Don't Let Me Down: Chapter 3 – Awful Truths
Disclaimer: Red vs. Blue belongs to Rooster Teeth.
Authoresses Note: Thanks for the reviews everyone.
The warthog carrying Caboose, three other Blue prisoners, two heavily armed Red passengers and a Red driver neared a large building. It had been a fairly long drive but the Reds were confident the Blues would have no idea where to follow them. Frequent desert sand storms would remove any tracks the warthog had left.
Caboose hadn't liked the long ride. He didn't really like warthogs. Plus the Reds were watching him and the other Blues carefully. They weren't very nice at all. Not like Donut from the Red base at Blood Gulch. He tried to speak but was hit on the side with the back of one of the Red's guns, hard. It left a crack in his armour. One of the shards from the armour went through to his skin and hit his hip underneath.
Caboose was confused, and in pain. He wasn't sure why the Reds were hitting him. He looked down to his side to find some blood leaking where he had been hit.
The warthog started slowing down and parked outside the sinister building. It was all black and had no windows. It wasn't a very high building, only one floor, but seemed to stretch on for a little while.
The Reds jabbed the Blue prisoners in the back with their guns. The Blues didn't resist. Caboose started to shake slightly as he was getting out of the warthog. Where were Church and the others? One of the Reds noticed his fear.
"Aww is the baby soldier afraid?" He spat at Caboose. He just stood there feeling even more afraid. He didn't want to speak because the last time he did that he just got hurt. The Red soldier growled.
"Come on you pathetic excuse for a human being. Get inside!" He snarled. He kicked Caboose in the leg to get him moving. Caboose just tripped.
"Get up maggot!" The Red loomed over him menacingly.
Caboose shakily got back to his feet. The Red jabbed him in the back with the gun again and he had no choice but to go with the evil Red.
Once they were inside Caboose was led past wall to wall cells, most were filled with a Blue soldier except some were empty. Finally the Red pushed him roughly into an empty cell. He fell to the ground and looked up at the Red.
"Take a good look around maggot. This will be the last thing you'll ever see." The Red hissed. He slammed the cell door and walked away.
Caboose just lay on the cold stone ground. There was a pain in his right side. He got up and whimpered as he realized the shard of armor that had been broken by the gun had been pushed further into his body. He slowly got up and turned onto his left side. The building was quite cold even though it was in the desert. The only way in and out seemed to be the one door he entered. Caboose looked down the hallway to find that it ended in a dead end.
He whimpered in pain as the shard embedded in his side caused him pain. Curling up into a tight ball to keep warm he decided that this was all a bad dream. Kind of like the time he had a nightmare about a monster and he went to wake up Church. Church was angry but Caboose didn't feel so scared anymore. He knew he was surrounded by his friends and that made him feel better. This was all just a bad dream that he'd wake up from. It had to be.
Caboose lay in a fitful sleep in his hospital bed. His dreams kept replaying his painful memories. They wouldn't stop. It was all one nightmare he wanted to forget.
Church walked back to the armor repair section of the base. After taking his shower he put on one of the Blue team uniform track suits and brought his damaged armor in for repair. The base/hospital had a large supply of the track suits. Many of the people at the base were wearing them. There was also a room of washing machines and dryers beside the shower room so he decided to drop off the cloth under suit of his armor for a wash.
He walked along the corridors aimlessly. This base seemed to be equipped with everything. There was a food court, a rec room, a gym, and many others. It wasn't just a hospital base but a recreational base as well. Everything was free for the Blues.
"Hey Church! Wait up!" A voice called him.
Tucker ran over to him. He was also wearing a regulation Blue track suit. He must've had the same idea.
"Tucker." Church nodded his head in greeting. He wasn't really in the mood for talking or insulting people for that matter, even though the track suit looked ridiculous on Tucker.
"Want to hit the gym? Maybe it'll help us relax. Or maybe we can pick up some chicks." Tucker grinned gleefully.
Church shook his head. "No sorry. I'm not in the mood right now. Besides what would Tex think?" He told him.
"Why? Afraid you might hurt her feelings? Or wait, maybe it's you who has a thing for her?" Tucker poked Church in the side.
Church growled and grabbed Tucker's arm. He twisted it behind his back.
"Ow ow ow! Tucker cried in pain.
Church released him. "I don't like Tex that way! Not anymore!" He snared at Tucker who was currently rubbing his arm to try and make the pain go away.
"Well sorry. I just thought you might. But maybe it's her who likes you. I mean she has stuck around since the whole O'Malley incident." Tucker pointed out.
"Oh stop speculating like a gossiping school girl and go to the gym!" Church snapped at him.
"Fine." Tucker said and turned around. "Prick." Church heard him say as he walked away.
"Asshole." Church muttered under his breath. Thank goodness Tucker didn't know the truth about his feelings for Tex. Yes he liked her still even though they had broken up a long time ago. But he certainly didn't want Tucker to know that.
He walked by himself again. He passed several Blues he recognized from recruit training. Thinking back he wondered how his old recruit classmates were fairing in the war. Were they dead, alive, low ranking, or high ranking?
