Chapter Four
Back into the Forest
I ran as fast as I could into the wet darkness dodging trees and mud traps with graceful ease. Large leaves and branches slapped across my face with resilient force, leaving residue from the fallen rains upon my hot cheeks. Then suddenly, the gunfire ceased, leaving me once again in complete and total silence.
I stopped abruptly, not wanting to continue the thrashing of me racing through the foliage. A mistake like that would only lead the gunman straight to me. I knelt down with my back to one of the large oaks and placed my palms against the rough, damp bark. Listening intently, I heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. There was no rain, no wind, no gunfire, no footsteps. Nothing.
Still silently gasping for air, I shifted my weight and peered around the trunk of my towering guardian. I could feel my pupils trying to dilate, but there was no light at all. Even the moon was hidden behind a cloak of blackened sky. My vision just couldn’t adjust. The unnatural quite soon got to me for I knew that if the gunshots had ceased and the forest was quiet, then someone was dead.
Dan…
My heart raced immediately in an uninvited panic. But it just couldn’t be Dan, not him, not like this. I didn’t want our last words between us to be of a relationship that would never occur. Jade, just don’t say it. Dan’s words suddenly echoed in my memory. The more you tell yourself that, the more you’re brainwashing yourself with the useless shit that they cram down your throat... damn it, Jade, I just want you to be true to what is screaming out within you. I just want you to stop with this bullshit hard-shelled exterior that you feel you have to show off. We all know you’re one hell of a soldier, girl, you don’t have to prove that anymore.
“Dan…” The whisper escaped my lips before I had a chance to think and abruptly I regretted it. Without warning, a fingerless, leather glove was across my mouth, jerking me back against my adversary. I felt my back slam into the hard, cold steel of a gun barrel and I froze. The foe gave me one last jerk to make sure I wouldn’t move and then put his lips to my ear.
“Jade, don’t make a sound.” Dan! My internal voice screamed out inside as my ‘rival’ let me go. I spun around immediately thrusting my arms around his neck, so happy that he was alive. I felt him tense at the unexpected act of compassion but then quickly placed his free hand against the back of my head, holding me against him, savoring the moment. When his fingers began to caress their way through my tangled hair, I pulled away. I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea that I had ‘come around.’ I just didn’t want to go through all that mess again.
“Girl, what on earth are you doing all the way out here and you’re not even carrying any heat?” Danny whispered, tapping my empty hip holster with his pistol. It was only at that moment that I even realized I didn’t have a weapon on me. Then a twinge of doubt surfaced in my gut. Why the hell did I run out here unarmed? When I didn’t answer with anything but a widening of my eyes at the mere thought of my stupidity, Dan smiled and flipped his pistol so the grip was facing me. I took the offer with much acclamation. Dan then began to remove the extra ammunition from his pockets and put it into my own. Damn he had a lot of rounds. The extra weight of the ammo didn’t bother me; instead it was a pleasant reassurance that I wouldn’t be left helpless in a firefight.
“So what’s the plan of action, Danny?” I whispered as I checked the cartridge to see if I needed to reload. No bullets were fired from the magazine, making me wonder if Dan had even encountered the salvo of gunshots that I had heard before.
“To tell you the honest truth, I’m not even sure who’s under fire. The shots were in the direction of the main base. I’m thinking our best bet is to make our way cautiously and together. Splitting up is never a good idea when we don’t know what we’re up against, huh?” He smiled, pointing out an inside joke that he would never let me live down.
Needless to say when infiltrating a power station a few years back, my genius plan was to split us up and take both sides of the structure at once, eliminating any chance that we would be ambushed from either side. It just so happened that this plan would have worked had we known that the substation also double as soldier barracks. It was a smart move on their part and a dumbass move on mine.
In the end, I ended up with the side full of soldiers (outnumbering me 50 to 1) and Dan had the path with only a few technicians and computer nerds. It’s unnecessary to say at this point that he had to come save my ass. He’s never let me live that one down.
