DMZ The Chronicles of an Al Mazrah Taxi Driver

[Raz]

@Carlos Thanks! I was just coming to post Part 6. I thought I got cancelled!

 

[Carlos]

@Carlos Thanks! I was just coming to post Part 6. I thought I got cancelled!

You wouldn't be canceled. You broke no rules.

 

[Raz]

The sound of LTV engines wakes me up yet again, and I groan. “Can’t these operators let a taxi driver sleep in for once!” I mutter, and I shuffle over to the window, expecting to see yet another smoking hunk of junk being abandoned in front of my apartment building. However, the sight I see instead brings a huge smile out from under my mustache as I throw open the window and look down. An immaculately clean, all black LTV with a small Canadian flag in the window was backed up to the loading dock, and a guy in an orange puffer jacket hopped out and slung an equally clean Bryson 800 across his back.

“Aye, Dutch! You made it!” I yelled out. He looked up, gave me a salute, and grabbed a milk crate off the back seat. I grabbed my uniform, threw it on, and ran down all seven flights of stairs to the lobby. Sophia was handing Dutch his keys, and he turned and held out his hand. “Hey boss” he said, and I shook his hand and replied “Damn Dutch, you smell like Taraq Village on garbage day. Where you been living, in a dumpster?” With a quick laugh and a VERY Canadian “sorry” he grabbed his stuff and headed towards the stairs. “Appreciate the new digs, Raz. I’m going to get freshened up and I’ll be back out there” he said. “See you on the road, Dutch” I said, winked and blew Sophia a kiss, and headed out towards my day.

With a quick thought about stealing Dutch’s LTV and blowing it up in the marshlands just for laughs, I jumped behind the wheel of mine and headed out for another day on the job. After my normal resupply route, I’m flush with gas cans and on the lookout for operators who need a ride. A quick loop through Sarrif Bay turned up empty, even though I could see the UAV tower online, so I moved on. As I got back on the highway, I spotted a solo operator running on the shoulder, so I moved in to offer my services.

“CATCH A RIDE!”

“Yo buddy, you need a RIDE!” I called out over comms, and watched the operator immediately break right and dive into the bushes. I pulled over nearby and saw a brief red flash on comms. “Hey man, you can come out. I’m a friendly. My name’s Raz, owner/operator of Al Mazrah Taxi Service. You need a ride?” I hopped out and tapped the fresh new logo on the side of the car. “See, I’m unarmed, and here to help. Seriously, you can come out. Kind of weird that you’re still in there. I can see that sniper rifle. It’s like seven feet long, man.” The comms crackled. “Wait, you’re a taxi driver? What does that even mean, dude?” he said and suddenly I saw a Marine helmet pop out among the leaves. “It means I’ve got this fancy ride right here, and a promise that I’ll get you there, or I’ll die trying. You in or out, my friend?” I popped an invite and waited. Only two ways out of this now.

I’m part of a new squad, and my greenhorn walks out of the foliage, still obviously wary of the entire situation. We hop in the car and formulate our next move. “Ok man, let’s ride. What are we working on out here in Al Mazrah?” I ask. I hear a shuffling of a backpack, and he pulls out his tablet. “Well, I have to earn and then spend $60,000 at a buy station. I’ve been working on this mission forever” he said. “Any place that we can grab some cash quickly?” I leaned out the window and scanned the skies. I spot a few parachutes in the air, and said “Well my friend, it seems the skies have answered your prayers. Buckle up, we’re off on the hunt for some cash!” I laugh as I see him attempt to zipper up his pack as I turn the LTV off the pavement and aim straight for a plume of red smoke in the distance. “Next stop, supply drop!” I exclaim, and we slide to a stop next to a large crate. “Jump out and see what’s what. I’ll keep watch” I say, and I move into a defensive circle pattern. I see a Vaznev hit the dirt, and my customer headed back to the vehicle. “Well that was awesome, driver! Check out this RAAL man, this thing is HUGE! I got a ton of cash too. Can we hit a buy station?” he asked. “You’re the boss, my friend. I’m just the driver. I’ve already got a route to the best one.” I head off towards my ping, but I’m taking a detour. I’ve been in Al Mazrah for a while, and one trend I’ve noticed is that most days, no operators seem to go after these supply drops. Only one plane drops them, and they are usually conveniently lined up for easy pickings.

 

[Raz]

We pull up to the next drop, and it’s in the best possible location for a taxi driver. In the parking lot of an unguarded gas station, right next to the highway. Couldn’t plan this better if I tried, so I pull up to the pumps and my customer heads into the red smoke. I’m watching the fuel gauge rise, when suddenly there’s someone in black body armor climbing onto the car. “Whoa, hey, who are you, buddy?” I exclaim. “You need a ride?” I get no response, but he’s not shooting. I decide to take a gamble, as my current customer is busy with the supply drop. I jump out of the LTV and immediately throw out an invite to our squad, figuring that it’ll either work, or that my customer will uncork that widowmaker of a RAAL to avenge my execution. Surprisingly, we get a new squad member and I hear “hey, what’s going on, who’s that guy!?” and the ear-shattering thunder of the RAAL erupts from behind the crate. A couple of the rounds ping off our new friend, but no harm, no foul. “Cease fire, Rambo! He’s on our side now” I yell, thanking my lucky stars I wore my headphones today. “Where did he come from” the greenhorn asks, but without any response on comms from the new guy, I honestly have no idea. “He’s with us now, friend, so let’s hit that buy station and get you boys to safety.” We jump back in the car, and our new mute friend joins us. Checking my tablet, I can see that he does have a mic connected, but who am I to judge. If you don’t want to talk, that’s cool.

I roll out towards the buy station, swerving through Ahmed’s neighborhood specifically to plaster a few of his cronies for laughs. I drift back out to the main road, and I’m almost at the buy station when I spot another plume of red smoke over on the beach. “You boys got time for one more supply crate?” I ask, and I peel off towards it. I spot some AQ in a house nearby, but having already heard the thunder from my squad, I figure that the second time he lets that thing loose, he’ll hit something with it, so I press on. They both jump out and I introduce the first wave of AQ to my ride with a satisfying thump, and circle back to see how my customers are doing. The area is getting hot quick, and bullets are starting to ping off my windshield. These guys are still huddled around the crate like they found Scooter’s porno stash, so I lay on the horn and yell “ok boys, we need to go NOW!” They get the message as they start to get beamed with shotgun shells from a nearby rooftop, and they hop in the LTV and I drop the hammer.

We roll up to the buy station on the west side of Sa’id City and they both jump out to spend some of the plethora of cash they’ve got. My original customer finishes his $60k mission, and he’s outfitted with a new three plate vest, an airstrike, a self revive, a larger backpack, and a ton of plates. Our mute companion probably bought something too, but I have no idea what his goals are, so I focus on what’s next. “Ok gents, the Chemist blew his joint yet again, so I’m recommending we head over to the nearest exfil and get you guys on a bird back home. Thoughts?” I pinged the exfil point on the hills near the caves, and it’s agreed that exfil is the play. We race through the hillside towns and I take the goat path known only to the most talented drivers of Al Mazrah, and we’re at the flare in no time. The flash of green lights the sky, and I back up against the hillside, ready to bug out if things get too spicy. Soon, the bird is in view, and it touches down in the clearing. My customers hop out and jump on, and I jump out of the LTV and head over to expedite their ride out.

“Raz, you’re an absolute legend. Thanks so much for all the help. I spent most of my cash finishing my mission, but this $18,000 will do you better than reducing my insurance premium, man!” And without hesitation, he threw the duffle bag off the ramp down into the sand. “Dude, NOOOO! Don’t do that. Money is no use to me, my friend! Why did you do that?” I yell feverishly. “Grab it, quick!” The chopper is lifting off, our mute friend waves goodbye, and I think “damn, it’s too late!” I have about a second to think about the good fortune the next operator to exfil will feel when they find a big bag of cash, when I hear a sound I never imagined I’d hear. A parachute opens right above me, and my customer lands right next to me and grabs the duffle bag.

“Dude, what the hell are you doing back down here!” I yelled, half furious, half amazed. “Do you not see that huge ominous cloud of lightning and death steamrolling this way?” His face was somewhere between fear and confusion. “I mean, you said you weren’t going to take it. It’s like 18 grand, dude. Not going to let that go to waste.” I rested my head on the side of the LTV with a dull thump. “Get. In. The. Car.” I said with a sigh. I watched the green smoke dissipate and checked the map. “Only one more option now, friend. Final exfil is at the quarry. Hope you still have some rounds in that RAAL.”

