Family Reunions Shouldn't Be This Difficult

[Michael McBride]

[b]Ten Hours After the Battle at the Henry Hudson Bridge[/b]

It was strange how crisis seemed to bring family together. Here sat Commandant David K. Atkinson, 1st Lieutenant Alice Atkinston-Asgeirsson, and 2nd Lieutenant Thomas Atkinson-Asgeirsson around a table, enjoying their first meal as a family in who knows how long.

A television on mute played on the wall beside the three pilots. Reports continued to come in how the lines had broken, been shattered by the zombie horde. The 1st Army was in shambles, nearly completely gone. The horde was moving in all directions. New Jersey was already almost completely overrun. A small, but growing, portion of the horde was heading north through York. Most was moving west and south through the rest of the Empire. The military had established its fall-back line, a point of no return, a final stand. The Route 81 corridor from York down to just south of Blacksburg, Virginia, and then south on the Route 77 corridor down through Charlotte and Columbia, South Carolina, and finally the Route 26 corridor to Charleston, South Carolina on the coast. The military had told all civilians to head south and west, more south if they could help it. Should the line be broken, there was one last hope for humanity in the Empire… the Central Line. In the first incarnation of Pravus Ingruo, the Central Line had been established along the Route 4 corridor in Florida as a means of last defense against an attack, either from the north or south. Now it would serve a purpose much like Long Island did.

As the Atkinsons ate, a courier rushed over with a worried look on his face and handed the Commandant a piece of paper. David stopped mid-bite as his eyes traced over the letter in front of him. His fork dropped to the plate with a clank and he rushed out of the cafeteria, still clutching the piece of paper. His children rushed out after him, barely being able to keep up as he sprinted through the halls.

When they finally caught up to him in the locker room, he was grabbing his helmet and gloves, ready to shut his locker door. “Dad!” The shout from Alice slowed him and he turned. David looked at his two children, sighing softly. “Dad, what’s wrong?”

“The special forces chopper to get your mother ran into technical troubles and went down just north of Albany. They’re sending another, but they don’t know when it’ll take off, and if it’ll be able to do anything once it gets to her retreat.”

“So what do we do?” That was Thomas, always ready to rush headlong into anything.

“We? [i]We’re[/i] not doing anything, Thomas. [i]I’m[/i] heading up to provide cover from the air until the chopper gets there. You two are going to stay here.” There was a slight pause, but then the opening of a locker caused David to stop again. He turned to see Alice grab her helmet and gloves. “What do you think you’re doing, Alice?”

“One of the first things you told me, dad, was to never be in the air alone. Always have a wingman. I’m not letting you go up there alone.” She slammed her locker shut as Thomas opened his.

“That goes for both of us.” David looked between his two children, and privately wondered what kind of secret hell he had unleashed upon the world. The combined stubbornness of David Atkinson and Hannah Asgeirsson was difficult to comprehend. David stared at Thomas for a minute, staring at the boy who bore a striking resemblance to him before his eyes flicked over to Alice. She was a mix of her mother and father, he grey eyes close to those of her mother’s, her light blonde hair a mix between her mother’s white and father’s dark brown. Those grey eyes were pleading with him now. Looking down, David’s shoulders sagged.

“Fine, you both win. But we need to move fast. And we’re not taking Wraiths. Mongooses will be the order of the day today. We need to keep those zombies away from your mother’s retreat.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were in the air, unauthorized, and David was arguing with ground control and military command. Ten minutes later, his rank had won out and they were informed they’d have an aerial tanker waiting for them to refuel.

When they finally got near Hannah’s retreat, it was worse than they had feared. Zombies were within a quarter mile of the compound, where only Hannah and a few of her Lillian guards resided. There was no sign of the downed chopper. David’s mouth pulled into a tight line.

“Alright, kiddies, follow my lead. We’re napalming that south ridge to buy us some time.” David flew in low and hot, passing only tens of feet above the tree tops as he released his napalm over the south ridge right on top of the zombie horde front line. Alice followed, flying higher and slightly farther south to get more zombies, and Thomas came last, just south of Alice. They napalm exploded over the trees and the ghouls, lighting them aflame. It wouldn’t buy them a lot of time, but it would buy them some.

