The old metro line.

Markus walked threw the broken ruins of another city safe from the smell of dust and decay with his gasmask. as imposing as his red eyes and heavily armored coat was, it gave him safety and comfort. well that and the numerious amounts of weapons he kept with him. Honestly he wasn't even sure how the heck he was carrying everything that he was, but it all fit so why not. He looked to his map, a pre war map of the city and locations, to try and get his baring. If he was reading this correctly and he was sure he was, it would be easier to cut in threw the old metro line to get to his objective, an old library that was supposed to still be in good enough condition.

Markus' goal was to steal the books that he could actually read, and take them back to town. Human knowledge and pre war books were valuable to some people in the military. The scribes (people tasked with keeping knowledge of the old world) would pay dearly for books, and they were usually an easy thing to come across.

Turning from his thoughts he stashed his map in a pocket and turned down a road to his left, eventually coming to a stair case that lead down to the old tunnel system. Metro lines, they can be a good and bad thing, they were built to last, and often did, the many that he had encountered had very few cave ins, but they had their own sets of risks mostly Zombies, and darkness, as well as ancient stone work and poisons... thankfully with a good pistol in hand, and his gas mask there wasn't much worry about anything bad happening to him.

Markus stepped into the metro tunnel and turned on his night vision. In all honesty though he didn't really need it, there was only a slight difference in the lighting. changing some of the heavier shadows into blank dusty areas, the rest was lighted by dim, yet still functioning pre war lights, that flickered as markus walked into the tunnel.

It had been a while since She had come out herself Lycans were just more reliable couriers, at least they were when she was able to employ them. Sasha looked about the dark tunnels, normally she would get someone else to do this type of thing but she needed some supplies and searching this area was her last stop before she could get out of these. She wrapped some wire to her fingers and pulled them taunt as she observed the area again. She kept hearing noises and it unnerved her. She didn't exactly fear the infected...no it was those hellish monsters that seemingly sprung up from hell itself. She Glared ahead in the darkness and moved forward. She wasn't alone here in the darkness, and she didn't like the thought.

Sasha wasn't a large woman she was barely above 6 foot 2. The issue was she had next to no weapons other than her wire. She had a few needles and wire that was sharps as blades, of course this was a stealth weapon. She took small steps as she moved forward. She could hear her own breath which was creeping her out, and now she was setting herself on edge. 'Nervousness kills' she told herself trying to calm her nerves.

"The hell is in here?" She whispered quietly not sure why she was even here anymore. Ruins officially sucked she wanted nothing more than to get in and out quickly.

Markus' breath was contained within his gasmask making so that no one on the outside world could hear him. well unless he flicked a switch to broadcast his voice, and he didn't really have that intention right now. Drawing forth his 44. magnum and keeping it at hand he felt more relaxed, he didn't fear the wordly nothing on earth could scare him any more, but the weight of a gun was always relaxing. it was odd that a colonel would choose to openly walk out into a set of ruins, but hay it was this or stay in a shitty little office in new york, and there was no way he was doing that.

Besides he could do more damage as some calamity a solder from hell then he could ever do as colonel Markus Autumn paper pusher. so it was a better deal for the military and for himself. The goggles caste a red light against the rest of the darkness, as he could see as though it were a slightly tinted daylight. there was intimidation woven into his armor he was sure that most people probably thought he was a demon at first glance.

Even with his advanced eyesight he heard the noises before he saw the infected. the fimalair hissing grown and lurching sound, Markus turned on his heels and raised his gun planting the first shot between its eyes. The magnum was a light gun, but it gave a hell of a kick, and the noise echoed threw the dead halls of the metro station a beacon to everything and anything that was in this place. "Well shit, Their went the element of surprise."

Within a moment the gun shot was answered with the groans of the infected, and the hiss of ghouls.

As the gun shot rung through the ruins Sasha jumped and cursed, she got up off her ass and ground her teeth now she was pissed. She stood up and pulled the wire apart and narrowed her eye's starting before she moved forwards and almost ran straight into an infected. It's rotting body reaching for Sasha's head as she moved towards the sun of the gun shot.

