“You guys okay?”

“We were lucky. We managed to turn it around. We won’t say no to some help though.” Anna replied.

“Okay, I’ll be-” Marcus was interrupted by a scav who managed to sneak close. Marcus heard him thanks to his headset, and he ducked into cover in one of the apartment rooms as pellets zipped by his head. Some winged him, his shield flaring as it absorbed the energy. But otherwise, Marcus was unscathed.

Peeking his head for a split second to find the shooter, Marcus saw the scav before it reacted and fired his weapon, missing Marcus by a hair as he pulled his head back into cover.

The scav was on the far end of the hallway, peeking around where the fire exit was located and is likely the one guarding it. Marcus had to give up the hallway, seeing as the scav had it covered. So, he made his way through the access holes punched through the walls to get a better angle.

He crept between the rooms and heard the scav was also moving in response. A lighter flicked open, followed by the rasp of striking flint. A fuse lit, followed by firecrackers exploding into loud, echoing explosions. The sounds drowned every other sound, effectively eliminating Marcus’ hearing advantage.

Marcus held his position, straining his ears to listen past but failed, opting to stay in position until the firecrackers ran out and everything fell into relative silence. A minute later of hearing nothing, Marcus moved. He couldn’t afford to out-wait the scav if he was still around, as he needed to help the others.

Ducking into one of the rooms, he raised his rifle and peeked inside. The shape of the man-sized hole didn’t give enough of a wide angle for Marcus to see everything inside the adjacent room, and so he slowly crouched to fit through.

He saw the scav too late. Still, Marcus saw the shotgun pointed his direction. He snatched at the end of the barrel and pushed it up and away from him. With a deafening boom, the shotgun fired, showering the both of them with pulverized concrete only for the scav to take a step back and send a swift frontal kick hitting Marcus’ chest.

Landing solidly, the kick knocked the wind out of Marcus and he fell onto his back. The scav followed quick, ducking into the other room and kicked the rifle away from Marcus’ grasp and racked the shotgun and pointed it to his face.

Seeing the end of a 12 gauge barrel pointed at him, Marcus rolled towards his attacker in a vain attempt to dodge.

It failed. Marcus felt the lead pellets sink into his gut as the point-blank shot shattered Marcus’ shields. Without them, he knew he wouldn’t have managed to survive the shot. Still alive, Marcus rolled again. He felt his body hit the Scav’s legs and so he reached over before he got away and rack another shell and grabbed at his legs.

Pulling with all his strength, Marcus knocked the leg under the scav and dropped him to the floor. He hit the ground with a loud thud, and Marcus heard a loud ‘oof’ coming from the man and crawled over him to keep him pinned.

The scav wailed at Marcus, trying to send fist after first in an effort to push him away, but a high guard was enough to keep the strikes from doing damage. Timing a chance between the punches, Marcus sent a solid straight at the Scav’s jaw, stunning him enough for Marcus to reach for his vest and pull out a knife.

Holding the Ka-bar in an icepick grip with both hands, Marcus thrust the blade down with all his strength, yelling at the full of his lungs as he felt the tip of the blade break through skin, flesh and grind through bone. “Die!” He yelled, over the scav’s dying breath, twisting the knife before wrenching it free.

Still in the heat of the battle, Marcus thrust the knife half a dozen more times before realizing that the scav was already dead.

It all felt too real. Marcus crawled away from the body to find himself covered in blood. Half of it was his, as an urgent alert informed him.

Warning!

Heavy bleeding x4

-20 health/3s

Marcus looked down at himself. Blood poured out of his belly. If it was any more real, then he expected his guts to be hanging out, splayed out like a purple serpent emerging from his body. Reaching for his vest, he felt for the Phoenix regenerator stim, the ‘good shit’ given by Columbus, before he left the station and jammed it close to the wounds.

Marcus panted as he rolled away. He laid on the floor for a moment, then looked at his bleeding abdomen. Reached for his vest for a stim, he pulled out ‘the good shit’ and stabbed it near the wound. The effect was immediate. Relief flooded through him, and Marcus looked at his wounds as the bleeding abated.

