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Every surviving Animal in the Southern US knows the name Shadow Company. A militarized gang of psychotic survivors who believe that their leader has right to fill the power vacuum left by world governments and that they, and they alone, have sole authority over all surviving animals. Rumors and whispers about the Biomass, and their experiments with it, are also spreading. These rumors are troubling.

9:52PM

October 25th, 2024

Weather: Clear

Moon: Full

Alex was a Shark of few words, though you didn't need to be a psychologist to know that her life had been normal until the bombs fell. Everyone's had been for the most part, but her's had gotten especially dark. Working some of the ops I did when I was attached to that unit in Delta Force, I learned to pick up on not so obvious cues fairly quickly. Alex had been pretty horrifically tortured by either this cult she was talking about or someone else. I gathered that from the bruising that was all around her eyes, barely visible underneath her combat gear, but in the moon light there was enough contrast I could make it out. Alex was wearing a full Gorka 4 suit that was buttoned up far as it could go with every strap tied as tightly as possible. She went to a length to keep her skin covered that not even James did, that was concerning. Made me wonder just how fucked up she was underneath all that gear. I supposed she'd confide in us once she felt she could trust us and I knew that would be a task. Likely harder than it was to get James to trust us.

"So, what's your story Arien?", Alex asked, "I know your from Texas, so what's got you up this far?"

I looked off the Remington towards her, "what gave me away?"

"The Texas flag on the side of your helmet", she giggled sheepishly, "I could hear it in your voice too. I'm from Houston."

"Brazoria", I said, "stayed in that area until the bombs fell. My Dad saw the nukes coming months before the first went off. In hindsight, I think he was probably working in intelligence. My brother Nick was a Marine wounded in the Gobi campaign, he said Dad was gone a lot while he was recovering."

Alex sighed, "he still kicking?"

I nodded, "yeah, we all are. Wish I hadn't left the way I did."

"What you mean?", she asked.

"I said some things on my way out the door I shouldn't have. Ain't no tellin' how I left my family over it, may have finally pushed my Mom over the edge. What about you?"

"Wasn't much reason to stay in Houston. Shadow Company's turned the place into an active warzone."

"Shadow Company?", Eirren asked.

"Yeah", Alex began, "few months after the last bomber landed, Shadow Company showed up. I think pre war they were some kind of private military corporation. They can hang with the US Army all day every day, and it's causing everyone who still lives in Houston major grief. They've got this crazy ass idea that their leader, and only their leader, has some kind of right to be in complete control of every aspect of every survivors life, period."

"Sounds like a guy whose a lot of fun to be around", Ben retorted.

For about one and a half hours after she arrived within our encampment, all was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard for miles around was the wind high in the sky. That, of course, didn't last. I wanna say it was about 10PM when I picked up a flash of movement in a two story house, just a quick shade of black slightly darker than what was behind it. It was on the lower floor and was visible only long enough that if I hadn't seen another right after I might have thought I was losing my mind.

"Contact", I said over the radio, "movement in the ruined two story blue house 300 yards down range, third one from the intersection, I just saw two shadows."

"It's them, has to be", Alex said.

I kept watching the house, and sure enough, on a small porch that I suspected must have a decent view of the gas station, the door to it and one window next to it opened. I saw a barrel appear in the window and two other Animals step out onto the balcony, one of them with a bolt gun and the other with an AK pattern rifle, looked like an AK-400.

"Same house, porch balcony, multiple military age males, black equipment, one with a bolt gun, one with an AK and another unidentified one in the window."

"These guys are scouts Ari", Shannon said, "look at the way that sniper's eyeballin' us."

"Yeah well we're watching 'em right back so it's all good", Zack said sarcastically.

"I don't think they know we see them", Alex said, "I think they're under the impression that we're watching for your typical wasteland vermin."

"I can't see any radio equipment", Shannon said, "Ari?"

"I can see one wire on the sniper's vest, maybe. Argh, 300 yards is too damn far to tell, it might just be the tube to his hydration bladder, can't confirm."

"That rifle loaded Arien?", Alex asked, "I can tell you for damn sure that his is."

"Oh yeah", I answered, taking the safety off.

"Arien", Shannon said, "there's a blacked out F450 pulling up behind the house with the lights off, six animals in the bed. I can't hear a damn thing, am I going crazy?"

I scanned for the truck for a moment, could just barely see the tail of the truck moving after the contacts jumped off.

