Chapter 9
"They're still alive!" Rose wiped the tears off her face and looked at Naomi. She wanted to hear it again, to make sure it was true.
"No doubt, their vitals are still strong" Naomi replied.
"Alright everybody let's calm down" Campbell spoke and placed his hand over Meryl's shoulder. She looked at him and felt a little reassured.
"Dr. Emmerich?"
"Yes Colonel?" Otacon replied from the other side of the screen.
"Stay online in case Snake or Raiden contact you"
Otacon nodded and looked to his side. "They are still alive" He spoke to Susanne and even tough this was stressful time when he spoke to her he felt a tingling over his entire body.
"That's good, for a minute there I thought they were gone. But if there's an army waiting for them shouldn't they retreat?" She asked with an innocent look in her eyes.
"Well, it's unexpected but…I don't think Snake's going to quit" Otacon replied.
"I've heard a lot of things about Solid Snake" Susanne said.
"Only the bad I bet" Otacon replied back. "He's a great guy, once you get to know him"
"Are you the same way?" Susanne asked.
"Huh!!" Otacon looked into Susanne who had gotten a little closer to him. "Wha…"
"I heard a lot of things about you too…" Susanne was getting close to Otacon. He's kind of cute. She thought.
"Really? That's…that's nice" Otacon jerked his glasses and looked deep into Susanne's eyes. She's really beautiful.
Susanne smiled as she noticed Otacon was staring at her.
The dust wasn't setting anytime soon. The explosion was enormous but Snake and Raiden had escaped unharmed. Both were several feet away from where the house once stood.
A coughing Raiden stood up and looked around. It was like a sandstorm. "Snake?" He could hear several voices yelling and talking but none was Snake. "Snake!!?"
A palm of a hand touched Raiden on the right shoulder. "Keep it down" Snake was also coughing but he looked alright. Both their suits were now of a shade of grey, because of all the dirt, but they still had their guns in their hands. "We got a little time, here this way" Snake headed to the right through the dust.
After a few seconds they reached another small mud house which was impossible to see until they were just a few feet from it.
"I heard them talking French and an Arabic dialect, they seem to know we were here" Snake said circling around the house away from the enemy.
"But how? "Raiden quickly asked.
"No idea, but before we answer that question we've got to get out of here. Robinson said there was a settlement to the east, right?" Snake reached a corner of the house and peeked out.
"Yeah" Raiden said as he wondered what Snake was thinking to get out of the situation. "What do we do?"
"Catch a ride of course" Snake turned to Raiden. "Take a look"
Raiden peeked around the corner but didn't see anything. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"
"You can only make out the silhouette, but it's there" Snake replied.
Raiden took another closer look and saw something in the distance, through the sand, it looked like a jeep.
"We still have the tank to worry about though" Snake said.
"Tank? Of course, that's what blew up the house" Said Raiden realizing Snake figured that the noise before the explosion came from a tank.
"An M1, I've never going to forget the sound of that thing." Snake had gone one on one with an Abrams M1 tank before. "Are you ready to run?"
Raiden nodded.
"Good, I'll do the driving and you take care of anyone who gets close" Snake said getting ready to run. "Shoot at anything that moves, because they won't give us a chance" A few seconds passed by before Snake and Raiden lunged forwards and began running towards the jeep. As they ran their eyes turned left and right trying to locate any enemy but the dust of cloud was still big enough to hide them and their enemies. The jeep was coming closer and so was an armed man on the other side of the jeep, probably guarding it. It was like basic instinct for Snake as he raised his gun, stopped and without hesitation shot the armed man, once on the heart and another on the head. Raiden continued running even after Snake stopped. These were two professional cold hearted assassins with a highly dangerous mission to accomplish. Nothing or anyone could stop them now. Raiden jumped onto the jeep and immediately noticed there was a M240 machine gun mounted on the back of the jeep. He quickly placed his M4 on his back and manned the jeep gun. Snake followed close behind and got into the driver's seat. The keys were in the ignition.
