UNSCDF3 Chapter 10- Full Assault

Downtown Kandahar, Kandahar, Afghanistan

British Embassy

May 11, 2001

0750 Local Time

            Zyrok woke up groggily and wiped his eyes. He got off the ground and looked at Sarah curled up next to the wall. It was still early for Sarah to wake up, so Zyrok decided to check his backpack’s contents. Food supplies were dwindling and Zyrok knew they had to keep searching. After half an hour, Sarah slowly opened her eyes and yawned.

            “Get a good sleep?” Zyrok asked.

            “Not really…ground was too hard.” Sarah pulled out her bag of potato chips from her pocket.

            Zyrok sat down beside her and removed the bottle of soda from his backpack.

            “This is the only one left so we have to share.” Zyrok handed Sarah the drink.

            “Here, have some.” Sarah handed her bag of chips.

            In a few minutes of sharing, the pair had finished their looted food from the day before and knew they had to continue searching to survive. Zyrok walked to the door and slowly unlocked it. He pulled out his kukri and gently pushed the door wide open. The halls were partially illuminated by the rising sun, but most corners remained in the dark.

            “Come on, let’s go.” Zyrok whispered.

            Sarah picked up her golf club and clutched it with both hands as Zyrok approached a locked room with an access panel. He reached into his pocket and swiped the looted ID card on the panel. A green light lit up and the sounds of the locks releasing could be heard. Zyrok opened the door and realized that it was not a room, but a corridor.

            “Watch my back.” Zyrok walked into the corridor with Sarah and the door clicked shut.

            “I remember this…” Sarah touched the walls.

            “What do you remember?” Zyrok stopped in his tracks to listen.

            “They were in and we were evacuated. We ran together, but something happened.” Sarah stared at the end of the corridor where it turned left and right.

            “What happened?” Zyrok looked at where Sarah was staring.

            “They didn’t follow. They told me to go or else we all wouldn’t make it.” Sarah pointed at the end of the corridor.

            “Who are they?” Zyrok walked towards the end of the corridor slowly.

            “My…parents.” Sarah felt her eyes water.

            “I’m sorry.” Zyrok quickly replied apologetically.

            “And I never saw them ever since…” Sarah sighed deeply.

            “Maybe they made it out alive.” Zyrok attempted to bring hope back into Sarah.

            “And they haven’t found me?” Sarah countered.

            Zyrok knew deep down that Sarah’s parents most likely did not survive the outbreak due to the fact that most people didn’t survive the initial pandemic and Zyrok was one of the lucky ones. A majority of Zyrok’s friends and family had perished, but he didn’t give up. His determination to find Sarah focused him and gave him the strength to face his fears. A couple of days before, he was looking for a purpose in life. Now he was taking care of a girl who he has never met and carried the name Sarah.

            “Afghanistan is a big place Sarah. Maybe they haven’t found you yet.” Zyrok reassured.

            Zyrok knelt down beside a corpse wearing body armor and flipped it over. A bullet hole was visible in the center of the forehead with parts of the flesh decayed over time. He removed the flak jacket and placed it onto himself. After strapping the body armor nice and snug to his chest, Zyrok pointed at the first open room that was missing its door.

            “Quiet…I see something.” Zyrok raised his SA80 and pointed his flashlight at a figure hanging from the ceiling.

            The flashlight revealed a zombie with a rope tied around its neck. It was still alive as it waved its arms at Zyrok attempting to eat the living.

            “Sarah, hand me the golf club.” Zyrok stuck out his hand.

            “Here.” Sarah presented the club.

            “Look away.” Zyrok held the club firmly with both hands.

            Sarah had a general idea of what Zyrok was about to do. She turned her head and heard the zombie growling. Zyrok swung the weapon at the zombie’s head twice with blunt force and saw pieces of its skull chip off. With one last hit, the club had cracked the skull in half and the zombie became lifeless.

            “Ok, you can look now.” Zyrok patted Sarah’s shoulders.

