Gears of War

Muse woke up feeling horribly stiff and cold the next morning, but she was alive, and for that she felt infinitely more hopeful. Ignoring sore muscles and the cold that clawed at her, Muse crawled out of the car, and set off once more through the city. She still didn't know what was going to happen to her; if she would make it all the way to Jacinto, get out of the city, or even live long enough to see tomorrow, but she hoped and pressed on, her hope keeping her going despite the horrors she passed; bodies, both human and Locust being picked by the crows, still burning fires and collapsed buildings; the death that had turned a city into one sprawling graveyard. She blocked it out and kept moving.

It seemed there was less Locust then the day before, though Muse didn't know if that was because they'd finished with the husk of a city and returned underground, or if she was moving beyond their patrols. Whatever the reasoning though, she spent much less time hiding from the occasional Locust she did see, then she had the previous day.

They had come, more or less eradicated this entire city, and left again, in essentially one day… the thought was not a comforting one.

By the time the sun had reached its zenith - though its light was still dimmed by the dust and smoke that had yet to settle - Muse reached a wide boulevard that was dauntingly open and exposed. By this time her stomach was starting to complain, and on the other side of the broad avenue a rather large, impressive building that was fronted by the open thoroughfare, looked like a safe place to briefly stop and have a bite to eat.

A set of wide, flat steps led up to the front of the magnificent building and its multiple entrances, and both dotting the stairs and blocking the entrances, were an array of sandbag blockades and defences.

Sticking to the shadows, and avoiding being in the open as much as possible, Muse cautiously crossed the boulevard and scampered up the steps to hide behind one of the blockades. Hidden in the shadow of the sandbags, the girl sat and opened her pack. It was while she was chewing on the jerky and one of the vacuum packed sandwiches her mother had made, that Muse felt the rumbling.

At first it felt like the approach of a massive vehicle, but then the ground began to vibrate more obviously, making little stones do a skittering dance across the stone steps. The rumbling became more pronounced and as it reached the crescendo while the ground shook like an earthquake, there was the terrible sound of stone cracking, and no less then three emergence holes suddenly yawned open in the pavement below.

Muse cowered behind the sandbag wall as the roar of Locust voices and the sound of gunfire filled the air. However, morbidly fascinated, she could not stop herself peeping around the edge of her defence, and it was then that she saw the Gears. Four of them; all in heavy armour, all armed with Lancers, Gnasher shotguns or even a swiped Locust Hammerburst, and all of them fearless going toe to toe against the Horde as the two forced engaged.

Renewed hope swelled within Muse's chest as she watched the Gears mowing down their monstrous foes; the pale bodies dropping under a hail of bullets or being thrown back by the close range blast of a shotgun or well-thrown grenade.

From her hiding place, Muse watched the battle, trembling with a mixture of anxiousness and anticipation as the Gears and Locust battled back and forth. The Drones fell to the relentless thunder of bullets, and blood splattered the ground and spread in pools where the fallen lay. The stench of death rolled over her senses, almost smothering them, and Muse's eyes watered from the stink. She covered her mouth and forced herself not to be sick.

As the fight between Locust and Gears continued to rage, Muse realised with a wave of dread and apprehension that the combatants was steadily getting closer to her hiding place, and it wouldn't be long before she was discovered by one side or the other. She couldn't move though - she knew she wouldn't last a second out of the cover of the blockade without being ripped to shreds by gunfire.

Suddenly a huge mass vaulted over the sandbags that Muse hid behind, and the girl let out a squeak before she could stop herself. The soldier looked down at the noise, and Muse saw the shock scrawled clearly across the face of one of the Gears; more then likely mirroring her own expression. He was tanned, and had short, dark hair, a tattoo of the word Maria adorned his bicep. He didn't look as though he was that much older then Muse herself, eighteen or nineteen at the most.

For a second that seemed to spiral forever, Muse and the Gear stared at each other.

A few minutes prior…

"GRUB HOLE!"

Marcus Fenix's bellow alerted the rest of the squad and the Gears took cover provided by the various chunks of rubble and debris scattered across the boulevard. Marcus' best friend, Dominic Santiago, bunkered down beside the older soldier, letting loose a volley of blindfire over the bonnet of the car they were crouched behind.

"How many d'you think?" the Latino asked.

"Dunno." Marcus growled, "Cover me." Dom did so as the bigger man popped up from behind the car, swinging a bolo grenade around on its chain before lobbing it as hard as he could. The explosive arced over the heads of the advancing Locust and fell neatly into one of the E-holes, sealing it up when it went off.

"Nice shot!" Someone yelled.

However despite one grub hole being collapsed, there were still two more, and wave after wave of Locust continued to pour out of the earth. The Gears continued to gun down one Drone after another, but until the holes themselves were sealed, the enemy would just keep advancing.

"I'm gonna flank 'em!" Dom called to his friend after a while. Marcus nodded and sprayed bullets from his Lancer as the other Gear flung himself out from behind the car and sprinted fast and low to the front steps of the Courts building, hurdling the nearest defence blockade and crouching behind it.