"Can see the truck, no eyes on contacts", I said, "you're not crazy, but I didn't hear anything either."

"They're gonna move on us, Ben said, "Alex, what was that about a gunship?"

"A news helicopter they outfitted with a couple of belt feds and a Mk19", she explained, "it's not armored, so given five seconds either you or I could turn it into a pile of flaming scrap."

"Air power's not something I wanna get into a scrap with if I don't have to", I mused, "with any luck they'll leave us alone."

Alex sighed a long sigh.

"Wishful thinking huh sister?", Eirren asked.

She nodded, "yeah. Wishing on a shooting star kinda thinking. Second they realize there are females over here we're going to have the firefight of our lives on our hands."

"They have some kind of special hatred towards females?", Eirren asked.

Alex shrugged, "fuck if I know. I've been attacked by these animals six or seven times and could hear whoever was in charge demanding that I be taken alive and unharmed because "boss want's all the females."

"Probably tryin' to stock his sex dungeon with plenty'o toys", Eirren said.

"They've probably never met animals that have shot back", Shannon added.

"They've never met us then", James added.

We watched them for about 10 minutes before the the first three I'd seen disappeared.

"My contacts vanished", I said, "anyone else have eyes on."

"Nope", Shannon said.

"Negative", Ben said.

"Got nothing", James said.

"Rgghh", I growled to myself.

Some seconds later, Shannon got back on the radio.

"Arien, I can see slightly darker shades moving against the black, somethings going on down range."

"How you gonna play this?", Ben asked.

"Just let me smoke 'em boss", Alex said nodding towards her launcher, I hadn't seen her pick it up.

"Not yet", Eirren said, "We return fire only."

Alex sighed and put the launcher down, "dealing with them, that's a bad idea."

"We don't engage first", I said watching the trucks as they pulled into the driveway of the house. The black clad animals were all armed with either AK-400s or M4A1s.

"We're going to be in one hell of a gunfight in not too much time", I thought aloud.

"How are we going to play this?", Benjamin asked.

"I dunno yet", I said, "we ain't sitting on too much ammo."

"They don't have to know that", Eirren said.

"They'll figure it out quite quickly", I said, "if there's a way out of this fight, we have to try that first."

"He does have a point", Benjamin said, "I'm down to about 3 magazines."

"I'm not doing much better", James said.

"Me either", Shannon said, "carrier's feeling kinda light."

"Alex?", Eirren asked.

"I'm sitting' on five drums plus the one in the gun and the ammo for my launcher", she said, "I'm good to fight."

"Okay...we'll have to play this carefully.'

"We better figure out how quickly", Zack said, "company's here."

The blacked out F450 had quickly become three and all three were moving silently up the road with lights off, all their occupants wearing NV goggles, though they weren't down. The trucks took a left turn some 50 yards from our hide. From both, the roof of the building and the roof of the adjacent covered area, it was plainly visible. They disembarked from the trucks and began to take up positions in the rubble, it wasn't anything that a well placed 40mm recoilless rifle round couldn't flush out, however. It wasn't lost on me that they were setting up at increasingly further ranges, I think the furthest one was about 100 yards out.

"What the fuck are they doing?", Benjamin asked.

"Got me", Alex said, "usually, they like to swarm their prey."

It was silence between us as the most well dressed of these animals disembarked from the back seat of one of the 450's and made his way to our camp. Walking inside, he pushed some of the coals in the fire around with the tip of his boot. Now, it was clear that this Animal was calling the shots and issuing orders to all of the almost certainly soon to be enemy fighters. He was dressed in a black, well fitted polo shirt with a plate carrier over it that seemed like it was more for dress than actually fighting. His duty belt and pants were also completely blacked out and there was some kind of high caliber revlover riding in a holster on his leg. When he finished pushing around the coals of the fire, he stepped further into the camp and stood there, his hands behind his back.

"Pop up, but hold fire for now", I hit my radio.

All at once, we emerged from our hiding places and put visible lasers and weapon lights on him. He seemed taken aback, but not so much from surprise as it was from having to adjust to the sudden and severe shift in light.

"You got some kind of death wish?", Benjamin asked, "because if you're walking into this camp like you own it all you're gonna find is a fight and the Grim Reaper."

"Who is in charge here?", he asked.

"That's me", I said, "is there a problem?"

"There is", he said.

"Better say your piece quickly", I said, "last time someone walked in here they didn't have good intentions. Be warned, try something and we'll respond in kind. You keep those hands far away from that revlover and we'll be just fine."

