"Johnny, are you going to insist on tapping your foot like that for the entire ride there?"

It was twenty minutes into the most recent journey for Bravo Company - a group of four members of the elite Task Force 8612 (the Directorate's Special Forces division) who, alongside the Alpha, Charlie, Delta, and Echo companies, had been appropriated by the Division of Special Activities. The DSA often found itself with a wide mandate, investigating and dealing with situations outside normal bounds of warfare, diplomacy, and general governance. Agents of the DSA could be working as spies in nearby nations, undertaking high-value retrieval operations outside Directorate borders, clearing the way for Directorate Enforcers to march in and take control of the area, or - as Bravo Company currently found itself doing tonight - investigating circumstances that were just, well, weird.

"Oh give me a break Ruiz, we're almost there. I've had a song stuck in my head all day, and this is the only way I can get it out."

"Yeah, well it's becoming a real pain in my ass, and if you don't stop soon the only thing stuck in your head will be the shards of your skull when I'm finished pummeling your face in."

Bravo Company was known for being a bit of an outfit of misfits - agents that were too good at their jobs to fire or disappear completely, but too insufferable to stick them in any other unit. PFC María Alejandra Ruiz was the only female of the group, and only one of five in DSA history to make the rank of agent. This has left her necessarily assertive and naturally defensive, qualities that lead to multiple fights in the academy (most of which she won). The current bane of her existence is SPC Johnathan Martin, or Johnny, the prodigal sniper whiz kid whose intelligence made it a near certainty that he would make it through the academy, and the ego that accompanied him made it inevitable that he would piss off everyone along the way. His laid-back attitude towards even the most serious of DSA operations especially got on Ruiz's nerves, who fought far too hard to let a little shit like him make a mockery of her service.

"How about you both shut your mouths before I toss you off this truck!"

Sgt. Keon Bradford, or Sarge as he was called, was the fearless leader of Bravo Company, a former officer with the Directorate Enforcers who's prowess in battle got him a spot at the academy, and who then proceeded to shoot and shout his way through training. While an undeniably courageous and impressive leader, it usually worked best when the man who's first solution to a locked door is to kick it down was left back at the base to direct the other, more subtle agents. At least it was - until they needed someone to control this band of troublemakers.

"I wouldn't do that boss, we are pretty far into the outskirts of Atlanta, and who knows what freakish mutes are hiding out in the darkness? Honestly, I'm ready to shoot any dark figure approaching this truck and not ask questions until it stops moving, and I would HATE to accidentally shoot another agent."

SPC Irvin Ashford, or Ash for short, should never have made it through the academy. His default state is anxiety and paranoia, constantly setting "defensive traps" to protect himself and his company, an unfortunately itchy trigger finger, and an irrational fear of "mutes" - horrifically mutated wildlife he swears he saw murder his entire family (the official report says that it was a group of roving bandits), and has been terrified of ever since. He was put in Bravo Company when his "defensive perimeter" managed to kneecap his previous commanding officer. Ash belongs more clearly in an institution than a DSA unit, but his unparalleled knowledge of all things explosive continues to be an asset to the Department, and he probably will be until he kills someone "in self defense".

"Oh c'mon Ash," Johnny laughed, "you wouldn't shoot me!"

"Not on purpose, of course," Ash replied, "but I don't want to know what kinds of mutes are hiding out in the darkness - mothmen, massive crocodiles, radiation zombies, or even something I haven't thought of! Regardless, I would shoot first and check its identity later, because I'd rather it - or you - be dead than me."

"OK morons, shut up now," Ruiz interrupted, half whispering and half shouting, "we're here."

Bravo Company arrived at their destination - a pre-collapse building at the outskirts of Atlanta. Directorate records indicated that it used to be some sort of archive, and had sent some scientists to retrieve any records that time, rot, water, and looting hadn't destroyed. But three teams had gone in, and none had come back out. A survey of the local population failed to reveal any missing gear that had belonged to the team - ruling out any rebellion from the locals - but in the process they heard that there were a number of local legends about the building. They varied in substance, but all commonly referred to a "monster" that lived within it. The Directorate assumed that it was superstition spread by a bandit group that made its hideout there, and Bravo Company had been dispached to recon the building, take out any of the bandits they found, and retrieve any of the scientists if they were still alive. Unfortunately, opinions were... divided on the best course of action.

"Why would we go in there to fight a monster?!" Ash exclaimed. "We should set up charges around the outside, bring the whole building down, and take care of this beast before it can kill anyone else!"

"Ash..." Ruiz sighed, "there is NO monster! It is a story spread by some bandits that have made their camp in there, and we are going to go take them out, ok? That's the mission."

"Look, Ruiz, I hate to agree with Ash on anything, but..." Johnny began.

"Then don't," Ruiz interrupted.

"BUT he makes a good point. Three dozen men walked into that building, none came out. Bandits, monsters, whatever is in there, why are we putting ourselves in danger to take it out, when we could just have gravity and a bunch of explosives do it for us?"

"Because that's the mission! Besides, what if some of our men are still alive in there? Or if there is valuable information still able to be retrieved from the archives?"

"Acceptable losses to take out a mute monster," Ash interjected.

Johnny shook his head. "Look, Sarge, what do you think? You really wanna go into what has been established is a deathtrap when we could just take care of it out here and be home before midnight?"

Sarge sighed, and looked at the three agents in front of him. "How did I wind up in charge of a group of children... Ash, Johnny, I see what you're getting at. But the mission is the mission. Let's move in quietly, scope out the place. If it IS just a few bandits, we can take them out, easy peasy. But if it IS a ridiculously large number of bandits,"

"Or a monster!"

