Disclaimer: I don't own anything nor am making money, just using the characters for a bit of fun. Carmine, Marcus, Dom, Kim, and all things Gears of War belong to all those other people that aren't me that have copyrights and all that junk.
Rush Job
By Celena Schezar
A rumbling began in the not so distant distance, foreshadowing an ominous event. The sound stopped and complete silence reined for a full life-long second before erupting into a large BOOM! and the sound of heavy rocks falling to the ground. Soon after that the gunfire started: fully automatic three-round bursts, single-shot rifle emissions, and semi-automatic pistol fire. There was even the explosion of a lone grenade going off.
There was also the shouts, grunts, and screams of the fighting, killing, and dying. Most importantly there were the commands being sprouted from the commanding officer for Gear's Delta Squad.
"Under cover, under cover!" the lieutenant shouted. "Get under cover now, Private Carmine!"
Carmine grimaced full-heartedly under his concealing helm and did what he was told for the time being. He ducked behind a conveniently fallen pillar of stone and fired blindly over the top. He glanced at his teammates--Marcus was behind a still-standing pillar to the right, calm and cool; Dom was trading very nasty insults with a grub to Marcus's right, standing behind another pillar; and Lieutenant Kim was firing blindly from behind another fallen stone pillar, somewhere off to the left and slightly behind.
More grubs poured out of the Emergence Hole and Private Carmine couldn't hold himself in position any longer. He had to get out there.
Hopping over his fallen pillar, Carmine gave a short-lived battlecry as he suddenly found himself face-to-ulgy-face with a brutish grub. His eyes widened beneath the helmet as he managed to focus on the grub's awful sneer and side-stepped just in time before the beast put a shotgun round into his belly. Carmine let his chainsaw rip and let the satisfying sound of its engine rumble into his ears. He started high and forced the blade low, cutting through the grub's form with a bit of a struggle.
The beast was dead and Carmine was covered in the grub's bloody mess as it had flown everywhere during the saw attack. He shook his body like a dog and splattered blood and guts on his surroundings. Most of it tended to stick despite this however.
Bloodied, but A-okay, Carmine sprinted forward towards the Emergence Hole where grubs where coming up left and right. He dodged bullets with a zig-zag pattern, most of it just luck. He ducked behind a boulder briefly, slipping around first one side to shoot down an enemy, then running off from the other as he continued his flight further into the fray. He had once been voted "most likely to get shot" while in the academy, but he didn't care. It was the excitement that kept him going.
Another grub tried to pelt him in the face with a rain of bullets, but the private managed to roll to cover just before the line of fire made contact with his body. Leaning over the top, Carmine fired several bursts barely aimed into the grub's position. It ducked behind cover as well, but as it stood up to return fire Carmine was already there and slamming a full clip of rounds into its ugly face.
He once again hopped over his cover and headed in a bee-line for the hole. A grub was trying to crawl out when Carmine neared and he pelted it with his entire new clip, reloading quickly before placing the gun on his back. He took out a Bolo grenade in the gun's place and swung it once on its chain. This close, he didn't really even need that much. He released the grenade and watched as it headed straight into the Emergence Hole. With a wicked grin on his face, the Gear soldier ducked behind the nearest cover and listened to the very satisfying BAM! of the fragmentation grenade as it took out the hole.
Silence reined, a few smatterings of clean-up bursts the only thing to break the deceptive tranquility of the moment. Then someone called "All-clear!" and the silence took over in earnest.
"Man, you are one lucky mutha-fucka, Carmine!" Dominic Santiago yelled from across the battlefield. He shook his head dispassionately, but a wide grin was spread over his features as he traversed the expanse between them.
Marcus grunted next to his partner but spared Carmine a half smile when no one was looking. The pair of soldiers stopped walking when they reached Carmine and all waited for the lieutenant to catch up.
Lieutenant Kim seemed anything but pleased as he approached. "One day," Kim began, "you are going to get shot. And then you are going to be dead, and no amount of praise for your suicidal bravery will grant you a second chance." He stopped walking and leveled a deadpan stare at the private. Suddenly his face lightened slightly and he spoke softly. "Good job, Carmine."