Disclaimer: This is a work of original fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Warning: This chapter contained some forms of Physical violence and Blood. Reader discretion is advised.
Chapter 5 -- Fall of Grand Isle Safe Zone (Part 2)
Situation Room, New York National Guard Headquarters, Military District, Grand Isle Safe Zone, Grand Isle, Vermont, USA, 8 November 2020, 0115 hrs
“General Biggs! I have bad news! I received confirmation that the zombies have overrun both Checkpoint C-1 and C-2. The zombies killed all our soldiers defending these two checkpoints. Now they are heading into the residential areas at a rapid pace!” An unnamed US military officer frantically rushes into the room to report to the higher-up officials. “What?!” William yells in shock upon hearing the bad news. “Did you mean both the checkpoints C-1 and C-2 have fallen to the zombies? How on earth did that happen? I thought our soldiers manning Checkpoint Alpha and Beta would sound the alarm when zombies attacked them.” .
“Yesss, sir.” The US officer nods his head before continuing. “We tried to contact both Checkpoint Alpha and Beta for a status update, but there are no responses. What should we do now, general?” Angered by the bad news, the brigadier general slams his fist on a nearby table in frustration. With the zombies entering the residential areas rapidly, he knows that the Grand Isle safe zone will fall within an hour. “Activate Clean Sweep Protocol. Inform all our soldiers not to rescue civilians and head to the evacuation assembly points for safe extraction. Kill any civilians on sight, regardless of being infected or not.” William issues the order with a heavy heart.
His order shocked the US officer, as he didn’t expect the general’s willingness to abandon civilians to the zombies and leave the safe zone by themselves. “Sir! So now we are condemning civilians to their deaths by not rescuing them? How could you….” A bang echoed around the entire room, which shocked everyone as they saw blood flowing down the officer’s face before he fell to the ground. To everyone’s horror, they see the general holding his M9 pistol in a shooting position. “He is disobeying my order, so I have to shoot him on the spot,” William explains why he shot the officer. “Anyone who disobeys my orders from now on earns the death sentence without hesitation. If you want to live, follow my orders at all costs. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir!” Everyone in the room acknowledges the general’s instruction in unison. Despite feeling conflicted, all the US military officers reluctantly agreed with the general, as their survival now depended on him. “Good.” William smiles before issuing more orders. “Before leaving the safe zone, we must head down to the Vehicle Depot Zones to start the military vehicles. Inform the Helicopter squadron to get their attack birds in the air immediately so that they can protect us while we leave the safe zone. Also, instruct all surviving soldiers to proceed to the assembly points for pickup within the next 20 minutes. We will leave them behind if they are late. In addition, tell all surviving soldiers to shoot their comrades if they get bitten. I do not want to see anyone turn into a zombie onboard our convoy.” .
“Alright, everyone. Head to your rooms and quickly pack all your belongings. We will meet up again at the entrance of this building in five minutes. Dismissed.” William dismisses his officers before giving a salute. “Thank you, sir!” All the officers acknowledge in unison as they salute back at the brigadier general before leaving the room to pack their stuff. Then, the general exits the room and walks back to his room to pack his belongings.
Meanwhile in the residential district areas…
Chaos is everywhere as zombies successfully breach into the residential areas. “Zombies are here!! Run for your lives!!” a civilian shouts, alerting the rest of the civilians, which leads to chaos. One by one, zombies jumped into civilians before biting them. “AHHH!! Help!! Nooooo!!” Some civilians shout in pain as the zombies bite their necks painfully. During the chaos, a mother pulls a teenager named Tyler Hayes as they run away from the zombies. “Hold on to my hands, Tyler! We will be safe once we reach the evacuation assembly point.” Tyler’s mother — Sarah, tells her son as they run for their lives.
