III - The Harbinger
Maria placed her hands over Tim's chest as she looked down at his unconscious face while stricken with worry. She lowered her head and let out a breath of relief as she could still feel his chest moving up and down. The automatic ventilator drew in a lot of power, but luckily, almost no one in town had their lights on.
"Please… keep fighting," she whispered.
Suddenly, the front door opened slowly.
Maria gulped as she drew in a deep breath and stood up.
A man with riot armor walked inside the infirmary building. His weight made it hard for Maria to believe it was a Vulture, as almost all the Vultures she had seen were fit to some degree.
"Hello?" asked the man.
"Will?" asked Maria.
"Yeah. Hi, Ms. Santiago."
Will then shuddered at the sight of all the bodies in the group and took a deep breath. He then saw Ravi and Tim lying in bed, though they were unconscious.
"I don't know if this is a bad time to ask, but do you guys have O-negative blood?"
"Carol went to the police station to retrieve A-negative blood. But she is also looking for someone with O-negative blood. I do not suppose you have seen Vonda, Maya, or Whitney around?"
"I haven't. Crap. I guess I'll look for her. In any case, do you have tubes and needles and all that stuff for a blood transfusion?"
"Over there."
Maria pointed at a cabinet by a small freezer. There was equipment needed for a blood transfusion.
"Oh, thank you," said Will, grabbing a bag.
"Who's the transfusion for?"
"Some guy Luna found outside the walls."
"The others are back?"
"Just Luna and Lynn as far as I can tell. I didn't ask where the others were."
Maria let out a soft yet frustrated sigh.
"Okay. Stay safe out there."
"You too," said Will.
Will ran out of the infirmary.
The owls hooted as fields of corn leaves waved against the wind.
Lincoln panted as he arrived at the Farmlands, coming out of the trees and seeing Liam's house. He walked towards his farmhouse and stumbled towards the porch stairs. He sat down and took a deep breath, groaning as he clutched his legs. He didn't realize it until now but his legs were pulsing and burning, almost as if they were about to give up on him. He groaned loudly as he stretched his legs out, trying to loosen up his tense muscles.
Then, he heard a vehicle driving down the road. He gasped as the headlights were bright in the darkness of the night. He stood up, though he stumbled again, causing him to fall into the steps.
The car drove off-road and plowed through the field of corn, which slowed the car down. He drove past a scarecrow, which was nailed to a wooden cross. It then crashed into a tractor outside of the field, stopping the car completely.
Chandler stepped out of the car, covered in roamer blood. He panted heavily as he stormed towards the farmhouse.
"Loud! I know you're here!" he screamed.
Lincoln groaned as he crawled his way onto the tornado cellar door just next to the front porch steps. He then took out Liam's key from his pocket and placed it on the lock.
"You tried to kill me earlier, didn't you? When you left me to the roamers!"
Chandler huffed and puffed as he held his pistol, hurriedly approaching the farmhouse. He then aimed his pistol at Lincoln, who quickly darted inside the cellar. He fired a shot, striking the metal door and ricocheting off into the cornfield. He groaned, running closer to get a good shot at Lincoln.
Lincoln shined his flashlight inside the cellar to look for the weapon Liam bragged about having in his cellar. He then let out a disappointed sigh.
"Come on…" muttered Lincoln.
Chandler smiled as he looked down the open cellar.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" asked Chandler.
Chandler stepped down the first step into the cellar. He then took another, aiming his pistol down at the bottom of the steps. Suddenly, a bottle flew onto the steps, nearly striking him as it shattered. The bottle exploded into a ball of fire as Chandler instinctively fired two shots. He panted deeply as he saw a shattered bottle of rum and a small broken lighter as a small fire burned in the steps of the cellar.
"You think this puny fire is going to stop me?"
Lincoln then tossed another bottle of rum into the steps, causing the fire to grow a bit larger. Then, he tossed another and another. The fire was now big enough to reach up to Chandler's knees, preventing him from going any further down the steps.
Chandler panted rapidly before deciding to go up the cellar as the fire grew in size. He then shut the metal cellar door. He smiled as he shook his head.
"You clever bastard…"
Carol cruised along the street as a Vulture came out of a house, holding a blood-stained machete. She fired her rifle, dropping the Vulture dead on the ground.
Another Vulture came out of the same house, causing Carol to fire her rifle again, killing them too.
