UNSCDF2 Chapter 23- Action Reaction

San Francisco, California, USA

Pacific Heights

April 20, 2001

1045 Local Time

            “This is easy.” Sarah stood at the top of the escalators and fired downwards to the mob of zombies climbing up.

            The shotgun was used at its maximum lethality as it pushed the mob back. Bodies rolled down the escalators until it piled up into a wall. Vickers fired single shots from his MP5 only when necessary as Sarah had held the line pretty well with her Washington 870. The time Fields laid a suppressive fire was when Sarah was reloading her shotgun. Other than that part, Sarah showed her professionalism in taking out the zombies. One thing was certain, Sarah’s shotgun attracted attention. More and more zombies poured into the lobby from the streets outside and began to head upwards.

            “Vickers, look for another way out now!” Fields ordered.

            “Sir.” Vickers reloaded his gun and rushed off.

            “Sarah, conserve ammo. We’re going to need it soon.” Fields looked at his UMP.

            “Roger.” Sarah reduced her fire rate.

            The bodies of the zombies littered the first floor, but did not stop the swarm. Sarah reloaded her shotgun quickly and pumped a gauge into the chamber. One zombie managed to reach the top, but Sarah smiled as she pulled the trigger firing point blank into the zombie’s face. The strength of the pellets at the shotgun’s maximum damage splattered its brains into a thick mist.

            “Sir, I’ve found an exit.” Vickers rushed back to the team with sweat dripping off his face.

            “Alright, let’s move.” Fields waved at Vickers to lead the team.

            Vickers looked at Sarah shouldering her shotgun as she ran towards him. Fields turned his head to look back every couple of meters to glance at the zombies chasing after them. The zombies had gained ground the moment they had ceased their fire to run.

            “Here, hurry!” Vickers pushed the stairwell doors open.

            Sarah sprinted into the stairwell and quickly readied her shotgun to shoot at the zombies just a few meters behind Fields. Fields made a mad dash for the stairwell and skidded across the floors. He quickly stood up right in front of Sarah’s shotgun and gasped.

            “Get down!” Sarah shouted.

            Fields quickly ducked just in time as a zombie swung at him. Sarah saw the zombie and did not hesitate. With one flick of her finger, she fired a round into the zombie’s chest. The force of the hit flung the zombie like a rag doll into the mob of zombies. Fields stood up and quickly slammed the door shut. Within seconds, the door was faced with a sea of hands pounding and scratching.

            “It’ll hold…but not for long.” Sarah watched the door creaking under pressure.

            “Let’s head back to the Outpost.” Fields pointed down the stairs.

            “Yeah, not a good day for training when you’ve got an angry mob.” Sarah laughed.

            “Ammo check.” Fields pulled out the magazine from his UMP.

            “Twenty shells…maybe less.” Sarah roughly counted.

            “Two clips and one quarter clip.” Vickers looked at his utility belt.

            “Fields?” Sarah turned her head.

            “Ten rounds here and one full clip left.” Fields slid the magazine back into his gun.

            “Let’s move.” Sarah took point as she walked down the stairs.

            As Sarah walked down the stairs, she noticed the lights were broken. She clicked on the flashlight attached at the end of her shotgun and slowly walked down. Keeping her breathing to a level of calmness, she watched her footing as she stepped over a couple of corpses.

            “Watch the six.” Sarah heard the door moaning from the top floor.

            “Got the back.” Vickers replied quietly.

            “Hold up.” Sarah held her left hand in the air while holding the shotgun with her other hand pointed in the darkness.

            “What is it?” Fields whispered.

            “Shh…” Sarah squinted her eyes as the shotgun’s light illuminated a figure standing in front of her.

            The light lit up the face to see an old woman standing motionless. Suddenly, the eyes twitched and the woman opened her mouth to display its teeth. Being unprepared and slightly in shock, Sarah wasn’t able to fire a clean shot at the zombie. Instead, she fired downwards and blew its left leg off. This muzzle flash briefly illuminated the dark stairwell and momentarily showed the environment. They were not alone. At least twenty motionless zombies stood between the SWAT and the stairwell door. All it needed was a spark to ignite the wrath of the zombies and Sarah’s shot had sufficed.