As he walked along his thoughts wondered to Tex. Why had she stayed behind? Not that he was complaining but could Tucker be right about her liking him? He didn't want to get his hopes up though. Just in case she left or ended up not actually liking him. He didn't want to have to go through heartbreak.
He looked down the corridor to see Tex walking up to him. His stomach started tying itself in a knot.
"Hey Church." She said in a somewhat bored voice. She too was wearing the track suit. Although she actually looked good in it unlike Tucker.
"Hey." He said. He didn't want to say too much. Just in case his voice started acting funny out of nervousness or something.
She joined him in his walk and for awhile they just walked in silence. They reached an empty rec room and she turned to him.
"Want to go in? I haven't played a game for awhile now." She asked. He looked in the room. It was wall to wall with all sorts of computer games, pool tables and ping pong tables.
"Sure why not?" He said and they went inside.
She moved towards the pool table and he followed because he didn't really care what they did.
As she set up the game he smiled. "I remember we played this when we first met." He said as he remembered.
She looked up at him, her green eyes drilling holes into his hazel ones. "You remember that?" She asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Don't you?"
"Yes. I was playing pool with my friends when some perverted guy tried to hit on me and I ended up kicking his ass in pool she said with a smirk.
"That's not how it happened! I so won that game!" He reached for a pool cue. He knew exactly where this game was going to go,
"Mhm sure you did. If you actually won then prove it. Right here, right now." She challenged him.
"You're on!" He smirked.
The game started and Church soon found that he in fact was wrong about their first meeting. As Tex sunk the eight ball Church sat on a chair in defeat.
"Fine. You win." He pouted. She sat beside him.
"Oh come on it's not that bad. You still remember how our meeting ended?" She asked.
He looked at her. "Yes you kicked me ass in pool. Kind of like just now." He said.
She smirked at him. "Oh really I somehow remember it ending like this." Without warning she put her face forward and their lips touched. At first Church was shocked but then relaxed and kissed her softly back. When they finally broke apart, breathless, a voice was heard from the door way of the rec room.
"Bow chika bow wow! HA I KNEW IT!" Tucker cried triumphantly. Church and Tex both gave him the death glare.
"Can I take him?" Tex growled.
"Yeah go for it." Church said as he glared at Tucker. Tucker's eyes widened in fear as Tex charged at him. He started running with Tex following closely behind.
Church shook his head in good humour. Tucker would be feeling a world of pain soon enough. He walked out of the room when he noticed the time. His heart rate increased and he slapped his hand to his forehead. It had nearly been three hours since Caboose had been brought here.
He might be alone and worried! Church hurried over to the place where he last saw Caboose taken. Once he got there he looked around for any of the medics who wheeled Caboose off. None were around. He walked over to the front desk where a lady was sitting.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for a patient. Michael J. Caboose, could you tell me where he was taken?" He asked her in a panicked voice.
She started typing something on her keyboard.
"He's in room 156 right now. You can find it straight down this hallway and turn left." She pointed down the hallway behind her.
"Thanks." He said before hurrying off.
As he was walking he saw the head medic talking to a nurse. When the nurse walked off the medic noticed him.
"Are you looking for your friend, Private?" The medic asked.
"Private Church. And yes could you tell me where I can find him?"
"Yes please follow me." The medic led Church to a room at the end of a hallway. "Please step in here." The medic pointed inside. Church walked in to see Caboose asleep, or unconscious, on the bed. His face was quite pale and there was a bruise trailing down his neck and Church assumed onto his shoulder which was covered in a hospital gown. The cut below his eye seemed to stand out against the paleness of his complexion.
"Your teammate has been through a lot. His right leg is fractured and his body is covered in cuts and bruises those however aren't worrisome." The medic led Church over to the bed. Church's mouth went dry as he prepared to hear the worst.
"We found a shard of his armor embedded fairly deep within his side. The cut is quite infected. We removed the shard but…" The medic trailed off and lifted up the bed sheets and Caboose's shirt slightly to remove a bandage gently. The bandage revealed a nasty and green coloured cut above his right hip.
Church cringed at the sight of it and the medic replaced the bandage and placed the bed sheet back on.
"You see. We've medicated it the best we could but if this gets worse then we may have to remove the surrounding tissue and skin. Unfortunately that would be a risky operation because the cut is deep and very close to delicate internal organs. We can only hope that the infection can heal through the medication. We can only hope it doesn't spread to his internal organs. If the infection spreads then his life is on the line." The medic said gravely.
Church felt guilt suddenly course through his veins. When he was lifting Caboose he put his hand on his right side and Caboose had cried out in pain. Had he unintentionally pushed the shard deeper?
The medic continued talking. "He's also very underfed and dehydrated. The Reds didn't take very good care of him at all. He's being tube fed right now until we can switch him onto solid food again. Same with water, he's being re hydrated. That shouldn't take too long though."
Church was distracted. He was more worried about the infection.
"What if the infection heals?" Church asked in a hoarse voice.