I straight sent it off the cliff and we’re soon weaving through huts and bushes, racing to keep ahead of the gas. I saw where the chopper landed, and my watch started beeping. Only a minute left, and this chopper pilot decides it’s a good idea to hover at the top of the quarry. “Oh man, this is about to be one of the times I die trying” I say to myself as I’m slamming through AQ troops towards my goal. I decide to gamble and go around instead of attempting the complex route through the heart of the quarry, and I’m getting tore up by troops on the way. An army of AQ is descending on the chopper now, but they are courteous and run in a tight little line, and 12 go down in rapid succession. I skid to a stop at the chopper with 30 seconds on the clock, and bid my customer good day. I yell out “Next time, stay on the chopper, my friend” and resume running defense, my LTV now billowing black smoke.

 

[Raz]

With 20 seconds on the clock, I suddenly see a white hatchback go airborne from deep in the quarry. “Friendly, friendly, friendly!!” yell two operators, racing to get to the bird in time. “Hurry up guys!” I call back. “I’m just the taxi driver, I’m not a threat. There’s one guy in the chopper, he’s friendly too. Go go go!” They sprint past me and head for the ramp, the only way on the chopper. I’m running over the last of the AQ in the area when it happens. Out of nowhere, the unmistakable sound of a RAAL reverberates through the quarry. I spin around in time to see one of the two operators go down. “NOOOOOOO!!!” I scream through the comms, but it’s too late. The second operator, obviously a veteran in this theatre, sidesteps the wild fire and skillfully drops my customer with his kitted EBR. He casually hops on the chopper and brutally eviscerates him with a large knife right in front of me. “That was for my friend” he says as the chopper lifts off. I walk over to the fallen operator left behind, and try to comfort him as the gas rolls in. “I swear, my friend, I swear he was friendly. I’m so sorry.” This needless death haunts my thoughts as the darkness once again takes me.

A pounding on my door brings me back from the darkness. “Raz! RAZ! Are you in there? Open the damn door!” I pull myself together, shuffle across the room, and open the door. Dutch is there, looking concerned. “It’s been 3 days, boss. People are out there looking for rides, and you’re not out there? What’s going on?” I slowly and painfully explain what happened at the quarry. “I dunno Dutch, I can’t shake it. He was FRIENDLY! Why did he open fire?” I ask as I start to sob.

SMACK. I never saw it coming. “Pull yourself together, boss. You got him to the chopper. You DID YOUR JOB.” It’s enough to get my attention, simply because I’ve never seen someone so Canadian be so stern. “Now go get your Burger Town shirt, comb your mustache, and get the hell back out there. Al Mazrah needs you! Also, sorry for hitting you” Dutch says. “You’re right” I say, and I look in the mirror, not recognizing the disheveled face staring back at me. “We get them there, or we die trying. He made his choice, and he reaped what he sowed.” I slip my throwing knife into my belt and follow Dutch outside. “Well, what’d I miss, my friend?”

“Word on the street is there’s a driver named Jade out there doing good work. Working hard for the cause, but the other day AQ raided his shipping container, tried to kill him, and stole his most prized possession” Dutch explained. “Shit, really?” I said. “They stole his car keys?” What could be more valuable to a taxi driver? “We need to bring him in, come on, let’s let Sophia know we’re going to need another room.” “No boss, it’s worse than that” said Dutch. “They took his only picture of his beloved cat. It’s the only thing he loves more than being a taxi driver.” I stop dead in my tracks. “A picture of a cat?” My mind races. Who would steal that? No, it couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be. It CAN’T be. “Dutch, I know who it is. I know who’s hunting him. I know who’s coming for us all. Scuba Steve, the radiation, the cat photos, the soothing hand cream, the constant betrayals. It all makes sense to me now!” Dutch looked more confused than ever. “What the hell are you talking about, boss?”

“The Chemist, Dutch. It all leads back to the Chemist” I say, my mind reeling as all the pieces fall into place at once. The weight of this knowledge is almost too much to bear. “Dutch, you still have that Bryson?” I ask, suddenly calm. “I know what needs to be done.” Yeah boss” says Dutch. “I still got it, but what about the rules? We’re taxi drivers, Raz.” “Listen, Dutch. Grab your gun and meet me downstairs. I’ll tell you on the way.”

 

[Raz]

The radiation cloud in the distance looms like death. Both hands on the wheel, I guide our LTV slowly towards it. I tell Dutch the whole story, all the way from the beginning. About the quiet kid in our neighborhood who kept to himself and fed the stray cats. About the bully everyone called “Juggernaut” who terrorized us all, just because he was bigger and stronger and meaner that the rest of us. About the time I stole my first LTV and took it for a joyride through Ahkdar Village, sparking my love for driving. And then, with a big sigh, I told him about that fateful Tuesday that changed the landscape of Al Mazrah forever.

“He was just a boy, Dutch.” I start, tears already coming to my eyes. We were all there, running around being kids. The boy and his cats weren’t bothering anyone, but the boy we called Juggernaut just wouldn’t leave him alone. We all saw him assaulting him, but we did nothing. “And that’s when it happened, Dutch.” The boy took a yellow vial from his pocket and threw it right into the bully’s face. “I’ve never seen anything so gruesome” I said, as I recounted the scene. It was like acid, but something so much worse. His face basically melted before our eyes. “Sounds like he got what he deserved, a slow death” said Dutch. “That’s the worst part” I replied. He was taken to the hospital in Al Mazrah City, and we all thought he was dead, and it was all over.

But one day, many years later, he returned. A hulking figure standing in the street, sunken eyes hidden beneath a steel helmet. Full body armor from head to toe, and a minigun in hand. He didn’t speak, but we knew who he was, and why he was there. He lumbered towards the school, where he knew his target would be, like he always was, in the chemistry lab. As the shooting started, I panicked, and grabbed the closest vehicle I could find. “It was instinct, Dutch. I never even saw them, man, I was just running away!” The emotions all flooded back at once, and my hands trembled on the wheel. We were close to the radiation now, but I knew we had to continue. “Never saw what, Raz? What are you talking about?”

“The cats, man. The fucking cats.” He kept them on an old ox cart, a relic from the olden days of Al Mazrah. “I drove straight through them, Dutch. I never even saw them.” But he saw me. The boy, now the man they call “The Chemist” was focused not on escaping the Juggernaut, but saving the only living things precious to him. “And I killed all of them, Dutch. He saw me do it.” I took everything he cared about away from him. “It’s why he’s doing those experiments. It’s why the radiation keeps spreading. It’s why this is all happening.” I said, the truth weighing heavy on me. “It’s why we have to kill him.”

“Shit, man. This is some heavy stuff” said Dutch. “How do you know the Chemist even knows that it was you?” he asked. “Dutch, look at me, man. I’ve had this mustache since the fourth grade. He knows. And now I’ve put you all in danger.” I parked the LTV at the edge of the radiation zone. “Look, this is my fight. I can’t ask you to come in there with me. Take the car, go do your job. You don’t owe me anything” I say, grabbing my M4, determined to finish this solo. But Dutch stood firm, his shotgun shining in the sun. “I’ll get you there, or I’ll die trying, boss. Let’s do this.”

We pulled our gas masks down and stepped into hell. The Chemist’s laboratory is somewhere in the small town east of the airport, hidden in the smoke. We move quickly, radiation pills working hard to stem the slow death waiting for us if we fail. There are AQ everywhere, and my M4 sings a song I haven’t heard in a long time. Dutch’s Bryson spits hot fire, and we move like the skilled operators we once were. “There, in that warehouse” I yell, and we take our positions. “It’s now or never boss, let’s get this guy” Dutch says, and we breach from both entrances like rolling thunder.

The sudden flash disorients me, and the explosion cracks my mask. I hear Dutch yell from off into the distance, but I can’t see anything. I fire blindly, attempting to find cover and regain my vision. I’m hit in the vest and feel all three of my plates crack and break up. I struggle to reload, the gas now stealing life from me. “I suppose it’s die trying time” I think to myself, and stand to make one last push, to go out in a blaze of glory. I search for a target, for anything moving, but I’m lost in a fog. I call out to Dutch but get no response.