"OH SON OF A SAINT PROSTITUTE!" she shouted wrapping the wire around the shambling mans neck and removing it's head from it's shoulders. She shook herself trying to shake off the fright she had. "I'm not paid enough for this." She growled spreading her hands the wires shining in the low light. She pulled out her sewing needles annoyed at how insufficiently prepared she was to fight multiple targets. "I need a gun a real honest to god lead slinging gun. I feel so stupid coming out here essentially unarmed." She growled steeling herself and moving again towards the source of the gun shot. She ran again and found herself in a room where the infected were trying to kill someone being put down by the proud barks of his magnum Sasha sighed and pushed herself against the wall she wouldn't be much use in this situation.

two, the shot felled another infested in the head, the third found its home in a woman facial structure, and for the most part Markus had done his job admirably. the problem was that there were a lot more of them then his magnum had currently loaded rounds. His eyes glowed placing markers all over the place, and he didn't have to turn to know that there were a handful behind him. as the fifth shot rang out he dropped the magnum turning as a ghoul tried to attack him from behind its gasping sound giving it away. as he turned he grabbed it by the neck bringing the rotted creature close and then cleanly snapping its neck in one motion.

grabbing the combat shotgun from his back he flicked it over his shoulder and pointed to his left and blew back two more before bringing it fully to his side to blow off the last remaining ghouls head. there was one last marker on his visor, but she was holding back, and it didn't take a colonel to know that ghouls didn't hold back. still he kept his shotgun trained on her. His goggles hiding his vision, but casting his gasmask and armor in a deep red light. flipping a switch so that he could be heard by the woman he spoke.

"Name, Race, Rank, intention." Not nearly a standard hello, but Markus was more or less worried that this was some vampire controlling the infected. he had seen that once before, and once had been enough to always get the other person to introduce themselves. it helped that in his armor he was intimidating.

"Sasha, Human, Medic...living." She replied her voice laced with malice but her form unmoving, she didn't really trust the man he held a similar appearance to a axeman and that made her ready to fight back if needed. It was a bit dark though and his form was a bit obscured as looked him over. He wasn't a hulk but he was bigger than her and had the advantaged of being better armed all in all she would do better to not make this one hostile to her she'd rather not deal with this guy trying to kill her although she wasn't exactly in the best position to do so. "And you? You're Not an Axeman are you?" She posed her question a bit bluntly because wait...why did she just ask him that? Last time she checked the axemen just killed things or raped them as was appropriate. She almost cursed again but was too busy trying to not get her head blown off by her new friends large boom stick.

Sasha rather regretted the follies she made up til now, of course there was a rather good reason she never ventured out on these trips she wasn't good at them she was much more useful patching up those who came back healing the wounded she had some patients back home that needed her. She thought about this last fact and quietly resolved to get out of this alive. She still had the needles with the super sharp wire attached to them, she could probably move his shotgun from her face maybe even wound the man so she could get away. it would be almost impossible though she wasn't the fastest person around.

Markus sighed more or less in relief. lowering his shotgun he placed it back on his back across from his M16 riffle and picked up his magnum checking that it still had one round left in it. Markus sighed "No, I am a human, I go by the nickname Calamity." In all reality an axemen wouldn't have held her at gunpoint, well unless it was to demand that she strip. flicking open the magnum he began to reload it.

"Do you require assistance? I am on my way to a library marked east of this location, hence my use of this tunnel line, You are free to accompany me." Markus said as he began to move forward again passing her. His long coat coming close to brushing against her as he walked out of the doorway.

In all reality escorting a noncom threw a city of infested ghouls was not Markus' ideal vision of fun, however the idea that he could have some company for a while was tempting. still if she didn't want to come along for the walk he had no official obligation to protect her. That was part of the glory of being solo in the military you only had to chose the jobs you wanted to do, and the jobs you were ordered to do, anything else was a druthers deal.

Sasha frowned at him but was thankful that he didn't blow her head off, and she had no real weapons so following him was really in her best intrests until she reached the surface. she followed the man silently not trying to hide her presence only because she didn't want to attract more attention. She was glad he was human but something told her he wasn't an average joe people got better at killing these days but he had training from the looks of it. She was always a bit too curious for her own good.

