Red Dawn-The Beginning

Day Two
Area 51, Nevada
4:36 a.m. PST

Matt grabs a syringe from the bruised doc's pack, and stabs in it his wrist. His vision clears, and the pain stebs just as he hears Sam. "Here," he says, tossing him his pistol and the downed soldier nearby's M4A1. "Guys, I want to go with you, but I have an obligation here," he says, popping out of cover to let loose a barrage of bullets, and he sees his rounds force a hostile to take cover. "Dammit, these aren't Wreakers!" A sniper's bullet flies overhead, and Knowles goes down, screaming as flesh flies off his shoulder. Suddenly, three more missiles streak out, one slamming into the barricade, sending concrete shards everywhere. Two soldiers are wounded and go down, but then two looming shadows in black uniforms and masks pop up out of the smoke, one savagely knifing Harrison in the forehead. The other blasts pieces of the bruised medic's neck off.

Matt twists and fires his M9, his M4A1 out of ammunition. The hostile goes down with a yelp, and Knowles, still down, throws a knife into the other hostile's face. All around them, mortar rounds are falling, and they see half the soldiers running, and half doggedly remaining at their assigned defensive positions. The Apache from before roars forward, firing rockets, providing a temporary reprieve as the hostiles divert to firing at the helicopter. "Screw it, everyone with me!" Matt yells, heart hammering and tears streaming down his face at the deaths of his men. The medic who helped Logan drags Knowles, who is whimpering but still firing his M4A1 while on the ground. The other five surviving men provide covering fire while they fall back. Matt spies the President and his group moving towards a new set of Humvees hidden in the wayside, sitting idle next to several supply trucks. The convoy is out of sight from the hostiles, and Matt realizes that they mean to escape. "Follow them!" he yells, leading forward, though he can feel his pulse pounding in his head as his headache grows. A Humvee explodes nearby from a mortar round, and a Ranger goes flying, and Matt yells to keep moving.

/Before the newest trip on a helicopter trip AJ had just stared at any of the soldiers who looked like they were going to try taking his the weapon he'd just received. 'They gave me it for crying out loud.' But with all the insanity and drama he'd just sort of stood there holding the weapon. Then minutes after they were smack dab in the middle of another shit storm and then AJ heard one of the other civies speak.

"I say fuck yes!" AJ said ready to get the hell out of dodge and to perhaps end up trying out their luck in Sin City.

Nothing ever seemed to go right nowadays, nothing at all. If the flight didn't crash something happened when they landed, if the flight DID crash then something DID happen on the ground. It was a lose-lose situation that Mike hated and kept on hating as he ducked for cover from the incoming fire. Between muttering misgivings and curses he weaved around to try and be a hard target before reaching cover. He turned to help the others follow close behind. Once everyone was behind cover, Mike turned to tell Matt they were in the clear when Sam got his attention asking for a gun. Before he could respond, Matt tossed him some weapons from a fallen soldier. Mike nodded to Sam," looks like you're good, now how's about getting the hell out of here," Reaching into the back of his pants he pulled out the 9mm," Yeah I didn't really keep my promise back there about handing over weapons. Reaching into his front pocket he pulled out Sam's clip from before. He tossed it back to him then cocked his gun. Leaning out of cover he managed to catch a glimpse of their attackers and what he saw was quite confusing.

Black masks, black uniforms, almost like the men from DC who attacked the bridge. In fact just like the men who attacked the bridge. Before he could contemplate anything else two black figures from the smoke of the explosion from before emerged. Both immediatly killed the man named Harrison and the beaten medic. Mike grimaced, he couldn't say he was fond of them but that didn't mean he liked to see them stabbed and shot, respectively. He got back down just as Matt announced they were getting the hell out of Dodge. Mike shouted back to him," So glad you could join us, now lets get the bloody hell out of here!"

Day Two
Area 51, Nevada
4:40 a.m. PST

A missile streaks out and throws up dirt near them, though the blast misses everyone. They can see about a dozen of the figures rushing into the base, mowing down the remaining defenders. Soldiers put up a running, defensive retreat, dashing forward and then stopping to fire a few rounds at the enemy. As the hostiles near, they can hear them distinctly yelling in Russian. One nearby begins pumping AN-94 armor-piercing rounds, and the bullets slam into another Ranger's head, blowing through his helmet like cloth.

