Surface: Doomed Planet

Excerpt 9-Unlikely Ally

We didn't wait to load up and head for the Hotel. There were still more than 18 hours of daylight left and the last thing I wanted after the fiasco yesterday with those mercs was to get caught out in the fucking dark. With mike at the wheel of the Ford, Allen riding shotgun and Alcatraz and I in the bed, we started for the hotel about an hour after we got back from the lighthouse. The road was mostly unblocked, minus a few stray ghouls that proved no match at all for the Ford's deer guard. When the hotel came into view, the first thing I noticed were plumes of black smoke rising from the parking lot.

"That ain't good", I said, "Mike, stop the truck. We hoof it from here."

Mike slowed the Ford to a stop and put the transmission in neutral before pulling the parking brake. We climbed out of the truck and gathered behind it.

"Good reason why you stopped us?", Mike asked.

"I saw black smoke rising from the hotel parking lot", I said, "I have a feeling were in for a fight."

Allen sighed, "can't anything go smoothly?"

"No", Alcatraz said as we started for the wall around the hotel, "not how the universe works."

Standing in my toes, I managed to peer over the fence. There was a swarm of well uniformed and well armed Mercs, all wearing the same dragon on their shoulder patches that Ryu had on his jacket. These guys seemed higher up than the men at the pharmacy though, though they weren't armed with energy weapons, rather they were armed with FNH FAL's, their weapons were heavily modified and seemed to be tailor made for the individual. I counted over 200 people in the parking lot, most of them armed with FAL's, but there were snipers and a HMG emplacement on the roof. In addition to the heavy security, the source of the smoke being burning zombies on wooden pallets, I also noticed white, air conditioned tents with hazmat teams and what looked like doctors tending to the sick and some people who looked like they were near death from Agent 41's infection, but were somehow resisting it.

"Something is very off here", I said.

"What do you see Sky?", Mike asked.

"Ryu's men are...tending to the sick", I said, "the hotel parking lot looks like an aid center."

I ducked back down behind the fence.

"You sure their not just executing them?", Mike asked.

"I haven't been sure of anything since this shit started Mike", I said, "but stick your head up and see for yourself."

Mike peered over the fence, along with Allen and Alcatraz. They observed for about a minute before ducking back down.

"Why does what I saw make me so uneasy?", Allen asked, "something is very off....either that or what happened last night was a very bad miscommunication."

I sighed, "either way the mission still stands, let's see if we can blend in, I saw some other well armed people who weren't in Ryu's uniform, so let's see if we can pass off as some people who were just ready."

"Sounds like a plan to me", Alcatraz said, "but in case things go bad, we take out the roof top snipers first."

"Agreed", I answered.

With that, we continued on foot to the entrance of the hotel parking lot, where we were instantly stopped by a tank and six men.

"You four!", one of the men shouted, "stop right there."

"They got a tank", Alcatraz said, gritting his teeth as we raised our hands.

"Hey their not infected, lower your weapon already."