Nathaniel, Diana, Eddie and Vin stood outside Heathrow Airport as snowflakes slowly drifted down from the clouded sky. Around them stood dozens of people, all armed with everything from baseball bats to shotguns. In front of all the people stood Clayton wearing a white button down shirt and red tie with a bulletproof vest over the top. With gloved hands he brandished his prized weapon - his ArmSys All-Purpose Rifle (APR) Mark 4.
"Listen up," called out Clayton to the crowd, "For the fuckwits that did not read the mission briefing, our mission is to attract and detain Undead. To do this you will be divided into smaller teams and will attract as many Undead as you can to the underground parking lot. Your team will be paid 100 Credits per Undead. You can choose to divide payment however you like… however you will only be paid if you make it back alive. Any questions?"
"Where do we get support or supplies?" asked a woman cradling a worn shotgun.
"Supplies?" yelled Clayton, "Support? What the fuck do you think you're being paid for? You are the fucking support and if you need supplies go buy some. Fucking rookie."
The woman did not respond and instead looked down at the snow covered ground - tense.
"It's the same guy who recruited us," whispered Nathaniel to Eddie quietly.
Eddie nodded and whispered back, "Prick seems to have been promoted."
"Any more questions?" asked Clayton, marching along the line of inexperienced militia mercenaries.
Nathaniel went to open his mouth but was silenced by a finger from Eddie.
"Good. You lot have until sundown to get as many Undead as you can. Remember you're paid based on results not per hour. Get nothing done, you get paid nothing. Now scram." commanded Clayton, waving towards the car park and the rest of London.
All the militia mercenaries quickly formed groups and hurried off - eager to find Undead and get paid. However the group remained outside the car park, talking amongst themselves. Curious, Clayton slowly strode over to them.
"Hey guys, what are you doing?" asked the confused man as he approached them.
The group ignored him, still talking to Diana. [Why did they bring a paralysed person?], thought Clayton, [she's useless]. However before he could properly confront the group, they promptly departed - leaving Clayton standing alone and confused.
Meanwhile Nathaniel's party rushed off to the South unlike all the other Undead Hunters who had headed North - towards the city centre. Vince pushed Diana forward in a wheelchair they had purchased from the Heathrow Market. In front ran both Eddie and Nathaniel, weapons at the ready.
"Which way, Diana?" yelled out Eddie over his shoulder at the younger girl. With gloved hands Diana held a small handgun given to her by the old man. Although she had not practised much with the weapon, she knew enough to use it at least.
"Left! And then around the corner! There's a huge hoard of Undead!" Diana called out back to the old man who grinned and replied, "Good work, kid."
After rounding the corner the group suddenly stopped, standing still in absolute silence. Using Diana's Foresight ability they had been tracking the largest group of Undead they could find within walking distance. The hoard loomed in front of them, shuffling around a snow-covered intersection. Cars laid about at odd angles, many with doors left open from past owners fleeing. The Undead themselves shuffled awkwardly around in a vague circle, icicles hanging from their extremities catching the morning sun.
"Squad, Battle Formation Alpha," whispered Eddie to the party.
Immediately everyone in the group sprung into action. Nathaniel drew his handgun and took cover behind a car in front of the group. Diana followed suit, wheeling her wheelchair and drawing her own pistol but staying behind Nathaniel. Eddie summoned his yari from his Shadow Pocket Dimension and took up the frontline with the younger members behind him. Vincent took up the left flank, out to the side and wielded his beloved dual hammers. Silently, the group waited for Eddie's command.
Several seconds passed. Undead shuffled around aimlessly, bones and muscles creaking against the cold. A light breeze blew, disturbing the topmost layer of snow and causing it to swirl. All was quiet, all was peaceful.
"Now," ordered Eddie, darting forward and driving his yari through an unsuspecting Undead's kneecap. The creature screamed as a sickening crack shattered its leg - causing it to collapse. Eddie then touched the being with his hand and stored it in his Shadow Pocket Dimension. Vince launched into action, leaping towards the nearest Undead and striking its neck. The sheer force of the old man's hammers broke the former human's neck, causing it to fall limp onto the snow. Frosted snowflakes billowed upwards as Vince broke the creature's limbs - ensuring its immobility so Eddie could easily store it. Diana and Nathaniel provided cover fire for the older pair. Nathaniel, tasked with the shooting, leapt over the car's bonnet to get closer to the action. Diana followed closely behind, using her Foresight to predict the typically unpredictable Undead attacks coming from the sides.
One of the downed Undead suddenly stood up behind Eddie, pouncing at the old man's rear. Before Diana could shout a warning or Nathaniel could take a shot, Eddie spun on one leg down into a crouch tearing through the creature's throat with such force its head dangled by its spinal nerves. Eddie smirked and winked at Diana before storing the Undead and turning back to the horde. Diana's eyes went wide with awe. [How did he know the Undead was there?] she thought, [it's like he can see everything].
"You're clever kid," yelled out Eddie as he impaled another Undead through its skull, "you too Nathaniel you rookie. But you both have much to learn about real combat and survival."
Nathaniel stabbed an Undead with his M1911 pistol through its eye before firing. The poor creature's skull shattered into pieces and blood exploded onto the so-called rookie. "You may be a veteran but I'm not exactly a rookie, Eddie." shouted Nathaniel back at the old man.
"You're right, you're a novice but compared to me you're still a rookie." smirked Eddie. The old man slashed diagonally downwards along an Undead's chest, stunning the creature. In one fluid action Eddie then smashed the end of his yari against the Undead's ankles - ultimately breaking them and incapacitating the being. The Undead groaned briefly before being stored.
Nathaniel laughed and kicked an Undead in the chest. The creature fell back into the snow, sending flakes swirling around as the rookie double tapped the once-human. "Let's just capture all these Undead." said the man as he turned to face another foe.
"Of course," replied Eddie while storing the Undead Nathaniel had just incapacitated.
The group continued to slay Undead, intentionally drawing attention to themselves to attract more creatures. After almost two hours of nonstop fighting all the nearby Undead had been stored inside Eddie's Shadow Pocket Dimension and the team was low on ammo. Slowly the party made their way back to the carpark where ArmSys stored captured Undead. Eddie pushed Diana onward in her wheelchair and Vince carried Nathaniel's bag as well as his own. Nathaniel may have retained his memories from the last Divine Tournament but his physical prowess had reset once again.
Clayton sat in a canvas camping chair outside the ArmSys carpark, writing in a notepad. He looked up to see Eddie and his group approaching. Slowly, the ArmSys representative stood up and grinned. "You don't get paid unless you actually bring back some Undead. Maybe try the city centre next time like everyone else." called out the man.
Eddie smirked as he approached before replying, "Where do I deposit the Undead?"
Clayton took a key out of his pocket and unlocked a nearby car. He then set the vehicle to Neutral and rolled it forward - revealing a hole beneath that dropped dozens of metres down to the very bottom level of the carpark. "Down there, one at a time. Well, if you had any." grinned Clayton.
Eddie remained silent and started dispensing Undead from his Shadow Pocket Dimension one at a time. The ArmSys representative's eyes widened and he quickly scrambled to start tallying the Undead. After several minutes Eddie finally deposited the final creature into the carpark. "It was 100 Credits per Undead right?" asked Eddie with a smirk, "How much do you owe me?"
Clayton's face paled as he replied, "Twenty-six thousand credits."