Jason and Wyatt step out of the UTV seeing the hundreds of huge interconnected modular black tents that are reinforced with steel frames. Wyatt looks to the right and sees as the huge labyrinth of capsules scale up the hill there is a little bridge across a valley that leads to more of the tents, but he can't see past that.
Jason looks up and sees in the middle and top of the compound of capsules a huge overwatch, with a massive window overseeing absolutely everything, including the courtyards and gardens that are in between some of the empty spaces that the tents don't take up.
"What, never seen the Nonagon before?" Jason asks Wyatt.
"No... I've seen it before, just haven't been here in a while." He states.
"Ahh..." I mutter.
We walk to the front of the entrance. I press a button next to the door and a voice rings through the air.
"State your name and rank." The voice says.
"Landon Miller. One of the three leaders." I reply.
"The entrance has been unlocked," The voice says and then with a beep the voice goes away.
Wyatt pushes the door open and we step in. The black tents creating a dark surrounding but the LED lights cut through it, as the lights illuminate the hallways and rooms.
"Anyone know their way around here?" Wyatt asks.
Jason nods.
"Let's walk this way..." He responds.
We walk through a hallway, and he guides us on what turns to make and when to keep going straight. We pass by a bunch of rooms, and I look into a smaller tent connected to the hallway and I see a room with a pack of water bottles, some guns on the ground, and a game system on a desk. On the left side of the tent is a white wall made out of the same material the rest of the tent is made out of, but I get a glimpse inside and I see the floor is matted with a thin comfortable mattress a floor that looks like white fur.
We keep walking and pass by a couple people who are fully armed and geared, some having something that covers their face just like us. We walk up some stairs and then we keep walking again. After 3 more stairs and at least 15 more minutes we reach the 'Overwatch'. Which is the room with the Huge window, probably 80 feet long and 10 feet tall, but instead of glass it's netting.
"Doesn't that look weird?" Wyatt says to us.
I nod before a whirring sound appears above us. A glass panel appears at the top of the window, slowly moving to the floor. The panel finally sets and the noise stops.
"Well shit... that's cool!" Wyatt says.
"A lot of our bases have that... You should see The Hexagon. It has at least 20 of these windows." I add.
"Pretty cool, right?" A person in a green hoodie and green sweatpants with green boots, and a gray and green mask steps out, with a remote in his green glove.
"Tyler... why'd you call us up here? I wasted a lot of time coming here so it better worth it..." I say annoyed.
"Ay... it's pretty exciting." Tyler responds.
Jason gets interested.
"I know you guys haven't gotten too much action the past 2 weeks or so... so I was wondering if you guys would want to go on a little mission." Tyler explains.
"What kind of mission?" Jason inquires.
"Defense. Some Hiwassee's have claimed some land near red hill, about 80 miles away from here." Tyler reports.
"We control almost four billion acres of land... why do we need to worry about that? I get they're Hiwassee's but... We're expanding east. They're not. We should be going off and attacking one of their bases, not fighting them against some land we don't care about..." Wyatt comments.
"Let me finish... Now... They're moving towards fort Claxton. I assume they want to take over Mount rogers for themselves and away from us... But we can't let that happen, right? So I'm not saying you have to but if you want you can defend Claxton with some people I'll send. Some will be in the strike force other will be in the security force. If you so choose we move tomorrow... Still got all day to think about if you want to or not." Tyler says.
"I'm in." I say.
"Same with me." Jason adds.
"I'll think about it..." Wyatt comments.
Tyler gives a smirk and nods before saying: "We leave at 10 in the morning tomorrow." He then walks away.
"Hmm." Jason mutters.
"I guess I'll be staying here for the night then." I say.
"Yeah... You staying Wyatt?" Jason inquires.
"I guess I'll go to fight..." Wyatt replies.
"I knew you had it in yourself." Jason says proudly.
I look at my Eletronic watch, kind of like an apple watch but it shows your condition like your heartbeat and body temperature and that stuff. I check the time, and my watch says it is 1:32 PM.
"Bye guys. Ima do my own thing." I tell them.
Wyatt gives me a side eye and Jason nods a little. I walk away, wandering around the place. I come across a long hallway on the left wall, still built with that black tent like material with metal frames, and a cool net window spanning across the hallway, letting me view the forest beside the place as there is no other tent buildings to the left of the hallway. I walk for a bit before noticing the hallway is feeling like it never ends. I look behind me and I can't see where I started as the hallway is built on a slight elevation, but the window is still spanning across farther then I can see. I walk around 800 feet before I come across the end of the hallway, and the window stops.
I find a metal door and I open it and I see a large room, with it looks like 2 floors, but the second floor isn't fully a floor. The room has light blue LED lights illuminating 8 columns of rooms that go to the ceiling. Stepping deeper in the room the rooms aren't actually rooms but just walls made out of the tent material. There are 5, 6 foot long, and 5 feet tall holding cells spanning across the wall. The front of the cells are made out of netting while the floor is made out of wool, and some light inside of each cell. I look beside me and the other wall has the exact same thing. I glance up and another layer of cells are on the second floor, with a balcony going around the walls to provide access to the cells, and the balconies expand to the back wall, with a balcony all along the back wall with a staircase on both sides of the large room.
