The Apocalypse: Day of Reckoning. Intro
well, here it is, part one of the second apocalypse.
character in this next story are property of their respective owners.
The apocalypse: Day Of Reckoning
(Part one)
"There have been scattered reports of furs disappearing in the D.C. metropolitan area. Aside from this, some have even reported seeing what were described as zombie like creatures roaming the streets. The fox five news team is investigating these reports, but nothing has been revealed pertaining to the truthfulness of these claims. Police are currently investigating these claims, and they have assured us that they are just some sort of twisted practical joke. Several furs seem to be taking these zombie claims as the truth however, and are now in front of the Lincoln memorial saying that the end of the world is coming" the young female reporter, a golden retriever, brushes her hair back as she takes a piece of paper from the cameraman. "This just in, it would appear that not all of these claims are false. The police just found a dead body behind the Lincoln memorial and already have the area cordoned off. The body has not been identified yet, and we aren't allowed access to the area. Oh, hold on, one of the officers is walking away from the site. Perhaps we can get some info out of him" the reporter quickly walks toward the officer, followed closely by her cameraman. "Sir, can you tell us what exactly is going on behind the memorial?" the officer, an old looking wolf just says "no comment" and continues walking towards a group of squad cars. The reporter just shrugs this answer off and continues "sir, the reports of missing furs, does that have anything to do with the body found behind the memorial?" the wolf just pushes the camera away and keeps walking. The reporter finally gives up "whatever the case, it seems not everything is going well in Washington D.C. This is Samantha Carter, reporting from our nation's capital on the 28th of June, 2012"
James Dihey clicked off the T.V in disgust "what's this world coming to, can't even go see the sights without getting mugged or killed anymore..." standing up, he went into the kitchen to get something to eat, still mumbling under his breath as he prepared his dinner.
(Meanwhile)
Blood-tail ducked behind an old car, bullets pinged off metal as he reloaded his AR, trying to catch his breath. Rounds continued to pelt his cover as he raised his rifle above the car and fired blindly. He swore silently as a bullet grazed his arm, pulling back just as a fresh flurry of rounds peppered his position. "Fuck this shit" pulling out an M67, Red threw the grenade at a cluster of propane tanks. The gunfire stopped as the grenade sailed through the air, everyone trying to get behind cover before the fuse expired. The grenade hit the tanks and bounced once before exploding, the resulting blast searing everything in a fifty foot radius and lighting up the warehouse. Red took the opportunity and dashed out of his hiding place, hoping that his plan would work. "How do I keep getting myself into these situations?" His thoughts momentarily flashed back to the events of the past few days...
Three days earlier
After the first zombie outbreak in Utah, Red had gone on to become a bounty hunter. After the doctors finally released him, stating that the virus had been eradicated from his body, he had left, never telling anyone that the virus that coursed through his veins hadn't been completely destroyed by the anti-virus. He had only discovered this a few weeks later and had decided to keep it quite. He still kept in touch with Ryan, Sylvr, Swift, and Henry; although he hadn't told any of them about his current line of work. He'd gone from job to job, taking a wide variety of missions; from simple snatch missions to eliminating entire drug smuggling operations, gaining a high reputation in the process. He took contracts from almost anyone, unless of course he didn't like their cause, or just didn't like the fur giving the contract. He had been a bit edgy about his most recent contract; the guy giving it had refused to meet with Blood-tail, but the money and the fact that the contract involved busting the one of the largest drug organization in the D.C area appealed to him. It had taken a month to track down this contract; the pay was the only thing that kept him on the job for such an extended period of time. He had begun to doubt that the group he was sent after even existed, but he had gotten the information he sought from an unwilling meth lab employee. He had followed the lead to an abandoned warehouse in the D.C waterfront. Upon arriving at the site he had been ambushed, apparently he was the guest of honor at a party he didn't want to attend.
