I do not own anything within this story but the young woman
Guardian Angel
"Hurry it up, Rook. You're slowing us down." Marcus Fenix grumbled roughly, startling the young soldier upon hearing the harshness of his squad leader's voice.
"Oh! Um, yes Sir! Sorry Sargent Fenix!" Carmine apologized like a kicked dog, wondering how his allies moved so fast in the darkness with ruble around their feet. They must have had years of practice.
"I thought I told you to knock that shit off, kid." Marcus growled, the young man yelping slightly. "Oh. Sorry, Sarge!" Carmine replied sheepishly, on edge in the darkness of the underground lair, his imagination taking hold as he kept thinking monsters would pop out of the blackness.
Delta Squad had been moving through a small town that was long since abandoned. Or so they thought. Little did they know the ghost town was inhabited by locusts and that the creatures had made a lair underneath the ruined town. The inhabitants of the town weren't killed as originally thought. Instead the locusts had captured the remaining stranded and locked them up in what seemed like old prison cells. The squad found the cells when the town sunk into the ground, the earth unable to support its weight from all the tunnels underneath it. It was a miracle the squad didn't fall to their deaths or get crushed by buildings during the fall.
"Fuckin' A! I can't see shit in here, Marcus!" Cole bellowed in dismay only to have Baird punch the man slightly. "Ooohh, was that you, Cole? You know I thought I smacked the wall but then I heard the wall BITCHING. And-"
"Baird. Shut the fuck up." Marcus growled, stopping the conflict before it went any further.
"S-Sarge?"
"Yeah, Carmine?"
"We-we're not leaving them behind are we? The people in the cells? They need help-"
"They're dead, Carmine. You saw the bodies."
"But….but the girl…Sarge?"
"She's dead. They're all dead."
"B-"
"People are going to die, kid. And more will. It's a shame I know but…." Marcus paused, trying to think of the words that would gently break the young man's hope. It was a lesson he needed to learn. "Sometimes you can't help them, Carmine. Sometimes they're too far gone."
"Bu…..Yes, Sarge." Carmine muttered, saddened that they were dooming people that could be saved to their deaths. Carmine's shoulders slumped slightly, but he quickly commanded them to stop. Marcus was his leader after all and he would try to learn from him and make his Sargent proud.
The squad followed the cave system, the tunnel slopping upwards slightly as the dust filled air began to clear, giving way to fresh air with the smell of pine.
"Oh, thank God, man! And it only took you forever to get us out of that hellhole!" Baird cried, Marcus quickly shutting him up with an icy glare.
"Alright, Delta…" Marcus sighed, looking at his squad as they awaited his orders. Each member looked physically exhausted. "Set up camp tonight, Delta. You've earned it." Marcus reasoned. His squad has been through hell and they needed a break.
"WHOO!" Cole cheered happily as the team moved toward a clearing in the trees, Carmine more than happy to look for kindle to start a small fire. After many failed attempts the squad finally succeeded in started a small fire, fearing it would attract unwanted attention if the fire grew too large.
The moon was high in the night sky as the squad slumbered, Carmine tossing and turning tiredly at his inability to fall asleep. It was the guilt. That horrible feeling of guilt that kept eating and eating away at him. He knew people were alive in those cells. He saw a woman alive. It didn't matter if she was going to die in time, she was ALIVE. And Carmine couldn't leave her to die. He kept imaging his mother or one of his brothers being in the woman's place. The very thought of seeing his loved ones in harm froze his heart. He lost Anthony to the war. He couldn't lose any more family members. And his heart wouldn't allow him to sit still while a woman was dying, still alive, perhaps waiting for a family member to rescue her. A family member that may never come or arrive too late.
That settled it. Carmine got to his feet, trying to move as quietly as possible in his armor as he stepped around his sleeping squad mates, startled as he heard Marcus' rough voice call out in the shadows
"Where you goin', Rook?'
"Sarge! I….I…uuhh….have to "go". Ya know? Call of Nature." Carmine stuttered. He had no idea his Sargent was still taking watch. But it made sense. Marcus would have been a horrible squad leader if he didn't protect his men.
"Hmp. Don't let a ticker bite you in the ass." Marcus smirked slightly, dark humor in his voice as Carmine chuckled nervously. "Wilco, Sarge! Be right back." Carmine stated, and walked off into the shadows, making sure he was out of sight before approaching the gaping mouth of the underground tunnel.
Carmine stumbled slightly in the darkness, the eyes of his helmet glowing a soft blue as it improved his vision, his helmet fogging up slightly in the colder temperatures of the earth.
