1Author's note: Alright! Your wishes are gonna come true in this chapter and a lot of things will come through with this new installment. Hell even I have to say that this chapter got to me, I almost felt my eyes tearing up too. I just hope that in my future, I won't have to make the same make-shift burial site for my fellow Marines. We Infantry Marines…we grunts are super close like that. Losing your fellow Marine is like losing your brother or sister. I'm going to shut up now so you guys can read on. Enjoy.
P.S. There's gonna be a lot of Generation Kill references. Lol, and also just like how in the end of every episode Takashi reflects on what happens, I'm gonna do that. So yeah! NOW ENJOY!
Chapter IV: The Price of Freedom
The heavy rainpour was a big annoyance to the spiky haired protagonist. As Takashi pushed through the gusts of winds, he'd put his forearms in front of his face leaving a small crevice for him to see. He tried to glance around to see if he was the only one who hated the feeling of his socks being soaked in his shoes. Komuro got a look at Kohta trying to keep his glasses on while keeping his sniper rifle downrange; Saya was holding Alice's hand so she doesn't get blown away in the wind.
"Wahh, my hair! My hair Saya-chan!" Alice yelled out as she ruffled her moist locks, Saya clutched her fist with her free and shook it at her.
"How many times do I gotta tell you? It's Onee-sama!"
"This rain is making my hair all messy and ugly, and I'm cold!" Alice said as she almost started to cry, her seven year old world was crowding all around her. Shizuka caught up with Saya and Alice, bending over while walking along with them she patted her shoulder to try and comfort her. In less of a second, James was already in front of them. He tilted his head in confusion as to what the problem is.
"You guys holding out alright?" He asked, Alice whimpered and shook her head. Pointing up to her hair, she'd start exclaim how the rain is making her feel.
"My hair, Nii-san…the rain is making me look bad. Plus I'm so cold…" With an unseen frown from behind his sand scarf he decided to make her day. Saya watched this and her left eye twitched in annoyance, 'How come she calls him "Nii-san", grr…' she thought.
Without hesitation he took off his kelvar desert MARPAT covered helmet and put it on her head. She looked up in confusion as James knelt down and started to strap it to her so it wouldn't fall off despite the winds.
"As long as you keep your head warm, you should feel at least a little bit better. And you hair, well…helmet hair is better than wet messy hair right?" James said. Alice giggles and pats her helmet down, it felt so big and heavy but nonetheless warmer.
"Arigato gozaimasu, Nii-san!"
James got back up and took his glasses off so he can wink at the girls, placing his fingers in the form of a gun he'd plant them on his temple and then he said, "If I get sniped and die, I'm haunting Kohta." With that said, he put his sunglasses back and he walked back to the front of the group. Even as he walked, the girls continued to laugh at his joke.
Rei covered her mouth to try and stop herself from laughing. "Oh my god, this guy is so funny!"
"Eh, I've seen better." Saya shrugged and pushed the frames of her glasses up. Rei rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her chest.
"Well aren't you hard to please! James a riot and you know it! Not to mention he's such a total hottie." She said giggling at the thought of James laying on his back with his uniform blouse unbuttoned and his abs and his perfect broad chest subtly revealing itself to her imaginations. Saya stuck her tongue out and grinned.
"I love being hard to please! That just means I got high expectations. And he's not a riot, more like a gaijin to me."
Rei narrowed her eyes and waved her hand dismissively. "So what? C'mon Saya just because he's American and speaks bad Japanese doesn't mean a thing. Plus I don't know…I'm starting to dig white guys I guess? Just look at him!" she said while grabbing her head and turning her to his direction, they saw James who took his glasses off and him lowering his scarf. They saw him run his fingerless olive green gloved fingers through his hair and crack his neck. "You're gonna tell me that he isn't hot? Plus he's caring and he's so rugged."
Saya felt her cheeks heat up but she shook her head dismissingly, "Well alright, he is pretty cute but that don't mean shit!"
As the two spent their time bickering in the rainfall, Takashi was griping and staring at James. 'I wonder if Rei thinks this guy is charming or something...guh, competition. I hate it...dealt with it once, do I honestly have to deal with it again?' he thought to himself as he looked at the Marine up front leading with his sand scarf and ballistic dark sunglasses on again, waving around that M4 as if it was another extension of his arm.
He studied him, his movements; his aura was so strong and confident. He didn't like how that this Marine of all people was somewhat of a pretty boy, he was strong, charismatic, charming, experienced in combat, and just something about him didn't rub him right. Was it the way he talked to the girls in the group? He talked to everybody including those of the opposite sex with so comfort, no hesitance in any action whatsoever. 'Am I jealous? Nah...That's fucking stupid. This guy is like what? In his twenties or something? He looks young yeah...but he just seems older in experience...I hope this guy don't think he can take my place or anything...' Takashi thought as he clutched his fingerless gloved hands as he persevered through the blistering winds and the pouring rain.