The blow comes from behind. I hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, stunned and unable to move. I brace for the finishing blow, like I have so many times before, but it does not come. Suddenly, I’m viciously flipped onto my back, and I see clearly for the first time. Neoprene, black as night, from head to toe, and my M4 strapped across his back. “Goddamn Scuba Steve” I choke out, as he stares at me with cold eyes. And then I see the figure behind him. I recognize those eyes behind his gas mask, hidden under his yellow hood. His M13B hanging to his side, and he looks at me with calculated hatred. “Good to see you again, Raz” he says, his voice sending terror through me. “I bet you’re wondering what I’ve been doing here, aren’t you. It’s quite the story, and I’m going to tell you, right meow.” The Chemist launches into his bad guy monologue as I groan on the floor. His goal to punish the world, to choke us all with his radioactive lightning clouds. His years of experiments, his many failures. “Just get to the point already” I choke out, ready for the end. “As you wish. I have a surprise for you, Raz. My finest work. My masterpiece, which I call “Manufactured Evil Operator Warfare. You’re my first victim, but I’m coming for all your drivers next. I hope you enjoy it” he cackles as he walks away. “Do it now, my loyal servant” are the last of his words I hear. Scuba Steve leans over me, a gigantic syringe in hand. Without a word, he plunges it into my heart, and there is only black.

“CATCH A RIDE!”

The familiar words snap my eyes open. Bright sunlight floods my vision, skewed by the gas mask on my face. An LTV races by, horn honking, someone yelling “Al Mazrah Taxi Service, do you need a ride?” I hear waves breaking behind me, and a fortress looms in the distance. I know this place, it feels familiar, but I remember nothing. I stand up slowly and dust off my Biohazard suit. This is Al Mazrah. And I am here for one reason, and one reason only.

Kill.

All.

Operators.

 

[AntiCheatAgent94]

@Carlos Thanks! I was just coming to post Part 6. I thought I got cancelled!

Sorry.. Couldn't resist.. I am not that strong..

 

[Raz]

@AntiCheatAgent94 well I appreciate it. This is a great spot for me to keep my Chronicles all together. My Reddit posts, while more popular, are all spread out. I love forums for that.

 

[Raz]

The onslaught of bullets broke the concrete wall above my head into a thousand pieces. I awoke in Hell, the sound of a minigun’s fire strafing 6 inches above my head. I’ve returned from the darkness a thousand times, but this was different. Looking down, I see a Burger Town logo soaked in blood, gunshots littering my chest. My left hand, broken and bleeding, clutched a handful of operator tags tightly, as if each one in the collection represented a preverbal notch in the bedpost. The pain flooded into me like the desert sun, and I struggled for life.

“Boss! Boss, can you move? We gotta move, NOW!” The silenced chatter of an Fennac clattered off the wall and Jade slid into cover beside me. “Raz, come on man. Hold on, we’re going to get you out of here.” A stim slams into my chest, and the warm shot of clarity hits me like a nuke.

Jade, what’s going on? Where’s Dutch?” The Chemist is after us!” I yell, stumbling to my feet and raising my weapon, instinctively looking for a nearby vehicle. “Frag out” another voice shouts, and another operator joins the remnants of our cover a second later. The explosion stops the shooting, and in the sudden silence, I gather my bearings.

The dome of the observatory blocks the sun from view, and the radiation cloud rushing in from the east sizzles with lightning. “Nice M16, Raz. Did you have to pay extra to get it completely gold?” The operator laughs and points to my weapon. I look down at a weapon that’s not my own, and sure enough, it’s as gold as the flowing skirts down in the secret back room of the Yum Yum Burger downtown. “I have no idea where this came from, can someone please fill me in?!” I ask, feeling lost. “We’ll explain on the way, Raz. Come on, time to bug out.” The words come from a stranger behind me, and I spin around to see an operator adorned with an actual wolf’s head, complete with teeth, walking around the corner, a shiny yellow case in his arms. “It’s about to get real chaotic real soon, Raz” I hear from my right, and the smoothest operator I’ve ever seen strolled up to the group. Black trench coat, black sunglasses, and a mask kitted in gold, his MP5’s barrel still smoking. “Everyone’s going to be tracking us, we’ve got to leave. Now.” The two strangers hopped into an LTV as Jade and Alex grabbed my arms and helped me into the back. I spot a bloody gas mask and suit in the back of the truck that look strangely familiar, but we’re on the move before I can determine why.

So many questions flood though my mind. Where did all these tags come from? What is inside that illustrious yellow case? Who are these operators helping me, these polar opposites with seeming the same goal. Where is Dutch? What happened to the Chemist?” “I…. ummm I need” I start to talk, but the radio crackles to life, a familiar accent on the other end. “Boys, you’re going to want to hurry. The last bird out is headed to the training grounds, and so is every AQ for ten miles.” Sophia’s sultry voice over the radio interrupts me as Alex’s RPK mows down a squad running to our right from out his window. “Where are we going?” I choke out as the glimmer of rotor blades appear in the distance. “That yellow case is how we brought you back, Boss. We’ve got to get it to safety” Jade said, and motioned to the strangers up front. “The one in the black goes by Rob. The wolf guy? Calls himself “The Lone Wanderer.” Only name he gave.” Jade sighed. “It took us too long to find you, but the trail of death you left behind made you easy to track.” I glanced again at the dog tags in my hand. “Is that where these came from? Please tell me that’s not what these are.” Alex swung back into the car and saw me holding them up. “Quite the collection boss. Good thing we got that case, or you’d have killed all our customers!” He laughed hard and reloaded his weapon. “Down in front, Wolf Man!” he yelled as he let loose another burst at the AQ as we turned out of the city towards the police station.

“We’ve got to get that case out of here, boss. These gents here dropped in to help us get it. It’s what brought you back” Jade said. “It’s what they do. There are still good operators out there, boss. They exist.” “Where’s Dutch, Jade. Why isn’t he here?” I struggled to remember. “Last thing I remember is a flash of light and an explosion. Is he dead?” I brace myself for the worst, knowing that the only way Dutch wouldn’t be here is if he didn’t make it. “No, he’s still breathing, boss. That’s why we need the case. Same thing that happened to you happened to him.” He motioned again to the yellow case on the dash. I looked closer and noticed a small logo, “Dr. Zed’s Anti-Feline Whisker Fixer” splashed over a buzz axe sticker. “Your boy Scooter is more than just a pretty face” Alex chuckled as he fell back into his seat. “He told us about that little case right there. Full of the antidote for the MEOW serum that sent you out on your little murder vacation through Al Mazrah.”

“Did you just say meow?” I asked, ribs cracking as I choked out a laugh. “You cannot be serious.” The exfil chopper’s blades thumped above the car as we slid to a stop. “Time to go, taxi driver” remarked Rob, and the one known only as The Lone Wanderer pulled the case off the dashboard and jumped out. “Let’s get you out of here, boss” Jade said and helped me from the LTV. Cool man Rob reached his arm out and motioned for me to jump into the chopper. “Last ride out, Raz. Come with us and live.” Alex and Jade pushed me forward and hopped onto the bird. “Wait, I can’t get on the chopper, Al Mazrah is my home!” I recoiled back, resigned to my fate as I had so many times before. “Up you go, taxi man” I heard, and the wolf man lifted me up and tossed me through the doorway. “This time you’re coming with us. Consider that an order.” Rob chambered a round in his MP5 and he smirked. Alex and Jade collapsed into seats and pulled on gas masks. “Live to drive another day” were the last words I heard as I drifted off into the black.

 

[Raz]

The familiar sound of crunching bumpers brought me back to the light. I was back in my apartment, wounds patched up and Burger Town T-shirt fresh and clean hanging on the rack. Laughter drifted in from the other room, and I walked out to a welcome scene. “What a rookie!” Alex laughed, pointing out the window. “This idiot tried to hit a guy and got stuck in a pole!” He doubled over in laughter, Jade joining in from the other side of the room. “Hey boss, welcome back to the land of the living. Gave us quite the scare there.” He held out a water bottle and some aspirin. “Bet you feel like shit, eh?” He wasn’t wrong, but I was finally starting to fell like myself again. “Tell me, Jade. Tell me everything. Don’t sugarcoat it, give it to me straight.”