Before they can reach the assembly point, several zombies are rushing towards them. Hence, Tyler and his mother head into a nearby alley to outrun the ferocious zombies. To their horror, it turns out to be a dead end when they turn a corner. With the zombies fast approaching them, Mrs. Hayes finds a nearby metal pipe lying on the ground and picks it up, intending to fight against the zombies. “Stay behind me, Tyler. Once I take out all the zombies, we shall move towards the assembly point.” Sarah tells her son as she puts on a defensive stand. Soon, the zombies catch up to them, and Mrs. Hayes readies herself to fight the oncoming zombies.
To her surprise, the zombies froze before they could land a finger on her. “What the hell?” Sarah says as she looks at the zombies with curiosity. “I got them, squad commander. We have a young one protected by his mother.” Sarah hears an unknown voice behind the zombies. Then, she sees three Young Templars looking at her by appearing behind the zombies. “Well done, Corporal Byrne. I will take it from here.” A Young Templar with the rank of staff sergeant steps forward. “Come with us, miss. We will guarantee safe passage for you and your child if you follow us,” the Young Templar staff sergeant tells Sarah.
However, Mrs. Hayes does not believe a single word from the Young Templar staff sergeant. She can tell he is lying to her since she saw one of them controlling the zombies to stop attacking her. “Why should me and my son follow you when one of you controls the zombies to stop attacking me?” Sarah rejects his offer and shields Tyler from them. “You are making a huge mistake of not trusting us, miss.” The Young Templars staff sergeant warns Sarah. “Why should I? Are you coming to take…” Before Mrs Hayes can finish her statement, the Young Templar staff sergeant charges towards her and punches her in the stomach. Immediately, Mrs Hayes fell to the ground, groaning in pain.
“Mother, no!” Tyler shouts in shock after witnessing what he saw. Before he can run to help his mother, a Young Templar medic pushes him to the ground and restrains him by zip-tying both of his hands. “Stop resisting! If you want to live, follow our orders.” The Young Templar medic warns Tyler as he carefully lifts the human teenager off the ground. Soon, Tyler finds himself in a kneeling position as the Young Templar staff sergeant approaches him. “Listen up, young one. You got a choice,” the Young Templar staff sergeant speaks. “You will receive a Hellcross vaccine from my fellow Young Templar medic. It is to protect you from getting attacked by zombies. If you reject it, you and your mom will become food for the zombies.” .
“Will my mother receive the vaccine as well?” Tyler asks in a worried voice. “Yes, your mother will receive it, but we need to inject you first.” The Young Templar staff sergeant smiles while looking at Tyler. “Do it,” Tyler replies as he reluctantly agrees to receive the injection. Satisfied by his answer, the Young Templar staff sergeant looks at the Young Templar medic before giving an order. “Administer the injection based on the Youngbirth procedure to the teenager immediately.” The Young Templar medic nods in acknowledgement and takes out a vaccine jet injector containing the Hellcross vaccine vial. “This will be painful. Bear with it, young one.” The Young Templar medic warns as he injects Tyler with the Hellcross vaccine before pressing the injector button.
Within a minute or two, Tyler feels nauseous as his body undergoes physical and genetic changes. Soon, he began vomiting on the ground as his body convulsed in pain. Seconds later, his eyes’ pupils turn into slit form, and visible fangs appear on his teeth. “What is happening to me?!” Tyler shouts in fear as he feels the painful changes to his body. “You are turning into one of us, and this is just the first step, young one.” The Young Templar staff sergeant tells Tyler as the teenager turns into a Fledgling. “You are officially no longer a human, and you will embrace our culture and way of life. Humanity is forever your enemy, and you will fight alongside us to eradicate all of it. Once we return to our base, we will place you in a program for you to start your Young Templar training. Upon completing your training, you will undergo a ritual to receive the Young Templar’s mask. That mask is to complete your transformation, and you will become a full-fledged Young Templar, just like us.” .
