Stephen Locke briskly walked through airport, heading towards the Dulles Airport baggage check with his sage duffle bag in tow.

"Daddy!"

The burly Marine quickly turned to see his eleven year-old son, Joshua, running after him. He smiled and knelt down, resting his arms on his knees, "What is it, buddy?"

Out of breath, Joshua huffed as he stood in front of his father, "You… forgot something… Daddy…!"

Stephen raised an eyebrow and mused, "Oh?"

His wife, Stephanie, walked over and explained with a chuckle, "Joshua wanted to pray for you before you left."

The father smiled at his son, "Is that what I forgot, Joshua?"

Joshua nodded furiously and exclaimed, "God's important!"

"You're absolutely right!" He chuckled, bowed his head and closed his eyes, "Whenever you're ready, buddy."

Joshua then placed his right hand on his father's shoulder as he had seen members of his church do, and he prayed solemnly, "Dear God, I thank You for this day that You gave to us, and I pray that You bring Daddy home safely from Japan like You always do. Amen."

"Amen," Stephen echoed with grin. Opening his eyes and standing to his feet, he ruffled his son's mini-afro and thanked, "Thank you, buddy. And I'll be home soon, I promise."

He stepped over to his wife, wearing a noticeably perplexed expression. Drawing her into a hug, he asked, "What's wrong, honey?"

She replied in a hushed tone, "Is it really okay for you to go? The cannibalism reports are starting to get pretty bad here."

He pulled away and responded solemnly with a forlorn frown, "We've gotten word that Mitakihara City is starting to get out of control, and that our base there is in danger. Since I learned the language for the pay bonus a while back, they put me on the first shipment. It was a direct order from Command. I don't like it either, but I'm a Marine; it's my job to complete the mission."

Stephanie grimaced and averted her gaze. She sighed and muttered, worry stained in her voice, "…Just come home safe."

Breaking away completely, Stephen nodded as he adjusted the bag on his back, "I will."

Taking Joshua by the hand, his wife stepped away and choked, "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied.

"Bye, Daddy!" Joshua waved happily, and then sloppily saluted his father with his left hand.

Stephen chuckled and gave a correct salute with his right hand, before slowly turning to walk towards the security check, "Goodbye, buddy! Keep praying for me, okay?"

"Yes sir!" Joshua explained as the Marine continued to step farther from them.

Walking towards the long line in security, Stephen frowned as he gazed out the nearest window at the various aircraft taking off into the sky.

I have a bad feeling about this one, though…

"We've sustained numerous losses in strategic land points throughout Southern Mitakihara already," the graying, grizzled Sergeant Major Ashford briefed to the ground forces in the main auditorium of Fort Mitakihara's Oda Hall, "The number of Infected are growing at an alarming rate, and there's still no intel on telltale signs of contagion before Infected become feral, or even how it spreads. Be wary out there.

"At this point, our main objective is insertion in key locations and evacuation for the remaining citizens of Mitakihara's Southern Districts. You'll be working under the command of the Japanese Self Defense Force to make this happen, as I'm sure you're aware by the black uniforms and gear we issued to you all for this Joint Op. The Air Force has also supplied what aircraft they could to assist with the mission."

Ashford then turned to an elaborately labeled map projected onto the wall behind him. He motioned with his hand as he pointed out everyone's position of duty, "Alpha Squad, you're in charge of the Slums, and the JSDF will have your Operations Chief waiting for you there. Bravo, your jurisdiction is the Waterfront, headed by Sgt. Ganacias. Charlie, you've got the Tokugawa Residential District. This is going to be the most densely populated, so I will be heading the Op on this one. Delta, you have the Manufacturing District in the southernmost part of the city, led by Sgt. Molina. A lot of gangs have their hideouts down there, so take caution. Finally, Echo Squadron, you have the Higashigata District, the defining line between North and South Mitakihara. Sgt. Locke will be your designated chief."

With a nod to the back from SGM Ashford, the projected map disappeared, and the Marine glanced around at the entire room, "Any questions?" No one moved, giving the man his answer, "Very well. Given the nature of this mission, you have prior authorization to open fire on the Infected, or, at worst, fall back to designated safe zones at the discretion of the Team Chief of each squadron if the Operation starts to become FUBAR. With that said, do your duty, and never falter. This mission is effective immediately. Fall-out, Marines."