I walk around and see all the cells are empty, and each column of wall has cells on the right and left side of it, so the walls are about 10 feet thick, and made out of the same reinforced tent material like the rest of the Nonagon. I walk to the far right side, passing by a bunch of empty cells. I walk up the staircase and step on the balcony. I see there is a door at the middle of the wall the balcony is on. I walk towards it and I shove it open.
I see there is a small hallway with 2 doors to my left and right, and there is a room with a large glass window at the end of the hallway with a couch facing the window. I try to open the left door but it is locked. I grunt before giving up and going in the window room. The window is about 12 feet long and 7 feet tall, and the room is probably on top of the hallway. I look outside into the forest, marveling a bit.
Ring
Ring
I take the phone out of my pouch and I answer the phone call.
"Hey... This is Chris. I can't meet you at Woodsboro Mansion tomorrow. I'm heading off to fort Claxton for a bit." Christopher says over the phone.
"Tyler sent you?" I ask him.
"... How'd you know?" Chris asks a bit surprised.
"I'm heading over to Claxton too. I've been bored." I respond.
"Oh... I thought you had more important things to do... Been slow for me recently, nothing to do. I guess the same goes for you?" Chris inquires.
"Yeah... I'm surprised you're going. Doesn't seem like your type of mission." I say.
"It ain't... just been sitting around for too long. I need some action." He replies.
"Well... see you soon." I tell him.
"See you soon." He says and I hang up.
Before turning my phone off I check the time. 1:58 PM. I start to walk again, I step out of the hallway, onto the balcony. I walk towards the stairs, and I jog down them. I step on the first floor and I open the door that I came in from.
1 hour later
"The fuck are you doing?" I ask, seeing Jason pounding the stock of his rifle against a watermelon. He turns to look at me and then he looks back at the watermelon, and then back at me.
"Oh... nothing really." He responds.
"Sure about that?" I say as I glance at the watermelon, as some of it's juices start to drip down the table it's on.
"Just... making watermelon juice. Uh... It's hot. That's why." He tells me.
I make an mmhmm noise. He takes a red solo cup from the table and scoops up some juice, and takes the cloth that covers his mouth and takes a sip.
"Mmm. Very tasty." He says awkwardly.
"I guess I'll leave you to it then." I respond.
I awkwardly walk past him, and I take my phone out of my belt satchel. My phone rings from a message by Jason asking if I want to head out to the shooting range near the Nonagon. I message him back saying sure and I put my phone back in my pocket. I begin to walk to the northeast main exit. After a couple minutes of walking and passing by strangers I reach the exit.
I hop in a random UTV, and I grab the keys that were in the seat and put them in the keyhole. I listen to the engine come to life with a purr, but I don't start driving because I want to warm the engine up. I look outside, past the gravel parking lot and at the big tall trees around me. After I think enough time has passed, I put my foot on the pedal and the UTV slowly pushes forward. I tilt the steering wheel to the right a little, and I feel a bump in the gravel road. I lean back and go faster, feeling the wind hit my helmet as the UTV doesn't have a windshield. My Benelli shotgun and rifle rattle on my back, as I keep going faster.
Eventually, I reach a bumpy dirt parking lot, with a metal building 100 feet in front of the UTV, and a concrete pad with a roof but no walls, and a couple wooden table and some places to mount heavy artillery. I turn to the left and I engage the parking brake, yanking me to the front a little. I see 2 people sitting behind one of the tables. One of them is Jason, with his night vision goggles on top of his helmet, and a black cloth mask covering the rest of his face, and his black tactical clothes and gear. And the other is another one of my friends named Axel, with a brown and black dirt bike helmet, along with brown and black dirt bike clothes. He has a drone each attached to his right and left side. A tan Marksman rifle is slung on his back.
I jump out of the UTV, and I walk towards them. Jason looks at a ballistic gel dummy, mimicking a real human attached to a wooden pole, about 100 yards away from him. Axel spots me and waves.
"Landon! Wassup?" He yells at me.
"Nothing much," I yell as I walk closer. "You guys gonna shoot?" I ask.
"The fuck you think we're here for?" Jason remarks.
I stand next to them and I look at the dummy.
"Axel here wants to test out his drones. Might as well have some fun while we're at it. Eh?" Jason says. We both nod in response.
"Getting everything ready for the fight at fort Claxton?" I ask Axel.
"Nah, I ain't goin. Gotta head to Ryegrass Ranch later today." He tells us.
Jason nods and grabs his tactical rifle from behind his back, it has a flash hider and a close quarters scope on the rail of the gun. It also has a green laser from under the barrel along with a foregrip. The stock is collapsible and has a iron sight on the right side of the gun. It has a flashlight attached to the left side of the barrel, but it's turned off.
"Who's first?" I ask. Jason raises his glove.
Jason aims his gun at the dummy, and pulls the trigger 3 times. The dummy bounces a couple times before going still again. Jason slings his gun and quickly pulls out his handgun, shooting it one last time, but he misses.
"You suck." Wyatt says.
"Look at my damn scope! I can't even call this a scope!" Jason exclaims.
"Excuses, excuses." I tell him.
"You do it then bitch." He mutters.
I pull out my rifle and I shoot the dummy to the left of the other dummy 4 times, without missing any. I then reach for my Glock and I line the dummy up with my red dot and I shoot it 3 times, missing one bullet.
