~Insert snappy title here ~

[V]

(Everyone has a fan fic but me...so I decided to change that...if you've completed "Outbreak" in Outbreak F1, and watched the end cinematic..you'll know the army was called in...felt like doing one about a soldier sent to investigate. What you think? Critique, pwease! ^^)


."....and following national safety protocol, the Army has been sent in to investigate.

"Get the wax out of ears and listen up!!" The captain's voice rung out through the barracks...but no one was really awake to hear it, so it fell on deaf ears. He tried again. "HEY! Get your asses up! We are needed right now! UP! UP! UP!!!!!"
My eyes fluttered open, and I blinked twice so my eyes could adjust to the dim light, it couldn't have been a few minutes past dawn.
"You all up now?" Captain started talking again. "Good. Get suited up...in your bio-hazard gear. Something happened a couple hundred miles from here. It's called Raccoon City. A chemical leak or something happened...making the citizens go all mad. There are not many other bases trained to handle detox situations, but we won't be alone atleast...come on. Departure will be at Zero-eight hundred."


I forced and dragged my exhausted body out of bed, and into female equipment area. Being the only female operative trained in a situation like this, it was very lonely. There, I met a dusty set of equipment. I've never used it since it was issued to me. It was like a standard BDU...but with a hood. That was the only other add on I could see. I undressed, and began to suit up. After having slipped into the basic parts of the suit, I stared at the "special gear". An armor vest, which looked nothing out of the ordinary, pads for the joints...which looked pretty normal, too, leather gloves, and the best part...my mask. It had the generic gasmask appearance...so it must be a filter mask of somekind.
"Move it! Move it Move it!" I heard the Captain shout again. Time to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside, I saw the adjutant of the base commander speaking with my Captain. He must have been giving him more details on the assignment, judging how he was just nodding. I managed to walk by him when the two finished it up. "Specialist Asako Terauchi." He, the captain, called to me...without even turning around. "You're going to have a field day later on today...I'll explain on the helicopter...come on, we're taking off right now"
The two of us scrambled in, and the Chinook took off. The chopper was full of people equipped and dressed just as I was...with hoods and masks down of course. Maybe half way there, the captain finally leaked info. "Alright guys...more info on the assignment. We'll be one of six platoons helping with detox. We'll receive further orders on arrival, and carry on to our sector. But...here's the thing. The local police department was in charge last night while we were happily sleeping. And as it turns out...they weren't fighting foreign invaders...monsters or marauding hillbillies. No...they were dealing with things that can be summed up easily in one word..." He seemed to be holding in a laugh as he said this next part. "Zombies." The chopper was silent a moment after...then the snickering and chuckling became more audible. "Zombies? Captain Bartlett, we're you hanging out with Willie Nelson last night?"
"As much as it seems I may have, Lieutenant, no. The actual description mentioned zombie-like. Said they blew up an entire street to get rid of some."
"The police? Haha! come on! I'll believe that when I see it."
"Well...that makes a chopper full." Captain said cleverly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We landed safely on the outskirts, and rushed out. The other platoons arrived before us, and advised that we put the masks and hoods back on now. The entire city was under quarantine, and "survivors" were being evacuated out by air. The barricade was still sealed, so no one entered or left by ground. "There you are." A soldier said...he must have been waiting for us. "Now we can proceed with operations. Company B..." That was us. "Your sector is here...to here..." He highlighted a large area with a blue marker. Looked like a section of the freeway. "The drivers of the trucks know where to go...and as of now are also under your command. They are trained just as well as your soldiers, so they shouldn't be much of a hassle." Some other things were said..and we were given our orders. In a nut shell, the orders were -Identify threat, find source, eliminate and work way out, rescue any survivors encountered on the way..- Simple enough.
"One more thing." The soldier had said. "Some commando clowns from Umbrella have offered their services to our cause, and will be working alongside. They know more about this than we do...so if they tell you not to touch something, don't touch it. But...you're arranged so an encounter with them won't be likely."
"Alright..." Captain replied with a nod, and pointed to a few trucks. "Those are ours. Two are for soldiers, and one is for the supplies. Since they are loaded up, we need to get our asses in, too."
Several minutes later, we were all settled in, the barricade was opened...and we entered Raccoon City.

[V]

The ride through the city was surprisingly peaceful...well, as peaceful as a post-apocalyptic world could be. All we passed really was rubble...overturned cars, and bodies...dead bodies. No sign of a zombie yet, but we were all eager to see one. Little did we know that feeling would not last.
Along the way, we passed a few aircraft and trucks bearing the Umbrella insignia. All of them were accompanied by either a container, or giant capsule shaped object covered in canvas, we only had idea of what they were...but we were all far off. When we arrived, we began to set up our checkpoint. There were three vehicles; two transport trucks and a Humvee. The transport used for supplies was quickly unloaded, and the sawhorses were set up for the barricade. The back of the truck was fitted to be like a small field lab...which would act as mine. I am the specialist after all. Captain Bartlett then chose five soldiers to hold down the camp while the rest of us went out. In order to collect samples, I was forced to come. When that was all sorted out, we got our weapons ready. Our rifles were very new and very high-tech. The new Canadian C11 assault rifle. The insignia was even clever; the maple leaf of Canada with spelling C11, one digit per side, and the stem was a rifle bullet. In my opinion, this was the next best thing out of Canada since maple syrup.
"Company B!" Captain Bartlett called from the on ramp. "Move out! We'll move as a big group to the river, and Asako here will collect a sample of the water. When that is finished, we come back. Simple as that. Any questions? No. Good."
Captain never repeated himself. I always found that amusing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On our way down, a transmission came in from command HQ back in the outskirts. They had more information on the Umbrella squads. "An informant within the research facility of Umbrella as fed us information on Umbrella's involvement here. All he knows anyway. There are two branches of Umbrella combat forces. The first is the division of hired hands, mercenaries. They call themselves the Umbrella Biohazard Countermeasure Service...or UBCS. The other consists of very well trained men and women under Umbrella's own. They are called the Umbrella Security Service, or USS. From what we can tell, their objective right now is to evacuate their research projects, programs and researchers themselves from the city."
I nodded listening to this. Well..that explains the containers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, several miles away, a squad of six UBCS members were tactically approaching a container, which was being struck and knocked from the inside. Whatever was in it, wanted out. The leader signaled to hold position, as they ready their .9mm smgs. The crashing from inside gets louder and stronger...until finally, the container seems to explode...sending sheet metal everywhere. It was unfortunate one of the soldiers was too close, as some debris took off his head. The view of the inhabitant was no longer impeded...this was an ugly thing. It looked to be just a massive glob of living flesh...having limbs and a head like the aliens from the Alien movies.
"Open fire!! Kill it! Kill it!" The leader shouted frantically, as the muzzle flashes illuminated the shadow cast by the bridge above them. The flesh monster seemed to ignore the rounds, as it swung it's massive arm at one of the soldiers. There was a scream, and the cracking of bone...the soldier's neck had been snapped. There were four of them now...and this monster had one more surprise for them.
But now it seemed the bullets were making their mark, a lucky one struck it on the eye of it's shoulder...releasing a clear liquid. The monster's back began to quiver, and the leader signaled a "hold fire".
"What's it doing?" One of them said.
"Is it dying?"
No...this creature was far from it. A moment later, it shot out clear liquid from it's massive growth on its back..along with four parasites of it's own. It had great aim...all four met a target. It only took seconds for the remaining soldiers to be killed...and the smal fledging retreated back to it's "mother". It snarled before slowly lumbering from the scene...free to do as it pleased.

