I awoke to the semi alarmed whispers of Jason and
Jasper, they were moving back towards the car from the back door of the green
box. The padlock that had held it closed
was lying coldly on the ground. Jason
opened the rear door of the car and instructed us to get ready, Jasper and
Jason had taken the shotguns from the trunk, I was armed with my snub nose 38,
my Glock remaining in its shoulder holster under my coat.
Following Jasper, electing to stay on the more
useful side of things in a firefight, we breached the door slowly, electing for
the sneak rather than the full-on assault, a wiser decision given that we had,
one sick, one wounded and two exhausted.
 |
| Agent Oscar |
Jason took the lead, as soon as he was inside, his
voice called out to identify, Jasper and Jagger entered next, Jasper moving to
the far side of the loading dock to cover the shadowy figures on the raised
platform. I entered last and joined
Jason, my pistol trained on a standing man in a suit talking on a phone, to his
left, a slumped and bloody man, hunched against the wall at the top of the
loading dock stairs. The man Identified
himself as “Oscar”, Delta agent. As I
saw Jasper and Jason had him covered with the shotguns, I continued my sweep on
the ground floor, checking the truck and abandoned car, making sure there were
no surprised before re-joining the team.
I looked Oscar over more carefully, he had a large
revolver holstered at his side, yet he knew he was outmanned and any movement
towards it was going to be his last.
 |
| Agent Oswald |
Oliver continued to talk, “Oswald” is wounded, gut
shot, as he pointed to the Hispanic man in civilian clothing slumped bloodied
against the wall. He also mentioned a
woman in the back, also injured and in need of care, Jagger didn’t waste time,
moving to Oswald, explaining he was medically trained and able to stabilise
him.
As Jagger set out his medical bag, Jason was leaning
on the raised wall of the loading dock as Jasper moved wider towards the truck
parked close by as this standoff could take time. Before I could move any closer to Oscar with
the intent of disarming him, the back door behind me flung open, a large black
man in a hood entered brandishing a semi-automatic SPAS-12 shotgun and jammed
it straight into the back of my head.
The jolt of the barrel against my skull forcing my neck forward and the
blood in my mouth from the previous night’s events emerging down my chin.
This new man “Oliver”, I couldn’t see him, but I
knew he was on the edge. He had a
shotgun trained on him, Oscar had a shotgun strained on him, Oswald was
bleeding out and yet he still insisted on us dropping our guns. Ballsy, yet I was in no position to not
comply. I let my pistol fall to the floor, he hadn’t seen my Glock, just in
case I had to do something stupid.
Jason took over the negotiations, badly, using the
classic “I don’t even like him” routine, part of me felt it was mostly true,
I’m sure Jason wouldn’t have cared if my brains were all over the floor. It was Jasper who showed the level head, he
had the best view of Oliver, he lowered his shotgun and was doing his best to
defuse everything. Jagger had patched up
Oswald as best he could, Oswald speaking Spanish at how he didn’t want to die. Clearly the only one who could understand I
responded to him, reassuring him that he was in good hands, all in Spanish.
 |
| Franchi SPAS-12 |
My chest began to burn, having my arms up was
stretching the slash marks across me, the staples feeling like they were about
to burst. I was allowed to drop to my
knees and relax my arms slightly, the shotgun of Oliver still on me, I would
feel it a few millimetres from my head, I didn’t care right now, my chest was a
nightmare.
As things began to simmer down slightly, it was the
brit who made the mistake, Jagger decided to pull a gun, Oswald’s gun. Oliver saw it, his boot across my back,
flattening me on the floor, face down, his foot coming to rest on my spine, his
shotgun wedged against my neck, I could barely breathe.
Everything fired up again, the gun pointing, the
yelling, the distinctive cocking noise of pump actions going to work, the only
relief, no shots fired.
After a few minutes of listening to Jason try to
control the situation, only to be met by Oliver’s crazed yelling made me think
that this was the end, death by asshole, just what every man dreams of.
A few more minutes passed without everything going
black for me, Jagger was to accompany Oscar to the back where the woman was,
Ophelia he called her. Jagger then
disappeared having dosed Oswald with enough morphine to keep him out of the
fight. Jason in his divine wisdom
thought it would be a good idea to keep at Oliver, all this was achieving was
the grinding of a book in my back, blood now seeping through my bandages. If I survived this, I was going to break that
old jaw of his, I would sleep better knowing he wasn’t able to run his mouth
for a week or two.
