Sweet Bee Productions Presents
Heroes Come in Many Shapes and Sizes
A Wild Assault Prologue
By David J. Blood
Wild Assault is a registered trademark of Combat Cat Studio and is now available for PC on Steam! Play as one of ten superior* bestial soldiers as they beat the ever-loving snot out of each other, and anyone in their way, in 20 Vs. 20 Raid, and Conquest. Unlock new weapons and attachments by giving your enemy a hug** with fabulous weapons like the Home Defender shotgun; guaranteed to not protect your home or your money back, and the SMG5.
1* Soldiers may not be superior. All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.
2* Hugs may involve lethal amounts of shrapnel; hugger discretion is advised.
It was the year Anno Domini 1991, the Year of Our Lord, tensions have been rising between the Eurasian Federation, Canadian Empire, and the South-East Asian Republic for decades over key, unincorporated territories. Talks of roving mercenaries, only answerable to money, prowling throughout Africa and South America have reached the poignant ears of many regular citizens. It seemed that war was coming; war was inevitable, and that no one could stop the machinations from those wishing to turn the hands of the future.
At least, until Operation Desert Storm turned the tide.
Prologue:
Special Administrative District
Hong Kong
July 1st, 19:05
``This is the sixth gas leak this month, good lord....'' The male rabbit sighed, as he furiously pawed at a special laptop, all the while trying to maintain his balance within a cramped ambulance not made for his species. ``I am beginning to think this is no accidental leak.''
The driver just stayed silent, as her friend, Bai Liu, talked to himself. She understood the implications of what he said, and she certainly was smart enough to draw ample conclusions, but the last thing she wanted was to stir the sparks of war once more.
``Alright, I am uploading the coordinates to your GPS; floor it, Hong Ying!''
After confirming the location, Hong Ying opened a compartment slightly above her, and to the right, and pulled the resulting pully with all her might; the ambulance came ablaze with lights and sounds, as she put the pedal to the metal and broke every traffic law imaginable.
After all, lives depended on it!
Hong Ying smoothly pulled up to the apartment complex in question, sliding right between two police cars, which were cordoning off the area, and came to a halt. The back door opened, and Bai Liu stepped out into the evening sun once more; his pale fur standing out far too much despite his medical attire; Hong Ying following suit.
``What's the status inside?''
He wasted no time questioning the police force that ran right up to him.
``The gas leak is on floor thirteen of sixteen floors and seems to have quarantined itself within that block; no casualties were reported from the evacuees on the lower floors, but the situation may have changed by now.''
``Do you have information on how many people may be trapped on the thirteenth floor?''
``At this hour; thankfully very few, as it was mostly populated by people still at work. However, reports from the other residents indicate that there are likely at least six people on the floor at the time.''
``People who could not leave under their own power; the defenseless.''
Hong Ying murmured, under her breath, but Bai Liu's ears were sharp, and he understood her feelings on the matter.
``Right, level 2 hazmat; make sure your respirator works!''
She nodded, and climbed in the back to retrieve two, appropriately sized; thankfully, hazmat suits with internal, filtered, respirators, and handed one to her partner, whereupon they both put them on.
``All green here, what about you?''
Hong Ying only nodded, furiously, not one for small talk, and the two of them began to walk up the steps to the complex; a multitude of police watching them from the sidelines. As they were about to pass the threshold, though, she could not help but notice as a certain cop stood out far more than the rest, one who seemed an ill-appropriate choice for a busy place like Hong Kong, but she cleared the thought from her mind as she stepped inside.
``The elevator should still be working. Do you have that fireman's key that you pilfered earlier?''
A slight blush filtered through Hong Ying's cheek fur that, thankfully, Bai Liu could not see, as she reached into her pocket and produced the key that he so badly wanted.
``Good, this will make evacuation all the easier.''
Once they reached the elevator doors, Hong Ying inserted the key, turned it, and pressed the call button. Sure enough, the elevator still worked, the cab successfully reaching their floor, and the two of them stepped inside: whereupon Hong Ying did the same thing, except this time she pressed for the thirteenth floor, The sight when the doors finally opened once more was far more horrific than they imagined.
``All this from a gas leak; yah, right.''
The entire floor had a reddish haze floating about it, such that it looked nothing like natural gas or even carbon monoxide. No, whoever did this, did it deliberately, with an unknown agent. Thankfully, their hazmat suits were designed for this sort of thing, and the two of them split up to find the remaining residents; keeping in contact via the comms built into their suits.
Hong Ying found that most of the apartment units were still closed, if not locked entirely, making searching for younger victims, who would have likely stayed indoors, a real problem and, while she was able to pilfer the Fireman's elevator key, she was not able to pilfer his ax. Thankfully, her ears were so soft, and sensitive, that she could hear the slightest breathing even through a solid door. She would just have to call Bai Liu over, and the two of them would have to work together, to remove the door itself, though.
