all just settle down and we can discuss the situation latter." The padded vested survivor and the 1337 agent just stood there holding on to their gun tightly. Sanderson looked over at them then over at the scared, white suited agent again.
"No, ill talk about it right now." Sanderson reassured him. "The white collar can go over while you and I discuss things." Balard nodded fearfully and stepped back, then turned around and walked down the left hall way. Sanderson sighed as he looked down at his wound. "How many of you are there?"