"I guess you both suck with handguns." Axel says.
"Oh shut up..." I whisper.
Axel puts his rifle on the table, and leans against it. He aims at another dummy's head and shoots once, punching a massive hole in it. He then aims at the chest, and shoots, making another massive hole.
"Lets check that shit out." I tell them.
Axel gets off the table and Jason runs to the dummy. I run after him and Axel runs with me. Jason reaches the dummy and almost bangs into the pole. I stop a few feet away from him and so does Axel.
"Damn." Axel says.
Jason grabs the head and digs in it, searching for a bullet. I look at the chest and see it broke some ribs, and punctured the left lung. I look at the back and I see it didn't pass through and the bullet appeared to be lodged in between 2 vertebrae in the spine.
"It passed through the head." Jason says.
"Nice..." I say.
"Ready for me to test the drones?" Axel asks us.
Jason and Me both nod, and Jason begins to walk to the shooting pad. I stay and look at Axel's drones. He unclips one off the left side of his belt and holds it on his right hand. The drone is black, with a camera on the front of it, along with a small 22. caliber low semi-automatic machine gun. Axel has a tablet attached to his belt too, to control the drone and it's gun, however the drone has an auto-pilot mode too. I speed walk back to the pad and Axel follows me. We both reach the pad, where Jason is waiting for us on the table.
"Alright, 3... 2... 1..." Axel says as he raises his right hand, and the drone's blades begin spinning, making a whirring noise.
I feel the blades cutting through the air, and Axel's clothes start to flow.
"Bravo. Launch." Axel says to the drone.
The drone's autopilot mode engages, and it hovers in the air for a couple seconds. Axel then grabs his tablet from his belt and turns it on. He signs in with a simple password and goes on an app. The drone camera POV fills the screen, with the view tinted a light blue. A task bar is on the bottom of the screen, allowing for the user to control the drone.
"Bravo. Search for nearby enemies." Axel commands the drone, speaking into the tablet.
The drone launches into the air and begins to move quickly. It goes about 100 feet in the air, and we can see the camera does a 360 a couple times, before locking onto the dummy. It lowers about 65 feet near the dummy and flies above the dummy. It makes circles and flies around the dummy unpredictably.
"Why isn't it shooting?" I ask him.
"It can't. Not when it's in auto-pilot at least. I have to control it so it can shoot." He informs me.
"Bravo, self destruct." Jason says.
"Shut up..." Axel tells him.
Axel presses a command on the tablet, and the blue tint on the screen goes away. The drone goes still in the air, and then the gun aims at the dummy. Axel starts to fly around the target, shooting it about 8 times, not causing a crazy amount of damage, but it'd probably be enough to seriously injure or even kill someone that doesn't have any protective gear on.
"Any of you wanna give it a go?" Axel inquires.
Jason shakes his head but I nod. He hands me the tablet and I keep circling around the dummy. I fire about 5 shots, but I miss all of them. The screen then pops up with a notification saying the gun's barrel is overheating, and needs about 60 seconds to rest.
"Terrible. Fucking terrible." He states.
"Not my fault..." I mutter.
Axel gives me a sarcastic 'Mhm". I grab my rifle and shotgun, slinging them both behind my back again. I fist bump Axel before dabbing him up.
"What do you even have to do at Ryegrass anyway?" I ask him.
"Vacation, nice little break." He says.
"Well, see you soon." I tell him.
Axel tries to copy me but Jason cuts him off before he can say anything. "How long until you gotta go?" Jason inquires.
"Uhh. About 5 hours. Why?" He asks.
"Why not go hunting together? For some of those monsters?" Jason says.
"Hell yeah! I'm down." Axel yells excitedly.
"Why not..." I say.
Jason chuckles before grabbing his rifle and swapping in a new mag. I nod my head to the UTV I drove here. Axel grabs his marksman rifle. We walk towards the UTV, and Jason gets in the driver's seat. I get in the passenger seat and Axel gets in the back seat. Jason turns the UTV on. He drives out of the shooting range and drives for a couple minutes before turning on a small dirt trail. About 10 minutes pass and we drive past a small cabin, and a bridge that is over a creek.
"So, do we have a specific thing we want to hunt?" Axel asks.
"Nah, anything will do. Nothing too dangerous either. Can't get hurt while trying to just pass some time." Jason tells us.
"What if it just pops out of nowhere?" I say sarcastically.
"What? The Entity?" Jason asks.
"Yeah." I confirm.
"Guess We're just fucked." Axel states.
I laugh a little before leaning my seat back, trying to smush Axel.
"Fuck!" Axel yells before shoving my seat forwards. I see a molded banana peel on the floor next to my boots and I grab it. I show it to Jason and he bites his lip under the cloth mask.
"Do it." Jason whispers.
"Nah. You do it." I say.
"No." He responds.
"Then I'm not." I remark.
"Fuck you. Gimme it." He whispers as He snatches it form my glove.
He honks the horn, and swerves the vehicle a little bit. Axel looks at the outside and then at his seatbelt and then at Jason. He headbutts Jason's helmet with his dirt bike helmet.
"Jason! Learn to fucking dri-" He says before he is cut off by a moldy banana peel thrown right on his visor.
'What the FUCK!!!" He screams, grabbing the peel and throwing it back at him.