As she walked through the hall, carefully examining every door and passage, she noticed a door two doors down that seemed to be ajar and quickly hopped on over, only to be met with abject horror. A young person, a child, even, was slumped along the floor, face down, their hand still glued to the doorknob, the gas having finally gotten to them right after they opened the door. Quickly, and without a word, Hong Ying scooped them up and began making her way to the elevator; their breath fading with every moment of inaction.
``Bai Liu, I am heading to the elevator for evac. If you have found someone, please head there now, or wait for my return. Hony Ying out.''
Unfortunately, there was only one elevator key; a fact that both were painfully aware of and required them to go out together or function in lockstep, neither were good options in the current situation.
``Copy that, Hony Ying, I am returning to the elevator with a senior citizen; Bai Liu out."
Shortly after Hong Ying arrived at the elevator; Bai Liu showed up, and the two of them descended back to the ground floor, whereupon they hurried back out to the ambulance. Since Bai Liu's hands were the only ones free, due to his ward being on his back, he opened the ambulance and, carefully, laid his ward on the stretcher, before configuring the nearby respirator, and putting it over her mouth and nose. Once he was satisfied that they were stable, he grabbed the child from Hong Ying's arms and proceeded to do the same thing.
``Four stretchers; six possible residents, we will not be able to take them all in one ambulance.''
``Do not worry, Hong Ying, I have a backup plan, in case it comes down to it.''
Hong Ying was confused, somewhat, by her partner's brevity, but knew better than to ask; Bai Liu always came prepared, after all, a trait she found rather endearing. Once everything was secure, the two of them went back to the thirteenth floor.
The floor was much bigger than it looked from the outside, so Hong Ying thought, as she prowled through corridors, and what appeared to be a joint breakfast lounge. Thankfully, nobody was out getting a snack at this hour, but what she found most alarming was the pool room nearby and the shadow of something she did not want to believe was what she initially thought. Carefully, she pushed back the glass down and walked across the oddly damp tiles. Thankfully, rabbit feet had great traction on such surfaces, but that was the last thing on her mind, as she rushed over the rest of the way to find someone slumped so far over it was a miracle they did not drown.
Another child.
Hong Ying should not have been surprised. After all, this was an apartment for working families. What else were kids supposed to do after school while the parents were working? Regardless, Hong Ying swiftly pulled the boy out of the pool and carried him back to the elevator. Unfortunately, Bai Liu was nowhere to be found.
``Bai Liu, have you found any more survivors yet?''
``Negative, at least not ones that are lying out in the open.''
``I am taking another child down the elevator, let me know if you find anyone and I will hurry back. Hong Ying out.''
With that out of the way, she entered the elevator once more and inserted the key; descending as fast as was mechanically possible. Once on the ground floor she hurried out to the ambulance, the police cordon still in effect, and strapped the child to one of the last two remaining stretchers. Once she finished setting up the respirator correctly, she closed the doors and hurried back to Bai Liu.
As the elevator doors opened to the thirteenth floor; however, she nearly had a heart attack, as Bai Liu nearly ran into her, a child thrown over his shoulder like a rag, his breathing ragged, as if he ran all the way back.
``What impeccable timing, Angel.''
There was that nickname, again, but she knew that Bai Liu was playfully taunting her instead of using it seriously; like everyone else. Together, they descended back to the ambulance, Bai Liu's breathing starting to concern her. With skill and care, they strapped the last to the final stretcher, set up the respirator, and closed the door.
``There should still be two, at least, people left to rescue; you said you had a plan, remember?''
``Right, now where is the highest-ranking officer here...'' Bai Liu scanned the vicinity, his keen eyes taking note of the badges on every single uniformed officer here. ``AH, there we go.'' Before trotting up to that same, oddly burly; completely out of place, officer that caught Hong Ying's eye earlier.
``Excuse me, officer...'' He paused, noticeably, despite being able to see his name tag from afar. ``Ryan, but could we use the police helicopter as an extra evac?''
The burly bull merely raised an eyebrow, because he knew this was out of order.
``If it is an emergency, yes, but there is a reason we did not request medics up on the roof.''
``Is the roof not stable?''
``No, despite the final three floor being mostly maintenance floors right now, the entire upper deck is perfectly stable. It is that the gas appears to be lighter than air; rather than heavier.''
``Which means the upper floors are more likely a death trap to those going down.''
``Correct, not to mention there is only stair access to the roof; the elevator cannot go higher.''
Hong Ying was afraid this was going to happen. Not in the fact that there were not spare, mobile, respirators; oh no, she came well-prepared on that end, but that climbing an extra three flights of stairs might be too much for the current predicament Bai Liu seemed to be in. More pressing than that, however, was how to get the previous four to the hospital.