"Hey Takashi, come up here for a minute." Said James as he waved him over to the front, shaking his head he ran over and joined him.
"What do you got?"
"Shh, listen." He put his fingers against Takashi's lips and jerked his head towards the back of the group, James enticed Takashi to focus his hearing to listen to Saya and Rei gossip and talk about him. Hearing what Rei had to say only encouraged his beliefs, grunting at this he'd look at him whose only response to them was to laugh.
"Haha! Man oh man…girls, dude. They are so freakin' funny. I'll tell ya the truth; I'm pretty fuckin' flattered to be the subject of girls' bullshit." Takashi only shrugged his shoulders and looked the other way.
"Well aren't you modest, Mr. Marine."
James put his hand on his shoulders and flashed him a finger. "Dude, I'm fuckin' around. Like they know I'm hot, yeah so what? They talk about me as if I was Justin Timberlake or somethin', girls always talk about a hot guy like that but that don't mean they go out and fuck the guy. It's so obvious…" He paused to lean down and whisper into his ear. "They both like you so fuckin' badly, I can smell it. You should consider yourself lucky. They're both pretty damn hot; if I was seventeen again…I'd definitively go and bag 'em. But I don't feel like going to the brig though."
Takashi tilted his head in confusion. "Bag?"
James slapped his head and laughed. "Oh my bad dude, that's American slang. It means I'd totally go out with them, y'know? Flirt and stuff."
Takashi pointed at them and at him and was even more confused, but a little aggravated at the same time. "What? You're gonna tell me you don't flirt with them?" James shook his finger and smirked, his nonchalant attitude towards things annoyed him further. Takashi didn't know what he didn't like about him, was it just jealousy? Maybe he might take his leadership position? He felt challenged, but he didn't like it.
"Takashi. There's a difference between flirting with intent and just flirting naturally. Mine just happens to fall upon the latter. Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna take your girl." He said jerking his head towards Rei, the teen blushed and looked away. Just looking at him he could tell he got his point across, chuckling he'd turn his head to the front and continue to navigate.
Rei had to throw her voice out through the loud winds of the storm, the only good thing that all of them noticed is that they shouldn't run into any zombie resistance since they wouldn't be able to spot them with all the noise from the storm. "HEY! How far is this place anyway?" she asked, James turned around and bobbed his head towards the front direction.
"I say about two more klicks? Well...in civi talk...I say we got a long ass way. Don't worry we'll be there soon! If we keep walking and don't take any breaks, we should be able to get there before 1800, which in civi talk means 6:00PM!" James said as he tapped on the watch and kept moving. His voice was almost barely audible with that scarf and the winds. But with him still walking, she got the message.
As they continued walking, Rei decided to ask one more question since it was bugging her the entire time. For some reason she felt that Kohta would probably butt in on this, but she just had to ask. "Hey James? That optic on your rifle...how come it's still working? There was an EMP not too long ago; shouldn't it be like down or something?" With her asking this, James stopped and turned around facing everyone. Taking one look at his M4 and back at the group, he chuckled and lowered his scarf for a moment so they can hear him clearly. All he took was one breath before Kohta already ran to the front to answer her, but the Marine put his hand up to stop him in his tracks.
"Slow down there, I know you know the answer. Let me explain this one, alright?" He said with a cheerful smile, the way he handled it without belittling his knowledge despite being a sixteen year old civilian was very well receive. Without complaining, Kohta nodded and stood next to Rei so he can listen in.
James shuffled up to her and handed Rei his rifle. "Here take a look!" Nodding she held it up, which wasn't as heavy as she expected it to be. Taking aim at the fog ahead of them she saw a chevron and a couple of measurements and what not. "Unlike the other reflex sights you guys have on your firearms, those operate on battery power and electricity. The ACOG doesn't, it operates with light. Inside it has fiber optics and a light gathering rail when light is bountiful. But unfortunately, with this rain we got barely any light whatsoever. But regardless as you can see," He paused as he put his finger on the outside of the scope; Rei was able to see a dark red chevron.
"In darker areas that little chevron glows dark red, if it was sunny it would be bright red. I'm talking about bright as fuck, like brighter then this fucking shitstorm. Hell, with a reflex sight like this? Oh man...Marines like me can cap a beautiful headshot from 800 meters away! That's fuckin' 2,600 feet away man. Haha, Oorah! Doesn't get any better then that!" He said waving his arms around, Rei laughed at this lesson and handed the rifle back.
