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Everyone always has those days where they live like it's their last.

                        What if it was.

        Over a course of years, civilization collapsed. People just, started dying, dropping off like flies. Then few turned into some. Some turned into towns. Towns turned into Cities. Then just like that, half of the world as we knew it, gone.

        Growing up on those sci-fi horror movies, where anything that could go wrong with a virus cure WOULD, numbed an entire generation to fact that it actually could and was plausible. Not only, were we the generation of young minds that would find the answer to the world's greatest biological threats, but the generation of our futures reckoning.

        Things like Resident Evil, World War-Z, The Last of Us, I Am Legend, Alone In The Dark, DayZ- Fuck even The Hunger Games- Became visual gospel to those remaining. We had dozens of them- movies, games, novels, comics- all warning us!

        Showing us, telling us why altering the fabrication and structure of something we don’t understand and trying to play god and savior was always going to doom us all.



        But our generation was always stubborn

                        We didn’t listen...

-2020; Sydney Center. Present Day-

        "-ost… -HOST-!..."

        The dull call echoed louder through the makeshift barrack's thick steel walls, the urgency rising as the voice drew closer to the soldier's sleeping quarters.

        "Ghost-!!" A cold hand pulled at his shoulder as he was ripped from his slumber. A glint of shining silver flashed in front of the younger mans eyes as the soldier's arm flung up from under his pillow as he was pulled back. The carving knife's point hovered at the man's throat, brushing his adams apple as Ghost's eyes focused on the target at the end of the knife, sheathing the thick blade realizing it wasn’t a threat.

        "You better have a damn good reason for waking me up like that, kid"

        "The first division, the wall scouts-"

        "Are not under my charge tonight! They're Hawk's problem so why are you-"

        "She's missing, Ghost…"

        Ghost's eyes snapped up, a savage scowl creased his brow intensifying the battle scars that lined the contours of his face, jaw and neck. He was on his feet, knife now strapped to his thigh, handgun fetched from his footlocker and set into the holster that nestled his ribs. Ghost rarely removed his weapon vest, for exact situations like this, where he'd have to gear up and do so quickly. He strode over to two more bunks punching the sleeping men who grunted in annoyance at their rude awakening.

        "On your feet, now!"

        "Fuck off, bro. Get someone else I just got back-"

        "Fox is missing…"

        The raven haired man looked over his shoulder, his argument caught in his throat as the brunette bunked above him sat up straight and flung himself over the edge to the floor.

        "How long ago did we get news" Ghost barked over his shoulder at the messenger on the move, the other two men gearing up as they followed him out of the chambers, down the hall and right into the armory. The younger man gawked at the arsenal he stepped into, he'd walked past it in the few weeks he'd be rescued, but it had always been locked so he'd never seen the impressive interior behind the doors, "Grunt! Answer me!".

        The man's eyes snapped forward onto Ghosts deathly glare, making him shrink into himself like a boy being scolded by his father, "Not five minutes ago. They came back from patrol, no injuries or casualties, just two men unaccounted for"

        "Two?" The brunette snapped in confusion as he clipped the Auto-Rifle supports to his chest, the raven fixing the shotgun against the brunette's back, "You said Fox, why didn’t you mention the other!".

        "Hawk knew Ghost would come quicker if I mentioned her first" the man admitted quietly looking to the floor ashamed. Ghost growled almost demonically as he slid the sniper rifle into place against his back. He hitched another pair of hand guns into the holsters against the back of his waist and fastened the full ammo belts low against his hips.

        "Who is the other missing person?" The raven haired soldier asked clipping a small line of flash, shatter and smoke grenade's to his belt, before he too locked his prized twin, black chrome, Tokyo Marui OPS Tactical 45s into their holsters against his thighs.

        "Alistair". A genuine sigh of relief escaped Ghost's lips as they curved upward slightly into a smirk. He looked back over his shoulder, the other two were slightly smiling as well.

        "At least we know she's in safe hands" the brunette chuckled lightly as all three staunched past the messenger, unhooking a special Ops stealth looking mask from hooks lining the armory entrance. The raven pushed the man out of the armory, locking the doors behind them and smirked at his disappointment as Ghost lead the way.

        "Ain't no ones hands safer than mine…" Ghost shot back over his shoulder bitterly leading them right, down the rest of the lengthy hallway towards the old entertainment center café and entrance hall, "But his will have to do for now…".

        The moment Ghost broke sight through the double doors into Hawk's line of vision, he was set upon by the restless and worried crowd. He raised open hands, calming everyone into a quiet whisper as he looked over the crowd, "Everyone please just stay calm, they haven't been missing long and it's two of our sharpest shooters", he paused and let those two key facts sink into everyones mind, "Drawing on this I doubt anything has happened to them, they probably took a wrong turn at a junction and got separated. Saiyan, Archer and I are going to find them and bring them home"

        "Ghost i-" Hawk called from the back surround by the others, his voice catching in his throat as Ghost pointed at him sternly through the crowd.

