--- Tape Starts (Side A) ---

"Where, am I?" a voice asked with a sight flash of white. Blinded from it, it tried to cover her face with the palms of its hand. Squinting and blinking a few more times, the sight regained back as the strength flows through the veins of the person.

Stretching its neck and loosening the muscles, she peers left and right. A room is so dull and dark yet so spacious. It felt as if it was some building that was abandoned for quite some time.

However, this room was quite familiar. Its cracked windowpanes and the walls aged of beige gave a very school-like setting. "Oh yeah..." The voice answered itself.

Recognising the place, a sigh of relief.

Strewn on the floor were empty bottles of multiple brands, alcohol to be exact. Other than than, packets of pills such as aspirin and other such drugs not usually clumped up together into a powdery mess.

Broken empty syringes and a few broken vials here and there, made the environment a little more pathetic than usual.

This was indeed what it confirmed, a junkie house.

Feeling a slight amount of grief and stress, it holds her aching temple as it thinks hard. "I had done it again? Didn't I?"

Feeling some wetness on its arm, she pulls it up, only to realise it seeped a crimson red. Blood, it realises coming from a wound caused by a shard of glass.

Where did it come from, it asked itself? Inspecting the room once more with her perfect sight, she notices a duffel bag at the far side corner from her peripheral view.

Beside it, laid guns. Loads of them. From service rifles to a sniper rifle with alternate modifications on, the being just found out she wore a gun holster too.

"Oh yeah, now I remember." It answered itself with a spark of recollections. "The Axis, and those monsters. I had to gun them down, and then after that, I came here to rest."

Recovering its thoughts, it then unhurriedly remembered everything one by one.

"I wasn't there unattended... an individual was there. Medium length of hair, she wore a suit of armour like me too, no-no. She wore a guard vest uniform. Her voice was rough and deep with the sound of an accent."

The voice resounded an acquaintance it made. A short one but a useful one, the one that cheated its demise. "Accent was an English...yes, now I remember."

Confirming its thoughts, she then shakes its head. "Someone from a security grid may have come to guard the place but when the ambush came, it was only stuck with us two. We had no choice but to work up hand on hand to stop the infiltration." It thought in its head as she slowly pushes itself up.

With that out the way, the person having a body, a possible being limps its way towards an old desk splintered with roughened and unpolished wood and rusted metal casings and bolts.

On top of that laid a first aid kit. Zipping it open, the being pulls out a pair of scissors, tweezers, a roll of bandages and a bottle filled with an odd yellowish liquid used as an ointment.

Pulling out a small flask from the breast pocket of the being, it opens its cover and takes a small sip from it before it doused the wounded area with it.

Grudging with a shout of pain, it quickly held onto the pair of scissors after tossing the flask aside before yanking out the shard. In adrenaline of agitated and temporary numbness, the being then applied pressure with a was of the bandages before applying the ointment for it to absorb.

After some time, the burn of the wound started anew, worse than ever. Holding the pain, it gripped onto the ends of the table before biting on its puffy lips.

"Shit!" It screamed, both an insult to itself and towards the horrendous pain it was suffering. "Why have I ever joined the military?"

"I could have just been a music student and that would have been fine. I should have just listened." It cried out as it realises the fate she has chosen after all the years of operations.

As if recovering from a state of trance, all of the pain it suffered has suddenly hit back to it like a speeding locomotive.

Kicking the foot onto the desk, it then finally ignored the pain that slowly subsided. "Whatever, I should just move forward..." It grunted before picking up the flask and sipping more of the alcohol.

Sighing, she passes by the duffel bag of weapons before watching out the colourful flashing neon lights coming from traffic lights and faraway buildings.

Most of the buildings filled with graffiti and murals without anybody caring for it, most of these were long ago abandoned due to the lack of population to hold them.

But how did it still supply electricity? Were they forgotten to be switched off, where's the money running from this wasted use of light?

The questions many, the answer unfulfilled. Currently unfazed, the being watched throughout this nightly neo scenery as it calmed its mind to recollect its thoughts.

"Alright Katherine, try to remember everything." It told itself as she crosses her arms, rubbing them together to warm her icy cold hands from the breezing winter in the middle of January.

Breathing a cloud of white smoke, she nods slowly before closing her eyes. Imagining the past by making a scene from her own eyes, she made a series of movies in her mind, even if it was difficult to distinguish or understand, it was of personal use.

Never to be shared unless provoked or interrogated for.

It was six pm in the middle square of Koln. Walking down a small passageway after exciting an electric tram, she snakes her way towards an old antic building. Holding upon a broken and ever standing cross made out of sheets of metal and cement.