Red crouched in a shadowed corner, careful to control his breathing as he watched the armed furs slowly rise and start firing at the car he had been hiding behind a few seconds earlier. The warehouse was still dark enough that they couldn't see that he was no longer there, and he planned to use this to his full advantage. He let his eyes readjust to the darkness before slowly creeping out from his hiding place. He targeted a lone figure that had been taking pot shots at him from the catwalk, slowly and quietly making his way towards his victim. Red knew he was on a deadline; every second that went by was another second that the furs in the room figured out that their target was no longer behind the car. He eased his way up a ladder, drawing that much closer to the unsuspecting fur, pulling a KA-BAR from his boot as he moved. The lion never saw the attack coming as Red walked up behind him and slit his throat, the only sound made was a quite gurgling as the lion quickly died. He eased the body down and moved to the next position and the next target. Just as he was closing in, everything went to hell. One of the furs realized that their ambush had failed and that their intended target had disappeared, turning, this same fur spotted Red crouched behind his companion and shouted a warning. The warning came too late however as Red plunged his blade into the fox's back. The other furs started shooting again; Red used the body as a shield while trying to find a suitable place to make a stand. Bullets pelted the corpse as he ducked behind a stack of crates. As soon as he took cover, the firing stopped and silence conquered the warehouse. "Odd" Red thought, until he took a closer look at what was written on one of the crates, it simply read *Explosive* and Red decided to pop the lid and see what was inside. "Whoa, so much for a standard drug bust" the crate had at least ten M32 grenade launchers, at least that's all Red could see. "I think I'll be taking home some extra pay for this job" firing his AR one-handed at his attackers, Red managed to load one of the launchers with six Hellhound grenades. "This should be fun" he said sadistically while rising from behind his cover. As soon as he moved away from the crate, several rounds hit him in the chest, rolling to avoid further gunfire, Red fired at the nearest fur. His target's scream was cut off by the explosion as shrapnel tore into his body; the other furs immediately took cover, fearing the grenade launcher. "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?" Red yelled, laughing manically as he fired another grenade. His twisted fun was cut short as the warehouse's main doors burst open, twenty armed guards charged in and immediately opened fire on the dragon. "Fuck, so much for plan A" turning towards this new group, Red charged at them head-on, firing two grenades into their midst, scattering them like roaches. He didn't miss a beat as he charged into the group, heading for the exit while slashing at a few of the guards in his way. Red took several rounds in the back as he rushed through the doors, firing over his shoulder. He got to the edge of the pier, pulling out a small device as he turned around and faced his pursuers. Several bullets flew by his head as he saluted his pursuers and fell backward into the murky water, pressing a glowing red button on the device just before hitting the water. A second later, the entire warehouse exploded in a ball of flame, incinerating everything in a hundred foot radius.
(Elsewhere)
Billy Carlson sat in a chair in the West End library, working on a college paper. He sighed and adjusted his glasses, it had been a long day and all this research was getting tiresome. He wanted to take a break but he knew he had to finish the paper as it was do in two days. His thoughts were interrupted as the building shook, several books falling off of shelves. "What the hell" he leaped out his chair as the computer he was typing on fell to the floor. Several furs had started to gather by a window and some were screaming. Billy went to see what everyone was looking at. Walking up to the window he spotted a small mushroom cloud in the distance, he could already hear sirens as he gazed at the orange cloud. One of the spectators in the group bumped into him "watch it" Billy said as he looked at the red dragon that had run into him. The dragon just apologized timidly and started walking towards the exit. "Great, another terrorist attack, that's just what we need" "huh" Billy looked towards the source of the voice and spotted a black panther staring absently out the window. "I doubt that this was a terrorist attack" Billy said "the location is all wrong, the waterfront doesn't' have enough occupants in the immediate area to be worth bombing" "so what do you think happened?" the panther asked, Billy looked at the receding cloud again "probably just an accident, I just hope no one was injured... don't think I got your name, I'm Billy Carlson" Billy held out his paw "name's Zach" the panther said as he took Billy's paw and shook.
(Back at the waterfront)
Red slowly eased himself out of the water, sighing contentedly as he stared back at what was left of the warehouse. Pulling off the dragon skin body armor, he groaned as he stared at the twenty plus bullet holes that dotted the surface "great, now I have to get another one, that's the fourth one this month" walking towards a strand of trees, he pulled back a few branches to get his bike. Slipping his gear into the saddlebags, Red started the engine. The bike started up without a sound, the electric engine was almost completely silent. He hated using something so weak and pathetic, but the stealth was necessary. As the police began arriving on the scene, none of them noticed the black motorcycle riding in the opposite direction.
