15th St. and Constitution
Lazka
Later that evening
Washington D.C. at night. That's the only thing I like about the city. Crickets, owls and cicadas all calling out for attention, a breeze every now and then russling the trees, a racoon or a squirrel stopping to watch us pass. I've been silently listening alongside my new companion Miller, tuning out the quiet conversations behind us. Every moment I listen, it makes me miss home a little more.
"When I was a kid, I'd be falling asleep to somethin' like this." I mumble quietly to the man at my side.
He nods. "Must've been nice. My youth slumbers were filled with city noise. Cars, planes, helicopters….I miss it."
"What? All the noise?"
"Yeah. And the people who made it. There's hardly anyone around anymore." Anthony says glumly.
I look forward and back at the empty, dim, slightly overgrown street, and can't help but agree. When the National Guard arrived, people were still around, at least to a degree. Lines of them flocked to the CERA aid stations, checkpoints, and even the airport. Two long, brutal years later, and the city is a shell of a shell. A shadow of its former self. Right now, if we stopped walking, you could hear a pin drop inside a car down the street.
"Two summers ago, no deer in her right mind would wander through here." I whisper as a doe quietly munches on a patch of grass near the Ellipse. She looks up, completely motionless for a moment, then turns away and begins to clop down the street.
"Makes me wonder if the rest of the world looks like this." Miller mutters. He looks up to wave at the Militia spotlight that settles on us from the nearby Fuel Depot.
"Picked up some friends?" The lookout asks. I glance back at our True Son turncoats.
"Yeah." I call back. "You could say that. Headed to Whiskey Hotel." The young man nods.
"Way should be clear. Go ahead."
We pass unrestricted into friendly territory. Black Tusk and stragglers from the other factions have recaptured many Control Points around the city, and White House is one of the few remaining Militia holdouts.
"That was easy." Miller says once we're out of earshot.
"The encounter at the main gates will probably be...interesting."
"Should we expect trouble from the JTF?" Captain Parker asks, as if on queue. I look up at him for a moment.
"Hopefully not." I say. "I asked Manny to wait for us at the gate."
"Ortega's still calling shots?" Parker nods for a moment. "Good. He's a good kid."
Meanwhile
Division Coordinator Office
The White House
Faye
"And it was just...unguarded?" Manny asks skeptically.
"Yes." Alani insists. "And ISAC's scan shows that if we burrowed just a bit farther, we'd end up right in the middle of the Tidal Basin base."
"Frankly, I don't quite believe it either." I say. "Why would Black Tusk leave the hole wide open? How could they have not seen it?"
"It is surrounded by wrecked boats and cars." Dima points out. "It's possible that no patrols have seen it. Unlikely, and lazy, but possible. We almost missed it, and we were looking for an entry point."
"We send a team through." Kelso continues. "We'd be right smack in the middle. No defenses to worry about, and the mercs will be scrambling trying to find us."
"But once it kicks off, you'll be surrounded." Manny counters. "And subsequently slaughtered. We need something else. A distraction."
"Have the Militia make a diversion at the main gate?" Dima offers. "Make them think we're duraki?"
"Those defenses?" I ask. "We'll be bringing them home in buckets. We don't have the numbers for an all out assault."
Alani growls to herself in frustration. "The place isn't Thermopylae. There has to be something."
A knock causes all of us to look up at the door. Before anyone can react further, it opens, revealing a young JTF officer. "Manny? You've been requested at the East Gate."
"This isn't the best time, Garvey." Manny replies. "Can it wait?"
"No, sir. It's Lazka. She says she's expected."
The coordinator looks down for a moment. "That's right. She is. Just wave her through."
"The guys at the gate aren't very fond of that idea." Garvey explains. "And Lazka wants everything to go smoothly."
Manny looks at all of us, then back to Garvey. "Alright. I'll be right there. Agents, care for a field trip?"
"What's going on?" Alani asks, pushing away from the map table.