“Does that sound alright, Jade?” He inquired, waking me from my memory. I looked up and nodded in acknowledgement. He smiled again and then reached behind his back to reveal a sniper rifle that had been strapped there.
“Slow and steady then.” He whispered and rose to lead the way. Suddenly, I reached out and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. He turned abruptly to see what was the matter.
Searching my eyes for a moment, he finally gave up and just probed my hesitation.
“Jade, what’s wrong?” At first I didn’t know what to say, but I didn’t want my thoughts to go unsaid. Finally I found the words and I squeezed his arm as I questioned him.
“We’re okay then, Dan?” I murmured, short and straight to the point in my opinion. Then his face relaxed and he smiled again, taking his hand and running it through my entangled hair. Lowering his hand, he cupped the side of my cheek. The touch felt good, calming, and yet I hated it.
“Girl, we’ll always be okay.” He stated matter-of-factly and yet sympathetically. I think I missed something there, but there was no time to dwindle on the pettiness of words for Dan turned away and began to make his way through the dark woods.
With both of us crouched down, I seemed right on top of him. I hated when we were going into a situation blindly. Both of us had our guns raised, ready to aim at anything that moved. Every little sound was followed by a swift jerk of my gun, pointing the direction from which it came. But there was nothing there nor anywhere for that matter. And then it began to rain once more. Unlike before, I couldn’t take the time to enjoy the soft, wet fingertips from the clouds caressing my skin, trickling down my hairline, soaking my clothes. Instead, the rain was an irritating annoyance to my senses. The streams of water muffled the sounds and sights of the forest, therefore dulling the chance of spotting the enemy first.
Then suddenly, Dan paused. Thank God I was paying attention this time for I nearly ran into him. He leaned his shoulder against the trunk of a sturdy old tree and leveled his eye with the scope of the gun. I waited patiently for the verdict but damn it was taking a long time. Finally, he took his gun down and rounded the large tree, having us both kneel in the mud.
“I’ve got 5 in sight and their heavily armed.” He began his voice almost too low to understand. “They’re definitely WATRs (World Activists for Technological Rights) and it looks like they’re guarding our base. Could be they’ve already taken it. Hmm… Up for it?” Dan knew he didn’t have to ask. Let’s just say we considered ourselves the badass pair of the rebel cause. And hell, we were damn proud of it. That’s probably why we were the some of the most popular among the mavericks as well as the most sought after.
“What do you think, Danny-boy?” I laughed under my breath, trying not to give way our position. “What do ya say to a little ‘angel in the hot seat’?” I knew that he hated that call, but at the same time, he knew it worked pretty damn good.
“Fine. Make it quick.” He muttered as we both stood. I placed the gun in the side pocket of my boot and turned away, ready to play my role. But Danny grabbed my arm, making me pause only a second.
“Be careful, angel.”
I made my way silently through the forest, approaching the 5 men. Man, Danny, I hope you counted right. I paused just about 10 feet from the group to inspect myself. Let’s see… I unzipped the jacket so that little green bikini would show. I checked my waistline and realized that I still had on that pair of oversized cargos that showed off my matching swimsuit bottoms. My hair was wet and tousled, thanks to the rain. This is going to be too easy this time. I laughed to myself trying to find the perfect sound to grab their attention. Finding a thick branch at my feet, I pick it up and snap it in two, creating a loud SNAP!
“Hey, is someone there?!” Someone yelled out. Great, I’m dealing with a group of fucking geniuses.
“Hey Mack, I thought I heard something over there. Yeah, that direction. Check behind those trees.” I heard the same voice call out. Sorry, my mistake. Not only are they dumb fucks but lazy-ass dumb fucks. This was going to be fun.
“Well what do we have here?” I heard a gruff voice beside me, followed by the cocking of a shotgun.
“Mack, I presume?” I stated in a smart-ass manner.
“Get up. Come on let’s go.” Mack shoved the barrel against my side and forced me to move back towards the lot of them. “Keep your hands were I can see them, girly.” I reacted slowly, putting my arms up above my head and walking in the direction he pointed, shaking my ass a little more than usual with every step.
