DAYS AFTER〔M〕〔IC〕「Hoef & MidKnight」

[Dire Hoef]

The last smash was enough to raise the attention of Christy, who wasn't that far away from the lockroom. She peered out of the room she was in, and down the hall. She noticed that someone was in there, and wondered if it was Jade.

Everyone else had splintered off to go about their business, but Christy had found herself busy with an old family photobook. Each photo detailed not only her life, but the life of her family. as well. One would find it difficult not having their heartstrings tugged upon hearing her story.

Christy took the silence as an invitation to investigate.

She cautiously ventured down the hallway, and stopped at the lockroom door to peer inside. She scanned the room through the crack, and rested her eyes upon Jade who was balled up on the floor next to her open locker.

She stepped inside quiestly enough so as to not disturb her waterworks, and got close enough for her to say, "Jade... " Her tone was filled with heavy sadness. Christy's hand rested upon her shoulder, consoling her from a distance.

[MidKnight]

She felt the hand touched her shoulder, she didn't bother to look knowing the voice of the person. Christy, Jade didn't realize she was around the armory, she thought she was alone. She looked up to her locker while tears were still crawling down on her face. "Alcohol poisoning....he almost died from fucking alcohol poisoning." She wiped her tears and clenched her fist. "I think he still blames me....of what happened to my mom." She slowly shook her head, "I...tried to get her out...I fucking tried."

On the day when the apocalypse happened, Jade was rushing to a house in the suburban area. "Rodriguez! Watch the entrance!" She yelled as she opened the door, she was wearing her combat uniform, carrying a M4 Rifle with a grenade launcher attached. As she enters the house, a man stood there with a few luggage and he was still carrying more. "Dad! Carry only what you can!" Jade said as she recognize her father.

Her mother was around the corner as she was grabbing a large amount of paperwork, paperwork of her scientific research. She sees Jade and smiles slightly, "We need to go now!" Her mother said as Jade and her father started arguing about the luggage. Placing her hand on her husbands' shoulder, "Everything can be replaced but our lives can'." Her husband nods in agreement looking almost defeated. "How fast can you get us out of here?" She asked her daughter.

"We got a Humvee waiting outside--" Jade was interrupted by a loud explosive sound. She looked at the door, "Rodriguez! What the hell was that?!"

"Some asshole just blow our ride with a fucking pipe bomb!!!" Rodriguez fired several rounds in the air as a warning and the mob that drew closer scattered.

"Shit!" She walked outside of the house while keeping her guard up. Her attention went up as she heard a helicopter flew over the house. "We got a new ride!" She grabbed her mic and spoke clear and loudly. "This is Sparrow zero one, I need an immediate evac, I have a high VIP priority, any birds in the local range? Over."

"Sparrow Zero One, this is Black Angel Six, what's your coordinates over?" A voice replied.

Jade relayed the coordinates and waited on a reply. "Hard copy on that last, I see a large group heading towards your way, no go on the landing. There is a clear field just one klick away from your position. We'll stay as over watch over."

Jade looked at her family and waved for them to follow, "Come on! We gotta haul ass to the landing zone. Rodriguez! On our six!"

"Copy that!"

The group cut through alleys and backyards to try and get there faster, taking the walk paths was dangerous as most of the danger was on the roads. Jade had to fire on a few targets that tried to attack the group, mostly to scare them off. It took time to get close to the landing zone until the pilot called over the radio.

"Sparrow Zero One, we are seeing a large number of M Killers flooding this area, better kick it in gear to the landing zone, you're still clear for the next block."

Jade nodded and looked at her family. "We gotta move quick!"

Time passed as Jade sees the clearing and the helicopter commenced a pass and managed to land. "Everyone get on board!" She yelled as she ran quickly to the helicopter but stopped when she sees a group of M Killers running at them. "Ah shit, cover fire!" She yelled, firing several rounds. Her parents made it on board, Rodriguez followed after and Jade was the last one as she still fired round after round. "Let's go!" She yelled.

