Roland sat in the jeep waiting for the helicopter to touch down on the helipad. He already hated this assignment and they hadn't even left the base yet. As the chopper set down, the rear ramp opened. Roland drove up the ramp, scaring 2 of chopper's crew out of the way before he parked the jeep in the center of the craft's cargo bay.
"Don't bother spooling down," Roland called over the radio. "As soon as I lock this thing down you're taking off again."
"You can't be serious." The pilot shouted back. "We need to refuel or we won’t be able to stay in the air for more than an hour."
"We won’t need that long." Roland yelled as the helicopter crew started tying down the jeep. He looked for the rookie in the seats that lined the walls, but he wasn’t there. Roland turned back thinking that maybe he went down the ramp expecting some sort of reception on the ground. Roland was about to call the commander to ask where this kid was when he noticed that one of the flight crew wasn't wearing a jumpsuit and had his left arm in a sling. "Hey, kid," Roland yelled to be heard over the loud whirring of the helicopter’s blades as they started to pick up speed again. "You're the fresh meat, right?"
"What?" The kid yelled as he looked up. Roland hoped that he was wrong.
"Are you the new Carrier assigned to C-unit?" The kid nodded, and Roland swore loudly. The kid stepped off to the side, unsure of what he should be doing. He spent a minute, ranting and cursing, then just stopped and turned to the jeep. He reached into the back and pulled out a large box and shoved it into the kid. "Put that on." Roland walked to a seat, leaving the kid to get dressed. The kid looked for a place to change, but after realizing that there was no such place he simply walked to the seat next to Roland. "Get changed." Roland yelled again.
"There's no place to change." The kid yelled back, barely audible over the sound of the helicopter.
"Do it anyway. Whatever hangups you have about indecency or nudity are now irrelevant. Zombies aren't gonna wait for you to pull up your pants so we can't either. Get changed." The kid looked around as though he had missed some kind of joke, then sighed. He stood, walked to a corner, and proceeded to strip. Roland was actually surprised that the kid followed the instruction so easily, normally a person would at least speak out against being told to strip in the middle of a crowded room. But that was just the beginning.
The kid was covered in scars, mostly burns from the looks of it, crossing and covering his back. One of the helicopter's crew members stopped working to look at the kid's scarred back, his surprisingly muscular yet thin build, and judging by how she bit her lip a glorious ass. Roland was more concerned with the kid’s left arm, the one in the sling wasn't normal. The kid's hand had 3 fingers, the dark skin tinged blue from veins underneath, with red scales from the back of his wrist up to just below his elbow, some of which seemed to have sprouted from beneath the skin. He was perfectly capable of moving it and seemed to only have the sling because he didn't want to use the arm.
The kid examined the gear before putting it on. A skin-tight bodysuit with a pair of boots that zipped into the ankles. A pair of shorts and a vest were worn on top of the suit, clearly padded for extra protection, and last was an entire set of light body armor, the kind that was used to prevent bullet damage. A set of shoulder pads, gauntlets, a chest plate and backplate, shin and calf guards, and a cup that the kid had to take off the shorts to put on without looking ridiculous. Lastly, he grabbed the helmet and struggled to fit the earpiece in then pulled the face mask up to protect his eyes and mouth. Fully suited and tightening the belt as his shorts were far too large for the kid, he walked back to the seat next to Roland.
Roland reached over and pressed the transmit button for the radio. "Check, check." Roland said.
"I can hear you." The kid said. "My name's-"
"Don’t care," Roland said quickly, cutting the boy off. "If you live long enough for it to matter, then I'll ask your name. Until then, you're just Kid."
"Well, that’s nice."
"You’re a Carrier now, don’t expect life to ever be 'nice' again. Try to enjoy it though, you'll lose your mind if you don't." The kid went quiet for a minute as the helicopter lifted off the ground. Roland barked coordinates to the pilot, and the craft leaned to one side as it left the safety of the base.
They sat in silence for a minute, until Roland suddenly stood up. "Alright Kid, I'm gonna start this off by telling you that everything you know about zombies and the past 5 years is wrong, or at the very least inaccurate. But before we get to that, pick out your weapons." Roland reached into the back of the jeep and pulled the tarp off the top of what must have been an entire armory crammed into the back seat. "And have you ever been skydiving before?" The kid looked at Roland like he was insane. When he didn’t get up to check the backseat, Roland picked up an AK-47 and threw it at him. "Get your shit together and get ready, we'll be there in a few minutes."
