”We need to establish contact with the drop ship and get this entire planet quarantined.”
Soto had just broken the silence that had formed after they watched the broadcasts preceding and following the outbreak reaching the city.
Sulieman nods his agreement, but Vasquez doesn’t seem convinced.
“What about us? Do you want to be stranded here for the rest of your life? Well, it won’t be very long if we don’t find more ammo. I only have three mags left for the rifle, five for the bolter. Oh, and the C4, the thermite, the claymores, a dozen grenades… Anyway! If all the people in the city turned into zombies it won’t last long. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to become dinner.”
Soto makes a calming motion towards the visibly agitated marine.
“Calm down. I’m sure we can figure a way to get us off this rock safely soon. But it’s more important to make sure they don’t.
“What’s to say that they can’t infect us, too, and this zombie plague won’t sweep over alliance and senate space alike? I don’t want that to happen to my family, do you?”
Vasquez was effectively silenced.
“So, what do we do now?” Sulieman asks.
Soto thinks for a moment.
“The digital records are here, so they have to use some sort of relay system to get them here. If we can use their communications station to-“
There’s a loud blast from below, a sound that Soto instantly connects to the heavy phasegun that Hagen is using.
“Damnit! We’ve got zombies. Ulrich, Vasquez, get down there and reinforce Hagen. Sulieman, you’re on relay duty with me. Let’s go people!”
The party splits up, with Ulrich and Vasquez heading down, and Soto being joined by Sulieman heading up the stairs.
“Hagen, situation report. What’s going on down there?”
As Soto releases the transmit button, he’s met by the sounds of the phasegun fire down below.
“I’m getting swarmed sir! It’s like a tidal wave down here! I’m fine for now, but the gun is getting hot!”
He can hear the heavy gunner firing away with the gun while, and after leaving her report.
“Stay safe. I sent Ulrich and Vasquez down to help you.”
“Perfect.”
There’s another loud crash.
“Fuck! They’re coming in from the back now! I have to fall back!”
Soto feels a slight chill run down his spine.
“Get to the stairwell and keep them out from there. The others should be with you any second now!”
He can hear the sound of metal clinking, zombies moaning and then metal-clad feet running.
“Roger that sir, but I won’t be sitting around waiting. Over and out.”
The connection is cancelled, and Soto redoubles his pace, now taking four steps in every stride. He can hear Sulieman panting as he keeps up to him.
They reach the top of the stairs, where their path is blocked by a door. It’s a rather unassuming door, made from what looks like painted metal. As a matter of fact, the teal-colored thing looks rather pleasant. But as Soto crashes into it, the door is reduced to a crooked wreck of its previously so pleasant form. It was clearly not designed with sprinting humans in power armor in mind as a thing it is to withstand.
Soto stops after he’s passed straight through the door, and he sees an antenna rising up from the rooftop.
From the looks of it, it seems to be functional, as there’s still a couple of lights on it to mark its active state.
Soto quickly paces over to the antenna, and rips loose the panel protecting it’s wiring.
“Alright, I need you to find the control board and set the antenna to amplify my radio.”
While saying this, Soto connects his helmet via the omniport to the antenna.
Sulieman nods, and walks around the oversized thing.
“Okay, I think I found it! Give me a second.”
For a moment, Soto hears static on the radio, then a moment of a voice before the radio turns to static again.
“Wait, dial it back again! I heard something!”
The radio gives him nothing but static, but then..
“Stop! Leave it!”
”…is is researcher Ulgo, and I repeat. We’re still alive, is anyone else out there? Please respond.
“This is researcher Ulgo, and I repeat. We’re still alive, so if anyone can hear us answer damnit.”
The voice is broadcasting in galactic common, and from the sound of desperation in it, Soto gets the impression that it’s a live feed.
”This is researcher Ulgo…”
The voice sighs.
“This is Captain Eduardo Soto of the 25th Sol marine battalion, I can hear you.”
There’s a moment of silence.
”You’re really there? Please tell me I’m not dreaming.”
“Yes sir, I’m really here. We’re on a reconnaissance mission to find out what happened here, and it seems we have a zombie problem. What is your location?”
The voice on the radio seems ecstatic now.
”We’re in the science plaza over on Gato street, facing west. We have grouped together all survivors we could find. And what are these zombies you speak of?”
Soto snickers to himself, something his conversational partner can’t see.
“I guess you’ll call them ‘infected’. Anyway, we don’t know where Gato street is. Is there some way you can show us?”
”Ah, yes, of course. We’re sending up a flare now.”
Sato sees a red flare arc out above one of the taller buildings in the city.
“Alright, I can see you now. As soon as we’ve called our transport, we’re coming over to find you.”
”Don’t bother, all communications off the planet are cut off. They vanished just before the outbreak. It’s because-“
“Sir! We’re running out of ammo down here!”
Ulrich’s voice cuts off the alien.
“I’m sorry, Ulgo, but we’re getting overrun here. I’ll get in contact.”
Soto disconnects the cable to the antenna.
“Sulieman! We’re out of time! We’re heading down.”
Soto turns and starts running towards the stairs, soon joined by the medic as they quickly head down to the others.
As they reach the ground floor, he finds that the three marines are tightly packed in the stairwell, and a wall of zombie flesh, both animated and not, blocks off the path back in that direction.
“Glad you could join us, sir.” Ulrich sounds to be under pressure as he kicks back a zombie that made it over the wall.
“We’re stuck in here. There’s too many of them.”
Soto grabs a grenade from Vasquez.
“Fire in the hole!”
He pulls the pin and throws it over the oncoming horde, and he can see as a number of the zombies redirect to chase the thrown grenade instead, as it starts beeping.
Then the grenade explodes in a sea of fire.
“Man, did you have to take one of my incendiaries?! I was saving those for a special occasion!”
Vasquez doesn’t seem pleased.
“Isn’t a fucking zombie apocalypse special enough for you?!”
Vasquez is silent for a moment.
“Fair enough. But what now? Now there’s zombies and fire blocking our path!”
Soto looks back, and his eyes fall on what looks to be a manhole in the back of the stairwell.
“We head down.”
Ulrich sighs.
“Why is there always a sewer level?”