"OORAH!" the room shook with a resounding shout from the military personnel.

They quickly cleared out of the room, each Squadron dispersing onto the base and inevitably to their rendezvous point. Sgt. Locke quickly located the helos under his command. As he approached the Huey he had been assigned to, the helicopter's rotaries whirred, kicking up dust and viciously manipulating the wind around him. As he hopped aboard the aircraft, the nearest machine gunner nodded to Locked and shouted over the cries of the metal monster, "Afternoon, Sergeant! Heard you dropped in just yesterday!"

Grabbing a hold to a handle hanging from the ceiling to secure himself, Locke replied loudly, "Afternoon, Corporal. And you heard correctly," he chuckled.

Moving to the cockpit, Locke sat in the copilot's seat and motioned for the pilot to take off. With a nod, the Warrant Officer in the pilot's seat twisted a few nobs and levers, and the helo's engine roared even louder before quickly ascending into the sky.

As the mechanical monster soared over the city with all speed, Locke took the opportunity to survey the Southern Districts of Mitakihara below. His stomach churned at the sight of raging crowds squirming like a colony of ants, causing visible destruction in their wake. With the presence of billowing smoke rising over the rioting city, even more nausea settled in the Sergeant's gut. He mumbled to himself, "…Japan is no different then? When faced with crisis, are we no more than rampaging animals?"

He sighed and shook the thoughts from his head as he turned his attention to the sun setting in the sky. It wasn't long before his helo approached his area of jurisdiction. He saw the multiple Osprey helicopters that the Air Force lent to the mission, engines whirring in wait in a small park. A large crowd squirmed and lined the streets, held back from the aircraft by barricades and military personnel.

Just how many are already infected? The Sergeant wondered, with panged remorse in his stomach, I can only imagine how bad it's gotten…

That's all he could think about as his helicopter began descending to the EZ, the crowd growing more frenzied as it grew closer. Before even touching the ground, Sgt. Locke hopped out of the co-pilot's chair and off the helicopter, briskly walking towards the single security checkpoint the initial response team had set up, rifle in hand. Grabbing the radio from his hip, he hailed as he approached, "Oda Base, this is Echo Lead. My team is on-site and will commence security processing for the civilians; how copy?"

"That's a Good Copy, Echo Lead," a young male voice responded, "Be advised, there have been reports of civilians who have sustained injuries that are acting strangely near that area. Take additional caution to make sure they are not Infected."

Sgt. Locke grimaced slightly, "…Roger Wilco."

With the end of that transmission, he shouted out to his team who had now gathered at the security checkpoint above the noise of the crowd, "Echo Team, we've got the go-ahead; let's get this precious cargo through and back to safety! If something's off, you run it through me. Oorah!"

"OORAH!" The team of twenty or so Marines echoed loudly in reply.

They all dispersed to their different positions throughout the checkpoint, and they allowed the civilians to begin processing through. Sgt. Locke stepped to the walked to the beginning of the processing setup and saluted the young, red-headed Lieutenant who had led the initial response operation, "Evening Lieutenant. Sergeant Locke, Echo Team Lead. How are operations going?"

Mildly caught off guard, the Lieutenant quickly returned the salute and anxiously replied, "O-Oh, um, good evening sir! First Lieutenant Smith, first name Robert," clearing his throat, he dropped his salute and reported the situation, "We didn't have much trouble setting up the checkpoint. I was quite surprised actually; despite the panic and the situation as a whole, the Japanese were very cooperative to our procedures."

"They're good people, the Japanese," the Sergeant nodded and smirked slightly, "Maybe this op'll fly smoothly after all."

"Hopefully," Lt. Smith returned the smile. His expression grew perplexed, "Although, our eyes in the sky said that a large group of civilians near the back of the crowd started behaving strangely and becoming more aggressive. That could be an omen…"

Locke frowned, "…Copy. We'll keep an eye out."

With that, the Sergeant stayed close by and kept due vigilance as his team slowly but thoroughly checked over each civilian that passed through the checkpoint. He noted the worried, fearful expressions on each person's face as they passed by and were directed to the closest cargo aircraft. It was even worse outside the perimeter. Shock and terror reigned as frightened children cried loudly and they're anxious parents nervously tried to console them, mostly to no avail. Sgt. Locke held empathy for them, as those same emotions of fear and uncertainty stirred within himself, moreso then any other mission he'd been on (though, as a Marine, he would never admit to this, and would deny in a heartbeart if asked).