Again, Jasper was my saviour in disguise, his calm
tone keeping Jason in cheque. Jagger and
Oscar eventually returned, Jagger clearly not coping well, his face a shade of
green I hadn’t seen since the Chinese restaurant. Something about a pregnant woman and the fact
that she wasn’t pregnant yesterday, yeah, that sounds good.
 |
| Agent Oliver |
Another heated exchange between Jason and Oscar, all
about guns down and if he wants the use of our doctor, Oliver was going to have
to get off me. After a moment, Oscar
came over to Oliver and took the shotgun from him, thank God. I got up, looked in the eyes of my potential
murderer, his eyes were everywhere, I had seen this before, on addicts and
junkies, this guy was losing it, I was lucky to still be breathing. This guy was huge, 6’5 at least, built like a
guy who lives at the gym, no wonder his boot hurt so much. I looked him eye to eye, or more like eye to
chin, I couldn’t help myself, I gave him a wink for good measure.
Jason and Oscar got back into their discussion, the
woman, Ophelia was in the first office through the meeting room, she was not
doing well, the panic in Oscar’s eyes suggested something more, perhaps a
personal connection of some kind.
The conversation shifted, Jason became edgy, looking
to Jagger with all seriousness, it was decided, Jason, Jagger and Oscar would
go and check on Ophelia, the noises she was making from the back rooms now
sounded like violent vomiting. Jasper
and I were to stay with Oliver and the unconscious Oswald. Before moving up to the offices however,
Jason looked at both Jasper and me, nodding with serious eyes, we both returned
the nod, if this went bad, it was going to go bad in a hurry. Oscar returned Oliver’s shotgun to him before
following Jason, Oliver however held it by the barrel, not on the grip, giving
us time to act before he got a shot off if anything took a bad turn.
Arguing could be heard emanating from the office
area, Jason, Oscar, Jagger, all talking in loud and aggressive tones. Jasper and I both looked at each other and
began our plans to distract Oliver, mentioning that we should really go up
there for a closer look. Oliver wasn’t
moving, he was losing it, he didn’t want to go up there, not under any
circumstances.
A shotgun blast filled the air, as we knew Jason was
the only one carrying a shotgun, it was clear to us what was happening. Jasper pulled the trigger of his revolver,
firing at Oliver from inside his pocket as the giant fumbled his shotgun for a
wayward return of fire. We scattered
across the loading dock, drawing my Glock from my holster I took position by
the door, no one was getting out of here without going through me. Jasper leapt up the loading dock, taking
cover behind one of the stone pillars supporting the roof. Oliver dashed away behind the truck parked on
the lower level. Jasper was his target,
letting fly a series of blast in his direction, Jasper returned fire, narrowly
missing Oliver, the dust kicking off the walls right behind him. I let loose too, my first shot catching
Oliver somewhere in the stomach, his muffled gasp revealing to me two things,
he was angry, and he was wearing body armour.
More gunfire erupted from the area of the offices,
taking my attention of Oliver briefly, only to see the flickering lights flash
brighter with every blast of shotgun fire.
Returning my attention to Oliver, I fired again, this time slamming lead
into the rear of the truck a mere inch from his face, causing him to recoil
slightly out of view. Jasper did the
same, send another two shots dangerously close the Oliver, enough to make sure
he kept himself well hidden.
Jasper opened the chamber of his revolver, sending
brass to the floor, calling out to Oliver as he reloaded, something along the
lines of us all being on the same team.
Oliver’s response was another shotgun blast, only retorted by my own
shots back at him to no avail.
Jagger suddenly appeared, running for his life,
across the loading dock and straight for the door where I was standing. He didn’t seem to care that he was running
through a gunfight, he just wanted out, as he got closer, his eyes were not
right, like Oliver, he was losing it, if not had already lost it. What was going on up there. As I glanced up to the offices, another
violent flash and roar of a shotgun could be seen, Jason was still going, he
was still alive. Jagger ran to the door,
extending my arm to him, I yanked him out of the way as soon as possible to
keep my eyes on Oliver.
Looking to Jasper, I motioned to him to try and get
behind the truck, at the base of the stairs next to him, Jasper had an easy
path to flank Oliver, as long as nothing went wrong. I gave Jasper the count and unleashed a hail
of bullets all around Oliver as Jasper moved down the stairs. I moved back into cover only to see Jasper
however had stumbled, scaping himself on his hands and knees into the cover of
the truck, not quickly enough however to avoid the attention of Oliver who was
still firing his shotgun at Jasper.
I checked my magazine before firing my next volley
at Oliver, three in the mag, one in the chamber, three rounds, I could reload,
can’t waste the rounds, not now.
Looking back towards the offices to see if Jason
would emerge, all I could see was Oswald, he was conscious, lying on his side,
his arm raised shakily, a pistol pointed at me.