"Wow! Thanks James that was pretty cool. All that technology in such a tiny thing." She said clapping her hands and James just shrugged in response, turning around he'd pull up his sand scarf and started to walk finishing with this.
"Hey at least you can you learned something!"
Suddenly without any warning, James stopped and put his hand up which must of indicated stop. Everyone stopped behind him, then his hand formed a fist and he crouched down. Looking behind him, he waved at them to get down too. They followed his movements and whispered among each other about what was going on, except for Kohta. It seemed that he trusted the Marine's instincts so he didn't question a single order; he was the only one out of the group who didn't whisper among each other wondering what this was about. Takashi tip-toed behind James and tapped him on the shoulder and James took his eye off of his ACOG to acknowledge him.
"What the hell is going on? Is there somebody there?" He said in a loud whisper in James's direction, in reply he shook his head and put his eye back on the ACOG, checking that chevron that eyed a vehicle in the area that had its lights on.
"We have contact, vehicle 12 'o clock, lights on, my assumption that the keys are in the ignition. If anyone's inside, I don't know but that's what we need to find out. If we can grab our hands on a car it would make traveling in this rain much easier...those wheels look pretty durable. Plus we'll at least be warm." He said while standing up and waved his hands for the group to push forward, James stopped on his tracks and took off his ballistic sunglasses and looked over his shoulders. There was a cold-blooded look in his eyes, the eyes of a murderer. His tone even changed with the appearance too. "We might have to get our hands dirty...so get ready for anything. You guys might wind up killing someone today...or who knows." James finished with putting his glasses back on and pushing forward. "You might have already beaten me to the punch, who am I to judge."
Takashi stood there frozen as he listened and watched what he said and did. Those eyes, it made his bones shiver almost. Eyes that even might make the devil cry. He had seen that look before, in Saeko. Could he have some sort of raw nature that he's hiding in that 'professionalism'? In any case, he wasn't alone; everyone felt that scary sight of him.
As the group pushed forward, that killer side of James died and it was replaced with a shade of sorrow. His stance faltered and the barrel of his M4 now was aimed at the concrete. His jade eyes behind those dark sunglasses was widened and in complete shock, if it wasn't for that scarf and glasses that feigned stoic look would be a nice look of complete sadness. They knew something was off when they weren't moving and he didn't start shooting his rifle all over the place, Takashi walked up to him and looked up at his masked face.
"What's the hold up?" says Takashi, a large looming sigh left James lips as he took off his sunglasses and lowered his scarf, turning around he faced the group and took some time to try and form words. They gathered around him and looked up at him; it was the first time seeing such a strong person at a loss for words.
"Th-this...this is where we were ambushed." James finally managed to say, turning around quickly and power walking further into the area, Takashi and Rei looked at each other then at the rest. They did remember him saying his unit was ambushed and he was the only survivor left, they had to break into a tiny jog to follow him.
James's boots felt the scattered rocks and debris from the C4 that his late brother in arms, Cpl. Johnny Beckett had planted on not only their fallen comrades but himself as well. Beckett made the greatest sacrifice to ensure that a Marine was still walking the streets of Japan alive and well. Just the thought that someone laid their life down for him like this still makes him feel as if he was unworthy, Beckett was a better Marine then him, and at least he thought so. Images of their past flashed in his head as he approached the site where Beckett blew himself up, he knelt on the ground and rubbed the concrete as images bombarded his psyche.
He remembered their past of him and the country boy running through the barracks of School of Infantry when they were young Private First Classes, then their graduation date in the Basic Reconnaissance Course that gave them the title Force Recon Marine, upon the realization that they'd be joining each other in MARSOC first battalions the Marine Corps created and they among other Force Recon Marines out of 1st FORECON was handpicked. Images like their deniable operations deep in the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan, the urban cities of Pakistan, the communist lands of North Korea, and many other places. They had each others backs since boot camp, especially since they had to strive to be the best in boot camp since they joined up with a Recon contract. The two had to be the best in their classes, if they weren't the best, they'd simply be just normal Infantry grunts. So they pulled each other through and made it to be the best, eventually in the Marine Corps's 'elite within the elite'.
Saeko seeing Takashi and Kohta whisper amongst each other about how James was feeling towards being in this area again, she had to go see what was up. The second she approached the two she was already absorbed into the conversation.
"You think he's going to be alright, Saeko-san?" Kohta asked looking pretty worried for the wellbeing of their new comrade. She didn't answer as she turned around to see James take out a pair of dogtags from his pockets and staring down at them. Takashi shook his head and rubbed his chin as he decided to put his input on the status of the Marine.