“Never! I would never hate humanity and be part of your evil kind!” Tyler shouts in defiance. “Too bad. You will eventually accept it and hate humanity as well.” The Young Templar staff sergeant smirks before looking at his fellow corporal with a new order — “Corporal Byrne. I want you to show this newly Fledgling what we could do with our blood.” The Young Templar corporal nods and then takes off her left-hand military-grade gauntlets before cutting one of her fingers with her fangs. With the blood coming out from her finger, she walks to Mrs Hayes before forcing her mouth to open wide with her right hand. Then she squeezes her finger, which causes droplets of the Young Templar’s blood into the mouth of Mrs Hayes.
“Mother, NO!!!” Tyler shouts in despair as he watches her mom swallow the blood of the Young Templars. After ingesting the blood, Mrs Hayes feels her body is burning like hell and shakes uncontrollably. Soon, the pain is so unbearable that she vomits blood on the ground, and visible blood flows out from her eyes. “Nooo…Nooo… What did you do to her?!” Tyler shouts in horror as she sees his mother transforming into a zombie. “She is turning into a zombie with our blood. Face it, Fledgling. This is who we are now. You will eventually become one of us and use our powers to eradicate all humans on this planet.” .
Shocked by the Young Templar staff sergeant’s revelation, Tyler becomes speechless with fear while tears flow down his face. He couldn’t believe what he saw and thought this was a nightmare. Hence, Tyler mentally gives up and avoids looking at his zombified mom. Unknown to him, the Young Templar medic sees Tyler is having a mental trauma. So, he takes out a sedative and injects it directly into Tyler’s neck. Soon, Tyler slowly closes his eyes as he loses consciousness. “The Fledgling is now sedated. He will be up within a few hours. Your orders, Staff sergeant?” The Young Templar medic questions his superior. “Good. I want you and Corporal Byrne to carry the Fledgling back to Checkpoint C-2 before handing him over to our fellow brothers and sisters. After that, I want both of you to return to the safe zone to complete our mission objectives. Is that clear?”
“Roger that, Staff sergeant. May our faith be in your favour.” Alexa acknowledged his order before she and the medic saluted him. Then, the Young Templar corporal helps the medic carry the unconscious Tyler before leaving the area. Satisfied that they have just liberated a teenager from the adult humans, the Young Templar staff sergeant controls the nearby zombies, including the zombified Mrs. Hayes. With the zombies under his command, the Young Templar staff sergeant orders them to follow him as they move deeper inside the safe zone to kill more surviving adult humans.
Gate 1-A, New York National Guard Headquarters, Vehicle Depot Zone 1, Grand Isle Safe Zone, Grand Isle, Vermont, USA, 8 November 2020, 0125 hrs
After breaking the lock with a shotgun, two soldiers quickly open the gate for Brigadier General Biggs and his fellow officers to enter the vehicle depot. “Start the vehicles immediately!” William orders as he and his staff of officers head towards the general’s helicopter. “Don’t fiddle around. Every minute counts! The faster we move, the higher the chances we leave this safe zone safely! Quickly fuel up my chopper!” As they are busy starting up the military vehicles, something else is watching them from the skies above the safe zone.
On the skies above the safe zone…
An AC130 Spooky II gunship flies above the safe zone in combat mode as its array of guns — points towards the vehicle depot zone. Within it, Young Templar crewmen are loading ammunition into the 105mm M102 Howitzer and the 40mm L60 Auto-cannon. Meanwhile, a Young Templar gunnery operator stares at the screen of an AC130 combat computer. “Madam, I got eyes on the ground targets. Requesting permission to engage the enemy forces.” The Young Templar gunnery operator informs the fire control officer. “Permission denied, gunnery sergeant.” The Young Templar fire control officer denies the gunnery operator’s request. “Our allied Predator drone is still scanning the ground targets to identify General Biggs, and the assigned platoons from the 14th North American Regiment were not at the site yet. So hold your fire first until we have a visual confirmation of the general and a message from our faithful brothers and sisters that they have arrived.” .
