It was dark. My unit has deployed over three square blocks. The rain is coming down in torrents, creating blurs against the blackened sky.

GPS is down due to interference. The water level is rising quickly. The first of the DTs (displacement transporters) have arrived. So far the story has been the same at every apartment. Resistance. Obstruction. We ran out of shackles after the first apartment/tenement building and we're now using up lots of our utility ropes.

The med-evac tranqs em quick enough, but its tough to tranq a parent in front of their kids. It's exhausting carrying these people aboard the DT. Our experience is multiplied all over the city, I even heard the local officials were putting up a fight. Team 7 had to tranq the mayor and half the city council. Who knows what they were thinking? Every idiot knows you can't rely on local officials to evacuate their towns, this is a job for us - the Feds.

President Hill has authorized the use of deadly force against local police that try to resist. Fortunately, these cops are all fat and donut-stuffed and wouldn't dream of resisting. Their lining up for the next batch of DT's as eagerly as a free flight.

"You filthy Federal brownshirts! Why can't you just leave us alone!"

"Calm down there son. I'm here under the authorization of the Federal Emergency Evacuation Bill of 2006. You must comply. This area hads been declared a Federal Disaster Area. You can come along peacably, or we can do this the hard way. It's your choice."

"The voices warned me you were coming! You'll never get me! Never! Nevvvvveeeerrrrrr! Aiiiiighhhhh!"

The med-evac hits him with a tranq from behind. He looks like an addict strung out on meth. He crumples to the ground like a bunch of filthy clothes waiting for laundry day. Damn drug addicts and pushers. There are lots of them around here and they're not making my job any easier.

"Get him out of here and load him in!"

"Sir. Oh sir! I'm so glad you made it. Ah've been praying and praying for you to arrive. I don't have no car and I didn't know what I was gonna do. I got two babies in the other room."

"That's why we're here miss. Everythings gonna be just ok. I'm a Federal agent and I've been sent to get you and your family out of here."

She falls down on her knees in supplication.

"Bless you! Bless you! Jesus must've sent you my way. Jesus! He did this for me! THANK YOU JESUS!"

"Ok miss. Show us where your kids are. They'll be taking a different DT than the adults. One that's equipped for toddlers and babies."

"Oh no you can't separate us! NO! No! My babies! My babies! Aiggghhhh! Let them go! You can't take them! Let them go!

Aiggh! Jesus no!

Oh God no!

No!

Oh Jesus do something!"

I hit her with the tranq myself. 7ccs of fast acting, Federal grade custom blend knock out juice.

"Get her out of here! We've got five inches on the ground folks! Move it out!"

The building gets the all clear and so we padlock the front gate shut. Ten more buildings like this one on this street alone. And the rain just keeps on falling. Stepping outside is like get hit with a bucket of water in the face.

My teams doing good though. We've evacuated 887 men, women and children in the past three and a half hours. My responsibility is these three square blocks. We've got probably another thousand to go.

"Sir we've got a problem. A heavily armed drug ring seems to be based in the next tenement. We came under fire as we approached the building."

"Ok Protocol 7. Get that human excrement out of there."

I watch as the team load up the Hummer mounted KO7 cannon. It fires shells containing a fast acting nerve paralysis gas. In a minute the sound of return fire stops.

"Clean em up and ship out the garbage men."

Two of my men are laughing. Not evacuating.

"What's so funny? Lives will be lost if you two don't stop your jaw-flapping and get your lazy asses in the next building."

"We're sorry sir. Really, it's just the last apartment, where we broke down the door in too see if it was clear after there was no response to our commands, DID have 2 people in it."

"Agent, I don't see how that's funny."

"Oh, sir. They were engaged in...ummm...activities. You should've seen the look on their faces as we came in! All this effort has been worthwhile now. You understand sir?"

"I understand if you two don't get your asses in that next building, It'll be your faces that'll have a new expression. Now move it!"

"Yes sir."

They're just kids. Early twenties. It's their first ME (Mandatoy-Evac) It's hard not to expect them to react this way. But I'm fighting against time here and the water is up to seven inches.

I watch as med-evacs prepare more knock out juice and reload their weapons. This is going to be a long night. No one's going to get any sleep.

But the Federal government will save these folks.

I will save them. Every f-ing one of them. Kicking and screaming or eager as hell. The addicts, the pushers and folks screwing around.

I don't give a shit who they are or what they want.

They are going to be saved from themselves.

It's the law.

I'm a Federal agent.

Evacuating people is what I do.