"I'd hate to be in his shoes. It sucks just losing one friend, but a whole bunch of people you know and love right in front of you? He doesn't look like he's taking it too well."
"I think he's going to pull through! I mean come on...he's a Marine! They pull through everything!" Kohta said as he clutched his knuckles and tried to sound hopeful for Sullivan, he supported him as if he was a super hero.
"And what if he doesn't?"
The sudden input from Saeko broke the chatter between the two; they both looked over at her. She looked plain sorry for him; sympathy was overflowing from her as she clutched the ribbon on her uniform blouse. "He may be a strong man, a Marine at that too...but he's still as human as you and I, Kohta. We all have our breaking points. I just hope he'll be fine." She said as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, as if she was going into her own world of thoughts.
Picking himself up from the ground he'd walk over to the humvee that Hotel Company used to occupy, apparently it had survived the damage of Beckett's C4, a little banged up but still good to go. Perhaps Beckett made himself not fall too far away from the humvee, knowing he'd be back? Moving the bodies of Sgt. Wells, LCpl. Allen, and PFC. Meyers so they can blow up away from the humvee? Sounds very crazy but who knows, anything could have happened, but the main point was that the humvee was working. Patting it down he'd call out to the group to gather around.
"Well I got some good news. The humvee seems to be in working order, it's a little fucked up but it's still good to go. We can use this to get around but...before we go anywhere..." James paused and looked down at the ground, almost unsure if he should continue. Shizuka spoke up and clasped her hands together; her calm soothing voice would calm any storm.
"Go on, James. No need to be ashamed, we are all friends here."
Looking up at the blond nurse, his jade optics brightened up with hope a little bit as he gained the courage to ask. "Is it possible you can help me...give these guys a proper burial? My boy Beckett made sure there wasn't anything left of the bodies with what he did to ensure my safety...so basically all you need to do is look around for like any scattered rifles and helmets. The only dogtags I have left of any of these men is well..." He paused and held up Beckett's and chuckled to himself. "…these little bad boys. It shouldn't take more than ten minutes...these guys deserve a proper rest after what they did for their country...and for yours. If you don't want to I can do it my–?"
"We would be honored to help you out." Takashi said, shocking others as he was the first one to speak upon this behalf, especially the way he addressed him earlier with threats to kill him if he double crossed them. His skeptical views of him, his inner jealousy, and more would have usually expected someone of his caliber to deny this and say they don't have time to. But that those qualities didn't fit Takashi at all. "I mean...you did save our asses back there, we're a team...so we should do anything to help out." With his words many smiles were made, with James being the biggest.
"Oorah! Alright then, we just need four helmets and four rifles. Once you find those for me, I'll finish the rest." He felt his eyes water but he stow that away, he had to be strong now. "I cannot even fathom words to express how this means to me, all I can say is...thank you." James said as he turned around and began trying to find any remnants of helmets and rifles all around this block, he was suddenly stopped and he looked down to see little Alice hugging his leg and smiling up at him.
"That's what family is for silly! I know what it's like to lose somebody important too, so I'll work super duper hard!" James couldn't help but feel the sides of his cheeks widening and a big smile coming in, he patted his helmet that she wore and nodded.
"Family huh? Well thank you so much! Your first acts of duty for your Nii-san is to check over there with Zeke for some helmets, don't bother looking for the rifles. Can you guys handle it?"
Enthusiastically Alice saluted the Marine and Zeke jumped up and down barking in response to the order. "You got it, Nii-san!" with that she ran off with Zeke to go look for the fallen Marines gear.
Within minutes they gathered rifles that were beaten up and had dried blood on them, along with helmets that were dusty courtesy to Alice and Zeke's persistence. James thanked them once more before taking all the equipment and walking to the front of a house where the front lawn was available. They all watched as he stabbed the barrels of the M4's and M16's into the ground and placed the helmets propped up on the buttstocks of each weapon. Reaching into the pockets of his trousers, James pulled out a permanent marker and wrote on thehelmets..
Each helmet read this: SGT. PATRICK WELLS, AGE: 27; H/2/1, 1ST MAR DIV, USMC. LCPL. WILLIAM ALLEN, AGE: 20; H/2/1, 1ST MAR DIV, USMC. PFC. ZACK MEYERS, AGE: 18; H/2/1, 1ST MAR DIV, USMC. CPL. JOHNNY BECKETT, AGE: 22; 1ST MSOB, BRAVO CO, USMC.