An hour later, after changing back to his usual attire and getting his Harley, Red was sitting in the LA Ruche Café checking his balance on his laptop. The money still hadn't been wired to his account yet, and he was beginning to get pissed off at the delay. He decided to examine something that had been stuck in the back of his mind since the warehouse. Pulling out a piece of a uniform he had torn off of one of the warehouse guards, he laid it on the table and studied it. The badge on the piece of cloth seemed oddly familiar, thinking back he tried to remember the insignias of the all the drug rings he had buried, but none of them matched. His thoughts were interrupted by his laptop beeping; he put the badge back into his pocket and opened the email. Smiling as he read the email congratulating his recent success, his satisfaction turned to dread as he continued to read
(the email read) *A job well done, your reputation was not unjustified and you have performed better than expected. The money has been wired to your account, all five hundred thousand dollars. We may look into hiring you again in the future. No civilians were killed, and the damage was localized to a very small area. Once again, excellent job... 208*
Red slammed the laptop closed; getting a few angry glares from the other café patrons. Everything clicked into place, the badge was the same as the uniformed soldiers back in Utah, he tried to steady his breathing as his mind raced. He made a quick decision, gathered up his gear and calmly walked out of the café.
8 hours later 7 a.m.
James was walking down Independence Avenue, enjoying the early morning air as he walked by the capital building. Despite the peacefulness of the morning, his thoughts were a raging storm. The body found behind the Lincoln memorial and the recent explosion at the waterfront had been all over the news. He stopped his musings upon hearing an approaching helicopter. It took him a second to spot the chopper; he kept his gaze on the helicopter and watched as it landed in front of the capital building. His curiosity peeked as he watched the president get into the waiting helicopter.
10 a.m.
Billy woke up to the sound of his alarm ringing, mumbling as he hit the snooze button. He'd stayed up till two watching the news after the explosion but hadn't learned anything about the cause. He thought about going back to sleep but decided against it, after all, he didn't want to waste the whole day. He heard sirens in the distance as he got out of bed "now what" he thought before turning on his T.V. He flipped to channel nine and got comfortable. The reporter looked tired as she talked "several police officers were recently attacked by a psychotic fox, resulting in the death of one officer and the eventual shooting of the male fox. The reasons for this sudden attack are currently unknown, and the police refuse to comment on the current situation. More furs are gathering around the end of the world banter, and many have even gone so far as to barricade their homes or leave the city. In other news, the president has left the capital in Marine One for unknown reasons; we'll keep you updated on this event as information flows in. Whether these events are just random coincidence or something more, only time will tell what's really going on" Billy turned off the T.V, trying in vain to find a solution to the past twenty four hours. His mind continued to spit out possibilities as he got dressed, grabbed a Glock 19 out of his dresser and walked out the door.
11 a.m.
Red had been mulling over the past few hours, trying to figure out exactly what was going on. Even after the underground lab was completely excavated back in Utah, no evidence had been found pertaining to the identity of those responsible for causing the outbreak. Nothing had ever surfaced since about that organization, and for two years Red had thought he'd seen the last of them. Now the sudden email using the name he had been given by that organization. He rode towards FDR park, hoping to find some solitude to think and knowing that he'd have to give Ryan a call soon and see if he'd found any new info. Traffic began to clear as he rode over the Kutze Bridge; he took the moment of peace to gaze into the sky unhindered. Gazing into the sky as he rode, he spotted a Boeing 747 "flying awfully low for this area...... aw shit" it took Red a second to realize it, but as soon as he did his heart skipped a beat. He slammed on his brakes, locking them in the process and leaving a black rubber trail behind him. His Harley hadn't even come to a complete stop before he was off of it and running. He heard the sound of a vehicle slamming into his unattended bike; he ignored it as he leapt over the side of the bridge. The 747 slammed into the bridge a fraction of a second later, Red hit the water and swam downwards as debris rained down into the water around him. He surfaced a minute later, far enough away from the bridge to avoid any more falling debris. As he stared at the remainder of the bridge, he was almost lost for words, almost "holy fucking shit"
***
James was gazing out over the capital from his vantage point atop the washing monument when he saw the 747 hit the Kutze Bridge. The tour guide tried to quell the panic as most of the other furs in the tour group started screaming upon seeing the plane crash. He stared at the smoldering wreckage for another second before dashing towards the stairs. The past day's events piled one on top of the other, murder and muggings weren't uncommon in D.C, but the president leaving and now this; there were too many things going on for everything to be a random coincidence.
short but sweet. hope those reading enjoyed the chapter, i know not much happened and the characters are still shrouded in shadow, but this chapter was just meant to set the stage and the actors. until next time, have fun with the zombies ^.=.^
new characters and their owners
Billy Carlson: Suicidal Ewok
Zach: Vampire Panther
James Dihey: Guard Dog
older characters will be introduced later