Mask Of Deception

This is the forty-eighth episode of Die Another Day.

Story
Izzy, Casey, Nolan, Carlos, and Kari walked through the forest clearing. A thick fog filled the area.

“Can’t see anything in this freaking fog,” Carlos says, clearly disgruntled by the fog.

“Systrike could be anywhere in this fog. We need to be on the lookout,” Nolan states.

“On the lookout? WE CAN’T SEE TWO FEET IN FRONT OF US! HOW CAN WE DETECT THEM!” Carlos shouts. Eventually, they come across a cabin. It was a good size. The place felt familiar to Casey and Izzy.

“This is the place where we met Daniel and Kat and Evan and all those guys,” Casey says. He stares at the cabin, whose familiarity brought a warmth of happiness in him.

“We’re going to stay inside. Best to be inside the cabin than outside in the fog,” Carlos states. The five of them enter the cabin before Systrike could detect them. Casey walks upstairs.

“How far are we from Excelsior’s HQ?” Nolan asks.

“We’re about 60 miles away,” Carlos answers, “But, we’ll wait until the fog clears so that we can actually see where we’re going.” Izzy gets curious about where Casey was.

“Where’s Casey?” Izzy asks.

“Went upstairs. Don’t know why,” Carlos answers. Izzy then walks upstairs to find Casey. He hears the sounds of a young boy playing happily. He knew it was Casey. Izzy enters the room and he spots Casey playing with a bunch of toys that he left behind when the group left this cabin a year prior.

“Are you playing with toys?” Izzy asks.

“Yes. Yes I am,” Casey answers.

“Why?” Izzy asks.

“I just want to be happy and be a kid. It’ll save me from being a depressed wreck later,” Casey answers.

“That’s always good. Mind if I join?” Izzy asks.

“No. I don’t mind at all,” Casey answers. Casey and Izzy then happily play with several toys. Nolan and Carlos then spot several Systrike members in the distance. They looked alarmed.

“We have to defend this place,” Carlos says with an alarmed tone.

“I agree. We can’t let them take the kids,” Nolan replies. They then grab guns. Casey and Izzy run downstairs after spotting the Systrike members.

“What do we do now?” Casey asks, looking concerned.

“We fight,” Nolan answers. The Systrike members enter the building.

“Surrender yourselves now. We don’t want a fight,” Lex states.

“We will never surrender ourselves to you,” Carlos replies.

“So be it,” Lex replies. Ezekiel then grabs Izzy and he starts to drag him away.

“HELP!” Izzy screams. Izzy tries to free himself from Ezekiel’s grip.

“Stop resisting. You know what’s going to happen,” Ezekiel states. Ezekiel is then shot in the head by Nolan, and Izzy is free.

“Keep your hands off the kids,” Carlos states. Izzy is then grabbed again, this time by Scott. They then leave the cabin and retreat into the fog.

“We need to save Izzy!” Nolan shouts. Nolan, Kari, Casey, and Carlos arm themselves and they retreat into the foggy woods to track the Systrike members.

“How can we find them? I can’t see a thing!” Casey asks.

“They probably have flashlights and fully automatic weapons,” Nolan answers. As they walk, they come across the corpses of Ben and Ryan. Kari’s eyes then fill with tears.

“Daddy!” Kari shouts. Kari then runs to her father’s corpse.

“Looks like they took Chrissa. Damn,” Carlos says.

“We need to find Systrike and save Izzy,” Nolan states. They hear boyish screams in the distance. They knew that it was Izzy.

“IZZY! WE’RE COMING FOR YOU!” Carlos shouts. Carlos, Nolan, Casey, and Kari then run to save Izzy. They see Systrike loading Izzy into an armored vehicle.

“You’re too late. We have the boy now. Join us now, and there won’t be a fight,” Karl states.

“FUCK YOU!” Carlos shouts. Carlos then shoots Karl in the chest, killing him.

“Looks like you chose to die,” Lex states, “I’m upset.”

“Let’s take them,” Scott states, “Come with us. Be a part of our new world.”

“We will never join your new world,” Nolan replies. Nolan then shoots Scott in the head, killing him. Karl then reanimates.

“Why don’t you want to join us?” Quentin asks.

“You kidnap kids and take over innocent villages,” Nolan answers.

“We do this for survival. We want as many people as possible to join our utopia,” Quentin states.

“A utopia for the alt-right,” Nolan replies. Furious, Nolan then pushes a reanimated Karl onto Quentin. Karl then bites out Quentin’s throat before Lex puts down Karl and Quentin.

“What a waste,” Lex states. Suddenly, a helicopter arrives in the area.

“It’s Excelsior! Let’s get out of here before this gets real hairy,” Lex shouts. The remaining Systrike members then leave with Izzy.

“You’re safe now,” a commander states.

“Who are you?” Carlos asks.

“I am Mark. I am one of Excelsior’s three field commanders. You are being rescued,” Mark answers.

“Let’s get out of this place,” Nolan states. Mark and the rest of Excelsior then take Casey, Kari, Carlos, and Nolan with them as they fly back to their HQ.

“Will the others be safe?” Kari asks.

“I really hope so. Let’s just hope they can break out of Systrike’s HQ,” Carlos answers.

Cast

 * Izzy Welch
 * Casey
 * Nolan
 * Kari Lewis
 * Carlos
 * Mark
 * Lex
 * Carson
 * Mel
 * Ezekiel
 * Karl
 * Scott
 * Quentin
 * Ben Lewis (Corpse)
 * Ryan (Corpse)

Deaths

 * Ezekiel
 * Karl (Alive and Zombified)
 * Scott
 * Quentin

Trivia

 * First appearance of Mark.
 * First (and last) appearance of Scott.
 * First (and last) appearance of Quentin.
 * Last appearance of Ezekiel.
 * Last appearance of Karl.
 * Last appearance of Ben Lewis. (Corpse)
 * Last appearance of Ryan. (Corpse)