When the helicopter was attempting to take off, a M Killer snuck from behind and managed to hop on board, it attempted to bite anyone who it grabbed but Jade managed to fight it off and pushing it out. But the M Killer wasn't alone, it still held onto the person, her mother. She screamed as was dragged out of the helicopter but was grabbed by Jade as she held on to the handle. Struggling to pull her mother back in, she could see the look on her mothers' face. Looking past her mother, the M Killer bit her leg a few times. "NO!!!" Jade yelled, her mother reached and held her hand. "Take care of your father." She smiled before pulling her hand away and lets go.

Jade screamed as she watched her mother fall to the ground, she was pulled by Rodriguez and immediately demanded the pilots to land the chopper. When they denied her request, she pulled out her gun and she aimed at the pilot. "I SAID FUCKING LAND!!!" She yelled once more before feeling the gun being pulled away by Rodriguez. "Jade stop!"

She dropped to the seat while holding her head and cried, her father was sitting in his seat and watched in pain as to what happened. There were no words to say to his daughter.

[Dire Hoef]

Christy, thinking back to that day, instinctively hugged Jade. "You did what you could. Nobody expected the M-killer to grab your mother..!" She put passion behind this statement. "Remember that nobody had time to do anything.. Those things came at is in droves! Waves, Jade.."

Christy thought back to her own first twenty-four hours. They were broadstrokes as the hardest hours were merely a blur to her. Nevertheless, the pain of losing so many she cared about was still heavy on her heart..even after a year.

"What's done is done," Christy said with some manner of determination, "You can't change that. What you can change is how he continues his life. I wasn't there, I know, but Jade you gotta make him understand. There has to be something you both cherish. Build that bridge!"

☣ ☣ ☣

Darius was taking in the nightscape of St. Louis roughly around the same time. He takes a cigarette, but found that he had forgotten his lighter. However, before he even motioned to leave the clink of a zippo lighter was heard and a flame was lit.

There, standing tall, was Rodriguez who seemed unperturbed by the coming mission.

Darius took one look at him, and lit his cig, letting go a cloud.

Rodriguez didn't hesitate, "Is going to be a suicide mission Captain? Be real with me."

Darius took a long drag, the smoke streaming for his lips. "I don't know. The last one we went on had her and I nearly dead by the end.."

Rodriguez smirked and chuckled, "Ain't that a bitch." He gave a heavy sigh and patted his superior's shoulder, "We'll make it through, and maybe we can put this shit to bed when we're done."

Darius cracked a small smile, "I can finally get some good fucking sleep after that."

Rodriguez gave a wide, toothy, grin, "That's the spirit Captain!"

☣ ☣ ☣

Karmichael found time to sneak off to speak with some individuals donned in hoods and masks. He was carrying a box that was tightly clutched underneath his arm, and out of view. He handed off the box saying in German, "I did what you asked of me. What else is required to ensure my family gets the cure before anyone else??"

One of the members of this cabal spoke, "Your role to play is over, and as promised here is the cure." A ampule was produced from the person's bag, and handed it off to him. "You know nothing of us, and this transaction never happened," these words, when uttered, seemingly put Karmichael into a trance.

This caused him to hallucinate for a while, collapsing over into some garbage; clutching the ampule tight to his chest.

[MidKnight]

Jade felt the brace of the hug and she continued to hold herself but in a mere moment, she embraced the hug and held Christy. Placed her arms around her waist and planting her head on her chest while trying to stop the tears from falling. She listened to the words Christy had said and gently nods. "Thank you." She said as she wiped her tears away.

"I...I think...this is going to be my last mission." She looked at Christy and smiled. "After this...I'm done." She nodded her head in her own agreement. "Start a new life." She looked at Christy once more, 'Maybe with someone.' She thought to herself. She reached up to touch Christy's cheek but stopped herself. At that moment, she realized, she was even more afraid of what will happen next.

[Dire Hoef]

Christy takes her hand, and grips it. "After this is all over.. We can go to all the bars and nightclubs that are still around!" She takes Jade into her embrace once more asking, "Let's get this shit done, yeah?" Christy pulled away after that, standing back up and helping Jade back to her feet. Christy moved over to her locker, and pulled out her equipment. Christy kept her distance, at least, for now. They needed to remain focus on the mission at hand, they only had a handful of hours to prepare.

