“Another day, another bloody training exercise.”
Alpha swung the locker door open and took in the new smell of dirt encrusted clothes and dented helmets. He didn't bother to wash them this time; they would only get dirty again in a few hours. With the effort of a couch bound potato, he dressed himself in the standard gear provided for most security personnel within the Foundation, and to no one's surprise, his gun had mysteriously vanished.
“Ugh, I hate this place.”
Alpha's partner leaned around the corner of a wall, already geared up for the road ahead.
“What's the matter, Densil?”
“Fucking gun's gone missing!”
Alpha's partner gave him a weird look and went over to his own locker. Alpha didn't really like Delta for all it was worth. He was younger than the rest and lacked the experience needed for this kind of job; he couldn't even fire a gun when he got drafted. Alpha liked to call him ‘B1' from a TV show he watched about a pair of talking bananas in evening wear..
“Well, mine's here. Maybe you left yours at the firing range.”
Alpha slipped on his helmet, and pulled the one-way visor up. “Then I'll get Cameron to grab it, we're already late.”
As if fate had determined it, Cameron thrust open the door, wielding two large assault rifles. Alpha groaned. Cameron was the straight man to the team's arguments and shenanigans, if you could call them that. With his trademark navy blue helmet, as opposed to the standard black design, he turned to Alpha and Delta.
“I'm guessing one of these is Densil's?”
“Yes, that one's mine, give me it!”
With an exchange of hands Alpha got his firearm back; a very special firearm as well, one designed to switch between lethal and non lethal ammo. Furthermore, while the rest of the team had rubber and lead ammunition, Alpha had darts: one to amnesticise, and one to euthanize. Morbid, he had to admit, but it was better to think that there was a chance that the drugs wouldn't work rather than know that a bullet would end the target's life almost immediately.
“Once you guys are ready I'll be at the firing range with Bravo, we gotta move quickly. Oh, and remember, code names only now.”
“Yes, Charlie.” Alpha and Delta said in unison.
Delta went back to his locker and sorted out the piles of paper that called it their home. Alpha never really understood why he kept them, unless they were reminders, and if that was the case then Bravo and Delta had something to hide; Alpha called Bravo the 'B2' of the pair. Alpha snickered and began loading his gun with both rounds of darts, making sure that each one went to the correct slot.
“Hey, Alpha? Sorry if this seems stupid, but which training exercise are we doing today?”
God this was going to be a long day.
Summoning all his willpower, Alpha managed to turn to Delta bearing a straight face.
“We are going to kill some kangaroos. If you read the statement from earlier, then you would have known that they've been coming closer to our research site. We have to make sure they back off. They've got human intelligence after all, they should know to take the hint.”
“But couldn't we just let them run around and not kill any of them?”
Alpha was ready to sucker punch the optimistic prick. “If we leave them alone, then the kangaroos will find us, see what we're doing, and then kill us! They are more of them then there are of us. Does that make sense now?”
“I guess, yeah. Let's go!”
With a turn of the heel, Delta waltzed out the door to meet up with the rest of the group. Alpha followed suit.
By the time they got to the range, Bravo and Charlie had set up the rest of their gear, and had just finished emptying their ammo clips at the paper targets.
“Finally. Alright, here's what we need to do.” Charlie cracked his fingers. “Bravo and I are going to head east of the compound, look for signs of kangaroo activity and neutralise them on sight. While this is going on, Delta and Alpha will head west and look only for any small settlements of wildlife. They are to find a settlement that pertains to the kangaroo population, they are to destroy it. If we are to encounter any unauthorised persons, we'll escort them out, and amnesticise them if needed. Any questions?”
The group shook their heads.
“Great, lets go. We should be back by 1pm at the lates-”
A blood curdling scream echoed through the halls, amplified by the concrete that laid the room around them. Delta looked at Alpha, who looked at Bravo, who then looked to Charlie. The commander only had to point to the door and open his mouth.
“Go. NOW!”

A fuckwit.
Michael was a fuckwit and he knew it.
As the police station shrank in the distance, followed by the black figures of the police force, he knew he couldn't turn back. Why the fuck did he do that? Jab a whole tile straight in the doctor's face? He could be dead now because of him. All because of what could have been a misunderstanding.
…
No. No, that wasn't a misunderstanding. There was the smell of gas and he knew it, that doctor was too quick to leave, and there was no way that click of a button wasn't clearly heard by everyone within the next town over! They were trying to gas him, and he wasn't going to let them kill him just yet!
