When I awoke, I felt my hands and ankles were restrained. I didn't remember right off what happened, so, I began to struggle, scared.
"Hey, relax. You're safe. We just tied you up for precautions. We have to make sure you're really not dangerous." I looked up to see the guy who'd saved me from having my head blown off standing in the open lid of the tank we were in. Piers was to my right, looking slightly wary.
I stopped struggling, but I was still a bit scared. I didn't know these men, even though I knew they were soldiers from the BSAA. They were definitely American, too, but in this apocalyptic world, you have to be careful whom you trust.
"So, why don't you start off with your name and why you can fight like that? My name is Chris by the way. Chris Redfield." I blinked warily at the man, still slightly unsure.
"My…my name is Julie Michaels. I used to live in a small town in the Republic until this started happening. I'd lived there since I was fifteen, so about five years now." I began to tell them about my father, and how Jake saved me, and how I ended up where I am now.
"Jake wanted me to be able to defend myself a bit, so he taught me how to fight. I can't do too much, but I've learned the basics. I've just recently learned how to shoot a gun right." I giggled a little on the last part, feeling more at ease.
Piers smirked at me, making me bite my cheek. He had to be at least five years older than me, so I put my thoughts of his attractiveness in the back of my mind.
"Alright, Julie. I believe you. Piers, untie her. I'm sure she would like to stretch her arms a bit. How old are you anyway, Kid?" I cringed at the nickname, but answered him anyways as Piers slid over the bench seat and took out his knife.
"I'm twenty. I'll be twenty one next month." Piers took my wrist in his hand and cut the rope with the other. I had to fight not to stare at him as he cut the rope around my ankles. When he sat up again, he looked at me, almost sheepish.
"Um…sorry. For before, I mean. I didn't mean to scare you so badly…" I blushed heavily, letting the thought sink in of me fainting in front of this cute guy. I felt so embarrassed.
"N-No. It's okay. You were just doing your job. And I wasn't really that scared. I haven't eaten in like two days, so when my adrenaline went down, so did I." I laughed about it, but the men looked anything except amused.
"Two days? You do know the limit is three days, right? Captain, will you look in the glove compartment?" Chris looked at Piers with a strange look, but reached forward and opened it to find a wrapped sandwich sitting neatly in the compartment.
Chris reached in and looked at Piers, then handed me the sandwich. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing. I hope you like ham." I looked at Piers with an incredulous expression.
"I can't take this, Piers! This is yours!" He chuckled a bit at me and shook his head.
"You need to more than me. Besides, I had a big breakfast." I could tell he was lying, but I couldn't pass down the offer for food that I didn't have to fight for.
"…Thank you. And I love ham." He smiled as I gingerly unwrapped the sandwich. We drove until suddenly, the tank in from of us was hit with a RPG.
"Enemy Fire! Enemy fire! Alpha team engage! Alpha Team, spread out! Return fire! Alpha to HQ, we're taking fire at the Two of Hearts. Engaging the enemy." I heard Chris yell as Piers helped me out of the tank. I was given my shotgun back, so I held stead fast to it.
"Just stay behind me. I'll keep you safe." Piers promised me, and ran into a building to the left to avoid the on-going fire of both teams. A couple of J'avo were in the broken room. Piers slammed one of their heads into the wall while I jumped up, kicking the other in the face.
The J'avo hit the floor, but he wasn't dead. Piers ran over and quickly stomped his head in. It busted open and the guy slowly disintegrated.
I pouted. "God, what I'd give to be that strong!" I swear I saw him blush as he waved me over.
"Come on. We need to make it up to that bridge up there." Piers and I worked well together. We took out J'avo after J'avo. Even when a huge BOW attacked us, we worked together to fight it. It ran off after we'd hurt it a few times and over a rooftop so we couldn't get to it.
"You're pretty good, Julie. Ever though about joining the BSAA?" Chris complimented me. I blushed a bit and scratched the back of my head.
"Well, not really. I'm not that great. How would I even be able to? I'm pretty sure they don't have a Eastern European branch for the BSAA anymore…"
"Don't be so modest, Jules. With some training, I'm sure you'd make a great asset to the BSAA. And you could always come to the North American division. You said you were born in the US, right? And I'm sure with a little coaxing and buttering-up, they'd definitely take you on. Especially if they know you helped us complete our mission."
