"Owl. Come in Owl!" There was no reply. He heard a loud bang which could be the sniper rifle going off, but he couldn't tell if it came from Owl's gun or the enemy's.
"Team. Regroup. Head south-west to the baseball stadium."
"Roger," came the reply in chorus through the radio.
He packed up his gear and left the scene. He was already familiar with the routes taken by the roaming monsters. His enemies were camping in the northern edge of the city, constantly drawing attention by their endless gun shots and explosions. By staying out of major roads and the rim of the city, one can travel safely without encountering so much as a couple of stray human zombies. And neutralizing them using silenced handguns would not warrant additional notice.
About ten minutes later he arrived at the main entrance of the baseball stadium. It was an entire stretch of red bricks 3 storeys high. There were torn and partially burnt flags hung all around, just above the row of broken glass leading to complete darkness beyond that. Weeks ago this would have been the place of hustle and bustle. Roads would've been filled with cars and people during the Playoffs. He stepped into the darkness through the broken glass panes and found himself in a diner just as his eyes adjusted.
He could hear the clatter of utensils on glassware and the echoes of chatter. Two weeks ago they served clam chowders, fish and chips, and coffee by the pot. Two weeks ago there was life in this city. Today it became a graveyard of undeads, diner tables scattered with unfinished food now reek of mold. The people must've left in a hurry. As his mind wandered a crackle of shattered glass on the ground just outside of the building startled him. As he turned with his rifle taking lead, he found members of his squad; Tiger, Sly and Chain.
He could hear the clatter of utensils on glassware and the echoes of chatter. Two weeks ago they served clam chowders, fish and chips, and coffee by the pot. Two weeks ago there was life in this city. Today it became a graveyard of undeads, diner tables scattered with unfinished food now reek of mold. The people must've left in a hurry. As his mind wandered a crackle of shattered glass on the ground just outside of the building startled him. As he turned with his rifle taking lead, he found members of his squad; Tiger, Sly and Chain.
"Sir." one of them spoke. "I took a detour to Owl's checkpoint. He's gone." All three of them had masks and Night Vision Goggles mounted on one eye.
"Taken down by a 50 cal. They even took his gun," he continued. He was Tiger, the team's recon.
"These guys are different," another, a woman, said. She had wiry blond hair tied to a tail. Her face was heavily smudged with grease and some scars, eyes hollow and deep. She was biting on a cigar. Chain was the team's Firebat, but unlike any conventional Firebat her weapon of choice was a set of modified Arclite she personally named the Ifrit Gemini; two single-handed flame throwers attached to gas tanks strapped onto her back. Chain was Soviet-born, with no affinity to smiles and warm gestures. Standing halfway over 6-feet in height she was the tallest in the team. Along her sleeveless right arm were numerous burn scars. Occupational hazard.
" I told you we should have hunted the Major down and neutralized him when we had the chance. Now he's got reinforcements and he's gonna make it hard for us to get our job done." Sly spoke. Sly was stout with V-shaped torso and shredded arms. He appeared to be holding a massive triple-barreled rifle with ammunition belts pouring out of each one and slung all around his thick torso. The 'Minigun" weighed at least 20 kgs and with Suppressive-Fire on, it can rain 6000 rounds per minute; enough to blend an entire horde with just one casual sweep.
"Relax." the leader, Mother 1, said.
"If he's gonna try to finish what he started, I know where we can get them."
"During the kite," Tiger immediately interrupted.
Explosions rocked the entire northern corner of the city. Previously intact glass were now scattered across the tarmac, in a million little pieces. There was silence again, but the previous din still ringing in their ears. Remnants of three fatties now smeared everywhere. We didn't think it was even possible to take down three of them in one go. The Major's ability in handling them and luring them straight into the ring of claymores was unbelievable. Seemed quite heavily practiced, even.
The fatties, or Lyganesh, were about three storeys tall and had their bodies stitched up from different parts. Some had 3-4 arms protruding out of their torsos and each hand wore a cleaver. Their skins were incredibly pale and some inner organs even visible through the translucent flesh. Bloody abominations, I call them. I could not imagine how could this monster have mutated under natural conditions, unlike other zombies we've encountered which looked like they were previously living beings.
As the ringing in my ear subsided I hit a button to retract the tripod of my gun. It turned Suppressive-Fire off and allowed me to move around. I was the last one returning to our checkpoint further south. Suddenly I felt wind blow out of the ground right behind me. I turned around to check it out but found nothing behind me.
