Buried In Darkness

This is the fortieth episode of Die Another Day.

Story
Miranda and Jack took a moment to let it sink in. Their friends had been kidnapped by Systrike, an organization that was long after them.

“I thought we outran them,” Jack states.

“I thought so too. But, we knew that they would eventually come,” Miranda replies.

“Who are Systrike?” Michael asks.

“Systrike is a paramilitary organization,” Jack answers, “We used to be a part of them. But then, we left. Systrike doesn’t like it when people leave them, so they track deserters down to be reintegrated into the community.”

“What do they do?” Nolan asks.

“Systrike settle disputes between communities in the North Carolina area. But recently, they are abusing their power,” Miranda answers.

“How are they abusing their power?” Rex asks.

“Essentially,” Jack answers, “When they see conflicts amongst the communities, they remove their leader from power and replace them with one of their guys.”

“We should get going,” Michael states, “Before they come back.”

“Good idea,” Cassie replies. The group departs from the manor as they set off to rescue their friends from Systrike.

“Maybe we should inform Kyron and our friends of what’s going on?” Rex asks.

“Yeah. That’s a good idea,” Nolan answers. The group heads back to HQ, where they decide to inform Kyron about the current situation.

“Kyron,” Nolan states.

“What is it, Nolan?” Kyron asks.

“Daniel Moore has been kidnapped by an organization called ‘Systrike’”, Nolan answers.

“Systrike?” Kyron asks.

“Yes, Systrike,” Nolan answers.

“This changes everything,” Kyron replies.

“We’re headed out,” Cassie states.

“All right. Contact me if anything goes wrong,” Kyron replies. As they walk out, Izzy runs towards them.

“What now, Izzy?” Michael asks.

“Can I join you?” Izzy asks.

“Does Kyron know about this?” Rex asks.

“Yes. He let me join you,” Izzy answers.

“Fine, Izzy. We could use someone intelligent like you,” Nolan replies.

“Yay!” Izzy shouts. The group then walks towards an abandoned factory.

“I don’t think going into an abandoned factory is a good idea,” Rex states.

“We’ve been in worse situations before,” Michael answers.

“Fine,” Rex states. The group then enters the factory. They search the place for any signs of Systrike.

“This is the place where I found mom,” Melanie states, “And, where Roy died.” Melanie then walks over to Roy’s corpse, which has heavily decayed. Rex walks over to Melanie.

“What’s wrong, Melanie?” Rex asks. Melanie suffers from an attack of PTSD at the sight of Roy’s corpse. She then relives getting her eye shot out.

"There's no one here," said Kyron. Melanie screams.

"What's wrong, Melanie?" Kyron asks.

"It's my mommy," Melanie replies, "She could be alive or dead or a walker or worse! I can't take it anymore!"

"Calm down, girl," Kyron replies.

"No," Melanie replies, "Phantom must pay!"

"Look at what we've got here, four kids," said Roy.

"I'm no kid," Kyron replies.

"We took care of your friends easily," said Olivia.

"What happened to mommy?" Melanie asks, "Answer me!"

"We took her away," Roy answers.

"You will pay for this!" Melanie shouts. She grabs a gun and tries to shoot Roy. Her bullet missed, so Roy fires his gun at her, hitting her in the eye. She collapses to the floor.

"Oh my god! Melanie!" Kyron shouts, "Why would you do that to a child!"

"We need to go," Roy says. Roy and Olivia then run away. Kyron then cries at Melanie's unconscious body.

“Melanie! MELANIE!” Rex shouts. Melanie comes back to reality.

“I said, is something wrong?” Rex asks again, this time with a rather agitated tone.

“This man,“ Melanie answers, “He shot my eye out and came close to killing my mother. My mother killed him.” Rex was shocked to hear what Melanie said.

“I think I found something!” Izzy shouts. The rest of the group runs to Izzy and Cassie, who found an array of boxes, carrying the insignia of Systrike.

