The New Haven Incident - Part Forty-Seven

Another explosion in the general direction of the stadium gave the two men pause. The bright ball of flame flashed first, followed by the blast of thunder, loud enough to crack the glass of the shop window beside Sebastian. The blast of hot air pushed him back.

“Christ!” Mendez hissed, slamming his hands over his ears a little too late. His ears whined in protest, obscuring the rest of the sounds.

Sebastian, having reacted faster, did not suffer nearly as much. He put his hand up to the earpiece he wore. “Sigma Teams, come in.”

Who the fuck is this? someone yelled back over the unit. The sound was almost obscured by the rapid blasts of semi-automatic gunfire.

Sebastian? Charlie Wu’s voice said a moment later. That you?

“Yep.”

Where the fuck are you? You get your ass here double time!

“Status?”

Status?! Swarmed, you blond fuck! Get over here now!

“En route.”

“He’s usually a nice guy,” Mendez noted.

Sebastian flashed a grin. “How rested are you?”

“Not at all.”

“Good.” 

“Don’t make me run.”

Sebastian evidently didn’t hear him. He started jogging forward. Sighing out a quiet, “Fuck,” Mendez followed.

The noise of gunfire, muffled into near silence by the peculiar acoustics of the buildings surrounding the stadium, slammed into Sebastian and Mendez as they rounded the corner onto Champion Avenue; the less than imaginatively named main road that led to the stadium. It was a wide, four lane street, with a row of carefully pruned poplar trees running down the centre strip. Several of the trees were on fire. One had been completely flattened beneath the wreckage of what looked to be a drone chopper. It was wildly expensive tech specific to The Department. Sebastian noted it with a small smile. Warner had been true to his word. The Department was here.

“That looks like it was expensive,” Mendez quipped as they moved past the wreckage.

Beyond the downed drone, Team Four was engaged with an enormous swarm of Infected. The students they were escorting were not cowering as the mercenaries fought; at least, not all of them. There were some twelve students, all dressed in Hakama, their very real and very sharp katana drawn, keeping the remaining students safe as Team Four struggled to make any headway towards the stadium.

More sounds of fighting arose from inside the field.

It took Sebastian just a moment of observation to form a plan. He turned to Mendez.

“Head to the students,” he said. “I’m going to help Team Four carve a path. Hand me a grenade, will you?”

“Here,” Mendez said, handing over two.

Sebastian nodded a quick thanks and the two moved quickly to position.

Mendez ran to the students who noticed his approach with a mix of helplessness and desperate hope. He nodded at the student who appeared to have seniority, by the way he stood protectively before the group, and took a knee. Choosing his shots carefully, he ensured Team Four was not overwhelmed by the frenzied enemy.

A Dark One dropped at Captain Wu’s right side. He raised his brows and glanced up. Mendez nodded at him from his position in front of the students. Wu gave a curt nod in return. His lips pulled into a grim line, he turned back to the fight. He slid a knife from his boot and severed the spine of the creature at his feet as it began to twitch back to life. He lifted his rifle again and began to fire.

A shape barrelled into view, bringing Wu’s rifle to bear. The captain did not pull the trigger. It was Sebastian. The agent appeared before Team Four, jumping down from somewhere out of sight to tackle the largest of the Dark Ones in the swarm attacking Team Four. He killed it quickly.

His goal was to draw the attention of the swarm away from Team Four. It worked. Many of the attacking Infected turned away from Team Four and launched themselves at the new threat.

“Gotchya,” Sebastian said with a grin.

He turned and ran, draining off the swarm enough so that Team Four, previously pinned down, could finally make their way to the stadium. Mendez saw the crowd of Infected lift. He lowered his rifle and turned to the students.

“Let’s go,” he said, moving forward quickly to reconnect with Team Four. The students followed closely, those without a sword bravely protected by those with. Together, Team Four and the students moved with speed to the stadium. They pulled open the small service door in the oval building and raced inside. A loud explosion rocked the pavement. One of Sebastian’s grenades.

“Crazy bastard,” Mendez muttered. He pressed his comms unit.

“Connors?” Silence. Mendez’ heart dropped. He wasn’t holding that grenade when it went off was he? “Sebastian! Answer me!”

Uh… a little busy right now.

Mendez took a deep breath in and slowly released it, forcing himself to relax.

“We made it in.”

Good. Get those students to the transports. I’m going to go after Officer Fernly and her group.

“Which side of the building is that? I’ll meet you there.”

Uh… east. If you can clear the main entrance on the eastern side of the building, that’s where I’ll take them.

“You got it.” Mendez paused. He glanced over at Captain Wu, who waited for Mendez before moving everyone through the narrow corridor to the field. He raised his brows at the warrant officer.

“Let’s go,” Mendez said. “Let’s deliver these people to safety.”

“You going back out?” Wu asked as the group began to move, letting Franz take point and falling back to join Mendez.

“There’s an officer with children trapped in a shop on the eastern side of the building. I promised Connors I’d help.”

Wu nodded. “We’ll help, too.”

“You already have,” Mendez noted. “These people were not part of the mission parameters.” He spoke again, overriding the argument he saw Wu forming. “You’ve done your bit. More than, in fact. I’ll never forgive myself if you head back out and end up dead. Or worse. We’ve already lost too many.”

Falling silent, Wu nodded. Then he said, “I’m sorry about Harding.”

“Yeah, well…” Mendez said, his voice dropping into a low growl. “So am I.”

“If he was infected,” Wu continued. “It would go a long way to explain his behaviour. Try not to hate him too much.”