"thank you for allowing me to come with you." she said as she followed him, her voice quiet. Making conversation wasn't always the best course of action but it was good to see the type of person you were with and if you'd stay with them as long as you needed to when you were out in the infected's domain. She felt herself jump whenever she heard something that was louder than a rat now a days, those new monsters had a habit of appearing when they were least wanted or expected she'd much rather fight off the plague walkers than those hellish fiends she kept filling her mind with. She shook off those thoughts she really didn't like to think about them but they posed a threat. "Have you encountered those creatures people have been calling the carnates yet?" she asked quietly trying to start an actual conversation.

"Never seen one personally but i know of them. Honestly I wouldn't worry about one of them in this city its not their territory, We are deep in gang territory actually. The library that im going to falls under their jurisdiction, My job is to clear it and grab as many of the books that haven't been used as toilet paper as i can and bring them back to my employer. Honestly you have more of a chance of being infected by a regular zombie or being rapped repeatedly by a gang then anything else."

Markus waved a hand to as he spoke casually dissuading her fears of the demons, or more horrifying infected. This was a low threat area, the most they had to worry about was the fact that metro lines were often home to gangs, or regular infected. they passed the pay stations, and walked onto the upper platform of the metro station. Here they could see the majority of the station cast in a dull dusty light, the place was seemingly abandoned, and from the upper level they could see the trains that have long since stopped working.

"Chances are good that gangs have set up in the trains, or that zombies are down in the tunnels. Would you like a gun?" Markus said pulling up the 10mm sub machine gun, it was probably the weakest of his weapons, but good for burst fire, against unarmored targets it would do fine.

She took the gun from his hand and laughed lightly, she didn't worry at all about gang members and the infected were only a problem in numbers now that she had a gun however she wasn't much worried about them either. Actually as soon as the weapon was in her hands she was a completely different person, her eye's narrowed and she scanned the area as if were somebody she was trying to fix up her eye's darted to and fro looking for signs of threats all the while a smile was plastered on her face. Her posture was nothing short of military, holding the sub-machine gun as if he had practice with it her entire life.

"Well there's definitely something in there, what do you suggest?" She asked niw looking at him expectantly she wasn't really a soldier but she could take care of her self when it came down to it. She pulled out her wire and needles again and attached them to he gun she was now holding multiple weapon instead of just one. looking rather pleased with herself She could now fight close range and long range with relative eaase and this pleased her immensely. "Honestly I haven't been in many shoot outs or fights, but being a medic ususally means working under fire. You got a plan I'll do my best to see it though." She finished with a grin.

she guessed her ease with the situation now came from her normal station she work constantly with infected at the walls and large beserkers around everytime you turned around working to patch up monsters wasn't easy it was made even worse when the average one could rip you in half even while injured, her unit was stuck in lycan terrritory until they could find a path through those damn forest back tracking into the ruins really only prolonged their supplies. She was frustrated about that situation and seeing the infected or hell even gangers get removed from her sight would take the edge off for her. mostly though she just wanted this over with.

Markus watched Sasha curiously for a moment her military like appearance reminded him slightly of his own, if his own was far younger, and far less disciplined. The fact was that if he was going into that train he was likely going to get shot at, and that was always annoying. Still they needed the use of the tunnels and that meant facing what ever the hell was inside them. “Stay quite and stay close.”

Walking down the anceant set of escalators he made sure to make as little sound as possible the gasmask making it so that his breathing couldn’t be heard he drew his magnum in all reality anything in here would probably know they had intruders. Still approaching the train he cept low and positioned himself against the broken down vehicle.

Markus wasn’t to surprised to hear voices coming from the train. At least three talking non-chalauntly possibly unaware that they were being observed at all, but it was too quick and too muffled to actually know what they were talking about. Still it confirmed his suspicion. “looks like a gang. At least three members, possibly one or two victims… don’t think they are all that smart. Id say we could go in guns blazing and catch them off guard.”

"And you're sure your human? That sounded so lycan it's not even funny." Sasha replied pulling her wire taunt. she looked back to see if they were being flanked and satified that they weren't made a suggestion. "You can go in guns blazing pretty easily I have no armor so I'll try and stick to stealth, plenty of shadows I could use to get around unnoticed." She said giving Markus a Skeptic look, gun's blazing that was a good way for her to get shot she could fix him up if he got hit but it's much more difficult to removed bullets from your own hide. she grinned at him as she observed his targets. Gang members were usually stupid it wouldn't be hard to take these guys out but still gang members were rarely in small numbers and they couldn't exactly see much further she sighed.

