Doomsday By Design -- [STORY THREAD]

"Ryujin... um... Hagimema#e. Er.... nice to meet you." Sandra told him. "I don't know much Japanese, sorry. Who's that friend of yours? Is he gonna be alright out there? Because you and I need to get the hell outta here."

Sandra glanced up, realizing the sunset had long faded into a dark twilight.

"We shouldn't be out." She mumbled. "Its night time. C'mon, get up. Let's go."

Sandra grasped his wrist and attempted to pull Ryujin to his feet.

Sue-Lin was bored, attentive to her task but none the less bored. Church was being quiet and she appreciated the silence. She glanced over to the two rifle cases to see what was written on them. They both had, 'TrackingPoint XS1 .338 Lapua Magnum,' written on them.

She tried to remember the ballistics for the .338 Magnum but difinative information alluded her. It was a hot round. She was excited, that weapon would probably reach out to a Kilometre or more even in her hands. It would come close to doubling her effective range when compared to her .308 that was still at home.

She panned her weapon checking carefully, no one in sight. She leaned sideways and opened one of the cases. It looked complete even down to about 200 rounds of ammunition and the damn instruction book. She smiled to herself and went back to scanning the approaches, not quite as bored now she had something to learn about.

As Jackson slept, his mind spiraled deep into a very disturbing dream.....

A huge eye in the sky with two arms, one weilding a red sythe, the other a gas mask. The sythe struck the earth and the entire planet shook. The people laughed as it didn't phase them, in their blissful state of apathy, they turned back at the eye and stuck their tongues out gleefully. The eye looked down angrily and the sythe pierced the inner core of the Earth, everything turned red. This time, millions upon millions died, not just death, deception. It was a certain brutality of which no-one had ever witnessed before. The face of pure evil itself.

The other arm had sent the gas mask and some were saved, but many also killed by trusting the mask alone. Rivers became blood and Jackson watched on a river bank, as millions of dead bodies floated by. The air, the dirt, the rocks, the trees, the water.. none of it cared.. as they continued on as nothing had ever happened. The huge eye laughed, a wicked laugh. "You will not survive!" A great blinding flash surrounded everything, white, Jack was blind.

"uh. UH.. AHHH!!" Jackson woke up, sweating profusely while squinting his eyes, hoping they would adjust soon to confirm he could still see.

"Wtf was that all about?? This Sh!t is too much, BS dreams!" He tried whispering to himself but his voice became somewhat loud for a moment. Almost ashamed, he looked around the bunker to make sure no-one heard him, he felt ridiculous.

He then glanced over at the old-school battery operated clock on the wall. The short hand was on the 12, the long hand on the 6.

*Sigh* " Dammit. Sandra has four hours to get back, or we're coming to her."

He then fluffed his pillow, and turned to his side.

The inside of the bunker was, for the first time, inhabited by people.

It wasn't as small as you'd think; the inside shone with a shiny gray color in the bunker's dim lighting, and at the opposite end of the bunker were two beds alongside the farthest wall. The wall to the left had a huge counter top build onto it, containing many items no one could identify, and behind that wall was the kitchen--well, it was more than just a simple kitchen.

Around the corner, on the other side of the left wall, was a counter containing a sink, a microwave, and a stove top. Apart from it was a normal fridge, stocked with a fair amount of food; but that was the least of it.

Further into the kitchen area, the normal, domestic cooking area bled into somewhat of a food storage place... there were three big freezers filled to the top with packaged meats, veggies, and even a few tv dinners. Along the walls were two humongous bookshelves filled with various types of canned food, and what small portions of the wall were uncovered, mainly the wall space over the freezers, were covered with unique posters of Dorian's choosing.

No one noticed Alan sit upright after hearing Jackson's startled noises. Alan had been sleeping on the cold floor, after allowing the others to claim the two beds, wrapped up in a spare blanket... but now, he was sitting up crookedly, his hair askew, his eyes unfocused, and his expression disgruntled.

After giving Jackson a long, annoyed stare, Alan curled himself into a sleeping position again, peeking out of the blanket at the big metal door. It was unthinkable, what had happened to the world... if he wasn't trying to sleep on a hard metal surface, he might've been able to escape the reality of it... to drift into a nice, peaceful, comfortable sleep, even just for a little while... but now, lying in the very doomsday bunker he'd criticized so many times during heated political debates with Sandra, he couldn't tear his gaze from that ominous, metal door...

Goddammit, Sandra... get back already.

The day turned to dusk and then to night. Sue-Lin switched her optics to night vision, relaxed her tired muscles for 2 full minutes and resumed her task. The position she had chosen was good. Right under a tree so its foliage would interfere with IR scans from above and enough large rocks to give off heat.

