Once Upon A Zombie Story part deux

    So the scoundrel himself finally showed up. Hawk's upper-lip curled slightly at the thought of The General. Upon a first meeting with the man, any soul would find him intimidating at first glance, but they would be shaking in their boots by the end of his first sentence. His voice matched his exterior, cold, rough, and loud. A grizzly beard formed on his chin, which he rarely shaved, even though it went against protocol and all grooming standards. It was thought that people were too afraid of him to tell him off, this was probably true. His face had the features of a man who had seen too many fights, scarred, splotched and very sharply cut. The rest of his body was bulging and large, he would not be missed in a crowd. He carried himself with the demeanor that everyone else around him were bougars he had just flicked away out of that sharp nose. And he despised none of them more than Captain Hawk, herself. Where she was quiet and calculating, he was loud and irrational. They had never gotten along, and probably never would. But, here she was, now standing in front of him, awaiting his normal, booming voice telling her that he could find someone better to run this operation.

    "Hawk, as you wish to be called, you know very well that a woman is not fitted for this kind of work. Let Skye or Haru-"

    "I out-rank them, sir. No matter what you say, I was assigned to this operation, and it shall remain this way until it has reached completion. Do you have any other concerns? Shall we give you a postcard on our return, or would you rather a nice bowl of pouporri for your entry hall?" Hawk cut him off, a brave move in it's own, but to counter with such a remark, it could mean trouble.

    The General's mouth twitched, "Captain Hawk, you will not talk to me thusly. It is disrespectful and rude."

    Hawk snorted, though she was yelling at herself in her mind, she was going to get into so much trouble for this, "Disrespectful and rude? What is disrespectful and rude is that my crew and I are given the shit pile for recruits when we have done so much, how should I word it, good in the world? We have fought vampires, demons, lycans, and zombies on more than one occasion! And yet, we get the imbeciles that just barely passed Boot Camp. Why is this?"

    "Because. Your 'crew' drains more money out of the Military Association than any other squadron. So, in response this group is deployed to your command. Not too much for you to handle is it, Captain?" The General challenged, crossing his arms over his chest.

    "My crew? We make sure the stupid people of this planet can live safe lives away from all the supernatural! We're the fucking Men In Black of the fantasy world! How can you stand there and tell me we're a damned waste of money?" Hawk spat back at him, fuming by now.

    "Oh really? You see yourself as esteemed as the Men In Black? At least they cover their tracks better than you do. If one was just to watch-"

    "Why the hell are you here? To scare me? To tell me I'm not good enough? What is your fucking reason, General?"

    "To tell you this is your last mission. You are being dishonorably discharged from the Military Association as soon as you return. Have a nice day, Misery Ann Jonstone." With that, he turned and returned to his military issue jeep.

    Hawk was stunned, she just stood there, a stray curl blowing in the rather harsh wind. The dust swirled around her, creating a whirlwind. There was no way that they were going to discharge her...no way! She turned and went back to her bunker, throwing her hat down onto the bed. Her last mission. The Final Stand of Misery. Well, she was going to go out with one helluva bang. With a smirk, she exited leaving her baret laying on the covers, S.I.N.G. clearly imprinted upon the fabric with an eagle holding a stake in it's talons and the feather of a dove in it's beak.

    "Skye. Get them ready to leave. We shall disembark for Rome, Georgia in fifteen minutes." She said briskly as she walked up, then walked off leaving the young man partially stunned. He raised a brow, but started to work on the cadets as best he could.

    Hawk continued to give orders until her stated fifteen minutes were up. Inspection her ass! He came to her to get her riled up, then to tell her that what she said meant nothing! Because with her gone, S.I.N.G. would crumble. And the damned military would be able to do what they'd please. Skye would be sent to another company..and so would Haru. She clenched her jaw; not on her watch.

    She marched over to the cadets who were in perfectly straight lines, "Good job, Haru." She said under her breath as she passed him. "Now, listen up you damnable excuses for live beings." She saw them straighten up slightly. "We're leaving for Rome, Georgia, a place many of you have never heard of. That's just damn fine. No one else has heard of it, either. So, don't look so cocky. No one will know about what happens here. No one will give you medals of fucking honor. You will most likely die. So get your lazy bums into the damned jeeps and leave. You have all the weapons you could ever ask for, don't even TRY to talk to me. Get gone." She said this in a rather cold voice, a colder voice than she had used the previous day. This was well noted with the cadets and they hurried to get into their rightful places. No one wanted to double-cross the Captain today.

    "What did he tell you?" Skye asked softly from beside her, he kept his arms crossed and stared straight ahead.