"Can't believe I'm saying this but if you kick in their door I'm right behind you I just prefer to avoid a bullet wound that's a bit embarrassing for a medic." She said placing a single needle in her mouth holding it with her teeth, she was ready but he was the leader here despite his oddity? He obviously had more experience in this than she did she really could only trust his judgement and try not to get shot. which was going to be a bitch of a job if they had automatic weapons, actually looting some of those might be a good idea. Sasha waied for markus' signal to move if they could take them out quickly any more gang members would be too late to help their friends and keep them from at least making a defendable position.

"I have killed enough Lican to know where i stand, but I am not really sure just how human i am anymore." Markus said with a slight laugh. moving towards the door he waited a moment, turning to her and nodding that she didn't really have armor. Putting her in danger would be reckless.

"Fine we sneak past, stay low and stay in the shadows." Turning off his goggles outer light his eyes went from a dull red to pitch black, the inside still lit internally by a low green light casting the world in night vision. moving past the door he started for the tunnel.

"You never did tell me why you are out here in these ruins." He said once they were past the train. Markus was starting to enjoy the company. unsure of how long she would stick around it was better then always talking to himself.

"Supplies Medical weapons and what not, my unit is staying in a compound a ways away from here. She said simply not actually saying much about herself. "Supplies were starting to get low so they sent me out to forage while they defended the place. There's only one other medic in our unit and he's not exactly the best under fire" Sasha finished. Markus was somebody to talk to and she really needed that at the moment hiding and running and not having a soul to talk to took it's toll after a while and she perfered company in any case to being alone.

They hadn't really run into anything for a while now it was odd that this place was so empty if this really was gang territory why hadn't she seen any one the way in? Where were they? this actually bothered her a bit she knew Markus came in here but he didn't look armed enough to take out all of the gangsters, besides that there were no bodies around not even half eaten ones. Sasha licked her lips nervously it was always better to be cautious when not in a sanctuary.

"I just noticed something odd, there's almost no one here...I know this place is dead but not even the walkers are around did something happen? I don't know how you got in but when i entered the city there was nothing around." She posed the question and rubbed her head, she couldn't wait until she got back.

Markus honestly hadn’t been paying attention to others. he was more focused on his own goals, and didn’t really care to notice the other bodies, but that was a good point… there hadn’t been any bodies. Inside the tunnel had been the most normal things got, but outside, had been almost clean.

Even now as he looked around the tunnel cast in his night vision. He couldn’t find something that he should see, something that was almost a perminant feature of ruins. “It’s not the lack of people ive noticed, that could be explained as they just aren’t around, or they have been delt with by the living dead. The real problem im having… is that I don’t see any blood.”

If people had been here, if people had died down here, then there should be blood. It was an ever present fact in ruins blood was everywhere as unsanitary as it was. “Give the air a good sniff, tell me what you can smell, I can’t smell anything with this gasmask on. But im betting that the air is… fresher then usual.”

If his theory was correct and he was praying that it wasn’t the air shouldn’t have the usual smells of rot or decay that an underground subway would have. Instead the old metro station would smell different possibly even hospitable, and if that was the case… Markus’ grip on his magnum tightened.

Sasha sniffed the air and frowned she looked over to Markus and quirked a eyebrow. Air was indeed fresher than normal the spoil of the plague wasn't as present as it used to be which was odd everyone assumed that the spoil never left once it claimed an area, most places had been ruined for at least a hundred years. something was off yes it was but she couldn't place her finger on it. it was actually worrying that the change had happened at all.

"Does that mean anything to you?" Sasha asked now looking like she was preparing for a fight. "Because this is news to me I have no clue what your talking about." She added looking at his gas mask trying to read his expression through the mask. With next to no success in the matter, freaking gas mask blocking her expression reading abilities. She felt the urge to punch it until it cracked but it was probably just pent up frustration.