"If the infection is showing signs of healing then we have to send him back to your base within two days because this base will be expecting high levels of causalities in the next few days. If not then we can only keep him here for a tiny bit longer. You see there are many soldiers here that need help. We can't just focus on one Private for a long time. Higher ranks come first. He's going back to Blood Gulch soon whether he's healing or not." The medic told Church.
"But how are we supposed to take care of him?" Church cried angrily. "We're not trained as medics!"
"I'm sorry son but that's the way it works. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get to other patients." The medic left Church alone with an unconscious Caboose.
Church sat down on a chair beside Caboose's bed. He looked very troubled as he slept there. Church sincerely hoped he hadn't made Caboose's injury worse. It would be terrible to find that it was his fault. It was bad enough for Caboose to be in this state but if Church had actually had a part in it then he'd feel even more terrible.
Tex and Tucker eventually made their way into the hospital room. They all sat there in silence as they watched the progress of their injured teammate. Church explained to them what the medic had told him and he showed them the cut. Tucker looked horrified and Tex just looked at it with a sad expression on her face.
Caboose unaware of their presence had a pained expression on his face as his nightmares continued to torture his mind.
Caboose was sad when he found out he wasn't sleeping. He awoke in the same cold cell on the same hard floor. As he got up he forgot about his injury and yelped in pain. He carefully got up and found his body was sore from sleeping on the cold ground. Actually he hadn't really been sleeping, it's near impossible to sleep in the cold but he had been floating between consciousness and unconsciousness all night.
He noticed the other Blues in the cells stretching themselves out as well. Caboose felt just as confused as the night before. He called to the Blue in the cell beside him.
"Hey! You, can you tell me where I am?" Caboose asked.
The Blue wearily looked up at Caboose. "You're in hell son. Those Reds are the devils. They've been playing with us like a kid magnifying ants."
Caboose thought that over and got what he could out of it.
"I used to magnify ants when I was a kid." He informed the Blue.
The Blue just sighed. "You'll find out soon enough." He said and didn't answer anymore questions that Caboose asked him.
Caboose soon got bored and just sat in a comfortable position, keeping off his bad side. He started humming a theme song from a TV show. Normally Tucker and Church would've told him to shut up but none of these Blues seemed to care. In fact they just kind of lay there, staring into space.
Suddenly two Reds dragging a Blue behind them were walking down the corridor.
"No please! Don't I beg you! Please spare me!" He shouted in a panicked voice. Caboose watched from his cell and they brought him to the end of the hallway. They kicked open something that Caboose couldn't see. There seemed to be a staircase as the Reds dragged the Blue out of sight. His screams could still be heard throughout the facility.
Then there was no noise for a minute then suddenly a sound like a saw starting up was heard. Caboose didn't know what was going on. A blood curdling scream erupted from where they took the Blue soldier. Screams of pain were coming from down the staircase mixed in with the sound of the saw. Then as suddenly as the noise started everything went dead. A shudder seemed to go through the Blues in the cells as footsteps were heard coming up the staircase.
Caboose was frightened but couldn't help but look to see what was going to happen. He wished he hadn't when the Reds came back up the stairs carrying the most frightening thing Caboose had ever seen. He closed his eyes to try and block out the body but it still lingered in his mind. He fell backwards and landed on his wound again as he moved away form the Reds who were passing by his cell carrying that awful and bloody body that was once a living human being.
One Red continued to drag it outside but the second remained behind for all the celled Blues to hear him.
"Don't think you won't escape our punishment. You're all going to have a turn!" He snarled and followed his partner.
Caboose scuttled to the farthest corner of his cell. He wrapped his arms around his knees regardless of the pain in his side. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. The screams still rang in his ears. He could only hope that he'd see his team again.
Caboose woke up in a cold sweat. He yanked his head up and found tubes on his face. He started swiping at them when hands started to push him back down.
"Calm down Caboose. It's just us." Caboose opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times to get them into focus. He found Church, Tucker and Tex looking at him with worried expressions on their faces.
They all noticed he was breathing hard and was even paler.
"Where am I?" He asked in a confused voice.
"You're at the hospital. Church rescued you remember?" Tucker asked.
Caboose thought for a second he had a mental image of Church finding him in that place. He shuddered as his thoughts turned back to there. He lay back down on his pillow. The strength he had just felt when he fought the hands was ebbing away.
"Want us to get the medic Caboose?" Tex asked.
"No. I think I'm ok. Except for my side, it hurts a lot. Could I just ask for one thing?" He asked hopefully.
"Sure name it."
"Could I please have some orange juice?" Caboose asked. The others secretly smiled. Hopefully this was a good sign.
Authoresses Note: There's chapter three. I hope you enjoyed it. I just wanted to point out that when I'm describing Caboose's situations or feelings I realize that my vocabulary is very un-Caboose. I'd just like to point out that it's not Caboose doing the describing. So please don't get worried that Caboose is so out of character to the point where he speaks way different. I'm trying my best to make his speech as simple and Caboose-like as possible. Thank you. Please review.