"Lazka's team went out for a patrol in Southwest, and somehow managed to capture an entire company of True Sons. They've brought them back here."
Knight stops in her tracks, making Dima nearly run her over. "You know what? I'm not even going to ask." The four of us quickly make our way out to the East Gate where, sure enough, Lazka and company are standing with several True Sons in tow. A pair of Militia members stand on our side of the gate, taunting and heckling our new guests, clearly displeased at their arrival.
"That's enough!" Manny calls to them, silencing the whole gate area. "All of you!" He approaches Lazka, staring at her intently through the bars. "I suppose these are the…'friends' you told me about?" He asks.
The guardsman nods. "That they are. In fact, they turned themselves in." Manny looks at the prisoners quizzically.
"Where is your C.O.?"
"Here." A man pushes his way to Lazka's side. "Captain Mike Parker. These are my men. Everything she's told you is true."
Ortega looks from man to man, then to the gate attendants.
"Open up. Let them through."
The Militia fighters hesitate for a moment, but obey without question. The steel gate slides open and Lazka passes through, followed by her team, then the True Sons. Dima steps next to me and leans close to my ear.
"I think I found some numbers for you."
"Hey Lazka!" Alani calls. "Where's Team Rocket?"
She pauses for a moment. "They aren't here?"
"Rocket and Sheriff are maintaining a perimeter around D.Z. South." Manny explains. "What little communication we've had with Sarah's team suggests they may have trouble with an exit strategy. Thomas and Roxwell are posted at the entrance to lend a hand."
D.Z. South Entrance
Dawn
Roxwell
"Anything?" I ask, shaking off the chill from the early hour. Thomas shakes his head, sitting back from the small radio. "Nothing but static for the last few hours. There was something that sounded like an acknowledgement a little while ago, but nothing since."
I sit down next to him, feeling disappointed. "I hope the girls are okay. Bad shit happens in the Dark Zones."
Sheriff waves off my concerns. "That Sarah is one tough cookie. Jaylene, too. They'll be fine. Probably be opening the gate in just a few minutes." I nod, but still wordlessly voice my displeasure with the situation.
"It's not just them I'm worried about…"
"Ain't this just the thing, though?" My friend asks. "The two of us, Division Agents, on guard duty?"
I can't help but chuckle at the small irony. "Brings me back to that first winter. Huh. Two years later, we're right back where we started."
"Only this time, we're here to help people get out of the Dark Zone, instead of ushering them in."
Our banter is interrupted by a large explosion, followed by some intense sounding gunfire, all quite close to the entrance.
"That sounds real close." Thomas confirms. "Think it's them?"
"Must be."
"The perimeter guns aren't activating." He looks at me accusingly. "Didn't you set them up on your way out last time?"
"I didn't exactly have much time, given the fact that I was running for my life." I retort, picking up my MP5. "The Rogues? Remember?" Thomas simply shakes his head and readies his AUG.
"We'd better get in there. Sounds like they need an extra pair of hands."
D.Z. South
Holocaust Memorial Museum - Lobby
Sarah
Half an hour earlier
"Okay, boys and girls." Captain John Rossland begins. "Get ready to say 'Goodbye.' to this dump." The group, consisting of myself, Jay, Kelly, Rossland, and his men surround the large hand drawn map of the Dark Zone. A small star represents the museum, while red diamonds represent the surrounding Outcasts. A single, bold line aims for the gate, originating from the museum. These symbols and lines have clearly been erased and re-drawn countless times, as every escape attempt has failed.
All except for now.
"Agents." The Captain looks to us first. "And...Sergeant...You made those Outcasts your bitches on your way in. You'll be the tip of the spear. Parker, Li, you two will take up the rear. Provide sniper support wherever necessary. Everyone else, stay on the Agents' asses. We know what these freaks are capable of. Keep their heads down, plug gaps, don't give 'em a second to breathe. Agents, since you're leading the breakout, don't stop for anything. Kill everything in your way. Every second you're stopped gives the enemy countless opportunities to flank and gun us down." He pauses and holds up two fingers. "Two blocks. Do that non stop for two blocks, and we're home free." Rossland looks around at his weary-looking men. "Any questions?"