"Hello! Is anyone here? Hello?" Carmine called into the darkness, knowing it was bold and stupid to be calling out in the darkness where anything could hide. But if the woman is alive….
Carmine paused completely as he heard a ragged cough fill the tunnel. It sounded painful, like a car engine trying to start before finally dying. Once the noise stopped, Carmine moved to where he guessed the noise came from, standing hesitantly at the mouth of the cell. He saw bodies. Bodies of women, men, even children. It scared him. His heart began to cry out as his brain struggled to imagine what these people did to deserve such horrible fates. Some looked like they starved to death while others seemed like they were beaten or shot. But others…had bite marks. Their flesh was torn off. Carmine prayed silently to himself, his irrational fears screaming "zombies" as if the dead would suddenly come alive and feast on him too.
"H-Hello?" Carmine stammered, forcing himself to look around the cell and moving to the next one upon finding nothing.
"Hello? Please, if you're here I-I want to help." Carmine pleaded and forced himself to look into the second cell, finding similar results. Carmine sighed and made his way to move before hearing the cough again. This time he knew where it was. It was coming from the second cell.
"Hello? Are-are you hurt? Are you sick?" Carmine asked as he moved cautiously into the cell, trying his best to avoid stepping on the bodies, pausing as he saw a woman curled up in the fetal position in the far corner.
The woman had shoulder length hair but Carmine couldn't properly tell what color it was in the dark. He saw that she wore a buttoned up shirt that looked like a lighter color and what looked like a black buttoned vest over the shirt and what he guessed was blue jeans. Badly ripped blue jeans. Her shirt and vest were ripped and torn and stained with fluids he didn't want to know was. She was severely malnourished, her clothes looking like there were a size too big. And she was staring at him, shaking as her eyes shown with fear.
"Hey, it's alright. I want to help you. Don't be scared. The locusts are gone." Carmine cooed softly, trying his best to get the woman to calm down as he slowly walked toward her, the woman trying the move deeper against the wall, as if trying to melt into it to get away from the stranger but far too weak to run or even try to get up.
"N….n….n…" The woman struggled out, her throat too dry to speak as she watched in fear and helplessness as the man approached her, crouching to her level about a foot in front of her.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't be scared. I'm not going to hurt you. See?" Carmine soothed, holding up his gloved hands for the woman to see that he had no intention of harming her.
"Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?" Carmine asked, the woman flinching and gaining new fear as she saw his hands disappear behind his body, hearing the sound of a zipper unzipping. The woman calmed slightly as she saw the man produce a small canteen, holding it out for the woman to take as she eyed it wearily, as if wondering if it was poison.
Carmine waited for the woman to take the object for several seconds before retracting the canteen, shaking it as he heard the liquid slosh around inside. "Uuhh, it's not that full. You can drink all of it if you want." Carmine said and offered the woman the canteen again, the woman hesitating for several seconds before weakly grabbing the canteen and trying to remove the cap only to find herself too weak.
"Here. I can do that." Carmine spook softly as he gently took the canteen from the woman, as if afraid of hurting her if he took it from her too roughly and unscrewed the cap before returning it to the woman.
Carmine watched as the woman put her cracked and bleeding lips on the mouth of the canteen, hearing her drink hungrily as she chugged the liquid, the water seeping out of her mouth as she drank too fast. The canteen ran out as the woman tried to shake the canteen, wanting more water but finding none as she tried to lick the remaining drops out with her tongue.
The woman coughed slightly as the water revived her vocal cords, licking her mouth as she regretfully handed the canteen back to the man, Carmine putting the canteen back into his pants pocket.
"Th….Thank….you." The woman wheezed, her voice heavily cracked and raspy from not speaking in so long and lack of liquid in her system.
"You're welcome." Carmine answered, smiling underneath his helmet from the good deed. The smile quickly died as the woman's small body began to rack with coughs, the dust in the air coating her lungs painfully.
"Hey, are you alright? Ma'am?" Carmine asked and gently put his hand on her shoulder to steady the woman, Carmine shocked as the woman suddenly smacked his hand away from her. It wasn't a strong smack, but it was a smack none the less.
"Do not…..TOUCH me…..never….touch…..no touch…." The woman hissed, fear overwhelming her as Carmine held up his hands to show he meant no harm.
"I'm sorry. I….didn't know." Carmine backed away slightly, giving the woman more space. It's not like she could hurt him but still.
"It's…..it's okay. You're not….like the others. Not cruel." The woman replied, her voice steadily returning.
"Like the others? Do you mean the locusts?" Carmine asked, the woman shaking her head in response. "No. Locusts are….they don't know mercy. Humans….the COG….they know mercy…..yet they don't GIVE mercy. Your kind is strong and cuel….so very cruel….."