``Are you a good driver?''
The officer, Ryan, merely proffered a weak smile.
``I would hope so, since it is a requirement to actually graduate from the academy.''
``Good enough; catch.''
Hong Ying tossed something from her cusped paw, towards the officer, who caught it rather well for his bulky size.
``I need you to take that ambulance to Hong Kong General - Emergency Ward and tell the responding medics exactly what has occurred and that more are on the way.''
It was a tough call, and it was unlikely he would even fit in the ambulance, due to his almost comical horns, or even fit in the driver's seat, but Hong Ying had little choice but to break protocol.
There were lives that needed to be saved, after all.
``Alright, but you better bring your flak jacket!''
Hong Ying could not help but proffer her own smile, at the bad joke, even as she was aware of the amount of flak her superior would be unleashing upon her afterwards. She, just as quickly, turned around, and caught something, the bull winking at her as he opened the ambulance door. She felt a little embarrassed, upon seeing that she forgot to ask him for the proper clearance, but this badge should be enough to convince the pilot up top to work with them.
``Well, shall we go?'' Bai Liu proffered a wry grin, to the embarrassed rabbit, as she nodded vigorously. And, once more; for hopefully the final time, the two entered the complex.
Once more, they split up upon exiting the elevator to the thirteenth floor and began prowling the remainder of the floor. It took a while, but soon Hong Ying was sure she had canvassed everything she could without running into her companion. So, all that was left were the locked apartments. One by one, she traveled back to each closed door and gently put her ear against it; hoping that there would be at least some sign of life.
``I have located another senior citizen, Bai Liu over.''
Unfortunately, she nearly experienced a second heart attack at the sudden voice in her ear; due to sheer surprise and backed off from the door to calm her racing heart.
``Understood, I am checking apartments in the south wing. Please rendezvous with me and help me locate any remaining life signs. Hong Ying out.''
After calming down, she returned to her previous task; Bai Liu sparing no expense in his speed to rendezvous with his partner. Eventually, her ear twitched, as it heard something; something very faint.
``Stand back.'' She murmured to bai Liu, who stood aside; because he knew what was about to happen, before taking a deep beath. With speed and reflexes not unlike a bolt of lightning, she jumped, bent her knees and then flipped sideways in midair, ejecting her feet out like a drill and smashing them into the door. Sadly, the door was a door no more, as it lie blissfully unconscious, off its hinges.
A rabbit's leg muscles were truly something to behold.
Sure enough, with the door out the way she could clearly hear it; hear the voice crying out for aid, and rushed inside, whereupon she found a very old bestial collapsed, on the floor. Carefully, she scooped them up and exited the room. Together, she and Bai Liu made their way to the stairwell, and began their ascent.
Upwards they climbed, Bai Liu's beathing becoming more constrained as they ascended. But they made it, Bai Liu shoving open the final door to freedom, fresh air at last. Hong Ying quickly hopped over to the parked helicopter and started talking to the pilot; showing him the badge Ryan gave her earlier and strapped her ward into one of the seats. Just in the nick of time, however, was she able to turn back around and grab Bai Liu's ward, before he went tumbling to the ground; exhaustion painting his face, his beath coming in short gasps.
With renewed vigor, Hong Ying strapped the second ward down and picked up her partner before jumping into the helicopter, whose engines, and blades, were already firing up and closed the side doors.
``Don't you dare die on me!''
Was the last thing Bai Liu ever heard.
``It is a good thing you were able to evacuate Bai Liu fast enough. Any longer and the gas would have paralyzed his trachea; suffocating him, due to a faulty respirator.'' The emergency doctor signed, as he finished up writing his report. ``You broke protocol by having someone else drive your ambulance.'' Before bopping her lightly on the head with his clip board. ``Even if it was the morally correct thing to do.'' And looked directly into her eyes. ``Everyone you rescued should recover, at the very least, you did good.''
``Yeah...'' Hong Ying could only mumble, as her eyes stared, past the doctor, at Bai Liu's immobile body, before turning around and walking out of the emergency ward. But as she crossed the threshold, however...
``That was a pretty slick job.'' A buff, masculine voice called out to her from behind, causing Hong Ying to freeze and turn around. There, against the wall, grinning at her, as none other than Ryan. ``I hear you will like be on probation for a while.'' She could only nod, in quiet acquiescence.
``If so, I might have a job for you, little rabbit, if you are up for it.''
To be Continued...
Watch out for Jack and Uly in South Africa, and Zhenshan and Marquez in Mainland China! Coming soon to a bookstore near you!
Special Notes:
Chinese Surnames
Because they is written in an English first narrative, Hong Ying and Bai Liu's surname is actually their last name; thus, the proper way to write them would be Ying Hong and Liu Bai, this is intentional.