"It's clearing up!" Raiden said as he noticed a shadow coming right in front of him near the backside of the jeep.
"I see it" Snake said as he turned the keys and saw several men in front of the jeep and a few feet away about a dozen more men around two other jeeps and something else. The tank.
"Arrêt!!" The man Raiden had in his crosshairs was shouting.
"Take him down!" Snake shouted.
Shots broke out and the man fell to the sand, the dust had cleared and as the jeep sped off a new fight was about to begin.
It had never happened before, Tiger was wide awake and yet something forced its way into his mind. Before he got to the computer room door he day dreamed. The dream however made no sense, a barren deserted white room, with no horizon. A small snake slithered through the ground and then a howl, similar to a cat and then Tiger's eyes opened up. He was just outside the door to the computer room. What the hell was that, I never dreamed wide awake before…what's happening to me? Tiger took a deep breath and decided to get inside.
"Ah, Tiger, I've got bad news…" Phantom said turning the chair he was sitting on to Tiger.
"You couldn't get in?" Black Tiger asked with a puzzled face.
"I'm sorry, no" Phantom replied looking a bit perplexed.
"Why?" He asked getting closer to Phantom.
"Protection, he's got loads of them. Too many if you ask me?" Phantom replied. "Besides, hacking is just a hobby of mine, this is beyond me"
Tiger sighed. "I need to be sure…"
Suddenly a voice came from the door, a voice behind Tiger. "Sure of what." The roughness made it clear to Tiger who it was.
"Sure…of everything…" Tiger replied and turned around. "…Ocelot."
Revolver Ocelot was staring straight into his eyes. "Good, overconfidence often leads to disaster, but do you suspect someone?"
Tiger sighed again. "No one. But there's something..."
"Another one of your dreams?" Ocelot asked.
Tiger smiled. "Maybe. Now, do you need something or did you just come here to pass time?"
"I've come to check up on things. How are they doing?" Ocelot circled around Tiger and made its way into the room as if he owned the place.
"The last report we got gave us their position, I've sent men to intercept them" Tiger replied.
"Anyone of the Unit? Or just the usual grunts?" Ocelot asked with a smile on his face.
"They aren't grunts" Tiger said wondering what could make Ocelot smile at a troubled time like this. "Why?"
"You know who it is they are facing don't you?" The question sent Tiger into the past, all those months ago when he met the man that had crippled him for life.
"My men can get the job done. Even if he is Salil's brother" Tiger replied thinking if the dream he had just had had something to do with Solid Snake.
Ocelot grunted. "You don't actually believe that do you? Your men are already dead"
Both stared each other in the eyes, it was like a silent battle. One in which there was no clear winner.
"Sir, the preparations are almost complete" Phantom said to Ocelot breaking his and Tiger's deadlock.
"Good." Ocelot looked away from Tiger's eyes. "This plan of yours may have a chance after all..." Ocelot headed for the exit.
Tiger sighed. "They trusted us so much. How can they think we would such a thing?" His questions were directed to Ocelot.
"Trust? You think they trusted you?" Ocelot answered before leaving. "No. They trust no one, they only use people. Remember that" That said he left the room and closed the door behind him. A small smile passed through his face.
"You should be more careful Tiger" Phantom said as his breathing seemed heavier because of the encounter with Ocelot.
"I don't fear him. He may have been there for us when we needed, but…" Tiger replied. "If I find he's been hiding something from us I… " Tiger reached for his hand, the one that he had lost.
"Is everything alright Tiger, you seem far away" Phantom said wondering what it all meant.
"I'm fine" Tiger looked at Phantom and then retreated from the room. Outside he reached for his communicator. "Marsh, are you there?"
"I was about to call you" Marsh replied.
"About?"
"Bad news"
From Marsh's tone of voice Tiger immediately knew what had transpired. "Damn!!" Tiger cursed under his breath.
