Chapter 4: I Left My Heart in San Francisco
The shuttle circled over San Francisco. There was rubble and smoke everywhere. Shepard noticed the remains of two Reapers. The shuttle proceeds north toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Soon, the long suspension cables of the famous bridge appeared. The south section of the bridge appeared damaged. But the bridge as a whole stood intact. The shuttle flew toward the north end of the bridge where there were mostly hills and not a lot of buildings. The shuttle landed in a clearing just east of the bridge. The shuttle door opened, and Shepard and Ashley stepped out.
Two Alliance soldiers with rifles greeted them with salutes, "Admiral. Captain. Welcome to San Francisco. We have been expecting you. Admiral Shepard had contacted our commander about Captain William's family."
Shepard and Ashley returned their salutes, "Please take us to your commander."
The pilot and the medic grabbed their rifles and followed them.
"Any further enemy presence in this area?" asked Ashley.
"We have this area under control. We still run into an occasional husk. So it's good to have a rifle handy."
The group made their way toward a bunker structure that's built into the side of the nearby hill. There were two large solid concrete doors that enclosed the entrance. It is currently ajar. A man in Alliance uniform greeted them with a salute, "Admiral Shepard. Captain Williams. I am Commander Edwards. Admiral Hannah Shepard informed me you were coming and asked me to ready the Williams family for departure. They will be here shortly."
"May I just take this moment to thank you for what you have done for earth, for all of us."
"Thank you, Commander," Shepard replied. "How have you faired here? How many casualties?"
Commander Edwards looked down and shook his head, "too many."
After a moment, he said, "the initial Reaper attack caught all of us by surprise. Most of the population did not have a chance to get to the underground shelters. Some tried to come across the bridge to this shelter here. But the Reapers damaged the south end of the bridge and shot anything that flew. We have estimates that as high as 70% of the population was lost in the first wave. Some of the soldiers have regrouped here. The rest of the survivors here are mostly from the Citadel evacuation group. They were able to locate our emergency beacon when then entered our atmosphere. We have about ten thousand here. I hear there are other Citadel survivors scattered along the west coast including Los Angeles and San Diego."
Shepard sighed, "So many lives lost..."
"But Admiral, it was you that gave us hope. Without you, none of us would have survived."
Shepard and Ashley looked toward the bridge and the city behind it.
"Ashley!"
Ashley turned around just in time as Abby ran up and hugged her, "Abby!"
Abby was followed by Lynn, and Sarah, and their mother.
Edwards excused himself and motioned for the other soldiers to follow him to allow the family some private time.
"You must be Commander Shepard," said Mrs. Williams as she reached out her hand to shake Shepard's hand. Ashley spoke often to her family about Shepard, but this was actually the first time Shepard was meeting them in person.
"Yes Mrs. Williams, please call me John." replied Shepard returning the hand shake.
"Actually Mom, he was just promoted to Admiral," said Ashley proudly.
"Oh. Congratulations," replied Mrs. Williams.
"John is fine," said Shepard, now blushing.
"Sis, aren't you going to introduce us?" said Abby. She was already extending her hand.
"Hi! I'm Abby, and you are even more handsome in person than on the monitor screens."
"Thank you Abby, it's nice to meet you too."
Ashley then introduced him to Lynn, and then to Sarah.
Shepard reached out his hand to shake Sarah's hand, "Sarah, I am so sorry for your loss of Thomas. We have lost too many good men like him. The victory we have today was made possible by men like him."
Sarah began to have tears in her eyes, but managed to reply, "thank you."
Ashley looked at Shepard. She was amazed at this man who had given so much for humanity and here he is reaching out to Sarah and remembering Thomas. He just had this presence about him that made you feel special, no matter whom you are. When he was talking to you, he made you feel like you were the most important person in the world.
As the family continued to speak, Shepard was slowly walking toward the side of the hill. Here, one can see east side of the bay, with San Francisco directly in front, and the bridge to the right. It was a beautiful day with blue skies. There was a gentle sea breeze in the air.
This was the moment Shepard was waiting for. While Ashley was still talking with her sisters, Shepard started to get on his left knee. However, he still was weak, so he had to hang on to Ashley's right arm. Ashley turned around and thought he was falling. She reached down to try to hold him up. But Shepard was already on his left knee. He reached in his pocket and got out the small box and opened it.
"I've been waiting two life times to ask this question. Ashley Madeline Williams, will you marry me?" Shepard asked as he held Ashley's right hand while holding the ring in the left.
Ashley was speechless for a moment, and then she smiled and replied, "Yes. Yes, John Shepard. Yes, I will marry you." She reached down and cupped Shepard's face with both hands and kissed him. Shepard put the ring on her right ring finger. The diamond sparkled with brilliance under the afternoon sun.
"Live fire exercises was good prep for facing his girly horde," Ashley once said.
Shepard let out a small chuckle as he thought about that. He was sitting in the back of the shuttle as Ashley was talking with her sisters and mother. She seemed so happy to be with them. It all feels right to him. They would be back in London in an hour. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. This had been a good day.