Jade sighed and kicked a chair towards me. “You’re going to want to sit down, Boss. It’s a bad one.” Alex turned and sat down too; the usual laugh gone from his face. “Where do we even start.” He said, falling silent for the first time in forever. Jade started to tell the tale, to fill in the blanks. “We saw you and Dutch head out, armed to the teeth. We decided to follow you in case you needed backup. Alex was posted in the sniper nest at the top of the radio tower, and I was flanking behind the warehouse. We saw the explosion, and we thought you were goners.” He sighed, reliving that moment for what must have been the hundredth time. “Right as we were about to push forward and try for a rescue, we saw Scuba Steve dragging Dutch into a vehicle. He looked dead.” “Goddamn Scuba Steve” I muttered, his lifeless eyes haunting my vision. “They took Dutch away, and we split up. Alex tried to follow the car, but he lost them in Hydroelectric.” Alex swore, standing up and exclaiming “I bloody had them, boss. Damn solo operator took out one of my tires. Never even saw him in his chicken roost. Dumbass must have felt so proud of himself when he looted my gas cans.”

“I was watching the warehouse when I saw you run out” Jade went on, quietly. You were wearing a gas mask, and a new uniform, but I knew it was you. I saw you look at me, and suddenly you were shooting.” He pointed to his shoulder. “Took three, through and through. It’s how I knew it was you. You had me dead to rights, and you still missed.” Jade laughed, and Alex snorted back a chuckle. “Truth be told, I barely escaped you, but then and there, we knew some evil was inside you.” “We regrouped here” Alex said “and Sophia got us in touch with your old pal Scooter. We explained what we saw, and he came right away.” “Well, if right away means heading here AFTER another night with Laney White, and then another half a day painting his Outrunner bright pink just so you’d, and I quote “flock to it like a hotdog to a hallway” Jade commented. “Fuckin’ guy is WEIRD, boss.”

“Of course it was pink” I laughed, remembering that last night at Moxxi’s before I came back from my internship. “That guy isn’t ever going to let that go. How was I supposed to know that was his mom!” My sides ached, but the laughter helped to heal in some ways. “Anyways, when Scooter finally showed up, he told us about the antidote. He told us about the Chemist’s MEOW serum, and what it did to you.” “And to Dutch” Alex growled, spinning around his laptop. “My recon drone picked this up yesterday.”

In the video, I saw horror. The video was choppy and pixelated, but I knew that Bryson. I knew that fluid dance of death, watching this operator dressed in a gas mask and hazmat suit. “Dutch! Where is he?” I yelled. “We’ve got to go get him and bring him back!” I jumped up and started for my gear. “Whoa boss, calm down. Look.” Alex said. “See what we are dealing with.” I turned back to the video just as Dutch dropped an operator with two precision shots to the neck. In a flash, he was reloaded, through a window, and knifing down a second operator. A Semtex flew back out the window, sticking to a third and blowing him to pieces. “Jeez, Dutch” I breathed, as I watched him rip the dog tags off the dead operators. “What the hell is he doing?”

“It’s not Dutch, boss” Jade said. “It’s the MEOW serum. The Chemist has weaponized him. The same way he did you.” The memory of those dead eyes, that syringe to the chest came flooding back. As the pieces come together, I realize what Jade is saying. “The tags I had, the suit. How many, Jade. How many did I kill?” “We didn’t count, boss” Alex said from the window. “We just followed the bloody trail from here to Taraq.” “You weren’t exactly subtle” Jade whispered and threw a manilla envelope in front of me. Stacks and stacks of photos, all dead by my hand. “Scooter told us everything he knew about the antidote. This Dr. Zed apparently went to the same sketchy online university that the Chemist did” Jade explained. “Sounded like they were rivals, so this Zed guy has been creating antidotes for whatever the Chemist cooks up just to screw with him. This crazy bastard has been hiding them in yellow cases, and storing them in” He coughed, smirked, and said “in the Juggernaut’s, well, private areas.” Alex laughed again, clearly amused. “I never met this Zed guy, but he sounds awesome” he chuckled. “Next time he’s in Al Mazrah, first round is on me, boys.”

“Alex and I went straight for the case as soon as we found out” Jade said. “I know, I know, it’s against our rules. But we thought this was a special case, you know, you and Dutch being out there on a hunting spree and all.” He sighed again. “But Alex and I couldn’t do it alone. Trust me, we tried. That big guy shredded us every time.” “It was Sophia that figured it out” Alex interjected quickly. “She put out a message that you were in trouble, and those two operators showed up here fully loaded and ready for war.” I smiled, hearing another validation that my belief in good operators wasn’t all a fantasy. “So Mr Rob Be Cool and The Lone Wanderer came up with the plan, all we had to do then was execute it.”

Alex broke down the plan, a brilliant scheme that involved luring me to the observatory by masquerading as a low-level solo operator. In my MEOW state, I couldn’t resist easy prey, so a lone wanderer was easy bait. Rob, Alex, and Jade triangulated the juggernaut’s position, and the wanderer executed a masterful display of elusiveness, leading me straight into the box and distracting the big fella while the team cut him down. “Sure enough, we opened the case, and there was the serum, just like Scooter said.” Jade said and trailed off. “Well, that explains how I got there, but how did you get that serum into me?” I asked, figuring that I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Yeah, that part…” Alex muttered. “Well, the plan was to hit you with a modified revive pistol. Funny thing, that. We’ve seen millions of the damn things in Al Mazrah, but as soon as we actually NEED one, couldn’t find a single one anywhere.” “Trust us, boss, we looked everywhere” Jade said. “So, we had to go to Plan B.”

“We shot the hell out of you, boss. We put you down, before you could put us down.” My hand felt the bandages on my chest, noticing the precision grouping. “I see, missed most of the important bits, eh? Thanks for that.” “We did what we had to, boss. We don’t like it any more than you do, trust me.” Jade said. “Well, I actually thought it was pretty funny” Alex laughed, and I couldn’t help but do the same. “Always did say you were going to be the one to turn my lights off.” I thought through it for a minute, then said “Ok boys, now what about Dutch? We’ve got to go get him back. Tell me you have a plan.”

“Lately, we’ve heard chatter that there’s a masked hunter killing anything that moves in Haif Port” said Alex, putting up the imagery on his screen. “Right here, in these warehouses, it’s said that anything that enters dies.” “The exfil chopper doesn’t even land in there anymore” Jade said, “so that’s where he’s going to be, we think.” “It’s as good a guess as any” I said and grabbed my M4. “Well, let’s move, my friends. Today, Al Mazrah Taxi Service takes up arms one more time. Today, we go save my friend, by almost killing my friend.”

 

[Raz]

The death hung around the warehouses like a red haze. Backpacks littered every corridor, and the evidence of a massacre was splashed across every wall. “Your boy Dutch is an artist with that shotgun” Alex breathed over comms as we moved slowly through the building. “You have no idea, my friend” I replied, my mind thinking back to the first time I saw Dutch work his craft. That entire battalion of soldiers against one operator with a shotgun and an X13. The way he worked them, picking them apart, dropping the officers to cause disarray, a knife slicing through the darkness, a shadow dispensing death. “Listen guys, if Dutch is here, and he’s under the influence of MEOW, we’re not going to see him coming. Communicate your positions, work together, or we’re all dead.”

