User blog:Gracchus Mccarthe/Benson and Roister: Cleanup

     After the shuttle door was opened, A.J. stepped out and was followed by the other five soldiers. Rex admonished the pilot and co-pilot as he walked out the door and down the landing ramp. “You two stay here. You’ll probably get killed if you tag along.”

     The pilot hit a button and closed the door. “The nerve of that guy…”

     The SAS looked for any zombies that might be wandering around. They only found a dozen or so.

     “Strange.” Ray said. “You’d think there would be more of ‘em out here. Guess they’re in the buildings.”

     A.J. pointed at the command building. “We need to get in there.”

     “Actually, we need to get in there.” Rex stated, pointing at the control tower. “The commander sent out a message to us. He must’ve been in that building.”

     A.J. slapped his forehead. “Duh! Good thing you caught that, Rex. I’da really screwed things up!”

     The six of them cautiously approached the building with guns ready.

     “Just curious,” Carl began, “A.J., how are you walking, let alone standing?”

      “My vest has some tissue repairing tech implemented into it.” was the reply. “It helps just enough that I can deal with the pain right now.”

     When they reached the main door, they found it was locked.

     Cecil asked, “Mind if I take this?” The others shook their heads and moved out of his way. “Knock knock!” he shouted as he fired a rocket and blew open a hole where the doors used to be.

     What they saw inside took them by surprise…

     “AUGH!” Cecil shrieked. “It’s the Devil!”

     Though what they saw was not the Devil, it certainly did look like it had come from Hell: It was a huge, horned zombie that had reptilian-looking skin and was on fire!

     It roared at the soldiers and the flames engulfing it grew brighter. With a swing of its arm, it launched a big fireball! The SAS narrowly evaded it. Then Ray shouted the obvious thing to do: “Run!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     The SAS spread out, firing back at the zombie as they moved. It chased after them, and when they began spreading, it chose a target.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Suddenly, Rex, A.J., Ray, Troh, and Carl heard Cecil’s voice. “Hey guys? On the shuttle, I wired all of our helmets so we’d be able to talk to each other. I can tell you how to work it later. According to my analyzers- WHOA! That fireball got close… Anyway, that thing produces the intense heat surrounding it! Thermal weapons won’t do crap against it!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Aw crud.” Carl muttered. He put up his rifle and pulled out his pistol. “Well, let’s see if it likes lightning!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Carl followed the zombie, which was still hunting Cecil. When he got within range, he fired all six shots of shocker bullets at the monster. It didn’t seem to notice the attack.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Update, that thing can nullify some of the force from energy projectiles!” Cecil warned. “Don’t use electricity- or plasma-based weapons if you can help it: They won’t be very effective.”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Carl wanted to punch something. He holstered his pistol and just watched the action.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Figured out the comm. thing.” Troh stated. “Guess my Starburst isn’t a good option.” He too switched out his rifle for his sidearm, but it was a CM 205, so the zombie’s resistances weren’t a problem.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Suddenly, an army of infected walked out of the control tower. “We got company!” A.J. shouted. “Rex, Carl, keep ‘em busy! Cecil, come over here, hurry!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Cecil complied, and when he reached A.J., the captain said, “Run. I’ll occupy it.”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Fine with me, I’m getting’ tired, but first…” Cecil put up his rifle and shouldered his bazooka. He fired the two shots at the large, fiery zombie. When it roared in pain and began glowing brighter, Cecil told A.J., “All yours, bro.” and shot off running.

<p class="MsoNormal">     A.J. backpedalled and fired at the monster, which had just turned its focus on him. It flung a fireball at A.J., and it rushed by his shoulder as he dodged…

<p class="MsoNormal">     Rex mowed down a line of zombies to keep them away from the soldiers who were dealing with the fiery one. “I should be storming planets with this thing, not fighting zombies.” Rex said to Carl.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Haha. I get it.” the medic replied as he torched several infected.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Guys, the devil’s just about dead.” Cecil stated on his headset. “OK, I’m calling it something other than ‘the devil’. How ‘bout… ‘Wicker’?”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Worry about names later.” Troh advised him. “Let’s just knock it down.”…

<p class="MsoNormal">     The army of zombies advanced and forced Rex and Carl to back up.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “We can keep going back, but they just keep coming!” Carl said. “Eventually, we’ll run out of ammo!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Let’s hope that won’t be for a while.” Rex replied.

<p class="MsoNormal">     The two of them didn’t notice that they were backing up near the fiery zombie. Suddenly, it detected them and turned towards them.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Guys! Watch out!” Cecil warned. “The Wicker’s goin’ after you!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Rex and Carl turned and saw the “Wicker” approaching.

<p class="MsoNormal">     However, before it reached them, Cecil emptied his rocket launcher on its head with two very well-placed shots.

<p class="MsoNormal">     With a roar of defeat, the monster toppled to the ground. Rex and Carl turned back to face the horde of aggressors.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Cecil threw his hands in the air. “Another point for the SAS!” Then his enthusiasm faded. “Uh-oh…”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “What’s wrong!?” A.J. shouted to him.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “That thing’s body is heating up at over 800 degrees per second!!” the engineer responded. “I think it’s gonna explode!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Just two seconds after he said that, Cecil was proven right. With a loud bang, chunks of super-hot flesh were thrown out in all directions!

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Look out!” A.J. called to Rex and Carl. His words came too late. Rex was lucky, and he didn’t get hit, but Carl wasn’t nearly so fortunate. A big piece of the Wicker’s remains slammed into him between the shoulder blades and knocked him to the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal">     A.J. and Cecil ran to the fallen soldier, and Ray joined Rex in repelling the oncoming group of zombies.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Troh had also been hit, but he said, “I’m fine! Check Carl!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Cecil and A.J. ran to Carl and knelt down by him. “Are you okay!?” A.J. asked as he held Carl up off the ground.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Carl moaned. “No. I- I think I’m… dead.” Then he gasped, “Oh crap-”, and his body went limp.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Over the next several minutes, the last of the zombies poured out only to get cut down. Rex and Ray went over to where A.J. and Cecil were kneeling.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Is he okay?” Ray asked urgently.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Cecil shook his head. “No, Carl’s not okay. He’s dead.”

<p class="MsoNormal">     Suddenly A.J. said, “We need to check Troh!”

<p class="MsoNormal">     He, along with Rex and Ray, ran to where Troh was: Cecil remained by Carl, stating he felt weak and didn’t want to move.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Troh put out his hand. “Help me up.”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Rex told him.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “I’m fine.” Troh declared. “This vest is made specifically for thermal defense. I only got hurt by the impact, not the heat.”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “You heard the man.” A.J. said, and he helped Troh to his feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “How’s Carl?”

<p class="MsoNormal">     “Dead. Fireball got ‘im.” Rex said quietly.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “As inhumane as it might sound, we have a job to do.” A.J. said through gritted teeth. “We need to find the commander. Let’s go.”

<p class="MsoNormal">     The others agreed that they needed to do so. “Come on, Cecil.” Rex called.

<p class="MsoNormal">     Cecil stood up slowly and trudged towards the others.

<p class="MsoNormal">     “We need to get the commander.” A.J. told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Cecil nodded, and they went off towards the control tower…

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