On Beckett's rifle he took one last look at the dogtags and prayed a short prayer, Shizuka noticed how tightly he held them and how when he knelt he had just stayed there, as if he was absorbed with thoughts and memories from the past. Seeing James like this made her sad, she can feel her pain. It reminded her when she lost her parents, even though she already knew just by looking at these names that they aren't related but the pain is all the same. But it was more so felt for this Beckett guy than anyone else.
"Rest in peace you crazy southern bastard…" James said as he hooked Beckett's dogtags around the M16's handle and planted his head against the helmet, holding onto it. Pausing for a moment he shoved his hand into his pants and pulled out his wallet, taking out a tiny wallet-sized picture of them when they were back in SOI, back when they were 17 themselves. James laughed at those young memories, fresh out of High School, maybe from different states but all the same. Going to join the Marines and all, they were the same and there was something special in him, he was like a brother, a long lost brother, and now he's gone. The Marine used the strap on the helmet to hold the picture there and he tried to smile but couldn't.
Shizuka felt obliged to go over there and show him that he wasn't alone. Once she got there, she sat down right next to him and looked at all the helmets and the names on it. She was amazed at how old all these men were, almost all them were younger than her, except for the Sergeant who was the same age. It almost mirrored the group and her place there, if something like this happened to Takashi and the rest. Would it be like this? Would they get a make-shift burial site for them too? Putting these thoughts aside she rubbed her fingers against the surface of the helmet.
"Wow, these guys were so young…it's amazing what you guys do." She took her blue eyes off of the helmets and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know you probably are expecting this but…I'm sorry for your loss, we all are." James lips curled into a ghost of a smile as he tapped the woman's hand and kept his eyes straight on the picture, he tried to be hard and squared away, he has had comrades die around him before, he's seen multiple tours of combat, and this shouldn't be anything to him. Like Beckett said to him about getting infected, this ain't shit compared to what they've seen and did in their Special Forces careers. But why does he feel so weak now?
"Thank you, Shizuka." Taking a deep breath he'd pat down Beckett's helmet and try to maintain that smile his very best. But his voice started to crack when he spoke. "Beckett was a good Marine…and a good friend. We've been friends since boot camp, five years together. Hell…we even went to the re-enlistment office together to sign for more years in the Corps. Crazy young kids like Beckett and I…thrown in the fray of war with our own free will intact."
Shizuka gasped and smiled brightly, "Wow, five years? You guys must have been close. He really must have liked you a lot."
"Not just liked. This guy loved me, loved me like a brother. Loved me enough to throw down his life on the line. But why…why couldn't it have been me?" Shizuka noticed that his breathing was getting heavier and his eyes were watering up."That bastard…THAT FUCKING SOUTHERN BASTARD!" He yelled out at the top of his lungs whilst slamming his fist into the pavement. Everyone paused in what they were doing and stared at him in deep concern. Shizuka covered her mouth and looked on as he let all of it out. She didn't dare to interrupt him and let him vent.
"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME! Why did you have to get infected! Why did you have to play the hero? Wh-why?" He grinded his fingers onto the grass and felt his tears crash against his hand. "Why did you have to die? Yo-you told me that we were invincible together, this didn't mean shit…it didn't mean shit…" Shizuka watched in silence as the tears just kept streaming down his cheeks, his voice getting quieter and quieter, but despite the enduring rain she could still hear him. "You idiot…you fucking liar…why…just…"
She just couldn't bear to watch anymore, she felt her eyes water up too just seeing this. A strong man like himself breaking down, it was a crime to see. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, he was surprised at first but hearing her shush him and whisper made him comfortable. "It's okay…everything's going to be fine James…" The way she said those words, the way she said his name, he almost really did believe everything is going to be okay. Just letting himself go, he swung his arms around her and nestled his head against her breasts. Shizuka nodded and continue to whisper down to him while brushing his hair back to sooth him.
While she was taking care of him, the sorrow in the air was contagious. Saya had to hold Alice and Zeke as they cried for the fallen Marines; Rei was silent on Takashi's shoulder. Kohta and Saeko approached Takashi and Rei and discussed the matters in front of them.
"He told the story to Kohta-san and I asked earlier while we walked, on their way to reunite him and his friend with their special ops buddies. They were ambushed and stood their ground and fought to their last breath." Takashi looked on as she explained the story, then Kohta took over.
"The number of 'them' was increasing at a growing rate and they already lost two men. Not to mention that Beckett was infected prior to the engagement, so James ordered a helicopter to try and take them out. But they were denied because the SDF had a restricted airspace in this area, and the top brass chose the relations between America and Japan over the lives of these Marines." Rei peeked up from Takashi's shoulder and shook her head.