“ETA on that chopper, Command.”

“Agent Tex and her team are still two hours out, Commandant. They ran into some trouble around Albany.” David cursed silently. He knew they didn’t have time to fly to the tanker and back… the compound would be overrun by then. But they couldn’t stay, simply flying in circles until their planes ran out of fuel and crashed… that would be suicide. There was only one solution for David.

“Get back to the tanker, kids. That’s an order. Escort the chopper in and provide CAS for evac. I’m going in.” David cut his mic before any protests could be heard and swooped in low, releasing a container right in front of the compound before pulling up. He quickly strafed the advancing horde with his 30mm Gatling gun before ejecting, sending his plane on a course to crash right into the horde, still almost fully loaded. He opened his parachute late intentionally, hit the ground a little hard but unharmed, and looked up to see his plane explode into the horde.

“Dad!” That shout came from Thomas. “We have to help him, Alice.”

“No, Thomas. He gave us explicit orders. We are to return to the tanker and provide CAS for extraction.”

“$%&@ those orders, he’s going to need our help. So is mom.”

“Return to the tanker, 2nd Lieutenant. That is an order.”

“Screw you.” Thomas swooped low, following the same path his father had before ejecting. Thomas did the same, punching out as his fighter flew into the horde. Alice cursed her brother and his recklessness before peeling her fighter around and doing the exact same thing. She swore she was going to kill her brother, if the ghouls didn’t get him first.

Once they both hit the ground, their father rounded on them. “What the $%&@ do you think you are doing? I gave you explicit orders…”

“Dad!” The twins spoke in unison this time. “I don’t think now is the time.” Alice pointed down towards the horde continuing to advance up the south ridge and Thomas pointed up towards the compound, where a figure stood that David hadn’t seen in years.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

The figure that David hadn't seen in years, the figure that the two twins had come to know only from far away in Lillia Palace, stood at the edge of her estate, her compound, her prison. It had been years since David had journeyed to Australia to take Hannah and his children out from the grasps of the collapsing Promise Lander government, now in the wake of the chaos in Australia, two Communist nations had propped up, Brisbane was in chaos and she had failed the destiny she wanted to achieve, to be remembered as the Lady Tintagyl had been remembered. Now it appeared that she was going to die by the hands of biological monsters in a self-made prison high in the Catskill Mountains. Yet, for all those terrible emotions that ran through her head, Hannah's figure was anything but weak. She stood on the edge of the hill looking down at her ex-husband and children with stern, angry, green eyes. Her white hair blew in the wild wind coming up from the southern ridge, while drifting sparks of burning ash fluttered in front of her face before disappearing in the sky. This was the Iron Lady of Australia in all her glory and by the looks of things, she was ready for her final battle.

The uniform that was draped over her body was ancient, its drab gray color would have looked dazzling some decades ago, during the hay day of the Hanseatic Commonwealth. It was the same uniform that she had worn when she had been a Lieutenant evacuating people from Turku to go to Brisbane, the uniform she had worn when the Hanseatics lay claim to Japan and Northeastern Asia, the uniform when the Coalition had defeated the Greater Nordic Reich, and the uniform she had entered into Darwin when she was crowned Queen. A rapier and pistol were held at her side, the sword with its silver hilt and the revolver which had been a gift from Tintagyl after the Commonwealth had been declared and Hannah had been promoted to General of the Belarussian holdings. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of air, the scent of napalm and charred flesh traveled through the air and a smile grew on her face.

"I miss this."

"Lady Hannah!" An auburn haired guard in the white uniform of the Lillian Guard ran up beside her as she stared out at the napalm covered ridge. "A report just arrived that the helicopter to escort you to safety disappeared in transit. W-..." The guard paused and looked at the sternness in her face. "Milady, what are you staring at?"

Hannah pointed down at the three figures on the hillside as she smiled and began to walk toward them and the guard straightened herself immediately and snapped to a salute. "Commander Atkinson. Lieutenants. Ma'am. Sir."