I grab the peel before Jason can throw it back and I chuck it out of the cabin. Jason laughs loudly, but tries to keep control over himself and the steering wheel, and Axel grumbles in the back.
"Hey! Stop!" I order.
Jason stops the vehicle and looks at me confused.
"Theres tracks. It doesn't look like an animal." I say.
We all get out and look around. I point to the tracks I saw on the trail. The tracks looked to be from an animal that had three claws on each foot, but they were huge, digging at least 6 inches into the ground.
"Think it's a screecher?" Axel asks.
"Nah. These tracks are too big..." I tell them.
"I'll stand guard." Jason states.
Jason pulls his rifle off his back and looks around. He looks at the trees and the bushes blocking his view on both sides of the trail. Axel unclips his drone that he tested, and puts it in his glove and puts his arm in the air.
"Launch, Bravo." Axel says to his drone.
The drone begins to hover in the air, before Axel tells it to scout, and it shoots up past the trees so we can't see it anymore. I keep analyzing the tracks until I hear distorted weird moaning from behind a bush. Jason aims his rifle and I hastily pull out mine. Axel takes out his marksman rifle and walks away from the noise, going back a little on the trail. He aims his rifle and fires a powerful shot into the bush.
The forest goes silent. Gone are the chirping birds, the squirrels on the trees, and all the noise that is left is babbling of a nearby creek. But then we hear it again, the same noise, but loud pounding footsteps coming closer to us.
Jason walks back and steps behind the UTV, leaning his rifle on the hood. I take a couple steps back and switch my rifle to full auto. Suddenly, a massive brown creature, standing about 8 feet on 4 legs comes out of the bush. It has weird brown hair and a bunch of crooked teeth in its jaw. It has bent front legs and long chicken shaped legs. It pounces at me, and I immediately hold down the trigger. 10 bullets shoot out of the barrel towards its chest, but it grabs me in its jaw, biting down. My armor protects me from most of it, and Axel fires a well-placed shot right on the side of its head, while Jason shoots its chest.
It throws me behind the UTV and roars. I cough a little and grunt, as I lay down. I get on my knees, and I swap my rifle out for my shotgun. It rushes towards Axel, and I shoot the back of it's head. It slows down a little and opens it's gaping jaw, but Axel shoots it's left eye. It roars and runs back, almost running into the UTV.
I shoot again, but I miss. It rushes towards me and opens It's mouth, It's right front leg moves to swipe at Jason as it tries to grab me in it's mouth. I quickly try to lodge the barrel of my shotgun in it's mouth. I push past it's tounge and I feel it choke a little before I pull the trigger. Gore spills all over my shotgun, and the creature walks backwards a little, slumping down and laying on the trail, barely alive anymore. It's entire lower jaw is almost completely blasted off, only hanging on by a piece of sinew.
"Holy shit... That was fucking..." Axel cracks.
"Is it still alive?" Jason asks.
"Yeah... Looks like it..." I tell him.
Jason nods a little and switches in a new mag. He gets the creature to look at him. The creature's yellow eyes look at him as he stands above it's head. It slowly tries to swipe at him but he shoves his rifle on it's head and pulls the trigger. A tiny bit of blood sprays out of the hole in it's head, before the creature completely goes still.
"What even was that?" Axel says confused.
"I don't know. We're just lucky it wasn't anything too dangerous." I state.
"True. Hey Landon, you okay? I saw you get fucking flung like a leaf earlier." Jason asks.
"Yeah. Nice shot Axel." I commend.
"Thanks. Wanna keep going?" Axel asks us.
"Nah... I think we've killed enough time. You should probably hit the airport, Axel. Ryegrass is far ways away from here." Jason remarks.
"I know. I know." Axel says, going on his tablet to call his drone back.
Jason gets back in the drivers seat, and the drone flies back in Axel's hand. I get in my seat and I look at my shotgun. Axel hops in the back seat and closes his door.
"Hey Axel, why didn't that drone of yours detect anything?" I inquire.
"I panicked. I forgot that it only detects humans." Axel responds.
"How did it detect that dummy then?" Jason asks him.
"It was in the shape of a human." Axel states.
Jason begins to drive back to the Nonagon, where we both will stay for the night and Axel can catch a helicopter. I pull out my phone and I notice I got a message from Chris. I read the message and it is something about soccer. I message him back, acting like I know what he's talking about.
20 minutes later
Jason parks the vehicle at the gravel parking lot. I look at my door, not wanting to get up. I groan and I slowly open the door, jumping out while holding the arm rest for support. I stand up straight and begin walking with Jason. A couple soldiers pass by us, stopping to salute us and I give them a little nod.
"Shit I'm bored." Jason says in a matter of fact tone.
"Same..." I tell him.
"I'll call Wyatt." Jason informs me.
Jason picks is phone out of his pocket and presses a couple buttons before calling Wyatt. The phone rings for a couple seconds before a familiar voice comes through the speakers.
"Hey Jason. What's up?" Wyatt asks.
"Hey. Where are you at right now?" Jason inquires as we keep walking together.
"At the overwatch with Tyler. Why?" Wyatt inquires.
"Me and Landon are gonna come over there." Jason tells him. We hear some chatter that is too quiet for the phone to pick up on in the background.
