06.06.202X - 07.06.202X - Heatstroke

-INTERMISSION - DIARY OF LT. MISHKA SOKOLOV, RUSSIAN REPUBLIC ARMED FORCES

 

06/06 

 

Sayori cut my hair - I've never had it this short before - feels nice, all light and fluffy~ 'fuwah fuwah' as she kept saying under her breath - had a proper shower too - rain water collectors are great when they're clean. 

The heat has killed me. 

I feel like I'm boiling alive - We found some 150SPF sunscreen so I'm not a lobster yet 

 

My hair's bleached fully white though. I look like some sort of vampire. 

Took off the old gear. Too hot. 

I hate this weather. I'm not built for this!! 

 

Found an operators hat and a few other bits in the kit store we have in the compound - Operator hat, changed out the body armour for a plate vest, changed tac pants for leggings (I can lunge so far), changed out the NBC gloves (they'd make moisturiser companies go out of business)- over all, It a lot cooler - still covered though.

 

I don't know what it is with gear- Maybe it was my instructor - a self-described tank of a man - everything covered. 

No vulnerabilities. 

I guess its a comfort thing? I don't want something that I've decided to leave behind or not prepared to be the death of me. 

I swear I've written this before - I don't know. I said to Sayori that I'd like to get another ALICE backpack (I took the only one since its the biggest we've got - my old one was a bit crap). 

We're running out of pipes again and there's a tailback of wrecks going to another one of the military bases - should be a backpack at the base. 

Two birds with one rock. Also we're in desperate need of a trolley or wheelbarrow of some sort.

Went to 'Bedford' (I had an English colleague from a place called Bedford - definitely not the same place - why does America copy English place names? Weird...) 

 

Found a really weird setup. Entire street - all the houses on one side are empty - like a showroom without any of the nice decorations.

Blinds on every window - long bedroom over the front hallway looking out. 

If it weren't for the IRS agent and the gov van in front, I would've thought porn 

 

Weird. 

Weird city. 

 

Reminds me of the fake towns that used to be on the border - empty husks of buildings with remote control lights and drones keeping stuff busy. 

The sinks weren't even plumbed in.

Sayori asked me a few questions but I was just a first lieutenant - I was just given mission files by my captain. 

I don't know any of this stuff. 

Get the hoardes following you with the chopper and mow them down. Simples. 

We're still doing that even now - Smash a car window, hope it alarms, wait and then mow them down. 

I feel better this way though. Even though the world is ending around us, this is the happiest I've ever felt. 

 

I feel slightly guilty. 

 

Found a metalworking manual in the back - Sayori made a comment about Izzy putting them there to read later - decided to read them out loud by Iz. 

I'm getting better at translating back and forth - I hope she'd have been excited to read them considering she never got the chance - maybe she's building rockets wherever she is? 

I used to read her encyclopaedias as a kid. 

 

She was obsessed with Sputnik and Zarya, the ISS. 

I remember she asked me how MRI machines worked when she was 4. 

Oh, Sayori went out - I was working on welding some crates and I see a sports car, going fucking Mach 10 down the road by the base with music blasting - I mean it was impressive but the car rolled in and stopped just outside the gate looking like a crushed beer can. 

At least I have something to work on for mechanical stuff now? 

It looks like it's been in a compactor!

'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth' or any other orifice, even when the gift is a pile of mangled metal.

 

05:40 07/07/202x 18°C - FORT M

 

Heading west with Mish today.
Small town near Riverside called Refordville.
We originally left before midníght, but had to turn back since Mish ran out of ammo. Road was packed with rotters.

She mentioned marksmanship training at the "academy" ("CREI", if I remember correctly?) before, so I figured I might actually give her something befitting her status.

What would that be?

A brand spanking new M24 sniper rifle I pulled out of Redstone way back when I was still doing Oshkosh hauls nearly every day, fitted with the best mods I could get my hands on.

Suppressor, bipod, a 4x-12x Zeiss scope, a nice little sling to carry it with - in Multicam - of course.

She took to it instantly.

Since I no longer had the better optics out of us two, I decided to put away my old AR.
We don't really need a designated marksman rifle now that we have a REAL marksman on in the duo.

So, I went back to the lockers and picked up my old MP5.

Red dot, taclight, suppressor, telescoping stock, the works.


Also a SPAS-12 I've nicknamed "Plan B", just in case shit gets really hairy.



Sadly also realized I'd have to wear something else than the jelly ad cap I've been wearing all this time.
Have to get closer to the rotters than before.



Luckily we pulled quite a lot of stuff with us when we hit up Bedford Falls with Harris and Mish, and I found a pretty nifty light helmet, Ops-Core something something.


Modular, too.