“Ooh, girly, you picked the wrong time to come back to this place.” Mack smacked his lips together, hungry; everything was working perfectly. Some men can be such pigs and they’re so predictable.
“Look what I found, boys!” Mack called to the rest as we appeared in the clearing. His shout was returned with a few cat calls and howls. I wanted to knock those raking stares right off all their fucking faces. Just a little longer. I reminded myself. I had nothing to worry about. Danny was the best sniper in our division and he sure as hell wouldn’t let anything get out of hand especially with other men involved. I hated to think of it that way, but it was just the effect it had on him. And me, well, I was one hell of a hand-to-hand fighter and I could play the hard-to-get helpless woman any day. Sometimes I worried that I was a little too good at it.
“Hey Lit, come over here and hold this bitch. I bet she’s packing some heat on that sexy body somewhere.” Mack laughed, motioning a younger man to come over and take my arms. I took a good look at Lit, sizing him up. The poor thing looked barely old enough to drink. I kind of felt sorry for him.
“No problem, Mack. I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on her anyway.” Fuck that. Lit, you’re dead.
Mack stood in front of me, scanning me in a disgusting manner, licking his lips the whole time. He stepped forward and pushed my jacket off of my shoulders. I felt Lit’s grip tighten on my arms. I struggled a bit to show that there was a little fight in me, for some reason pigs can’t resist it. But I kept my strength to a minimum, at least until I gave Dan the signal. I was waiting for just the right moment when the other soldiers were in Danny’s line of fire. If we could knock off a couple with one shot, there’d be less of a mess to worry about in the end.
With my skin exposed, I felt Lit move closer to me, breathing against my flesh. Then suddenly his lips were all over my neck. I fought with a little more strength against the horny bastard. They were really testing my patience.
“Well Lit sure has the right idea.” One of the other men barked from the shadows. His comment was echoed with laughter and whoops. But Mack was silent, contemplating my body too much for my liking. Then he brought his gun up to the level of my breasts and then slowly let it trail to the hem of my pants. He paused there a moment and then continued on, caressing my inner thigh with the shotgun. Mack then pressed the gun up against the crotch of my pants, creating some very unwanted pressure there.
“Come on, boys, I think she’s hiding something in there. Come help me spread her!” Mack shouted out to the others. Finally, all of the men left their place among the shadows and headed out into the clearing. Just a little farther and… Unexpectedly, Mack’s fingers were reaching for the button of my pants. At that same exact moment I heard 2 continuous gunshots, shot in perfect succession. This was instantly followed by a spray of blood that had hit me from the front and the back. Mack and Lit down – 3 other bastards to go.
I reached for the gun in my boot and shot 2 of the remaining men where they stood. Unfortunately, when I went for the 3rd, Dan had beaten me to him. Immediately I went into routine, checking the men to make sure they were all dead, then rounding up what weapons were worth taking. Dan jogged up behind me as I picked up a pair of Uzis and a couple rounds of clips. Uzis weren’t my weapon of choice because they were just too inaccurate and messy. But they were fast and I did like that little factor.
“Thanks for waiting for my signal, sniper.” I joked, thankful nonetheless for his accurate timing.
“What was I supposed to wait for? These fucking horny bastards to have their dicks hanging out?!” Danny roared. He was pissed. But I suppose I didn’t blame him.
“Sorry, Danny-boy. But thanks anyway.” I smiled and then this time I took the lead to the entranceway of Base 13.
We had no problem getting in the door because, for some odd reason, our keycards still worked. That would mean that they hadn’t jammed any of the networks throughout the mainframe, which was usually the first thing any intruder would do on enemy grounds. What is WATR up to this time? Dan and I slowly walked through the entrance hall, alert, but calm. There was no sign of anyone – neither enemies nor allies. This was all so strange.
“What the hell is going on here?” Dan commented at the shear oddness of the whole situation. Surely by then we would’ve came across a body, or at the very least, a sign of a struggle. And as that thought ran through my mind it was as if it was answered straightaway.
Unexpectedly, a female soldier staggered out of one of the side rooms, holding herself up in the doorway. Thank God she was one of ours. In fact, I knew her.
