Okay, it's not b very much, but it IS longer than the last chapter, so technically I didn't lie. This one is a little bloody, but not too over the top. Please enjoy!
I dodge to the side and feel the bullet rip through my shoulder. Ignoring the pain, I throw the knife at Gold. It sticks into the back of his hand, making him scream, and he drops the gun. I run forward and kick it out of his reach before tackling him to the ground. We wrestle like this for a few seconds and I can see blood from my shoulder dripping onto his armor. I know I won't last much longer like this.
Gold flips us over so he's on top. He punches me in my injured shoulder and I cry out in pain. He pulls a knife from his belt and brings it toward my face. I grab his wrist, trying to keep the knife away. I push with all my might, but Gold has always been stronger than me and I know it's only a matter of time before I'm overpowered. "Please" I whisper, hoping I'll somehow get through to him.
Gold's eyes seem to lose focus for a second. "Silver?" he whispers, pulling the knife back momentarily. Then he snaps back to normal and continues to force the knife down, harder than ever.
I can feel my arms giving in as the blade inches toward my throat. Just as I think he's going to win, I hear a long yell of "SON OF A BITCH!" followed by a crash. Gold ignores it until someone pulls him off of me and throws him into the bushes.
Wash reaches down to help me up. "I am never doing that again" he says as we both turn to face Gold.
I try not to laugh as I think of Caboose throwing him like he did with me. "Who is this?" Gold asks, gesturing toward Wash.
"Freelancer" I say, trying to put as much confidence into the title as possible. There's another yell and crash, and Grif stumbles to his feet behind Wash. In the distance I hear Caboose yelling "darts are so much fun!"
"I don't care what Sarge says, the Grif cannon is the worst idea ever" Grif mumbles as he points his gun at Gold.
Gold, realizing he's outnumbered and outgunned, hits a button on his wrist and fades from view. "This isn't over" he says. The sound of his feet running fades into the distance.
"Who was that?" Wash asks as he starts to look for a way down from the ledge.
"My brother, Gold" I say, sinking to the ground. "He's still working with Dr. Han."
"Are you okay?" Grif asks, coming up to kneel next to me.
"I'm fine" I mumble, head spinning slightly. "Just a little tired."
He notices the wound on my shoulder and gasps. "You're bleeding!"
"It's nothing" I say, waving him away and climbing to my feet. "I'll be fine."
"That doesn't look like nothing" Wash says, holding one of my arms to keep me steady.
I shake his hand off my arm and turn on my radio. "Nick, are you there?"
"Yep" he answers cheerily in my helmet. "And I have a surprise for you!"
"Get the ship and come pick us up" I say, ignoring his last comment. "We need to get out of here fast."
"What's wrong?" Nick asks when he hears my tone.
"Gold was here."
"Was he okay? Were you able to talk to him?" Nick asks hopefully.
"No" I answer shortly. "He won't stay away for long. We need to move."
"We are almost there" Nick says. "Just give us a few minutes."
"See you then" I say before shutting off my radio. I turn and start climbing down from the ledge. When I'm halfway down, my left hand slips and I nearly fall. I look at my hand and see that it's covered in blood, along with the rest of my arm. I think that maybe I've lost more blood than I thought before picking up the pace.
Once I reach the bottom, Wash and Grif come down. "Climbing sucks" Grif grumbles as he flops onto his back.
Wash waves for the others still waiting in the caves to come join us before turning to face me. "Let me take a look at your shoulder."
I help him remove the left shoulder plate of my armor. "Do you have any medical training?"
"I started training as a field medic before I joined project Freelancer, but I never finished."
"I guess that's better than nothing" I joke.
Wash smiles, but his face turns serious when he finally sees the wound uncovered. He tells me to sit before calling one of the other soldiers over. "Tucker, come here." Tucker kneels next to me and Wash places his hands over the hole in my shoulder. "Keep pressure here" he says. He then turns to Caboose. "Run back to blue base and get some medical supplies."
"No" I say before Caboose has a chance to do what Wash said. "Nick will be here soon. We need to wait."
"We need to stop the bleeding" Wash says.
"Whatever supplies you need will be on the ship. We can't afford to split up before it gets here." Wash doesn't look convinced, so I add "Gold is still out there. Do you think Carbon could handle him alone?"
"No" he says reluctantly.
"We just have to wait. They're almost here."
A few seconds after I finish speaking, I hear the drone of a Pelican flying in the distance. It gets louder and louder until we finally see it fly into view over the top of the cliff. It lands a few meters away and the back opens.
Nick steps out of the back of the ship, smiling. "Somebody call for a Taxi?" The older man asks.
"Nerd" I say, standing up with Wash's help and walking over to meet him.
Nick gives me a quick hug before noticing my shoulder. "You don't look too good" he says, concern in his voice.
"You're one to talk" I say, ruffling some of his grey hair.
"She needs medical attention" Wash says. "Do you have any supplies on that ship?"
"Even better" Nick says, pointing to the ramp he had just walked down. "We have a medic."
Standing on the ramp behind Nick is a man in purple armor, the UNSC medics' symbol clear on his shoulder.
"Doc?" Simmons asks.
"Don't forget me" comes a cheery voice from behind Doc. A man in pink armor steps around him to wave at everybody.
"And Donut" Grif groans. "That's just great."
"They were trying to find someone to give them a ride to this planet. Something about a distress call from their friends" Nick explains. "Anyway, when they told me their names I recognized them from the Freelancer files we'd stolen, so I thought I should pick them up."
"Told you I'd bring help" Donut says smugly.
"Okay, people, all aboard" I say, waving them toward the pelican. "You can catch up once we get moving."
"She's right" Wash says, climbing into the back of the ship. "I don't want to be around if that guy comes back." Everyone follows him into the ship, and within a few minutes we take off.
Yay! Donut and Doc! I will admit, I do love both of those characters. I just had to find a way to bring them into the story. Anyway, thanks for reading and feel free to tell me what you think! (Unless you hated it. Then you can keep that to yourself. My self-esteem couldn't handle it.)
-J