CLANG. Alex’s foot sent a screwdriver clattering into a shelf. “Oh shit” he muttered, and we all grabbed cover. The sound of a shotgun pump cut through the air like a laser. “Dutch, my friend, we’re here to bring you home!” I yelled, as Jade re-positioned. We saw a silhouette move past the window on the second floor and we moved to surround him. “In position boss” Jade radioed, and I saw Alex across the landing, ready to breach. He nodded, his Icarus at the ready. “On my mark” I breathed. “Three. Two. One. GO”

Our flashbangs lit the room like a sun, and Alex and Jade breached. I waited a beat and turned to enter from my doorway. I wasn’t prepared for the cold hand that grabbed my throat, and I felt my M4 ripped out of my hand. “Kill. All. Operators” a cold voice spoke, and I looked into the eyes of my friend. Dutch had me dead to rights, his rage burning through his pupils. “Dutch, please, it’s me man. It’s Raz” I choked out, starting to claw for air. “Kill. All. Operators” he said again. I searched those cold eyes for any sign of recognition, any glance of hope. “Clear!” “Clear” I could hear Alex and Jade moving closer. Dutch reloaded his Bryson one handed, other hand pinning me against the wall, choking the life from me. “No, Dutch. No” I try to grab the shotgun but fail. I hear my team coming, I try to warn them, to stop Dutch, to do anything……

The bullet comes from nowhere, streaking through the window into the smallest of gaps between Dutch’s armor and chest. I drop to the floor, gasping for air as he falls backward from the force of the round. At the same time, Alex and Jade appear in the doorway, guns up. “Boss, you ok?” Jade yells as Alex secures Dutch’s weapons. “He’s hit hard, boss, but he’s alive. What’d you hit him with?” I gasp and point to the window. “Wasn’t. Me.” I cough out, waving at them to get down. Our comms crackle to life, and the sound of a wolf’s howl echoes through the warehouse. “Thought you boys might need a hand! I was just wandering through, seems like I was in the right place at the right time!” The Lone Wanderer flashed his sniper scope at us from a radio tower near the quarry. “Hell of a shot, my friend” I respond, regaining my composure and getting to my feet. I thank him for the assist and move over to Dutch. He’s breathing shallowly, hand still clambering in desperation, looking for his knife to finish the operators surrounding him. “It’s ok now, my friend, we’ve got you.” I hold out my hand, and Alex hands me the syringe. “Come back to us Dutch.”

The smell of pancakes wakes me from my slumber. I grab my Burger Town shirt and head out in the living room. Salem is in the kitchen, cooking up a feast, and I spot Alex and Jade on the couch enjoying my game console. And then, I see him. Dutch is standing at the window, staring out at Al Mazrah. “My friend, you’re awake!” I exclaim, and he holds out his hand. “Hey boss, hell of a workweek, eh?” I give my friend the biggest bro hug of my life. “So glad we got you back. Almost had to kill you, friend. Dutch laughed hard at this, grabbing the gunshot wound on his chest in pain in the process. “You, almost kill me? Raz, don’t you remember why you became a taxi driver in the first place? You couldn’t hit a gas can if it was sitting right in front of you!” Alex, Jade, and Salem all joined in the laughter.

“So what now, boss? Jade asked, and I thought for a moment. “Well, we know what the Chemist’s plan is, and we have the antidote. He’s after taxi drivers, so we’ve got to find them. If they’re out there under the influence of MEOW, we need to track them down and cure them.” I crossed the room and picked up the mic on my ancient short-wave radio. “I sent a vial over to a friend of the company. He’s handy with these things, hopefully he’s had enough time to analyze the samples.”

“Come in Ice Tiger, this is Charlie Alpha Romeo. Do you copy?” The radio crackled. “This is Ice Tiger. Got you loud and clear. You boys feeling alright?” “We’re fine” Dutch growled. “They are both uglier than ever, man, the beauty serum didn’t work!” yelled Alex, again drawing laughter from the room. “Well boys, I reviewed the serum, and the blood samples you sent over. You want the good news or the bad news first?” Everyone looked to me for the decision. “Let’s hear the good news first. We need some good news.” “Well, this Anti-Feline Whisker Fixer seems to counteract the MEOW serum, just like Scooter said. It shows the ability to suppress the genomes and fight off the desire to kill operators.” “Ok, I feel like there’s a “but” coming” said Jade, and he was right. “But it’s not permanent. It seems like the antidote wears off, and that time seems to be accelerated whenever the subject is victim to immense violence.” We all took a minute to digest this intel. “So, basically what you are saying is, we’ll be fine unless some selfish operator decides to execute a simple taxi driver?” I asked, thinking back to all the times I was pulled out of my car and finished off like a rag doll in a blender. “Yeah, basically that’s what I mean. You’ll be fine as long as you’re giving people rides and everyone is enjoying Al Mazrah Taxi Service. If you find yourself on the wrong end of a rifle too many times, the MEOW serum will take hold, seemingly until the thirst for blood is quenched.” “Anything else we need to know” I asked, ready for more. “Not really, no” Ice Tiger replied. “Pretty simple. You get sent into the darkness by operators too many times, and you’ll come back out of that darkness looking for blood.”

“Thanks for the intel, my friend. Charlie Alpha Romeo, out.” I turned and looked at my friends, the men who risked their lives to save us. “Gentlemen, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me. You risked your lives to bring Dutch and I back. We salute you.” The boys just nodded. “Whatever you need boss, we’re here for you” said Jade. “Yeah, we’re here to bail you out, Raz” Alex chuckled. “Just try not to rely on it too much, eh?” I paused for a moment, soaking in my surroundings. Just a few weeks ago, I was a simple taxi driver. Now, here I am, surrounded by friends, a crazy murder serum flowing through my blood, and Ahmed’s sister making me pancakes. “We’ve got to make sure all employees of Al Mazrah Taxi Service have the antidote. Put the word out, get these vials distributed. I want one in every glove box. Our mission doesn’t change. We get them there, or we die trying.” I paused, thinking back to the bloody scene at the warehouse. “Let’s hope they take the ride, eh?!” The laughter rang out, and glasses were raised. “To Al Mazrah Taxi Service!”

A crackle from the radio cut into the laughter. “Charlie Alpha Romeo, this is Ice Tiger, come in. Come in!” “We hear you, Ice Tiger. Go on.” He sounded rattled. “Dutch, you still there?” “Yeah, I’m here Tiger. Go for Dutch.” Rapid breathing, and then a sigh. “Dutch, he’s back. I just got word from an undercover contact on Ashika Island. He almost died getting this intel back to me. It’s him, Dutch.” Dutch walked over to the window, muttering to himself. “Dutch, who’s he talking about?” I asked. Dutch turned and downed the rest of his vintage wine. “Dutch, what’s going on?” Jade asked. “What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” Alex quipped. Dutch’s face was dark. “Dutch, just tell us what’s going on” I said.

“It's him, boss. It’s the Bombmaker.”

 

[Raz]

A high-pitched scream wakes me from my peaceful slumber, and I jump out of bed, throwing knife in hand. Salem looks at me in terror, but I’m already on the move. Another scream reverberates through the walls of our apartment building as I move down the hallway. A door opens to my left, and a shiny Bryson hunts for targets. “What the hell is going on, boss?” Dutch growls, obviously up earlier than intended. Another door opens, and Alex stumbles out into the hall, two giggling women in tow. “Boss, what gives? Those aren’t the screams I’m looking for!” The girls recoil as the shotgun leads us past, and we hit the stairwell, moving down a floor to the sound of the commotion.

We breach the door into the hallway, ready for a fight, but instead we find chaotic laughter. Jade is sprawled out on the floor, pounding his fists in hysterics, and a tall figure in a 10-gallon cowboy hat wiping off the bottom of his boot, laughing along with him. “Cowboy! You made it, welcome!” I exclaimed, happy to see another taxi driver off the streets and into the building. “What is happening down here?” Jade started to explain, but all he could muster is more laughing and a pointed finger towards the nearest apartment. “Well, I was moving the last of my stuff in, and suddenly there was what sounded like a lady screaming” Cowboy drawled. “I thought she was in trouble, so I went in to try to help.” “What that big dumb Cowboy did was break down my door!” a shrill but familiar voice yelled out. “You better pay for that, Raz!” “Ah, shit” I muttered to myself, and stepped through the doorway and over the broken door. “Good morning Bizzle, what happened this time, my friend?”

“You know bloody well what happened! Look at my bloody door! I was just making a spot of tea, and I turned around and, and…” Bizzle visibly shuttered, as if reliving a terrible memory. “I saw a, a…” “A tiny little spider, boss” Cowboy said. “No more than an inch across. I’ve seen bigger ants back home on the ranch.” “You shut up, ya damn Yankee! It was massive! Almost took my leg off” Bizzle screeched. “I don’t know why someone doesn’t spray for them!” “Umm, aren’t you the building superintendent?” Jade asked softly. “Get out, all of you! Out, out, OUT!!” Bizzle, now completely furious, pushed us back through the broken doorframe. “And you owe me for the door, Raz!” Laughing, we all headed towards the lobby. “Thanks for coming to the rescue, Cowboy” I chuckled. “Bizzle’s in charge of the building, he’s alright. A bit jumpy, that’s all.” “They let him pretend he’s the boss around here, makes him feel good” Jade explained. I shook Cowboy’s hand and motioned everyone towards the elevators. “Welcome home, Cowboy” said Dutch as we walked into the lobby. “I’m taking Dutch to the airport, my friends. I’ll see you out there in a while.” I saluted my friends, the heroic taxi drivers of Al Mazrah, and we headed out of the village.