She had perhaps an hour left, after that their position would be untenable due to the enemy's night vision gear and the rocks cooling.

Hajimama#e sandra-chan ..doitashima#te .
Nice to meet you too ..your doing ok for not knowing much nihongo .. father kept insist I learn english .. I try to use it much as can .. even though it does confuse me at times ..

that was old gozaimon .. he is one of our clan retainers .. his clan and many others have served my clan for centuries.. even though japan is modern today we still tend to follow alot of the old ways ..
He will be fine .. unless he wants to be seen nobody will see him.. if theyre unlucky enough to see him it would be the last thing they see .. Id worry more about whoever got in his way ..

ryujin grasped her wrist and stood as she helped him to his feet .. he looked at her .. thank you much better now .. he put the med kit back in his bag .. then noticed laying forgotten on the floor the rose he'd cut with his kusarigama hadnt realised he'd brought it with him .. he shouldered his bag .. picked up the rose and picked up nightengale .. he looked at the rose a moment .. then turned to sandra .. its not much.. but thank you for patching me up.. he handed her the rose turning toward the door he shifted nightengale to his left hand holding the scabbard thumb under the tsuba ready to draw ..

Yes .. lets get going .. he slipped soundlessly into the night ..

"Thanks," Sandra exhaled, closely observing the rose in her hand, gulping. No one had ever given her a rose before... maybe it was a different type of gesture in Japan, who knows...

They both departed the burger joint and stepped into the dry, warm night.

Sandra looked up and down both ways of the empty street, then pointed right.

"This way. Let's go."

Then things got a bit more interesting.

Three people sneaked out of town straight towards her position.

Sue-Lin watched intently considering everything about their movements. One she identified easily, it was Sandra. Every once in a while the moonlight reflected off her metal studs, very difficult to pick up but still.

The second was that Japanese dude, the one that made her really edgy. Right now he was moving like a bloody wolf. He expended no more energy than was absolutely necessary and yet, he was difficult to track. If Sandra had not been with him. he may well have caused her problems. The third guy was also moving with the grace of wolves.

She did not distrust Ryujin, yet she was wary, very wary of his abilities. In class, relaxed, he still moved with the ease of a tiger. Sue-Lin examined her thoughts and came to the conclusion that she was wary simply because his training might be superior to hers. He had reach, strength and body mass all, way above hers. He made her feel vulnerable.

They got closer and closer until they were almost upon them and then Sue-Lin said with just enough volume, "Stop and identify, Sandra, do I shoot these two or allow them to pass. Your call, if they are hostile just hit the ground, my Archangel will eliminate one and I will get the other."

"No no no--don't!" Sandra stepped in front of Ryujin, holding up a hand, her heart skipping a beat. "They're not hostile. They're friendly. They're coming with us."

Sandra narrowed her eyes at Sue-Lin, seeming to be in thought.

"Who's that with you? Church?" Sandra called, noticing a large figure near Sue-Lin, who looked as though he was attempting to avoid attention. "Are you guys coming with us, or what?"

After pausing for a few more seconds, another peculiar thought hit her.

Sandra stared at Sue-Lin's weapon.

"What the f--where'd you get that?"

a reply to: XxNightAngelusxX

Sue-Lin replied, "Sandra, Church is my responsibility, if he stuffs up, I will shoot him. As for your two friends, you need to be aware that they are both very deadly people. If that is OK then it's OK. Just be aware that I cannot guarantee to take out even one of them in hand to hand combat."

She continued, "My Dad, by adoption is out there being an Archangel, he is the one with the .50 Cal. I was trained as a child assassin. When I was 10 the person in charge decided to introduce me to sex. I didn't like the thought of being raped so I demonstrated my training. He died. This is my gear, Dad dropped it off for me."

She paused watching various emotions play over Sandra's face while also watching the passive features of the other two who gave nothing away and continued, "Yes we are coming with you if you want us too, but we need to get under cover right about now."

"I'd planned on it." Sandra replied tonelessly. "I do want you to come with us, but lemme be clear about something first. I'm the one with the bunker, and the know-how, and I'm the only way we're gonna survive this. I can see you can take care of yourself, and that's all well and good... but don't go threatening everyone else. I..."

The image of Knowles flashed into her mind, his last utterance, how the life left his eyes...

"I'm not having anyone else die." Sandra told her straightly. "No one else dies. We don't shoot anyone unless its an absolute last resort... and if you can't agree with that... we're going without you. I'm sorry."