"Or a monster, then we can get back out nice and quiet, break out the explosives, and take care of it that way. We can even call in a few cropdusters to finish the job. Agreed?"

There was silence for a moment, before three apprehensive "agreed"s rang out from the group.

"Great. Ruiz, you take point."

Ruiz nodded and headed to the entranceway. The glass front of the building had long since shattered, and so the only sound that could be heard as the group headed inside was the light "crunch" of the pre-collapse design beign crushed under their boots. They flicked on their flashlights, and found a room that was fairly empty. The roof was falling apart in places, and furniture rotted across the open space, but there was very little else to be seen - no bodies of the missing scientists, no blood, and absolutely no evidence of any bandits calling the place home.

"Alright, let's move up. Maybe they're hiding out in the basement."

The group slowly made their way down the steps, careful not to slip on the stream of water flowing down the stairs under their feet. One of the lesser-realized issues when the sea levels rose was the associated rise in the water table belowground, causing many older basements to begin leaking and flooding. These archives were no different, and water seemed to be flowing out of every surface, the constant dripping adding an eerie aura to the overgrown darkness.

"Guys..." Johnny whispered, "I have a real bad feeling about this..."

The others wouldn't admit it, but everyone was on edge. A distinct metallic smell had begun to take over the air, and the water around them began to get darker, and almost redder in color. The silence was suddenly broken by a swarm of bats flying overhead, and everyone had to take cover as Ash instinctively fired half a clip of his Thompson M1A1 into the cloud of harmless animals flying above him. By the time they got him to stop, the bats had all fled, and any hope of a silent infiltration seemed for naught.

"Fuck!" Sarge swore, "Alright, everyone get close. If there is anyone in here, they know we're coming now."

Packed into formation, Bravo Company quickly made its way deeper and deeper into the labyrinthine basement. By the time they got to the bottom floor, the water pooling at their feet was over a foot deep. But despite the water and decay, a good number of records still looked recoverable. So where where the missing scientists?

That question was answered all too quickly and gruesomely. As they rounded the next corner, the light of their flashlights immediately lit up the walls, and the seemingly endless amounts of blood caked to them like a Jackson Polluck painting. The stench of rot and decay overwhelmed the senses, and they could almost taste the iron in the air. Something brushed up against Ruiz's leg, and she almost screamed as she pointed her flashlight in the water. Then she almost vomited - it was an arm that seemed to have been torn off at the shoulder, a Directorate glove still on the hand.

"Jesus FUCK," she burst out, "what the hell could have done this."

Once again their questions were answered all too quickly. Rounding the corner into the large open area under the main entranceway, they were greeted by the most monstrous sight they had yet to see. A massive, mutated, two-headed alligator met their flashlights with a hungering gaze, and a guttural screech that did not seem like it could come from a living animal. All around it were the feasted-upon body parts of the missing scientists. Ruiz, Johnny, and Sarge all were frozen in horror... for all of half a second, before Ash screamed "I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!" and began indiscriminately firing bullets in the direction of the creature as he booked a hasty retreat. It took little more than a "FUCKING RUN!!" from Sarge to have Ruiz and Johnny follow suit.

Unfortunately, the bullets seemed to be having a minimal effect on the beast, who took the projectiles flying towards him as an extreme annoyance, and began charging towards its running prey. Sarge dropped a couple of grenades as they ran, and while these were only marginally more effective than the bullets at injuring the creature, they did a hell of a lot more to piss it off. Hustling up the stairs, Johnny nearly slipped on the wet staircase, but was caught at the last second by Ruiz, who yanked him up onto the ledge instead of letting him drop into the waiting mouths of the monster below.

They fell to the ground panting as they reached the top floor, and looked over the side expecting to see an angry two-headed alligator angrily stuck below. Imagine their surprise when they saw the beast lumbering its way up the stairs, and nearly caught up with them.

"ASH!" Sarge yelled ahead to the agent, who was waiting for them at the entrance already, "PLEASE tell me you have a thermos or two?!"

"Sarge, my entire PACK is full of them!" he replied, sounding all-too dangerously like a giddy schoolboy.

Now, to understand why Sarge's immediate reaction was one of horror, and not of excitement, one needs to understand what a "thermos" is. You see, Ash had a penchant for creating explosives that looked dangerously like common household items. A "thermos" was little more than a normal thermos filled with nitrogelatin and a timed detonator, but it could very handily be set off with small arms fire. So you could imagine what Sarge must have thought about having walked around all night next to a backback with more explosive potential than a Cropduster bomb. But now was not the time for anger.

Sarge rushed over to Ash, gave him a look, and slid the backpack into the middle of the entranceway just as the monster made its way to the top floor. It rushed forward towards the group of prey standing on the other side of the room, but made the mistake of ignoring the small pack it was about to pass over. Just as it did, Johnny sighted the pack with his service rifle, and with expert precision put a bullet directly into an exposed thermos. The explosion was immediate and deafening, knocking the four agents backwards and blowing dust and debris into the air all around them. By the time they stopped coughing and were able to stand back up, there was a massive hole in the middle of the atrium, and no monster in sight. Carefully approaching the edge, Sarge looked down, and saw the beast blown into multiple pieces, and crushed by rubble that had fallen all the way down to the basement. With a sigh of relief, that nightmare was over.

Nearly a day later, after hours of debriefing, over two hundred Directorate scientists were combing through the old archives, looking for any surviving records that could help inspire new projects, and studying the remains of a terribly mutated creature. Preliminary hypotheses were that a combination of radiation and pathogens from the old CDC facility had worked in tandem to mutate a developing alligator beyond previously-believed bounds, but it would be years before they could truly understand how such a monster came to be. But finally, Bravo Company was able to return home for a bit of R&R, which after that mission meant a lot of beer, and a lot of sleep.