 

[Raz]

After all the craziness of the past week, it felt great to get back behind the wheel and get back to work. The warm desert breeze blowing through my mustache, the hot sun baking my windshield, it all felt like thing were back to normal. Sure, the Chemist was still out there, and Dutch was on his way to Ashika Island to set up a base of operations, having finally given us the whole story between him and the Bombmaker. Ice Tiger was flying him out there now, and I knew I’ve have to join him soon. The MEOW virus was still swimming through my blood, and the AQ seemed to be ramping up patrols, seemingly more aggressive than ever, but all of this was secondary today. I turned up the ZZ Top and took the off ramp down into Al Mazrah City.

“Today’s the day, Raz. Let’s ride in style!” I said to myself as I guided the LTV up a marble staircase and punted some shocked AQ grunts halfway across the lobby. “Catch an Electric Ride!” was the tag line today! The Hummer EV took off silently, dispatching the rest of the guards in the lobby with the grace of a Grammaton Cleric, silent but deadly. Back on the road, I headed towards Taraq Village, feeling great about the day. I spot my first potential client running into the gas station north of the ruins, and glide to a stop.

“Catch A Ride!”

“Hey buddy, I’m Raz! You need a ride?” I asked over comms, assessing the operator. He immediately turned tail and jumped through the glass into the station. “Another greenhorn” I muttered to myself as I pulled up, enjoying the sweet sound of Al Mazrah’s gift to the automotive world, wireless EV charging. “Hey, my friend, I saw you go through that window. I know my way around these parts, you sure I can’t help you out?” “Go Away!” he yelled, and I watched a grenade fly over my head and into the street. “Whoa, easy there Merkle! I’m friendly, easy on the lobs!” I see a Marine helmet pop up, and a small voice called “Did that grenade not get you?” “No, my friend, but you gave the road crews something to do for the afternoon, so that’s something, right?” I laughed and jumped out of the car. “Look, friend, I’m unarmed. Just a simple taxi driver, tell me where you need to go!” I fired off an invite, walked him through the acceptance process, and suggested he get into the car. “Come on, buddy, check out the torque in this baby.”

“Whoa, how did you get this ride? This thing is SWEET!” were the greenhorn’s first words as he hopped in and immediately tracked a ton of sand onto my floor mats. “I appreciate the ride, taxi driver. Listen, I’m exhausted. I’ve climbed what seems to be 17 different radio towers, but I can’t seem to activate any of them! How does one activate a UAV tower in Al Mazrah?” I let out a laugh and swing around the Hummer and fast tracked our way to Rohan Oil. “Ok man, grab your tablet, let me show you something” I say, chuckling as I watch his backpack go flying into the back as I send it off a dune. “You see that white marker there? That’s the UAV tower you are after. And this one” I point on his map “is that one right over there. Go climb that white fuel tank, and you’ll see a portable antenna.” “More climbing? You have to be kidding me, Raz.” He sighed and shuffled off towards his goal.

I decided to park near the fence and hang out, knowing my customer was going to need the help if he was to survive Al Mazrah. I heard the sound of engines in the distance, and look over just in time to see an LTV fly off a cliff and explode into flames, followed seconds later by a black and gold chop top that landed hard and drifted in my direction. Just as I start to reach towards the ignition, I spot a welcome sight, a majestic 10-gallon cowboy hat catching the sun just right. “Howdy boss, great day for business!” Cowboy yelled as he streaked past, three operators hanging on for dear life, one of them returning his Yum Yum Burger back to the sand in the process. The Chop Top took off over another dune, catching major air and disappearing from view.

 

[Raz]

“Holy cow, who the hell was that maniac?” my customer asked, jumping back into the Hummer. “Ah, that’s Cowboy” I said. “He’s part of the team. He’ll get you there, that’s for sure. Whether your stomach is strong enough to survive the ride, that’s another story.” “Yeah, I can see that” my customer remarked. “I think it’ time for me to catch a ride out of here. If we could keep all 4 wheels on the ground, I’d like that too” he asked quietly. “My friend, I’ll get you there, or die trying. Sit back and relax.” I smashed the pedal to the floor, and the Hummer laid a smoky burnout for the next four miles or so towards the exfil chopper.

I pulled into the clearing and hopped out to signal the exfil chopper, smoothly hopping back in and quickly re-positioning my electric steed near cover. I shook my customer awake and pointed to the incoming chopper. “Ok my friend, curtain call. That’s your ride out. When it lands, jump on and get down. I’ll run support till you’re out of here.” I checked my mirrors and unlocked the doors. “If you brought smoke grenades, throw them now.” He started to hop out, but slammed the door back shut as a helicopter sliced through the air mere feet above our roof, covering the clearing in flares. “Squad of AQ are moving on the exfil point, from the northeast, boss” Nitwit’s mechanical voice hummed over comms. “I’ll draw them away, watch this.” I watch in awe as Nitwit expertly scrubs altitude, rotated the bird 90 degrees, and crushed two attackers with the skids. The rotors clawed the chopper up off the deck, over some palm trees, and out of sight.

“What was that? Who was what, how!?” the greenhorn stammered, seemingly ready to stay in the car with me till the bitter end now. “That was Nitwit” I explained. “He’s well, how do I put this, going through some “stuff” right now. It’s a long story, but bottom line is, I wouldn’t trust that cat right meow.” Noting the glorious confusion on his face, I pushed him out of the car. “Now go, kid. Get on that chopper and get the hell out of here.” With one last terrified look, he scooped up his Vaznev and sprinted towards the chopper. I glanced at my map, satisfied by another job well done. I looked back up and saw my customer, only 10 feet away from safety.

In the blink of an eye, he was gone. Like a scene out of some sci-fi movie, he disappeared into a pink mist right before my eyes. A second later, the bone-shaking sound of a GAU-8 Avenger cannon shook the whole clearing, and an A-10 Warthog streaked overhead. A second attack erased even the memory of him from Al Mazrah, and the clearing was quiet once more, save the rotors of the chopper thumping their song of safety. “And that’s why I stay in the car” I thought to myself as I pulled away. I spot two operators cresting the ridge to the north, but I’m gone before they get any more ideas. I say a few words for my deleted customer, wondering if he'll come back to Al Mazrah in his next life.

 

[Raz]

I have a few more easy shifts, including what amounts to an aerial tour of Al Mazrah to a first-time visitor before I see some real action again. It seems that whenever the AQ are throwing their party over at Building 21, business is slow, but it allows time for me to hone my craft. I’m putting an LTV through its paces at the port when I spot an operator crossing my path. He doesn’t shoot, so I hail him over comms.

“CATCH A RIDE!”

“Hey bro, I’m Raz! You need a ride?” I yell, enthused about getting a potential fare wander right into my path. I jump out and fire off an invite, waiting for a reply. I’m on a new squad, and suddenly comms light up. “Bro! What up taxi driver! Let’s do this shit!” My new customer is feeling it tonight, and it seems like we’re in business. “Ok, friend, where do you need to go? Ping something and we’re there” I said, listening for the sound of orders. I hear the ping and check the map. “Hey man, I think you missed. This is that building right in front of us.” I gave him a perplexed look. “Yeah, that’s where I got to go. I need to go in there and kill all those dudes.” My customer reloaded his gun, ready for a fight. “Um, ok, well in that case, we are here” I remarked, moving the LTV forward a few feet for dramatic effect. “Sweet, let’s go man, you can guard my six. I’m going to cap all these AQ fools today!”

He dashed off towards the warehouse as I called out after him. “My friend, I’m a taxi driver. I drive, I don’t shoot. You go in there, you’re on your own.” “Hell, ok man, whatever you say. I’m going to destroy all those fools.” He kicked the door in and disappeared from view. “I headed towards the nearby gas station while listening to the war cries of Staff Sergeant Bloodlust over the comms. Fueled up, I head back over and find him limping across the road, bleeding and visibly pissed. “F’n guys had riot shields, man. What the hell is that?” he groaned as I stabbed him with a stim and pulled him to his feet. He dropped 3 new plates into his vest and jumped in the car. “At least I got this sweet gun out of there!” He brandished a black Minibak in the mirror. “Let’s head somewhere else I can get into a fight!” he yelled enthusiastically, already forgetting his swiss cheese appearance from moments before. I smirked and said “sure thing, my friend. Ever been to Ahkdar Village?”