Two Vultures ran down into Franklin Street, only to be shot at by Carol. Their bodies dropped as Carol tossed the empty magazine away and inserted a new one into her rifle. She then set off another smoke grenade and tossed it behind her.
Zheng kept close to her as the two walked past the Loud residence and towards the main gate. He saw a few roamers stumbling around, though one particular roamer caught his attention. It was the undead body of Officer Garcia, who's hand was still handcuffed to the gate. The roamer growled at the two, though its eyes were locked onto Zheng's.
A wave of frustration and bitterness washed over Zheng.
Seeing what was left of the carnage at the main gate only enraged Carol further.
A group of Vultures were seen arming up from a stockpile of weapons they took from the officers near the main gate. Suddenly, bullets flew at them, causing some of them to scream as they tried to run away. However, in the span of a few seconds, all six Vultures lay in the road, lifeless.
Carol and Zheng walked past the damaged police cars and dead Vultures as smoke flowed out of Carol's rifle. Carol opened up another smoke grenade and tossed it over the stockpile of weapons, making it more difficult for other Vultures to find them.
Then, four Vultures leaped up from behind a police car, darting towards the two.
Carol quickly pointed and fired at the Vultures, but only managed to strike one before another Vulture tackled her to the ground.
Another Vulture also tackled Zheng to the ground. He pinned him to the ground, with his handcuffed hands unable to move.
The Vulture that tackled Carol lifted himself up and grabbed his machete while moving out of the way. The other Vulture swung down her machete, though it got stuck in Carol's chest armor. The other Vulture swung down his machete too, aiming for Carol's neck, though Carol put her arm up, causing the machete blade to bounce off.
Carol grabbed her pistol, but the Vulture with the stuck machete pinned her arm down. She then turned towards the Vulture on top of Zheng and saw him taking out a knife. She turned her wrist and did her best to aim the pistol from the hip as smoke began to fill the air.
Zheng struggled to get the Vulture off of him. The Vulture's body weight was significantly heavier than his, making it extremely difficult for him to even move.
Then, gunshots blasted nearby and bullets flew over Zheng, some moving past the Vulture and some striking him.
Carol continued firing until there was no ammo left. The Vulture with the unstuck machete then swung it at her again, though this time, it struck her helmet, causing it to bounce off her helmet and hit the asphalt.
Zheng then rolled the shot Vulture off him and panted as he crawled over to the stockpile of weapons. He knocked away the smoke grenade and grabbed a pistol and stood up, aiming it at the two Vultures on top of Carol. He then smirked before running away, fading into the smoke as he made his escape.
Carol groaned in frustration as she watched Zheng leave her behind. A Vulture then removed her helmet, revealing her ruffled hair and defeated expression.
"Oh, shit…" muttered one of the Vultures.
"We're not supposed to kill this one, right?" asked the Vulture.
The Vulture with the stuck machete shook her head before grabbing Carol's rifle from her. She then stood up and kicked Carol in the stomach, causing her to groan. The other Vulture gasped as he backed away, not wanting to hurt Carol one bit, for fear of angering Becky. However, his fellow Vulture continued to kick and stomp on Carol.
Carol heaved as she wanted to throw up.
"Stand up now," said the female Vulture. "As soon as Becky hears what you did, I'm sure she'll have no qualms about me kicking the—"
The Vulture landed another kick, this one fueled by even more anger than the last.
"—fuck out of you!"
Carol coughed out saliva and let out a pained moan. She felt all anger in her body leave her, now leaving her with the same demoralization she felt back at City Hall.
"Didn't you hear what I said? Stand… up!"
A bullet then flew past Carol and struck the Vulture in the chest. The other Vulture gasped and turned before getting shot multiple times.
Carol groaned as she stood up, seeing a silhouette in the smoke approaching her. It was another Vulture, or so she thought until Will removed his helmet.
"Will…" she groaned.
"Carol!" he exclaimed. "Let me help you up."
Will grabbed Carol's arm and stood her up on her feet as Carol lightly stumbled.
Carol groaned as she held onto her stomach.
Will looked around, seeing the smoke clouding his vision.
"Man, this place looks like 'Gotham on Fire,'" murmured Will.
"Huh?"
"Nothing. We gotta get you to the infirmary."
"Not yet…" said Carol. "Not until we find someone… with A-negative or O-negative blood…"
"We can worry about that later. We need to get you to Maria first."
"I'm fine, Will. I only got kicked. Hard."
Carol turned around and looked at the Vulture that was kicking her. She grabbed her rifle back and reached for her own revolver.
