User:Henry Cavanaugh/AWOL
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This story is part of the Malton Chronicles. This story is fan-made, and is not officially part of any background history for Urban Dead. |
July 5, 2005
Blakesley Grove Police Department
This is Private Henry Cavanaugh. I am writing this letter to the outside world, if only for my own mental stability. The call came in late yesterday afternoon from England to the President of the United States. All that we, the army, had been told was that we were going to be airdropped into the city of Malton, a big city with only one road leading in or out. The closest town was that of Haven, England. I know that doesn't seem important now, but it seemed important enough for the Commander to tell us that it was there.
We left at around 6:00 pm on Independence Day for England. I was nervous, and kind of angry. I was supposed to have been on leave to visit with my family for the holidays. My son is going to turn 16 tomorrow. I know that I won't be going back to see him.
First of all, riots in England are none of our business. The English Army should deal with it themselves if military intervention is really needed. But once we got dropped off, I realized the extent of the rioting. So far, I've seen horrific things. The rioters are everywhere, and nothing scares them. I've fired into the air several times and even aimed at a few of them with my rifle. None even flinched. They kept on coming. One of the soldiers with me, a man by the name of Jason O'Conner, threw an incendiary grenade into the crowd as they surrounded us. Even the flames would not slow them down. We were forced to retreat through a fire escape. It was there that Jason and I witnessed a killing. A rioter threw himself onto a woman in the street and - God, he ate her. He sunk his teeth into her neck, the jugular I think. She spasmed and screamed, God it was terrifying. The assailant stood up after having his fill, thinking she was dead. He chased the others around the corner. The rest of the soldiers I was with tried to fight the rioters. They shot them time and time again. They can't be human. These aren't riots.
Jason and I burst in through the doors and shut them quickly, realizing that there were more of those things chasing us. It was then that I saw their faces rotting away, some of them lacking eyes and limbs - but they came anyway. The door had a bolt and metal bars, which held off the rioters. There were only six or seven cops in the station, each one hidden somewhere. Both Jason and I had emptied our clips into the crowd as we retreated, leaving us with no ammo. One of the rooms we found had a cop who had committed suicide. Her gun held 14 shots out of its capacity of 15. I took it. Jason was able to get one by his own means.
No one here knows what's going on. Jason insisted on starting a barricade. There aren't any windows on the first floor, and there's no way they'll get up to the second story. At least, I hope.
July 6, 2005
Blakesley Grove Police Department
Happy Birthday Carson.
This city has gone to hell. I woke up this morning and the barricades held through the night. Jason was sitting guard with a shotgun he found in the locker room. The pounding and beating on the front doors was bothering him, so he couldn't sleep. He didn't know that state of things outside, but there had been a lot of gunshots fired in the street outside. Once, he even thought he heard someone try to bust through the front doors with an axe. He didn't say much else, but he did tell me that someone new had come in the night. Her name was Diana.
From Jason, I learned that Diana had shown up early, about 6:35 am, that morning (which made me think of Carson again, that's when he was born). She climbed the fire escape frantically and climbed in through the window, first encountering Jason as he searched for a working police radio. He turned and pointed his gun, but she yelled, "No! I'm not one of them!" He told me she came in wearing a lab coat. Emblazoned across the breast pocket was the logo of a company called Necrotech. She wore glasses and gave off a very intelligent vibe. The first words out of her mouth after that were "Hide me! They're trying to kill me!"
I'm not sure who "they" are. Jason thought quickly. He told her to change into the dead cop's uniform, and to put her clothes on the cop. He made sure to keep her ID tag on the lab coat. The cop's face was too disfigured from the self-inflicted wound to make her easy to identify. Jason took the fake Diana and dropped her over the railing of the fire escape. When she hit the ground, a nearby pedestrian took notice. He limped over to her and kneeled, and then started eating the cop. What's happening to the people here? Thank God she was already dead.
Jason came back in through the window and watched. Diana was hidden under the desk in the room. All he saw was a group of men in black outfits round the corner, each one carrying some kind of automatic weapon. H&K G36's. These guys were a Special Forces unit. Across their back was the same logo Diana had been wearing on her lab coat, Necrotech. They fired at the pedestrian, one shot in the head. Now we know how to kill them. After he was dead, they walked in formation to the dead body. One of them said something to someone over his radio.
"Diana Lowe terminated. Moving on to next target." She must be important. I'll keep this typewriter going. All of the city's power is knocked out, so I can't send this via Internet. I've talked to Jason, and he promised me that he will get this to my family if I should...
July 16, 2005
Blakesley Grove Police Department
Diana left. It might have something to do with the order issued by the military this morning. I woke up and saw Jason was sleeping, which was good because I hadn't seen him take more than a three hour nap since we got here. Diana was explaining to Jason why she was there and who was chasing her before the order came in. The order was to terminate all Necrotech scientists that we came in contact with. We were still in our fatigues, so maybe she got nervous and left. I don't know. Jason took as much ammo as he could carry while still leaving some for us and left through the fire escape. He gave us a report of how many rioters were out front. 20 total, but the metal bars still held strong.
I got to know this cop in here, a young guy named Daniel. He's started calling the rioters "zombies". That's a fitting name for them. Remember that woman who got eaten back when I got here? She got back up. I saw it happen. Her body twitched, and she got back up. I don't know why it took her so long, all of the others get back up hours after dying. Unless you shoot them in the head. I think that they must have some kind of contagious brain disease. They transmit it by biting people. So, if I want to stay sane, I have to stay far enough from them to not get bitten. I can't remember when they said the helicopters would be coming back to pick us up. I hope that they actually said they were coming to pick us up, and that I haven't missed it.
Daniel went exploring and came back with a portable generator. We hooked it up and have power now, but there is no Internet connection. I think they did that on purpose. Must be the government trying to cover everything up.
I hope Jason's all right. And Diana. The order from the military is for the soldiers to kill all the scientists. But I don't follow their orders anymore.