“Airika?” I inquired as the bloodied girl turned towards us, holding her head. She had blood running down the side of her cheek and down the front of her bright blue tank top. Her short, spikey, jet-black hair was matted down just above her forehead; the bloodied blue highlights gave away the source of her injury.
“Jadey-lady!” Her steel-blue eyes lit up at the sight of us walking up to her but then immediately, they darkened again. “What happened to you?” She inquired, getting a good look at the bloodied mess I was in.
“Nothing really, just a little too close to a couple sniper victims.” I stated matter-of-factly, jerking a thumb in the direction of Dan. Airika smiled, her eyes illuminating again. Airika Oishin had been a friend of mine for some time. We had never been partnered up like Danny and I were, but we always seemed to end up crossing each other’s path occasionally. She was small and fun-loving and she absolutely adored explosives.
“What happened?” Dan immediately inquired as I began to check her head wound. I pulled back the hair from the bloodied mess. It looked like she took one hell of a whack from the back end of a firearm. And it had to have been recent for the blood in her hair was still fresh.
“I’m not really quite sure how they got in, but about 20 WATRs came rushing through here a while ago. I was the only one in this hall when it happened, so needless to say I was overpowered. The next thing I know, I was being pistol-whipped and they all took off down towards the Intelligence Hall.” She tried to support her own weight and stand, but that attempt didn’t last long. I caught her as she staggered again.
“Sorry, I’m just a little dizzy.” Airika laughed as she looked up at me and smiled. I put one of the Uzis in the waist of my pants and I took the initiative to support her by throwing her arm around my neck. Airika was a couple of inches shorter than me, to the height ratio worked well in this situation.
“Come on, Jadey-lady, don’t be stingy, I have a free hand, ya know.” Airika remarked, reaching out and taking the spare Uzi from its ‘holster.’ Then without another word, the three of us were making our way towards the Intelligence Hall. The Intelligence Hall was where all the important information and documents were held. That was where we were assigned our missions and where we debriefed after every operation. Pretty much anything that had any significance to the cause was located in that hall. So needless to say, it wasn’t a good place to let the enemy have access.
Carrying Airika wasn’t much of a burden at all. She could walk on her own, it was just her balance that wasn’t working correctly. Plus it was kind of an advantage to have an extra set of senses on board. And as we made our way towards the first intersection of the hallway, I was glad to have her on board.
Abruptly, Danny held his fist up in the air beside his head, bringing us all to a dead stop. He pointed us to one side of the hallway, while he crouched with his back against the other. Pulling out a small mirror, much like a dentist’s tool, he checked the hall to the back of him and then to the front. Retracting the mirror and putting it back into his pouch, he then signaled that there were three foes behind him in the right hall of the intersection and 5 in front of him towards the left wing. He marked us to take out the 5 and he would take the 3. It made sense, he had a slower weapon compared to the pair of Uzis between Airika and I. Then he counted off.
One… two…Go! Airika and I jerked into the hallway, guns aimed and blazing. Bullets and blood splattered all over the walls as our adversaries dropped to the floor. With the shots still echoing through the hallways, we turned to see Dan reloading his rifle, the three men dead at his feet. All was silent except for the static radio on one of the dead guy’s strap.
“Python… this is Gloryhound… do you copy? …Over.” More static. “Python, we heard some gunfire in your direction… what’s your situation? …Over.” Silence this time. “Python, reinforcements are on the way…” Static.
Then a radio went off on a stiff from our side of the hallway. “Jagger, Nightcat here. We’re about finished with the explosives down here at the conference room. Over…” An eerie silence followed. “Jagger, do you copy? Over…” At this point the electricity was coursing through me, ready for the next move. The conference room was down the hall to the left, we could be there in a minute. “Jagger, consider yourself warned. T-minus 10 minutes. Over.” Nightcat’s warning echoed through the hall, immediately followed by many footsteps heading up the stairs from the end of the right side of the hallway.
What happened next was too quick to comprehend, there was no time to think – just do. Dan ran past us, holstering his sniper rifle to his back.
