[Brotherhood]

(Excellent post there, 2nd Power. I like the way you’re taking things, not even needing a real map and such. I always **** up when it comes to buildings… I hope this one goes okay.)

(By the way, Sevion. I highly doubt the U.S Military would use an AK-47. That’s guerrilla warfare. And I wrote this post last week, so I’m sorry you aren’t mentioned.)

Out of the eighteen marines in the squad, only five of them had followed him into the target warehouse. Mitch could hear gunfire outside, as well as the occasion explosion of a frag grenade. What the hell were they playing at?

“Okay, Marines. I’m going back out to get some of the others in here! Floyd, baby sit these guys until I get back, will ya?” Mitch ordered, hoping that his helmet cam had picked up everything his sub-consciousness had.

“Wait up, sir!” Jeff Lehman shouted. “That’s suicide. You saw how they ripped Brad apart! And he had the heavy weapon!”

“Don’t worry, kid.” Mitch said, checking the clip in his weapon. “I’ve done this before…”

He barely registered the muttered “So have I.” from Lehman as he kicked the door open and targeted the first zombie. He had seven rounds left in his first clip, and he didn’t plan to use up any more than that. He’d kept the weapon on semi-auto to save ammo, and he’d noticed that he’d been one of the only ones to shoot the zombies in the head. Why hadn’t they listened to Colonel Crowe back at the base? A headshot was the only way to drop the vegetables!

He dropped two zombies, one of which was a Crimson Head, though he hadn’t let it get close enough to him to try out its shiny new claws. Sighting two Privates back to back, keeping a horde of zombies at bay, he ran forward and shoulder tackled the first zombie, and then crushed the skull of the second with the stock of his Carbine. Then he reached for Brad’s corpse and picked up the Minigun.

“Kowalksi! Ramone! Rendezvous with Phillips and head to the target building! Ramone, you’d better have this.” He yelled, spinning his weapon around and shooting a third zombie one handed as he used his other hand to throw the heavy Minigun roughly at the short black Marine. “And aim for the goddamned head!”

He ran over to the rest of the squad; they’d formed a parameter near the target building’s gates and were blasting any forms of the undead, but at the same time spraying the undead full of lead outside the compound.

“Harry, close the damn gates!” Mitch shouted, dropping to one knee and taking out a licker with three shots to the brain. The first two went wide as it climbed down the side of the warehouse, but the third hit dead on centre.

The fat Marine roughly slammed the gates shut and snapped the dead bolt. The hard, steel walls should be able to keep out most of the zombies, but the typical Licker could just climb over.

Mitch shouted for them to pull back into the target building when a Web Spinner came up on his right. The last round in his clip went wide as he stumbled over the mutilated body of a fallen soldier, and the Web Spinner rose up, its legs waving in a deadly dance as a thin line of white shot from its body. Mitch rolled to the other side, trying to draw the H&K as it turned around to bear on him.

He raised the compact handgun and was about to fire when there was a long burst of automatic fire and the Web Spinner was ripped apart. He looked left to see Jeff Lehman stood at the entrance of the Warehouse, the smoking steel of his Carbine pointed at the dead arachnid.

Mitch gave him the thumbs up and followed the rest of the survivors back into the Warehouse.

Five minutes later…

“This is Nighthawk 2. Sergeant Benson, give me a SITREP.” Came the voice of consciousness next to his ear as his earpiece crackled to life.

Mitch looked around the shaken Marines and shook his head, hitting the transmit button.

“Not good. We’ve already lost seven men, including Jenkins. Floyd and myself are going in as planned. We’re going to have the rest of the squad form a parameter outside, giving us a clear path if we make it alive. We’ll be taking in PFCs Jeff Lehman and Bryan Davis. Over.”

“What about WIAs? Over.”

“That’s a negative. Nobody alive has been injured, so we’re all clean. Either way, we’re down to eleven men. Requesting permission to enter the Labs. Over.”

There was a pause, then, “Are you sure you want to do this? We can pull you out now if you’d like. With the operation sabotaged, you have a reason for leaving the area. Over.”

“Nah. I’d rather complete the mission, and I’m ready to go in now. Another day I might not be as motivated. Over.”

“Okay, Benson. You’re in. Do what you gotta do. Over and out.”

Along with Jeff, Bryan and Floyd, Mitch climbed into the relatively small elevator, remembering the last time he’d been acquainted with an elevator in a T-Virus crisis he’d almost had his face burnt off by Chimera acid…

With the elevator on, they knew the power was online. Setting the fail safe wouldn’t be a problem. As the doors closed and the elevator began it soft hum of descent, Mitch knew there was no turning back…