A flash of remembrance, a Cathedral, the building held high. Wooden sheets for a rooftop and cement and metal used for its base. Pillars were common, consisting of marble to hold upon the ancient and slowly collapsing building.

Entering it through a secret manhole through an underground hallway and door, she climbed up towards its main floor, which contained many many rooms. Exciting the manhole, it ended her up in a maintenance utility room.

With preparation in key, she hid the duffel bag in a safe area and puts on her uniform and safety clothing as she hid her weapons under her vest and pants.

Lock picking through a door, she then slowly opens and peers through it before sneaking her way towards a stairwell, leading to the second floor of the cathedral.

It was a window case of sorts, to be able to watch ceremonies from the top as extra space. With the lack of security, she managed to carry along with her sniper kit and prepared her equipment there by itself without a second opinion.

Screwing in a suppressor and an electronic laser sight, she leaves them off before sitting down and preparing a plan.

Charting areas one by one, she circles a map of the cathedral meant for tourists with a personal pencil to go with it.

Making the decisions completed, she relaxed and stared at her watch, counting every tick it made.

When the time struck, the sisters of the cathedral came out of their resting space before heading to the benches and patio, slowly reading their prayers and making chants here and there in both Latin and German.

Katherine not bothering with their prayers, she too whispered a prayer of her own. A prayer of safety and the undoing of the potential scenes she could make soon.

A sound of screaming coming from the north side of the cathedral, a sound of crashes and heavy grunts followed.

Crazy creations and rotting flesh of beings scavenging here and there as they attacked ferociously whoever they spotted. Like savages, they attacked and looted off the visitors and nuns of the church.

Getting in communication through grunts and odd chitter-chatter, they used their rusted up guns and knives and slashed left and right, breaking off and scaring the folks.

Without any second to waste, Katherine scopes up to her battle rifle of a sniper and started bursting shot towards the enemies.

One, two, three, she counted under her breath as she accurately measured quickly every shot and made sure she never ran out of ammunition too quickly.

By doing so, she efficiently lowered their numbers but reinforcements continued coming. She didn't know what was happening outside, the sounds of screaming and sirens were sounded as they muffled her from the sounds of the church's bell.

Ding ding ding, the bell went with every rhythmic pull of the rope level, held upon a sister of the church in another area of the cathedral, a personal building for the crier of this facility.

With every ding, came a shot. Not too loud and not too soft, it magically softened the sound of shots Katherine made with her pull of the trigger.

By concentrating too much fire on what's in front of her, she hasn't taken care of her back.

A silhouette approaching, it raised its dagger before reaching nearby for an easy kill.

Laughing softly maniacally, it was slowly given hold by its throat as it started choking and coughing.

Alerting Katherine, she turned around with her gun ready to fire only to be seeing a silhouette behind the appropriate attacked killing off the axis assassin with a snap of the neck.

Tossing it aside, the silhouette gave a wide smile of white as it tossed the body aside.

With a humble greeting, the silhouette then somehow managed to jump over the railings and land down onto the main floor without breaking a single bone. Surprised, Katherine had no choice but to get back into gear.

Understanding that this being was a secret hero, she then realised she should join in into the main attraction, with her newly found backup.

Abandoning her now emptied of a magazine sniper rifle, she slides down a ladder and picks up a hidden assault rifle she hid behind a door.

Pulling it out, she gives it a quick ammo check before barging through the side entrance with a mighty kick.

Aiming down her sights, in a professional way, quickly made aim and simple taps onto the enemies with a quick one-two tactic through the heart and a possible head.

With the help of her special aim assisting scope of sight, it gave her perfect calculation of distances and quickly gave pace of whoever is a civilian from a teammate by checking its heart rate and body temperature.

Axis members were already half-dead, so they lacked either of the two. Making it simply easier to use the score that is mostly used for special night missions back in the operations of the military.

Shouting and guiding away civilians into safety areas, she crouch walks and shoots anything that tries to even touch one of them through in material means.

"Twenty, twenty-one..." She continued counting under her breathe as met up closely with the saviour.

Communicating through quick orders, they gave each other information and details as quickly as possible.

Realising she is fighting together with an official government figure, she knew she would be screwed if she was found out as a civilian. Even worse as she was using illegal weaponry not signed with a contract from a usual civilian gun shop.

Trying not to overthink, with a soft breathe, she continued her fights, as the enemies slowly grew to a whopping fifty.

Slightly wounded and roughened out, she then limos her way for a quick exit when she overheard the sound of a walkie-talkie announcing backup reinforcements.

Quickly escaping through the same procedure of getting in, she got onto her motorcycle and drove towards the current building she is resting in.

The abandoned academy that has collapsed quite some time ago. Now just a desolate waste of ruin with junkies and homeless people occupying its few available rooms that still upheld.