Just as he'd vaulted the low wall of sandbags and settled himself, Dom heard a tiny squeak just like a mouse being caught, coming from behind him. He looked quickly towards the sound, and froze. A small girl, around eleven or twelve years of age, was cowering right next to him, staring up at him fearfully.

She had dark hair, ice coloured eyes - green around the pupil, radiating out to blue - and was wearing faded jeans and a hooded sweater; she clutched at a bulging grey pack. Dom was even more surprised when he saw a holstered pistol at her hip and the two pairs of COG tags around her neck; but even that was overwhelmed by simply the shock of finding a kid, not even in her teens, still alive in the midst of a battlefield.

For several long moments, Dom could only stare at the girl in astonishment, then a grenade exploded close to where they were crouching, the girl whimpered in fright, and the Gear came back to himself.

"Stay down!" he shouted over the noise of fighting, and then resumed firing at the oncoming Horde as he roared into his Tac Com, "Marcus! I need backup, there's a kid over here!"

"You what!?" His friend barked over the radio, obviously disbelieving.

"I'm not kidding, Marcus! I need some freakin' backup!" Though Dom could understand Marcus' incredulousness, he could hardly believe it himself, and he was looking at the girl huddling beside him while she shivered. "You're going to be fine," he tried to reassure her despite the utterly dire situation, "Just stay down, I'll protect you, I promise."

The little girl looked at him shakily, but nodded. Her blue-green eyes were wide with terror, but trusting, and Dom found his mind quite unexpectedly on his own two children; the little son and daughter who had died on Emergence Day, the baby girl of which who had only been a year old. For a sickening moment he wondered if they had looked as helpless and terrified as this young girl did now when the Locust had murdered them, and it suddenly became vitally important to him that he keep his promise to protect her.

Meanwhile Muse made herself as small as possible; scuttling back into the corner, pulling her knees under her chin, squeezing her eyes tightly shut, and covering her ears as the Gear above her fired Lancer rounds at the Locust. He seemed nice enough, his voice was kind, and she was so desperate for an adult to take responsibility, to protect her, just so she could feel safe again…

For the second time in so many days, Muse missed her father so badly it ached. She missed his huge, solid presence that always made her safe and protected. She missed how even when she'd gotten bigger, he'd scoop her up and swing her around until she squealed. She missed the songs he'd play on his battered old guitar when she had a bad dream.

At that moment Muse wished the Locust had found her cubby hole, maybe then she'd be with her mum and dad now…

After what seemed an eternity of noise, an eternity of screams and screeches and roars, it finally grew quiet as the terrible sounds of battle faded. Muse slowly lowered her hands from her ears, her whole body still trembling, still petrified. She watched the Gear slowly reload his gun and then attach it to the magnetic clamp on the back of his armour before looking at her.

"C'mon, kid, you're safe now." He beckoned, and though his tone was calm and soothing, Muse didn't dare move. Then he crouched down so that he was more at her level, and offered a hand, keeping his movements slow and tentative as through encouraging a small frightened animal.

For a moment Muse looked from the massive gauntlet, to the Gear's face, and back again, chewing her lip and working up the courage until she finally edged forward to take the offered hand. She held it tightly, her other hand clutching her pack, as the Gear led her out from behind the sandbags.

The Locust were nowhere to be seen now; only their fresh corpses remaining as any proof of the battle that had just transpired. The image burned itself into Muse's mind along with all the other horrors she had witnessed in the past two days, and she turned her face away, pressing it against the Gear's side, shuddering.

However even though there were no more living Locust, the boulevard was not deserted, and as the three other Gears of the squad approached, Muse could almost feel the vibration of each thudding footstep. She stared at them, wide eyes inescapably fixed on these huge men, these soldiers of the COG, unable to look away until her nerve broke and she half hid herself behind the man who still held her hand.

The apparent leader was even more massive then the other Gears Muse had seen and had black tattoos on one side of his face and covering his arms. Another, this one looking a similar age to the young man holding her hand, had a black do-rag tied around his head, and was looking from her to the Gear beside her and back again, eyebrow arched.

"Bloody hell, Dom…" he muttered. The Gear beside Muse, Dom, shrugged. Then the huge man with the tattoos came closer and crouched down infront of Muse, studying her with keen interest before speaking in a deep, measured baritone;

"What is your name, little one?"

"…Muse." Her voice sounded rusty, like she hadn't used it in a while.

"How'd she make it, sir?" the youthful voice came from the fourth Gear of the squad, his features masked by the COG helmet he wore. Nevertheless, Muse had the distinct impression he was a newly drafted rookie.

"Why don't you ask her?" The tattooed Gear replied, dark eyes still fixed upon Muse. His gaze was so intent that the girl shuffled even closer to Dom. Noting her discomfort and catching a look from Dom, the Gear with the do-rag grunted;

"Can't this wait until we're out of here, Tai?"

The tattooed man, Tai, nodded, and then stood.

"Maybe that would be best." He agreed, then he put a finger to his ear, and seemingly spoke to himself. "Control, this is Delta, we need an evac. We found a survivor…"

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Anonymous Reviewers

Ben C - Thanks very much. :) Yes, I do intend to carry on, and I've got a vague idea where I'm going at the moment, so we're alright for now.