Chapter 30 Red Hawk Stadium Evacuation

“You guys did well holding out for as long as you could. I can’t imagine the struggle you must have faced.” Commander Dread introduced himself to the exhausted group of FPD officers then asked: “Who is in charge here.”

“I am. You may address me as Lieutenant Fain.” She stepped forwards and offered her deepest gratitude to the BCDF forces. “Thank you so much for your timely rescue, Commander Dread. If it weren’t for your arrival we wouldn’t have made it through. Please accept our gratitude, sincerely.”

“Gratitude accepted, Ms Fain. We don’t have a lot of time to waste on pleasantries. Gather your people and meet us outside. They are transport vessels waiting to take you all to safety.” Commander Dread signalled his men to help carry out the injured folks who couldn’t walk on their own.

“Alright, everyone! You can come over now! These men will take us all to safety. Make haste before another unexpected event arises.” When Lieutenant Fain finished speaking, the disorganized civilians above the escalator began regrouping at the station’s entrance.

“We’re saved. God answered our cry for help. Thanks for your mercy, O’lord. I promise not to squander the second life that you’ve given me.”

“Tsk, these goddamn bible lickers. It is those officers and soldiers who put their lives on the line you should be thanking for saving your holy ass. Not some invisible entity in the sky.”

“I don’t know about god or whatever but I am glad that I get the chance to meet my family again.”

“Me too. I can’t wait to get out of this shithole to blow off some steam.”

“You people are quite something. Where is that trepidation from earlier? Now that reinforcement has shown up that doesn’t justify our safety 100%. We are still within the range of the hazardous gas and who knows if any of those monsters will ambush us while we are evacuating. Just don’t celebrate too early until you’re completely sure.”

“I agree with this person, he seems smart.”

“Smart or not. His skinny ass was cowering in a corner when those monsters attacked. Where was his friggin lips when we needed assistance? Just shut the eff up you talker!”

“Officer Ryan, bring the girl.” Lieutenant Fain saw to it that every civilian who was coming out of the station entered the transport vehicles safely. After accomplishing this, she instructed her underlings to retrieve Selene’s corpse from inside the private room.

“I’ll see to it right away Lieutenant Fain.” [Chep! Chep! Chep!] Officer Ryan ran back into the station to pick up Selene’s unconscious body from the private room.

Lieutenant Fain observed her surrounding and noticed that only around the station area was free of the toxic gas. “Commander Dread, can I have a word?”

“Sure, what is it? Did you forget something inside?”

“No, that isn’t what I wish to speak about. Can you tell me what was in those canisters you and your men set off in the station earlier to eradicate the toxic gas along with the beasts’ remnants?”

“Oh, that?” Commander Dread showed Lieutenant Fain the small volatile canister he was tossing up and down in his hand. “It was all thanks to this puppy that our weapons facility recently developed, Lignum Bombs. We don’t have a lot of them in stock due to the shortage of resources. But our General permitted us to use these at our discretion.”

“I see.” Lieutenant Fain thought internally. ‘All of a sudden this Lignum essence is becoming a fundamental source of our survival which benefits Liberal Vista greatly seeing as how they are the sole supplier. I wonder, did the Fahtier rebels had a hand in this terror attack after all?’

[Boom!] While the civilians were settling into the evacuation vessels a sudden explosion rang out in the distance. Commander Dread glanced at the clock tower and smiled. “Looks like the General accomplish his mission. The toxic gas isn’t spreading anymore.”

Commander Dread went ahead in the main armoured vehicle and told the others to move out. [Vrm! Vrm!] The evacuees were on their way to the Red Hawk stadium; an area that was out of the danger zone.

General Vragpuss being accompanied by his men were standing at the clock tower’s summit where the biohazard canister was situated. The canister no longer had its large diffusers which were spewing out poison gas, moreover, the important mechanism responsible for vaporizing the chemical compound within could no longer function.

“We had to detonate only the diffusers to protect the chemical from spilling. We’re taking this sample back to the research facility for analysis. Probably they could identify the chemical compound inside this batch and give us a proper explanation as to what caused this town’s inhabitants to turn into monsters.”