I slid to a stop up against the cliffside, car billowing black smoke. Broken glass was everywhere, and 3 of the doors remained somewhere behind us. I stab a stim into my chest and toss one to the Sergeant. “Holy shit, those dudes were insane! What the hell is up with that town?” he asked, patching up holes in his armor. “Well, it all started with stray cats..” I launched into the story but was cut off immediately by a stranger on comms. “Wwwaaaazzzuuuuuuppppp” crackled into my eardrum like a RAAL at full song. My customer returned this strange greeting, and it became obvious these guys were in the same squad. “Yo, invite me in!” was the request over the radio, and I attempted to explain the nature of deployments to Al Mazrah. “My friend, if you’d like me to take you to exfil, and then join you both on your next adventure, I’m happy to do so” I offered, curious to see where this was headed. “Hell yeah, taxi driver. Let’s do this, squad up in the lobby.”

 

[Raz]

POOF. For the second time today, someone disappears in front of me. This time, though, the three-plate vest he had went uncracked, his body untouched. He, and his custom gun and backpack, simply disappeared. Perplexed, I hopped back in the smoking LTV and heard my tablet ping. A notification to squad up from Staff Sergeant Bloodlust. “Well, duty calls” I muttered, and slammed the car into reverse. I did my best to ensure the smoldering wreckage didn’t end up in front of my building as I went out in a blaze of reverse-driving fury.

I come out of the darkness next to the Sergeant and his buddy Rico north of Al Mazrah City. A quick assessment of my surroundings tells me the warehouse to our north is the quickest path towards success, so I sprint off. “Follow me, gents!” The LTV in the back of the parking lot would do nicely. I glanced back to see what we were working with. One set of fists, and one contraband gun, and a reckless look to both of them. “Alright, Raz, time to go to work” I mutter to myself. I slid around the corner and drop two AQ with the same throwing knife, while the lone gunman takes out the third. “Grab some guns, and get inside” I called, and worked my way around the building. “Hit the lockers on the second floor, best odds of better gear.” My solitary knife finds 3 more victims before the LTV is secure, and I wait for them to stroll out, new armor secured and better weapons in tow. “We’re ready for war, driver. Let’s go start one.”

On the highway, we spot a battle happening in the street up ahead. Three operators are engaged with at least 20 AQ troops. As we approach, I hear “friendly, friendly” over the comms and then immediate gunfire. Spent shells rain onto my windshield, and I see one of the operators go down as we pass. “Well, I guess they know we aren’t friendly, eh?” I yelled. “Turn around, driver! There’s one left, let’s get him!” said the Sergeant. I cranked the handbrake and was back in the fight within seconds. “Run him over” was the order, and the second enemy operator went down, totally unaware of his surroundings. I saw the third high tail it into a nearby market. “Yo, he went in there, get his ass!” my bloodthirsty customers screamed, and they both ran in after him. “Ok, gents, I guess I’ll be out here” I said, and lazily drove around introducing AQ to reinforced steel.

The roar of an engine behind the building caught my ear, and I saw a cargo truck race off into the distance as I re-grouped in front of the building. “There goes your mouse, my friends” I called out over comms, and my customers raced out of the building. “Man, forget that guy, let’s roll somewhere else, taxi man” the one named Rico said. I knew there was an ammo depot down the street, so I took them over there, and kicked my feet up to wait as they undoubtedly looted every container within a five-block radius. Just as I finished sending Salem a rather explicit text, I noticed an operator crouched down over the lifeless body down the street. “Whoa, hey guys, your prey is back!” I yelled and hit the gas. My LTV raced down the road, and I saw his scared look as I swerved to avoid him, scaring him away from his deceased friend. The operator ran into the market again, and I rounded the block, picking up my guys in the process. “He’s back in the building, boys” I said, and they ran off in pursuit once more. “Friendly, friendly, please!” squeaked over the comms. “I’m just trying to pick up my friends. Please don’t kill me!” “Fool, you about to get smoked! I’m going to find you!” Rico shouted back.

 

[Raz]

I listened to the scared whimpers of the mouse and remembered that feeling from days long past. “My friends, perhaps it’s better to invite our prey to join us? He obviously poses no actual threat to us.” I could almost hear the internal struggle in my customer’s brains. An easy kill, or a four-man super squad? “You better join right now, Mouse! We are gonna kill you!” was the new call on comms, and I sat in my LTV listening to the hilarious comms chatter as three operators with no idea how to use their equipment tried to all get on the same channel. “You have to press up, dude!” “No, that’s the wrong one, we aren’t joining you!” “We are going to kill you if you don’t accept, Mouse!” Yeah, we are right behind you!” “Please, no, I’m trying, I’m trying!” The chaos was quite entertaining, and finally I saw the ping of a new squad member on my Tac Map. “Holy moly, I so thought I was dead!” Mouse exclaimed, the fear fading from his voice. “Thanks for letting me join you guys!” All 3 climbed into the LTV, and I swung back by the gas station to top off the tank and polish off the blood.

While I was doing my routine maintenance, the bloodthirst went on, and my customers ran off to pick a fight with the nearby AQ. For some reason, Rico kept trying to get them to join our squad, yelling out “Send that invite or die, bro!” over and over. With a laugh, I hopped back in and called them back over. “They are going to keep coming, my friends. How about we move on?” I started the engine and saw them running back over from nearby building. “We showed all those fools, taxi man!” they exclaimed as they hopped in, not a single plate uncracked between them. “Good work guys! What sort of loot did you get out of it?” I asked softly. “Well, I got this RPK, it has 30 bullets in it” said one. “I found some documents and a toy doll” the other said, feeling a bit foolish. “I found $200, dudes! I’m rich!” exclaimed Mouse brightly. The horn blared as I bashed my forehead into the wheel. “My friends, you have a LOT to learn about Al Mazrah” I sighed and stroked my mustache. “From now on, you guys are doing what I tell you to. Listen to me, and you might just survive long enough to get home.” I spotted a set of parachutes to the north and headed to intercept it. “First step, you guys need better gear. Stay in the car.”

Immediately, all my windows are broken and all three are standing on the roof, blasting at anything that moved within 3 miles. “Ugh, n00bs” I sighed to myself, swerving through the outskirts of Al Mazrah City, dispatching three times the number of AQ as my surfers up top. “You boys see that red smoke?” I yelled out the window, and Mouse awkwardly crawled back into the car, a foolish look on his face. “Um, you don’t happen to have any ammo, do you?” I laughed and threw him an ammo box. “Any of those rounds actually hit anything back there?” He went red in the face and answered, “I think I hit this one guy in the knee.” I laughed again and pointed to a plume of red smoke on top of a nearby house. “Up there, that’s next. Go up there and open the crate.”

The three of them surrounded the house, and I laughed uncontrollably as I watched them jump over and over, reaching for ledges well beyond their grasp. “My friends, not to intrude, but perhaps that ladder might be of use?” “Oh snap, thanks!” yelled Mouse, and he scurried up the ladder to the roof. The other guys seemed to not heed my advice and continued jumping around like they just came from Caldera. “Holy balls, dude! Airstrikes, cash…. Whoa! Look at this sniper rifle!” Mouse struggled to lift a .50cal that was longer than he was tall. “I can see the Observatory from here, dude!” His excitement was lost in the moment however, as a Blackhawk appeared out of nowhere, ropes dropping to the ground. “Time to jet, my friends!” I yelled over the sudden onslaught of gunfire. I slid around the building, and they all clambered in as I sped by. “Ok driver, now let’s go smoke some fools” Sgt. Bloodlust exclaimed, letting off a few rounds through my windshield. “Ok, first off, DON’T shoot my damn car” I yelled, “and secondly, you aren’t ready.” I punched him straight in the chest, doubling him over and cracking his head against the dashboard. “Shit, Raz, what the hell was that for?” He wheezed and sat back. “Oh that, that was for shooting my car. Also, a great demonstration on what happens to you when you don’t have any plates.”