He was begging me to stop, lay my gun down, I couldn’t, his eyes met
mine, he knew I wasn’t going to stop, he fired at me, his shot slamming into
the top of the door frame above me.
Without thinking, as if on impulse, I spun my arms to his
direction. I fired once. Once was all it took, his spine blowing out
the back of his neck as my shot had hit him square in the chin. The Threat was down, back to Oliver.
Jasper moved quickly once he had steadied himself,
disappearing around the front of the truck as I raised my pistol back towards
where Oliver had been visible. A short
burst of pistol fire erupted sending Oliver into my view, raising his shotgun,
Oliver let go a blast that made Jasper grunt, followed by another pistol blast,
he had emptied his revolver as Oliver stumbled further into my view. Two shots, both slamming into Oliver’s side,
his damn armour the only thing between my 9mm and his life.
Oliver suddenly dropped the shotgun and let out a
crazed scream, turning his attention from Jasper to the doorway I was standing
in. He ran at me, he was crazed, like a
mad dog, he was coming fast. Without thinking,
I squeezed the trigger again, Oliver falling a foot from my feet, the small
hole in his forehead giving way to the blown-out section of the back of his
skull.
I stared at Oliver, was he coming for me? or was he
just trying to get out? had he had enough?
was this the last straw for him?
I looked up from the lifeless body to see Jasper
walking towards me, Oliver’s shotgun in hand, a nice flesh wound evident on his
shoulder from where Oliver had tagged him.
We seemed to both come to the realisation together, the offices were
quiet.
We moved quickly through the dock, picking up my 38
from the floor as I ran past. At the
entrance to the meeting room, all the doors where open, ahead of us, at the
entrance to the first office, Jason was down.
I reloaded my Glock and began moving with Jasper
towards Jason, around his body, his shotgun, Jagger’s flash light and
pistol. What had happened here?
Asking Jasper to Cover me, I grabbed Jason by the
arm, dragging him back towards the meeting room, clear of the office entrance,
a large, black wound on his left shoulder revealed itself in the flickering
light, as if he had been gnawed at by something. As I did, a strange sound, something like the
slurping of a semi empty milkshake through a child’s straw, only not, something
grotesque, something sinister. As I
pulled Jason into the meeting room, Jasper between us and the office, I raised
my eyes at the sound of his exacerbation.
A massive, almost human size Spider like creature. It was a fucking Spider! Emerged from the
office. Jasper met it with a blast from
the shotgun, sending it back slightly.
The creature charged, I loosened my grip from Jason to support my gun
hand, Jasper was in the way, there was no clean shot.
The Spider launched as Jasper, its long legs swiping
violently, but to no effect in this confined space, it made a horrible noise,
like the screams of Lobsters in boiling water, only louder, and darker. It launched at Jasper again, this time with
its mouth. Teeth, not pincers, teeth,
almost human teeth, the flickering light catching them glistening with blood
and pus. Jasper struck back, swinging
the shotgun full force at the face of this monster, this guy would have made a
hell of a ball player, his swing connecting perfectly with the side of the
beast’s head. That was my queue. I squeezed the trigger again, sending a bullet
straight through on the eight eyes on this monster, again, almost human
eyes. The creature dropped, slumped to
the ground, its legs curling, as most spiders do in the throes of death.
Jasper and I looked at each other, both of our
expressions telling the same story, what the hell was that!
Jasper then withdrew to Jason, also observing the
strange wound, he began to drag Jason back towards the loading dock. I on the other hand stayed, walking slowly up
to the beast in front of me. Looking at
it more closely, Jason had done well, at least three chunks had come of this
Spider due to buckshot, unlucky that he didn’t put it down with that, this
thing must have been tough. Jasper and I
must have only got the last piece. I
took aim again at the monster’s face, its lifeless eyes enough to still give me
chills, I emptied my magazine into its head, whatever this thing was, it wasn’t
getting back up.
Turning to Jason and Jasper, I was amazed to see
Jagger standing there too, he had shaken off whatever had made him turn and
run, although after the last few minutes, I can hardly blame him. They were inspecting the wound on Jason’s
shoulder, Jasper was talking about the potential risks and what Jason himself
had told us to do in that situation, I pulled the hammer back on my 38, just in
case they didn’t have the stomach. Jagger
was to make the call, he volunteered to call A-Cell, his conversation was
brief, yet informative, he gave all the details of O-Cell, Jason’s injury and
requested instructions. All they
apparently said was ‘continue’.
To our amazement, Jason stirred, Jagger’s cleaning
and prepping of the wound causing him enough discomfort to wake him. His only words were to ascertain if the
monster was dead, once relieved, Jasper and I left Jagger to his work and
decided to sweep the rest of the building.