"We just passed a gang, we just shot a bunch of infected, and yet theres nothing down here. the air is fresh, theres no smell of blood no sound of screams, no groans of pain. Nothing the air is clean, and that doesn't strike you as odd? Gangs are not smart, they don't clean up their victims unless its on their front door, after all you want your territory to be marked, which brings us to the other problem. The infected why would a gang allow a group of low level infected to just linger around their front door? that's dangerous not just to themselves but what ever potential victims they want, and finally there is the smell of fresh air. We are underground the air should be stagnant unmoved and covered with dust, but its not."

Markus bent down and examined the train tracks for a moment. "The ground is dusty meaning that people haven't come this way, and yet we just passed a living gang. essentially we are in a tunnel that can't exist. my information said that this ruin was well within gang territory, but I think we might be dealing with something cleaner. something that would keep ghouls and humans around, and yet have the power to control them and keep them content if at a distance. Something that wants to stay in the shadows, and yet needs a fresher source of air. Something that doesn't spill blood needlessly. Sasha it is a very real possibility that we walked right into a vampire's den and didn't even notice the signs, and if that's the case."

Markus turned at her looking her over for a second, "It would have known we were here before we knew it was."

"....Oh bloody fillings of Jonah, A vampire? Really this is freakin' I just hate the undead, at least the Vampiri aren't exactly dead. Still God fucking vampires." Sasha was pissed and cursing under her breath stretching her wire over and over again vampires did nothing but piss her off but that wasn't exactly what was bothering her she hadn't noticed the signs she was suppose to notice this stuff. "Well then at least this wire is now much more deadly, if we are in a vampire's territory we have to watch out for it's ghouls those guys take a lot more punishment than the infected." She spoke to herself hefting her weapon up.

"Okay so a vampire you got a plan to get us into the library without a vampiric asshole nomming on our faces?" She asked that was their goal now spliting up would just be stupid now and deadly Sasha flipped her mental state to horror survival because fuck dying in a place like this.

“If we come across it, chop off its head and impale its heart, Vampires are rather simple to deal with, and Silver ammunition is standard.”

Markus held up his magnum. “Or if we really want to lure it out, we could use live bait, and bring it to us. Either way Vampires, werewolves trust me when I say ive killed at least one of everything on this planet.” Markus wasn’t to afraid of a vampire, or even if it came down to it an entire kiss, such a thing could be dealt with as it always is. Through murder.

“So my plan, is the only real plan I ever have, if it tries to kill me I kill it. Stay close, and we should be fine with any luck its asleep and we can walk out once we get to the next station.” Markus said as he continued to walk down the halls. “You said you have a unit? What military are you with?”

"New York's, though My unit is normally operating closer to the northern part of the continent" She replied, brushing back her hair. "Unit has no name, section 14 tasked with interracial matters." Basically we make sure that New York does't became a target for an entire species." As she said this she looked around the area again, no time to get distracted gotta keep moving. She wasn't quiet at ease with staying put for too long, and she made this apparent. Get in and out fast that was the point she'd have to get a proper weapon later when she got back to her unit.

"Okay so hopefully we can get through without getting face raped by the undead okay I like that plan, it's simplicity is rather refreshing." She said smiling to herself. "Ready to move out whenever, I have you covered so now or never."

Section 13 was a bureaucratic arm of the military, Markus worked under section 5 New Yorks defensive lines and supply running. part of the reason he was allowed to travel so far from home was that it was part of his sections job to ensure that the front lines were secure and running scouting in the ruins of city. hence the sections other name the division of urban warfare. In short Markus smiled knowing that he didn't just outrank her, she was practically under his command and didn't even know it.

"Simplicity is what I prefer, Its a tactic that most of the military disagrees with me on, but for now I think it will serve the best of our interests." Markus said as he walked. the tunnel wasn't getting any darker or dustier in fact it was the same common stone walls that seemed to stretch on for more time then he could care to count.

Markus kept his magnum close to his body more from his training then anything else. he was relaxed but he studied everything with a trained eye, keeping tabs on the cleanliness of the place. "Really I can't be face raped as long as i have this gas mask on, so that threat can really only happen to you. Even so I don't think that we will have to much of a problem. I haven't even heard so much as a ghoul."

at that, there was a sound of rasping anger, almost as if karma its self had spawned the zombies which began to rise up from the rubble around them surrounding the two.