I stopped next to a buy station south of Taraq Village. “Ok, Mr. Moneymouse, time to put that mountain of cash to use. Go buy the team some gear.” They all immediately all huddled over the crate, and I sat back and waited for the realization to kick in. “Yo, this stuff costs hella money!” Rico said, suddenly dismayed. “I’ve only got $200, what about you guys?” “Dawg, I only have $400. I guess I can get a plate. What about you, kid?” Mouse cleared his throat. “Me? Well, uh…” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’ve got thirty-three thousand and something…” I laughed hard into my steering wheel as both operators drew their weapons and pointed them straight at Mouse. “Kid, you better give us all that money, or we about to smoke you right here.” The Sergeant cleared the chamber for dramatic effect. “Whoa, ok, ok here, please, don’t shoot me!” Mouse threw a huge duffle bag of cash to the ground. “That’s what I thought” Rico said, and they huddled back over the crate. “You know they can’t hurt you, right?” I called over to Mouse, as he sat down on a nearby rock. “It’s fine. I mean, they did save my life earlier” he said, although I could tell he was still a bit shaken. I watched Rico walk over and throw a bag of gear at his feet. Let’s go, Mouse. Gear up. Thanks for the cash.” With a laugh and a wink, Rico hopped back into the LTV. “Ok guys, NOW you are ready. Let’s go, as you say, smoke some fools.” I waited for the Sergeant and Mouse to hop back in and looked at the tac map. “Ok, let’s see. I see a hostage contract on the board, that’s a safe way out. Thoughts?” “Save a hostage? Nah man, I want to kill something!” Rico said. “High value target it is!” I pinged the closest one and was about to put my tablet away when I noticed something. South of the city, at the exfil, the weapons case sat motionless. “Interesting…” I said and turned to the group. “You boys every gotten a weapons case before?” The puzzled looks told me all I needed to know. “Ok, listen, you want to shoot something right? I’ve got a proposition for you.”

 

[Raz]

“Right here” I pointed to the case on the map “is the weapons case. It’s very special. There’s only one here.” I explained the significance, but I left out my own personal interests, as I knew they were easily confused. “So, it’s either a trap, or some poor soul tried to extract with it and got killed. Want to go see which one it is?” “Hell yeah, man! Let’s go smoke all them fools!” yelled Sergeant Bloodlust. Mouse swung around his sniper, almost knocking us all out in the process. “Let’s do it! I’ll be overwatch!” “Easy there, Templeton” I laughed, pushing the barrel out of my way. “Just be ready for a fight. I saw the looming lightning cloud coming closer, and I knew I was cutting it close. “Just up the road, in that clearing, that’s where we’re headed.” I pointed towards the darkness. “We don’t have a lot of time. Sergeant, you call the chopper. Rico, you cover the north side. Mouse, the case is on you. Everyone clear?” I didn’t get any clear responses, but all three of them were back out on the roof, so at least they were ready to shoot at something.

I raced into the clearing and slammed on the brakes near the green flare. All three of them headed off in different directions, so I called the chopper and got back in the car. I heard the pilot say it was going to be close, but one look at the clouds told me there was no way he was landing here. “Get the case, and let’s GO!” I yelled, honking the horn and starting to head east. “Yo, there’s a bunch of backpacks here!” I heard Rico yell and he and the Sergeant huddled over them, rooting through their contents. “I found a self-revive!” was the last thing I heard before I saw them both get enveloped by the gas. “Mouse, let’s roll! Get in the car!” The other two emerged out of the radiation to our left, coughing and running for their lives. “Holy hell, what is that!” they screamed as they got in and we sped east. “That’s what happens when you run over a guy’s cats” I said as I sped towards the cave complex. “Listen guys” I said, glossing over their perplexed looks “I’m going to get you guys out of here, but our options are limited. Everyone here knows where we are, and we’re going to a dangerous place.” I pointed at the case. “Mouse, open that up and throw a few of those vials in the glove box. I’m going to need them.” Mouse nodded and complied, although it didn’t help his confusion at all.

The LTV danced up the cliffside like a mountain goat on cocaine, and we slammed down onto the road on the other side. “Hang on!” I yelled as I slammed through a cluster of AQ troops. Blood covered the hood, and there were bullets flying all over the canyon. “We’re going to die!” Mouse screamed, ducking down in the front seat. “Not today, kid” I growled as I circled the clearing, wielding my LTV like a scalpel. The immediate threat was neutralized, and Rico jumped out to call the chopper. “Reinforcements coming over the ridge!” he yelled, running back to the cover of the car. The thump of rotors in the distance grew louder, and the exfil chopper swooped down towards us. “Ok boys, ride is here! Get in the chopper!” Mouse, case under his arm, dashed from the car, and I followed. I saw the other two jump into the side doors, and within 5 seconds we were in the air. High fives and yells commenced, and I joined in before walking to the back ramp. “Well gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure getting you here today. Enjoy the rewards for extracting that case, you earned it.” I double-checked my chute and gave them a salute. “Remember, my name’s Raz, owner of Al Mazrah Taxi Service. Tell you friends what happened here today.”

I turned around and jumped out of the chopper, back to the only home I knew. I flew through the air and into the rapidly approaching gas. I was ready for the darkness when a chilling sound above me snapped my neck around. The sound of an opening parachute. “Rico! What the FUCK are you doing!” I screamed, and the distraction proved dire. I ripped open my chute a few meters above the ground, and I hit the rocks hard, knocking the wind out of me. “I saw you jump out, I thought we were supposed to follow you!” “You stupid son of a bitch! That was your ride home, Rico!” I lay crumpled in the rocks, fuming. “I’m sorry Raz, I didn’t know what you were doing, so I followed you!” I knew it was just a rookie mistake, but it didn’t help my mood at all. “Well, get over here and help me up. Seems I still have a job to do.”

Rico leaned over me; his eyes scared behind his gas mask. He jammed a stim into my chest and pulled me to my feet. “Where’s your mask, Raz?” he asked as he helped me into the driver’s seat. I brushed my mustache up over my nostrils and pointed. “I’m fine, let’s go.” I put my foot down and flew through the cave complex, racing to get back in front of the radiation. I could feel my strength fading. I see AQ choking to death all around me, the ones with masks running in the direction of the port. So close now, I think I can see the light….

 

[Raz]

We burst back into the sunshine, and I cough in relief. “That was a close one, eh?” I asked Rico, who still seemed ashamed that he was here with me. I combed my mustache back into its normal majestic form and pointed on the window. “Look, see that chopper in the distance? That’s your last chance out of here. When we get there, you have one mission.” “Ok Raz, I got it this time. Get on the chopper.” “Damn right” I said. I swerved through a crowd of AQ, hoping the shotgun that was now stuck in my grille didn’t puncture the radiator. “There might be other operators here, Rico. Stay frosty” I warned as we pulled up next to it. Peeking through the windows, it seemed like we were the first ones here. “Now get in the chopper, and don’t get out, no matter what happens. Kill anything that tries to board and get home to your friends.” I shook his hand for what damn well better be the last time, and he jumped out of the LTV. “I’ll thin the herd for you, my friend” I called out, and punched it straight towards the incoming forces. I punted a soldier with a pouch full of molotovs into a billboard and crunched 3 of his buddies into a concrete barrier.

I circled around, ready to make a final lap, when my LTV was struck by something huge from my left. I’m flipping through the air before I have time to even register what hit me. Engulfed in flames, the LTV slides to a stop, upside down and against a wall. Choking, blood filling my lungs, I squeeze my way out of the seatbelt and fall into broken glass. Struggling to stay conscious, I crawl towards the passenger window, desperate to be free of the wreckage. I’m pulling my way out through the window when I see someone walking up to the car. Bloody boots crunch the gravel, the soft breathing of a respirator sending chills through me. I see familiar eyes behind the gas mask, cold and angry.

“Travis, my friend. Is that you?” I frantically reach for my throwing knife, pulling it from my boot. “Travis, please, listen. I can help you. Put down the gun.” The glove box is wedged closed, and I struggle to twist myself for more leverage. My throwing knife finds a gap, and with one swift motion, it flies open, syringes raining down on me. Two of them break, and as I reach for the third, I feel a strong hand grab my arm. “Please Travis, please” I cough out, scrambling to grab the last remaining hope for my friend. He blinks, seemingly unaware of his actions. I feel the cold of Dr Zed’s Anti-Feline Whisker Fixer in my hand as I’m dragged out of the car. Travis’ X13 is pressed against my temple as he pulls me to my feet. “Travis, please. Don’t do this” I plead. He blinks. His cold eyes focus on mine, and I know what needs to be done. I force the syringe into his chest as he pulls the trigger.