"Okay. Tyler said he'll give you more info on Claxton. Anyways, bye." Wyatt informs us.
"Bye." Jason responds.
Jason hangs up the phone. He stuffs his phone back in his pocket and we walk north to the overwatch. After 10 minutes or so of walking, we reach the Nonagon. Where Wyatt and Tyler are looking at a glass table with a screen in the middle. Jason and I walk over, and Wyatt spots us and greets us. Jason goes to the left of the table, and I go to the right. Tyler taps the screen with a black plastic rod, he moves it. The screen reveals a map of fort Claxton, looking like it was ripped straight off google earth.
"Glad you came guys. Wyatt confirmed he will go on the mission." Tyler confirms to us.
"So... We got a plan to defend fort Claxton?" I ask Tyler, still staring at the screen.
He uses the pole to move the map around and zooms out. He then points to the left side of the fort, that faces the main entrance. He draws a number 1 on the place he is pointing at.
"This is phase one of the plan. I have intel that they'll be attacking from the west side. No air support, no tanks, no heavy artillery, just people." He looks around the room, making sure no one is watching.
"Now, you guys will shoot at them from the windows. Hopefully it'll be enough to wipe out their front lines, but it won't be enough to kill them. Eventually, they'll breach the fort, but here's where phase 2 comes in." Tyler explains.
"Hold on. Will we have anything heavy? Like... Machine guns?" Jason asks.
"Yeah. There'll be some on the windows. But like I was saying." Tyler responds.
He moves the pole to the middle of the fort, drawing a 2.
"After they've breached, you'll all move to the middle. Well, yeah. All of you will move to the middle, some of your strike force teammates will stay at the turrets, but none of you. You'll fight them off until you can push back at them. I'm not asking you to completely wipe them out, but just kill the lot of 'em. After you do that it will be considered mission successful. We'll get some soldiers to go in and completely wipe them out after you take most of them out. Any questions?" He asks. No one responds.
"Now, if you guys wanna over ride me... you can. I can't stop you, after all you're way higher ranks then me. Besides that guy." Tyler looks at Wyatt. Jason snickers and I breathe in trying not to laugh at him.
"Nah, we good." I state.
"Nope. Let me change it." Jason remarks.
Tyler sighs and he gives him the stick.
"As one of the Co-leader's of Sylvatus, I will not let you change it." I tell him as I snatch the stick away from his gloved hand.
"Fuck you. Give me that shit back." Jason says angrily.
"Haha. Loser." Wyatt cracks.
"Shut the hell up!" Jason yells.
"Ay! Ay! Calm down guys," He says waving his hand. "We're not changing it, I guess." Tyler tells us, looking at Jason.
"Ugh..." Jason rolls his eyes.
"Who's gonna come anyway?" I ask Tyler.
He says a couple names, Caleb, which I know and is a good friend of mine. Chris, of course. James stone, one of the three Co-leaders of Sylvatus alongside me. Vex, pretty chill guy. Wyatt, obviously. Ethan, okay. Thatcher, I've met him a couple times, I wanna call him a friend, but something seems off about him. John Woods, I've met him before. We get along well. Kade, He's cool. Jake, one of my long time friends. And another James, of whom I do not know.
"You coming, Tyler? I ask.
"You bet. Wait. I forgot to tell you how you're gonna get there." Tyler adds.
Wyatt tilts his helmet.
"Tomorrow. In the morning, when it is still dark some SHERPs will come here. Everybody that is coming will already be inside of them, all of you will just get inside one of them. It'll take about an hour and a half and then you'll be there. We will leave at about 5 in the morning. I recommend you wake up a bit before that to prepare, obviously. After you complete the mission, everybody will do what you and James say." Tyler says looking at me. "Other than that... we're done here. Goodluck." Tyler says with a nod then turns the table off. He walks away from the big window into a hallway 20 feet away from us.
"Welp..." Wyatt says as he watches him leave.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm going to bed." Jason tells us with a yawn.
"Lazy." I say sarcastically.
Jason grumbles and grabs his rifle and then walks away, probably not even knowing where he's going. He disappears into a hallway and Me and Wyatt walk together past the table and then into a hallway which leads to the floor below. We walk down a flight of stairs, our weapons rattling on our dirt bike gear.
"What're you gonna bring to Claxton?" I ask.
"Probably my KSG and Evo Scorpion. What about you?" He inquires.
"The usual..." I respond.
He nods and we walk a cafeteria.
"You know, I think we should eat." I say, half under the influence of the smell of a variety of foods.
"Same..." He states.
We walk backwards and then walk inside the cafeteria. The walls are made out of that same material just like the rest of the facility, but the floor is a dark brown hardwood floor. At the right side of the cafeteria there are a couple pizza ovens and a bunch of other cooking appliances, with a counter that a couple people in camo military gear are getting trays of food from. The left side is just a bunch of tables.
Wyatt already walks to the counter, and I feel the warm air on my face under my helmet. I put my rifle and shotgun on a rack, and I take my helmet off and gloves and then put them on the rack. I leave my dirt bike chest plate on and the ballistic plates underneath it on my chest. I walk towards the counter behind Wyatt, watching the chefs cook varying dishes. The smell of cooking vegetables hits my nose, and I look at Wyatt.
"What're you getting?" I inquire.
