[center][color=D87093][i]What the fuck is this thing [b]doing[/b]?[/i][/color] While the task assigned to her wasn't ideal, it gave Maya Wyrick and her usual crew an excuse to cut loose. On the way they'd talked. Casual shit, like nothing was up. [color=D87093][i]I told them about the quarantine. Might've been a bad idea.[/i][/color] Part of her ached when she thought of losing them. Waldvogel, Lane, Mataraci, Paul and Val. Val was still young. Just in her eighteenth year, but one hell of a soldier. The S.C.A.R.E present had practically raised her. [color=D87093][i]She's a rare case, though, and my fucking responsibility.[/i][/color] The higher ups had made that clear. Since that order came through, she had started viewing the boyish anomaly as a little sister. 

[color=D87093][i]Got time for sentiment later. Right now there's  a fucking freak to bag.[/i][/color] 

Maya shook her head, dispelling the whims of her heart, rising from her crouch. She had taken up a position on a parking garage's rooftop; a rifle strong enough to rip a hole in a tank slung over her shoulder. She unholstered it, giving the area a moment of consideration. This part of New Steel City was [i]beyond[/i] antiquated. A ghetto ignored by everyone but anyone who lived there. Patrols had passed through, recently, but it was a small number of reports that had brought them here.

[color=D87093][i]A man,[/i][/color] she recalled easily, [color=D87093][i]of Latin descent, about five-nine, presumably in his late twenties. He jumped from the rooftop. Then got back up to go try again.[/i][/color]

Maya scanned the skyline. Her helmet handled most of the adjustments. Focus, distance monitoring, light dampening functionality to consume that sickly sunset's glare; an active refractive cloak ensuring that she went unnoticed. She sighed, lowering herself and propping the rifle up. The call with Luca had been quick, but an unnecessary distraction. [color=D87093][i]There've been a lot of those, today.[/i][/color]

Her attention was now locked, again, on the figure climbing a run-down building's brick siding. [color=D87093][i]Crazy bastard, is he going to do it [b]again[/b]?[/i][/color] She spoke into a private channel. [color=D87093]"Report in Alpha Squad. Sun's about to go down. We ain't got all day."[/color] Maya stared through the scope, training her sight on the man's chest. She knew, however, that even if the shot were to connect that the creature would regenerate in a matter of minutes. A grunt escaped her.

Thankfully, the Alpha Squad leader chimed in quickly.

[color=FFD700]"Commander, target has been identified as [i]Eddie Garcia[/i],"[/color] the voice was Waldvogel's, deep and tinged with a German accent, [color=FFD700]"Requesting permission to engage and capture."[/color] Wald, as Maya sometimes like to call him, was a giant of a man; the giant she had placed in charge of some of her other subordinates. [color=D87093][i]Right now, there's two squads locked in on that fucking thing. He's about to give us the perfect chance.[/i][/color] Waldvogel, Mataraci, Paul and Lane were closer, ascending to their foe, and equipped with weapons specifically designed for [i]those[/i] types of Infected. Maya and Val were monitoring the area, armed to deal with the abominations at a distance.

 [color=D87093]"Permission granted, let's get this shitshow on the road."[/color] Maya remained trained on the target. [color=D87093]"Be careful, we don't know what he can do. Current info suggests that he can at least regenerate. That's nothing new. Stay sharp, eyes up."[/color] A chuckle met those last words, from another private channel. [color=D87093]"Val, stay in position. I want you to handle the capture."[/color]

 [color=FFB6C1]"Ok! I've got this."[/color] Maya nodded in response, knowing that [i]Valkyrie[/i] could easily see her from where she was. For a moment she was tempted to take her eyes off of [i]Eddie[/i], but decided it wasn't worth the risk. [color=FFB6C1]"Should I start getting the cage ready?"[/color] The 'cage' was more like a coffin, something Blackthorne had come up with to seal in wounded Infected for transport. 

 [color=D87093]"Yeah, make sure everything's green. No fuck ups, Val. Wald, open a channel. I want to know what's going down when you engage."[/color]

 [color=FFD700]"Yes ma'am, engagement imminent."[/color]

 The door at Eddie's back came open quietly. Lane came through, first, practically slithering to cover. Mataraci was next, his rifle raised, taking slow steps forward. Paul, another giant, walked straight toward Eddie's back; the gun he held pulsing green along the sides. Waldvogel was last, completing the lopsided diamond. The Infected seemed to notice, after a second. 

[color=D87093]"Hit 'em hard, boys."[/color]

Maya took the shot, as the words were spoken. The angle of her shot tore through his shoulder, rending him with its force. Viscera splayed open; muscle, bone and bits of lung splattering against the small crater her shot had produced.[/center]