[V]

We arrived at the river maybe an hour later...still no sign of any hostile bodies. "Spread out...and set up a perimeter around this place...not that anything is here..but.." Captain Bartlett made sure this area was secure for me...even left a Lieutenant to watch over me, while he went to oversee everyone else.
This Lieutenant and I were very close friends. His name was Daniel Bussard. Since he earned his rank, all of his friends, including me, started calling him "Lieutenant Dan", as we were all fans of that movie. I approached the riverside, and placed my pack beside me. A sample of water was to be tested to confirm if this was a cause or not. While I had already collected a few vials, before Dan had started talking. "You know...there is absolutely no logic to this theory..."
"What do you mean?" I had said. I actually knew full well what he was going to say...I had similar thoughts since I saw the first bit of destruction.
"Look around us, Asako...a chemical leak? Cause all this? No. I've heard of leaks introducing a severe sickness...mutations...hell even wiped out populations. But...physical destruction? No chemical I know can flip cars...destroy streets..."
"Yeah...I understand..." I reached for a device in the pack, and place it in to the water. Some lights flashed and it starts beeping. This was used to detect any poisons or radioactive material in the water.
"But, we got to think of something else then..." I mused. "If it wasn't a leak...what was it then?" The machine signaled it was done, and I took it out. The readings showed negative for anything radioactive, and negative for arsenic or mercury contamination. The water was absolutely fine...or so it seemed.
"Getting nothing from these things...but I won't know until I test it back at the 'lab'."
"Gotcha. Let's go---" He stopped short. A metallic clinking nearby...sounded like someone had kicked a can. Our rifles went up immediately, and Dan went up first. "Hello?!" He shouted. No response. "Anyone there?" He moved forward a few feet...and from around the corner came a figure, mouth agape. It took my friend to the ground...but we both soon realized...it was just a man. His mouth was wide open...because he was yelling.
"You got to help me!!" the frightened civilian said. "Please!!" Seems like really did...this man looked like he had gotten stuck in a piranha feeding frenzy...he was in bad shape.
"We will, sir...but please...get off..."
So I helped him up...and he gave us a story...we didn't believe it, at the time. "Zombies..."
"Don't worry...you're in good hands now, sir...we'll get you help." I assured him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, a USS member was running at breakneck speed to an obvious scientist. "Greg!" He said, still catching his breath. "We have a problem...a...big...problem..."
"Well?" Greg said irritated. "What is it then? Out with it, man!"
"We lost contact with team four..." The USS member finally admitted.
Greg sounded most angry. "Team four? You mean the ones with container B7R?!!! Idiots! You're telling me the container is being unsupervised! God knows what it is happening to it! The damn thing might be loose now, can't you muscle heads do anything right?!"
"Well...what do you want us to do?"

"FIND IT, you moron! I don't care how many men you lose! Find it and kill it! I want it filled with lead, and holes until there is nothing!"

"What? But..the team..."

"The team is dead! Obviously if you lose contact, something bad has happened. And if it was B7R, I suggest you get on it right now, or you're gonna have a bigger problem later."

"I'll get our best on it..."

"See to it."

[V]

We met up with Captain and his part of the detachment. He got a good look at the man and decided it was best if we hurried. On our way back, we came by a small area under the overpass of the freeway. A car had crashed into the wall...and had taken out several people with it...there bodies strewn around. The passenger of the car was hanging out. It was just a sad sight. I didn't want to look...but this was the Army. You must be able to stifle emotions during any situation. But as we walked passed the car, the body of the passenger twitched.
"Hey!" One of the soldiers called. "I think we have another liver!" He ran up to the man, and gave him a light tap. "Hey, buddy. Did you feel that? Are you alive."
The man moaned.
For a moment, all or spirits were raised, maybe another one we could help out. Captain told another soldier to help him out of the car, and then faced me. "Specialist, you stay with the other one." I nodded, and stood by the bleeding man who had met us.
But what happened next..no amount of military training could prepare us for..."
As the two soldiers went to lift the man out, they saw the ribcage was completely torn out...and the man had finally looked up. His eyes were glazed over...and he had no nose. He was dead. This could only mean one thing...zombies.
Our suspicions were solidified when the other bodies started to get up as well...
"Oh my god! E-everyone! Rifles up! Hostiles! Hostiles everywhere!!!" The frightened sergeant shouted.
"Stop gawking and start shooting then!" Captain called back. The muzzle flashes could probably be seen a mile away...and what was worse...when you knocked them down, they just came back up not a few moments later.
"Sir, we need to...sir?" I stared at the other survivor. He was hunched over now..moaning. A big mistake, for he looked up at me, eyes glazed, and swung at me with powerful arms. I threw my head back just in time, but my mask was swiped right off my face. I couldn't believe...I didn't want to believe it...but zombies did exist. I snapped out of my own internal conflict in time to catch the zombie in a lunge. I quickly unsheathed and jabbed my combat knife right into the zombie's eye, and he fell back.
"Specialist, you keep doing things like that, and you'll be dead REAL soon!" Captain shouted. "Listen up! Company B! Retreat! Start running! And don't stop until you can't smell these guys!"

And so we did....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forty minutes later, we fought them back and won at camp...with the help of our Humvee mounted machine gun. That encounter cost the lives of four soldiers. Captain seemed to have been hit the hardest. "What am I going to tell the families..." I heard him say. "Sorry miss...your husband was eaten alive? Mauled by zombies?"
I couldn't agree more with him...and I am even convinced this was no chemical leak. No matter what it is that leaks...all need to have one thing in common to be hazardous...they need to kill cells or other living matter. Bringing the dead back to life certainly isn't killing.
"We better tell central..." Captain said disgruntled. But as he took out his radio...all that he could hear was static. "...don't tell me our comm. link was damaged in that fight...Damn it! We're without contact now!" He hit his fist against the metal doors of the Humvee., then cupped his hand over his face. "What are we going to do..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite my earlier thought, I was required to conduct experiment on the water...and just as my hunch said...the water was absolutely clean. No arsenic, no mercury, hell not even much sewage. Atleast Raccoon had a great sanitation service. I then reached for a chunk of flesh I removed from on of the zombies, and dissolved that in a special chemical called Argonic acid. Then, I took of a sample of the dissolved, and placed it under a slide...and that onto a microscope. I looked through it...and I immediately recognized a protein. It looked nothing like any protein a human would have...I looked away from the scope for a few seconds to record my findings, and when my eye retured...they had vanished. "What the...that would mean..." Those were a special protein called a protean...a modified protein that can change it's matter depending on the surroundings or something of that sort. Now a question remained...what protein would cause the dead to come back to life...

[V]

"Wh-What the hell is that thing?!"

"Doesn't matter! Shoot it!!"

"Reloading!"

Tatatatatata!!!

"Someone get on the fifty cal!"

"Grenade out!"

"Mark! You're too close, get back!! Get back!!!"

I heard the sounds of battle from outside the truck. I guessed it was another zombie raid, so I wasn't going to come out unless I was told so. I was stumped on what was actually causing it. This unknown compound was my primary suspect...but everything I used to identify it became as confused as I was.
Suddenly, someone burst through the canvas covering of the truck. "Terauchi!" Captain Bartlett shouted. "Get your ass out here!" That was all I needed, before I jumped from the truck. I caught a look at what we were up against...and nearly soiled myself. It was a fleshy creature...a big one.