"You sure you're good?" asked Will. "I can—"
Carol shot the Vulture in the head, causing Will to flinch. She then looked up.
"Yeah, I'm sure," said Carol. "We need to see where that Laborer went."
Will nodded softly. He then turned around and gasped.
"Carol, watch out!"
Will grabbed Carol and shielded her as an arrow struck him in the back, causing him to groan in pain. The two fell down to the ground as a Vulture approached from where Will came from. She placed another arrow into her bow and aimed for Will's head.
Then, a short burst of bullets struck her, causing her arrow to strike the ground next to Will and Carol. Her body fell to the ground as the two survivors turned towards the main gate, seeing multiple silhouettes approach them.
The first one to appear was April, who had her SCAR-H rifle aimed outwards, with smoke flowing out of its barrel. She was fully suited in her Army body armor, as a group of soldiers wearing the same equipment as her followed her, their weapons also raised.
A few Vultures ran through the smoke, but as soon as they saw April's soldiers, they turned around and made a run for it, though the soldiers already had them marked and fired their guns, killing the raiders.
Lori then appeared through the smoke, aiming an HK416 assault rifle outwards like the soldiers. Behind her was Vonda, Roger, and JuJu. Upon seeing Carol and Will on the ground, she lowered her gun and jogged over to them, reaching her arm out.
"You okay?" asked Lori.
Carol grabbed Lori's arm and stood up. She nodded before turning around and helping Will up.
"God," said Will, removing the arrow from his back. "Oh, that hurt."
"We have to take you to the infirmary," said Carol.
"It's alright, it didn't go in too deep."
"Still! You don't want to risk an infection!"
Will sighed. He watched as April approached them.
"You kids know where the rest of them are?" asked April.
"They're everywhere," said Carol. "But most of them are in the town center."
Vonda then jogged over to the two of them.
"Is my dad okay?" she asked in a frantic voice.
"He's alive, but he needs your blood," said Carol.
"He's in the infirmary?"
"Yeah."
Lori then looked at April.
"Can we get a few of your people to escort them to the infirmary?" asked Lori.
"Sure thing," said April before turning to her soldiers. "Sergeant Reeves, take command of these three. Clear the way to the infirmary."
"Yes, ma'am," said Reeves.
Reeves and three other soldiers began jogging southwards as Vonda followed them, along with Roger and JuJu, the latter limping as the former supported him.
Carol turned towards Will.
"Please go," said Carol.
Will then looked at Lori.
"Listen to her," mouthed Lori.
Will sighed deeply and nodded. He followed Reeves and his three soldiers.
"Alpha team, on me!" exclaimed April. "The rest of you, spread out! Small, tight groups! Eliminate any Vulture you can find!"
April began to march towards the town center slowly as Lori prepared to follow her. But before she took a step forward, Carol grabbed Lori's arm.
"Lori…" stammered Carol, reluctant to tell her, "...Becky… did all this."
"I know," said Lori.
The two looked at each other with saddened faces before they followed April into Franklin Street.
As they marched down the street, the Vultures around the town center began to arm up and sharpen their blades. A Vulture began to distribute Molotov cocktails around. She then lit the rag on fire and tossed a cocktail on the street, creating a small wall of fire. The other Vultures lit their rags and cloths on fire, intending to create a wall of fire large enough to prevent the soldiers from getting close to City Hall. However, just as one of the Vultures stretched her arm back to throw the cocktail, a bullet shattered the cocktail, causing it to spit alcohol everywhere, lighting the Vulture on fire. The Vulture dropped to the ground while she screamed in agony.
The Vulture next to her noticed her leg catching on fire and gasped. She set the cocktail down and attempted to pat the fire out before another bullet flew by, striking her in the chest. She stumbled on the cocktail, causing it to explode, lighting a few other Vultures on fire. The rest then began panicking as they dropped their cocktails, some unlit, while others exploded on contact with the pavement.
A soldier situated behind the cover of an armored vehicle racked the bolt of his sniper rifle and peeked into it again. He then turned around as he noticed the growls of the roamers were getting closer.
"I got it," said Clyde, stabbing one of the roamers with a knife.
"Yeah, just keep doing your thing," said Benny.
Benny swung his sword, decapitating one of the roamers leaking through the main gate. He then looked past the main gate and saw a large number of roamers approaching the community.
As the Vultures scrambled, some of April's soldiers got on one knee and fired their weapons, dispatching some of the Vultures.