“Understood, madam.” The Young Templar gunnery operator acknowledges her order as he looks at the computer screen while holding his fire. Later, the computer screen detects several unknown figures on the ground. “Madam, I spotted several unidentified figures on the ground, and they are heading towards the enemy human soldiers. Are those our fellow brothers and sisters?” The Young Templar gunnery operator asks. Then, the Young Templar fire control officer orders him to wait for confirmation as she contacts both the drone operator and the ground troops for enquiries. Moments later, she received confirmation that those unidentified figures were Young Templars from the 14th North American Regiment. Hence, she approaches the infrared detection set operator with a new order for him.
“Staff Sergeant, I received confirmation that the unknown figures on the ground are our fellow brothers and sisters from the 14th. Please update their status to being friendly so that our gunners will not accidentally fire on them.” The Young Templar fire control officer orders the infrared detection set operator to update the status of all the unidentified figures shown on the combat computer screen. The Young Templar infrared detection set operator acknowledges her new order and quickly updates their status to friendlies. Once completed, he quickly informs the fire control officer of the new status. With everything all set, the Young Templar fire control officer heads back to instruct the gunnery operator to prepare for new fire missions.
“Listen up, gunnery sergeant.” The Young Templar fire control officer calls out to him with new instructions. “I’ve received confirmation that our fellow brothers and sisters of the 14th have arrived at the vehicle depot zone. They will be the ones to assassinate General Biggs, and your task is to destroy the enemy human soldiers on the ground using both the 40mm auto-cannon and the 25mm Gatling gun. You are clear to engage them and ensure your fire does not hurt our troops on the ground.” .
“Affirmative, madam. Starting the attack run.” The Young Templar gunnery operator heard the order and turned off the safety button before controlling the joystick with his thumb on the fire button. With the firing mode set and having a clear sight to aim at the US soldiers on the ground, the gunnery operator presses the fire button. With a thunderous roar, the 40mm L/60 Auto-cannon erupted in a cacophony of violence. Shells burst forth rapidly, hurtling towards the vehicle depot zone below.
On the ground…
“Is the helicopter fully loaded with fuel and ready to fly?” William asks in desperation as he wants to depart the safe zone in a hurry. Before the helicopter pilots can answer the general’s question, several explosions occur nearby, shocking everyone aboard the helicopter. “What the hell is going on?!” William shouts in disbelief after hearing the explosions. Immediately, he steps out to investigate. To his horror, he sees several destroyed military vehicles smoking in flames with dead or injured US soldiers beside them.
“Colonel Ruiz and Major Diaz, are the Young Templars quick enough to reach us and begin their attack?” William asks. “I don’t know, sir. I…” Before the colonel could say further, an unknown bullet flew straight into his head, killing him instantly. Within the next second, another bullet headed straight into Major Diaz’s head before dropping to the ground dead as well.
Unknown to General Biggs, the two platoons of Young Templars enter the vehicle depot zone and begin their mission to kill him. “It’s the Young Templars! Shoot them!” One of the US soldiers shouts in alarm upon seeing them. Hence, the chaotic symphony of gunfire plays out in unpredictable bursts as the fight breaks out between the surviving US soldiers and the Young Templars. Despite the best efforts of the US soldiers trying to defend and buying extra time to evacuate from the vehicle depot zone, they are no match fighting against the superior Young Templar forces. Over time, the surviving US soldiers found themselves in a losing situation as the Young Templars gunned them down skillfully. Within minutes, the Young Templars slowly advance towards General Biggs’ helicopter.
Fearing that the Young Templars are coming for him next, General Biggs rushes back to the helicopter and orders both the helicopter pilots to start the engines. “Sir! Our attack birds are not up in the air yet. If we depart now without them, there’s a chance that we may get shot down by the Young Templars on the ground.” One of the helicopter pilots warns him. “I don’t care! Just fucking start the damn engines and get us out of here now!” General Biggs roars in defiance as he forces the helicopter pilots to depart immediately. With no room to argue with the brigadier general, the helicopter pilots start the aircraft’s engines.