Put a face guard on it that some idiot painted a shark mouth on (looks like a teenage boy's first moped helmet), some snap-on eye protection, and even a specially fitted headset for the helmet itself!

Was a bit of a hassle to get it working though - had to ask Mish for help.

Still, there's no shame in not knowing the ins and outs of every single company making their own near-identical "proprietary" hardware.




Mish left Izzy's old FAL resting on her grave, keychain still dangling from the stock.
Wanted to tell her to at least cover it in plastic to keep it from rusting, but...


We have FALs in storage.

More than enough.





Surprisingly enough, the night was a lot hotter than this morning.
Think it almost went up to 25°C at some point.

Would have been lovely, if not for the constant shooting and the helmet sweating me out and the shemagh being soaked and...


Yeah.



Still, a very productive trip.
While we might not have made it to town, we've at least made the roads safer.

Was almost like a reverse Teutoburg.

Rotters shambling out of the woods, us two back to back and ass-to-ass in the middle of the road, mowing them down left and right.


Fuck, Mish is good with that rifle.

Kinda envious.



On the other hand, now I finally get to go full auto with recoil that doesn't bounce all over the place, so it could be a lot worse.

We'll be heading back soon-ish.

Both of us are rested and eaten, I'm drawing up a quick plan of attack based on a tourist map we found, Mish is changing the headlights on the Hummer...


Rock and roll.




Still, there's something that worries me.

The radio mentioned mutations ages ago, but I think it's only getting to us now.

Some of them are still the same old lumbering sacks of shit that slowly walk into your sights, but others have gotten, well, faster.


A LOT faster.


Nearly pissed myself when a rotter came out of the treeline at full sprint with black blood frothing at his mouth.

A quick burst put it down, though, but I gave it a couple extra breathing holes just to be sure.


Been seeing these weird hazmat guys here and there as well. Rotters, too, but I've noticed they carry ampoules of something called "Zomboxivir" - "25mg/ml FOR INTRAMUSCULAR USE ONLY".
Dunno what it does, the labeling is cryptic at best, but...


What if it's a cure?


What would that mean?



Maybe they sent in hazmat teams to try and cure the infected, but the hazmat teams got infected as well?

Maybe they wanted some kind of controlled outbreak, "culling the herd", if you will?


Fuuuuuck.


First the fed house in Bedford and now this shit.

Kind of ashamed to admit it, but I grilled Mish a bit on why she happened to be stationed just here when the outbreak hit, what her role was in this farce, so to speak.

Far as I can tell, she seems clean, and I honestly trust her.

Her unit was originally supposed to stay in Kentucky to train with the Green Berets, SERE stuff.

She did mention suspecting something after the outbreak started, considering they were sent overseas on such short notice to such an unusual place to essentially play hide-and-seek.

Not like I didn't already have my suspicions.

After the outbreak hit, she was called to arms, and flew around in one of those helos, gunning down rotters.


I kind of wonder if it was her old squad that tried to strafe me and Izzy on the 23rd.

Didn't ask.


But now, the choppers are gone, we haven't seen fog in a while... what the fuck is going on?


Are we just an exclusion zone of sorts?

Is the rest of the world just doing their taxes and watching Netflix while we're out here killing and dying?

Is there even a rest of the world anymore?


Maybe the "Zomboxivir" was a last-ditch effort to contain the plague, and now that all hope is lost, even the military is pulling out their helos?

I have no clue anymore.


Going to hit up Refordville anyway. Maybe there's more of these hazmat guys, more ampoules.

If it keeps mutating this rapidly, then...


We might not be immune for much longer.



Going to stop that train of thought there.

Need to concentrate on the attack plan, hope we don't have to do too much road work.

The drive is a bit too close to Redstone for my comfort, but...

We'll have to go there eventually, as well.
I think I saw a trailer there that I could hitch to the old Oshkosh, but I'm not completely sure. There's a spare Humvee there, at least...


I just hope the bloodstains have faded.


Don't want to upset Mish.

Don't want to lose Mish.


Not like Izzy, not like the others.
I want her here with me.

If she dies I'm going as well.



-Sayori

Dear journal, just want to add something;

I DETEST the summer heat.
After the sprinter incident I got paranoid about my neck getting torn open again, so here I am.

Full CBRN outfit, leather padding around my neck, SWAT jacket...

I'm fucking SOAKED, and I've barely moved a muscle.
The moment we get back I'm stripping everything off and washing up.




17:10 07/06/202X 25°C - FORT M



The raid was supposed to go well.

Solid, simple battle plan, both of us capable fighters, the MP5 was newly oiled and Mishka's aim was dead on...

The only problem was the heat.
That, and Mishka's leg wound.

I plowed into a wreck before we even left Muldraugh, and while I was fine, it seems the crash tore open Mishka's old stitches.