Our bullets seemed to be holding it...but not killing it. We'd need to stop it now before we ran out of ammo for good. Having an idea hit me like a slippery fish, I ran for the supply truck. An old RPG lay up against the back of it with some other wooden crates. It was one of those used by third-world countries, which looked like a small pipe with the rocket sticking our from the front. Guess they didn't see it useful enough to pack it with the other radar guided launchers. But I wasn't complaining.
I slung it over my ran back out. By then, the soldiers had back up some, and it was me who would come to the rescue. While it was focused on my comrades, I attempted to flank it, getting myself in position directly to it's left.
I forgot how difficult it was to aim this thing...I didn't even get a neat little flip-out cross hair. This would all come down to luck.

"A little closer..." I mumbled to myself...before finally activating the launch mechanism. The kick-back was very strong, and I fell from my kneel. I was certain my shot was fucked up now. But...the explosion certainly proved me wrong. I got it. Straight hit on the back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We examined the slowly twitching body, and I nearly lost my lunch. It was even more grotesque up close. How can something like this even exist. "Asako..." Captain began, but I quickly reponded.
"No! I'm not touching it! I'm not going to experiment on it!"
"Come on, specialist. We all have a duty."
"No. I don't want to."
"Just a small sample...here.." I watched him bend down, and cut into it with his combat knife. Then he forced the chunk of flesh into my gloved hand.
"There. Now you've touched it. It's not so bad, is it?"
I gave him the death glare before walking back into the truck.

[V]

I followed the same procedure with this sample as I did with first chunk of decayed flesh. This did helped only very little. There was the unidentified strand I could recognize...and then another one. "God damn it." I said frustrated, before almost throwing the microscope. I could verify one thing. The strand that I've seen twice is one of the causes for this. I heard the canvas slide behind me. It was Captain Bartlett. "Hey, Asako." He said calmly. "What's up? Find anything interesting?"
Guess it was time to present everything. "Well, sir. The water proved useless. So them drinking wasn't the cause...which means there is no chemical contamination---"
He interrupted me. "Hey, where is your mask? You need to have it on at all times unless we are told otherwise."
I had forgotten all about that. I'd been without my mask for well over an hour and a half...and it is likely this cause isn't airborne, since I feel very unchanged.
"Uhh...zombie...swiped it from me maybe two hours ago..."
"Well then." He began to unstrap his own mask. "Guess we have nothing to worry about then."
I smiled...I hadn't seen his face in a while. He was a very handsome man. I finished telling him everything I knew, and he told me something. "We're relocating. I already sent a message to the one in charge."
"Did he authorize?"
"No...but the hell if I am letting us stay here. I'm not letting anymore of my soldiers die."
"Well...we have all known you to be a freelancer."
"And I won't stop today." He gave a smile and wink, before coolly leaving the truck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It only took us minutes to pack up the rest of the trucks, and be headed on our way. We weren't abandoning the entire mission...just our post. Suddenly, the truck stopped, and took a peek out to see why. A smashed container, and several dead Umbrella soldiers. "What happened here?" Lieutenant Dan asked the air.
"My sources would say a fight. Spread out. Maybe we'll find something." Bartlett was always in control. He had the experience to handle all situations it seemed.
My sights were on the container. I could see rotting flesh on the corners of the debris, like something had cut itself on them. I bent down and felt it between my gloves. It felt the same as the one Bartlett had shoved into my hand. And if I was right. Our "flesh monster" came from this container.

"Captain!" One of the other soldiers ran past me with a sheet of paper. "Looks like the mission orders of these guys. I didn't read it though, I thought you should decide what we do with them.""
Bartlett let his eye scan them for a moment, before reading out loud. "UBCS team 4. Mission: Extract container from city at given order. Protocol: Code XX."
He stared into the sky. "You think the order has been issued yet?"
I answered for him. "I don't think so. I haven't seen a helicopter go up into the sky since we got here...and judging by this, they had no intention of moving it...so I guess whatever was in this container got out."
"That would make sense." Captain mused. "Damn these Umbrella boys. They are much more organized than us. Have teams on standby ready for any situation. Those are strategists worth their bars."
The next moment, his eyes fixed upon the truck Umbrella was going to use to ship out. "Hmm...maybe we can find a file on what was being shipped out." He gave a single for a tactical approach. "Form up!"

[V]

(Umm....Christmas edition!! Just cause)
We raided the truck, and checked every inch of it. There was not a file to be seen, and the trucks started rolling again. We came to a suitable place, and set camp up there. Good amount of men were still left in the battalion, and no one I really cared about perished...horrible thing to say, but it was okay. Although Christmas was a few months away, we had all missed the last one, and we already had gifts for each other. Unfortunately, they were all at the barracks. So...Bartlett let us have a rest. We all got to remove our helmets for the first time in almost a day, and we were all grateful. I was sitting against the wheels of one of the trucks, watching the other soldiers. My friends in the battalion were having a drinking contest, playing cards, arm wrestling, alot of guy things. It's not they didn't want me to compete, I just didn't feel like it. One of them had lost, and was "out" for the rest of the of the contests, starting to walk in my general direction. I smiled at him, and he smiled back. "Allo." He spoke in a heavy French accent.
"Allo..." I said back. I'll admit, I was and still am attracted to this guy. Just his features...but both of us knew inter-faction relationships are prohibited.

He took a seat next to me, and stared at the building in front of us. "Crazy things we see today, non?"
"Well...I can't say I've seen worse, Lieutenant." I replied, trying to let the conversation go longer.
"Lieutenant? Non! That is a fighters title, a warriors title. And now, we are at peace. Just call me Antoine. Je m'appelle, mon ami."
I giggled at his cheesy lines, and it seemed to get the correct reaction.
"Haha, Anglais, sil vou plait." I answered.

"Aie, oui, oui, Bien sur...err! I mean yes, yes, sure." The frenchman turned to me. "I am surprised such a thing can happen. I mean...it is---"
"YO! Frenchy!" The group beckoned to him. "Danny wants to challenge you to a chug! He says whiskey beats cognac anyday!"

"Comment? Haha! Tell him it is on!" He stood up...but faced me for a brief second. I smiled to him and winked. That's all he seemed to have wanted, before leaving.
I let my head go back against the truck as well, before sighing, letting myself slip into my fantasies a highschool girl would probably have. "Asako Chargment..." I whispered. "Oh...if I only I could marry him." I then closed my eyes, and let myself slip into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(End christmas edition!!)
I awoke next morning, seems I slept through an awesome party. Beer bottles and such were scattered all around. Almost everyone else was asleep....except Captain Bartlett and the man of my dreams... They were standing in front of the Humvee, cooking packed food on a hot plate plugged into the cab. They were talking amongst each other, comical it seems, because they laughed every now and again.
"Hey! Asako!" Captain greeted, catching me in the corner of his eye. "Bit early for you I would say. I am usually close to kicking you in the ass to get you up in the barracks."
"Well...the ground is more comfortable than that needlestack you call a cot. I can get to sleep easier."
"Hey!" He seemed to come back playfully. "I maintain those myself."
"And it shows, sir." All three of us laughed, while Bartlett continued to mix the food. "It's crazy what goes on behind the government's back, you know." Bartlett started up again. "I doubt the government authorized any of these experiments these Umbrella clowns are doing."
"Why is that, Capitan?" The frenchman asked.
"Well, Antoine...you remember that fleshy thing we fought the other night. Looked kind of human. And Asako even clarified human DNA. So it was a human at one point."
"Ah...couldn't use animals?"
"I'm sure they did...but I guess their results were too different to be desired...they might have needed to break a few laws. That's my hunch anyway. And continued part of that is that those idiots messed up, and now we're dying to clean up the mess. Scientists..."
I cut in. "I'll agree with you there, sir. So any news on extraction?"
"Haha, funny you should ask, Corporal. My request had an opposite effect. They're going to give us the assistance of a mechanized infantry."
"Mech. infantry? A robot?"

