Black Wolf

by Mitchell T. Jacobs

  “Got him,” Miko said, just before she fired. “He's down.”

  Zach's fireteam reached the bottom of the quarry and hurried into cover beside Danny.

  “Glad you could make it,” he told them. “It's been all I can do to cover Xavier and the other guy.”

  “Give us some more cover. My team, move up and crush them!”

  Gavin and Selene broke cover. Danny let out a long burst to cover them. Zach and Nora followed behind them. Zach saw one of the enemy fall like he had been hit with a hammer in the head. Miko was beginning to turn into quite the fearsome sniper.

  The enemy trying to flank Xavier's position looked up in surprise as Gavin was suddenly right on top of him. He tried to aim, but he wasn't fast enough. Gavin shot him with a burst of his submachine gun, then leaped on him and finished him off with his knife.

  Zach ducked behind cover and put his radio on the all in range setting. “This is Black Wolf territory. Either leave now, or we will kill you all.”

  “Give us the medic, and we'll leave,” the answer came.

  “Wrong answer,” Danny said.

  “Open fire!” Zach commanded. The rest of Black Wolf complied, even Xavier who was patched up and back on his feet.

  The remaining three intruders stood no chance. Selene and Nora flanked them and forced them into cover close together. It was their final mistake. Zach now had a steady supply of grenades; he loaded one and shot it off.

  “You got them,” Selene confirmed to him.

  Zach let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the rocks. “You alright, Xavier?”

  “Well, that wasn't fun,” Xavier said. “Thanks to him, they didn't kill me, at least.”

  “No, no, thanks to all of you they didn't kill me,” the newcomer said. “I'm Javier, by the way. Or Javy, for short.”

  Zach stood up and extended his hand to Javier. “I'm Zach. This is Black Wolf Company.”

  Javy took his hand. “Black Wolf? Weren't you the first company that was founded?”

  “As far as I know, that would be us.”

  “Pleased to meet you all.”

  “So why were those guys out to kill you?” Gavin asked as he jogged up.

  Javy sighed. “It's a long story.”

  “Well, luckily we have the perfect place to talk about it that's not far from here,” Danny said. “Provided our esteemed commander will allow it?”

  “Fine with me,” Zach said. “Follow us.”

  “So, start with how you ran afoul of those guys back there,” Zach asked after they were back at their base.

  “Well, they're a company called the Kings,” Javy said.

  “Wait, the Kings? Those Kings?” Gavin said. “The crown jerks of the Old Chicago area Kings?”

  “Yeah. I was with them. Part of the company, in fact,” Javy said.

  “I'm sorry, but you don't seem to fit in with those types,” Gavin said.

  “Well, I was looking to join a company, and they were recruiting. They didn't seem too bad at first. They needed a medic for their team, and I wanted to have a good group. It started off fine, but then they started doing some questionable things.”

  “How questionable?” Selene asked.

  “They liked to ambush new players in the north end of the city and shake them down for money. If you paid, you were allowed to hunt. If not, they killed you.”

  Selene shook her head. “I hate griefers.”

  “I'm ashamed to say, I went along with it for a little while. I wasn't the one doing the shooting, I just patched up our team. But then I finally got sick of it and left the company. They didn't like that much.”

  “I can guess,” Gavin said.

  “I tried heading south, but they followed me to try and kill me, and here I am.”

  Nora frowned. “They were awfully intent on killing you, even after we wiped most of them out. Any particular reason why?”

  Javy scratched the back of his neck. “Well, there is one thing.” He pulled something out of one of his pockets and laid it on the briefing table.

  “Is that a map?” Nora asked.

  “Yeah, that would be a map. I'm not sure what it's for,” Javy said.

  Xavier leaned over and took a look. “Looks like it's marking a specific spot. I think that's our stronghold here at the top, and then the quarry is here. The main part of the map is another five miles south of here.”

  “Think it's important?” Miko asked.

  “I would think so. So did everyone else in the Kings, which is probably why they tried to kill me after I left,” Javy said.

  “Isn't there supposed to be abandoned technology and stockpiles lying around the game world?” Danny asked. “This could be one of those spots.”

  “I don't know. I was never going to be at a high enough level to go that far into the wilds alone, and my company was too busy harassing people up north.”

  “Care to join Black Wolf?” Zach asked. “We definitely can use a medic. And we'll be more than willing to go south with you. Do we all have time to do an expedition tonight?”

  Everyone said yes.

  “Thanks. Hopefully you'll be better than the Kings,” Javy said as he accepted the offer in his menu.

  “Not like that's going to be hard,” Gavin said.

  Javy laughed. “That's true.”

  “So how many of us go?” Nora asked.

  “All of us,” Zach said.

  “Are you sure?” Selene spoke up from her spot at the back of the briefing room. “What happens if someone tries to take our base while we're away?”

  “Our defenses should be able to hold them off,” Zach said. “Plus, I think that Gavin's right. Why are we playing if we're not going to take the time to explore the world?”

  “Your choice,” Selene shrugged.

  “We should bring as much ammunition as possible,” Danny said.

  “Agreed,” Zach said. There was no telling who or what they might run into.