"Duly noted sir", the commanding officer said, "you may not be aware, but the female shark you're harboring is a fugitive from the United States Government. You see, Alex is wanted for treason and capital murder as well as collaboration with a terrorist network. She's been sentenced to death, so if you hand her over, we'll leave peacefully and you'll have done your country a great service."

"Don't listen to them Arien", Zack said, "I know USAR, and these guys aren't army remnants by a long shot."

"I'm not giving this guy shit", I replied in turn.

"'Fraid the gubment don't exist no more", Shannon said, turning the stereotypical dumb country girl accent, if it wasn't in this situation, it would have been hilarious.

"Yeah she's pretty much right", Zack said, "now look here rocks for brains. We really are US Army. I did my time in the Western Trench, one did his in the Gobi Desert, one was in Bapan and my boss was in the Arctic, the other is the Ground Zero Ghost. Leave, because if you don't we're gonna start slingin' lead and you and your boys ain't winnin' that fight."

"I see, so you've made your choices?", the animal asked.

"You can get back in your Ford and let us be", I said, "or, you can die. The United States of America no longer exists, you have no authority to sentence Alex to death. If you attempt to take her, we will open fire. You will not be asked nicely again to leave."

"So you won't surrender the traitor?", he asked.

"What did I just get done telling you?", I restated, "you can turn around, take yourself and all your soldiers out of my area, or we can start slinging lead. Your choice."

"This is a decision you will come to regret", The Fox said turning on his heels. As he walked out of the camp, he tried to keep it under taps that he was reaching up to hit his radio. Under his breath, I actually heard him say.

"They didn't surrender, kill them all."

"Zack", I said aloud.

"Yeah boss?"

"Shoot that fucker!"

"My fuckin' pleasure!", Zack said, nailing the Fox right in the back of the head. He fell with an inaudible thud, splattering the asphalt with chucks of bone and brain as gunfire erupted through the quiet night.

"Weapons free!", I shouted, "shoot to kill!"

"Now you're speaking my language", Alex said taking her launcher off safe, "Firing launcher! Danger Close!"

I'd used M1900 LBRCs when I was in the Arctic, the platform was known for it's muzzle velocity, it could fling it's heaviest payloads at speeds often exceeding 4000 feet a second. Alex's launcher was faster, much faster. It was so quick that I could only track the tracer for a fraction of a second before the target, one of the F450's, went up in a raging inferno of hellish red flames and black smoke that threatened to blot out the moon. The impact had seen several enemy contacts sprawling, which we quickly mopped up.

"Nice shot sister!", Eirren congratulated.

"Much practice!", Alex said gleefully.

Mere seconds after Alex let the launcher go, someone in the back opened up on us with what had to be another Maschinengewehrvariant. Even a regular Minigun didn't sound as intimidating as an MG42 ripping on full tilt, and that's exactly what it was.

"MG42!", I screamed into the radio as the 7.92 Mauser began to rip the covered area apart, "KEEP YOUR HEADS DOWN!"

"ENEMY HELICOPTER COMING IN FROM THE EAST!", Benjamin said, "SOMEONE SUPPRES THAT FUCKING 42!"

"I'm on it!", Alex shouted, kicking me her launcher and picking up her MG34, "come on baby run like you mean it!"

She picked up her 34, flipped the selector switch, put it on the edge of the covered area and cut loose, the 34 coming close, but falling about two hundred rounds short of the firerate of the 42, still intimidating as hell and it made the 42 gunner go quiet as a church mouse. By this time, I had eyes on the helicopter, it's white and red flashing lights made it stand out against the black skies. It was a sizable chopper and I could see the door gunners had their feet dangling from the edges. I could just barely make out the outline of the Mk32 and a MaDecue, we were well within the range of both and the helicopter didn't hesitate to open fire. The first two grenades landed somewhere outside of the camo, but the second two were kicking up clouds of rocks, dirt and scrap metal which rained down on us like shrapnel. The Helicopter, deciding to stay put at range, came to a hover, and presented me the best moment to strike.

"Firing launcher danger close!", I shouted letting the rocket go.

The Helo, of course, spun to avoid and the rocket struck it right between the body and the tail, taking the tail completely off, causing the chopper to spin out of control and barrel straight for us.

"We gotta get off the roof!", I shouted grabbing Eirren, "Jump for it!"

