Date: September 17. Time: 0900. Location: South America, along the Amazon River.
"I order you to get up and fight back! Now!!!"
"Commander…"
"Tomax, stay where you are. What's wrong, Sgt Akin? Can't handle an old man?" Lying on the ground, Vipers' Nest sniper Sgt Akin stares up, stunned. Having traveled upriver to within miles of the Peruvian coast, he and his partner, Sgt Crouch, unwittingly stumbled upon the man they were sent to locate and retrieve, Cobra Commander. Akin, taken aback after disrespecting his leader, was sent to his current location by a fast right cross from the Commander. "I gave you a direct order. Now get up, you piss ant."
"Commander, we do not have time for this. Look!" Stumbling from between the small collection of hovels come the walking dead. Arms outstretched, jaws slack, eyes blank.
"Worry not, General Xamot. Fear not the undead. Fear only the living. Now, again I order you to stand and fight Corporal Akin. Unless your reputation is as I thought it to be, a bunch of exaggerations and lies." Looking into the eyes of his Commander, Akin acknowledges inwardly the demotion he has just received, and his anger begins to rise. Slowly he regains his feet. All the while, more of the undead shamble towards the band of rouges. "Good. Now fight. Or are you afraid…" The Commander lets the last sentence trail off. He knows the effect his words will have. A man whose reputation for violence and his penchant for killing scared his officers so much as to have him recommended for immediate "dismissal." The Commander, however, had other plans for the then-PFC Akin. He was immediately promoted and sent through sniper training. He excelled at killing even from a distance and became known by his Joe body count of 13. Now the look on his face shows the Commander what he wants to see, pure unadulterated hate. Hate, so pure that it will keep Akin alive, but only if he can be brought back under control.
Akin circles the Commander slowly, keeping the increasing number of THEM in his peripheral. "Akin, stop, man. This is crazy. That's the Commander."
"That's enough out of you, Sgt Crouch. Or would you prefer to join your comrade as a Corporal? Might I suggest you watch your six, Sergeant?" Crouch turns to see one of THEM coming close. He raises his rifle… "Do not shoot it, Sergeant." Looking from the decaying thing and then back to his Commander. Crouch wears a look of confusion. "Join the Generals." Crouch slowly makes his way to the waiting Tomax and Xamot. All three have a complete lack of understanding of the current situation.
As Akin circles, the Commander stands still. His hands hang loose at his side, feet shoulder-width apart, weight balanced on the balls of his feet. Waiting. Anticipating. Then Akin strikes. The Viper efficiently attacks, but as he throws his weight behind his punch, his target is no longer there. The Commander sidesteps Akin, grabbing and twisting the arm meant to have connected with his jaw. In one smooth motion, he sweeps Akin's legs out from under him while twisting his arm behind his back. Driving him to the ground face-first. With a thud, Akin hits the ground, air temporarily knocked out of him, vision spinning. The Commander lets go and stands over Akin, again, waiting. Akin's mouth fills with the taste of dirt mixed with blood. Mere meters away come four wretched undead. The former inhabitants of the village. Now covered in mud and dried blood. Portions of their bodies were torn open. Their bellies were swollen by the flesh of their victims. Akin knows he has only seconds to finish this before they make him their next feast. He rolls and kicks back, getting to his feet. He wastes no time lunging for the Commander.
Bracing for the impact, the Commander falls back, tucking his knees up as he goes down. As his back touches the ground, he kicks out, lifting the body of the sniper over his own, tossing him across the small open area to the feet of one of THEM.
Akin has no time to react. The moment he hits the Commander's body, he feels the weight change and knows he is about to be tossed aside like a rag doll. Flying through the air, Akin tries to prepare to lessen the impact. Once on the ground, he feels the hand of the nearest deadman as it grabs him by the hair.
Shots ring out. The Commander turns clockwise, dispatching each of the offending ghouls with a well-placed shot between the eyes. He quickly makes his way to the final creature. Akin struggles against it, but its grip is like steel. He tries to kick out the knee of the thing, but it takes no notice as it fights to pull him ever closer to its blackened mouth. He is losing the fight. A stone-cold killer, Akin stares death in the lifeless eyes and understands this will be his final battle.
The Commander walks toward the struggle, Akin still on the ground trying to escape, and kicks out the beast's other knee. Xamot and Tomax hold back the screaming Crouch, desperately wanting to save his friend. The Commander pays no attention to the three men. His whole focus on the man before him and the thing trying to take his life. He grabs the creature by the back of its head and simultaneously kicks Akin in the chest. Sending him to the ground on his back. The Commander holds the thing at bay with one hand while pointing his still smoking pistol at the prone form of Akin. "Now, Corporal Akin, what was it again? You spoke about my living a life of luxury? Of being 'mince meat.'" The beast, securely in the Commander's grasp, continues to snarl and snap at the man on the ground. The Commander lowers it towards Akin, who tries to backpedal away only to be met by a swift kick to the rib by the boot of his leader. "Where is your witty banter now? Where are your insults?" The thing comes ever closer to Akin. It reaches out and grabbing hold of his flak jacket, pulling him towards his mouth. The Commander places a boot upon Akin's chest, holding him just inches from the slobbering face of the beast. "You see, Akin, what you forget is that I was the first snake. I trained all those first recruits who, in turn, trained the next, and so on. Whenever a new technique was added to the regimen, I was the first to learn it. I was the first to test it. I know what you will do before you do it." Akin stares into the dead eyes of the madman. "You felt the strength of this thing. How hard you struggled. Yet here I am. Holding it at bay like a wild dog. Keeping you from becoming one of them. You are lucky this is a new world, Akin. Do you realize that? Were this the old world, you would be dead. I would have answered your disrespect with a single bullet. But now… Now, you need me, Akin. You need me to keep you alive. Without me, you would be dead. You would have been a pile of entrails by now. Or worse yet, one of these things. You need me. I offer you life. I offer you glory. I offer you a future." Seeing the effect of his words on the man, the Commander, without warning, pulls the beast's head back and places his sidearm on its head, squeezing the trigger. Keeping his boot firmly on Akins's chest, the Commander tosses the now dead form on the ground. The smell of gunpowder and death fills the air. As do the screams of Crouch. "Xamot, Tomax, release the sergeant." Without a word, the two Generals let go of the struggling Viper. Crouch runs to his comrade, and the Commander steps towards his waiting officers. He turns to the two men, Crouch offering to help Akin to his feet. Akin pushes him away, and gets to his feet without dusting himself off. The look in his eye is a mixture of; fear, awe, and hate. "Remember, Akin, you need me. Remember what I offer you."
Silence...