— DeadEye, do you copy?
— Orders!?
— Did you manage to infiltrate the bunker?
— Reporting, yes.
— Good. The other squads are also in position. Remember, their objective is to retrieve as many assets and research data left in the facility as possible. Your job is to recover the scientist Kasahara Kentaro, the last living agent of the Easterners, and also a genius who created numerous biological weapons.
— Like the parasites?
— Partially. Apparently, his research went in a different direction. He was trying to create something that surpassed the parasites. As you know, parasites are biological weapons meant to replicate the obsidian blades. He was researching viruses.
— Was he trying to infect the world?
— Wrong. Apparently, this virus, called Virus 0, transforms the infected into a monstrous creature, losing all human traits and cognitive abilities. Its only goal becomes to kill anyone who approaches the one who transformed it. Also, the facility you're in is full of these creatures. Apparently, when Ken locked himself in the bunker, he also activated his bodyguards to ensure the Westerners couldn't get to him. The big problem is that they don't distinguish enemies from allies.
— That explains the mercury bullets.
— Exactly. They might be different from the parasites, but they have the same weakness: mercury.
— If I may ask, why does the client want Mr. Kasahara so badly?
— The client informed me that the reasons are confidential.
— Understood.
— Over and out.
Why only Kasahara? Why leave all the other members of the group to die?
— Mr. DeadEye, what are the orders? — a recruit asked me.
I briefed my platoon on the orders from the Chief.
— Then what are we waiting for? Let's go! — said the youngest recruit. He was 21. Apparently, the kid had joined the Navy SEALs, completed BUD/S training at 19, and went to fight for the country in The Middle Eastern War as a proud soldier. At 20, he returned to the U.S., the only survivor of an entire team. That's when he resigned. He felt he had fought for nothing and that his comrades' lives were meaningless in the eyes of those who started this war. Then he became a member of the AmberSkulls mercenary group and was placed in my platoon. He was an energetic kid who brought us closer than we had ever been. His name was Jack.
We came across a massive metal door. It had to be an entrance, but it was broken and the surveillance cameras were down.
I asked the kid to watch my back. Inside was a small parking area. The place was even bigger than I imagined. Ahead was a road that led deeper inside. I contacted the Chief and reported the situation. It didn't seem like the beasts were to blame. The breach in the door looked like it was made from the outside in, and the creatures had no reason to flee.
In that parking lot were two vehicles with grenade launchers mounted on the back. The Chief ordered us to take the vehicles and follow the road. At the end was the storage area of the lab, from which we could access the main laboratory. He also warned us the road was full of beasts.
— Perfect, — said Jack, — since we have this firepower, it'd be a shame not to use it.
Attacks like explosions, poisoning, and burning were other methods to eliminate these beasts.
I was in the driver's seat. Jack was in the back with the heavy artillery. The beasts began emerging from corners and vents. They were hideous—some had more limbs, others fewer. Traces of faces could rarely be seen amidst the merging tissue, accompanied by necrosis. The other three soldiers in the second vehicle had taken down a few beasts. One beast jumped from the ceiling towards our vehicle, but just before it landed, Jack fired a grenade and vaporized the creature. The explosion also propelled us forward.
— Hey, don't kill us, for fuck's sake! — I yelled at Jack.
— Alright, but drive faster, and I'll tell you how many I've killed at the end.
That was the kid's problem—he was a bit cocky and crazy. Well, we're all a bit crazy in this industry, but he outdid us. I was thinking about that as he continued blowing up the creatures.
— Help, we're out of ammo!!!
Then I glanced left and saw one of the beasts on the other vehicle.
— Jack! Left!
— Now!
He grabbed his assault rifle, but at the same time, the beast jumped onto the back of the car, and from its hand emerged a giant blade, like bone. It stabbed one of the two soldiers in the back, the other was in shock. I looked back—Jack was staring blankly, unmoving. Then I noticed another beast leaping at our vehicle from behind.
— JACK!
I slammed on the brakes. The beast jumped over the car, and then I hit the gas. We hit the beast with the hood and ran it over. I looked back at the other vehicle. The beast was no longer in the back. The surviving soldier had shot it in the eye and managed to throw it off the vehicle.
— Jack, what the hell!
— Why?...
— ?
— Why?!... WHY THE HELL DOES EVERYONE I LOVE DIE?! WHY?! — he said, tears in his eyes, punching the car's metal.
— Because that's how the world works, kid! The strong always laugh in the end! We live in a world where the only person who truly cares about you is yourself! You matter the most to yourself! You think it couldn't have been you instead of him? Of course it could! You think it couldn't have been me? Obviously! Kid, we're just pawns in this fucked-up game run by powerful people, and you think we have any way out? No chance! You didn't start playing this game when you became a soldier in AmberSkulls or even when you enlisted—you've been playing since you were born! I'm not saying it's wrong to care about your comrade, but all you can do is make sure you stay in the game as long as possible! Survive, for yourself! If not, then for your superior! (me)
— Got it.
He then looked up and said:
— Drive faster! I have an idea! — he yelled at the other car, then said the same to me.
He grabbed the grenade launcher and dismounted it. Checked the ammo. Six grenades left in the back of the vehicle. He loaded them. We passed a support pillar, and he put his plan into action. He shot the pillar. I looked up and understood what he was doing. The ceiling was old and cracked—if he destroyed a few pillars, it would almost certainly collapse and block the road. He took down the pillars, and with them, the ceiling began to fall. I accelerated again. The ceiling kept collapsing. An alarm started ringing along the road. We were nearing the storage area, but a massive door started closing due to the alarm—probably designed for such scenarios to protect the people in the bunker. I hit the accelerator again. Top speed. I didn't think we'd make it, but we got through the door at the last second, right after the other vehicle. Still, the door clipped our vehicle and flung it, flipping the car and throwing Jack and me into the air, knocking us unconscious.
- Avex Adam