“Systrike’s been here,” Jack states, “If they use this place as storage, then they’re not far.”

“Good observation Jack,” Miranda replies. The group then leaves the factory, where they are confronted by a mysterious man.

“Who are you?” the man asks.

“Are you working with Systrike?” Jack asks.

“Absolutely not!” the man shouts. His tone of voice implied that this is true.

“Who are you?” Nolan asks.

“I am Nick,” Nick answers, “I am hiding from Systrike.”

“Why are you hiding?” Cassie asks.

“I am transgender,” Nick answers, “And Systrike is a heavily bigoted group. They don’t allow anyone who isn’t a white, cisgender, straight, male into their leadership council.”

“That’s upsetting,” Rex replies.

“I know,” Nick replies. They set out to find where Systrike is keeping their prisoners so that they can free Daniel, Connor, Carlos, and Erik.

“Where are they keeping the prisoners?” Michael asks.

“I don’t know,” Nick answers, “The old Baxter plant is a known Systrike base. We should look there for answers.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Cassie replies. The group started walking to the Baxter plant. It was a massive factory used for manufacturing various household appliances. It has since been abandoned and taken up by Systrike as a base.

“You can tell it’s the Baxter plant by the massive sign that reads “Baxter Manufacturing” in front of it,” Nick states.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” Rex replies. They eventually reach the Baxter plant.

“We’re here,” Cassie states.

“Time to get some answers about your missing friends,” Nick replies. The group then enters the Baxter plant. No one was there.

“Where is everyone?” Melanie asks, “Shouldn’t this place be swarming with armed guards?” Nolan then picks up a pamphlet.

“According to this, all the members assigned to this outpost are in a massive meeting. This place’s entire leadership is there, except one labeled the ‘designated survivor’, who is in a bunker underneath the building. If someone were to attack the meeting and kill the leaders, there is one left who can rebuild everything. We need to pay this designated survivor a visit,” Nolan answers. The group then heads down into the basement level of the building, trying to find the bunker where the designated survivor is hiding. The basement was essentially a storage area. It also contained a bunker in case of emergencies. The bunker was very easy to spot.

“There it is,” Jack states, “Let’s go.” The group runs over to the bunker where they find Craig Manson, the designated survivor.

“Who are you?” Craig asks. Sweat drenched Craig’s body. He looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

“Where are Connor, Daniel, Carlos, and Erik?” Jack asks.

“They’re at Central Base. Please don’t kill me. I have a wife and 3 kids!” Craig answers.

“I heard that answer all the time during my days as a police detective. It was usually a lie,” Jack replies.

“Don’t kill him!” Miranda shouts. Jack then snaps Craig’s neck, killing him. Everyone just looked in horror at what had just happened. They decide to leave by heading up the stairs, but Izzy noticed that the doors to the conference hall were on the floor.

“Something happened in the conference hall!” Izzy shouts. The group runs into the conference hall. The room was littered with bodies.

“Everyone here is dead,” Miranda replies.

“Who could’ve done this?” Rex asks.

“It’s not Kyron,” Melanie answers, “He’s not capable of mass murder like this. It’s just not who he is.”

“I highly doubt that he would send his own people to do this either,” Rex replies.

“If it wasn’t Kyron and the rest of our group, then who did this?” Cassie asks.

“That’s something I really want to know,” Nick answers.

“I hope we find our friends and the answer to this mystery,” Michael states.

“I hope so too,” Miranda replies.

Cast

 * Kyron
 * Tai
 * Izzy Welch
 * Tori Miller
 * Johnathan White
 * Casey
 * Melanie
 * Cassie Weathers
 * Molly
 * Kat
 * Michael
 * Nolan
 * Rex
 * Phoebe
 * Kari
 * Ben
 * Chrissa
 * Miranda Moore
 * Jack O'Connor
 * Nick
 * Craig Manson

Deaths

 * Craig Manson

Trivia

 * First appearance of Nick.
 * First (and last) appearance of Craig Manson.