“Get some firepower and get down to that conference chamber! There may be people trapped down there! I’ll take care of these bastards down the hall and I’ll meet up with you when I’m done!” He shouted out orders as he bent down and snatched up a MP5 with an extended clip from who we now knew as Jagger. Then he took off down the hallway and around the corner, out of sight.
Airika immediately bent down, rummaging through the bloodied weapons as well, grabbing a M4 from another stiff and couple of grenades, strapping them into her belt, giggling to herself.
“I think I can walk on my own now, Jade. Let’s go.” She said as she stood up and headed down our pathway.
“Uh, Airika, do I need to remind you that using explosives around, well, explosives is a bad idea?” I casually said as we made our way through the hall. She looked puzzled at first, and then it dawned on her that I was referring to the grenades she so happily added to her belt.
“Oh, the grenades. Nah, I’ll save those for later.” She laughed as we rounded the corner. One more corner to go and we would be at the door for the conference room, so we slowed our pace and quietly made our way there. Since the WATRs had nowhere to go except towards us, we knew that the remaining men were still waiting at the end of this route. Of course, we were right.
“Just to be clear, Nightcat, if anyone were still alive in that room they wouldn’t be able to get out, correct?” A highbrow voice inquired our friend from the radio.
“Yes Sir. But I assure you, no one is left alive in there. We took care of all of them before we locked it down.” Nightcat answered matter-of-factly. “The only rebel in this entire place that’s not in here is that cute little chick I pistol-whipped on the way in. I thought I could grab her on the way out. Ya know, for information and stuff.” Nightcat continued with a smirk. Meanwhile, I could see Airika fuming behind her M4.
“Nightcat, I don’t remember seeing you hit a girl on the way in. I’m not sure what you’re talking about. We don’t need any of them for intel either, we’ve got everything we need on this little drive here.” The other man commented.
“Well okay, but I might need her for something, ya know?” Nightcat laughed at his own comment and the next thing he knew, he had an M4 pointed at his head.
“I’m sorry, but don’t you think I deserve a say in all this, Nightcat?” Airika exclaimed, and she was pissed. I came around the corner to find our mystery man pulled for a pistol.
“I would stop right there if I were you.” I indicated, directing the Uzi in his direction. “Now let’s have you put your hands up where I can see them.” This man didn’t look like he belonged in that uniform, nor did he seem to fit in with the WATRs at all. He seemed like nothing more than one of those insignificant technicians that were too smart for their own good. It was the ones like that that I didn’t really enjoy killing, in fact I avoided it when all possible. But who knew if that would be the case today or not.
“And I don’t want to hear a word out of either of you or it’s your last!” Airika shouted, a little over the top. And Nightcat was the one that had to push her.
“You wouldn’t dare.” He assumed right before a round of ammunition rampaged through his skull and out the other side.
“Oops.” Airika giggled in the most innocent tone she could muster. And with the echo of the bullets still on my ear, a blood-curdling scream chose to add itself to the symphony. I looked over to see mystery man cowering on the floor, screaming and holding his hands up.
“Shut your fucking mouth!” Airika threatened, redirecting the M4 in his face. He shut up immediately and the look on his face was that of pure terror. It was like he knew he was going to die here today no matter what we decided to do. And then I saw why.
Right behind his recoiling body was a mound of technological devices piled high against the conference room door. Call it an old-fashioned movie cliché, but the damn timer read 3:00 and it was counting down fast. Airika noticed it at the same time I did.
“Shut it down right now!” She screamed an order at him. He glanced over at the bomb and shook his head.
“I can’t! You’ll have to take me out of here with you!” He started to beg.
2:43 minutes… There was no time for this bullshit.
“You don’t have time to bargain with us, you either shut it down or you die. But we’re not waiting around here to die alongside the likes of you!” I shouted.
2:37… He still wasn’t responding to our threats.
“You go ahead and leave me here, I’ll make my way out and still blow up this God-forsaken base!” He threatened one last time, almost laughed this time.