Some of the Vultures proceeded to fire back, though their aims were highly inaccurate compared to that of the soldiers. Realizing who they were facing off against, they lowered their weapons and proceeded to retreat. Some tried to take nearby manholes, but different groups of soldiers would cut them off and fire at them, killing them. Some tried to head for the walls, but found them nearly impossible to scale. The soldiers then surrounded them and fired their weapons, splattering blood on the walls.
The number of Vultures started to dwindle rapidly as Lori walked past the bodies, approaching City Hall in front of her. With April and Carol next to her, she felt her heart beat faster, anticipating a confrontation with Becky.
An owl hooted in the distance.
Chandler released the magazine on his pistol and checked inside. The magazine was almost empty. Leaning against the farmhouse wall, he sighed and inserted it back in.
"You're really gonna make me wait all night?" asked Chandler. "Because I'll do just that. Believe it or not… you're doing me a favor. You got yourself trapped in a little cage. Perfect for me."
Chandler tapped his foot as he looked around the farm. The entire area was shrouded in darkness, except for where he stood, where the headlights from the car lit it up.
"You know, this was a really stupid plan of yours. Getting yourself trapped down there. How do you plan on getting out, huh? There's only one exit… and I'm standing on the other side of it."
Chandler scoffed.
"The man with the plan… knew you weren't as smart as you were made out to be. You'd really rather wait down there and wait for the Vultures to drag you out themselves? 'Cause I ain't going down there. No, sir, I can see through your cheap tricks."
Chandler kept turning around, feeling a cold breeze throughout his body.
"You might as well come out now! I promise you, you don't want the Vultures to drag you out. They're a bunch of psychopaths… they won't care if they hurt you. But me? I'll be easy. You come out… I promise I won't hurt you."
He took a deep breath, mist coming out of his mouth.
"Why'd you come all the way out here anyways? Did you really think I wouldn't find you? Or… did you come here… just because it was where Liam lived?"
No response. He tapped his foot faster, beginning to get more frustrated.
"Come on, Stinkoln! He wasn't even a good person! He left me for dead! He and Zach and Rusty! They all left me and Stella for dead! I bet… I bet he didn't even tell you that, huh? About that day… when the roamers popped up in our school… I decided to head to the cafeteria with my Trent and Richie. There was Stella, Girl Jordan, Chloe, and Mollie and some others. We were safe there… until your friends had the bright idea to lead the roamers to the cafeteria. Sure, we managed to barricade the doors in time… but we were trapped there, kinda like you are now. Heh, isn't that funny. But the tables… they weren't gonna be able to keep the doors closed for long. So Liam had the bright idea of taking the school vents to escape. We helped him up there, and he helped his friend Zach up there by lifting him up. Then, he helped Rusty. Then, he helped Tabby. Then, Joy. Then, Artie. Then, Haiku. But then the barricades gave in… and the roamers flooded in. Instead of sticking around to help the rest of us… Liam and the others left us behind… and the roamers began to eat our classmates alive. We headed for the freezer… it was the only place I could think of to go. There were so many roamers out there… they weren't going to let us out before we froze to death. But luckily for us… the power went out. And the freezer stopped working. So all we did was stay there… until the next morning. Until there were less of them. If your friends stuck around to help… if they hadn't come in the first place… we wouldn't have dealt with any of it. That's what your friends were, Stinkoln. They were selfish people… who only thought about themselves. Maybe you don't care. Maybe you're just like them."
Chandler growled.
"No, no maybe. You are just like them. You are like a rat. Everywhere you go, you bring disease. The Vultures… they only came because of your people."
Chandler then took a deep breath.
"I don't give a damn that Liam died. In fact, I hope he died painfully. As well as Zach and Rusty and Tabby and all those other assholes! Fuck them!"
Chandler's breath shuddered as he saw a roamer stumbling in front of the headlights. The roamer approached him, prompting Chandler to pull out his knife. He screamed and stabbed the roamer, dropping its body in front of him. He then turned around and felt the anger fueling his adrenaline.
He slammed open the cellar door and stepped down the stairs, aiming his pistol around. He then flicked on the light switch, which turned on the lights. Yet, the lights revealed a cellar with small wooden barrels, bottles of rum, bags of grain, and empty metal cans. There was also an empty gun rack. But no Lincoln.
Chandler was confused. He wondered how Lincoln was able to escape. His eyes then widened as he saw an open vent in the corner of the cellar, wide enough to fit an adult pig.