Then, a young Corporal stepped over, spoke and snapped him out of his people-watching session, "Sarge, we have, um… a complication. There's a civilian here who looks like he was the victim of a cannibalism attack, and he seems rather sickly. We're trying to figure that exact situation, but none of us speak Japanese."

"Copy, understood," Sgt. Locke nodded and made his way to the checkpoint.

There, a short, middle-aged man stood at the entrance, guarded by two Marines. Hunched over and incredibly anxious, he rubbed his forearm and stuttered as Locke approached, "N-Nihongo?"

Locke understood that as the man asking if he spoke Japanese. He nodded and replied, "Hai."

Coughing and pale-skinned, the man gulped, slightly relieved, "S-Sir, is something the matter?"

The Sergeant stared down at the small-statured man sternly, while also trying not to scare him worse than he already was, "My Marines tell me you were a victim of a cannibalism attack."

"O-Oh, um, right," the man quickly undid the crudely wrapped rag from around his forearm, unveiling a deep, bloody gash, "Y-You see, there were some of those sickly people outside my home and… and I was worried for my family—"

Locke reached for it and asked, "May I?"

"O-Of course," the man allowed the Sergeant to grasp his wrist, giving the latter a better examination of the wound.

"How long ago was this?" The Marine furrowed his brow and scrutinized.

"At least four hours ago, sir," the man gulped nervously again.

Sgt. Locke frowned. He was no medic, but the wound didn't look good. If unchecked, the wound could get infected. He called for the Marine that brought this to his attention, "Corporal!"

"Yes, sir!" the young Corporal responded.

"Take this man immediately to the Emergency Medical station. I don't want to have to do any amputations today."

"Sir, yes sir!" The Marine shouted, then offered a free hand to the man.

Locke turned to the Asian and spoke gently, "Follow my Marine, he'll take care of you."

"Y-Yes sir," though reluctant at first, he nodded and accepted the Corporal's hand and was led to the other side of the extraction zone where a medical detachment had set up.

Then, just as the processing had seemed to resume its normal pace, a horrified shriek echoed in the crowd. Instinctively, every Marine brought their weapons to arms only to see a group of at least thirty infected shambling amongst the group of civilians, already preying on at least ten unlucky souls near the rear.

"Marines, engage!" Locke ordered with a shout above the crowd's screaming.

They quickly formed into a firing formation and began firing upon the group of Undead. However, as time passed, the number of Infected seemed to grow faster than they could drop them. Two would take the place of one fallen, causing the remaining citizens to flee in panic or become overtaken.

Just then out of the corner of his eye, Locke noticed one female civilian jump the fence on the northeast side of the decon border and make a break towards the nearest Osprey. Locke broke off his assault on the Infected to apprehend the runner.

Grabbing her arm, he asked coldly in Japanese, "What do you think you're doing? You're going to endanger this entire mission."

Catching Locke off guard, the business-suit clad woman with purple hair fired back fiercely as she pointed to screaming crowd, "With all due respect sir, this 'mission' is already gone off the rails, and I'm not gonna sit here and be Walker bait while my husband and kids are still out there in the city. If you're smart, you'll call off your men and retreat while you can."

The Sergeant turned his eyes back to the squad firing, then to the growing horde of infected. He grimaced. His men were holding the line for now, but he knew it wouldn't be long before they were overwhelmed. He glanced at the woman and ordered, "Stay here."

He began jogging back to the formation, pulled the radio from his hip and called, "Echo Team, this is Echo Leader. I'm ordering immediate retreat for all uni—"

Just then, an Infected wrapped its arms around his back, causing him to drop his radio. Struggling to keep the undead away from his flesh, he strenuously pushed to keep the growling and snarling at bay. As he wrestled with the Infected to maneuver it to a position where throwing it over his shoulder would be viable, he also noticed Lt. Smith pulling the men from the front lines and commanding them to the helicopters, causing Locke to smile slightly.

Just then, the two were tackled, throwing the Infected off his back and the Marine to the ground. Quickly regathering his bearings, he readied his rifle only to see that the businesswoman who had jumped the fence was the one that broke the encounter between the two. Unfortunately, the two rolled in such a way that the Infected was on top of her, pushing down to take a chunk out of her flesh.