"Please, Jeanne, they're family, you don't need to salute." Hannah reached her hand out to David and took it firmly. "David, you always pick the best occasions for family togetherness. Napalm, hordes of mindless barbarians, burning ash. What could be better?"

[Michael McBride]

Hearing his title as “Commander” made David cringe. The Lillians had never seemed to be able to get it right, and part of David wondered if Hannah kept them saying it incorrectly just to get at him. Seeing his ex-wife again made a cold stone form in the pit of David’s stomach. He actually felt worse seeing her than he did at the prospect of imminent death by being eaten alive, and for a half second he regretted coming here. That feeling disappeared when he saw Alice run to her mother and give her a hug. Begrudgingly, David nodded to Thomas and they moved up the ridge post haste.

“Well, I need to keep things interesting. After all, I’ve heard your life has been quite boring lately.” The riposte was familiar to him, if slightly strained by their separation now. However, he couldn’t let that dictate he actions. They had a mission: survive until the chopper got there. “Thomas, come with me. I dropped something that may help us.” Moving quickly, David and Thomas rushed to the contained he had dropped as the Commandant opened it. Inside was a varied assortment of weapons, a besieged person’s wet dream. Three heavy machine guns, a few light machine guns, rifles, and even a flame thrower. They hurriedly started getting everything inside. Once it all was, David walked back to Hannah.

“We should get inside and fortify as much as possible. Your next ride is two hours away. We need to hold on until then.” Before waiting for an answer, he keyed his helmet mic. “Command, this is Commandant Atkinson. Myself and Lieutenants Atkinson-Asgeirsson are alive. We’ve made contact with her majesty and her security detail. We are preparing to hold out until Agent Tex arrives. The recue is still on, repeat, the rescue is still on. The sooner the better, Command.” Turning off his mic, David looked at the three women, pulling out his pistol. “Let’s get moving.”

[Sarah Tintagyl]

"Right. You heard him Jeanne, have the others come down and help out with the loading process, we've already wasted precious time." Hannah nodded and picked up one of the light machine guns and slung the belt around her shoulder as she began to march up the hill towards the estate behind Alice, Thomas, and the Lillian.

She had been right, they didn't have much time and the horde was fast approaching over the southern ridge of the estate. The defenders probably had five minutes, ten at the most, before the fire fight would begin and for a retreat that was designed as a royal hideaway, it hadn't been build with defense in mind.

"Move that furniture over there! Hurry up! What in God's name would your mothers and fathers say to see you lounging around like this!" Shouted Jeanne as the ten other Lillian guards frantically positioned anything they could at the doors and along the veranda to serve as a fortification against the horde. In truth, all they needed to do was hold and holding was making sure they didn't run out of ammunition and that they didn't run out of nerve. Nerve everyone had, ammunition was a different matter entirely. But as the seconds passed, the sounds of breaking wood and cracking stone filled the hills of the Catskills and the makeshift fortress began to take shape. Hannah did her part as well and she felt just like she had when she had been a Lieutenant and after putting the machine gun down at the edge of the veranda and shouldering a rifle, she looked the part as well. But even as her heart was nearly beating out of her chest in excitement and anxiety (which in turn put in motion the metabolism and physical prowess that Emperor Kintobor had given her), she couldn't keep her eyes off of David. Were they still in love? Yes, of course they were, she could see it in his eyes as well. Would anything come of it? No, it couldn't, they had lost too much time, it just was never meant to be.

But as she stared out of the window at the burning ridge, the fact that these moments in this estate may very well be her last, she couldn't die thinking like that. So when there was a break in the creation of the defense, she laid her hand firmly on David's shoulder and when he looked back, while the sternness was still there, the power, and the strength, it was the soft kind that he had first seen all those years back in Apophis when she had been Potentate.