"That's just terrible!"
Saeko nodded in agreement. "It was like they were almost left to die. So Beckett when he felt his time was getting near so he devised a plan. A desperate one but nonetheless a plan. He strapped explosives to himself and the corpses of their fellow Marines and blew them up allowing James to get away. He told us there were more details then that but he went on to say these guys fought literally till their last breath…especially Beckett."
"Semper Fidelis…" Kohta whispered to himself, but a bit too loud as they heard him. Takashi repeated the words trying to say them. Rei wiped her tears and looked over at Kohta.
"What does that mean?"
"It's latin for Always faithful. Often shortened to Semper Fi, it's the motto of the USMC. It isn't just a motto though…it's a way of life. These guys live it." Kohta said as he sighed and looked over at the weeping Corporal. Takashi thought of the meaning and looked at Kohta.
"You think he'll be faithful to us? In all honesty, you think we can trust him?"
Kohta and Saeko didn't even had to think twice. They both nodded.
Shizuka rubbed his back underneath his body armor and used her other hand to pick his chin up so she can look into his eyes, those beautiful jade eyes of his. "There…do you feel better?"
James nodded and smiled at her, a genuine smile at that too. "I'm all squared away now…thank you Shizuka…" He caught himself staring into her eyes too, his fingerless gloved hands rubbing her back too. The feel of her blue wool turtleneck against his fingertips had a soothing effect, her eyes had calmed him but then he had to remind himself that he was staring, and so was she. Both of them caught themselves and laughed it off, both of their cheeks lighting up with pinkish hues.
"Ahaha, I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself…your eyes, they're beautiful, it's like I'm staring into the sky."
Shizuka shook her head and giggled, "No, no, it's alright! You don't have to apologize for that."
"No but I'm serious…because Beckett and I used to watch the clouds on our downtime when we were in the field. A habit we picked up back in boot camp after getting quarterdecked for doing something wrong. Whenever I stare up into the sky…I feel better, it's like nothing else matters anymore. Looking into your eyes…reminded me of that feeling." Shizuka was speechless and tried to fathom words to come up so she wouldn't sound stupid but nothing came out. James took advantage of this and let go of her, standing up he'd pick her up as well.
"Well let's get ready to mount up. I hear you can drive a humvee pretty decently, right?" He said trying to change the subject, Shizuka was slow to catch on. "Uh…Marikawa…you alright?"
"Huh? Oh yeah! I'm fine, but yeah we had car like that too not to long ago, it broke down so we had to walk. I'll be able to drive it just fine!" She said rubbing the back of her head and laughing off her blankness, her cheeks were still pink though. James noticed this and nodded; he didn't feel like bring it up and just wanted to get to business.
"Good to go. I'll go talk to the guys and we should be leaving in five mikes." With that said he walked over to Takashi and his little entourage leaving Shizuka to reflect on what just happened. She sighed and rubbed her cheeks.
"My eyes are like the sky?" She said with a giggle but then it came to her, staring at the sky she tapped her chin. "What do five mikes mean anyways?"
"Alright. There's a spare M16A4 service rifle in the trunk, if you want Kohta you can have it. There are some ammo cans so we can stock up once we get to the toy store." Next he looked over to Takashi and pointed at the humvee. "My job is done here; we can use the humvee to head out. I suggest we start getting ready now though."
Takashi agreed and told everyone to start getting ready, everyone scattering and Kohta happily skipping to the trunk to pick up a new rifle. Right before he got in the humvee he looked over at James and tried to get his attention.
"By the way, I'm sorry about your Marines."
"Don't worry about it. I got it out of my system now; my only focus is your safety. Beckett and I made a promise to our Lieutenant before he died to make sure we save any survivors, even if it costs us our lives. Beckett did that, now it's my turn. So let's get started." He walked to the passenger seat but then remembered something else to say. "One more thing…I hope you know, I have no intention on taking your spot as leader."
Takashi waved his hands in dismissal and shook his head. "Nah, nah, it's cool! I know!"
"No you don't. I can tell how you talked to me earlier, you felt threatened." Putting his finger in the air he smiled. "You don't have to because I want to do everything in my power to help because you see…" He paused and put his two index fingers out and compared them. "Officers are given the power by congress to lead Marines. A Lieutenant works hand and hand with his Staff non-commisioned officers a.k.a. SNCO's. He always goes to his Gunnery Sergeant when it comes to the issues, and he helps the Lt make the decisions. It could be the petty things to the major things. He's never alone in that. The Gunny is like a assistant manager. He knows he can go to his Gunny for anything and he'll always have that extra helping hand when it comes to experience and what not." Putting his hands out he pointed at himself and grinned.