        "And I'll deal with you, when I get back. Recovery, move!" Ghost bellowed jerking his head in the direction of the arena entrance. The guards swiped the security tags sending the auto door lights green, letting them leave before they hissed shut again behind them.

        "Masks on, fellas… Let's find us a Fox" the raven haired soldier, Archer, sighed slipping his mask on over his head as they all strode towards the wall. It was a giant, monstrous construction, made of concrete, metal hooks and spires and razor wire, standing just shy of thirty feet tall and ten feet wide front to back. The newly destroyed "Governments", as they liked to be called, had built these hideous eye sores to separate cities into districts. The checkpoints, or Zone Gates where just as ugly and prison worthy. Pure Graphene cages, with solid, rolling slam-latch doors. The supporting fame works where embedded another ten feet into the ground in the unlikely event that people would even try and ram them down to get through to other districts. Now, they were one of the only things keeping whatever was on the other side, out.

        "Ladies first" Saiyan grinned like a fool through his mask, the only visible evidence of his smile being his cheeks squishing up against the edge of his eyes. Ghost shook his head pulling the thick door back slightly, only far enough to squeeze through sideways, Saiyan following close behind, Archer tailing up the rear. They squeezed through the second gate in the same fashion, sliding the gates shut as they passed through, Ghost shuddering once they stood in the open of what remained of George Street.

        "Its always colder on the other side, huh…" Saiyan said softly as he scanned the area cautiously. Ghost and Archer also looked about in silence before Ghost started to move, jogging lightly towards the afternoon route start and finish location. A few blocks from the gate, Ghost stopped and peered cautiously around the corner through the District Four gate to their destination, Town Hall Station.

        They where District Two, passing through that gate lead them in towards District Four. District One was no mans land, containing Central Station and all its sublevel tunnels, it meant it was suicide to try and fortify a defence in a zone that had so many tunnels and sub level gates to maintain and be secured. Routine checks underground in the stations where mandatory, it kept the camps within districts alert, aware of Shade activities and hopefully, safe. The underground train lines had their own check points and gates, meaning they always knew where their borders started and ended, never strayed too far past the "One Kilometer until check point" warning signs.

        The afternoon route looped north, away from Central station, heading up the tracks toward Wynyard and Milsons Point before banking around the Eastern perimeter edge of Darling Harbor and back up to Town Hall station entrance. As one group would return to camp, another would go out and patrol the west side of the harbor, looping out in a similar fashion, once a week, in each direction progressing a block further into the city, trying to find any survivors and reclaim as much as they can with neighboring Camps in other districts. Not that there where many of those left.

        Ghost flagged his hand forward and moved up, his assault rifle raised scanning every inch of the street as Saiyan and Archer tailed him. The gate was still slightly open, she hadn't come back through. Ghost squeezed through, then Saiyan, Archer up the rear, pausing momentarily as he raised the scope of his rifle to his dark brown eye. A shock of movement into a destroyed Seven-Eleven made him swallow thickly as he backed through the gate.

        "Arch?" Saiyan whispered as the taller man bumped into him.

        "Movement" his bone chilling reply.

        "Are you sure? It's still an hour till dusk" Saiyan hissed as Ghost let his rifle hang from his chest, pulling the Snipe from between his shoulders and peered through the greater powerful scope.

        "Where…"

        "Seven-Eleven. Two O'Clock"

        Ghost altered his view slightly to his right, peering through the magnifying scope into the store front. A sudden dart of movement between the gutted isles made Ghost nervous and he motioned for the gates to be shut. Archer obeyed without question, carefully and as quietly as he could, closing both gates. Ghost turned on his heel putting the Snipe back against his shoulders and gripped his rifle tightly, chewing his cheek in irritation. He hated the tunnels, especially on dusk, this is when he'd end up adding another scar to the collection. Dusk was always the most dangerous time, because the Shades, just like most predatory hunters, are best at dawn and dusk. Archer cracked his neck as he stepped up behind Saiyan and Ghost, who stared blankly down the stairs into the Stations unwelcoming belly.

        "You all good, Ghost?" Archer asked softly, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze. Saiyan leant forward slightly, peering at Ghost through the corner of his mask when there was no reply, just constant, shaky breathing.

        "I'm good… Just worried about her…" he finally murmured, starting to scuff his way down the tiled stairs.

                "I'm sure she's fine. When have you known Fox not to put up a fight?" Archer said with a hint of amusement in his tone. Ghost flashed a suggestive look back at his brother, making Archer shake his head with a huff of laughter as Saiyan giggled at his own thoughts, "On second thought, please don’t answer that".