Matt drops and returns fire, hitting the soldier several times and dropping him. The group finally reaches the trucks just as the Secret Service agents begin powering the vehicles up. Matt yells for them to wait and helps everyone into a relatively empty truck, squeezing them in between supplies. The Rangers pant hard and reload their weapons as the convoy begins to race off towards the nearby mountains, leaving the warehouses behind to their imminent destruction. They can hear the distinctive Wreaker screech coming from the opposite direction of the armed hostiles, and feel relief that they are missing it. Inside the truck, there are numerous crates. One is labeled PIW, two others with nuclear symbols, two others labeled with a biological warfare symbol, and the rest unmarked except for a red x across the top.

The trucks are running with no lights, and after about ten minutes they reach the mountains where they enter a small cave, driving in until the light at the entrance is not visible. The truck then rolls to a stop.

Sitting between two boxes labeled "Hazardous Material: Handle With Extreme Caution", Mila's nerves felt like they were fraying more and more with each juking of the truck. She pulled herself into a little ball to avoid touching the sides of either crate, more than a little paranoid of what might be inside after having traveled from Florida to DC with a nuke only ten feet away from her. There was something about tempting fate that she didn't like.

Then again, she'd been in two crashes in two days. At some point, statistics said she had to be getting some good luck her way again shortly.

Even when the truck drove into the pitch blackness of the cave, Mila's eyes remained wide-eyed. "Um," she swallowed, "Anyone got a flashlight?" She'd never handled darkness well to begin with, and the recent wreaker screeches were echoing in her mind, sending a shudder down her back.

Day Two
Area 51, Nevada
4:45 a.m. PST

Matt digs one out of a crate, tossing it over. He grabs another and takes out a roll of tape, and tapes the flashlight onto his hlemet. His other men copy him, and soon light illuminates the cave, showing dripping surfaces and cave formations. One of his men pries open an unmarked crate. "Whoo, HK416s! Hoo-ah!" He pulls out the possible M16 replacement, and hefts it. "Just what we need. Most endurable assault rifle in the Army." Matt pulls one out with a XM320 grenade launcher and grins. "Sweet." His men load up, and a few Secret Service agents come over and grab some themselves. Kevin and Jonathon also arm themselves. "Glad you all survived," Jonathon says with a wry grin. "Seeing as we're a small group, we should decide together our next move. I personally think we should head in deeper and try to make a defensible position. We have some maps to follow, but there must be secret chambers somewhere." He glances over at the crates and frowns at the hazardous materials symbols, but says nothing.

Matt's head still pounds, but the adrenaline and painkillers keep it at bay for the moment, though he can feel it in the pit of his stomach the dread of when he will have to deal with the pain he has inflicted on himself.

"Can we possibly survive in this place?" Sam interjected, "As in the long term? If so, then we defend it. If not then we find a back way out and get the fuck out. I don't want to know why some unknown foreign group wants to cave our heads in when everyone should be working together to survive but I don't want to find out either."

Sam frowned briefly and then looked back at the group, "Hey, did anyone understand what language that was anyway?"

Day Two
Area 51, Nevada
4:50 a.m. PST

"Russian," a Secret Service agent says, grimly loading a clip into his weapon. "My grandparents wanted me to learn it. They immigrated." "I can verify. I've spoken to Russian diplomats," Jonathon adds. "Well, everyone should know this. Those were probably undercover Spetsnaz. From what I heard, they had KGB agents in place undercover, and Spetsnaz snuck in during the onslaught of the virus. They were supposed to take military intelligence and equipment from Area 51 and have succeeded, as you've seen. Though for who they intend to give that information I'll never know. And as to where we are.... We're in a cave system that was discovered and hollowed out as a failsafe area for technology and personnel in Area 51. There are facilities deeper in that are strategically placed at a tunnel that has been widened for vehicles. It leads all the way down to Las Vegas. There are existing supplies and obviously ways to get more supplies. It's also defensible. It only would require some modification for a completely self-reliant existence," Jonathon explains.

Matt listens in interest, though he checks over his remaining men, communicating with hand signals to get SitReps from each one. They respond that they have all sustained injuries, but none are going to collapse in agony, which gives him relief. Sadness washes over him from his dead men, but they are simply casualties in a large war engulfing all of humanity.

Mike coughed into his fist nervously.

"So uh, who wants to go into the deep, dark, and foreboding cave first?"

Putting her index finger to the tip of her nose, Mila promptly responded, "Nose goes."