Li raises her hand. "Just one. We've tried this how many times now? Respectfully, Cap. What makes you think it'll work now?"
The Captain gives the tired sniper a sympathetic look. "A fair question, I suppose. You saw first hand what these Division Agents are capable of, Rose. With them on our side, I can say without a doubt, in a few hours, we'll all be enjoying a hot shower and a hot meal at the White House." He looks around again. "Anyone else?"
I find myself raising my hand this time. "How is it possible that these Outcasts have kept you penned in for all this time?"
Rossland sighs for a moment. "Have any of you heard Roosevelt Island?" He asks. At Jay's nod he continues. "The Outcast population here is nearly as large as there. Couple that with a small gang war between them and the True Sons, which the latter lost horribly, and they have access to weapons and gear better than ours. Only reason any of us are still standing is thanks to some well planned raids on some old JTF stockpiles and a few Outcast camps masterminded by Sgt. Li." He gestures to the sniper, who shrugs modestly, then back around the room again. "Anyone else? No? Let's get the hell out of here, then."
The street is eerily quiet as Sarah, Jay and I file out of the building. I try to keep my breathing slow, as my respirator makes it noticeably loud and labored. I take cover behind a police car, scanning the street as the Agent duo passes, then quickly move to follow. Oddly, somewhere, a quiet beeping sound can be heard, which nearly everyone appears to notice.
"Negative contact so far." Sarah says quietly. "Just keep going."
Moving towards the gate, where our firefight happened the previous day, the beeping starts to get louder. Someone in the group notices that the Outcast bodies are gone, and the beeping is getting louder.
"I don't like this." One of Rossland's men mumbles. "This is the spot where shit always goes down. Where are they?"
"They can see us." Sarah whispers back. "Maybe they don't like their odds?"
"Don't kid yourself, Agent." The soldier retorts. "There were thirty of us at the start. No offense, but two Division Agents don't look as imposing as a National Guard company."
"Point taken." Dove says simply.
"Man, I'm really not likin' the sound of that beepin'." Another man comments.
"Well, you know your way around explosives, Daniels." Says Rossland. "Go check it out."
"Explosives?" Daniels asks. "I carry 'nades, sir. That don't exactly make me EOD."
"Just do it!" The Captain hisses.
Daniels shakes his head and moves in the direction of the sound, while the rest of us continue a short distance before stopping. I take the opportunity to watch what the man called 'Daniels' is doing. He stops at the driver's door of a car, peeking inside through the shattered window.
"Yeah, I got somthin'." He says, moving to open the door.
"Tommy! Wait!" One of the men calls as quietly as possible. "Don't!"
He tugs on the door handle, causing it to open, and the beeping to suddenly speed up.
"Aw shit."
The ensuing blast throws Daniels off his feet, engulfing him and the street behind us in flames. He sluggishly rolls around on the ground for a few moments, wailing in agony, before falling silent.
"No! Tommy!" The man from earlier cries. The fire quickly spreads across the street, barring us from any hopes of retreating back to the museum. Gunfire suddenly erupts as we pick ourselves up from the explosion, and I look towards Sarah's position to find her firing from the hip at a pack of Outcasts while trying to continue to the gate. She is quickly forced into cover by the sheer numbers of the Outcast horde, howling and screaming a war cry at us while running in our direction.
"Looks like the Freaks are tired of us being here, too!" Li calls out, taking aim at an advancing Rusher. "They're fixin' to wipe us out!"
"Agents!" Rossland barks. "Push forward! Clear a path to the gate!"
"Get out of the way!" Sarah screams at an Outcast, blasting a 12 gauge slug into him. She continues forward, despite the overwhelming fire coming our way. I drop a Cluster Seeker on the ground and it quickly splits up, zipping away in several directions. Two or three Outcasts are thrown off their feet by the following explosions.