[MidKnight]

Nodding her head in agreement, Jade looked back to her locker and takes a deep breath. "Alright, let's see what we have." She grabbed her main rifle and the short double barrel shotgun she found on the field. She walked over to the workbench and placed the weapons on the table. First she checked the shotgun, taking it apart and cleaned out the dirt, muck and blood. She cleaned out the remaining residue from the barrels, changed the handle and the wooden under barrel.

After making changes, she switched to her M4 Carbine Rifle and started cleaning it as well. Repairing and changing several attachments. She removed the suppressor and replaced it with a compensator and attached a flashlight on the side. She looked at her side arm and repeated the process of cleansing as well. She kept suppressor on and readjusted the sights.

Finally, she grabbed her armor and noticed the blood on it, she couldn't tell if it was hers or her enemies, but she suddenly remembered that moment. When she pushed Christy out of the way and felt the metal blade pressing into her skin, forcing her face to take the concrete ground head on. She looked at her hand and noticed it was shaking on it's own. She quickly grabbed her hand and slowly breathes. "Come on, pull yourself together." She said to herself softly. After catching her moment, she started cleaning her armor.

[Dire Hoef]

Christy watched as Jade regained her morale and sighed. She decided to follow Jade in her equipment check. It's going to be a long night.

---

Location: En route to the Georgian Forward Exclusionary Base
Time: 0200 HOURS
Weather Conditions: Overcast (Moderate Rainfall)
Date: August 25th, 2001

---

The helicopter ride had been mostly quiet as everyone had made peace with what was coming up next, but Rodriguez was making a big stink about how they didn't bother spending a dinner together as a team. He said,

《You told us that this mission was going to possibly be our last, so why deny the chance for all of us to dine together?》

Which, Darius responded with, "Everyone had things they needed to do, and on top of that this chopper is a one-way trip. How we get home is entirely up to us when it drops us off at the Georgin FEB." Darius never thought he'd come back to such a shithole, but it beats having to deal with the New York FEB. He shivered at the remembrance.

《Ah come on Captain! You're telling me these fly boys couldn't hold off for maybe a half hour?》

"They're tight-lipped, and they're not keen on working off company time," Darius spied over at the cockpit at the copilot who was glancing back at them with some manner of disgust. Darius sighed as he looked over at Jade wanting to guage her anticipation before saying over radio, "The first step to this whole party is getting there." Darius rested his eyes on the passing landscaping continuing with, "I've already pulled a couple more strings to get us a ride, and a big red button."

《Big red button? What are we, cartoon villains??》

Christy said over radio with a confused look on her face.

Darius only shook his head and said, "It's for when we need to detonate the facility should not find what we came here for."

Christy seemed to understand, but was still unable to really follow. Which left Darius to say, "Don't worry about what it is for now. We have everything we need to make this operation happen. That's it."

[MidKnight]

Jade was sitting there with the headset on, listening to what the others had said. It would have been nice to enjoy a dinner together. But with preparations and last minute hitch ride, it would take too long. When the captain made a sly remark on the pilots, she couldn't help but look at the pilots. They both look like they had fear in their eyes or was it their sanity gone? She looked at the others before getting up from her seat. She gently nudges the captain aside and sat between the two pilots. "How far are we out boys?" She asked, looking around the open windows.

They both didn't bother to answer her, they just kept to their normal duties. "Look I get it, last minute ride usually calls BS but hey, in our books you'll be heroes for helping us finding something very important."

"Even if it gets us court martialed?" The Co-pilot said as he looked at Jade.

"Risks are high but the greater the rewards, am I right?" Jade smiled.

The Pilot shook his head. "Look, I was told to get you there but there was nothing saying about getting you back. Besides, this is our last cargo drop off for the night anyways. Word is they're trying to flush out M Killers."

"Flush them out?" Jade was confused, "How?" She asked as she looked at the pilot but her face suddenly covered with a red light. She looked straight ahead to see a few more helicopters firing off missiles and dropping bombs onto buildings. The city was on fire, buildings engulfed in flames.