While not in any immediate danger here, she almost preferred her luck with the Russians over the almost complete darkness of the cavern system. The light at the end of her flashlight shivered erratically across the stone walls as she flicked it over every surface in her paranoia. Every little sound made her jumpy, and she kept looking behind her as if the Ruskies had sent wreakers in after them like trained zombie hell hounds.

"So...I'm assuming it's safe to say that what we've got in this truck, are probably some of the very things those Russians were after? And even safer to assume that we are now stuck traveling with them or at the very least being near them for the duration of this cave trip?"

Mila sunk down into the truck a little further, only peering over the edge to judge the president's response.

Day Two
Area 51, Nevada
4:55 a.m. PST

"Indeed. They have captured enough, and who knows what they would do with the weapons inside. If they still want war at this time, they're unpredictable," the President replies. "Well, we can take the trucks in more. So let's get in them for now." He gestures for everyone to get on board, and then the convoy begins moving again. The lights pass eerily across the stone, and after about half an hour of driving they reach a large metal door covering the whole part of the tunnel, cutting it off at a dead end. The soldiers pile out, Matt tossing in a few Aspirin from a medic to stave off his headache once again.

"Hold up! Contact inside!" he yells, raising his weapon, the other armed men following suit. They can hear distinctive clanking inside and voices. The President walks up slowly and off to the side, typing in codes in a side computer.

**********

After hiding for hours, including overnight with Delta Force, Jason's team is once again mobile, moving towards what they hear on the radio as 'the final checkpoint.' They arrive to see Spetsnaz brutally fighting a horde of Wreakers, the screeching, screaming, and gunfire reaching extremes. Dead U.S. soldiers lie scattered. "Dammit," the Delta Force Lieutenant mutters, waving the team to follow him. They move a safe distance away until they can just barely hear the sounds of the battle. "Alright. Here's what we're doing. Now there is a secret tunnel complex underneath our feet. There's an entrance nearby. We should hide out there. Any survivors with the clearance will hole up there, plus it's well-stocked. Savvy?"

The team follows him to a small tunnel, where there is a huge metal door reading 'Caution: Restricted Area. Lethal Force Authorized.' The Lieutenant enters a code and the door opens to reveal a large tunnel, with rooms leading off on multiple sides. The team spreads out, looking into the rooms and calling out what's in it as the metal door slams shut.

The clanking beyond the door made Mila's heart hammer in her chest, lack of (good) sleep catching up to her and making her even more nervous than she might otherwise have been, which was extremely nervous to begin with. She prepared to use the light in a sort of "blinding" maneuver with whatever should pop through the door, then realized she was sitting right next to a crate of weapons.

"Oh, duh," she muttered, finding a simple pistol and taking a moment to check that it was loaded. Getting onto her knees, she peered over the top of the truck and aimed at the door, trying to hear over the sound of her pulse.

Day Two
Area 51, Nevada
5:00 a.m. PST

"Three! Two! One!" Agent Donovan yells, watching as Jonathon inputs the codes. The doors slam open and Matthew chucks a flashbang inside and raises his rifle. The grenades goes off and there is a shout. "Check check! Friendlies!" someone yells. "Marines!" Matt squints as the mist from the grenade settles to reveal a man clutching his eyes, moaning slightly on the ground. A cloud of Marines have taken cover haphazardly while a squad of cool men aim their various unconventional weapons. "Delta Force?" Matt asks as the men lower their weapons. "Copy that, Ranger," the man says, his voice changing a bit on the 'Ranger,' and Matt can sense concealed contempt.

The trucks are quickly driven in and a medic attends to the flashed Marine. Matt feels guilty and sits next to him, making sure he is okay before helping with unloading the trucks. The doors are shut again, and Jonathon and his Secret Service agents head into the Command Center to boot up the equipment there. Kevin walks into the Lab to check out its supplies and equipment, and the soldiers begin storing the hazardous weapons and unloading the rifles and other infantry weapons into the armory. There is a grim briskness to it all, and it seems no one's nerves will calm until they are fortified.

Sam followed the soldiers from some way back as they managed to not shoot each other; which in itself, considering the atmosphere, was no mean feat. Once the soldiers confirmed the area was clear, Sam began to explore, a great big frown on his face. He wasn't sure if he enjoyed the idea of living deep underground, but what choice did he have? He had to admit it would be far safer here.

So, it was with some relief that he happened across the rec room and the basic but beautiful facilities it provided. He stuck his head through the doorway of the place, looking back to the group. "Hey civvies, check it out. We have a TV."