Anger began to seep into his heart as he stormed out of the cellar.
Lincoln, having escaped from a vent inside the farmhouse, made his way through the woods, now leaving the Farmlands.
A light inside Oscar's office flickered before returning back to normal.
Jace sat on a couch while putting his leg up on the table in front of him. He was watching a recording in the camera he held.
Becky and Melissa's voices could be heard as Becky looked outside the windows.
"...how have you contributed?" asked Melissa in the recording.
"Supply-runs. Mostly just supply-runs," said Becky in the recording. "Sometimes I killed roamers that were hanging around outside the fences."
"So, mostly the same role that Lori had?"
"Yeah. Just… without a position of authority, I guess."
"What about people?"
Becky continued hearing before Jace spoke up, his mouth chewing on an almond nut.
"You know, no matter how long or short your hair is… or what you wear… or how much dirt, blood, and dust you have on your face… there's something that never changes."
"But I wasn't a guard… no, just didn't have the patience for it…"
"What?" asked Becky.
"Your eyes. Even in this potato quality… your green eyes still shine bright. I always thought you had the best eyes out of everyone."
Becky lowered her head and closed the curtains. She then turned around and forced a smile.
"Thank you. Your eyes aren't bad either."
"You think so?"
Becky ignored Jace as she continued listening to the video recording.
"Who do you consider a threat?" asked Melissa.
"Everyone. Everyone who wasn't a part of my family."
"By your family, you mean your…?"
"The people I spent three years with surviving in this world. Lori, Carol, Vonda, all the others."
"I see. One more question. What do you regret the most?"
Jace paid close attention as Becky scratched her head in the recording.
"Nothing," she said. "Everything I did got me to this point. It's made me the survivor that I am."
Jace then raised his head as soon as he heard gunshots coming from outside. He stood up and placed the video camera down as he walked over to the balcony.
"Where are you going?" asked Becky.
Jace opened the door and stepped out onto the balcony.
Smoke littered the air and fire could be seen around corpses as soldiers in camouflage uniform approached the building. He gasped and rushed inside.
"Soldiers," said Jace. "They're attacking the officers."
"Rogues?" asked Becky.
"I don't know. I think they're from one of the other communities."
Becky grabbed her jacket and began to put it on.
"We have to get out of here," said Becky.
"Why, what's going on out there?" asked Jace.
"Do you want to stick around to find out?"
Jace gulped and began to put his leather jacket on. He then watched Becky march over to the desk to grab her ACE-23 rifle and her Px4 pistol.
"Hey—"
"You ready?" asked Becky.
Jace nodded.
"Let's go."
Becky and Jace walked out of the office. The latter wondered why Becky was carrying weapons without any ammo on them. He also wondered if Becky was even worried at all about getting caught handling them. But to his surprise, there was no one in the hallway.
"H-Hey, where's Schoffner?" asked Jace.
"Somewhere safe… maybe," said Becky.
"Where is it safe?"
Movement could be seen outside of the entrance door as Becky and Jace moved down the stairs.
"Anywhere that's not here," said Becky.
"And she just left us here?"
"She would do that, right?"
The two headed for the back exit before Becky saw soldiers surrounding the back of the City Hall building through the window. She turned around before seeing soldiers storm the building from the entrance. A Vulture came out from the room where she held Melissa hostage and was then shot by one of the soldiers.
As Becky turned around once more, she was forced to stop as she realized she was completely surrounded.
"Stop right there!" shouted April.
Becky wrapped her arm around Jace's neck and shoved the barrel of his own pistol against his head as she looked ahead at the soldiers.
"Not a step closer," said Becky.
Lori and Carol had their weapons aimed out, though the latter quickly lowered her weapon as Jace stared back at them with fear in his eyes.
"This isn't going to end well for you," said April. "I suggest you drop it right now."
"Or what?"
April turned towards Lori.
"Do I eliminate the two?"
"N-No!" gasped Carol.
"No, hold your fire," said Lori. "I'll talk to her."
"What is there to talk about?" asked Becky as Lori stepped forward. "You made it clear you don't want me around, right?
"You knew what was at stake. You knew you couldn't be here. All you had to do was wait! Then I would have let you back in. But you… you just wanted to take over this place by force."
"And I did. These people wanted to deny us at every turn. The moment Melissa decided to concede… Schoffner took over. Just like that."
"And so you had your people kill innocents? There are people out there that supported us that are now dead because of your Vultures!"