Alex jumped ship right behind us as the helicopter crashed into the covered area. I must have blacked out when I hit the ground, because the next thing I knew, everything sounded like it was under water. As I started to come further back, I was able to catch a glimpse of Ben, Eirren and Zack standing over me fighting with their rifles, Alex was holding her Mg34 at her hip, spraying on full auto into the night, the barrel smoking black with fire erupting from the holes in the heat sync, but James was no where to be seen. After a few seconds, I was back fully. Glancing around, my Remington was only a few feet away. In this hail storm, a bolt action may not have been the best choice, but it was that or die. I pulled myself to my feet and reached over to pick it up and no sooner did I have it in my hands, than I felt the muzzle of a rifle press up against the back of my neck. I sighed, you've got to be kidding me.

"You make a move for that weapon and I'll split your head in half", the animal said from behind, "on the ground, now."

Only Alex turned around when she heard them yelling at me, she was immediately bashed in the face with the ass end of the fixed metal stock of an AK-400, the others were pretty brutally taken down from behind with choke-holds from at least two animals each. How the fuck had they gotten behind us without Nat seeing them? Fuck! What had they done to Nat?

"Where's my mate!?", Benjamin hissed, trying to lunge up to grab one of them, only to be lassoed back down, planted face down in the dirt and literally stood on top of.

"Fuckin' pit", One of the animals said, "I should put you to sleep right here!"

"Don't you fucking touch him!", I barked.

"Be quiet Hybrid!", the animal shouted, viciously ramming the heavy stock of what had to be an M1 Garand into the back of my head, making me see stars even through my helmet. I crumpled to the ground under the force of the blow and was dragged back up, the muzzle of the Garand right back in my neck. The Animal who now appeared to be calling the shots began to pace us.

"So this is what I've been reduced to", the Rat sighed, "I used to command prestigious soldiers on the front lines, and now they've got me cleaning up typical wasteland trash."

"You don't command soldiers, you train killers old rat", Alex spat.

"Gonna get one last insult in before I cut your head off huh Alex?", The Rat asked with a "I'm so sick of this shit", kinda sigh, "Whose the commanding officer here? Don't say a word Alex, you're far too stupid to lead anyone."

"That'd be me", I said.

"A hybrid? Leading purebreds. Don't make me laugh", the Rat said. He started pacing up and down the line.

"You, Shark", He looked at Zack, "stand up."

Zack stood up, I knew he must be holding back because he could easily break his way out of the cuffs with the power of his cybernetics.

"You're looking beat up", the Rat said inspecting the long, discolored surgical scars on Zack's arm, "scarring like that must be caused by not knowing you to keep your mouth shut huh?"

"Nope, just having half of your body replaced, Western Trench really tended to fuck an Animal up."

The Rat laughed at him, "you weren't in the Western Trench."

"Wanna bet?", Zack asked confidently.

"I do", the Rat said, "cut his left arm off."

Seven of the at least 14 animals that were in our encampment grabbed Zack and forced him to the ground. Alex started barking and hissing, screaming all kinds of obscenities as they piled on top of him, held his arm out and one of the Animals brought down a heavy wood felling axe on it. Zack, hard ass he was, certainly felt it, you could hear it in his yelp, of course, it was going to take a hell of a lot more than a wood axe to sever a Faraday Medical prosthetic.

"Okay, I'm convinced", The rat said, "Patch that gash."

The Animals herded Zack back into line and quickly covered the profusely bleeding gash on Zack's upper arm with medicated gauze. The rat crouched down in front of Zack.

"I'll blow it off with a shotgun at your shoulder if I must", the Rat said, "who is your commanding officer?"

"You've already met him", Zack said, "you just don't listen."

The rat sighed and stood up, coming back to crouch down in front of me.

"I'm gonna ask you one question and you are gonna answer that question in a way that I find satisfactory and if you do not I'm gonna peel your eyelids back and leave you to fry in the desert, got me?"

"Do your best", I snickered, "nothing intimidates me any more. What about you?"

At that moment, James, who must have been listening in, came around the corner. At first, he had his HCAR raised but immediately let it down when he saw what he was up against.

"HANDS!", one of the Rat's Animals shouted.

James complied.

"ON YOUR STOMACH! NOW!"

James shook his head, in a way that conveyed, to me at least, exactly what he was about to do.

"Guys, come on, you really, really don't wanna do this. Get back in your trucks and just go. We won't bother you if you don't bother us."