Sue-Lin replied, "Sandra, I'm not in the habit of shooting friends. Sadly, before this is over, more people will die. I have already taken two lives today, both of course hostiles. We can't always have what we want. I have never wanted to go back to what I am right now, but, here we are. Yes, you have the bunker and it is yours. If you want to lead, you must, right now, learn the most important rule of leadership. Ask others for their opinion, know your own strengths and most importantly, know what you are not good at. Ask before making decisions."

She paused momentarily to let those words sink in and continued, "Myself and the two you have with you will react before you are even aware of danger. You won't have time to say, 'Don't kill them.' My Dad is out there, he will not ask for your permission and it is largely because of him that so many survived. Think very carefully before trying to take complete charge, perhaps be in charge of the bunker and let those trained in tactics do what they do best. Please Sandra."

Sue-Lin waited.

Jason exited the Ops APC wearing only a black Tee shirt and his BDU trousers and boots. No filter mask, no battle rattle... nothing...
All ten teams were gathered consisting of some 95 surviving souls.

"High guys, stand at ease and make yourself comfortable in a half circle".

It only took a minute for everyone to either end up sitting or standing in front of Jason as he stood before the APC.

Let me start by saying we have a really big problem".

"All of you know I was once an Army Ranger. I worked for a Major Ray Hendrix; he is one of the smartest men I have ever known". Well about 20 minutes ago I had a secure line conversation with him.

"Ray retired from the Rangers and went to work for the C.I.A. ....not as some annalist dweeb but as a CIA Global Terrorist Coordinator... Some of you may remember a few years ago when Cambodia's Military tried to pull off another Pol Pot game by killing government officials and went so far as invading Laos and Thailand. It was Ray's working group that shut them down in their tracts."

"Let me just say, I trust Ray with my life... and what I am about to tell you.... let me know if you guys think I am crazy".

Jason spoke for the next 4 minutes non stop explaining what Ray had told him in every detail he could remember. He had always hated it in the military when it was required to treat the troops as mushrooms (keep them in the dark and feed them sh!t) for security reasons. That was one of the things he really liked about the teams. Everyone knew and much as everyone else and most were cross trained to take over someone Else's job if needed.

The officers and men would have followed Jason into hell if he told them there was a good reason for going.

In closing Jason spoke of what he felt the teams should do.

"The way I see it we need to crank up the psyops speakers and tell everyone still alive in this town we are in a stand down mode. Everyone needs to remain in place because one of the Hawkeye drones is relaying everything that is happening around these parts back to the watchers.. who the watchers relay that info to at the moment is anyone's guess. We do not need a large gathering being tracked back to this area of operation because we all might get an incoming air to ground... We need to look as normal as normal can be. That means the teams will still move out but I want the Psyops speakers blaring at max volume trying to get the folks to hunker down and stay safe until sometime after tomorrow when we will go back through with the speakers telling everyone when and where it will be safe to move. Kenny you are the best psyops man we have I want you to make a tape 10 minutes ago that we can broadcast via the APCs speakers explaining we are no longer the town's folk enemies. You are dealing with simple towns people for the most part so K-I-S-S (keep it simple stupid).

Teams six through ten we will move out as soon as Kenny gets the recording ready and I put back on all the battle rattle and HAZMAT gear. For all appearances everything is normal ops.

"Oh Kenny, make part of the broadcast that if they have someone who can meet with us at this location wait until they hear the large explosion on the west side of town around 05:00. I will request Hawkeye to be in position to watch the fireworks which should leave the towns center south, north and east for someone to move undetected"..

There was only one raised hand in the group of guys.

"Yes John"...

" Boss I am not speaking for anyone else.... just myself but..... The Bastards who planned this and sent us in to kill like we were told to do.... I will spend the rest of my life tracking them down and making them pay". At which point the guys rose to their feet if sitting and everyone to the last man clapped.

For the first time in many years Jason's eyes wanted to leak tears.

FOOTNOTE: For those who have never worked Special ops or been around these team types they all had one thing in common; if they are old hands. It is called compartmental thinking.

Picture a team member's brain with 1 million + little rooms. When a mission is complete the facts along with the good, bad, and ugly are locked away until something is needed from that room once again. There are happy rooms, gray area rooms and red doors with "do not open ever again" stamped across them.

Jason along with all the team guys were artist at opening and closing these doors. When Lt. Baker's head was blown off next to Jason on the initial day of the Ops Jason did not pause and reflect on Baker's wife and kids with no daddy or the fact that Baker and Jason were not only team mates but friends as well. No, Baker's door in Jason mind was closed and he carried on with what needed to be done to complete the mission so others of his teams would not die.. For some outsiders they might think it hard and uncaring. Yet for team members it was a matter of survival. Those who can not compartmentalize do not last long in a real SHTF environment.