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Everyone always has those days where they live like it's their last.

                        What if it was.

        Over a course of years, civilization collapsed. People just, started dying, dropping off like flies. Then few turned into some. Some turned into towns. Towns turned into Cities. Then just like that, half of the world as we knew it, gone.

        Growing up on those sci-fi horror movies, where anything that could go wrong with a virus cure WOULD, numbed an entire generation to fact that it actually could and was plausible. Not only, were we the generation of young minds that would find the answer to the world's greatest biological threats, but the generation of our futures reckoning.

        Things like Resident Evil, World War-Z, The Last of Us, I Am Legend, Alone In The Dark, DayZ- Fuck even The Hunger Games- Became visual gospel to those remaining. We had dozens of them- movies, games, novels, comics- all warning us!

        Showing us, telling us why altering the fabrication and structure of something we don’t understand and trying to play god and savior was always going to doom us all.



        But our generation was always stubborn

                        We didn’t listen...

-2020; Sydney Center. Present Day-

        "-ost… -HOST-!..."

        The dull call echoed louder through the makeshift barrack's thick steel walls, the urgency rising as the voice drew closer to the soldier's sleeping quarters.

        "Ghost-!!" A cold hand pulled at his shoulder as he was ripped from his slumber. A glint of shining silver flashed in front of the younger mans eyes as the soldier's arm flung up from under his pillow as he was pulled back. The carving knife's point hovered at the man's throat, brushing his adams apple as Ghost's eyes focused on the target at the end of the knife, sheathing the thick blade realizing it wasn’t a threat.

        "You better have a damn good reason for waking me up like that, kid"

        "The first division, the wall scouts-"

        "Are not under my charge tonight! They're Hawk's problem so why are you-"

        "She's missing, Ghost…"

        Ghost's eyes snapped up, a savage scowl creased his brow intensifying the battle scars that lined the contours of his face, jaw and neck. He was on his feet, knife now strapped to his thigh, handgun fetched from his footlocker and set into the holster that nestled his ribs. Ghost rarely removed his weapon vest, for exact situations like this, where he'd have to gear up and do so quickly. He strode over to two more bunks punching the sleeping men who grunted in annoyance at their rude awakening.

        "On your feet, now!"

        "Fuck off, bro. Get someone else I just got back-"

        "Fox is missing…"

        The raven haired man looked over his shoulder, his argument caught in his throat as the brunette bunked above him sat up straight and flung himself over the edge to the floor.

        "How long ago did we get news" Ghost barked over his shoulder at the messenger on the move, the other two men gearing up as they followed him out of the chambers, down the hall and right into the armory. The younger man gawked at the arsenal he stepped into, he'd walked past it in the few weeks he'd be rescued, but it had always been locked so he'd never seen the impressive interior behind the doors, "Grunt! Answer me!".

        The man's eyes snapped forward onto Ghosts deathly glare, making him shrink into himself like a boy being scolded by his father, "Not five minutes ago. They came back from patrol, no injuries or casualties, just two men unaccounted for"

        "Two?" The brunette snapped in confusion as he clipped the Auto-Rifle supports to his chest, the raven fixing the shotgun against the brunette's back, "You said Fox, why didn’t you mention the other!".

        "Hawk knew Ghost would come quicker if I mentioned her first" the man admitted quietly looking to the floor ashamed. Ghost growled almost demonically as he slid the sniper rifle into place against his back. He hitched another pair of hand guns into the holsters against the back of his waist and fastened the full ammo belts low against his hips.

        "Who is the other missing person?" The raven haired soldier asked clipping a small line of flash, shatter and smoke grenade's to his belt, before he too locked his prized twin, black chrome, Tokyo Marui OPS Tactical 45s into their holsters against his thighs.

        "Alistair". A genuine sigh of relief escaped Ghost's lips as they curved upward slightly into a smirk. He looked back over his shoulder, the other two were slightly smiling as well.

        "At least we know she's in safe hands" the brunette chuckled lightly as all three staunched past the messenger, unhooking a special Ops stealth looking mask from hooks lining the armory entrance. The raven pushed the man out of the armory, locking the doors behind them and smirked at his disappointment as Ghost lead the way.

        "Ain't no ones hands safer than mine…" Ghost shot back over his shoulder bitterly leading them right, down the rest of the lengthy hallway towards the old entertainment center café and entrance hall, "But his will have to do for now…".

        The moment Ghost broke sight through the double doors into Hawk's line of vision, he was set upon by the restless and worried crowd. He raised open hands, calming everyone into a quiet whisper as he looked over the crowd, "Everyone please just stay calm, they haven't been missing long and it's two of our sharpest shooters", he paused and let those two key facts sink into everyones mind, "Drawing on this I doubt anything has happened to them, they probably took a wrong turn at a junction and got separated. Saiyan, Archer and I are going to find them and bring them home"

        "Ghost i-" Hawk called from the back surround by the others, his voice catching in his throat as Ghost pointed at him sternly through the crowd.