Attention!

Under the Phoenix Regenerator Stim, you are experiencing:

All bleeds stopped

No longer feel pain (600s)

+20 health/3s (600s)

Debuffs

Tremor (60 minutes)

X.8 Health (180 minutes)

X.8 Endurance

-90 Energy

-90 Hydration

The effect was immediate. Relief flooded through him as pain washed away. He looked once more at his wounds to see it close by itself and heal.

Marcus wanted to stay on the ground and take a breather, to think about what just happened, but he couldn’t afford to rest. With effort, Marcus got to his feet and picked up his rifle, kicked into the corner of the room. Checking the MDR, it was undamaged save for a few scratches. He checked the action to make sure.

“I just got jumped. I’m fine. How are you guys?” He asked through the radio.

“Doing fine, were at the fourth floor now, north side of the building against the last of the group. If you can help, then go ahead.” Anna replied.

“Roger that. I’ll do what I can from here.” Marcus replied. Gritting his teeth, he leaned on the wall and peeled his bloody shirt to look at his wounds once more. The punctured holes have healed into dried scabs.

Warning!

Foreign body inside body cavity

.9x health

Heightened risk of infection

Seeing the alert, he felt at his back. The skin was smooth, which only meant that the pellets have failed to penetrate and are still stuck in his body. “Fuck.” Marcus muttered.

With a quick sweep, Marcus checked the floor and found no other live scavs. Marcus tried listening for any more waiting in ambush inside the building. If there still were, then he would have to congratulate him for letting his comrades die.

Marcus stumbled back to where he suspected the ‘sweeper’ was and picked up the PKM discarded on the floor. The weapon was beat to hell, the paint had been sanded into bare metal. The stock had been cracked at some point and had been fixed with wood glue and a length of baling wire. Still, it looked to be in working order, and he checked the metal can attached had a 200-round belt already loaded.

Item Information:

The Street Sweeper (PKM)

A general purpose machine gun derived from the designs of the AK-47. Firing from an open bolt, it is less susceptible to ammunition cook off inside the chamber making it suitable for intense firing.

Caliber: 7.62x54R

Weight: 7.5Kg

Requirement: 8 Str.

Unique Named Rifle:

Can only be modified by the original owner. Further modification of weapon will remove bonuses.

Bonus:

+30 damage when shooting from an elevated position

Looking around, Marcus picked up an extra box of linked ammunition from the man with the SKS. He then carried the machine gun towards the south windows facing the other building and used his thermal scope to scout out for signatures.

Marcus could see glimpses of the two fighting against a group of scavengers on the southern side. The windows allowed Marcus to have a clear shot towards the scavengers. Looking at the gun, the Combat assistance system gave no help, and so Marcus had to rely on his own knowledge to operate the weapon.

Marcus had never shot the gun or anything like it but he had some idea from watching videos featuring the weapon.

He extended the bipod, laying it atop the barricades. Marcus then pulled at the charging handle extending from the side and watched as a live round spat out through an opened port. Already loaded, Marcus shouldered the stock and aimed at the windows.

Flicking the safety selector off, Marcus reached for the radio. “If you can, lure them forward so I could get a shot.”

“Okay.” Anna replied, and Marcus could see them trying to pull back.

Settling his breath, Marcus watched the windows in the opposite building, waiting. Gunfire erupted continuously from both ends of the opposite building in an uneven exchange. A scav then moved forward, presenting himself.

Marcus took aim and fired a controlled burst. Bullets impacted around the scav, puffing out a cloud of pulverized concrete. There was no further movement from his target and Marcus guessed that the first shot missed, then the rest following close, would likely take him out.

With the element of surprise now gone, Marcus continued to suppress the windows, pouring in burst after burst inside the buildings. “I’m suppressing.” Marcus reported on the radio. “Go and press the attack. They won’t be able to retaliate as much.”

Marcus continued laying down fire. He slowed as he noticed little movement and only for him to duck his head as the Scavs tried in vain to shoot back. The distance between the buildings and his cover rendered the shots ineffective as he continued pouring down rounds after rounds into the building.