"Probably some pizza. What about you?" He asks.
"Mushroom burger..." I respond.
"Did you hear about that whole unit of our soldiers up at Elk forest went missing?" Wyatt questions.
"Uhh, no. Isn't Elk forest all the way in Canada?" I ask.
"Yeah. Why?" Wyatt says confused.
"Nothing. Why did they go missing?" I question.
"Nobody really knows yet. Personally I think... You know. 'It' had something to do with it." Wyatt half whispers, grabbing a tray with 3 slices of pizza.
I bite my lower lip, on that... thing. I snap out of it and place an order for a mushroom burger with some fries and a milkshake, and Wyatt goes to a table and sits down. I pull out my phone, and I see I got a text from the top-secret leader group chat. Containing all 3 co-leaders of Sylvatus, Me, James stone, and Liam Fairfield. I tap on it and I see James in his yellow and black dirt bike gear.
It's a video with him telling us that he changed his guns and now he uses a Tan scar H, and a UZI. Liam texts that he doesn't care and I like his text. James sends a middle finger emoticon, and I put my phone away. The woman at the counter gives me a mushroom burger and some fries on a plate. I thank her and I sit with Wyatt.
I pick a fry up and I dip it into a cup of nacho cheese. I toss it into my mouth and I sigh. Wyatt takes off his helmet and eats a slice of pizza.
"Do you remember when you were going to church every sunday? What happened to that?" Wyatt asks.
"The sessions with Ezra?" I respond.
"Yeah." He answers.
"Just haven't found the time. I only missed last week, you're acting like I missed an entire year." I state.
"Yeah. I guess you're right..." Wyatt responds.
I take a bite of my burger.
"You know James is gonna be at fort Claxton." I say while chewing.
"Seriously? I swear he hates me..." Wyatt groans.
"And why's that?" I ask.
"Well, it's a long story. But I'll make it short..." He begins. "I was on a mission Liam sent me on. It was to destroy a mudhut, you know, the thing that some monsters come out of, in the Virginia white tail woods." He says.
"Was it big?" I inquire.
"No. It was about, say, 10 feet tall. Just a big tent of mud with some sticks coming out of it and that dark opening, you know, the place where they come out of, was like... 8 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Anyways. James was there, Caleb, Jake, Noah, even Winston came all the way from the woodland plains just to hang out with us and destroy it. So all of us arrive to it, it's smack in the middle of the woods next to a dirt trail." He explains.
"Can you just tell me why you think he fucking hates you?" I ask.
"I'm getting to it." Wyatt says annoyed. "We surround the hut, Jake takes out his chainsaw, and turns it on. He was gonna try to cut some of it but I guess the monsters heard it. They immediate started to climb out, and James held them back and Caleb shot the inside of the hut with a grenade launcher. It explodes, and for a couple seconds they stop coming. Then they come back and keep coming again, and Caleb grabs his rocket launcher but I see out of the corner of my eye while I'm shooting them, a Screecher is running towards him. So I push him out of the way and I shoot it a couple times with my shotgun." Wyatt says.
"After we destroyed it, James said that I ruined the mission. I saved Caleb's life, but James said that He would have been fine. And ever since then he's been sending me on solo missions. Some of them are pointless! I mean, he told me to destroy a mud hut by myself and when I got to where he sent me, there was nothing... I asked him about it and he just told me to stop complaining. I swear, he's just been an asshole for no reason ever since then." He explains.
I chuckle while sipping my milkshake. "I can't believe you ruined the mission like that." I say sarcastically.
"Oh, shut up..." He says with a sigh leaning in his chair.
"Who knows. Maybe he'll say sorry when you meet him there." I tell him.
Wyatt laughs. "Yeah. He'll even shine my helmet probably." Wyatt says.
"I bet." I respond.
I finish my Burger and fries and I grab my milkshake and stand up. Wyatt eats his last slice and stands up next to me. He grabs his helmet and puts on a black cloth mask and then buckles his helmet on. I walk to the exit and I put my helmet back on and strap my guns on my back. I put my gloves on and I pick my milkshake up while Wyatt walks out. We walk next to each other while I pull my black cloth mask underneath my helmet down so I can sip on the drink.
"You sleeping in the basement? There's nicer rooms there." I ask.
"Yeah." He responds.
Ethan, the person I met in Auberge mansion walks by us. He still has camo dirt bike gear, but he is holding a camo machine gun with a box magazine and a holographic sight on it. He has 2 box magazines on his belt, and he has about 5 trail cameras on his vest and belt.
"Ethan!" I exclaim.
He turns around confused and then he sees it's me.
"Yo! Landon, Sup?" He says.
"Nothing much. Just waiting for fort Claxton." I state.
"Me too. Say, who's this?" He gestures towards Wyatt.
"A friend. His name's Wyatt. He's part of the strike force, You don't know him?" I inquire.
"Nope. Nice to meet ya." Ethan says, holding his camo gloved hand out. "What's do you do?" Ethan asks.
Wyatt shakes his hand "I just use smoke bombs. What about you?" He questions.
"I use these things." He holds up a trail cam. "Good for holding down areas, got this old dandy thing too." He motions to a tablet on his leg. "It shares the cameras video with who I choose." He explains.
