For a few tense seconds all that followed was silence. That was until Patty-Cakes said "What the hell is 008?"
Before Fyre could tell Patty-Cakes off for asking questions that none of them have the clearance to ask Jared spoke rather quickly and said "One minute, I'm pending permission to give you some details on it."
Due to this Fyre said "Formation 13-7." Which is a formation Squad 19 uses when they have to wait in a specific location that is most likely filled with hidden hostiles. It was created due to a mistake one of her old squad mates had made when they had believed they were perfectly fine due to not perceiving any threats.
You might be wondering why a Mobile Task Force meant to contain, destroy, and scout out biohazards did not have tech built into their suits to allow them to detect such things. Well, they do. Sadly for Squad 19 they never get the necessary funds or resources for that kind of tech. Why? Simply due to their higher-ups believing they aren't worth it.
Most of the time Squad 19 is assigned basic clean up. Very rarely are they sent into unknown situations like this. Fyre was not happy they were sent here, but she was a loyal soldier and knew to follow orders even if she doesn't believe they are the right ones. She may not be that intelligent, but her instincts are borderline unnatural.
After a minute that felt like hours Jared said "Alright, I got permission. 008 is a disease that more or less turns the victim into a zombie."
Jared knew not to science it up right now. He knew that the squad he has been assigned to needs to know it in a way they will understand. SCP-008 is pretty dangerous. Any bodily liquids from a victim of SCP-008 can cause the infection. But, that isn't the reason he is secretly freaking out.
"The way the virus looks is well documented within our files. The thing is, this appears to be a mutation of 008. I am requesting help from those who are experts on this matter. If this is a mutation of 008, then this can be very bad. I'm updating our supervisors on the matter now."
The squad was relatively silent. Everyone there knew what zombies were. They have been a trope of fiction for quite a while. Originally seen as the product of evil magics and sorceries. Now, however, most fiction puts the whole zombie thing as a product of science or disease. Some more realistic than others.
Due to how prevalent this facet of our modern fiction is the squad knew just how bad this could get. Butter-boy had seen and heard of many things in his 2 years of being a part of Squad 19. Mind you most of the time Squad 19 never gets into the action. So most of what he has seen has been part of the cleanup. He has helped transport spiders and various insects that appear inside of some hunting lodge. He also once saw a dog materialize out of nowhere to protect a person.
But zombies? He knew that the Foundation has documented a lot of weird stuff. The thing is, aren't zombies kinda cliche? Out of all the possible things an anomaly could be, a zombie virus is just bland.
However, Butter-boy knew that even if it is an overused concept, a zombie virus is still incredibly dangerous. As such he was on high alert. The whole squad was. Each and every one of them knew just how f*cked their situation could get.
Another minute goes by that feels like even more hours. And eventually Jared speaks once again and says "Our supervisors want you to enter the police station. As of right now no back-up is on their way. Once they understand if this thing is in fact a mutation of 008 will they send any more squads. Do you understand Squad 19 Captain?"
Fyre quickly said "Affirmative. Squad 19, Formation 11-7. High chance of hostiles. Aim for their heads. Let's go."
Butter-boy and the other squad members began to truly understand how serious this was as they got into formation and began moving. Jared never uses titles and official mission speech. Though, compared to others of his position he would still be considered too informal.
They made their way ever closer towards the front doors of the police station. They could see that the doors were in the same condition as the gate. Ripped apart.
Jared could see all this due to various cameras inserted into the squad's gear. Squad 19 may not have the best gear, but it is at least decent enough to get most of their missions done relatively accomplished.
And due to what he can see, Jared was quite concerned. Jared knew that those infected with 008 aren't known to have a ridiculous increase in strength. He wondered if the mutation has resulted in this. Zombies are already difficult to kill. If you were to add super-strength onto this? Well, it just goes from bad to worse.
The squad eventually gets close enough to see inside the police station. And, it is not a pretty sight. If these weren't trained soldiers they might have needed to vomit. Or perhaps would have just passed out. Even then, the sight had managed to make their nervousness increase tenfold.
For what they could see beyond the ripped hinges of the doors that once guaranteed safety and law, was anything but. Intestines were dangling from the ceiling like horrid decorations. The walls were covered in crudely made child-like drawings. The medium? Blood. These drawings were of a variety of objects a child would find interesting.
Such a thing requires intelligence. And intelligence is not something those with SCP-008 are known to show. Due to this Jared was incredibly unnerved
And as this scene was playing out in front of him. He received the result he was hoping to never be. It was truly a mutation of SCP-008. They would need to study it in depth to figure out exactly what the mutation did.
Sadly for Jared, that wasn't the most unnerving part of the information he received. For those who quickly studied the new variant believed it was most likely manmade. By who? They weren't sure. They could be wrong since they were still trying to figure out the mutation. This could be seen as good news. Since it means that most likely SCP-008 cannot naturally mutate and evolve. It could also be seen as a very very bad thing. Since it meant some group out there did something very dangerous and stupid. And unless this group understood the consequences of their actions, they may very well continue to do things like making SCP-008 seemingly more dangerous.
Jared will hold onto this information for right now. It would only distract the squad from their current task. And any distractions will most likely cause the squad to lose someone. Which Jared does not want. Not only would it cause the squad to be weakened and not perform as well, but Jared has begun to get attached to the people of Squad 19.
The squad quickly and quietly enters the police station. The front doors lead to a "decorated" hallway, and the hallway has four doors that lead to different rooms. Pass the hallway is the lobby of the station. The generators seemed to still be working due to the lights being on.
Fyre tells the group through hand signs that they are to stick together and go through every room. And that is exactly what they did. They started with one of the two closest doors, the left one. They carefully open it and prepare for possible hostiles.
Luckily, there are none in this room. The room being some sort breakroom and basic kitchen. It is surprisingly free of any blood or body parts. The room is rectangular and has a cheap faded couch that most likely used to be a deep red like the color burgundy, a rather cheap plastic table that you can find at the yard area of Malmart to eat on, a fridge, and a bookshelf that contains top hits like "How to Train your Mother-in-Law" and "Yet Another System Novel With An Idiot Protagonist."
Happee went up to the book shelf and pulled out a book called "My Dao-Partner is Secretly the Jade Heaven Lord-Emperor's Ex-Wife's Pet Dragon's Daughter" and said "I liked this book. They ruined later with the ending. Still good though."
Butter-boy was never much of a cultured individual so he thought that the book's title was rather long and problematic. And so he said "That book sounds awful. Who in their right mind would call a book that?"
The supervisors watching this while communicating with Jared could be seen with their mouths open at the sheer stupidity of it all. Isn't Squad 19 currently on a super important mission? And if so, shouldn't they be a lot more professional?
Jared was used to this and had a faint smile on his face as he watched Happee "coerce" Patty-Cakes into trying to help her get Butter-boy more cultured. Brooks was beginning to mumble something about kids these day. And what was Fyre doing? She was preparing her bo staff.
Thwack!
Clack!
Dwining!
Wump!
And thus there were slight cries of pain coming from the four squad mates as they were properly punished. This caused yet another "What in the hell?" reaction from the various supervisors and high-ranking staff members as they began to fully understand why Squad 19 of Beta-7 was considered one of the worse squads to ever be put in.
Jared was feeling as if he may be brought into a meeting to talk about his Captain and the rest of the squad.