"Haha, hell no. We're not that advanced yet. Just a fancy word for a light tank. It's like an APC and a tank merged...just no cannon..has a three round burst gun of somekind that uses incindiary rounds. It's actually pretty neat. Going to be air dropped to our location sometime today." He took the food off the hotplate, and unplugged it. "You guys want some?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later, everyone was up and ready to go again. The tank was dropped off maybe half an hour later, those air force guys are really quick. We were all excited about the extra firepower...but at the same time, disgruntled. This meant they wanted us to be here for a while...and to tell you the truth...though the objective was still supposed to be find source, eliminate, yada, yada, yada...we truly had no idea what we were doing anymore. Umbrella did seem to be involved though. But all attempts to contact them by any military official failed still. So we were forced to stay until further notice. Bartlett assembled us before the tank. "Alright. I'm sure this is going to be a real risk for me. BUT! Seeing as we're all mature adults...well hopefully...I'm going to allow us to break off into teams. Now usually, I'd assign. But, I'm too lazy, and really don't want to deal with it, so you go ahead and choose buddies. I want three different teams. Whoever wants to ride with me can come in the tank, I'll give one of you the humvee, and the other a truck. Mobile lab stays here...along with an armed guard...we don't want any bad guys taking our stuff and selling it on eBay. I like some of the stuff in there."
Alot of them chose to go with Bartlett for two reasons..one he knew how to operate, and two...he had keys to a tank. But...a few of us detached. He assigned us, that is me, Antoine, and Dan the Humvee, and a sector to the south. We were scheduled to regroup an hour and a half later at camp, with any survivors we encounter and information.
The three of us drove to the high school, first major building on our route. Already we felt horrible...the scene here was nothing but carnage...and it was just a school. Bodies of teens, adults...over turned cars. A few zombies, too. I heard the loud banging off the .50 cal from up top; Dan was taking care of them.
"Hey...why don't you park it here by the entrance. I'll keep the outside clear, while you scope the inside."
"I'll buy it..." I answered.
"Bien sur!" Antoine called after. The humvee was parked by the doors, and Frenchy and I stormed in, while Dan stayed on the gun. It was just as gloomy inside...but atleast there wasn't much carnage. It seemed ominously empty. I was afraid to go alone...and I kept closer to my buddy. The lighting was somewhat dim, so we had to use our light attachments. It was a pretty big building...atleast six halls, a courtyard, and a large cafeteria. And there were only two of us. I'm positive Antoine wanted out as much as I.
"Okay...umm...let us split up." He reluctantly suggested. I nodded half-heartedly. He pointed me in one direction...and himself in another. I was assigned the hall of mathematics and science. Boy I remember taking these courses...real snores fest. I didn't bother opening the doors...just shone the light around inside and waited to see if anything reacted. The two of us had kept our radio channels open, in case one of us happened to discover something.

Meanwhile, Antoine was heading down the media hall. He too had the same tactic as me...but he had also heard crashing in one of the end rooms. Slowly, he opened the door and looked in. There was a teenage boy with one of the larger recording cameras going at a group of four zombies. The smart person would have ran from those odds...but I guess the sudden appearance of this situation made him drop his senses.
I heard gunshots on the radio...the screaming of a boy...and my buddy shouting in French.
"Get back here!!!" Antoine shouted. "It's okay, I'm here to help."
I quickly hauled my ass to the media hall...and was bulldozed by the very teenager. And when I struggled to get up, Antoine was next to stumble...landing right on top of me in a coincidental and cliche way...so that we could stare at each other. Was a very awkward moment. But I smiled, and so did he. My face must have flushed red...and I started to feel strange. Moment was interrupted though...for that teenage boy did not perish in the accident.
"Hey! You're soldiers! you need to help me there are zombies...teachers! I've seen enough zombie movies to know that you're going to die and leave me to fend off the big guy on my own! and how do you try and save yourselves? By almost having sex?!"
"Woah! Woah!" Frenchy tried to intervene. "You need to how you say...chill. We just got here, and we need to know if any others are here. All that matters is that you're safe." He looked back at me and gave me a wink.
He seemed to be in control...and I knew he was trying to impress me...and boy was I. "Tell us..." I asked the boy..who's name was John. "Do you know of anyone else here?"

[V]

I informed Bartlett that we had found a survivor, and we explored the school a little more. We found nothing unfortunately...save a few zombies that we easily disposed of. John was starting to bug me...he compared us to a few things...some which I had no knowledge of. He almost ran off a couple times, too...but, he'd come back.
We approached the entrance...and suddenly there was a blinding flash; an explosion, and the humvee crashed and lodged itself through the entrance. The shock wave knocked us all back, and then we heard gunfire, bullets bouncing off metal and brick.
We scrambled for cover, and had our weapons ready. "Shit!" I heard Frenchy shout. "Who the hell is shooting us?!"
I started yelling into the radio. "Hey! Whichever moron is shooting at the school, hold fire! There are friendlies here!"
Then we heard a reply from Captain Bartlett. "Damn it you guys! You're the only ones who were assigned to cover the school! So nobody you know is there!"
"Then we're being engaged by several armed threats!"
"Well...are they shooting at you?"
"Yes, sir...what should we---"
"I think you should stop gawking and fire back! A little common sense, guys! God! You're soldiers, you should know this!"
We both knew we would have to eventually...but suddenly the gunfire stopped.
"Hold fire. Scope it out, maybe we got them." It was a voice I never heard before. "One in the truck is dead..." They were referring to Danny...
I could hear boots, stepping on broken glass and debris, several of them. "Check behind the lockers...be vigilant."
I stared at Antione, hoping he knew what to do...and I was surprised he had removed his flashlight attachment from his rifle...and had attached a bayonet in it's place.
"Is that..."
"Oui...I don't care if people think this weapon is outdated...300 years old, and still deadly."
I rolled my eyes, as the footsteps loomed closer...most were on his side.
"Just watch, mon cheri." He said sinisterly.
"I hear voices!" The unknown one said. "Behind the lockers! Johnson! Clear them!"
A moment later, one of them came around to Antoine's side. I got a brief look at the attire...they were wearing the same uniforms as the men massacred by the flesh monster; these were Umbrella soldiers...the mercenaries. With one strong jab, Frenchy impaled the mans head, and let a bullet remove it from the blade, before peeking around and plowing the front with bullets. The two Umbrella soldier's there were hit several times and killed.
The leader signalled a retreat. "They're firing! Back off! Back off!"
I seized this moment and peeked around as well...and I managed to hit a retreating soldier in the back of the head with a lucky shot.
I guess being disciplined soldiers had it's advantages. I then heard the sound of a pin popping, and looked to Antoine. He' activated a grenade. "Be just like the fourth of July." before he threw it after the few remaining soldiers.
I heard their voices once more. "What's that?"
"Get down! Grenade!"
Then explosion, and the screams of men...those poor idiots...must have tried leaping out of the way. I thought we had won...but was I wrong...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new set of voices, these ones were demanding. "Get out of the way!" One shouted. "We'll take these guys." I had a peek around the locker to see who these new voices were. They were dressed in fatigues that were all black, save the Umbrella logos that were on the shoulders. This must have been the other faction, the one of trained men. And unlike the mercenaries, these guys had assault rifles. I was starting to fear for our lives.
But Antoine didn't seem to feel any of that. It's like he's been in situations like this before. I saw him put his rifle down, and reach for his handgun. Was he going to try to kill them all with that? He checked the chamber to see if a bullet what present, and then snapped it closed. He then peeked around the locker. The leader of this new threat was up front, giving signal commands, when Antoine made a quick move, jumping out, and firing once at the leader...getting him right between the eyes.
The leader fell dead, and every black soldier started firing. "Nous sortir! Alles! Alles!" He shouted John and I in French. I guess he assumed he knew what he meant, as he started running, as did John. I got up to run too...but I felt someone grab my shoulder...then a very strong pain behind my neck...before my vision started to give, I heard a man shout "I got one!"