    "That as soon as we return, I'm to be dishonorably discharged." Misery said glancing at him, then marching off. "But there'll be hell to pay before that."

    Skye had to chuckle, "Oh, General Jackson, what ever did you think she was going to do? Fall down on her knees and beg for her job? You just fucked up Dingo Jack." He laughed and walked towards the Jeep he was assigned to.

~~~~

    "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MISERY IS ASSIGNED TO THIS?!" A clang followed the exclamation and a young woman scrambled away from the loud...squeaky voice.

    "S-Sir, It's what the message says. 'Your lordship, it has come to the attention of the VAOE that Captain Misery Ann Jonstone has been assigned to the zombie epidemic in Rome, Georgia, which has been attributed to you. Have a great, evil filled, day!'" She read off the sheet of red paper in front of her.

    "But...But...MISERY! That horrible whore! She would have me dead!" Continued the squeaky voice. "And she has no weaknesses."

    "Actually, m'lord, this Captain has one weakness. A very large weakness." Another voice interjected smoothly.

    "And that would be what, Dieu?" The voice continued.

    "That man, Skye Monroe. Or, Fate and Deliverance, we still have them in our army, do we not?"

    "Yes. But-"

    "...you do remember who they are, right?"

    "OF COURSE! NOW GO!"

    "Yes, m'lord."

~~~~~

    The blades of the helicopters sent dust and leaves flying everywhere as they patrolled outside the city. Skye looked up to see curls the color of fresh blood flying around. She just couldn't wait, or else she just wanted to get it over with. The woman was standing up in the opened side door, her hair flying loose from the tight bun as was the norm. The wind swirled around her body and he stood up, "Cap'n." She looked at him and shrugged. "We're in the area."

"GOOD! I believe someone set a pinecone in my seat, because my bonghole HURTS!" Haru said standing up.

    "Thanks for the information, Haru, it was much appreciated." Hawk said shaking her head with a sigh. "Now. We have got to get these miserable cadets fighting...just long enough to find Vladimir."

    "What about Fate and Del-"

    "Leave them out of this." Hawk said sharply looking at Skye, who was standing there looking rather upset and concerned over her. He sighed and ran a hand through his silver hair. "You're not coming back with us, are you?"

    "Hell no." Hawk said looking back at him. "I will not be dishonorably discharged. I'm going to die here. And if I don't-"

    "Don't you even think about it." He said grabbing her arm roughly. "I'll die before I let you do that. Now pull yourself together, Misery." Skye said giving her a rough stare.

    "Yeah, Misery." Haru said leaned against the wall of the helicopter. "I ain't gonna astand here and let you blow your brains out like birthday confetti. At least die honorably." A small smirk appeared on his face. "Besides. If you don't return, we don't. Ya know. It could by like Roanoke. Everyone goes in."

    "No one comes out." Hawk said nodding. She let out a slow breath before knocking Skye's arm off of her and pulling her Killer7 and 9mm out and pointing one at each. "And if I ever hear you call me Misery in public...I will personally decorate your coffins and hearses. Got it?"

    Both men nodded and took a step backwards away from the loading devices of death. They were brave, but not brave enough to challenge the red-head in front of them. Her fire could put the Devil to shame when angered. Many a man learned that the hardest way possible. By ordering her around they sealed their passports to Hell. Neither Skye nor Haru wanted to see Lucifer's face unless they were old men in their rocking chairs. There were no telling how many good men had lost their brains.

    "Touch down, Captain." The rather gruff looking pilot turned around and raised a brow to the woman who had just put away her arms. His dark sunglasses reflected the two men's faces and the blood coloring of Hawk's curls.

    "Very good, Lieutenant." Hawk said turning around to nod at him, then pulled her 9mm back out. She already saw the new fangled cadets standing in perfect formation. Great. They were like those damnable ducks...sitting there preening before the hunter comes and the warm crimson liquid forms an ocean on the ground. Too bad she was right.

    Machine guns sounded and the three hit the floor of the helicopter, helpless. All they could do was watch as ranks broke and the boys ran away just to be gunned down moments later. It was all a son of a bitchin set up. Hawk growled under her breath and grabbed Skye's arm. "We got to move!!" She barked and pulled his arm, Haru already up and scouting for a hiding spot for them. The cadets were already doomed as it was. They found a spot hidden by trees and bushes and dove in, guns at the ready. So much for that plan, eh?

    SNAP! Hawk whipped around to point her gun at the intruder and was thrown backwards on her bum, gun wrenched from her hands. She looked up at the face of one she had dared to dream didn't get caught in Vladimir's tangled web.

    "Hello Patrick..." She said softly.

    "It ends here." He said grinning and firing the gun.