        "And I'll deal with you, when I get back. Recovery, move!" Ghost bellowed jerking his head in the direction of the arena entrance. The guards swiped the security tags sending the auto door lights green, letting them leave before they hissed shut again behind them.

        "Masks on, fellas… Let's find us a Fox" the raven haired soldier, Archer, sighed slipping his mask on over his head as they all strode towards the wall. It was a giant, monstrous construction, made of concrete, metal hooks and spires and razor wire, standing just shy of thirty feet tall and ten feet wide front to back. The newly destroyed "Governments", as they liked to be called, had built these hideous eye sores to separate cities into districts. The checkpoints, or Zone Gates where just as ugly and prison worthy. Pure Graphene cages, with solid, rolling slam-latch doors. The supporting fame works where embedded another ten feet into the ground in the unlikely event that people would even try and ram them down to get through to other districts. Now, they were one of the only things keeping whatever was on the other side, out.

        "Ladies first" Saiyan grinned like a fool through his mask, the only visible evidence of his smile being his cheeks squishing up against the edge of his eyes. Ghost shook his head pulling the thick door back slightly, only far enough to squeeze through sideways, Saiyan following close behind, Archer tailing up the rear. They squeezed through the second gate in the same fashion, sliding the gates shut as they passed through, Ghost shuddering once they stood in the open of what remained of George Street.

        "Its always colder on the other side, huh…" Saiyan said softly as he scanned the area cautiously. Ghost and Archer also looked about in silence before Ghost started to move, jogging lightly towards the afternoon route start and finish location. A few blocks from the gate, Ghost stopped and peered cautiously around the corner through the District Four gate to their destination, Town Hall Station.

        They where District Two, passing through that gate lead them in towards District Four. District One was no mans land, containing Central Station and all its sublevel tunnels, it meant it was suicide to try and fortify a defence in a zone that had so many tunnels and sub level gates to maintain and be secured. Routine checks underground in the stations where mandatory, it kept the camps within districts alert, aware of Shade activities and hopefully, safe. The underground train lines had their own check points and gates, meaning they always knew where their borders started and ended, never strayed too far past the "One Kilometer until check point" warning signs.

        The afternoon route looped north, away from Central station, heading up the tracks toward Wynyard and Milsons Point before banking around the Eastern perimeter edge of Darling Harbor and back up to Town Hall station entrance. As one group would return to camp, another would go out and patrol the west side of the harbor, looping out in a similar fashion, once a week, in each direction progressing a block further into the city, trying to find any survivors and reclaim as much as they can with neighboring Camps in other districts. Not that there where many of those left.

        Ghost flagged his hand forward and moved up, his assault rifle raised scanning every inch of the street as Saiyan and Archer tailed him. The gate was still slightly open, she hadn't come back through. Ghost squeezed through, then Saiyan, Archer up the rear, pausing momentarily as he raised the scope of his rifle to his dark brown eye. A shock of movement into a destroyed Seven-Eleven made him swallow thickly as he backed through the gate.

        "Arch?" Saiyan whispered as the taller man bumped into him.

        "Movement" his bone chilling reply.

        "Are you sure? It's still an hour till dusk" Saiyan hissed as Ghost let his rifle hang from his chest, pulling the Snipe from between his shoulders and peered through the greater powerful scope.

        "Where…"

        "Seven-Eleven. Two O'Clock"

        Ghost altered his view slightly to his right, peering through the magnifying scope into the store front. A sudden dart of movement between the gutted isles made Ghost nervous and he motioned for the gates to be shut. Archer obeyed without question, carefully and as quietly as he could, closing both gates. Ghost turned on his heel putting the Snipe back against his shoulders and gripped his rifle tightly, chewing his cheek in irritation. He hated the tunnels, especially on dusk, this is when he'd end up adding another scar to the collection. Dusk was always the most dangerous time, because the Shades, just like most predatory hunters, are best at dawn and dusk. Archer cracked his neck as he stepped up behind Saiyan and Ghost, who stared blankly down the stairs into the Stations unwelcoming belly.

        "You all good, Ghost?" Archer asked softly, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, giving it a hard squeeze. Saiyan leant forward slightly, peering at Ghost through the corner of his mask when there was no reply, just constant, shaky breathing.

        "I'm good… Just worried about her…" he finally murmured, starting to scuff his way down the tiled stairs.

                "I'm sure she's fine. When have you known Fox not to put up a fight?" Archer said with a hint of amusement in his tone. Ghost flashed a suggestive look back at his brother, making Archer shake his head with a huff of laughter as Saiyan giggled at his own thoughts, "On second thought, please don’t answer that".