Moving back to the office where all the trouble had
started, I picked up Jagger’s flashlight and pistol as Jasper jammed a few more
shells into his newly acquired shotgun. Scanning
the room in front of me, it was dark, the lights were out, the flickering
florescence of the hallway offering little aid.
Scanning the room with the flashlight, my Jagger’s pistol raised, I
stepped into the office. In front of me,
Oscar’s body, shotgun blast to the chest, Jason had dropped him, he was dead
before he hit the floor. I scanned his
body with the light, his eyes were missing, bloody holes with slightly black
scorching around the lids, not unlike the wound on Jason. Dropping to my haunches, illuminating his
eyes, there was nothing behind them, just an empty skull. The sickening feeling of the slurping sound
came back in my ears, had that monster sucked out the contents?
 |
| Colt Python 357 |
Patting down Oscar, his Colt Python 357 was still in
his holster, in the small of his back, another revolver, a Smith and Wesson
model 60, not unlike my 38 tucked away out of sight. I relieved him of them both, clearly, he had
no need for them anymore.
 |
| Smith and Wesson Model 60 |
I continued my sweep of the room, Jasper constantly
on guard with his shotgun, his arm however causing his weapon to shake, Jagger
really needed to look at it. In the
centre of the room, what can only be described as skin covered in blood, bile
and muck, a pile of it lay splattered on the concrete floor. The only indication that this was once a
woman, the long dark hair attached to parts of what used to be a scalp. I felt the vomit in my throat, this was truly
horrific. Satisfied that the room was
clear, we moved to the rest of the Green Box with rather uneventful results,
all clear.
Returning the Jagger and Jason, who was already on
his feet and looking at the shrivelling remains of the monster that had
attacked him, we began tearing the green box apart for fuel, it was time to
burn this place down. Jason dispatched
Jagger in search of O-Cell’s vehicle, if nothing else, they may have some
gas. The car and truck both had empty
fuel tanks, it was Jasper who suggested the Russian Surplus grenade, something
to really destroy this monster properly.
After about an hour of reliving the events in our
heads, Jagger returned in a mid-sized white van, I opened the back to see four
‘Go-Bags’, each containing the credentials of O-Cell. Two were Philly FBI, Oscar and Ophelia, this
only confirmed my suspicions that they were in some form of relationship,
Oswald, Border Patrol and Oliver, NYPD.
Next to the bags was a second SPAS-12 shotgun, these guys were prepared. Prompting my memory, I moved to the washroom,
removing both mine and Jagger’s ID’s, I wanted to see who he was, but left the
bag sealed, it was not my place to question the man who had patched us all up.
Jagger emerged carrying two can of fuel, Jasper and
Jason begun their sweep of the building, removing anything of use from the
shelving used by Delta Green, books, maps, anything useful. Jasper pulled the Russian grenade from the
shelf and jammed it under the monster, when this place burnt, that was going to
blow. We moved O-Cell rather
unceremoniously into the truck, using one of the gas cans to get it running. As we exited the Green Box, now void of
anything Delta Green related, we lit the fire.
We drew out a plan, Jagger and I were to drive the
truck, Jasper in the van and Jason leading in his car. We were headed somewhere to remove the
evidence of the bodies. Something we
were all not too comfortable doing.
There was a lake, a deep lake, not too far from Albany, I was too tired
to notice the name, I had popped several staples from my chest, only evident to
me know that my adrenaline levels had returned to normal. We drove to the edge of the water, all of us
keeping a watchful eye for any signs of life.
Weighting the gas pedal, we sent the truck into the water, the light of
dawn creeping over the trees as the 1 tonne truck disappeared beneath the icy
water.
Jason’s suggestion, we would create our own green
box, we certainly had enough to do so, I had in my possession now half a dozen
handguns, as a group, four shotguns and a pile of books and miscellaneous Delta
Green material, we couldn’t carry it with us, we needed somewhere to stash
it. Everything went in the trunk of
Jason’s car, O-Cell go bags, all our equipment, everything, he told us he would
take care of it.
The Airport couldn’t come soon enough, at the
terminal, Jagger made his way off to his gate, I did the same, however it was
Jasper who drew the short straw, Jason had requested a fishing trip. Looking at Jasper as the least likely to act
without reason, Jason needed someone to watch over him for a week or so, he
needed to know he would be alright after the attack of whatever it was that bit
him. Merry Christmas Jasper.
How was I going to explain this, last time I went
home, I had a bruise the size of a watermelon on my chest. This time, my chest has been cut to ribbons,
hey Charlie, I heard chicks dig scars.
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