  “How are we going to divide up?” Nora asked.

  Zach thought for a moment. “Two fireteams is probably going to be our best bet. One should be the forward unit, and the other one should follow behind in a support role. The front team should be me, Gavin, Danny and either you or Xavier. That will give us the ability to take on any resistance we come across, and I can keep an eye out for obstacles and traps. The follow on team should be Miko, Javy, Selene, and whoever doesn't go with us.”

  “I'll stick with the rear fireteam,” Xavier said.

  “Who's the commander of the second team?” Selene asked.

  “That should be you, if there's no objections.”

  “And you're leading the forward squad, obviously.”

  No one objected.

  “Alright, we'll move out in ten minutes. Get anything you need from the armory before then.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Abyss

  “It's around here somewhere,” Javy said as he looked over the map.

  Zach could see very little through the trees around them. The trek down here had been relatively quiet. Black Wolf Company had been attacked by a pack of feral dogs, but the eight of them had easily dispatched them with their pistols. They had passed by a few ruined buildings, though they were so decayed that Zach thought they probably had next to nothing of value in them. And then they had reached the forest.

  “Any way to pinpoint a more exact location?” Danny asked.

  “No, we're going to have to keep looking. It would help to know what exactly we're looking for.”

  “Well, we can split up and search the area,” Selene suggested.

  “Uh, let's split up is one of the worst suggestions you can make,” Danny said.

  “Oh come on, we can see each other on the radar. Just run toward the sound of gunfire if you hear it.”

  “Maybe go in pairs?” Nora suggested.

  “Sounds like a plan. Javy should go with either me or Xavier,” Selene said.

  “I'll go with him,” Xavier offered.
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br />   “Miko, that means you're with me.”

  “Right,” she said.

  “How are we going to split up, then?” Danny asked.

  “I think that pairing the assault and the heavy together is a good idea,” Gavin said. “It will give us more options if we run into trouble.”

  Zach nodded. “OK, Nora, you're with me. Split up in the four directions, and make sure to shout if you run into trouble.”

  Zach and Nora went west. The trees were becoming thicker the further they went. There was definitely a large forest here, though he had no idea just how large it actually was. Taking the time to consolidate their power base had come with the tradeoff of not being able to explore the world around them. Outside of their territory and Old Chicago, they were walking blind.

  “So... I don't know much about you,” Nora said as they walked.

  “Well, same goes for everyone. I know Selene and Danny in real life, but I've never met anyone else,” Zach said.

  “So, tell me about yourself,” Nora said.

  “Um, that's a little personal,” Zach said. “How the heck do I know that you're not a guy? Or some creepy stalker?”

  “It's not like I'm going to know if you're lying,” Nora said. “I'll go first. I'm a grad student at DePaul University.”

  “Hey, you went to DePaul?” Zach asked. “I went there for communications.”

  “What do you do now?” Nora asked.

  “Well, I actually helped to design some of the communications systems in the game,” Zach said. “What's your major?” he asked.

  “I'm studying music. I play cello.”

  “Ah, that's pretty cool.”

  “So you're in Chicago as well?” Nora asked.”

  “Yeah, still there. Danny lives in Chicago too. Selene moved up to Minneapolis after she finished school, and Miko is her roommate. No clue about anyone else.”

  “Our company should meet up some time in the real world. Go for drinks, or something.”

  Zach nodded. “Maybe. Depends on what the others think about it.”

  “Hey. What about that?” Nora said.

  “What about what?”

  She pointed to a rocky outcropping. “Think that's what we're looking for?”

  “It's worth a shot.”

  They hurried up to the outcropping. To Zach, it looked like it was built to disguise something. It was difficult to tell around the overgrown mess of grass and weeds.

  He heard a clank. “Found something,” Nora said. She pointed to what looked like a ventilation pipe.

  “Does that go to somewhere?” Zach wondered.

  “Not like we're going to be able to find out,” Nora said.

  “Yeah, but if it's a ventilation pipe, then whatever it's for should be around here somewhere,” Zach said.

  His radio buzzed. “What's up?”

  Danny answered on the other end of the line. “We found something. Looks like the entrance to a bunker, or something. We'll wait for you to get here before we do anything.”

  “Copy that.” Zach frowned as he looked down at the pipe. “Maybe...”

  “What?” Nora asked.

  He looked up. “If that pipe goes to the same bunker that they're in front of, then that place is going to be huge. Let's go.”

  The rest of Black Wolf was waiting for them at the entrance to the bunker. The door was off its hinges, rusting on the ground. The concrete facings were covered in ivy and moss. Danny turned and motioned with his machine gun as they approached.

  “There's a small entry complex at the front of the bunker, but we didn't want to explore too much in case there was something nasty lurking.”

  “You and me go first, Gavin and Nora follow. Then the rest of the team.”

  “Copy that,” Danny said. He turned on the flashlight he had fixed to the end of his weapon and went for the door. Zach turned his own light on and followed.

  The entryway wasn't much; just a hallway with two rooms branching off. There was a door in front of them, but it looked like it has some sort of security system on it that would probably require some hacking to open. That would require an engineer, and Zach didn't have nearly enough skill points in that area to even try.