<<black out>>

[V]

My vision was coming back now...and I could see that we were still in the high school; my wrists were bound with some kind of plastic wire behind my back. The survivors of that UBCS cell we fought against were hauling crates of somekind into the back of trucks, and tossing bodies aside. They'd already discarded the charred chassis of the humvee...so I must have been out a while. Among these UBCS, were some members of the black cladded soldiers, looked like they were standing guard or something. I heard footsteps approach, and I closed my eyes...I didn't want them to know I had come to.
"Hey." I heard a gruff voice...one of professional figure. "She up yet?"
"Not that I'm sure of, sir."
I heard his boots scrape across the ground...probably facing me now. "Bullshit." he said. "She's awake." Suddenly, I felt the wind forced out of lungs, and my eyes shot open. Gasping for breath, I quickly realized he had kicked me hard in the vest.
"See?" Then he walked away.
The man he had talked to waved to him, and looked back to me. "Haha. Welcome back." He spoke with a germanic accent. "Now before you start saying things like "I'm not talking" or "you'll never make me talk" I want you to know something." He brandished a firearm...a handgun...it was my handgun. "My orders were to kill anyone we found snooping around...as we did with your friend in the truck. But...I decided to spare you. So be thankful...unless you would rather die..." He pushed the muzzle against my temple.
I whimpered and shook my head quickly.
He took the gun away and chuckled, when the UBCS soldiers approached him. "We're all ready to go." he announced.
"Take off then. I'll catch up." They parted with a wave, and the german man left to do something.
I watched the trucks leave...what could they be hauling back there? The trucks left my sight..and I was stuck there. I was afraid. What was going to happen to me? I tried at the plastic restraint...but it was rather secure. They didn't want me getting free. They had also stripped me of every combat item...knife, sidearm and the like. There was not much I would do until the USS soldier got back.

But when he did...he informed me that his boys were posted all over...any attempt of retrieving me would end in failure. "So what do you want with me?" I finally said.
"Well..." he began again. "Like I said...I was told...and will eventually have to kill you." He pondered a second, studying my handgun. "This is general issue, right?"
"Y-yes..."
"What caliber?"
"Nine millimeter...why?"
Suddenly, he faced the gun at me...and pulled the trigger. I heard the bullet hit the ground, and I felt my body being pushed hard against the lockers with a loud crash. I felt a sharp pain in my chest, between my breasts. He had shot me...luckily, in my vest.
"Haha. Hollow point. I knew it. Don't worry, I'm in no hurry to finish my task...I plan on doing one more thing before putting you out peacefully."
"Wh-what do you mean?". I asked with obvious fear.
He didn't answer...just faced away. I began to whimper though...I heard him unzip his pants.
This could only mean one thing. "Oh..no...please, don't do that!" I started plead. But he just smiled, and knelt down in front of me. He sat on my legs...and I felt his hands touch my forbidden area between them. "Don't worry...atleast one of us will have fun." He said with a grin, and took out a knife. I heard the fabric being cut by the sharp blade...and soon felt the breeze cool the lace of my white panties. I'd been in the BDU so long...I forgot the feeling after a while. I felt his hand run over the lace...I turned away...holding back tears. I always heard of women experiencing this...but I never expected it to actually happen to me.
I then felt a wet and rough sunsation run up the cheek of my face. It didn't take me long to realize this freak was licking me. I wanted to push him off...and I wanted to kick him off...but I could not move a limb. I then felt the cold of the blade on the inside of my ungarnment...luckily facing the blunt end. Then the sound of the lace being cut, and my forbidden area was completely open to the world now. There was no holding back my sobs now. "Please stop! Please!"
I felt his rough and calloused fingers rub against the bare flesh of the lips...before he started to spread them. He wanted to present the red innards to the world. "Stop...don't do this to me..." I continued to beg for mercy.
Then...I felt his tool inside me...and he began to pump back and forth...back and forth, increasing speed. I began to shout in pain. He was being rough. "STOP!!!" I could have sworn that screeched forced plaster from the ceiling. Crying now...I'd just wait for it to end...death would be a gift for going through this....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gunshots in the distance...and the German man laughed. "That's your rescue party...I'll let you see their faces before I kill you." A moment later...I heard his radio. "Sir..." A voice said. "We got...we got them."
"Excellent. Bring the bodies to the front, ASAP." I was surprised he could keep a stable voice...as vigorous as he was pushing into me.
"Yes sir..."
I noticed something about the voice on the other radio...it sounded afraid. Then another faint sound...sounded like another gunstho...but only one..and it seemed I only heard it.
"Sadly...we're almost done here..." the man spoke to me...taking his tool out and wiping the slimy thing off with my cut panties. I then heard a gun cock, and could see the legs of a figure behind the german man who had raped me. "You know..I'm usually a reasonable guy...but who taught you any disipline. I don't take nicely to men who rape my soldiers...women or otherwise."
Despite my position, my eyes lit up...it was Bartlett.
I heard him ramble on some more. "Now that's enough, von horny, why don't you pull your pants up, it'll be easier for everyone that way."
"Bien sur, mon capitan." I heard that French accented voice approach from the left. It was Antoine. "Miss me, mon cheri?" I saw him wink at me.
I couldn't smile...I couldn't really show much emotion...but they I was ecstatic.
The German man faced the French man. "Psh. Just like the French. Only show up when they are being backed up. Do you not the balls to come alone? Haha...we should have wiped out your useless country ages ago."
Antoine just laughed. "I believe you did try...twice! I think those were the two World Wars...but...who always got it up the ass in those two? Why...those German macho boys, non?"
The German glared, and reached for the handgun and picked it up.
Bartlett reacted with a threat"You have two seconds to drop it before I drop you." he had said. "One, two, time's up." <<Gunshot>> The poor German guy couldn't even so anything.
The two men look at me...and while Antoine unfastened my bonds,

Bartlett just smiled and shook his head. "I always said you were going to die if you kept fighting like that...but heh...guess rape is worse than death. Haha. I hope you have extra pants....and underwear. I'd loan you some of mine...but, I'm a briefs kind of guy...real sensitive about my undies."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later...we were back at our base camp. I'd been issued some extra fatigues, and luckily, I always back an extra pair of undergarments. Bartlett was discouraged...another soldier died...this time, one everybody loved. And what was worse...we could not pin this on Umbrella...there was simply not enough proof. And witnessed were three...all lead by a freelancer. It would not last long in a court.
Just then...I heard the beating of chopper rotors approaching...single rotor...so we were not getting out. I stepped outside to see it was one of our choppers...maybe a Seaknight. It was the Adjutant to our base commander...and another man. I approached stealthily...so that I may listen to what was going on.
"Bartlett, you've gone to far this time!" The adjutant said. "It's time you were reassigned...don't worry, we've got a replacement." He pointed to the new man. "Major Jose Rivera."
"You're turning all my soldiers over to this punk? With all due respect, sir..you can do better. These are great men...and woman, that are under my command. They deserve a better leader."
"And you think you are a better choice?"
"Well..sir I have the lowest causality count of the four companies."
"But you've made the lest progress...and worse yet is that you defected from orders. This is grounds for a marshal! Now you will shut up and get into that chopper."
With a sigh...the great Captain went in.
The Adjutant lead our leader to the center of the camp. "At ease people!" He shouted to everyone.
"You are under new command...this is Major Jose Rivera...and you will follow every order given to you by this man....are we clear?"
We all grimly replied "Crystal...."
Bartlett was gone...and with it...all our hope of coming back alive.