Within minutes, the rotors spin to the maximum speed before the helicopter lifts itself from the ground as it departs from the vehicle depot zone. Still, a Young Templar soldier on the ground saw the aircraft lifting itself into the air. “Madam! General Biggs is leaving the area in a helicopter, and we can’t shoot it down since we are facing incoming fire from the US soldiers ahead.” A Young Templar assaulter warns the unnamed Young Templar captain. “Damn it!” The Young Templar captain cursed in anger, as she knew that letting the general flee meant that she and her platoon members would fail one of the mission objectives for Operation NightStorm.
Not wanting to dishonor herself and her fellow strike team members, the Young Templar captain decided it was better to seek help from friendly air units in the skies above the safe zone. Immediately, she turns on her Communication Headgear (Attached to her ARIH helmet) to request for air support. “This is Foxhound calling in. General Biggs is trying to flee the safe zone in a helicopter and we can’t shoot it down due to us being pinned down by gunfire. Requesting any friendly air units operating above the safe zone to take down the helicopter immediately.” .
“Copy that Foxhound.” A voice comes through into her Communication Headgear. “Chaser Six will engage General Bigg’s helicopter on your behalf. We will update you once we successfully shoot that chopper down. Over and out.” Hence, the Young Templar captain felt a sense of relief as she saw the general’s helicopter departing from the vehicle depot zone. ‘Run while you can, pathetic general. You can’t outrun us with our Predator drone in the air.’ The Young Templar captain smirks as she looks forward to hear the good news of the helicopter shot down later on.
Aboard General Biggs' helicopter…
As General Biggs looks at the safe zone below being overrun by zombies and Young Templars, waves of resentment and anger enter his mind. He didn’t expect the Young Templars to be powerful enough to destroy the safe zone within less than a day. Had they not attacked the safe zone, all of his soldiers and the civilians would still be alive to depart to the West side of the continental USA. But it’s all too late for him now. He’s the only high-ranking US military officer to make it out alive, and there is no air cover to protect his helicopter since he saw destroyed helicopters on the ground. “Sir! Since we are the only helicopter to depart from the safe zone safely. Where should we go now?” The helicopter pilot asks. “Just head to the western part of the mainland US. Cover as much distance as you can before this bird goes out of fuel.” William orders in return.
Unknown to them, a Young Templar Predator drone is pursuing the helicopter from behind. As the Predator drone is within its firing range, it fires an ATAS (Air-to-Air Stinger) missile towards the helicopter’s rear. “Shit! We detected a missile locked onto us, and we had no time to evade it. Brace for impact!” The helicopter pilot warns. Seconds later, the missile explodes beside the helicopter, sending a powerful shockwave to everyone aboard. Immediately, it spins uncontrollably and descends towards the ground as its tail rotor splits off from the rest of its body. Soon, the helicopter hits the ground hard enough, which causes a massive fireball of explosion. Neither the helicopter pilots nor General Biggs survived the helicopter crash.
Meanwhile in a drone operation room…
A smirk appears on the drone operator’s face after seeing the helicopter crash onto the ground in a fireball explosion. To ensure that General Biggs died in the crash, the drone operator presses a button on the joystick to fire a Hellfire missile at the wrecked helicopter on the ground. As the Hellfire missile explodes upon contact, a sense of excitement rushes into the operator’s mind. He is glad that he successfully killed a high-ranking general of the US military. After confirming that no one is alive in the wrecked helicopter, he alerts the Young Templar captain with the following message: “Foxhound, this is Chaser Six reporting in. I successfully shot down his helicopter. Brigadier General Biggs is officially dead.” .
To be continued...
End of Chapter 5
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