Odd. The rain has long stopped, and there was no wind ever since. More oddly the wind pushing out off the ground.
Realizing I was already far behind the rest of them, I picked up my pace and started catching up with them. Then there it was again, wind bouncing off the ground behind me. This time it was stronger, and there were faint flapping sounds. It was rather unexpected but I immediately recalled our landing complication into Boston earlier this evening.
I turned around and instinctively looked up. There it was, a gray shadow in the darkness of the night. It's bony wings spread torn skin wider than the road I was on, with claws protruding from the ends. As my gun barrel reached the direction of the monsters my flashlight caught it's head. Six eyes, reflecting red. Jagged rows of teeth dripping blood. It had a pair of contorted horns almost the length of it's head. It's body was human-like, but skin very dark and scaly. It's muscular limbs ended with sharp claws. Then it has what looked like a thick tail.
What at that brief moment seemed like the longest few seconds, I stood motionless staring square at that monster. It then let out a shriek with pitch so high I immediately loss balance and fell to the ground.
"These guys are different," another, a woman, said. She had wiry blond hair tied to a tail. Her face was heavily smudged with grease and some scars, eyes hollow and deep. She was biting on a cigar. Chain was the team's Firebat, but unlike any conventional Firebat her weapon of choice was a set of modified Arclite she personally named the Ifrit Gemini; two single-handed flame throwers attached to gas tanks strapped onto her back. Chain was Soviet-born, with no affinity to smiles and warm gestures. Standing halfway over 6-feet in height she was the tallest in the team. Along her sleeveless right arm were numerous burn scars. Occupational hazard.
" I told you we should have hunted the Major down and neutralized him when we had the chance. Now he's got reinforcements and he's gonna make it hard for us to get our job done." Sly spoke. Sly was stout with V-shaped torso and shredded arms. He appeared to be holding a massive triple-barreled rifle with ammunition belts pouring out of each one and slung all around his thick torso. The 'Minigun" weighed at least 20 kgs and with Suppressive-Fire on, it can rain 6000 rounds per minute; enough to blend an entire horde with just one casual sweep.
"Relax." the leader, Mother 1, said.
"If he's gonna try to finish what he started, I know where we can get them."
"During the kite," Tiger immediately interrupted.
Explosions rocked the entire northern corner of the city. Previously intact glass were now scattered across the tarmac, in a million little pieces. There was silence again, but the previous din still ringing in their ears. Remnants of three fatties now smeared everywhere. We didn't think it was even possible to take down three of them in one go. The Major's ability in handling them and luring them straight into the ring of claymores was unbelievable. Seemed quite heavily practiced, even.
The fatties, or Lyganesh, were about three storeys tall and had their bodies stitched up from different parts. Some had 3-4 arms protruding out of their torsos and each hand wore a cleaver. Their skins were incredibly pale and some inner organs even visible through the translucent flesh. Bloody abominations, I call them. I could not imagine how could this monster have mutated under natural conditions, unlike other zombies we've encountered which looked like they were previously living beings.
As the ringing in my ear subsided I hit a button to retract the tripod of my gun. It turned Suppressive-Fire off and allowed me to move around. I was the last one returning to our checkpoint further south. Suddenly I felt wind blow out of the ground right behind me. I turned around to check it out but found nothing behind me.
Odd. The rain has long stopped, and there was no wind ever since. More oddly the wind pushing out off the ground.
Realizing I was already far behind the rest of them, I picked up my pace and started catching up with them. Then there it was again, wind bouncing off the ground behind me. This time it was stronger, and there were faint flapping sounds. It was rather unexpected but I immediately recalled our landing complication into Boston earlier this evening.
I turned around and instinctively looked up. There it was, a gray shadow in the darkness of the night. It's bony wings spread torn skin wider than the road I was on, with claws protruding from the ends. As my gun barrel reached the direction of the monsters my flashlight caught it's head. Six eyes, reflecting red. Jagged rows of teeth dripping blood. It had a pair of contorted horns almost the length of it's head. It's body was human-like, but skin very dark and scaly. It's muscular limbs ended with sharp claws. Then it has what looked like a thick tail.
What at that brief moment seemed like the longest few seconds, I stood motionless staring square at that monster. It then let out a shriek with pitch so high I immediately loss balance and fell to the ground.
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