I blushed heavily at Piers compliment and the nickname he'd given me. "Well…I'll think about it." They nodded, grinning a bit. I noticed Piers looking at me, smiling a bit.
"What is it, Piers? Do I have something on my face?" His smile dropped quickly and he coughed, shaking his head.
"N-No. There isn't anything on your face…" He turned away from me, the blush apparent on his cheeks.
"Alpha to HQ, we were blocked by a BOW." Chris talked to HQ and I could hear them through Piers's earpiece.
"Change course from route 1 to route 4." They answered and we began to follow a tank past our original route.
"That thing was enormous! I didn't know BOWs' could get that big!" I heard one of the guys say as we headed towards an alleyway.
"They're giving them good stuff. They can make any kind of freak show they want." Walker said over the earpiece to Airhart.
The tank turned right and all of the soldiers who were on foot ran under a passageway with about four J'avo. Chris took out two, while Piers and I got the last two.
I ran forward and wrapped my arm around the back of his head and kicked the back of his knee in so he fell back and we both crashed to the ground. The impact was so hard, his head exploded on contact.
Piers ran up to his and kicked him a couple of times before he punched under the guy's chin, sending him flying up in the air. I tried my hardest to hold down my grin. I was swooning something serious over him right now.
We ran out of the other end of the building to follow the tank again. There was a destroyed building to the left of the tank after it'd broken down a gate and Chris ran in there and started taking out the shooting J'avo.
The tank stopped because we were being fired at. There was a large gate blocking our path and we made our way to it, killing the few J'avo along the way.
When things were finally cleared, after killing a truck full of J'avo, we made it to the gate. "Finn, we need you to blow this off." Piers said to Finn over the earpiece. I really needed to get one of those so I didn't have to listen in to the guys' every time.
"I'm on it, Sir!" Finn ran around the corner and placed a couple of C4 on the sides of the gate. The explosions went off and Finn kicked the right side of the gate down.
We had to jump down pretty far, but Piers caught me before I could land and probably break my feet. "T-Thank you, Piers…"
He chuckled. "Anytime, Jules." He set me on my feet and we turned to see a Train car blocking our path.
"A train car is blocking our way! I'm going to try and clear the path!" Finn kneeled at the base of the train and began to lay explosives. "I just need you to cover me till I get it set!"
"Roger that, Finn!" I turned and began to shoot at the J'avo that now filled the area. I'd lost count on the amount of them that I'd killed before I heard Finn yell to find cover.
I was grabbed from behind and pulled behind a metal crate. I almost flipped until I saw it was Piers. He smiled a bit at me and I couldn't help but return it.
J'avo were still pouring from every angle when the explosives went off. The car shot up and leaned against a wall. It started to slide down and Walker motioned all of us under it. We barely got pass it before it fell again, blocking the J'avo from getting to us.
We came out of a tunnel to see a huge, steel bridge stretching across a deep canyon. "We've got a man down on the bridge."
"Tank on the bridge! The whole thing is blocked off!" Piers yelled out.
"Getting to the wounded is priority one!" Chris yelled to us as Piers and I ran to one of the soldiers that waved us over.
"All snipers form on my mark!" Chris stood waiting for us in front of a gap. He held his hands down so we jump into them. Piers went first, and then I followed after. I hit the ground and rolled. It hurt a bit, but not as much as it would have if I'd fallen into the canyon.
We ran through an underground building, taking out a few J'avo along the way. We went up a flight of stairs and Piers perched his rifle in one of the windows and took an aim at the tank that was blocking the way.
"Captain, my gun isn't working. Try to lead it closer to you. Maybe I can get a shot at the gas tank behind it!" Piers spoke over to Chris as he looked through his scope.
I grew intrigued with what Piers was doing. Sniping looked…cool. "Hey…Piers?" He shot at a large gas truck when the tank moved up farther, causing a large explosion to go off.
"Yeah?" He answered as Chris told us to meet him up on the bridge. We ran out a door behind us and up a couple flights of stairs. We took out a few J'avo before we made it to the top and before I spoke again.
"Whenever we get a chance, is there anyway you could teach me how to use a sniper rifle? I've never used one before, and Chris tells me you're the best marksman in your division." Piers's face turned a bit pink as we made our way onto the steel bridge.
"W-Well...I don't know about the best, b-but I'll teach you..." I grinned and took a chance by kissing his cheek and running ahead. He followed after, a timid smile on his face.