Without a second thought, Sgt. Locke punted the undead off of the woman, stepped on its chest to keep it from moving and blew it's brains out with his rifle. Then, he grimaced as he recognized the corpse as the sickly-looking middle-aged Japanese man he had let pass earlier.

"He must've been infected all along…" Locke muttered.

He turned towards the business women and extended a helping hand, "Thanks for the save. You okay?"

She accepted the hand and nodded, grasping her left shoulder as she stood, "Of course; yeah, he just," she showed Locke blood now pooling and staining the shoulder of her suit, "knicked my shoulder a little bit," she glanced back at the entrance to the decon station and noticed that the rest of the marines were on the way back to helicopters, and that there was no longer any Marines holding the mass of Infected at bay. She gasped as they started breaking through the barriers, "We have to go. Now."

"Right," he nodded and picked up the radio that he dropped off of the ground, "the Helo I flew in on should still be right behind us. There should also be a First Aid Kit; I'll patch you up until we can get you some real Medical Attention."

Sgt. Locke fired on a few Infected in an attacking retreat, but after dropping about fifteen infected and not even denting their numbers, he gave up, turned to the woman and stated, "I'm going to need you to hold on tight, okay?"

She furrowed her brow, "Wait, wha—"

Without hesitation, the Marine swept her off her feet (resulting in a frightened gasp as she wrapped her arms around his neck) and he bolted towards his helicopter.

As they approached, they saw and heard Lt. Smith beckoning them from the side of the Huey, "C'mon, hurry!"

Locke quickly handed the woman off to him then jumped aboard himself, closing the door behind him. The Lieutenant then set the women down in a sitting position in the back of the aircraft, then the two military members leapt to the cockpit. Lt. Smith grabbed a headset and plopped into his pilot seat and started the helicopter's rotaries. As the engine roared to life and took to the air, Locke grabbed two headsets. He removed his helmet momentarily to put on his, then stepped the back and handed the businesswoman the other pair. As she slipped hers on, Locke reached above her head to the Red-Cross emblazoned First Aid Kit and pulled it off the wall.

"Alright," he spoke, "let's get you patched up."

"Right," she nodded and unbuttoned her suit and blouse, grimacing as she pushed them down her arm just far enough so he could work with while keeping as much modesty as possible.

Locke frowned at teeth-shaped wound in her shoulder, This is a lot deeper then 'just being knicked'.

"Something wrong?" She asked.

He hesitated, "...No," he asked her as he pulled the medicinal supplies out from the pack, "What's your name?"

"Kaname," the woman stated, "Kaname Junko. You?"

"Sgt. Stephen Locke," he replied as he added rubbing alcohol to some gauze to sanitize the wound, "Fair warning, this will sting. You mentioned family back there?"

"Yeah—" she started as he pressed the gauze against her shoulder, "MGHH, THAT SUCKS," grimacing, she gulped and continued, "Y-Yeah, I-I've got my husband and the sweetest children that you could ever meet."

"Children?" Locke asked as he started wrapping the bandages around her shoulder.

She smiled as she spoke about her family, "My son, Tatsuya, he's still young, but I'm sure he'll grow up to be a good kid. And my daughter, Madoka, she's just the sweetest thing; not to pat mine or my husband's back, but she turned out pretty good. Kindhearted. Respectful. Couldn't have asked for a better daughter."

Wrapping up his supplies, he smiled at her and stood up, "Well, ma'am, we'll do everything we can to get you back to your family."

She returned the smile warmly, "Thank you."

With that, Sgt. Locke returned to his position of navigator and sat down in the cockpit. He looked out his window to city below. He felt sick when he saw the crowds of people slowly moving in the streets.

No, not people.

By the way they moved, he knew those were Infected. They weren't people anymore. An ocean of decay cascading and flooding the roads. He did see some humans running every so often, but they were quickly overcome. Sgt. Locke had to look away.

Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced back and saw Junko look at him with him with an expression of sorrow. Something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Something the matter?" The sergeant asked.

"Sgt. Locke, we need to land," she stated grimly. Coughing slightly, she added, "I can't be on this helicopter with you two any longer."

A/N: Well, here's to another year and a half of procrastination! :D