Sandra smirked.

"You're wise, but you're also pretty proud." She responded. "Pride's a weakness. You just assume you guys could kill me in an instant... listen--Dorian, my uncle, wasn't an assassin. He wasn't a soldier, or a killer, or a veteran. You know what he was?"

When everything remained silent, Sandra continued.

"A doomsday prepper." Sandra told her. "He was paranoid beyond belief... he honestly thought the government would roll in one day and shoot the **** out of us. And look what happened. He didn't have parents, or instructors, or military teaching him. His motivation was fear. And if there's one thing I know for damn sure--fear is a lot stronger than wrath. Its true, I never believed him before... but hell... you wouldn't believe the things he taught me. Bombs, guns, knives, just about anything made to kill a mother****er... and he trained me with 'em. Don't lecture me about wisdom when you didn't hesitate to underestimate me. Alright?"

Sue-Lin saw a young girl that had been taken way beyond any previous experience. It was best now to back down and let her words and others words sink in over time. Of course she could just walk away, but, that was not her style. She liked helping people and quite frankly they needed her.

She mentally resumed her Mouse persona and said, "We need to move, very soon the enemy IR will pick us out like moths to a flame let's go inside and perhaps get something to eat if that's OK with you."

"Of course." Sandra gave her a friendly smile. "Let's get the hell outta' here."

And so, the five of them grouped up, then headed down Williams Street and towards the driveway. The sight of Sandra's empty, dark home made something uneasy inside her squirm.

Sandra lead them all down the dirt hill, towards the hidden bunker door, entered the password, and pushed the door open. After they all stepped inside, Sandra stopped dead in her tracks, surprised to come face-to-face with a familiar comrade.

"Wha--what the hell're you doing awake?" Sandra said to Alan, who was only standing about a foot away from her. "You alright?"

Alan stared at her, saying nothing.

The others entered the bunker behind her, and she closed the door, locking it securely.

"You were about to come after me, weren't you..." Sandra said, studying him.

"Of course not." Alan responded at once, in a manner that seemed almost too defensive, even for him. "That would be completely illogical... and frankly, it'd be a death sentence to go out this late, especially after what happened today. I would never do something so irresponsible."

"Whatever you say." Sandra said, peeking over his shoulder, realizing that a few other people were sleeping in the bunker. "Looks like everyone made it. Make yourselves at home."

Jackson was awoken by the sound of the big metal door opening.

*Zzzzzzz* *CLANK!* " Huh.. What?!?" Rubbing his eyes, he tried to make out who was at the door.

Jack could faintly hear Alan talking to someone..

"Oh. Hey is that Sandra, finally?!?" Jack received no response.

Jack perked up. As he watched them all walk in, he first saw Sandra, who was just finishing her convo with Alan, so he welcomed her and smiled, then sighed with relief. "About time!" He didn't ask why she left, he knew why. All Jack could do was welcome her, she wasn't the type to be social, so he respectfully left it at that.

Then he saw Sue-Lin and smiled. "Glad you made it, Mouse! Woah...Ok! You're well armed, got it.." Said Jack, confused by the sight of her and her new attire.

Then, what appeared to Jack as a Japanese kid walked in with an older Japanese dude.. hmm that kid looks familiar. Is that the new exchange student? Goddamn he's a bad-ass too. All my new acquaintances are bad-asses! Jack thought.

Knowing the two had traveled with Sandra, Jack knew they weren't a threat to him, at least. He was slightly intimidated, but gave Ryujin (not knowing his name yet) and his friend a welcoming nod. "My name is Jackson, pleased to meet you both. What are your names?"

Then, there was Church.

As soon as Jack recognized Church, he immediately locked eyes with him. Jackson just stared, with a slight grin on his face. It was a cynical grin, not a "happy to see you" kind of grin. He could sense fear in Church's eyes, and that's exactly what Jack wanted to accomplish, right now at least.

Jack knew this wasn't the time or place for a scuffle, but he kept his hand in his pocket, gripping his brass knuckles, just in case.

As Church began to make his way inside the bunker, Jackson blurted out a clear statement.

"Listen Church, we're going to nip this in the bud right off the bat."

"I have no problem with you being here, you have a right to survive as we all do, and I know you're not going to f-K with me, you're not that stupid. But you'd better stay the hell away from Marcus, I don't even want to see you look in his direction, Capisce? If you can do this, then cool, if not, then it's time to man up, because we might just have a problem."

5 APCs rolled out 15 minutes later to cover the town and within 5 minutes their speakers were blaring with Kenny's message.