A bullet bounced off a section of road and grazed Michael's back. With a cry he collapsed like a sack of potatoes, with the guards aiming their weapons and barking orders. Michael couldn't hear, gunshots ringing in his ears. One guard snatched him up by the scruff of his neck pulled him up on his knees, the rifle centered on his forehead. Michael recognised the gun, it was a G36 assault rifle, modified to house larger rounds. Judging by the size of the barrel, they were large enough to blow the top half of his skull.
“Delta, Bravo, Charlie, standby…”
“Clear!”
Michael braced himself, eyes shut tight. His time was up. He fucked up and he was going to pay the price for it. Run now and he would die a coward; stay and accept his fate and he would die being a nobody. No arrest was necessary for his acts of sin. For the acts of sin, in his eyes, were sins he could never live down
The assault rifle coughed, and Michael felt metal pierce his neck. The pain was mild, yet sharp. A dart anchored itself in a major artery and began its work. The liquid filled Michael's skin, making him scream like a howling dog.
The drugs made Michael fell forward, facing the endless bush. The amnestics worked their way through his blood stream, piercing the blood brain barrier. Within minutes, his memory of the last day would be a blur of colour and sound. Between the dead roots and tree branches, where the Outback mocked the patheticness of Michael's fate, stood a Red Kangaroo.
Oh no… No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
Not at a time like this, not right now. Literally any other time, Michael could be beaten to death by a Red Kangaroo, but not while he was pinned by several armed guards with automatic weapons. That bastard, that piece of kangaroo shit! If that sack of fur and piss didn't crack his window and ransack his car, he wouldn't be here right now. He would be in Yaraka, on time, with supplies, and with a very happy boss.
The Kangaroo stared at him with its black eyes, as if it was trying to kill him with its thoughts alone. It made a squeak. Every guard snapped their heads in its direction. Their weapons centered on the roo's head, the laser sight visible from Michael's position.
Great. Have the bloody roo get the last laugh, that'll look great on my resume.
‘Local man laughed at by kangaroo as he gets drugged by police'. Why can't you leave me alone and have me die in peace, you ginger motherfucker?!
The roo didn't flinch, or even twitch its ears as the rifles lasers crawled along the chest area and rested on the head.
Wait, what the hell are you guys doing? Don't kill the bloody thing, it's done nothing wrong. What the fuck is wrong with you guys?
The guards stood in a square formation, Delta and Alpha in the front, Bravo and Charlie in the back; it was a tactical maneuver that mirrored a SWAT team. A very low budget SWAT team, but a SWAT team nonetheless.
“Weapons free! Alpha, switch to lethal!”
In a flash the roo bounced over and sliced Alpha's chest open, his screams catching the team off guard. The roo leaped off the falling body and leaped into the bushes, narrowly avoiding the sudden volley of bullets directed into the trees.
"WHAT THE F-ALPHA'S DOWN! SHOOT THE FUCKING KANGAROO!"
Alpha coughed and spat blood from his mouth, barely holding on his life. The team surrounded Alpha's body, ignoring Michael's attempts to communicate. Delta knelt beside him and held his fingers against the side of Alpha's neck. Delta's look changed from concern to fear.
"His pulse, it's slowing down."
Bravo heard a snap in the bushes and turned to it. He tapped Charlie, who turned and aimed his rifle and scanned the area of the sudden noise. The roo burst from the undergrowth behind them, its claws outstretched. The animal swung and crushed Bravo's helmet with its paw; the sickening crack of the neck bone signified death had taken another.
Before Charlie could react, a skull thrust itself into his jaw, snapping his head back; multiple cracks indicated a painful death. Delta rushed over and swung his rifle at the roo's skull, and landed a successful hit. The roo recoiled and held its jaw in pain. Delta went in for another strike when the roo caught his rifle. Delta held the trigger and sprayed its thick leg area, the weak point.
The roo looked down at him and gave him the animal equivalent of a smile. It scratched the wounded area and loosened the bullets trapped in its hide. Delta gasped. The roo dragged him with an iron grip to the trees on the side of the road.
The roo didn't even give him time to scream.
The drugs had finally induced their intended effect of unconsciousness, but held out just long enough for Michael to see the whole scene take place, with the roo dragging its feet toward him. Like a witness to a serial murder, Michael knew he was done for.
His last state of consciousness allowed Michael to make a small vocalisation. A vocalisation that would echo throughout the deep recesses of his mind.
“Oh Lord.”
«Michael Sends His Regards|Memories and Marsupials»