            Sarah spun around and looked around the room. A stool was flipped over which may indicate it was used for the person to hang themselves.

            “Here, hold on to this.” Zyrok handed the golf club back to Sarah.

            Sarah took the club with one hand and walked around the room. She opened a drawer and began to quickly search the contents. Again, she found nothing useful and sighed in frustration. Zyrok, on the other hand, seemed to have found a small stash of supplies. He uncovered two bottles of water and a large bag of potato chips.

            “You’re lucky.” Sarah exclaimed as she eyed the looted supplies.

            “Don’t worry, you find something sooner of later.” Zyrok smiled with optimism.

            Zyrok gave Sarah a bottle of water and the bag of chips. Then, he placed the other water bottle into his backpack.

            “Let’s go.” Zyrok walked to the door and glanced at the dead zombie hanging from the ceiling.

            Sarah picked up her backpack and slung it to her back and quickly exited out the room with Zyrok.

Arabian Sea, Coast of Karachi, Pakistan

UNSC Perth

May 11, 2001

0755 Local Time

            Frederick woke up to the sound of alarms blaring and flashing red lights. Explosions could be heard from outside the room. She looked out the small window and saw explosions in the water.

           “Attention all marines, we are under attack. Repeat, we are under attack!” Stewart’s voice sounded on the speakers.

            Frederick rushed out of her quarters and quickly made her way to the bridge, she noticed the windows were shot out and a few bodies on the ground.     

            “Glad you’re still in one piece Lieutenant.” Blake rushed from a computer with blood dripping from his face.

            “What’s going on?” Frederick looked out the windows.

            “Two Mi-24 choppers attacking the ship.” Blake pointed to the right of the ship.

            “Russians?” Frederick looked as the choppers circled around.

            “I presume.” Blake ran to a computer and typed something.

            “Captain, missiles inbound!” Stewart shouted.

            “Flak rounds!” Blake pointed.

            The flak cannon turned and fired into the sky. Since there were two choppers, the number of missiles flying towards UNSC Perth increased. Although some missiles got taken out, a majority missed the flak rounds.

            “Launch countermeasures.” Blake ordered.

            “Launching!” Stewart hit the buttons.

            A couple of flares shot up into the sky and diverted a few missiles, but three missiles continued its course. The first one slammed into the tip of the ship and left a small crater while the second and third missiles impacted the flak cannon and blew it to oblivion. The ship shook sideways in the water as the shockwave from the explosions spread throughout the ship. Frederick watched as marines frantically attempted to put out the fire on the ship deck while a couple of marines were using the mounted M60 turrets in an attempt to take down the attack choppers.

            “Attention all marines, this is the Captain. Use whatever weapons we have to take down the helicopters!” Blake spoke on the speakers.

            Frederick watched as the twin GAU-19 guns turned and fired at the choppers. The Russians were smart and split their formation so that they were coming from both sides.

            “Autocannons!” Blake shouted at Stewart.

            “On it.” Stewart rushed to a console.

            Two cannons on each side of the ship turned and fired explosive rounds into the sky. The Russians retaliated by unleashing a barrage of missiles and a hail of armor piercing rounds.

            “Counter it with what we have Stewart.” Blake pushed the ship throttle forward.

            “Flares and missiles left. Firing everything.” Stewart reported.

            The ship’s defenses attempted to take out the threat, but it was greatly outnumbered. Two missiles slammed into the mid-section of the ship creating a massive hole and two more missiles hit the twin GAU-19 guns. UNSC Perth was up in flames and smoke after the Russian assault.

            “Hull integrity at forty percent. Engine rooms one and two are flooded.” Stewart reported.

            Suddenly, Dau and another marine ran into the bridge.

            “Captain, major casualties on all levels sir.” Dau reported.

            “Dau, take your marines and Frederick’s team off this ship.” Blake assessed the situation.

            “Sir?” Dau looked at a Blake and a frozen Frederick.

            “Get to the Falcon now!” Blake shouted as the Mi-24 choppers fired their missiles again.