            “Get out now!” Sarah shouted in horror as the stairwell turned into complete darkness as a zombie blocked the light from her shotgun.

Downtown Kandahar, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Mirwais Nikka Hospital

April 20, 2001

1115 Local Time

            “Here it is.” Miller walked into the room where Timothy was listening to the communications.

            “What?” Dimitri stood up from his desk beside Timothy.

            “Yesterday we were notified that the UNSC went downtown to look for something. We told the militia not to engage, but to watch closely.” Miller replied.

            “And…” Dimitri asked impatiently.

            “Reid dropped off a little note detailing some valuable information.” Miller reached into his pocket to produce a wrinkled piece of paper.

            “Let me see.” Dimitri snatched the paper and skimmed it.

            “It’s not far.” Miller looked at Dimitri.

            “Reygi…I’ll send some men to take a look.” Dimitri folded the paper into his pocket and walked out.

            Dimitri smiled at the newly received Intel and headed to a small room.

            “Vladamir, get your team ready for Reygi.” Dimitri spoke to a middle-aged Russian with insignias of a Lieutenant typing on a laptop.

            “Yes sir.” Vladamir stood up and saluted.

            “Find me the exact location of the Secronom facility.” Dimitri briefed.

            “It will be done sir.” Vladamir reached under his desk and took out an AK47.

            “Hurry back.” Dimitri walked out of the room.

            Vladamir cocked his gun and stormed out of his office. Two local militia rushed to side and followed behind him.

            “Get a van and some soldiers.” Vladamir commanded.

            “Yes sir.” a soldier replied a walked off.

            “Where to sir?” the other soldier asked.

            “Reygi. I want this completed in less than two hours.” Vladamir replied in annoyance.

            “Sir.” the soldier nodded and hurried off.

            Vladamir walked down the hallway and turned his head to get a glimpse of the two ex UNSC marines sitting in their communications room. He wasn’t a fan in particular doing any operations or work with people affiliated with the UNSC. Whether you were once a UNSC marine or in active duty, he hated them to the guts. Had it not been for Dimitri and the higher ups, he would had easily popped a round in each of them and had no questions for his actions. He respected his superiors and their decisions. Maybe Dimitri would dispose of the ex UNSC marines once this whole operation was over. Vladamir reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. He opened it and saw a family picture of himself and his wife. Every time he looked at it, he would feel grief followed by extreme hatred and rage. He remembered everything on the day his wife died. It was the UNSC’s carelessness that resulted in the death of his wife and his child. She was six months pregnant with his son when she died. That day, Vladamir and his wife were being evacuated from Moscow by the UNSC. The UNSC marines insisted that the women and children got on one Pelican while the men took the other one. He wanted to be there for his wife, but the marines told him it was standard procedures and denied him to board with his wife. That day played in Vladamir’s head very clearly. It was a bit chilly and chaotic as he watched the Pelican carrying his wife into the sky. As Vladamir sat in his seat in the other Pelican, he looked at his wife’s Pelican. Everything after that happened so quickly, but Vladamir remembered it all. One of the onboard passengers had managed to sneak aboard with an infected child. The child caused panic aboard the Pelican and attacked the civilians nearby. Some people jumped out of the Pelican in hopes of extending their death while others froze in terror. Sooner or later, the cockpit doors were breached either from the infected or the scared civilians. Vladamir sat on his seat as he watched the Pelican lose control and smashed into the snowy grounds into oblivion. There was nothing he could do, but watch as his Pelican flew away from the crash site. It was the UNSC’s procedures that denied him aboard with his wife and it was the procedures that allowed an infected civilian to bypass the security checkpoint. And from that day on, he swore that he would kill any UNSC marines if he had the chance to avenge his family.

            “Lieutenant, we’re ready.” a soldier interrupted Vladamir’s concentration.

            Vladamir nodded in acknowledgement and closed his wallet. He bit his lip and put his wallet back into his pocket as if nothing was wrong. His face was not solemn nor serious, but rather expressionless as he walked with the soldier down the hall.