"Well I'm your Gunny in this case! I want to help you lead these guys, I've been in the Corps for five years and I've been a Corporal for a good while now. I might even make Sergeant soon; I have experience in leading people since I've been in diapers. Not to mention I served in many different countries in combat, so my word could be pretty useful." James put his hand out and winked. "So how about it, partner? You game?"
Takashi thought about this and he can't help but say that he's right. Being a leader is hard but he got so far so he must be doing a good job, but having help would be the best thing that has happened to him so far. Especially someone who is as qualified as Cpl. James Sullivan, grinning he'd grab his hand and shake it. "I think can get used to this, partner."
James laughed and pounded his fist into his palm. "Great! I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."
While they conversed, Rei came over to them and clapped her hands to get the two's attention. "We're about ready to go; sensei is already in the driver's seat." James and Takashi nodded and the Marine pumped his fist into the air all excited to finally be not walking in this rain.
"Oorah cutie! We're Oscar mike." He said with a wink before running to the front of the humvee and sliding across the moist hood, landing across from them and getting into the passenger seat. Takashi and Rei stared into the distance, except the difference between them was that a vein was on Takashi's forehead and Rei's cheeks were hot.
"He called me cute." She said as if she was on cloud nine. Takashi clutched his fists and waved them at him.
"Stupid Jarhead!"
Rei looked at him and felt the best pleasure ever, he was jealous! Now he knows how she feels when he checks out Saeko all the time. She couldn't help but have fun with this. "Haha! Are you jealous, Takashi? Well he is pretty hot…"
"Rei…" His face cringed up and he just looked so cute jealous. Laughing she'd kiss him on the cheek and join the others in the humvee.
"See you inside!"
Takashi just stared blankly with his face red as a tomato, putting his hand on his cheek where she kissed he'd try to formulate what just happened. Looking into the humvee he saw James looking past Shizuka's massive breasts with a big grin on his face, knowing what he did in the benefit for him and Rei; the Marine nodded and winked at Takashi from afar. 'Did he know about Rei and me? If James playing wingman like that is an example of our partnership…' his lips curled into a smile and he pushed his bangs away and open the door of the humvee to get in. 'then I think I'm going like this guy.' He thought.
Kohta climbed up and rubbed the .50 cal machine gun on the top of the humvee, this was his day. He gets to shoot an M16 and get to play with a .50 cal now? He was estatic and he let the whole convoy know. "OH MY GOD! Takashi, I love you for letting this guy come with us! It's an M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun! The bullets this thing shoots can rip limbs apart like nothing! I love you so much!"
Takashi laughed and shake his head, "I love you too but try to keep it down will you? My ears hurt."
James laughed along too, shrugging his shoulders he looked over his shoulders and patted the dashboard. "Can't help it, the kid knows his shit. I like him." His laughter suddenly stopped when he saw a roll of candy fall from the dashboard, quickly picking it up he crushed it in his grip. "MOTHERFUCKER!"
Everybody in the humvee looked over at James wondering what happened; Shizuka looked over at the crushed candies in his hand and the look of pure rage in his eyes. "What is it? Did somebody eat your candy?"
"Fuck that! I can't believe it, this is where PFC. Meyers sat…that motherfucker had charms in this fucking humvee. FUCKING CHARMS!" James yelled out as he tossed the remnants out the window.
Everybody stared in confusion; even Kohta looking down the hole didn't even know what to say for this situation. "What's the big deal? It's just charms, charms actually taste pretty alright." Said Saya as she couldn't find the sense in this.
Shaking his head he'd rub his temples and sigh loudly. "Fuckin' civis, of course you don't know. Charms are bad luck! Nobody worth their salt ever lets charms in their vehicle in the whole goddamn United States Marine Corps! If you see a charms pack, do not let it in this humvee!"
Kohta looked back down at James and was in shock. "Wow…I didn't know charms were bad luck." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out two packs of them and tossed them over the roof of the humvee. "I've been carrying them the entire time!"
Takashi and James just gave Kohta the death look, it scared him so much that he went right back to the top of the humvee and continued to man the .50 cal again.
"Tch, fucking A! Maybe this is why Hotel Company ran into so many fuckin' zombies and you guys ran into…well all the zombies that you ever faced while this entire time! People like that fuckin' boot Meyers. Rest his soul. You…well you're a civi so I won't penalize you. But MEYERS knew better. Whatever…" James sighed and rubbed his temples again; Shizuka patted his knee and looked at him with concern. James noticing the caring one stolen her attention once more, he nodded and smiled. "I'm alright. Just drive alright?"
