Chapter 9
Reaper lay on the ground, unable to move thanks to a twisted ankle. Shadow was crawling out to him. Screaming at him to get up. He looked over at the bugs. Fuck he thought. No chance.
Shadow came up and tried to help him up. Muscles bulging as he tried to drag him back into the hanger. He looked back to the door. Too far.
Reaper felt the thump on the ground before he saw what had caused it. He stared up and saw an extremely bulked up Simms smiling at him.
Simms picked up Reaper's lost machine-gun and firing one handed, charged into the mass of bugs.
The bolt on the machine-gun clacked empty. Simms didn't care. He just dropped it and ran even faster. Demagnetising his AC Buster from its strip he jumped into the fray.
Reaper watched as bugs got sent flying into the air. Looking around he found a small pole lying on the ground. He reached out for it and pulled himself onto his feet. With Shadow helping him back to the hanger, Reaper activated his COM. "Yeti, go get the FIREBAT. Take Lice with you." he said.
"Sir." came a voice over the COM.
Recognising it, Reaper replied, "What is it Simms?"
"Sir, I can feel Stage 3 coming. You got ten minutes to get out of here." said Simms. Reaper could hear bugs screaming in pain as the AC Buster sliced through them.
"Just keep them away from us, Simms. Make me proud." said Reaper calmly.
"YES SIR!"
"Sir, we're at the FIREBAT." said Lice voice. "Be up there in five minutes."
"Be here in three," said Reaper. He then opened up the COM link with the dropship. "Dropship five-seventy-six. This is Reaper. Need evac in three minutes over."
"This is Dropship five-seventy-six. We hear your call. Be there in three." said the Dropship pilot.
A couple of minutes later, Lice came up the elevator shaft, standing on top of the FIREBAT. The front opened up to show Yeti sitting in the pilot's seat.
"FIREBAT's here sir!" said Lice dropping down from the FIREBAT's shoulder.
"Dropship is on its way." said Reaper admiring the design of the battle mech.
"Ok, how do we get this thing in the dropship?" asked Yeti.
"Easy. We don't, you use the jump jets to get it high enough off the ground and we tow it up." said Reaper.
"This is dropship five-seventy-six. The area is too hot, I repeat, too hot!" yelled the dropship pilot. "The only place I see that might be safe enough is on top of that hanger!"
"Roger that," said Reaper, walking up the stairs. "We'll be up there in thirty seconds."
Reaper leaned out of a window and looked up. He could see the gutter.
"Somebody get me a rope." he yelled out. "And something I could use as a hook."
He tried to find Simms in amongst the mass of bugs. All he could see were bugs flying in different directions as they were hit.
A rope was handed to him as well as a hook. He tied the rope to the hook and swung it up. He gave it a quick tug and it caught. Holding onto the rope, he jumped out of the window and started to climb. A moment later, he pulled himself up over the edge and held down his hand for the next person.
Once nearly everybody was up he looked down to see Yeti setting up to use his jump jets to get to the roof.
"Once you're up here we will hook you onto the dropship." said Reaper.
Yeti did the thumbs up signal and closed the front hatch. A moment later, he was jetting up to the roof of the complex.
Dust flew in all directions as the jet wash hit the roof. The others covered their eyes to protect them from any flying debris. When he safely touched down, they hooked him up to the dropship and took off.
"How are you doing out there Simms?" asked Reaper.
Simms sounded like he was in pain. "I'm fine sir, my body is almost falling apart, but I'm fine." he said. "Once Stage 3 is in motion, you have two and a half minutes to get out of here."
"Just hold out as long as you can. Take as many of the fuckers as you can with you." said Reaper. "That's an order."
"Will do sir." said a pained Simms.
Two and a half minutes later Reaper looked down and saw a mushroom cloud rising up from underneath them.
He could see a shockwave rippling through the surface.
Have peace Simms. Have peace. He thought.
2-3 hours later the dropship landed on the landing pad of the Spirit of Fire.
Before everybody left Reaper addressed them. "Before we leave I would like to say something. It's about Simms, if it wasn't for him I would not be here. I would like everybody to take a moment's silence for him."
A minute passed by in silence. When they all looked up, Reaper spoke again. "His funeral will be in four days time. I expect everybody here to be there. That is all"
Everybody left the dropship in silence.
Before Reaper could leave, Shadow came up to him. "I'm guessing you would like this back?" he said handing him his Desert Eagle.
"Thanks man." said Reaper, taking it back.