Almost 10 minutes passed as Kid started looking through the gear. When he settled on the AK Roland had thrown at him and an automatic pistol for a sidearm, Roland forced him to take a light compact SMG, a revolver, a sawed-off shotgun, 2 machetes, and 3 knives.
"Do I really need all of this?" Kid asked as Roland handed him a satchel bag filled with ammo.
"You'll need a lot more than that," Roland said as he took out each kind of mag to show him. "But any more will slow you down too much. Now pay attention. I set you up with a basic loadout of gear," He held up the magazine and ammunition for each weapon as he explained it so he would know what he was dealing with. "Ak-47, long-range assault rifle, capable of semi-auto and automatic fire, use it sparingly. MP5, Mid-range submachine gun, this will be your main weapon, decent range, semi and full auto plus 3 round bursts. The AK is more capable than this so use this unless you're planning on going for long-range targets. Next up is the sawed-off lever-action shotgun. Has shit for range, and is loaded with shells, not slugs, so aim for the stomach. Pistols and revolver are pretty simple, short-range for last resort or just to conserve better ammo. Just remember that the silenced pistol isn’t as loud, but it will still draw attention."
"Why not take the assault rifle and spare ammo?" Roland walked to the wall and grabbed a parachute.
"Because the AK is louder, and if it gets damaged you're stuck with only the short-range options." Roland walked back to Kid and started strapping the parachute onto his back without getting in the way of him pulling any of his guns.
"But all this stuff is too heavy. I don't know much about fighting these things, but in my experience, speed has always been a more preferable option."
"Speed will keep you alive, but that's not what we're here for."
"What?" The helicopter rocked suddenly and the kid almost fell over despite having a tight grip on one of the loops hanging from the roof.
"We are out here to kill zombies, take strategic locations and resources, and make life in general easier and safer in the nation. The mission is the priority while our lives are secondary, as far as those in charge are concerned." Roland tugged on a few straps, shook him around a little. "Alright, we're set."
"God damn it. How long till we land?"
"You do realize this is a parachute, right?" The kid looked down at the straps, then up at Roland then he tried to look over his shoulder at the pack.
"I don't know how to skydive."
"Well, technically it's a paraglider." The kid looked like he was about to punch Roland, held back by the fact that Roland could break him like a toothpick. "When that door opens, you jump. Keep your stomach pointed towards the ground, legs spread wide with knees bent at 90 degrees, and hold your arms out wide. Wait 6 seconds, count them off 1 at a time with a one-thousand count between each of them, then pull this cord." Roland reached up and grabbed the handle to show him.
"What about a reserve chute?"
"It's automatic. Pops when you hit minimum safe altitude. After your main chute pops, it'll take several seconds before it actually opens. Once it's fully open, there will be a pair of handles slightly above you, if you grab ahold of them you can steer. When we get to that point, you try to follow the flare."
"What flare?" The light in the cabin turned red and a voice came over the intercom.
"30 seconds to the drop zone." The pilot said, immediately followed by the rear door dropping open slowly.
"I'm gonna jump after you with a flare."
"How am I going to follow you if you jump after me?" The kid asked, yelling the question to be heard over the wind, which was stupid considering the earpieces.
"Don't worry about it," Roland said with a smirk as he pushed the kid gently towards the open door. "When that light turns green, you're gonna run down the ramp. On the 4th step, you jump and assume the position I told you about."
"What if I mess up?"
"Then you die."
"What?"
"Don't worry. From this height, you'd hit the ground at near terminal velocity. At that speed, it would be painless. Certainly better than being ripped apart by zombies."
"But-" The kid started, but the sharp loud buzz of the speaker cut him off as the red lights turned green. Roland shoved the kid forward, and he took 3 stumbling steps before falling to his knees and grabbing the edge of the ramp, his momentum carrying him over and leaving him hanging for a second before he slipped.
Roland groaned. "God damn rookies." He said before running the 3 steps to the ramp and threw himself out.
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