The Pilot turned his head and said only one word. "Napalm."

As the chopper continued its destination, Jade looked out her own window and she could see the fire glowing bright red, ashes falling from the sky like snow. She watched in terror as she realized there was a river of M Killers moving through the streets. Walking out of the burning buildings as their skin was caught with the flames.

She leans away from the window and back on to her seat. She looked at the captain as if she saw a ghost. "We're gonna need more bullets." She said.

[Dire Hoef]

---

---

Atlanta was burning.

Jade had stumbled upon an operation that Darius only really knew the broad strokes of.

This chaos was just as he suspected. The perfect smoke-screen.

His eyes rested on the sight and never broke contact saying over radio, "We have enough. Once we touch down, we'll need to double-time it to the garage. We'll have a hummvee prepped for us. After we load up in the vic, I'll give you all our route. We won't be dealing with whatever the Georgians are cooking with."

Christy watched on with horror at the rivers of M Killers, Karmichael only steeled himself with Rodriguez cursing and swearing up a storm.

Minutes go by as the helicopter flew over a series of airstrikes, reducing a stream of them to molten flesh.

The helicopter came banking down into a low crater-like structure that span several football fields. After which it landed onto a helipad dedicated for quick drop-offs of personnel. The team piled out, and double-timed it through the massive bunker.

Personnel were running to and fro, call-outs and radio chatter were intermixed with gunfire and explosions. This was the daily life of those living across the Red Line. A life Diamond Team grew far too accustomed to. Without missing a beat, Darius led his team into the garages where a particular individual stood waiting for them, anxious as all hell.

"About fucking time," they checked their watch, "You're late by fifteen."

Darius patted the man's shoulder and said, "We took a scenic route."

"Cracking a joke at a time like this? Always coolheaded huh?" The man crossed his arms, raising a brow and smirk.

"Someone has to be, especially when all of Atlanta is on fire," Darius gestured for the rest of the team to pile in the hummvee.

Christy looked the officer up and down, wondering who this guy was, but shook her head and piled in. Rodriguez whistled at the officer upon seeing how decorated he was, and then laughed. He piled in with Karmichael.

"Very well," the man gave Darius and his team a firm salute, "I leave the rest of this to you. We'll keep the hornet's nest busy."

The Captain nodded and returned the salute, "We'll get it done." He turned away and looked at Jade saying, "Get on the mini-gun. I'm going to need your aim for the joyride." He sat in the cabin and started the engine.

It roared to life. And once everyone was settled in, the officer hit the button for the garage door. It lifted up, and the Captain kicked it into gear; tearing up pavement as he zoomed out of the FEB.

---

---

[MidKnight]

When the helicopter landed, she waited for the captain to move first. Once they were out of the chopper, she kept up pace with the others and rushed to one of the garages, though she took a quick look a around and noticed a lot of military personal on the base. Soldiers armed with heavy plate armor, tanks with sharp spikes on the front and sides, more Humvees moving rather fast. She smirked as she realized how quickly the base was operating. The sound of mortar fire was heard from a distant, gunfire echoed in her ears, the sound of bullet shells hitting the ground.

She was feeling rather excited for this moment, the adrenaline coursing through her body. When they approached to the designated garage, she smiled to see the surprising guest. She know the person Darius was talking with but never had an actual conversation with the man himself. She was always more of the background person when it comes to Darius and his associates, though most of it were always calling in favors. She saluted the man before taking her leave, "Good to see ya again sir." She said.

Jade got more excited to see the Humvee ready for action. Her crew started piling in with their luggage, her ears perked up when she heard Darius to get on the main gun. She rushed quickly to get inside, "Make some room ladies." She said as she stood up and found herself in the turret. She checked the turret first before pressing one button to get it spinning. The gun barrels started spinning fast, she wanted to press the other button but knows it would be considered a hostile intention if she tried. "Hell yea!!!" She smiled "Turret is good Cap'n!!!!" She yelled, slamming on the roof twice.