"Don't mention it." said Shadow. He turned and took Sarah by the hand and they walked off holding each other.
Reaper just looked at them and laughed. Stuffing his Desert Eagle in its holster, he grabbed his bag and left.
Peter opened the door and looked inside. Gemma lay on the bed, fast asleep. As quietly as he could, he made his way to the bathroom.
Turning on the water, he waited for a minute, looking at himself in the mirror. Once the water was at the heat that he liked, he jumped in.
Letting the water run over his face he thought of the day's events. At first, he thought of the earthquake and what could have caused it. Maybe it was one of the mortar bugs, he thought. He banished the thought instantly. Too big.
Letting the water run down his back now, he leaned against the glass, calming down. A nice hot shower was exactly what he needed. It always seemed to calm him down when he had too many things on his mind.
Stepping out of the shower now, he dried himself off and walked slowly to the bed where Gemma still lay peacefully. Pulling back the covers, Peter slid into bed with her.
Noticing the slight movement, Gemma awoke and raised her head. Seeing Peter, she smiled and held out her hand. "How did it go?" she asked sleepily.
Reaper hesitated. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "We lost Simms." he said.
She hesitated a moment, "Oh shit. I'm so sorry." she said looking him in the eye.
"It's ok," he said, "He probably took out over a thousand of them himself. That would have made him happy."
"Well the good thing is that you're here." she said kissing him. "Did you end up talking to James?"
"I don't need to," said Reaper, "He isn't religious, and he won't do it."
Gemma frowned, "Looks like we might have to find somebody else." She moved closer, put an arm around him and lifted herself up on top of him, "Even so. You are going to get lucky tonight." She started to rub herself up against him.
"How is this any different to any other night?" asked Peter laughing.
She lent down to his ear and whispered into it, "Just shut up and fuck me."
"Yes ma'am" he said.
Michael knocked on the door. It had been about two days now since the events at the science facility. The moment they got off the dropship, Michael had showed Sarah Parker to her room. Sarah offered to cook dinner as a thank-you for saving them and they ended up spending the night together. They were scheduled for dinner in the restaurant on the Spirit of Fire at eight o'clock that evening.
The door opened and Sarah let him in with a smile. She was wearing a figure hugging dress that went to the floor. She looked stunning. When the dropship had taken off from the science facility, they had also taken the occupants luggage.
"You like?" she said posing for him.
"Beautiful," said Michael smiling, "We still have about fifteen minutes to hang around, so..." he shrugged. "What do we do?"
"I was thinking we should get a head start on dinner." said Sarah kissing him.
"Really? I guess we could do that." said Michael, kissing her back. He ran a hand down her back, feeling the curves of her spine. He felt her shiver as he did so.
Sarah closed her eyes as he ran his hand down her back. "Oh, do it again," she said leaning into him. He did so again, sending another shiver running up her spine. Again he did it, sending up another one. Every time he did so it sent up another shot of ecstasy, pleasing her even more. "You do know how to please a woman." she whispered.
Michael just chuckled and looked at his watch, "We better get going, we might miss our reservation."
Sarah moved away and grabbed her coat. Together they left her room and made their way to the restaurant.
Sarah laughed again as Michael told another joke. When she stopped laughing, she raised a glass of wine and took a sip. "So tell me about yourself."
Michael took a sip of wine and thought for a moment. "What do you want to know?"
"Lets start off with you parent's. What were they like?" she said, twirling her fork around.
"My father, well, we never spoke much. Always away on business in some far away country." he chewed on his spaghetti, "When I announced that I had joined the marines, well, he went ape shit. I haven't heard from him since. My mother on the other hand, didn't say anything. You see, with my father being on business all the time, my mom was the one who raised us, my brothers and I. She was the best. Understanding everything easily. When I mentioned the marines, she just said, "good job."
"What about your brothers?" asked Sarah, ripping off a piece of garlic bread.
"Well, for starters, I now only have one brother. Matt, the youngest, died in a skateboarding accident." He took another sip of his wine.
"I'm sorry," said Sarah, "What happened?"
"Collided with a truck," he said. "Killed him instantly."
"I'm so sorry." she said, reaching out for his hand.
"No, don't be." he said, moving his hand out of her reach. "I haven't heard from Craig in a couple of years. Last I heard of him, he and his girlfriend were having a baby."
Sarah looked around. "I feel like a movie, don't you?"
Michael just laughed. "Yeah, why not. Let's finish this first." he said indicating their food. "Don't want it to go to waste."
They finished their food and left the restaurant.