Capitol Building Roof
Six Hours Later…
The sun rises over a now quiet Capitol Building. Dozens of True Son bodies litter the roof, hallways and surrounding grounds. Smoke rises from an overheated machine gun propped on a sandbag wall, it's operator lying lifelessly not far away. A raven lands on the body of a True Son and begins picking at the gorey hole in her torso, occasionally giving out it's throaty call.
A small group of people stand scattered around various areas of the roof. Six of them are Division Agents, the other five members of the JTF. The leader of the JTF team, Kelly Lambert, stands at the edge of the roof, gazing at the sun-bathed city below. Her uniform and helmet are peppered with shrapnel holes and grazing hits from incoming bullets. Her once innocent-looking face is now covered with dirt and sweat. Some might call her expression 'The Thousand Yard Stare'. A gentle breeze ruffles the tattered and graffitied American flag nearby, but she hardly notices it.
Behind Kelly, her team members Anthony Miller and Shelby Lazka sit closely to each other on a wall of sandbags, sharing a cigarette. Behind them, the smouldering remains of an anti-aircraft battery that they personally had destroyed. Lazka has bandaging on her hand wrapped all the way up her forearm, while her companion has some tied around his shoulder, thigh and head, the result of being too close to the blast that destroyed the battery.
Derek Upton and Tyler Finnigan are seated further away, the former checking on the latter's wound from earlier in the battle. Finnigan had insisted that he felt fine, but the unusually heavy flow of blood from the injury made his medic friend worry, so his objections were overruled.
The Agents are spread in a similar manner. Alani, Thomas and Faye stand near another roof edge, admiring the view of the sunrise. The Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Eisenhower Building all landmarks that stand out on the horizon.
Jay, Sarah and Dima are, standing and kneeling, respectfully, in front of the body of General Antwon Ridgeway, former leader of the True Sons. Several pieces of his armored suit litter the nearby area, as well as thousands of shell casings from the large machine gun he had been wielding. The gun, a heavily modified M60 E4, was used to its absolute limits during the fight, and now lies at the General's side, a now super heated, partially melted worthless pile of plastic and metal. Sarah's own belt-fed weapon had been badly abused, as one of the bipod legs had broken off and the compensator on the muzzle had nearly melted. Nearly all of her ammunition was depleted, as well as all but one of the grenades she had taken earlier.
Jay's ACR had a cracked scope, on top of the heavy usage, but it was nothing the weaponsmith couldn't fix. Dima's AK had a similar story, and he was down to his last magazine.
Roxwell slowly approaches his friend Kelly, who has clearly never seen the brutality of war before. He arrives at her side, and she slowly looks up at him.
Every mission the young Guardsman had tagged along on had been worse than the last. She now had first hand experience of just how bloodthirsty her enemies, and in some cases, her friends, truly were.
"Quite a view, isn't it?" Roxwell asks, the sound of his voice making me jump slightly.
"Best seats in the house." I reply, rebuilding my composure.
"So, what do you think of our lovely D.C.?" He asks, looking down at me.
I hesitate for a moment, thinking of a response.
The last month has been the craziest adventure I had ever been on. The odds stacked so highly against us, as well as the Militia. The fact that the people and the Agents haven't given up says more about them than any words ever could.
My friends, Jay and Sarah especially, have shown new sides of themselves that I never would've expected. They have far deeper personalities than most veterans I know, and there is clearly more to them than the average Jarhead. Faye isn't the hardass she wants us to think she is. Dima, our friendly neighborhood Russian, is the opposite of stoic off the battlefield.
Alani and Thomas, I haven't been able to get a read on, but Faye and Roxwell speak very highly of them. And speaking of the latter, 'Rocket' has quickly become one of my closest friends during our downtime at the White House. He is surprisingly gentle and kind, despite his...in the field reputation. According to Alani, he once worked closely with someone she just called 'Espinoza', and they had similar combat styles. He unfortunately met an untimely demise at the hands of a Hyena called 'Coyote', long before our arrival. Roxwell was given the chance to avenge his friend shortly afterward, fittingly hacking Coyote to pieces with his signature blade.
My thoughts return to Roxwell's question, and I decide for a simple answer.
"It's...going to need a new coat of paint, but ...it's definitely something."
My friend lets out a laugh, nodding in agreement.
"Truer words have never been spoken, Kid." He says with a smile.
"What now, Faye?" Jay asks. I look up to see that our field commander has joined us in looking over the remains of the General. Agent Lau stands between Jay and Dima, holding the helmet Ridgeway was wearing.
"Now...we head back." She replies simply, dropping the helmet. "I'm sure Manny will want to talk to us. Then...we figure it out from there."
"Maybe we will go home?" Dima suggests. I nod at the idea.
"I like the sound of that." I say, standing up. "The folks here can take this swamp and stick it."
"Hey! Everyone!" Faye calls. "Rally up!"
The team slowly makes their way over, forming a small circle around us. Miller leans on Lazka, using her as a crutch. While walking over, Upton hurriedly stuffs his medical items into his bag. Roxwell accompanies Kelly, staying close to the clearly unsettled guardsman.
"Everyone alright?" Faye asks. We all tiredly look ourselves and each other over for any previously unseen injuries. A few, myself included, nod after a few moments.
"That was far heavier than anyone could've expected." The boss begins, looking around at us. "The True Sons kicked our asses, but you all took it and kicked back." Her eye lands on Kelly's team. "I have to say, I'm very impressed. Well done, all of you."
Roxwell pats Kelly's shoulder encouragingly. She nods after a moment and gives him a small smile.
"I'm sure you'll hear the same praise, if not more, from Manny when we get back. Gather yourselves up. Let's head home."
"Ahh." I mutter to Jay. "Hopefully we don't have to stay here for two years."