𝙶𝚁𝙸𝙳 entrance to the metro, krovograd. 1400 hours. 42.244302 50.345243. 𝙿𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙾𝙽𝙽𝙴𝙻 lt. vasconcelos & anyone. (2/5)
with his eyes and his rifle trained on the dark, vasco stood at a crater of collapsed cement and ground. they were all assigned closer to the main settlement today, but it didn't start for hours, and he'd seen the collapse from his blind and needed to get a closer look. he tapped his foot to the fragile edge and watched as the bit of pavement he'd shaken loose rolled down the definite ramp the earth had somehow formed. so, not a sinkhole then. an entrance.
if he were a local desperate, hunted this would be the kind of place he’d run to. but the faint sound of scraping from below told him the paper skins would think the same. he reached for his chest rig and waited for the sound of his radio crackling to life. “bravo-07 to base, marking point of interest. possible metro entrance, roughly 4 klicks north of bunny hole two. standing by for orders. over.” vasco kicked another rock down the sloping abyss as he waited.
his radio cracked again before a voice came through: “copy that, bravo-07. do not engage alone. return to post. over and out.” vasco scoffed, but flicked the safety of his rifle on and spun it around to rest down his back. but it seemed that whatever was watching him didn't expect him to turn. he caught the flash of boots disappear behind debris about ten feet away from the collapse, and unholstered the pistol from his leg. hiding isn't normally an infected activity, so the pistol was precautionary.
“woah, woah.” he edged farther from the collapsed entrance, peering around the jagged concrete slab where the shadow had vanished. the air was stale, thick with dust and something faintly metallic. blood, maybe. silence. then the flutter of movement, and a breath that wasn't his finally releasing. like they had been holding it but it finally slipped out. human, atleast. but everyone's supposed to be preparing. “identify yourself.”