I got her patched up nicely right then and there, and thought that would be the end of it.

Boy, was I wrong.


The heat was INSANE.

The suit I wore was more of a liability than anything.
Me and Mish went according to plan, cleared out houses, found some old industrial building she could maintain overwatch from, and then I ran back to the Hummer so I could get the sledgehammer.

If you take down the stairs, the rotters can't follow, and a single-story drop is easy to handle, as long as you pack light and land correctly.
Anyway, about halfway to the car God decided he'd had enough of me being alive.

Heard thudding footsteps, looked back, saw a massive beefy motherfucker sprinting after me, could barely breathe since the fucking suit was air- and watertight, my gun jammed...

At least I got to the car in time.
In time to hear Mish say something about feeling faint and then a clattering noise over the walkie.

I drove over and got out as fast as I could, sledgehammer in tow, but was so overheated I could only just about manage the one rotter that came lunging for me, my arms felt like they were moving through quicksand and my stomach was about to turn itself inside out.

Got up the stairs, and Mish laid there, face red as a fire truck, shaking and wheezing, half-collapsed over the sniper rifle...

I initially feared the worst, but it turned out to "just" be heatstroke, possibly aggravated by the wound I wrote about earlier.

Anyway, I helped get her down the stairs and into the car, best as I could.

Made sure we didn't leave anything.

Despite the AC being on full blast, we were still at 23°C, and I was steering with my knees while pouring water on Mish.


Had a couple near-misses, but nothing worse than that.
Saw more hazmat fellas but didn't have time for that - gunned it straight back to Muldraugh.



Anyway, we got her to bed, I mentally cursed myself for taking apart that ice machine at the local Spiffo's, and she slowly started recovering.


Fucking hell. 

 

Well, lessons learned, I guess. 

That CBRN suit is going somewhere far away, and so is the jacket and scarf.
The fucking irony.

Put them on to protect myself from harm, instead I almost got myself killed because of them.


Helmet's coming off as well.

Fuck that.


I can handle a couple facial scars, and it's not like these shits can get within five meters of me.


KY Jelly cap and Adidas top it is, now and forever.
Or until the end of summer, at least.


The MP5 wasn't nearly as effective as I'd hoped, either.
I think I'll switch back to some kind of AR, put an EOTech on it and kit it out for closer-range stuff.
Feels much more familiar, anyhow.


Still, we're home safe, and we've learned our lessons.

The plan was solid and our efforts were top-notch, but outside circumstances and poor preparation made everything fall apart pretty quickly.

So, only raid at night, stay in safe areas during the day, keep the gear and clothing light and unrestrictive.

If you intend to make a radical change, phase it out instead of just switching instantly and hoping things will fall back into place.


I'll talk to Mish about going back in at night later. Right now I'm just savoring the freedom of shorts and a thin t-shirt.

And yes, I got buck naked and poured cold water all over myself the moment Mish was safe and stable.

Best damn feeling of my life.


-Sayori Takahashi


PS.
The raid wasn't a total failure.
Found a few hazmatters among the dead, took their pills and ampoules, as well as a suit for further research.
Not gonna put it on, it smells like humid death and probably has maggots all over the inside, but If there's manufacturer marks, logos, anything...

That'll already be a giant leap forward.

PPS.

23°C outside, 6°C in the car.
Pure bliss.

I could stay here all day, and I think I just might.

-Sayoshka Takahoshka

 

 

-INTERMISSION - DIARY OF LT. MISHKA SOKOLOV, RUSSIAN REPUBLIC ARMED FORCES

Going to clear out some crap today- 'Redford?' Collapsed - heatstroke Woke up in the car In bed right now Hugging an icepack Dunked my head water Feel awful Can't keep food down

 

22:10 07/06/202X - HOME

Rain.

Summer rain.

Drumming on the roof of my icebox Humvee.

I think I'll just go lay down somewhere in the grass, feel the puddle slowly grow around me...
I've been waiting for this for so long. 

Fuck the solar panels, I want this to continue forever.

Made chanko nabe for me and Mish (she liked it, but was a bit confused by just how much stuff I put in there), made some really good fried rice for later, checked the generators, did a few laps around the yard...

God this is lovely.

It's 1 AM and it's pitch black and Mish is sleeping and the rain is just coming down harder and harder and I just can't get enough of it, my clothes are soaked and my blade is rusting but oh God almighty I feel so alive again!

I hope this rain continues, if not for the rest of the week, then at least for a few days.

The ground deserves it.

Our crops deserve it.

I deserve it.

 

Summer rain on hot
Tarmac, said Rocksteady to
Bebop, befuddled

-S

 

 

 "Best damn feeling of my life."