The Petra Project Chapter Five: Blades and Bullets.

McKenzie slowly flipped the safety off, nodding to Steve as he did so. The larger man hefted his chosen weapon, a beastly .30 caliber M-60E4 medium machine gun, and stepped out around the corner, the High intensity targeting laser lancing out in front of him.1

They were a few miles into the downtown section of Annapolis, and they were on the hunt.2

It had been two days since the recon team had met the Viviane at the shipyards. And after much waiting, the senate had contacted them. They were ordered to proceed with the pre-approved objective of reconnoitering the shipyards, with one minor deviation. The senate wanted the squad to capture a sample of the infected for examination in the Viviane’s laboratory, with Petran Scientists observing via live video feed. But to do that, they needed an infected. 3

And so they hunted. Steve and McKenzie were the stalkers, creeping through the eerily empty structures that comprised the downtown sector. Their backup came in the form of Joshua, perched atop a nearby building on overwatch. Since Katherine was the team’s biologist, she had come along as well, and was acting as Josh’s Spotter as they scanned the streets for movement.4

Steve and McKenzie were currently on the second floor of an abandoned bank building. Equal parts reckless and cautious, they swept through the buildings at breakneck speed, perfectly coordinated, weapons sweeping back and forth, fields of fire carefully considered and overlapping. They had been maintaining their pace for nearly three hours. Kick in a door, leapfrog into the lobby, sweep through the first floor, then second, then, sprinting to the top floor and working their way downward. The plan was to either swoop in and kill any infected they found, or herd them out into the streets, where Josh could put them down with his Scout.5

In the meantime, the rest of the squad was in the shipyard, digging through the remnants of what had once been the United States’ Navy. Asher And Philip would first clear the ship, observing and analyzing as they went, then moving onto the next ship in line. John and Alex would follow behind them, conducting a more detailed examination of the state of the ship, its’ weapons systems, communications gear, and overall structural soundness.6

Having started at six-am, they were almost a quarter of the way through by two o`clock in the afternoon. That was when the call came over the radio.7

“Arthur, this is Gawain. We’ve got a positive contact. It appears we have located several of the infected on the third story of the Annapolis Real Estate Association. Requesting permission to engage per mission objective.”8


“Arthur here. Fall back for a minute while I consider.”9

Arthur pulled out a small digital device, similar to an mp-3 player. Except that unlike an mp-3 player, it didn’t store music. It stored a full satellite survey of the United States, in high-res. He tapped in a command on the touch screen, and brought up a satellite view of the Building in question. 10

“Lancelot, this is Arthur. Do you have a visual on the building in question?”11

Josh’s voice crackled into his ear. Between breaths, Josh spoke.12

“Lancelot here. Moving to a more favorable overwatch position. Should have eyes on target in three.”13

“Arthur here. Did you hear that Gawain? Wait four minutes, then take them down as you and Bors think best. Do try to bear in mind that we need enough left intact to examine.”14

Mckenzie chuckled softly, gave Steve the thumbs-up.15

“We’ll do our best sir. Gawain, out.”16

Sure enough, three minutes later found josh on the third story of an adjacent building, kneeling several yards away from the window that faced the Real Estate building.17

“Lancelot here for Gawain. I’ve got positive confirmation of seven targets. They’re in a room that seems to take up most of the floor. How do you want to do this?”18

McKenzie was still chuckling, a quiet, unsettling noise to most people. Then again, Josh wasn’t most people, and had known McKenzie his entire life. They were closer than most brothers, and thought so similarly that it disturbed most of their peers. 19

“Gawain here, Lancelot. We’re rolling in hot, gonna hit em fast. I want you to cover us. You see something happening, see one we miss, I need you to intervene. Got that?”20

“Got it Gawain. Hit first…”21

McKenzie finished the sentence:22

“Hit Fast. Gawain out.”23

Josh, watching from across the street, saw a flash as the door disintegrated. The two largest members of the team blurred through the door. Isolated bursts of flame flashed from McKenzie’s G-36’s muzzle as he led in, and Josh saw the two Infected nearest the door stagger as bursts punched into their chests. As McKenzie pivoted left, Steve came through the door like the angel of death, the M-60’s stock tucked tight into his armpit, one hand clamped onto the forward grip. As the laser alighted on two of the Infected, Steve clamped the trigger down. Even from across the street and through two double-thick layers of glass, the roar of the beastly weapon made josh flinch. The Infected didn’t so much fall as they… disintegrated under the wall of lead and fire that Steve poured into them. 24

Josh watched as McKenzie, on the far side of his room, approached one of the few doors. He slammed it open with a shoulder and rolled in, weapon panning about the empty room. As he was about to exit, josh noticed a flash of movement. One of the other doors exploded off its hinges and an infect sprinted out. He was out of McKenzie’s line of sight, but approaching him fast. Josh managed to get a shot off, but so fast was the thing moving that he couldn’t be certain of a hit. McKenzie and the infected reached the door at roughly the same. The infected smashed both arms into the stock of McKenzie’s rifle, sending it flying. The next part was a blur to Josh.25

What happened almost too fast for Josh to follow was that McKenzie spun in the same direction as the blow, gaining a bit of distance. In the same movement, he drew a long, slender Talwar from where it hung across the small of his back and, using the additional momentum of the spin, swept it through both of the Infected’s arms. The man howled as his arms, from the elbow down, flopped to the ground. It barely resisted when McKenzie drove his combat boot into its stomach, throwing it onto its back. Before the thing could begin to get up, there was a boot on its chest, a sword resting on its throat, and a Sig Sauer P226 X-Five Bianchi pointed squarely at its head. Somewhere in the rubble that used to be a man’s consciousness, something clicked, and he quit attempting to rise. 26

Meanwhile, Steve had cut down another with his golf-cart sized death dealer. He found the last one and was pivoting towards it when there was a thunderous report, accessorized by the sound of breaking glass, and the final Infected’s head mostly disappeared. Josh came over the radio.27

“hahahahaha…. Whoo… you should have seen your face Bors. I just have to ask, did you piss yourself when I shot him? And what about you Gawain? You alive?”28

McKenzie still had his Sig trained on the fallen man as he spoke. “Bors, you owe me four-hundred dollars.”29

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” Steve shouted, “You already used your sword? This was our first mission! Exactly when did I have a chance to use mine? This wasn’t a fair bet…”30

“Yeah,” McKenzie said, “kind of surprised me too. Anyways, Gwinnie’s probably gonna want to see this. I got one alive for about… eight minutes if Steve still knows how to run a tourniquet.”31