[V]

This new commander was a true jackass. We all hated him, everyone one of us. Couldn't so much as sigh without his permission...we were lucky he decided to let us stay where we were camped. "Form up! Right now! Don't keep me waiting!" his voice easily made it's way through our camp...and soon we were lined up at attention. "Asako Terauchi! Antoine Audebert! Step forward!!" And we did. "Everyone else, you're dismissed."
They happily departed...but they must have felt sorry for us...as some of them looked back with worried eyes. I think we were more afraid though. The Major approached me first. "You're the specialist?"
I nodded.

"Answer me right now!"

"Yes, sir..."

"Good. You will speak when you are spoken to, and answer when you are question. You hear me, you stupid bitch?"
I gritted my teeth, and nodded while saying "Yes, sir..."
I noticed Antoine fidgeting...he was already fed up with him.
The Major continued to interrogate me. "And as the specialist...you're job is to run the field lab?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then why were you not here?! Were you neglecting your duties? Why did you leave? Perhaps you're not fit for this corp---"

"She did so because we had to!" The Frenchman interjected.
The Major faced him, obviously infuriated. "I wasn't talking to you, Audebert."

"Really? Well, you're talking plenty loud for every battalion sent to hear..."

"Are you trying to be clever with me?"

"If you think that is clever, you must not have---"

"Shut up! All you are saying is out of line! I can have both of your heads if you don't take control of yourself right now!"

Antoine gulped and went back to being silent. Major faced me again...and opened his mouth to speak...but nothing came out. "Forget it!" He finally said. "I'm done with you two, get out of my sight before I write yo up."

"Is that---"

"Shut up and GO!!!"

We said nothing afterwards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later, I was sitting against the front wheel of the truck, hugging my knees, while Antoine leaned against the door. We were silent for a while...just listening to the shouting of the new Major. We were disgusted. He was too strict for his own good.
"I miss him already...and he's not even been gone an hour..." I finally spoke. "Will he come back?"
I heard fabric run against steel, as the Frenchman fell on his rear. An arm went over my shoulder...and my two went up to quickly embrace it. We scooted closer together, and I cuddled up against his chest. I was comforted by this...we both were.
"Je ne sais pas, mon cheri..." He replied. "Je ne sais pas..."
I knew enough French to know that meant "I don't know."
I felt so hopeless now. It was Bartlett who kept us all going. He lead us with confidence, and humor...and that was the fuel we accepted. Not like the Majors intimidation and insults. I only buried my face into his chest, and started to sob...my tears staining his vest. I felt his chin upon my head...and his other hand rub my back. "First Dan...then Bartlett..." I said through sobs. "I'm losing everyone I care about..." The loss of these people was far worse than the rape. I swung my arm around the Frenchman's torso, and hugged him tightly. I didn't care if the Major saw us...but he was already busy anyway. "I-I don't want you to die..." I told him and stared at him. "Promise me...you won't."
He only smiled and gently whisked a tear from my face. "I wont, Asako. You have my word..."
It pains me to remember...he'd never broken a single promise...not one...except this one...

[V]

Next morning...at 0600, we were all forced to be awake. The Major made no exceptions, and we didn't even eat. He said it was to make up for all the effort Bartlett had wasted. He pissed me off so much when he said that. I just wanted to shove my handgun down his throat.
"And as punishment...or perhaps you should just do your duty" He gave his last sentence. "Corporal Teruchi, you stay here with the trucks." I lowered my head...I didn't want to stay here alone.
"Wait a minute, sir---"
"And you, Lieutenant Audebert, will stay with her! Anyone else want to volunteer?"
It was silent.
"Good. Too your posts everyone."
I watched the men leave...while Antoine and I stayed behind. I cupped my hands over my face and shook my head. "Why does he hate me?" I asked outloud. "Why? I don't think it's because of this stupid honor."
"Well...look at it this way." Antoine suggested. "We got the easy job." He was trying to cheer me up...but sadly, it wasn't working.

The truth was, I wasn't really afraid of actually being alone. The fear was that...well, usually, if someone wants you dead...they won't stop until you are or them themselves are. And Umbrella was still an extremely healthy animal as far as I knew. I was afraid they were always watching us...and right now...would be a great chance to strike.

[V]

Our job was to stand guard, and also keep a look out for survivors. All the companies together have located many of them...and sometimes they would find us. I've seen so much death and destruction out here...I was growing sick of it. This was no way or place to die...being eaten alive by former loved ones or neighbors . All of us...that is; Bartlett, Danny, Antoine, and myself; all of us were certain Umbrella was behind this...but...we still had no proof. I just wished we did...then we could make sure that the corporation was disbanded...we'd find out something important later in time...but by then, it was already too late.

I was inside the cab of one of the trucks with a hot plate plugged, cooking some rations we felt we needed. It was against Major's orders, but to hell with him. Everyone in this platoon was about ready to shoot him...and he's only been with us for a few hours. While doing that, Antoine was sitting cross-legged on the roof of the truck with the high powered sniper rifle. It was his main role on the platoon to be the sharpshooter, but due to the low use of one, he was just given a normal assault rifle for recon missions. I heard him fire every now and then...must be taking potshots at zombies. I was starting to like being alone here...could relax...and it's not like anyone would really be after the army, right?

I stepped outside and inspected the surrounding streets...but a moment later, I felt a painful red flash in my eye. For a moment, I had no idea what it was...then I saw the red dot on my chest when I looked down...and dove to the ground. I was lucky...I heard the shot whiz by my head. I soon realized the reality of the situation again. "Lieutenant!" I called. "Sniper! Northwest!" I didn't know where the actual sniper was...but he was in the direction I called. I then scrambled to my feet and hid behind the truck. Antoine jumped off so he was behind with me...he's rather know exactly where the target was before firing. "They still want us dead. I see..." He mused, looking for the sniper on the rooftops. "If only he gave me some clue as to where he was..."

There were plenty of buildings to hide behind...or inside of...I thought we would never find him...until...an explosion of concrete. We saw he black and green clad body fly out with the rubble...and a highly mutilated elephant appeared when the dust cleared. I nearly vomited, and Antoine had to look away. "So...whatever is causing this is not only affecting humans..." I finally said. "This only drives to want to figure out the truth about it...if Umbrella is truly behind it..then they would probably have a file somewhere..."

We watched as the elephant changed course and seemed to go another way. I could only think Umbrella was such a peaceful place before this whole incident. It looked modern...with many update systems of transportation and what not. But it would seem Umbrella really did care about this place...it's not like they'd send and occupy Paris if something apocalyptic happened there. The actions of them only wettened my suspicions.

[V]

We sat together inside the cab of the truck, listening to transmissions on the radio. Some of the we'd managed to cross frequency on mine with that of an Umbrella unit's. UBCS I'm assuming, mainly because they weren't being as tactical as the black uniformed men. But what I found strange was that they were helping the people. I guess they were trying to cover for themselves. Antoine's radio was still set to the proper frequency, and we heard the battalion saying things back and forth. Not much interesting. They were on their way back though. So far, there has been little progression from our unit, and according to major, we're so far behind the other companies, that we might as well be pulled out. All of us, except him it seemed, would much love that option. Death of so many of our soldiers that we loved like brothers, our morale was through the ground. We all just wanted to go home.