"Nice..." Wyatt says awkwardly. "Well, We gotta go. See you in the morning." I tell Ethan.
"Alright. See ya." He walks away.
Jason POV
I sit down in the cafeteria in the east wing. I set down a tray of Tacos and steamed vegetables. I stick my fork through a carrot and I take my metal mouthguard off of my tactical helmet. I bite down, tasting the juice and a faint taste of brown cinnamon. A person walks up to me in all camo, camo pants, hoodie, boots, gloves, and a camo boonie hat. He has some mud on the right side of his face and he stops at my table.
"Hey haven't seen you around before. Pleasure to meet you, Name?" He asks while offering a handshake.
"Uhh, Jason Wilson... Uhh. What about you?" I says with a awkward smile, while shaking his hand.
"The name Thatcher. Thatcher Morris. Nice to meet you." He says with a slight smirk, his eyes feeling like they're staring into my soul.
"Um. Nice to meet you too." I say with a nod.
"I haven't seen you around. How long have you been with the Cartel? You don't look familiar." He states coldly.
"Years. I'm pretty high up." I tell him.
"Really? What's your rank." He demands.
"Commander in the strike force. I'm friends with one of the Co-Leaders." I explain.
"Commander... That's impressive. Which one are you friends with." He asks, tilting his head.
"Landon Miller." I say, looking at him weirdly.
"Landon Miller? Right... So how close are you to him." He says, eyes narrowing.
"Uhh, good friends." I tell him.
He stares at me. "That's fair." He responds, adjusting the leather sling on his chest, connected to his camo hunting rifle on his back. "Let me ask you something." He states.
"Go ahead." I half-whisper, staring at my food that is getting cold.
"Do you truly support Sylvatus? The mission? Our leaders? You truly believe in what we're doing? No second guesses?" He interrogates, his brown eyes staring into the depths of my soul.
"Uhh... Y-Yeah... I do." I repeat, weirded out.
"Alright, I believe you. But why?" He asks, finally taking his eyes off me and looking at the floor, but then back at me. "Why do you fight? What makes a thing like you, a high ranking official in the cartel, devote yourself?" He asks.
"I... Um. My father got killed by some Altus soldiers, I think he owed them money or something..." I explain.
"So that's your reason huh? Makes sense." He says, with a smirk. "And what about the Hiwassee's?" He inquires.
"Of course I don't like them either." I state.
"No one here does." He says with a hint of disgust in his voice. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cigarette. He grabs a light out of his other pocket and lights it. He shoves it in his mouth and takes a long drag out of it. "Want one?" He says with a predatory gaze.
"No thanks... I don't smoke." I tell him, Thatcher nods.
"Let me ask you one more thing, 'Commander'." He says the last word like it was a joke. "When you fight... When you kill... When you go on your little missions, do you ever enjoy the action?" He asserts.
I gulp. "No, I don't l-like killing." I say shakily.
He tilts his head slightly, "Really? Not one bit? You don't get any thrill form pulling the trigger?" He asks.
I stab my food, trying to get an appetite. "No... I... Who the hell would?" I ask, mostly to myself.
He chuckles. "Come on commander. I thought you of all people should know plenty of people who enjoy having the power between life and death." He explains. "Don't tell me you're a saint." He says, his smirk slowly fading into a frown. "I don't buy it. Everyone has a taste for it. Some just hide it better than others." He leans in closer to me, putting the cigarette on the table. "You know what I think?" He speaks.
"What...?" I whisper.
He frowns. "I think you're lying to yourself." His eyes study me. "You say you don't enjoy killing? Or the thrill of the fight?" His voice turns mocking. "Bullshit. You know you love it. You live for it. The moment you put your finger on the trigger, in the heat of the moment... You feel alive. We all do." He states.
"You're fucking weird." I say, completely creeped out.
He shakes his head slightly. "If I'm weird you're a goddamn square." He speaks. "I'll never understand how someone like you got a high rank. All that self-righteous 'I don't like killing,' bullshit." He states with a snarl.
I look around and then he grabs my chin and forces me to look straight at him. "I know who you really are, Jason." His grip loosens and he stands up. He then walks out of the cafeteria, not looking at me once. I look back at my food, which is completely cold, but I don't even care, it's not like I'm hungry anymore.
Landon POV
9:00 PM
I open the wooden door to my room, and I am greeted by a large, spacious living room with a couple doors attached to it. I walk into the room and the I immediately walk towards a sofa facing a TV. I guess I'll sleep early tonight. I walk past the couch and I walk towards a door that has a sign above it that says bedroom. I open it and I'm hit with a burst of purple light from a LED strip that goes around the ceiling of the room.
I undress and put all my belongings in a wardrobe, besides my Glock. I put on some pajamas that I found in a cabinet in the wardrobe. I put the handgun on my nightstand, and I sit on the bed with a sigh. I stuff myself under the covers and I check my phone for notifications. I see I got a notification from Chris and I tap on it. A video plays of a couple friends putting their sleeping buddy's bed on a lake, with him sleeping in it. I see a message is attached to the video. He says that we should do this to Andrew some time, and I smile. I turn my phone off and I throw it on the other side of the bed. My muscles relax and my eyes close.
"Hey!" I open my eyes and I see a light blue sky.
"What in the fuck!" A country sounding man's voice rings out.