“The only God-forsaken thing here is you and what you’re doing to this world!” I screamed as I fired my Uzi wildly, destroying both of his kneecaps. He screamed out again.
“Now try and get out of here now.” I gave him my final expression as I grabbed Airika’s arm and pulled her back up the hall as fast as I could.
2:15…
“Wait, what about…” She began as we raced back up the corridor.
“There’s no time Airika! Everyone’s dead and we will be too if we don’t get the fuck out of here!” I screamed as we took off at high speed.
“Jade!” I heard Dan’s familiar voice shouting out as he rounded the corner, nearly slamming straight into me. He must have heard us coming.
“Dan! We have to get out now!” I ordered as we sprinted up the final hallway. It seemed like we were never going to reach the end. Then finally fresh air! We were out! Not knowing what kind of explosives we within that technological heap, nor the power it had, we took off through the woods to the familiar river that Dan and I had followed in.
The forest was too quiet, it was like I was going deaf. Then finally, I heard the precious sound of running water as we dived down into the bank of the creek. We pulled each other close, trying to make our huddle as small as possible, prepared for the explosion that would happen at any second. I had tried to keep track in my head of the time we had left, but lost count as soon as I hit the night air. It should’ve went off by now! Maybe that mystery man had pulled through and actually stopped the clock after…
But my thoughts were cut off by the biggest explosion I had experienced to this date. Even though the initial blast rushed right over the stream bank, the actual shock itself that shook through the forest was enough to grab my heart in its grasp and hold it until it was over. I pictured myself being right next to the heavy bass in a night club and how the thump, thump, thumb of the bass pulsates the heart. Taking that a hundred times, while having it hit me all at once, was the effect of the blast on my body.
When everything went silent the three of us slowly untangled ourselves from each other. Dan was the first to stand, his shoulders barely clearing the edge of the bank. I looked over to Airika, laying back in the shallow water and mud.
“Fuck!” Airika shouted out of nowhere, making both Dan and I visually jump. Then she began to giggle hysterically as she flopped herself back in the mud. If one didn’t know Airika, they’d think that her outburst was due to the head injury she endured. We, however, knew that that’s just how she was.
“We should go check for survivors.” Dan stated in the midst of Airika’s intense laugher. Then, as if she had recalled the seriousness of the situation, she too got up and began to make her way out of the creek bed as well.
“There are no survivors, Dan. They were all dead before we even got there.” I informed him, a little too harshly. Stubborn as he was he ignored me and walked back towards the flames. When I pulled myself up and out of the creek bed I finally got a full look at the wreckage. There was literally nothing left except a few blocks of concrete and some random disheveled piping. Fire and smoke filled the night air, making the forest lose its sense of freshness from the cool rain only a short time ago.
“Dan, did you hear me?” I inquired, raising my voice as he walked further away from Airika and I. I turned back and gave her a hand as she attempted to get out of the mud-covered bank.
“Man, I didn’t think I was ever going to get out of that muddy hell hole.” She began to mutter to herself as she stood up, attempting to get the mud off of her with little success. I looked back to Dan, who had already made his way to the edge of the wreckage. He was merely a small silhouette compared to the massive flames that stretched out through the sky. I jogged over to his side, trying to bring him back to reality.
“Dan, we should get moving.” I stated, lightly touching his arm to bring him out of his fixation on the flames before us. Dan didn’t speak for the longest time, he just kept staring into the flaming hell before him. I watched as his hands began wringing the weapon in his grip.
“They’re really all dead aren’t they?” He inquired so silently that I barely heard him over the roaring fire.
“Danny, they were dead before the explosion. Their bodies were all locked up in the conference room where the bomb was. There was nothing we could’ve done.” I tried to comfort him the best I could.
“I know, girl, but God damn it!” He shouted suddenly, making me jump. “I just can’t stand it when this happens!” He screamed out and then took out all of his rage as he sprayed bullets at the burning debris. I just stood there and let him. The ringing of the ammunition grew louder in my ears until I could barely hear anymore. You idiot… that’s no gunfire you’re hearing. My subconscious shrieked out her warning. Coming to terms with what I was hearing, I immediately looked to the sky searching for a chopper.