  “Gavin, Nora, left. Danny and I will take right.”

  Both teams approached their doors. Danny went in first. His heavy defense and firepower would deal with any problems that lay in store for them. But there was nothing.

  “Clear,” Gavin shouted from the other side. “Looks like a break room or something.”

  “Yeah, this doesn't look like much,” Zach said.

  There were a few skeletons in the room, with the remains of military uniforms hanging off them in rags. A couple of desks lined the walls, but there was no treasure trove here.

  “Paper, office supplies, and a whole lot of nothing,” Danny said as he looked through the drawers of the desk. “So much for waiting.”

  “There's got to be some way through that door, though,” Zach said. “Maybe one of theses guys has a key on them.”

  Selene and Xavier walked in.

  “There's nothing on the other side,” Selene said.

  “We're thinking that one of the bodies has a key on him,” Zach said. He saw Xavier shift his light over to something in the corner.

  “I think I found it,” he said.

  The other three walked over to join him. Sure enough, there was a skeleton in the corner, a key card clutched in its dead hand. Selene took it. But there was something else beside the body. Zach knelt over and opened his menu. There was a new codex entry.

  “Flamethrower. Can be used by the engineer class. Requires fuel tanks to fire.” He frowned. “I'm not going to be able to carry both this and my carbine. Should I grab it?”

  “Uh, yes?” Danny said. “We're going to get attacked by a swarm of things once we step in that bunker, and that flamethrower is going to be the only thing that's going to save us.”

  “How do you know that?” Selene asked.

  “That's how every single game I've played works. When they offer you a weapon you had better take it, or else.”

  “Well, there's two fuel tanks,” Zach said. He unloaded his carbine and ammunition onto the ground and picked up the flamethrower. “I hope this works, because it's going to suck fighting with just a pistol.” He opened a channel to the the rest of Black Wolf. “Everyone assemble in front of the door.”

  “Here's hoping there's nothing too challenging,” Danny said as they left the room.

  “Well... things may get interesting,” Zach said.

  “Is that a flamethrower? Nice,” Gavin said as they met up in the hall.

  “Bet you're not going to be so happy in five minutes,” Danny said.

  “Why, 'cause we're gonna get swarmed? I'll be really glad we have the flamethrower then.”

  “Five dollars says your overreacting,” Selene said to Danny.

  “OK, I'll bet a beer on that the next time we're out.”

  Zach held up his hand for silence. “Alright, we're going to try and tackle this bunker. I think that Danny's right. Something in there is going to give us trouble, which is why there's a flamethrower lying around. Both of us should definitely be up front to take care of anything that tries to swarm us. And there's more.” He turned to Nora. “About how far away were we when we found that ventilation pipe?”

  “Probably half a mile or so,” Nora shrugged.

  “Which means this place could be huge,” Selene said.

  “This is starting to sound really dangerous,” Miko said.

  “Yeah, but we're pretty well equipped,” Danny said. “I'm not going to say that this isn't going be trouble, but we should be able to handle this.”

  Zach thought that assessment was accurate. They had only been together as a team for around two weeks, but Black Wolf Company was already leaps and bounds better than it had been. Though a good portion of their time had been spent mining and producing bullets, they had also taken the time to train themse
lves in the area around their base. None of them were the equal of any of the top players who had exclusively trained in combat skills, but they all were formidable nonetheless.

  He, Danny and Selene had their experience from the beta, and they had become even better. Miko was turning into an extremely deadly sniper. She had begun to stop using the auto-aim, and though her accuracy had decreased she still was able to make frequent kills. Gavin was an odd-ball, favoring speed and closing into knife range. It was unorthodox, but effective. Nora had proven to be a good shot the few times she had been in the field. Xavier was as well, with the added bonus of being almost unflappable in combat. The only one he didn't know much about was Javy, but that was natural since he had just joined them. His class build looked solid, tailored for providing as much healing to downed teammates as possible.

  “Well, we'll find out,” Zach said. “My fireteam first. Danny, up front with me.”

  They got into position. Danny angled himself so that he could sweep the entire doorway with bullets if something was waiting for them on the other side. Zach would use the flamethrower if he had to, but it was probably best conserve ammunition until it became absolutely necessary. Nothing would hurt more than dying at the end of the bunker because they ran out of fuel.

  “Ready?” Selene asked. She prepared to swipe the key card.

  “Go!” Zach ordered.

  She swiped. Zach heard clanking, then the movement of hydraulics. The door slid to one side. He and Danny had turned their lights back on, but the corridor was illuminated with worn but still functional lights. They stepped inside. The air smelled musty, but it was breathable. The floor below them was starting to rust, but it was solid. So were the walls of the corridor.

  Cautiously, Zach and Danny crept forward, Nora and Gavin close behind. The corridor opened up into a cross, with paths ahead, to the left and the right.

  “Split up?” Nora suggested from behind them.

  “That's a great idea until one pair runs into trouble,” Gavin said.

  Zach agreed. Selene's fireteam was coming up behind them. “Selene, we're going left. Follow behind us at a distance. Close enough so we can support each other if there's a problem.”