An hour later, they had returned. Major looked pissed, and he assembled all of us into formation outside for an announcement. "Useless company, couldn't find their hands in front of their faces if you asked them to." he shouted so everyone could hear. "You're the sorriest bunch of greaseballs I've ever seen. Undisciplined, disloyal, and down right stupid." He scanned us all. "You think you're not? Prove me wrong! But, I highly doubt you can."
That was the straw that broke the camel's back. It happened quickly. Antoine ran up to the major, and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him a good few inches off the ground. "Listen here, you snobby piece of shit." He growled, and quite bitterly. "I know who and what you think you are, and you're probably right. But the hell if I'm going to let you insult this troop, because you have standards set above your sorry wife's ass."
He then threw him to the ground. Major was not at all happy. "I'm going to write you up." He simply threatened. "You will be sent to a federal prison...and for what? This sorry group."
Antoine didn't face around. Just went into the truck. I followed him in. He didn't seem to care...and he didn't care about the other three or so men hopping into the canvas covered back. "We're through with you...let's see you finish this mission without this truck." He started it up, and began to back up.
Major seemed to light on fire. "Kill them!!" he shouted to the men still with him. Kill them, do not let a single one live. I watched from the passenger window...as they raised their rifles. I saw them being hesitant...I knew they didn't want to, but they had no choice. It was too late for them to come with us, and if they didn't follow his orders, they'd be killed. Muzzles flashed everywhere...I could hear bullets colliding with the steel...luckily this was an armored truck though. After escaping the barrage, with no casualties I might add, the other three that hopped in back stared at Antoine...and I did as well, as if we elected him our new leader.
"What are we going to do now?" One of them said.
"We no longer have a home to return too..." I added.
The Frenchman shrugged. "I don't...know yet...maybe we can go on our own little crusade...follow a little hunch we have against Umbrella. We're all very well trained, we can take their grunts."
At first I wondered how we would find them...but then...I remembered the radio. We were still crossed with UBCS guys...find them...we might find leads...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometime later...we found shelter in an old parking garage. Other survivors called this place "home" for a little while as well. Now with us here though, they could sleep knowing someone was looking over their shoulders for them...it was a shame they could not come with us. But had an idea...we'd tell those Umbrella boys they were here...and if they were truly helping people...they'd come for them. For now though, we'd need this place to be free of Umbrella operatives so we told the survivors we weren't getting contact at the moment. Despite it being a haven, it was pretty dirty and gloomy in here...but at least the zombies haven't found us yet. It's too bad we didn't see how many supplies we took with us in the truck, which was nearly all the food, and a good amount of the ammo. Now the soldier's we left behind would need to lower their rations...but they'd probably call in for some more, after all, Major needs to eat, too.
That night, one of the soldiers that had come with us made a fire in a red industrial barrel lying around the place, using some cardboard and a lighter. We'd all enjoy a hot meal...the survivors, too, we had enough to share with them. I had taken a real liking to a little girl, couldn't have been more than eight. I felt more at home with all these strangers then all those people back there screaming orders. I was sitting against the truck, eating my share, when the little girl just came up to me. She didn't want any of food, or wanted to bug me...she just wanted someone to talk to. "Hello!" She greeted me...she was surprisingly cheerful, despite all that has happened. "My name is Caitlin! What's yours?"
I smiled back. Something about talking to her raised my spirits. "My name is Asako."
I heard her giggle. "That's a funny name."
Returning a little chuckle, I fake agreed, before taking another bite and chewing. "Yeah...it is, isn't it?" I couldn't get mad at her...nor had I really the ability to at this point. She was only a child after all.
"Mommy told me Daddy got hurt at work...and he's in the hospital right now. I know he'll be better, but Mommy is still crying. Why if she knows Daddy is okay?"
I slowed chewing after hearing that...and just swallowed. I knew why...the poor father.
"Caitlin!" The mother called.
"Hold on mommy!" She looked back, to me and smiled. "I needa go now, but..." she reached into her little pink backpack, and pulled out a nicely crafted little bracelet of some kind of material...almost rubbery, but it wasn't that. "I made it myself using something mommy gave me last month. We had to leave it though..."
I felt so horrible...yet, amazed at the same time. All these bad tings happen to this little girl, and she still is able to stay happy. I rubbed her dirty blond hair, and told her to wait for a minute. From my wrist, I unclasped a small metal bracelet...probably made of aluminum. It shined like silver...but was still just aluminum, it was a gift from a while ago, from one of my high school friends. I held her hand out, and put it in it. "Tell you what." I told her. "You wear this, and I'll wear yours. It'll be like friendship bracelets...but you can only take it off if mommy says so or you need to take bath. Promise?"
She returned a smile and her answer. "I promise." Then...she gave me a hug. I haven't felt a hug in so long...and I went to return the embrace.
"Caitlin!! come over here, your food is getting cold. Leave that nice soldier alone." The mother called. And like that, she was gone. I felt worried for them...I wasn't sure they would make it out. And as I slipped on the gift I had just received, Antoine tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, come here! Lookie what I found."
I forced myself up, and followed him to a trapdoor in the ground. "Leads down there...but I'm not going down there alone...want to come?"
I reluctantly nodded, Antoine said "Okay...I'll tell them we'll be right back." And so he did. I started down the trapdoor...it was pretty dark...wonder what we'd find.

[V]

We went down there together....and boy, did it smelled horrible. I guess we'd found one of the sewage areas, and you have no idea how much I wish I was wearing my mask right now. The stairway seemed to be the only dark part, as the what seemed like an underground passage, was illuminated by lights. Since it was bright enough to see without a light, Antoine decided to swap the light attachment for the bayonet like he had at the high school. "Still using that old thing?" I commented, joke of course.
"Eh...like I said, it's about 300 years past it's usefulness, but eh. Can skewer anyone."
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. There was not much down here...a lot of trash, and occasional body of sewage workers, which, we made sure were dead. We came across a small fork, and we gave each other a glance. Stinking together would be the logical thing to do...but we wanted to get out of here ASAP, so we eventually decided to split up. Before parting ways, we set our radios so we can communicate...good thing these we're satellite, and they could easily receive through walls. Gotta love the military equipment.
Down my path, it was just as desolate as everything else...until I came to the end of the chasm...which dipped into a sewer channel...which was filled with disgusting water. I couldn't even see down it enough to know the depth. Being resourceful, I took an iron pipe that was lying around, and tried to probe the bottom. The sad truth...it was only maybe 3 feet deep...but it was so dirty, I couldn't see. Discarding the pipe, I tucked my pant legs into my boots, not wanting any of that nasty stuff on my feet or legs, and after a moment of hesitation, I hopped in.