Folks this is Sargent Kenny Rogers. I am part of the group that was sent in to your town to kill everyone. We were told and sent by a certain segment of the American government which told us everyone in town was infected with the Red Flu. We were to kill everyone to stop it's deadly spread. Only a short time ago we were told by a friend from the CIA that this was all false. The whole thing has been a lie. We know several of you are hiding in a bunker just off Williams street. If we were not telling you the truth we could have the bunker destroyed and everyone in it killed. There has been enough killing! We all need to work together to survive this mess. At 5 am there will be a very large explosion on the west side of town. If you can send someone to meet with us at our area of operation at main street and first. We will show and explain everything to who you send and they can return and brief everyone else. There is a drone overhead doing a video of all movements; please stay in place until the explosion. We will try and have the drone on the west side of town watching" so your movements should be free after the big bang for the next 30 minutes or so.

Message looped and started again with, "Folks this is Sargent Kenny Rogers"......

The second worst day of Robbie's life starts out with him getting up a 5 am and heading to the school to get an early start on the thermostat modifications.
He is running new wire and installing new digital 7 day programmable touch screen thermostats with wifi, that he had to "tweak" before installing (actually they were new and didn't need the "tweaking" but there was always room for improvement and efficiency, in his mind).
The wires and the central air duct ran through the outdated boiler room to the new gas pack systems he just got done installing last week.
In a world of his own, with his head phones in, he had no clue about what's starting to take place just above him.

Robbie checks his watch.
9:05, I will just finish tying in this thermostat to the office and then BREEAAKKK time.
Head phones in and the music blaring in his ears, he sings along, as he splices the last few wires.
" Step inside, walk this way
You and me babe, hey hey!
Love is like a bomb, baby, c'mon get it on
Livin' like a lover with a radar phone
Lookin' like a tramp, like a video vamp
Demolition woman, can I be your man?
Razzle 'n' a dazzle 'n' a flash a little light
Television lover, baby, go all night
Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet
Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah
Come on! Take a bottle, shake it up
Break the bubble, break it up
Pour some sugar on me, ooh, in the name of love
Pour some sugar on me, c'mon fire me up
Pour your sugar on me, I can't get enough
I'm hot, sticky sweet from my head to my feet, yeah"

Finishing the splices and removing his head phones, he hits the floor before thinking.
Like something out of a terrible horror movie he hears what appears to be blood curdling screams and gunshots echoing down the central ventilation shaft.
What in the hell is happening up there?
He edges himself closer to the shaft. He can hear some voices clearly and others sound muffled. Almost all of them sound terrified, some sounded angry.
"Baker has been hit! He's down, how the hell did these backwood Hippies manage that? Striker's gonna be pissed!"
Another voice floated down the shaft.
"He already knows, he was beside him when it happened".

Through the many shrieks, screams and gunshots, Robbie could make out voices every now and then.
He didn't know how long he lay there listening to the chaos going on above and he dare not move until.......
"RIGHT OFF WILLIAMS STREET!"
Came echoing down.
Sandra? Oh hell. Dorian said she would probably be late today, he was going to show her the bunker this morning.............THE BUNKER!!
The old coot isn't so crazy after all.
I have got to try and get to her, make sure she gets there ok
Robbie lay there a little while longer until the shots started tapering off. Mostly all he heard from the shaft now was the moaning and groaning of people dieing.
Ever so slowly he made his way up the back stairway that lead to the rear entrance and out of the school.
His service truck was out of the question, he was not sure what was happening but he did not want to draw attenetion.
looks like I will be heading out on foot, there is only a couple of routes she could have taken
He had to find Sandra and make sure she got back to Dorian Safely.

Sandra exhaled a long, exhausted sigh.

She remembered Church Boone--and she, like everyone else, never experienced anything good with him. Still, squabbling was the last thing she wanted to do at a time like this...

As she and Alan stood side-by-side, watching everyone from a small distance, Alan glanced over, seeming to notice Sandra's irritated expression.

"You remember the kind of crap he put me through?" Alan whispered to her. "Jack's got a point. I... I don't think I'm comfortable having him--"

"I'm not kicking anyone out." Sandra broke him off, speaking quietly enough so not to let the others hear.

"Sandra, he beat the hell out of me--"

"I know. I was there."

"Then why would you--?"

"Because..."

Sandra turned to him, releasing another heavy breath, meeting his eyes.

"Everyone in the town, apart from us, is dead." She told him. "None of us are perfect... none of us." -She subtly gestured to the others, who weren't paying them any mind- "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you again, alright? I'm not letting anyone fight in here. Just trust me."