Adding the effective spotting of the thermal, Marcus made sure that the scavs are effectively suppressed, allowing for Rex and Anna space and opportunity to flank around and take them out.

The gun then ran out of ammunition. The belt fell off the gun and Marcus reached for the other can containing a fresh two hundred round belt.

With the CAS unavailable to him, Marcus took the tab on the end of the belt and inserted it through the chute. He didn’t want to fiddle with the top cover and so he pulled the tab to the other side and racked the bolt back. He felt the belt engage, and he fired, only for an empty clunk as the bolt was sent forward on an empty chamber.

They said that the loudest sound in a battlefield is the click of an empty rifle, and Marcus found it to be true. Reaching for the charging handle, he racked it again and watched as the belt moved up one more round and hoped that it would work this time. Marcus aimed at a scav peeking over the window and fired.

He was rewarded with a staccato of fire, and Marcus eased at the trigger. There were less scavs moving about in the next building with Anna and Rex moved up forward, tightening the noose. Soon, their defenses melted from the combination of frontal charges and harassing fire on their flanks. With a triumphal fist, Rex stood on the end of the balcony. Anna stood close by, shaking her head.

“You guys good?” Marcus asked.

“We’ve burned through all medical supplies, ammo is almost gone. Problem now is sifting through all these loot and making sure no one else comes for a third party. You?” Anna replied.

“A bit roughed up. Caught a buckshot in the gut. Still alive and suffering through the debuffs.”

“You need help?”

“No, no. Its already healed over. We could just rush it so I could get back to the ship and get treatment there. Loot what you can within fifteen minutes and we’ll meet up.”

“Okay.” Anna replied.

With that, Marcus around the building to collect their take. He moved and sifted through the dead bodies, and checked the unopened crates. It contained some food and water, along with some ammunition. There were other energy weapons collected, and he guessed they were looted from other players as none of the scavs carried them.

Fifteen minutes later, Marcus finished looting the scavs and laid their guns and ammunition to one side. Everything added up to quite a bit of a haul, with half a dozen shotguns of varying make, three SKS rifles, a couple of pistols, the PKM, and a Mosin, which Marcus preferred to call the garbage rod.

For ammo, they got ahead with a couple hundred 7.62x39, couple boxes of 9mm and boxes of 12-gauge shotgun shells of different types ranging from buckshot and bird shot to slugs. For the higher calibers, a few packets of 7.62x54r left from an opened ammo can and what’s left of the second ammo can for the PKM.

Luckily, there were bags on the location and all Marcus could do was to load them inside. With his added strength stat, his carry weight increased, but the amount of loot collected dictated that he would have to take the rest of the trip over encumbered.

“How heavy do you think we have in here?” Marcus asked the two as they met up by the street. They had collected all the valuable loot in one of the building’s rooms enough to make a small mound. The three stood by, looking at the haul and Marcus looked at the two, who looked like they had been in the same deep shit as he did.

“More than we could carry.” Rex replied.

“Actually,” Anna called, “I might have something that might help.”

“Oh, come on. You’re not calling them, are you?” Rex protested.

“Who?” Marcus asked. If there were going to be others included on this run, he felt he needed to at least know who they were.

“Some friends.” Anna winked. “They have a vehicle which they can use to come and pick us up. For a price, of course.”

“And these guys, you trust them at least?” Marcus asked.

“They’re solid. If they’re around, they can be here in no time.”

“Alright. Go ahead.”

“Okay. I’ll call them.” Anna said, pulling out a satellite phone and dialing a number. She set it on speaker and the three waited for the phone to ring.

“If were going to get a ride, I’m going to get the rest.” Rex muttered, leaving.

Watching Rex get up the stairs, Marcus stayed with Anna as the call connected.

“Hello? Yeah. We need a pickup. On the exit one mile north of the ship. The one where noobs are told not to go.”

“No no. We don’t need backup. We need a quick extract. We also have some loot with us that’s too heavy to carry.”