"I just want to say, since this might be the last time I get to say it. I'm sorry." Hannah's eyes closed and her heart dropped into her stomach. "I know that it doesn't mean anything to you, I lost my chance a long time ago. But I wanted to let you know, so maybe when you think about down the road. You'll know." The Former Queen stood there for another two seconds and then took her hand away, walking over towards one of the borders of the house looking down over the hill. Resting her rifle against the ruined dresser, the horde would be in her deadly sight. She swallowed again and her pupil shrank, she was ready.

[Michael McBride]

In David’s mind, there were three types of people in the world: those who folded under pressure, those who kept their cool under pressure and did the right thing, and those who kept their cool under pressure but tried to be the hero. Earlier in life, David fit squarely into the third category, but as he aged he tried more and more to fit into the second. Still, old habits died hard and every once in a while, like now, he slipped into his old habits.

Along with Hannah, he directed the Lillians as much as he could. He wasn’t a ground strategist, that was Hannah’s specialty, but he had commanded troops in France and the Maritime Republic. And defending one area while not having to worry about artillery or fire support was, to be honest, relatively simple. Commanding fields of fire, all entrances covered, and an escape route planned. The safest place to be would have been to simply move to the second floor, with only two ways in, and hold out there until rescue arrived. Unfortunately, when rescue arrived they would then be faced with the prospect of either jumping out of a second story window, or fighting through a lower level infested with zombies just to get outside, also infested with zombies, to, borrowing a line from Arnold Schwarzenegger, “get to the choppa”.

So, they boarded up the basement entrance and the side kitchen entrance and barricaded the entrance to the second floor as well as they could. One heavy machine gun would watch the windows of the main living room while another would be set up right next to it to guard the front door. One Lillian guard would man each, with another serving as ammo runner for each. A light machine gun was also set there to backup the front door’s heavy machine gun. The third heavy machine gun would watch the main back entrance. The other Lillians, Hannah, Alice, Thomas, and David would help guard the back, side, and front, along with taking down as many zombies as possible from the second story.

David glanced over everything. This was probably as good as it was going to get. He set himself up behind one of the counters in the kitchen when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Instantly, he knew who it was. The weight of the hand and grip was different than anyone else, and he had become quite familiar with it during their marriage.

[i]"I just want to say, since this might be the last time I get to say it. I'm sorry. I know that it doesn't mean anything to you, I lost my chance a long time ago. But I wanted to let you know, so maybe when you think about down the road. You'll know."[/i]

David didn’t move as she spoke, afraid of what he might do if he did. After she left, he exhaled a breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding in. To take his mind off of what she had said, he keyed his mic. “Command, let Agent Tex know that the ride back home will be tight. Currently fourteen of us here.” He turned off his mic and turned, seeing shapes move around the back of the house. “They’re here!” He squeezed off a few rounds from his rifle.

Upstairs, Thomas fired into the backyard with a rifle, aiming at zombies moving around the greenhouse. Alice fired from the front balcony, her helmet at her hip, black bandana pulling her blonde hair back. She took her shots carefully, out towards the boat house, trying to keep that possible escape route as clear as possible.

[Sarah Tintagyl]

After leaving David and seeing her two children currently engaged, Hannah settled over near one of the windows looking out as the horde began to advance over the southern ridge and in range of her rifle. Her sight zeroed in on the first one that rounded the edge and as she narrowed her eyes and pulled the trigger all that was left was a squirting geyser of blood and a dropped body. The problem being that the minute the first body dropped, about ten more came to take its place.

"Wonderful shot Your Highness." Said one of the Lillians beside her. "You haven't lost anything."

Hannah moved her rifle a few inches to the right and another shot rang out through the Catskills, amongst the other fire and the groans of the horde approaching and another body fell. "Quit it Jeanne. I don't want to hear it."

"Hear what? That you're a good shot?" The Lillian said as she fired her own out of the window and another geyser sprayed into the air.

"The 'Your Highness' !@#$%^&*. You know the chances of us making out of here alive?"

"Slim to none?"

Hannah chuckled and took another shot. "Yeah, something like that. I'd like to be known by the name I was born with, not by the title that I grew out of."