There was more than just a TV: beds, showers, toilets, fridges, freezers, microwaves, an oven and even (thanks to some long-dead tech nerd that Sam would never know) a classic arcade machine of the Star Wars trench run.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Sam said as he sat on a bed, feeling elated at the basic comfort of a mattress.

Not far behind Sam, Mila slowly made her way around the complex as well. She paused at the arcade game, marveling at the piece of retro entertainment. "I get the feeling that this thing is going to have its keys worn down soon enough," she said with a grin, running her fingers over said doomed buttons.

Shifting gears to the television, she wondered what they could possibly do with it since she doubted the channels were still broadcasting much of ANYTHING. It was then that she noticed a small trunk underneath the T.V. stand. Unhooking the latch, she pried it open easily and sifted through its contents. Inside were a few dozen DVDs; though it wasn't the best selection, at least it would give them something to do when they'd finished blowing up the Death Star for the hundredth time.

Mila wandered out of the rec room then and crossed the hallway to the barracks. Rows of bunks lined the walls, looking terribly inviting despite the fact that she hated sleeping next to a bunch of people. Right now, almost anything other than the harness of a helicopter would be welcome. With a plop, she picked a bunk near Sam and let herself fall onto it face first. Breathing a sigh of comfort, she noted that the bed smelled a bit musky, but that wasn't too surprising. These had probably been installed a good while ago and then left untouched. If nothing else, they could be washed in a shower and left to dry. She wasn't sure if this place had washing machines.

Besides, clean water could become scarce later on. Best to get stuff like that out of the way as soon as possible.

"If I have to move from this spot anytime in the next few hours, I will be very displeased," she mumbled from her cushion, eyes closed even though she was draped awkwardly over the middle of the sheets where she had landed.

"Well it's not just over yet," Sam said from his bed, patting the mattress, "We've got to figure out what food supplies we have, see how to get out into Vegas, figure out where to nick food supplies from..."

Out of the corner of his eye Sam noticed a suspicious looking creature crawling along the floor; one of nature's tanks. The cockroach. "Also we should probably get rid of those things."

"Mmm yeah. Hopefully those freezers had something still worth eating in them," Mila mumbled, welcoming the darkness behind her eyelids. It was around 5 am local time, and only a few hours later in her own time zone. It didn't matter where everyone was from; they were all still due for a night of sleep that didn't involve a concrete floor and a thin sleeping bag, or who knew what else.

She was just starting to get to the point of drifting off when Sam mentioned getting rid of some "things." Figuring he meant the wreakers, she asked, "Why bother? We should be okay in here for a while." He nudged her with his foot and she opened her eyes groggily, following the direction of his outstretched finger until her line of sight connected with the single most disgusting thing on the entire planet.

"AHHHHH!!!! OH SHIT KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT!!!" she screamed, almost hysterically. Faster than what seemed possible for her given condition and position, she ended up flinging herself away from her bed where the villainous beast was drawing ever-near, and leapt over to Sam's, clinging onto his shoulders and pushing him to the edge. "Oh god it's Florida all over again," she groaned in revulsion, ready to flee further if it should happen to change course toward their present location.

"Please don't be a flying one, please don't be a flying one," she prayed silently to whatever god(s) might be out there.

The squish made Mila cringe, her stomach turning. "Ugh those things make me sick. No way I'm gonna be able to sleep in here now...I'm gonna go find a safer spot..." she said weakly, her face drained of color as she released her death grip on Sam's shoulders. Now wide-awake, she found the desire for sleep to be all but completely quelled for the moment.

Escaping the "infestation" room, she moved down the hallway until she came across the lab, surprised to find the door open. Inside, it was a much more sterile environment, and the smell of chemicals made her doubt its appeal to even the roaches.

It was perfect.

Mike was hard pressed to hear what it was that had worked its way inside, it could of been people or wreakers. Most likely, or rather Mike hoped more, that it was humans though that didn't mean that was a good thing. Instead it could of been just as bad if they turned out to be Spetsnaz. Hearing some rustling in the crate near him, Mike turned to see Mila rummaging through the crate to pull out a pistol. Looking down he noticed the pistol in his own hands, clamped in now white fingers from the intensity of their escape. Mike rolled his eyes at his own stupidity but he frowned looking down at it; it might not be too much harm to see if there was something else to use. Going over, he watched Mila take cover behind the truck to watch the door and he made a soft whistle to express he was there before going to the crate. Humming to himself, he rummaged through the box of assorted killing instruments before finding an M16 that reminded him of the weapon he had used at the bridge. Nodding to himself, he took it out and some of its associated magazines. Popping one in, he watched the door open and a flashbang was thrown in. Mike ducked and clamped his eyes shut for the blast.