"Look out!" Someone yells. "TANK!"
Between Sarah and the gate, which has strangely begun to open, stands a hulking man adorned with heavy body armor and a large sledgehammer. He advances towards my companion, otherwise ignoring the gunfire coming his way. Sarah switches to her crossbow, loading an explosive arrow and taking aim.
"Outta my way, Michelin Man!" Sarah demands, firing an arrow that burrows into the Tank's chest armor. The blast makes him stagger, and only succeeds at making him angry, as he begins to charge towards my partner.
"Sarah! Run!" I cry. She wisely dashes to the side as the man swings his hammer.
"Scatter!" Sarah calls out. The Tank begins flinging his hammer at everything that moves. One JTF soldier couldn't get out of the way in time and the hammer flew his way. Sarah jumps in front of him and deploys some kind of metal shield, which the head of the hammer wedges into.
"You had a shield all this time?" I ask in disbelief.
"Stole it from Black Tusk!" My partner replies, now wrestling with the armored man over control of his brutish weapon. Freezing up in the moment, I watch the Tank let go of his hammer and reach for the shield, trying to rip it from Sarah's grasp. My companion pulls her .45 out of it's holster and empties the magazine into the towering man's helmet. Each round either bounces off or embeds itself into the visor, shattering the glass, but the man appears unshaken by this and continues to fight even as Sarah begins to swing at his exposed hands with her now empty gun.
A burst of gunfire suddenly erupts from behind the Tank, striking him in the back and causing him to collapse on top of Sarah in an armor-clad heap. Behind him, Thomas and Roxwell appear, shooting their way through the Outcasts that were attempting to surround us. I run to my companion's aid and pull the Tank off of her. In the corner of my eye, I see Thomas take aim at someone with his rifle and fire, with a large fiery explosion following shortly after.
"Like barbecues on the Cape!" He shouts enthusiastically.
The besieged JTF soldiers run past and towards the open gate, with Kelly stopping to help Sarah to her feet, then to return fire at the Outcasts close behind.
"Kelly!" My companion shouts. "Quit that hero shit! Come on!" The guardsman makes a hasty retreat towards us, with Roxwell reaching out to pull her through the closing gate. Sarah steps up and aims through the opening, firing at the Outcasts giving chase, and mowing down several before the massive door finally closes.
We had done it. What some of Rossland's men had called impossible, we did it.
"You ladies okay?" Roxwell asks with an expression of genuine concern.
"Of course we are." Sarah brushes him off. "Jay and I are Marines. We're impossible to kill. And shit, Kelly's been with us so long, she might as well be honorary." She gives the young soldier a playful nudge, making Roxwell smile.
"Hey...guys…" A voice from the crowd says. "Check it out." We all stop what we're doing and take a long look at the city.
Streaks of pink and orange paint the morning sky in a beautiful light, the rising sun just beginning to peak over the buildings. Dew glistens off of the overgrown grass across the street. I glance over at the sniper, Rose, who is the first to take off her well-worn respirator. She takes a deep breath, then nods.
"We made it, guys." She says after a moment, tears forming in her tired eyes. "We fuckin' made it."
A/N Wow it's been a while.
Neither of my main fics have been updated in quite some time, I know. And that random one shot came out of left field, I know. But fear not, I'm still kicking! A few of you are friends with me on XBox Live and probably know this, but I've been distracted by binge-playing the Master Chief Collection, as well as some other games. (If anyone's interested, find me zdrfanta17 on Live and PSN, though I don't use the latter very much). Those who are, hit me up to play, ask about updates, or even to say "Hey! Put down the controller and pick up your laptop!" Procrastinators like myself need a kick in the ass every now and then.
Thanks to everyone still patiently waiting for updates. Adulthood is very distracting. Hopefully I'll get a schedule going again soon.
Thank you for reading, and see you next time!