"Don't get close! We don't know if it's dangerous." A brash voice tells someone.
I move my head towards the voices, and I'm laying on some grass. I a person dressed in odd gear. It has neon glow sticks or something on it. Probably another one of those damn Altus soldiers. I quickly sit up and I pull out my Glock. I aim at right at them and pull the trigger.
My phone alarm blares beside me. I quickly grab and I turn the alarm off. 4AM. I think about what I saw in my dream, a weird horse. I groan and I get up. I quickly dress back up and I put my belt back on, with the hatchet on the left side of the belt, and a machete with a Glock 19 strapped to it. I put my AR and benilli shotgun and I call Wyatt and Jason.
"Hey guys. You up yet." I ask.
"For sure." Jason speaks.
"We're actually both heading to the basement armory." Wyatt says into Jason's phone.
"Alright. I'm coming." I state and I hang up. I put the phone in my satchel on my belt and I quickly leave my room. I sprint across hallways and corridors. I finally reach the main basement armory, and the vault door is closed. I enter the password and I push the 300 pound door open. I step onto the steel ground, and I see Wyatt and Jason looking at a table, all geared up. I walk next to them.
"Sup?" Jason asks, cleaning the barrel of his rifle.
"I gotta get some ammo." I explain.
Wyatt nods, putting slugs in one barrel of his KSG shotgun, and buckshot in the other. "You excited?" Jason inquires.
"Fuck yeah I am! Haven't done something like this in weeks." I speak.
Wyatt pumps his shotgun and puts it on his back. "I'm not too sure which one I should do." He says, looking at a holographic sight and an ACOG scope, for his Evo Scorpion rifle. "They're both thermal vision." He explains.
"Holo is the best for CQB." Jason says expertly.
Wyatt nods and puts it on his rifle. I grab a wipe and I wipe down the ACOG sight on my rifle.
"You know that Thatcher guy?" Jason questions.
Wyatt shakes his head. "Yeah. I know him." I state.
"Dude. He's fucking weird." He exclaims.
"Judgemental much?" I respond.
"You've met him before." Jason asserts.
"Indeed I have. I guess he is off..." I say.
Jason nods smugly. Wyatt walks out. I pull the charging handle on my rifle. I grab a couple flashbangs and I put them on my belt. Jason puts a Glock in his holster. Someone comes in with thing camo clothes and camo mud boots with leather gloves. He has a gas mask on with a camo AR-15 and a single-shot 10 gauge camo shotgun, with a big black revolver in his holster. He has a couple canisters on his belt, probably for gas. I look at him.
"Hey." I greet.
"Howdy, headin to fort Claxton?" He asks.
"Yeah. I assume you are too?" I question, he nods.
After a couple minutes we all leave, but Wyatt is completely gone. The guy in camo tells me his name is James Briar while walking with me and Jason. After about thirty minutes I we reach the main front entrance for the north-east wing. Three SHERPs are waiting for us, Wyatt probably is in one of them.
James pulls out a dark green and black Machete from his belt. "Why do you have that out?" Jason inquires.
"Gotta sharp this ol' thing." He explains.
I walk towards someone holding a clipboard in front of the vehicles. I tell them my name, and he recognizes me as one of the Co-Leaders. He says to get in the Vehicle in the front and I walk towards it. I grab the handle to the backdoor and I yank it open.
I see James in his yellow and black dirt bike gear, flashing around his UZI like it's a toy. Tyler is in a seat whistling, sharpening a machete with an M16 on his back. Hunter Smith, in all black with black boots. He has a black mask on with a black hat kind of like a Boonie hat. He is sitting with one leg over the other, his crossbow on his shoulder, and he spins one of his black hornet drones on his gloved finger. John Woods is talking to James, he's dressed in camo clothes, black and camo mud boots. He has a compound bow, with a quiver on his back filled with broadhead arrows, arrows with fireworks on them, and a couple grappling hook arrows. Vex is sitting in the front in dark green dirt bike clothes, with green dirt bike gear and a FAMAS on his back.
Chris is in a seat probably sleeping, his black and blue dirt bike gear completely still. He has a black MP5 on his back, with a 1911 on his belt. Caleb is searching through Tyler's backpack, in his red hoodie and red pants, with black boots. He has a red mask and a red hat, with a shotgun on his back and an AK12.
I climb into the vehicle and I sit next to Chris and Caleb. Tyler Martin and James stone are sitting vertical from us. The SHERPs engine rumbles to life, I look out the window and I see the headlights of the SHERP behind us illuminating the gravel parking lot.
"Everybody ready for a long ride? It'll take around 3 hours to get there." Tyler states.
Everybody nods and stretches. Caleb slaps Chris at the back of his helmet. "Wake up sleepyhead." He speaks.
"Frick you..." Chris remarks.
"Hey Tyler? Can you sharpen a couple stuff for me?" I ask.
"What stuff?" He inquires.
"Machete, hatchet, and my multitool..." I respond.
"Alright... Gimme 'em." Tyler says.
I unsheathe my machete and hatchet and I give him both of the weapons. He sheathes his machete and uses a whet stone and rubs it across the blade of my machete. I open my satchel and I pull out my silver skeletool. I whip open the knife and I give him it too.
"Can't believe it's 3 hours..." Chris remarks. The vehicle starts to move.