Ground Zero
Maybe you're a leaner meaner fighting machine now, but that's still no reason to be foolish and volunteer for things. Eventually The Colonel picks someone at random and tells Harry to start assigning recon detachments.
"Alright you fuckin' bottom feeders, its time to put all that fuckin' training to good use! We're gonna go scout out the nearest towns we know of. Now I'm sure you know there were a lot of little towns dotted all over the place in these parts, our job is to make contact and see what the situation is. Don't be surprised if they open fire on you immediately. Catastrophes tend to make people behave like animals and that's where we're coming in. We're here to be the tamers, just like the Colonel said, now then, Dixon, Bradson, Wilson, Copperheim! You're Alpha Team. Sams, Barns "
Harry goes down a list assigning people. Time passes and you're one of the last people left. You can't help but notice that the ones left aren't exactly the most competent. You start wonder if you'll just be assigned to Compound duty, which you wouldn't really mind since it offers less opportunity to get shot at.
Your wonder is soon dispelled, when Harry puts down his list and addresses the rest of you directly.
"Alright now the rest of you fucking shit eating pansies get a different assignment, because you're so goddamn special like a fucking epileptic retard. You folks get to go to the CITY!"
Nobody looks too enthusiastic about that idea, except you're the only one with any balls to protest since you know Harry hates you anyway.
"The fucking city, are you kidding? It's probably been nuked into slag! There can't be anything useful there!"
"Y'know, I expected that kind of cowardly shit from you, so that's why you're going to be point man for the entire mission! Anyway, we don't know if the city has been completely destroyed, chances are that it not being a major city and its low importance, it may not have been hit with anything larger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima back in old World War 2."
"OH well then, I'm SURE it'll be safe to enter!" you reply.
"Shut your fucking mouth and stop being a bitch! You're all going to be wearing radiation suits anyway, which will keep your yellow ass safe. That alleviate your worries cupcake? Fuckin' pussy ass faggot. You oughta be glad you're even here in the first place. You don't like the fuckin' rules, you can fuckin' leave and see how well you fare on your own. Now what's it gonna be Nancy Boy?"
"Fuck it, fine, whatever." You retort giving in, but still weighing the option of possibly leaving later.
"Yeah, that's what I thought cupcake. Alright, go pick up your equipment and get ready to set off, you'll be using one of the vehicles since the City is pretty far away. If in the event that cupcake IS right and the place is a glowing hole, then return immediately. Another thing the Colonel wants this mission secret, so don't fucking mention it to anyone else in the Compound! I find out you have and you're fucking history! This means you don't tell your little girlfriend, cupcake!"
You all leave, with Harry still giving you a dirty look for your insubordination. You wonder if you shouldn't just leave when you exit the Compound. Take the equipment and then just disappear, who's going to come after you? It's not like there's going to be MPs searching for you all over the wasteland.
The night before you leave, Marina comes to see you.
"I hear you're leaving tomorrow, and I know we didn't get a lot of quality time with each other, but I wanted us to spend at least what could be the last time I see you together."
Marina's apparently not familiar with the fact that you didn't really have a choice in the matter, but since she's on top of you right now, you're not going to bring up the issue
The next day you load up with what you think you might need, water, food, rifle, pistol, knife, Geiger counter, radiation suit, all the basic essentials, before you zoom off in the beat up car that's passing for your transportation to the city.
You sit in the back seat, while your other three teammates Steve, Albert and Roger are talking with each other. Mostly about things that don't matter, none of them seem to even be thinking about the fact that you're possibly driving into a glowing hole in the ground. And you don't give a shit what you're wearing. All the lead panties in the world aren't going to completely protect you, if you're standing at ground zero! You end up going back to sleep for the first day of the trip, only being periodically awakened by the laughter your team mates.
On the second day you stare out the window and see that the landscape has gotten worse looking as you get closer to your destination. The surrounding countryside around the Compound looks relatively untouched compared to what you're starting to see now. For shits and giggles, you roll the window open and shove part of the Geiger counter outside to get a reading, it starts clicking like a cricket and crack.
"Hey! Roll up that window; you're letting all the radiation in! Ha ha!" Albert exclaims, who's sitting next to you. Idiot.
"Check it out, looks like the city survived after all well more or less." Steve says who's doing the driving.
You turn your attention forward and see the shattered "skeletal" remains of skyscrapers looming in the distance. The city got hit, but apparently by something "small" and probably exploded high in the air. Of course that doesn't make you feel any better.
Steve stops the car just outside the city limits mainly because the road is being blocked by burned out shells of other vehicles. You all pile out of the car.
"Alright I think we can take it from foot on here, we probably shouldn't try to drive the car in the city anyway, we need to conserve gas. Alright you're in the lead." Steve says to you.
"What? Why am I in the fucking lead?" you ask.
"Because Harry said you fuckin' were, CUPCAKE! Ha ha!" Albert laughs.
"Yeah, besides, you worked in the city, none of us did, so you probably know the place better than we do."
"What, so none of you assholes ever visited the place?"
"Maybe a few times, not really enough to get deeply acquainted with it, look you're outnumbered, and you're taking lead, and that's that. Don't worry we'll be right behind you." Roger replies.
"After seeing how you fuckers shoot, I don't know if that's stupider than going into a radioactive city to begin with."