“Yes, General!” The soldiers lifted the broken canister after wrapping it tightly with thin rubbery material. They packed it into the back of their truck then set off to the rendezvous point at the quarantined border. Majority of the unit remained behind to annihilate the Fart Mutant’s stragglers. While this mission was in progress, the military aircrafts circulating the contaminated zone were spraying liquefied Lignum essences across the airspace to purify the biohazard’s toxicity. [Spsh! Spsh!]

An array of armoured vehicles that not too long ago came out of the quarantined danger zone, were driving through the Red Hawk stadium’s emergency entrance. They were transporting the last set of evacuees. A lot of helicopters were also pouring in droves.

Red Hawk stadium’s main court had myriads of huge tents set up and swarming around these large tents were uncountable sick individuals. From a bird’s eyes perspective, the stadium seemed to be overrun by a colony of disorganized ants. Some Injured and wounded folks were even being treated outside of the medical camps due to the overflowing capacity.

Aside from the evacuees, exhausted officers and injured civilians, many news reporters were on the scene taking statements. A popular news helicopter belonging to CN7 network was hovering over the stadium with their cameraman taking continuous footage of the haphazard scenery below. The gorgeous reporter tuning her microphone began her statement.

“Good evening. I am Emily Stewart reporting for CN7 news. We’ve just received updated information from our sources on the ground. They’ve informed us that the BCDF (Bay City Defence Force) has already taken care of the contagious anomaly that has been contaminating the downtown district of Upaya. We are currently hovering the Red Hawk stadium where the evacuees are being transported. As you can clearly see through our camera’s eye, several medical tents are spread about the stadium’s huge field and are tending to the wounded individuals who escaped the dreadful terrorist attack. I can’t say for certain how these people might be feeling as of now but I can imagine their pain of losing their love ones. [Beep! Beep!] Huh? Hold on a sec. It seems that our network is receiving an urgent transmission from our ground sources. Dadra Gordon, how is the situation below?”

An elegant lady in red was resting against a stretcher with visible bandages all over. Her minor injuries were being tended to by a medical affiliate as she reported the news. “Thank you, Emily, for switching transmission feed. Behind me, an armoured military truck has just entered the stadium coming from the danger zone. We have reason to believe that one of the key players responsible for the dreadful terror attack on our city is being held captive inside.”

Emily Stewart was startled by this bit of vital information. “What? Repeat that statement just now, Dadra.”

“It is as I’ve said, Emily. I have heard that the person responsible for the contagious incident which transformed most of the downtown city’s inhabitants into monstrosities is currently being held captive inside that military truck behind me. Oh wait a moment, I think someone is coming out. Huh, is that…? A small group of soldiers are carrying out a person in cuffs. Oh! It’s her! It’s her! Are you seeing this Emily? Let’s get closer.” Dadra Gordon along with her camera crew ran over towards the military troops who were transporting the culprit.

“I can’t believe my eyes, viewers. It is the same criminal suspect who caused a major disturbance at the Ketsuga Burger Restaurant yesterday along with the aid of the infamous Fahtier rebels! The 22-year-old female, Selene L. Gomez. She is a young scion from an influential household who once presided over Bay City’s senatorial candidacy! I’m appalled at finding out that she was involved in this dreadful terror incident!”

Selene was still unconscious while being carried off to a detention facility. Because of the sudden news broadcast, everyone in Bay City now knew one of the culprits of the unprecedented terrorist attack that had taken many lives of Upaya’s inhabitants.

“No! This can’t be! MY DEAR DAUGHTER!” Mr Gomez hollered out in his living room after watching CN7 news report. His furious temperament almost caused an earthquake to shatter their residence. Mr Gomez was very concerned for his daughter’s safety while as Isabel Gomez was worried for their family’s reputation.

“No! Our family is completely ruined now all because of that disgraceful girl!”

“Calm down Isabel. Don’t raise your pressure. Our baby girl didn’t mean to cause any of this. There must be some sort of misunderstanding. I’m sure of it.”

“Misunderstanding? Tell that to the FPD constables who will be coming to kick down our doors later!” [Thud!] Isabel Gomez fainted in her husband’s arm. The thought of their family name being dragged throughout the mud of history as a clan who birthed a new generation of terrorists who had reaped the life of thousands innocence made her mind shutdown.

“Isabel get a hold of yourself.” Mr Gomez placed his wife down on the sofa to recalibrate her bearings. “I am going to contact some people who still owe me favours to help out.” [Dial! Dial!]