“Danny stop!” I yelled, pulling on his arm and pointing to the blinking lights forming the helicopter coming over the horizon, headed straight in our direction. Danny and I immediately took off back to the creek bed, grabbing Airika on our way as she made her way towards us. Jumping down into that familiar ditch, I felt my whole body sink and squish in the mud.
“And I had just cleaned myself off.” Airika smirked as she too descended into the mud and water. All three of us hunched down and didn’t move as the chopper touched down only a few yards from us. It was right in the middle of the fire and us. The engine died down and the blades came to a slow halt before I heard the people get out. We didn’t know how many were there and we didn’t want to take the risk to look for fear of being seen.
“Looks like a mission accomplished, wouldn’t you say so Quentin?” A gruff voice exclaimed. They had to be close because I could hear them talking so clearly.
“If this were an accomplishment, wouldn’t you think there would be some survivors on our part, Jared?” I could only assume that Quentin was the one with the more anxious voice. “Ditto, Yazi, and Zulu would you be so kind as to go check the area for any of our men?” Quentin continued in a very sophisticated inquiry. Either he didn’t know how to act on a battlefield, or he just had that much power that he didn’t care. I heard a simultaneous “Yes, Sir!” and then the footsteps of Ditto, Yazi, and Zulu decrescendo as they went towards the rubble of what once was our base.
“They won’t find any, Quentin. This was a suicide mission.” Jared stated unemotionally. So, these bastards were worse than we thought they were. Sending your own men into a suicide mission was unacceptable and profane. Our faction would never send us on a suicide mission, unless we took it upon ourselves to do it anyway. I smiled, internally, at the memories of all the stupid shit Danny and I had gotten ourselves into.
“Tell me then, Jared, if this was a suicide mission, then why didn’t we send the A.I.s instead?” Quentin snapped, waking me from my brief reminiscence. “We could’ve prevented dozens of human deaths.”
“Quentin, you know as well as I do that the A.I.s are much more valuable, not to mention much more expensive, than a human soldier. Also, if we were to send in the A.I.s, these rebel bastards wouldn’t think twice about destroying them. According to them, they are evil, soulless, blasphemies upon this earth. They would actually feel right destroying them. In the case of a human soldier though, now that’s actually taking a human life. Not only would the soldiers of this faction think twice about killing them, which may give us the split second needed to destroy them, but it also wears on them over time. Picture a sandstone on the beach, with every crashing wave, no matter how small, a little speck of sand disappears from it. Over time, that stone will erode to nothing but specks of sand, a mere molecule of its former self. If they are so inclined to save the human race, then let the deaths they cause erode at them in the process. Maybe at some point, they’ll come to their senses and stop this bullshit.” Jared spoke as if he had practiced that speech a thousand times. It was even spoken like a true speech – no emotion behind the words, just fancy words and metaphors that were meant to persuade the audience. But all it did was piss me off.
I waited to see what Quentin had to say to that, but before he could answer, his trio returned with predicted news.
“No survivors to inform, sir.” A female voice reported, sounding extremely downhearted. I was surprised to hear a woman in the place of a soldier for the WATRs. They normally keep the company of men so it’s rare that a female were to fight for them. But hearing the tears in her voice, apparently she couldn’t cut it as a combatant.
“Ditto, my darling, why the tears?” Quentin’s poetic voice chimed in with a fake concerning tone caring through the air. I heard no answer from Ditto, but a higher-pitched male voice chimed in for her.
“Her brother was on the bombing crew, sir. We found no sight of him.” The boyish soldier related to Quentin.
“Thank you, Yazi. My dear, I’m so sorry to hear that about your brother. Know that he died a hero to the WATRs. Ditto, his death was not in vain. Now, go ahead and board the helicopter with Yazi and Zulu, we’re done here for the night.” Quentin sympathized with as much sympathy as a vulture would have. He was fake and cowardly. He was a snake. ‘His death wasn’t in vain’ my ass! I just heard his buddy there spout off nonsense reasons for wasting human life and then Quentin has the audacity to say that?! I was fuming at the moment and it took everything I had to stop myself from diving over that bank and slitting their throats!