Mendez said nothing. He warred between the coldness in his heart whenever he thought of his former captain and the desire to preserve the memory of their friendship; the shared joys, the slightly maniacal laughter that followed a narrow escape, every moment Harding had been there when Mendez struggled. He didn’t want to keep his heart cold; to remain guarded against everything Harding had done. This would require forgetting all the times Harding had been there for him. They were friends. Brothers in arms. How could he have turned his back on their friendship? Harding had tried to kill him. Hell, he killed Sebastian. Sort of. Shaking his head, Mendez carried on in silence. Now was not the time to work through his increasingly complicated feelings.

They moved through the empty corridors of the stadium, through locker rooms and the press-conference stage until they emerged onto the field. Mendez paused briefly as the scene exploded before him.

The field was under attack. Though most of the swarm appeared to be stuck outside the stadium, more than enough have made it through, or perhaps over, to the field. There were more choppers than Mendez expected. Similarly, lending aid to Teams Five and Six, were a large group of soldiers in black, unmarked tactical gear.

One spied Mendez and Captain Wu and, disengaging from the swarm her team were keeping at bay, she jogged over. There were absolutely no identifying markers on her dark uniform.

“Warrant Officer Mendez, I presume,” she said in a clipped voice that reminded Mendez of his drill sergeant. The woman extended her hand, which Mendez bemusedly took. Turning to Wu, the stranger offered her hand again. “Captain Charlie Wu.”

“I’m sorry,” Wu said. “Who are you?”

“We’re the government,” the woman said, offering a lopsided grin. She looked over Wu’s shoulder. “These must be the survivors from the university.” She frowned. “Where is Agent Connors?”

“The eastern side of the building,” Mendez said. “There’s a small group of survivors stuck in a building there he’s trying to extricate.”

The woman nodded. “Sounds like him,” she muttered. She looked at Wu. “The scientists are currently in the transport with Sigma Team Three. I was told to tell you to find yourself and your team a spot. They’ll take off as soon as it’s clear.”

“And the students?”

“With our transports.”

Mendez turned to Wu. He smiled at the captain. “Get home to your wife, Charlie,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.” He saluted, not giving Wu a chance to reply, before turning and running across the field to the eastern side of the stadium.

The government woman watched him go, then turned back to Wu, her eyes questioning though her expression remained impassive.

“He and Connors have bonded,” the captain said with a shrug.

“Ah, well… that’s new. Really?”

When Wu offered the woman nothing more than raised brows in response to her incredulous question, the woman shrugged and grinned. “Follow me, Captain. We’ll get you to safety.”

The woman turned and, again giving the captain no time to reply, jogged across the field. Wu and Team Four followed, herding the students to the transports belonging to The Department.

The Sigma transports were nestled in a group, surrounded by the larger, fully armed and armoured governmental choppers. They seemed paltry by comparison, though Wu knew they were the latest tech — that Sigma knew of, at least.

Under the stranger’s direction, Team Four was relieved of the students, who were ushered into the back of two of the choppers. Between them both, they fit all eighty of them, with a few seats to spare.

Team Four moved on to the Sigma transports.

“Charlie!” a familiar voice bellowed. Captain Wu turned to see Captain Sakata jogging towards him. They embraced briefly. “Was getting worried!”

“We’re good, Rin. You have the scientists?”

“All bundled tighter than a bug in a rug. It’s too hot for take-off yet, though.”

Wu nodded, then frowned. “What about Lilith?”

Sakata grinned. “Don’t know. She… uh… she left the group before we entered the stadium.”

Wu smiled.

“Where’s Mendez?”

“Gone to help Agent Connors.”

“Ah.” Sakata reached up to his comms unit. “Saab, you there?”

Still here, Sakata.

“Wait,” Wu said. “Our comms are definitely working now? It’s not just Connors’ tech?”

“Yeah. Apparently the rest of the teams were fine.” Sakata pressed his unit again. “Mendez is on his way to you. Be on the lookout for a blond psychopath helping a group of civilians outside the stadium. You’re to lend him support.”

Roger that.

Wu smiled as Saab yelled to his team over a hot mic. If anyone spots a blond psycho, he’s a friendly. The mic cut out.

“Well,” Charlie said. “Almost home.”

“Don’t fucking jinx it!”

Mendez’ heart pumped hard and fast as he jogged through more corridors and tunnels to reach the eastern entrance. He knew he would pay for this later, but for now, he relished the feeling of strength and speed that his pumping heart flooded through him.  It wasn’t healthy, he suspected, to come alive under the threat of imminent death, but he’d been that way since his first tour. It’s what kept him coming back; both in the army and now as a member of Sigma.

He heard Team Six before he saw them. They were camped in the large foyer near the long-disused ticket booths, clearing the last of the infected that had made their way in. Beyond, visible through the floor to ceiling windows, the swarm intensified. Their attention, however, was not on the easily visible foyer, where the team waited, but on the danger in their midst.

A large horde of kobolds had descended on the swarm, attracted by the activity and noise centred on the stadium. Hungry, mindless and vicious, the oversized scaly rats set upon anything that moved.

“Welcome to the party,” Captain Saab said as Mendez entered the foyer.

“It’s quite the party,” Mendez murmured. “Any sign of Connors?”

“The blond psychopath, I’m guessing? Not yet.”

“Blond psy…?” Deciding it was better he not know, Mendez just shook his head. He fell in behind Saab’s left shoulder, nodding to the warrant officer, who stood at Saab’s right. Everyone remained in position, unmoving, as the battle raged outside. By the time the last of the kobolds had been killed they had thinned the swarm considerably. Before, the press of bodies made seeing across the road a challenge. Now the shops across the way were clearly visible. Team Six and Mendez straightened, getting ready for the inevitable attack.

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