"Which wouldn't have happened if we had just taken over from the start."
"No, it wouldn't have happened if you didn't bring them here!"
Becky glared at Lori. She then looked at Carol, who was still wearing her riot police armor. However, she refused to speak up.
Jace was sweating intensely as he was now realizing what Becky was capable of. And with a gun pointed at his head, he knew he could die any second now.
"All you had to do was trust me," said Lori. "No matter who got in the way, you just had to trust me that I'd find a solution. But instead… you decided to do things on your own. Why? Why didn't you trust me?"
"Because you closed the opening in the wall," hissed Becky.
Both Carol and April looked at the redheaded girl with confusion. Perhaps she really lost her mind. But Lori knew exactly what she was talking about.
"Because I'm such a problem for you and your family, huh? But what about me? Am I not your family?"
"You… you were…"
"And what changed?"
"We did," Lori whispered. "This place… it represents civilization… so how we lived out there… we couldn't do the same here. Who we were before we found this place… we couldn't be like that anymore. But you… you wouldn't let the worst part of you go. Instead, you embraced it and let it turn you into… into this."
Becky began to take deeper breaths as she looked around.
April prepared to fire at Becky as the tension in the air seemed to reach a breaking point.
"You let your guard down… you die," said Becky. "This is what this place does. Let your guard down. But I don't want any of you to die."
Becky let out a chuckle, as her eyes teared up.
"So I know what I have to do now."
Carol gulped.
Becky then kicked the door next to her open.
"Don't follow me. Not… yet."
Becky stepped back while dragging Jace with her. She then closed the door and locked it.
Lori sighed as she looked at the others.
"We're going—" said April.
A loud gunshot exploded in the room.
Carol gasped as she rushed to the room. However, she was unable to open it.
"Back away!" said April.
One of the soldiers rushed to the door and raised his leg before kicking the door open. The soldier, along with some others, rushed inside.
April, who entered the room with them, lowered her gun and sighed.
Jace was panting heavily as he lay against the wall, his ears ringing softly as the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air.
Lori and Carol walked in, seeing the shards of glass that lay on the floor next to the shattered window.
"You got visual?" asked April.
"Negative," said one of the soldiers who stepped outside of the window. "We don't see her anywhere."
"We got eyes everywhere, how the hell did she disappear?"
"Did you see where she went?" asked Carol.
"No," said Jace. "She just went out the window and…"
Jace let out a huge shaky breath.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know what she was. If I had known—"
Carol hugged him, catching Jace off-guard. Jace hugged her back. She felt guilty about allowing Becky to manipulate him. In a way, she knew how he felt.
Suddenly, April's walkie-talkie crackled.
"Maybe they found her," said April.
"Captain! We need extra manpower over here at the main gate! The Alphas are flooding in! I repeat, the Alphas are flooding in!"
"Roger that! I'll be sending additional units over at your position!"
"What's going on?" asked Lori.
"The infected are flooding through your gates."
April was surprised to see how calm Lori was. Lori took the news surprisingly well, she thought.
"Alright, we need to come up with a plan to—"
Lori rushed out of the room. Carol followed her.
"Hey, wait, we gotta come up with a plan!" exclaimed April.
Lori turned around.
"You already did," said Lori. "Go ahead. Send your soldiers to the main gate. We have to kill all of them as fast as possible."
Lori ran out the building with Carol next to her.
April cleared her throat and grabbed her walkie-talkie.
"All teams within a block of the main gate, report back to me."
She then motioned her soldiers to follow her.
"This is Bravo team reporting."
As the soldiers left, Jace stood alone in the room, having never felt more betrayed than he has now.
"Bravo, Charlie, and Foxtrot. Head for the main gate right now."
"Copy that."
April ran upstairs before one of the soldiers came out of the room with Melissa. She smiled.
"It's good to see you unharmed, Breckenridge."
"It's a relief to see you here too, Captain. I thought I heard Lori's voice."
"She was here. But then she went to deal with the infected flooding through the gates."
"I see. Well… I guess we'll talk after you and her deal with that."
April was caught slightly off-guard. Melissa smiled at her.
"You're not going to let her deal with the infected alone, are you?"
"No, ma'am."
April then looked at her soldiers.
"Secure this building. Make sure no one goes in and out. Sanchez and Muller, you're with me."
"Yes, ma'am," said Sanchez.
April, Sanchez, and Muller went down the stairs as Melissa watched them. Melissa's smile then faded as she rolled away to Oscar's office.