“Just get here. We’ll be waiting.”

“So now we wait.” Anna said, ending the call.

“Cool.” Marcus replied, “I’ll go get the rest too.” he said, going back to the building to retrieve the loot he left for weight.

Marcus heard the vehicle long before it rumbled down the ramp. Its padded treads thumped against the asphalt, echoing far into the silent city. A stealthy vehicle, it was not.

Surprised, Marcus could only look at Anna as the boxy shape of an M113 rumbled down the road armed with an M2 Browning machine gun mounted on top and was fitted with armor slats to protect the gunner. For the moment, no one was manning it and Marcus watched as the armored personnel carrier stopped in front of them, then turned in place.

The commander’s hatch popped open and out came a blond woman wearing desert camo fatigues, a tanker’s helmet and a grease stained face. “Hey Anna! Hey Rex!” she greeted with a beaming smile.

Finding the APC crewed by a woman was another surprise layered atop the vehicle itself rolling down the street. He looked at Anna, who greeted the tankers with a smile of her own. The APC commander hopped out of the vehicle to meet her with a hug as the rear hatch opened with a pneumatic hum.

The commander then released her hug with Anna and turned to give it to Rex, which was looking shy and hesitant as he wrapped his hands around her.

Awkward, Marcus stepped back and looked around and used his thermal to scan the buildings.

“So. Who’s this guy?” A blond woman reaching about the same age as Anna looked Marcus up and down. Feeling more like a piece of hanged meat, Marcus could only look back raise his eyebrow at her.

“Ripley, this is Hartdegen. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, then you should know that he cleared an entire building by himself and helped with ours too in the process.”

“Oh, cool.” Ripley nodded, looking around and looked at the pile of weapons. “What happened to the creepy guys?”

“They ditched us when we ran to Hartdegen here. They thought he was going to PK them. But he won’t have to after they kicked us off their own group to keep the quest rewards for themselves. I’ll gladly do it myself.”

“Look. I hope you girls don’t mind me cutting into your conversation, but I think this isn’t the time and place to share stories right now.”

“You’re right. Go on then, get your loot loaded up so we could get on the road.”

Marcus nodded and loaded their cargo while the two women stood by the side, continuing their conversation as if this was the perfect place for it and letting the men do the work. Marcus carried a bag inside and locked eyes with a female driver. She wore the same desert cookie camo with her tanker’s helmet. Strands of black hair peeked under the helmet. Saying nothing, she simply nodded. Marcus nodded back and turned to get another bag of loot.

Soon the interior of the M113 designed to carry eleven fully armed men quickly filled up as they stacked bags of guns, assortments of bullets, gear and other random stuff. Unluckily, none of items they found to fit the materials Marcus required to fill his shopping list. Still, it didn’t bother him much as he expected to fill it the moment he gets back on the ship.

With all the loot loaded up. Marcus joined Anna and Rex in the rear compartment. The hatch rolled up and Ripley crawled through the commander’s hatch, securing it, and Marcus felt his ears pop from the positive pressure inside the compartment. “Oh. Marcus, I bet you have met Adept. She doesn’t talk. I mean she can, she just prefers not to.”

“I bet she has a sweet voice.” Marcus replied.

Adept started the tank. The diesel engine roared and replaced the quiet inside the tank. Marcus could barely hear anything inside, even with his headset. The APC then lurched forward, and they were underway.

Through the thin padded seats, Marcus could feel the individual tracks as they hit the concrete, along with the APC leaning back as it ascended the ramp. The M113 then gained speed, which made the journey more comfortable, but not much. From the vibrations, Marcus could feel the lead pellets still lodged in his gut and promised that he’ll have to run to the hospital the moment he gets out of the vehicle.

Still, even with the noise, the cramped conditions, and the pain in his gut, Marcus found himself leaning back and relaxing. It was the first moment in a few hours where he found himself not reacting to any noise nor not looking out for any danger. Add the haul and the armored car, it was looking like running with Anna and Rex turned out to be one of the best decisions he had so far.