“This was supposed to be Nightcat’s last mission. After this he was going to work full time in the technicians’ headquarters.” Ditto’s tear-filled voice cracked as they all made their way back to the chopper. I glanced over to see Airika’s wide-eyed expression – after all, she was the one that ‘accidently’ ended Nightcat’s life.
Once the helicopter made its way back over the horizon and out of our hearing distance we climbed, once again, out of the mud hole.
“I’m thinking that we should head back to the shelter at Sector 5 and try to get some sleep.” Dan finally offered, breaking the silence between us all. None of us really knew what to say or how to react. I was fuming with rage, Airika looked as though she too wanted to break down into tears, and Danny was his normal indifference, trying to take care of the rest of us. We were one hell of a trio ourselves, but at least we had normal names.
Following along behind Danny, we all made our way back to the shelter at Sector 5. When we went up the stairs towards the entranceway I saw my neglected bottle of whisky sitting by the door where I had left it. I went over and picked it up.
“What’s that?” Danny enquired as we went inside the still-lit hallway.
“Irish Whisky.” I answered, receiving a puzzled look from him and Airika. “When you went outside after our… uh… discussion I found this and came out looking for you. That’s when I heard the gunfire and the rest is history.” I continued, avoiding bringing up the argument that Dan and I had had. Airika didn’t need to know every little detail.
“Well after the night we’ve had I think it’s time to crack that baby open! What do you say Dan, my man!” Airika shouted, latching onto Dan’s arm and hanging off of him in a pleading manner. Dan didn’t look convinced.
“We should really get a few hours of sleep before we head out. We’re due in the city at 0800 sharp and it’s already 0200. I’m thinking the alcohol should wait.” He said sternly. But I don’t think he was completely out of the question.
“I’ll drink with you, Airika.” I assured. Dan gave me a strict look for encouraging it. “What, the way I look at it we get there when we get there, Dan. Honestly, once word gets to them that the base was destroyed, they’ll probably think we’re dead anyway. We’ll just make a fashionably late entrance is all.” I smiled at him because I knew he would give in.
“Yeah! Jadey-Lady’s got the right idea!” Airika shouted out again making us jump.
“I can see we’re going to have to get used to the loud outbursts, huh?” Dan smiled at me as he spoke of Airika’s child-like nature. She looked downhearted from the comment. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything though. Come on, kiddo.” Dan laughed as he threw an arm around both Airika and I and headed towards one of the dorms.
“And maybe when we’re done we can play spin the bottle!” Airika laughed to herself. If I wasn’t holding the whisky in my hand, I would have face-palmed at that comment.
“Airika, if you wanted to make out with Jade I’m sure all you have to do is ask.” Dan laughed hysterically at his own joke. I didn’t find it very funny, but couldn’t help crack a smile.
“Oh my God! I was joking!” Airika cried out all in an uproar now. Then she paused and looked past Dan and over to me. “Wait a minute… Jade, you’re gay?” Airika questioned with the most serious expression. I pulled myself out of Danny’s hold and began to defend my sexuality.
“How many times do I have to tell you – I’m not!” I shouted, but in a sort of fun way of arguing.
“Don’t let her fool you, Airika. She’s been dodging my advances for years. It’s the only reasonable explanation.” Danny laughed even harder. It was good to see him laughing again.
“But, I’d refuse you too.” Airika smirked, catching on to the game.
“Oh, come on you two! Am I that revolting?!” He laughed out in protest.
“I’ll drink to that!” I held up the bottle and laughed, pushing my way past him and into the room.
“Don’t worry, Danny-boy, maybe if you get her drunk enough you might get lucky after all.” Airika muttered as they too made their way into the room and sat down beside me on the bed.
“Don’t count on it.” Danny and I both exclaimed at the same exact moment, following by a roar of laughter from all three of us.
you got me hooked onto your book already :)
ReplyDelete