The rat laughed like a maniac, "you're in no position to make demands. We have you outnumbered 15 to one."

"It wasn't a demand, more, a request."

"Someone cut this guy's throat", the Rat ordered.

"Alright have it your own way", James sighed. He gave us all a quick glance, "MASK!"

James made that face again, that sound like tearing fabric cut through the tension like a knife and James' clothes dripped with blood as he rose to a towering 8'6 and the foul smelling biological waste matter covered his body and gear. I'd never seen an Animal go from being a confident prick to a horrified victim so quickly.

"HOLY FUCKING GOD WHAT IS THAT!?", My captor shouted as every one of these animals open fired on him. While Goliath actually at least acted like the bullets were hitting him at speed, James just stood there, not moving even factions of an inch, the mass that now covered him absorbing the rounds like they weren't even coming. One of the animals grunted in fear and I heard an M203 go off. James actually reached out and caught the grenade in his fist, crushing it into powder and making the tear gas spray out. He let a nasty looking, forked tongue roll out of his maw down almost to his chest and roared at the SC infantry.

"Why won't it go down!?", a female animal shouted as the grenade launcher fired again. This time, James lashed out and caught it in his massive jaw, cracking it open with a morbid crunch. He made a leap for the commanding officer of the bunch and was immediately struck with what at first looked like a baton. James dropped like a sack of wet concrete, bright blue spider webs of burning plasma crawling all up and down his convulsing body. God damn, I had heard Animals scream in pain before. But...the sounds that James created from the pain he was in because of that weapon...saying that my blood literally went clod wasn't a strong enough euphemism. Two seconds ago, James had been a bio weapon no one had a counter to, now, they had a counter.

"That's five hundred and twenty thousand volts friend", the Rat laughed, "and my favorite part is getting to look you pricks in the eyes when I lay it on ya. Don't worry, it's non lethal, but with the pain you'll be in for the next 72 hours, you'll wish it was."

"Round these up!", the rat said, "Tell command we caught not only the Ground Zero Ghost, but the Two Stars and The Demon himself."

"And their commanding officer?", one of the Animals asked.

"Take him out into the desert and do what you like. Just make sure you put a bullet in his head when you're done", The rat said giving the order to move.

I struggled, I fought, but I wasn't a match for six other animals, two of which were dragons. The struggle was real, I felt, one, two, three...five. Must have been seven blows before I was out, from there I drifted into and out of consciousness for god only knew how long, only coming too when the truck finally stopped. I was still out of it enough that I didn't hear them exit the truck, or even feel one of them jump up in the bed, but I felt that AK crash against the side of my skull. He dragged me out of the bed by my ankle and threw me into the sand, promptly stripping me of all my clothes and equipment until I was down to my underwear. I didn't fully come back from the daze for what must have been at least a couple of minutes. By then, I was surrounded, bound at my wrists and ankles...and was completely fucked.

"You put up a fight at least", one of them snickered, "most traitors just surrender when they see us coming. You should have heeded the commander and just handed Alex over, we would have let you off."

"I don't throw Animals to psychos", I said, "you can bury me up to my neck and leave me to fry here, but you'll never brake me. The Chinese couldn't, and neither will you."

"Let's test that theory", the bully and chief quipped, "let's cut him up, no lethal wounds."

The two biggest of the bunch untied my arms and stretched them out to the point my shoulders felt like they were going to disconnect. From there, it was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life as they took turns cutting and slashing my torso and limbs, everything from their boot knives to some nasty machetes and even a kruki knife one of them had. They got an especially good kick out of beating me with whatever else they could find laying around, rocks, sticks, scrap metal, etcetera. I'd never been in so much fucking pain in my life. Standing in a puddle of muddy sand stained and moistened by my blood, I tried to say the Lords Prayer to keep myself together just long enough for the bullet. Blood was dripping into my eyes like sweat, leaking between my teeth and getting onto my tongue, and that was a truly disgusting feeling. This must have gone on for...20 minutes? 30? Dunno. By the time they were done, I had come to terms with my situation. This was it, I was done, this was how it ended. How the fuck did it come to this? Could I have done things differently? Maybe. The biggest question in my head as they let me down, however, was, if I could go back and change anything, would I?

"Any last words?", the little Rat terrier asked.

Managing to look up and glance at the group standing there, I straightened myself and made the sign of the cross. I had barely finished when I lost all feeling in my body. If it was time to go, so be it.

"Send it", No sooner had the words rolled past my lips, everything went black.