You take lead and begin walking; meanwhile your team members go back to talking about shit that doesn't matter again. Given their attention span, you wonder if you wouldn't just be better off exploring by yourself.
"Alright you fuckin' bottom feeders, its time to put all that fuckin' training to good use! We're gonna go scout out the nearest towns we know of. Now I'm sure you know there were a lot of little towns dotted all over the place in these parts, our job is to make contact and see what the situation is. Don't be surprised if they open fire on you immediately. Catastrophes tend to make people behave like animals and that's where we're coming in. We're here to be the tamers, just like the Colonel said, now then, Dixon, Bradson, Wilson, Copperheim! You're Alpha Team. Sams, Barns "
Harry goes down a list assigning people. Time passes and you're one of the last people left. You can't help but notice that the ones left aren't exactly the most competent. You start wonder if you'll just be assigned to Compound duty, which you wouldn't really mind since it offers less opportunity to get shot at.
Your wonder is soon dispelled, when Harry puts down his list and addresses the rest of you directly.
"Alright now the rest of you fucking shit eating pansies get a different assignment, because you're so goddamn special like a fucking epileptic retard. You folks get to go to the CITY!"
Nobody looks too enthusiastic about that idea, except you're the only one with any balls to protest since you know Harry hates you anyway.
"The fucking city, are you kidding? It's probably been nuked into slag! There can't be anything useful there!"
"Y'know, I expected that kind of cowardly shit from you, so that's why you're going to be point man for the entire mission! Anyway, we don't know if the city has been completely destroyed, chances are that it not being a major city and its low importance, it may not have been hit with anything larger than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima back in old World War 2."
"OH well then, I'm SURE it'll be safe to enter!" you reply.
"Shut your fucking mouth and stop being a bitch! You're all going to be wearing radiation suits anyway, which will keep your yellow ass safe. That alleviate your worries cupcake? Fuckin' pussy ass faggot. You oughta be glad you're even here in the first place. You don't like the fuckin' rules, you can fuckin' leave and see how well you fare on your own. Now what's it gonna be Nancy Boy?"
"Fuck it, fine, whatever." You retort giving in, but still weighing the option of possibly leaving later.
"Yeah, that's what I thought cupcake. Alright, go pick up your equipment and get ready to set off, you'll be using one of the vehicles since the City is pretty far away. If in the event that cupcake IS right and the place is a glowing hole, then return immediately. Another thing the Colonel wants this mission secret, so don't fucking mention it to anyone else in the Compound! I find out you have and you're fucking history! This means you don't tell your little girlfriend, cupcake!"
You all leave, with Harry still giving you a dirty look for your insubordination. You wonder if you shouldn't just leave when you exit the Compound. Take the equipment and then just disappear, who's going to come after you? It's not like there's going to be MPs searching for you all over the wasteland.
The night before you leave, Marina comes to see you.
"I hear you're leaving tomorrow, and I know we didn't get a lot of quality time with each other, but I wanted us to spend at least what could be the last time I see you together."
Marina's apparently not familiar with the fact that you didn't really have a choice in the matter, but since she's on top of you right now, you're not going to bring up the issue
The next day you load up with what you think you might need, water, food, rifle, pistol, knife, Geiger counter, radiation suit, all the basic essentials, before you zoom off in the beat up car that's passing for your transportation to the city.
You sit in the back seat, while your other three teammates Steve, Albert and Roger are talking with each other. Mostly about things that don't matter, none of them seem to even be thinking about the fact that you're possibly driving into a glowing hole in the ground. And you don't give a shit what you're wearing. All the lead panties in the world aren't going to completely protect you, if you're standing at ground zero! You end up going back to sleep for the first day of the trip, only being periodically awakened by the laughter your team mates.
On the second day you stare out the window and see that the landscape has gotten worse looking as you get closer to your destination. The surrounding countryside around the Compound looks relatively untouched compared to what you're starting to see now. For shits and giggles, you roll the window open and shove part of the Geiger counter outside to get a reading, it starts clicking like a cricket and crack.
"Hey! Roll up that window; you're letting all the radiation in! Ha ha!" Albert exclaims, who's sitting next to you. Idiot.
"Check it out, looks like the city survived after all well more or less." Steve says who's doing the driving.
You turn your attention forward and see the shattered "skeletal" remains of skyscrapers looming in the distance. The city got hit, but apparently by something "small" and probably exploded high in the air. Of course that doesn't make you feel any better.
Steve stops the car just outside the city limits mainly because the road is being blocked by burned out shells of other vehicles. You all pile out of the car.
"Alright I think we can take it from foot on here, we probably shouldn't try to drive the car in the city anyway, we need to conserve gas. Alright you're in the lead." Steve says to you.
"What? Why am I in the fucking lead?" you ask.
"Because Harry said you fuckin' were, CUPCAKE! Ha ha!" Albert laughs.
"Yeah, besides, you worked in the city, none of us did, so you probably know the place better than we do."
"What, so none of you assholes ever visited the place?"
"Maybe a few times, not really enough to get deeply acquainted with it, look you're outnumbered, and you're taking lead, and that's that. Don't worry we'll be right behind you." Roger replies.
"After seeing how you fuckers shoot, I don't know if that's stupider than going into a radioactive city to begin with."
You take lead and begin walking; meanwhile your team members go back to talking about shit that doesn't matter again. Given their attention span, you wonder if you wouldn't just be better off exploring by yourself.