Jeanne smiled, reloaded her rifle and brought it back up to her shoulder. There together, Queen and Guard fired round after round and clip after clip into the advancing horde. They screamed at the top of their lungs as they fired watching the bodies drop in front of them, watching as the horde gained ground, advancing without remorse over piles of their own dead bodies. Naturally, they were already dead, but one lost most logic in the idea of a zombie invasion in itself. Who would have imagined that zombies could come back to life and utterly overrun a country? Then again, given the strange state that the world was always in, it wasn't all that strange when one took time to think. Which Hannah, as loaded the clip into her rifle, did. She sat back, if only for a split second, her mind running blank as Jeanne reached over and took her by the collar.

"Hannah! C'mon, you have to stay focused, you're the warrior here. What's wrong?"

She shook her head, walked away for a moment leaving a confused Jeanne to man the window, before bringing back one of the light machine guns and pushing the barrel through the window. "We didn't have enough fire power that's what was wrong."

The Lillian looked over at her and nodded. "How'd things go with David?"

"We're divorced, how would you expect things to go over." Hannah smiled shooting a stead stream of rounds into the advancing corpses along the hill closing in on the house.

[Michael McBride]

[i]$%&@.[/i] That was the one word that kept coursing through David’s head over and over and over again. Each time he squeezed the trigger, he knew it was one less bullet that he had, that he was one step closer to his own death. The moans from the original zombies had simply attracted more, and though the dead bodies were starting to pile up, David had a sinking feeling that his ammo was going to run out long before the zombies did.

He lost all track of time as he fired, he only focus on keeping the zombies away from his children and his ex-wife. He could hear fire from upstairs and in the main lobby, and it didn’t sound like anyone had been overtaken yet, so that was a good thing. His mic crackled, and before he could speak, the best thing he’d heard all day came over the other end.

“Commandant Atkinson, Commandant Atkinson, this is Agent Tex and extraction team. Do you copy, over?” David’s heart practically leapt through his mouth as he answered back quickly.

“Agent Tex, this is Commandant Atkinson, I read you, over. What is your ETA?” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than David began to hear the buzz of chopper blades. They passed low over the house as David smiled. “No need to answer that, Tex. Can you set down in the back so we can get out of here?”

“Negative Commandant. That LZ is too hot. Will have to put down by the boat house, over.” David let out a resigned sigh. They weren’t out of the woods yet.

“Roger that, Agent. Can you sweep the front of the estate to make it a little easier for us?”

“That I can do, Commandant. Keep your heads low, and be ready to run.”

“Roger that, Agent. Atkinson out.” David fired off a few more shots and then ran into the front lobby. “Grab only what you can sprint with! The helo will sweep the front to help us out and then we run for the boathouse! Alice, Thomas, you’re up front with your mother. Take the light machine guns and clear a path. Lillians guard the sides, I’ll guard the rear.” As he said that, David picked up the flamethrower and strapped it on to his back. He was getting too old for this !@#$.

[Michael McBride]

OOC: [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNwl4XPOtj8"]Music for the post.[/url]

There was a minute of relative silence as everyone prepared. The eleven Lillians, Hannah, Alice, Thomas and David all checked their weapons, stripped down what they wouldn’t need, and mentally prepared themselves for the task ahead. Alice, Thomas and Hannah each carried a light machine gun and pistols, the Lillians each had an assault rifle with extra magazines, and David had his flamethrower. They were ready.

“Agent Tex, this is Commandant Atkinson. Light them up.”

“With pleasure Commandant.” They heard the chopper come in low and slow, its heavy machine guns rumbling as it tore out chunks from the ground, moans suddenly silenced as it ripped through the horde in front of the estate. “You’re as clear as you’re gonna get, Atkinson. Boat house, go!”

“Move!” David kicked down the front door, aimed his flamethrower to the south, and shot a stream of fire in that direction as the others raced out behind him.