Sasha punched Markus in the arm, he had to say it he had to use that line. great good job wacko now they were knee deep in ghouls. Sasha wasn't fast but her reflexes were great for a human and her aim was true. She took aim on the two nearest her and markus and tapped the trigger on her SMG twice producing two short barks from the muzzle of the weapon. Her shots were quickly apparent on the ghouls forms holes appearing in their chest and head as they fell down. She waved her hand producing a few needles inside it and kept tapping the trigger on her SMG. Trying to keep this new issue back there wasn't anywhere to run.

"You just had to say it didn't you what ever happened to not uttering death sentences in these situations? I swear I have half a mind to use my only grenade right here and now. With thaat she twisted her hand and ripped off the head of a ghoul. "Fucking hate vampires, hate their ghouls hate their stupid kill count fuck them all!" She cursed angrily.

Markus shrugged as he was punched and brought up his magnum the higher caliber gun not only got the job of ghoul killing done, it did so quickly bringing down two ghouls in two shots. he turned on his heals and killed another, and then another. before stoping to reload. the gun had the capacity to shoot six bullets at a time but markus' training had taught him to reload when there was always one in the chamber for emergincies.

"What can I say I like the dramatic, at least things can't get any worse right?" Markus smiled under his gasmask as a force started to rise up under his feet throwing him off balance as his foot was grabbed and then he was suddenly pulled under the ground. in a matter of seconds the only thing that had been left of where markus had been standing was a large gaping hole that fell down into another tunnel.

Markus hit the ground but it was different then where he was laying now compared to where he had been standing moments before. the ground here was wet, damp and soft, as opposed to the strong dry ground he had been standing on. looking around he was only able to see thanks to the night vision his goggles produced, and what he saw...

-to be continued-

"Markus? Hey markus? Come on don't just stand there ldo something? Markus?" Sasha looked behind her and growled where was he? Where in the high holy fuck did he go? She spun around and shot more Ghouls as they came, he ditched her he fucking left her here how did he even do that? She let her SMG burp rounds towards the ghouls and reloaded snarling holding her wire as a defensive weapon. To say she was pissed would be underestimating the full glory of her rage, she was in the throes of what beserkers call Rage ecstasy. It just felt so~ good to be angry!

"I swear to I will KILL THAT MAN HEAR ME MARKUS? I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU! IF I HAVE TO KILL EVERYTHING IN HERE TWICE OVER!" She shouted as she shrunk down the number of Ghouls attacking her she wasn't sure how many there were but she had to run out of ammo at some point. Hopefully they would be dead before then she wasn't too confident about her abilities when she was surrounded which only served to fuel her anger more. She could only hope that Markus could hear her curse wherever he went.

Markus took a heavy sigh feeling that nothing was broken his vision clearing thanks to the green light the world was cast in it made seeing an easy enough case to work with. He still had his magnum but as he got to his feet he was unsure of where he was standing. he remembered the floor giving out, and up above he could still hear Sasha fighting and cursing above, but he didn't bother answering he was more pre occupied with what he was seeing down here.

It seems that the subway and construction, had as it often does in the city been built over an older pre existing structure, A crypt. the exact kind of place no one ever wants to be ever. the ground was soft and wet, becouse here in the darkness a fertal soil had been made, threw the discarding of bodies. In other words with all that he had seen above, and now all he could confirm below he had fallen into the home of the vampire. In particular the waist disposal area. the ghoul that had stupidly enough tried to pull him under, had been burried under the rubble of his falling, and the little light he see came from the hole in the ceeling above. For the moment Sasha was on her own.

Markus Drew his magnum. This was a good and bad thing, Kill the vampire after all and the ghouls it had made would turn into dust. Markus was thankful for his gasmask the smell here would be overwhelming even to a human, and the fact that he had landed in a pile of what he could only guess was fertile rot, Markus himself would have a masked scent. One perfict for hunting a vampire with.

Markus began to walk foward entering the crypt a vast and underground chasim. it was a race against time to find the vampire, if he was in luck it would be sleeping... oh hell he already knew it would be awake! Markus walked threw the crypt with as much haste as he could muster his body was sore, with any luck Sasha would find the giant pit and put 2 and 2 together, if she didn't well with any luck she would last long enough to appoligize too.

Unkown to Markus, his radio the one he had tuned to the same frequency as his gas mask, was still up above, landing on the ground thrown from his body when he fell.