I was only in that one spot for a few seconds, but it felt I could stay there forever. I didn't know what could be lurking within it...especially when bodies would usually sink. I pressed forward slowly...keeping a vigilant eye...not knowing that a set of eight were actually watching me. Having gone a few feet, the lights above were starting to dim, and if you went further, it seemed they weren't even being placed. Not really seeing any sign of an exit, I reached into my pocket, and pulled out a plastic tube. It was a break lightstick, in my favorite blue color. Grunting, I snapped the plastic, and began to shake it, until the brightness was just right, and chucked it into the black abyss that was in front of me. Nothing new..just more sewer. Perhaps I could go back and regroup with Antoine. But as I faced around...I saw it. The massive hairy black spider. I screeched in fear, and nearly went in my pants. Spiders the size of quarters scared the wits out of me...but this one! It was the size of a small car! Quickly, I engaged my rifle, and didn't even bother aiming. My muzzles flashes illuminated the abyss that was now behind me, and green blood was painting the walls. I don't know exactly when I killed it, but even when the clip was empty, I refused to let go of that trigger. Eventually though, my sense caught up with me, and ran out of there...back down to where I had come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somewhere down that road, I bumped back into the Frenchman...and I was relieved. "What wrong? I heard the shooting." He said, worried tone.
"Sp-spider.." I answered. "Big one..."
He threw his head back laughing. "A spider?! Haha, ah, mon Cheri, you wasted bullets on a wee spider? Haha..."
I didn't bother defending himself. I'd need to show him it, and a mere internal victory was not going to compensate for going back there. As we came by the fork...we heard footsteps coming up the other path. Antoine told me to stay back, and he went to check it out. Not moments after, I heard him shout. "AH! So you followed us in here, ah! Why don't you Umbrella clowns just leave us be!" Then I heard gunfire...as well as gunfire being returned. I began to panic...what if Antoine was to be killed in this fight. I ran the corner to help...and I saw it was another one of those black-cladded soldiers. I brought my rifle up to fire, but...I fear hitting my ally. I'd just need to trust him. Antoine charged up with the bayonet, and there was a clang off metal, and I saw the bayonet fly off to the right. He must have used all his ammo in the first attack, because now he was using his gun like a club. He good hit or two were planted upon the soldier's helmet, and one on the leg. Looked like Antoine may have won, and he got a lucky hit on the back of the knee, having been swinging at him from the side. Then...I saw the soldier pull a knife...and just like that...there was ripping of fabric, and grunt from the Frenchman. My eyes started flowing, blurred by my tears. The rifle dropped from his grip, and Antoine fell on his back...blood flowing from his heart was. How he managed to pierce thirty-six layers of kevlar? I'll never know...and I didn't care. The next thing I did, I ran up to the soldiers, and grasped on to his shoulders. "You killed him!" I began shouting in hysterics, and began pounding on his chest, each blow getting weaker everytime. "killed him...killed him...killed him..." Next thing I knew I was on my knees, no longer holding on to him, as I crawled over to my fallen comrade. I embraced his body, sobbing, like a young child who had broken their favorite toy. "Why..." I repeated. I don't know what the bastard who had killed him was doing, but he was gone when I'd looked up. If I ever met him again, I swore that I'd pull the trigger myself.
I crawled to his face; his eyes were still open. I closed them for him...and kissed his lips. They were still warm. The last of my greatest friends...all of them are now gone.

After a good twenty minutes of grieving, and took the dog tags from his neck. I'd give them to the family if I survived this. I threw my rifle down, and took his. It would be the closest thing to having him holding my hand. and finally...his watch...by some French manufacturer. I put that on my wrist..right under Caitlin's bracelet. I wanted to take all of him..so he could be buried properly...but..there would be no doing that. I gave his corpse one more deep kiss..before putting it all behind me. There was nothing I could do...and I walked that passage alone, crying. I'd be depressed for the rest of this trip. And what was worse...we'd need to go back..back to Major. I couldn't lead defectors without him. And we all knew it. I just hoped my life ahead...would be brighter than the lightstick I threw that night...

[V]

"So what are we going to do now..." One of the soldiers had asked me. I had told them about what happened to Lieutenant Audebert. "We can't do this on our own..." I responded, and went to my radio. Seemed we were still being hated by the Major. "I want everyone to be vigilant!" His voice came through. "Kill them if you see them!" Another tapped my shoulder. "We recorded this earlier...we've been marked for treason." He told me, and handed me a small plastic device; a tape recorder. "Specialist Asako Terauchi, Lieutenant Antoine Audebert, Sergeant Alvin Davenport, Private Hans Grimm, and Private John Wimbledon."
Well...if we went back, we'd serve prison time...if we tried to continue, we'd probably die. Tough choice.
"What do you guys think?" I finally said.
"Go back..." They said in unison.
"If we come peacefully, they cannot shoot at us, or else face felony charges..." I was just trying to think of what Bartlett or Danny would do in this situation.

The other survivors had already left, so we really couldn't ensure their safety, but that was their choice. We reluctantly went back into the truck, and mounted a white tarp as our symbol of surrender. We were just about to leave, when we heard guns cocking. "You there. Hands up, all of you." We did as we were told. "Drop your weapons, and come with us." It was the black cladded divios of Umbrella. There had to be seven of them. We were lead outside of the parking garage, forced up against one of the walls. We were going to be executed "firing squad" style. Guess they wanted to put us out with a bang...literally. We watched them form up as well...rifles raised.
"Any last words?"
We were silent. But something caught my eye, slithering behind them, by one of the soldier's feet, looked like a vine or tentacle. This was a sign of hope.
"Very well then..3..2..."
"What the hell?!"
Like the, the vine thing that was slithering wrapped around the soldier's leg, and like a lance, shot upward through his chest, vest and all. Blood shot out like a water balloon popped, and the tentacle was joined by another, which was lunging for the others. "Shoot it! Shoot it!" They cried frantically. I heard another grunt and them gurgle on blood, as the vine went through the body like butter.
The muzzle flashes lit up the street, and they could see the source of them now. It was a strange plant monster. "There it is!" The leader shouted. "Take it out." They tried to get closer, but the vines impaled another one of the USS ops through the neck, killing him instantly, while the plant used employed the use of it's final two vines, skewering the soldier on the left and right of the leader. I saw him pull a metallic sphere from his belt; it was a small grenade. "Die fucker!" He shouted, and the plant retaliated, shooting the vines out like harpoons. The final soldiers under the leader was skewered through the head, trying to duck, while the leader avoided a fatal blow by side stepping, then he chucked it at the plant.
The grenade detonated, and like that...our savior was gone. The leader as angry now. "That fucker killed all of them...but the hell if I'm going to let you li--"
A sheet of steal from the explosion had hit the concrete building behind us, and ricocheted off...right into the leader's skull, strong enough to go through the helmet. Once again...luck was on our side...but how long before she'd favor them. Recovering from our ordeal...we scavenged the bodies...not much but ammo that wouldn't fit our weapons. Deciding staying here would be a waste of time, we went into the truck..and headed back for camp, the white flag waving in the breeze.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When we got back, we were not welcomed very nicely by Major. He personally threw me out of the truck and onto the pavement, slapping the cuffs on himself. He then grabbed my head and forced me to look at him. "Where is Audebert?!" He shouted, and I could smell his breakfast in his breath.
"Dead..." I answered calmly.
"Sieze the others!!" He shouted to the other soldiers, and a few of the troops under his command ran for the truck. Then he pushed against the ground again. "You're in for it now, you stupid bitch." He said to me. "You're too be tried for treason...but...since you broke the rules...there certainly is no reason that I cannot."
I then felt cold steel on my temple...it was the muzzle of a gun. I grunted, and whimpered, trying to hold back tears. I didn't want to die, and I was scarred. That's probably all he wanted, as I felt the steel leave. "But...unlike you...I know how to follow rules. Take her away, useless pricks." I felt hands grab me...and lead me to a tent. "Don't worry..." One of them whispered. "We'll have you out of here in good time...and he'll be the one on the ground...not you." There were planning on mutiny. And I cannot say I was complaining.