Hannah was in the center with her children on either side of her. They ran through a low, broken wall, seeing a sizeable group of ghouls moving towards them from the south. As Thomas picked off the few zombies already in the grove of trees, Alice and Hannah fired full bore as they sprinted. As their machine guns chattered, Hannah heard Alice swear as her machine gun died. Out of ammo, and it would take too long to try and reload. Alice tossed the weapon to the side, pulling out her pistols and firing both at once as they ran. Thomas joined in the firing as they cleared a path.

The Lillians guarded their flanks, picking off the few zombies that Thomas had missed in the grove and adding their fire up front as well. David ran behind them, sprinting to catch up and then turning and letting loose some more flames before sprinting again. The chopper began to touch down by the boat house.

Alice got there first. She jumped in and helped her brother and mother in. She fired with a pistol in one hand, helping a Lillian up with the other. Thomas’ machine gun still chattered away as he lay on the floor of the chopper. Finally, only David was left, still twenty yards away, spraying fire.

“Time to fly, Commandant.” That was Agent Tex. David turned and started running towards the chopper, unbuckling the straps to the flamethrower as he did. He couldn’t bring the weapon on board, and he knew that. When he was about ten feet away, he began to drop the flamethrower, reaching a hand out to Hannah, who had her arm extended for him.

Which is when three zombies hit him from the side, driving him to the ground. “Dad!” The unison shout came from the children. “David!” That shout came from Hannah. The chopper began to lift. Thomas moved to start getting out when two strong hands grabbed him. One was his mother’s… the other was Agent Tex. They pulled him back to prevent him from doing anything stupid.

Alice grabbed a handhold by the door, stepping out onto the landing strut. She sighted with her pistol. She could still vaguely see her father struggling under a pile of zombies that now numbered close to a dozen. But she moved her pistol… her target wasn’t her father. Squeezing off three shots, she hit the fuel tank for the flamethrower, causing an eruption of flames that engulfed everything nearby. Including her father.

As the chopper rose and turned away, Alice sat back down. She looked at her mother, her brother. Thomas was in shock, he wasn’t moving. Alice felt tears start down her face and she wiped them away angrily. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her mother still staring out the chopper door, back at the estate. Alice could swear she saw a small, single tear run down her face as she looked back as well. There by the boat house was the fire, a funeral pyre, for David K. Atkinson.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Pravus Ingruo

[Sarah Tintagyl]

As the helicopter flew away, the smoke of the fire making gentle wisps into the air around her, Hannah stared down in disbelief at what had happened. They had escaped, all of them, she remembered just seconds ago feeling the cold metal beneath her feet and the sighs of relief coming from the Lillians, her children, and her husband. He had sighed too, she had heard him and she was going to look back and say how much she loved him, how sorry she was for everything. For the first time in her life, the Iron Lady of Australia was going to tear down her shell and let her husband back into her life. But it was never going to happen. No. And as the helicopter climbed further into the sky she felt like screaming, in fact she opened her mouth to scream and Jeanne saw it. The Lillian watched the Queen's face contort to bitter sorrow and her mouth open, but nothing came out, only tears that began to roll down the woman's cheeks.

"David! No! David!" The shriek finally pierced the air and Hannah flung her body out towards the door of the helicopter, but before she could clear the exit and descend into the pyre below, four Lillian rose up and grabbed her by her shoulders, arms, and waist throwing her against the opposite wall of the craft.

"No Your Majesty! You mustn't! There's nothing left for you! He's dead you can't bring him back!"

"Get your hands off of me! Get off of me!" Hannah struggled against the Lillian's who held her back, but even with her strength, they were too powerful for her to escape. "Its not fair! Let me go! Let me go! Please! I don't deserve to live!"

"Your Majesty! Hannah!" Jeanne said and slapped the Queen across the face. Hard. "You aren't going anywhere. We have a duty to protect you and we'll all be damned if we let you throw yourself into an inferno. David is dead and he died to make sure that we, you included, would stay alive to see another day. He did those things and I swear to God, Hannah, if you take those things away from the Commander-"

"Commandant."

"What?"

Hannah bowed her head as she closed her eyes and struggled to control her sadness. "His title is Commandant."

It was the last thing she said before being overwhelmed with sadness as the helicopter took off towards the dismal southern skies.