"Miss? If you don't mind me asking….what did the COG do?" Carmine asked, curious but fearful of the woman's response at seeming pain fill her eyes.
"Many things, horrible things. Things I never wanted to be in. Things I never wanted to….do." The woman replied softly, her natural tone soft and quiet, causing Carmine to lean in closer to hear her better, the woman taking his action as a threat as she backed away in fear.
"NO! D-don't get closer! The soldiers are mean and cruel! They make us do things we don't want to do! Th-They touch us! Use us! Force us to bare their offspring! Inject us with chemicals to make us fertile! That's what they do to women. To ones who don't go into the army—they use us as breeding cattle!" The woman screamed in fear, and whether she realized it or not the woman had tears streaming down her face.
"Oh….oh, my God….How could they do that? Why? I-I'm so sorry. I didn't know that they…..did that to you." Carmine apologized, now realizing why the woman acted with such fear when he made physical contact with her. They forced themselves on her.
The woman quieted her crying, her eyes shining with tears as she looked at the soft blue glow his helmet produced. It reminded her of a night light.
"It's okay. You didn't know. But I can see you're not like the others. You have kindness in your voice. You came back when the others didn't. Why?" The woman asked, her breathing raspy from the dusty air as Carmine shifted uncomfortably. "I came to help you. Get you out of here. I….I couldn't bare the thought of leaving someone to die here."
The woman smiled at his words. "I can't remember what the sun looks anymore. Nothing but death and darkness. Am I all that's left?"
"I think so, ma'am. We did search but…we only found bodies." Carmine replied sadly, the woman turning crestfallen at the reply. "I have to get you out of here. If I don't then….you'll die."
"I know. I don't want to die." The woman stated and tried to get up but found herself too weak to get on her feet.
"Here. Eat this." Carmine replied, handing the young woman what looked like a giant, fat cracker that he fished out of his pack, the woman staring at it, unsure.
"What is it?" The woman asked, biting into it as Carmine approved at her actions. "It's rations from the COG. It'll keep you alive but it tastes like cardboard." Carmine replied. He didn't know what was in it, but damn it worked.
The young soldier waited until the female finished the ration before ramming another mutant cracker in her face. It was his last ration, but the woman needed it more than him.
"Are you ready?" Carmine asked as the woman nodded, though still too weak to move on her own. Carmine moved toward the woman and gently grabbed her arms, the woman tensing with fear as he carefully lifted her up, afraid of harming her and terrified by how skinny she felt.
The woman squeaked and trembled as he led her out the cell, her legs not used to supporting her own weight as she took one wobbly step after the other, Carmine keeping a gentle grip on her to steady the girl.
As the pair made their way down the tunnel the woman's legs began to get used to walking, Carmine now holding her at arm's length as she now walked with him, his hand still gripping her wrist gently.
"I've forgotten how good it feels to walk again!" The woman exclaimed, laughing softly as Carmine smiled. "Yeah! It's all the rage!"
The pair made their way to the end of the tunnel; dawn approaching slowly as the woman collapsed at the mouth of the cave, Carmine catching her as she collapsed in his arms, the young man gently laying her down on the grass as he collapsed next to her.
Carmine noticed the woman was shaking but was unsure if it was from the excitement or from the fear of him touching her. But he did know that she was smiling. And crying.
"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The woman gasped, crystals dancing in her eyes as she saw the sun rise for the first time in months, Carmine now able to make out her features better in the light.
The woman was deathly pale due to the lack of sunlight, bringing out her deep blue eyes that glowed with happiness, her cracked and bloodied lips up in a tight smile as scarlet hair flowed around her head, thinning slightly from lack of food and water. Her buttons shirt was white and stained with blood.
"Every night….I prayed and prayed and prayed for God to give me a sign that I wasn't abandoned. That I wasn't alone. And now I know. He sent me you. I think…you're my guardian angel." The woman replied, smiling at Carmine as the soldier couldn't help but smile under his helmet.
"And do I have the honor of knowing my Guardian's name?" The woman asked, Carmine extending out his gloved hand hesitantly as he responded. "Private Ben Carmine, ma'am. At your service." Carmine replied, the woman extending her hand slightly as Carmine wrapped his larger fingers around her smaller hand in a brief handshake.
"And do I get the honor of knowing your name, ma'am?" Carmine asked, teasing the woman slightly as she cocked her head to the side, as if trying to remember her own name.
"Alura. My name is Alura."
I may continue this but I am unsure if I truely should. Please comment and give me your opinions.
