Vampiric Expansion
0300. Prague, Czechoslovakia. September 15, 2001. Abstract of Team 250 final report.
Oh, things had gone wrong. Real wrong, thought the armor clad man to himself. Huddled in the alleyway in Prague, Czechoslovakia he felt fear that he didn't know was possible. After five years of the most intensive training on earth, he was a god among men. But now, wounded from human bites, and carrying just an assault carbine, was different. The night air was foggy and damp. Its wetness enhanced the cold he felt, and the darkness made it worse. He hadn't slept in eighteen hours which wasn't very long, but definitely a stretch. The dry aching in his eyes and the heaviness of his eyelids made it difficult to concentrate. He needed to concentrate because something or somebody was after him. Focus, Focus!!
His Science team had been in Prague investigating a rash of new virus cases in hospitals that then died and disappeared from the morgue. Why doesn't my freakin' implant Comm unit work!?!? If I could just raise base and get an extract I'd be able to report in. Now the whole team was presumably dead, and he was alone. Horribly alone. In the dark where his primitive fears crept back into his obdula oblongata.
Something deep in his subconscious told him this was bad. Oh, this is bad! The tingling in his neck, and the prickly hair itching at his collar in the CID made him turn around. In the half-light from the streetlights and leaking from the sodium lamp behind the Laundromat from out back, this was a truly ghoulish sight. The human shape had the face of a demon. Tough skin, a hairless scalp, and tight drawn features combined with the long teeth and razor claws to make this a terrifying sight to behold. The pallor of its skin was like death itself. Ugh!@ I am gonna kill you fast.
its blow hit him as he brought up his rifle to deflect. The monster slammed into him and almost tackled him to the ground, but he grabbed the arm and broke it at the shoulder whilst flipping the thing over his hip to the ground. That was the problem with these, killing them was proving remarkably tough, but you could mangle them.
Wack! He hit the ground hard. The other problem was that they attacked in packs, he thought as one dropped on his back and brought him to the ground. He rolled over and smashed in its head with the butt of his rifle. It slumped into the wall and he rolled over to get up when he heard a splash to his right. He instinctively responded with a sidekick and smashed his assailant in the face. Another was ripping at his arm, which was now without armor. Burning hot flashes of pain cut him to the bone and he responded by stepping into it and hurling it over his body. Another had jumped on his back and was trying to tear off his helmet. If that happened it would be all over. He reacted out of desperation.
He pulled the pin on his HAFLA and shot it at his feet. The White Phosphorous round detonated when it hit the ground, showering him and his opponents with white-hot burning drops of Phosphorous, which sprayed the alleyway. He could feel the heat through his suit and feel the armor and plating begin to burn off his legs. He started to stumble backwards to get out of the fire. Thank god, he thought as he saw them bursting into flame like they were oil soaked rags. By the time he'd tripped and fell twice and then rolled out of the alley they were all gone.
Unfortunately so is my armor, he decided. He stripped out of the CID fast and grabbed his sidearm and rifle, what was left of his Load Bearing vest and basic equipment. I have to get a message to HQ, this is insane, were some of his last conscious thoughts.
Across the street he saw a computer store. A brand new IBM field sales office was what the rough translation on the sign said. Running across the street with all his strength he got to the door and shot off the locks. As he darted inside he could hear the feet beating in the alleyway. Cold sweat poured down his face. The tears and burns on his arms were eating away at his concentration. He ran to the far side of the office to a computer that was on and faced the door. Thank god they leave their computers on to save energy!
He laid the .45Super Cudgel on the desk, began typing with one hand and set a White Phosphorous grenade on the desk. The grenade was laying on top of the spoon, so he pulled out the pin. Precariously balanced he just had to kick the table then it would be ten seconds before detonation.
Rappidly logging onto a science front site, the NASA homepage, he got to the comments page. He clicked SEND EMAIL TO THE ADMIN, just as one jumped in the door and looked around. A short five round burst took it in the head and chest, dropping it to the ground. It got up but was throttled and knocked down again as another jumped in. He typed 'STAR LIGHT, STAR BRIGHT' which was the secret initiation code for the Science Ops as he let loose with a full burst and walked it across into the window where another monster stood. Both went down as he continued, 'PRAGUE TEEMING W/ SPECIMENS.' Three jumped into the torn down windows as he kept firing and dropping them. Already mangled beasts he had shot were crawling on their bellied to get to him. Every pore on his body was on fire. Sweat got into his eye and burned in his wounds as he took his hand off the keyboard to reload. 'VIRUS DRINK BLOD' he tapped on the keyboard as two burst through the wall to his left, he fired short bursts at each of them and tagged them with all the rounds. 'PACKS HUNT AT NIGHT' tap tap. tap tap. Firing single shots now that he was on his last magazine he brought two more down as three were rushing his table. 'LOCATE SORCE. SPREADS BY BITE. HARD 2 KILL. FINAL MES' was all he got out in one final burst of adrenaline fueled typing when the last three rushing him slammed into the desk. He slapped the RETURN key. The grenade tipped over and he heard the loud, TWONK! of the spoon flipping off the detonator. As the pushed out of his chair backwards he grabbed the pistol. He landed on his back, but quickly rolled back up onto his feet over his shoulder.
When he came up it had destroyed the computer. Hopefully that message got through, cuz I'm finished. The carbine locked back on an open bolt as its last three rounds peppered the chest of the beast, dropping it on its face. He let go of the rifle and put both hands on the pistol. Holding it at his waist with both arms locked he just pointed and shot. The laser helped, but it was mostly instinct. Two shots, one goes down. Three more, headshots, took off an arm, blood everywhere. Standing in the middle of the room with a grenade at his feet seemed impossible just minutes ago. Blood pumped through his veins with a force he'd never known. His heart was pounding rapidly in his ears. They must have been able to hear it because as seven more entered the office through the hole in the wall and ten jumped in through the front windows they looked like they were in a frenzy. Calm and coolness washed over him, he fired single shots at each, sending all to the ground hard.
But for every one he dropped, two more came in. Statistically I'm dead. Then his slide locked back. He was going for a reload at his belt.
The shadow behind him struck without warning. It had walked in the room from behind him. Casually strolled up as he decimated its brethren, and stood behind him for a second. Its hands grasped his shoulders with an iron like grip he couldn't escape. He brought the pistol back to smash it in the head, but he missed as it sunk its long canine teeth into his neck. He jerked and spasmed as his blood flowed out his new wound. The cool escape of death; his face showed not fear or terror but of final relaxation. You're dead mo-fo. I'll see you in hell. The shadow was hungrily guzzling away at his life energy when the grenade went off bathing the room in white-hot fury. Both were evaporated in a 4000 degree blast.
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Specialty: Chemistry (Polymers - Ceramics)
Specialty: Entomology, Mammalogy, Herpetology: (Entrapment)
Specialty: Electronics: Circuits and Devices.
Specialty: Emergency/Battlefield Surgeon.
Specialty: Research (Systematics)
Specialty: Executive/Personnel Protection