Shizuka nodded and stared the engine taking off; James took one last look outside of the porthole to see the make-shift rifle graves for his comrades. 'Goodbye guys…' he thought as they driven off and now were a distance away from them.
Minutes later the mood in the humvee was pretty dead, everyone was just tired and plain bored, but James was in a good mood for some reason. He kept singing to himself silently. Saeko noticed this and decided to break the silence. Leaning over to the front of the humvee as they drove she tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hey James, what are you doing?"
"Oh! Haha…sorry Saeko! I was singing." He laughed to himself and blushed a bit out of embarrassment and a good memory. "Back in Afghanistan, Beckett and I did a joint op with MARSOC and Recon. We met the funniest and coolest Marines in the fuckin' fleet ever! Whenever we rode in humvees and what not, we used to have our own karaoke. Oh my god, the songs we would sing would be so random. You wouldn't think Marines would listen to shit like this!" He said as he rubbed the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders. Saeko giggled and planted her chin on her knuckle, interested in this.
"Marines are people too. But really, that sounds like a lot of fun!"
"If you want we can do a little one right now, have you ever heard of the song Teenage dirtbag by Wheatus? It's alright if you don't know it, you can sing along! You'll get it." Saeko couldn't hold back her laughter; he was actually asking her to sing along with him.
"Alright, sure!" She turned to the others and tapped the others. "Let's all do it." Takashi looked at the purple haired vixen with his eyebrow raised and shook his head.
"You've got to be kidding me! I'm good."
Rei nodded ready and able to sing along with James. "Why not? It could be fun!"
Kohta put his thumbs up and grinned. "Hell yeah!"
Alice clapped her hands and Zeke barked happily. "Could we do it please?"
Saya rubbed her temples and shook her head. "No way! That sounds so stupid!"
Shizuka turned around and frowned at the pinkette. "Aww, don't be a party pooper. Come on do it for me!"
Takashi sighed and looked over at Rei who was pleading with her eyes. "Ughh, I don't have a choice do I?"
Saya twitched her eye and put her hands out in front of her. "Uhh, yeah you do! You can just keep quiet!"
James decided to break it all up and just start it up! "Too late for that!" he said as he put his M4 on his lap and started to use his fingers as drumsticks and the buttstock as a drumset. Everybody but Saya all cheered and clapped their hands.
"She rings my bell. I got gym in a half an hour." James sang and waved his head to his own imaginary beat, Saeko used her sheathe as a drum too as she mimicked James movements, mouthing the next words.
"Oh how she rocks, in Keds and tube socks." With Saeko taking it down the road, Takashi grabbed Rei's hand right next to him and she looked up at him. It's like the words of the song matched how he felt.
"But she doesn't know who I am…" Rei smiled and held his hand tighter feeling the mood of this song.
Kohta took it over and looked down to Saya since the next lyric had felt for him too, but she just flipped him the bird and continued to stay quiet. "But she doesn't give a damn about me."
At that time, everybody but Saya had joined in and sung out loud. "'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby! Yeah I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby!"
James clutched his fist and pumped it into the air for emphasis. "Listen to Iron Maiden with me!"
Shizuka and Alice both took it and started to hum in the background. "Whooooooooo!"
James clapped his hands and beat up the dashboard as if he was doing a drum solo before taking it away. "He lives on my block, and he drives an Iroc."
Both Rei and Takashi took this part together and waved their bodies around and snapping their fingers, they truly were having the most fun that they ever had since the outbreak began. "And he doesn't give a damn about me."
"'Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag, baby! Listen to Iron Maiden with me."Everybody in sync took it again with Saya just face palming and shaking her head.
"Fuck…my…life. Ughhhh…"
"Whoooooooooo!"
"Thank you, Nii-san!" Yelled out Alice, but James shook his head and patted her helmet that he leant her and smiled back.
"No, thank you Alice."
Now that the vehicle had settled down in a quieter mood, Takashi was able to be alone his thoughts reflecting on everything that has happened so far. 'A mix of bad luck and good, does it cancel each other out? Well in this case it did. We found a broken down Marine; We patched him up, he's happy now. He come baring gifts of weapons, humvees, exploding monkey bombs, leadership advice, and a wingman all at once. Even if the world at war, like what Kohta says…there will be no peaceful negotiations or Geneva Convention to end this conflict. But we are all at peace, we are all still alive…I guess in the ends that's what matters.' And those were his thoughts, as he looks out the porthole at the never ending rain, a streak of lightning strikes the skies. Takashi nodded and decided to finally relax for once.
x—Devil May Cry.