Once it was over he could hear shouting over the slight ringing in his ears. The one word that stood out was 'friendlies'. Oops. Well at least no actual harm was done, Mike thought as he got back on the truck. Why walk when you can ride? Entering the cave system further they arrived at the command center. Mike was overwhelmed by it at first. A lab, a rec room, an armory, beds, and even showers! It was like an underground safe haven from the troubles affecting the world above. Placing his own gun in the armory, he caught up with the rest of his civilian friends. He could hear Sam enter the rec room first, exclaiming about the TV. When Mike entered he chuckled, "What do you know... heh, I bet even at the end of the world there will be nothing on. I'm gonna miss Stephen Colbert; hope he got out okay." Moving over to the old Star Wars game he laughed again, "I remember this game, I loved it though it would take all my money pretty quickly."

Going over to the beds he sat down on one next to Sam. Nodding, he figured it was better than anything else. Of course it would of been better without the cockroach. Watching its life end by AJ's foot, Mike nodded," Good job, now how about you clean your foot before you get the stupid thing's guts everywhere." He got up to follow Mila to make sure she wasn't going to puke or something.

Finding a folding chair in the lab, she closed the door behind her and sat down, trying to regain her composure with a moment to breathe. Kevin seemed to be out of the room for now, so she was alone, at least until Mike walked in after her. "Uh, hey. Sorry about that... I uh, just have a bit of a phobia as you can see...with bugs...well, THOSE bugs... ugh," she said, embarrassed at her behavior and still thoroughly disgusted.

AJ shot the man a half annoyed half amused glance over his comment and after making sure his foot was relatively clean he just sort of stood there taking in his surrondings. To him Vegas sound like a much better optino than wallowing away in some safety cavern. To him it reminded him of all the Cold War movies about safety bunkers and the like and it yelled one thing.

'Defeat.'

Glancing over at the other guy, Sam he thought his name was AJ sort nodded to him and then looked off after the girl who'd been so afraid of the roaches.

"So what's her story?" AJ said as he took out the pistol that had been set in his pocket for sometime and felt a nice feeling of relief that something hard and metallic wasn't wedged against his back when he'd been seated.

Day Two
Area 51 Bunker
5:10 a.m. PST

Kevin and Matthew walk into the lab then, both carrying crates. Matt smiles at Mila, though his face is semi-contorted because of his now splitting headache. "How are you Mila?" He frowns. "You look kinda disgusted or scared or something. What's up?" He sets the crate down and Kevin opens both of them, taking out some sort of machine and then bottles of chemicals and samples, ignoring everyone in the room. He takes out Mila's blood sample and pours some into an elaborate machine with lots of glass parts and a computer attached to it, and begins typing, numbers scrolling on the screen. "I'm gonna head to sleep soon though. This headache is bad," Matt groans, glancing at Kevin.

Meanwhile, troops continue unloading supplies before they gradually head to the barracks to pass out or talk quietly, or head to the command center and attempt to use its equipment to contact their families. Jonathon is anxiously calling Air Force One from the command center, trying to find a way for them to land safely and join up with them.

OOC: Added something of mine to Matt, Linds. Also, there is a hospital in the facility.

Mike leaned against the doorframe before walking well," No problem, girl. Just came to see if you were okay and not gonna get sick or something.

Before Mike could continue Matt and Kevin walked in carrying some boxes. Mike shrugged to Matt," Nothing really... we just found the darker side of an underground paradise... roaches.."

Sam shrugged a little; it was only when he stopped to think about it that he realised how little he knew Mila. "Nice girl, met her in Florida. She was the last member of staff left in a entire Target store and I was the last customer left in a entire Target store. She kindly offered me somewhere to hide out when the world went to shit."

Sam sighed remembering the car journey from not so long ago, not to mention the precious precious weed he lost. "It didn't really work. We killed our first thing so the police tried to arrest us. Then we met several more of those things and since then we've been on the run."

Sam smiled at the squished mark of the cockroach, "I'm glad you got that thing. If Mila had really freaked out...well....things may have got worse."

Sam frowned suddenly as he studied the man's face, realising he had no idea who the other guy was. "I'm Sam by the way," he said holding out his hand to shake.