With the only peeping out of a windowpane, she felt she was the only one in this wasted land of rich opportunity.

--- Tape Ends(Side 1) ---

...

--- Tape Starts(Side 2) ---

Meanwhile, in a bar outside of Koln in a nearby village, Rampage was contacting up an official from the nearby Continuum branch, he donned himself in casual wear as he drank a glass of mild gin and lime as he sweetly spoke with the young night-shifting bartender.

As kindly as she was, he was considered the only non-drunk not negatively speaking customer of the night. Instead of talking about himself much, he asked a lot of questions about the girl.

With truthful and honest, waving off bit by bit, the two had a small connection that sparked.

After some time, he got to know her name.

"My name is Yulia, but most foreigners call me Jill. Nice to meet you, mister." She replied.

It's been a while since she spoke to a man and the last one she saw was her father who ran this bar all day, all night before his disappearance in the midst of 'The Happening' as she was attending University.

She was glad to see one, especially of similar ages. However, as she tried her best to be friendly with him, she cannot get too intimate as she is still under her shift.

Shifting in a new drink for him with her creation as a gift, she slips a note under the glass as it contained her phone number, how pleasing.

With a wink, Rampage takes a short week before putting it into his pocket with one hand as he sipped onto his glass of odd taste into his mouth.

"An interesting flavour, its sweet, spicy and also... bitter." With the last strike, he felt a sudden urge of dryness.

Even with the odd ending, it gave him a sense of satisfaction with a new born taste. Trying not to be too positive, he gave simple yet convincing compliments towards her creation as he paid for his drink and slips his gift as a form of tips.

After some time, the branching officer arrives and gives a wave to him before taking a seat beside him and ordering a drink for her own. Holding a small briefcase filled with documents, the two conversed before the officer signalled the receptionist if they could borrow their meeting room.

With a nod, the two were guided into the room as they then shared intelligence between the two familiar factions after a rest.

Slipping a document from his hidden vest, he hands it to her. "So, this is today's report. Care for a negotiation?" Rampage asks the officer who was reading the document before opening up her briefcase.

As she nods, she removes her folder of written papers and hands it to him with a wrapped wad of cash.

"Take it... as a beginning pay. Since you managed to save up the relic that we were seeking, you will get your pay as intended." The officer replies.

With a small grin, Rampage pulls in the was of cash and hides it inside his clothing before taking a look into the papers he received. "Accursed weapons...check, holy relics check...Bio-mothers own?"

"You're kidding right, you want me to single-handedly recover the blade from the bio-mother without any caution?" With that, he gives a foul look of displacement as he stares right into the eyes of the officer.

"It's just business, sir. If you care to accept it, do it. If not, we can make other arrangements. It's your loss if you lose potential in the high reward it yields." The officer replies in a melancholic fashion.

Taking a deep thought, with the disposal of the bio-mothers source of power, it would be a godsent to everyone as it is one less of a problem in the dying world.

However, as his life was on the line for it. He didn't want to spend it wastefully for just some extra cash. He already had enough for the rest of his ageing days.

In a second thought, he made another opinion. "How about I recover the blade but through official mission means. It may take time but the contract will still be active as long as I keep hold of it, yes?"

The officer nods with a sigh. "I knew you would say that. Yes, the contract will be still holding as long as you keep it with you. As long as you have the reminder to hand it to us, all will be fine and go as plan."

"Alright, I will do the job then." With that Rampage reaches his hand to the officer and gives it a shake. "What's your name by the way?"

"Me, my name? It's Lea, Lieutenant Lea. Remember it, because I am the one in charge of this assignment of yours. You can contact me per usual in case of other information or negotiations."

As she finished her mug of beer, she pushes herself up from the wooden chair she sat on and heads to the exit of the meeting room, ready to order another drink for herself and take a rest.

As the night was still young, the number of customers grew less over time. Realising the time, they then packed up and returned to their informal self and left at their pacing.

With a form of gratitude and honest thanks, Rampage now William gave a compliment and a kind gesture towards the waitress as she slowly closed shop.

With the time they have left, he booked into a motel next to it which is also run single-handedly by the girl. A two-man role, an interesting dedication, he thought.

Grabbing a key to his room, he was then cheekily invited for a drink the now receptionist's private quarter.

Wondering if it was a trap or some sort of seduction, William accepted the invitation but with a sense of caution.

With that, the experience that happened that night for the two military individuals went differently through the quiet and dull wasteland of the night.

Whatever it may be in their head, and whatever they might think tomorrow, would be just a side taste of satisfaction before their true goals.

Their passion for killing, whether foe...or ally.

---Tape Ends (Side 2) ---